Freshly returning to EQ. I bought the latest expansion because I was stoked at the idea of basically class-switching. Now I'm taking a closer look and I'm finding myself expressly disappointed and particularly angered. Persona slot limitations? Giving even the basic expansion a paltry 3 slots? They /monetized an expansion feature/? Are you kidding me? Is this some sort of twisted joke? 'Yo we added this new feature, but if you want to access more of this feature THAT REQUIRES YOU TO PAY $30+ FOR, pay us $15 more, repeatedly'. Excuse me, Daybreak? What is this? You're trying to charge me more money for a feature that /you/ put into the expansion? You can't even give me full access to a feature to a feature I paid for, and instead expect to nickel and dime me for it? Can someone explain this to me? Has this always been the case, or is this an entirely new low that I've been unfortunate enough to stumble upon?
Yep thats that. It's aimed toward certain segment of players. Got the idea from FFXIV, thought it would be good in EQ. EQ and FFXIV are totally different games, just like WoW and EQ are different. Different era of games too. FFXIV at least you can do it for free. FFXIV has a wardrobe system and so on. NPCs talk. Raids are hard. Casual is easy. Cutscene, Cinematics. Etc.
It has always been the case. Things like Key Rings and Tradeskill Depot give you some slots for free with the expansion they were released in and the rest you have to buy in the Daybreak Marketplace. You do get 500 Daybreak Cash for free each month with a subscription, however.
I do agree but it's worth mentioning you get a 10% discount from 'Daybreak Cash' purchases as a member. Plus, once or twice a year there is also a flat 20% discount at the marketplace. If you think ahead, that 30% off paired with the 500 monthly points will allow you a decent amount of stuff, just by staying subscribed.
Theres been no expansion features since at least TDS. You get expansion content (zones, quests), and while that expansion is current purchase is bundled with premium features (keyrings, persona) that are then microtransactions after the expansion is no longer being sold.
It is called upselling in marketing. The expansion features are 3 AP slots and the CotH rings. It is quite interesting to watch the increasing greediness creativeness of Daybreak's marketing department in all the years. Just waiting for the day where we will be gifted with chat volume and forum post packages.
Nah, it has not. The extra monetization of expansion features started with TDS in 2014, and the mount key ring. Dunno how features like the mercenaries got handled in the past, and if they were bound to unlocking/buying the expansion, as I didn't were active during that time period, but I do remember that most of the features from LoY, like the map function, did require to buy the expansion. The 500 Daybreak Cash are not free, as they do get paid by the subscription. As they got calculated into the subscription prices, a subscription would be cheaper without them. It is another type of upselling by including something into a bundle that else the customer might not buy, which can lead to overpaying.
Sorry, my bad. When I said "always" I should have said, "For the past 10 years". From the posts about it there was a feeling this was "new". I don't consider something 10 years old in EQ as "new", even though I've played since 1999.
Yes. I miss the days that EverQuest was a flat rate and a great equalizer. Everyone had the same opportunities to earn the same things. Collectors items were mostly out of game rewards. A majority of the best cosmetics in the game presently cost extra. My personal opinion of the best illusion currently in the game requires an expensive version of the expansion. Even if you consider subscription DBC as free, it doesn't change the fact that so many great items are not obtained by questing. Accomplishments are significantly diluted. It's such a shame.
It's a great way to prevent subscriptions from being $50/month tho. Those who want cosmetics and such can double or triple their spend and others who only want gameplay and don't care about such things get a cheaper game. If you want 100% access pay the 100% price.
Why should subscritions cost $50 per month without them ? This game is 25 years old and most of us do only play it because we are used to do so. Most new and young players go for other games instead. Before WoW there were not many competitiors for EQ, as the MMO market was small, which made it possible to raise the prices. Now there are uncountable games on the online gaming market, and most players in EQ have to box, which effectively does multiply subscription costs beside all the other things that players do buy. There is no boxer friendly account type available. A cheaper subscription without the montly 500 DBC would be a thing. With a few restrictions like unavailable general chat channel, it could go as low as $5 per month. Those boxers who want general chat could just go for one AllAccess account and let their other boxes run on a cheap boxer friendly account type. It would be also the perfect intersection between FTP and AllAccess.
I'm not touching it until the work out the bugs/issues, and someone outside darkpaw creates a writup on how to use it Maybe in a year or two
Not sure how you are considering it still broken, unless you are referring to ornamentations popping off of wrists still. As someone who has unlocked all slots and leveled each persona up to at least 71, the system works really well (other than having to be in a fast camp zone to swap).
Paying $50/mo to Daybreak would be a discount from what I am currently paying. Also, your comment about 100% of the game being 100% of the price completely missed the mark of what I was talking about.
Cause everything is more expensive than it was 25 years ago? Saleries are WAY more. The cost of the servers? Electricity? Rent on building? EVERYTHING costs WAY more. Yet the sub cost hasn't even doubled in 25 years. Instead of angry entitlement, maybe you should examine how they've managed to keep the sub price soo low...... I'd happily pay a MUCH higher sub fee if that meant more development and higher quality development.
There is no angry entitlement from my side. As you can see there the subscription prices for EQ have been lowered only slightly, based on (including) the US dollar inflation. It is the dollar inflation that does have the biggest effect on all other things that you mentioned. In 2000, EQ (Verant, Sony) had about 200 employees. Original EQ, 72 zones. TRoK, 26 zones. TSoV, 21 zones.Today about 15 devs and only 7 zones per expansion. Expansion wise, EQ does now cost the player about three times more than in 2000, and people do buy a lot other stuff beside them. The economic efficiency of EQ is maybe about ten times higher than in 2000. Fact is that the current prices are very proud for such an old game. A bonus is the huge and growing content, but as most zones are graveyards, that is not the best argument.
Please, do tell. Have they fixed Heroic AA's situation ? Last night I've played my lvl 53 persona and it was still missing all the Heroic AA's (and a few others) from Special Tab, even though my "main" persona has those.
I didn't say $50/month to Daybreak, I said subs being $50/month. 1 account paying $50/month is $600/year, enough for the top expansion packs, a 1 year sub, all perks, and $140 of DPG store loot plus monthly 500 dpgdollar grant. Your other accounts are your other accounts, pay or not as you like. If you need the frilly lace on your 3rd box zerker, pay for it. Your mark is off. You want 1999 prices, build a time machine. MMO companies have been forced to find a way to stay open without exorbitant prices because the product isn't super competitive, so they have a 2-3 tier pricing scheme with limited free to play pay, subs, and overpriced cosmetics and fan bundles. EG7 made average $37.50/month per user at end of 2020, that's a bit under $50/month at current after adding in inflation. Pay it, skip the frills and pay the cheaper rate, or find a cheaper way to spend your time. I hate what the video game market became (esp phone games), but I'm glad I can still play EQ on 3 accounts for $30/month and $105/year for 3 base expansions.
