Just some information about payments and who stores it..

Kerane · 02-24-2012, 08:28 AM

[email protected] Bayle wrote:
feldon30 wrote:
Again bravo to Alaplaya/P7S1 who seem to be doing everything they can to salvage this deal while SOE says little.
--------------------------
I just wanted to say something about a difference I have seen in the EQ2 Community now, vs two years ago.
It seems at this point, any serious discussion about EQ2 issues only happen once a year — in the hallways and bars of a Las Vegas hotel. I'm talking about Fan Faire. The rest of the year, we get a few platitudes and reassurances and LARPing. I do not feel that 15 minute webcasts replace community interaction which has been sorely lacking on the EQ2 side.
The lack of community involvement in EQ2 has turned the EQ2 community against SOE so strongly that developers I’ve talked to fear to post because everything will be twisted and misinterpreted. Developers are afraid to post because Community won’t have their back.
Right now, every time a controversy comes up, the EQ2 Community Team seem genuinely shocked at player response. It takes hours/days for any kind of response, usually “We’re talking to the top people and will get back to you if we have something to report.” I feel the role of a EQ2 Community Manager is to be PROACTIVE and aware of issues that are coming which will affect players, and then have a response ready to COINCIDE with the announcement.
It’s long since time to go back to some version of the semi-monthly Developer chats, or a semi-monthly list of Developer questions (they can be edited for snark). Right now, MONTHS go by with hardly any news, so we think nothing is happening. There is a thought process settling in at SOE that NOT responding to players is safer than responding. This is not healthy.
I have to say that it scares me that, while all this was going on behind the scenes and deals were being made, that nobody, not one single person at Sony, appears to have stepped up and said "Hey -- wait a minute...has anyone thought about what the players will think about this? Do we even KNOW these people we're dealing with?"
I mean seriously, Sony people aren't nitwits by design, they're smart people...surely they can use Google and fish up the same links to info that we the userbase have provided on this thread, about Alaplaya's deplorable reputation in the gaming community among other issues. It doesn't take a lot of work to make a fake account, and surreptitiously strike up in a convo in 1-9 or 80-89 about this sort of thing, and just get an unscientific feel of what the community would think.
How is it that nobody did the research? Hello? Sony? John? Anyone?
100%, John. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of your user base is against this move. You can't tell me you guys didn't think about this.
You can't get 100% of any group to agree that it's sunny outside, even if they were all standing together looking up! Doesn't that say something to you about the wisdom of this decision?
Very well said Feldon.
This would have been a great time for one of the newly introduced 'In-Game Player Polls' to ask the playerbase what they felt.

Alaplaya/prosieben should think about this deal in a different light as well.

This would not be the first time a big company sells off their smaller assets to a beginning/smaller company knowing that in a short time the assets would diminish to almost nothing, leaving the younger/ smaller company with a sure loss.

Imo it could not happen to a nicer target, but it still is a smelly tactic. SOE gets a profit from selling the EU servers, prosieben ends up with close to nothing.

Looking at it from that angle, you just have to say well played to SOE, well played, but still a dirty tactic.

Fulensticx · 02-24-2012, 08:31 AM

One of the funniest thing about this whole tread , is that all resarch about things happening is comming from us EQ2 community and not a single answer from SOE HERE! John writes on his twitter page and not here in this thread ,the info comes from Feldon and other eq2 players thats copying and pasteing things here .

Ppl searching all over the net for getting some kind of decent answer of wots going on ,how could this happen etc.

And the longer the wait more ppl will drop , even if they are affraid i think its time to step up and talk some!!!!

and the little that gets out is not even from SOE its from the new partners .

Dragoneyes · 02-24-2012, 08:35 AM

Just some information about payments and who stores it..

Re: SOE / ProSiebenSat1 Games partnership FAQ

by Protagonist » Fri Feb 24, 2012 8:55 am

Additional detail: We do NOT store any payment informations at all in our Database. So it is per se safe as we don´t have them.

I asked who has the payment details and it's the payment company we go through ie paypal ect ect .So they do not hold any of our payment details at all.

Re: SOE / ProSiebenSat1 Games partnership FAQ

by Protagonist » Fri Feb 24, 2012 12:11 pm

Payment details: If something gets stored than only by the payment operator itself.

So I guess this clears up all the peeps who are worried about CC/payment information ect.

DE

Zorastiz · 02-24-2012, 08:37 AM

Piestro wrote:

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

I'll believe it when I see it.

Nakaru-Nitepaw · 02-24-2012, 08:43 AM

Neave wrote:

Trevynoae wrote:
Maybe I am plain stupid or have no idea or whatever. Why can other companies do it - but SOE and P7 seem to have a problem?
You could login with whatever account you have! The company you have the account with you pay. Done.
P7S1 promotes their accounts - SOE theirs. Done.
SOE sells SC to a P7S1 accountee? Well - P7S1 gets most of the money. Done.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
^ This would be a good start.
I sense some announcement over region locking alone though.
I will only be renewing if I can still pay via Sony. That is a MAJOR issue for me.
They could have done this ENTIRE thing invisibly to the end-user, in fact.

Another Example of things being done right would be; Fallen Earth ftp was just added to steam, and they provided a way for you to link your steam account to your gamersfirst account, so you can basically use either one of them to log into your characters.

Zorastiz · 02-24-2012, 08:43 AM

[email protected] Bayle wrote:

[email protected] Bayle wrote:
feldon30 wrote:
Again bravo to Alaplaya/P7S1 who seem to be doing everything they can to salvage this deal while SOE says little.
--------------------------
I just wanted to say something about a difference I have seen in the EQ2 Community now, vs two years ago.
It seems at this point, any serious discussion about EQ2 issues only happen once a year — in the hallways and bars of a Las Vegas hotel. I'm talking about Fan Faire. The rest of the year, we get a few platitudes and reassurances and LARPing. I do not feel that 15 minute webcasts replace community interaction which has been sorely lacking on the EQ2 side.
The lack of community involvement in EQ2 has turned the EQ2 community against SOE so strongly that developers I’ve talked to fear to post because everything will be twisted and misinterpreted. Developers are afraid to post because Community won’t have their back.
Right now, every time a controversy comes up, the EQ2 Community Team seem genuinely shocked at player response. It takes hours/days for any kind of response, usually “We’re talking to the top people and will get back to you if we have something to report.” I feel the role of a EQ2 Community Manager is to be PROACTIVE and aware of issues that are coming which will affect players, and then have a response ready to COINCIDE with the announcement.
It’s long since time to go back to some version of the semi-monthly Developer chats, or a semi-monthly list of Developer questions (they can be edited for snark). Right now, MONTHS go by with hardly any news, so we think nothing is happening. There is a thought process settling in at SOE that NOT responding to players is safer than responding. This is not healthy.
I have to say that it scares me that, while all this was going on behind the scenes and deals were being made, that nobody, not one single person at Sony, appears to have stepped up and said "Hey -- wait a minute...has anyone thought about what the players will think about this? Do we even KNOW these people we're dealing with?"
Very well said Feldon.
This would have been a great time for one of the newly introduced 'In-Game Player Polls' to ask the playerbase what they felt.

Feldon, it's because they don't care about what we have to say, they don't care that we, many of us have been customers for over a decade, they don't care about any of that, we do not matter, their pocketbooks and bonuses matter, that's all.

