SOE Super Fan Days?

[Jeepned2]

<p>Was going through my normal routine of checking the Community Relations and Developer postings for the week and I come across "SOE Super Fan Days" posting from Amnerys.</p><p>So now you are advertising SC specials on the Forums? Sad.</p><p>Are we to expect in the future little pop ups during game play for "OOOHH Look, SC Special,....."?</p><p>Are you really getting that desparate for money SoE?</p><p>It's not like you are trying to empty out back stocked or over stocked items. This is a pure money grab. Just so sad.</p>

[NrthnStar5]

<p>Get over it</p>

[PlaneCrazy]

<p><cite>NrthnStar5 wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Get over it</p></blockquote><p>^^^ This ^^^</p>

[Katrinnka]

<p>It's not really just about getting over it.</p><p>Some of us really love EQ2 and there is a feeling the station cash is a threat to it, the whole money grabbing etc takes away from everything we love in the game. So by saying "stop caring" is a bit heartless, of course we care it's our little world and our little haven why is it nowdays so wrong to care about something lol.</p>

[Vortexelemental]

<p><cite>PlaneCrazy wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>NrthnStar5 wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Get over it</p></blockquote><p>^^^ This ^^^</p></blockquote><p>So, you can have the opinion of liking, or not caring about SC, but they can't dislike it?</p><p>Get over yourself. Please.</p>

[Trevalon]

<p>They have always had a post on the forums when they run a SC special.  This is nothing new, its always been there.</p><p>Seriously, the SC haters are just going to have to get over this.  Its here to stay and that sjust how its going to be.  Stop griping and deal or if you hate it so much that it ruins the game for you then go find another game that will soon have its own microtransaction store.</p>

[kcirrot]

<p><cite>Vortexelemental@The Bazaar wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>PlaneCrazy wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>NrthnStar5 wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Get over it</p></blockquote><p>^^^ This ^^^</p></blockquote><p>So, you can have the opinion of liking, or not caring about SC, but they can't dislike it?</p><p>Get over yourself. Please.</p></blockquote><p>So they can't dislike people complaining about SC over and over and over again and justly mock them for it.</p><p>Get over yourself.  Please.  <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/97ada74b88049a6d50a6ed40898a03d7.gif" border="0" /></p>

[kcirrot]

<p><cite>Trevalon wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>They have always had a post on the forums when they run a SC special.  This is nothing new, its always been there.</p><p>Seriously, the SC haters are just going to have to get over this.  Its here to stay and that sjust how its going to be.  Stop griping and deal or if you hate it so much that it ruins the game for you then go <span style="text-decoration: underline;">find another game that will soon have its own microtransaction store.</span></p></blockquote><p>Are there any games left that don't have an item shop?</p>

[PlaneCrazy]

<p><cite>Vortexelemental@The Bazaar wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>PlaneCrazy wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>NrthnStar5 wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Get over it</p></blockquote><p>^^^ This ^^^</p></blockquote><p>So, you can have the opinion of liking, or not caring about SC, but they can't dislike it?</p><p>Get over yourself. Please.</p></blockquote><p>How many times are you going to quit?</p><p>Get some help dude.</p>

[PlaneCrazy]

