New EverQuest Perks

Discussion in 'News and Announcements' started by Accendo, Sep 8, 2021.

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  1. Atomos Augur

    JFC, the downplay on black market Krono is shameful.

    I don't buy black market Krono, so no one else must be either!

    Imagine thinking that being able to buy Krono with real money from someone outside of DBG isn't hurting the company, because Krono are already paid for. Holy s.
    Kalvenie likes this.
  2. Metanis Bad Company

    You have to give them the room to experiment a bit with this stuff. They may not get it right the first time or even the 10th but it's good they keep trying. Who knows, maybe they'll eventually realize it might pay to write a tool for character transfers between accounts!
  3. Waring_McMarrin Augur

    Because there would be no 3rd party websites selling things if there wasn't krono? Maybe it is time to step off the anti krono soapbox and realize that all of the problems you talk about exist without krono.
    Ozon, Corwyhn Lionheart and Skuz like this.
  4. Risiko Augur

    L... O.... L

    No seriously.... LoL!!! I just can't even reply to this one with out wondering what in the living heck is going on at Darkpaw Games.

    I really need to work on my Unity and Blender skills because it's looking like creating your own MMORPG is the only way to have a game worth playing in the near future. Just... wow... lol.
  5. dimtekt New Member

    Considering the age of this game, and the player base being what it is, i see this as a great thing(10%exp bonus, without having to pay cash for ex pots)-for those complaining (which is the norm) an extra 5 bucks is really something to complain about? Come on people seriously regardless, This is not only a game that has outlasted many of its predecessor's, but its still a business. The fact is a business needs capitol to stay in business. I started this game back in 1999, it has affected my life in many positive ways. I would personally spend the extra money to help keep this game rolling on for another 5-10 years.
  6. MimirAesir New Member

    Keep going and rope in the Free to Play and Silver crowd:

    Adventurer's Perk – Become a mighty adventurer in the world of Norrath

    Free, Silver and All-Access: Gain a 5% experience bonus that multiplies with other experience bonuses you earn.
    All Access: Gain a 8% experience AA bonus.
    AA: Rake in 10% more coin from your kills.
    AA: Earn 10% more alternate currency from modern raids.

    Challenger's Perk – Challenge the world of Norrath

    AA: Loyalty vendors, such as Alerynril the Loyal, will provide a 10% discount on loyalty items.
    AA: Your mercenaries will gain experience 10% more quickly.
    All tiers: You won't lose a level when your character falls in battle.
    Free and Silver: 50% of Loyalty Rewards
    All Access: Level difference for group experience is max level * .5 or 45 levels. (Max player is AA)

    Merchant's Perk – Become one of the greatest merchants of Norrath

    Free and Silver: Grants access to Bazaar with 50 item limit
    All Access: Grants access to twelve-slot trader’s satchels.
    All Access: Enables two additional slots in your inventory.
    All Access: Adds a 10% chance bonus* to gain skill points in crafting skills.

    Combo:

    Free and Silver: Buy two perks and get access to all mercenary tiers
    Free and Silver: Buy three perks and get access to Progression Servers 'X' and 'Y'.
  7. Doranur_Aleguzzler Filthy Casual™

    Back on topic, as far as perks go, my take is this. All Access accounts should be able to choose ONE to be a free addition, a perk if you will, that can be changed for free, once per billing cycle. All additional perks would require them to be paid for, and all would run concurrently. For everybody else, you pay for them. If you choose one perk, you could change it for free, once per billing cycle. I didn't read through pages and pages of comments, so it is entirely possible that someone else has already presented this same idea, or very similar.
    Corwyhn Lionheart likes this.
  8. Dre. Altoholic

    I'd posted this in another thread:

    3 month sub = 1 perk
    6 month sub = 2 perks
    12 month sub = AllThePerks
  9. Waring_McMarrin Augur

    Is there any indication that those perks won't work for free players?
  10. NameAlreadyInUse #CactusGate

    They wouldn't be free players if they bought the perks.

    They would just be buying part of the full monthly subscription.
    Corwyhn Lionheart likes this.
  11. Kakgumu New Member

    This thread is now at 278 posts...and growing. I hope that the decision makers there at DPG are paying attention!

    Obviously, I have my own comments I'd like to add to the discussion. But before I do, I should let folks know who I am, as I think it's relevant detail to this conversation. I am a 25 year veteran of the computer industry. While I am currently the VP of Operations for a large tech company in Austin, Tx. I began my career as a Computer Engineer and Software Developer and worked my way up the ladder. And yes, I have worked for several game dev studios over the years. As for EQ, I started playing in 2001 w/ Luclin.

