You can unlock TBM now...

That mcdonalds analogy was straight up trolling. good one

I wouldn't mind if they got rid of ftp altogether. get tired of people not supporting the game and just want everything handed to them.

Andarriel

FTP players do purchase from the DB Store, contribute to the economy through selling to players, and occasionally go Gold.

The FTP model is fine. Leave it.

You just ignore the argument. Maybe someone doesn't want to spend the $35-40 because they will not use the ROS/TBL content for over a year. There is nothing to lose by offering TBM, EOK, ROS for $10 each. if someone wants TBL they would just pay the $35-40 and get them all. You really think there are not f2p players who wish you could buy each expansion separate ?

your argument does not make sense .. if a f2p player wishes to buy each expansion separate for 10 bucks each lets do alittle math
TBM = 10
EoK = 10
RoS= 10
Total = 30 bucks over the course of a year or more and by end of next year
TBL = 10 bucks
New Total = $40 again over the course of a year possibly longer
or this might be hard for them F2P peeps (you, Im guessing) to grasp but $17 for 3 or 4 expansions once a year is ALOT cheaper than $40 spread out at $10 here and there .. buy them all at once doesnt mean you have to enter those expansions till your ready but at least you'll have them ..

I have multiple accounts (12) to be exact 3 All Access 9 F2P and as a F2P person I would rather spend 17 dollars once a year than $40 spread out at $10 each .. and I'm sure the majority of the F2P especially Boxers with multiple F2P accounts agree with me ..

I'm sure there are those select few F2P peeps who think for some reason spending $40 is better than $17 . must be that new Common Core math I've been hearing about ..

but you go ahead its fine with me if you want to purchase expansions at $10 each if DBG wants to implement a purchasing strategy like that is fine with me as long as they keep bundling past expansions on sale by 50% off each year i'll take the savings .. you can spend more ..

It's that Terryology: https://twitter.com/terrencehoward/status/925754491881877507?lang=en

You ignore the whole point maybe some people DONT want to spend $40 because they wont actually go do ANYTHING in ROS/TBL for over a year or maybe they just want to stay at 105 with TBM/EOK and get all the achievements done at the level they were intended and the gear that was intended. You just assume everyone wants to race to 110 and jump right into this crappy expansion they don't.

If im a f2p player and i can buy TBM for $10 and spend the year doing all of that content i can still buy EOK ROS TBL when its half off 10 months from now and i would of spent less then just buying it all now. There is no savings if im not consuming the content im purchasing im buying something i don't need or want right now.

lol ok .. I did not say you had to race to 110 .. I did say you can buy the bundled expansion on sale and just stay in the expansions that you want , but at least you would have the others for when you are ready to hop into them ..

your math is hilarious . the above quote of yours I highlighted in bold .. you can buy TBM for $10 and then 10 months when expansions go on sale you can buy EoK thru TBL when its half off and spend less than you could of when it was on sale a month ago .. ??

If you read my post's I was not saying buy the expansions NOW i said if you had bought them when they were on sale for $17 .. not at $35 .. IF you had purchased the expansions for $17 a month ago then you would of gotten all of them (TBM, EoK,RoS) and could of taken your time thru which ever expansion you wanted at your leisure ..

If you purchase TBM for $10 and then next year buy the bundle for $17 your spending $27 .. when you could of just bought them a month ago or wait till next year and buy all 4 expansions for $17..

you are evidently not comprehending what I'm saying or just want to argue for the sake of arguing .. you remind me of Took2summitt ..

I'm done with trying to explain basic math to you and adding fuel to the fire!!

Seriously, you aren't making sense. What you're proposing WOULD COST YOU MORE in the long run. Just wait until the next ~September/October sale, buy it now, or stop whining. DBG is a business and EQ is a product/service.

What DBG is offering now is WAY MORE than what someone would get years ago when I first started in 2001. When I started I had to pay about $70 for the base game and three expansions (EQ Trilogy Edition ~$40 + Shadows of Luclin ~$30) and I think I only got a THIRTY DAY TRIAL.

Frankly, expansions cost more and offer less now because paying players like myself and my fiancé are subsidizing F2P players. If DBG felt they could make money with your pricing model or by giving away expansions they would. Sometimes they do expand the F2P offering like when they unlocked all classes/races because they realized having more options could create more scenarios to motivate players to pay for extra features/content. But if you get through TDS and still aren't spending much, then you're probably not their target market.

If someone can't afford to buy all the expansions after TDS for ~$18 in Sep./Oct., I doubt they'll really pay $10 for each and if $8 makes 3+ expansions to expensive then you probably can't afford to play EQ, $8 is like one fewer stop to McDonald's or a coffee shop.

In brief, you usually get what you pay for, that's generally how the world works, EQ is already VERY VERY generous.

Sale business is about convincing humans by psychological manipulation to buy as much of offered products as possible to maximize the own profit. Things that get named gifts or look like gifts do not have to be gifts as its just a label. In most situations gifts are part of a strategy of manipulation, not only in business. So when something is free in a digital game its part of a business strategy to maximize the profit of the company behind it, its not about being generous. Free is also just a label like gift. In brief, everything has its price, even free stuff.

