Will you be buying the new Aerakyn race?

if had been full on Droags... would be much more tempted to buy

No, since it's going to be a SC purchase.

ya this is ridiculous. there is only one reason to do this, to squeeze even more money from people who are paying a subscription and purchasing the expansion.

i get that they need to make money. but they are already getting paid twice. add to that races have always been an expac feature, not only with SOE, but with mmo's across the board.

No pre-order, which means no pre-order discount nor the usual pre-order item and now we have to pay for the new race.

I am not happy about what is going on of late.

Most my friends know that I am a pretty serious SOE-fanboy. But I just can't get into what they are doing with this. Was the Freeblood race done the same way? Or was it released totally away from any expansion? I wasn't really playing when it came out.

Its just so messed up that in the expansion announcements they mention the race, even at SOE Live. They brought up the new race while talking about the new expansion, no where did they say it would require a separate purchase. I won't stop playing their games for this, but my willing to support and buy collectors editions and such is slowly dwindling away. I might buy the race if I get enough points from the 500 every month and have nothing else to spend it on, I don't want to support this decision at all.

I got the Freeblood race with the expansion. I'm disappointed that we, the players, have to throw more money at SOE to play the Aerakyn race. I was looking forward to playing the race, but now I'm questioning whether or not to buy the new expansion.

Yes. Definitivly yes.
I'm a collector, I have to have it all.
And I think, SOE with their game designers and their whole stuff, who create our lovely playing tools
and work all the time to make us happy and well feeling in this exciting world, earn some extra $$ for
some extra (well done) work.
Long live EQ2!

I don't know. Maybe? I already have the two lizards so far. I do like the new idea of a monster boy/girl race. I'll have to see how people customize their characters first.

I'd probably race change a current character though because I do not need any more characters.

Overall, I just don't like the looks of the race. I'd have most likely passed even if it was part of the expansion.

Not going to take SC away from my bunny obsession for an Aerakyn especially with an expansion cost to think about first. Now a Duck mount; that could coax my CC out of my wallet.

Yes, right out of the gate, gotta have one

I do love Dragons, plus they got some cool moves.

I neither. I cannot shake the incredible urge to stake them thru the heart when I see them.

One can always save their SC and buy one that way.

I've played this game from the get go. That's how it's always been and should be. Do you realize they have people's salaries to pay? Server maintenance/repairs hosting various live events, and general upkeep. Making an expansion this extensive is very hard work. Lots go into it. If people want more expansions they will buy this one.

It amazes me when I see some of the complaints I've seen once this game went free to play. Even from the people like MYSELF who is a 10 year vet/

Actually, people that have a sub get free SC, so will be able to get Aerakyn's without paying any additional money.

Personally, I think adding a new race for SC is better than not getting one at all. And it allows those that want it to pay for it, rather than the rest of us who don't. When it comes to cosmetics, I'm fully on board with this type of targeted marketing.

p.s. This coming from soemone that's had a sub for 10 years too.

Yes.

Freebloods were released on the Marketplace in December of 2010.

It so happened that SOE was also doing something they called the "Winter Rewards" promotion over that winter prior to the release of Velious as well. If you met certain other criteria & purchased the Velious expansion then you got the Freeblood race for free in February. February 2011 was when Velious was released, but Freeblood wasn't actually part of the expansion.

at which point did i say i should not be paying a sub or a purchase price for the expac? i don't want it all for free. im not asking for it all to be free. my statement clearly points out that races and classes have traditionally been a part of the benefits for those who subscribe to a game and purchase the game's expansions.

you're either reading too much into what i'm saying or not enough.

we don't get free SC any more than we get free game time. we pay a subscription price every month and part of the benefits for paying a monthly fee is that we get 500SC. this was not something we forced upon SOE it was something they added in the hopes of retaining subscribers. just like the double xp weekend for subscribers. we don't get that for free, it's part of an exchange that SOE willingly agrees to when they take our money every month.

again it seems that my post led some to think that i am asking for 'moar free stuffz'. i'm not at all. i wouldn't actually dream of doing so. it wouldn't be at all fair to them.

i am suggesting that subscribers already pay a premium, add to that the price of each expansion, possibly even the CE edition of those expansions, combine that with the purchase of extra SC that most subscribers do. combined i think we pay enough to expect that elements clearly released as part of an expansion (it was announced with the expac, it's coming out at almost the same time as the expac, etc.) come with that expansion.

i don't think this is an unreasonable expectation.

i wholeheartedly agree with both of you that if i were asking for these things for free it wouldn't just be selfish, it would be kinda wacky on my part.

right, and what i'm saying is that as part of that premium, you get enough SC to obtain most relevant stand-alone features without having to pay extra. i guess it's just how i see it.

yes, they made a mistake in announcing Aerakyn as part of expac when they actually weren't. they corrected it almost immediately and with months still to go. it's not like anyone spent money on the expac prior to knowing this, so no harm, no foul in my book. freeblood race was released like this. beastlord class was released similar to this. it's not exactly new.

I can definitely understand them needing to make money. But as said, it was announced at SOE Live during the expansion announcement and they said nothing about it costing extra. I actually found the announcement, notice the title of the video and how they very well hid the fact that it requires extra moniez: The video should skip directly to the new race announcement. (Well, kinda, enjoy the guild level announcement as well, some reason it went a few seconds before the time i linked )

Yes this is a free to play game now. If they had announced the new race properly and said "oh btw it costs extra and has nothing to do with the expansion" then it might have went over a little better. But finding out from a 3rd party news site, is just not that great of a plan. Sorry. Just makes it even more disappointing when you are excited for something, then see that.

While you are correct we do not get SC or any other member perks for "free" in the sense that we pay nothing for them, they are free in the sense that we do not have to pay any further outlay of cash, above and beyond our sub. Heh I remember the good old days in EQ1 where you paid your sub, and got your sub, and that was the extent of what was expected. Of course there was no marketplace, you only had brick and mortar stores to by expansions et cetera. Heh and while I admire (and practice) being pedantic, you know what he meant when he said the 500 SC was free. And his point is well made depending on your spending habits for that 500 SC you will have plenty to buy the Aerakyn (if you choose) without spending a penny more than the cost of your sub, and buying the expansion (and this technically only if you want to reach max level).