Why is this game dying?

it's not 'dense' it's you're definition of 'good game' and our definition of 'good game' seem to be based on two different ideals.

You base wether it's 'good' on wether or not it's popular. I don't care about twitch. I don't need 'millions of subscribers' nor do I need to see videos about it on youtube.

name me a modern game, that won't be dead in 2 years once the next new shiny thing comes out. we've seen dozens and dozens of your 'modern' games and it's hold your hand babysteps features and such come and go. we've seen all of them claiming to be the WoW Killer, and watched them all fade into the dark.

I don't mind criticizing a game. what I mind is dumbing it down. what I mind is people who won't bother putting in any effort, claiming that if the game isn't made easier, it's doomed. You couldn't even be bothered to go through the options on your own, you had to be walked through it here, yet you claim to have been here since launch.

if that's the kind of player you have to have to be 'modern' or 'good' or 'popular', I'd rather be a small, devoted and niche community. I don't google anything. and I've never had to. why? cause I read the text. I follow the ample clues given in game. I work with my guildmates or other paladins to figure things out like the epic quest.

maybe I'm just better or smarter then you. Or maybe I just bother to actually put effort into it. maybe I'm just more of a 'gamer' because I treat this the same way those guys that build ships in bottles treat their hobby.

and yes the 'millions' of subscriber game. the almighty WoW. it has graphics I can make with MSPaint, it does have some rich storylines, I'll grant it that. but it is mindnumbingly easy. and the majority of it's fanbase was from decades of RTS games that it built upon. peopel that played Warcraft when ti was an RTS and all the 6 or 7 games of it, that played all the variants of Diablo...they picked up WoW.

I played the trial of WoW. I maxed out my characters in 20 minutes. never bought a spell upgrade, never bought an armor upgrade. cause that how easy it was. I maxed out a dwarf paladin and a night elf hunter to the max it let you in the trial which was 20. in as many minutes.

if that's what it takes to be popular? I'd rather not, and have a game worth actually playing.

Actually, they did have television ads for a long while, along with ads in various magazines, etc.

YouTube gaming area is pretty cool too and has easy to use interface. Games only. Good way to find EQ2 video.

https://gaming.youtube.com/results?search_query=eq2

This pointless thread hasn't been put out of its misery yet?

This comes down to EQ2's real problem. Daybreak's corporate masters have had the development team whittled down to the point where they can't even adequately maintain the content, features, and services that they're already committed to delivering.

I keep seeing the title on this thread and it just seems to be the forum equivalent of "Have you stopped beating your wife yet?"

A question that cannot be reasonably answered because it presumes that something untrue is factual.

A more accurate title would have been, "Why is this game in a slow and steady decline?"

The more accurate title would be "Why every MMO game is in a slow and steady decline? And why several MMO like WoW and EQ2 survived while many other fell into oblivion?". Isn't it more or less clear that every MMO has a period of a birth, a short period of blossom, a long period of slow and steady decline and then the death?

Death isn't necessarily a given. Even after their decline, some of the oldest MMOs are still online. EverQuest, Dark Age of Camelot, Anarchy Online, and Asheron's Call are still live where many later generation games are not.

lol it has become a place to vent- so vent away

a better thread would have been, "what brings people back to eq2 repeatedly while others rant that we are dead?"

everyone that comes back after months of quitting has said it was because they were drawn back here. they say that they can't find anything remotely similar. they also say that there is something about the game that simply fulfills a deep-seated gaming need.

that, to me, is the mark of a game that is good, that won't die, and that deserves its place in gaming history. it also deserves the niche market it fills. i hope this one lasts forever.

so no, it is not dying. it isn't even remotely dead. it isn't even declining. as long as it fills the needs of those who play it, it is valid.

to say otherwise is to deny the obvious. i suggest that if it doesn't do that for you, there must be one of three things happening - you aren't really playing, or you haven't even read the quests and wikias, or you don't fit that niche market who wants more from a game than most games can offer.

no matter which of the options you choose - what does that say about you?

btw, putting eq2 videos and screenshots on my facebook really works. people love it and are interested enough to sign up.

Suka I did say Runes of magic is free to play , but you either slave over upgrades ( no fun ) or you pay through the nose.

I call the new Thalumbra house the Easter island house , doesn't it remind you of one of those statues facing the ocean ?

I agree with there is a lack of ads for EQ2 or 1. Wizard 101 for example had lots of ads on tv
and that game is still doing well.

lol and with all those video posts I will have to look at all of them now.
I watched on the other day that showed how to do a quest , and it was the old graphics really
funny to look at how the characters used to look like and how the landscape was all simple .

sorry I don't remember what it was called but it came with the most expensive package.

kk i have to go look. i didn't notice a thalumbra house but since i am getting ready for surgery and going to the doctor a lot, i may have missed it. do you know the name?

are you talking about the dhalgar house? yeah that awesome precipice with the face of the dwarf on it. reminds me of an eq2 mount rushmore

I don't mind paying for games. But if you can look from FoV of F2P player then you will see wall. Free player is restricted and abandoned from grouping, from chat and from selling on brooker. Altough that was far worse few years ago. But still not any good for anyone.

