Hey everyone, 

I am doing a research project on internet piracy for a class and I need some statistics. I figure a lot of people on mmorpg know a lot about this topic ^^.

If anyone knows of any interesting links or information please share 

Also I setup a small 10 question survey on surveymonkey to get some statistics and would really appreciate if you would fill it out. It is anonymous of course .

Thanks a lot!

Here is the link.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7KTB92M

Also if you want to leave any opinions you have on the subject any discussions would help me a lot.

This isnt really supposed to be just "playing everquest 2 for free", otherwise they would just make the game free to play.  The restrictions are there because the only reason this server exists is to entice people to pay to play.  

It is called EQ2 extended because it is basically an extended trial of the game.  The major benefit of this is that the server has an huge popular at low levels, and so new players (or old players) get to experience alot of content as it was meant to be played, in a party.  On the live servers a new player has to solo until very high level because 95% of the popular is already max level, or in the latest expansion.

I really dont understand how you could expect to just play a game for free that thousands of other people are paying monthly for, and not have some serious restrictions.

Personally I played EQ2 a long time ago, but had to skip alot of lower level content because there werent any people around to do it.  This server lets me go back and try it out for free.

Its really funny that you seem so offended that you arent getting everything the game has to offer for free.  If you look at every other recently converted free to play title, you see that customer service is only for people who have paid something into the game.  Check the games technical support forum for people who have similar issues, or start a thread about it.

ffs does every single video game journalist need to write this exact article?  We get it, LOTRO has some holy grail community and its going to get tainted by all of these horrible people that would be on LOTRO trolling everyone until they quit if they could just save up $15/month.

The game is going to be fine, this has become such a dead horse topic its getting on my nerves.  Turbine knows exactly what they are doing, and without this change LOTRO would probably be hurting with the next generation of MMORPG (FF14, SWTOR, RIFT, TERA).

This article is completely pointless because we already know the gist of the things that are going to be in a item shop.  Seriously do your research before you write an article.  They already said it is going to be very similar to the item shop found in DDO, which tells us plenty of information, and already disproves most of your points.

1. There will be some way to earn cash shop currency in game. (DDO has favor)

2. The shop is very cheap on a per item basis, and everything will be on sale at some point. (Most single items are under 700 in DDO, different items are on sale every day)

3. You will not need to purchase anything to full enjoy the game. (I have 2 DDO accounts and have not spent a dime, and have unlocked almost all of the content in the game on both)

4. Almost everything in the cash shop will also be available in the game in another way. (DDO favor unlocks alot of options as you gain it in addition to earning you Turbine Points)

5. The most cosmetic thing you can buy from the item shop are hair styles and colors, most of the in game costumes are crafted, and you purchase mounts at a certain level for in game currency. (DDO does not have anything similar to the famed WoW pony, or many cosmetic options either)

I dont mean to sound rude, but what I said is true, and I hope you think about it next time you want to write an article.

this looks alot like a warhammer Magus -.-

Wtf?  The armor design is nearly identical.

No in my opinion.

If you are starting fresh it is not worth it.  The game is fun at high/max levels now, but for a new player you will spend alot of time alone. 

I would wait for the new wave of AAA mmorpgs to come out before you play something fresh (FF14, SWTOR).  Until then play LOTRO when it goes F2P, League of Legends (not an mmo but fun), Runes of Magic, or maybe DDO.

If you really want the best answer, the game has a 14 day free trial, and you can login and mess around yourself. 

taking things away from people that paid for your game is a really bad idea.  Why not just make the new stuff subscriber only?  I think that is a much better solution.  We can all login to do the high and max sec missions right now, so why would that be an incentive to subscribe?  Once they release the new content, I am sure I would be more likely to subscribe to see it, than to subscribe to play the same stuff I have been playing all along :\

Just my thoughts.

Originally posted by cukimunga

There is a better way, how about giving people the benefit of the doubt and if they suck then kick them?  It seems that WoW is all about maximizing these days and not just about having fun. A lot of people want all reward no risk thus using GS so they make sure they don't waste time and money on  a wipe.  I understand that, those things aren't fun but you can't always win and the bitter things make the sweet things that much sweeter.

FFXI as you probably know is a group based game and not once did anyone ever say your gear sucks you can't join us.  I'd say 90% of the parties I joined were PUG's and most of the time things went well.  If someone sucked ass at playing then we kicked them and tried another person.

Gear shouldn't make the player, and like others said WoW has always been like that.  You could actually be a kickass player that is under geared and they won't give you the benefit of the doubt and give you that chance.The thing is that  GS is some random persons Opinion on what gear you should have to do things.  Can these raids be done with a lower gear score? I'm guessing yes they can if your actually a good player. Maybe people just stopped liking challenges or something or the element of surprise.. 