Guyver24 · 02-24-2012, 08:45 AM

Paqo wrote:

How things are for me right now:
1. i feel that i'm expendable and unwanted in EQ by SOE, you know the feeling when you try to hit a merchant ingame and they don't give you a choice, they just say in 3rd person "this merchant doesn't want your business"
2. no matter what the outcome is, this feeling won't go away, if people didn't react enough to make them delay and "read and discuss" this issue, they'd have given us the boot with a twist.
3. to me that whole "awww we listen to you and we are the only ones who reply to you" from the german company, could very well be a trick for us to just think it's better there cause "hey! they care there!" so we can stop "reacting" and just go already.
4. i'm very well aware that this is not a democracy, it's a private company making a living for the employees and a fat wallet for the heads, cause this is how all private companies are, it's just weird to have my money taken and then tossed away like it was nothing
I don't know what else to say.. I'm just keeping on playing till i feel i got my money's worth for the last expansion (no more SC purchases or whatever they release) and then i'll cancel my sub and move on with the rest that already did, unless i get kicked out from AB before that.

Well said...

I think people are grasping at straws now (can you say that in english?), looking for even a slight possibility to stay in the game/community that they love (PSS1 is nice when we talk to them etc). Nothing unusual in that, and I'm doing it myself tbh... and hate myself for it This reaction from the community, can not in any way be a shock for SOE, so it's a calculated risc they took, and it blew up in their face in the worst possible way...

I still can find any good reasons for me to resub tbh... other than wanting to play with friends, that probably quits anyway... My heart says yes, but my mind says no... enough is enough...

Ahazul · 02-24-2012, 08:53 AM

ranga wrote:

Brasse, I think you are all missing the point.
Giving ground on segregation is only fixing a small part of the problem, you need, really NEED to understand that this is not about SOE wanting to sell Euros to P7S1, it's not about P7S1 wanting to buy your portfolio, it really is about US not wanting anything to do with P7S1, we don't want segregation, we don't want their rubbish EMO P2W SC items, we don't want their hands on the loot tables so they take all the good stuff out and sell it to us, we don't want them having our personal and financial info, WE DON'T WANT THEM PERIOD.
To reiterate, there is NOTHING in this deal for US. Every day you don't back out from this is another nail in the coffin. Make no mistake, this is not just about segregation.

Totally agree with it.

Ahazul

Bekkr · 02-24-2012, 08:56 AM

feldon30 wrote:

The lack of community involvement in EQ2 has turned the EQ2 community against SOE so strongly that developers I’ve talked to fear to post because everything will be twisted and misinterpreted. Developers are afraid to post because Community won’t have their back.

Right now, every time a controversy comes up, the EQ2 Community Team seem genuinely shocked at player response. It takes hours/days for any kind of response, usually “We’re talking to the top people and will get back to you if we have something to report.” I feel the role of a EQ2 Community Manager is to be PROACTIVE and aware of issues that are coming which will affect players, and then have a response ready to COINCIDE with the announcement.

It’s long since time to go back to some version of the semi-monthly Developer chats, or a semi-monthly list of Developer questions (they can be edited for snark). Right now, MONTHS go by with hardly any news, so we think nothing is happening. There is a thought process settling in at SOE that NOT responding to players is safer than responding. This is not healthy.

That's very well put, but I wonder if those same devs are aware of why the situation is like this. It seems like it would have been a pretty easy thing to rectify initially when it started to become a problem.

This head in the sand, fingers in the ears type of management has always annoyed me about SOE. Thankfully I no longer have to put up with it.

Yadarya · 02-24-2012, 08:57 AM

Just out of curiosity, how long has it been that we have not been able to change user details related to

Country/currency?

I have addresses on both sides of the pond, and have paid my account through the years from both billing addresses. I have a split in my family's accounts (some being flagged euro and some us).

Oh forget it, couple days of gut wrenching angst and accounts cancelled. There is going to have to be some miracle for us to return at this point.

Seffrid · 02-24-2012, 09:04 AM

I think it's important for SOE to realise that removing the regional locking will not resolve the issue if it leaves players still having to play the game through ProSieben.

Many of us clearly will have nothing to do with that company because of its reputation while others will take the view that they have been second-rate customers in other games too many times to fall for it again. Delayed updates, inferior content, inadequate support and a total divorce from the development team are things previously endured in EQ with Ubisoft, DDO/LoTRO with Codemasters, and DAoC/WAR with GOA, and players simply won't accept it again here or in EQ Next.

The only effective solution is to allow all players to choose whether to play through SOE or ProSieben and then to honour that choice fully. If I choose to play through SOE and they want to pass on some or all of my subscription to ProSieben that's fine by me, it's between them, but I will neither create an account with ProSieben nor play through SOE on ProSieben's servers or under ProSieben's game management.

dawy · 02-24-2012, 09:14 AM

Seffrid wrote:

I think it's important for SOE to realise that removing the regional locking will not resolve the issue if it leaves players still having to play the game through ProSieben.
Many of us clearly will have nothing to do with that company because of its reputation while others will take the view that they have been second-rate customers in other games too many times to fall for it again. Delayed updates, inferior content, inadequate support and a total divorce from the development team are things previously endured in EQ with Ubisoft, DDO/LoTRO with Codemasters, and DAoC/WAR with GOA, and players simply won't accept it again here or in EQ Next.
The only effective solution is to allow all players to choose whether to play through SOE or ProSieben and then to honour that choice fully. If I choose to play through SOE and they want to pass on some or all of my subscription to ProSieben that's fine by me, it's between them, but I will neither create an account with ProSieben nor play through SOE on ProSieben's servers under ProSieben's game management.

Exactlly i will not pay through Pro7 its thats simple i do not trust this company and after the hacking mess of last year SOE only have my trust becuase my bank know who they are and if the worst happens i could claim back easyily enough would the same be said of Pro 7? very doubtful in my eyes and frankly im not in a rush to find out either

Ratzle · 02-24-2012, 09:14 AM

rrubbadub wrote:

I used to play EQ 2, till I took ProSiebenSat arrow to the knee.

I am still laughing at this post lol Thank you Rrubbadub laughing made me feel much better.

Welcome Piestro, i met you before in EQ 1 and know you will do a fine job here SMILEY Warden by the way SMILEY

Beagley · 02-24-2012, 09:17 AM

Wonder what the "make good" gift will be this time? How about a pair of spangly red shoes that you could click your heels together and return to the server of your choice?

/sarcasm off

Hoping to hear something concrete soon. One of my 12 month gold would resub is in the first week of March and there is no way in (warm sulphur smelling place) that I'm going to resub with this fiasco going on and all of the questions in this "feedback" thread unanswered. To be honest, if I unsub one account I may as well do the same with all my other accounts too because its hard to get the enthusiasm to continue with some of your favourite toons exiled off and unplayable.

To be blunt, I haven't had the appetite to play EQ2 at all in the last three days and haven't logged in since this disasterous announcement. I have however got used to a rather new game that seems to be in a galaxy far, far from here which I've tried using a game card.

If the SOE responses go the way I fear, I suspect it will end up being my new game of choice and that will be where my recreational subscription monies will flow rather than into SOE's (and definately not P7S's) coffers.

maieken · 02-24-2012, 09:18 AM

[email protected] Bayle wrote:

Feldon, it's because they don't care about what we have to say, they don't care that we, many of us have been customers for over a decade, they don't care about any of that, we do not matter, their pocketbooks and bonuses matter, that's all.

You're right Zorastiz.

Don't forget all Sony is a Corporation, such a so big thing as licensing an multi-million dollar IP franchise like EQ2 is only allowed if the corp HQ staff authorize it. And if they authorize it, remember "customer rights" in a corp is *only* to buy (or not) their products, nothing else.

Revman · 02-24-2012, 09:18 AM

OE-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

Translation: people will simmer down over the weekend. It's actually already starting...

