Official ProSiebenSat.1 is the Exclusive Partner of SOE Europe Announcement Feedback Thread

I am in the UK and I have played on a US server since launch by choice, due in part to the hours I play. I run a Guild (the largest on unique accounts on my server, even tho we don't raid), with 2 other Euro players as my fellow Guild Leaders. I have many established customers for my crafters, vast numbers of friends, people who will always group with me cos they respect my ability to play my characters etc etc. I have put over 7 years of considerable time, effort (and obviously money for my sub) establishing myself as a known (and i hope respected) player on my server.
I play not just for the game itself but also (and significantly) for the social aspects of the game. I log in to play with my friends, chat and catch up with what everyone is up to both in game and in RL. Relocating in RL is fun if you choose to do it, not if you're forced. Its not just about the characters; their levels, gear etc. Its the person-to-person interactions that are most important. This is an MMO after all, not a single player game. Relationships with other players is largely the point.
If I am forced onto a new server, I fail to see any motivation to continue playing the game I adore. Over 7 years of time and effort would be trashed (its not like it takes long to get a char to 90 these days - its the relationships that take time). It's like taking a successful and happy business person, taking them out of their house against their will, dumping them alone in the middle of nowhere in a foreign country without knowing anyone or having any means of income and expecting them to pay to start almost their entire life all over again. Yes, I could start again, but I don't want to. It would also be another example of SOE's apparent disdain for it's long-term players.
I can't help but think that any kind of enforced localisation after 7+ years of free choice of server would finish off EQ2. (I'm trying so hard not to be cynical and think thats what SOE wants in prep for EQNext). Successful and established Guilds will be torn apart (what happens to mine if all 3 Leaders vanish off the server?). I know of so, so many non-US (or 'Rest of World' as US-centric companies like to arrogantly call us) players on my server.
I also find it interesting that one side of this (SOE) are keeping mum, yet the other side seem to be giving info including reassurance that enforced localisation won't happen. It's very selfish (but sadly only to be expected from such a huge corporate machine) for SOE to treat its players in this way, and I won't be happy until SOE themselves tell me I can keep playing on my chosen server (OK, so a couple of server merges down the line, but at least we all went across together) with my friends.
Not even the Sony hacking incident last year made me waver in my steadfast loyalty to EQ2. But if SOE take away 90% of my game experience and make me start again just cos I live in the wrong place, then I think it may be time to call it a day. Time to dust off some accounts on a few other MMOs methinks, sadly. And they don't let me be a rat.
I hope so sincerely that this is all a false alarm/rumour mill panic/non-story.
/cry

Pipsissiwa wrote:

None of which would exist if we had information instead of speculation.

Gladiolus wrote:

Going on what...19 days now? Holy Moly that is some massive lapse in communication.

Gladiolus wrote:

The reason for speculation is 100% SOE.

I was actively playing and developing a guild I have owned on Splitpaw since 2005 up until I read about this announcement. I had even moved 11 level 90 characters from Freeport to Splitpaw at great expense since I much prefer Spitpaw to my forced move from The Bazaar to Freeport. Now I only log onto Splitpaw to do my daily Tradeskill Apprentice quests. I have lost my desire to promote my guild and am now just treading water until this whole mess is resolved. this is just so disheartening.

I have 2 questions for Smokejumper
(1) Why does soe need to partner with these guys? Don't give me the bs answer of we get tv add's, you don't advertise the us version of the game on tv, and your part of Sony you got access to the big screen as well as tv adds already and you don't use them as it is.
(2) Are you going to sale of the us side to gamersfirst?
I don't understand the need to do this it makes no since, especially since we been running the game over there for a good long while.

3 weeks now and still no answers?

Sorry but its past being pathetic and has become a sick joke.

So many people have already said it very well, but I will add my name to the list.
If Euro players are forced off their chosen US server I will no longer play EQ2.

I am in the UK. I play on a US sever. I have been on EQ2 since launch day.
I chose that server in order to join friends.
In the many years since launch I have gained many hundreds of new friends.
I am the leader of the largest guild on my server.

I very much enjoy the game but with 14 characters, many maxed or close to, I no longer play the game for the games sake. I much prefer to play to hang with friends, to help them.
I have way over a thousand guild members, all of whom I would consider friends, and some very close friends.
I play EQ2 for the social interaction and not so much for the game itself.

If it comes to pass that SOE decide to segregate me from my friends and my guild and put me on a new alien server alone I will no longer have any reason to stay.
I will quit.

I don’t know if there is any legal pressure that could be brought to bear on SOE if this forced segregation were to happen.
Certainly from a moral perspective you will break up millions of friendships.
This would be an act of racism, cultural and ethnical segregation and forced relocation.
These are phrases usually reserved for the worst of war crimes.

This is all sorts of bad publicity waiting to happen.

I remember over the years countless accusation against SOE of racism and pro-US anti-restofworld.
Odd that, coming from a Japanese owned company.
I wonder if SonyHQ would approve?

Let us hope that SOE have the good sense to avert this incoming disaster before it is too late and contracts signed.

Actually they probably won’t say a word until it’s already too late to change anything. They know it won’t be popular. They are simply taking this time to ready the damage control teams.
They only started this thread so they could later say that we were warned in advance. And of course they couldn’t give us many of the details since the contract was a work in progress and not subject to publication.

