I doubt I will get an answer but I have my fingers crossed - can anyone out there at Daybreak tell us when the end of the sale will be? Even just a rough estimate would be amazing. The past sales typically all lasted a week, they started 1 week prior to the expansion announcement and ended right when pre orders went on sale. However, and I may be remembering wrong, but I think in the past we had more information to go on - we typically knew when the expansion's livestream was going to be prior to the 50% off sale even starting. This time the expansion wasn't even announced until AFTER RoS went on sale; so it's a bit out of order this time. Also, we have no date for the expansion's live stream (if there's even going to be one). If we can't get an end date, can we at least be given a 1 or 2 day heads up prior to the sale ending?
Look down at the bottom of this page. Your question was answered in another thread. https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq/index.php?threads/ring-of-scale-now-50-off.251588/
It's a marketing incentive to get people to level up/max AA, etc to prepare for the new expansion. It's not to give people a cheap way to buy an old expansion once the new one is available.
Ya this was answered in the other thread, at least as close as they are going to. The sale will end when Pre-Orders start, there is no official date for pre-orders yet, but it was hinted to be at the end of the month. They said we will be given about a week heads up when it's about to end.
No...it is mostly a predatory sale, designed to take advantage of those who are bad with money. Video games, especially EQ, are about playing in the new content at the same time as everybody else, so you can play with everybody else. Buying an expansion a month before it becomes irrelevant is just a bad purchasing decision, but DBG knows that some people will spend money if they see the word "sale".
Daybreak has made no secret of the fact that The Burning Lands is expected to be released in December and will include all previous editions, including Ring of Scale. A major reason for someone buying Ring of Scale now, at 50% off, is to obtain the Collector's or Premium editions at a lower price, or just upgrade their current Ring of Scale. If the additional bonus items are worth something to someone, getting them at 50% off is better than paying full price. If someone does not feel they are worth paying for, they don't have to buy it. I don't see anything "predatory" about this. Now whether the items are worth the price even at 50% off or should have been included in the Standard edition at no extra cost is another discussion, one I have no interest in participating in. Daybreak is a business and while I don't always agree with their business decisions, I would not characterize them as "predatory". You get exactly what they say you get.
Daybreak has also discontinued the practice of unlocking older expansions for Free-to-Play (since The Darkened Sea - Maxmimum Level: 105). For many, purchasing the discounted RoS expansion is the best alternative to provide max level increase to 110 (gain normal XP with FTP accounts), more AAs (gold only), and access up to RoS (TBM, EoK, and RoS for free accounts) for non-main accounts. Edit: For people with multiple boxes who just want the Gorowyn teleport, you can save more money by purchasing a single Premium Edition for the real estate-enabled clicky.
Your assumption is everyone who plays this game has time to stay relevant in current content. For these players the sale is probably as you suggested and not a great buy but on the flip side if you are one of these players most likely you already own ROS and therefore outside of updating to the collectors or premium edition the sale wont apply. Where it does apply is for the more casual player base especially someone who multiboxes and realizes that paying full price for expansions they wont step foot in for several years makes little sense. For someone like myself I have bought TDS on 11 accounts and just now made it past Degmar. Bought TBM on 8 accounts and have only done a couple of missions and spent maybe 20 hours killing in static zones. Bought EOK on 8 accounts and only killed in FM. Bought ROS on 5 accounts prior to the sale and killed in OT for a couple of hours. Knowing how far behind I am it makes way more sense to buy expansions on sale than new expansions I probably wont experience. I will always buy the new expansion on my main account to support the game because I want to see the product survive but I probably will be buying the rest of my expansions on sale from here on out unless for some reason the 24 hour clock magically produces more hours in the day for me to play.
They stopped only because there had not yet been a level increase. I fully expect TBM to be added to the free content upon the release of TBL. Also, it would make far more sense to anyone to just wait and buy TBL and get all the current content even if you have to pay $35 instead of $17.50. People who multi-box can save still more money by simply finding a guild who has their guild hall open to everyone to use for porting.
Well, neither of us can confidently calculate whether TBM will unlock unless you have a source. Even if TBM unlocks, your argument is moot. The utility and value of buying a half-off expansion to raise your not-so-important box accounts to level 110 is what's being contended. (And, say, TBM unlocks, shall a player wait 2 years?). It is nice to get your own Gorowyn Lantern rather than relying on other players. And, I doubt you'll see another mount that eclipses Balefire Wyvern for a long time.
I have 12 accounts .. I only buy the current expansion for my Main account and maybe 1 other .. others get stuck on F2p content till the expansions come up for sale when they do i'll buy it for the rest of my accounts, which is what ive been doing since the sale for RoS has been going on ive got 4 more to buy at 17.50 but need to wait till middle of oct for payday then when TBL comes out i'll buy it for my main.. Plus I love illusions ... have I mentioned that ..
"Predatory? Designed to take advantage of those who are bad with money?" NEWS FLASH: Even buying the last expansion at FULL PRICE is a terrific deal even ONE DAY before the new expansion comes out when you consider the amount of entertainment you get per dollar. I will never, ever understand the people that complain about expansion prices and gold status rates as long as I live. In the real world, Everquest is incredibly inexpensive, especially for how many hours of actual fun you get out of it. To even make an argument that it's, "predatory," is beyond ridiculous. IN THE REAL WORLD, if $34.99 or $14.99 is a life changer, you should reexamine your life priorities. EQ is a great game, and a great value. I save $50 from not crushing wings and pitchers of beer and Golden Tee golf on a single Saturday night at the Ale House in West Palm. Stay home just one Saturday night, and I save enough to buy a gold month and an expansion, or over three months of gold status.
