EQ going F2P in March

[JCL]

Hey guys it has just been announced that EverQuest will now be going Free to Play in early March.

We're excited to be expanding the EverQuest experience by making the game more accessible to every type of player so that you can choose to play the game in a way that suits you best. Anyone who wishes to start, return or continue to play one of the "Best Games of All-Time" can simply download and play EverQuest on their terms – think of it as Free to Play, Your Way. Recurring subscriptions, non-recurring subscriptions, Silver or Free memberships, item unlockers, and more. The game will now be setup to be flexible so that *you* can decide how much to pay, based on how much fun you're having.

Producer's Letter

More details:
http://www.everquest.com/free/

Now my opinion is with a lot of others: Vanguard should have gone F2P before EverQuest, but I will still probably check it out since I never really played the original EQ. We will see whether this hurts the game or makes it better.

[TILT]

I think the entire industry is leaning towards this F2P model now and Sony is actually late to the game in this respect. Not only will they gain more players since they loosely use the term "Free to Play", but they will also increase revenues since they pretty much nickle and dime these current/returning/new players into purchasing random station cash items and subscription fees that offer "extras" to the game experience.

In regard to the emulation community, I think this F2P model is actually a good thing since it makes the game more accessible. It may even drive more to seek a truly "free to play" game for both EQEmu and EQ2Emulator. I've seen random people posting on other sites/forums the question: "Why would someone create an emulator when the game is now F2P?" The real question here is, why not? Perhaps for customization, or maybe just to offer something that is truly free of subscription fees and/or what some might even consider crippleware, which (in my opinion) is what these industry standard F2P models really are by definition.

[John Adams]

"Why would someone create an emulator when the game is now F2P?" The real question here is, why not? Perhaps for customization, or maybe just to offer something that is truly free of subscription fees and/or what some might even consider crippleware, which (in my opinion) is what these industry standard F2P models really are by definition.

Bingo! Someone gets it! We're not creating an EQ2Emulator to compete with Sony, or steal their subscriptions. That would be ludicrous. We're doing this "because we can", primarily... and secondly, because we want to offer creative server admins the option to build an entirely custom game based on the world we all know and love.

My 2cp - anything that *ever* has a price tag on it is not truly "F2P". So they can call it F2P all they want. If I cannot experience full game immersion without supplying a credit card, then it is not Free. Yes, you can play EQ2 without spending a dime... but your experience is severely limited unless you pay. That too, is not "Free to Play", imo.

Hence, EQ2Emulator exists.

[ilythor]

The only good F2P model I've ever encountered was for an MMOFPS. You had to level up to unlock items, and do things in combat to earn cash, then purchase the weapons/armour/camo patterns/perks for a week, or a few days, or permanently, all with varying costs.

You could supply your CC and buy the items with real cash, but everything in the game was unlock-able with sheer hard work. Cash purchases were the same exchange rates for all level of costs, and the only difference is that they were listed as $ players in combat, to show off their dedication.

Extra Credits did an episode on Microtransactions and F2P models,it should be on youtube somewhere! There it is!

[Trahelion]

The only good F2P model I've ever encountered was for an MMOFPS. You had to level up to unlock items, and do things in combat to earn cash, then purchase the weapons/armour/camo patterns/perks for a week, or a few days, or permanently, all with varying costs.

You could supply your CC and buy the items with real cash, but everything in the game was unlock-able with sheer hard work. Cash purchases were the same exchange rates for all level of costs, and the only difference is that they were listed as $ players in combat, to show off their dedication.

Extra Credits did an episode on Microtransactions and F2P models,it should be on youtube somewhere! There it is!

I agree with this, Thats what I love about Lord of The Rings Online. Most of the content I unlocked on that game I unlocked by farming points/accomplishments.
If eq2 had that I would gladly be playing it, But for available content & restrictions, lotro has it right IMO.

ETA: Not that I won't check it out every now and then, I love classic EQ.

[Trahelion]

Actually, I just thought of something.

If they place restrictions on characters you can make, it may be a good idea to start a trial before it goes ftp and start a char of each class you want to play, just in case they want to place restrictions on FP's when it comes out.

If you want to play it, of course. Just a thought.