If people have moral outrage for a tangential "Russian connection", they should consider where their monies go every time they fill up their gas tank at the pump. Hint: Your dollars don't go to Switzerland (or, maybe it does, for a certain Saudi prince).
Oh I meant Massively did an article about Columbus Nova aquiring SOE... It was just humor of the ownership thing replying to someone elses comment I think they were just trying to lighten the mood
I don't 100% agree with the OP. I don't care that he didn't write it for his English teacher either. Some of you grammar ****'s are over the top. I think the OP made his point and if you didn't care for the read why even post up here if it was too poorly written for you to get the point, no? I feel like he wrote a post in haste and out of frustration. Nothing wrong with speaking your truth. It may not be everyone's, but it is his. And definitely no reason for anyone to hate or attack anyone personally. Just sayin...
Locked thread imminent. By the way @Dreamweaver -- level with us here please. Do threads like these where players voice some of their legitimate concerns about the game and its state lead to any sort of realistic discussion at the developer's or management round table? I mean like a real discussion? If not, then provided you answer this question in a palatable manner, i will take a hint and personally not bother ever with posts that revolve around this. You've my word!
It depends on the post and whether or not the discussions were already happening more or less. If decisions that have already been made internally or things that are unlikely to change then not much discussion is spurred by the post. If it's an idea or avenue or concern that is possible to address or spend time on then I've seen the threads spur quite a bit of discussion or their own specific meetings before.
I would like to say this from a purely NEUTRAL stance: When SOE was in charge, everyone complained then also lol. NOW (again) I am not saying this to pick a side in the argument, I am simply pointing out. ALSO: Please consider this~ Guys I have seen it when the consumer base simply gets nasty with a company. Okay ill just say this, EQ2 DOES have some pay to win elements, and while I can NEVER defend that, companies try to do what they do to possibly keep the lights on. Again, im NOT defending it. Is that true? I have no clue, im just saying. However, if the consumer base simply gets nasty with the company, maybe they just throw there hands up and say "you know what? screw it all". Now, like many other player here, I have been playing off and on for over a decade. This game is dear to our hearts, and that's way some people get so freaking emotional over the state of the game. I guess what im just saying is there is "constructive criticism" and there is "trash the company". While im not taking a side in this, im just saying consider whats going on. I love the servers up and able to log into my alts in EQ2. There could come a day when they are saying "servers going down" it happens in games. I dont want that, im not ready for that.
I think the general sentiment from the player base is that they'd rather the company took a different avenue to achieve this, such as making a game rich in quality content that keeps people wanting to play, and makes the necessary money from subscriptions. Years ago, when the game was owned by SoE, or possibly after SoE, I'm not 100% on the timeline, there were a good number of red names vehemently resisting the creep of pay-to-win. Some eventually lost their jobs because of this. But those guys understood the community and how destructive pay-to-win would be. The game has been losing players hand over foot for too long and there are two choices. Either they ramp up the ptw stuff, accelerate subscription loss and make a bit of money before shutting it down, or they can be brave and put in the necessary investment to make the game what it should be, and hope the players come back and subscribe. I'm pretty sure we know the second option isn't even being considered. Expect more ptw soon. I expect an eyeless-beating familiar in the next season of crates. Also expect the population to halve again this year. Good times.
They (Columbus Nova) are a Capital Investment Firm. They do not put money back into their acquistions, they suck every bit of money out of them until their is nothing left to suck out, then they either sell them as a whole or their break them apart and sell them. If they cannot sell them, they are abandoned. It is like a big machine just moving over things eating everything in its path and spitting out the leftovers. And unfortunately, we are going to be a leftover.
Daybreak is no longer owned by Columbus Nova but by Jason Epstein through Inception Acquisitions, LLC. Daybreak is not owned by a "Russian oligarch" but by an Israeli-American investor. Source: https://gamedaily.biz/article/231/d...es-new-investment-sets-up-mobile-based-studio
What I would like to see is that we get a new progression server that is subscription only and without cash shop. As an alternative a bare minimum would be a cash shop without any kind of ptw items (exp potions, krono, char level, bags, mounts...). Cosmetics can stay. I stopped playing and paying when EQ2 went full ftp. They could have leave at least 1 server to be without a cash shop when they were transitioning.
I admire the idea, but sadly, I doubt it will happen. I don't believe that EQ2's population is high enough to add a new server without crippling others. EQ2 no longer has the notoriety it held in the mid 2000s, and is an old game, which limits the rate of new players. I don't believe a new server would bring back enough retired players to make a difference, as many people who leave don't look back, and of those who do, many quickly remember why they left in the first place. EQ2 went full "FTP" because they thought they would make epic wads of cash like some other FTP titles were at the time. Ardent supporters of the FTP model were adamant it would bring a tidal wave of players, and rake in so much cash that EQ2's wildest dreams would come true. It did not. However, EQ2 has become dependent on cash shop revenue, so we can expect any new server will have cash shop purchases being heavily incentivized. The best objective take I have on EQ2 is not hold any hope for what it could be, but rather, look at EQ2 for what it actually is. If EQ2 ticks the boxes that make playing it fun and worth while, then enjoy. Placing any stock in "EQ2 could be great again, if only <insert idea here>" is a frustrating recipe combine that is nigh impossible to complete
Yes I agree with your points. Sadly. But I am baffled that we went from subscription is bad/not good for game/not valid anymore. to ftp with a shop only to mandatory subscription + cash shop for new servers...
Jason Epstein WAS the former senior managing partner of Columbus Nova until he left them in 2017. So there is a past relationship there. Some of these gaming company's change hands faster than anyone can keep up with. But many are bought by Capital Investment Groups that suck the life out of them then pass them off. That is what they do and often under an LLC so it is difficult to find out who they actually are.
Jason Epstein claims he was the sole owner when he acquired SOE and the Columbus Nova appellation is inaccurate reporting. In other words, even though Jason Epstein worked for Columbus Nova, that investment firm had no association to ownership. Unless you are trained in corporate law, you cannot say definitively what the legal strategies and mechanisms are. It would be both a generalization and assumption. Though, I am fairly certain Jason Epstein would run afoul of SEC (Securities & Exchange Commission) rules if he lied about his role and position (principal-agent dilemma, market manipulation).
Hi on and off player of EQ2 but also play other daybreak games People are passionate about EQ series My brother would only play EQ and then EQ2 but due to poor internet where he moved to he had to stop and only recently got good connection however coming back can prove distressing when you see the overbloated stats ,requirement and spells it seems also many not happy with the quality of expansions when i came back i tried live and could not tolerate it so went TLE i think maybe re focusing on fixing the stats and number of spells rather then expansions should be priority and add content along the way to keep people busy also the price for higher grades of expansions(something me and my brother used to buy) has gone silly $240?
I wish more games could go to some sort of rolling release where content is provided like on a monthly basis instead of dropping one huge expansion every year. But yes the stat bloat is real.