[email protected] wrote:

At least people at PSS1 care enough to give answers.
And btw Protagonist is on of the 3 managing directors in PSS1, so I think we can trust his words.

I have to say, that I feel like SOE betrayed my trust, but I have a good feelings now about PSS1.

From what we spoke with them yesterday on chat, they seemed reasonable and really hoped to solve this all mess.

Good news is, they have better payment system than SOE. We pointed to error PT-530 - well known problem with payments that EU players have. They said, they have several (not one, like SOE) payment companies they use, so there shouldn't be problem with that.

Also we throwed an idea of having something similar to Fan Faire but in Europe

It's not that easy to solve that problem - business and technical wise. And its very, very bad for customers. The good thing is PSS1 is talking about it with us. The deal is done, but details of some things can still be discussed.

If you have any questions, just ask them here http://en.alaplaya.net/forum/genera...aq-t492961.html. You can also join IRC channel (server: irc.euirc.net channel: #alaplaya.en ) and ask directly PSS1 staff.

At least you will get some answers, not like with SOE.

feldon30 wrote:

Again bravo to Alaplaya/P7S1 who seem to be doing everything they can to salvage this deal while SOE says little.

SOE lost some accounts, Alaplaya lost a boatload. Alaplaya will tell you anything you want to hear. They're the ones looking to lose a lot through this transaction as it has become a PR nightmare. You don't ask for feedback after the fact, it's pointless that way.

Eroks · 02-24-2012, 09:18 AM

I just this brilliant ideia.

SOE / ProSiebenSat.1: Go on with ur Region Locking and sell Region UnLockers to players!!Those last from a week to a month. U guys will make a fortune!

luckydogxl · 02-24-2012, 09:19 AM

SOE or anyone can you please answer the following.

1) Will old long standing customers of SOE be given free server transfer rights in the following instances?

a) US customers with EU characters

b) EU customers with US and EU characters that have no intention of playing under new prosieben servers

2) Will EU customers with current US toons be able to reject joining new company and still play there US toons on SOE account.

At the end of the day I understand SOE is a business and has to make money but I will not sign a deal with prosieben for a game I have played since launch and I expect sony to respect that.

If answer to the above questions is no then out of respect please tell us sooner rather then later. Setup a few farewell events or somthing so we as players can say our goodbyes to a game we have loved since launch and move on together, just please at least show us all that much respect.

SpeedyGonzales · 02-24-2012, 09:19 AM

Seffrid wrote:

I think it's important for SOE to realise that removing the regional locking will not resolve the issue if it leaves players still having to play the game through ProSieben.
Many of us clearly will have nothing to do with that company because of its reputation while others will take the view that they have been second-rate customers in other games too many times to fall for it again. Delayed updates, inferior content, inadequate support and a total divorce from the development team are things previously endured in EQ with Ubisoft, DDO/LoTRO with Codemasters, and DAoC/WAR with GOA, and players simply won't accept it again here or in EQ Next.
The only effective solution is to allow all players to choose whether to play through SOE or ProSieben and then to honour that choice fully. If I choose to play through SOE and they want to pass on some or all of my subscription to ProSieben that's fine by me, it's between them, but I will neither create an account with ProSieben nor play through SOE on ProSieben's servers or under ProSieben's game management.

That is 100% what i was thinking, thank you for writing down my thoughts

Shiruki · 02-24-2012, 09:22 AM

[email protected] wrote:

[email protected] wrote:
From what we spoke with them yesterday on chat, they seemed reasonable and really hoped to solve this all mess.
At least you will get some answers, not like with SOE.
Call me cynical........
Surely they are prepared to say anything and behave in a manner that draws us in only to let us down further down the road, just a thought. At the end of the day they are trying to protect their investement and imo are willing to do anything to placate the masses.

+1

Cf their announcement when the deal was first announced in January :

The official comment from ProSiebenSat.1 on segregation - "We do not think about a transfer of US server chars from EU costumers in Eq2. That should solve the biggest worries the EQ2 community has at the moment. We do not want to interfere with long build ingame relationships. This is the current way we think about it."

I guess the "current" tends to evolve pretty quickly with them...considering their website, the amount and nature of the complaints in their forums, their adverstiement asking for 16 years oold (!!!!) to moderate their games and all : I refuse to deal with them and become their customer. EVER. Plain and simple.

isest · 02-24-2012, 09:25 AM

Piestro wrote:

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

Thanks for posting that. Just for the record you might want to float this back up to the hire ups. Nobody I know wants to deal with the PS1 guys, they publish your account info on the web and all kinds of stuff. I for one would not want to touch this company. I get they are working on a plan, but the plan should be backing out of the deal, as nobody wants it.

Guyver24 · 02-24-2012, 09:30 AM

Revman wrote:

OE-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
Translation: people will simmer down over the weekend. It's actually already starting...

Yeah... people looking for excuses to keep playing... terrible tbh doing exactly what SOE hoped they would Means Pro7 can do whatever they want with the remaining playerbase, they'll keep playing no matter what... And then, the reason for not answering anything in here becomes crystal clear... let the rage go on, and we can start answering/communicating when people have simmered down, looking for solutions to the problems created by SOE... The community have no memory, and will accept anything as brilliant on Monday, because they need their EQ2 fix...

Paqo · 02-24-2012, 09:41 AM

I don't think people are simmering down or will, they just said what they had to say and now just wait to see how much more it will suck from monday.

To contribute my own trolling i'd rename the company Hoover Online Entertainment, that's how much they suck.

Tuval · 02-24-2012, 09:41 AM

My husband and I have both just cancelled our going on 4-year subscriptions.

For us, the damage is done. Removing the region-locking or even reversing the whole deal will not change anything. We refuse to give a single cent to a company that deals in such a despicable and underhand way. We will not buy any game or product from Sony again, ever.

What I really don't understand is why anyone would even consider paying for a subscription on the US servers to stay with SOE when they have already sold you off to someone else for cash...but you're willing to give them a 2nd load of cash for the privilage to play on their servers??! Isn't that called 'double-dipping' on their part? I start to wonder whether they actually counted on that happening. And better yet, why not give them even more cash to transfer all your characters and guilds to their servers?? Unbelievable!

Guyver24 · 02-24-2012, 09:45 AM

@Tuval: My feelings exactly SMILEY

I even regret that I bought a Sony videocam last spring, and a Sony blu-ray player... it's the last Sony stuff I'll ever buy.

dawy · 02-24-2012, 09:48 AM

Revman wrote:

OE-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
Translation: people will simmer down over the weekend. It's actually already starting...
[email protected] wrote:
At least people at PSS1 care enough to give answers.
And btw Protagonist is on of the 3 managing directors in PSS1, so I think we can trust his words.

I have to say, that I feel like SOE betrayed my trust, but I have a good feelings now about PSS1.

From what we spoke with them yesterday on chat, they seemed reasonable and really hoped to solve this all mess.

Good news is, they have better payment system than SOE. We pointed to error PT-530 - well known problem with payments that EU players have. They said, they have several (not one, like SOE) payment companies they use, so there shouldn't be problem with that.

Also we throwed an idea of having something similar to Fan Faire but in Europe

It's not that easy to solve that problem - business and technical wise. And its very, very bad for customers. The good thing is PSS1 is talking about it with us. The deal is done, but details of some things can still be discussed.

If you have any questions, just ask them here http://en.alaplaya.net/forum/genera...aq-t492961.html. You can also join IRC channel (server: irc.euirc.net channel: #alaplaya.en ) and ask directly PSS1 staff.

