The problem is EQ isn't a new game so they need to find more people to play (or maybe just merge some servers) the server I am on I have heard multiple people complaining about not being able to find groups etc. I just want a way to make sure if someone new tries the game out they end up paying to play it longer then just trying and saying let's go somewhere else. I do have some free to play accounts and making free to accounts better or worst isn't going to get me to pay for more than 2 accounts a month. Not being able to find people to group with does cause problems and is more likely than not going to cause me to want to stop playing sooner than if there was more people to play with. Making 4 FTP accounts work better might make me stay longer since I could probably box better than when I finish everything I can solo. This is a good and bad thing because it means more people don't play with others (alot of full box teams out there) but noone is going to use FTP without a paid account for content for anything more than just messing around. FTP shouldn't ever be really good but it would be nice if they were at least as strong as a merc of the same level. So if someone is thinking about returning they can group with people to replace the mercs they are using, they would be more likely to stay and pay. I am not going to pay 90$ a month to play 6 toons so I would rather stop paying 30$ a month if I can't do any more content with 2 toons but if I could use my FTP when I can't find a group I would likely stay longer and pay more 30$ a month. I guess a paid more powerful merc could maybe help as well but then it means less grouping for people and will lead to more people quitting.
I'm not hurting for money but I'm also not looking to pay for five extra accounts for a few months so I can do whatever trivial work I need to throughout the year. Someone just testing the waters isn't looking to immediately cough up $$$ either.
Someone just testing the waters, i.e. first time player, wouldn't have Prestige, etc. Other than a not-as-strong merc, the F2P vs All Access game is pretty much the same up until the first AA auto-grant (level 55ish?). After that, long past "just testing the waters", the differences between F2P and All Access do become more pronounced if you're actively playing. And it should be. It is an incentive to get All Access and pay for the game you are playing. F2P is not meant to be a FULL experience, it is still, even for an F2P account with a 120 character, analogous to a trial. That said, for F2P only, I think it would be a good addition to have Marketplace unlockers for Prestige items (not slot individual items, i.e. if you change from one item to another you would need another unlocker), AA unlocker to increase the AA you can spend/store, an unlocker for a single Bazaar bag slot, and so on, just as many other games (including EQ2) have unlockers for specific All Access features for F2P accounts. The cost to get all the unlockers should be more than a single Krono bought from Daybreak. It should always be cheaper to pay for a month than to unlock everything on F2P. However, I don't think the EQ codebase could handle such at this time.
Actually folks coming back tested the water. Before they came back. So again don't see the problem. Plus FTP allows you to test the waters. If you want to test them without FTP limits you pay the 15 bucks. *shrugs*
Hot take- If you cannot afford $18 per month (maximum cost) to play Everquest, then you should not play Everquest. Maybe another game would be more your liking.
There are other games. I don't think it's overpriced and I pay for two accounts. Value is a pretty individual sort of thing.
F2P is so that people returning and new people can experience the game. For the price, EQ is still very cheap entertainment
Then make it a Bogo deal. You have to buy a month, get 2 months. Address the autogrant issue while still giving a great reason to send an e-mail.
AA caps are 250 for pure F2P, 1000 for Silver, and as much as you can for All Access. You can buy the AA Cap increaser in the marketplace. But no one does that anymore since its cheaper to just pony up for a month. You can only see this item if you are Silver or F2P - there was a problem with All Access accounts buying it because the players thought it would increase their AA If your a returning player then all the AA you had previously there are still there, they do not take any away when you return You can also buy a Rank II spell increase in the marketplace so a F2P or Silver can cast RK II I totally understand that once a player has been All Access then it is a drop to go F2P with certain things no longer available. But that does not mean new players coming into the game even notice prestige with all the low level armor quests going on. Someone wants to have their cake and eat it too.
So you just want them to give you a half-price All Access every time you deign to return to EQ after being away for many months? How fair is that to those who have been paying for All Access during the time you're away and not doing so?
At the risk of joining the "fairness" crowd, if it was limited to someone who had been away for some long period of time, say 3 years or more, it could help entice some folks to renew their EQ addiction, err habit. Even then it could be objected to I suppose, but die hard curmudgeons like myself need to realize that throwing carrots towards potential returning players is not always a bad thing.
There have been bundle packages for those returning after a long (not just 12 months or less) absence like 3+ years, but that's not what the OP or Vumad want. They want to be gone for a year, log back in and be All Access for free for a few weeks, then they would leave again for a year expecting to be All Access again for a few weeks, etc. I also don't know how successful any of the "win backs" were. I have a few of them in the /claim of my main account from my absence from EQ. But I was also All Access most of that time, playing other SOE/DB games and only occasionally returning to EQ for a few weeks at a time. The enticement that brought me back this time was reconnecting with a friend from the old days who was playing again (and now is mostly not again). The gear of my old characters was utterly worthless from changes in the itemization but I still managed to brush them off and play again when I wanted to bring them into the modern game. I didn't get a hand-out to do so either.
From a business standpoint, giving that kind of customer a few free AA weeks a year is probably not a bad strategy. Without the AA free weeks, they may never come back. At least with some free AA weeks, they may come back from time to time to try it out. Each time they come back for their free week is a chance for them to resub so they can play longer .
They should just merge all the servers into one single server. They already have pick zones in place so why not? Think of all the people from every server in a single server. That means anyone who comes back will have a ton of people to possibly group with. As it is people who come back may be on a server with very small player base and only hardcore people who will not help them. Really all they need is 1 primary server, 1 for each progression server until they catch up then merge into the primary, 1 for each of the special ruleset servers.
Please no, while I am not unsociable there are so many players on these forums I hope to never run into in the game. I think I would quit.
Seriously for 25 years of content? I think they are getting a good deal. F2P should have stopped where they first introduced it and not added free expansions to it, players know long before F2P ends if they want to play the game or not.
Fear can be countered by a shock therapy confrontation. A server where you will only meet those players that you fear would be perfect for you. Server name: Fright.
Be realistic, no one who comes back or starts the game is going to experience that content unless they play on a Progression server, and even then... ehhhh
