August Update Plans [Archive] - EQ2 Forum Archive @ EQ2Wire

Dexella

08-01-2012, 03:07 PM

<a href="http://www.everquest2.com/images/en/features/2012/08/augustupdate/etherweapons.jpg"><img src="http://www.everquest2.com/images/en/features/2012/08/augustupdate/etherweapons_th.jpg" /></a> Greetings Norrathians! Now that Qeynos Rises is live, we’re switching gears to a year-end expansion and working on live content and bugs. In addition, here's some news for August. TINKERFEST July 29 to August 8 Tinkerfest returns! You will find event locations in Freeport at Inventor’s Outlook and in the Qeynos Capitol District at Inventor’s Threshold. There are also new rewards on the quests and the Tinkerfest merchant has new items – including six tinkered-theme mounts. Ethereal Weapons Fall in Summer A rumor has begun to spread across the world of Norrath. As with any rumor, it started out on the lips of a few which many dismissed outright. However, these stories of weapons appearing through Norrath were told and retold, stories of weapons of great power seemingly formed from spiritual energy Can these whispers of legendary artifacts be true? If so, whatever spiritual rift that is bringing these weapons into Norrath isn’t likely going to last long. Go forth, heroes of Norrath, and see if you can discover one of these powerful weapons before they vanish from our world once again! Step Right Up! We are adding a feature where you can play instanced mini-games to win random loot in game! You purchase a ticket that gives you access to a mini-game instance. Should you beat the simple, fun game, you receive a random reward from a chest, or opt for tokens you can spend on items available on a merchant. We will be selling the tickets for Station Cash in the marketplace. SOEmote Your Way SOEmote is finally ready to go live on August 7! After showing the feature at E3 in Los Angeles earlier this year and getting a lot of interest and feedback, we opted to spend more time developing it to make it fit easily into the game experience so it felt fun, natural, and easy. You will find the SOEmote listed in the main EQII menu in game, as well as in the game Options. Some features we added are: -Auto-Enable SOEmote with Webcam. To start with, we wanted the feature to be easy to use. If you have a camera set up, SOEmote will automatically send you a message to enable the feature and options when you log in. After that, when you log in with a webcam, you will be reminded that the feature is active. -SOEmote Group Window: Included by default if you set up SOEmote, you can easily watch group members' faces next to their names in the user interface. -Mini-Chat Bar Additions: We integrated SOEmote buttons into the mini-voice chat bar under the chat window for easy use and access. -Mirror Me: As we've been using SOEmote in the studio a lot, we wanted a quick and intuitive way to be able to see ourselves (because it's fun) and also to ensure SOEmote is calibrated without having to use the large set-up window view. With this addition, you see a small version of yourself with a quick Calibration button to set the default facial tracking position for those times when you leave your PC and return. TIP: When calibrating, make sure your own face is in a neutral position with no smile, eyes open and no expression. You get the best results this way! - Voice Chat/SOEmote Options: We took some time to work on the usability of the existing voice chat controls as we integrated the SOEmote options. It seemed natural for us to pair voice chat and SOEmote options together. - Local Proximity Chat in Guild Halls and Houses. With SOEmote or Voice Chat activated you'll have the option to join a Local Channel so you can listen and talk based on your location just like walking and chatting into a room in real life. - Voice Fonts. We added a selection of voice fonts for male and female voices for you to experiment with in the main SOEmote set-up options. You will find the voice font selections in a drop-down list. We also added an option to record and play back your voice so you can hear how it sounds with a font. - FAQ. We wanted to add a fairly deep FAQ for SOEmote to help users with common questions. We can tell you now that if you are experiencing issues with tracking your facial movements, try increasing your lighting! And if that fails, you might want a better camera. We list the camera we use in the FAQ and link to an offer for good cameras. We are really excited to have the community jump in and use SOEmote. As we've always said, with EQII as a role-playing game, we want to support players who want to become their characters! With our partners with SOEmote, Image Metrics and Vivox, we really hope you enjoy it and build incredible experiences from it. More than anything, we want to see all the creative ways that you, our imaginative players, use it. Look for a contest soon asking you to submit your own SOEmote videos through our in-game YouTube feature! Holly “Windstalker” Longdale

Vlahkmaak

08-01-2012, 06:54 PM

<cite>Dexella wrote:</cite><blockquote>Step Right Up!We are adding a feature where you can play instanced mini-games to win random loot in game! You purchase a ticket that gives you access to a mini-game instance. Should you beat the simple, fun game, you receive a random reward from a chest, or opt for tokens you can spend on items available on a merchant. We will be selling the tickets for Station Cash in the marketplace.</blockquote>You purchase a ticket ..... you receive a random reward..... for Station Cash in the marketplace.Is this really a healthy direction for the game? Will there be random mythicals or mythicals being sold on merchant? Are we talking best in slot or even near best in slot items/gear for cash? Step right up makes me a sad panda.

Hammieee

08-01-2012, 07:21 PM

Ethereal Weapons Fall in SummerA rumor has begun to spread across the world of Norrath. As with any rumor, it started out on the lips of a few which many dismissed outright. However, these stories of weapons appearing through Norrath were told and retold, stories of weapons of great power seemingly formed from spiritual energy Can these whispers of legendary artifacts be true? If so, whatever spiritual rift that is bringing these weapons into Norrath isn’t likely going to last long. Go forth, heroes of Norrath, and see if you can discover one of these powerful weapons before they vanish from our world once again!What are the weapons?

Windstalker

08-01-2012, 07:44 PM

August, yay! Qeynos, yay! PvP, yay! ... Yay....!We are putting the final touches on SOEmote and tinkering away. It's pretty amazing to see yourself chatting as one of our many races... I hope you all dig up/set up your web cams and try it out!Also, with the mysterious Ethereal weapons falling in August -- a new, powerful weapon type available in all level ranges so it seems -- keep an eye out...rumor is they are appearing as we speak...though rarely.

Lamatu

08-01-2012, 07:46 PM

<cite>Windstalker wrote:</cite><blockquote>August, yay! Qeynos, yay! PvP, yay! ... Yay....!We are putting the final touches on SOEmote and tinkering away. It's pretty amazing to see yourself chatting as one of our many races... I hope you all dig up/set up your web cams and try it out!Also, with the mysterious Ethereal weapons falling in August -- a new weapon type that is rare and powerful -- keep an eye out...rumor is they are appearing as we speak...though rarely.</blockquote>This is all good stuff but can we please have a status update on the chat lag on Crushbone and probably all the other servers?This has been happening every day for over a month now. Sometimes up to 2-3 minutes of chat lag but usually its a good 30s or minute.

jjlo69

08-01-2012, 07:58 PM

<cite>Lamatu wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Windstalker wrote:</cite><blockquote>August, yay! Qeynos, yay! PvP, yay! ... Yay....!We are putting the final touches on SOEmote and tinkering away. It's pretty amazing to see yourself chatting as one of our many races... I hope you all dig up/set up your web cams and try it out!Also, with the mysterious Ethereal weapons falling in August -- a new weapon type that is rare and powerful -- keep an eye out...rumor is they are appearing as we speak...though rarely.</blockquote>This is all good stuff but can we please have a status update on the chat lag on Crushbone and probably all the other servers?This has been happening every day for over a month now. Sometimes up to 2-3 minutes of chat lag but usually its a good 30s or minute.</blockquote>permafrost as well as others im certain

jjlo69

08-01-2012, 08:12 PM

<cite>Windstalker wrote:</cite><blockquote>Also, with the mysterious Ethereal weapons falling in August -- a new, powerful weapon type available in all level ranges so it seems -- keep an eye out...rumor is they are appearing as we speak...though rarely.</blockquote>in other words fluff for all level and really not worh trying to camp for

warlock829

08-01-2012, 08:33 PM

ok A how much are these tickets gonna cost B What are these new weapons are they appearence only or they gonna surpass the mythicals? The loot thats gonna come from this mingame are they gonna be close to raid or faction gear?I dont know what soe is thinking what kind of direction they are trying to head this game into but turning intoa mess of Microtransactions to by loot is garbage idea and allows players who have no experience to come into dungeons and try and play when they have no clue.

Windstalker

08-01-2012, 09:05 PM

To reply to the post on the Voice Chat issues. We are well aware of the problem and have enlisted Vivox, our partner who runs those services, to help get in to fix the problem.Two weeks ago, the Vivox servers were upgraded to the latest versions which did fix a lot of bugs and obviously introduced some new ones that we are very frustrated with.We have been pouring over the user feedback also and we do recognize these issues started in April/May when we updated Skyshrine.We have Ops teams here and at Vivox looking at Voice Chat and we'll keep you updated.On text chat lag, we are aware of those issues too and isolating the problem. On the post regarding the Ethereal weapons -- they are far from fluff. I don't want to give too many details away as you will start seeing the details on them soon enough.

MisterE

08-01-2012, 09:29 PM

<cite>Windstalker wrote:</cite><blockquote>On the post regarding the Ethereal weapons -- they are far from fluff. I don't want to give too many details away as you will start seeing the details on them soon enough.</blockquote>Saw an in game link (I am assuming it was a data dig not an actual weapon since the guy didnt know where it was from)tormax'z royal blade of destiny org now instead of purple 186 str 186 sta35.5% MA60.4% CC11.1% CB11.1% Pot13% strikethroughethereal shards proxon hostile spell cast and on any combat or spiell hit 2.0 procs a mindecrease mit vs arcane by 3532three dif attacks for 1567-2612 as magic damage and divine damage and piercing damage./edit only for zerker guard sk and paly.must not be in pvp. yada yada.. so they are in the data just not in game and while not OMG top tier they are nothing to scof at. now if they would just fix teamwork that would be nice. oh that examine was while on a caster so stats might be different i dunno.

