Join Us for the Rum Cellar Campaign this April!

You guys got chatty overnight. If it helps any, you'd win everything because I have no idea how to play poker.

What I posted over on ZAM was true; Holly's announcement was not an April Fool's joke—I even questioned why they would announce it on April 1st, but they figured it was late enough in the day that the community would figure that the time for jokes was past. I would not spend 30m on a roundtable call and 1.5 hours writing afterward for a joke, anyway (plus I'm not a big fan of most April Fools pranks).

I'm not going to go through all the comments in this post, but some of your questions might be answered here: http://eq2.zam.com/story.html?story=35925

Even though it may have been stated above that the total cost of all the DLC releases throughout the year will add up to what expansions cost normally.

What worries me is that this is not going to be the case because even now expansions give you the option of getting the basic package for $30-$40. And Deluxe/Collector Editions coming with a few extra goodies. Not everyone opts for the more expensive versions. I'm afraid that these DLC packs will wind up costing the equivalent of the Collector Edition Expansions. Some might say "No one is forcing you to purchase all of the DLC..." But I would say that no one knows what these DLC packs will contain from one DLC to the next. For all I know they might package their DLC strategically so that every DLC pack will contain something that will cause players to feel like they are missing out by not getting it.

With the Expansions at least players can kind of predict the type of content they expect and how the Expansion versions will be divided. And the only thing people who do not get the Collector Editions miss out on are generally stuff like fancy Mercs, Prestige Houses, Mounts, etc. All of that while I wouldn't mind having I can live with out. Mostly because I purchase four expansions each year for my daughter, my g/f, my mom, and myself. With the DLC packs I might be forced to pay as much as a Collector Edition across the four of us, or wind up missing out on story content, dungeons, missions, new gear, etc. At least I know they even though I purchase the basic versions of the Expansions, I still get access to all the game content. I just don't get the fancier extra fluff items that come with the Collector editions. Which in my opinion the best Collector Edition is the first one that included the tin case with the fancy book/disc holder, map, coins, etc that I have sitting on my shelf from when the game first released.

Another scary thing is that this last expansion seemed to give out a lot less than previous Expansions for the cost. I thought it was a little unfair that the semi-new rave was not included with the basic expansion, but then I saw how even the Collector Edition version got features chopped off and had to be purchased separately. And for ridiculous prices on top of that. To me saying that the DLC packs is their way of doing us a favor by spreading the cost of an expansion throughout the year in smaller transactions, is another way of saying they are going to charge us way more money for the same or less content but we won't notice it as much because it will be divided into chunks instead of seeing the total at the end if the year.

Not sure if anyone here plays Warframe, but Warframe has a very sneaky underhanded way of charging you for every single little thing. Even color palettes to change the color of your character cost $5 a piece. And the color palettes are strategically set up so that you never get a full spectrum of colors and always feel like you need the pay more for the other colors. For instance, one color palette is a bunch of shades of blue, another palette has shades of blue, another orange, and another grey, etc. By the time you have a full choice of colors, you have probably spent about $30... Just to change the frigging color of your character. They get away with this stuff though because they divide the entire game into so many pieces you subconsciously feel like you're not spending that much money but in reality you are spending a ridiculous amount more than you would have for the same amount of content normally. And the developers do it all with a smile on their face, saying "yeah but you can get stuff free too by playing..." What they don't tell you is all the pay walls, grind walls, time walls, resource walls, and difficulty there is between you and the content you want. So pretty much you have to buy everything if you want it. I can easily see EQ2 falling into the same situation with this latest news,and basically there is nothing players can do about it except to take their word that they won't screw us in the wallet. Personally, I'm still hoping this is just an April Fools joke. And one more thing, I know it's too early to judge but the Archeologist class sounds really boring and I already don't like the sound of the new Phobia feature...

Yeppers, that mount is awesome I will admit to that. But I wont buy a "campaign" just to have access to this mount when I won't be able to experience the entire campaign. Most of my toons are crafters and lower level adventurers. I solo most of the time because of this and my love of a good rpg where I can explore and quest "overland". I have no use for raid content even if I would love to have some of the drops. *sigh* I am super depressed by many of these changes. I know, I know, change is hard. But at least let that change make sense.

