EverQuest II Reunites with Free-to-Play Announcement

[vexrm]

I pay for EQ2 by the year. It's cheaper. What happens to this subscription option?

[Calthine]

There's some corrected fine print running around.  Can anyone confirm that Age of Discovery will NOT include all previous content including Destiny of Velious? 

[Lodrelhai]

Ashlanne wrote:

Gold Members Get 7 Charcters slots

Silver get 4

Free Get 2

If you have more then these here are your options when the merges happen...

• Log in as your favorite characters right before the server merges so that they are at the top of your character queue list.   
• If you want more character slots, you will need to purchase them in the Marketplace.  

And again if you purchased character slots to make to so you are above the numbers I listed you get to keep those slots.

Thank you.

You know, a severe sale (I mean 50% or more) or limited number of free character slots would make this much easier to deal with.  I'm not too bad off - I only have 4 characters on freeq, and I have a couple free slots on live.  But my guild leader has 2 accounts, plus her partner's 1, and they've filled all slots in both live and freeq.  That's going to be expensive as hell to merge without losing some alts.

I also wouldn't mind discount server transfers - no sense having guilds on two servers if everyone can play together.  But that's less urgent to me, since I'll still have access to the ones on the other server.

[Cyliena]

vexrm wrote:

I pay for EQ2 by the year. It's cheaper. What happens to this subscription option?

One of the things released said that Gold will be available in 1, 3, 6 and 12 month sub options, recurring or non-recurring. Bonus for recurring is 500 SC/month.

[vexrm]

Cyliena wrote:

vexrm wrote:

I pay for EQ2 by the year. It's cheaper. What happens to this subscription option?

One of the things released said that Gold will be available in 1, 3, 6 and 12 month sub options, recurring or non-recurring. Bonus for recurring is 500 SC/month.

Do you have a link? I'm honestly not seeing it and I could easily be blinded by the tsunami of information. (YAY! We have information now)

[Cyliena]

vexrm wrote:

Cyliena wrote:

vexrm wrote:

I pay for EQ2 by the year. It's cheaper. What happens to this subscription option?

One of the things released said that Gold will be available in 1, 3, 6 and 12 month sub options, recurring or non-recurring. Bonus for recurring is 500 SC/month.

Do you have a link? I'm honestly not seeing it and I could easily be blinded by the tsunami of information. (YAY! We have information now)

Producer's Letter, near the end of "Membership and Pricing Changes" section:

Additionally, Gold memberships are no longer required to recur each month. We will have non-recurring memberships that you can purchase with Station Cash or real-world currency. Recurring and non-recurring Gold memberships will be available for 1, 3, 6, and 12-month durations. Recurring memberships are still available for those of us who don't like having to remember to pay each month, and recurring memberships also get the perk of a Station Cash bonus grant each month.

Ok it doesn't mention the amount per month, I think I got confused by the 500SC change for Silver members. Either way, perk is a perk! Maybe a red name knows how much of a perk?

[vexrm]

Thank you! Another good question is if I had just gotten a year subscription (I have) will I get the bonus per month starting in december? I should go find the webcast thread and post there. Off to do that.

[Cyliena]

Followup on the previous: found it, SJ said it is 500 SC/month: http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/...=509050#5655352

SmokeJumper wrote:

Vellandra wrote:

In the 'Producers Letter', it states:

Recurring memberships are still available for those of us who don't like having to remember to pay each month, and recurring memberships also get the perk of a Station Cash bonus grant each month.

However, this is not referenced on any of the other pages, such as the comparison between subscription types.  Could we get some more information please?  Is this intended or not?

Yes. Recurring memberships get the bonus perk of a free 500SC grant each month.

vexrm wrote:

Thank you! Another good question is if I had just gotten a year subscription (I have) will I get the bonus per month starting in december? I should go find the webcast thread and post there. Off to do that.

Yeah I'm not sure about that, hopefully they'll answer it in the web cast.

[Lodrelhai]

Pricing Matrix.  At the bottom it shows station cash access, and says reoccurring Gold memberships will get 500 a month.

More feedback from the guildies, though I doubt we'll get anything for this.  Many of us copied characters to freeq to help friends get started there.  Copying was more expensive than moving, with less stuff coming with.  Is there going to be any sort of compensation for this, as that expense is now worthless?  (Like I said, I'm not expecting anything, under the argument that "We did get the copy and over a year to use it and those characters will still be available on freeport server."  But official word to bring back would be helpful.)

[TalisX1]

Calthine wrote:

TalisX1 wrote:

Calthine wrote:

Here's my outstanding question:

Will former Extended Players get Veteran's Rewards now that they will be, essentially, Live players instead?

