Curious where EQ2 is going.

The problem with the forums is that most people who are having a great time are in Norrath, playing, not hanging out on the forums (the rest of us have work or life commitments that make it possible to see the forums but not play during certain hours, and the forums let us participate at least some).

The people who post loudest and longest here are those with sand in their craw about something, and it can be a relatively minor thing that sets someone on the trail or writing an incoherent wall o' text objecting. People who are mad are way more likely to come to the forums and post at all.

Real life studies reinforce this: "On average, twice as many people are told about a bad experience than they are about a good experience. The original study for Coca-Cola in 1981 found that a median of 5 persons heard about a good experience and a median of 10 heard about a bad experience for a small ticket packaged good. A subsequent study for a domestic auto manufacturer found that a median of 8 persons were told about a good auto repair experience (big ticket cost) and a median of 16 received negative recommendations about a bad experience. The magnitude of word of mouth varies by product, price and industry." (http://www.newtoncomputing.com/zips/basicfacts.pdf)

This is a misunderstanding. Population numbers are not publicly available as a part of the Cesus API and it is a direct violation of our Terms of Service to reverse engineer or attempt gain access to data that is not directly provided. Because of that, attempting to drag out these numbers and share them publicly is simply not allowed, and has never been.

We're unlikely to turn off the API for the game, but if the ToS are being broken and the infringing user is non-compliant, we will look into taking action to keep those violations from continuing.

Gross misrepresentation.

First, especially in the last couple of years, the majority of the 'negative' posts are not some 'minor thing' that folks are upset for no reason over. Second, what you personally are willing to bend your neck for, others are not. It doesn't trivialize or devalue their objection or concern. And a dismissive attitude does far more harm than good.

While it might be true that folks are more likely to voice dissatisfaction than give praise, and it might be true that those that post on the forum might be a small number of the whole, they are representative of a larger part of that whole - and those who feel the same but don't post, on both sides.

My reply was to somebody who specifically said they didn't want to hear from people who have quit playing the game... I'm not sure how that turned into 'only a small portion of the people that play the game post'....

Only a small portion of any game's community actively post on the forums for that game. Using this argument to excuse or dismiss the content one doesn't care for falls under what Daniel Dennett would call a 'deepity'.To the extent that it's true it doesn't matter, to the extent that it matters it isn't true.

What people might want to consider is this. If every game that has an official forum has a roughly equal percentage of its player base that actively uses those forums then what does it say of a game if the traffic on those forums has dropped off significantly over a given period of time? What does it say if the amount of traffic on said forums has grown considerably more concerned, critical, or negative over that same period of time? Could it be simplistically understood to mean that there are simply more toxic posters driving everyone else away? I suppose that is one way to interpret the situation. Another way to look at it might be that the same percentage of the population is still posting, and that the population is dwindling. Also that a growing percentage of those that do post are less happy than they were before.

I would really love to see things turn around, but every time I see another poster or player that I recognize throw in the towel I get more discouraged. Worse than that, every time I notice that another name I recognized over the years is simply gone my sense of dread increases. It's easy to label people as toxic and dismiss them, but what about the ardent supporters of the game that are not only not posting, but not actively playing this game now? What about all of the people that don't say a word and simply leave? Do we hand wave away everything and pretend all is well?

It doesn't do anyone any good to pretend there isn't a problem in the face of people saying they perceive problems. You don't protect the thing you care about by blindly or reactively defending it. That path only leads to ruining the thing you care about by smothering it. If you want the thing you care about to grow and flourish you need to be be willing and honest enough to take in the criticisms and evaluate them. Otherwise you can't ever hope to correct the thing you care about and help it be better.

Do you mean to imply that the people here where negative or critical suggestions because of the game that these are all sick or have mental problems then you have understood neither the game nor the content of a MMOS.

Maybe you should first learn or understand why some people come here in the forum and often express negative criticism because there are many who play the game already 14 years but are dissatisfied with the development and according to your opinion they should not say so then.