Rainmare

08-01-2012, 09:39 PM

So it looks to me by that name it's like a 'mythical' for the non-skyshrine zones. unless they also drop in the SS zones as well.Oh gee great. so far it seems they are only from HM raid zones. lovely.

Gaarysal

08-01-2012, 09:41 PM

<cite>Windstalker wrote:</cite><blockquote>To reply to the post on the Voice Chat issues. We are well aware of the problem and have enlisted Vivox, our partner who runs those services, to help get in to fix the problem.Two weeks ago, the Vivox servers were upgraded to the latest versions which did fix a lot of bugs and obviously introduced some new ones that we are very frustrated with.We have been pouring over the user feedback also and we do recognize these issues started in April/May when we updated Skyshrine.We have Ops teams here and at Vivox looking at Voice Chat and we'll keep you updated.On text chat lag, we are aware of those issues too and isolating the problem. On the post regarding the Ethereal weapons -- they are far from fluff. I don't want to give too many details away as you will start seeing the details on them soon enough.</blockquote>It's the text chat that is lagged and it majorly effects gameplay. The vivox issue is something else.Also, Holly, can you please clarify if the mini-game station cash loot is going to be appearance/current marketplace type type items or actual usable items with stats?

Drew1

08-01-2012, 10:08 PM

Hmmm.So are these weapons in game or not? Rumor on my server someone has an ethereal weapon; how ever its t7 and it came from Labs of Lord Vyemm; can we get a confirmation that these items are in game?

Gaarysal

08-01-2012, 10:17 PM

<cite>Drew1 wrote:</cite><blockquote>Hmmm.So are these weapons in game or not? Rumor on my server someone has an ethereal weapon; how ever its t7 and it came from Labs of Lord Vyemm; can we get a confirmation that these items are in game?</blockquote><a href="http://u.eq2wire.com/soe/latest_discoveries">http://u.eq2wire.com/soe/latest_discoveries</a> they are definately dropping, as for it coming from labs idk might just be the item name

Lamatu

08-01-2012, 10:21 PM

That sword is dropping off trash in WL. More DEV mistakes?

Kander

08-01-2012, 10:46 PM

<cite>Rainmare@Oasis wrote:</cite><blockquote>So it looks to me by that name it's like a 'mythical' for the non-skyshrine zones. unless they also drop in the SS zones as well.Oh gee great. so far it seems they are only from HM raid zones. lovely.</blockquote>Ethereal Weapons are global. They can drop from anything you kill. Anything that would normally drop loot.

Regolas

08-01-2012, 11:31 PM

Can anyone confirm if the ethereal weapons are just blind luck drops or if they come from something specific? Particular zones or mobs? From the announcement it sounds like they're harvested! I see on eq2u that a tank in pure WL quest gear (ie solo gear) has a server disco for the tank one. Far exceeds all his other gear but good for him. Also seeing no no-trade tag on them (only attunable), so are they tradeable?

Regolas

08-01-2012, 11:34 PM

Ok Kander, I assume they're level specific? So the level 92 ones will only drop off Skyshrine stuff?

Grumble69

08-02-2012, 01:29 AM

Based on EQ2Wire and personal observations of mass slaughter, my guess is that the drop rate is probably less than getting an exquisite drop off a normal mob. Visions of farming for primary chars & alts should be discarded. I'm definitely not going to spend tons of time trying to farm up one, especially since it may be regarded as "average" within the next few months.

DamselInDistress

08-02-2012, 05:41 AM

<cite>Grumble69 wrote:</cite><blockquote>Based on EQ2Wire and personal observations of mass slaughter, my guess is that the drop rate is probably less than getting an exquisite drop off a normal mob. Visions of farming for primary chars & alts should be discarded. I'm definitely not going to spend tons of time trying to farm up one, especially since it may be regarded as "average" within the next few months. </blockquote>nothing is worth spending a lot of time getting, since the next update will make all gear useless ...

Kinya

08-02-2012, 06:34 AM

<cite>Dexella wrote:</cite><blockquote>Step Right Up! We are adding a feature where you can play instanced mini-games to win random loot in game! You purchase a ticket that gives you access to a mini-game instance. Should you beat the simple, fun game, you receive a random reward from a chest, or opt for tokens you can spend on items available on a merchant. We will be selling the tickets for Station Cash in the marketplace. Holly “Windstalker” Longdale </blockquote>I don't remeber exactly how many times EQ2 players were assured that THIS WILL NOT happen..So what happend? Is this a new directon for this game? Buy any loot you want for Station Cash? So when will we see Mythicals on MarketPlace?!<cite>Piestro wrote:</cite><blockquote>By now you may have heard about the SOE corporate initiative called SOEmote(tm) that will launch in EQII later this month. SOEmote uses a webcam and microphone to project your facial expressions, including talking and voice, onto your character in real time! It's used in groups and also allows you to broadcast to your guild, almost like a webcast. We're all excited to see this launch and how you use it. If you want to share your shananigans, the YouTube recording option is now in the EQII Share window.Holly “Windstalker” Longdale</blockquote>This is from <a href="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?start=0&topic_id=519147#5764233" target="_blank">June Update Plans</a>... According to this post, we were supposed to see this feature in late June, not in August. So it is already late...

Mohee

08-02-2012, 08:16 AM

<blockquote> Step Right Up! We are adding a feature where you can play instanced mini-games to win random loot in game! You purchase a ticket that gives you access to a mini-game instance. Should you beat the simple, fun game, you receive a random reward from a chest, or opt for tokens you can spend on items available on a merchant. We will be selling the tickets for Station Cash in the marketplace. Holly “Windstalker” Longdale </blockquote>Sounds like you are trying to hide a basic "pay to win" mechanic...Why are you introducing content that actually sounds like it could be somewhat fun, such as new mini games, but only allow people to play them by buying a ticket with station cash? What is the problem with letting people who actually PAY PER MONTH, to be able to use in-game currency to buy these tickets, to play these mini-games?You may as well lock up all the raid instances and not allow anyone to enter unless they pay for a 1 time use ticket to enter, everytime they want to enter.Better yet... why not also sell Exquisite Keys on the marketplace that are required to even open up Exquisite Chests?(that was sarcasm by the way...)But seriously... why bring instances/mini games that can only be accessed with tickets that can only be purchased with SC?

Flidias

08-02-2012, 08:39 AM

So August officially starts the Pay 2 Win phase of EQ2? I don't recall any major threads requesting this kind of thing (not even an ingame poll).Very slippery slope indeed. I'm shouldn't have to pay real money on top of my sub to have access to anything, it's just plain wrong.

Geothe

08-02-2012, 10:03 AM

<cite>Dexella wrote:</cite><blockquote>Step Right Up!We are adding a feature where you can play instanced mini-games to win random loot in game! You purchase a ticket that gives you access to a mini-game instance. Should you beat the simple, fun game, you receive a random reward from a chest, or opt for tokens you can spend on items available on a merchant. We will be selling the tickets for Station Cash in the marketplace.</blockquote>This is complete trash and should not be in game..... unless the rewards are 100% pure FLUFF items (which I hightly doubt). Cash for usable gear has no place what-so-ever in this game./sig

Koleg

08-02-2012, 11:06 AM

<cite>Kinya@Splitpaw wrote:</cite><blockquote> <cite>Dexella wrote:</cite><blockquote>Step Right Up!We are adding a feature where you can play instanced mini-games to win random loot in game! You purchase a ticket that gives you access to a mini-game instance. Should you beat the simple, fun game, you receive a random reward from a chest, or opt for tokens you can spend on items available on a merchant. We will be selling the tickets for Station Cash in the marketplace.Holly “Windstalker” Longdale </blockquote>I don't remeber exactly how many times EQ2 players were assured that THIS WILL NOT happen..So what happend? Is this a new directon for this game? Buy any loot you want for Station Cash? So when will we see Mythicals on MarketPlace?!</blockquote>You're looking at this backwards. This is not "Buying" gear or any sort of Pay-2-Win deal from the Station Cash Marketplace. This is "Renting" Content, which happens to have gear contained within. They never said they wouldn't do that, so cool your jets.

Moldylocks

08-02-2012, 11:32 AM

<cite>Koleg@Unrest_old wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Kinya@Splitpaw wrote:</cite><blockquote> <cite>Dexella wrote:</cite><blockquote>Step Right Up!We are adding a feature where you can play instanced mini-games to win random loot in game! You purchase a ticket that gives you access to a mini-game instance. Should you beat the simple, fun game, you receive a random reward from a chest, or opt for tokens you can spend on items available on a merchant. We will be selling the tickets for Station Cash in the marketplace.Holly “Windstalker” Longdale </blockquote>I don't remeber exactly how many times EQ2 players were assured that THIS WILL NOT happen..So what happend? Is this a new directon for this game? Buy any loot you want for Station Cash? So when will we see Mythicals on MarketPlace?!</blockquote>You're looking at this backwards. This is not "Buying" gear or any sort of Pay-2-Win deal from the Station Cash Marketplace. This is "Renting" Content, which happens to have gear contained within. They never said they wouldn't do that, so cool your jets.</blockquote>Let me walk you through this. Carefully. <ol><li>You BUY a token (not rent). </li><li>You then do a trivial task. This is put in place so there isn't a direct item-to-hand through purchase. Its a mechanic that covers their butts so they can come back and say, "It isn't Pay To Win, its a reward game with elements of randomness."</li><li>You then get your item.</li></ol>Simple enough? It is a P2W feature. You are paying money for gear, period.

