Ah right, thanks for the clarification mate :)

theres another offer ongoing thru the end of the September

for anyone who has an inactive EQ acct

www.massively.com/2008/08/08/everquest-ii-seeks-more-living-legacies-until-sept-30th/

if you cannot log in, try to get one of the keys being posted here that are good until end of August

Originally posted by Arremus

Ok I just reinstalled.
Was met with the login screen, which I did.
It popped up saying "You do not have a subscription".
I go to My Accounts, click on Subscribe, and it offers me the standard sign up thing
(And wtf?? $22.99 per month?? That alone makes me want to not even continue in disgust).

So.. maybe I needed to activate this via a link or something?
Did you get notified by email that this was on?
Did you have 'apply' for the free time somehow before logging in?

I'm tempted to just go numb my brain in WoW of LotR rather than pay that 22.99, what a crock of shit.

I could be wrong, but I think the 29.99 is their special offer for Station access to all SOE titles, which, if you decline, you then get the standard EQ2 rate, which I don't remember, pretty sure 14.99. Anyway, if you still want to play, check again, their website is messy and you have to take some time to figure out what their saying...

Originally posted by Obee

The massive number of "Keys available!" threads should answer the original question.  SOE is in desperation mode at the moment.  The game has been stagnating, as far as player population is concerned.  In the middle of a multi-month free play trial, along with all expansion, for every former player who wasn't banned (or had their ban lifted), there were still a few posts on the official forums asking for another server merge, due to low player populations on most of the servers.

Basically, EQ2 isn't doing great.  It isn't in any danger of shutting down, but it isn't really growing either.  The game isn't going anywhere, but it also isn't growing (slowly withering would be more apt).  If you do decide to give the game a try, roll your character on Antonia Bale, since it is the only server with a significant population.

 

Got to agree with you Obee..the promo was nothing more than a rather sad and desperate attempt by SOE to get ex players back playing the game,which they did and then promptly fecked off again as soon as it ended,indeed the fact within days they where offering the game free to EQ players spoke volumes to me.

The game is stagnent numberswise (when you take away the free players) with the one exception,that being the AB server,we have an upcoming exapnsion nobody knows anything about (cant for the life of me fathom why SOE has been shouting about with the free players back)

I knew ROK was damaging to EQ2 whne it came along,i said it would damage the game but its even taken me by surprise at how much impact its had on the game,now wether SOE can pull the game around i dontt know time will tell i suppose.

Well I got one of those keys (thanks to the supplier :)), created a new account from the link...
and then got "you don't have a subscription" when I tried to log in using it..

I think I'm just a numpty.. must have done something wrong..?

Annnyway..
@ Skeaser, regarding the price of subscription.
I thought that too, that it must have been the full deal or something, so I went back to check..:
 

That's the regular subscription price. That's after me saying "I don't want any extras thanks".
$22.99. That has to be a mistake. Why in the f*ck would I subscribe back to a game after all this time that charges $23 a month to play.
That's nearly $26 a month for me in Australia. It was $16.23 for the last month of Age of Conan for me, an easily comparable product.

So, that price alone is enough that I probably won't even try getting this trial working.

Sounds like it's not worth it anyway, if the population is dying out so badly (I was on one of the PVP servers, can't remember their names).

All just my opinion of course. If you're having a blast in EQ2, I am stoked for you! I remember those days well :).




 

Dunno how it is now but when I left it was right after Faydwer. I left and many others in our big raiding guild over some pretty major things at the time. There was also a large portion of gold farmers on the servers then, not sure how this has played in over time.

RoK wasn't bad, but it completely missed the mark by basically only catering to the veterans with a limited amount of content that nobody was really waiting for. In my opinion, they should do more with the original game. Add a new chapter in the good vs. evil conflict, have a real global threat with new monsters, etc.