    I have comments for both the upset player base as well as DarkPaw, and I think it's important to separate them. I'd like to first address the players...

    Apologies for the directness, but a lot of you posting here simply don't understand the fundamentals of business or this industry. First and foremost, some of you need to come to grips with the fact that this IS a business. Their #1 priority is to make money. Trying to make a company out to be the bad guy because they're trying to optimize their revenue stream is not just short-sighted and ignorant, it's ultimately self-defeating in the long term. In their efforts to maximize revenue, most companies realize and understand that it's always in their own best interests to also be excellent stewards of the game! Thus, there's an equilibrium that has to be reached. The companies in this industry largely understand that they can't monetize everything under the sun because while they will likely see a short term growth in revenue, there will be a strong, negative backlash that drive that growth to zero and eventually into the red. The trick, naturally, is to find that perfect inflection point where you ultimately maximize revenue long-term. And...as you don't ever have perfect metrics around your price points and your market's reactions to those price points, there's a bit of subjective artistry involved.

    That said, there ARE some things that ARE well understood. First, some of you have suggested incremental increases to the subscription price. That's just not going to happen. And, it's not going to happen because over the past 20 years this industry has worked itself thru the mechanics of finding the price equilibrium point for the MMO market...and it's right at $15/month. If they raise it by a single dollar, they are going to lose a LOT more revenue in cancelled subs than they are going to raise from the price increase. This dynamic is WELL UNDERSTOOD at this point. It's a non-starter. Stop talking about it. Executives in this industry who understand the mechanics in play immediately dismiss you when you try to offer this as a potential solution. It shows you obviously don't understand the most basic of economic facts of this industry. Take a look back on page 4-5, someone posted a list of sub prices across the industry right now. There are 2 price points in play today...$13 and $15. That because every other price point is either sub-optimal or doesn't work at all.

    Next, stop taking the position, "Just stop making new content for a year and fix X." Much like the reasoning above, you simple don't understand the economics in play for this industry. Here's a phrase you may have heard...CONTENT IS KING. If DarkPaw took a full year off from developing new content, not only would they lose an enormous amount of revenue from the lack of those sales, they would also lose a metric-tonne of residual revenue from lost subs. New content absolutely drives the company's 2 primary revenue streams! Not making content to free up resources do ANYTHING...is simply not going to happen. Companies put their resources to work on the areas that yield the largest benefits. This industry has proven over dozens of titles and decades of work that CONTENT IS KING.

    If you accept these first two points as economic truths, there are some things as a consumer that you need to accept. First, companies HAVE to get creative in crafting methods and system to increase their revenue stream. Try and be open and receptive to these ideas. They're not all going to be homeruns, but don't act like the sky is falling over the tiny things. I remember when Micro-Tranactions first started getting traction. People were up in arms ready to storm the castle. The concept not only stuck around, it is thriving... This formula for subscription "Micro-Services" feels very similar. Some of you are b*tching that they aren't good enough for the cost...others of you are b*tching that any amount of P2W is too much. Both groups are off base.

    Understand that in any sizable population of players, there's naturally going to be a statistical dispersion of what matters and how much those things matter to that population. Nothing in the world is ever truly black and white. Case in point, if you want "value" the things you pay for have to matter. That's inherently going to live in the grey fringes, at least, of P2W. A little bit gives the players things they want and are willing to pay for...too much and you have a mass exodus of your most loyal player base...just like WoW has been experiencing for the past 6 months. It's a VERY delicate balance that's nearly impossible to get right every time. If you don't like it, just don't pay for it. Simple. Trust me, they powers that be will see and feel that a LOT more than forum posts.

    -----

    Now, allow me to direct some comments to DarkPaw. I hope your Marketing Team is paying close attention to all the feedback. Both here on these forums as well as in game, nearly 100% of the feedback I've encountered has been negative. And, the biggest gripe seems to be in the areas of Pay To Win (P2W). As an Executive of a tech company myself, I understand and appreciate your predicament. But, don't let the MBAs in the room drive 100% of these decisions. Their models very VERY rarely take into account all the proper and relevant metrics! P2W is a big non-starter for a lot of hardcore gamers across the spectrum. Krono is bad enough. I understand you're motivations there in eliminating the 3rd party suppliers...or at least working to minimize them. There's some legitimate justifications you can argue for that. These mechanics, even though mild, are just pure P2W. The only reason the outrage isn't orders of magnitude bigger is because the impacts are small. But, some of these moves are 100% P2W...and the people who have the most time invested and the most sweat-equity built into the game are going to resent the living h#ll out of things like this. I hope and pray that your Community Leaders are savvy enough to have briefed upper management on how this would be received. Frankly, this reaction should NOT be any kind of surprise. If it is, some heads need to roll imho.