Twyxx

08-02-2012, 12:22 PM

<cite>Moldylocks wrote:</cite><blockquote>Let me walk you through this. Carefully. <ol><li>You BUY a token (not rent). </li><li>You then do a trivial task. This is put in place so there isn't a direct item-to-hand through purchase. Its a mechanic that covers their butts so they can come back and say, "It isn't Pay To Win, its a reward game with elements of randomness."</li><li>You then get your item.</li></ol>Simple enough? It is a P2W feature. You are paying money for gear, period.</blockquote>Yeah, this is concerning. If it's anything more than appearance gear in there then it is p2w or at least another step closer and there will be a lot of hate coming with this.

Neiloch

08-02-2012, 12:46 PM

<cite>Twyxx wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Moldylocks wrote:</cite><blockquote>Let me walk you through this. Carefully. <ol><li>You BUY a token (not rent). </li><li>You then do a trivial task. This is put in place so there isn't a direct item-to-hand through purchase. Its a mechanic that covers their butts so they can come back and say, "It isn't Pay To Win, its a reward game with elements of randomness."</li><li>You then get your item.</li></ol>Simple enough? It is a P2W feature. You are paying money for gear, period.</blockquote>Yeah, this is concerning. If it's anything more than appearance gear in there then it is p2w or at least another step closer and there will be a lot of hate coming with this.</blockquote>This is actually a DCUO feature.In DCUO every day you get one free 'vault' ticket if you are a subscriber. In this vault it can drop some money and appaerance gear. It can also drop special currency for gear. Think void shards, velium shards, or marks in SF. Now this same currency is also gotten from dailies when running content, thus encouraging people to run the same stuff repeatedly no matter how easy.Then DCUO converted to F2P. On the marketplace you can now BUY additional vault tickets.So say you want a new piece of gear. You go on the marketplace, buy say $40-$50 worth of vault tickets, run the vaults getting a token at the end of each and ABRACADABRA you have enough tokens to buy that piece of gear. You take out the steps in the middle and you just paid $40-$50 for a piece of high end equipment on DCUO. Congratz.Seems to me SoE got brave and even removed some steps for EQ2. I have no idea as to the quality of the loot. I can only hope at most it barely contends with player rare harvest mastercrafted. Mainly because anything more than that would instantly alienate segments of the playerbase. The higher the quality, the more of the playerbase they will 'upset' to say the least.I have to point out though, their policy as of late is that awesome(mythical level) loot can drop off anything regardless of difficulty as long as it is rare (absolutely terrible policy, btw). So I would not be surprised if this room dropped EXTREMELY nice gear, just not very often.

Jesdyr

08-02-2012, 01:48 PM

Delirya

08-02-2012, 02:08 PM

I'm not impressed with this mini-game for loot feature at all. Perhaps if tickets were able to be purchased with Dungeon Marks, or given as allowance to all gold subs, it might be received more favourably. (Don't jump at me about the gold subs thing, just suggesting things!) I'm sure there are other alternatives to adding this feature in the way explained. The idea of mini games is cute, the need to spend SC on them is not.

Koleg

08-02-2012, 02:37 PM

<cite>Moldylocks wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Koleg@Unrest_old wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Kinya@Splitpaw wrote:</cite><blockquote> <cite>Dexella wrote:</cite><blockquote>Step Right Up!We are adding a feature where you can play instanced mini-games to win random loot in game! You purchase a ticket that gives you access to a mini-game instance. Should you beat the simple, fun game, you receive a random reward from a chest, or opt for tokens you can spend on items available on a merchant. We will be selling the tickets for Station Cash in the marketplace.Holly “Windstalker” Longdale </blockquote>I don't remeber exactly how many times EQ2 players were assured that THIS WILL NOT happen..So what happend? Is this a new directon for this game? Buy any loot you want for Station Cash? So when will we see Mythicals on MarketPlace?!</blockquote>You're looking at this backwards. This is not "Buying" gear or any sort of Pay-2-Win deal from the Station Cash Marketplace. This is "Renting" Content, which happens to have gear contained within. They never said they wouldn't do that, so cool your jets.</blockquote>Let me walk you through this. Carefully. <ol><li>You BUY a token (not rent). </li><li>You then do a trivial task. This is put in place so there isn't a direct item-to-hand through purchase. Its a mechanic that covers their butts so they can come back and say, "It isn't Pay To Win, its a reward game with elements of randomness."</li><li>You then get your item.</li></ol>Simple enough? It is a P2W feature. You are paying money for gear, period.</blockquote>You would be bying the Temporary (thus the 'Renting' comment) the one time use of the content and some of that content becomes permenant outside of the temporary content. This is how is was outlined above and this is how it stays out of the P2W scenario. I don't really care about the 'items' involved, but the idea of paying a sub for content and then paying again for additional content is even worse than microtransactions or limited sized adventure packs (which I wouldn't mind if they brought back).P2W is certainly concerning enough. It keeps popping in and out all the time, most recently with Cure/Health/Power pots, rez scrolls and repair kits. The Dungeon Maker by design is nothing more that P2W feature; more true now that ever with the largest containers and quivers, buy-on-the-fly ammo (if your dumb enough to run out), and -Whats That??- GEAR, yes GEAR that is better than anything available in current tier heroic content designed for 6 ppl. And what exactly do you have to do to 'earn' it? Enter and AE a few thousand mobs that takes all of a minute or two. Just need to 'buy' the AOD expansion to have it available. So, you buy (AOD) and do a trivial task (DM AE runs) and you get your choice of Raid level items with unlimited quantity and no element of randomness. No, you're not already playing a P2W game are you.My guess is this is a direct action to recoup the lost revenue SOE experienced from discounted double/triple half-price SC purchases on Gold Subs. You (the community) has nobody but yourself (ourself) to blame. How long does anyone think SOE will be in business after everyone tossed them $1.25 per month for the next 2 years rather than the $15 they were getting before. Some people paid $15 for an anual sub where last year they would have paid $180. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out, 180 > 15 by a lot. ...WOW (Blizzard) has had open world (Global) Mythical drops since launch, they were rare enough that they were fun to chase after and exciting if and when they finially dropped. It's not that big a deal as long as the drop rate is rare enough, as in ultra rare.

Vellisse

08-02-2012, 02:59 PM

<cite>Dexella wrote:</cite><blockquote>Step Right Up! We are adding a feature where you can play instanced mini-games to win random loot in game! You purchase a ticket that gives you access to a mini-game instance. Should you beat the simple, fun game, you receive a random reward from a chest, or opt for tokens you can spend on items available on a merchant. We will be selling the tickets for Station Cash in the marketplace.</blockquote>The second this comes into the game, I will be manned and ready to cancel my subscription and after mentioning this in General 1-9 Chat on AB several other players are too.Don't you dare add this into our game when promises were made that this wouldn't happen.It's disgusting and shows the type of moneygrub SOE is.And to whoever says this isn't pay2win your paying for a Ticket to enter a "simple, fun game" meaning trivial for a chest.It is P2W.

gourdon

08-02-2012, 03:04 PM

<cite>Koleg@Unrest_old wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Moldylocks wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Koleg@Unrest_old wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Kinya@Splitpaw wrote:</cite><blockquote> <cite>Dexella wrote:</cite><blockquote>Step Right Up!We are adding a feature where you can play instanced mini-games to win random loot in game! You purchase a ticket that gives you access to a mini-game instance. Should you beat the simple, fun game, you receive a random reward from a chest, or opt for tokens you can spend on items available on a merchant. We will be selling the tickets for Station Cash in the marketplace.Holly “Windstalker” Longdale </blockquote>I don't remeber exactly how many times EQ2 players were assured that THIS WILL NOT happen..So what happend? Is this a new directon for this game? Buy any loot you want for Station Cash? So when will we see Mythicals on MarketPlace?!</blockquote>You're looking at this backwards. This is not "Buying" gear or any sort of Pay-2-Win deal from the Station Cash Marketplace. This is "Renting" Content, which happens to have gear contained within. They never said they wouldn't do that, so cool your jets.</blockquote>Let me walk you through this. Carefully. <ol><li>You BUY a token (not rent). </li><li>You then do a trivial task. This is put in place so there isn't a direct item-to-hand through purchase. Its a mechanic that covers their butts so they can come back and say, "It isn't Pay To Win, its a reward game with elements of randomness."</li><li>You then get your item.</li></ol>Simple enough? It is a P2W feature. You are paying money for gear, period.</blockquote>You would be bying the Temporary (thus the 'Renting' comment) the one time use of the content and some of that content becomes permenant outside of the temporary content. This is how is was outlined above and this is how it stays out of the P2W scenario. I don't really care about the 'items' involved, but the idea of paying a sub for content and then paying again for additional content is even worse than microtransactions or limited sized adventure packs (which I wouldn't mind if they brought back).P2W is certainly concerning enough. It keeps popping in and out all the time, most recently with Cure/Health/Power pots, rez scrolls and repair kits. The Dungeon Maker by design is nothing more that P2W feature; more true now that ever with the largest containers and quivers, buy-on-the-fly ammo (if your dumb enough to run out), and -Whats That??- GEAR, yes GEAR that is better than anything available in current tier heroic content designed for 6 ppl. And what exactly do you have to do to 'earn' it? Enter and AE a few thousand mobs that takes all of a minute or two. Just need to 'buy' the AOD expansion to have it available. So, you buy (AOD) and do a trivial task (DM AE runs) and you get your choice of Raid level items with unlimited quantity and no element of randomness. No, you're not already playing a P2W game are you.My guess is this is a direct action to recoup the lost revenue SOE experienced from discounted double/triple half-price SC purchases on Gold Subs. You (the community) has nobody but yourself (ourself) to blame. How long does anyone think SOE will be in business after everyone tossed them $1.25 per month for the next 2 years rather than the $15 they were getting before. Some people paid $15 for an anual sub where last year they would have paid $180. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out, 180 > 15 by a lot. ...WOW (Blizzard) has had open world (Global) Mythical drops since launch, they were rare enough that they were fun to chase after and exciting if and when they finially dropped. It's not that big a deal as long as the drop rate is rare enough, as in ultra rare.</blockquote>Dungeon Maker is nothing like the SC bought mystery box. First, the tokens are earned in game without a cash transaction attached. Second, while the dungeons are trivial to quite a few, they are challenging to many and it takes a significant effort for most to get 1000 marks. As for the 153 stat items, they are no better than quest rewards in Skyshrine, cover 2-3 equipment slots, and aren't all that attractive to those few that the dungeons are extremely trivial. Last I checked, that is how it is supposed to work.The only ones to blame for lost revenue regarding Gold subscriptions is SOE, and selling gear for SC will not make their situation better. If they want EQ2 to follow DCUO down the toilet, then they should proceed as they are.