At least you will get some answers, not like with SOE.
feldon30 wrote:
Again bravo to Alaplaya/P7S1 who seem to be doing everything they can to salvage this deal while SOE says little.
SOE lost some accounts, Alaplaya lost a boatload. Alaplaya will tell you anything you want to hear. They're the ones looking to lose a lot through this transaction as it has become a PR nightmare. You don't ask for feedback after the fact, it's pointless that way.

Agreed,sorry im not going to be swayed by words from someone on a forum who could be lets fair about it the cleaning woman you know what i'm james cameron (i'm watching titanic atm) im not but its so easy to type nonsense on the net seriously people need to realise Pro 7 are telling people what they want to hear and i'm sorry i may be cynical but i aint falling for it.

Netty · 02-24-2012, 09:48 AM

Scraping the deal is what would save the most players really. I dont know a singel soul that want or are planing to move over to pro7. Fixing the region locks wont do much at all as many have said its only a small part of the problem.

If this stay we will have 2 diff games kinda much. Since pro7 own the EU side they can do what ever they like on it. Those that are claiming they are not effect should rethink. Soe you have crossed the line here and your way of hoping to fix it is just getting rid of region locks? Alot of ppl that havent quit at this very moment will do so if this is not scrapt.

isest · 02-24-2012, 09:49 AM

[email protected] Bayle wrote:

feldon30 wrote:
Again bravo to Alaplaya/P7S1 who seem to be doing everything they can to salvage this deal while SOE says little.
--------------------------
I just wanted to say something about a difference I have seen in the EQ2 Community now, vs two years ago.
It seems at this point, any serious discussion about EQ2 issues only happen once a year — in the hallways and bars of a Las Vegas hotel. I'm talking about Fan Faire. The rest of the year, we get a few platitudes and reassurances and LARPing. I do not feel that 15 minute webcasts replace community interaction which has been sorely lacking on the EQ2 side.
The lack of community involvement in EQ2 has turned the EQ2 community against SOE so strongly that developers I’ve talked to fear to post because everything will be twisted and misinterpreted. Developers are afraid to post because Community won’t have their back.
Right now, every time a controversy comes up, the EQ2 Community Team seem genuinely shocked at player response. It takes hours/days for any kind of response, usually “We’re talking to the top people and will get back to you if we have something to report.” I feel the role of a EQ2 Community Manager is to be PROACTIVE and aware of issues that are coming which will affect players, and then have a response ready to COINCIDE with the announcement.
It’s long since time to go back to some version of the semi-monthly Developer chats, or a semi-monthly list of Developer questions (they can be edited for snark). Right now, MONTHS go by with hardly any news, so we think nothing is happening. There is a thought process settling in at SOE that NOT responding to players is safer than responding. This is not healthy.
I have to say that it scares me that, while all this was going on behind the scenes and deals were being made, that nobody, not one single person at Sony, appears to have stepped up and said "Hey -- wait a minute...has anyone thought about what the players will think about this? Do we even KNOW these people we're dealing with?"
I mean seriously, Sony people aren't nitwits by design, they're smart people...surely they can use Google and fish up the same links to info that we the userbase have provided on this thread, about Alaplaya's deplorable reputation in the gaming community among other issues. It doesn't take a lot of work to make a fake account, and surreptitiously strike up in a convo in 1-9 or 80-89 about this sort of thing, and just get an unscientific feel of what the community would think.
How is it that nobody did the research? Hello? Sony? John? Anyone?
100%, John. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of your user base is against this move. You can't tell me you guys didn't think about this.
You can't get 100% of any group to agree that it's sunny outside, even if they were all standing together looking up! Doesn't that say something to you about the wisdom of this decision?

OK I got to speak up now about this. Did you play swg. I did in fact after we got the NGE I came over to eq2 full time. I went to fainfare 2006 to be at the SWG summit in Atlanta. We were all allowed to get up and ask a question. I asked. Did you not know this was going to happen the 90% player base drop off? Smedley himself said and I quote "We expected some player drop off with any decision folks will leave it was bound to happen; but we are convinced we did the right thing." Followed by most of the room yelling boo. With the exception of the one guy who tried to assault smedley and had to be escorted out of the hotel by security. Years later Smedley finally admitted that it was a mistake.

My entire point is to illustrate how there has been a disconnect between the folks running things at soe, and the player base. The main problem is and has been lack of communication between the player base and the community. In fact the past year or so it has gotten worse, I will point at some of the things said on twitter and face book about the player base. The real problem is as what feldon was saying as well, is things are so bad they have not got a clue what the player base wants, or needs anymore.

So now here we are again they are making decisions without thinking about the consequences, and now they are scrambling around trying to put a cork in a boat that has a screen door.

So how do we fix this, I don't know if it can be fixed. This is kind of like the NGE is such a masive screw up that it might not can be fixed you just have to move forward. I liked Feldon's idea's but it might be to little to late.

Eroks · 02-24-2012, 09:50 AM

[email protected] wrote:

My husband and I have both just cancelled our going on 4-year subscriptions.
For us, the damage is done. Removing the region-locking or even reversing the whole deal will not change anything. We refuse to give a single cent to a company that deals in such a despicable and underhand way. We will not buy any game or product from Sony again, ever.
What I really don't understand is why anyone would even consider paying for a subscription on the US servers to stay with SOE when they have already sold you off to someone else for cash...but you're willing to give them a 2nd load of cash for the privilage to play on their servers??! Isn't that called 'double-dipping' on their part? I start to wonder whether they actually counted on that happening. And better yet, why not give them even more cash to transfer all your characters and guilds to their servers?? Unbelievable!

U are absolutly right. Couldn't agree more but... I love this game and so do others.I have a 1 year sub active and I won't see any refund so if I love the game and I can move my toons over to a US Server and keep playing under that 1 year sub then that's what I will do.

However... I will never pay SOE a cent ever again. When that sub is over and if I can't get GCs in game I'm done with it that assuming I'll still be playing in a year from ofc.

I'm a players since launch and I have 9x 90 and 3x86 toons. I call that a lot to loose but... I agree with u 100%.

Wirewhisker · 02-24-2012, 09:55 AM

isest wrote:

OK I got to speak up now about this. Did you play swg. I did in fact after we got the NGE I came over to eq2 full time. I went to fainfare 2006 to be at the SWG summit in Atlanta. We were all allowed to get up and ask a question. I asked. Did you not know this was going to happen the 90% player base drop off? Smedley himself said and I quote "We expected some player drop off with any decision folks will leave it was bound to happen; but we are convinced we did the right thing." Followed by most of the room yelling boo. With the exception of the one guy who tried to assault smedley and had to be escorted out of the hotel by security. Years later Smedley finally admitted that it was a mistake.

No, I did not play SWG. I've been in the Everquest franchise (1 and 2) since the Kunark launch of EQ1.

Thanks for sharing your experience though.

