Daybreak: Listen to the community, new progression servers require subscription

Merge Fippy and Vulak. Use Vulaks hardware to make a new progression/timelock/classic server.

Require a subscription. Guaranteed to have a high population and lots of people paying to play.

new players, or player from other server?

players that's gonna stick around, or players that's gonna leave once they realize Lguk can be monopolized by 2 groups? or leave once velious is over? or leave once they get tired of not being to do anything without merc? or leave once they realize the top 2 raid guilds monopolize all the target ( up to PoP and some of GoD...) or leave because the server progressed past kunark? or leave because the server isn't progressing past kunark? ( repeat the last 2 question with every expansion up to PoP...)

basicly, what's your ''garuantee'' ?

When did it become the norm to expect something for nothing? A successful company develops a product based on projected sales. I would consider SoE/Daybreak to both be successful.

It is a fact that a new progression server would bring in new subscriptions. It isn't a matter of how long they stick around as you suggest. That is something the players might care about but not the business.

If Daybreak has the Business Intelligence in place to accurately predict (based on prior server releases) whether or not the cost of producing a new progression server would yield minimally acceptable profits, they would do it...even if that meant they would make profit on the server with the extra subs by the end of classic. We'd all love it to last forever, but not everyone enjoys every corner of EQ the same. If they can make money on it, they will make another progression server... if they can make more money doing nothing, they will do nothing... that is the only guarantee you'll get.

You think they haven't thought of this already Krysanth? I'd be shocked if SoE/Daybreak hasn't run these numbers every six months and concluded that it doesn't make sense for exactly the reason Unconquered outlined.

it is definatly not a fact that a new TLP progression would bring in new subscription... at best, old box-account being reactivated once the population dwindle.

It is ALOT more likely that the vast majority of that server's population would be made of Vulak/Fippy current population.

Companies also think about how long players will last... this is a subscription-based game, they make money off subscription,not off box sales. If, like history suggest, most of the playerbase will be gone by GoD, then they might think twice about restarting another TLP server...

If those server where half as profitable as you guys think they are, SoE would've added new ones on a regular basis, not once every 3 years.

You'll need to stop thinking like a consumer and start thinking like a business to understand this conversation. Go join any of the other dozen or so threads on this topic please, while we wait for a reasonable response from Daybreak on this issue.

Should they not have made EQ since most of the players left by GoD expansion, and the population have been slowly bleeding since. I mean the real game, not the progression server? The logic doesn't make any sense. In fact, EQ1 is kept going because they made their money back early on due to good sales numbers & subscription numbers. Just because these progression servers may only stay populated for however long it takes to reach a certain expansion, doesn't mean it's not profitable and worthwhile to create them. For all we know, the initial bump in players for even just a few months would've already paid for whatever time & resources they had to put into spawning a new server.

I should remind you that those playing on fippy/vulak had to pay premium subscriptions. So even if they were live server players, perhaps they were on free-to-play but converted to premium just to play on the prog servers. Someone who's 5 boxing on the live server often only has 1 character subscribed, while rest of the boxed toons/buff bots are all on free-to-play. Where as someone 5 boxing on the progression server paid for all 5 of the accounts.

I don't buy into the whole if these servers were half as profitable as we think, that SOE would've added them on a regular basis. First of all, they've always indicated that they want to let progression servers reach live server expansion before merging them and spawn a new one. Neither have reached that point. Secondly, SOE were not the best at making decisions. Look at where it got them via many many bad decisions in the past; multiple layoffs both before and after the buyout, SOE lost the parent company a lot of money which lead to the buyout in the first place. So perhaps not giving their fans what they want got them to where they are today. Perhaps not having a new progression server, which would've generated additional revenue and fresh word of mouth advertisement, helped them get where they are today.

They chose to keep a skinny empty server like Vulak running for years, now that's just bad business decision. They chose not to merge vulak & fippy to help the playerbase on both servers out. They chose to not launch a new prog server, but instead, strip EQ1 dev team thin to focus on EQN & Landmark. Seriously, SOE/Daybreak were not the best at making decisions these past 10 years.

Sigh...

you don't get the big picture that TLP players are already playing on a TLP server. empty'ing Fippy to fill TLP_server_005 isn't gaining subscriptions.

Wathever, this is just another '' MORE TLP SERVER'' thread, that pop every week or so.

Like they played for free to start with on those servers? or are you saying they are all free to play accounts on those servers?

I would like to see where this is an actual fact. Your complaining about low population as is, those servers populations boomed once they first opened and then dwindled off to what they are now.

Better yet lets make a completely new role play server and expect to see everyone role playing.

I'm not subscribed right now but I would re-sub if they launched a new TLP server. I quit because the servers advanced too fast for me in the expansions and got to expansions I don't want to play.

I'm sure there are many others just like me that only came back to EQ for the EQ classic experience and once that was gone, unsubbed.

I think many people started on the TLP servers with the hope that it was going to be EQagain. Lets be honest here, it was nothing like the first go around. When people realized they couldn't play the game their way and saw what was happening on both servers SOE lost subscriptions.
There is interest in classic/progression servers but after what we saw last time I doubt there's as much interest.
Maybe a premium server where people who are found to be in violation of EULA get removed but that would require resources and a commitment to in-game support that we didn't see last time. In light of recent events I'd be surprised to see an increase in support.