<p><cite>Katrinnka wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>It's not really just about getting over it.</p><p>Some of us really love EQ2 and there is a feeling the station cash is a threat to it, the whole money grabbing etc takes away from everything we love in the game. So by saying "stop caring" is a bit heartless, of course we care it's our little world and our little haven why is it nowdays so wrong to care about something lol.</p></blockquote><p>SC has been and will remain a part of this game for a long time yet.  It's not that intrusive, IMO.  And with the exception of a few items (tracking pots, premium mounts) I don't see it as much of a threat to the game any more.  If I was asked before it was introduced into this game whether I wanted it or not... I would have said "No".  But it's here now and I can live with it.  I even like some of the appearance items and have bought some for myself.</p><p>If it helps keep the lights on over at SOE headquarters, then I will support it.  I've lost too many games that tried to stick to an ideal and then failed, business wise.</p><p>But the way some people have been acting on the forums here recently is just crazy.  It's like there's these vultures just circling and waiting for a red name to say anything so they can pounce and attack them.  It's sick really.</p><p>This promotion is not invasive.  It doesn't interfere with my game in any way.  They aren't spamming me with Ads, in game or out.  And it is, in fact, a good deal for those people who use this service.</p><p>Th OP was just being a jerk, IMO.  They are offering SC for half price and offering sales on some of the items and he complains its a cash grab.  He complains about a notice in the forum about the sale, like it's some new evil, when in fact, SOE has announced many promotions to do with Station Cash on the forums before.  These are the private forums for EQ2 and are owned by SOE..... so I think they have the right to post whatever the hell they want.</p><p>Complaining for the sake of complaining does nobody any good.</p>

[hellfire]

<p><cite>Vortexelemental@The Bazaar wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>PlaneCrazy wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>NrthnStar5 wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Get over it</p></blockquote><p>^^^ This ^^^</p></blockquote><p>So, you can have the opinion of liking, or not caring about SC, but they can't dislike it?</p><p>Get over yourself. Please.</p></blockquote><p>When are you gonna quit...or was that all just a hot air ballon that  popped?</p><p>You hate and dispise it so much then just leave...kinda silly if someone hates something that they put up with it imo.</p>

[Wingrider01]

<p><cite>Jeepned2 wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Was going through my normal routine of checking the Community Relations and Developer postings for the week and I come across "SOE Super Fan Days" posting from Amnerys.</p><p>So now you are advertising SC specials on the Forums? Sad.</p><p>Are we to expect in the future little pop ups during game play for "OOOHH Look, SC Special,....."?</p><p>Are you really getting that desparate for money SoE?</p><p>It's not like you are trying to empty out back stocked or over stocked items. This is a pure money grab. Just so sad.</p></blockquote><p>if this was a not for profit organization then you would be correct that it is nothing but a money grab, but since EQ2, and the issuing company is a publicly traded company who's basic charter is to make a profit, it is nothing but advertising. This is not a game, it is a profit center, just like every other game on the market unless it is designated freeware. Maybe sad in your book, but in mine it is profit driven, which is the first rule of thumb for this type of business.</p><p>The stockholders and accountants woudl shut it down if it was not making a profit.</p>

[Haapy]

<p><cite>Katrinnka wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>It's not really just about getting over it.</p><p>Some of us really love EQ2 and there is a feeling the station cash is a threat to it, the whole money grabbing etc takes away from everything we love in the game. So by saying "stop caring" is a bit heartless, of course we care it's our little world and our little haven why is it nowdays so wrong to care about something lol.</p></blockquote><p>Takes away from EVERYTHING you love in game? How so? I like how people that throw blanket statements like this never back them up with specifics. How exactly is it a threat to eq2? It brings in extra money and allows for development of extra content like the 2 new zones that just came out. For free. Are you really going to bring in "slippery slope" nonsence where in 3 years we finally have SC mounts that are completely worthless at lvl 90 and cost almost 2 months sub price? Maybe the issue are those 40-slot backpacks that cost $10 USD on SC, I am sure they are taking away business from tailors, lol. "Slippery slope" theory have not been borne out, after years of SC. Perhaps it is time to let it go.</p><p>SC does not impede you in any way while you are questing, raiding, or grouping. There are no pop-ups requesting a SC purchase while you do any activity in game. You do not have to pay anything beyond you normal sub to experience 100% of the content. Right now, I can dump a $1000.00 into SC and it will not make me more desirable in groups, or make me parse any higher in raids, or will allow me to solo any mobs beyond what I already do. SC has absolutely zero effect on my gameplay in every activity that I choose. Even SC on eq2x is extremely marginal in its effect on the gameplay due to pricing and low-impact selection of wares.</p><p>SoE is a business. It's primary purpose is to make money. Same as EVERY company out there. Even the one you absolutely love. I find it is funny when people get irate about a business adding an extra revenue stream that has absolutely zero effect on them.</p><p>Yes, people really do need to get over it. It is here to stay, and these daily threads will not change it.</p>