Already answered. Yes.

Silat

link?  I like citations

SmokeJumper wrote:

Marnus@Antonia Bayle wrote:

I currently play on the freeport server(eq2x) and the AB server on live. I have copied several of my characters to eq2x , one of them just this past weekend. Had i known this announcement was going to happen, i wouldnt have spent the sc on the copy token-but more importantly, what will this mean for me when the 2 versions merge? will i have duplicate characters on the same server? Will the ones i have on eq2x be allowed the choice of which server to move to? I think this is a good idea to merge the two game types-one of the reason i copied characters to eq2x was to be able to play with a larger group of people, and not have to solo constantly-but i also dont want to log in on the day this happens and have my live characters be replaced by the extended characters, or vice/versa. Also, once they do merge, will the characters from eq2x get the veteran rewards tied into my eq2live account?

Answers:

• As of today, the copy token has been removed from the marketplace. The good news is that the copy you just made will continue to exist on Freeport, so you have that character on AB *and* Freeport now.
• Freeport will still exist after the free-to-play conversion. There's no merge for anyone unless you're currently playing on Vox or The Bazaar (Live Gamer servers).
• Yes, Freeport characters now get veteran rewards, just like everyone else.

from

http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/...509050&#5655271

Silat

[yagsfan]

Ashlanne wrote:

Gold Members Get 7 Charcters slots

• If you want more character slots, you will need to purchase them in the Marketplace.  

Ah...you answered my question...

Was just wondering if extra character slots would still be available for purchase in the marketplace after all this takes place.

I have a LOT of alter-egos...and I'm always adding more... 

[Arrg]

Calthine wrote:

There's some corrected fine print running around.  Can anyone confirm that Age of Discovery will NOT include all previous content including Destiny of Velious? 

It will include up to SF, it will not include DOV.  Those holding out hoping to get both, just got hammered.

http://everquest2.com/get_the_game/buy_now

EverQuest II will transition to a "Free to Play" model concurrently with the launch of the Age of Discovery expansion pack. This means that all players will have access to EverQuest II through free and optional paid membership levels. All membership levels will provide players with access to game world content through the EverQuest II Sentinel's Fate expansion. Platinum-level subscribers will also have access to the EverQuest II Destiny of Velious expansion. For all other players, the EverQuest II Destiny of Velious and EverQuest II Age of Discovery expansions may be purchased separately.

[Vinseth]

So I had copied a few toons to freeport which is now my home and was about to copy the rest. Will we be able to transfer to Freeport or off of Freeport and if so when?

[Cyliena]

Vindorek@Butcherblock wrote:

So I had copied a few toons to freeport which is now my home and was about to copy the rest. Will we be able to transfer to Freeport or off of Freeport and if so when?

"When asked about server transfers, Dave said that "all shackles are off!"  "

http://eq2.zam.com/story.html?story...amp;storypage=2

[Mienecrot]

Shouter@Antonia Bayle wrote:

So you are going to force me to buy slots to be able to access my toons?

First you tell me they are 2 different games.

Now you make them 1 game.

And I have to pay?

If it works like it has in the past, all of your characters are still there.  To access any of them, you will need to know the exact spelling of their name.

You would not be able to add any additional characters until you either bought enough slots to cover your existing characters plus 1 extra, OR, deleted a number of characters to free up one available open slot.

Examples:

1.  To access a toon:        You have 10 toons, but only 7 current available slots.  You can access any of the 10 toons by camping to the specific character you want, but only the 7 most recently played show up on the selection menu.                      i.e.   "/camp [character name] ".

2.  To add a toon:        You have 10 toons, but only 7 current available slots, you can:

• Purchase 4 character slots - to give you 11 available slots -- 10 current toons + 1 free slot, or
• Deleting 4 current characters - maintaining 7 character slots -- 6 current toons + 1 free slot, or
• Some combination of purchase / delete to "free up" one slot.

Obviously, it's been awhile since I've tried this -- so I've 'lined' out the above information as it is incorrect.  Apologies for the bad info. 

[Cloudrat]

Something is wrong here, sounds like a  math trick to me lol  If I paid 35 bucks a piece to copy 4 toons to freeport and as long as I kept my live account active they were considered gold toons on freeport, even though the account was bronze.  Now we are merging those toons with the bazaar, but in order to play them  I now have to buy 4 slots?

I am not sure you can spin this to make me think it is fair.

[Cyliena]

Mienecrot@Everfrost wrote:

If it works like it has in the past, all of your characters are still there.  To access any of them, you will need to know the exact spelling of their name.

You would not be able to add any additional characters until you either bought enough slots to cover your existing characters plus 1 extra, OR, deleted a number of characters to free up one available open slot.