02-24-2012, 08:28 AM	#1921
Kerane Loremaster Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 126	[email protected] Bayle wrote: [email protected] Bayle wrote: feldon30 wrote: Again bravo to Alaplaya/P7S1 who seem to be doing everything they can to salvage this deal while SOE says little. -------------------------- I just wanted to say something about a difference I have seen in the EQ2 Community now, vs two years ago. It seems at this point, any serious discussion about EQ2 issues only happen once a year — in the hallways and bars of a Las Vegas hotel. I'm talking about Fan Faire. The rest of the year, we get a few platitudes and reassurances and LARPing. I do not feel that 15 minute webcasts replace community interaction which has been sorely lacking on the EQ2 side. The lack of community involvement in EQ2 has turned the EQ2 community against SOE so strongly that developers I’ve talked to fear to post because everything will be twisted and misinterpreted. Developers are afraid to post because Community won’t have their back. Right now, every time a controversy comes up, the EQ2 Community Team seem genuinely shocked at player response. It takes hours/days for any kind of response, usually “We’re talking to the top people and will get back to you if we have something to report.” I feel the role of a EQ2 Community Manager is to be PROACTIVE and aware of issues that are coming which will affect players, and then have a response ready to COINCIDE with the announcement. It’s long since time to go back to some version of the semi-monthly Developer chats, or a semi-monthly list of Developer questions (they can be edited for snark). Right now, MONTHS go by with hardly any news, so we think nothing is happening. There is a thought process settling in at SOE that NOT responding to players is safer than responding. This is not healthy. I have to say that it scares me that, while all this was going on behind the scenes and deals were being made, that nobody, not one single person at Sony, appears to have stepped up and said "Hey -- wait a minute...has anyone thought about what the players will think about this? Do we even KNOW these people we're dealing with?" I mean seriously, Sony people aren't nitwits by design, they're smart people...surely they can use Google and fish up the same links to info that we the userbase have provided on this thread, about Alaplaya's deplorable reputation in the gaming community among other issues. It doesn't take a lot of work to make a fake account, and surreptitiously strike up in a convo in 1-9 or 80-89 about this sort of thing, and just get an unscientific feel of what the community would think. How is it that nobody did the research? Hello? Sony? John? Anyone? 100%, John. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of your user base is against this move. You can't tell me you guys didn't think about this. You can't get 100% of any group to agree that it's sunny outside, even if they were all standing together looking up! Doesn't that say something to you about the wisdom of this decision? Very well said Feldon. This would have been a great time for one of the newly introduced 'In-Game Player Polls' to ask the playerbase what they felt. Alaplaya/prosieben should think about this deal in a different light as well. This would not be the first time a big company sells off their smaller assets to a beginning/smaller company knowing that in a short time the assets would diminish to almost nothing, leaving the younger/ smaller company with a sure loss. Imo it could not happen to a nicer target, but it still is a smelly tactic. SOE gets a profit from selling the EU servers, prosieben ends up with close to nothing. Looking at it from that angle, you just have to say well played to SOE, well played, but still a dirty tactic. __________________

02-24-2012, 08:35 AM	#1923
Dragoneyes Server: Splitpaw Guild: Severance Rank: Keeper of The Word Loremaster Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Oxfordshire UK Posts: 137	Just some information about payments and who stores it.. Re: SOE / ProSiebenSat1 Games partnership FAQ by Protagonist » Fri Feb 24, 2012 8:55 am Additional detail: We do NOT store any payment informations at all in our Database. So it is per se safe as we don´t have them. I asked who has the payment details and it's the payment company we go through ie paypal ect ect .So they do not hold any of our payment details at all. Re: SOE / ProSiebenSat1 Games partnership FAQ by Protagonist » Fri Feb 24, 2012 12:11 pm Payment details: If something gets stored than only by the payment operator itself. So I guess this clears up all the peeps who are worried about CC/payment information ect. DE __________________ SOE please Engage Brain before you do anything more stupid ...most of us are paying customers ..if that means anything to you...oh wait

02-24-2012, 08:37 AM	#1924
Zorastiz Server: Antonia Bayle Guild: Dressed To Kill Rank: Prince of Darkness Loremaster Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 955	Piestro wrote: 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 I'll believe it when I see it. __________________

02-24-2012, 08:43 AM	#1925
Nakaru-Nitepaw Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 596	Neave wrote: Trevynoae wrote: Maybe I am plain stupid or have no idea or whatever. Why can other companies do it - but SOE and P7 seem to have a problem? You could login with whatever account you have! The company you have the account with you pay. Done. P7S1 promotes their accounts - SOE theirs. Done. SOE sells SC to a P7S1 accountee? Well - P7S1 gets most of the money. Done. Uploaded with ImageShack.us ^ This would be a good start. I sense some announcement over region locking alone though. I will only be renewing if I can still pay via Sony. That is a MAJOR issue for me. They could have done this ENTIRE thing invisibly to the end-user, in fact. Another Example of things being done right would be; Fallen Earth ftp was just added to steam, and they provided a way for you to link your steam account to your gamersfirst account, so you can basically use either one of them to log into your characters. __________________

02-24-2012, 08:43 AM	#1926
Zorastiz Server: Antonia Bayle Guild: Dressed To Kill Rank: Prince of Darkness Loremaster Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 955	[email protected] Bayle wrote: [email protected] Bayle wrote: feldon30 wrote: Again bravo to Alaplaya/P7S1 who seem to be doing everything they can to salvage this deal while SOE says little. -------------------------- I just wanted to say something about a difference I have seen in the EQ2 Community now, vs two years ago. It seems at this point, any serious discussion about EQ2 issues only happen once a year — in the hallways and bars of a Las Vegas hotel. I'm talking about Fan Faire. The rest of the year, we get a few platitudes and reassurances and LARPing. I do not feel that 15 minute webcasts replace community interaction which has been sorely lacking on the EQ2 side. The lack of community involvement in EQ2 has turned the EQ2 community against SOE so strongly that developers I’ve talked to fear to post because everything will be twisted and misinterpreted. Developers are afraid to post because Community won’t have their back. Right now, every time a controversy comes up, the EQ2 Community Team seem genuinely shocked at player response. It takes hours/days for any kind of response, usually “We’re talking to the top people and will get back to you if we have something to report.” I feel the role of a EQ2 Community Manager is to be PROACTIVE and aware of issues that are coming which will affect players, and then have a response ready to COINCIDE with the announcement. It’s long since time to go back to some version of the semi-monthly Developer chats, or a semi-monthly list of Developer questions (they can be edited for snark). Right now, MONTHS go by with hardly any news, so we think nothing is happening. There is a thought process settling in at SOE that NOT responding to players is safer than responding. This is not healthy. I have to say that it scares me that, while all this was going on behind the scenes and deals were being made, that nobody, not one single person at Sony, appears to have stepped up and said "Hey -- wait a minute...has anyone thought about what the players will think about this? Do we even KNOW these people we're dealing with?" Very well said Feldon. This would have been a great time for one of the newly introduced 'In-Game Player Polls' to ask the playerbase what they felt. Feldon, it's because they don't care about what we have to say, they don't care that we, many of us have been customers for over a decade, they don't care about any of that, we do not matter, their pocketbooks and bonuses matter, that's all. __________________

02-24-2012, 08:31 AM	#1922
Fulensticx Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 2	One of the funniest thing about this whole tread , is that all resarch about things happening is comming from us EQ2 community and not a single answer from SOE HERE! John writes on his twitter page and not here in this thread ,the info comes from Feldon and other eq2 players thats copying and pasteing things here . Ppl searching all over the net for getting some kind of decent answer of wots going on ,how could this happen etc. And the longer the wait more ppl will drop , even if they are affraid i think its time to step up and talk some!!!! and the little that gets out is not even from SOE its from the new partners .

