OMG

they finally did it....

im shocked....

sad day for MMO's

Wasn't this supposed to be only implimented on certain servers? Because if not... wow. Just wow. I'm glad I don't play EQ2, because if I was enjoying any MMO that did this, I'd be pretty upset and have to leave.

...and a big "F#CK YOU!" from SOE to all its customers.

I don't play EQ2 anymore, but I had to dive back on the boards and check out what kind of revolt was brewing over this.  Needless to say, the feedback is literally 95% negative. 

Apparently, they just snuck this one in UNANNOUNCED (hmm wonder why...) in the last patch.  Nobody had heard a word of it beforehand.  I know the game isn't doing that well, but this is probably the most shameless attempt to squeeze the last drops of cash from a playerbase i've seen in quite a while.

How many times do people have to get cornholed by SOE before they finally "get it"?

For now its "fluff items" like xp potions...

until everyone stops playing the game I guess they will feel they can get away with a subscription + RMT game, if they can pull it off and people roll over and continue to play then I guess it makes good business sense...

They have a history of doing stuff to upset their dwindling player base; combat revamp, item revamp, prime time reboots (for southern hemi players), crafting revamp... lacklustered expansions (DoF, RoK imho were just plain bad)  im sure there is more but thats a good list of why EQ2 has struggled to be anything but a bit player in the mmo world.

so its another push down the spiral for EQ2 :(

I will not be going back to EQ games now. I feel like this was an attempt to get people use to the Agency and suck people into feeling it is ok to have to purchase needed parts of the game to play.

the items are like house pets and armor with no stats.  its is all fluff.  COH has similar items.  you can buy xp potions like you get for vet awards.  With the way they are making leveling easy, I'm not sure that the xp pots are all the intersting.  people are already complaining that leveling is too fast.

This is a sad day indeed for mmo's players , shame on you sony and shame on you to all the devs responsable for this very dumb decision .

When Smed speaks of RMT and "macrotranscams" and the subscription model being dead, what he means is that he will make it so that your $14.95 isn't enough to play the game.

Sure, right now they are fluff items.  That WILL change.  Look at the SWG card game, the first round of loot cards there were fluff too, now they are introducing must haves in the second round.

I guarantee that they WILL sell stuff for EQ/EQ2 that will be perceived as "must haves" that will give players who fork over cash an advantage over those who don't, and that it will happen sooner than you think.  Round one is meant to appear innocuous so you won't object too loudly.

Smed, after all, has a reputation as the most hated man in the MMO industry to keep up, after all.

Originally posted by andykimbroug

the items are like house pets and armor with no stats.  its is all fluff.  COH has similar items.  you can buy xp potions like you get for vet awards.  With the way they are making leveling easy, I'm not sure that the xp pots are all the intersting.  people are already complaining that leveling is too fast.

SOE can at any time add anything they want to that list if people accept it.  They already started doing it with the card game.  They did it with station exchange after they railed against the negative affects gold selling had on their games.  The list goes on and on and one with this company and their double talk.

Don't you for one second think they will not add items that are totally innappropriate for cash sales if they think it will make them a nickle more than they already make.  This has been their plan for several years now and it is pretty clear this is just a baby step in the process to get their games to subscription fees PLUS micro transactions.

Originally posted by Daffid011

Originally posted by andykimbroug

the items are like house pets and armor with no stats.  its is all fluff.  COH has similar items.  you can buy xp potions like you get for vet awards.  With the way they are making leveling easy, I'm not sure that the xp pots are all the intersting.  people are already complaining that leveling is too fast.

 

SOE can at any time add anything they want to that list if people accept it.  They already started doing it with the card game.  They did it with station exchange after they railed against the negative affects gold selling had on their games.  The list goes on and on and one with this company and their double talk.

 

Don't you for one second think they will not add items that are totally innappropriate for cash sales if they think it will make them a nickle more than they already make.  This has been their plan for several years now and it is pretty clear this is just a baby step in the process to get their games to subscription fees PLUS micro transactions.

 

 

Exactly,

You can count on a lot of people are going to quit over this (I did) and that's why they stealth patched it in AFTER the TSO expansion!

They just wanted to get as much profit from expansion sales and then push this Cash Shop through our troats in a desperate attempt that so shortly after the expansion launch people will not quit over this!

It's basically a SCAM they have pulled on us!

1. John Smedly said with the introduction of Station Exchange CLEARLY that no RMT kind of system would ever be implemented on their current non-exchange live servers!

2. They didn't gave us a warning nor heads up plenty of time beforehand nor has this been on PTS!

3. They deliberately waited till a couple weeks after the TSO expansion to maximise their expansion sales!

I have canceled, my gf has canceled, many of my friends have canceled all their accounts!

This has been the last straw for us. We endured the NGE debacle with SWG (a great game we all loved) and we gave SOE a second chance with EverQuest 2.

And now they pull this stunt on us! No we will NEVER EVER want anything to do with SOE ever again!

Cheers

it's just crappy no real use items you can buy.  Like stuff to make your player house look neat, or cool looking armor that has zero stats.  If they make it to were you can buy useful items (armor, swords, gold, ect.), then that would be the death of the game and SOE for sure!!!

Originally posted by Yennik

it's just crappy no real use items you can buy.  Like stuff to make your player house look neat, or cool looking armor that has zero stats.  If they make it to were you can buy useful items (armor, swords, gold, ect.), then that would be the death of the game and SOE for sure!!!

They already did it with Legends of Norrath. That started innocent too with just loot cards containing useless fluff stuff. Now look at what the loot cards have today!

So you know where this Cash Shop is heading to. Just a matter of time.

As you can count on that no fluff and later no real stuff will be added for free anymore, while they now can add it the cash shop from now on and ask money for it.

You forget that these so called Fluff items like house items, pets, cosmetical clothing is greatly valued by a lot of people!

EQ2 community have been crying for more house items, pets, cosmetical clothing in the game, as EQ2 has one of the largest MMO Roleplay communities.

So especially for them this Cash Shop is a huge slap in their face! All that they have asked for for a long time is now here and they now have to PAY for it ON TOP of their monthly subscription fee!

-----------------

You know what the worst in all this is, that on top of that John Smedly lied flat out in our face a while ago claiming that this kind of crap would never be implemented on the non-exchange servers....

...that they now on the official forums claim that they did a ingame survey about this cash shop and that this is what the majority wanted!

Me, nor my gf nor any of my friends, nor any other people I know ingame, nor any people on the official forums have ever heard of this survey nor seen it!

It doesn't exist! It's just an excuse and their way to justify this STEALTH patch with more lies and a non-existant survey!

They did it back then with the NGE update, claiming it was what the majority wanted, and now they did it again with this Cash Shop.

Have a nice day.

Originally posted by salvaje

When Smed speaks of RMT and "macrotranscams" and the subscription model being dead, what he means is that he will make it so that your $14.95 isn't enough to play the game.

Sure, right now they are fluff items.  That WILL change.  Look at the SWG card game, the first round of loot cards there were fluff too, now they are introducing must haves in the second round.

I guarantee that they WILL sell stuff for EQ/EQ2 that will be perceived as "must haves" that will give players who fork over cash an advantage over those who don't, and that it will happen sooner than you think.  Round one is meant to appear innocuous so you won't object too loudly.

Smed, after all, has a reputation as the most hated man in the MMO industry to keep up, after all.

 

Nope, they're all still pretty much fluff cards...

"They already did it with Legends of Norrath. That started innocent too with just loot cards containing useless fluff stuff. Now look at what the loot cards have today!"

LON loot cards are still fluff items. What items on Legends of Norrath are a "must have." Its illusions, house items, mounts and cloaks. Apparently, you dont know anything of what you speak in regards to that statement.

"Me, nor my gf nor any of my friends, nor any other people I know ingame, nor any people on the official forums have ever heard of this survey nor seen it!"

I remember it. I just took another one recently.

If something as minor as this causes you this much pain, where you feel its as big a deal as the NGE,  I feel sorry for you. The items are crap, which has been said already. Hell, you can go look for yourself. These items will probably never be as good as LON loot cards, because it will take alot of business from that game. These items are probably items that didnt make the LON loot card table. The rejects. Why let em go to waste.

All these complaints make me laugh.

Am I happy they added this...   no

do i care...  no

why?

because if i dont want the fluff... i dont buy it. And thats all it is...is fluff.

They would not add it if there wasnt a market for it. So who do we blame... the company for doing what every company does/needs to ...."make money" or the players that are buying this stuff that keeps this kinda of marketing in play?

To me it doesnt effect my game play, i have no need for more house pets or armor thats just for looks 

I see and know of ppl that have paid cash for LoN game cards so they can have more fluffy items... only diff here is now instead of paying some random person for an item they have; you are giving the money to SOE. So like i said who is really to blame here... the player that keep this kinda marketing in play or the company thats doing what all companies do... try and make a profit.

If SOE ever sells items that are "needed" then yes that is total BS!

no really, the items are total crap fluff.  Even the best LoN items aren't all that great.

the objection is that maybe one day SOE might do something that the player really don't want them to do like sell uber items since now they have a mechanims to do so... so you are quiting the game because of something that might happen and not because of something that did happen?

this is like the stupid adventure pack idea that they use to have.  you know the mini expansion that cost like $6 that they now give away with each expansion.  some of these experiments don't work out and that is ok. 

I'd like to have cooler house pets.  if this is the way they worked out how to fund the dev and art work, well ok.  EQ2 isn't the massive sucess that WoW is.  There are limited resources to make things happen.

Personally, I think this idea is going to fail to make SOE any money because no one wants to pay for crap fluff. and I also think the stuff is crap and won't break the game.

I cancelled my acccount too. Which is a shame, because I really had fun playing. I don't care if it's 'fluff', or if it's the +infinite IWIN Sword of AssWhupping, the concept is the same: someone got something by buying it, not earning it. There's a lot of people who spend a lot of time working on their player housing, and they work really hard to get that 'fluff'. Now the best players (however you choose to define 'best') isn't necesarily the best any more, just the richest.

Just out of curiosity, what was the population like on the two Station Exhange servers that were *already there*? They must have been pretty popular for SOE to implement that scheme plan across all the servers...

Guild Wars: abandoned. Tabula Rasa: killed. EQII: screwed. Back to WoW, I guess...

