people aren't buying krono from daybreak. they are buying it from other rmt sites like player**ctions and sites that that where they can save a few bucks. I'm all for the krono free TLP servers. Someone mentioned this site to me prior to the TLP launch and there were just a couple sellers on there so I figured they may be fos. I just checked after this post to see what was up and there are half a dozen sellers up now. One guy is selling for ~10 bucks a krono and says he can sell up to 40.
Krono free tlp servers wont happen. Even though most of the krono on TLP's are old, some are most likely still bought, therefore money for DBG. They still would not be krono free, 1) Selling yak 2 krono 2) this is a krono free server 1) yah we just meet up on live, trade the krono then trade the item on the TLP. Then the scam petitions start. Its kind of how trading between horde and alliance isnt allowed on WoW, and that NEVER happens
It appears I am one of the very few that thinks the current situation with long queues and crash to desktops while players stay Afk with auto script is not acceptable. The queue is 224 minutes as of writing this on Saturday afternoon. Yet only a small few have liked the OP as requested if you agreed with me. As I predicted the queue were only going to get longer as people refuse to log off because of the long queues. Tomorrow morning will be Sunday and you will see all the AFK players as I predicted in my original post.
If you really want to light a fire under their proverbial gnoll bottoms, I would try the facebook/twitter route. It wouldn't be easy...but much more effective. You get the issue highlighted there with a few thousand people on board, then they are 100% forced to do something. I'm reluctant to even suggest a strategy here for fear of the thread being shut down; as this is where I assume they hope to funnel the outrage where it is easily mitigated and out of view of potential investors/customers/partners. You didn't hear this from me ok?
The problem that I see with your OP is in the last paragraph. You talk about some alternate universe where reinvesting in EverQuest is a viable option. The game is simply not competitive when compared to modern games. The gameplay is slow, boring, and tedious. The graphics are atrocious. There's no compelling story. The people that are still playing are largely playing for free (Krono hordes/F2P/bought a lifetime sub), trying to recapture some nostalgia from their youth, or have had the EQ needle in their arm for the last 20 years. There's no new blood, and I doubt there's much market share for EQ to capture. If Daybreak were to actually invest in something it should be a new entry in the franchise, there's nothing to gain from reinvesting in EQ1. That makes the assumption, though, that there's even money to reinvest. With cutting back on the back end, I doubt that's the case. I bet they're operating under a fixed limited budget decided at the Columbus Nova level, and that profits beyond operational costs are sucked right out of the company. I just don't find that point of view that EQ will see some resurgence very realistic, that's why it's hard for me to agree and like your post, even though I agree with the principle behind some points. I think it's more realistically time for players to start jumping ship and let the game die, it's just becoming a cesspool, and the fact that it hasn't died yet and the current state of things is ruining the memory and reality of what was a very innovative, borderline groundbreaking game for its time.
Here's a quote from a current employee from January of this year. This was posted to Glassdoor, so take that for what you will, I believe it but I'm sure there are skeptics among you:
How about instead of giving us all a Krono, you charge two or three krono's / month for the fist couple months. I care far more about my time wasted and dealing with bullcrap than the cost for a krono or monthly sub. How about a $50 / month option to not wait in the queue? How about anything that gives DPG the financial resources to resolve this dumpster fire and provide a higher quality of service to all their players that are still passionate about the game and are specifically passionate about new TLP launches.
I just know from what I seen in these forums.. A Krono is a some kind of magical loot that, according to rumor, ruins games and server economies. If you have one, you are a filthy botter and can proceed to throw yourself out of the nearest window (assuming it's not ground floor). If you are camping any rare item in game or, frankly, just playing in a way that isn't exactly how someone else might play... - then you can only be in the pursuit of the fabled krono and are effectively garbage. If you happen to come across one, its best to just let it be.
You say this, and yet they have been following this business model since the SOE hack in 2012, successfully, and have significaly grown and captured a much larger market share in the last ~8 years since that point. Pretty steadily. You're going to have to go farther than this to show that now the market has changed and the model no longer works.
“What's a Kronos? I hear them mentioned all the time and I have never ever had one. An never will.” You clearly don't even eq.
The wealthy Russian owner cares not about our problems, but rather a monthly stipend. Money laundering comes to mind as well, but what do I know?
Its been 3 weeks in and there are still 3 to 4 hour queues. After today's patch I had high hopes that maybe Jenn saw this message and installed a newer bigger server that can handle 10k people or patched something. Nope. 10 more days and Aradune will have been here for a month. Please tell me, Jenn, you have something planned to help retain all the one month subscriptions that will expire to keep them as customers. I really want you all to keep Everquest going and keep it profitable for you so you can keep it going. But your actions, or lack of, seem to be leading me to disappointment.