02-24-2012, 08:45 AM	#1927
Guyver24 Loremaster Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 51	Paqo wrote: How things are for me right now: 1. i feel that i'm expendable and unwanted in EQ by SOE, you know the feeling when you try to hit a merchant ingame and they don't give you a choice, they just say in 3rd person "this merchant doesn't want your business" 2. no matter what the outcome is, this feeling won't go away, if people didn't react enough to make them delay and "read and discuss" this issue, they'd have given us the boot with a twist. 3. to me that whole "awww we listen to you and we are the only ones who reply to you" from the german company, could very well be a trick for us to just think it's better there cause "hey! they care there!" so we can stop "reacting" and just go already. 4. i'm very well aware that this is not a democracy, it's a private company making a living for the employees and a fat wallet for the heads, cause this is how all private companies are, it's just weird to have my money taken and then tossed away like it was nothing I don't know what else to say.. I'm just keeping on playing till i feel i got my money's worth for the last expansion (no more SC purchases or whatever they release) and then i'll cancel my sub and move on with the rest that already did, unless i get kicked out from AB before that. Well said... I think people are grasping at straws now (can you say that in english?), looking for even a slight possibility to stay in the game/community that they love (PSS1 is nice when we talk to them etc). Nothing unusual in that, and I'm doing it myself tbh... and hate myself for it This reaction from the community, can not in any way be a shock for SOE, so it's a calculated risc they took, and it blew up in their face in the worst possible way... I still can find any good reasons for me to resub tbh... other than wanting to play with friends, that probably quits anyway... My heart says yes, but my mind says no... enough is enough...

02-24-2012, 08:53 AM	#1928
Ahazul Loremaster Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 3	ranga wrote: Brasse, I think you are all missing the point. Giving ground on segregation is only fixing a small part of the problem, you need, really NEED to understand that this is not about SOE wanting to sell Euros to P7S1, it's not about P7S1 wanting to buy your portfolio, it really is about US not wanting anything to do with P7S1, we don't want segregation, we don't want their rubbish EMO P2W SC items, we don't want their hands on the loot tables so they take all the good stuff out and sell it to us, we don't want them having our personal and financial info, WE DON'T WANT THEM PERIOD. To reiterate, there is NOTHING in this deal for US. Every day you don't back out from this is another nail in the coffin. Make no mistake, *this is not just about segregation*. Totally agree with it. Ahazul

02-24-2012, 08:56 AM	#1929
Bekkr Tester Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Sydney Posts: 208	feldon30 wrote: The lack of community involvement in EQ2 has turned the EQ2 community against SOE so strongly that developers I’ve talked to fear to post because everything will be twisted and misinterpreted. Developers are afraid to post because Community won’t have their back. Right now, every time a controversy comes up, the EQ2 Community Team seem genuinely shocked at player response. It takes hours/days for any kind of response, usually “We’re talking to the top people and will get back to you if we have something to report.” I feel the role of a EQ2 Community Manager is to be PROACTIVE and aware of issues that are coming which will affect players, and then have a response ready to COINCIDE with the announcement. It’s long since time to go back to some version of the semi-monthly Developer chats, or a semi-monthly list of Developer questions (they can be edited for snark). Right now, MONTHS go by with hardly any news, so we think nothing is happening. There is a thought process settling in at SOE that NOT responding to players is safer than responding. This is not healthy. That's very well put, but I wonder if those same devs are aware of why the situation is like this. It seems like it would have been a pretty easy thing to rectify initially when it started to become a problem. This head in the sand, fingers in the ears type of management has always annoyed me about SOE. Thankfully I no longer have to put up with it.

02-24-2012, 08:57 AM	#1930
Yadarya Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 20	Just out of curiosity, how long has it been that we have not been able to change user details related to Country/currency? I have addresses on both sides of the pond, and have paid my account through the years from both billing addresses. I have a split in my family's accounts (some being flagged euro and some us). Oh forget it, couple days of gut wrenching angst and accounts cancelled. There is going to have to be some miracle for us to return at this point.

02-24-2012, 09:04 AM	#1931
Seffrid Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 583	I think it's important for SOE to realise that removing the regional locking will not resolve the issue if it leaves players still having to play the game through ProSieben. Many of us clearly will have nothing to do with that company because of its reputation while others will take the view that they have been second-rate customers in other games too many times to fall for it again. Delayed updates, inferior content, inadequate support and a total divorce from the development team are things previously endured in EQ with Ubisoft, DDO/LoTRO with Codemasters, and DAoC/WAR with GOA, and players simply won't accept it again here or in EQ Next. The only effective solution is to allow all players to choose whether to play through SOE or ProSieben and then to honour that choice fully. If I choose to play through SOE and they want to pass on some or all of my subscription to ProSieben that's fine by me, it's between them, but I will neither create an account with ProSieben nor play through SOE on ProSieben's servers or under ProSieben's game management.

02-24-2012, 09:14 AM	#1932
dawy Loremaster Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,373	Seffrid wrote: I think it's important for SOE to realise that removing the regional locking will not resolve the issue if it leaves players still having to play the game through ProSieben. Many of us clearly will have nothing to do with that company because of its reputation while others will take the view that they have been second-rate customers in other games too many times to fall for it again. Delayed updates, inferior content, inadequate support and a total divorce from the development team are things previously endured in EQ with Ubisoft, DDO/LoTRO with Codemasters, and DAoC/WAR with GOA, and players simply won't accept it again here or in EQ Next. The only effective solution is to allow all players to choose whether to play through SOE or ProSieben and then to honour that choice fully. If I choose to play through SOE and they want to pass on some or all of my subscription to ProSieben that's fine by me, it's between them, but I will neither create an account with ProSieben nor play through SOE on ProSieben's servers under ProSieben's game management. Exactlly i will not pay through Pro7 its thats simple i do not trust this company and after the hacking mess of last year SOE only have my trust becuase my bank know who they are and if the worst happens i could claim back easyily enough would the same be said of Pro 7? very doubtful in my eyes and frankly im not in a rush to find out either

02-24-2012, 09:14 AM	#1933
Ratzle Guardian Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 8	rrubbadub wrote: I used to play EQ 2, till I took ProSiebenSat arrow to the knee. I am still laughing at this post lol Thank you Rrubbadub laughing made me feel much better. Welcome Piestro, i met you before in EQ 1 and know you will do a fine job here Warden by the way

02-24-2012, 09:17 AM	#1934
Beagley Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 81	Wonder what the "make good" gift will be this time? How about a pair of spangly red shoes that you could click your heels together and return to the server of your choice? /sarcasm off Hoping to hear something concrete soon. One of my 12 month gold would resub is in the first week of March and there is no way in (warm sulphur smelling place) that I'm going to resub with this fiasco going on and all of the questions in this "feedback" thread unanswered. To be honest, if I unsub one account I may as well do the same with all my other accounts too because its hard to get the enthusiasm to continue with some of your favourite toons exiled off and unplayable. To be blunt, I haven't had the appetite to play EQ2 at all in the last three days and haven't logged in since this disasterous announcement. I have however got used to a rather new game that seems to be in a galaxy far, far from here which I've tried using a game card. If the SOE responses go the way I fear, I suspect it will end up being my new game of choice and that will be where my recreational subscription monies will flow rather than into SOE's (and definately not P7S's) coffers.

02-24-2012, 09:18 AM	#1935
maieken Loremaster Join Date: May 2006 Location: France Posts: 25	[email protected] Bayle wrote: Feldon, it's because they don't care about what we have to say, they don't care that we, many of us have been customers for over a decade, they don't care about any of that, we do not matter, their pocketbooks and bonuses matter, that's all. You're right Zorastiz. Don't forget all Sony is a Corporation, such a so big thing as licensing an multi-million dollar IP franchise like EQ2 is only allowed if the corp HQ staff authorize it. And if they authorize it, remember "customer rights" in a corp is only to buy (or not) their products, nothing else.