I think it is interesting that some here who keep claiming EQ2 is barren or empty have not even played the game in months or ever. I have a long history of posts here at mmorpg.com. I do not often take such a strong stance againt ignorant replies. I do get tired of people who do not even play a game talk about it like they are experts. Sure I would love the number of players WoW has in EQ2. However not having millions of players does not mean a game is empty.

I also get tired of the usual post expansion crap, that the recent expansion killed the game. I hear that about almost every game and every expansion. I was totally screwed by SOE. I was a SWG vet. Master creature handler, Master Bio-engineer and my yerar long effert to be one of the first master Jedi on my server. If you know SWG and the NGE you know I got totally screwed by SOE. With that said I am able to turn that off when reviewing any other SOE game. What I hear hear is a lot of SOE hating. Many replies to the thread are ignorant to the current state of EQ2 or they are just attempts to get people not to try a SOE game.

To the OP, EQ2 is alive and well. No, it does not have millions playing like WoW. It does have an active and great community reguardless of what server you are on. It is not dieing slowly as many would hope. SOE attempt to get older players to return is not a desperate attempt to keep game alive it is marketing. It is marketing in the face of huge competiton this fall. Notice the timing of the legacy and returning player offer. They are trying to get people to try before WaR comes out. Not because EQ2 is dead but because of buisness. Now EQ2 may not be for everyone but I do get tired of ignorant bashing of any game by people who do not even play. To put my comments in context I do also play WoW, LoTRO. and Eve and I will be playing WaR. I point this out to show I am not a fanboi. I just hate ignorant posts that mislead people from trying a game. EQ2 has many ways to trial to see for yourself. I can promise you EQ2 is not dead or barren. 

Originally posted by Nihilx

RoK wasn't bad, but it completely missed the mark by basically only catering to the veterans with a limited amount of content that nobody was really waiting for. In my opinion, they should do more with the original game. Add a new chapter in the good vs. evil conflict, have a real global threat with new monsters, etc.

RoK missed the mark? I noticed in your signature you are a retired EQ2 player. Did you even try RoK? The starting area for new characters is fun, fast paced, cool story line, cool new housing and gives the best starting equipment in the game. So how is this only for veterans? I agree a new chapter in good vs. evil would be great but to say RoK is only for veterans is totally misleading. RoK added tons of great zones of all levels, cool equipment and awesome mounts. Not sure how it missed the mark as you claim. No expansion is perfect and no expansion meets the expectation of all players. I for one think RoK was a great addition to EQ2. EQ2 is a different game then EQ so stop wanting EQ in shiny new package as many hoped. They are different games. Waiting for EQ content is a waste of time play EQ2 for what it is and enjoy one of the best mmos on the market currently.

I did and have tried ROK as i've played the game for what 3 and half years straight it was IMO a dire expansion that did far more harm than good (you only have to look at the fact that the devs had to revamp armour throughout the game to see how it unbalanced things).

My server is very quiet like it or not numbers are about the same or a tad lower than this time last year,AB is the exception to the rule in this regard,of course numbers were up while the free time was in play but once people had to start paying they dropped like a stone

My big problem with the promo was the fact SOE gave everything away (not about the fact id paid money for it,that was my choice) but the fact it seemed very,very desperate move by them

The game isnt growing as it should and maybe its time has passed in that regard (it is after all 4 years old now) its settled into this almost niche type MMO.

I've said many times here its the best MMO out there but not that many share that view sadly

I quited from Lucan D'lere US PvE in may, it was still quite populated then, very nice players there.

Didn't like ROK, EoF were miles better in my book.

The PvP server I played a bit on (Venekor) was quite empty and most of the players there were gankers and griefers, who had either bought gold or had a high level send money to their level 25 maxed out character who camped the low level dungeons. Once over level 35 it was pretty much empty. I quited Venekor just before ROK though, EQ2s PvP system never worked for me, gear and master skills is the only thing that matters.

Can't reccomend the EU servers either, the ones I tried lagged about 5 times as much as the US ones, most europeans I met play on the US servers. Dunno why, is a rumour that SOE EU servers are old outdated EQ servers, might be true or they have lousy bandwidth or something.

