Heroic Characters Begin Their Adventures in Norrath on March 12

If I have 3 accounts.. all before nov8th 2013... does this mean I can have a free heroic char on each account as long as its in between 8th-26th?

Or is it only one per household? Roshen wasn't very detailed about this.

As long as the account was made before Nov 8th 2013 you get 1 free heroic per account.

I guess I am looking at the accounts before Nov.8 vs those after this way, for right or wrong. In my case I have 4 accounts that were created before Nov. 8 and they will all get 1 free HC. I also have 2 accounts that were created after that date and 1 of those 2 accounts should get a free HC under the per household rule. I believe this is the intention. Until I hear differently from a red name that is the assumption I am making.

My only concern is if the order of my choosing will screw me over 1 way or the other. If I choose the account created after the date first will it only let me get that 1 since I will have fulfilled the 1 per household rule nullifying my ability to get the other 4, or if I choose 1 of the accounts created before the date will I lose out on the account after the date because my household already has 1? I am thinking I should get 5 of the 6 and that that is the intention, but things don't always go as intended. Nor is it 100% that what I am assuming is intended.

That's a great question.

That's almost exactly the question I was going to ask. I only have one account now. A pretty old one! I'm sure I'll get a free HC for that one. However, I was thinking about creating another account just to get a HC of a different class. Will my new account also get a free HC?

I've looked a couple times through this thread, even still, perhaps I have missed it, but I've wanted to know if a definitive answer was ever given to a question from the front page:

Has this been addressed? Or, could we possibly get an answer to this one, please?

no it hasn't been addressed. i for one am still waiting.

You need the appropriate quests AND active gold status to use J5 mercs. I don't see anything here that changes that reality. Doing the quests (either old or new) doesn't change ftp/silver merc restrictions. It just means the quests are done if you do go gold.

can I transfer one heroic char to my other account and have 2 heroic char there with a transfer token?

yes you can transfer HC chars just fine but they still cost a fortune to move with the tokens

I get that, and it makes sense. It has just been stated that Heroic characters will be available to both Free and Silver AND they will come with a J1 merc, with access to the J5 quest.

So, while you could certainly be correct, it does seem that the door is at least open for this to be a means of accessing Journeyman mercs on Free/Silver accounts.

Perhaps this is just the undying optimist in me. I'm happy either way.

that's the thing that keeps me wondering. in some ways they spell everything out and in others they don't. I don't understand the problem with the mercs anyhow. if you can do the quest, you should be able to use the reward. i don't see where that has anything to do with privileges.

if you can loot the armor you should use it... that what you saying too Suka?

silver/f2p can't use certain pieces of armor/augments either even though they can get them and mercs just have that restriction as well.

which is also why I pay for my gold accounts, I hate the weak A5 mercs and love the J5 mercs... It's a gold privilege (spelling?)

Before I reply, I feel I should explain my position a little better. To help me do this, let me preface this with a few of the things I am not arguing for:
- I do not think F2P and Silver accounts should get a monthly SC bonus.
- I am not at all concerned with the free HC or what accounts get them nor am I making a case about anything prior to the March 26th deadline (I'm only concerned with player who missed or did not get an HC free).
- I am also not concerned about any accounts made after or before Nov. 8th in regards to the household restrictions
- I am not against Sony Online Entertainment or the EverQuest brand making money and in fact, encourage it! That is how we get to keep playing the game, after all.

Now, the only thing I'm really arguing against is the notion, one I've heard time and time again, that the Heroic Characters were intended as a way for new and existing characters to catch-up, in essence making them feel less disconnected from other players and making them less inclined to quit the game (in other words, customer retention). However, the current model they're using for Heroic Characters goes against that very notion in almost every way. Forcing people to spend $35 on the only way for them to feel less inclined to quit is a steep price for people to pay to bridge that disconnect. It's an even worse way to retain customers, especially those that don't necessarily have that kind of money to blow on a game. This is where my claims of disenfranchisement comes from.