[Katrinnka]

<p>I can accept the station cash for services etc but I'm a passionate carpenter and it was really heart crushing when they first added the house items on there. I'm sorry that is just how I feel about things, truth is I don't mind station cash so long as it's out of sight and out of mind.</p><p>And yes sony is a business model but if you look at the thread I started about first memories you'll see how important this game is to the players and that's where the real money for sony is. Just from my observations purely the playerbase has changed hugely in the last year and they've lost a lot of people who really loved the game, go look on the rift forum if you want to know. I think they would make more money long term by being a unique game that draws people into the wonderful world of norrath and holds them there for many many years to come than trying to nickle and dime them away.</p><p>But there is a division here between players and eventually it will crack and you wont have to put up with us being upset about such things because we will drift away it's happened largely already <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> The thing is most players are silent and besides humans are adaptable creatures and usually come to accept things after being exposed to it.</p>

[Vortexelemental]

<p><cite>Katrinnka wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I can accept the station cash for services etc but I'm a passionate carpenter and it was really heart crushing when they first added the house items on there. I'm sorry that is just how I feel about things, truth is I don't mind station cash so long as it's out of sight and out of mind.</p><p>And yes sony is a business model but if you look at the thread I started about first memories you'll see how important this game is to the players and that's where the real money for sony is. Just from my observations purely the playerbase has changed hugely in the last year and they've lost a lot of people who really loved the game, go look on the rift forum if you want to know. I think they would make more money long term by being a unique game that draws people into the wonderful world of norrath and holds them there for many many years to come than trying to nickle and dime them away.</p><p>But there is a division here between players and eventually it will crack and you wont have to put up with us being upset about such things because we will drift away it's happened largely already <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /> The thing is most players are silent and besides humans are adaptable creatures and usually come to accept things after being exposed to it.</p></blockquote><p>They are relying on that adaptability.</p><p>The guy above your post is fairly amusing in his inability to grasp basic concepts though.</p>

[Katrinnka]

<p>Aye and apathy is the mother of all evils which is why I don't like to see those standing up for somethng they care about be trod on although it's inevitable lol all manner of sins in our world is commited out of apathy from the public. Anyone looked at how your pair of shoes was made this morning? Atleast on Norrath it's a bit more our world so it's easier to defend <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" /></p><p>Well I do understand their point the constant up in guards gets tiresome so natural to try and get people to stop stirring the waters but I much prefer meeting on an equal ground than throwing stuff at each other until somebody is repressed which just isn't healthy.</p>

[Dreyco]

<p>Woo!  Bandwagon!</p><p>Get over yourself people. <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>It's a fracking sale.  By all rights, the entire marketplace is half off right now.  Some items are a fourth of the price.</p><p>It's like people saying "ZOMFG!  GROCERY STORE IS SELLING TURKEYS FOR HALF PRICE EARLY NOVEMBER!  CASH GRAB!"</p><p>... it's a sale.  They're giving you something for less.  And yet people still complain.</p><p>I've said it once and i'll say it again.  I'll challenge you to find a game out right now that doesn't have an item shop.  It's going to be extremely difficult.  Even a lot of SINGLE player games have it.</p><p>If it's such a serious affront to you, then maybe it's time to take up a new hobby.  I hear Chess is intellectually stimulating.  Threads like this are not.</p>

[greenmantle]

