When will the Test server gravy train end?

Also, the ability to copy items from Live repeatedly likely persuades some people to make purchases they otherwise wouldn't think were worth it. At the same time though, that same ability means they won't ever have to buy said item again.

I doubt FTP has anything to do with Test or the rules there. They need a test platform and they need at least some people to use it. So it needs to have some perks to it. The perks now may outweigh the drawbacks, but I don't think it's anywhere near being a problem.

I don't think a day goes by where I don't see a player joining Test, often from Live. That monetary loss alone should be considered a problem. You can go to virtually any of the surviving message boards for Everquest (and some not even directly related to EQ) and find posts recommending to play on Test instead of paying for the game. I would suggest that is a problem too. I suppose the only current saving grace is that such a small portion of the player population actually reads message boards or knows Test exists. Word is getting around though and its all eventually going to have to end. I would just like to see some communication on the long term plan since the current scenario is not viable forever without some type of change.

I wouldn't be playing this game anymore if it wasn't for test , i buy station cash i spend station cash on test i know some others to as well , soe is getting some money out of us that they wouldnt be if the server wasn't set up the way it was , and they also get players who test things to out of it so it's a win/win for them is it not?

Spending more than 180 dollars a year on station cash? No? Then you're not making up for 1 player who is not sub'ing due to free gold status. From the looks of it, there is a player in this thread that would be sub'ing three accounts so that is over 500 dollars a year. Plus, most people that "wouldn't be playing the game anymore if it wasn't for Test" would have come back and sub'd for a 2-3 months before quitting like is typical of the nostalgia based / sporadic player. That is 30 - 45 bucks that is lost and probably not always made up in station cash. I know quite a few people on Test that would be die hard subscribers but never ever buy station cash. And guess what? They are also not paying subscription fees because there is no point in it currently. I may be wrong, but I think the majority of players do not buy station cash. It is rare when I meet someone that does. Mostly its just vocal players in general / message board that talk about buying it, but the vast majority of average players that I talk to always go "yeah right, never" when I mention buying station cash.

If anybody wants a ghost town server - there are plenty of those around.

Test server's purpose it very clear - to have people test stuff. The more the merrier. It's not in any danger of becoming overcrowded, or 'the most popular'.

If they decide to change it they will, till then i think you'll have to just accept they dont mind people playing there and being the guinea pigs for any changes they decide to make. What about them having this option hurts anyone? I myself have never set foot there so have no idea what its like but, the live server i play on is where i have my friends and fun.

You can have multiple copies of the Scholarship potion on FV, but once you copy to Test they become no trade, and if you recopy from FV to test, you overwrite what ever you did, so tradable items and pp may be useful to gear up and buy stuff from NPC, but the double XP is really all you get except for a daily Lesson of the Devoted.

I don't think you could have the data necessary to back up your hypothesis (beyond the abstract, "nothing is viable forever", sense). There is certainly no evidence that Test is currently a threat to the viability of the game. Nor do I think it's inevitable that it will become one. It may, and if it does I would expect something to be done at that point.

Theoretical loss of revenue is not a valid argument unless you have some way of estimating that with reasonable accuracy. I would say you probably don't.

For myself, I joined Test when my gold membership expired. I joined because my gold expired; I did not let my gold expire because I joined Test. Prior to that I hadn't played much at all for several months. Wasted the majority of a year's sub on two accounts. Now I'm playing quite a lot. Out of SC and will likely buy some more in the near future. Maybe not as much as I would spend if I were playing as much on Live, but I wouldn't be playing as much if I wasn't on Test. I wouldn't be playing at all, as my main can't really advance any further on a Silver account. Whatever I do spend will be money they wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

The FTP model runs on the assumption that there enough people like me to offset what is lost from those who would otherwise be paying more to play. I see no reason to think that model isn't still viable on Test.

Thanks Elidroth, I hate seeing rumor spreading & nonsensical "the sky is falling" posts from people that don't like something so they complain until it gets changed. Contrition you might want to loosen your tin foil hat as it seems to be cutting off the oxygen to your brain

Thanks very much, Elidroth, for responding.

