ProSiebenSat.1 Games Group FAQ Feedback Thread

[Enrage]

Glad I havnt invested too much time into this game. The Euro / UK players ive been playing with were nice to know.

But in all seriousness, how will this affect me as an Australian player?

[VikodiN]

Moldylocks wrote:

Hello Piestro, I remember you from EQ1 when I was on the Progression server Fippy Darkpaw.  You always were quite involved in discussions and seemed to present fair and equitable solutions, as well as simply just "being there".  We've become calloused over here on this end as there is an unfortunate trend to ignore (highly stressed) the concerns of this community.  The most recent (and deplorable) example of this is the original PSS1 Feedback thread which was started in January and went on for a month and a half without any disscussion/dialogue/return feeback from SOE's end.  We were left twisting in the wind, we the paying customers of this business.  That in itself was inexcusable on a fairly significant level.

Now, we have this bomb that was dropped on our community.  Notice how I keep using the word community?  Make note of it, please, because somewhere along the line EQ2's management seems to have forgotten the importance not only of the word, but of its significance in relation to their customers. 

You see, thousands of people from around the world have turned this digital, virtual world into something that is so much more than pixels.  Its Norrath.  This welcoming, fun, intimate home has been the source of millions of interactions and adventures for many, many years.  The relationships forged through epic struggles, beautiful moments of roleplay in scenic lands, exploration with new friends and negotiating trade to build economies (to name a few) are the bones and flesh that makes up this wonderful community of proud Norrathians.

But I don't need to tell you that, do I?  You've been around for a while.  You get it.

Unfortunately, someone higher than you doesn't get it and has sold our community to the highest bidder.  Whoever made that deal thought no more of us than they would a stock that gets bought and sold, or maybe a herd of cattle.  We're not objects, we're people.  Our years of investment here apparently mean nothing. 

This is where it gets interesting.  In trying to shatter our community, this deal has ratified it.  Over 1,800 posts in 48 hours with everyone saying NO has to resonate somewhere.  Or does it?

At this point its moot for many.  The fact that this was even seriously negotiated and agreed upon tells us precisely how we are valued as a community:  we're not.  We are a bargaining chip.  Can you understand how utterly insulting that is?  In SOE's eyes our community was not even a consideration.

I cancelled my subscription in protest.  I had to.  How in good conscience could I keep giving a company money that so devalued me, my friends, and my community in such an appalling manner.  I think you can appreciate and understand that.  If I kept paying, it would be synonymous with saying, "I agree with what is going on here.". 

This may be an unrecoverable event.  Time will tell.  Speaking only for myself, I cannot see how anything said or done can repair the ill will incurred here.

I couldn't have said it any better.

[Lempo]

Enrage wrote:

Glad I havnt invested too much time into this game. The Euro / UK players ive been playing with were nice to know.

But in all seriousness, how will this affect me as an Australian player?

In all seriousness this has been asked over and over with no acknowledgement or response to it any more than anything else has gotten. Australia is not on the list but Australia is also not the US and the only things mentioned in the FAQ are US and what they sold off.

[Elomort]

Tetley@Splitpaw wrote:

Wonder if Rupert Murdoch bought SOE?

May God have mercy on our souls if he did.

Rupert is one Aussie I wish the Dingo had of taken when he was a baby.

[Elomort]

Enrage wrote:

But in all seriousness, how will this affect me as an Australian player?

Same, outside losing all my 7pm primetime European friends that is.

[Elomort]

One lovely thing my DCUO friends have started doing is setting a European flag to their avatar as a sign of support to our European friends.

Something that we should do here too.

[Tollymore]

Enrage wrote:

Glad I havnt invested too much time into this game. The Euro / UK players ive been playing with were nice to know.

But in all seriousness, how will this affect me as an Australian player?

Enrage,

So far, this is the official SOE answer on this, from http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/...topic_id=515229

"Subject: What does happen to Australia/NZ/East Asia"

SOE-MOD-04

"Locked up.

Please defer to the official announcement thread for feedback on the topic thanks!"