02-24-2012, 09:18 AM	#1936
Revman Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 99	OE-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 Translation: people will simmer down over the weekend. It's actually already starting... [email protected] wrote: At least people at PSS1 care enough to give answers. And btw Protagonist is on of the 3 managing directors in PSS1, so I think we can trust his words. I have to say, that I feel like SOE betrayed my trust, but I have a good feelings now about PSS1. From what we spoke with them yesterday on chat, they seemed reasonable and really hoped to solve this all mess. Good news is, they have better payment system than SOE. We pointed to error PT-530 - well known problem with payments that EU players have. They said, they have several (not one, like SOE) payment companies they use, so there shouldn't be problem with that. Also we throwed an idea of having something similar to Fan Faire but in Europe It's not that easy to solve that problem - business and technical wise. And its very, very bad for customers. The good thing is PSS1 is talking about it with us. The deal is done, but details of some things can still be discussed. If you have any questions, just ask them here http://en.alaplaya.net/forum/genera...aq-t492961.html. You can also join IRC channel (server: irc.euirc.net channel: #alaplaya.en ) and ask directly PSS1 staff. At least you will get some answers, not like with SOE. feldon30 wrote: Again bravo to Alaplaya/P7S1 who seem to be doing everything they can to salvage this deal while SOE says little. SOE lost some accounts, Alaplaya lost a boatload. Alaplaya will tell you anything you want to hear. They're the ones looking to lose a lot through this transaction as it has become a PR nightmare. You don't ask for feedback after the fact, it's pointless that way.

02-24-2012, 09:18 AM	#1937
Eroks Loremaster Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 14	I just this brilliant ideia. SOE / ProSiebenSat.1: Go on with ur Region Locking and sell Region UnLockers to players!!Those last from a week to a month. U guys will make a fortune! __________________ Berserker 90 - Carpenter 90 \| Defiler 90 - Sage 90 \| Warlock 90 - Alchemist 30 Shadowknight 90 - Armourer 34 \| Troubador 90 - Master Provisioner 90 \| Necromancer 90 Bruiser 90 \| Fury 90 \| Coercer 90 \| Beastlord 86 \| Ranger 86 \| Swashbuckler 86

02-24-2012, 09:19 AM	#1938
luckydogxl Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: England Posts: 5	SOE or anyone can you please answer the following. 1) Will old long standing customers of SOE be given free server transfer rights in the following instances? a) US customers with EU characters b) EU customers with US and EU characters that have no intention of playing under new prosieben servers 2) Will EU customers with current US toons be able to reject joining new company and still play there US toons on SOE account. At the end of the day I understand SOE is a business and has to make money but I will not sign a deal with prosieben for a game I have played since launch and I expect sony to respect that. If answer to the above questions is no then out of respect please tell us sooner rather then later. Setup a few farewell events or somthing so we as players can say our goodbyes to a game we have loved since launch and move on together, just please at least show us all that much respect.

02-24-2012, 09:19 AM	#1939
SpeedyGonzales Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 69	Seffrid wrote: I think it's important for SOE to realise that removing the regional locking will not resolve the issue if it leaves players still having to play the game through ProSieben. Many of us clearly will have nothing to do with that company because of its reputation while others will take the view that they have been second-rate customers in other games too many times to fall for it again. Delayed updates, inferior content, inadequate support and a total divorce from the development team are things previously endured in EQ with Ubisoft, DDO/LoTRO with Codemasters, and DAoC/WAR with GOA, and players simply won't accept it again here or in EQ Next. The only effective solution is to allow all players to choose whether to play through SOE or ProSieben and then to honour that choice fully. If I choose to play through SOE and they want to pass on some or all of my subscription to ProSieben that's fine by me, it's between them, but I will neither create an account with ProSieben nor play through SOE on ProSieben's servers or under ProSieben's game management. That is 100% what i was thinking, thank you for writing down my thoughts

02-24-2012, 09:22 AM	#1940
Shiruki Loremaster Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 33	[email protected] wrote: [email protected] wrote: From what we spoke with them yesterday on chat, they seemed reasonable and really hoped to solve this all mess. At least you will get some answers, not like with SOE. Call me cynical........ Surely they are prepared to say anything and behave in a manner that draws us in only to let us down further down the road, just a thought. At the end of the day they are trying to protect their investement and imo are willing to do anything to placate the masses. +1 Cf their announcement when the deal was first announced in January : The official comment from ProSiebenSat.1 on segregation - "We do not think about a transfer of US server chars from EU costumers in Eq2. That should solve the biggest worries the EQ2 community has at the moment. We do not want to interfere with long build ingame relationships. This is the current way we think about it." I guess the "current" tends to evolve pretty quickly with them...considering their website, the amount and nature of the complaints in their forums, their adverstiement asking for 16 years oold (!!!!) to moderate their games and all : I refuse to deal with them and become their customer. EVER. Plain and simple.

02-24-2012, 09:25 AM	#1941
isest Loremaster Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 653	Piestro wrote: 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 Thanks for posting that. Just for the record you might want to float this back up to the hire ups. Nobody I know wants to deal with the PS1 guys, they publish your account info on the web and all kinds of stuff. I for one would not want to touch this company. I get they are working on a plan, but the plan should be backing out of the deal, as nobody wants it.

02-24-2012, 09:30 AM	#1942
Guyver24 Loremaster Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 51	Revman wrote: OE-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 Translation: people will simmer down over the weekend. It's actually already starting... Yeah... people looking for excuses to keep playing... terrible tbh doing exactly what SOE hoped they would Means Pro7 can do whatever they want with the remaining playerbase, they'll keep playing no matter what... And then, the reason for not answering anything in here becomes crystal clear... let the rage go on, and we can start answering/communicating when people have simmered down, looking for solutions to the problems created by SOE... The community have no memory, and will accept anything as brilliant on Monday, because they need their EQ2 fix...

02-24-2012, 09:41 AM	#1943
Paqo Guardian Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 14	I don't think people are simmering down or will, they just said what they had to say and now just wait to see how much more it will suck from monday. To contribute my own trolling i'd rename the company Hoover Online Entertainment, that's how much they suck. __________________ another day \| another froak

02-24-2012, 09:41 AM	#1944
Tuval Server: Splitpaw Guild: Taudia Dikana Rank: Leader Loremaster Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2	My husband and I have both just cancelled our going on 4-year subscriptions. For us, the damage is done. Removing the region-locking or even reversing the whole deal will not change anything. We refuse to give a single cent to a company that deals in such a despicable and underhand way. We will not buy any game or product from Sony again, ever. What I really don't understand is why anyone would even consider paying for a subscription on the US servers to stay with SOE when they have already sold you off to someone else for cash...but you're willing to give them a 2nd load of cash for the privilage to play on their servers??! Isn't that called 'double-dipping' on their part? I start to wonder whether they actually counted on that happening. And better yet, why not give them even more cash to transfer all your characters and guilds to their servers?? Unbelievable!

02-24-2012, 09:45 AM	#1945
Guyver24 Loremaster Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 51	@Tuval: My feelings exactly I even regret that I bought a Sony videocam last spring, and a Sony blu-ray player... it's the last Sony stuff I'll ever buy.