IDK about all of you guys  but it makes me feel good when Im in a party and we pull off something when the odds are against us.  It gets the whole parties morale going and it feels nice to be playing with people who are actually good players. To me GS is used to make sure everything will go as smooth as possible, which to me sounds boring.

Sure, those kinds of challenges are fun with a group of friends or a guild.  PuG raids are usually for fast badges/loot on an offnight.

I also played final fantasy 11, and groups do not ask for your gear, but you definitely get judged on other things, like mission status (what rank) and how many jobs you have max.  And as you get closer to max level people most definitely check out your gear for the more difficult content.  Your comparison would be like saying someone asked  for your gearscore for an elite quest or leveling dungeon.

I would be willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt if there were no other options, but if I have 25 people whispering me their stats for a raid, why am I going to randomly go with an undergeared player?  This is usually during the day too, if you try and form a raid at prime time in WoW I can usually get 40-50 whispers for those 6-7 DPS slots I usually need. 

The best geared players are going to get picked first no matter what you do, and if you are a dps, that may mean you need a pretty high gearscore to get a spot.  The other night for a 10 man ICC raid on my feral tank druid, the lowest gearscored dps I had was 5760, my tank has about 5600 gearscore.  The people who whispered me for an invite ranged from 4000-6500 gearscore, and it was about 35 whispers.  It just saves time and gets us into the raid faster to take the highest GS people.

Honestly people you can complain about it, or you can login and do a few heroics and upgrade your gear.  Maybe try offspecing tank or healer if possible and gearing up that way.  Its a billion times easier to get gear for a dps spec/class if you have friends and guilds behind you, unless you like waiting in town for some action.

5k gs is definitely good enough to raid ICC, but thats not the point.  Why would someone want to make it needlessly hard on themselves and the rest of the group.

I have organized plenty of pugs, and usually there are way more players than necessary available.  I take friends and people i know first, and then fill out the rest of the group with the people I can find with the highest gearscores.  If I need a hunter, and the only one i can find for a few minutes is at 4800, I will usually take them. 

Gearscore is great for people you dont know.  I dont think there is a better way to judge someone when you havent played them before.  If blizzard added like a reputation system for players, or like a rating system, that might help some.  But we have to work with what we have.

I can remember the days when you could just try and bluff your way into a group.  I did that on my resto shaman back in BC to get into a Karazhan group and went from like greens and blues to mostly epics very quickly.  But if you have friends you can gear an alt that way.

I just think its funny that people complain about gearscore when gear is being handed out so easily to everyone.  Heroics are easy, quick, and relatively fun for your first few characters.

im really not sure why gearscore seems to get so much QQ.

I know it kind of depends on what server you play on, but most servers have a modest 5k to 5.5k gearscore for ToC/ICC.  It isnt hard at all to reach that.

Yes, you have to do heroics for like a day or 2, but its not a big deal.  You arent supposed to just jump into raids right when u start anyway.

Also gearscore is the only way for a pug to build a relatively decent group.  Even before the addon, people would group up in a town and inspect your gear to make sure you werent undergeared.  Anyone remember looking people up on the armory when it came out to make a raid?  Ya its the same concept.

This mod has nothing to do with game design, and everything to do with the community.  Gear in wow makes a huge difference on your performance, and poor gear/gear choices is a pretty good way to determine a players skill. 

You dont have to pug, play with your friends, or join a guild that is on your level.  It isnt that hard.  Pugs are a pretty horrible way to experience content anyway.

defintitely world of warcraft.

Lake Wintersgrasp is better than any huge PvP battles in Aion, it happens once every 2.5 hours and is a blast.

Endless battlegrounds where people actually fight each other instead of zerg some silly boss. 

I honestly cant believe you have considered it before.  You will be blown away by how much more fun you will be having when compared to Aion.

You can even PvP to level up after level 10 (for a new player though I wouldnt recommend it, you will be outmatched for a while).

The only problem is that you will be years behind some people, but once you get past level 60 you will be basically caught up and can compete.  And leveling in WoW is not a grind at all.  You can quest, queue for some dungeons, queue for some pvp, grind some mobs for tradeskill mats.  It only gets old after the 4rth or 5th alt lol.

But it seems like you are very competent at MMORPGs so you shouldnt feel too out of place.

It will not take you nearly as long to hit 80 in WoW as 50 in Aion takes, and it is a much more enjoyable journey.  Hell you can even get a friend to recruit you for 3x exp from quests and mobs til level 60.  That way you can get a boost on ur main character.

I am wondering why you put Warhammer online at number 2.