Free players are uselless to everyone becouse they can't play Fabled or Thalumbra dungeons to fill LFG for paying ppl, they basically only waste server resources with hope of DBG that one day they spent some money. If you are paying player you won't ever meet free player, they don't exist for you, you play content which is locked for them. So if game has problem with player base which leads to decline of playing players, would be clever to have free players not restricted on leveling 1-100 so more could actually make it.

Succesfull F2P games work on less restrictions for free players but big bonuses for paying players (looks like we are slowly getting there), the free players contribute to fast queue times or other LFG systems so paying players can play happy without crying for another server merge.

As I said allready, I bought vanila got 12 years reward 365 loayality points still not claimed but on empty account, I didn't remember or cared about old account so I make new when I returned 5 years ago. So my main account is 5 years old with last 4 expacs bought plus I have third account with SK for pl my main account toons. My main is SK as well to pl alt account toons

Anyway I want to tell what brought me back, I played many MMOs, like Daoc, WOW, DDO, AOC etc. So I seen EQ2 review on some popular youtube MMO review channel like mmo hut and that guy played Dark Wood and I seen nice cute graphics and seen progress as quest helper added. So I bought it and got hooked, I didn't mind much that quest helper ends with Dark Wood zone for long time, I searched on Wiki and explored all dungeons and maps and leveling way. I didn't make much quests I just enjoyed free world with my SK and Vitia. Btw I had to buy premium, then recent expansion (lvl 95 cap) and preview exp for reforge, bl and mercs. But I was exited by the review and athmosfere, but the paywall of 80 euro or more I payed not everyone can afford. Today the paywall is not much lower if you want to buy all content especially for EU players with 20% vat.

Anyway on all the leveling up over the years I didn't feel so restricted by access quests like it is the new trend now to lock even advanced solo dungeons that was never case, sure I had to make skyshrine quests but that was special dungeon something like big reward. I bought AOM year ago and went right into dungeons, I did AOM timeline just several days ago strictly for reward, I can tell you that was really annoying and never ending. After that I went to Zek to expect new gear and dungeon challenge only to run into another quest timeline, then I heard that Thalumbra is also restricked like that, coupled with 90% of uselless infusers drops in Zek I was really disgusted by game. Then I read forums how is game going so I made this topic to offer my view.

Well let's be positive, Nizara solo is great dungeon, I love it. That is interesting new concept to have one boss stronger and drop crazy good loot. Zek solo dung is also interesting. Only annoying are the infusers drops. Also from last 20 kills of named in Zek solo 16 infusers, that isn't even funny.

This game and many others that I have played were originally NOT F2P. It's a recent move by companies to bring more players in on a try before you buy basis. THIS IS NOT A TRUE F2P GAME. PURE F2P IS NOT A BUSINESS MODEL THAT WORKS. You will either have freemium features, or end up paying a sub, or have advertising.

Now I'm a paying player and I've interacted with many F2P players, and many of them have moved on to subscribe because they have progressed and seen what a paying player was able to do. It's what the model is about and clearly works. They clearly aren't useless because they are potential subscriptions. They certainly do exist, and there is plenty that they can do in game. Also they CAN level 1-100. Which memo did you miss recently?

Oh, and in the past there WERE access quests, for every zone as you levelled up. You probably just did them at the time as part of levelling and didn't realize. A lot of old access quests are now obsolete as requirements have been removed. It's not a new move, and it's one you're crying about because you can't fly through content. Original Zek had an access quest you had to complete before you could even get on the boat there, as did Enchanted Lands. If you're a 12year vet, you'd know that. I'm not a 12 year vet and I know that.

Also infusers are good. Don't write them off because you don't understand infusing. They mean less swapping out of gear, because you are making the gear you have better.

People keep playing a game because it's good. Sometimes with online games people decide to keep playing because the community is good. F2P might help with getting more people to decide to try a game, but if the game is garbage or the community is toxic the payment model isn't going to keep people around. The payment model might keep people from playing longer.

I wonder what EQ2's retention rates are these days?

As an All Access player from EQ1, I am a bit annoyed that Mercenaries are locked on EQ2 at the outset (unless you purchased the expansion years ago or buy the feature now). I almost feel like it's a basic part of the game.. (Maybe we're spoiled on EQ1). I won't complain about Beastlord and Freebloos/Aerykan locks.

If there is any feedback to attract curious players like me, I'd encourage developers to include Mercenary Feature unlock with expansions (collectors edition or every other expansion) or via a limited time Marketplace sale.