Originally posted by ZsasZ

I cancelled my acccount too. Which is a shame, because I really had fun playing. I don't care if it's 'fluff', or if it's the +infinite IWIN Sword of AssWhupping, the concept is the same: someone got something by buying it, not earning it. There's a lot of people who spend a lot of time working on their player housing, and they work really hard to get that 'fluff'. Now the best players (however you choose to define 'best') isn't necesarily the best any more, just the richest.

Just out of curiosity, what was the population like on the two Station Exhange servers that were *already there*? They must have been pretty popular for SOE to implement that scheme plan across all the servers...

Guild Wars: abandoned. Tabula Rasa: killed. EQII: screwed. Back to WoW, I guess...

There are a lot if not all the house items from the LoN cards that can only be have if you got the card.... so if you want it... you are going to have to trade or pay for it from the person who has it. Which involves 0 "hard work"

I dont see how this is any diff....

I dont agree with it but im not going to stop playing a game when they add a feature that im never going to use.

Originally posted by streea

Wasn't this supposed to be only implimented on certain servers? Because if not... wow. Just wow. I'm glad I don't play EQ2, because if I was enjoying any MMO that did this, I'd be pretty upset and have to leave.

there are 2 servers in eq2 that you can sell toons, items and goods on a cash market, this other stuff is fluff items available for everyone and in no way distorts the normal gameplay, as Sony has just had to lay off over 1000 people, they implemented this to try to recover some revenue in the failing economy market, and the items have no effect on the gameplay they are little odds and ends that go into the appearance feature of yer charecter with no stats, as well as some house pets and low quality experie3nce potions that everyone gets every eq/eq2 anniversery anyway.

Why do so many people not see the big picture. 

Can SOE add more and more powerful items to the store, yes.  They started in Everquest already to test the waters.

Did they add RMT to their games after they said it hurt the games, yes.

Most important is the change to the game design process now.  Remember all those quests and rewards that offered fluff items?  Well now it is in the best intereste of SOE to SELL THOSE ITEMS instead of putting them in the game as rewards for doing something that seems like a foreign concept to Sony, by actually playing the game.

Think about that.  It serves SOE better to NOT put content in the game that you can earn, but instead that you can only purchase. 

Where does the playerbase actually come ahead in any of this?  How much will it take before this actually affects you, because it will happen.  This is the company that screws its playerbase over time and time again.

   SOE is definently a company that has been out of touch with it's paying customers for ages.  My interest with EQ2 went out the window with the latest expansion so have been logging less and less hours each week so I won't lie when I say I was probably looking for any excuse to cancel thus this was the proverbial straw.

   I do believe this is just an initial testing the waters foray with ever more must have items making their way into the system. 

Smedley saying one thing and then doing the opposite.  Stealth patches.  Huge changes to games after launch that will affect how you play the game.  The ingratitude by Smedley and SOE for the hundreds of dollars you have spent on the games, their expansions, hardware upgrades, etc.  The shock by the current SOE community is akin to a woman who dates a man who is a known abuser, and then is surprised when she gets beat up. 

You all had ample warning, but the NGE vets were criticized and demonized.  And now once again we have yet another example of the contempt with which SOE holds it's players.

The ONLY way SOE will get the message is if EVERYONE cancels their account  to send a very loud message that the WE the customers have a say in the integrity of our games, and how they are run.  Hurting the bottom line is not enough.  We have seen how they are willing to run these games with only a few people on the servers and skeleton crews of developers.  We can't hurt their bottom line, we have to make it flatline.

But I suspect, like in my analogy above, a sufficient number of players will go crawling back and take what ever further abuse SOE and the Smedmeister has in store. 

Originally posted by Maddthwips

"They already did it with Legends of Norrath. That started innocent too with just loot cards containing useless fluff stuff. Now look at what the loot cards have today!"

LON loot cards are still fluff items. What items on Legends of Norrath are a "must have." Its illusions, house items, mounts and cloaks. Apparently, you dont know anything of what you speak in regards to that statement.

"Me, nor my gf nor any of my friends, nor any other people I know ingame, nor any people on the official forums have ever heard of this survey nor seen it!"

I remember it. I just took another one recently.

If something as minor as this causes you this much pain, where you feel its as big a deal as the NGE,  I feel sorry for you. The items are crap, which has been said already. Hell, you can go look for yourself. These items will probably never be as good as LON loot cards, because it will take alot of business from that game. These items are probably items that didnt make the LON loot card table. The rejects. Why let em go to waste.

All these complaints make me laugh.

 

You really don't get it do you?

You know wich part of playerbase is keeping EverQuest 2 afloat these days? It's sertainly not the hardcore raiders thats for sure.

They reside on the only High Pop server left... Antonia Bayle.

It's the Roleplayers.

A lot of people, and especially them actually do like these fluff items. They do like Cosmetic Armor sets. They do like these pets. They do like all these house items.

Items that used to be offered as rewards in events and special quests! You know... content that was actually fun!

If you had any idea or maybe actually playing this game, then you would have also known and seen all these housing and guild hall decorating contests that have taken place.

They have been asking for more of these so called Fluff items for a very long time and were never heard.

So you might not care about this Cash Shop and appearently it does not affect your gameplay (yet).

But for the LOYAL part of the EverQuest 2 playerbase this Cash Shop with all the items they have been graving for, is a HUGE slap in their face!

So don't you dare to tell me I don't know what I am talking about!

The Legends of Norrath loot cards give rare mounts, rare cloaks, jewelry, crafting specific items, etc lately. They are not all that fluff and crap anymore.

Ofcourse you do not need them. You can just run around naked in the game or just in the standard crafted or quest gear and just completely forget about the INGAME feature called appearence slots.

Ofcourse you do not have to use the INGAME feature called housing.

Rare mounts from LoN loot cards of the same quality as 12 platinum equivalent mount in the game is not fluff to me.

Since Legends of Norrath no so called fluff items have been added for free anymore to the game.

And now with the Cash Shop you can forget this will ever be added for free again. As why would they? They can now ask money for it!

And if you think it will all stay innocent and fluff only (altho the AA potions aren't fluff in many people's eyes), then you are very very naive.

I will tell you that within a year these cash shops will have turned into fully fledged Item Malls! You can count on it, as that's the direction SOE wants to go all along.

Only doing it on existing games, while they always said they would never do it, is just plain wrong and actually for many it does feel like a DeJaVu with the NGE back in SWG!

It's an alteration in game design! And it's also the way they have done it!

If this was really what the majority of the playerbase wanted, then they didn't have to be secretive about it and STEALTH patch it directly into live!

Ever thought about that?

Ofcourse not! But it's people like you that cause companies like SOE to continue getting away with crap like this.

Cheers

Just wondering...........XP-boosters = Fluff?

I alway's thought pure cosmetic visuals are considered fluff, paintings, new visuals on your armor/weapons sort of things, but I never thought that regardless you can get xp boosters just by playing the game never thought something like it would be considered fluff as to me a person who is BUYING xp boosters for real life cash WILL in fact have a advantage over those who do not BUY them.

And thought that fluff was not about getting advantage over other players in terms of actuall gameplay.

So fluff has now a broader meaning?

Originally posted by Reklaw

Just wondering...........XP-boosters = Fluff?

I alway's thought pure cosmetic visuals are considered fluff, paintings, new visuals on your armor/weapons sort of things, but I never thought that regardless you can get xp boosters just by playing the game never thought something like it would be considered fluff as to me a person who is BUYING xp boosters for real life cash WILL in fact have a advantage over those who do not BUY them.

And thought that fluff was not about getting advantage over other players in terms of actuall gameplay.

So fluff has now a broader meaning?

 

Yes, believe it or not, an XP booster IS  just fluff.

Ask yourself: why do you play MMO games? Presumably most people will answer "To have fun". For some that will entail actually playing through and enjoying all the content that has been written over the years for this game, while other (perhaps more casual) gamers would rather fast-track through that to see what the (potentially more challenging or engaging) end content has to offer.

Cute RP clothing aside, all SOE are really offering their players is the option of how they want to play their games. Once at the level cap XP becomes a moot point, and is certainly not a determining factor in how competitive a player is in PvP (raid gear, and skill/experience playing the game are what really count). This is not  going to give anyone any kind of 'advantage' in the game. It's just a fast-forward button for those who can't be bothered with the journey, or for those who are put off from playing these older games by the thought that they're going to be so far behind the curve of the existing community. Guild Wars had this feature in from day one (the ability to make a max-level toon for some quick PvP action) and it's worked fine... certainly it has done nothing to unbalance the game or detract from the enjoyment of those who chose to take the longer road to the top.

So why is it that every time Sony does anything even remotely contentious or innovative in this stagnant genre (for better or worse) there's this unprecedented kneejerk reaction from their gaming community? Out come the pitchforks and flaming torches, and mob mentality takes over. It's become fashionable to hate SOE and attribute them the role of 'villain' in the MMOsphere, but the truth is many will embrace these changes and many more will choose to ignore them and go about their gaming lives unaffected by them.

The sky is not falling. More than anything, I pity those who decide to stop playing a game they love simply through some misguided sense of moral outrage or social injustice. At the end of the day they're mostly hurting themselves.

Originally posted by Greek_Matt

Originally posted by Reklaw

Just wondering...........XP-boosters = Fluff?

I alway's thought pure cosmetic visuals are considered fluff, paintings, new visuals on your armor/weapons sort of things, but I never thought that regardless you can get xp boosters just by playing the game never thought something like it would be considered fluff as to me a person who is BUYING xp boosters for real life cash WILL in fact have a advantage over those who do not BUY them.

And thought that fluff was not about getting advantage over other players in terms of actuall gameplay.

So fluff has now a broader meaning?

 

 

Yes, believe it or not, an XP booster IS  just fluff.

Ask yourself: why do you play MMO games? Presumably most people will answer "To have fun". For some that will entail actually playing through and enjoying all the content that has been written over the years for this game, while other (perhaps more casual) gamers would rather fast-track through that to see what the (potentially more challenging or engaging) end content has to offer.

Cute RP clothing aside, all SOE are really offering their players is the option of how they want to play their games. Once at the level cap XP becomes a moot point, and is certainly not a determining factor in how competitive a player is in PvP (raid gear, and skill/experience playing the game are what really count). This is not  going to give anyone any kind of 'advantage' in the game. It's just a fast-forward button for those who can't be bothered with the journey, or for those who are put off from playing these older games by the thought that they're going to be so far behind the curve of the existing community. Guild Wars had this feature in from day one (the ability to make a max-level toon for some quick PvP action) and it's worked fine... certainly it has done nothing to unbalance the game or detract from the enjoyment of those who chose to take the longer road to the top.

