EverQuest is Going Free to Play! On Friday, March 16, 2012

[fendaann]

http://eqplayers.station.sony.com/news_ ... nth=012012



but heres the details
http://www.everquest.com/free/

[Trenolis]

At first it looked like a joke but then I thought that April fools was a little far off. Having looked at the details now it makes sense. My next question would be: what happens to existing "gold" accounts w/ 8 lvl 95 toons and 3-8k AA and the owner wants to play for free? (hypothetically speaking, of course)

[WaringMcMarrin]

What they are saying is you can play up to max level for the expansion you own and you can play all current characters but you will not be able to make more if you have over the cap for your subscription level and they wont be able to earn AA's or plat if they are over the cap also.

[Samanna]

[WaringMcMarrin]

Sounds like all old accounts will be re activated and from what I understand you can still do raid content its just that you wont be able to use the gear that drops and wont be able to gain AA if you are over the cap for your sub level.

[fendaann]

http://www.everquest.com/free/

FAQ TaB

8. If I decide to downgrade from the Gold to Silver or Free membership, what will happen to the Gold perks I had with that membership?
You don't lose anything permanently, but Gold membership content will become inaccessible to you until you repurchase a Gold membership. Letting a membership lapse is similar to allowing a subscription on the regular EverQuest subscription service to lapse, where you become unable to access the features of that service until you renew your subscription.

- Character Coin Limits: The amount of coin you have is unaltered when you lapse your Gold membership. However, you'll be unable to gain any more coin until you reduce your current coin total below the Silver or Free per character limit.

- Backpack and Bank limits: Any bags or items that are in bag slots that are no longer available in Free or Silver will be mailed to you using the parcel system.

- Quest Limits: If you already have more quests in your Journal than are allowed at Silver or Free, those quests still exist, but you'll be unable to add new ones until you reduce your quest count to below those limits.

- Character Slots: When you downgrade from Gold, all characters that are on the account will still be visible to you. Characters that were created before February 29, 2012 will be allowed to log in (regardless of if you are currently over the cap of characters or do not have their race or class unlocked). Characters that are created on or after February 29, will only be available for use if you have both the race and class unlocked. For character slots, only the most recently logged-on characters (up to the character slot cap for your membership level) will be available for play.

- Items: Any Prestige Items become unusable if you downgrade from Gold. They will remain equipped, but will be tinted yellow and will no longer function. You can use them again when you renew your Gold membership.

- Spell/Skill Tiers: When downgrading membership, any Rank 2 or Rank 3 spell will stay in your book. When you cast these Rank 2 or Rank 3 spells, they will cast as the Rank 1 version. In any content where there are no spell ranks, you will be able to continue to use those spells as normal.

- Alternate Abilities: All Alternate Abilities already earned will remain usable if you choose to downgrade your membership, but if you are over the limit that you are allowed to earn (based on membership level) you will not be able to earn any more Alternate Ability points.

- Races and Classes: Any character you created before February 29th 2012 will be playable regardless of race or class. New characters that you create will be limited to the four available races and four available classes unless you purchase access to another race or class or upgrade to gold.

[Samanna]

My question was about the Community (forum) accounts.

I am offended that I can view the forums when not logged in, but when logged in, with my game account expired, I may not view any content.

It's been like that since my account expired. I am banned from content that is open to never-had-an-account people.

[WaringMcMarrin]

Oh I would assume that the F2P would reopen the forums to you but I am not sure on that.

[Huurgh]

Here is a list to compare offers, FTP is not really feasible except for VERY casual.

http://www.everquest.com/free/

[Sowslow]

[Samanna]

Well, Silver is a one-time $5 fee. I could see paying that just to tool around in the new (to me) content.

[Keltsete]

[Axeion]

[Lenil]

I bet you see a lot of discouraged tanks in F2P. Can you tank HoT without AC augs? Seems WAR and CLR are impacted more by the restrictions than WIZ and ROG.

Exp will be crap, can't use the gear, nobody to group with in HoT and what guild would allow a free toon to join? Is this really the preview that sony wants to show people in order to try and entice them (back) into the game?

9. What are Prestige Items?

Prestige Items in EverQuest are items obtained from higher-end content in the Seeds of Destruction™ expansion and later expansions, as well as most augmentations. Additional items may be marked as Prestige Items at the discretion of the game developers. Prestige Items will only be usable by Gold Members and will not be grandfathered in.

[Trenolis]

Damn. I would have a naked bst and shm. Or I should say the equivalent of naked. If top tier gear is completely unusable by anything less than "gold" memberships then I'm screwed unless I convert to it. My lvl 90 bst w/ almost 3100 aa and my lvl 90 shm w/ nearly 2k aa both completely HoT T4 geared would be useless. Neither of them have any of the lower tier gear anymore I think.

I would think that allowing members who have a gold downgraded to silver because of an inactive subscription would be allowed to at least get use of the gear and spells they worked for.

[Yesak]

When I first heard about the news of EQ1 being F2P, I got excited. I have alot of fond memories with the people here and with the game. The big reason I stopped playing is that I couldn't really afford to spend the $15 for how little I was playing. But some of the restrictions are just harsh. The AA one really gets me. I haven't played in YEARS and I'd be well over the AA cap, unable to purchase any new AAs that have come out in the past few years. Then the fact that raid gear and augs are "prestige" and unavailable to even silver people.

I can deal with not playing the latest expansion of EQ. I did it many times when I was active. Got annoying but I lived with it. I can deal with only rank 1 spells, because at least when I played the ranks weren't completely gamebreaking. Ranks 2 and 3 were better but not exaggeratedly. I can deal with the smaller bag space, just make a new f2p account and dump items on him. Ditto for the plat cap. I can deal with the race/class restriction because I'd be playing my old main or whatever alts I have lurking around. Having to level from 1 - 90 (or whatever it is now) from scratch is a bit daunting.

Also, I doubt SoE will do what LOTRO did and allow people to "grind" station cash by doing quests in game. It didn't work well for me because of the low playtime, but the idea that it is possible to play the entire game without spending a dime is very enticing.

But do we know how, or if, you can remove the restrictions on AAs and "prestige" items besides being a sub? If you can, is it a one time, entire account purchase? Or is it a "buy 100 more AA slots for $50, only good on one toon!" sort of things?

[Axeion]

[varutia]

This essentially making under 70 game free without much constraint, not such a bad thing.

[norik]

Also, Recruit A Friend is being canned.

Luckily i hadn't bought the transfer token for my bot yet.

[fendaann]

SOE Community Webcast: EverQuest Free to Play. Your Way.


http://www.twitch.tv/sonyonlinetv/b/307344328

[Keltsete]

[fendaann]

Piestro Log Chat about F2P in the Guild Lobby on the Bristlebane Server

http://solinvictus.yuku.com/topic/16753 ... -about-F2P

[Elric]

Thanks for linking that

[fendaann]

EverQuest is set to launch "Free to Play. Your Way." in three weeks time:

We're celebrating EverQuest's 13th birthday in a big way! On Friday, March 16, 2012 we will be launching EverQuest Free to Play. Your Way.

EQ's birthday is always a big event, and this year we combine it with one of the most exciting things to happen in the history of EQ. Mark your calendars and get ready for one huge celebration, with 13th Anniversary events and the transition to Free to Play both coming on March 16!

We'll see you all there!