Click to extend. Man, I am SO creative.

Dungeons & Dragons Online transforming from a subscription-based MMORPG to a freemium (hybrid of free-to-play and subscription models) title was a shock.  Lord of the Rings Online following suit was a bit unexpected, but not earth shattering.  Sony Online Entertainment tossing EverQuest 2, the behemoth of its Station games, into the fray returned my jaw to the floor.

I’m not familiar enough with the game and community, but I don’t think as many people will be screaming that the decision will “be the end of [insert beloved object here].”  That’s not because the news isn’t shocking.  It is.  It’s because SOE is segregating its freemium players from the standard subscribers, which should allow the subscriber base to keep the hair on their heads.

The subscribers will not have to deal with newbs, like myself, because they will be playing on entirely separate servers called EverQuest 2 Extended.  These servers will allow interested parties to play for free (Bronze) with a variety of limitations (see thumbnail) that should be familiar to anyone following DDO’s or LotRO’s conversions.  Pay a small one-time fee (Silver) and gain some additional perks such as expanded chat options, more character slots and higher spell tiers.  Or you can even subscribe (Gold membership) on the freemium servers to guarantee yourself a nearly limitless experience.  A one-year membership (Platinum, which costs $16.66 a month) nets you the full plate and an additional $60 worth of Station Cash.  I can only assume that you would use it to purchase expansions and fluff items.

Before you ask, there’s a very good reason to have subscriptions available on the segregated servers.  You may not realize how much you enjoy your characters, guild and the game (and how much you’ve spent piecewise) until you’re time committed to your realm.  You’d hate to be forced to leave all that for uncharted territory, right?

Head over to the full announcement to read more.

To the EQ2 players out there, is the sky falling?  To the rest of the MMOG community, do you welcome this trend, or fear it?

It was only a matter of time. Members of the WoW audience were not the only ones who took notice last month when Blizzard made the move to sell its first mount for IRL dollars. Of course not. At 25 bucks a pop, those sparkle ponies sold like hotcakes (and I, too, am guilty of this indulgence.) And in result, Blizzard surely made millions off of one single in-game item that looks pretty. How could the world not take notice of such a large amount of real-life cash being spent on a virtual item?

Some of us worried that this would set a precedent for things to come. And it looks like that is starting to unfold. Today, Sony Online Entertainment announced that it would sell its first ever marketplace mounts, called the Prowlers — available in “Ethereal” purple, “Sinister” green and “Ulteran” blue. And unlike the Celestial Steed that looks pretty but pretty much offers no advantage otherwise, these guys come with built-in buffs:

“Each mount comes in your choice of one of the following versions: Fierce and Arcane. The Fierce version increases Slashing, Aggression, Ranged, Piercing and Crushing of caster by 5, while the Arcane version increases Focus, Ordination, Disruption, Subjugation and Ministration of caster by 5. Both versions of the mount have a 65% run speed.

The Prowlers are guaranteed to be available for at least one month and adventurers can now purchase these new mounts for 2500SC (Pixie’s note – this equates to $25 each, the same as the Celestial Steed) from the Marketplace.  These are the first Station Cash items of their kind and are immediately available in-game, upon purchase.

So even though we all pretty much saw this coming, it still bothers me. One of the huge caveats that supporters of the Celestial Steed — including myself — have been saying all along is that they support it because it does not provide any in-game advantage over other mounts. Not the case with The Prowlers. Does this raise the bar for what we’ll see in the future? Slippery slope, folks. That’s all I’m sayin’.

I love my shiny pony. But what will be the price that we ultimately pay for this service? Would those of you who supported the Celestial Steed like myself still agree with the idea  if we start seeing more items that provide an in-game advantage?

It really surprised me when Sony Online Entertainment, one of the biggest MMOG publisher in the industry, became the first company to think outside the box.  Global Agenda’s Conquest option aside, it has been a given that if you’re playing an MMOG, you’re paying $10-$15 a month for the subscription.  It doesn’t matter if the title is AAA, indie, niche, ten-years old or completely failing.  You’re paying a basic, all-or-nothing rate.  “No longer!” says SOE.

SOE announced yesterday that returning players (or accounts for the multiboxers) of EverQuest II would be able to select a new subscription rate, thanks to the “EQII Passport.”  The time-limited rate only runs $5 a month, and allows for three consecutive days of play.  When my eyes first glanced at the announcement my brain did a backflip at the possibilities.  People could save money on secondary accounts, get their friends to play with them for a weekend here and there, or just taste test patches and fixes.  It seemed brilliantly simple, and ridiculously tempting.

Then I read the fine print; Lil’ XT’s cry instantly popped into my head.  Hit the jump to see where SOE should have went with the genius plan. Continue Reading