<p><cite>Katrinnka wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I can accept the station cash for services etc but I'm a passionate carpenter and it was really heart crushing when they first added the house items on there. I'm sorry that is just how I feel about things, truth is I don't mind station cash so long as it's out of sight and out of mind.</p><p>And yes sony is a business model but if you look at the thread I started about first memories you'll see how important this game is to the players and that's where the real money for sony is. Just from my observations purely the playerbase has changed hugely in the last year and they've lost a lot of people who really loved the game, go look on the rift forum if you want to know. I think they would make more money long term by being a unique game that draws people into the wonderful world of norrath and holds them there for many many years to come than trying to nickle and dime them away.</p><p>But there is a division here between players and eventually it will crack and you wont have to put up with us being upset about such things because we will drift away it's happened largely already <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /> The thing is most players are silent and besides humans are adaptable creatures and usually come to accept things after being exposed to it.</p></blockquote><p>Have to admit i whimpered when i saw the complete house ebony set on sc  it was sort of the last nail studded plank to the head of my carpentry ambitions. Ill still probably get the last few levels to 90 just so i get a bonus on my other crafters but i doubt ill bother making any thing for sale again.</p><p>In  a way the full home , matched furnishings, tastefull motif and accesories was teh raid equivilent for a carpenter. It was the wow i did this, now you can do its with a security number and a mouse click.</p><p> Its only crafting and yea its only carpenters. Just remember in 3 years time when its some one else top goal in the game and the "Uber flaming Mythical Dragon master" Plate armor set is available for a mouse click and its the raiders screaming you were warned today.</p>

[Katrinnka]

<p>Exactly carpentry is important to me, also to me it's the feeling of greed, I used to use the game to escape from real life now must it follow me? In saying that I don't mind services being on there like name changes and transfer tokens as those are genuine things that go outside the sphere of gameplay. But I definitely should never see those things unless I'm seeking them.</p><p>And when you say go play chess or something then yes you are correct, although this was not the primary reason, last year 20-30 of my guildmates left the game for real life after playing for a number of years, is this really good business practice? Aleinating your playerbase?</p>

[Vortexelemental]

<p><cite>Dreyco wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Woo!  Bandwagon!</p><p>Get over yourself people. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" /></p><p>It's a fracking sale.  By all rights, the entire marketplace is half off right now.  Some items are a fourth of the price.</p><p>It's like people saying "ZOMFG!  GROCERY STORE IS SELLING TURKEYS FOR HALF PRICE EARLY NOVEMBER!  CASH GRAB!"</p><p>... it's a sale.  They're giving you something for less.  And yet people still complain.</p><p>I've said it once and i'll say it again.  I'll challenge you to find a game out right now that doesn't have an item shop.  It's going to be extremely difficult.  Even a lot of SINGLE player games have it.</p><p>If it's such a serious affront to you, then maybe it's time to take up a new hobby.  I hear Chess is intellectually stimulating.  Threads like this are not.</p></blockquote><p>I expect more from you Dreyco. Just because game companies are jumping on the bandwagon of cash shops doesn't mean we need to like it, nor does it mean that high prices being lower to almost what they should be in reality should make us happy.</p><p>Also, I might just go play chess now.</p>

[PlaneCrazy]