    Second, I would strongly urge the Executives at Darkpaw to take the recent happenings over at Blizzard as a case study in exactly how to kill off your cash cow franchise in less than 12 months. Understand that player dissatisfaction is an avalanche function. There may a steady, tiny trickle of people leaving the game over many years...but as long as those leaving are replaced by new players, you can at least tread water. When the sharks start to smell blood in the water, it turns into a panic frenzy and soon your franchise is a ghost town. The problem is that you never really know which rock is going to be THE one that starts that process. In this industry, it's almost always a long series of minor offenses. This absolutely falls into that category for the vast number of players. THIS IS A MISTAKE. And you're spending one commodity to make another...community goodwill for cash.

    IMHO...you are going to need to rebuild some of that community goodwill or people WILL begin to leave. I know quite a lot of people that are only still playing EQ because there's no real compelling alternative that scratches their MMO itch like EQ does. But...some ARE coming! I know a TON of folks playing New World open beta right now. Today. These are people in my guild who have been playing EQ literally for 20 years...and they're looking for a reason to jump ship. The other BIG one is naturally Pantheon. If you folks don't get your act together and do it quick, the conditions are setting up to replicate for Darkpaw, exactly what just happened to Blizzard and WoW.

    Step #1 - Piss off and continually disappoint your most loyal portion of your player base
    Step #2 - Have a strong competitive product hit the market around that same time that has very similar, if not improved, gameplay and content.
    Step #3 - Have a small group of vocal and visible community members pack their bags and leave for greener pastures.

    Darkpaw, you've been doing #1 for some time. This is, in the eyes of a large percentage of your player base, just the latest transgression. #2 is literally IN PROGRESS as I type. Half my guild and every other guild on my server is off trying out New World. Believe me, if Pantheon was an available option, at least 75% of the guilds on my server would already be gone. Your team HAS to generate a real, executable action plan. And yes, I have some suggestions...

    #1 - You HAVE to start allocating significant engineering resources to fix LOOONG standing problems in the game. Seriously, if you did just ONE single thing in this area, you'd build an enormous mountain of goodwill within the community. And that is...PATHING. Yes, I know you have fundamental issues with the engine. I used to be a software developer myself. I get it. And, nobody cares. Get in there and address it...even if it's incremental. Show your customers that you've finally heard their pleas over the past 20 years and now you're finally going to do something to improve it! We know it's bad. YOU know it's bad. Tough. Get in there and fix it.

    #2 - Address functional bugs and issues...especially with events and raids. For the last 10 years of my career, the Quality Departments of the companies I worked for have answered up to me. 99% of what they do is software and firmware QA. Your QA team is failing you...badly. And, it's very likely due to understaffing. I totally get that. Again, your players don't care. There are so many buggy events now that it's a running punchline.

    #3 - Genuinely and openly engage with your community and truly LEARN where all the pain points are and then actually go in and address them. I understand that there's a TON of noise in every game community. And, it's exceptionally difficult to know if one forum post is speaking for 10 people or 10,000. But you have to get out there and truly engage with the player base to begin to understand what is noise and what is a real problem. How long have people been about Wizzy and Rogue DPS?? Where's the new and dynamic content for people who are dedicated tradeskillers? Are there ever going to be more epic updates? What about new, class-specific abilities that you don't water-down and hand out to 10 other classes? These are the kinds of things we and moan about all day, every day...but I honestly don't think you have a clue about them. Again, because you can't distinguish the noise from the real deal.

    In summary, I LOVE EQ. I have since the first day I installed it and selected the Xev server. But your existing player base needs you right now. You have to reach outside your expansion pack comfort zone and make a conscious effort now IMHO. There's a critical cross-roads fast approaching...much like the one in late 2004 when WoW launched. You actually DO control your own destiny...but it WILL turn out very badly if you just tend to business as usual. If you actually take control of the reigns and prove to the community that you ARE invested in being excellent stewards of the franchise, you could lead a resurgence of this game that would ensure it grew and prospered for another 22 years!