Pricing will be one thing to see, but the business man in me tends to think that the pricing of all the DLCs in a year will cost at least what the base version of an expac would cost, but could also end up adding as much as the CE versions.... with one part of me hoping that it wont cost more overall.

DBG is trying to stay afloat and fund its other projects... we all know that. Hopefully the 'bundles' and 'packages' make it affordable to those who want to play and give them what they need for their playstyles. For this first DLC, I will be personally testing it, and give as much constructive feedback as I can for the content as well as the purchase price of the content.

I still support EQ2 as a game and the Team, but I will consider and evaluate how management treats its customer base in this new content model.

The content will be up on the Beta server prior to release, so while helping to test we'll get a good idea of what is offered as well.

While I don't mind the shift to campaigns overall, I admit I'm a bit surprised that this new AoM content isn't part of AoM. It's really only been, what, 4-5 months since the xpack released? But I'm not a marketing guru for not-SOE so... /shrug

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out, but personally, aside from helping to test the Rum Cellar campaign, I think I'm going to sit out this first one.

The zeppelin mount is pretty awesome looking.

I for one love this idea...its something new to do more frequently than before and the cost is reasonable. I mean its 15.00 to go out for a hamburger so I'm not gonna complain about the price. This game is after all updated and maintained by folks who have bills to pay. So "free to play" won't work for everything or..alas there would be no EQ2, all those folks would be working somewhere else to pay their bills...geez....not hard to figure that one out. I have my 15.00 ready and waiting, and I thank you all working on this and other things to TRY and keep the majority of the folks here happy.

I haven't played EQ2 in awhile but I keep an eye on the news because I've been considering a return. However, this announcement has made me question that. People are angry about this and rightfully so. What's the point of a subscription now when you have to pay for game updates which used to be free with purchase of an expansion? It's like SOE or Daybreak, or whatever they're calling themselves, is double dipping.

Let me use another game I play in comparison. I won't name it because I believe that's bad form on another game's forums. Anyway, this is a game you buy once and get a slew of context. The developers now offer game updates in the form of issues, at a cost of about $10 each. If you subscribe to the game, you get $10 worth of points to spend in a month. You can use those points to purchase the new issues. Since the content comes at a much slower pace than one issue a month, as a subscriber, you never have to spend any more money on the DLC. If you are not a subscriber, you can buy the DLC if you want to at your own pace.

As it is now with EQ2, I don't see much value in a subscription if they won't allow you to use your station cash. That's why people are upset. They want us to pay for a subscription but won't let us use the cash on the new content. That seems unfair Sure I know you get access to more games than EQ2 now with the subscription, but what if you only play EQ? Doesn't seem worth it.

I have several questions.
(1) How many DLC a year?
(2) Do we still have to buy an xpac every year, if so then we are being double dipped and charged 2 times for one expansion.
I see this as a cash grab desperation move. I am not impressed.

Surely, a basic explanation is needed without the candy covered shell.

First, it's my impression that this has to be the most misbegotten timing in the history of EQ2 (other instances such as SWG do come to mind though) and second, that Ajjantis said it perfectly: "Never touch a running system..."

I suspect that this is going to be a fairly serious screwup since it has all the earmarks of less quality content for more money. Time will tell but at this point, I do not like this idea, in any aspect.

No one is forcing anyone to buy anything. This is just like life...some people get the crap and some get the stains ... I am kind of in the middle...LOL! If you can afford it...awesome...if you cant...go earn some money. It is kind of like in RL ...do we adhere to the people in the trailer park or give the people that pay the most taxes the benefits? Hmm!...hard balance. Also, who cares about what any other MMO or company is doing? In my opinion, that is what is wrong with this country and businesses now days. Too cookie cutter. People are ready for innovation and invention. Stay on a dead horse too long...what happens?
Anyway, I liked the adventure paks back in the day. It kept me intrigued and there was more to this game than logging in to see what kind of RAID loot that I could buy in auction channel. Fact of the matter is, people do not work for free and this game should not adhere to the freeloaders that are probably the ones...in my opinion, ruining the game by SLR to end game content that was meant to be a goal to work towards.... Nowadays, toons just pwr level to 100, don't bother to group...(because you can just buy end game gear) and just keep rolling alts...people will get tired of that and quit.
Kudos on the new mount and other kool gear coming soon. I think super awesome gear drops should become more common in all parts of the world...TBH. Even raid loot!!! If you are going to allow people to buy (SLR) raid loot in auction channel...why not have raid loot drop off common mobs every now and then?