I am not saying you are wrong or anything, but that was the most surprising out of the 10 entries.  I was wondering you could elaborate a little bit on why that ranked number 2 over so many other games.

I played it at release and while I really liked it during beta, at launch it was a very underwhelming experience.

lol wtf, i love how he said no blood/dead bodies and people suggest Age of Conan and Darkfall, 2 of the most violent bloody games out there.

For hack and slash i would say Dungeons and Dragons Online definitely.  Really fun dungeons and you roll a Barbarian or a Fighter and hack and slash your way through.  There are skills and stuff too.

Hey guys I remember a big long thread a long time ago that was people complaining that you couldnt jump in FF14, but it has been confirmed in a grab bag interview that jumping is part of the game.  And it is not just for fun, it actually serves a purpose in the game!

This is great news (credit to FFXIVCore.com for the translated interview, check them out for amazing info almost every day)

Square Enix Grab Bag #1

Q. Are there any plans to add additional races?

A. It is not out of the possibility because many models were made and player models and animations are the same as the ones NPC use.. We are aware that moogles and male mi'qote are a very popular discussion with our fans, but can not say more at this time.

Q. Will there be any jumping or form of aerobatics? And swimming?

A. Yes, you can jump. It can affect you negatively and in some cases positively during battle depending on many things, and it will be used to aid your journey across Eorzea. Swimming actions will be available and will be required to reach one of the regions held by a beastmen tribe, among other things.

Q. Will monsters like the quadav return?

A. Currently only the goblins have returned because they were well liked by the fans. They are one of the beastmen tribes, and we may have various quests that allow you to temporarily become one of their tribe and complete 'goblin quests'. Look forward to it!

Q. Will there be PvP or anything similar at launch?

A. We do not know yet. We are trying to incorporate a pvp system that is fun and realistic, one that is very competitive and allows many people to take part in. This is difficult to create however and is not our main focus, so it may not make it for release.

Q. Will there be any long term pricing for those who desire it?

A. If there is enough interest. For the Japanese such things are slowly becoming common, to save money by paying far ahead. We do have various pricing options being planned that may give more versatility to our fans. For example quarterly payment plans are set at 4110 yen, (approximately $44), which is cheaper than paying month by month. If it is received well, we may consider more options.

So now what will people QQ about now that they can bunny hop around :D

alright tried lord of the rings... The world is very beautiful, but the characters are so ugly its rediculous lol.  The armor and races all look really bad I could never get into that game..

Its a shame because the tutorial level is really cool, and the classes seemed kinda interesting.  But the animations were awful too.

Vanguard is next on my list before I make a decision.  I played DDO alot when it was P2P so I know thats pretty great even with the graphics low, so I guess I could play that for free.  I find its hard to get into DDO though because alot of the lower level stuff is just so easy and time consuming, and parties arent as epic.  People arent dedicated to their character yet.  Plus people just plow through as fast as possible.  Once I get past the first few areas I know its great.

Any other recommendations would be nice ^^.  This is alot of fun, I know alot of you probably take it for granted that you can run things on ultra rape your eyes amazing mode but to me this is like seeing everything for the first time lol.  I saved up for a long time to finally be able to run everything out there.

Someone mentioned EVE so I might have to try that also, its definitely a game I have no idea about though, and from what I have read its not very game-like its more like a living world.

thanks for the input guys.  AoC seems to get more recommendations.  I loved the combat and the graphics were breathtaking, but people seem to say the free trial part (1-20) is the best part. 

I love PvP and PvE equally, and both both about the same amount.  I try my hardest to stay away from free MMORPGs, because I find they are usually only barely worth the price -.- (which usually includes a buggy/virus infested installer lol)

I hadnt thought about LOTRO, I played it back when I had a crap computer so maybe it will be alot more fun now that the game world doesnt look like something on Atari ^^

I'll give the free trial a go for that.

And Vanguard?  I have actually never even heard of that game lol.  *Runs to google*.  Hey if it has a free trial I am down to try whatever.

I know this is an obnoxious question, but which game tends to have a better community.  My friends still have iffy computers and they are pretty happy with their current WoW addiction so I would be pretty much alone until I used my excellent social skills (lol -.-) to make friends in game.

Hey everyone,

I used to have a horrible computer, so I would mainly play WoW.  But I just somewhat recently got an amazing computer and I want to play a game with better graphics.  I tried out everquest 2 trial and age of conan trial and I wanna really get into one of them but I cant decide.

It would mainly be a game to play until the SWTOR or FF14 comes out, which should be a few months.

I got to level 20 in both and enjoyed them about equally.  What do you guys think?  Which has the best world to show off my new system :D

Any other recommendations would be welcome, I feel so free now that i can run like any game lol.

