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I'll be buying. I think its not really a bad deal at all, and overall the content in this game is still fun. Why paint a good situation black with a ton of rage?

Do you remember last year, around this time, when they tried to phase out the free 500SC in exchange for what amounted to a timed coupon good towards most shop items? It's because it tends to lose them money. Years ago, expansion content used to be available for SC. They lost so much money on that when a triple cash sales hit before an expansion release. The company has been downsized a couple times over for a lack of funds. Here you are, trying to squeeze more free content out of them.

All that being said: What do you think the result would be if they did these campaign packs for SC?

Do you want to play the game and have them be able to generate new content or shall we go to some other free MMO's model, where they may fix something now and again and leave us with the same content for years to come?

By the way, although my tag under my avatar says "New member", that's only to this forum.
My family and I have been playing ( and paying for 2 subs ) since early to mid 2008.
I think we're coming up on rounding out 7 full years in Norrath.
My sons love this game, especially Frostfell; that's the biggest reason I've stuck it out this long.
My wife tired of the game long ago, but she indulges me and groups with me occasionally.
If DB starts nickel and diming us though, it makes it a lot harder to advocate for renewing two subs when money is tight.
I wasn't kidding when I said,
"If Mama's not happy....."

I sort of like this. A sub is what 9.99 a month roughly? Then get new content equal to about a new zone's worth every 4 months for $15? It might work for a player with one account. Not so sure about those with multiple accounts.

I certainly hope we get more than 1 zone every 4 months, or this game is gonna get real boring real fast

HI Deveryn,
Since you accuse me of "trying to squeeze more free content out of them...", I will direct your attention to the parts of my post, which you quoted, but failed to comprehend.
1. I said, "Well, no one in my family has any toons at 100 yet, so we won't be buying this."
Deveryn, what value would I get out of it? I'm not the only one with few or no toons at 100 to express a lack of interest in this DLC.
2. I said, "I kinda think my family is supporting the company enough already, by putting much more than $200 a year into it."
Deveryn, how when I'm already paying well over $200 a year, and yes, I bought AoM, how exactly am I squeezing free content out of them? All I would like is to be able to use SC for the smaller DLCs. That's not free. I paid for that SC as part of my subs. Others pay for their SC in separate purchases. How is that free content?

I appreciate your support of the company.
I also support them, with my money.
While I respect your opinion, I ask that you also respect mine, even if you disagree.

Though some complained about it and sought some kind of package deal, people kept doing it when they had to pay 60 multiplied by however many accounts. This can only make things easier for them.

I will buy into this if the merchant that ties into this content will off set the damn bad RNG this game has.

It's nice of you to respect my opinion. Kindly respect my facts as well. Please re-read what I wrote about SC. Look back for yourself on comments made by folks like Smed about how SC costs them money, especially when people just sit on it. Your free SC (they begrudgingly kept to satisfy the customer desires) still has many uses, including unlocking mercs or buying xp potions.

People are losing sight of a simple fact: this content is optional. No one is holding anyone hostage, saying you must buy this DLC when it comes out. It is not critical to progression through AoM. Whenever you do get around to 100, you still have plenty of content to work through before you might even consider buying more zones, so all this fuss is a bit premature. Guess what else? At 100, you might consider a pause on the sub to allow for a campaign purchase because you really don't have anywhere else to go in levels (aside from a few AAs).

Deveryn, to clarify my intent, perhaps I should be more specific.
Although I am not interested in this DLC, if they release a future DLC with content that would be accessible to my family ( who are currently playing their way through the level 60ish content, when school and other demands allow ), then yes, I think that with 2 paid subs, we should be able to buy the smaller DLCs with the SC that we already paid for.
I guess what I'm trying to say, is that steps like this tends to decrease the value of the two subs we pay for.
It's not unlike picking up your preferred brand of shampoo, only to notice that while the price has remained the same, the stated volume on the label of the bottle has decreased.
The price stayed the same, but you're getting less for your money.
It's not a perfect analogy, but that's the sense I'm trying to communicate.
Thanks for hearing me out.

If you think this is a good deal. You are being foolish... period!! They can suck they're money from y'all...not me

You keep insisting SC is free.
No, its not.
I pay for it.
I know the content is optional.
I'm referring to possible future DLC content, and the fact, according to Cyliena, that using SC for it has already been ruled out.
What would be the harm in letting those who already have at least one paid account use their SC for content that is $20 or less? You can buy a mount for $20, so what's the harm in Gold Members buying instance DLC for $15?
And again, SC is not free.
Saying it is won't change the fact that it costs real money to obtain, directly or indirectly.

I have one other observation to make about Station Cash, Deveryn, since you brought it up.
You directed my attention to a comment Smedley made, about people sitting on SC costs Daybreak money.
(I remember that statement...and the heated discussion it caused.)
Economically, how does that work? I'm genuinely curious.
After the SC is bought,( and all SC is bought, directly or as part of a paid subscription ), why does it matter if people sit on it and save it? Its already paid for....the money has already been transferred to DB's account.
Unless, of course, what Smedley meant, in a funny, Freudian way, is that if people save their SC, they might not buy more SC, or pay for things with more money instead of the SC which they already paid for.
(BTW, I'll give John Smedley the benefit of the doubt that it just came out the wrong way, and that he doesn't really think along those lines. I'm betting that he regrets that comment, so if you support the company, you probably shouldn't keep throwing that bad piece of PR out there.)
You see, that kind of inverted perspective of other people's money (ala, the money in your wallet is mine, I just haven't figured out how to separate you from it yet ), tends to make customers a little edgy.
It makes them feel more like, oh, taxpayers, instead of people buying something of value.
Probably not the best thing to rub in this close to Apr. 15th.