Also, by having raid type or even mythical gear drop more often in common zones....it might get people out to visit/revisit the older or common land/public zones. IMO, this game needs to bring back people grouping in zones other than dungeons. The main reason they don't...is the gear drops suck and they are tired of running the same old content. I mean, why run ANY zones when you can just stand naked in auction channel and buy some of the best gear the game offers...

I agree with the fact that breaking up a cost over time makes much more sense, but with this model you could well be paying the CE price by end of year vs the standard. 30 vs 90 is a huge difference, especially when I am paying for a monthly sub as well. I am still holding on, but right now I have this growing bad taste in my mouth.

I know some say you don't have to buy it, but I am a raider, since a raid zone is in it, we will have to decide as a guild if it is something we will require. It is hard enough to keep people in the game, adding an obstacle like this could kill it. And we are already loosing raiding guilds like mad.

Its an accounting thing. Unused SC shows up on the books as a liability until you spend it.

It's not an issue about being able to afford it for a lot of players.

It's an issue of being promised prime rib with sides and dessert for a certain price tag, then being given a Big Mac they scraped off the floor and then being told you need to pay extra for soggy fries.

This is a joke right? I payed for the expansion, and now you are sectioning off the rest for $15 a piece? No more expansions either? I was hoping for the next expansion to be Luclin, but now that is gone. I really really hope SOE/DBG figures out that this is going to cost more that its worth. Based on the comments I have seen here, it looks like I am not the only one "displeased" by this.

crafters and collectors... hmmm, my interest has now peaked. Please tell us more.

I partially agree: I'd love to see some really creative, level-appropriate drops happen in random locations.

That being said, I love the old zones. I still take folks to run old zones that have not done them, to allow them to see the content, just took a group through Pools, Ascent and Spires the other day. I love ToF's, VP, the SF stuff, etc. AOM is great, but some folks didn't play back then...what a shame if they never saw Iceshard Keep or kael. I salvage everything for the rares That said, if the same mechanic were used on the old zones, which they have implemented in the LADs, IMHO, this game would explode with players. Can you imagine running old zones you love and getting level-appropriate gear?? I've run oh-so many through seb...it would be super cool to have it scale and be able to get gear for my zerker and/ or alts.

Kitty

I don't think its really about affording 15 bucks, but more about where the game is headed. We already have new harvestables that are no trade and very rare on top of that. Then they offered bags you could buy that offer a chance at getting one of the rare harvests. Now this, paying piecemeal for content. They did not state that all of the content packs would be 15 just that this one would, not to mention that its content that should have been included with the xpac that we all bought already.

If I had to predict given what I have seen so far is that more and more of what was included as part of the game will end up with a price tag attached. Sad fact is that people are very attached to the game and will go along out of fear that if they don't the game will end. I have already seen posts of people supporting throwing money at it in order to keep it going. If that's what you choose to do then by all means do so. I am sure they will include a little must have in each one for each play style so that people will feel they have to have it. How long is it until crafting patterns for some special items are sold on the marketplace? Lets face it, they have already gotten the decorators over time to think nothing about buying items in the store to furnish their houses. What is to stop them from selling keys to special rooms of dungeons.

Its not about this moment, its about the direction its headed. I just don't have a lot of faith in the direction the game seems to be taking at the moment. I will hang in and hope that its not headed where it looks like it is, but I will not throw money at it just in hopes that it wont.

I would happily pay $15 for additional content. But it better be worth $15. The old adventure packs like splitpaw and the vampire pack. Those would be worth it to me if they came out on a regular basis. But if it is $15 for just one dungeon and one raid and a bunch of fluff, well Daybreak will be losing my accounts subs. It is possible for them to move to this format and provide value that is worth the money. I for one will wait and see what they do before breaking out the torches and pitchforks.