February 2016 Producer's Letter

How dare they do something to try to promote membership so they can afford gas to drive to work! UGH! Everything in this game should be free and developers should work for free. Take the money from expansions and let it last all year! If you run out of money, just start more layoffs. DUH!

Well, no, the fabled updates have always been available for free for both members and non-members. New expacs and for-sale feature packs have required purchase for both members and non-members. This new update being discussed is free for members and completely unavailable for non-members.

But yeah F2Pers who bought the expansion will not have access to this new content.

Nobody thinks that. Or at least I don't. I just don't think they can accurately call EQ2 F2P anymore. It's got one hell of a free trial tho.

At one point of time EverQuest was NEVER a F2P game.. It was straight 14.99/month to play.. Look at the success that game turned out to be.. They created a new one.. I do believe this game, when it launched was also, not free to play.. So the fact that they now offer content to play for free, speaks volumes.. They have unlocked so much over the years.. You can now use general chat.. You can equip better gear, scribe better spells and arts.. I think (if we are not all reading too into that part) if they are getting back to loyalty of PAYING subs, it's not a bad thing.. Take it with a grain of salt and move on.

I'm just happy i won't have to pay more money when we literally just bought a new xpac..

Lets not forget when all the bank space was unlocked that was a big one.

I'm going to reserve some vacation time when I know the date Sounds exciting!

$15 / month for the remake old zone ( fabled zone ) and new gears with upgrade stats only ? And repeat every year ? Use that money to find a new games .

What about the only PvP server left Deathtoll. Please get your shirt in gear and fix the problems on both tle servers. We pay active sub to play with less then 100 people because the game is dying
Wake up daybreak!

Any chance of characters getting Make-overs??? (better hair styles, different skins??)
Been wanting LONG hair for the female races like OTHER games (that don't have super superb engines that I can't run) like WOW and GUILD WARS 2 . . . but. . . one would think that with said RE-vamps. . . we could get some upgraded character looks. The SOGA skins are just getting O L D !!

Not a good idea.

3 different languages and 3 different mentalities.

People who can not communicate properly with each other for the most part.

The result is even less players more raid inability more disposals of players and even more lag, leading to further unplayable.

Thus, then probably the last year of EQ2 for the European Server.

Hello, I am a returning player and on my little mmo adventures outside of Norrath I have found some awesome and not so awesome ftp platforms.
I would like to suggest some things to look into that might just help the overall revenue and player base this game truly needs.
First off I hate to say it but PLEASE look at other ftp models that are doing pretty well for themselves. I will not mention game names here but one in particular is doing awesome and have made a few bad decisions which has effected the over all player base, (they are learning now). One thing you have to think about with a ftp model is not to leave the player base out which now a days is the free to play players, they are your targets to promote and keep a mmo healthy and growing.

I think its good DB is trying to bring new and update the old, tbh many mmo's that go ftp mess up by adding new content over old and it just gets to the point everything clashes and you end up with more problems and more players leaving because who wants to be in a game full of broken content? I think it is hard for these game companies to really find the balance once they make that transition to a ftp model because you have to entertain the new and old and that can cost some money, money most companies just do not have for their developer team. I think balance is key here, you want new players and keep the old and also have enough stability to have those ftp players to eventually sub to the game and buy expansions. I think a good way to do this is exactly what DB is trying to do, however the results may be minimal, because most new players are not looking at the skins of npc's even though its important its not most important IMO, It can wait. The main focus should be something exciting that offers new players a way to look at the game and say wow, I have been missing out on this!!! How is the ease into the game for new players? Are they overwhelmed with the content? Does the storyline/guests lead them with ease and interest? Does it make new players want to continue on for hours or log after a half hour? I am just trying to help this game because I know what it is capable of and what is working and what isn't. Of course I speak for myself but also as a gamer trying new games I look for certain things and if I find myself playing for a while before I even realize 2 hours have past , than the company is doing their job, period.

Also I would like to ask are there ways for the free to play players to access things(on the store) through other players with in game currencies? If not, I would highly suggest that DB looks into it. This is where the balance should come into play, if you have many players that can not afford a subscription for whatever reasons, why not let your all access players be key in that to help them get access to the things they need or want through buying/trading through them with in game currency, also this will help over all game revenue because anyone can purchase these items from the store and sell them in game to players. I'm sure some folks already do this but make it a MAJOR ITEM, nothing small or not needed...make it needed in order to experience a part of the game. It may sound bad, but honestly its not as bad as it sounds because if you juggle things just right, you will have a good in game economy and also players will be more apt to support the supply on demand and help those ftp players as well and that way you are making all players happy and limiting any type of player.
As long as the ftp players can grind the currencies in a reasonable time frame that are needed it shouldn't be an issue. Just dont make the grind to afford these things unbearable for the ftp player base.