Free... Free..

So, DoV came out incomplete, with promises of future updates and add ons. Eventually cobalt scar and sirens grotto did come out as "Free" updates, although you couldn't wear much of the gear with the CoE expansion. Paying far ahead for content, doesn't seem like it worked too well. Well, it did allow staggered deployments and stopped people from clearing the entire years worth of content in the first week. Not having the zones in the game does tend to gate players. =)

CoE and ToV felt like they were 1 expansion broken up into 2 sellable chunks.

AoM came out after a beta that I felt was rushed, with a fancy carrot for testing that was nigh unachievable (little communication, some bosses didn't even have the kill achievements linked up right). The best and brightest, did however achieve completion, but doing so ended up overtuning the encounters so that the first month of release still felt like beta. Clear oversights/gaps in itemization were present that were just now addressed this week (scout/brawler usable weapons). Smaller chunks might address the testing better than the horror that was AoM.

$15 for one zone in (heroic/event/solo/raid) form that from screenshots looks like the unused part of BSB contested, well, that sits a little funny with me. New merchant for that 1 zone for an existing currency? erm, yeah. On the Other hand, mounts are what, like 20$ often? Thatted be one dirigible. AoM is 7ish raid areas? 9 heroics, 5event heroics, chopped up from 5 base area themes? Its hard to justify "One Zone" as a nearly half the old fee for a standard subscription. But if you got the 90$ CE, hey, thats like1/5, if it was a new base area theme, yeah, thats about right. Works out for raid stuff.

I guess my subscription goes to support all DBG games as a whole now, and isn't really that supportive of just everquest 2. Thats a shame. I only play everquest 2. And since its a "All-Access Membership", can't really talk about increasing the subscription fee with the idea to cut out these additional content charges. We'll look ahead to paying 40$ for fFbled Fayder, and another 40 for the other planned half of AoM.

Start a running total somewhere and let's see where we are when December rolls around. I'm betting they don't pass the 60$ mark for all campaigns this year and then start to bundle previous years at a discounted price.

yeah it does kind of bother me when people insist that a) sc is free and b) that sc costs the company money.

a) i get my sc in several ways. i buy cards at walmart, i spend directly off my debit ingame, and they give me a very small amount over and above what i pay for. however, i do pay for it. practically dollar per 100 points not considering i also pay sales tax for it. so no, it isn't free. i spend approximately 20 to 60 dollars a month on it, not counting my subs.

b) last time i checked, sc is virtual currency, not real. it costs us real money, but it is virtual. that means it is pixels, easily replicated. and the goods i buy with it are all the same - pixels. easily replicated by the company. so how does that really cost them money?
the only problem i see with people sitting on their sc is like people putting their cash under a mattress. it doesn't get spent. it doesn't draw interest for some bank who invests my money in their own markets while i am thinking it is sitting quietly in their vault. in reality it isn't in the vault. it is earning them interest until you claim it.
when people sit on their sc, they aren't buying more. it isn't circulating. but it isn't costing the company anything. it has already been paid for. it is simply sitting there, under my mattress so to speak, until i am ready to spend it. if i spend it today or ten years from now, it doesn't cost the company any more. it has been paid for.
so i think attempts to put down people who want to spend their sc that they have been saving up is misguided to say the least. it doesn't make a difference if i buy a $20 game card and use $15 of it to pay for my sub and put the rest in sc. it shouldn't matter if i take my sc that i paid $20 for and put it on the game. there really shouldn't be any difference. $20 is $20. no matter how you cut it. and if it is the small amount of sc given to us when we pay for a sub that is bothering people, which what savings i get from something i pay for shouldn't bother anyone because i might just use a coupon to save money on that carton of milk you just paid full price for.

as for comparing other games and their business model to this one, that really isn't fair and not right. other business models have often failed simply because they cost more. there are many reasons why i play eq2. the fact that it is a bit cheaper is one of them. and as for free sc, this isn't the only game to give it. You get way more from LOTRO for instance. yeah theirs cost a bit more. but if you sub you get 500 sc. (turbine points). then when you finish a deed (kind of like our achievements) you get more points. i wanted something one day and needed 10 points. I went and did a deed and got the 10 points i needed. the item i was buying was 300 points and i only had 290.

so free sc is not unique to eq2. and it is really a very small amount compared to what most of us buy over the year or even month.

I appreciate your analysis.
I especially think you found the heart of the matter in the part I quoted above.
I don't play H1Z1. No time for the other games.
EQ2 brought my family here, and when EQ2 goes, so do we.

my two cents i thought adventure packs were a good idea 5 bux matter fact said that recently but 15 too much i pay my 15 a month true only one sub but very limited income one xpac a year and maybe some 5 dollar adventure packs or if theyt allow us to use out sc we paid for

ps not a new member been here since jan 2005

22222222222 Funny..... Windstalker ftw !