Examples:

1.  To access a toon:        You have 10 toons, but only 7 current available slots.  You can access any of the 10 toons by camping to the specific character you want, but only the 7 most recently played show up on the selection menu.                      i.e.   "/camp [character name] ".

You haven't been able to do this since the inception of Extended.

[Calthine]

Cyliena wrote:

Mienecrot@Everfrost wrote:

If it works like it has in the past, all of your characters are still there.  To access any of them, you will need to know the exact spelling of their name.

You would not be able to add any additional characters until you either bought enough slots to cover your existing characters plus 1 extra, OR, deleted a number of characters to free up one available open slot.

Examples:

1.  To access a toon:        You have 10 toons, but only 7 current available slots.  You can access any of the 10 toons by camping to the specific character you want, but only the 7 most recently played show up on the selection menu.                      i.e.   "/camp [character name] ".

You haven't been able to do this since the inception of Extended.

Right.  When they put Character Slots on the Marketplace they closed that unintended feature.

[screenid]

Cloudrat wrote:

Something is wrong here, sounds like a  math trick to me lol  If I paid 35 bucks a piece to copy 4 toons to freeport and as long as I kept my live account active they were considered gold toons on freeport, even though the account was bronze.  Now we are merging those toons with the bazaar, but in order to play them  I now have to buy 4 slots?

I am not sure you can spin this to make me think it is fair.

 -- I paid to copy 5 toons over to Freeport  at the very least that should equate to 5 additional slots if not 10 since it cost me more than double the amount of an additional toon slot.   

[Te'ana]

screenid wrote:

Cloudrat wrote:

Something is wrong here, sounds like a  math trick to me lol  If I paid 35 bucks a piece to copy 4 toons to freeport and as long as I kept my live account active they were considered gold toons on freeport, even though the account was bronze.  Now we are merging those toons with the bazaar, but in order to play them  I now have to buy 4 slots?

I am not sure you can spin this to make me think it is fair.

 -- I paid to copy 5 toons over to Freeport  at the very least that should equate to 5 additional slots if not 10 since it cost me more than double the amount of an additional toon slot.   

I agree and i don't have any toons on Freeport.

[Katz]

That sounds fair to me.  Equate the toon copy to a new slot having been purchased.  I didn't copy a toon over but if I had of done so, I would want this to happen.

[sirmoosealot]

ok i have one question that really isnt specified, i am a current subscriber and i purchased Destiny of Velious, so its saying for free members you only have free access to all expansions up to setinals fate. so what if im unable to stay a gold member because i cant afford it. so does that mean i lose access to the expansion destiny of velious that i payed for?

[Crickett]

^ I'm thinking you'd be ok with that, I just started a F2P and my freeblood was already unlocked on it (so what I have I keep). You "might" have to unlock specific classes and such though. I wouldn't worry too much until the fat lady sings and we light the cigar though.

My question is this:

I've a few friends that cannot play due to financial constraints. They'd have access to play on their old servers (with free constraints)?

and, New F2P'ers would have access to start characters on any server?

Thanks

[Calthine]

Nakitar@Najena wrote:

ok i have one question that really isnt specified, i am a current subscriber and i purchased Destiny of Velious, so its saying for free members you only have free access to all expansions up to setinals fate. so what if im unable to stay a gold member because i cant afford it. so does that mean i lose access to the expansion destiny of velious that i payed for?

It's been stated that if you've already bought it, you keep it, regardless of Membership level. Destiny of Velious, Character Slots, Freeblood, or rez scrolls on Freeport (at least until you use them up).

Smokejumper quotes, let's see:

http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/...post_id=5656130

once you purchase something, we're not taking it back. She'll definitely still have the freeblood available.

http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/...post_id=5656127

You bought it, you keep it. We're not taking anything away.

[BleemTeam]

How am I going to sell my plat after LG goes down?

[Beregon]

Ok,  I can be a little slow sometimes (and lazy.  I don't want to read the other threads to find a few answers.) but just to clarify:

If I have the free/silver account when the conversion hits:

1. If I purchased 2 extra character slots, I will have them so my max will be 2 or 4 + 2

2. If I already purchased DoV, I will have access to the content.

3. If I already have the Freeblood available, I can still make a Freeblood toon.

4. I will still have access to the money in my bank and access to any bags I have, but only to spend the money down until I am under the max for coin and remove items from the unaccessible bags.

5. I am able to remove items I have on the broker for sale.

6.  If I have a Barbarian Ranger, I would have to buy the Ranger class to play this toon.

                   (Silly thing, you should have access to the toon, but not to create a new ranger until you upgrade or buy the class)

Thats all I can think of at the moment.