So go for a US PvE server, Lucan is good...

Originally posted by Loke666

I quited from Lucan D'lere US PvE in may, it was still quite populated then, very nice players there.

Didn't like ROK, EoF were miles better in my book.

The PvP server I played a bit on (Venekor) was quite empty and most of the players there were gankers and griefers, who had either bought gold or had a high level send money to their level 25 maxed out character who camped the low level dungeons. Once over level 35 it was pretty much empty. I quited Venekor just before ROK though, EQ2s PvP system never worked for me, gear and master skills is the only thing that matters.

Can't reccomend the EU servers either, the ones I tried lagged about 5 times as much as the US ones, most europeans I met play on the US servers. Dunno why, is a rumour that SOE EU servers are old outdated EQ servers, might be true or they have lousy bandwidth or something.

So go for a US PvE server, Lucan is good...

An EoF fan..a man after my own heart :)

And yes i do play on a euro server

Originally posted by fozzie22

I did and have tried ROK as i've played the game for what 3 and half years straight it was IMO a dire expansion that did far more harm than good (you only have to look at the fact that the devs had to revamp armour throughout the game to see how it unbalanced things). 

Yup you are right RoK did unbalance armor. How was that dire? You also said it, SOE revamp the other armor to fix the issue. Which they did. Now I realize not everyone like RoK. It was not as good as EoF I totally agree with that. However RoK did not ruin the game. It added a ton more things to do. SOE has a history of failed attempts with their games but they are handling EQ2 very well. Regular updates and expansions since release have show SOE is active in developing this game and not in just survival maintenance mode. I have no Idea how long EQ2 will last but my opinion is it is not going away any time soon.

Originally posted by Loke666

The PvP server I played a bit on (Venekor) was quite empty and most of the players there were gankers and griefers, who had either bought gold or had a high level send money to their level 25 maxed out character who camped the low level dungeons. Once over level 35 it was pretty much empty. I quited Venekor just before ROK though, EQ2s PvP system never worked for me, gear and master skills is the only thing that matters.

I think it is improtant to note for people who have not tried EQ2 and are thinking about it. EQ2's pvp was an after thought. EQ2 was designed as a pve game. I have never tried a pvp server since I hear things bad about pvp in EQ2. If you are looking for a pvp game EQ2 is probably not it. That is common knowledge. Like I said pvp was an after thought. EQ2 offers one of the best pve experiences in any mmo out.

Originally posted by Obee

The massive number of "Keys available!" threads should answer the original question.  SOE is in desperation mode at the moment.  The game has been stagnating, as far as player population is concerned.  In the middle of a multi-month free play trial, along with all expansion, for every former player who wasn't banned (or had their ban lifted), there were still a few posts on the official forums asking for another server merge, due to low player populations on most of the servers.

Basically, EQ2 isn't doing great.  It isn't in any danger of shutting down, but it isn't really growing either.  The game isn't going anywhere, but it also isn't growing (slowly withering would be more apt).  If you do decide to give the game a try, roll your character on Antonia Bale, since it is the only server with a significant population.

 

I disagree with you on this subject. SOE is not on desperation mode.They opened accts. awhile back and I think they still are to let past and new players see how well the game is doing now. EQ2 ihas had alot of good things happen to it. I hated it when it 1st released,but now its probably the best mmo out right now. I played during the free access and found the game to run smooth as glass and had outstanding polish. The only reason I am not playing it now is I actually began to have fun in SWG again and plan on returning to EQ2 soon. Its an exciting time right now for mmo's for myself I have 3 games to explore and have a good time in. The Saga od Ryzom is back too and thats a fantastic game as well. One last thing EQ2 ran smooth on my old system 1.6 Core 2 Duo,Radeon x800 XL video card and 1.5 megs of ram. I was pleasantly surprised on how well the game looked on such an old PC. I was on the Nagena server and the population was fine.