Please reread my post, but I agree I pointed out a similar concept when referencing how DBG saw revenue opportunities from unlocking all classes/races for F2P players. Again, it doesn't seem likely that giving players TBM is going to inspire someone to spend more, which is likely why they won't do it.

SOE/DBG granted me every expansion from LoY to TDS, I didn't care because my toons were no were near TDS content. DBG granted me Silver Access & a level 85 toon, those things got me to pop my head back in and start doing microstransactions & a sub to allow some more quality of life feature access.

To your point, DBG let me buy the premium editions of ROS 50% off on three accounts. That did cause me to pull the trigger even though most might argue that the premium mount was the only worthwhile premium item from last year. ($70 mount lol...). So the manipulation is definitely working!

Also, from an academic perspective your post's first sentence is a little inaccurate. Profit is a common goal of businesses with sales functions, but it's not always the intent or goal. Further, profit maximization is not the goal of most [sucessful] businesses, many fledging firms fail because they focus on profits and not maintaining a sustainable strategic position. Further, earning more "profit" on paper can technically cost shareholders more in the form of things like taxes.

Exactly offering free stuff up to a certain point can earn you more money but giving away the farm as some are suggesting is just silly. Someone like myself who has buff bots will buy an expansion on those accounts (3 of them) when there is a level increase specifically just to have buffs on demand. These accounts are ftp but I also get very little out of them in terms of game play. They do serve a purpose for me and the end result is a little extra jingle in DBG pockets that they otherwise would not have if they just gave expansions away or did away with the ftp model as some have suggested.

Since TDS I have bought roughly 40 expansions in total between all of my accounts. Some at a discount and some at full price. I have one account that is always all access and others that I rotate through being all access. Because they are willing to give just enough away it keeps folks like myself engaged and willing to pay which is smart business imo. This does not even factor in the thousands of dollars I spend on LON (RIP) and prize packs to get mounts for over a dozen toons and the millions of plat I have spent in the bazaar on other players traders to buy gear for my various toons when I did not have the time to farm it myself.

i was talking about the claims from collectors items and no need to make heirloom if you buy the collectors editions from past they could make the claim 999 no drop so folks on fv couldnt just sell them .

The current system is fine. But I strongly agree about not unlocking anymore expansions for F2P as they literally have dozens of expansions worth of content to explore (including quests & items still relevant today - epic 1.0-2.5, Prayer Shawl, Tears of Alaris, clickables from DoDH, SoF, RoF, etc).

Here's a dilemma, what do you do with a subscription box account that has not bought an expansion since TDS?

Picture this, a 105 box character, autogrant AA, progress to TDS caverns and TBL launches. The char has been on 100% AA exp and about 90% into level 105. Cannot ding 106 and spending some AA on non-autogrant AA remaining. A casual box character. Because TBL launches, the character is autogranted ALL of the remaining AA except for General tab tradeskills. The Archtype, Class, and Focus AA tabs are all granted and there is nothing left to buy. The character is suddenly maxed out.

Do stop playing the character?
Do you spend AA on Glyphs that you never use or need (remember it's a casual box char)?
Do you buy TBL so the character can continue to advance however slowly?

That is not a dilemma. That is someone who doesn't want to put out more money for expansions. Your only playing what expansions are given free although you are paying monthly subscription.

For $17 last month you could have gotten up to ROS and level 110. Problem solved. But now you will need to put out twice that for any level increase.

Sometimes it costs more money to try and bypass the configuration. And fails.

ya I would call that a dilemma , you should of thought of that a month ago and bought the expansions when they were on sale .. live and learn I guess..

you say its a box'd account .. I would create another alt and start playing a different toon for awhile till the expansions come back around on sale. Then I would learn from my mistake and next year buy the darn expansions

or you could just bite it and fork out the $31 for the now current expansion .. and have solace in the fact that at least your supporting the game ..

You could also just continue playing the way you are and waste any and all aa's over the cap that you get buy purchasing glyphs you prolly do not need and or those toss away AA purchases that you can buy for 25 and 100 each .. until next year ..

GL to you sir .. hope it works out for you and have a Merry Christmas !! and bless'd New Year's

You're presuming too much. I said this was a casual box account (for farming old content that doesn't require recent expansions). My main account has been buying Collector Editions and raiding current content for years.

Yeah I wasn't thinking TBL launch would max out AA on my box account. A DBG gift of sorts that aggravates because TBM is not unlocking. Hence my post in this thread. Happy Holidays back.

Tastes like victory.

I thank all of you for your jaded opinions and commend your boot-licking skills. Looks like Daybreak turned their backs on you and took my side, though.

Upcoming patch notes-
"The Broken Mirror and Empires of Kunark are now free to play on Live, non-progression servers. "

Not just TBM but EoK as well. That's going to keep me busy for a while. Have fun throwing your money away.

Well played, friend.