It seems Everquest II will be joining Dungeon & Dragons Online and Lord of The Rings Online up on the free-to-play podium. Sony Online Entertainment announced that Everquest II will become Everquest II Extended, allowing players to choose between the subscription service or a new free-to-play model. Both services will operate in parallel on different servers, unlike previous free-to-play offerings.
"As the digital entertainment market evolves, SOE is focused on continued innovation in content delivery that best fit the needs of the growing consumer base,” said John Smedley, President of Sony Online Entertainment. “Our goal with Extended is to offer players an alternative to our current subscription program that gives them the option to choose a program that best fits their play style.”
Extended’s servers will be completely separate from those of the classic Everquest II. Players on the Extended servers can purchase any of four tiers: Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum. Restrictions on the lower tiers include the number of classes available, bag space, maximum gold, maximum spell and gear levels, character slots, and even chat ability. There is also the addition of a new marketplace, letting players buy gameplay additions and items of convenience, like gear, potions, classes, races, mounts, weapons, and more.
“We talked to our users a lot and some of the things that were really obvious are that they didn’t want to have stat-oriented items in the marketplace. They didn’t want people to be able to effectively buy their way to success. They wanted people to work their way up and that makes total sense – we get it,” Everquest II Producer David Georgeson told MMORPG. “So we are offering a parallel service; you can buy self-rez potions, you can buy items that have stats – they are not the best stats but they are real good. Everything is very optional. You don’t have to buy items to in order to succeed. We're just making it, effectively, a convenience store. If you want to trade some of your money to save time, you can do that. We are setting it up as a completely separate service.
“In effect, what we are doing is offering a gigantic trial opportunity. You can come into the game, there’s no level limits, there’s very little content lock, you can explore the world and then decide whether you want to stay in EverQuest II or not.”
Unfortunately, SOE has made some perplexing choices with the new service. Existing Everquest II subscribers remain on their own servers, but can transfer over to the Extended service… for $35. Players who enjoy the free service and want to switch to the full classic subscription experience have no options to transfer up, other than purchasing a copy of Everquest II. In addition, with the new focus of Everquest II Extended, the 14-day trial service on the Live servers is going away completely.
“In effect, what we are doing is offering a gigantic trial opportunity. You can come into the game, there’s no level limits, there’s very little content lock, you can explore the world and then decide whether you want to stay in EverQuest II or not,” explained Georgeson. “So by going to the free-to-play service, what we are looking to do is to break that wall down. People don’t have to worry about going out and buying a box or immediately subscribing to a service. They can jump in, try it out, and realize ‘Holy God! This is way better than what I usually get in free to play,’ and then if they like it there is new opportunities for them to get further involved.”
Georgeson acknowledged that SOE intends to support both models equally, with new content coming for Everquest II and Everquest II Extended.
“We have a new expansion (coming out) this winter and we have a whole bunch of different things as far as the gameplay itself. We are looking at ways to make old content more attractive. As players try to get to level 90, they go through these greased paths and there is a lot of content in this game that people are not exploring so we are figuring out ways to incentivize and make that stuff more attractive so players will utilize it more,” he added. “We are continuing to hone all our pathways into the game; we are putting a lot of effort into class balance, and PvP, and battlegrounds – we have big plans for making the game very exciting, very fresh and really to revitalize it on fundamental levels. Of course, we are still working on expansions and new content, and new quests, and all the other stuff you would expect from us.”
Everquest II Extended is scheduled to launch a beta around August 17. Current subscribers can take an early peek at the new service now. Hopefully, SOE’s new hybrid system pays off for them as well as free-to-play did for Turbine with D&D Online and Lord of the Rings Online.
