Everquest 2 Adding Free-To-Play Option

Posted by Wolfen in Everquest 2

Well, well, I certainly did not see this coming. Sony Online Entertainment has announced today that Everquest 2 is adding a free-to-play option. This play option, named Everquest 2: Extended, will be on its own separate server and operate alongside the existing for-pay service. It will go live on August 27th.

Sony had recently said that they would not be switching Everquest 2 over to the free-to-play model. Things change, as they say, and it is fairly easy to figure out why: Money. Companies are discovering that they can make more money using the free model and allowing people to purchase add-ons via an in-game store. The “gotta have it now” syndrome really brings in the bucks.

Studies have shown that a large portion of people who play free games actually end up spending more per month than they would if they paid a standard monthly fee. Free Realms, which is Sony’s first big for-free title, is a huge cash cow for the company. The game has millions of subscribers that press the “get it now” button at an amazing rate.

Personally, I think this is a good move. I will certainly play Everquest 2 when it does go free-to-play. It is a game that I normally wouldn’t play because I can only afford so many monthly game fees.

This is a surprising development, and I look forward to seeing how it turns out. I will be there when it begins.

–Wolfen

What To Play?

Posted by Wolfen in Everquest 2, MMO General, Vanguard

I have decided to start Vanguard: Saga of Heroes first. Everquest 2 will come a bit later. I suppose that I was one of the rare people who liked Vanguard during the beta test. I have read numerous reports that though the game still needs many improvements, it is still a much better game that what we saw during beta. That is something I want to see for myself and determine how worthwhile playing the game can be.

Vanguard has many races and classes, so the decision of what to play has been on my mind. I played a ranger almost exclusively during my main Everquest days. In fact, I have played a ranger/hunter style character in every MMO I have tried. The one exception is Lord of the Rings Online where I played a Champion, although I did dabble with the ranger a bit. So I naturally lean towards playing a ranger in Vanguard.

The thing is, I wouldn’t mind trying an MMO from a different perspective. The sorcerer and blood mage intrigue me. There’s something about a sorcerer simply sitting back and hitting the “BOOM” button every now and then that pulls at me. On the other hand, one of the roles of the blood mage is being a healer. As the byline of this blog states, I’m a hardened veteran noob and I’m not sure I can trust myself with healing duties. It is, however, a very interesting take on the typical mage class.

I suppose that I will have to try a few of them and see what sticks. I want some solo ability, which points to something like a sorcerer or druid. Necromancers are not my style. I do have a few days to ponder on this since my new computer won’t be here until sometime next week. Until then, I will keep posting my thoughts on various MMO things.

–Wolfen