So why is it that every time Sony does anything even remotely contentious or innovative in this stagnant genre (for better or worse) there's this unprecedented kneejerk reaction from their gaming community? Out come the pitchforks and flaming torches, and mob mentality takes over. It's become fashionable to hate SOE and attribute them the role of 'villain' in the MMOsphere, but the truth is many will embrace these changes and many more will choose to ignore them and go about their gaming lives unaffected by them.

The sky is not falling. More than anything, I pity those who decide to stop playing a game they love simply through some misguided sense of moral outrage or social injustice. At the end of the day they're mostly hurting themselves.

I felt I asked a legit question, didn't know my question would be seen as The Sky Is Falling.

Originally posted by Reklaw

Originally posted by Greek_Matt

Originally posted by Reklaw

Just wondering...........XP-boosters = Fluff?

I alway's thought pure cosmetic visuals are considered fluff, paintings, new visuals on your armor/weapons sort of things, but I never thought that regardless you can get xp boosters just by playing the game never thought something like it would be considered fluff as to me a person who is BUYING xp boosters for real life cash WILL in fact have a advantage over those who do not BUY them.

And thought that fluff was not about getting advantage over other players in terms of actuall gameplay.

So fluff has now a broader meaning?

 

 

[see below]

 

I felt I asked a legit question, didn't know my question would be seen as The Sky Is Falling.

You're right, it was unfair of me to direct all of what I said specifically at you. Perhaps I should have clarified:

@ Reklaw:

Yes, believe it or not, an XP booster IS just fluff.

Ask yourself: why do you play MMO games? Presumably most people will answer "To have fun". For some that will entail actually playing through and enjoying all the content that has been written over the years for this game, while other (perhaps more casual) gamers would rather fast-track through that to see what the (potentially more challenging or engaging) end content has to offer.

Cute RP clothing aside, all SOE are really offering their players is the option of how they want to play their games. Once at the level cap XP becomes a moot point, and is certainly not a determining factor in how competitive a player is in PvP (raid gear, and skill/experience playing the game are what really count). This is not going to give anyone any kind of 'advantage' in the game. It's just a fast-forward button for those who can't be bothered with the journey, or for those who are put off from playing these older games by the thought that they're going to be so far behind the curve of the existing community. Guild Wars had this feature in from day one (the ability to make a max-level toon for some quick PvP action) and it's worked fine... certainly it has done nothing to unbalance the game or detract from the enjoyment of those who chose to take the longer road to the top.

@ the hundred SOE flame threads on this forum alone:

So why is it that every time Sony does anything even remotely contentious or innovative in this stagnant genre (for better or worse) there's this unprecedented kneejerk reaction from their gaming community? Out come the pitchforks and flaming torches, and mob mentality takes over. It's become fashionable to hate SOE and attribute them the role of 'villain' in the MMOsphere, but the truth is many will embrace these changes and many more will choose to ignore them and go about their gaming lives unaffected by them.

The sky is not falling. More than anything, I pity those who decide to stop playing a game they love simply through some misguided sense of moral outrage or social injustice. At the end of the day they're mostly hurting themselves.

Originally posted by Greek_Matt

Yes, believe it or not, an XP booster IS  just fluff.

Ask yourself: why do you play MMO games? Presumably most people will answer "To have fun". For some that will entail actually playing through and enjoying all the content that has been written over the years for this game, while other (perhaps more casual) gamers would rather fast-track through that to see what the (potentially more challenging or engaging) end content has to offer.

Cute RP clothing aside, all SOE are really offering their players is the option of how they want to play their games. Once at the level cap XP becomes a moot point, and is certainly not a determining factor in how competitive a player is in PvP (raid gear, and skill/experience playing the game are what really count). This is not  going to give anyone any kind of 'advantage' in the game. It's just a fast-forward button for those who can't be bothered with the journey, or for those who are put off from playing these older games by the thought that they're going to be so far behind the curve of the existing community. Guild Wars had this feature in from day one (the ability to make a max-level toon for some quick PvP action) and it's worked fine... certainly it has done nothing to unbalance the game or detract from the enjoyment of those who chose to take the longer road to the top.

So why is it that every time Sony does anything even remotely contentious or innovative in this stagnant genre (for better or worse) there's this unprecedented kneejerk reaction from their gaming community? Out come the pitchforks and flaming torches, and mob mentality takes over. It's become fashionable to hate SOE and attribute them the role of 'villain' in the MMOsphere, but the truth is many will embrace these changes and many more will choose to ignore them and go about their gaming lives unaffected by them.

The sky is not falling. More than anything, I pity those who decide to stop playing a game they love simply through some misguided sense of moral outrage or social injustice. At the end of the day they're mostly hurting themselves.

For you it might be fluff, for others it is not.

Everyone plays the game differently.

Fact is, that a very large part of the community in EverQuest 2 are Roleplayers in one form or the other.

Hence the reason that Antonia Bayle (RP server) is basically the only EQ2 server left with a High population.

These people value these so called Fluff items a great deal!

In fact, they have been asking for more cosmetical armor sets, cloaks, etc. More House items, more cute pets, whatever for a long long time.

There are a jitload of dedicated EQ2 players out there that don't give a toss about Endgame Raiding, but spending almost their entire time questing and searching to collecting these fluff items to make their character look unique and have a tremendous fun and go to great lengths in decorating their ingame houses!

So for all these people this actually is a great deal!

These people want to play the game to earn and get these fluff items and not being forced to buy them with real money on top of their subscription fees!

---------------------------

And again, more important is all the deceiving and lies and secrecy that has gone on around this Cash Shop!

SOE knew most EQ2 players are against it! As you know the discussions around Station Exchange that caused John Smedly himself to post in the official forums to calm people down by promissing them that this kind of crap would never be done to the non-exchange servers!

So much for a promise isn't?

So much for a morale and customer serving way of implementing this?

Right after the major expansion pack (to maximise it sales) and then stealth patch it in without their paying customers consent!

Even worse, they are trying to justify their actions by saying they did an ingame survey about this and that this was what the majority wanted! A survey no one had heard of nor ever seen! Just another bullshit lie.

So it's not just this Cash Shop system, but it's how it has been pushed through our troats in a sick and scamming way!

Just how it was done with the NGE in Star Wars Galaxies back then! That's why I was referring to it! It's DeJaVu all over again!

Cheers

Originally posted by Guillermo197 

For you it might be fluff, for others it is not.

Everyone plays the game differently.

Fact is, that a very large part of the community in EverQuest 2 are Roleplayers in one form or the other.

Hence the reason that Antonia Bayle (RP server) is basically the only EQ2 server left with a High population.

These people value these so called Fluff items a great deal!

In fact, they have been asking for more cosmetical armor sets, cloaks, etc. More House items, more cute pets, whatever for a long long time.

There are a jitload of dedicated EQ2 players out there that don't give a toss about Endgame Raiding, but spending almost their entire time questing and searching to collecting these fluff items to make their character look unique and have a tremendous fun and go to great lengths in decorating their ingame houses!

So for all these people this actually is a great deal!

These people want to play the game to earn and get these fluff items and not being forced to buy them with real money on top of their subscription fees!

---------------------------

And again, more important is all the deceiving and lies and secrecy that has gone on around this Cash Shop!

SOE knew most EQ2 players are against it! As you know the discussions around Station Exchange that caused John Smedly himself to post in the official forums to calm people down by promissing them that this kind of crap would never be done to the non-exchange servers!

So much for a promise isn't?

So much for a morale and customer serving way of implementing this?

Right after the major expansion pack (to maximise it sales) and then stealth patch it in without their paying customers consent!

Even worse, they are trying to justify their actions by saying they did an ingame survey about this and that this was what the majority wanted! A survey no one had heard of nor ever seen! Just another bullshit lie.

So it's not just this Cash Shop system, but it's how it has been pushed through our troats in a sick and scamming way!

Just how it was done with the NGE in Star Wars Galaxies back then! That's why I was referring to it! It's DeJaVu all over again!

 

Cheers

You raise two points here which are quite different from the XP issue I was talking about, which deserve to be addressed separately.

1. SOE's community management

Can't argue with you here, Sony has once again managed to pull off a PR disaster of NGE proportions. In this case the substance of what they've actually implemented (in my opinion, as I've discussed previously and will further below) is not nearly as game-altering as many believe it to be. Nonetheless, the ham-fisted mishandling of community information and expectations, and the outright dishonesty, is something that once again Sony will be made to suffer for.

2. The value of "Fluff" items

Not being an EQ1/2 player myself I'll have to take your word for the passion the RP community feels towards this form of content, though to be honest it wouldn't surprise me in the least. I also don't know the finer details of Sony's planned implementation of the new microtransactional content. I guess how much it impacts on the game will depend on whether the newly available items (or whatever) will still be released as general in-game content that can still be quested for as well, or whether it will be purely and exclusively available in the item stores. If it's the latter then I would concede that I have probably underestimated the negative effect of Sony's actions. However if there is still the option to discover these items within the game, and the item store is just another 'shortcut' which players can use (to effectively bypass all the quest content involved in finding said items, just like the XP buffs) then I don't see it as nearly so much of a problem... once again it's something that individuals can chose whether or not to participate, depending on their play style. In fact, the incentive of potential extra revenue on SOE's part might well spur them to work harder towards creating more of this type of new content that the playerbase has been asking for, something they probably wouldn't have done otherwise - a win for everyone potentially.

Edit: The impact of these store-bought items is also dependent on whether the RP'ers in these games do in fact form "a very large part of the community" as you claim. It's easy to overestimate the importance and universality of one's own preferences, where in fact in most MMO games the RP community forms only a relatively small (albeit vocal) minority of the population. It could be different for EQ1/2, but without any tangible evidence I'm not really convinced that the changes, even if only available through item stores, will have as widespread an effect as you believe they will.

Originally posted by Greek_Matt

 

You raise two points here which are quite different from the XP issue I was talking about, which deserve to be addressed separately.

1. SOE's community management

Can't argue with you here, Sony has once again managed to pull off a PR disaster of NGE proportions. In this case the substance of what they've actually implemented (in my opinion, as I've discussed previously and will further below) is not nearly as game-altering as many believe it to be. Nonetheless, the ham-fisted mishandling of community information and expectations, and the outright dishonesty, is something that once again Sony will be made to suffer for.