Moldylocks

08-02-2012, 03:14 PM

<cite>Koleg@Unrest_old wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Moldylocks wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Koleg@Unrest_old wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Kinya@Splitpaw wrote:</cite><blockquote> <cite>Dexella wrote:</cite><blockquote>Step Right Up!We are adding a feature where you can play instanced mini-games to win random loot in game! You purchase a ticket that gives you access to a mini-game instance. Should you beat the simple, fun game, you receive a random reward from a chest, or opt for tokens you can spend on items available on a merchant. We will be selling the tickets for Station Cash in the marketplace.Holly “Windstalker” Longdale </blockquote>I don't remeber exactly how many times EQ2 players were assured that THIS WILL NOT happen..So what happend? Is this a new directon for this game? Buy any loot you want for Station Cash? So when will we see Mythicals on MarketPlace?!</blockquote>You're looking at this backwards. This is not "Buying" gear or any sort of Pay-2-Win deal from the Station Cash Marketplace. This is "Renting" Content, which happens to have gear contained within. They never said they wouldn't do that, so cool your jets.</blockquote>Let me walk you through this. Carefully. <ol><li>You BUY a token (not rent). </li><li>You then do a trivial task. This is put in place so there isn't a direct item-to-hand through purchase. Its a mechanic that covers their butts so they can come back and say, "It isn't Pay To Win, its a reward game with elements of randomness."</li><li>You then get your item.</li></ol>Simple enough? It is a P2W feature. You are paying money for gear, period.</blockquote>You would be bying the Temporary (thus the 'Renting' comment) the one time use of the content and some of that content becomes permenant outside of the temporary content. This is how is was outlined above and this is how it stays out of the P2W scenario. I don't really care about the 'items' involved, but the idea of paying a sub for content and then paying again for additional content is even worse than microtransactions or limited sized adventure packs (which I wouldn't mind if they brought back).P2W is certainly concerning enough. It keeps popping in and out all the time, most recently with Cure/Health/Power pots, rez scrolls and repair kits. The Dungeon Maker by design is nothing more that P2W feature; more true now that ever with the largest containers and quivers, buy-on-the-fly ammo (if your dumb enough to run out), and -Whats That??- GEAR, yes GEAR that is better than anything available in current tier heroic content designed for 6 ppl. And what exactly do you have to do to 'earn' it? Enter and AE a few thousand mobs that takes all of a minute or two. Just need to 'buy' the AOD expansion to have it available. So, you buy (AOD) and do a trivial task (DM AE runs) and you get your choice of Raid level items with unlimited quantity and no element of randomness. No, you're not already playing a P2W game are you.My guess is this is a direct action to recoup the lost revenue SOE experienced from discounted double/triple half-price SC purchases on Gold Subs. You (the community) has nobody but yourself (ourself) to blame. How long does anyone think SOE will be in business after everyone tossed them $1.25 per month for the next 2 years rather than the $15 they were getting before. Some people paid $15 for an anual sub where last year they would have paid $180. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out, 180 > 15 by a lot. ...WOW (Blizzard) has had open world (Global) Mythical drops since launch, they were rare enough that they were fun to chase after and exciting if and when they finially dropped. It's not that big a deal as long as the drop rate is rare enough, as in ultra rare.</blockquote>Ok. You aren't renting anything. Find that thought that keeps telling you that and flick it out of your head.Your comment about this being put on the shoulders of the players is asinine. Your logic jump of causation leaves much to be desired. What is actually happening here is a snowball effect. When Dave brought in the F2P transition, it was F2P-lite: simple items and colorful fluffy nonsense. Every few months, another layer is added and they judge player reaction. More importantly, they look at sales. The forums may be filled with a vocal minority (which Dave dismisses as trolls) that protests the changes, but all that matters now is the dramatic increase in revenue brought about by SC sales. To them, it is irrelevant what 10-15 people have to say on the forums. Its all about the bottom dollar, and Dave, Smed, and their bosses are giggling all the way to the bank.So, this latest layer to that F2P snowball is what we see in August's update. One bit at a time, gradually, ever so gradually and its not so painful. People get used to it, more sales are raked in, and on it goes. Wait until 2 years from now. I would be very interested to see the Marketplace's state of evolution then.

Lantis

08-02-2012, 03:49 PM

Now that Mythical items have been trivialized to the point that they can be found in Cracker Jack boxes (read: the chests you buy from the faction merchant in Skyshrine), I guess they had to create a new tier of ultra rare items. <rolling eyes>Anyone else remembers when having a mythical item actually had a "Wow!" factor to it (not as in the Blizzard game)? Now you play a lottery to get your chance at earning one from a faction crate - and the item is barely better than a Fabled item. The label "Mythical" bears no meaning at all nowadays.I wish SOE would have some serious, long-term plan regarding itemization in general. Over the 7 years I've played this game, it's been a disorganized mess with no serious direction, being revamped every 2 expansions. That would probably make far more players happy than SOEmote, which will (IMHO) end up with Dungeon Finders and the Arena on the list of forgotten features that look nice on paper, but get very little use once the first 2 weeks of experimentation by EQ2 players is done.

