Daybreak didn't buy anything. It's an intestment company bought SOE from Sony. SOE studio renamed itself into DBG. To survive and not get dismantled and sold by pieces in the future DBG needs to finish 2015 fiscal year above the water. So that is why nicles and dimes for everything.
Pretty difficult on Beat the Adv Solo, merc dies fast and there not enough time to stop the bubbles. Dont think quest gear will survive the last name.
But this happens with the yearly xpacs as well. I know in our guild there are many who don't have the latest AOM expac or the TOV one. It's really not changing anything there. People will buy it or not. Folks who are serious raiders will in order to raid with their groups.
Since it keeps coming up that Daybreak owes us for AoM since they are in the opinion of many still SoE, why is it really so hard to understand that it is simply not the case? SoE was a division of the parent company called Sony. Sony then sold that entity, SoE to Columbus Nova, who renamed SoE as Daybreak Games. Different parent company, different methods of producing the Everquest product line. It's like buying a house, looks the same as it did the day you purchased it from the previous owner. If Bob, the previous owner cut the neighbors lawn every summer for the past 10 years, does that mean since your house has the same address and looks the same, you have to continue cutting their lawn? You might be nice and do so, but your certainly not obligated to. The other issue of course is that some feel that all the content up until the fall expansion should be free since they purchased AoM. They clearly stated that expansions are being replaced with campaigns, so the fall will simply bring another, from what they stated, larger campaign. In essence, the campaign being released is akin to making a partial payment now, towards what we used to call an expansion released in the fall for content being released on the 28th, then purchasing the remainder of that content, as a campaign in the fall. Speaking of AoM, having purchased five copies in the family, 2 of which were CE editions, I don't recall any promise of additional content being provided for free if you purchased AoM. If one purchased it with the idea that it was incomplete and would be added on later, then it was pure speculation, albeit based on the way expansions worked in the past. Since they changed the way that expansions are released, now as smaller campaigns, we have to accept that things have changed going forward, new company, new policies and move forward with that. I like "Free" as much as the next person. However, blindly saying that Daybreak is SoE and denying that it's new ownership, with new policies does not change that fact.
Seeing how we have the people who want to buy the DLC and the people that think the DLC should be included for free as part of an AoM update then anyone who is allaccess can decide themselves and if they want to pay for DLC if they want or the want to get the DLC for free and then everyone can be happy!
Except with xpacs you only need to ask 1 or 2 questions to find out which dungeons the group can hit: "Does everyone have AoM?" and, if someone says no, "Well, do you have ToV then?" Based on two questions, the group instantly knows which dungeons they can hit. Heck, just forming the group can answer those questions - if the PUG is forming in lvl 100 chat, or meeting at Wayfarer's Dock, everyone in it has AoM. Rum Cellar is only adding one zone (with a handful of variations) to that mix, so it's only one extra check to make. Not too bad. This fall it'll be two additional checks. The campaign after will be 3, with 8 possible combinations of yes and no for each person in the group, not including the AoM check. And because the level cap is going to remain at 100 for a while, all of those additional campaigns can be expected to remain relevant. And we have NO IDEA when or if any of those campaigns will become part of the free content. Past behavior suggests in 2 years, but past behavior also indicated that the spring content release would be considered part of the previous fall's xpac. If we're staying at 100 for a while, if this new content is considered relevant for a while, current implications are that they will remain pay content for a while.
I don't deny anything you have said above, and to reiterate what I said in my own post regarding this...is that we have little enough currently to make All-Access worth paying for, so when they take away the extra little bits that they used to include free, it brings up the question...is All-Access worth paying for anymore. In my case, it is not worth it, so if we go to campaigns, I will pull my All-Access on both accounts and simply pay for the campaigns, which means Daybreak will only earn less dollars from my pocket than they would if they continued along the path that SOE followed. $14.99 per month for 12 months out of the year and the purchase of the annual expac...or no All-Access and however much the campaigns should cost (which I will have to weigh content against price as each campaign comes up as well). This could well end up costing them more than they have anticipated. Only time and our pockets will tell.