2. The value of "Fluff" items

Not being an EQ1/2 player myself I'll have to take your word for the passion the RP community feels towards this form of content, though to be honest it wouldn't surprise me in the least. I also don't know the finer details of Sony's planned implementation of the new microtransactional content. I guess how much it impacts on the game will depend on whether the newly available items (or whatever) will still be released as general in-game content that can still be quested for as well, or whether it will be purely and exclusively available in the item stores. If it's the latter then I would concede that I have probably underestimated the negative effect of Sony's actions. However if there is still the option to discover these items within the game, and the item store is just another 'shortcut' which players can use (to effectively bypass all the quest content involved in finding said items, just like the XP buffs) then I don't see it as nearly so much of a problem... once again it's something that individuals can chose whether or not to participate, depending on their play style. In fact, the incentive of potential extra revenue on SOE's part might well spur them to work harder towards creating more of this type of new content that the playerbase has been asking for, something they probably wouldn't have done otherwise - a win for everyone potentially.

 

Edit: The impact of these store-bought items is also dependent on whether the RP'ers in these games do in fact form "a very large part of the community" as you claim. It's easy to overestimate the importance and universality of one's own preferences, where in fact in most MMO games the RP community forms only a relatively small (albeit vocal) minority of the population. It could be different for EQ1/2, but without any tangible evidence I'm not really convinced that the changes, even if only available through item stores, will have as widespread an effect as you believe they will.

 

On your point 2:

SOE already started with making ingame items exclusively for  Legends of Norrath loot cards.

So it is already happening since LoN was introduced.

The only difference with LoN is that card decks and booster packs drop in the game and so you have a chance to get them in the game by playing.

Ofcourse the chance of a boosterpack to drop is practically ZERO (altho you have some lucky people that run into a boosterpack now and then, be it that we talk about insane grinders here) and even more ZERO chance in getting the actual loot card.

The items offered on the Cash Shop are already exclusive for the Cash shop alone. Except the XP potions. But the AA poitions are exclusive (altho I myself and many others dont give a rat's rear end about these pots).

SOE is not stupid (well in a big way they actually are) and will make sure these items offered on the Cash Shop are exclusive to get maximum profit out of it.

___________________________

Edit: The impact of these store-bought items is also dependent on whether the RP'ers in these games do in fact form "a very large part of the community" as you claim. It's easy to overestimate the importance and universality of one's own preferences, where in fact in most MMO games the RP community forms only a relatively small (albeit vocal) minority of the population. It could be different for EQ1/2, but without any tangible evidence I'm not really convinced that the changes, even if only available through item stores, will have as widespread an effect as you believe they will.

___________________________

EverQuest 2 has the largest RP community of any game out there at the moment.

I was in a large RP guild myself on EU server splitpaw. A server wich I know has some other very large RP guilds as well.

But official RP server Antonia Bayle is the only High Populated server in EverQuest 2 at the moment and has a very large and dedicated RP community on that server.

You are right that in most other games the RP community is relatively small.

But the greatness of EverQuest 2 is the fact that it's THE BEST MMO game out there atm when it comes to offering a great RP environment.

It's all the fluff items and features it has. Great animations (chars looking at eachother and such), appearance slots with all kinds of cosmetic clothing and items. One of the best housing features (altho SWG pre-NGE is still the best), etc.

That's why the RP community within EverQuest 2 is one of the largest.

Before EverQuest 2  it was EverQuest 1 and Star Wars Galaxies who had the large RP communities. Especially Star Wars Galaxies. SWG still had the best community ever back then!

No other MMO till this day has been able to match the awesomeness of the old SWG community.

SWG didn't had any endgame! The community made the endgame themselves with RP events, Housing events, Player City events, the famous Rancor hunt events, etc.

That is why so many people are still upset and emotional about it till this day. People are still searching for the same feeling they had with old SWG and there isn't any.

Cheers

Originally posted by Greek_Matt

Originally posted by Reklaw

Originally posted by Greek_Matt

Originally posted by Reklaw

Just wondering...........XP-boosters = Fluff?

I alway's thought pure cosmetic visuals are considered fluff, paintings, new visuals on your armor/weapons sort of things, but I never thought that regardless you can get xp boosters just by playing the game never thought something like it would be considered fluff as to me a person who is BUYING xp boosters for real life cash WILL in fact have a advantage over those who do not BUY them.

And thought that fluff was not about getting advantage over other players in terms of actuall gameplay.

So fluff has now a broader meaning?

 

 

[see below]

 

I felt I asked a legit question, didn't know my question would be seen as The Sky Is Falling.

 

The sky is not falling. More than anything, I pity those who decide to stop playing a game they love simply through some misguided sense of moral outrage or social injustice. At the end of the day they're mostly hurting themselves.

 

I left EQ2 after SoE introduced the LON-cards because i am against playing with people who feel the need to use RL cash to get going in a game. Now seeying Smedley introduced a cash shop it's proof to me that i made the right decision. No it's not hurting myself because i enjoyed playing other mmorpg games. It did hurt SoE neither i guess besides not getting any money from me and my wife any longer.

If you think using RL cash in a game is normal that's ok but it's because of people like you this get's introduced. Enjoy your way of gaming. There is a reason that most SoE games hardly get 300k customers or more. The people have spoken.

So the sky has fallen? Nope but a lot of people are no longer providing SoE with their money and a lot of people won't be touching anything SoE provides.

It's no secret that Sony has a horrible reputation in both the Music and gaming industry as a huge, greedy and cold corporation. As experienced MMO gamers we all know the stories about SWG and so on, so this comes as no surprise, but yet by the amount of posts and anger this thread has generated this has still hit a nerve with those of us who do not play SOE games any longer.

Many of us understand that this is a business for these companies and it's all about making dollars. I am surprised that more companies do not offer discounted monthly fees to boost their player base and revenue instead of the milking approach. What sucks for me is that I loved eq & eq2 and I only left because of low server populations. I find SOE games for some reason have some of the friendliest communities in the MMO world, CoH notwithstanding. I very much found the opposite with WAR and WOW and I assume it may have something to do with PvP players vs. PVE. That's just a guess.

Alas, I find that the current state of MMO's is saturated and bleak. I find that none of the games that I have tried have a  world with such colour and vastness as that of the old eq1 Norrath, nor do they have the race/class variety and freedom. With SOE sinking to even deeper lows my hopes of someday seeing eq3 (not Vanguard which I liked and left for the same reason as stated before) fades as I am not sure I could ever play another Soe MMO.

As a final thought, another sad thing I have noticed over the years is how rude we all are to one another both in game and on forums such as this one. We need to stop blasting everyone who has a different opinion with rudeness and try to focus on more positive feedback. Just my two cents worth.

Originally posted by marzguitarz

It's no secret that Sony has a horrible reputation in both the Music and gaming industry as a huge, greedy and cold corporation. As experienced MMO gamers we all know the stories about SWG and so on, so this comes as no surprise, but yet by the amount of posts and anger this thread has generated this has still hit a nerve with those of us who do not play SOE games any longer.

Many of us understand that this is a business for these companies and it's all about making dollars. I am surprised that more companies do not offer discounted monthly fees to boost their player base and revenue instead of the milking approach. What sucks for me is that I loved eq & eq2 and I only left because of low server populations. I find SOE games for some reason have some of the friendliest communities in the MMO world, CoH notwithstanding. I very much found the opposite with WAR and WOW and I assume it may have something to do with PvP players vs. PVE. That's just a guess.

Alas, I find that the current state of MMO's is saturated and bleak. I find that none of the games that I have tried have a  world with such colour and vastness as that of the old eq1 Norrath, nor do they have the race/class variety and freedom. With SOE sinking to even deeper lows my hopes of someday seeing eq3 (not Vanguard which I liked and left for the same reason as stated before) fades as I am not sure I could ever play another Soe MMO.

As a final thought, another sad thing I have noticed over the years is how rude we all are to one another both in game and on forums such as this one. We need to stop blasting everyone who has a different opinion with rudeness and try to focus on more positive feedback. Just my two cents worth.

QFT! Very well written.

I really like the Devs on EverQuest 2. They are a great bunch who have put soul and heart in their game and still do.

EverQuest 2 is still one of the best PVE MMO's out there and offers the most features anyone can have and wish for in an MMO.

It's people like John Smedly who continue to screw over his customerbase with this kind of crap most people don't want in the game they are now playing. In this case EverQuest 2.

People have spoken LOUDLY when Station Exchange was introduced.

People have spoken LOUDLY when Legends of Norrath was introduced.

Yet all that is ignored by Mr. Smedly and he pushed this Cash Shop in a sneaky, secret scamming way through people's throats!

It's not only about the Cash Shop. It's about how and the way they have done it. Just like they did with the NGE.

So instead of bringing the playerbase more together and rake in more players to increase the population. They now make even more people quit the game, hurt the ingame population... just so they can rake in some extra $$$.

Cheers

Well I canceled my station account.  This pretty much is the death nell of SOE.  At least until Sony finally wises up and cans Smedley.  The ability for someone to buy their way to success is just appalling to many of us. 

Hope SOE's games tank big time.  No excuse for greedy producers who can't draw the line on a dispicable practices.

This just moves Smedley into the most despicable character in the genre.

And to anyone saying this RMT stuff is just fluff, I have one word for you B.LLS.T.

I was trialing EQ2, but after seeing this, pots to level faster and etc? this trial is over for me, and no chance of ever subscribing, the game is excelent, the best i tried for months but i wont play a game with this kind of policy

Originally posted by Guillermo197

Originally posted by Maddthwips

"They already did it with Legends of Norrath. That started innocent too with just loot cards containing useless fluff stuff. Now look at what the loot cards have today!"

LON loot cards are still fluff items. What items on Legends of Norrath are a "must have." Its illusions, house items, mounts and cloaks. Apparently, you dont know anything of what you speak in regards to that statement.

"Me, nor my gf nor any of my friends, nor any other people I know ingame, nor any people on the official forums have ever heard of this survey nor seen it!"

I remember it. I just took another one recently.

If something as minor as this causes you this much pain, where you feel its as big a deal as the NGE,  I feel sorry for you. The items are crap, which has been said already. Hell, you can go look for yourself. These items will probably never be as good as LON loot cards, because it will take alot of business from that game. These items are probably items that didnt make the LON loot card table. The rejects. Why let em go to waste.

