I realize that Jenn must be overwhelmed right now and can only hope Dreamweaver passes this message along to her. Its not a hate message, though I do share in the frustration of many players who came back to play on Aradune. You know that most of us have a love for this game and would like nothing more than to see it continue for years to come. But with passion comes emotional responses that can sometimes be hurtful, don't dwell on the negativity. I want you and your company to succeed and be profitable. Aradune has the potential to bring in the much needed revenue you need to invest in your infrastructure and hire more talent. It is obvious, from a customers point of view, that you guys are understaffed and overwhelmed and I feel for you and your team. However, the way you are handling Aradune is a huge let down to the community. The community will only tolerate so much incompetence before they abandon you. I don't want them to leave either. As a customer, I enjoy a huge population base to play with and all the different styles of play they bring to the game. Some are casual players, some trade skill, others socialize but in the end most of them leave and only the hard core raiders stay through to the end. Troubleshooting and implementing fixes takes time. Time is not on your side Jenn. You need a game plan that will buy you time for you and your team to make these fixes. While you did try to appeal to your community with the 25% XP boost this was a horrible idea for a server that is already overcapacity. There were many responses out there already for better options including claimable XP potions but I will not dwell on this. Nor is implementing a queue again the solution. There are many threads out there already explaining you have basically locked out the entire west coast, or at least the working class and casual players that have limited play time and are most likely the ones to buy Kronos to buy in game gear they don't have time to farm. Queues also have not improved the stability of the server and players are still getting crashes to desktop during peak times. Instead queues are keeping your server at higher population for longer periods since players are finding ways to stay on AFK and circumventing your auto boot. Instead I would propose you try to stop the bleeding today. Offer a free Krono to all your active subscriptions, including life time members, as a token for their patience and loyalty. This is not a give me or I am entitled attitude. Instead make it claimable for active subscriptions in a week or two from now. This might help you retain some of those customers that are on the fence about canceling their subscriptions today. Also have a restriction in there that its only for existing accounts as of today or even back when Aradune launched. This will prevent people from creating fake accounts to grab free Kronos and then doing charge backs to cancel those accounts. This will show you are serious about wanting to keep your customers and is an act that reflects as such. This will appeal to the players that feel they wasted a month subscription for playing on the server they bought the subscription for in the first place. It also gives other players who could trade the Krono for gear that will help them level faster and appeal to those that wanted xp boost. But more importantly it will stop some of the players from canceling subscriptions and try to wait it out a little longer. If you do this then you succeed because we all know how addicting Everquest is. Give them time to develop their character and not want to just abandon the game they love. A business model that allows for a loss of customers to accommodate your current infrastructure is business model that will never grow and capture a larger market share. Instead invest in your business to capture this Lost Profit Opportunity to accommodate for a larger market share. Aradune is a unique TLP that has the opportunity that no other TLP has had or ever will have. Don't waste this opportunity.
Or just go with the suggestion to launch another Aradune clone server with the intent to merge it with Aradune after PoP. You know there is the interest and subs to sustain two servers for next year and half.
You dont get it. They are not in it for the long run. This is not a gaming run by gamers. They are not a public ttraded company. They dont really have anyone to answer to. They make a quick buck here and there, kinda like Jesse from braking bad. It enough to help them get by. But effort and hard work are not their cup of tea.
If any of you agree with me then please like the post. Maybe if we get enough likes then DPG will take it serious.
Krono is part of the reason they are hurting for cash lot of the players that move from TLP to TLP stock up 100's of krono from each server so while they seems like many paying customers they are actually playing on time purchased as far back at LJ an RF...The toxic play that so many hate can be firmly placed at the krono doorstep as well. Buying and selling krono on TLP's should be disabled.
So you want us all to believe that none of the returning players to play on Aradune have bought any Kronos and that all the Kronos out there are from purchases years ago and no one has bought any more?
@ Arog, I can tell you for certain, that I have never ever purchased a Krono. In fact, when I see people selling gear for Krono in EC, I ask them what the platinum option is, because I refuse to deal in Krono.
Why? I get not wanting to put real money into Krono, but if say a Krono is worth say 20k plat and the item is 2 krono, why not just pay 2 krono instead of 40k plat? Whats the difference? Krono is actually a smarter investment on TLP servers since they continue to rise in value so if you had 60k plat today, and you could get 3 krono for that or hang onto your 60k plat, next expansion your 60k plat will still be 60k but your 3 krono could be 120k.
You are correct, there would be no difference. However, it is my choice. It is not my goal to become the richest person on the server, that does me no good at all. If I have enough money to do what I want to do, then why do I need more? TL : DR -- Wife would kick my a*s. Besides why would I give DBG any more money?
Because they fix all the problems and make the game run smooth with 5k plus population with no queue and you realize you are really enjoying the game and want to not only support the game but for a few dollars you can save hours of farming and buy the item you want if you were a casual player. If you are unemployed and have no money then don't give them money you don't have but farm those items for the rest of us working SOBS.
Actually, your goal doesn't need to become the richest person on the server and if you have an objection with giving DBG more money, your goal should be to be paid in Krono. That way you can save the Krono when you don't need them to either pay for items later on or free game time later on (like when another TLP rolls around) I haven't paid for a subscription cost in a very long time becasue being active on a TLP server almost ensures you enough Krono to play EQ indefinitely without having to ever pay again.
Tl;Dr: here is a long-winded post asking for a free Krono for Aradune's troubles, which would accomplish nothing.
One has to be frugal enough to not care about bags and whatever else is offered in whatever packages they have these days. But rest assured, even a casual hour or two a night player can achieve this goal in a 3 month span.
Depends on your goals, if you want to play on a TLP and not pay real money it is very doable, you just need to have that be a goal. For ex: lots of servers and guilds host open plat raids (instead of dkp, loot is won with krono and plat and then everyone gets a cut at the end), show up to a couple of those and don't buy anything and you'll likely be able to play for a few months for free no problem. Also tradeskills, early jewelcraft can make a ton of money, spell research early on can be lucrative, tinkering at various eras through the expacs can be a ticket to print money. Takes work and money to get those skills up but once they are you can usually bank some back. Or if you don't want to invest in yourself, farm mats and sell them. Lots of would-be tradeskillers will pay lots of money for tedious but easy to farm items. You probably arent gonna be able to play for free if you only play 2 hours a day once a week or something but like Malachi said, if you're active (and thats something you're striving for) it is very doable.
You all make playing EverQuest sound like a second job. I've hated Krono since they came into the game, it basically guarantees that the most toxic people that play progression servers keep coming back. It's a big part of what's ruined the feel of this game.
“ Recall that EverQuest’s economy extends into the real world, where the truly obsessed spend an estimated $150 million per year—20 percent of the total online gaming underground secondary market—purchasing everything from fully developed characters to rare weapons. ” From a 16 year old article about EQ. It’s always been a second job.
Sorry, I didn't realize I needed to throw a disclaimer in there for the forum sticklers.... not ALL but a good majority of said krono have been floating around eq like what circles the toilet bowl and doesn't go down.