<p><cite>Katrinnka wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I can accept the station cash for services etc but I'm a passionate carpenter and it was really heart crushing when they first added the house items on there. I'm sorry that is just how I feel about things, truth is I don't mind station cash so long as it's out of sight and out of mind.</p><p>And yes sony is a business model but if you look at the thread I started about first memories you'll see how important this game is to the players and that's where the real money for sony is. Just from my observations purely the playerbase has changed hugely in the last year and they've lost a lot of people who really loved the game, go look on the rift forum if you want to know. I think they would make more money long term by being a unique game that draws people into the wonderful world of norrath and holds them there for many many years to come than trying to nickle and dime them away.</p><p>But there is a division here between players and eventually it will crack and you wont have to put up with us being upset about such things because we will drift away it's happened largely already <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /> The thing is most players are silent and besides humans are adaptable creatures and usually come to accept things after being exposed to it.</p></blockquote><p>You know, I did feel sorta like you did when I first saw some of the house items on the Marketplace when I came back to the game a little over a year ago. I felt that maybe the crafters were being hurt by that sorta of stuff.  But, you know... after a year of seeing how things are, I don't feel that way anymore.</p><p>The way I look at it, these sort of items are a valid means to generate income for SOE.  If they weren't designing and selling this stuff on the Marketplace, then there wouldn't be even a fraction of those items available to crafters.  The income it generates pays to have designers making new stuff, while the stuff they add for crafters has to be taken from their overall allotment of manpower and resources for the core game.  And then what would happen if they let Carps make those great furniture sets?  Well, eight other crafting specialties would be crying foul and screaming for their own "special" recipes. By having it an RMT transaction, they avoid the whole "balance" issue between all the crafting specialties.</p><p>And honestly, I think they have handled the crafts pretty well.  I've got 5 crafters and I am very happy with their usefulness. I've mastered 4 of them and am currently finishing off a Carp and I can't believe how many things he can make.  It's saving me a ton of money while I decorate 2 houses and a GH.  It's hard for the Devs to balance the crafts and to make sure they make meaningful items but also making sure they can't exploit those items and unbalance the economy.  When I started EQ2, I was in a guild of high end crafters and three of our members were the top three richest players in the game for the first several months.  The devs have made a lot of adjustments to the trades since then and they have some pretty ingenious money sinks to keep the economy some what in check.</p><p>I do hope they come up with some new crafting 'content' with this next expansion.  I'd love to see a level 90 epic sorta quest where the reward was some really nice recipes.</p>

[Katrinnka]

<p>Aye I agree in that sense too <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> We have been looked after well as crafters despite the station cash thing, let me clarify that the my complaints here about the entire game as a whole in its direction and the station cash thing is just the obvious thing to stab at lol.</p><p>For me it's the sense of deep immersion and adventure that I'm missing from it nowdays it's all about the shiny awards and the station cash amplifys that. It's the lack of a challenge that I hate, the feeling that my achievements are just 1/1000 I have to do and are all so easy they're not really of value. The lack of bright eyed newbies especially on my server although thank you for server merges. The fact that at night when I play there's only 70-80 players on for about 6 hours there when it used to be hundreds, I struggle to recruit for my guild because it seems that all the newbies are alts. Granted there's been couple but not enough to balance out the loss of players.</p><p>There is a feeling that the game is not about the game anymore it's about sony getting money out of us and it's a real issue, you forget you're playing a game.</p><p>These are the negative things that I feel within the game and I am voicing my concerns in probably an inappropreite topic but they're honest concerns that if sony does actually care about this game they need to discuss because I know it's not only me feeling it. That aside I'm still here so obviously love the game and recognise that everyone responds to things differently and is having a different experience but all I can do as a player is express these things and hope to be heard <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Rijacki]

<p><cite>greenmantle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Katrinnka wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I can accept the station cash for services etc but I'm a passionate carpenter and it was really heart crushing when they first added the house items on there. I'm sorry that is just how I feel about things, truth is I don't mind station cash so long as it's out of sight and out of mind.</p><p>And yes sony is a business model but if you look at the thread I started about first memories you'll see how important this game is to the players and that's where the real money for sony is. Just from my observations purely the playerbase has changed hugely in the last year and they've lost a lot of people who really loved the game, go look on the rift forum if you want to know. I think they would make more money long term by being a unique game that draws people into the wonderful world of norrath and holds them there for many many years to come than trying to nickle and dime them away.</p><p>But there is a division here between players and eventually it will crack and you wont have to put up with us being upset about such things because we will drift away it's happened largely already <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /> The thing is most players are silent and besides humans are adaptable creatures and usually come to accept things after being exposed to it.</p></blockquote><p>Have to admit i whimpered when i saw the complete house ebony set on sc  it was sort of the last nail studded plank to the head of my carpentry ambitions. Ill still probably get the last few levels to 90 just so i get a bonus on my other crafters but i doubt ill bother making any thing for sale again.</p><p>In  a way the full home , matched furnishings, tastefull motif and accesories was teh raid equivilent for a carpenter. It was the wow i did this, now you can do its with a security number and a mouse click.</p><p> Its only crafting and yea its only carpenters. Just remember in 3 years time when its some one else top goal in the game and the "Uber flaming Mythical Dragon master" Plate armor set is available for a mouse click and its the raiders screaming you were warned today.</p></blockquote><p>Find just one house posted in the Homeshow forum that's 100% furniture from the Marketplace and I will believe this hyperbole. Just one. In every single one I have seen, even those houses that do have Markeplace furniture (which tend to be the minority, really) have a substantial amount of non-Marketplace furniture.</p><p>AND. in my opinion, it is actually the quest reward, faction purchase, and looted furniture which makes much of an impact on the carpenter trade than the -limited- Marketplace stuff.</p><p>Sure, there are players who have houses decoracted with Marketplace + non-crafted furniture but.. those players are highly unlikely to have ever purchased any crafted stuff anyway, not because the crafted doesn't look good (stuff from the last couple years does look good), they're just "cheap" like that.</p>