Originally posted by eccoton

I would dismiss Obee's comments totally. First how do you know all the servers are barren? Do you play them all? Are you even a player? I been playing since release and played on a few servers. I now play only on mistmoore not Antonia Balye and there are players on all the time and at all hours. I never have any trouble getting in groups even on off times.  I never feel like I am playing a barren game never! SWG is a barren game not EQ2. The economy is alive and well Every morning I log on and every time all my items are sold over night in about 8 hours. That is not a sign of a barren game. 

Many people come to the EQ2 forums and spout server numbers as if they even know what they are talking about. Granted EQ2 does not have the numbers of WoW but it sure feels healthy and alive if you play it. I am a SOE hater but I will defend EQ2. SOE has handle it well and is regularly patching, updating and adding live world events. We are currently in a world even where I have earned some great house items and armor. No other game I have played has more live and changing events then EQ2. The evidence does not support a barren game. The evidence actually points to a healthy game that will go on for years.
 

Completely agree. Even on Splitpaw (EU server) the population is adequate. Not high, but adequate.

Ingame Economy is healthy. Even my girlfriend who started playing the game half a year ago (on very casual level) and has a great time as provisioner cooking stuff and putting them on trader to see it being sold pretty quick.

A server population is barren the moment nothing sells on the Trader anymore. And so far (at least on Splitpaw) stuff sellls through all level still! From Tier1 up to Tier8.

Cheers

Eccoton, sure I am guilty of agreeing with the "The population is low" comments, having not played in a few months, and I do appologise.
But my agreeance (is that a word..?) comes from the fact it was quiet on Ven when I was there then, and I can only assume it got quieter.

But then, I'm the kind of person who is happy to solo quest 75% of the time in an MMO, chat to folks in town, and group up when I feel like it (I almost always play healers, so it's most often when I feel like it, not need it haha).
And I used to love doing this in EQ2, though admittedly I got ganked a lot, esp when I decided to play my Warlock.
This didn't phase me.

And to counter above comments (that I skimmed over), I thought PVP in EQ2 rocked! I had a lot of fun doing it. Thought I always group PVPed.
I swear most people who bitch about the PVP must run around solo and complain when they get group ganked...

I am just really WTFing over the $22.99 a month price tag. Was it always that high??
I am mainly just not resubbing at the moment out of principle. I mean seriously.. haha.

Though I do miss it...

Originally posted by eccoton

Originally posted by fozzie22

I did and have tried ROK as i've played the game for what 3 and half years straight it was IMO a dire expansion that did far more harm than good (you only have to look at the fact that the devs had to revamp armour throughout the game to see how it unbalanced things). 

Yup you are right RoK did unbalance armor. How was that dire? You also said it, SOE revamp the other armor to fix the issue. Which they did. Now I realize not everyone like RoK. It was not as good as EoF I totally agree with that. However RoK did not ruin the game. It added a ton more things to do. SOE has a history of failed attempts with their games but they are handling EQ2 very well. Regular updates and expansions since release have show SOE is active in developing this game and not in just survival maintenance mode. I have no Idea how long EQ2 will last but my opinion is it is not going away any time soon.

It took valuable time away from getting the rest of the game right thats how it made it dire,apart from the endless boring quests there was in there (this is coming from a quester with the best part of 2000 under his belt on my main toon) there was little to no variety in them,the ridulus faction grinding where you could kill one faction while doing thier quests at the same time..it was messy and still is dress it up any way you want ROK was bad for the game..i dont think they've had such a promo after the other xpacs have they? no they didnt,they had something great with EOF and missed the goalposts so much with ROK its taken the dev the best part of a year to sort it out.

The game i agree isnt in survival mode as you put it but nor is it thriving as IMO should have,as i say maybe its time has indeed past for that to happen it is after all almost 4 years old now and this i find is sad as it is the best IMO,MMO on the market something ive never shyed away from telling people and frankly i'd be amazed if the game wasnt around in 5 even 10 years time so its going nowhere anytime soon.

