What p2w elements are in the game?

Gillymann "Nobody is "targeting" Benito. In fact, if you review the thread, you'll note that it was Benito who initiated challenges to candid responses. The OP was requesting decision-making information and Benito's posts were misinforming. That's what was corrected.

He does this a lot, and unfotunately when he's corrected, he starts passively-aggressively insulting any posters doing said correcting.

Yes, this thread is going to get locked on Monday, and if you look at the threads locked over the last 2 weeks, you should note the common element in every single one of them is Benito. The reason is obvious: he derails threads away from the topic toward himself.

Don't believe me? Go back and read the other threads. You'll see that it's Benito who's actually targeting people, and frankly, many of us are beyond tired of it.

Also, regarding p2w, I found your characterizations unfair. The game has been engineered so that progression through end-game content is not possible without spending money in the shop. The consensus seems to be that players need to drop around $500 just be productive in raid, and contrary to your impressions, most people do not appreciate a game design that prioritizes opening the wallet over skill, teamwork, and character progression earned in-game."

At this point, this is why I have, for the first time, put him on ignore. I've never had to do that in this or any forum, but I just can't....

I thought Benito's comments were well written counterpoints to the to some of the drivel that that gets posted here. I've said it before...there are 20-25 malcontents in this forum who haven't posted anything positive about the game in years.

Probably ex EQ2 Flame-ites. Though I have no proof of that...just what I think, lol.

Post something positive then instead of moaning about negativity. Fast loading times? Nah? Lag free? No. Content to do? Sure a 2 hour signature line and one heroic meta collection and a few achievements. Raid progression? Locked out for a month for 70% of the raiding guilds. Solo content? 12 zones u finish in 1 hour for red adornments and 1 in 250 masters. PQs? Boring afk instances where u do more dmg just auto attacking and where you have a tiny chance for three 195 resolve pieces every 3rd hour. Crafting? Completely broken and non relevant except for provisioners. Overseers? Log in every 3rd hour and click a button for a maybe rune. Pugs? Almost completely wiped out from all servers. Class balance? Delayed at least a month again. Gear progression? Broken and multiple patterns still broken. Heroic gear is useless for anything but transmuting. Challenge mode is a slight upgrade.

The absolute only positive about Luclin is that some guilds still have a nice community going, but thats about it currently and perhaps the artwork.

Come, tell me something positive about Luclin currently.

Triggered, lul.

I may not agree with Benito's positions on the EverQuest 2 forums but Benito is a top contributor on the EverQuest 1 forums.

Benito does this in every thread, he starts arguments with people and then claims he's being attacked when they respond. And then the thread gets locked, which is exactly what's going to happen to this one too if things don't get back on track.

Is Benito a dev's sock puppet?

Answer the question instead mate. What is positive about Luclin today? You said you hated the negativity how about you give us some positivity then so we dont stay negative? The one thing I can say is positive is the art work. But thats about it.

Here is some positive, I've been playing BOL since it launched. I've been having fun. There are some bugs yes but it hasn't hindered my game play at all. Are there things I wish they would fix YES, but it has not hindered my game play at all. Now I do not raid and can't speak to that aspect of the game, but I've been having a great time. Seems to me right now the most broken part of the game is the tradeskill aspect but.... again still having fun.

From where I'm sitting it does look to me like Benito is being picked on just because he has a different view point than all of you. But all of this just my opinion, and I am entitled to it.

Very one is entitled to an opinion that’s the point repeatedly spamming reply’s on threads and getting them locked is not ok say your idea fair enough but over and over and over?

I do gotta say I agree with Dirge for a change LOL The content is very lacking I said that during Beta but was hoping maybe they would add new stuff. You can make it through all the content in about a week (unless of course you play like 8 hours a day) but say a week. Then you are running the same zones over and over, but it's been that way since TOT. And I think POM was maybe the worst having to grind all the factions endlessly with not enough quest so having to do the repeatables over and over. Luclin isn't that bad IMO

Based on some of what you have posted recently (not just the above): If it makes you feel more at ease, I am not affiliated with EQ2Wire, nor did I wade in throwing punches. Do you agree that my posts on this thread have been civil?

When you made the comments "have said my piece", and "We can agree to disagree", I considered it a reasonable position to take. I am satisfied that if an independent third party reads the posts between you and I, they will be able to evaluate what was written, and make up their own mind.

As for taking things to PMs? I appreciate the offer, but will decline. I believe the topic of this thread deserves to be discussed in public. How a game is monetized, how the monetization systems are defined, and what monetization changes players are willing to accept over time, are relevant to the question in the OP, and not worth referring to moderators.

Different people have different views and tolerances on RMT and P2W in video games. Such is life.

Like Breanna said...I'm still having fun. We group, we raid on weekends. Somethings are buggy, But big whoop. We just play around that which bugs us. Not being able to finish a quest, raid or heroic instance (for whatever reason) is just another day. If it happens...no big deal. We'll circle back later.

See, I think the differing viewpoints on gaming in general are highlighted pretty well in this thread. Those that center on gamelife tend to be perfectionists. Those that have a real life outside of gaming are just happy to have a place to come joke around, raid, group and enjoy some community time. IMHO, though


EQ2 is an amazing game. I've played a lot of other games & this one still draws me back. The fact that it is still here at all after all the things that have happened...well, I hope it is still here for another 15 yrs. Bugs and all.