Let's say it's the development under Daybreak is not positive what the game itself was, that's not nice to talk about, even if a small part may see it differently. Everquest 2 has gone astray what the game was, what it's all about, you could call it a thousand examples, but we could not change it because Company Daybreak has a different view and image of the game than we customers would like to see it.

Negative criticism is part of a healthy human mind to rediscover or improve things together, but if you do not take them or just put them on record, nothing will change, and the hate or the negative lines will multiply that's how easy it is in life. man can go out of criticism very strong and because customers show we take you seriously what you want to tell us, or you can see it like you and say the people are sick then I would advise you take less pills and think again above your text or change it.

Every player has the right to say their opinions, why do we pay our monthly subscriptions or for a year we can expect that it will satisfy the customer what you pay for. I do not want to attack you personally but I found your statement very inappropriate and the announcement how your text responds to Players.

Is EQ2 perfect? Nope, not even close but I am having lot of fun playing it compared to many other MMOs out there so the dev are doing something right...

The above message is for any perspective player thinking of playing EQ2 so you know there is at least 1 person who enjoys EQ2 with all its flaws! Since if I read the forums without playing the game EQ2, I would think EQ2 is big pile of poo!

Since you didn't read or understand what I said, I'll make it simpler. Take all the kvetching on the Forums with a huge grain of salt, because more people are gonna come to the Forums to complain than will come here to compliment the game.

This says nothing about the validity (or lack thereof) of the people griping. It just points out that you can't judge the game solely from the Forums, because the happy players are not highly motivated to post on the Forums. Well, except for Norrathian Homeshow.

The way orange adorns and currencies work, this is the worse expac for alts except KA.

A guaranteed orange drop from heroic bosses would go a long way.

Smart loot as well.

And your post shows that you did not understand what a forum is or what sin this should bring, so stop telling me I did not understand it I think I've been playing the game for a while longer than you and I've seen many people coming and going ,

There are people who like the latest content and many of them do not like it that much, but most of them are in Norrath for years and have hoped for more with POP and you always say you want to be happy.

Where should you be happy for a semi-finished addon that still contains many bugs and no class balance looks sorry sorry there is nothing positive to say, rather criticism must be applied here because we have paid for a finished addon.

or do you want to tell me now it was great that the Crafter Sig line was inserted only weeks later, which is all positive.

If the work for which we paid is full and everything is done as promised, then you can also give positive feedback and say yes Daybreak has made an effort.

And now understand what a forum means in an MMO, and let us reasonably discuss it otherwise it makes no sense to communicate with you on a basis.

Have a nice day and good loot.

It is a matter of fact whether EQ2 is Perfect or not or how to say Poo with your words.

EQ2 has a long history of tradition that some of you do not know, some only know new content and not old.

every player can and should make his own impression whether the game is good or not.

Many miss the style because what EQ2 had, formerly there was no Ascension or Deity points all this was not needed, the story of PVE is a bit similar to the history of PVP here, too, in the end, nothing more or anything happened together

be known who has ever played PVP in EQ2.

And no one has said that it does not fun, it may lose its appeal that yes and as long as there are no new games, these games will probably live even further, you will see what happens in 2018 on the MMO market, much can change ,

If EQ2 Wire or U is no longer the service promised to the players by Feldon due to your post replied to by Roxxlyy I personally have no qualms holding you responsible for that lack of service.

Arrogance is pretty normal for online players. Out of date and out of context links are also normal for online players. Please show me where Feldon personally asked you to link those posts. Please continue with your smack against Feldon's incredible work and your extreme lack of concern on the possible effect to all players.

Please tell me why you find it necessary to possibly deprive players of an immensely important site for player information. Yes, yes, I know Feldon is arrogant and also loves to post condescendingly to those he perceives to have been born to the female gender. Perhaps I am giving him too much credit when I say he knows the players of Everquest and would not want to completely damage his standing with the community because his knickers are in a twist.