From this, I can assume they dont know whether Australian, New Zelaanders and so on have been sold down the river to ProSeiben like the Europeans, or if, like Americans, they are merely to be banned from the ProSeiben servers.

And Im using the term "sold down the river" deliberately. The only way this deal makes sense is with a bag of cash going from ProSeiben to SOE for the existing European player base on the European servers.

[millie]

Lempo@Everfrost wrote:

Enrage wrote:

Glad I havnt invested too much time into this game. The Euro / UK players ive been playing with were nice to know.

But in all seriousness, how will this affect me as an Australian player?

In all seriousness this has been asked over and over with no acknowledgement or response to it any more than anything else has gotten. Australia is not on the list but Australia is also not the US and the only things mentioned in the FAQ are US and what they sold off.

check your credit card does it say SOE COMMERCE, LONDON

remember when you installed the game did you default to England as your region, and you either switched it to the US or played on European servers?

Answered yes to one or both. Be afraid, very afraid..... you are probably regarded as a European by SOE

[SOE-MOD-08]

This post has moved: /eq2/posts/preList.m?topic_id=50009...post_id=5722605 Removed for commenting on moderation.

[Anadorn]

An exaggerated post on events that alludes to racism gets the mod rod but a new contract that is akin to being nationalistic is a perfectly acceptable and soon to be implemented policy.  "Hey isn't that the Captain?  Who's steering this ship anywa..OMG ICEBERG!"  Honestly, I don't see much that can or will be done about this unfortunately.  The words "Effective immediately" I doubt would ever be used if there were still paper work that needed to be signed and worked out.  The only alternatives now would be to make a new deal that will require them to open up their coffers which I don't see happening.  Or to just delay like they are until it's to late to change course and slam right into that iceberg and see who jumps ship and who goes down with it.  Hoping that more will decide to go down then jump.  In either case it doesn't appear that this ship will ever make it to it's next port.

[Calthine]

Don't lost all hope yet.  This *just* on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/#!/j_smedley/st...915828226920448

We are working on a plan to insure we don't split the communities up. More info to follow.

[Anadorn]

still ambiguous as ever, I expect a dressed up, wordy version of players being "grandfathered" in.  I hope I'm wrong.

[Imokles]

This account was created in Nov2004. I created my first toon, a Kerra Mystic, on  launch day for EQ2. I took a 3-year break in between and came back to EQ2X as a gold subscriber when it launched so I now have 6 toons on Valor (started of on Innovation but that server got merged) and 9 toons on Freeport. I've bought DoV CE and AoE CE. SOE has made a fair share of money out of me.

I'm done with this game. The reasons have been stated numerous times in this threat. 

I signed up for a 12 month subscription on Jan2nd. The only thing that's keeping me from cancelling my account at the moment is that I don't want to gift SOE the 5000SC (500SC*10) I rightfully paid for. I therefore asked support for a partial refund, but this call is still unanswered as of now.

So I've just put my "Everquest 2 Limited Edition", "Exclusive Pre-Order CD" and all other boxes in the trash and am waiting for CS to respond to my request for cancellation.

[FireDragon]

I heard on EQ2WIRE that when this goes through we euro's will be able to make US accounts to play on the US servers with our US friends.

Can we please get an option to flag our legacy accounts in advance as US accounts?

I want no more to do with proseibensat than I want to do with setting myself on fire.

I have quit.  Right now I have no desire to resub as I feel utterly disgusted and betrayed.  However maybe, just maybe. if I get this option I will give Planetside 2 or EQNext a go.

[SOE-MOD-16]

This post has moved: /eq2/posts/preList.m?topic_id=51444...post_id=5722629 Inappropriate Language

[Arabani]

Got this replay from CS

"Hello,While we would not be able to offer any refunds on previously purchased Station Cash/Subscriptions, it's important to note that as a player from the Russian Federation, your account will not be moving to ProSiebenSat.1. At this time we are still awaiting word on exactly what this means for the characters you have on Splitpaw, and we'll be releasing that information just as soon as it is available. If you have any further questions, please feel free to let us know.Thank You"

My guess, same is for aussie,asian or any other players outside EU or US. At least Pro7 will not have my info

[Tollymore]

SOE Mods,

As you now appear to be at work, any chance of an answer for how this affects non-US, non-Europe people ?