All these complaints make me laugh.

 

 

You really don't get it do you?

You know wich part of playerbase is keeping EverQuest 2 afloat these days? It's sertainly not the hardcore raiders thats for sure.

They reside on the only High Pop server left... Antonia Bayle.

It's the Roleplayers.

A lot of people, and especially them actually do like these fluff items. They do like Cosmetic Armor sets. They do like these pets. They do like all these house items.

Items that used to be offered as rewards in events and special quests! You know... content that was actually fun!

If you had any idea or maybe actually playing this game, then you would have also known and seen all these housing and guild hall decorating contests that have taken place.

They have been asking for more of these so called Fluff items for a very long time and were never heard.

So you might not care about this Cash Shop and appearently it does not affect your gameplay (yet).

But for the LOYAL part of the EverQuest 2 playerbase this Cash Shop with all the items they have been graving for, is a HUGE slap in their face!

So don't you dare to tell me I don't know what I am talking about!

The Legends of Norrath loot cards give rare mounts, rare cloaks, jewelry, crafting specific items, etc lately. They are not all that fluff and crap anymore.

Ofcourse you do not need them. You can just run around naked in the game or just in the standard crafted or quest gear and just completely forget about the INGAME feature called appearence slots.

Ofcourse you do not have to use the INGAME feature called housing.

Rare mounts from LoN loot cards of the same quality as 12 platinum equivalent mount in the game is not fluff to me.

Since Legends of Norrath no so called fluff items have been added for free anymore to the game.

And now with the Cash Shop you can forget this will ever be added for free again. As why would they? They can now ask money for it!

And if you think it will all stay innocent and fluff only (altho the AA potions aren't fluff in many people's eyes), then you are very very naive.

I will tell you that within a year these cash shops will have turned into fully fledged Item Malls! You can count on it, as that's the direction SOE wants to go all along.

Only doing it on existing games, while they always said they would never do it, is just plain wrong and actually for many it does feel like a DeJaVu with the NGE back in SWG!

It's an alteration in game design! And it's also the way they have done it!

If this was really what the majority of the playerbase wanted, then they didn't have to be secretive about it and STEALTH patch it directly into live!

Ever thought about that?

Ofcourse not! But it's people like you that cause companies like SOE to continue getting away with crap like this.

Cheers

You make these statements and say I dont get it? You're making assumptions on something that hasnt happened yet. They havent added anything good to the Station Cash thing, yet. For all you know, they may never add anything good to it, and Station Cash may not last long at all. 

The items on Station Marketplace are crap, if you think ppl have been "graving" these items, then you definately dont know what you're talking about.  All you can get is a few house pets, some armor thats in game with one of the shoulders missing, some potions, and cosmetic pets. Yep, sorry, your right, thats what everybody wants, you're pretty good at knowing what ppl want, huh?

And LON, you're still crying about that. Yes, you can get Mounts, Cloaks, jewelry, and tradskill specific items, but its still fluff. The mounts are only 50%, while the fastest mounts are 52% soon to be 65%. These dont matter much, unless you want that specific look for your mount. 12 platinum is not hard to get. The cloaks, hell, they look really nice, and have some nice "fluff" abilities, but thats it. The jewelry/tradeskill stuff is nice, but nothing needed.

Now back to the cash shop, ur saying that SOE wants to turn Station Cash into a full fledged item mall. Well, Im sure you wouldnt make these claims, unless you had proof, right? Lets see it.

Alteration in game design? HAHAHAHA! Are you serious?

Stealth patched?  Okay, I can see where this would look like them trying to pull a fast one on ya, but if it was better concept, with better items, then I would agree with you on this. But its all garbage. I personally see this as them testing it on everyone, not just the Test Server.

I agree that these items should be acquired through quests and ingame money instead of the real life cash. I also feel (and hope) that this will never take off. But, these small additions, dont effect my gameplay. It isnt changing combat or the leveling system, nothing ingame atm is being changed to make way for this Station Cash garbage, so Ill continue to enjoy EQ2.

Originally posted by Reklaw

Just wondering...........XP-boosters = Fluff?

I alway's thought pure cosmetic visuals are considered fluff, paintings, new visuals on your armor/weapons sort of things, but I never thought that regardless you can get xp boosters just by playing the game never thought something like it would be considered fluff as to me a person who is BUYING xp boosters for real life cash WILL in fact have a advantage over those who do not BUY them.

And thought that fluff was not about getting advantage over other players in terms of actuall gameplay.

So fluff has now a broader meaning?

 

for better or worse, leveling in EQII is so easy and fast that XP pots are fluff. 

oh and selling items is nothing new to EQII.  I have all kinds of special house items and pets that I had to "buy".  They have promos all the time where you have to buy this or that mag and you get such and such item for free.  you have to buy the boxed version to get the mount.  if you buy the download, you don't get the mount. adventure packs come with items. blah blah blah

oh and they give you some station cash to start with so everyone can buy one of the pets or what ever you want.  I bought the slimy pet which is a little blue blob that sits on the floor an does nothing.  The RoK pet is much cooler.

And they have been adding new craft items since the launch of LoN.  My main toon is a carpenter. 

There are so many items already in the game through vet awards, adventure packs, expansions, promo offers, and LoN that come through purchases that I fail to see how this acutally changes anything.

In COH, the costumes are the most prized part of the game.  you can earn pieces through all kinds of quests.  When they added costume sets for purchase, there wasn't a player revolt.  I don't see how this is any different than what many games offer which is a bunch of extra crap if you are stupid enough to cough up a few bucks. big deal

we all hate SOE blah blah blah SOE is the root of all MMO evil blah blah blah

Originally posted by Daffid011

Why do so many people not see the big picture. 

Can SOE add more and more powerful items to the store, yes.  They started in Everquest already to test the waters.

Did they add RMT to their games after they said it hurt the games, yes.

 

Most important is the change to the game design process now.  Remember all those quests and rewards that offered fluff items?  Well now it is in the best intereste of SOE to SELL THOSE ITEMS instead of putting them in the game as rewards for doing something that seems like a foreign concept to Sony, by actually playing the game.

 

Think about that.  It serves SOE better to NOT put content in the game that you can earn, but instead that you can only purchase. 

 

Where does the playerbase actually come ahead in any of this?  How much will it take before this actually affects you, because it will happen.  This is the company that screws its playerbase over time and time again.

 

 

That's exactly how I feel about it. I have re subbed in september to experience the Halloween and Christmas events because I've always missed them before. My December payment has already gone though so I can't take it back, but SOE won't be getting more from me.

Fluff items are no big deal people? Well excuse me but I have never cared for stats in games, I care for looks, I am a fluff player and this announcement means that if I want new fluff items I no longer have to participate in a contest or do some quests, I have to spend MORE of my cash, on top of a monthly sub and payment for each expansion.

No Way. Buh bye SOE, I have actually suported you and defended you on occasion, but no more. I am truly sad to say that. And I'm not bitching because it's SOE if NCsoft puts this crap in Aion at  release or some time later, they'll get the same reaction.

Oh also in that email they sent out it says they added the cash shop BASED ON PLAYER FEEDBACK, and they are giving us what we asked for and wanted. WHAT? I don't ever recalled being asked if a cash shop was a good idea, NOT EVER. Thanks for lying to me via email.

But it is true MMO's have been doing this kinda of stuff for a while... If you want to get a special mount or some special in game fluff that can only be had if you spend an extra 40 bucks to get the special edition box. So not only are you paying for the expansion/game/content now you are paying about 40 bucks more for a mount.... or some in game fluff. If you ask me THATs a rip off.... 40+ buck for a fluff mount/item.... 

I see this Cash Store failing just as bad as the Adventure Packs.

O yeah

Cynthe

"Oh also in that email they sent out it says they added the cash shop BASED ON PLAYER FEEDBACK, and they are giving us what we asked for and wanted. WHAT? I don't ever recalled being asked if a cash shop was a good idea, NOT EVER. Thanks for lying to me via email"

I think that in game survey they had about a week ago (i didnt take it myself) but was told it was talked about in there. And yes.... sadly i know someone who did vote yes on it. But then again it doesnt suprise me, this guy spent almost 75 buck on a rare LoN in-game loot card. Said he feels SOE would give him a better deal then he has been getting from the ppl with ingame loot cards that he wants.....

Originally posted by Nocuma

I see this Cash Store failing just as bad as the Adventure Packs.

O yeah

Cynthe

"Oh also in that email they sent out it says they added the cash shop BASED ON PLAYER FEEDBACK, and they are giving us what we asked for and wanted. WHAT? I don't ever recalled being asked if a cash shop was a good idea, NOT EVER. Thanks for lying to me via email"

I think that in game survey they had about a week ago (i didnt take it myself) but was told it was talked about in there. And yes.... sadly i know someone who did vote yes on it. But then again it doesnt suprise me, this guy spent almost 75 buck on a rare LoN in-game loot card. Said he feels SOE would give him a better deal then he has been getting from the ppl with ingame loot cards that he wants.....

Oh the Adventure packs, those are the reasons I left the game in the first place, they pissed me off so much. ><

Obviously I missed that survey, and I'm guessing other players who have other MMOs on the go, or other games, probably did too. But ONE week to code all of that? Really? No way, it was already in the works and they already wanted to push it to live, the survey and this little email we got on the 9th was to cover their butts. Also I have an email since I got the announcement ,why not email the survey? If they REALLY cared about numbers? Unless I missed that too.

:S

Didn't know SOE was going the chinese way (bad mmorpgs + item shop)

Originally posted by Cynthe

Originally posted by Nocuma

I see this Cash Store failing just as bad as the Adventure Packs.

O yeah

Cynthe

"Oh also in that email they sent out it says they added the cash shop BASED ON PLAYER FEEDBACK, and they are giving us what we asked for and wanted. WHAT? I don't ever recalled being asked if a cash shop was a good idea, NOT EVER. Thanks for lying to me via email"

I think that in game survey they had about a week ago (i didnt take it myself) but was told it was talked about in there. And yes.... sadly i know someone who did vote yes on it. But then again it doesnt suprise me, this guy spent almost 75 buck on a rare LoN in-game loot card. Said he feels SOE would give him a better deal then he has been getting from the ppl with ingame loot cards that he wants.....