Koleg

08-02-2012, 04:49 PM

<cite>gourdon wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Koleg@Unrest_old wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Moldylocks wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Koleg@Unrest_old wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Kinya@Splitpaw wrote:</cite><blockquote> <cite>Dexella wrote:</cite><blockquote>Step Right Up!We are adding a feature where you can play instanced mini-games to win random loot in game! You purchase a ticket that gives you access to a mini-game instance. Should you beat the simple, fun game, you receive a random reward from a chest, or opt for tokens you can spend on items available on a merchant. We will be selling the tickets for Station Cash in the marketplace.Holly “Windstalker” Longdale </blockquote>I don't remeber exactly how many times EQ2 players were assured that THIS WILL NOT happen..So what happend? Is this a new directon for this game? Buy any loot you want for Station Cash? So when will we see Mythicals on MarketPlace?!</blockquote>You're looking at this backwards. This is not "Buying" gear or any sort of Pay-2-Win deal from the Station Cash Marketplace. This is "Renting" Content, which happens to have gear contained within. They never said they wouldn't do that, so cool your jets.</blockquote>Let me walk you through this. Carefully. <ol><li>You BUY a token (not rent). </li><li>You then do a trivial task. This is put in place so there isn't a direct item-to-hand through purchase. Its a mechanic that covers their butts so they can come back and say, "It isn't Pay To Win, its a reward game with elements of randomness."</li><li>You then get your item.</li></ol>Simple enough? It is a P2W feature. You are paying money for gear, period.</blockquote>You would be bying the Temporary (thus the 'Renting' comment) the one time use of the content and some of that content becomes permenant outside of the temporary content. This is how is was outlined above and this is how it stays out of the P2W scenario. I don't really care about the 'items' involved, but the idea of paying a sub for content and then paying again for additional content is even worse than microtransactions or limited sized adventure packs (which I wouldn't mind if they brought back).P2W is certainly concerning enough. It keeps popping in and out all the time, most recently with Cure/Health/Power pots, rez scrolls and repair kits. The Dungeon Maker by design is nothing more that P2W feature; more true now that ever with the largest containers and quivers, buy-on-the-fly ammo (if your dumb enough to run out), and -Whats That??- GEAR, yes GEAR that is better than anything available in current tier heroic content designed for 6 ppl. And what exactly do you have to do to 'earn' it? Enter and AE a few thousand mobs that takes all of a minute or two. Just need to 'buy' the AOD expansion to have it available. So, you buy (AOD) and do a trivial task (DM AE runs) and you get your choice of Raid level items with unlimited quantity and no element of randomness. No, you're not already playing a P2W game are you.My guess is this is a direct action to recoup the lost revenue SOE experienced from discounted double/triple half-price SC purchases on Gold Subs. You (the community) has nobody but yourself (ourself) to blame. How long does anyone think SOE will be in business after everyone tossed them $1.25 per month for the next 2 years rather than the $15 they were getting before. Some people paid $15 for an anual sub where last year they would have paid $180. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out, 180 > 15 by a lot. ...WOW (Blizzard) has had open world (Global) Mythical drops since launch, they were rare enough that they were fun to chase after and exciting if and when they finially dropped. It's not that big a deal as long as the drop rate is rare enough, as in ultra rare.</blockquote>Dungeon Maker is nothing like the SC bought mystery box. First, the tokens are earned in game without a cash transaction attached. Second, while the dungeons are trivial to quite a few, they are challenging to many and it takes a significant effort for most to get 1000 marks. As for the 153 stat items, they are no better than quest rewards in Skyshrine, cover 2-3 equipment slots, and aren't all that attractive to those few that the dungeons are extremely trivial. Last I checked, that is how it is supposed to work.The only ones to blame for lost revenue regarding Gold subscriptions is SOE, and selling gear for SC will not make their situation better. If they want EQ2 to follow DCUO down the toilet, then they should proceed as they are.</blockquote>Dungeon Maker is exactly like SC bought mystery box. You cannot possibly think DM Tokens are earned when ppl are stacking hundreds of mobs in a single room waiting for the first Crusader to hop in and yank out hundreds, if not thousands, of tokens in a single swipe. It takes less than 30 minutes in DM to grab > 5,000 tokens and the -ONLY- reason to do it is for the charms, boxes & quivers (better than crafted /slap_2da_crafters), Ammo (that can be purchases mid-raid without leaving the zone, /slap_2da_crafters) or repair kits for people that refuse to become tinkerers (/slap_da_crafters). The 153 stat items are, in fact, better than anything that is quested or dropped in any heroic (contested) included. The only exception would be the rare fabled ones that still sell for a few hundred plat. The P2W portion is you have to 'Buy' AOD to use the DM system and therefore you pay for the gear, which especially true for those of us that -do not- use Mercs, BLs or enjoy any part of the DM building system. Those of us whom bought an Full Paid expansion for +20 AA and the ability to reforge the itemization SOE couldn't get right in the first place, could also be viewed as a P2W example.I agree the only ones to blame for lost Sub revenue is SOE themselves, they were dumb enough to add Gold Subs to the SC market, which by itself would have been ok, but they went ahead and added them to the 50% sales list and allowed triple game cards to become part of the equation. The problem is not who's fault it is, the problem is SOE -IS- going to need a certain amount of monthly cash flow, a cash flow which they themselves destroyed. So where does that leave SOE now concerning cash flow which they no longer have?? Huh? Do you think they will continue to support the game with service and development when they are not getting paid for it. I highly doubt the 15 bucks I gave them for a 12 month Sub per account, compared to the 180 dollars per account I would have, will be generating any new content. It's hardly enough to run the server farms or keep the lights on.<cite>Moldylocks wrote:</cite><blockquote>Ok. You aren't renting anything. Find that thought that keeps telling you that and flick it out of your head. Your <blah, blah> then.</blockquote>You are 'Renting' the gaming content. You buy a ticket, which is for a one time use of that content. Then after you have used it, it is no longer available to you. If you want to use it again, then guess what champ, that's right, you 'BUY' it again. You may be thinking of it as buying the gear contained withing the content, you might even think of it as buying the gear directly, but you are not, it is the -CONTENT- that they are selling or in this case 'Renting', the gaming environment, not the gear. Check it out, go back up to the OP and re-re-read it, maybe you'll understand then.

Yimway

08-02-2012, 05:15 PM

<cite>Moldylocks wrote:</cite><blockquote>Let me walk you through this. Carefully. <ol><li>You BUY a token (not rent). </li><li>You then do a trivial task. This is put in place so there isn't a direct item-to-hand through purchase. Its a mechanic that covers their butts so they can come back and say, "It isn't Pay To Win, its a reward game with elements of randomness."</li><li>You then get your item.</li></ol>Simple enough? It is a P2W feature. You are paying money for gear, period.</blockquote>First, let me say I'm sure I completely agree with you, but let me play devil's advocate...How exactly is that much different than the LoN system?In LoN you buy lottery tickets for loot cards, this system you buy access to minigames that have a chance of loot.If the rewards are similar to LoN loot cards, how different is it?

Raienya

08-02-2012, 05:27 PM

Any way you slice it, the answer will be the same. SoE doesn't care what we think. That is abundantly clear from everything that has been put in the game after hundreds of posts saying "we don't need or want this".It is their game, they will put in what they "think" is the best thing, whether or not the people playing and testing their content say it is wrong or broken.Don't like it, vote with your wallet.

Koleg

08-02-2012, 05:54 PM

<cite>Moldylocks wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Koleg@Unrest_old wrote:</cite><blockquote>You are 'Renting' the gaming content. You buy a ticket, which is for a one time use of that content. Then after you have used it, it is no longer available to you. If you want to use it again, then guess what champ, that's right, you 'BUY' it again. You may be thinking of it as buying the gear contained withing the content, you might even think of it as buying the gear directly, but you are not, it is the -CONTENT- that they are selling or in this case 'Renting', the gaming environment, not the gear. Check it out, go back up to the OP and re-re-read it, maybe you'll understand then.</blockquote>Ok, I am fresh out of puppets and crayons. Everyone but you gets what is happening here, and its not a requirement for you to understand. Its an unnecessary distraction, and doesn't even make for stimulating debate.For everyone else, I imagine this is going to go through no matter what feedback is given. I've seen feedback threads with multiple thousands of posts that did not change SOE's mind, but hey, you never know. What they should do is give examples of the gear you can gain through this feature, including the best possible piece you might find. While having this feature is bad enough, seeing the real scope of impact by knowing what the items are will be much more valuable information.</blockquote>See that is funny and sad to me, becasue people are missing the entire fact of what SOE is doing and the direction they are seemingly heading in with this. If there was no gear invovled in the mini-game, first off nobody would use is (a.k.a. pay for it) and seemingly you, and as you say everybody else, would perfectly be fine with it. You can't see the forest through the trees here.SOE is creating temportary game content (land mass, game play, scripted environments) for recurring costs, you know the same type of product we are paying for via the Subscription. Well the only difference is that under this model, which you admit you'd be perfectly fine with as long as there was no permanent items, the Gold Subscription does not gain a player access. The Gold Sub, whether recurring or non-recurring, is suppose to include game content based on retail boxed expansion purchased. This is something entirely new, different and can become the new trend. This is how LotR has based its F2P model as well.So, no longer will a Subscription to the game include all the gaming content, it will become a-la-cart with built in micro-transactions. And you're worried about a couple of new in-game items being bought from the Marketplace, which is already in the game, but you've already accepted them as being 'OK', but somehow these new items (which you doen't even know how good they are) are too much for you to bare./em it's time to wake up and think for yourself.

Neiloch

08-02-2012, 05:57 PM

The fact that we have heard nothing about this mini-game thing and it's being implemented very soon should be enough to raise alarms.<cite>Koleg@Unrest_old wrote:</cite><blockquote>Dungeon Maker is exactly like SC bought mystery box.</blockquote>Except one costs real cash and the other doesn't. Kind of a big difference. What you just said is like saying monopoly money is just like real money.<cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote>If the rewards are similar to LoN loot cards, how different is it?</blockquote>Not much. and will be fine if that is what it is. But like I said SoE has recently adopted a policy of something being rare excusing the lack of difficulty. Top end items dropping off trivial content is fine just as long as the drop rate is low (according to them apparently). I wouldn't be surprised if making high end loot drop in these mini-games with a low drop rate isn't a big leap in their eyes, even though it would be MASSIVE in ours.

Grumble69

08-02-2012, 05:58 PM

<cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Moldylocks wrote:</cite><blockquote>Let me walk you through this. Carefully. <ol><li>You BUY a token (not rent). </li><li>You then do a trivial task. This is put in place so there isn't a direct item-to-hand through purchase. Its a mechanic that covers their butts so they can come back and say, "It isn't Pay To Win, its a reward game with elements of randomness."</li><li>You then get your item.</li></ol>Simple enough? It is a P2W feature. You are paying money for gear, period.</blockquote>First, let me say I'm sure I completely agree with you, but let me play devil's advocate...How exactly is that much different than the LoN system?In LoN you buy lottery tickets for loot cards, this system you buy access to minigames that have a chance of loot.If the rewards are similar to LoN loot cards, how different is it?</blockquote>As long as it's equivalent to LoN, that's ok. i.e. house items, mounts, fashion cloaks, etc. I think the issue is that many people are reading "loot" and seeing that as synonymous with "raid dropped loot". i.e. weapons, armor, etc.

Koleg

08-02-2012, 06:03 PM

<cite>Neiloch@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote>The fact that we have heard nothing about this mini-game thing and it's being implemented very soon should be enough to raise alarms.<cite>Koleg@Unrest_old wrote:</cite><blockquote>Dungeon Maker is exactly like SC bought mystery box.</blockquote>Except one costs real cash and the other doesn't. Kind of a big difference. What you just said is like saying monopoly money is just like real money.</blockquote>I didn't realize you got your copy of Age of Discovery for free, becasue my pre-order Collector's Edition was like $60 dollars and have the CC reciept to prove it, and I know for a certain fact some people paid $90. Not everybody considers that free nor did everybody wait for a trible half-price sale and buy it the SE for $7.50People seem to keep forgeting all of that. Free <> taking money out of my bank account.