[Tollymore]

SOE-MOD-16 wrote:

This post has moved: /eq2/posts/preList.m?topic_id=51444...post_id=5722629 Inappropriate Language

Yay, the EQ2/EQ2x thing was ended so we could all play together, on whatever server was right for your playstyle or personal playtimes.

Now, Europeans are obviously being walled into ProSiebenSat.1 Games Group's servers.

Americans get to stay on the current servers, albeit walled off from any European friends they might have.

I cant see anything specific about Oceanic types ... will we be barred from playing on Euro servers, or barred from playing on American servers ?

[SOE-MOD-16]

This post has moved: /eq2/posts/preList.m?topic_id=51444...post_id=5722643 Discussing Moderation

[Arabani]

nvm

[Levatino]

Arabani wrote:

Got this replay from CS

"Hello,While we would not be able to offer any refunds on previously purchased Station Cash/Subscriptions, it's important to note that as a player from the Russian Federation, your account will not be moving to ProSiebenSat.1. At this time we are still awaiting word on exactly what this means for the characters you have on Splitpaw, and we'll be releasing that information just as soon as it is available. If you have any further questions, please feel free to let us know.Thank You"

My guess, same is for aussie,asian or any other players outside EU or US. At least Pro7 will not have my info

wait a minute, so they can't give a refund but what will happen to my one year recurring subscription paid to SOE while I can't play at Splitpaw my home server cause if i want to do that i have to pay again but then to Pro7?

My last sub was created the 6th of januari of this year. I expect SOE to deliver the service I payed for till 6th of januari 2013. This is a contract we both willingly accepted, it can't be broken just like that.

[Nynaeve]

Matter of Fact is:

1.) P7S1 need to take THE WHOLE SOE PORTFOLIOwhy would any current customer switch to P7S1 when he gets less choics, less games? They wouldn't. (unless FORCED to because they play on EU servers.)

2.) P7S1 must not be allowed to mess with itemization, stats, ANYTHING - Only Language localisation, add only Appearance items and promotional items to the Marketplacewe all know they have a legacy to destroy games with their Pay to Win Mentality! - see: http://mmohuts.com/editorials/alapl...n-arena-shooter

3.) No Region locked servers - which basically means players need to be able to exchange Alaplaya <> SC without LOSS!So they would probably have to allow sending your Alaplaya cash to your SOE account and back... - or simply quit Alaplaya and join SC with the same currency

[Tasi3989]

Levatino wrote:

Arabani wrote:

Got this replay from CS

"Hello,While we would not be able to offer any refunds on previously purchased Station Cash/Subscriptions, it's important to note that as a player from the Russian Federation, your account will not be moving to ProSiebenSat.1. At this time we are still awaiting word on exactly what this means for the characters you have on Splitpaw, and we'll be releasing that information just as soon as it is available. If you have any further questions, please feel free to let us know.Thank You"

My guess, same is for aussie,asian or any other players outside EU or US. At least Pro7 will not have my info

wait a minute, so they can't give a refund but what will happen to my one year recurring subscription paid to SOE while I can't play at Splitpaw my home server cause if i want to do that i have to pay again but then to Pro7? Hell I will get a refund if not my lawyer will have a field day

Anyone from the UK can just quote them the "Sales of Goods Act", should be enough to provoke a response in terms of refunds. 

[CorpseGoddess]

Tollymore wrote:

SOE Mods,

As you now appear to be at work, any chance of an answer for how this affects non-US, non-Europe people ?

The mods probably don't know any more than we do.  Their only job is--yes, you guessed it-- to moderate.  At this point, I think it's pretty clear that we can ask questions for more clarification at a later point, but asking for answers before the Higher-Ups are prepared to give them to us is fruitless--especially from people that wouldn't be given that information anyway.