I'm not sure if hijacked this tread or not, I dont think so, but if I did feel free to move it to a better board.
I just wanna say, this game is one the greats, it should not go down in flames for reasons that can be adjusted and fixed. Also DB please listen to your players and what they want because that's most important..Take polls, ask more questions if needed, because if anyone knows the game best , its your players. I hope this game is around for many years to come.

I do have a question about the game platform as far as possible updating that as well? I think that would be my first or on the near list go to for updates of the game.

Good news, i really look forward to it.

The fabled zones were always (fortunately) a bit more challenging. What can not be said of the ToT expantion. I know it needs a balance to assure success for every player style, but the real appeal of the game is to archive something not cast into the lap. Since we reach the caps almost everywhere with heroic gear and the difference between sologear and raidgear is marginal,i wonder how far it can be bent with the current stats. (and with that i dont mean to just push fervor, its boring to have such a simple boost )
Also, would be great for the next expantion to assure a more generous range of difficulty. We are not childs who get moody if some parts of the game are out of range. It would provide more fun with the content and something to aim for, not just rushing zones and waiting for rare loot.

Love the merge part for the european servers, they are really deserted and a solution is needed.

Server merge is a bad idea. Generelly i agree with Ingerimm.

How about:
- New Hardware. (Does Valor run on old 486 Hardware?)
- Better Localization. (Howling Seal (Signet) <> Howling Seal (Pinniped), yet i have to press the Howling Pinniped in Stygian)).
- ADVERTISE!

Oh wells, it's nothing we (the players) didn't suggest the last 10 years.

I know people which don't speak any other language and they will stop playing.
It's good for people who speak at least english, but for everyone else... we will be losing people from this Merge.

I started hating raiding in this expansion. AoE Immune Mobs, Target losses, Target switches, 1-3 Second Castlag, Tab Targetting does not work ... worse than ever. My current favourite raiding zone is... yes... RUM CELLAR.

Traduction française du billet original de Holly Longdale sur http://www.guerrier-celeste.fr/lettre-du-producteur-fevrier-2016.html

A lot of players are waiting for this server merging, Storms is a really deserted server far less under 100 connexion even at weekend. This is really a pain and numerous players who can not easily group for instances moved on U.S. servers and TLE one.
Remaining players are mostly those who have problems with english speaking and love the French transaltion of the stories (the quests) they are playing.

What about the possibility for players to play with their own language ? I know moving the translation level from server to player is not easy but it will preserve a lot of players who love this game and don't want to play the game with an opened dictionary on their keyboard

I forgot to mention.... that some folks don't pay for a sub and yet they still spend money on the in game store, do not forget about these players ..as they are just as important as the rest. In fact if you are smart in your marketing tactics there are ways to benefit all players. Just don't give all access players everything and forget about the other players, it will be a dark day a coming for you. Instead like I mentioned above make something NEEDED for all players but have it to where anyone can purchase the item in the store and sell it to in game players for in game currencies, I have also been studying the mobile gaming world and one of the top mobile mmorpg's uses this exact fundamentals in order to keep the game thriving,. I'm not saying make everything player independent but some things should be and I think it will help this game flourish once again. Its going to build a community again for one and for two create revenue and also give people what they want no matter which bracket you are from.
Free to play,all access and the ones in between who spend money on the game here and there,

Hopefully DB you guys here me out, also, keep in touch with your players always, dont ignore them for months at a time, afterall they are supporting you and this game. And the server mergers for EU should have, IMO been done already..the more you sit and work on obsolete content the more people are leaving. Just saying....and everyone else who loves this game needs to speak up...this is how the devs know what is really needed in the game...

okay done with/rant and good luck....

So, still waiting for the cleanup train to come by and remove all talks about unlockers and TLE, which clearly is not part of the conversation for the content update?

Did you really just suggest that this game turn to a pay to win model?

Also, this is not directed at you MissGreen but in general after reading some of the ridiculous posts in this thread: I think a lot of players have the mentality of this game backwards. This is a subscription based game with a free to play option. This is not a free to play game with pay to win by subscribing. There are incentives to being a subscriber. Having incentives to subscribe does not mean that a free to play member is being punished for not subscribing. Personally, I feel that the F2P restrictions that were initially set should have never been lightened because all it seemed to do was create a sense of entitlement after reading some of these posts.

Also to anyone suggesting staff be more like ______ with their free to play model (or really this applies to any time you are giving feedback), telling the other party to be more like ______ is the fastest way to get your reader to stop reading and move on to the next post. Have you ever in your life been told to be more like someone else? As in an older brother, sister, friend, lover? Probably made you feel crappy and ignore the person after that. Same goes here. Hey, you should be more like my ex-boyfriend, he's much better than you, now please listen to me describe to you why... Hey, where are you going????

Margaritas hit the nail on the head.
This was a subscription game that implemented a F2P option that was intended to entice players to try the game and gain more subscriptions. Somehow it got off course and now they are trying to get back to what it intended.