Now, remember the old days of FTP EQ2 where the game was so restricted that you couldn't do a damn thing and you could only play as like.. Human, Half-Elf and some other race, I can't remember? Yeah, I am glad those restrictions are removed, however, there's still some restrictions that need to be removed such as the gear quality limit, the broker restriction, and the chat restriction. These things are holding EQ2 back from being successful because the most important time for a new player is the first 2 hours of playtime. If there's things the player really doesn't like, they'll immediately leave after those first 2 hours and for this game, the really, really dumb restrictions are what's probably keeping the game from having a large population of new players. Just.. I'd love to be able to chat on EQ2, and I'd love to be able to use gear I got from the starter chest in the newest expansions on my level 120 because I am greatly hindered without them and I'd love to be able to use the broker, it would help a ton for my newer alts all without having to fork over $15 a month on a MMO that I can't even get a single person to play due to said restrictions. I am not fortunate enough to be able to afford that consistently. I just would like to be able to enjoy the game without being held down.
The game can 't be successful if it doesn't make money. The benefits of being a subscriber are there for a reason... to encourage you to pony up the $15/month. Fast Travel and getting rid of the broker restrictions alone are each enough to persuade me to pay a subscription, never mind F2P limiting what you can equip and use. A pizza and six pack sure as heck won't get you as much entertainment value as a $15 EQ2 subscription, and costs more to boot.
Thing is.. EQ2 is the only MMO that has these weird restrictions, GW2 doesn't, and most FTP MMOs I've played don't have that either. A new player would not like being so restricted and forced into paying $15 a month just to have a normal experience. If EQ2 wanted to force players to pay $15 a month, they should have never went FTP in the first place. This is not how the FTP business model works, most FTP MMOs usually just resort to cash shop being their main source of money, not the sub fee since players didn't start playing said FTP game to suddenly need to pay $15 a month just to play it like normal.
That's because the games you're looking at were modeled as FTP, and didn't introduce a FTP option later. EQ2 isn't a FTP MMO; It's a subscription MMO with the option to play for free with limited capabilities.
Still. New players see EQ2 as a FTP MMO, not a "subscription-based MMO with an unlimited free trial" as it's not listed as such anywhere. Plus, some MMOs weren't modeled as FTP like GW2, yet are now and don't have those weird restrictions. EQ2's been FTP for around a decade, hell, it's been FTP way longer than it's been subscription-based, I feel like it can manage without restricting FTP players so severely, especially since the sub fee thing would still be there. You may not think it would, but it would help out the EQ series a lot if they removed the restrictions (at least the ones that cripple FTP players) because it could potentially bring in much more new players. Seriously, aren't you guys tired of seeing 90% of the zones being completely devoid of life? Don't you want to see the EQ series jump out of obscurity? I know just removing the restictions won't 100% guarantee a rise in population, but with the new expansion actually being rather decent and the new owner of Daybreak actually wanting to fix things, I feel like that's good enough to guarantee a rise. All we need, honestly, is just a remake or a sequel.
If new players view this as a free to play MMO, there's an error in their perspective. Games have to make money and those restrictions are how the game makes money. It's not a charity.
I miss the days when there was no free to play and no cash shop. Everyone payed the same $15 a month to play and what you did with the time was up to you.
Well its not just 14.99, its plus taxes too. For me would be over 16+ and that is too much to play this or even World of Warcraft. One biggest issues that they shouldnt have done is prevent players from using the ingame chat, most new players will need some help on things at some points. If they cant get in touch with anyone, most would thinks "why should i pay for this?" And now it even harder to get around this issues, cause i use Steam and only Steam's Wallet. I never use my cc for any online games or purchases. I use to have paypal, until one day i got overcharged with something i not aware of, cause overdraft fees that was so bad and loses over hundred dollars cause of it. So for those use to have SoE cards or prepaid cards, not sure if you can get those anymore. Been so long since i bought one and other way is prepaid CCs and they arent cheap either. For those want to buy the expansion or pack and not sure about the membership, their options to buy them, doesnt look good.
So $15 a month is okay but the dollar and change in tax puts it out of reach for you? $15 a month (excuse me, $16.12) for the amount of entertainment you get out of an MMO is extremely affordable.
Uh, no. You're cherry picking the mention of only a couple MMOs, so you can leech more out of EQ2, giving back only extra lag and overhead. Most MMORPGs, like WoW's "free for the 1st 20 levels," Final Fantasy XIV's extended trial version, Star Wars: The Old Republic's restricting even your F2P skill trays in your UI, Elder Scrolls Online's choking out your storage and making you buy each dungeon and expansion unless you "rent" them with a sub, are all quite restrictive, to nudge players into subbing. EQ2's F2P gives away the farm. It's pretty easy to hit L95 never paying a cent. If players are still around by then, pay the sub for Pete's sake. Devs need to eat, too.
