Is EQ2 dead? When you can't find a retail copy of the game...

[p]SoE marketing is really poor. They never have done a very good job promoting their game.[/p][p]They do most of their ads on the internet, but most people tend to avoid ads on the internet, so the product doesn't get much push.[/p][p]Also, SoE has always done a very poor job competing for product space in retail outlets. It is a well known fact.[/p][p] [/p][p]SOmewhere in the not so distant past, a team of white collars got together in a stuffy meeting room in san diego and decided in unison that digital download is the only way to go.[/p][p]Meh. Until they can push their product digitally as well as steam does, it will never gain much popularity.[/p][p] [/p][p] [/p][p] [/p][p]Please note that i a critical of SoE but i also pay them 75 bucks a month for three station passes and play three of their games activelly. I am critical, but i also want to see SoE succeed and produce quality products that are alive, thriving and healthy.[/p][p]There is nothing i would love to see more than a steady stream of new players into the soe family of mmo's. WoW can keep the battleground kiddies though.[/p][p] [/p]

Amazon is a good place to get games. EQ2 is like 6 bucks. You can also buy a Station Access box for 30 bucks which has like 5 games in it. Best Buy is also good to me when I'm trying to pick up the box. I think SoE has been thinking about how to better promote their games. You just have to think there's more than incompatence coming into play into their approach. I imagine they have more data than us as to how much ROI they get on advertising or shelf presence.

Caliga@Befallen wrote:

I didn't think CoH was popular any more! Most folks I know who had played it quit.

Frigid2000 wrote:[face="comic sans ms,sand"] I agree with you I purchase the expan but after playing it it gets so boring and mundane. Every charecter is a clone and pretty much predictable. I do love the colors and that I don't need a super computer to play it. EQ2 isn'easy at all it takes months to understand this mmo. I'm concern by this thread because few days ago I went to best buy and found only one expan left on the shelf and no other EQ1 or 2 boxes I couldn't find guids. Do anyone know the true reason for this? Digital downloads, eh, what about the guids. Last: I havn't seen much new art work in after market items. Nothing! WOW has a good chance in winning customers through fad. [/face]

[p]Yeah... I live in Alaska and wanted to add EQ2 to my laptop, so I went to Best Buy to buy the game and there was only 2 All in 1 Packs there... And like 200 of every other game including WoW...:cry:[/p]

I found the answer! They give 'em to all military. There's three rows of shelf space at my nex just for online games. EQ takes up three slots instead of the norm of 1 per game as our shelf space is limited.

[p]I guess marketing is getting too agressive for SoE.[/p][p]Everytime I walk into a Best Buy they're practically chucking WoW at my head. [/p][p]"Buy me! Buy me!"[/p][p]The amount of advertising is just nasty.[/p]

You can't find a copy because they are selling them all. Eq2 sells itself, it doesn't need marketing. Everquest is synonymous with mmorpg, so those wanting to try something new just have to google it. It is a great mmo, and not dying out, nor will it ever, unless the internet breaks down. Sony has always stated, that if people pay to play, they will keep it running.

I manage for a large retail chain and I can tell you, if our buyers (when I say buyers I am referring to the people employed on a corporate level who actually work deals with new product producers; not customers) don't see potential for the account, we don't stock it. It has entirely nothing to do with the account itself (in this case, the client account would be SOE, and the buyer would be the exec who handles that account at Best Buy, EBgames, etc). On the local level, stores can request more copies of something, if enough consumers come in and bother the manager about the item. However, in some cases, depending on how the corporate chain holds, even these special order requests can be denied by the buyer. It comes to be a supply issue when you have an item ... like, just for example, a book that Oprah puts on her show ... and the publisher can't meet the demand. That is not the case with SOE and EQ2 of course. In most cases I would guess that due to low sales the past 2 years, the stores have stopped stocking the item. (Which is really too bad, because I'd say this is currently one of the best MMO's you can buy, now, with all the improvements they've made.) On a related note -- I wrote a post on why I think choosing to call this game "Everquest 2" was not a particularly great move, marketing-wise (actually my suggestion for the next game was "Empires of Norrath" or "EoN" hehe) ... it causes a lot of brand confusion among both consumers and retail employees, and hinders word of mouth -- because as soon as anyone hears the word "EverQuest" they immediately think of the original game. I've actually gone into the local Best Buy to ask for EQ2, and had employees say to me "Man you still play that game? Didn't that come out in like 1998?" Umm no, actually, it came out in 2004. You see my point? Brand confusion is dangerous. Make sure your friendly neighborhood game shop knows the difference.

I don't mind digital downloads - but I'm getting tired of getting screwed on the price. In my mind, since digital download doesn't come with all that packaging, and nor do digital download customers get the bonus items that people who buy the retail version do, why in the heck does it cost the same? Honestly, digital download customers should get the thing $5.00 cheaper, or be given extra in-game rewards for not needing the packaging and nonsense.

[p]SOE advertisement? You really want more of......[/p][p] *ring* *ring* (teenager picks up phone)[/p][p]"Hey lets get the gang together to take out that dragon!" (simoultaneously 4 other people not visable yell) "Yeah!!"[/p][p] EQOA in stores now................[/p][p] The SWG one was a decent attempt but about a year too late.[/p]

I see plenty of EQII on the shelf every time I go to the store... of course when I was actually looking for it it was nowhere to be found.