News? What news? I’ve been too busy working then playing then working then playing. I don’t need no stinkin’ news!
For the click challenged, EQ2 is going Free to Play. Note that this is NOT the current live-server incarnation — it’s almost an entirely separate game. See:
2. What will happen to the EverQuest II live subscription service?Nothing! The game will persist with no expected changes for its subscribers. SOE will continue to support its loyal EQII customers on the live subscription service with new and exciting game updates as well as expansions. EQII Extended will be managed as a separate game and should not impact the live subscription game.
(Linkage: announcement and FAQ.)
Just as well because until I saw that — and while I still thought this was going to affect the EQ2 game I play — I was more or less frothing at the mouth. Why? Because the “gold” sub at $14.99 offers less than the current live-EQ2 sub of the same price. It’s only a small difference in level cap — which might not bother someone like me, but probably would bother people who actually care about levels.
I’m not entirely sure I get the idea of this other than jumping on the F2P-2010 bandwagon. But hey, if it works, then good for them. The more games we have and the more these games find different ways in which to survive and thrive, the better it’ll be for the gaming community as a whole. There’s a whole possible continuum between Farmville and WoW; let’s find ways to exploit it and get some good games.
Stylish Corpse 
LDL channels were not happy last evening! Will have to wait and see how it all turns out…
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The thing that worries me about it is that you are 100% correct, gold does not offer all that a sub does on the regular servers. The strength of DDO and Wizard 101 is that a sub fee opens up everything you’d expect a sub to open. All the content, all the classes and races. That makes them true hybrids. EQ II is not offering a true hybrid model on their FtP servers. Even at 15 a month, a lot is still locked off. That fact alone makes the doom and gloom Player versus Developer is predicting a lot more likely. If I am picking and choosing, I will most likely pick stuff that makes my solo experience more enjoyable.
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Aye, and the server separation may not be a good thing for the live game, which a lot of people are already predicting. It’s not like the Live servers have been hopping in the last couple of years, with a few exceptions (AB etc.).
Nice idea, badly implemented, I think.
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