Feldon stepped away from the game quite graciously. Why you want to stir the pot and injure players is beyond me. How I read it? It ain't about Daybreak, it's all about you.

"Have a nice day."

Fe

Feldon didn't step away. He was banned from discord and the forums. He stopped writing his blog when the team made it clear they had no interest in working with him.

The reason the census api is still running is because shutting down eq2u would be devastating for the game. Feldon is just keeping it going for the players just 'cause.

However, the Holly has made it clear that any use of census data for purposes of reverse engineering population data would get the api turned off.

Note that in the terms of service, eq2 is the only game serviced by the api in which this is not allowed.

The very idea of publishing eq2 population data seems to really tick off numerous parties at eq2.

Feldon still posts on the eq2 wire forums.

You have no idea what you are talking about and should stop writing in this thread.

Feldon does not play the game anymore, thats true, but hes active on the eq2wire forum and IRC. He continues to update eq2u with features almost weekly. DBG decided to cut off communication with him and said they were no longer interrested in working with him, despite him having the ONLY major site for EQ2 other than eq2 traders corner. The reason he stopped writing articles on eq2wire was because DBG told him straight to his face that if he didnt stop critizing the game, they would no longer work with him. And thank god, Feldon, like any respectable journalist would do, didnt accept these terms so he was put on bad standing.

This is one of the leading developers of EQ2 and he has BANNED Feldon on twitter. This is the kind of people he still supports by keeping his site up, which has over 30,000 character look ups per week. If DBG actually did shut off census for EQ2, the game would be a poop show. He was also banned from Discord and the forums.

Nice try, using a 37 year old study. From a company that in 1985 introduced "New Coke."
Oh the negativity.

The Real Story of New Coke
http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/coke-lore-new-coke
"Calls flooded in not just to the 800-GET-COKE phone line, but to Coca-Cola offices across the United States. By June 1985, The Coca-Cola Company was getting 1,500 calls a day on its consumer hotline, compared with 400 a day before the taste change."

On with the program.

https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-customer-service-definition-types-role-in-marketing.html
"Customer service is the act of taking care of the customer's needs by providing and delivering professional, helpful, high quality service and assistance before, during, and after the customer's requirements are met. Customer service is meting the needs and desires of any customer."
https://successfulsoftware.net/2012/08/21/tips-for-great-software-technical-support/
"To have the best chance of success you need a great product, great marketing and great support. Many companies with great products and marketing fall down on the support." ... "Good support is essential to a good user experience." ... "the developer knows the product better than anyone else, they give better answers. Also the direct feedback developers get from customers can be very helpful in further improving the product."

UK focused, but people will get the point:

Are customers more likely to shame or praise brands on social media?
https://www.mycustomer.com/experien...ely-to-shame-or-praise-brands-on-social-media 20th Jun 2017

"92% of consumers trust peer reviews, while only 14% trust advertising"
"1. 38% of consumers will post about a positive experience" ... "contrasted with only 31% who post about negative experiences. The result also shows that consumer mentality has changed so much over the past decade that aspirational, positive images and comments are dominant over negative or critical ones." ... "businesses cannot afford to ignore the importance of social media as a channel and should be focusing on providing top-class customer experience that consumers are keen to talk about."
"2. 88% of UK consumers tell their friend and family about positive brand experiences"
"3. 84% of 18-24 year olds tell friends & family about positive brand experiences" ... "The most likely to use this form of communication are over 65s (92%)"

75 Customer Service Facts, Quotes & Statistics
https://www.helpscout.net/75-customer-service-facts-quotes-statistics/

"A typical business hears from 4% of it's dissatisfied customers."
"Customers who don't voice complaints - 96%" <--- see "15 Statistics" #6; "ICEBERG RIGHT AHEAD!"