 

Oh the Adventure packs, those are the reasons I left the game in the first place, they pissed me off so much. ><

Obviously I missed that survey, and I'm guessing other players who have other MMOs on the go, or other games, probably did too. But ONE week to code all of that? Really? No way, it was already in the works and they already wanted to push it to live, the survey and this little email we got on the 9th was to cover their butts. Also I have an email since I got the announcement ,why not email the survey? If they REALLY cared about numbers? Unless I missed that too.

:S

Lol dont feel bad only reason i knew about it was because i was bored one night and i was reading up on some of the new lore on EQ2 and i ran across this

Heres the link on the new survey

http://eq2players.station.sony.com/news_archive_content.vm?id=1994&section=News&locale=en_US 

I saw the survey via the EQII Launcher, but didn't take it.  I have to agree with Cynthe that this survey is in no way the reason why the cash (cow) shop has been introduced, as the development time just isn't sufficient to get it all done.

For me the introduction of this is wrong because of the "fairness" aspect, in that those with more money can have more things than those without the RL cash.  I prefer a level playing field where everyone has the same chances.  And yes I know there are arguments about how some players can spare more time so RL cash makes it fairer, but that argument is so obviously flawed that I hope most folks have stopped listening to it.

The introduction of this will probably make me quit the game, but not just because of the RL cash aspect.  The other side of this (and things like LoN) is that work that needs to be done on the base game is not being done.  Examples: From a crafting aspect there are bugs on armour and thaumaturgy reaction arts that have been needing attention for 10 months now (and must be a simple fix as the other crafting arts are working fine). There are upgrades needed to shields, bows and charms that are long over due.  The list of bugs affecting summoner pets seems to be increasing.  The bugs where mobs disappear into the landscape appear on the increase too.  Heck, there are just so, so many things in the base game that need addressing that seeing devs disappear to do these other things (so called fluff) is just soul destroying to someone who wants to actually play the game (as opposed to standing around say "coo look at me I am so rich in RL I can look like this"!  ) in an enjoyable manner.

This is my decision.  It's not a black and white case of this is right or wrong.  It's a case of this change (on top of the others) is wrong for me, and so it's time for me to make a stand and stop funding these changes.  

Fluff or not, for me that doesn't matter at all..

I cancelled my EQ2 sub some months ago, and nothing I've heard about the latest expansion makes it tempting to resub. Therefore, I decided to wait till next expansion to decide if EQ2 is something for me to come back to or not. With this new crap, the final decision was easy to make.

Goodbye, EQ2. I won't be coming back.

is it just me...or is anyone else reading this thread and having serious NGE flashbacks?  I mean, really.

For a second I could have sworn I was reading those same threads again.  Sony never ceases to amaze...

i quit eq2 because of this and found this website in search of a new mmo.

I also cancelled my EQ2 account by cancelling out of the station pass (which was $29.99 monthly and allowed you to play all of SOEs games) and renewing only with Vanguard for $14.99 monthly. Let me set the record straight on something here. I DO have disposable income, so this is not a rich vs. poor argument. I see folks driving around in $3000 cars with $500 rims and wheels. Those folks are willing to spend a large portion of their total income on such "fluff", while I am comfortable without those "upgrades".

I'm sure there is a parallel here. This argument does not have anything to do with disposable income. It is more about playing a game. It seems MMOs are no longer to be considered games.

OK, I play games, so I will need to be more careful with my MMO choices going forward.

My opposition to this scheme, which resulted in my cancelling of all current SOE accounts, is because I believe this is the first and substantial step in the direction of ugly content.

Content, gameplay, customization, and virtual worlds designed around these payment schemes to get more of our money in addition to the money fee. 

Many (many) of us MMORPG gamers (knowns as MMORPG consumers to them) will not tolerate this.

Subscriptions:  CANCELED.

Nickel and Diming has been the SOE way for as long as I can remember.

How many times have we heard about content that was supposed to be added to the existing game - for no additional cost - but was instead added as an expansion? I know I've seen several over the years - across all SOE's games (their own at least). SOE sees a way to milk the players a little more... so they do it.

The Adventure Packs - another way to nickel-and-dime for content that many other companies provide via normal content updates.... at no additional cost.  SOE sees a way to milk the players a little more... so they do it.

The LoN deal... once again... SOE sees a way to milk the players a little more... so they do it.

While other MMO companies are combatting RMT in one form or another... SOE embraces it by implementing Station Exchange. SOE sees a way to milk the players a little more... so they do it.

And now the item shops which, once again, after saying it wouldn't happen, the Smedster turns around and does it anyway... reprising the "blame it on the players" routine from the NGE trainwreck to justify it.

Before this, the only time I have ever seen an item shop implemented into a MMORPG has been one that is otherwise free to play. That has always been the distinction. Normal pay-to-play MMOs provide everything in the context of the game, included with the monthly sub. Free to play MMOs implement item shops as an alternative way to make money, by providing items that, when you really look at how some of them actually effect gameplay (it's not always immediately obvious), are *not* merely "fluff".

So once again, SOE is a "pioneer" in finding new ways to milk their customers for every penny they can.

I wonder what's next.

Whatever it is, we can all be sure of one thing...

If it's a way for SOE to milk the players a little more... they'll do it.

I have no problem with the implemention of another business model into an MMO already running. Just let grinders their XP-pots, let RPers their RP-clothes. They should have it, if they want to pay for it. Doesn't matter at all.

What really hits my nerve is yet another Dollar-Euro crap.

100SC = $1.00 = €1,00

Did I miss something? Why are Europeans supposed to pay roughly 35% more?

Even with 17% VAT it's just 0.85 Euro-cents.

So tell me, why the same service, the same virtual good - that doesn't even cost shipping - should be worth more in Europe. Thats just plain ripoff.

 I just went back to EQ2 and they pull this.   A lot of people are really mad about it.    

This is all interesting to me as I've been playing Last Chaos for some time now, which is an item mall game. That being said, I have hardly played the game in recent weeks due to the fact that the company that puts the game out has added more and more items for power levelers....which RUINS any concept of game balance.

I'd planned on trying the EQ games with the free trials, but with what I'm seeing here, is it worth my time.  IM based games start out with "fluff" items, but as the sales of those items slow down...(those that want em already have em) the company starts to add more "exclusive" items to keep the cash flow going...next thing you know, you have nooblets that make a toon then are at the higher echelons level wise within a week or 2......and that's what ruins the game.  They lose the flavor of the game and don't experience the game in a logical growth pattern, then get bored and move on to another game.  In the meantime, the older players who've gone through the normal growth pattern get frustrated that these new players who haven't paid their dues are able to "pwn" them in PvP with their essentially "bought through the item mall" characters end up leaving the game, killing the community base.

Due to these kinds of things, I will no longer play ANY game that has an item mall, as adding these things to an established game is a slap in the face of those that have worked hard to build their toons.

Originally posted by lnfinity

This is all interesting to me as I've been playing Last Chaos for some time now, which is an item mall game. That being said, I have hardly played the game in recent weeks due to the fact that the company that puts the game out has added more and more items for power levelers....which RUINS any concept of game balance.

I'd planned on trying the EQ games with the free trials, but with what I'm seeing here, is it worth my time.  IM based games start out with "fluff" items, but as the sales of those items slow down...(those that want em already have em) the company starts to add more "exclusive" items to keep the cash flow going...next thing you know, you have nooblets that make a toon then are at the higher echelons level wise within a week or 2......and that's what ruins the game.  They lose the flavor of the game and don't experience the game in a logical growth pattern, then get bored and move on to another game.  In the meantime, the older players who've gone through the normal growth pattern get frustrated that these new players who haven't paid their dues are able to "pwn" them in PvP with their essentially "bought through the item mall" characters end up leaving the game, killing the community base.

Due to these kinds of things, I will no longer play ANY game that has an item mall, as adding these things to an established game is a slap in the face of those that have worked hard to build their toons.

 

I can't agree with you more Infinity, but wow that red is hard on my eyes.  That is the reason item maul games can't keep players long.  Personally I am awed you stuck with Last Chaos, that is probably the grindiest of all the item mall games that I have tried.

The main reason I stayed with the game so long is my guild.  But as members from the guild have moved on, it made me question my dedication to the game as a whole.  Heck, my main's a 92 Archer/Healer in that game, and I just got bored after a bit, and the final straw was the decision they made to remove the monthly recall cards from the game.....an insult to the intelligence of the long time players who KNOW that the recall card is NOT the problem when it comes to power leveling.  Aeria's greed is killing the game off.  They only care about the bottom line, which means making it as easy (and expensive) as possible for the NEW players at the expense of the long time players that support their game.  Rather shortsighted of them methinks.

BTW this easier on the eyes?....

what are they selling?

mmo should not be cash shop and p2p at the same time...thats what pissed me off in iRO

Originally posted by SgtFrog

what are they selling?

mmo should not be cash shop and p2p at the same time...thats what pissed me off in iRO

right now, just decorative/fluff stuff. If they go with more essential items, i'll get pissed then

Originally posted by miagisan

Originally posted by SgtFrog

what are they selling?

mmo should not be cash shop and p2p at the same time...thats what pissed me off in iRO

right now, just decorative/fluff stuff. If they go with more essential items, i'll get pissed then

oh, thats not that bad, lets hope they dont get worse.

the hundred SOE flame threads on this forum alone:

So why is it that every time Sony does anything even remotely contentious or innovative in this stagnant genre (for better or worse) there's this unprecedented kneejerk reaction from their gaming community? Out come the pitchforks and flaming torches, and mob mentality takes over. It's become fashionable to hate SOE and attribute them the role of 'villain' in the MMOsphere, but the truth is many will embrace these changes and many more will choose to ignore them and go about their gaming lives unaffected by them.

The sky is not falling. More than anything, I pity those who decide to stop playing a game they love simply through some misguided sense of moral outrage or social injustice. At the end of the day they're mostly hurting themselves.
 

OK this is not how i see this Exp potions are not fluff when part of the fun of the game is leveling quicker then others dont this put a unfair advantage on the have vs the have nots?

i think this is the first step to alot of other things now if they want to make the game free then do rmt then they can join the other mmo,s but to me they are taking updates that were supposed to happen in mmo and putting them towards charged items.

in 2000 when i started everquest i was told that the reason we paid for a mmo was so that they would add more content for free because we were paying a monthly fee, what is it 13 paid expansions later and there are still imcomplete quests from the original game and places on the map never opened?