Neiloch

08-02-2012, 06:06 PM

<cite>Koleg@Unrest_old wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Neiloch@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote>The fact that we have heard nothing about this mini-game thing and it's being implemented very soon should be enough to raise alarms.<cite>Koleg@Unrest_old wrote:</cite><blockquote>Dungeon Maker is exactly like SC bought mystery box.</blockquote>Except one costs real cash and the other doesn't. Kind of a big difference. What you just said is like saying monopoly money is just like real money.</blockquote>I didn't realize you got your copy of Age of Discovery for free, becasue my pre-order Collector's Edition was like $60 dollars and have the CC reciept to prove it, and I know for a certain fact some people paid $90. Not everybody considers that free nor did everybody wait for a trible half-price sale and buy it the SE for $7.50People seem to keep forgeting all of that. Free <> taking money out of my bank account.</blockquote>lol that's just silly. With that logic the entire game is pay2win just because we have access to the loot, we just have to go get it. Getting access via expansion has no upper limit on chances to get things, such as unlimited access to earning DM tokens. If I bought a ticket and it lasted for an unlimited amount of runs it would be like an expansion and thus not pay2win. But it doesn't so it isn't.

Yimway

08-02-2012, 06:17 PM

<cite>Grumble69 wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote>If the rewards are similar to LoN loot cards, how different is it?</blockquote>As long as it's equivalent to LoN, that's ok. i.e. house items, mounts, fashion cloaks, etc. I think the issue is that many people are reading "loot" and seeing that as synonymous with "raid dropped loot". i.e. weapons, armor, etc.</blockquote>Yeah, while the whole thing smells fishy to me, I can not immediately condemn it until I see the 'loot'.

Moldylocks

08-02-2012, 06:19 PM

<cite>Grumble69 wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Moldylocks wrote:</cite><blockquote>Let me walk you through this. Carefully. <ol><li>You BUY a token (not rent). </li><li>You then do a trivial task. This is put in place so there isn't a direct item-to-hand through purchase. Its a mechanic that covers their butts so they can come back and say, "It isn't Pay To Win, its a reward game with elements of randomness."</li><li>You then get your item.</li></ol>Simple enough? It is a P2W feature. You are paying money for gear, period.</blockquote>First, let me say I'm sure I completely agree with you, but let me play devil's advocate...How exactly is that much different than the LoN system?In LoN you buy lottery tickets for loot cards, this system you buy access to minigames that have a chance of loot.If the rewards are similar to LoN loot cards, how different is it?</blockquote>As long as it's equivalent to LoN, that's ok. i.e. house items, mounts, fashion cloaks, etc. I think the issue is that many people are reading "loot" and seeing that as synonymous with "raid dropped loot". i.e. weapons, armor, etc.</blockquote>As was said above, it all depends on what items will be available. They haven't supplied that information yet. Right now its just a lot of conjecture.

Koleg

08-02-2012, 06:55 PM

<cite>Neiloch@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Koleg@Unrest_old wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Neiloch@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote>The fact that we have heard nothing about this mini-game thing and it's being implemented very soon should be enough to raise alarms.<cite>Koleg@Unrest_old wrote:</cite><blockquote>Dungeon Maker is exactly like SC bought mystery box.</blockquote>Except one costs real cash and the other doesn't. Kind of a big difference. What you just said is like saying monopoly money is just like real money.</blockquote>I didn't realize you got your copy of Age of Discovery for free, becasue my pre-order Collector's Edition was like $60 dollars and have the CC reciept to prove it, and I know for a certain fact some people paid $90. Not everybody considers that free nor did everybody wait for a trible half-price sale and buy it the SE for $7.50People seem to keep forgeting all of that. Free <> taking money out of my bank account.</blockquote>lol that's just silly. With that logic the entire game is pay2win just because we have access to the loot, we just have to go get it. Getting access via expansion has no upper limit on chances to get things, such as unlimited access to earning DM tokens. If I bought a ticket and it lasted for an unlimited amount of runs it would be like an expansion and thus not pay2win. But it doesn't so it isn't.</blockquote>Maybe ... but those items were not in the expansion when it went to retail nor did I buy AOD specifically for them. Those items were added to the DM reward system to keep the hampsters running on the wheel. And that is why loot will be rewarded for any mini-game that is not included in the price of the Sub. So get use to it.

Dexella

08-02-2012, 07:33 PM

Hi Everyone,I wanted to take a moment to address the comments about "Step Right Up!" The description in the update plans is indeed meant to be a teaser.We will have full details about the mini-games and the type of loot that will be available in another update specific to this feature that will be released soon. Thanks <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" />~Dexella

cajonmoose

08-02-2012, 07:43 PM

Regarding the Etherial Weapons,I personally have already seen one in game. Was this an intentional leak? I'm on the Freeport Server and someone had one for sale..... they were asking 15,000 Plat, but still. It was a dagger with an insane amount of wisdom, Agility and Stamina.I should have taken a screenshot for proof, but I was still very impressed, but rather sad to see that they are tradeable/Sellable. Will there eventually be some screenshots of the new possible weapons?

Araxes

08-02-2012, 08:12 PM

<cite>SOE wrote:</cite><blockquote>We are adding a feature where you can play instanced mini-games to win random loot in game! You purchase a ticket that gives you access to a mini-game instance. Should you beat the simple, fun game, you receive a random reward from a chest, or opt for tokens you can spend on items available on a merchant. We will be selling the tickets for Station Cash in the marketplace.</blockquote>I am curious to see a further explanation of this.I know that, at the end of the day, it is up to the player to decide what they want to spend their money on, and so if they would like to toss their vritual rings onto randomized ducks for a chance to win something, that is up to them -- but at what point does the company draw a line on providing these options. At best, an amusement park attraction barely skating around the classification of "casino." I truly don't know how I feel about dedicating money and time to a game world where I know other people are [perhaps ignorantly] playing roulette with their dollar bills. It is one thing to pay real money for an item which you are guaranteed to be granted, like cosmetic clothing for your character -- that isn't really any different than walking into a store and buying a real-world good -- but this seems a different idea, altogether.Still, I will wait to see what it really entails. I don't know that this is something I would tout as a "good" addition to an MMO, though.That note aside, I am looking forward to seeing SOEmote and the rest of the update.Ara

Conandar

08-03-2012, 12:26 AM

Now that Qeynos Rises is live, we’re switching gears to a year-end expansion and working on live content and bugs.That is good news...as long as it isn't another Drunder with 3 Heroic zones and 3 Raid zones using the same boring layout. But...the expansion isn't until the end of the year, so why is this in a monthly update?Tinkerfest returns!This is also a good thing, so no complaints here. But it happens every year, so its not really monthly update news-worthly.Ethereal Weapons Fall in SummerNew weapons that are near-raid quality, but drop off trash in outdoor zones? What? And no 4.0 delay level 92 scout weapon makes me cry! Yeah, there is a 6.0 delay scout weapon, but that delay is not good for most scouts IMO.We are adding a feature where you can play instanced mini-games to win random loot in game! You purchase a ticket that gives you access to a mini-game instance. Should you beat the simple, fun game, you receive a random reward from a chest, or opt for tokens you can spend on items available on a merchant. We will be selling the tickets for Station Cash in the marketplace.The marketplace was supposed to be only filled with non-game affecting items...fluff. Yeah, this isn't *technically* on the market, only the tickets are on the marketplace....the lines keep on blurring. So much for the promise we got from Brenlo (This isn't some slippery slope...really?)SOEmote Your WayI don't have a web camera. I don't want a web camera. To have this be a major part of a monthly update for a game that I pay for 2 accounts ... major disappointment! This has ZERO value to the game for me. Zero. Zilch. Nada.Basically this month's update is filled with yawnworthy stuff, at best.

gourdon

08-03-2012, 12:40 AM

<cite>Dexella wrote:</cite><blockquote>Hi Everyone,I wanted to take a moment to address the comments about "Step Right Up!" The description in the update plans is indeed meant to be a teaser.We will have full details about the mini-games and the type of loot that will be available in another update specific to this feature that will be released soon. Thanks <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" />~Dexella</blockquote>I hope you realize this post isn't going to help. Teasers about stuff on the marketplace is never a good idea. It can only lead us to conjecture that the game will be going to a pay to win model.

Tyrus Dracofire

08-03-2012, 01:10 AM

too much in 1 week limited time events at once.i had to pass up Gfay's city festival trying to do tinker events but now ethereal loots just took more time away from other festival, so i have to wait another six month for next gfay's city festival for undivided attention.it really hard for having 7 alts trying to get all "holiday cheer' achievements, had to give up last year because none of my alts were ready and i was in raiding, no time for personal time for alts.doing all in 1 week with 3 different events is bit extreme.anyway, Antonica's PQ battle seem to buggy for high level characters to get rewards, even i did mentored down to 20 and still get nothing for my efforts and dying few times defending the farmers from gnolls.

General_Info

08-03-2012, 03:41 AM

<cite>Tyrus@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote>it really hard for having 7 alts trying to get all "holiday cheer' achievements, had to give up last year because none of my alts were ready and i was in raiding, no time for personal time for alts.</blockquote>It's not as hard as you make it out to be jsuth ave to know gnomish and do the great balls of fire quest once to count as 'participating' for the achievement.

