So, Eq may not be dead yet :)Follow

Well, when I told "my guy" at EBGames that I was sick of WoW, he handed me EQ and said "Give this a try".... Well I still haven't loaded it yet, but I will. And I am looking forward to something other than WoW.

Eq is dying...EQ isn't dying...EQ is dead...EQ is coming back...EQ has a bad case of the sniffles...WoW ran over EQ's mailbox...the "new EQ player" is extinct...what am I even talking about?...there's new EQ players everywhere...SoE is dumb...SoE is the root of all evil...I have an itch...


...anyways, what were we talking about?

I disagree.....

On Bristlebane, I see tons of come-backers and quite a few noobs. How long will it last? Who knows...just jump in and enjoy the ride.

I play WOW exclusively now, so all I can go by is what I read when I read the boards and the posts here.

It seems as if EQ is finally turning it around. For the most part the attitude of the posters anyways has improved significantly, and it seems that more and more people that are just starting to play the game are sticking with it.

I would not be the least bit surprised if EQ made a good comeback, starting slowly but then building up momentum. It still has a mystique about it, and never underestimate the genius of Rashere as one of the principle architects of the game. Time will tell, of course, but my personal feeling is that EQ still has a bright future ahead of it.

By "turning it around", I mean:

Up until about a month ago, maybe two, the general attitude from the posting community is that Everquest was declining and even dieing.

Now the general attitude seems to be that Everquest is growing at a slow but steady pace.

So to me that is a turn around.

As far as raw population numbers, it is generally accepted (which does not mean it is true) that EQ had a maximum population of around 500,000. The generally accepted numbers thrown around for current population is anywhere from 100,000 to 200,000. This is a substantial drop, especially if the drop truely IS from 500,000 to 100,000. This would mean that 80 percent of the people has moved on to other stuff. Even a population of 200,000 would mean that 60% left, a very substantial drop off though not as drastic as if it were 100,000.

Regardless of the actual raw numbers, the attitude towards Everquest of the posting community seems to have changed from mostly doom and gloom to mostly optimism and positiveness. And I think this bodes well for Everquest, both in the present and in the future.

I've played EQ fer sooo long now...., but when this last EQ anniversary edition came out I picked up 2 copies for my wife and I plus an extra one to create a bot on so we can be even more INVINCIBLE ... anyway, ya so now we have 3 accounts and a baby shammy to bring along fer da ride.


Cres.

facts are facts and all the anecdotes dont change the facts.

eq has lost over 80% of its player base.

servers are extremely cheap to maintain and eq servers will be on for a while.

Well, the game was also much, much smaller back when it was designed to cater to 150k people.

But, anyway, I doubt EQ will "die" anytime soon so much as finish its decent from red giant to brown dwarf status and smolder for a few bajillion years. Already, the later generations of gamers look upon Everquest players with the same air of quaintness as EQ players looked upon the Ultima Online folks back in 2001-02.

"Oh, you're still playing that? Yeah, I guess if you've been with it that long, huh..."

Indeed, the Guild Lobby is now the swingin' place to go buff shopping.

The answer is not a resounding yes.

For reference, I am still an active player. I pay for 3 accounts monthly so my point of view is not disgruntled.

Do not take my word for it, test it yourself. Log in and /ooc "Seeking more for Hedge event" "Seeking more for DoDH spell arcs" "Seeking more for Vex Thal raid" "Seeking more for <insert myriad of PoP, GoD, OOW flags here>"

and my personal favorites...

"Seeking more for an LDoN" "LFG in Prophecy of Ro"

The content that requires minimum numbers of players and that requires specific chronological triggers and flags was created with a larger player base in mind. Planes of Power is the most talked about example of this recently. PoP was released when EQ was peaking. 54 man raids were small back then.

The answer will be a resounding yes when older content requirements are changed to reflect the new player base.


Edited, May 31st 2007 12:56am by Reyla

EQ numbers have been published several times. Usually involving stories about WoW for a comparison.

EQ maxed at just about 500k and is now running about 80k. The figure of 100k was widely printed in magazines several months back and never disputed by SOE.

If you google stories about WoW population I am sure if you read the articles you will find some that contain figures.

Servers merge and people like to say the population is still the same. Guilds break up daily for lack of a raid force and people say the population is still the same.

Guilds that were known server-wide for being leet are now begging for members on other servers boards and people still say the population is the same.

But again servers are cheap to maintain and EQ will be around for a long time.

These are good points. 500 in the Bazaar before server merge and now 250. That's actually 125.

Very recently, arguably the top Japanese guild on E'ci/Tunare, Vane (formerlly Diviner) dissolved. Vane was a guild that started 8 years ago and raided every weekday night for 8 straight years.

I hope EQs overhead is low enough to keep the servers running. It is a sandbox for grown-ups.

I am willing to bet real life money that 50% of Everquest subscribers are 2nd to 6th accounts paid for by the same person.