[Andok]

<p>Whenever K-mart advertises a sale, I hate it because it is just an obvious greedy cash grab!  I complain to them incessantly, but they just keep throwing up those ads that are a slap in the face to us veteran K-mart shoppers.  Oh, yeah, I still shop there all the time, but now I close my eyes whenever I drive by one of their billboards!</p>

[Katrinnka]

<p>Well if we can't express our point and try to make it worth staying in the game perhaps we should just all quit over it like you all seem to imply is the only way, we wouldn't be the first. *shrugs* tbh if it wasn't for the fact that I met my husband in this game and it's a way for us to be together when we can't be together irl I wouldn't be here.</p><p>I can't express my point to most big corporations when they trash things I care about like the environment or peoples lives, but here I can about EQ2 so I can try <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Anyways I'm over this lol I just wanted to have my little say.</p><p>/Kat out.</p>

[greenmantle]

<p><cite>Rijacki wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Find just one house posted in the Homeshow forum that's 100% furniture from the Marketplace and I will believe this hyperbole. Just one. In every single one I have seen, even those houses that do have Markeplace furniture (which tend to be the minority, really) have a substantial amount of non-Marketplace furniture.</p><p><strong>AND. in my opinion, it is actually the quest reward, faction purchase, and looted furniture which makes much of an impact on the carpenter</strong> trade than the -limited- Marketplace stuff.</p><p>Sure, there are players who have houses decoracted with Marketplace + non-crafted furniture but.. those players are highly unlikely to have ever purchased any crafted stuff anyway, not because the crafted doesn't look good (stuff from the last couple years does look good), they're just "cheap" like that.</p></blockquote><p>Though i respect your position i thought the reward stuff sort of helped carpenters, yes there are people with a 5 room house  and a pile of junk sitting in the lobby from quests but i also thought it encouraged people to actually do some thing with the quest items then they need carpentered to fill in the blanks.</p><p>With the growning number of "sets" there are no blanks to fill in <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>The homeshow houses from what ive seen tend to be the work of dedicated crafters so they have their own carpenters ;p</p>

[greenmantle]

<p><cite>Dreyco wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>If it's such a serious affront to you, then maybe it's time to take up a new hobby.  I hear Chess is intellectually stimulating.  Threads like this are not.</p></blockquote><p>I used to play chess till my club introduced micro transactions to help fund the hall, $5 for a queen took the fun out of it</p>

[Amnerys]

<p>We need to take the snarkiness down a notch or two, please.</p><p>People are entitled to express their opinions without being berated for them. If you disagree, you're welcome to disagree and state why. But the attitudes aren't helping anyone, and bitterness builds up over time in the community as people become more defensive and less cohesive. We're all out here with a common goal; to make our favorite game the best it can be in our own opinions. In that cause, all opinions are worthy of being shared.</p><p>Thanks, everyone. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Haapy]

