Gold Membership + Veesham expansion and contents restricted

It's not the idea of getting the mercs for free, you miss the point which is:

1.) The latest expansion should include ALL content of the game up to that point.

2.) If you are a monthly subscriber to the game you should be entitled to the WHOLE game without having to buy additional features.

3.) It is shady marketing to give you a merc with the purchase of the expansion but you can't use it without another additional purchase.

I still see them as optional extra's, but if the fine print has been removed, it needs to be put back. Maybe bolded, and in big letters.

No one said they wanted the entire *game* free; they wanted the *game mechanics* free with the purchase of the latest expansion and especially with a Subscription + Expansion. BIG difference! Charging for game mechanics should be limited to Free To Play, not subscribers that have purchased the latest content.

I've been a subscriber to SoE games for 15 years and having returned to EQ2 from Vanguard I found having to pay extra for game features extremely tacky; especially with four family accounts. I had no objection whatsoever in paying for the AA points, my special flying mount that I enjoy the look of, an extra character slot and a few other perks. I did however object to my wife having to pay to unlock Beastlord, my son having to unlock Free Blood, all of us unlocking mercenaries, and I having to unlock reforging. Those are game mechanics, no matter how you wish to sell them. Charge the F2P crowd for that, as I and my family wish to subscribe to an unrestricted game where specialty items, subscriptions and expansions are the only costs.

I would have respected them more if they charged for the mercenary instead and said you either earn one or purchase one.

I hope that this has not dissuaded you from playing the game entirely, I like to hear that even with the little issues this game has that people go on to enjoy it as it means more people to play with.

Some people should just learn to read and also learn to never assume. The game is free to play. Expansions are options to buy. It's like assuming that you get a free car when you pass your driving test. No sympathy. Life lesson learned.

You don't have to spend one red cent to play the game when you start and up to level 92. Guess it is also wrong to charge 39.99 for expansion that has the same feature that requires the purchase of the merc feature also. I can't foretell the future so I cannot say the SOE will not repeat the feature expansion in the future. If AOD was a regular expansion that would require them to add content along with the features - they did not.

Looks like Sambril answered your last question, I will try to give a little history on why it is currently the way it is.

The AoD feature pack was a feature strategy that they tried when they were trying to release content for expansions in small bursts after the expansions had been released separately.
These content updates were meant to be free updates to people who had purchased the Destiny of Velious Expansion. The idea had some initial community support, but development schedules and the feeling that the game was not getting updates in a decent time frame in general had some impact on population and interest. They decided to release the AoD pack (I am not privy to the details, but I believe it was the initial plan) to keep interest in the game while the newer sections of the game were being made. It was met with extremely mixed reactions and has continued to the annoyance of new players.
The idea to move to full expansions again was hailed as a community and possibly company victory after trying it out and not working. In this process however the AoD feature pack was decided to not be bundled with all previous expansions, It was unbundled and placed in the Market place instead to much community affront and to the annoyance of new players such as yourself.
I would guess it is a nice cash cow for them, but maybe we could stick with the flying bovic (cow) mount for that?

No, it's like saying that you are tired of taking public transportation (F2P) and wish to buy a car (Subscription +Latest Expansion); then being told you still need the bus pass to use your car.

I don't think anyone is asking for them for free - they are advertised in what we purchased and we just want what was advertised - not the old "bait and switch".

We assumed nothing and we read quite clearly - it is and was and continues to NOT be disclosed that we'd have to purchase another add on to use what was advertised

But if you ARE willing to spend $39.99 + a subscription that *should* be enough. Here's a thought, they should market an $95 entry package that includes the Free Blood race and AoD with ToV! They won't though, because people would realize that "unrestricted" really means $95 + a Subscription.

See right now us greedy people that did not read all the fine print thought that the game went the way it did in the past and as it did in their other games, subscription + latest expansion = entry/return cost. Now that we know better, we will explain to our friends (long time gamers since EQ1) to get the access they desire, not require, costs $95.

See, us *old timers* are not accustomed fully to the store. When introduced, we bought into the concept and accepted that the store was for fluff and convenience. So long as we subscribed and purchased the latest content, we were covered. If you wanted the latest race/class, you bought the latest expansion. We even came from a time where people were discouraged from joining the game because they needed to purchase multiple expansions making it an expensive move. That did not work well because companies realized players want cheap entry and then they will spend on current content and subscriptions. To be honest, our return to this game felt much like the old days where our credit cards skilled up before we could.

and those that of us who purchased when the "fine" print magically disappeared should be given the option.

It would be the "smart" business decision and those of us that feel taken advantage of would feel better about continuing to support the game moving forward.

Exactly! As a group of friends and family leaving Vanguard to return here, we spent the money to go All Access as well as money on the expansions and AoD unlocks we wanted, not to mention some extra character slots. Point is, we bit the bullet, but how many people have read into it enough and realized that desired, but not required, takes $95 and then walked away?

