May 2016 Producer’s Letter

There were what... 5 people on the PVP server, all waiting to gank each other? I don't think that's enough to pay the power bill for a whole server. It's a shame though. I liked having all the super aggressive players on a separate server that was restricted from cross server chat channels, honestly.

So yes, please bring back a PVP server. (However, if PVP gets added open world on live servers, I don't think the game will survive a year further than that.. -.-

On a personal note, I HATE playing PVP and I DESPISE how combination PVP/PVE server style games try to force everyone into PVP somehow. There is a reason PVP was unpopular, and it wasn't just the mechanics of it.

There's always GTA for those of you who just want to be ... that way... Or Drunder... isn't that where all the "badasses" go to gank each other and dash all the rules?

I doubt the entire game voted on this. In fact, most of the peeps I know simply, and with some measure of disgust, deleted the in-game mail without even responding to it.

My feeling is that what has peeps fired up about this move by DBG is, many of us feel the quality of this game has been deteriorating for some time, but has markedly fallen off since DBG bought EQ2. In general, for many years, there is a perception that the EQ2 infrastructure has done a poor job of listening to and responding to the experience that its customers want to pay for.

For example, Smokejumper is a nice guy. But does anyone remember the all the hype around soemote? How many players give a darnn about that technology, and mostly, what the cost to develop and implement it? This was classic example of the company investing resources into what a developer thinks is cool but holds absolutely no value to customers.

By and large, the players the play EQ2 are pretty smart and savvy, and if there are issues, they will spot them immediately and bring them to light. Not much misses our eyes. All we want really, is for those issues to be recognized and addressed so we can enjoy the game.

Sure, some issues are trivial, and don't deserve attention. I mean, someone complaining on the forums that they want their duck mount in purple or with horns doesn't really need a response.

But, my feeling is, what has peeps fired up about this poll and these new servers, is that many of us grudgingly gave the development team a hall pass on the current quality of the game because DBG fired half the staff (and nearly the entire customer service structure) when they bought the game. Now, we see them spending time, energy, and money on a concept that most of us could give a crap about, when we would rather see those resources spent of fixing the broken elements of the game or creating new content.

In other words, many of us feel a bit betrayed in the generosity of our loyalty at the moment. Some of the elements of the game are still really, really good. The encounters are generally interesting and the artwork (especially the animations) are really good.

However, the game has also basically deteriorated in nothing more than farming key quests for an absurdly rare chance to get a game breaking item. Why in the world a gaming company would think this is fun is beyond me. I just don't understand the breadth of this kind of disconnect, and can only attribute the overly enthusiastic love affair with fantastically conservative RNG mechanics to a desperate attempt to keep players occupied with busy work, that while not really all that much fun, hopes to keep many of us paying subs until the next expac comes out and we have something new to do.

It may very well be that EQ2 has simply run it's course, and DBG is just going to milk the asset for profitability until it dies. And that's ok, it's their property, and they are free to do what ever they want with it.

If however, they want to increase both the number of subs and even perhaps, the price of the subs, then I would encourage the discontinuance of gimmicks wrapped in disingenuous spin like these two server ideas, or hyping up ethereals that most players will never see; and instead focus on ****improving customer experience****.

At this point, the company is starting to feel the whiplash of credibility issues. To much manufactured hype that is consistently unsupported by player experience.

If the DBG team really wants this game hold players, attract new ones, and increase revenues and profitability, then improve the quality of gaming experience. This is going to require listening capabilities, HEARING skills, and a desire to respond to what WE want to pay for.

Now to be fair, at times, it does appear they listen (for example, the sig lines were getting out of control, and they listened and addressed it), but is also clear that in most other instances, they have made their decisions and could care less how we feel about it. That is their right, but......I think that kind of posture is unwise for a company interested in making money.

Of course, it may be that the company has neither the desire or the capability to do this, and if so, as rational consumers, we should come to a conclusion about how we choose to spend our money. If we are paying DBG or any other entity to deliver the experience we want, and they are not doing it, then we should go somewhere else and pay someone who can do it.

Loyalty to this game on the part of the players is in large part what keeps it going, And that loyalty was built early on because they game was, at the time, pretty amazing. Now, not so amazing. So, either fix it by improving it. or move on.

+1 @ Gillymann very well said.

No. I think most of us are angry because the poll was obviously deliberately biased. They didn't want to know if we weren't interested; they had already made up their minds and didn't care what we thought at all.

^^THIS!

^^AND THIS! My friend, you said it beautifully!

I agree, Juraiya. That poll smacked of a cheesy manipulation that insulted both the intelligence and loyalties of many of us.

Do ya get the feeling DBG fired the folks that stood between them and the short shallow list of gimmicks that compose the game now?

Key hunts = lame
ethereals = game breakers
content = dull short and shallow recycled material
resolve = we broke the power curve so here's a new stat to wreck your day
I could make a laundry list of all the things they have done recently that are seriously grading on that last nerve like a dentist drill.

You have to wonder exactly how this conversation went down.