<p><cite>Katrinnka wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Aye I agree in that sense too <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /> We have been looked after well as crafters despite the station cash thing, let me clarify that the my complaints here about the entire game as a whole in its direction and the station cash thing is just the obvious thing to stab at lol.</p><p>For me it's the sense of deep immersion and adventure that I'm missing from it nowdays it's all about the shiny awards and the station cash amplifys that. It's the lack of a challenge that I hate, the feeling that my achievements are just 1/1000 I have to do and are all so easy they're not really of value. The lack of bright eyed newbies especially on my server although thank you for server merges. The fact that at night when I play there's only 70-80 players on for about 6 hours there when it used to be hundreds, I struggle to recruit for my guild because it seems that all the newbies are alts. Granted there's been couple but not enough to balance out the loss of players.</p><p>There is a feeling that the game is not about the game anymore it's about sony getting money out of us and it's a real issue, you forget you're playing a game.</p><p>These are the negative things that I feel within the game and I am voicing my concerns in probably an inappropreite topic but they're honest concerns that if sony does actually care about this game they need to discuss because I know it's not only me feeling it. That aside I'm still here so obviously love the game and recognise that everyone responds to things differently and is having a different experience but all I can do as a player is express these things and hope to be heard <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></p></blockquote><p>It is normal cycle for old MMOs. Each game feels like that after a few years, and there is absolutely nothing even eq2 devs could possibly do to escape it. I have to admit, eq2 had much better run that just about ALL others.</p><p>I think you would be better off rolling an alt on eq2x. Dont flame me, just try it. Some of my RL friends did and pulled me in for a bit, and I have to admit, that server is full of exactly what you are missing. Thousands of newbies running around, grouping up for zones that havent seen a group in years. We went to SH and there were 5 groups running around, camping stuff. Server economy is still fresh (and will continue to be due to gold limits on different sub levels), the one raiding guild of the server is amazingly helpful to all, to the point of giving away close to a 100 harvesting depots and pianos (shiny collectable) while providing fun events that I would say exceed most of quests run by Guides. Their leader Taveren (I think thats the spelling) is easily most helpful and awesome person I met in game in last 2 years on any server.</p><p>Before you flame me, or join the herd that has been bashing that server, just try it. All you have to loose is a few hours. And no, you still cannot buy a lvl 90, or raid gear even on their Marketplace. While I do not mind SoE's push for microtransactions, and uderstand the strategy behind it, I only bought one thing from the Marketplace since it debuted: extra character slots. Aside from that, if it were to dissapear tomorrow, I would not even notice.</p>

[Vortexelemental]

<p><cite>greenmantle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Dreyco wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>If it's such a serious affront to you, then maybe it's time to take up a new hobby.  I hear Chess is intellectually stimulating.  Threads like this are not.</p></blockquote><p>I used to play chess till my club introduced micro transactions to help fund the hall, $5 for a queen took the fun out of it</p></blockquote><p>Don't forget for an extra 1$ you can spray paint it red.</p><p>Don't forget for an extra 1$ you can get a pet guard dog.</p><p>Don't forget for an extra 1$ you can move faster across the board.</p><p>Don't forget for an extra 1$ you can get a flaming sword.</p><p>Don't forget for an extra 1$ you can keep more unique queens in reserve for when you promote your pawns.</p><p>Don't forget for an extra 1$ you can transfer your queen to a more populated arena.</p><p>Don't forget that if you buy the Chess Cards you may be able to transfer some of those to another queen !</p><p>Now, if only we could just stop the black market queen selling and establish some sort of ingenious idea to allow personally crafted queens to be sold legally at market price for those who want them...</p><p>Then, we can just choose if we want to make the queen ourself or buy one, but not have to do both.</p>

[Ceeamee]