Like size 72 typeface, bolded, and in a combination of puce green and scarlet*.
_____________________________________________________

Maybe they should just stop offering mercs in expansions. Or perhaps they should just discontinue offering the features for large gaps of time. They could give people a finite amount of time to decide whether they want the features or not, then stuff the adventure bundle features in Brell's Vault until Frostfell rolls around. Once Frostfell rolls around, they could pull those out of the vault for the holiday's duration, then put it back in until Tinkerfest**.

* Alternating letters between the two colors, of course***.
** At which point they could make them available twice a year, during those two holidays****.
*** Anyone that could miss that probably wouldn't be able to see the forums, much less post a complaint upon them.
**** This would make it where they weren't always available, but since they wouldn't be there all the time, perhaps people would stop expecting to be handed the features for no additional cash outlay.

I feel you should be given an option.

Maybe they should put the fine print back in, refund the money (and revoke access to the ToV content - as well as to CoE content if that expansion was not purchased previously) for everyone that purchased the expansion during the time that the fine print was missing, then give you the option to re-purchase the expansion with the understanding that ToV does not grant access to features that are included in the Adventure Features Bundle.

That would make sure that you didn't proceed from this point forward under mistaken assumptions. It might cost them a little bit in sales if people decide not to re-purchase ToV, but it would reduce the number of times people use the term "bait-and-switch" or "taken advantage of" or anything else along that line, and thus would chase less potential players away.

I have previously submitted a /feedback report about the fact that the disclaimer is currently missing from the expansion content page. Last I heard it was being forwarded to the appropriate person, but I haven't heard anything about it since then.

Can we please stop pretending that everything that came with AoD is vital to game play. It is not.

Yes. Just like that.

I'll spare you.
To get the opinion while avoiding my obligatory rant, skip to the last paragraph.
Just saying......

Every one posting here that disagrees with the OP, and the posts that support the OP, all share one thing in common. You are all long term players of the game that have seen it progress and evolve over the years. It is no mystery to me that you would regard these issues as common knowledge. What I do NOT understand is why you would expect a new player to be able to grasp these issues intuitively, and the level of hostility and derision I have seen in some of the responses.

If all of this information is so clear, up front, and easily grasped, then why is it that this subject comes up over, and over, and over again? I researched this game quite a bit before playing it, and hardly a day goes by that I do not glean something new and useful that I missed seeing previously. I will not go so far as to say that SOE is pulling a "bait and switch" with their current policies, but I do happen to disagree with some of them, and to say they are not a little evasive about disclosing information relative to costs and features is to ignore the obvious. If SOE were to disclose the full facts as clearly as Alarra did, a lot of people would give this game a pass without even giving it a try. Why is it that Alarra was able to tell me more in the span of a few paragraphs than SOE was able to tell me in hours worth of reading, on various sites? Are they simply that deficient in presenting their product, or is it an intentional act on their part to get you to at least try the game before gaining a full understanding of what the game has to offer............

............and how much it's gonna cost ya to get it?

The OP, and those in support of the OP, also have something in common. In fact, they have something in common with almost everyone I have seen post on this issue. They have invested. Most all of them have purchased a membership, expansion, or added feature, and most have purchased those in combination. The fact that they find the current policy to be confusing and poorly defined does not make them stupid. The fact that they disagree with some of those policies does not make them cheap. The fact that they go to the forums seeking the advice of others makes it unlikely that they are the type that do not take the time to read. As for myself, I have learned a few things I did not know by reading this thread, and I appreciate those of you that provided constructive input and opinions.

I'm not going to debate what should be included at what price, because that is not the issue that sparks threads like this. The major point of contention is about whether or not SOE offers full disclosure, and does so in a clear and concise manner. I think that SOE does indeed offer full disclosure, but spreading it out so that some info is in game while other info is on various forums and sites is hardly what I would call concise. Offering a free merc as part of an expansion while requiring purchase of an add-on in order to make use of it is far from being clear. Yes, I can get all the information I need before buying, but how much must I read to get the whole picture, and how many places must I go to compile it? SOE could do a much better job of informing potential customers, and were they to do so, threads like this would be rare instead of common. I am glad to see that SOE has become more communicative lately, but they still have a lot of work to do when it comes to communication skills. If you wish to defend current policy, you are free to do so, but to present them as being clear and concise in their presentation is something I can not help but take issue with.

I do agree that the official website isn't the most helpful thing. The whole situation feels kinda like some SOE employee is operating under the mistaken belief that everyone who is going to be shelling out for endgame-level-content expansions and collector's edition stuff has already learned everything about the game and bought the mercenary feature ages ago.

Viewed in THAT (incorrect) light, including mercs in the expansion goodies and not doing a better job of clarifying the fact that using mercs at all is a purchasable feature makes sense enough. If someone bought the mercenary feature, it also makes sense to make sure they don't feel forgotten and toss them a new merc option now and then as the game goes on. So if you're operating under that incorrect assumption I mentioned earlier and you want to kill two birds with one stone, then include that new merc toy in the expansion and you reward people for buying the expansion AND for having mercs unlocked!

