i need a sub now to play EQ2???

That's a rich fantasy. You make more money by becoming more restrictive and squeezing your customers? Here I think they would make more money by offering quality paid content updates on a consistent basis. Taking stuff away from F2P players doesn't make my sub more valuable. Actually offering me more valuable perks makes my sub more valuable. Apparently this stuff is rocket science to some of you.

What items from the existing F2P model did they not keep? They have kept the existing model, you are just whining about them finally adding stuff for us subscribers. Once more I'll say, thanks DBG for finally adding something for those us of who subscribe and give a reason to want to keep a subscription going.

I much prefer them finally giving stuff to the subscribers, but I wouldn't mind if they did put a subscribe for a certain time and you'll get to keep the GU's.

Are you saying that they should just advertise so that you can play for free? Whose going to pay for those advertisements?

The problem is that a lot of those that are F2P seem to feel that they are "entitled" to the same thing as those who subscribe.

I was just about to say exactly the same thing.

Um... being on level playing ground in PvE content?

I get it, you don't think it was right that F2P were on even ground.
But F2P were on even ground, for years, whether you thought it was good or not.

And because they could play on even ground many players came and put time and effort into their accounts, bought expacs, etc. because 'hey this is a great game that I can afford to play, or that I choose to play'. And after years of playing the game under these circumstances, that has all changed with the release of ToT.

So they're stuck in a hard position they have this(these) lvl 100 characters that they've spent days weeks or months on, in a game that now costs them much more than they were prepared to pay.

I wouldn't be too concerned till the next expac comes out. i would expect them to make new recipes in the next epac for armor etc, while stuff from the scourge wastes will likely be better overall then the next tier handcrafted it would leave you in a good position to resume progression and be on equalish footing with subscribers.

ether way i think the G100 is an experiment to see if it is viable profit wise to have some member-only GUs.

they've tried members early access and adventure packs, why shouldn't they keep experimenting to try to make the best they can out of EQ2?

How is F2P on level playing ground when they can't use the highest tier of spells, or some of the highest tier of equipment?

Plus there's this, in the Game Specific Perks section of the Membership page:

It seems to me they've changed nothing about F2P, they are just applying an already published perk for subscribers.

Not being able to use the highest level of spells, or relics, or some equipment is not what I would call being on "level ground," nor is the inability to use the broker without broker tokens, the inability to set your AA slider, the bonuses members get to XP & currency, & so forth. I'm not sure what your definition of "level playing field" is but it's certainly different from mine.

In any event, as a F2P player, I do not expect, & do not even want, a "level playing field." I expect & want those who subscribe to get more from this game than those of us who do not. I fail to see how that's even controversial.

wow, I been following this for a bit. I do appreciate f2p and subs, I am a sub, have been for a long time. But I think this is smart. another game I play has been doing this for awhile now. They allow early access to subs first then after a while its open to f2p, not sure if they have to pay for the new content, I'm a sub there also and its been working really good.
One of the disadvantages to that game though is if you want to post you have to be a sub. If you unsub you have till your sub ends before you cant post anymore. It's nice that f2p can post here and make there concerns heard but this was and has always been a sub game.
Business's have to make money and this is a gamble there trying for once. It's actually kinda good practice. It might seem restrictive but you have to look at this in a business standpoint unfortunately. My 2nd account is f2p but thats has far is its gonna be. My main account though i do sub too.

The ancient abilities are a small upgrade and extremely rare. Made a few percent difference max, and most people dont even have any ancients. Compare that to the +20 fervor you get just for being a member, along with the main introduction of ToT - prestige items. Prestige items alone gave a raid +50% dps, then add in the +20 fervor and it's a huge advantage. Nothing like the 2-5% increase you could get if you were full ancient (which no one is).

Regarding the perks section of the membership page, that's new. That was not there during AoM. See the following post which quoted all the perks directly:
https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq...tar-of-malice-f2p-vs-sub.551201/#post-6102628

And, btw, is super funny reading these posts in hindsight. They were upset about the spells, little did they know!

that's pretty presumptuous... exactly where are you deriving that from? or do you just approach people with baseless oppositions regularly?

The OP did not say they were entitled to anything. They pointed out that GU's prior to GU 100 were free to both subscribers and f2p customers. They were confused because DBG's did not make an official announcement stating that they were no longer including GU's as free content to all as was done in the past.

On Mach 15, 2016 Feldon over at EQ2Wire posted his live blog transcript of the Dev Teams Spring Live Stream plans for the game. It's right there in his transcript that GU100 is for members only.

On March 16, 2016, Layliah posted the link to the Twitch Live Stream here, on the official forums, with the following text:

"On March 15, 2016, the team shared some of the amazing things that will be part of the spring game update for EverQuest 2! Learn about the new Scourge, and how they've taken over the Orcish Wastes in the first fully heroic overland zone. Also, we think you'll get a "hoot" out of the new mount!

GU100 becomes available to all members on Thursday, April 28th!"

Sounds like a pretty official announcement to me.

Discussion about the members only format doesn't really begin until March 31, 2016 with the preview of Fabled Zones and the discussion is pretty civil.

Each time there was a preview of content there was always discussion about the member only access.

I'm just surprised that this thread presents the member only access as something that was sprung on an unsuspecting player base on April 28, 2016.

NO, Daybreak decided it was unfair that the people who don't help keep the server going shouldn't be on even ground. Over the years, they have had multiple variations of the free to play (not everything free) model. They've had it very restrictive where you couldn't equip legendary or above without unlockers. They changed their mind. Now they are changing it again. If it keeps the servers running, you are darn right that I agree with them.

FTP who don't buy the expansion packs get left behind when a new level increase gets added. I guess you think that is unfair as well?

This...it was announced just about everywhere. I guess they should have logged into the game in front of each player and told them one on one just to be sure.

LOL, DBG didn't make this change because they thought it was unfair to the subscribers. They did it as an attempt to make more money.

I don't think anything is unfair. I think EQ2 was F2P for years, and as of ToT it is no longer F2P. And DBG made that switch without saying anything, which I think is messed up to all the F2P players who made this game their home.

And anyways, don't try to compare "not buying expac, not getting expac content" with "bought expac, can not wear the good loot from that expac".

Maybe at this point it is better if this game becomes subscription only. If that happens, then whether it continues to stay profitable or not will be based on the quality and quantity of the content offered etc. and those that want to blame f2p for not supporting this game won't have an argument any more. Even though I subscribe, I happen to think this game would miss the revenue that is contributed by many f2p customers (expansions, kronos, market place purchases etc.).

going P2P would in all likelyhood kill the game, not being subscribed does not mean someone isn't contributing to keeping the game afloat, it merely means their contribution is ether ignored or is acknowledged by people, while the contributor receives no direct thanks. you can't tell at a glace who has spent money on marketplace items unless they are wearing a marketplace item on appearance.

just because you don't see free players spending money on the marketplace doesn't mean that they don't exist.

to be honest rift and tera are the only true f2p models i have seen. with tera being truly f2p as its cash shop sells mainly only cosmetic gear and stuff. with no restrictions on the free to play people. i logged onto eq2 today and i cant even chat in any channel but say? thats just ridiculous to me, at least on DCUO you can spend some daybreak cash in the game shop to get premium benefits. as for getting rid of free to play every game but WoW is pretty much headed that way as now no mmo can stay afloat being sub to play cause players will just wait for it to go f2p which it will so it doesnt have to shutdown.