It absolutely should be a subscription server however it should be visible to F2P players, just not accessible to log into.

Speaking solely for myself, I came back to EQ to play on Fippy when it launched. At the time of Fippy launching in 2011(?), I had not played since the orignal Luclin release because I was a broke high school kid who couldn't buy a new computer to play Luclin Lol.
After playing on Fippy up to the GoD release, i bought 2 more subs and 3 boxed on Live until recently.

So in short I'm just one lone example of how a TLP could generate a few new subs that could even lead to people playing on live for an extended period of time.

Secondly, Fippy and Vulak were kind of snake bit when they opened up.

The Alchemy exploit which put a TON of platinum into the server before Kunark was even opened killed the first guild i joined, most were so disenfranchised, they went back to their live server full time and never came back. Then the whole Sony Hack didn't help retention either... Hell I remember there was one dude 12 boxing mages who was killing dragons and clearing PoF shortly after Kunark or velious opened. Thats kind of bad and cool and all and power to ya, but it doesn't help the server. Also guilds D**k fighting over static raid mobs and 'ing their way to server firsts doesn't help server retention.

I don't think a lot of people would quit playing on the Fippy server to start all over again. Not after all the effort they have put into their characters.

I would return to EQ if they were to open a new progression server. I just hope the next one progresses slower.

And whatever, you are just another "I'm not interested in playing on the progression servers but I'll come and make sure others can't have their fun either" player, that pop in every week or so. Why bother talking down on servers that you don't play on and have no interest playing? New progression servers won't hurt you, I promise.

In fact, when people have burned through expansion content on live, which happens after 2-3 months of a new expansion launch, these types of servers keep players around. Or are we pretending TDS is going to keep EQ live players around for 12 months? And more importantly, these types of servers keep players subscribed, because subscriptions are required to play on them.

I have 3 accounts with TDS purchased, out of 6 accounts I have. Only 1 account is on paid premium at the moment. I can tell you TDS alone isn't going to keep me around in EQ for longer than a few months. If they were to spawn a new progression server, I would be having 6 accounts with paid premium subscribed, playing, having fun. I'll also be having 2 friends who played with me when Fippy/Vulak launched last time come back with me. Remember, "play your way" is their slogan, or was, who knows now. I'd like to remind other players to take that to heart. Play EQ your way, but please don't prevent others from playing and having fun their way. If you have no interest in a new progression server, then simply...don't play on them.

If people are scared about EQ's resources being used on the progression servers, I can guarantee you, guarantee, that the biggest hit to EQ's resources these past few years have been EQNext, Landmark, and H1Z1. The progression servers did not see as much dev time as it was needed. So if people find the need to play downers or harp on something, please go bark up the management tree. This isn't the place, because these progression servers only help EQ, not hurt it.

Ahh the good old days.. when +3 Int..meant something.. Now I would have to take a university course just to understand this game.. A man can only wish for a new TLP.. Till this..If.. I'll just continue on my 10yr Destiny plan..I tell ya if Destiny doesn't step it up here soon that 10yr is gonna be cut short..

Im optimistic with new management that they will listen to the fans and consider what they ask. With the amount of interest in a new TLP I cant see how it would not be profitable. There are more people checking these threads daily than actually playing. How much does it cost to run a server? It cant be that much, they would probably recover their costs in the first week or two. The problem I see is that it may kill the current TLPs which is counter productive.

Just remember there is a lot more to managing these (all the contested mob issues that required CS time, etc.).

I'm pretty confident a new TLP/Classic/whatever server would bring in subs. My time is Twisted Legion since launch was awesome. Sadly most of those players have left. I'm pretty sure they would come back in a heartbeat. I had 6 accounts active most of Fippy until after we beat Mayong.

I've played on every "TLP" server and would gladly sub again until the server went past roughly PoP, like I always do. Then I would go back to where I can continue to play in the time era of EQ I love the most.

I've been doing this for years and they'd surely be getting my money if they supported this style, as demonstrated quite clearly on other servers.

I imagine progression servers are very gimmicky for them and aren't worthwhile since they don't sustain subs beyond the first few expansions.

Why there hasn't been a perma locked server yet is beyond me, considering how aware they are of other ways people do this and how sustainable and profitable it would be over more Fippy/Vulak ghost servers.

Bingo.

You left because servers progressed too quickly. Others left because servers progressed too slowly. Some may not join because server hasn't reached XXX expansion. other leave because the server went past XXX expansion.

Some may leave because guild are poop-socking eachother on contested mobs, some may leave because there's too much GM interference ( aka , Vex Thal rotations).

some may leave when they see a guy 12-boxing mages, likewise boxers are a HUGE part of today's everquest population.

And that's the problem. 1 TLP server isn't enough, you need a classic server, kunark server, velious server, luclin server, PoP server... server with boxing allowed, server without boxing, server with GM monitoring contested spawn, servers without GM interferences. Servers that progress quickly through expansions, servers that progress slowly...