Kenazeer

08-03-2012, 11:17 AM

Weeeee...down the slip-n-slide we go. (camouflaged by the good old "money laundering" technique of hiding things through numerous transactions...it isn't how you couch it, or the individual steps you take, it simply the beginning and the end that matter.)

Dethdlr

08-03-2012, 02:40 PM

<cite>cajonmoose wrote:</cite><blockquote>Regarding the Etherial Weapons,I personally have already seen one in game. Was this an intentional leak? I'm on the Freeport Server and someone had one for sale..... they were asking 15,000 Plat, but still. It was a dagger with an insane amount of wisdom, Agility and Stamina.I should have taken a screenshot for proof, but I was still very impressed, but rather sad to see that they are tradeable/Sellable. Will there eventually be some screenshots of the new possible weapons?</blockquote>As they get discovered, they will show up <a href="http://u.eq2wire.com/soe/item_search_link/-1/-1/-1/ETHEREAL/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1" target="_blank">here</a>. 25 total have been discovered so far. If you only want to see the level 92 items as they get discovered, you can see them <a href="http://u.eq2wire.com/soe/item_search_link/-1/92/-1/ETHEREAL/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1/-1" target="_blank">here</a>. 6 have been discovered so far.

Windstalker

08-04-2012, 05:36 AM

Howdy folks,I wanted to give you more info on mini-game instances and random reward system we are working on.First, the loot items will primarly include Marketplace items already available with additional similar but unique items in addition. For example, as of today, we are planning to offer a new, unique mount model to the list. For the sake of real examples and clarity, the list we have right now includes items like Research Reducers for spells, XP potions, appearance armor and weapons, and unattuners.Second, we want this to be fun and positive for players who participate. For that reason, if the random reward offered isn't an item you want or can use, you can opt to take a token reward instead of the item. The tokens can be used/saved to purchase the available reward items in the entire list and will cost varying token amounts as you might expect (like a rare mount would have a different cost than a more common potion). Third, the idea for the mini-games is that they are mini-games. They are intended to be short and fun and result in a reward. Right now we have three mini-games though you only have to play and win one to get a reward. And lastly, the team definitely wanted this addition to the game to have context in the world of EverQuest II. It has an appropriate and logical place among the Gigglegibbers. We'll get some screenshots out soon. All I can say is seeing a goblin in a tophat never gets old....I hope this lessens the mystery a bit and of course there will be more news on this very soon as we hope to have it on test within the next couple of weeks.

Lamatu

08-04-2012, 07:53 AM

Avirodar

08-04-2012, 09:10 AM

<cite>Windstalker wrote:</cite><blockquote>Howdy folks,I wanted to give you more info on mini-game instances and random reward system we are working on.First, the loot items will primarly include Marketplace items already available with additional similar but unique items in addition. For example, as of today, we are planning to offer a new, unique mount model to the list. For the sake of real examples and clarity, the list we have right now includes items like Research Reducers for spells, XP potions, appearance armor and weapons, and unattuners.Second, we want this to be fun and positive for players who participate. For that reason, if the random reward offered isn't an item you want or can use, you can opt to take a token reward instead of the item. The tokens can be used/saved to purchase the available reward items in the entire list and will cost varying token amounts as you might expect (like a rare mount would have a different cost than a more common potion). Third, the idea for the mini-games is that they are mini-games. They are intended to be short and fun and result in a reward. Right now we have three mini-games though you only have to play and win one to get a reward. And lastly, the team definitely wanted this addition to the game to have context in the world of EverQuest II. It has an appropriate and logical place among the Gigglegibbers. We'll get some screenshots out soon. All I can say is seeing a goblin in a tophat never gets old....I hope this lessens the mystery a bit and of course there will be more news on this very soon as we hope to have it on test within the next couple of weeks.</blockquote>Thank you for lessening the mystery a bit.I am interested to see the final details. Based on information provided thus far, the way I see it unfolding, is that the mini games will be farmed for tokens, to use for unattuners.Is this the plan?

Reeso

08-04-2012, 10:00 AM

yay...huhi have a far better idea...why not close down all raid instances and sell tickets on the marketplace( only useable once) to gain acess to them....oh no wait even better have a chance of getting acess to them...if u manage to get in there u are allowed to have a spin on the giant wheel of fortune to get your loot ( one piece)... so everyone could get their loot and u don't have to deal with raid content...u still know what that is right?...it's win-win!u could even sell potions that have a chance to get u 2 pieces instead of just one...but u are only allowed to buy them if u liked eq2 on your facebookacc...just think of all the possibilities!

KNINE

08-04-2012, 02:24 PM

<cite>Windstalker wrote:</cite><blockquote>Howdy folks,I wanted to give you more info on mini-game instances and random reward system we are working on.First, the loot items will primarly include Marketplace items already available with additional similar but unique items in addition. For example, as of today, we are planning to offer a new, unique mount model to the list. For the sake of real examples and clarity, the list we have right now includes items like Research Reducers for spells, XP potions, appearance armor and weapons, and unattuners.Second, we want this to be fun and positive for players who participate. For that reason, if the random reward offered isn't an item you want or can use, you can opt to take a token reward instead of the item. The tokens can be used/saved to purchase the available reward items in the entire list and will cost varying token amounts as you might expect (like a rare mount would have a different cost than a more common potion). Third, the idea for the mini-games is that they are mini-games. They are intended to be short and fun and result in a reward. Right now we have three mini-games though you only have to play and win one to get a reward. And lastly, the team definitely wanted this addition to the game to have context in the world of EverQuest II. It has an appropriate and logical place among the Gigglegibbers. We'll get some screenshots out soon. All I can say is seeing a goblin in a tophat never gets old....I hope this lessens the mystery a bit and of course there will be more news on this very soon as we hope to have it on test within the next couple of weeks.</blockquote>well guess I will drop down to 1 account now.. what with mini-games that I can go to yahoo.com and play..a little update on something like chat lag that has been around since the introduction of Skyshrine..it was on test as well and was well just ignored..dropping ethereal weapons from old zones lol.. i just recently got one from a sundered frontier zone...can't we just fix the stuff that is broken first.. concentrate on that before we come out with more "mini-games", station cash items, etc.. i completly understand it is easier to code in new stuff and it's complicated to find what you broke.. but lets give you're paying clients a little love here and not just all your FTP community.

jjlo69

08-04-2012, 03:23 PM

<cite>Windstalker wrote:</cite><blockquote>Howdy folks,I wanted to give you more info on mini-game instances and random reward system we are working on.First, the loot items will primarly include Marketplace items already available with additional similar but unique items in addition. For example, as of today, we are planning to offer a new, unique mount model to the list. For the sake of real examples and clarity, the list we have right now includes items like Research Reducers for spells, XP potions, appearance armor and weapons, and unattuners.Second, we want this to be fun and positive for players who participate. For that reason, if the random reward offered isn't an item you want or can use, you can opt to take a token reward instead of the item. The tokens can be used/saved to purchase the available reward items in the entire list and will cost varying token amounts as you might expect (like a rare mount would have a different cost than a more common potion). Third, the idea for the mini-games is that they are mini-games. They are intended to be short and fun and result in a reward. Right now we have three mini-games though you only have to play and win one to get a reward. And lastly, the team definitely wanted this addition to the game to have context in the world of EverQuest II. It has an appropriate and logical place among the Gigglegibbers. We'll get some screenshots out soon. All I can say is seeing a goblin in a tophat never gets old....I hope this lessens the mystery a bit and of course there will be more news on this very soon as we hope to have it on test within the next couple of weeks.</blockquote>please please please tell me this means unattuners are gonna be made avaible by them selves on the marketplace

msgnomer

08-05-2012, 12:16 AM

I play EQ 2 as an escape from the hassles of real life. Nickle and diming me within the game not only breaks immersion but brings real life concerns into my game time. Opening a mount merchant and seeing station cash options brings real life money thoughts and concerns into the game. I play to escape that for a bit. So thanks for adding a feature it takes me zero time to descide what I will do with it. Since its asking me to pay additional money beyond my monthly fee, it's a easy no thankyou. However, as long as there continues to be content I can enjoy with my monthly fee, and I don't get fed up with the commercials hawking SC goods at login, then I good.

Cryptic_Thought

08-05-2012, 04:08 AM

I don't understand all the hate. If there was an option to play a mini game I might actually spend my SC. 500 a month with nothing to buy seems like a waste and I'm not too impressed with the appearance gear they have right now. I have no concerns about the game becoming pay to win. People sell loot rights for raid gear all day long. Some people do pay to win and if thats how they wish to play, then so be it. I don't think they enjoy the game any more than I do not paying for gear.I love the ethereal weapons that you guys put into the game... I hate the 100% random drop rate though. Partly out of jealousy <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />. I know that you said that they were being introduced, but some have already been appearing. Are you planning on increasing the drop rate for a short period of time? Also, I think that the appearance for some of the ethereal weapons could be a little better. There are a ton of weapon appearances that you all have neglected to use in a long time. Why not take advantage of those lost weapon appearances and use those with the ethereal weapons?Just an idea and I hope everything works out.

