Well put. However, if the strategy chosen doesn't consistently produce profits (and I do realize there are companies that are will to accept a lack of profits for a time, (Amazon for instance.) it will almost certainly have to change. Investors (and I am one) look for profits. We want a payoff. Like you I am an optimist in regards to the life of EQ. I know I might be proven wrong, but I think there will be a long period of contraction in regards to the number of EQ servers and a likely increase in the offerings of extras for sale well before the total shutdown of the game takes place. Other on-line games (Ultima On-Line) have continued to operate wayyy past their prime. I think that EQ has at least a five year lifespan to come, and maybe more.
I think it would be best to slow down with releasing of expansions. Yeah they may lose some raiders. But it is not the raiders who contribute the most to the game, it is really the casual player buying and spending money on the DBG market that contributes the most. If you change the focus to the appeal of a casual player, you in turn have better longevity. Extend the release of expansions by 6 months. That gives the devs 6 months of work to do quality of life changes while also working on the next expansion with their limited resources. I think that 6 months will not hurt the revenue of expansions and allow for more appealing changes to the game.
I assumed after this years server and support desaster and partly complete incompetency of the support staff (inablility for proper communication not only to customers but to solve problems internal in the company) that this is bad. The sell-out from the management and this expansion is another piece which goes into that direction. If they bleed out EQ then I would not be surprised when they sell EQ that the lifetime leaderships are not valid anymore under the new flag. This is what I am used esp. by US companies. But I didn't thought that the former employees thing so devasting about DGB.... More than 4000 means, that the most important rule for earning money is simply ignored: Regularly income instead of a single sell. Everybody who has a clue preaches that except managers who want to gut out a company and after that throw it away. Witnessed that meanwhile more than once... LTMs are useful to raise money but if that money is not invested in the source again but destroys a part of it, then this is not good... if...
So noone thinks that DBG projected that the lifetime membership people won't spend at least as much if not more than that revenue in Daybreak Cash and Krono to use to buy stuff in game?
Code-zero, I posted something along those lines on the announcement thread for the Winter Extravaganza. I think you're spot on, I'm probably still going to spend money on expansions & cash shop purchases, maybe more. My fiancé plays another game that doesn't have subs and spent a ton this past year on micro transactions. I think that's just how games are going and DBG is smart enough to understand that. I don't see EQ as being in a state of "impending doom", people have been saying that for a decade and a half. We're not even in "maintenance mode" yet which for most other well established MMO's is usually 2-4 years before they close. Even if we were to go into "maintenance mode", I still wouldn't worry considering how competitive and large the TLP community seems to be. In brief, I'm not worried.
Plus, isn't Pantheon, the Great White Whale of the "EQ-IS_DYING" community offering lifetime subs pre-release?
I dont think any sane person counts the $10k pledge as in any way meaningful or representative. Also, the pantheon community isnt saying eq is dead. That comes from the anti-pantheon community who claim that pantheon is too much like eq to succeed.
They made a great game, I can't deny that. The work and talent it takes to run a game like this (which was first to be born and has outlasted every MMO in existence) is more than just noteworthy. However, there is one area where they fell short. They lack the customer service and the HR, and more and more people are opening their eyes and realizing it now. I mean, letting a clearly proven sexual harassment case skate by unpunished can't be good for business when people start finding out about it. But that's not the only instance. Just type in "Daybreak Games Company Complaints" in a google or bing search and see for yourselves. Also look at their financial standings. Point is, they're exhausting every avenue of making more money, but blowing off the things that matter and would bring them more money if they did it. If they would just improve their customer service department and bring it back to the level of service they had back in the day, customers would be happier and continue to patronize the company. If they would enforce their own rules, the population would improve too. But as of now, the game is filling up with a bunch of keyboard cowboys who think they can break the law and not get hurt or caught because they're sitting in a room alone behind a keyboard. And those are the people who are driving away the good population, because this company does nothing to help. So be wary of who you're paying your hard earned money too.