"It takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one unresolved negative experience."
"News of bad customer service reaches more than twice as many ears as praise for a good service experience."
"Resolve a complaint in the customer's favor and they will do business with you again 70% of the time."
"70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated."
"Americans tell an average of 9 people about good experiences, and tell 16 people about poor experiences."
"24% of American adults have posted comments or reviews online about the product or services they buy."

15 Statistics That Should Change The Business World - But Haven't
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/2013...-should-change-the-business-world-but-haven-t
June 4, 2013

"1. Price is not the main reason for customer churn, it is actually doe to the overall poor quality of customer service"
"4. For every customer complaint there are 26 other unhappy customers who have remained silent"
"6. 96% of unhappy customers don't complain, however 91% of those will simply leave and never come back"
"10. 55% of customers would pay extra to guarantee a better service"

4 Reasons to Answer Every Complaint on Social Media
http://www.adweek.com/digital/jay-baer-guest-post-4-reasons-to-answer-every-complaint-on-social-media
April 6, 2017

"About 40 percent of complaints happen in public" ... "See complaints for what they are: opportunity to interact with customers. Even if someone is upset right now, that agitation easily goes away once you've addressed and resolved the issue. After all, it's a lot cheaper to keep existing customers than it is to find new ones."

"Compliments are overrated. They might do wonders for the ego, but when was the last time you gathered fruitful information from adoration? Criticism is far more useful" ... "Unless customers take the time to complain, you won't know what you're doing wrong."

"Erin Pepper, former head of marketing and guest relations for Le Pain Quotidien, a 200-location cafe and bakery chain, understands the importance of complaints. Pepper wanted to triple the volume of customer complaints because she saw how criticism provides insights into how companies can improve.

The Le Pain Quotidien team built feedback nudges throughout the customer experience, aggressively seeking customer input via the company’s website, emails and signs in the restaurants. Customers responded in kind, giving the team a mountain of complaints to analyze.

Once the bakery chain incorporated the feedback and improved its customer service, the number of complaints rolling in slowed dramatically. To get fewer complaints, you first must get more complaints."

I know EQ2 very well. I logged on 9th of November 2004. Its my first MMO. It had its ups and down. I have rage quite the game before and I have also quite the game due to boredom as well! I don't believe the style of EQ2 has changed much at all. They have always added new mechanics and gimmicks with each expansions. So Ascension, Deity points, familiars etc are part of this long line of new mechanics to keep the game interesting and new carrot for the players to chase. What has changed recently is the P2W aspect of these. I mean Ascension are in your face pay to win there is no question about that but its not bad as people make it out to be. You can still do very well in game without maxing out any of these.



The sad thing is the P2W level of EQ2 is on par with the rest of MMO industry and when all said and done, you have to judge EQ2 in relation to whats happening in the MMO industry now. I wish I don't have to do that and I wish P2W never game into the MMO industry but I think its here to stay.

Well done, Kawoosh. Since the spreading of misinformation seems to be an important topic of discussion these days, this information should be both important and helpful for those willing to listen.

I don't know about the methodology supporting these articles and studies, but as a practitioner of market and marketing research, I find them consistent with what we have found over the last 20 years or so.

It is also worth noting that, bad luck aside, we have identified a stable set of organizational cultural predictors relating to success or failure within a market. There are many outside of cs obviously, but, customer relationship management is important.

At the end of the day, it's about consumer utility, scarcity, productivity, price, AND brand reputation.

That statement in no way reflects the standard of the MMO industry in general, nor any of the couple of dozen titles that my partner and I have played personally. Successful mainstream western titles do not use the heavy handed and questionable methods The Team at DBG currently uses. Successful mainstream western titles do no force cash shop progression by excluding crucial items from the loot tables.

Folks need to step out of the Bubble more and actually play other games, or at least take ten minutes or so to do some quick google-fu before making assertions like the above.

And if you want to judge EQ2 - the ENTIRE game, not just cherry pick parts you think stand up - in relation to the rest of the MMO industry, we can do that. I doubt you will like the results.

Thread locked.