[Calthine]

Tollymore wrote:

SOE Mods,

As you now appear to be at work, any chance of an answer for how this affects non-US, non-Europe people ?

Doubtful, as their department is just moderation.  I'm suprised you think an answer will be forthcoming in the middle of the night.

[Calthine]

This just in, in case you're not watching Announcements:

http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/...topic_id=515343

Friends, As we approach the weekend, we wanted to share that we are working on a plan to keep our communities together with the ProSieben deal. Again, we thank you for your patience - we'll provide more information as soon as it is available. ~Brasse

[Nynaeve]

The Alaplaya S4 League Horrorstory - or how to ruin an online shooter:

It is no secret that I hate the European MMO publisher Alaplaya. They buy up IP’s no one is interested in like DanceBattle: Audition, Fantasy Tennis 2, and the worthless pile of tripe known as Racing Star, then continually punishes the players of S4 League, the one game they have that people actually want to play. The player is presented with a very low quality version of an otherwise high quality shooter. Slow, late, and weak updates, inexplicable omissions of easily included content the Koreans have had for months, and “rebalanced” weapons that do not even need rebalancing are just a few examples of their past crimes. Most of this was tolerable, considering its just a F2P game, however since the new Patch 10 released a few weeks ago the game has gone completely out of control. All semblance of the balanced competitive game it once was, has been tossed aside for the sake of potentially increasing revenue

For months now S4 League has offered slightly more powerful versions of weapons, and armor for players to rent for up to 30 days for real money, this is old news, and was perfectly fine. Though it did give a bit of an edge to those that purchased this gear, it did not give enough of an advantage that a player of higher skill without this gear could not have a chance against them.

This new patch changed this. In a poorly worked out line of logic, it must have been decided that not enough people were “renting” their pretend clothes. and weapons with real money, because they could just keep using permanent, slightly weaker, duller looking weapons, and armor that they bought with S4′s ingame currency PEN. To combat this, they first removed the option to buy permanent anything. All weapons and armor in EUS4 now can only exist in your inventory for a maximum of 30 days; this includes all PEN items. All preexisting perma-items stayed permanent, but now cost excessive amounts of PEN to keep repaired. This is very annoying but still tolerable, but they didn’t stop there, no. The players need more incentive to give us more money!

Alaplaya then drastically increased the armor bonus’s on P2P clothing and damage bonuses on P2P weapons. So drastically that when one purchases these items, they become god like. Able to instantly kill anyone not wearing the new P2P armor in a single hit, and the ability to take entire machine gun clips to the face, and survive, and ignore stuns completely. When I first started encountering these players I actually thought they were hacking. I have watched a single player in full pay gear totally destroy an entire team in Touchdown mode, completely by himself, and there is little an individual can do to stop them.

Alaplaya’s general response to the extremely negative criticism to these changes is “if you don’t like getting owned in the face, pay us money too.”

FULL ARTICLE: http://mmohuts.com/editorials/alapl...n-arena-shooter

Conclusion: If P7S1 is allowed to meddle with SOE games in any way except cosmetic stuff - They will kill off all SOE games in Europe - SAYONARA! P7S1 needs to agree to keep the games in the same state as the US version from SOE!

[Piestro]

Hey folks,

Just wanted to bring the post here to your attention. Quoted  below for convenience.

Thanks,

-Piestro

SOE-Brasse wrote:

Friends,

As we approach the weekend, we wanted to share that we are working on a plan to keep our communities together with the ProSieben deal. Again, we thank you for your patience - we'll provide more information as soon as it is available.

~Brasse

[Revman]

Can you "sticky" this "feedback" thread as well?

[Guyver24]

So while selling some TV series and stuff, Pro7 suddenly remembers EQ2, and it becomes part of the package Sony sells to them. Sold by people who don't care, and never even knew what they sold... bought by the same team, just in another company.... This will be a textbook example on how NOT to do 

I don't even think we can blame the usual suspects for this, they're a commodity to - just like us...