I am glad we agree wwith the EoF thing though becuase and again i'll say it that was the best expansion to any MMO i've had the pleasure of playing,its just a shame they didnt run ROK as well becuase theres no denying how nice it looks its just well in my case a very bland expansion

Originally posted by Battleskar

Originally posted by Obee

The massive number of "Keys available!" threads should answer the original question.  SOE is in desperation mode at the moment.  The game has been stagnating, as far as player population is concerned.  In the middle of a multi-month free play trial, along with all expansion, for every former player who wasn't banned (or had their ban lifted), there were still a few posts on the official forums asking for another server merge, due to low player populations on most of the servers.

Basically, EQ2 isn't doing great.  It isn't in any danger of shutting down, but it isn't really growing either.  The game isn't going anywhere, but it also isn't growing (slowly withering would be more apt).  If you do decide to give the game a try, roll your character on Antonia Bale, since it is the only server with a significant population.

 

 

I disagree with you on this subject. SOE is not on desperation mode.They opened accts. awhile back and I think they still are to let past and new players see how well the game is doing now. EQ2 ihas had alot of good things happen to it. I hated it when it 1st released,but now its probably the best mmo out right now. I played during the free access and found the game to run smooth as glass and had outstanding polish. The only reason I am not playing it now is I actually began to have fun in SWG again and plan on returning to EQ2 soon. Its an exciting time right now for mmo's for myself I have 3 games to explore and have a good time in. The Saga od Ryzom is back too and thats a fantastic game as well. One last thing EQ2 ran smooth on my old system 1.6 Core 2 Duo,Radeon x800 XL video card and 1.5 megs of ram. I was pleasantly surprised on how well the game looked on such an old PC. I was on the Nagena server and the population was fine.

I sort of disagree with you with this to me as a vet player to give away everything free to returning players is a sign of desperation,you dont see any MMO company doing this anywhere (correct me if im wrong).

I said on the official boards that they where indeed right to give away the original game for free,hell that should be free to play now IMO but thats another matter,but to give away EQ2 just seemed very desperate,like the fat girl at the dance wearing a dress thats to tight for her fat legs.

Originally posted by fozzie22

I sort of disagree with you with this to me as a vet player to give away everything free to returning players is a sign of desperation,you dont see any MMO company doing this anywhere (correct me if im wrong).

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/193898

several points: The faction quests are being corrected as we speak. Actually, between Domino and Rothgar, they have being doing a TON of work to improve the mechanics of the game. The game is so huge, that not all of it can be tackled at one time. That's why you see targeted areas improved. If you spent the time looking on the forums, you'd see what is coming up, and that "adding a chapter" into the basic story is what is coming down the pipes.

Every year, during the summer, they have a free period for inactive accounts. This is actually the 2nd free play period I've been through (I'd have had 3, but the first time I quit, I hadn't been away long enough to be included). This may be unusual for a company to do, but it's a great marketing strategy. I can come back, play around a bit with what is changed, and decide to stay or leave, and it didn't cost me anything to do so but my time.

I'm glad they gave me 2 months this time with all expansions enabled, as it gave me a chance to really look around and become involved with the people that play, want to be in a guild again, and more fully appreciate the differences from the new expansions. Sure, not everyone that played during the free period stayed, but I talk to people all the time on there that are returning veterans that liked what they saw and decided to subscribe again.

I'm kinda curious about your quest experience as there are new quests being added all the time. In fact, domino is very active on test, and gives players quests to test out there quite frequently. Certainly a lot better than some games I've played that had 1 or 2 quests a level, EQ2 has so many quests that you're very likely to wind up with a bunch of grey quests as leveling can happen so readily, especially if you decide to bang around in a dungeon for xp (and heck, there's quests in those too if you want to bother with them).