Maybe. I'd still be willing to bet this ends badly. I guess lets just enjoy it while it lasts, that is, until like all gravy trains, it crashes horribly.

Is there a plan to allow transfers off test soon?

There will be no more transfers off Test, it is like New York and LA, only Snake Plissken can escape.

So cute, Sebbina. :3

Look when new content releases, there's bugs in tasks, missions, raids, sometimes breaking them entirely that developers didn't/couldn't fix before it went live. If fewer people played on Test, the ramifications could be worse when content goes live. The more, the merrier.

In the end, it's Test.

I imagine eventually if the Test server population gets too big, they will just remove the free aspect to it. People will complain even though everyone knows it would pretty much happen if it got out of hand.

The real question is what the threshold is. How many players that stop buying expansions and subscriptions will it take for a change to take place? For now, nobody knows.

We can still /testcopy their right?

Sure. You, all your friends, your guild, ...hell, your entire server can just /testcopy and never pay a dime for EQ ever again. Yeah....that's sustainable.

This.

There used to be a warning that there could be a sever wipe at any time. I don't know if there ever was or if that is still an option. It would be kind of funny though. Man you'd see some whining then.

"This" was already answered. I don't see a reason for fuss over this.It isn't an issue yet, people aren't migrating to Test on a permanent basis. There is always the risk of rollbacks, server downs, serious bugs, lack of fixes, late content ... it is hardly a gravy train.

What confuses you is that you assume it is already well past capacity. If you are playing there full time, then you know this is simply not true. If you aren't, then you yourself are part of the reason why this isn't yet an issue.

Finally, even if someday there is a need to cut back, in the worst case you might actually need to pay for what you get there in the same way you already do on live. What is the fuss about? And of course, there are other alternatives such as SOE implementing a double-days system or some such thing so you pay a fraction of the cost rather than the full amount.

If the deal was so ultra great, then people would have left Test from Live a year ago. That hasn't happened in any massive way.

It's the usual "The end is near!!" folks who believe nobody except their own fears.

Possible does not mean inevitable, nor even particularly likely.

I'm not sure what your fear is; what "crash horribly" means. Sounds a lot like you're saying "this will crash eventually, so we better drive it into a wall while we have the chance".

EQ is some very cheap entertainment. Couple hundred bucks for a whole year. There is a sense of achievement on Live that simply isn't possible under the current Test rules. Some people enjoy that aspect, enjoy having an economy. Many people have a social circle they'd be unwilling to leave. Many already own the expansions, have paid Gold memberships for another year or more.

Fearing that the whole of the EQ population is suddenly going to jump ship to Test seems incredibly irrational. It's been like this for over a year and through one expansion release, I don't see why you'd think anything is likely to change. I'd say as long as people still enjoy EQ, people will still be willing to pay for it. Sure, some will come to Test. It may even become the most popular server. I still don't think that would be a problem.

Also, just because we play on test doesn't mean we don't spend money. I've played eq since 2000 and been on test since Secrets of Faydwer I just had 3 1yr subs run out a few weeks ago. Subs which i started after test went free gold. I've purchased every expansion ever on this account except UF because i wasn't playing at the time. This includes Collectors editions of VoA and RoF. My two other boxes, one from Luclin expansion forward has everything purchased but UF, and my monk Account I created during HoT has had HoT, VoA and RoF purchased. Added up thats like 10-11 expansions I didn't have to purchase that I still did for the extras that they come with.

I only buy station cash during triple promotions these days, but stock up with multiple cards per account.

It's likely I spend just as much as the average player on live servers if not more. I won't be renewing my subs at this time because I'm not playing anywhere near as much as I have in the past. RoF never had the same feel as previous expansions such as SoD, HoT and VoA where there was actual Progression. T4 has bee a total letdown. When the next expansion comes out and if its something that interests me I'll more than likely restart my subs. Despite getting a free ride some of us still want to support this game to make sure it can keep going