Why you should make broker avail to f2p

As I am sure many have pointed out but I'll bullet point the counterpoints that jumped to my mind:

• Why would a Free to Play Player want Krono. If you're trying to fund a Sub on Krono you're going to be grinding more than playing just to scrape your "sub" off the floor. The days of 400-500p Krono are long long gone.
• Why would Daybreak get rid of the fact that Free to Play players must spend $1.00 per 10 Broker Tokens? Thus removing a source of income on the offhand chance that those same players will pony up massive amounts of coin for Krono.
• Why should Daybreak open up the Broker to floodbots? By putting Broker behind a Subscription it forces the real botters (which by company definition, dev posts and other things seems to be people who play more than one character using Automation Software be it At-Keyboard with a Master Control Program (lol Tron reference) or AFK with full Bot-Software) to pay for a sub or use their own Krono.
• Making the broker free to access will not magically bring down Krono Costs nor will it visibly cause it to inflate faster. Krono are already extremely unstable and a market that the only person who wins is DBG.
• Everquest 2 is by FAR the most lenient and kind Free to Play model currently available. The closest competitor in model is Tera Online which has SUPER heavy incentivized micro-transactions that border on Pay for Power levels of Convenience.

Sony Online Entertainment knew exactly what they were doing when they introduced a Company Sanctioned means to sell In-Game Coin for a real world value, $18.00 and they put zero control's on it. They opened a gate for the community to go crazy and they reap in the cash form these "subscriptions" that over 100's of them have never ever and will never ever be redeemed. Daybreak Games has chosen to continue this model.

TLDR: go buy broker tokens and thank the company for giving you the ability to access almost 95% of the game without paying.

What you are calling "kronoaccounts" IS membership. You are still asking for a a MEMBERSHIP BENEFIT to be handed to F2P just so they can have all membership benefits. Why don't we just hand F2P players all membership benefits?

Also, if you can't farm the plat for kronos in the first place, say F2P does get full broker access....what is the entire point of your argument for F2P needing broker access for kronos?

I'm guessing the premise here is if ftp had access to the broker, they'd work the market to make plat to buy a krono. This assumes there are a lot of people lining up to spend cash to buy kronos to put on the broker. I personally think that kronos are pricey because the opposite is true. More people are looking o buy kronos with in game currency, then there are people looking to turn real world cash into plat.

Several other people have asked the question, but I haven't seen answered. What benefit of subscription is it that would drive a ftp to buy a krono if they had free access to the broker already? Asked another way, what benefit are ftp players craving that are causing them to quit (other than broker access of course) that they'd work consistently to earn enough plat to routinely purchase kronos?

Or is the OP looking ahead to the prestige gear that will come with the expansion?

Ristoril,

Clearly Daybreak should keep F2P just as it is, as it appears to be squeezing you in just the right manner.

Working as intended.

Nothing to see here, move along!

Just to point out, there is a 15-item limit but the Auction is available for all players in LOTRO. It makes no sense the way it is here. Access is easier and more unlimited when you go up in subscription level, but it's not totally on/off.

I thought you had to be a member to progress in levels beyond 95? Or does zam have that wrong?

http://eq2.zam.com/wiki/Membership_Matrix_(EQ2)

Nothing could squeeze me into paying for this game at the moment, it would endanger my job to give them payment information. You may not understand why, and I may not be allowed to tell you on this forum (without being kicked off), but trust me, some of us have no choice until Daybreak is sold again.

What ZAM means is levels 1-95 are available with the content a free account has access to. The levels 96-100 are part of AoM expac, which isn't given for free. A f2p account that buys the expac absolutely can get to level 100.

Level cap is not based on subscription level, it's based on which expansions you do (or don't) own. A subscribed member who does NOT own AoM is limited to lvl 95. A ftp member who DOES own AoM can level to 100.

No, the game content that you get for free only goes up to 95. If you buy the current expansion (just like members must do) you can level to 100.

In other words, someone strolls in and decides to try out the game: They get all content up to ToV, which has a cap of level 95.

I think everyone else has done a great job of pointing out that your argument is full of holes. I see no reason to echo any further what I've previously said, without you actually making a cohesive argument.

I think you really need to rethink this whole idea, but even if you do, I suspect you won't get it any better.

What my pocketbook? How quaint. It's squeezing out players, who just move long, nothing to see.


I feel like I stepped into an echo chamber here, with emotional responses (pitchforks for all here) and circular logic. I explain how they should increase the rewards for a subscription, yet this keeps getting brought repeatedly. I get told my argument is bad because it is bad, because it is full of "holes" , because it is bad , thumbs up!. I get told people who won't pay for subscription would pay for the same value in broker credits (except maybe if they are patient and lucky).