EQ2 is a work in progress, it's going to be that way for the rest of it's existance. Players talk like all they have to do is keep looking and they'll finally find the perfect game out there. Therefore they put down EQ2 because there's something being worked on, or something needs work on. I'm actually glad this is a game that's constantly being worked on, because if it was still the same game at launch, I wouldn't play it. Because there HAVE been changes (and more recently really smart ones) I've decided to come back and give it another go.

If you're looking for the "one perfect game", you're never going to find it unless you build it yourself. And don't be surprised if you're the only one that plays it.

For those that say the servers are dead, I find it quite interesting no servers are named. I'm on Black borrow, and though it's quieter during the early hours weekdays, there are still people there. People looking for groups, looking to complete heritage quest. In fact, I can usually count on a good 6 or so people in the guild I'm in to be online in the mornings with me.

Weekends can be a bit crowded, and though it's certainly not the population from early eq2 (maybe this is what people are comparing eq2 now to?), I certainly don't find it dead.

Originally posted by fozzie22

...

It took valuable time away from getting the rest of the game right thats how it made it dire,apart from the endless boring quests there was in there (this is coming from a quester with the best part of 2000 under his belt on my main toon) there was little to no variety in them,the ridulus faction grinding where you could kill one faction while doing thier quests at the same time..it was messy and still is dress it up any way you want ROK was bad for the game..i dont think they've had such a promo after the other xpacs have they? no they didnt,they had something great with EOF and missed the goalposts so much with ROK its taken the dev the best part of a year to sort it out.

 ...

Originally posted by Laiina

Originally posted by fozzie22

I sort of disagree with you with this to me as a vet player to give away everything free to returning players is a sign of desperation,you dont see any MMO company doing this anywhere (correct me if im wrong).

 

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/193898

 

Nope you still HAVE to buy the full game..so its hardly a free givaway

Towards the bottom of the FAQ

http://eu.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=30562

Originally posted by Drakaran

 

several points: The faction quests are being corrected as we speak. Actually, between Domino and Rothgar, they have being doing a TON of work to improve the mechanics of the game. The game is so huge, that not all of it can be tackled at one time. That's why you see targeted areas improved. If you spent the time looking on the forums, you'd see what is coming up, and that "adding a chapter" into the basic story is what is coming down the pipes.

Every year, during the summer, they have a free period for inactive accounts. This is actually the 2nd free play period I've been through (I'd have had 3, but the first time I quit, I hadn't been away long enough to be included). This may be unusual for a company to do, but it's a great marketing strategy. I can come back, play around a bit with what is changed, and decide to stay or leave, and it didn't cost me anything to do so but my time.

I'm glad they gave me 2 months this time with all expansions enabled, as it gave me a chance to really look around and become involved with the people that play, want to be in a guild again, and more fully appreciate the differences from the new expansions. Sure, not everyone that played during the free period stayed, but I talk to people all the time on there that are returning veterans that liked what they saw and decided to subscribe again.

I'm kinda curious about your quest experience as there are new quests being added all the time. In fact, domino is very active on test, and gives players quests to test out there quite frequently. Certainly a lot better than some games I've played that had 1 or 2 quests a level, EQ2 has so many quests that you're very likely to wind up with a bunch of grey quests as leveling can happen so readily, especially if you decide to bang around in a dungeon for xp (and heck, there's quests in those too if you want to bother with them).

EQ2 is a work in progress, it's going to be that way for the rest of it's existance. Players talk like all they have to do is keep looking and they'll finally find the perfect game out there. Therefore they put down EQ2 because there's something being worked on, or something needs work on. I'm actually glad this is a game that's constantly being worked on, because if it was still the same game at launch, I wouldn't play it. Because there HAVE been changes (and more recently really smart ones) I've decided to come back and give it another go.

If you're looking for the "one perfect game", you're never going to find it unless you build it yourself. And don't be surprised if you're the only one that plays it.

For those that say the servers are dead, I find it quite interesting no servers are named. I'm on Black borrow, and though it's quieter during the early hours weekdays, there are still people there. People looking for groups, looking to complete heritage quest. In fact, I can usually count on a good 6 or so people in the guild I'm in to be online in the mornings with me.

