It's been nearly two months since the free to play launch of EverQuest II. We recently had the opportunity to chat with Executive Producer Dave Georgeson about the success of the new version of EQII and the future of EQ as a whole... including EQNext. See what he's got to say in our exclusive interview.

MMORPG: How have the longtime Veterans of EQ2 responded to the changes? Have you had any exodus, or do you instead see more former players coming back now that the price barrier is gone?

Dave Georgeson: Absolutely zero exodus. There was a lot of concern from vets before the changes occurred that they wouldn’t like the end-results. However, after watching EQ2X do so well for over a year, and after realizing that the only tangible change to players when we go F2P is to a) make subscriptions optional, and b) remove any up-front costs, well…there’s not much to be afraid of after that, is there?

Read more of Bill Murphy's EverQuest II: On F2P Success and EQNext.

F2P are almost always initial success.  Lot of returning players and new ones.

Real test is to compare revenue from first month after conversion to freemium with revenue year later.

I don't see companies publishing data after few initial months.  Maybe they are even not bad but in most cases not that spectacular imo. (with maybe DDO exception).

Here's a shocking idea... how about using all that extra money to fix problems that have existed since the day of release. You know, like the massive memory leak. You start actually using that money for something other than to pad your own pockets and release more content that doesn't work right, and start being honest with your players, and I might consider coming back.

Originally posted by Montaronx

What i still dont get is if this game is truely f2p how come all of my old chars are still blocked from playing?? Allot of race/classes are sill locked. So i cant pay :(

 

You really don't get that? Because f2p games are rarely ever actually f2p. But you know that because thats the way its always been. 

Originally posted by Moirae

Originally posted by Montaronx

What i still dont get is if this game is truely f2p how come all of my old chars are still blocked from playing?? Allot of race/classes are sill locked. So i cant pay :(

 

You really don't get that? Because f2p games are rarely ever actually f2p. But you know that because thats the way its always been. 

EQ2 really takes the biscuit though.

I downloaded the game, logged in and i was blocked off from most good and evil races, most of the classes were locked except for a few basic ones and i was limited to a handful of neutral races.

"Free to play your way"  just means its a free game but you just have to pay for everything else you want to play.

Originally posted by Montaronx
What i still dont get is if this game is truely f2p how come all of my old chars are still blocked from playing?? Allot of race/classes are sill locked. So i cant pay :(

If the client is not allowing you to create a character and start playing, contact support.

Originally posted by Moirae

Here's a shocking idea... how about using all that extra money to fix problems that have existed since the day of release. You know, like the massive memory leak. You start actually using that money for something other than to pad your own pockets and release more content that doesn't work right, and start being honest with your players, and I might consider coming back.

 

 

Lol why should they?

They have customers, they have money. 

New EQ on the way.

Since it was not fixed yet then it propably is an issue that would take significant resources (money money) to fix.  They did not care for so many years , so why should they when games is this old and propably with new games and new EQNext , population and revenue will drop in a year or so.

This is SOE they don't care that much about quality of their service. Never did , never will.

That's why I avoid their games like plague.

Originally posted by Montaronx

What i still dont get is if this game is truely f2p how come all of my old chars are still blocked from playing?? Allot of race/classes are sill locked. So i cant pay :(

 

they call it true f2p because theres not eq2 extended vs live servers anymore. but its still a hybrid restricted game. see the matrix payment pattern on their website, free / silver / gold members.

" Absolutely zero exodus. There was a lot of concern from vets before the changes occurred that they wouldn’t like the end-results. However, after watching EQ2X do so well for over a year, and after realizing that the only tangible change to players when we go F2P is to a) make subscriptions optional, and b) remove any up-front costs, well…there’s not much to be afraid of after that, is there?"

I had to laugh After 5 years of playing im no longer a subber nor is 90 percent of the guild i was in or countless other vets i know.

In regard to those who posted about using the money to fix the problems, nah they will use it to add even more items to the cash shop.

They need to fix the item revamp they destroyed first of all at lvl 90 i was getting items from quests that had stats from a lvl 20 item lol.

Oh well im at no loss , dont play anymore greed and the marketplace have warped everyones minds at soe.

Originally posted by Montaronx
What i still dont get is if this game is truely f2p how come all of my old chars are still blocked from playing?? Allot of race/classes are sill locked. So i cant pay :(

I can understand this,  it would be nice to be able to have our characters which we have already paid for the prior expansions accessable.  I can understand them now needing money but it was a bummer to log on my character, which has gear two expanions behind, and not be able to use any of it.  As I see it I already paid for all the content.  Now moving forward if I want something newer or from an expanion I havnt bought then I will need to pay some cash.

I e-mailed Smed months ago about EQNext and this was his response:

Me: Being nickel & dimed to death is where the MMO is heading, e.g., cross-promotional items, cash shops, real money auction houses, etc. It's being done by everyone; it's getting old.



Bring it back, John.  A person who purchases the game and pays the monthly fee should be able to obtain any item in the game though hard work.

Smed: I mostly agree with you. However there  is a new reality out there for companies that run online games. That reality is that f2p seems to be the new norm in business models.

The only problem with EQ2X is the fact that the initial limitations are too great. The races and classes you have access to are slim and none. This generated a very poor experience if you ask me.

EQII is simply one of the best high-fantasy MMOs that’s ever been made. It’s feature-rich, content laden, constantly evolving, and has a community that’s perpetually growing and changing. As an example of that particular flavor of MMO, there is no comparison. Other games have larger audiences, but no one can claim to be better than EQII, and no new game can possibly ever catch up in feature depth and content.

I wouldnt expect him to actually tell the truth given his employer and position but this part had me rolling on the floor laughing. This game is a thousand percent better than at release but that says more about $oe pushing crap out before its ready to turn a buck than for the quality of eq2. The game has always had the feel of a bland,souless, substanceless rice cake. There are many much better games in the genre including eq1,vanguard,and wow.

Just hope EQNext isn't having to end up spending 100s of dollars to get to max level or see what you would normally see in 60 dollars plus a monthly fee.

I think the gent is writing checks SOE is going to be hard pressed to cash with EQNext. As a loyal (at the time) EQ player and SOE loyalist (I played EQ, SWG, Planetside) I wanted to love EQII, but never could. It is the reason I went to WoW, because EQII was so horrible. Now I understand some folks love it and that's great, I am glad you enjoy the game but it felt like a step back in game play and content over EQ, IMHO.

We shall see. if EQNext is good I will play it, but I am skeptical.

They Should Restrict chat up to level 10 only and Auction Restriction SUCKS at last make a personal shop mode so all players can buy/sell his gear and the ItemMail items should be tradable