02-24-2012, 09:48 AM	#1946
dawy Loremaster Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,373	Revman wrote: OE-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 Translation: people will simmer down over the weekend. It's actually already starting... [email protected] wrote: At least people at PSS1 care enough to give answers. And btw Protagonist is on of the 3 managing directors in PSS1, so I think we can trust his words. I have to say, that I feel like SOE betrayed my trust, but I have a good feelings now about PSS1. From what we spoke with them yesterday on chat, they seemed reasonable and really hoped to solve this all mess. Good news is, they have better payment system than SOE. We pointed to error PT-530 - well known problem with payments that EU players have. They said, they have several (not one, like SOE) payment companies they use, so there shouldn't be problem with that. Also we throwed an idea of having something similar to Fan Faire but in Europe It's not that easy to solve that problem - business and technical wise. And its very, very bad for customers. The good thing is PSS1 is talking about it with us. The deal is done, but details of some things can still be discussed. If you have any questions, just ask them here http://en.alaplaya.net/forum/genera...aq-t492961.html. You can also join IRC channel (server: irc.euirc.net channel: #alaplaya.en ) and ask directly PSS1 staff. At least you will get some answers, not like with SOE. feldon30 wrote: Again bravo to Alaplaya/P7S1 who seem to be doing everything they can to salvage this deal while SOE says little. SOE lost some accounts, Alaplaya lost a boatload. Alaplaya will tell you anything you want to hear. They're the ones looking to lose a lot through this transaction as it has become a PR nightmare. You don't ask for feedback after the fact, it's pointless that way. Agreed,sorry im not going to be swayed by words from someone on a forum who could be lets fair about it the cleaning woman you know what i'm james cameron (i'm watching titanic atm) im not but its so easy to type nonsense on the net seriously people need to realise Pro 7 are telling people what they want to hear and i'm sorry i may be cynical but i aint falling for it.

02-24-2012, 09:48 AM	#1947
Netty Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 227	Scraping the deal is what would save the most players really. I dont know a singel soul that want or are planing to move over to pro7. Fixing the region locks wont do much at all as many have said its only a small part of the problem. If this stay we will have 2 diff games kinda much. Since pro7 own the EU side they can do what ever they like on it. Those that are claiming they are not effect should rethink. Soe you have crossed the line here and your way of hoping to fix it is just getting rid of region locks? Alot of ppl that havent quit at this very moment will do so if this is not scrapt.

02-24-2012, 09:49 AM	#1948
isest Loremaster Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 653	[email protected] Bayle wrote: feldon30 wrote: Again bravo to Alaplaya/P7S1 who seem to be doing everything they can to salvage this deal while SOE says little. -------------------------- I just wanted to say something about a difference I have seen in the EQ2 Community now, vs two years ago. It seems at this point, any serious discussion about EQ2 issues only happen once a year — in the hallways and bars of a Las Vegas hotel. I'm talking about Fan Faire. The rest of the year, we get a few platitudes and reassurances and LARPing. I do not feel that 15 minute webcasts replace community interaction which has been sorely lacking on the EQ2 side. The lack of community involvement in EQ2 has turned the EQ2 community against SOE so strongly that developers I’ve talked to fear to post because everything will be twisted and misinterpreted. Developers are afraid to post because Community won’t have their back. Right now, every time a controversy comes up, the EQ2 Community Team seem genuinely shocked at player response. It takes hours/days for any kind of response, usually “We’re talking to the top people and will get back to you if we have something to report.” I feel the role of a EQ2 Community Manager is to be PROACTIVE and aware of issues that are coming which will affect players, and then have a response ready to COINCIDE with the announcement. It’s long since time to go back to some version of the semi-monthly Developer chats, or a semi-monthly list of Developer questions (they can be edited for snark). Right now, MONTHS go by with hardly any news, so we think nothing is happening. There is a thought process settling in at SOE that NOT responding to players is safer than responding. This is not healthy. I have to say that it scares me that, while all this was going on behind the scenes and deals were being made, that nobody, not one single person at Sony, appears to have stepped up and said "Hey -- wait a minute...has anyone thought about what the players will think about this? Do we even KNOW these people we're dealing with?" I mean seriously, Sony people aren't nitwits by design, they're smart people...surely they can use Google and fish up the same links to info that we the userbase have provided on this thread, about Alaplaya's deplorable reputation in the gaming community among other issues. It doesn't take a lot of work to make a fake account, and surreptitiously strike up in a convo in 1-9 or 80-89 about this sort of thing, and just get an unscientific feel of what the community would think. How is it that nobody did the research? Hello? Sony? John? Anyone? 100%, John. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of your user base is against this move. You can't tell me you guys didn't think about this. You can't get 100% of any group to agree that it's sunny outside, even if they were all standing together looking up! Doesn't that say something to you about the wisdom of this decision? OK I got to speak up now about this. Did you play swg. I did in fact after we got the NGE I came over to eq2 full time. I went to fainfare 2006 to be at the SWG summit in Atlanta. We were all allowed to get up and ask a question. I asked. Did you not know this was going to happen the 90% player base drop off? Smedley himself said and I quote "We expected some player drop off with any decision folks will leave it was bound to happen; but we are convinced we did the right thing." Followed by most of the room yelling boo. With the exception of the one guy who tried to assault smedley and had to be escorted out of the hotel by security. Years later Smedley finally admitted that it was a mistake. My entire point is to illustrate how there has been a disconnect between the folks running things at soe, and the player base. The main problem is and has been lack of communication between the player base and the community. In fact the past year or so it has gotten worse, I will point at some of the things said on twitter and face book about the player base. The real problem is as what feldon was saying as well, is things are so bad they have not got a clue what the player base wants, or needs anymore. So now here we are again they are making decisions without thinking about the consequences, and now they are scrambling around trying to put a cork in a boat that has a screen door. So how do we fix this, I don't know if it can be fixed. This is kind of like the NGE is such a masive screw up that it might not can be fixed you just have to move forward. I liked Feldon's idea's but it might be to little to late.

02-24-2012, 09:50 AM	#1949
Eroks Loremaster Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 14	[email protected] wrote: My husband and I have both just cancelled our going on 4-year subscriptions. For us, the damage is done. Removing the region-locking or even reversing the whole deal will not change anything. We refuse to give a single cent to a company that deals in such a despicable and underhand way. We will not buy any game or product from Sony again, ever. What I really don't understand is why anyone would even consider paying for a subscription on the US servers to stay with SOE when they have already sold you off to someone else for cash...but you're willing to give them a 2nd load of cash for the privilage to play on their servers??! Isn't that called 'double-dipping' on their part? I start to wonder whether they actually counted on that happening. And better yet, why not give them even more cash to transfer all your characters and guilds to their servers?? Unbelievable! U are absolutly right. Couldn't agree more but... I love this game and so do others.I have a 1 year sub active and I won't see any refund so if I love the game and I can move my toons over to a US Server and keep playing under that 1 year sub then that's what I will do. However... I will never pay SOE a cent ever again. When that sub is over and if I can't get GCs in game I'm done with it that assuming I'll still be playing in a year from ofc. I'm a players since launch and I have 9x 90 and 3x86 toons. I call that a lot to loose but... I agree with u 100%. __________________ Berserker 90 - Carpenter 90 \| Defiler 90 - Sage 90 \| Warlock 90 - Alchemist 30 Shadowknight 90 - Armourer 34 \| Troubador 90 - Master Provisioner 90 \| Necromancer 90 Bruiser 90 \| Fury 90 \| Coercer 90 \| Beastlord 86 \| Ranger 86 \| Swashbuckler 86

02-24-2012, 09:55 AM	#1950
Wirewhisker Server: Antonia Bayle Guild: Collateral Damage Rank: Leader Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 582	isest wrote: OK I got to speak up now about this. Did you play swg. I did in fact after we got the NGE I came over to eq2 full time. I went to fainfare 2006 to be at the SWG summit in Atlanta. We were all allowed to get up and ask a question. I asked. Did you not know this was going to happen the 90% player base drop off? Smedley himself said and I quote "We expected some player drop off with any decision folks will leave it was bound to happen; but we are convinced we did the right thing." Followed by most of the room yelling boo. With the exception of the one guy who tried to assault smedley and had to be escorted out of the hotel by security. Years later Smedley finally admitted that it was a mistake. No, I did not play SWG. I've been in the Everquest franchise (1 and 2) since the Kunark launch of EQ1. Thanks for sharing your experience though.