This is great news! I also felt like AoM was a lackluster expansion. Not because the contect was bad, but it was limited and repetitive for many of us. I really hope this will draw some players back as PUGs are honestly hard to find imo. Otherwise I hope server merges may be considered. The dps changes sound potentially promising, but if I may, I would like to share that I find with all the cutomizatrions available (which are great) many players find themselves overwhelmed with setting AAs and outfitting gear effectively. I know there are tons of boards and forums regarding these topics, but that is what makes casual players casual. They are not interested in outside Game theory crafting research projects. I dont really have a silver bullet, but some awareness of this as an in game issue is all I am going for here. Thanks for all you guys and girls do. I am an EQ loyalist, and really like where this game has gone over the years.
That is the way I feel. I think they could alleviate it by simply including access to it for free on subbed accounts $180/$120 vs $60 (depending on how much they charge/release).
The objective should be to encourage people who aren't subscribing to subscribe. It should not be to nickel and dime the subscribers. I am an all access member. I bought the deluxe model of AoM. I am spending about $200 per year on this game. That is enough. I am not going to buy multiple little campaigns that fragment the player base and are literally a "pay to win" idea. The campaign offers heroic drops in advanced solo. Pay more and you get more? No thanks. This idea is misguided. One expansion a year, plus a subscription is all this little piggy with take out of his bank. Work on enticing F2P into buying subscriptions, and what is a good way to do that, "give away" your nickel and dime campaigns to paid up, and up-to date subscribers. Make subscribing the only way they can get this content, period. Honestly, I don't get it, this game has so much content to offer already, make the content accessible, don't make dribs and drabs of stuff subscribers are already paying to get. Rethink this poorly conceived idea.
Everyone that buys this rip off will be telling DBG it's alright to over charge for poorly thought out, buggy, lag filled content. That should be free for those customers that are all access, and bought the admitted content lacking joke that was AoM. That's not even including rewarding DBG for negligently reducing customer service (just to save a buck) to a mom and pop part time team that the players have no way to directly contact outside the game. Pathetic.
I am afraid you missed a point there. SOE was part of Sony, a completely different company. It was sold to Columbus Nova. This makes it a different company. That is why it was renamed Daybreak Games. When you buy a company, it no longer is the same company. You buy the assets. You don't buy the past mistakes. You buy it to make it your own. You rename it. It is now yours to make your own mistakes with. Yes they kept the team. That made sense because the team was familiar with the assets and knew how to work with them. Keeping the team does not make it the same company. The assets - Eq2 and other games - are what we play. The company is no longer any part of Sony and is not responsible for any part of the assets that Sony developed.
now that i agree with. it is my concern as well. Yeah i can enjoy it on one account with 2 toons if i am willing to buy it for just those two. but as the rest come up and hit 96, they still have a long wait ahead of them before they can enjoy it. They are only 92 - 94 right now. And most of my guild is below 98 so they won't benefit.
Didn't they get TOV for free when AOM went live? I am quite sure my f2p accounts have it. however, that brings up another question. Will TOV be the last expac f2p players ever have? Will they be stopped at TOV unless they buy AOM? and will AOM be taken off the market in a year? if it is taken off the market in a year as all other expansions were, and not given for free to f2p players, that would mean that anyone not buying it this year will have no way to advance any further after this year. isn't that a bit scarey for new people and people who simply are not high enough to worry about buying it right now?
i agree, and also, they said they weren't going to progress upward but rather outward. it would stand to reason that any new stuff will come off existing zones. therefore, although it may seem this is part of the AOM expansion, in a strict sense it is not. it is a new zone that just comes off the AOM ones. In fact to start it you have to go to Moors of Ykesha. I don't hear anyone saying it has to be part of that old expansion just because it starts there. and @ breta - i did the solo version on beta. it took way longer than any 20 minutes. I found it interesting and intriguing. Had it scaled instead of being strictly for level 100, i would definitely have been buying it on at least 2 accounts. however, my reticence is not whether it is worth it but rather the fact that i can't take my toons lower than 100 through it and i have no intention of rushing them to 100.
????? not sure what you are saying here. if they want to pay for it, they can get it. no one gets it for free. and not in a million years can you ever make everyone happy. just doesn't happen, ever.
on the other hand, maybe not. and the only way to get it now is to buy altar of malice. which still makes me wonder if aom will be available next year when my silver toons are ready for it.
i totally get what you are saying. however, one thing is sure. we can no longer go on past behavior. that all went out the window when the company owning the asset was sold.