    Very Respectfully,
    Kak
  12. Waring_McMarrin Augur


    I think you missed my point though, which was that a free account could still get the full benefit of the perk. Even with your suggestion they would still no longer be free based on what you just said.

    There is no indication that account status will matter at all as long as you pay for the perk.
    NameAlreadyInUse likes this.
  13. Dre. Altoholic

    How many zones are there in the game? A quick glance at my EQ directory shows 1148 .s3d files. Whatever the real number, it's a lot of zones that you have to touch or risk breaking.

    And honestly for most of the game its pretty ok, so I think this would be an incredible waste of time. Better move would be a "do it right moving forward" approach where maybe devs invest 25-50% more time in player feedback during betas on pathing.

    Regarding pathing in older content, not only do I think we're practically looking at 1% cases here that are the most exploitable/disruptive/egregious, but they also need to be highly replicable and frequently used by players.
    Spot on, here. Especially with regard to class/expansion abilities, it seems in the past it seems certain devs challenged themselves to do everything but what players wanted.

    Back on topic of the perks, I think the P2W arguments I see in this thread are highly exaggerated. Yes, precedent is important but 5 and 10% bonuses are not worth breaking out the torches.
  14. Yinla Ye Ol' Dragon

    The biggest thing EQ needs to fix right now is the lag, that effects all areas of game play. Forget the pathing and get the lag fixed and give us stable servers.

    Pathing doesn't matter if they are rubberbanding due to lag.
    Stymie and Metanis like this.
  15. Atomos Augur

    Please, show us where the anti-krono soapbox is that you just completely made up? WTF?
  16. Kakgumu New Member



    That's a fair point. But, it also doesn't apply to all players. And...it's both highly regional as well as ISP dependent. I run 12 accounts and stream movies while I play and everything is great for me in terms of connectivity.
  17. Qelil Augur

    My kingdom for a delete button!
  18. Doranur_Aleguzzler Filthy Casual™

    I'm not surprised at least one person had a very similar idea to mine. Great minds and all.
    Dre. likes this.
  19. Qelil Augur

    I don't believe experience in other areas of high tech, software development and even games development offers any particularly special insight here. There are only a small handful of MMO games as old or older than EQ still up and running. Keeping a 20 year old MMO game afloat with a fraction of the player base it once had is a rather unique situation with few living examples to go by. One thing for sure is that none of the oldies but goodies despite the major companies that owned them in the past has ever figured out how to regrow an MMO population once substantial decline occurs. What do you think the odds are that EverQuest as we know it is going to be the first one?

    I have a long history in software development myself that includes doing work for Microsoft, IBM and others, including shipping retail software, consulting to companies with troubled projects, etc. I am retired now. So what? What does my experience have to do with EverQuest? What do I know about all things internal to Daybreak or the new parent company? Nothing. I don't work there. I'm just a huge fan like everybody else here. Besides, a lot of this stuff is not complicated. For example, the success or failure of this little pushing of the envelope just boils down to one simple test and the results won't take long to come in. Either the market will bear this or it won't.

    Anyway, it's a done deal now. The number of posts here means nothing you know. Think about it for a moment. The number of posters might matter if that number represented a substantial percent of the player base but it doesn't.

    It seems obvious to me that the goal here is to maintain profitability for as long as possible and spend as little as possible because this like the Titanic is most certainly sinking, however slowly even as the band plays on. It's as simple as that. This is why I often shake my head at all the grand idealistic ideas some folks have about what should be done for EQ, how to bring in new players (it's too late), etc. What should be done from a business perspective is obvious and you don't need a business degree to figure it out either. Spend the minimum amount of money necessary to retain the existing player base with the understanding that attrition is inevitable and cannot be fully controlled in any event in this situation. In other words, milk EQ for all it's worth and then sunset it. That sounds so heartless from a player perspective doesn't it? Well, it's nothing personal just business.

    I do not mean that all is doom and gloom as there is plenty to enjoy hopefully for years to come but I do think people need to seriously temper their expectations here. This hasn't been AAA for many years. We should be used to it by now and glad it's still up and running because one day it won't be anymore. Sometimes it can be good to take stock of what is good in life over getting bogged down with what isn't you know?
  20. Waring_McMarrin Augur


    You seem to be ranting over and over about a krono black market while ignoring the fact that all the same things happened before they added krono to the game. Quit blaming krono for what people do.
    Ozon and Corwyhn Lionheart like this.
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