<p>I was kinda in the same boat when I saw furniture in the Marketplace.  Then, as I started looking around, I noticed that not many people purchase those items, much less the whole sets.  The only thing that really irks me about the marketplace furniture vs. the crafted furniture is quality.  You can tell that a lot of detail went into making the SC items, while the crafted is a lot less fancy.  The same goes for the appearance armor that you can purchase with SC.</p><p>That said, I have purchased a set of furniture, a few of the armor sets and a barn full of mounts just because I like the looks of them.  These aren't "must have" items for gameplay.  They're fluff.  It's my opinion that if you don't like SC, then don't buy any.  If you don't want to spend your cash on in game items, then don't.  That doesn't mean that other people don't enjoy them and don't think that they should be in the game.  To me, this is just the same argument as raiding vs. casual gameplay.  To each their own.</p><p>The day that they put stat armor and gameplay items on the marketplace, I will be here voicing my opinion against it as loudly as everyone else.  But as long as it's fluff...Well, it's fluff.  And pretty.  *shrug*</p>

[S_M_I_T_E]

<p><cite>Daenu@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>But as long as it's fluff...Well, it's fluff.  And pretty.  *shrug*</p></blockquote><p>I agree. </p><p>Although people not farsighted enough to notice that Exp Packs can be bought via SC would see that this Super fan days = 1/2 off DoV expansion for "pre-buying" SC on layaway a little early. </p><p>Not to mention the cute little SC X-mas, Valentine's day stuff that is sure to come out that will be effectively "locked in" at 1/2 list price.</p>

[Vortexelemental]

<p><cite>S_M_I_T_E wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Daenu@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>But as long as it's fluff...Well, it's fluff.  And pretty.  *shrug*</p></blockquote><p>I agree. </p><p>Although people not farsighted enough to notice that Exp Packs can be bought via SC would see that this Super fan days = 1/2 off DoV expansion for "pre-buying" SC on layaway a little early. </p><p>Not to mention the cute little SC X-mas, Valentine's day stuff that is sure to come out that will be effectively "locked in" at 1/2 list price.</p></blockquote><p>Even so the prices should still be 1/10th of what they are.</p>

[Gungo]

<p><cite>Vortexelemental@The Bazaar wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>S_M_I_T_E wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Daenu@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>But as long as it's fluff...Well, it's fluff.  And pretty.  *shrug*</p></blockquote><p>I agree. </p><p>Although people not farsighted enough to notice that Exp Packs can be bought via SC would see that this Super fan days = 1/2 off DoV expansion for "pre-buying" SC on layaway a little early. </p><p>Not to mention the cute little SC X-mas, Valentine's day stuff that is sure to come out that will be effectively "locked in" at 1/2 list price.</p></blockquote><p>Even so the prices should still be 1/10th of what they are.</p></blockquote><p>Your last month of forum access seems to not come fast enough. If you havent noticed the multiple replies of people, it is time for you to go.</p>

[S_M_I_T_E]

<p><cite>Vortexelemental@The Bazaar wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Even so the prices should still be 1/10th of what they are.</p></blockquote><p>Well, it's a tough balance. </p><p>If everyone one had jaguars then they' wouldn't be jaguars right?  Items are worth whatever they are to a person who wants it at that moment in time.  We all had McMansions collectively and now they're not worth what they "ideally" should be on paper... (Pun for all those CA people...)</p><p>If they're 1/10 the price then everyone would have everything and arguably it might feel less unique (wanted).  Just because Zinio is selling 18 issues of Maxim for 10$ doesn't mean I want to read it or subscribe to it unless it gets lower than the price of a soda.  Now there's some media over at Zinio going for $50 for 12 issues holds some desire for some subset of the Zinio population to buy even with the high price. </p><p>Cheaper doesn't mean volume for some items.</p><p>Let's not mention that of the SC active subscribers some people wouldn't buy some items no matter how cheap they were if they didn't want them, so they have to up the price to get the most out of those who will actually pay for them to jusitfy the revenue increase from the Dev time put into it. </p><p>Although I agree 1/2 price on the items would make more sense (furniture is stiff), but isn't that what we have here? </p><p>1/2 off? </p>