KNINE

08-05-2012, 06:32 AM

<cite>Cryptic_Thought wrote:</cite><blockquote>I don't understand all the hate. If there was an option to play a mini game I might actually spend my SC. 500 a month with nothing to buy seems like a waste and I'm not too impressed with the appearance gear they have right now. I have no concerns about the game becoming pay to win. People sell loot rights for raid gear all day long. Some people do pay to win and if thats how they wish to play, then so be it. I don't think they enjoy the game any more than I do not paying for gear.I love the ethereal weapons that you guys put into the game... I hate the 100% random drop rate though. Partly out of jealousy <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" />. I know that you said that they were being introduced, but some have already been appearing. Are you planning on increasing the drop rate for a short period of time? Also, I think that the appearance for some of the ethereal weapons could be a little better. There are a ton of weapon appearances that you all have neglected to use in a long time. Why not take advantage of those lost weapon appearances and use those with the ethereal weapons?Just an idea and I hope everything works out.</blockquote>How about just do away with SC and you won't have a problem of having it to spend.. how about they put in quality time to fixing chat problems, loot issues, lag in general.. take the amount of time they put into SC items or even the webcam thing and I'm sure they could've had quite a few things fixed... but they seem to think by adding more stuff in, some of which is broken as well, that it will take your mind off all the already bugged stuff

kcirrot

08-05-2012, 06:35 PM

<cite>Anellise@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Dexella wrote:</cite><blockquote>Step Right Up! We are adding a feature where you can play instanced mini-games to win random loot in game! You purchase a ticket that gives you access to a mini-game instance. Should you beat the simple, fun game, you receive a random reward from a chest, or opt for tokens you can spend on items available on a merchant. We will be selling the tickets for Station Cash in the marketplace.</blockquote>The second this comes into the game, I will be manned and ready to cancel my subscription and after mentioning this in General 1-9 Chat on AB several other players are too.Don't you dare add this into our game when promises were made that this wouldn't happen.It's disgusting and shows the type of moneygrub SOE is.And to whoever says this isn't pay2win your paying for a Ticket to enter a "simple, fun game" meaning trivial for a chest.It is P2W.</blockquote>Looking forward to SOE adding this. I'm genuinely curious to see who carries through on their threats. Many F2P games have added these 'random' events to buy decent gear. What makes these things so lucrative for the companies is that the ticket cost is usually low (say $1-2 per ticket) with a good shot at something you can use, but a rare chance of something really impressive. Thus hooking people into buying these tickets. At the same time, earning loot is so tedious in general in this game, they won't have to push people hard into buying.Personally, I hope they give a very, very, very small chance of a mythical drop that's best in slot. The forum drama would be more entertaining than the game.EDIT: Saw the devs' comment on this. Not sure what there is left to complain about.

kcirrot

08-05-2012, 06:38 PM

<cite>KNINE wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Cryptic_Thought wrote:</cite><blockquote>I don't understand all the hate. If there was an option to play a mini game I might actually spend my SC. 500 a month with nothing to buy seems like a waste and I'm not too impressed with the appearance gear they have right now. I have no concerns about the game becoming pay to win. People sell loot rights for raid gear all day long. Some people do pay to win and if thats how they wish to play, then so be it. I don't think they enjoy the game any more than I do not paying for gear.I love the ethereal weapons that you guys put into the game... I hate the 100% random drop rate though. Partly out of jealousy <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" />. I know that you said that they were being introduced, but some have already been appearing. Are you planning on increasing the drop rate for a short period of time? Also, I think that the appearance for some of the ethereal weapons could be a little better. There are a ton of weapon appearances that you all have neglected to use in a long time. Why not take advantage of those lost weapon appearances and use those with the ethereal weapons?Just an idea and I hope everything works out.</blockquote>How about just do away with SC and you won't have a problem of having it to spend.. how about they put in quality time to fixing chat problems, loot issues, lag in general.. take the amount of time they put into SC items or even the webcam thing and I'm sure they could've had quite a few things fixed... but they seem to think by adding more stuff in, some of which is broken as well, that it will take your mind off all the already bugged stuff</blockquote>That comment is frankly a waste of effort. The game is F2P now. SC isn't going away. They are going to push the envelope slowly with RMT. I've seen them do it for years here. They keep pushing gently and the same people who claim to quit are still here year after year.

katalmach

08-05-2012, 09:36 PM

<cite>kcirrot wrote:</cite><blockquote>Looking forward to SOE adding this. I'm genuinely curious to see who carries through on their threats.</blockquote>It seems lots of people already have carried through on their threats. Two years ago or so, the announcement of these mini-games would've sparked a 100-page plus thread of debate. Now? Not even close. Sure, some people (like me) are too tired and fed up to post their objections anymore (I've been sold to the Germans anyway, so it's been made quite clear to me how valued I am as a loyal customer), some will have got used to the changes and some might even have come to like the direction the game has taken. But it seems to me, plenty of people did quit because of the SC slippery slope and SOE's willingness to constantly push it further.

Reeso

08-05-2012, 09:52 PM

<cite>kcirrot wrote:</cite><blockquote>At the same time, earning loot is so tedious in general in this game, they won't have to push people hard into buying.</blockquote>yeah even more annoying than getting loot is lvling a new toon, so where are the lvl tokens...and what about tokens to change classes since it's way too tedious to lvl up multiple toons...quite frankly if it's way too much effort for u to gear your toon and u want to buy it all instead why are u even playing then?what is so interesting in buying tickets for some mini game in a game? where is the content? why should i be happy to have gotten some uber loot piece without playing the game? i want to play the game not some mini game i have to spent money for...

theriatis

08-06-2012, 07:28 AM

Laenai

08-06-2012, 10:52 AM

<cite>Dexella wrote:</cite><blockquote>Step Right Up! We are adding a feature where you can play instanced mini-games to win random loot in game! You purchase a ticket that gives you access to a mini-game instance. Should you beat the simple, fun game, you receive a random reward from a chest, or opt for tokens you can spend on items available on a merchant. We will be selling the tickets for Station Cash in the marketplace.</blockquote>So...did Zynga buy EQ2? Just curious. We're going in the "Facebook mini-game" direction now?OH! No, no, wait....its turning into Mario Party! Should we expect EQ2 on the Wii?Is SoE really hurting for cash that badly that we're doing silly mini-games for content now? How about some....I don't know......GAME CONTENT.And buy tickets for mini-games in SC to play for loot? Anyone else see that slippery slope that doesn't exist in action or is that just me?

Destria

08-06-2012, 01:04 PM

<cite>Laenai@Oasis wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Dexella wrote:</cite><blockquote>Step Right Up! We are adding a feature where you can play instanced mini-games to win random loot in game! You purchase a ticket that gives you access to a mini-game instance. Should you beat the simple, fun game, you receive a random reward from a chest, or opt for tokens you can spend on items available on a merchant. We will be selling the tickets for Station Cash in the marketplace.</blockquote>So...did Zynga buy EQ2? Just curious. We're going in the "Facebook mini-game" direction now?OH! No, no, wait....its turning into Mario Party! Should we expect EQ2 on the Wii?Is SoE really hurting for cash that badly that we're doing silly mini-games for content now? How about some....I don't know......GAME CONTENT.And buy tickets for mini-games in SC to play for loot? Anyone else see that slippery slope that doesn't exist in action or is that just me?</blockquote>Its not just you...I think most people are just tired of trying to make the point, and make their argument and have slipped into quiet apathy and acceptance, or quit already. As for me...quiet apathy...I think this is stupid that the game is going almost complete P2W and if you don't have lots of cash your not going to get anywhere; but...theres still enough of the old game left that i enjoy and fell in love with all those many years ago, so I stay and enjoy that part of it.

msgnomer

08-07-2012, 04:57 PM

If it's not included in my monthly subscription, 99 times out of 100 I won't be interested, and in this case I'm not. I've actually been going retro with my characters armor lately.With real life advertising, and features that are pretty far removed from the game itself (mini-games, animated faces for video creation, and even the dungeon feature I like for its own merits), it hardly seems like EQ2 any more. Not only can I no longer visit my characters homes in Baubbleshire and Willow Wood, I can't even explore Qeynos without feeling like I'm trying to move through molassas.

Jrel

08-07-2012, 08:52 PM

inspire1444568

08-09-2012, 05:12 PM

<cite>Windstalker wrote:</cite><blockquote>Howdy folks,I wanted to give you more info on mini-game instances and random reward system we are working on.First, the loot items will primarly include Marketplace items already available with additional similar but unique items in addition. For example, as of today, we are planning to offer a new, unique mount model to the list. For the sake of real examples and clarity, the list we have right now includes items like Research Reducers for spells, XP potions, appearance armor and weapons, and unattuners.Second, we want this to be fun and positive for players who participate. For that reason, if the random reward offered isn't an item you want or can use, you can opt to take a token reward instead of the item. The tokens can be used/saved to purchase the available reward items in the entire list and will cost varying token amounts as you might expect (like a rare mount would have a different cost than a more common potion). Third, the idea for the mini-games is that they are mini-games. They are intended to be short and fun and result in a reward. Right now we have three mini-games though you only have to play and win one to get a reward. And lastly, the team definitely wanted this addition to the game to have context in the world of EverQuest II. It has an appropriate and logical place among the Gigglegibbers. We'll get some screenshots out soon. All I can say is seeing a goblin in a tophat never gets old....I hope this lessens the mystery a bit and of course there will be more news on this very soon as we hope to have it on test within the next couple of weeks.</blockquote>Maybe ... healers rebalance (and their mythical) !? finally !!!