Roadblocks for returning players

They operate very similarly to almost any major free to play game... (That being selling Cosmetic items and shortcuts as opposed to gating content - as a side note almost every asian mmo has operated this way for years)

Though to be fair I think Rift is planning on gating future content, I have no idea really as I don't play it anymore. There's nothing gated right now anyway. Oh and before you say this game doesn't sell shortcuts, take a long look at the Marketplace... experience potions, arrows, bags, mounts, health / power / rez potions, and master spells. This game sells power, they just try to hide it because they know the people playing this game are strongly against it.

Regardless, my point was more that they don't spam you in game and hijack your browser than anything else. EQ2 is the only game I'm aware of that does this, and I think it's very detrimental to keeping new players around.

LOTRO reminds you of the existence of the Turbine Point Store every time you get awarded Turbine Points. I find that *far* more irritating than SOE's strategy.

Having the 'go gold' show up in the middle of combat is bad... otherwise I just close it.

And this is one of the reasons why a F2P model destroys a game. In a lot of ways the F2P model turns the game into a commodity killing innovation and the value add you get from a company focused on providing a unique customer experience. Today's Sony could care less about advancing the game but rather puts a lot of it's focus any energy into market items that you can buy.

Nobody can argue the extreme decline in value add when it comes to expansions that Sony puts out these days and the subscription numbers/players are proof of this. Just look at what is happening with their other F2P games that are now part of the all access program.. they are all suffering or on the path to be shut down.

I think that players are starting to get smarter and they are starting to understand how the F2P approach cheats them, especially when it comes to MMORPGs. Just look what is happening to Dungeon Keeper and EA shutting down Mythic. The market is changing, the question is will Sony change with it.

Looking back, I can't help but wonder where EQ2 would be at if Sony continued to put resources and focus on developing the game rather than the market place. With WoW being in decline without an update for years there seems to me a mass of players out there who are hungry for a true MMORPG.. and not one focused on building an online mall. And yes, I'll happily pay 15 a month, heck 20 or 30 a month to get back to a game where I don't need to have my wallet on the counter at all times.

I've been a fan of mentoring since the very early days (mentoring was in the game from the very beginning, though some seem to think that's not the case). In my view any party is always best when everyone is the same level -- that of the little guy. The mechanics of mentoring in EQ2 have always had the same flaw: the mentor is overpowered. I get around this, sort of, by having two sets of gear: my main gear for when I'm my natural level, and another set that I change into so that when I'm mentoring I can be more like just another member of the team. It uses up a lot of baggage space, and switching gear in and out can be fiddly, but I think it's worth the hassle.

I hate 'powerlevelling': partly because I believe one can't learn how to handle oneself when one is dragged to the end-game on autofollow; but mostly because half the time I do find someone willing to group with me at low level they expect me to be 'uber' and to kill the entire zone as fast as possible simply for their XP numbers -- the end result being two disappointed players.

Every now and then I try to find folks willing to group completely nekked to explore older content: no luck on that, so far, but I'd love to try it one day, I think it would be fun.

Mercs just suck on so many levels, a major one being the barrier to groupage they bring with them.

So to hear others say things like "if grouped with any lower level players the mentor is one shotting everything with every ability" and "having someone mentoring in a group doesn't give the low level group members a chance to do anything" gives me heart, because it suggests that there are others out there who are thinking along the same lines as me. The problem is how to hook up.

One can simply look at other games to see that the way you've painted Sony is far from accurate. For instance, I like playing some of the Call of Duty games. Many of the 'xpacs' for that game (regardless of the developer) are as close to "cut and paste" versions of previous games (e.g. Favela in COD: Ghosts & COD: MW2).

I'm no fanboi, but I do have to say that there is far more effort involved in moving EQ2 credit for... is it what you would do if you lived in an ideal world where you developed and marketed an MMORPG? No. That doesn't mean it's nearly as bad as you make it out to be.

I guess it's weird that I play EQ2 regularly on a Silver subscription & very rarely have any desire to spend money in the Marketplace. I think I've spent a *total* of less than $150 since EQ2 went FTP, & when I do play I have at least as much fun doing so as I ever did back then; roughly half of that was on expansions.

To each his own, I suppose.

This is confusing as heck. Once you pay the sub fee each month, there's absolutely no reason for you to "have [your] wallet on the counter at all times." Everything on the marketplace is fluff or convenience. If you are a gold subscriber there is no reason for you to ever *have to* open the marketplace. So go ahead... pay that $15 a month (or isn't it $12 now? I have no idea since I pay annually) and put your wallet away if you want.