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Everquest 2 Premium Services Preview
Anonymous Coward writes "SOE has launched a beta preview of their EQ2 Premium Player Services, for current Beta Players. There are a few articles available that describe the services at GamePro, IGN, and GamerGod." An interesting feature, the services include guild websites, character stats, tons of in-game information, and leader boards. Probably part of their final gear up for the November 8th ship date.
And really will aid in the retention of players. A lot of the interaction and interest that keeps me playing my games is the friends that I game with . Our guild has it's own similar services, but many people don't have the technical ability to do such a thing themselves.
I hope WoW will offer a competitive service.
I know that a lot of small businesses where started offering services such as this to the exact same market. I am sure they aren't happy to see Sony jump right into their space.
SOE is releasing an unfinished game!
Bold prediction: Worse launch than Anarchy Online.
I wish all the luck to SOE and the people that buy and play EQ2, but the simple fact is, this game is in NO shape to ship yet. This in fact is in worse shape than SWG was when it shipped, and you know how that fiasco finally turned out, they're STILL trying to fix things in it.
Honestly, they need at LEAST another 6 months on this game before shipping. But we all know it's marketing that's forcing them to ship early.
Again, I wish the best, but be warned.
"Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
I subscribed to the Legends service for about a year. Part of the higher cost was a similar online service--showing what zones you'd travelled to, where you were currently camped, and a character info page showing your stats and gear.
The website was frequently down. Even when it worked properly, The page was a disappointment. Item stats weren't given (part of the Vision, I guess), and the character info took at least 15 minutes to update after your logoff, if ever.
What's really mind-boggling is that the Magelo service (www.magelo.com), a free third party application, is much, MUCH better than SOE's own Legends page. You can either update your character manually, or capture your char and new items by running the autoupdater in the background. Within days or weeks of each new expansion, Magelo's character database is updated with new character attributes, etc.
If the EQII premium services are as bad as Legends, I can only think that SOE will get far worse press. Legends was restricted to less than 5% of the EQ community; EQII's premium services are targetted at the entire population. I really hope they've learned from their EQ1 v. Magelo experience.
http://www.thottbot.com/
:P).
Check it out, it's already done for FREE in WoW by the most dedicated guild out there from EQ, Afterlife. Not only does Thot have a good system up and running with this program, he has WAY more stat tracking and creativity than SOE ever showed, and his dedication to games along with his technical skills outweighs anything they can throw his way (except maybe a couple million dollars
That's right, ONE person outdid all that SOE is trying to do at the last minute (copycat of what he already did if you ask me).
Let me just say I think this site is great! It's got a ton of neat stats and useful information, including listings of every item found in the game, and the first person to find it.
r .vm?characterId=121640001
You can also chat with people in game, both via your guild channel, and also via tells (private messages).
I am a bit concerned about the update rate, as my character's information hasn't updated since the 24th, but I suspect this will be worked out. It's still in beta. I've seen a few other minor glitches too, such as spelling the name of the class one of my characters is (coercer, not coercor), but I'm not concerned about it.
Here's one of my beta characters:
http://eq2players-beta.station.sony.com/en/pplaye
Just want to say that the Norwegian Telecommunications Administration has been sniffing my but very often lately.
They better stop that, or they will be VERY SORRY!!!
128.39.XX.XX
I was in the tech-test for WoW a while ago and I think a lot of people are going to be disappointed when it finally appears. Don't get me wrong, it's by no means bad, but it isn't anything special. I found the combat rather flat and uninteresting compared to other MMORPGs I've played (especially FFXI), the economy rather dull and the interface a long way from perfect (although I don't think any MMORPG has managed a really good interface yet).
More damningly, the game has now had so much fanboy-generated hype that it's never going to live up to the expectations of most of the people waiting to play it. I'm sure it will be moderately successful... probably on a par with Galaxies in terms of player numbers, but to dismiss EQ2 out of hand, or write off FFXI (with its current absolutely enormous player base) on the grounds that WoW will be out soon is folly.
This is why I've stopped reading anything about WoW other than release dates and such. I don't want my experience spoiled by all the information that is out there.
Just back up one song from the album, and a text file that says "more shit like this". Think of the space you save -Mant
People play Everquest because it has something FEW games in the entire industry can brag about.
It has a history of people dying, losing jobs, divorcing, suffering from insomnia, and emptying out bank accounts over.
Any game that has this much addiction is worth people's time.
Crack is my favorite game. It does that, and more!
you said it
I *know* that eq2 won't be finished at launch, just like eq1 and swg before it
but I, and my friends, will be there day 1
I only stopped playing cos of needing a rest, we've been drumming fingers in anticipation, even avoiding the beta program so that we aren't jaded
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
SOE is notorious for launching games with content that is not finished or buggy (SWG Launch, EverQuest Expansion end game content, etc.). Blizzard on the other hand is known for at times delaying a game, and then delaying a game again just to work out all the minor bugs.
The question I would like to ask Slashdot readers is if it worth launching a game early, yet buggy to grab a certain market from competition? I know Themis group thinks a poor launch can cost a company millions of dollars http://www.themis-group.com/uploads/Cost%20of%20La unch.xls, but will the benefit of launching early exceed the costs?
Brian Whitener
http://www.gameguidesonline.com/
might as well try heroin too, eh?
people are stupid, stupid people do stupid things. (play everquest)
Sony has made it quite clear with all of their expansions that they were marketing and creating expansions for the "top 10%" of the players. What that ended up doing was leaving the rest of 90% of players in a massive game of "left-overs."
.ini file.
When the "elite" players were all having fun with the new expansion, the "unclean masses" were still trying to complete content that was 2-3 expansions old due to the way the game is programmed. But there was always little tidbits and treats that were included to make sure everyone bought the expansions.
Now Sony Online Entertainment is so desperate for people to buy expansions they put a mandatory splash screen on all log-in accounts saying "Do you want to purchase the new expansion!" with a YES/NO button.. (Which they convieniently move around from left to right). The only way to get rid of the splash screen is to either buy the expansion or hack your
EQ2's graphics are so sub-par to Worlds of Warcraft it is sad. Looking at their demos at every expo/convention always showed them using massive demo hardware stations (Alienware supersystems) and the graphics were still clunky and had noticable artifacts.
Charater modes look like some kid spent 2 hours making all of them in "Poser."
Not to mention that SOE has a track-record for releasing games that are not finished, and horribly laggy. The only thing that has ever not had horrible bugs at SOE is their monthly billing system.
I was in the WoW stress Test beta, and in 10 days I got a single character to 20th level, and 2 others to 10th level. I was amazed at the lack of lag (Even in the stress test when they are TRYING to break the servers, there was very little lag!). The system is fun, inventive, and every class is playable and useful to a group but can still solo play whenever they want.
The only thing I don't know about WoW is the upper level content. But from what I have seen so far, I will be happy to trust that Blizzard has gotten it right the first time, rather then trust Sony Online Entertainment ever again.