I agree with the person that said jumping makes combat look really foolish in alot of games.

I am a much bigger fan of the older Zelda games (N64) approach where you just climb over things that are reasonable.

If you have free jumping, people are just constantly hopping around everywhere like they are in a first person shooter, and it really breaks immersion.

Also look at any fantasy style combat in the real world (well not look, but you know what i mean, imagine i guess).  You dont see armored knight hopping around the battlefield.  And jumping rarely gives any kind of tactical advantage except in FPS style games where constant movement of any kind is an advantage.  If people dont have to aim at you (most mmorpgs) then it really doesnt matter.

Hey everyone. Alot of people liked checking out Global Agenda last night on my live stream, I think live streams are a really cool idea, and really helped me decide on what game id like to try/buy.

So I am going to try and live stream whenever I get a chance while I am playing.

Today I am going to be playing Star Trek Online alot, and it will be on my livestream page all day if you wanna join me. You can watch, ask questions, request to see things etc. I am really new (just picked it up yesterday).

The stream is at
http://www.xfire.com/live_video/saturn1234/

I may switch to Global Agenda or World of Warcraft for a while also depending.

I also have Mortal Online and some other games available if anyone has any special requests .

Thanks and hope to see you sometime today .  ^^

I really dont understand why someone would have an issue with optional additional content.  They do not cost much money, and have no effect of the gameplay at all.  They are just vanity pets/costumes etc usually. 

People are all up in arms about the races in Star Trek but doesnt the character creator basically allow you to create anything youd like?  People need to stop focusing on the principles of the issue and think with their own brains.  You are not being wronged in any way.  You still have a choice. 

MMORPGs are a strange new genre for gaming (by new, I mean alot of people focusing on it).  Things will get better, and they are.  But they will all start the same way.  A company needs to generate a ton of buzz to even make an mmorpg.  These are expensive to create, and unlike other games, have significant costs to continue running.  They also need to add content, and fix balance/bug issues.  If someone out there wants to buy a panda costume so I can get some new content, I dont care.  I am not angry that they get something and I dont like a little kid.

Although I wish mmorpg companies would do a little more to "thank us" for subscribing.  I am really surprised that a company hasnt thought of giving items or cool little pets/costumes when you pay their subscription fee.  I think games keep failing because people expect tons of new stuff, and dont subscribe after the first month because of the lack of new things.  People are thinking more and more short term, and because tons and tons of new games come out, games never get a chance to show themselves.  I find this frustrating because my longest mmorpg experience is world of warcraft, and I have been with it since the day it came out.  It was not very great in the beginning, but now it really feels like a world I belong to.  My characters have been with me for years.  I am patient with a new mmorpg, and understand what is going to happen. 

People also need to realize that a new mmorpg is just a foundation for the actual game.  I hate when people refer to a new release as a "paid beta" and things like that because this genre isnt like other video game genres.  You are basically buying into the world they create.  You have to trust that they will develope and add to that world.

The first month or two should be all about developing relationships in game and working on the community of the game while the developers get everything stable and smooth.  At least thats how I think of it.  How many times have you looked into a new game and thought "man I wish I was there since the beginning".  It gives you an odd "left out" feeling.  Even if the game isnt finished or perfect, there are a ton of people there with you figuring everything out.  My best online friend came from WoW, and we met on one of the first days when he helped with the druid bear form quest, because I had no idea.  That is the kind of thing that makes an MMORPG.  The people. 

Otherwise we could just be playing offline games still. 

Thank you guys for the really good responses.  They have actually helped alot. 

I am still on the fence a little, but leaning towards Star Trek because someone mentioned that I probably would not have enough time to get to the "good stuff" in the game, which was one of my main concerns. 

I was kind of hoping that if I powergamed for my last 4 days I could get into a good enough clan/guild and switch to a more casual schedule.   Maybe someone with alot of Darkfall experience could help me with a timeframe that it takes to be really competitive.  I have been known to pull a few overnighters ;o).

To the person who asked if I would be solo or with friends, good question.  I act as sort of a pioneer in mmorpgs for my group of friends.  I typically have the most money ( I actually work, but thats another subject all together :D) so I dont mind spending some money on a new game.  I would be starting off solo, but if I really liked the game I might get a copy for my best friend and really recommend it to my others (I owe him a christmas/birthday present still lol)  My friends are usually not that wealthy lol so they are less likely to take that kind of risk.

So basically eventually if the game went well I would have my friends join me. 

Thanks again guys for the responses, I plan on deciding tonight so I can get it all downloaded and installed and ready for tomorrow.  So any other comments and votes before I make the "big" decision (lol) would help.