Dev A: What should we do to improve interest and promote subscriptions?
Dev B: IDK how about a sub only server
Dev A: Brilliant! How do we draw them to it?
Dev B: Maybe make it a raid race.
Dev A: Won't players get tired of running the same content over and over?
Dev B: Nah they already do it with our latest expansion.
Dev A: Good point. But what can we do for the other servers to try and boost their numbers?
Dev B: Merge them and throw some more ethereals at them.
Dev A: They are still complaining about the old ethereals.
Dev B: So what everyone will still try to get them so they don't fall behind.
Dev A: You don't think their will be backlash do you?
Dev B: Who cares? Now please excuse me while I spend my time blowing spit bubbles and cleaning up with the customers cash they spent expecting new zones and content.

I see many people posting here with the same thoughts and feelings I have about this whole situation of new servers...especially the Heirloom server, for lack of a better term.

Obviously there is a LOT of concern by many players about the current SLR system and a desire to have the Heirloom tag removed, or they would not even be considering a new server where the Heirloom tag would be removed. Just the fact that they wish to introduce this type of server should be indication enough that there are enough players who want to see the Heirloom tag removed because they feel the current SLR situation is unfair.

I am willing to bet that if they offered free server transfers to the new Heirloom server, they would see a mass exodus from all the servers onto this one new server, and I believe they know that and is why they will not offer this service to anyone. It certainly would prove a point, however.

I really think the Heirloom tag needs to be removed at least from all looted chest drops, on all Live servers. My guess is that anyone who opposes this idea are those who stand to lose money in auctions if this were to occur.

I personally don't care one way or the other about Heirloom or the current state of SLR. My concerns are exactly what Gillymann stated.
Oh, and resolve. Resolve is terrible and should go away.

That's what I've been doing, though I haven't played since Dark Souls III launched because honestly I'd rather play that. I really see no reason to pay for this game, the end game content is just depressing. I'm having fun in the older content though, and I plan on playing more once I get tired of Dark Souls III. (And yes I know someone desperately wants to tell me that if I'm not paying then I don't get to have an opinion, but I do buy broker tokens so, ya know)

If they're coming here to post, maybe it's because they care about the game and want it to improve? Or are hoping one of the new updates gives them that reason to return. Instead they voice their concerns and just get harassed by the people still playing, so that's great.

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******And not just raiders held those sincere sentiments, seriously Rutro.

Several great ideas in your post; thank you.

I for one - actually 3, as that's how many accounts I sub for, didn't vote at all. Why ? Because the poll didn't offer a " none of the above" option. I know that the powers don't want to hear negative feedback, but what they forget is that this is valuable info. Just for example, suppose they got a decent response and more than half of that response was negative, don't you think that they'd realise that they may have gotten something wrong. They have limited resources, they've just spent the better part of the last 6 months merging the servers down to increase player population and then they decide on a hair brained idea to create not 1, but 2 new servers. Am I alone in thinking that EQ2 resources are already spread too thinly ?
I know they want to generate more subs & income but there are better ways, and whilst these "gimmicks" might work for EQ1, we all know that EQ1 is a different game with a largely different player base and what works for EQ1 won't necessarily work of EQ2.

Yeah, putting raid drops on the rare vendor, not a thing which made me entirely happy. Almost as unhappy as finding the gloves I spent DKP on are obsolete and I'll have to bid on the new version and I just wasted DKP and WHY DID YOU NOT JUST UPGRADE EXISTING VERSIONS...

Ugh.

Lot's of posts about how horrible the new server's will be. How DB should dedicate their resources towards other things to bring back subs....

How about instead of the constant complaining...start giving them these ideas....I've not seen many posts in a while about ideas to improve the game. The few I have seen, either are a very small minority would want or the dev's have responded saying they are going to work on it.

If you don't even play anymore but come on here to complain...how about tell them what would make you come back or just leave...We have enough playing trolls without trolls who don't even play...

Nobody here outside of the Devs has any idea as to the popularity of the proposed servers. If everyone in this entire thread up and quit the game, it would not make one bit of difference in the population of the entire game.

The forums have always thought they speak for the majority.

But you don't.

Most people could care less about what happens here. They just want to play the game as long as it around.

No. Please don't. We learned an immensely expensive timesinking lesson that EQ2 is not a PvP game.

Come on ... it's the Thursday night before the holiday weekend .. how long are you going to wait to announce this? Most of us have jobs and need to schedule time off at least 24 hours in advance ....

I love the support for the game still, but am I missing something with the Isle of Refuge server? From my perspective all it is is live with the ability to trade heirloom items, and some limited vet bonus items. If you want to go wild, why not remove ALL no trade stats on all no trade items and let the world go wild. The other server sounds really cool, actually and I will probably want to dedicate a new char slot just for that server.

Can someone else who understands isle of refuge server please explain it a little better for me because I am totally lost on that and it just seems like something that will scatter the playerbase thin from the other servers for people who want a fresh start on a server that offers the same features as live.

yeah... Hardly anyone raids.... These are some of the people who don't raid: http://progress.eq-raiders.com/

I'd give it a serious try if not for the fact that it is a PvP heavy game and I have zero interest in that. Now Pantheon on the other hand... I doubt there will be another game as everquesty as that one

Honestly, I think they should resend the poll again, this time with a "no thanks" option, and recount their chads.