RIP sony please sell Eq to people who cared what the original game was about !

the only xp potion i saw on there is the achievement potion, which grants you a tiny bonus over 4 hours for achievement xp, do you know how often you get achievement xp as opposed to regular xp? RARELY. In fact, other than a noobie toon, you probably will find 1, maybe 2 achievement worthy xp npcs or locations in 4 hours, so that potion is a waste of money.

Originally posted by miagisan

Originally posted by SgtFrog

what are they selling?

mmo should not be cash shop and p2p at the same time...thats what pissed me off in iRO

right now, just decorative/fluff stuff. If they go with more essential items, i'll get pissed then

Why wait for it to happen.  Station cash opens the door for exactly what you describe and the Senior Producer has admitted they are discussing selling bigger better stuff like armor and weapons. 

You chastise people as being haters as they are upset about this, but right here you are saying that if the items were just a little different you would be lining up right behind them.  Is the difference really so drastic that you can't see how close you are to being one of "them"?

This is exactly what I have been talking about with the subscribers indifference.  Watching so many people think it will never happen to them is perplexing to say the least.  I don't know what could be a bigger red flag than how SOE snuck this in after saying they would never allow this sort of thing in the everquest series. 

Before you criticize someone for getting upset and leaving, consider this.  SOE factored them in as acceptable losses when they launched this.  They knew, just like they did with the NGE, this would cause people to leave.  Is it so hard to believe that if they are not challenged on this they won't do it again and you might be one of the acceptable losses next time?  Food for thought.

why wait? umm because maybe i am really enjoying EQ2 atm? i know crazy...someone can actually enjoy a mmorpg!

Originally posted by miagisan

why wait? umm because maybe i am really enjoying EQ2 atm? i know crazy...someone can actually enjoy a mmorpg!

You can enjoy a game and protest the direction it is heading at the same time...  Crazy huh?

or you can watch it head in a direction that you state would make you angry and complain about those who do take a stance.

you asked why am i playing it now? Because, right now it is fluff items being sold. If it remains like this i have no problem playing and not buying a thing. IF it gets worse, then i will quit and not whine like a 4 year old about it. You guys are currently making a huge issue out of the fluff items, and i dont agree with that, but WILL agree if they start seliing items which are gamebreaking.

Follow? It's not that hard. RIGHT NOW, it has no effect on my gameplay or fun.

Originally posted by marzguitarz

...
Many of us understand that this is a business for these companies and it's all about making dollars. I am surprised that more companies do not offer discounted monthly fees to boost their player base and revenue instead of the milking approach.  ...

...

As a final thought, another sad thing I have noticed over the years is how rude we all are to one another both in game and on forums such as this one. We need to stop blasting everyone who has a different opinion with rudeness and try to focus on more positive feedback. Just my two cents worth.

That is the odd thing about MMO's.  When the number of subscribers goes down, the pricing does not go down (the subscription rate), but rather upward.  In some case, the price change is radical, going to a Free-To-Play method.  Yet, reducing the subscription rates seems to be an unthinkable business idea...

As for we all blasting one another.  I believe that is due to our inherent nature of being gamers.  We are a competitive lot.

Originally posted by Cynthe
...

Fluff items are no big deal people? Well excuse me but I have never cared for stats in games, I care for looks, I am a fluff player and this announcement means that if I want new fluff items I no longer have to participate in a contest or do some quests, I have to spend MORE of my cash, on top of a monthly sub and payment for each expansion.

...

I had to quote this as this does directly impact one of the four groups of MMO players, the Socializers.  This does make complete sense to me and I find the quote by Cynthe to be justified.

Originally posted by miagisan

you asked why am i playing it now? Because, right now it is fluff items being sold. If it remains like this i have no problem playing and not buying a thing. IF it gets worse, then i will quit and not whine like a 4 year old about it. You guys are currently making a huge issue out of the fluff items, and i dont agree with that, but WILL agree if they start seliing items which are gamebreaking.

 

Follow? It's not that hard. RIGHT NOW, it has no effect on my gameplay or fun.

I didn't ask why you were playing now, I asked why don't you make a statement instead of argue with those who disagree with the direction this is going.  You are very close to being in the same sitaution as those you are complaining about, yet you do nothing.

Thats fine I suppose and I am very certain we will never hear you complain about anything SOE releated here.  Of that I am sure.

Originally posted by Dracus

Originally posted by Cynthe
...

Fluff items are no big deal people? Well excuse me but I have never cared for stats in games, I care for looks, I am a fluff player and this announcement means that if I want new fluff items I no longer have to participate in a contest or do some quests, I have to spend MORE of my cash, on top of a monthly sub and payment for each expansion.

...

I had to quote this as this does directly impact one of the four groups of MMO players, the Socializers.  This does make complete sense to me and I find the quote by Cynthe to be justified.

Yes oddly..

I played UO for a long time.  You had people that cried about the PvP and left.. you had people who PvP'd and cried about the murder system and/or stat loss and later Trammel.. and left.

I stuck around through it all.  I spent hours in the game trading rares...

In fact I'd say one of the biggest aspects of the game was these things people like to call "fluff".  Heck I used to do property speculation in UO... see someone selling a house cheaply.. buy it.  Decorate it some and sell it for a profit.

I suppose that's an odd concept to some people here.

Many things in UO weren't even intended or actual game systems.  Yet it lead to things like "better homes and castles" I think was the name of it.  Having events for the best looking house.. people who were paid in game money to decorate peoples houses.

Much of this showed up later in SWG.

I don't think EQ1 had much of this but EQ2 did.  People would decorate their house instance or hire someone to do it.

So some of these fluff items yes.. tread on those people.  Just as much as items that should have been schematics being added to SWG in the TCG.

etc etc

No it doesn't affect "game play".

It can affect how some people play.. and I think to attack people who have had their type of play affected.. just goes to show how much most people seem to only think of .. how they play and that everyone else should play that way.. and feel the way they do.

Which imho is pretty much how we got to the current crapfest we call MMO's.

I have to agree.
When I first played SWG, I did not think much of decorating.  I was more about adventuring and combat.  That was until I went into some other players house.  "This can be done?" or something like was what I asked.  Never thought about it really, until I saw what a player could do with a house.  I considered it more of a doll-house type of effect with action figures... but that did help me feel like a kid again.  Go about finding the things or talking to other players to know where or how.  The xp and credits suck, but having that 'combat useless' item, just to sit on a table in a house or guild hall,  all seemed worthwhile.

Or going about getting the "look" I wanted with clothes.  Clothes...  clothes are fluff, they offer no armor protection and are pretty much useless in combat; but yet have a place in a game, perhaps just like dressing up an action figure or doll, or getting into character.

Oh well...  Are you one of those characters who wears clothes and not always suited in armor?  Are you searching for a new cool look? No problem, just pony up some bills.

Does SOE's move actually surprise you people who are upset by this?

SOE has a long track record of being complete douche bags. If they commit some more douche baggery, is it surprising?

Instead of complaining, just quit their games. Don't pay them one cent!

SOE free for 13 months and loving it.

heh, I was going to come back to EQ2 after 2 years gone. Then found this, so not coming back, easy as that.

Originally posted by miagisan

you asked why am i playing it now? Because, right now it is fluff items being sold. If it remains like this i have no problem playing and not buying a thing. IF it gets worse, then i will quit and not whine like a 4 year old about it. You guys are currently making a huge issue out of the fluff items, and i dont agree with that, but WILL agree if they start seliing items which are gamebreaking.

 

Follow? It's not that hard. RIGHT NOW, it has no effect on my gameplay or fun.

Read the new Eula changes and attempt to say it is not a huge issue.  According to Sony they can distribution your personal information to anyone they please.  Attempting to defend these douche bags is a true exercise in futility, just makes you look entirely foolish.

Originally posted by Ozmodan

Originally posted by miagisan

you asked why am i playing it now? Because, right now it is fluff items being sold. If it remains like this i have no problem playing and not buying a thing. IF it gets worse, then i will quit and not whine like a 4 year old about it. You guys are currently making a huge issue out of the fluff items, and i dont agree with that, but WILL agree if they start seliing items which are gamebreaking.

 

Follow? It's not that hard. RIGHT NOW, it has no effect on my gameplay or fun.

 

Read the new Eula changes and attempt to say it is not a huge issue.  According to Sony they can distribution your personal information to anyone they please.  Attempting to defend these douche bags is a true exercise in futility, just makes you look entirely foolish.

Read Blizzard and CCP, as well as Turbines EULA....they do the exact same thing. Who looks foolish now?

Originally posted by miagisan

Originally posted by Ozmodan

Originally posted by miagisan

you asked why am i playing it now? Because, right now it is fluff items being sold. If it remains like this i have no problem playing and not buying a thing. IF it gets worse, then i will quit and not whine like a 4 year old about it. You guys are currently making a huge issue out of the fluff items, and i dont agree with that, but WILL agree if they start seliing items which are gamebreaking.

 

Follow? It's not that hard. RIGHT NOW, it has no effect on my gameplay or fun.

 

Read the new Eula changes and attempt to say it is not a huge issue.  According to Sony they can distribution your personal information to anyone they please.  Attempting to defend these douche bags is a true exercise in futility, just makes you look entirely foolish.

 

Read Blizzard and CCP, as well as Turbines EULA....they do the exact same thing. Who looks foolish now?

CCP might, but Blizzard and Turbine don't.  

wrong blizzard in their eula, claim they do scan your RAM and hardware to look for programs which might affect gameplay. They gather the information from your ram and retrieve it. So yes, information is getting uploaded about which programs you are running

Originally posted by miagisan

wrong blizzard in their eula, claim they do scan your RAM and hardware to look for programs which might affect gameplay. They gather the information from your ram and retrieve it. So yes, information is getting uploaded about which programs you are running

No personally identifiable information is being collected.  Blizzard is scanning for programs that interact with the memory space of Warcraft to stop hacking, cheating, botting, etc. The scan as I understand it happens on your system and not transmitted to the servers.  Show me where the Blizzard EULA says they get your consent to disclose your personal information to whomever they chose. 

SOE is saying they have the right to do whatever they chose with your personal information by any means they can get their hands on it.  They are flat out saying they will not keep your information private and will do with it as they please. 

You fail to see the difference for whatever reasons you are chosing, but there is a mountain of difference between the two. 

Originally posted by miagisan

Originally posted by Ozmodan

Originally posted by miagisan

you asked why am i playing it now? Because, right now it is fluff items being sold. If it remains like this i have no problem playing and not buying a thing. IF it gets worse, then i will quit and not whine like a 4 year old about it. You guys are currently making a huge issue out of the fluff items, and i dont agree with that, but WILL agree if they start seliing items which are gamebreaking.