Except, again, there's that pesky mistaken assumption all the way back at the very beginning, so the whole thing just ends up making a bit of a mess at the other end.

I don't think it's unreasonable to pay some one-time SC for the ability to use mercs, But SOE does need to have someone properly manage their website info about it.

As the one sitting at the computer with the credit cards migrating back to this game when they announced the sunset of Vanguard; allow me to put my almost 15 years as a SoE customer into perspective. I have never had any issue in paying for subscriptions and premium items. Back in the day I had 3 Stormhammer premium accounts because I enjoyed EQ1 so much that I wanted all the perks that could be offered at, what I believe at the time was $29.99 a month per account. I remained All Access after that for years so I could go back and forth between EQ1 and EQ2 when EQ2 was released, then the same with Vanguard for a few years. Bottom line, if I enjoy a game, I'm not cheap in supporting it. We currently have 4 All Access accounts in the family.

That said, I also understand the need for companies to have a F2P option to attract new customers. What's lacking here is a C2E (Cheap to Enter) model for those gamers, like myself, that strongly dislike any roadblocks placed on game mechanics. Simply put, that "Gold, Unrestricted Full Access" that they are attempting to pitch to my style of gamer. My generation of gamer wants to buy the latest expansion + subscribe as "Gold" and be done with it aside from SC purchases for fluff & stuff. Judging by the hundreds a year we spend as a family on additional SC points, we will buy stuff from the store.

What I don't like is spending my money/points on things like classes, races, mercenaries, reforging, and trade skills. Those are things that I expect to have when I buy the latest expansion AND subscribe to "Gold". Charge your F2P and Silver accounts for such unlocks since those are the players already saving money by not subscribing at a "Gold" rate. Those are the ones that should look at that extra $15-$55 in features as maybe a reason to convert to "Gold".

Lets stop calling players that feel that paying for game mechanics cheap and part of some entitlement crowd. It cost my family hundreds of dollars to migrate here from Vanguard between going All Access and ToV (Over $400). I don't feel I am cheap for saying that the extra $15 per account for mercenaries, then more money for Beastlord and Free Blood was a bit over the top. People enjoy certain classes, races and mercenaries. If they did not, SoE would not spend money creating them and advertising them as great features, so stop saying "You don't need that".

Instead of discouraging subscribers that want full access with all features with "You don't need that!"; encourage the F2P crowd to subscribe with "You don't get that!". AoD was either a feature pack or an Expansion, make up your minds. If it was an expansion, then like in the past, it should have been included fully with the last expansion. If it was a feature pack, then it's time to include it as well with ToV since the game has progressed to a point where people really desire those features that should have been included in the game to begin with.

The ability to fly on a flying mount is an awesome perk that is not required in the game, yet it's not sold as a break out feature of an expansion. Lots of things were added to the game over 10 years that are great features that we don't get charged piece meal over. Those are the things that attract one to subscribe.

Been playing SOE games since EQ, and have subbed to EQ2 for its life. I would like to add an opinion. It would be a great 15 years of Everquest, PR and customer appreciation event to roll AoD into the game finally. I believe it would genuinely create more subs/SC purchases than turning some newer players away with the additional cost of the features. It was a trial, and has run its course, and I think SOE can earn some points with its' customers this way.

I just made some SC purchases last night and hadn't in a long time. This would put AoD behind us and SOE and could open the door for more people to enter the game, experience it all, and put some coin in the purses of SOE.

Just my 2cp.

Well said, especially with the sunset of several of their games including Vanguard coming up. Returning to EQ2 from Vanguard I have a bit of a sour taste. After spending time in that game and watching as the SC on 4 accounts was wasted over the months prior to the announcement of it's closing, I already felt burned. The first thing we discovered was that going All Access was an up front payment in full, not a conversion from Gold to All Access. The next obvious expense was the expansions for the 4 accounts. Since we all had level 70-80 established characters on EQ2, the expansion made sense. Then the added AoD expenses for some of the desired features.

Some people here are forgetting that with the sunset of some of the games, some of those players are looking to migrate or return to EQ2. Many of them played as a family or group of friends and not everyone wants to invest that much money to return/move here. Our cost for 4 accounts migrating was $400. We bit the bullet since online gaming is our main source of leisure entertainment and we have been SoE subscribers for almost 15 years. Not everyone will feel the same though.

In short, the ideal player you are looking to attract are the ones leaving the games that are being shut down by SoE; especially Vanguard. Those players were already burned. You can tell me how I had fun playing Vanguard and how my spent SC there was not wasted, however people invest time and SC into a game with long term enjoyment as the reward. Yeah, I can still play that game, but the desire is diminished since it no longer holds a future. After that experience, returning to this game should have not been as costly.