I started playing in 2008; I was bored with WoW & some friends from WoW had started playing this. They got me to play and then they all... Actually, I really don't know what happened. I guess life happened. But I was having fun just questing (it's called EverQUEST, not Everraid or Everparse or EverWOWIamtheverybestofall) and decorating. Housing! I LOVE housing!

In EVERY MMO I play, there is a group of players who simply MUST get to endgame within 8 weeks of launch (after which they then sit around the forums or the "world" chat channel or both complaining bitterly about how bored they are because there is nothing to do & wow this xpac really sucks). THOSE are the people who are going to hit the shop & buy every single item they can to ensure that they "beat" the game within 8 weeks of launch. Is that P2W? I guess? It's a game without an actual ending so "winning" isn't actually something that can ever occur, but I guess P2BraggingRights (P2BR) doesn't have the same ring to it.

Then there is another group of players, perhaps even a silent majority. These are the folks who don't buy boosts in the cash shop. These are the altoholics, people who have one of literally every race/class combo the game has to offer. Some of these people have multiple accounts and are their own guilds/groups. Some of these people DO purchase from the shop, but they buy mounts, houses, decor, pretty armor, etc. For them (me, apparently Benito, and others), we don't see the game as P2W because we know that pretty much everything that can be purchased in the shop to improve performance can also be earned or created or found somewhere in the game at some point. I think most of us are either casual raiders or don't raid at all, at least not while the raids are current because we're just not there yet. We're still moseying along, smelling the roses, poking around in every corner, rearranging our homes & hammering out all those holiday events.

I am talking about the normal servers up there, btw. Maj'dul et al. And yes, I do pay (or at least I did until the lifetime option became available - yes, I paid for that) to play the game, although I have not purchased StationCash in a good long time (Yep, I know it's DBC, I'm demonstrating how long it's been since I bought it) & I have a tendency to hoard my monthly grant but I DO spend it on occasion. Right now I'm trying to decide who will get a Pretty Purple Pegasus, in fact. All that said, honestly it all boils down to your playstyle - what do you actually ENJOY doing in the game? If raiding & endgame is your thing, then you probably want to stay away from normal servers & hit up Kaladim.

Speaking of Kaladim... EoF is scheduled (again, hopefully THIS date sticks!) to drop tomorrow. If you return right now, you'll be... 3? xpacs behind. However, most players are friendly & helpful and just last night I saw people LFG for Fallen Gate, Runnyeye & Wailing Caves. You'll be able to catch up & raid EoF content before the next xpac drops if you play regularly. Cash shop is pretty limited; we can purchase mounts but all they give is a little speed boost. We can purchase housing as well & if you purchased CEs of the last two normal expansions, you can /claim the items on Kaladim. Again though, level requirements apply & you only get the 39% speed boost, none of the stat boosts. It does have spell researching though, which is something I'd thought came way later in the game but I was a bit of a noob when I started (it was only my second MMORPG lol) so it is entirely possible it was there the entire time & I just didn't know it.

Finally, you know honestly, asking questions about how the game plays, etc. is only going to get you impassioned responses from both sides of the coin, with both sides attacking the other about how wrong they are at the same time. If you really want to know what it's like, hop on a normal server for free & play around for a while. See if you like it or if you want to try Kaladim (a sub is required for TLE servers) & just sub up for a month. If you don't like either one, you're only out what? $15 US? Hope you find something you like & you do return!

Indeed. I play guild wars 2 and have so since its launch back in 2012. Play at the top tier and raid with max level toons. I switch back to it when the shady practices and dubious design decisions in eq2 become overwhelming to bear.

It astounds me that how much that game offers for free and the only things you can buy from the marketplace are 100% cosmetics with nothing that gives you an advantage in game. You just buy the expansion (which gives access to all the previous ones) and start playing. No membership, just play. EQ2 has its charm and nostalgia, hence the reason why I am still here rambling on about it, but guild wars 2 have taken the tried and tested mmorpg methods and taken to the next level where you will have little to no complain specifically when you don't pay a penny outside that of buying the expansion. It still is top 5 most played mmo out there at the moment.

How they generate revenue is anyone's guess but to be honest when the base game is fine tuned with copius amount of content and regular updates (2-3 times weekly), i will not hesitate to buy cosmetic items (which look awesome) just to support the game.

To start, it is worth pointing out that the question from Dirgenoobforreal was:

Your reply can be summarized to be that you enjoy social interactions with group and raid partners on weekends, and don't care if you encounter bugged content. If that is what makes you happy, rock on! I genuinely mean that. I said a long time ago, the strength of any MMO is the people we share it with. Otherwise we would be best served playing one of the many well-made single player games.

However, your answer speaks more for you having a good social circle, rather than being something good about Luclin.

Also, can you please confirm if the second paragraph in your post. You asserted that "Those that have a real life outside of gaming are just happy to have a place to come joke around, raid, group and enjoy some community time". If your assertion was true, and those that have real lives outside of gaming are happy customers, are you suggesting that only people who lack a real life outside of gaming are expressing concerns about the current expansion, and/or overall direction of EQ2?

Yep, that is pretty much how I see it, Avirodar.

I've been posting positive comments for years. For me, MMO's are the framework for community. Once you have that, just about any content will work. Irrespective of bugs / technical issues.

Here is your positive comment....Luclin is still fun for us.

The honesty is appreciated. Thank you for confirming how you see it.

I honestly appreciate that you asked this question so clearly and directly. (I mean it, no sarcasm)