The data simply does not backup the claims that you make that this policy has helped EQ2 in anyway. Do we have to pull out subscription curves? The idea is not that EQ2's F2P is awesome (it is), its that F2P should be a transition phase that players exist in, churned through krono to become full members, while those who sell the krono find great gains with their plat. Maybe as a trader I have a soft spot for highly liquid markets in which everything has values being bought and sold with spreads for profiteering, and see that Krono could maybe fill that roll now that the TLE servers are making waves. And the faster this machine cranks the more Daybreak makes and the more EQ2 , and the EQ franchise grows.

Clearly we disagree and I have failed to convince you otherwise.

I'm still curious how prices can down down to make buyers happy at the same time prices go up to make the sellers happy...

Here's an idea: If you don't want to pay for a subscription, then don't. But don't expect to get the same things that those of us who do pay get. It's as simple as that. You are NOT entitled to everything and anything you want because you want it, no matter what mommy and daddy taught you.

I really don't get why they complain at all. No other MMO gives anywhere near as much to F2P accounts as EQ2.

I'm wondering why you equate "give F2P players free access to the broker" with TLE. The TLE servers are NOT available to F2P players, therefore your entire justification based upon "those returning to the TLE are bringing their F2P friends with them" is inaccurate at best. F2P here DOES NOT appear to be "Hey, come try our game & sub if you like it!" If it were, then there would be a whole lot more restrictions to it, like most other subbed games with F2P options. Sure, it can & does work that way, but it really feels to me like more of a way to keep current players in the game while they: take a hiatus, try other games, are deployed & cannot play, are unable to afford paying sub fees, etc. THAT is why there are so few restrictions as it is. I pay to play. I've paid since I started back in 2008. IF I have to go to F2P, I will not be whining that I should be allowed all the things I had access to when I was a paying player BECAUSE I WOULD NO LONGER BE A PAYING PLAYER. If my friends are interested, I always advise them that it is a sub-modeled game & they will not have all the perks if they remain F2P - if they're really interested, they'll pay for a sub.

Honestly I am not sure if your post is legit or if it's just a really good troll attempt. Either way, no. If you're not interested enough to invest in a sub, then you'll have to pay DBC for your broker slots or if you're simply unable to afford a sub you'll need to have a trusted friend or guildmate sell your items for you.

Please quote yourself doing this. Show me what increased rewards I should get for subscribing, if one of the bigger attractions -- full use of the Broker -- is given to me for free. While you're at it, show me why Daybreak will do that, since you've not yet shown how they will make more money by selling fewer items from their cash shop, & given that you've done nothing to show me how becoming a subscriber, under your model, will be more attractive than remaining F2P.

But not by me, unless you either fail at reading comprehension, or are deliberately setting up a Straw Man argument.

I'm not sure if you realize, though, just how much money a careful & diligent marketer can make using only $10 worth of broker tokens, which is not "the same value." IOW, you are predicating this response on faulty information. That doesn't do you any credit at all.

If you give me access to the broker without using broker tokens, you have removed one more reason for me to subscribe, & one of the biggest.

You are failing, IOW, to explain how doing that will make a subscription more enticing.

Yes, because your argument is bad. It's not "bad because it's bad," it's bad because you've failed to adequately explain it in any way that makes sense. You can pretend all you wish that you're being ill-treated or that people are failing to understand you, but the problem is that you've done a quite poor job at explaining your argument.

I'm going to chime in as a F2p player. I choose this route because of my schedule, honestly. Sometimes I have weeks of free time, and sometimes I go weeks without so much as logging on. This works out for me.

I buy broker tokens often. They're supersuper cheap and I sell all the things I want to so I can buy all the things I want to.

Honestly, I don't ever feel like I'm hindered in any way in the limitations I have. (Although the queue on Maj'Dul is making me debate subbing for a month or two haha)

I get that some people literally cannot afford to put money in, and I love how few restrictions there are, because really, the f2p folks here get A LOT more of the actual game than many games who offer some sort of free to play. Because of that, I think the restrictions in place are good, and reasonable.

I also get that you really do think your ideas are sound, and I get where you're coming from with them, but I think your logic is flawed with regards to how that will benefit anyone buy you and folks who feel like you do.

Yeah, Kronos are crazy expensive- that's the appeal. People won't buy them for a minimizing return.

Pardon all the stream-of-consiousness typing, I'm still on my first coffee.

tl;dr-I'm a f2p player who thinks things are just fine as they are. Buy broker tokens.

Let's talk about what the OP is really about. The fact is that changes to how much plat can be generated by players (especially members) is what has truly driven up the price of krono. Broker and membership levels have nothing to do with it. This thread should really be titled "how to make krono cost less plat" or something more along those lines.