Weekends can be a bit crowded, and though it's certainly not the population from early eq2 (maybe this is what people are comparing eq2 now to?), I certainly don't find it dead.

 

 ...

 

The faction quests in ROK are a farce i know ive done 4 times now and i still see no improvement to them

Domino has a good time doing her thing but thats a very specialsed area and hers (more or less alone to do with as she wants)

I'm getting old i know that but i cant recall ANY free time given out like this for EQ2 in the 3 and half years ive played the game (through good times and bad),theres always been the trial..but well that was awful and gave no indication of the true game the lay within,but no free time..ever though please feel free to show me the official post where this news was posted becuase i cant find it anywhere

I'm a quester 2k almost at last count on my main i just found the rok ones mind numbingly dull..kill x 4 times for faction rinse and repeat,now ok thats always been there but it had so much promise when i logged into the beta the first time and went to tereens grasp and did the little series of quests involving caleb the zombie i had high hopes but it just lasped back into the tired and generic MMO questline sadly.

Chat on my server RE is at times dead,now i know a lot of raiders are going for thier mythicals atm and that does quieten things down a bit but at timess you dont see anyone,last night at 10.45 pm in fens thier was 9 people there..not good so as i see it the servers are no busier than last year despite the promo,and i know i was here i didnt feck off and play the latest game that was flavour of the month

Originally posted by fozzie22

I'm getting old i know that but i cant recall ANY free time given out like this for EQ2 in the 3 and half years ive played the game (through good times and bad),theres always been the trial..but well that was awful and gave no indication of the true game the lay within,but no free time..ever though please feel free to show me the official post where this news was posted becuase i cant find it anywhere

I've had five free monjths of playtime on EQ2 in the past year.  The first time they gave away all the expansions to that point (RoX hadn't been released yet) along with three months of free play.  The only folks who got that trial were the ones who had quit EQ2, or had the misfortune to have bought Vanguard (the Vanguard players got the game and the expansions).  The free time had ran out just prior to the RoK expansion being released.

This time, they included folks who had never bought the game, but had tried the free trial.  They gave those folks everything including the kitchen sink.  The last trial was more than a little desperate, but the main focus was to promote the RoK expansion.  This time they are basically begging folks to play their game.  Hell, they just gave the same trial to folks who played EQ but had never played EQ2.  It seems like SOE is desperate to boost the sub numbers for EQ2.

The recent promotion isn't being done out of the goodness of SOE's heart, and it also isn't being done because EQ2 is doing great.  EQ2 is underperforming and SOE is willing to give away the kitchen sink in an attempt to change that.  SOE's next AAA (DCUO) title is not going to be out until the end of next year at the earliest.  With SOE now under new overlords (the change form being part of SPE to SCEI), I'm sure more than a couple folks in management would like to boost the sub numbers to secure their futures.

Originally posted by fozzie22

Nope you still HAVE to buy the full game..so its hardly a free givaway

 Towards the bottom of the FAQ

 http://eu.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=30562

If you read through the whole WOW promotion, it is rather easy to get an entire year free if you sign friends up.

I have not seen it mentioned much on the US forums, but there are a few discussions on the EU forums about how people are power leveling characters to 59.9 over the weekend and selling the accounts.

There are other games that have given away free time, in one form or another - some as a free trial, some as recruit a friend (or enemy, depending how well you like the game...), preorder bonuses, etc etc.

The MMO market is - I think - approaching saturation, where you are getting fewer new players, so companies are doing their best to "steal" players from other games. When WOW came out, it brought in a massive influx of first time MMORPG players, but after 4 years many are looking for something new. And several companies, not just SOE, are counting at least a little bit on "WOW boredom" to lure players.

 The ROK expansion had some good things in it - but it also went too far in promoting long strings of solo grind quests. The new zones were great, the quests for those zones not so great.