[Cyliena]

Nakitar@Najena wrote:

ok i have one question that really isnt specified, i am a current subscriber and i purchased Destiny of Velious, so its saying for free members you only have free access to all expansions up to setinals fate. so what if im unable to stay a gold member because i cant afford it. so does that mean i lose access to the expansion destiny of velious that i payed for?

Like Calthine said, you keep everything. A Free/Silver member can purchase DoV if they wanted to, so there's no way they'd take it away from someone that already unlocked it. Same goes for Freeblood.

[Cyliena]

Beregon wrote:

Ok,  I can be a little slow sometimes (and lazy.  I don't want to read the other threads to find a few answers.) but just to clarify:

If I have the free/silver account when the conversion hits:

1. If I purchased 2 extra character slots, I will have them so my max will be 2 or 4 + 2

2. If I already purchased DoV, I will have access to the content.

3. If I already have the Freeblood available, I can still make a Freeblood toon.

4. I will still have access to the money in my bank and access to any bags I have, but only to spend the money down until I am under the max for coin and remove items from the unaccessible bags.

5. I am able to remove items I have on the broker for sale.

6.  If I have a Barbarian Ranger, I would have to buy the Ranger class to play this toon.

                   (Silly thing, you should have access to the toon, but not to create a new ranger until you upgrade or buy the class)

Thats all I can think of at the moment.

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. Yes

4. Yes

5. Not sure, that one would be a better question for someone who has played on Extended

6. That's what they made it sound like in the webcast. As a Free/Silver member you would most likely have to unlock the ability to play any races or classes that are not included as free. Once they are unlocked they will always be unlocked, even if (for example) you went to Gold then back down to Silver again. Here's a list of all races/classes that could be unlocked on Extended.

[agentsix]

Beregon wrote:

Ok,  I can be a little slow sometimes (and lazy.  I don't want to read the other threads to find a few answers.) but just to clarify:

If I have the free/silver account when the conversion hits:

1. If I purchased 2 extra character slots, I will have them so my max will be 2 or 4 + 2

2. If I already purchased DoV, I will have access to the content.

3. If I already have the Freeblood available, I can still make a Freeblood toon.

4. I will still have access to the money in my bank and access to any bags I have, but only to spend the money down until I am under the max for coin and remove items from the unaccessible bags.

5. I am able to remove items I have on the broker for sale.

6.  If I have a Barbarian Ranger, I would have to buy the Ranger class to play this toon.

                   (Silly thing, you should have access to the toon, but not to create a new ranger until you upgrade or buy the class)

Thats all I can think of at the moment.

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. Yes

4. Yes

5. Yes

6. Yes you will have to purchase the class. But if you buy a monthly sub you will not.

The thing to remember is after this switch the monthly subs do not change. What you got before you will get after. The thing that changes is your access if you chose not to sub.

For example, previously if you did not sub you could not play at all. Now, if you chose not to sub you could play a Barbarian Swashy for free but with restrictions.

[Maisland]

yliena wrote:

Beregon wrote:

Ok,  I can be a little slow sometimes (and lazy.  I don't want to read the other threads to find a few answers.) but just to clarify:

If I have the free/silver account when the conversion hits:

6.  If I have a Barbarian Ranger, I would have to buy the Ranger class to play this toon.

                   (Silly thing, you should have access to the toon, but not to create a new ranger until you upgrade or buy the class)

Thats all I can think of at the moment.

6. That's what they made it sound like in the webcast. As a Free/Silver member you would most likely have to unlock the ability to play any races or classes that are not included as free. Once they are unlocked they will always be unlocked, even if (for example) you went to Gold then back down to Silver again. Here's a list of all races/classes that could be unlocked on Extended.

This is what I have been wondering.  It looks like I would be unable to play any the vast majority of my characters if I let my subscription lapse to silver.

I think a better deal would be just to not allow the creation of new characters of those classes/races rather than to lock existing ones.  Might as well just not play... which would be the same as now if my subscription lapsed.

Edit:  I did a race/class graph chart for my (19) characters.  If I had to let my subscription lapse to silver (very likely given the economy, and I had recently been thinking of allowing it to lapse for a few months as it is), I would be able to play 2 of my characters (provided that they were not on locked slots at the time)... all the rest are either a race, a class or both that are not available to a silver account.  I would not be able to play my main (necromancer) or any of the secondary characters that I have been working on the hardest (dark elf, iksar, gnome mystic, sarnak shadowknight, wood elf ranger).

Given that I would renew my subscription when I could, it would be a waste of money to unlock those races and classes that are not available to a silver membership... so it would still be a case of might as well not bother to play at all if I had to let my subscription lapse.