If you are truly trying to retain customers who feel inclined to quit due to difficulty, disconnect, boredom, or whatever then you should appeal to all new and returning players, not just ones who can afford $35 to help themselves not quit the game. By not having cheaper alternatives, SOE makes it clear that they don't want poorer players playing their game and that only people who have demonstrated their ability to pay $35 may advance and gain the advantage of feeling less disconnected and inclined to quit.

In other words, players who cannot afford the $35 are going to feel just as disconnected as they always have and will still quit the game (so much for customer retention).

Now had Sony just come out and said what we all are thinking (that it's all about money and screw retaining customers that can't pay) then I would have had no problem. Putting a generous face over greedy intentions are what I am having issues with.

You may be right, I may be crazy, and it might just be a lunatic that you're looking for but that's where I stand.

Will these heroic chars also have J5 mercs if decide to go gold? J1 for silver and J5 for gold??

Again, I totally get it that Journeyman Mercs are part of the drive for paying for a Gold account. In fact, it is about the only thing that makes me consider it for my accounts.

With that said, I could see SoE also including Journeyman mercs has a special incentive for Heroic Characters...especially since the HCs will also be available in the Marketplace.

I'm not trying to degrade the value of those paying for the ability to use J5 Mercs, just asking for clarity as it relates to HCs.

Here's what you aren't really catching. Sony doesn't want people to stay free players, they want to entice them to pay money in some way/sort/fashion. They don't force you to pay, they just make it more convenient if you pay. It seems what you want is any new account should get one free HC? As far as I'm concerned, sure. If anything that would actually entice them to buy another one if they want to start a new character. I mean, who starts one character and never starts another one ever. They would have to find a good reliable way to stop people from abusing the system and making unlimited free accounts though like you can now, though.

I don't really want everyone to get a free HC, although that would quash my argument as it stands. All I'm asking for is one of three things.

1) For Sony to stop touting this as bridge for older returning and new players when it's clearly about money
2) For Sony to release an appropriately priced tier system for Heroic Characters (e.g $5 for level 50, $10 for 55 through $35 for 85) so returning and new players won't feel obligated to pay $35 or feel inclined to quit again.
3) Remove the time restriction from the free HC and keep the household rule in place. This will allow legitimately returning and new players a chance for a free HC but limits abusers as the newer accounts would be limited by IP to one (inspired by your previous post)

I agree that Sony doesn't want everyone to stay F2P forever, but this was never touted as a feature to get existing players on lower accounts to upgrade (free SC, loyalty points, prestige armor all does that fine). It's mainly to attract back older players that have since quit or new players that haven't played before, both of whom would have a hard time getting to higher levels without a feeling of disconnect from the game and most other players. If people are to really see if the game is worth $14.99 to them, they're not going to first spend $35 just so they have a lesser chance of quitting. It would be counter intuitive to spend more money on something before you're even sure you want to keep using it.

On the flip side, without the heroic character, most new and returning players are going to find it to be too hard for them to get into the game and quit anyways, which throws the whole customer retention notion out of the window.

Please stop implying these are mutually exclusive goals. Money is always the bottom line, that doesn't mean this ISN'T a bridge for new and returning players. If it works, then not only was it a useful bridge for many people, it made some money besides.

Interesting idea, who knows? Also, remember it's not $35, it's 3500 SC. SC is a many-game currency, so many will have balances already, including free SC from subscriptions. Also SC can regularly be obtained at a discount and/or with bonus SC, so many will pay much less than face value (which is why monthly subscriptions were removed from the SC system).

The household rule (assuming it's an ip check) is silly because IP checks are so trivial to bypass with a little knowledge. It's a good thing it only exists for a short time, for it would become a bigger joke the longer it exists as people become informed on how to ignore it. Not practical, basically.

They would probably earn more in the long run not having the IP check. Think of people being enthousiastic with friends and family unlocking all sort of stuff at the high end, like rank 2 spells, mercs etc. Versus people just playing lowbie and seeing they need tons of time to catch up and then quitting.