Lords of EQ Incentive Plan

Looks like SOE is trying to blackmail people into buying this game.

In order to participate in the special phase of the EverQuest II beta (tentatively scheduled for Spring 2004), players must have an active EverQuest account throughout the special phase of EverQuest II beta. Players who purchase Lords of EverQuest will find an offer inside the box outlining all of the terms and conditions, as well as complete instructions on how to take advantage of this unprecedented offer.

Beta Spring 2004? Wow! This thing was supposed to have a christmas release!

""Unprecedented"" is right.

That is G''damn lame.

Players who purchase Lords of EverQuest and register the game on SOEGames.net (using
their EverQuest account) before 11:59 p.m. PST on January 3, 2004 will be
eligible for a special phase of the EverQuest II beta. Additionally,
current EverQuest players can receive an extra 30 days added on to the end
of their current EverQuest subscription by participating in this promotion
(see details below). Lords of EverQuest is expected to ship to U.S. and
[i]Canadian retail stores on December 2, 2003.

Blackmail: Extortion of money or something else of value from a person by the threat of exposing a criminal act or discreditable information. [/i]

So you get 30 days for free in EQ and a shot at the EQ2 beta this spring. I don''t know, seems fine to me.

Yeah, there''s absolutely nothing wrong with this. It''s a smart marketing move to keep SOE''s titles in the spotlight, as well as promoting new product. It uses their existing player base, and rewards those who''ve been faithful to them. Now, if you couldn''t play EQ2 without having purchased a previous SOE game, I can see how that might ruffle a few feathers, but even then it would just be a blundering move at worst.

This is as much blackmail as raising the price of Warcraft III because it was going to be a popular game was price gouging ... which is to say none at all.

Blackmail: Extortion of money or something else of value from a person by the threat of exposing a criminal act or discreditable information.

Geesh, I try to sensationalize something a bit and get the dictionary thrown at me. Ok I guess it''s more

extortion: Illegal use of one''s official position or powers to obtain property, funds, or patronage.

but I would like to point out that extortion was listed in your definition, and is listed as a synonym for blackmail.

Anyways they don''t seem to have much faith the game will do well at the box office on it''s own merits.

Just thought I would mention that I was not that impressed with Lords of EQ, but I allso was not embarrassed by it. It plays very much like a high quality WC3 clone, in fact I would not be stunned to learn that they licensed the WC3 engine considering how it looks and feels almost identical.

I wonder what the ""special phase"" of the beta is supposed to be? My guess is that it''s probably just a way to show off the ""finished"" product before it ships, you know to get them hooked. ""First taste is always free"" and all that.

If you enjoyed the multiplayer of Warcraft 3, go ahead and get Lords of Everquest. If you happen to despise micromanaging your little soldiers and perhaps the most annoying unit acknowledgements known to man, stay away.

I agree that it is pretty lame, for a few reasons. First of all, people who climb on board for something like this should not be part of the beta. MMOs have enough problems with buggy launches without being beta tested by a bunch of fan-boys. If they wanted to pass it off as a special preview of EQ2, that''s fine, but I hope they aren''t expecting to get objective feedback from people who would buy into this.

If anything they should offer the beta to people like me who have never played EQ...maybe that would get us hooked.

This shocks people?

Remember your talking about Verant..

The same company that wanted to charge for their EQ Chat Client....

You know, Captain, every year of my life I grow more and more convinced that the wisest and the best is to fix our attention on the good and the beautiful. If you just take the time to look at it.

Yes, that quote from a MST3K episode makes about much sense as this ""incentive"" plan.

I think the crux of the problem is that marketing people are now the ones running all the dam beta''s and they neither grasp nor care what beta''s are for. To the marketing department it''s just a way to sell bundles and raise brand awareness and somhow force people into some monthly serive modle because that is all the industrie wants now.

Just think of how much more ammunition they have when they can dangle the ""this game holds future promise"" carrot in front of us.

And people still try to bite into that carrot like jackasses (including me).

Notice the irony though...

Marketing to your existing customer base that allready pays $15/month for your existing game..

Now your going to spend X amount of dollars in order to recapture that $15 a month???

See the difficulty?

Anyone dumb enough to think they are saving $15 by buying another game that costs $45 deserves what they get. HOWEVER, I do think it is nice of them to give those people who play EQ and buy this game a little something extra for their brand loyalty. It''s just like getting an ""upgrade"" to your toothbrush or toaster and finding a $10 rebate coupon because you bought the last model.

Who wouldn''t want to market to their existing customer base anyway? You''re guaranteed to get some of them to buy the new stuff, because they like the old stuff.

While I agree with everyone that SOE/Verant is all bastards, I think people may be reading a little too much into this offer. Would anyone be complaining if you were guaranteed to beta test UT 2006 if you bought the expansion to UT 2004? (N.B. This is a hypothetical game I''m talkin'' ''bout here.)

"RumbleFish" wrote:

Who wouldn''t want to market to their existing customer base anyway? You''re guaranteed to get some of them to buy the new stuff, because they like the old stuff.

Your missing the point... while this is fine for most regular games..where of course you would market to your existing base.. but in an MMORPG where you have to invest a much larger chunk of money to get a product off the ground.. does it make much sense to then spend X more dollars to re-capture a revenue stream you allready have captured?

They''re basically stealing from one cash cow to hopefully build a second cash cow...What Sony/Verant should be doing is trying to capture an new customer base with EQ2..

Which is why again I wouldnt be suprised if EQ2 becomes less a sequal and more an addon to EQ.

Is EQ2 a success if by the end of the year EQ2 stands at 250,000 subs and EQ has fallen to 200,000 subs?

hmmm....

Most people I''ve met online play more than one MMORPG. I don''t know how they do it, or why, but they do. Hell, I''ve met people that have multiple accounts for the same game. While I''m sure some of the subsrcibers to EQ will jump ship and head to EQ2, some may stay and pay for both. That''s probably not something they are (or should be) banking on, but it sounds like they are hoping for at least a little of that.

"RumbleFish" wrote:

Most people I''ve met online play more than one MMORPG. I don''t know how they do it, or why, but they do. Hell, I''ve met people that have multiple accounts for the same game. While I''m sure some of the subsrcibers to EQ will jump ship and head to EQ2, some may stay and pay for both. That''s probably not something they are (or should be) banking on, but it sounds like they are hoping for at least a little of that.

No doubt...at one point I had 3 EQ accounts...but again..like you said thats a small amount..

I''m sure a nice chunk will continue to play EQ and play EQ2 all at the same time..

But if your banking on worldwide success on just that alone your in trouble..

Is EQ2 a success if by the end of the year EQ2 stands at 250,000 subs and EQ has fallen to 200,000 subs?

I dont think that will happen. Depending on how EQ2 turns out, those that play both may have an easier time getting more friends to play EQ2 that refused to play EQ or dabbled and didnt like it. Of course this is all speculation. EQ2 on the surface seems to be what the hardcore will call ""dumbed down"" and the casuals will call ""user friendly"".

Now AC2''s audience tipped the scales for that game way over into the ""dumbed down"" range and it killed the game.

You know whats funny? I wish they''d use the LoEQ models for EQ. They wont be as bloated as the Luclin models and they look ten times better than the Original EQ models.

Whens that expansion coming out? You now the one that doesnt cripple a 9800 pro but gives some new style to the bucket head humans for example.

They need a tweener solution in their graphics.