/starts looking for new game
/notices TOR
/mentions TOR to guild

isest wrote:

Rumour, speculation or do you have info? If such a thing did happen, it might signify that SoE are going to be more strongly aligned to the PS3 instead of PC gaming.

Pipsissiwa wrote:

Very much in a similiar position here. I've been playing on the US servers for nearly seven years now and originally came into the game via friends in another game who live in America. They've gone onto other games and I carried on playing because I fell in love with the game and have loved it ever since playing on the AB server. If european players are forced to play on european servers only then this will finally kill my love of all things EQ & SOE related. I'll just step away and never play again. The friends I've made on the server, the guild and everything I have after 7 years of playing just feels like it's not worth anything if this goes ahead.

I think the other thing they need to consider is players on the Freeport server are there because SOE merged a US server with it and Freeport server became a US server when EQ2 went fully f2p. Now, people have made friends and joined guilds they drop this bombshell on us. Personally I think SOE didn't think the player base would rebel as we have and now have to do a little back peddling with pro7sat.
It would be so easy to say "we don't have all the info ironed out yet, bare with us we'll get it to you asap, but to alay any fears there will be NO region lock" as we all know, only too well, they haven't, which leads me to believe this was something that was part of the plan. Now, having seen the strength of feelings regarding the possibility of region locks being implemented I think they've had to go back and re negotiate.
Its not just euro players that would affected by a region lock, all players that play on a server that's not "a home server" would be. Now thats quite alot of players to annoy. Its also a lot of subscription accounts to lose if those players decide to cancel and leave eq2.
Again this is all speculation because as someone pointed out, after 3 weeks we still have no facts.

as i see it. if we are forced into european subscription, the taxes alone would make it 50-100% more expencive to play, as it would also add up over the borders. secondly with all the friends, and all i have build, such as guild halls, networks, allys and much more. loosing all that to the iron curtain effect ... keeping it constructive here, my reply to that would simply be. "ok then just delete my account, with a full refund" thirdly, i like playing on the US servers, im always sure i can understand people i group up with on a spur. thats the main reason for me to play on US servers to begin with, it also keeps my english fluent, and you can pretty much play with everyone and get it done. that choise i made 13 years ago, i have tried euro servers, several times since then, and ALWAYS go back to US based to be able to understand people. so quite simply, neither proslimy or SNOtY would ever see a single tiny penny from me for the rest of time.

Pipsissiwa wrote:

I'm in the same situation as well, I have always been on a US server in EQ2 (since late 04), and was in EQ1 as well.
I've been in my guild for 4-5 years or thereabouts, we have people from all over the place, US, Asia, Europe, I don't want to suddenly find myself on a server where I know very few people and where I can't group with my friends anymore just because I'm in Europe and they are not.

Well...officially THREE WEEKS today. Over/under on a month with no answers?

Raknid wrote:

I'll take the over please, I have no confidence that we will receive any further information in the next 10 days.

kahonen wrote:

Your are right about the laws here.
1. none of us have signed or agreed to anything that will allow sony to just hand over all you personal information to another company.
2. removing peoples right to choose, where to play and who to play with, by just forcing this on them.
is a direct violation of not only European law, laocal laws in these contries.
it goes directly against the US constitution of freedom of choise, ASWELL as the same in the UN humen rights!
This will end up costing them more in lawsuits, and possible even jailtime, than they could make off the games the next decade, and definently more than they have made off this sale.And will ofcause kill off server by server, as people will leave, as they did last similer were tried, till the game finaly ends up as EQ1, who now lods a playerbase of less than 1% of it's glory days
3. how can they keep offering "free to play, your way" when they dictate, where to play, who to play with ..
i have allready made my Choise, and i choose a US server on purpose, so when this is implimented, that choise is just simply gone.
and oh yeah, just taking my guild i have payed more than 1000p and 2 BILLION+ status points for, in addition to the hundreds of hours of grind and decorating.
so add another truckfull of dollers to those trials.

but the absolutly worse in all of this, is the way all of it has been done.
while offering us expantions (that as usualy were implimented way before they were functional or remotly ready) for more money letting us think we were offered up more, they were only backstabbing us with the "long con"all along, by making these negotiations and the final sale .. i suspect for atleast ½-1 year behind the scenes, taking our choises from us, while milking us for more money, with empty promises, lies upon lies, and topped off with plenty of false advertisements.
All legal concerns should be sent to the legal department as mentioned in the forum gudielines.

So... you're against the idea then xeno?

This post has moved: /eq2/posts/preList.m?topic_id=499962&post_id=5711084 Insults are not permitted

xenomorphia wrote:

Read this thread.

The EULA you accept before logging in, allows SOE to do it. This has already been addressed, in THIS THREAD.

Link to post: http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/...=513483#5709126
DonnyOddlegs wrote:

In short, you don't have a leg to stand on. You agreed to let SOE do what they want.

I know it is not what you want to hear, but ranting about laws when you are actually wrong, will get you no where.

Avirodar@Oasis wrote:

No company policy is above the law. Around 95% of countries do not recognise electronicly "signed" contracts as legaly binding. I'm almost certain that the US is one that does not. My own country certainly does not. The EU does not.
It would have to end up in court for this to be countered but the court would nullify it and order SOE to never do it again.