I use to play EQ2 quite awhile ago, back when it was p2p. Right now I'm trying to decide if I want to play again. I've played a lot of f2p games and they all have different models. Some say they are free to play, but you can only play certain areas of the game and have to subscribe to access all content. Some require you to purchase items from the store just to be able to play the game competitively. A few are actually completely free to play. At this time Rift has the best f2p model. My question is are expansions and new content f2p or must you pay for them?
Full expansions do have a cost with them, which everyone pays for not just f2p, however content put in through normal patches does not.
As a free to play player you will have access to all quests and areas except those included with the last 2 expansions. You can level up to 92. You will limited in the tier of spell you can learn (most spells come in 5 tiers, as f2p you can only get tier 3, called adept, though this is sufficient for solo). You will not have access to most global chat channels or the broker. If you buy the ToV expansion the level cap will be raised to 95 and you will be able to access all areas. Other f2p restrictions will remain however. Most can be overcome with purchased unlocks, though currently the only way to access global chat is with a subscription. In addition there are other features available with SC that are useful, but by no means essential. Mercanaries (npc to accompany you), tradeskill apprentices (research powerful recipes for crafting), reforging (allows limited adjustment of item stats), beastlord class (a scout class with a pet), dungeon maker (player dungeons). These are available individually or as a bundle. They are not included with a subscription. In short there is more than enough game available for free for you to decide if you want to commit real cash at some point.
Thinking about playing eq2 as well,so this info would be highly useful to me also.But i'm thinking about going the all access route,seems like a great bargain compared to other mmos.
Well, if you use your old EQ2 account, if it was from before the F2P switch it should have the 'silver' level of membership which opens up a bit more than straight up free. With Eq2 you get all content through the Destiny of Velious expansion with the download. That will take you all the way to level 92. There is the current two expansion bundle (that includes the level 93-95 content and a couple of features like green adornments, dragon aa and channeler class) that has to be purchased separately to access .That's exactly the same content any subscribing player would have if they had not purchased the expansion bundle though so a free player doesn't lose out on any content. Where playing free is locked down is spells, broker use, mail and chat. Totally free players can't use some of the global chat channels, can not send mail, must use unlockers to use the broker even to buy (really stupid imo and something that needs to be changed asap) and can only scribe up to adept spells unless they buy unlockers. Silver level membership, which you should have if your account was from before the free to play switch has fewer restrictions. Chat is unlimited for silver, silver can purchase from the broker but needs unlockers (really cheap) to sell items on the broker, still can't mail, but can scribe up to expert level spells without unlockers. Both free and silver memberships do have their alternate advancement slider locked at 50% until either your aa or adventure xp is capped but that's not really an issue imo. Most people play with their aa slider set to a percentage close to or higher than 50% it seems anyway regardless of subscription level. There might be something else I'm missing, but I have three silver accounts and three gold accounts and there is very little difference between the two to be completely honest. Gold accounts do get some boosts such a bonus tokens, a few minor buffs, a SC store discount, 500 SC grants and exclusive double experience events, but over all silver is a very good deal and they have to make us want gold somehow =).
There is a chart floating around somewhere that gives a breakdown of F2P vs Member benefits, but I can't seem to find it at the moment. Sambril, and Finora, did a pretty good job of covering most of that, but you may find the EQ2 - FAQ useful as well. https://www.everquest2.com/faq My honest opinion is that EQ2 offers a greater amount of free playable material than any other MMO I have ever been exposed to. The F2P content will keep you occupied for many hours to come. If you have access to an older account with silver level access, that would be even better. I have a few friends that are F2P, and are content with being so. Some of them have not spent anything at all, while others have spent minor sums to unlock content. I always like to try a game in F2P before deciding to invest in it, which is probably why so many companies seem to be adopting the F2P format. I would suggest giving it a try and basing your decision to quit, stay free, or go member, on how much you find yourself playing and enjoying the game. I played F2P and Siver for a long time, but recently bought a one year membership in All-Access in order to get a lower monthly subscription price. With the introduction of All-Access, I consider the game to give fair value for my entertainment dollar. If you decide to get a membership after trying it out, you can use the free 500 sc that members get as a monthly bonus to unlock the optional content like mercenaries, and save your real world dollars for the expansion packs.
The biggest restrictions as a free member are: Chat access, buying and selling on the broker, spell/combat art tiers and AA xp slider control. People who had subscribed prior to the game going f2p will have silver membership that unlocks the chat channels, allows them to buy off the broker without unlocks, and allows a higher level of spells/CAs to be used without unlocks. Selling on the broker and scribing higher tier spells/CAs can be done via unlockers. Since the All Acess change, totally new players can't get this mid level silver access. All Access removes all the restrictions and gives some benefits such as double tokens and a minor coin/speed/xp buff.
The official membership matrix on everquest2.com was taken down when they transitioned to All Access. when i noticed this i updated the membership matrix page on ZAM and with a little help from Calthine reformatted it to use the columns from archived versions of the page.
Silver is no longer available as an option. though if your account qualified you were grandfathered in, so I was giving the current information regarding free-to-play accounts (no longer called 'bronze'). If you have grandfathered silver status then you are correct in that you can use expert level spells/abilities (1 level above adept). Silver can also access global chat channels and buy items from the broker (though they can't sell without an unlock). Silver also has 2 character slots more than free-to-play. It was a lot of value for a one-time $5 outlay and I used to recommend it, but perhaps SOE felt it was too much for too little (character slots alone are a $10 item each)