 

Follow? It's not that hard. RIGHT NOW, it has no effect on my gameplay or fun.

 

Read the new Eula changes and attempt to say it is not a huge issue.  According to Sony they can distribution your personal information to anyone they please.  Attempting to defend these douche bags is a true exercise in futility, just makes you look entirely foolish.

 

Read Blizzard and CCP, as well as Turbines EULA....they do the exact same thing. Who looks foolish now?

SOE's EULA actually violates consumer protection laws, neither Blizzard or Turbines comes even close.  Next time, it would help if you read the Eula changes instead of writing an inane comment.
 

people really will complain about anything and everything, until you have proof that theres items available that will actually upset the game, STFU about stuff you know nothing about.

and for the people complaining about teh exchange servers or whatever, why not? its going to happen no matter what, 100% guaranteed, so why not have a safer way to do it for the people that want it? dont like it? stay off those servers.

Originally posted by streea

Wasn't this supposed to be only implimented on certain servers? Because if not... wow. Just wow. I'm glad I don't play EQ2, because if I was enjoying any MMO that did this, I'd be pretty upset and have to leave.

QFT

It was supposed to be on only a specific server.  That way those that had money to blow could buy up all the best gear, while those that didn't have money to waste could earn it the right way on a normal server.  I knew SOE was greedy but this is just low even for them.  Pretty much just guaranteed I'll never play EQ 1 or 2 ever again.

Originally posted by DrowNoble

Originally posted by streea

Wasn't this supposed to be only implimented on certain servers? Because if not... wow. Just wow. I'm glad I don't play EQ2, because if I was enjoying any MMO that did this, I'd be pretty upset and have to leave.

 

QFT

It was supposed to be on only a specific server.  That way those that had money to blow could buy up all the best gear, while those that didn't have money to waste could earn it the right way on a normal server.  I knew SOE was greedy but this is just low even for them.  Pretty much just guaranteed I'll never play EQ 1 or 2 ever again.

buy the best gear? man people are truly stupid on this site.

Originally posted by warmaster670

Originally posted by DrowNoble

Originally posted by streea

Wasn't this supposed to be only implimented on certain servers? Because if not... wow. Just wow. I'm glad I don't play EQ2, because if I was enjoying any MMO that did this, I'd be pretty upset and have to leave.

 

QFT

It was supposed to be on only a specific server.  That way those that had money to blow could buy up all the best gear, while those that didn't have money to waste could earn it the right way on a normal server.  I knew SOE was greedy but this is just low even for them.  Pretty much just guaranteed I'll never play EQ 1 or 2 ever again.

buy the best gear? man people are truly stupid on this site.

LOL in the 5 posts you have made on this site, they have all been pro-SOE and anti-sandbox. Smed, is that you?

Originally posted by Abrahmm

Originally posted by warmaster670

Originally posted by DrowNoble

Originally posted by streea

Wasn't this supposed to be only implimented on certain servers? Because if not... wow. Just wow. I'm glad I don't play EQ2, because if I was enjoying any MMO that did this, I'd be pretty upset and have to leave.

 

QFT

It was supposed to be on only a specific server.  That way those that had money to blow could buy up all the best gear, while those that didn't have money to waste could earn it the right way on a normal server.  I knew SOE was greedy but this is just low even for them.  Pretty much just guaranteed I'll never play EQ 1 or 2 ever again.

buy the best gear? man people are truly stupid on this site.

 

LOL in the 5 posts you have made on this site, they have all been pro-SOE and anti-sandbox. Smed, is that you?

ya my pro soe posts against people talking pure bs in most cases, damn me for defending something against made up crap.

or are you saying you can buy the best gear in EQ2 now with real money?

all i see here is a bunch of anti SOE whiners complaining about a problem that doesnt even exist.

and as for me being "anti sandbox" all i did was point out a fact, they want to make money, they wont make nearly as much money with a niche sandbox game, and i can see buy your post history is you just another butthurt anti SOE poster.

Originally posted by warmaster670

Originally posted by Abrahmm

Originally posted by warmaster670

Originally posted by DrowNoble

Originally posted by streea

Wasn't this supposed to be only implimented on certain servers? Because if not... wow. Just wow. I'm glad I don't play EQ2, because if I was enjoying any MMO that did this, I'd be pretty upset and have to leave.

 

QFT

It was supposed to be on only a specific server.  That way those that had money to blow could buy up all the best gear, while those that didn't have money to waste could earn it the right way on a normal server.  I knew SOE was greedy but this is just low even for them.  Pretty much just guaranteed I'll never play EQ 1 or 2 ever again.

buy the best gear? man people are truly stupid on this site.

 

LOL in the 5 posts you have made on this site, they have all been pro-SOE and anti-sandbox. Smed, is that you?

ya my pro soe posts against people talking pure bs in most cases, damn me for defending something against made up crap.

 

or are you saying you can buy the best gear in EQ2 now with real money?

 

all i see here is a bunch of anti SOE whiners complaining about a problem that doesnt even exist.

Granted current items are not exactly top end gear, but with the way SOE is going how long will that last.
 

Besides the Eula changes alone make SOE the prime target for any grief and deservedly so.

Originally posted by andykimbroug

Originally posted by Reklaw

Just wondering...........XP-boosters = Fluff?

I alway's thought pure cosmetic visuals are considered fluff, paintings, new visuals on your armor/weapons sort of things, but I never thought that regardless you can get xp boosters just by playing the game never thought something like it would be considered fluff as to me a person who is BUYING xp boosters for real life cash WILL in fact have a advantage over those who do not BUY them.

And thought that fluff was not about getting advantage over other players in terms of actuall gameplay.

So fluff has now a broader meaning?

 

 

for better or worse, leveling in EQII is so easy and fast that XP pots are fluff. 

 

oh and selling items is nothing new to EQII.  I have all kinds of special house items and pets that I had to "buy".  They have promos all the time where you have to buy this or that mag and you get such and such item for free.  you have to buy the boxed version to get the mount.  if you buy the download, you don't get the mount. adventure packs come with items. blah blah blah

oh and they give you some station cash to start with so everyone can buy one of the pets or what ever you want.  I bought the slimy pet which is a little blue blob that sits on the floor an does nothing.  The RoK pet is much cooler.

And they have been adding new craft items since the launch of LoN.  My main toon is a carpenter. 

There are so many items already in the game through vet awards, adventure packs, expansions, promo offers, and LoN that come through purchases that I fail to see how this acutally changes anything.

In COH, the costumes are the most prized part of the game.  you can earn pieces through all kinds of quests.  When they added costume sets for purchase, there wasn't a player revolt.  I don't see how this is any different than what many games offer which is a bunch of extra crap if you are stupid enough to cough up a few bucks. big deal

 

we all hate SOE blah blah blah SOE is the root of all MMO evil blah blah blah

So just because I ask a question in regards to fluff, I hate SOE?

Shame forums have become this way where people are unable to just answer a question without thinking there must be some hidden agenda behind it.

But if you feel my question is that of a SOE hater I can only tell you you couldn't be MORE WRONG.

Originally posted by andykimbroug

for better or worse, leveling in EQII is so easy and fast that XP pots are fluff. 

No its not fluff. Anything that influences your gameplay because you spend cash on it is not fluff. Becuase if you start calling that fluff, then where is the border of that fluff? Is 10% xp boost potion a fluff? Yes? Ok, how about 100%xp boost? yes? how about a potion that levels you to max level ? Still fluff?

Since there is no rule or law to define such border, then we must logically assume that anything, however small that is, that affects your gameplay giving you even the tiniest advantage over someone else just because u spent real money on it - then that is not fluff. Fluff is 100% cosmetic, something that does not influence your gameplay nor gives you advantage.

Originally posted by miagisan

you asked why am i playing it now? Because, right now it is fluff items being sold. If it remains like this i have no problem playing and not buying a thing. IF it gets worse, then i will quit and not whine like a 4 year old about it. You guys are currently making a huge issue out of the fluff items, and i dont agree with that, but WILL agree if they start seliing items which are gamebreaking.

 

Follow? It's not that hard. RIGHT NOW, it has no effect on my gameplay or fun.

So when you buy "fresh bread" and discover its actually dried bread, would you be silent? Or would you complain and try to get a refund/replacement? Because if you did try to complain, according to your logic, the manager would just say "Oh quit your whining and eat the dried bread".

People have the right to complain if they do not receive services/product they expected for their money. If anything, you are the one whining about legitimate complaints.

Originally posted by warmaster670

ya my pro soe posts against people talking pure bs in most cases, damn me for defending something against made up crap.

 

or are you saying you can buy the best gear in EQ2 now with real money?

 

all i see here is a bunch of anti SOE whiners complaining about a problem that doesnt even exist.

 

and as for me being "anti sandbox" all i did was point out a fact, they want to make money, they wont make nearly as much money with a niche sandbox game, and i can see buy your post history is you just another butthurt anti SOE poster.

It doesn't have to be "the best items". Anything that gives me advantage over you for a cost of my real life money is game-breaking. Its a different story whether you or I can tolerate those game breaking issues. Some can handle a lot of game breaking before they give up, some give up at the first game breaking event.

Originally posted by Tiranor

I have no problem with the implemention of another business model into an MMO already running. Just let grinders their XP-pots, let RPers their RP-clothes. They should have it, if they want to pay for it. Doesn't matter at all.

What really hits my nerve is yet another Dollar-Euro crap.

100SC = $1.00 = €1,00

Did I miss something? Why are Europeans supposed to pay roughly 35% more?

Even with 17% VAT it's just 0.85 Euro-cents.

So tell me, why the same service, the same virtual good - that doesn't even cost shipping - should be worth more in Europe. Thats just plain ripoff.

That is ridiculous indeed. They should of adjusted to the proper exchange rate. This is just a shamefull tactic to rip even more profit.

Love how the guy with under 10 posts indirectly calls me stupid, but doesn't explain why.  Ahh, the anonimity of the internet at its finest.

I'm sure SOE will keep the absolute best gear raid only, that's been the staple of EQ for years.  Though you can get some very nice attuneable gear from non-raids.  SOE just pretty much hung up a sign saying "All Gold Farmers Please come to this game ASAP".

A game should have a level playing field that rewards players how they play in the game, not how big their bank account is.