Sure... As long as people are complaining, the game means a ton to them It starts to get dangerous if nobody writes anything anymore or is not interested in whats going on. So a little something for the devs, if they think, the game is full of angry people - but it only means one thing: the game is important to them and they are still fond of it regardsless which opinion they have... so use it wisely...
The devs seem to be working hard (even if we disagree with some of their choices). I'm paying money on my accounts, which hopefully keeps paying their salaries so they keep making good stuff for us.
I'm sorry but the money you are paying is moved toward other games, not only are the eq devs swamped with work, they're also getting pay cuts.
So let's say that this little 299 times 4000 helps the books. What really happens when cash looks great at Daybreak is that it is siphoned off to another fail attempt at the next H1Z or whatever... It never gets put back into EQ. Never more zones than the "minimum" 5 or 6 per new expansion. No new progress on account to account xfers or a new relevant heroic character level.
299x4000= 1,196,000. So they made just over a million dollars...where do you guys really think it's going.
As with most every business, it goes where management wants it to go. This wasn't some sort of altruistic thing. A for profit company should, and most do, look for ways to maximize profit.
Is that how you run your corporation? You never invest monies from one segment into another? I mean, you are obviously doing well since you've come here and laid out your business plan in such a mater-of-fact way, but it strikes me as taking a lot of guts.
I think the point is: If the money does not go back to the All Access games (like EQ), then the All Access game stable (including EQ) has lost the monthly income from 4000 of it's most rabid paying customers, for good. What does your keen business savvy predict that means for EQ's future?
Hopefully with this infusion of cash, the devs will be able to address the exploitation of zone geometry in plane of fire. This on going bug is the only reason I didn't buy a lifetime membership.
"If" being the operative word. Neither you or I know where that money has or will go. Just lots of guesswork and typing exercise. Do I hope the money gets plowed into EQ? Yes, but I also have no way of knowing how many of the people who bought lifetime subscriptions even play EQ. Continue the speculation game all you want, but until actual information becomes available it is just speculation and thus quite possibly meaningless in the end.
As long as you are here discussing it with us, even just to tell us we're wasting our time, you are participating in the speculation game also It's hard not to. It might even be a little "head in the sand" not to speculate about the future of the game we spend so much of our lives in. What percentage of your life have you given to EQ (in-game, on the forums, at work, interrupting your sleep schedule, affecting your relationships with other people, etc.)? And while we may be speculating about where this money is going, we do have some facts: 1) There haven't been any announcements about new developments for EQ, beyond the 20th anniversary. 2) There HAVE been announcements about new games from the "joint venture". 3) The Lifetime sub sale is a 1.2 million dollar liquidation of 4000 subscribed customers. 4) There have been (seemingly massive) layoffs at DBG, in the All Access game stable. 5) https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Daybreak-Game-Company-Reviews-E973097.htm 6) DBG's latest games have not been included in All Access, and the last game to be released for All Access is 6 years old. That information exists regardless of whether people try to interpret it.
I should also have added. When I was in grad. school in history, we were encouraged to speculate about "might have beens". Speculation is fun and occasionally useful. But it is still speculation. The facts you list are there, but what they mean for the future of EQ is as yet completely unclear. Kind of like looking through a foggy window. As it clears, we will "know" more.
HAHAHAHHAHAH limited to 4000 HAHAHAHHAHAHAH Back due to popular demand! The special Lifetime All Access Membership offer has been extended through December 31, 2018. There's still time! Still think it's anything but a cash-out?
The "cap" is now 6000 according to the updated sales page. The question is, why the original cap of 4000? Was it because: A) They did the basic actuarial math and realized that sales exceeding 4000 would be too much long-term subscription loss to remain viable down the road? or B) They wanted to drive sales by setting not only limited-time but also limited-quantity. Logic dictates that if it was A), then why increase it to 6000? If the business could afford 6000, then why not set the cap to 6000 from the get-go? This tells me that they either never did the long-term subscription analysis, or don't care about the results of that analysis. Both speak volumes, but one could draw different conclusions. It could be a last-ditch cash grab of a company in it's death throes. Or, it could be a strategic shift away from that direction and business model to another one which we are not yet privy to. Regardless, I bought my lifetime subscription for my primary account, and am thinking of buying two more. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt.
Nothing so complicated, they just pulled the plug on all the future expansions and game is entering maintenance mode, ie no new meaningful content added. It is in their best interest to rope as many people as they can at this time.
There may be some truth to this, but I feel we'll still see expansions and new content. It will likely be recycled content. Regardless I am here until the lights turn off.
Errrr.... make money enough to execute their strategy, I would say. Focusing too much on profit optimization can easily erode a company’s position, market share, yada yada. There is new management on board, so a new strategy. I think the existing EQ franchise is way too valuable to “sell out” for 1.2 MUSD, I believe it is profitable, and I believe that 1.2 is quite a bit less than a years cost of current development and operation. It would seem like a small lump sum to get for giving up a revenue stream and general goodwill. I am an optimist until prooven wrong; my guess is that DBG will launch mobile H1Z1 and EQ titles, as well as boost content production in exsisting succesful games, to harvest the trend of old school harder mmorpg’s being more in vogue. A new generation is discovering that there are some qualities in the classics, and EQ has a special standing in the history of MMOs. There even is a “pirated” version of the game, that is some serious level of dedication.
