EQ Marketing ProblemsFollow

I think I know why EQII did not bring as great a crowd as EQI. I believe that Sony did not market EQII at all. This made it that the majority of the people that knew about EQII were from EQI. About 75% of EQI players didn't like EQ2. About 25% of these players quit both games. This a major faliure on sony's part. They lost EQI players and didn't get as many EQ2 Players. I think that if they were to have comercials for EQII, then people would come that played other MMORPGs, didn't play MMORPGs, or are just started playing online games. IMHO, this would lead to major success.

Alot of people started playing Eq2, but since launch they have just about 100% changed the rules of the game. Alot of peopel quit after the giant nerf patch a few weeks ago. This is the patch that made soloing heroic mobs harder, the patch that made every single worth while item Attuneable, and the patch that made tradeskilling more expensive with less reward. Since that patch I have had no desire to level my now lvl 20 tailor. Fuel cost for tier 3 items went from 7copper to like 50ish copper (which adds up quick) and the value of the finished products is less then what a lvl 10 sage can make selling tier 1 spells. I can make tier 2 backpacks (which is the most valueable item I make ATM) and sell them sometimes at 25 silver. However a lvl 10 sage can sell tier 1 spells for almost 1 gold sometimes.

It just seems like there is more negative from Eq2 patchs then possitive as far as the changes go. When eq1 was the king MMORPG they could get by with doing whatever they wanted, but now they got WOW to deal with, FF11, etc. They are not the only game in town, and frankly I think they need to learn how to treat there paying customers. I read once where WOW had a day or 2 of downtime and gave there players free gametime over it. Id probably have a heart attack of SOE would ever do that.

Personally, I think that EQ players weren't ready for EQII. I say this meaning that they found it too hard. EQII sounds about as hard as EQ in the original to kunark era. I am thinking of trying out EQII. When I do, I will update this thread.

Well, that's really not an example of the game being hard but more of an example of you having a false sense of security because you were invis. My guess is that you ran into a blue con group mob and yes, they mobs will kill a solo player every time at any point in the game. Best just to avoid or get a group.

Personally, I just don't see why people say EQ II is hard. I've been playing the game about three weeks and I have been flying through crafting and leveling. Sure the crafting system is a little hard to grasp at first but that's only a minor frustation once you get started. In fact, I level so fast that I spend a lot of time just exploring and harvesting items just for the heck of it. I hardly even feel the need to try to level as it seems to happen on its own. Maybe its just my style of play but EQ is/was way way harder than EQ II, especially when it comes to solo content and leveling. Believe me, I played a troll back when they had the old xp penalty and every freaking time I turned around I was getting smacked of the head by a guard and being aggroed by yard trash. Don't even get my started on combat. A tough Solo mob in EQ can take forever to kill, its easy to get aggro during that process, and the resist and fizzle rates would totally **** me off. Crafting in old EQ sucks worse than in EQ II. Why? Becaue 99 percent of the items are worthless in EQ. In EQ II the crafting system is built into character development, i.e. you can make your own spells, skills, or food stuffs from the beginning that actually enhance your abilities. Wow, what a novel idea :D. Hell, in EQ II there's even the lovely sprint option to run away. I mean you can't even die in the game unless you get hit by a caster since you can always just run away. How much easier does it get people? Essentially they eliminated the number one cause of death from the game right there. In EQ if you don't have SOW your toast in a solo situation where you have to flee unless you can zone. And has anybody else notice the difference in the aggro range between the two games? The aggro range of a typical mob in EQ 2 is very small so that unless you just stumble onto a mob or are not paying attention, you probably don't have anything to worry about. Last night I was harvesting all over with red con as far as the eye could see and I never once got aggro. Maybe I'm missing something but EQ II the more I play it the more I beginning to see that this game is something of a masterpiece with its depth built over just basically a kick-*** graphics engine. I predict before it is all over that EQ II will dominate WoW and most of the old EQ players will migrate to EQ. Right now EQ II is the best kep secret in all of gaming and hey, I'm happy with that. More content for me. I'm probably gonna log onto my EQ account tonight and try to get some of my buddies to make the switch though. The only reason they haven't is because they are in love with their characters they've built up over the last 4 freaking years. Obcessed I tell ya!

I understand praising the game you enjoy playing. I also understand defending it against those that would tarnish its good name. What I want to know is what YOU believe is the reason that EQ2 is currently (well, as of February) number 6 in Market Share. From what I read, it appears that most people that play EQ2 say its the best game ever with the most potential. If this is so, please explain the following.

Please note, I am not attacking anyone or any game. I simply want to know what your feelings are about the current ranking. If EQ2 is really the next level of gaming, why do you believe its number 6 in total number of subscribers. This in no way is a justification or 'proof' that a specific game is better/worse than the rest. I simply want to know what you believe are the cause(s) for this ranking.

Lineage 1 25.6% market share with 2,085,385 subscribers
Lineage 2 25.3% market share with 2,065,187 subscribers
WoW 15.3% market share with 1,250,000 subscribers
FFXI 6.7% market share with 550,000 subscribers
EQ 5.1% market share with 420,000 subscribers
EQ2 3.8% market share with 310,000 subscribers

SOE made an announcement on 3/1 that they have 350,000 players logging in weekly. These figures have not been added to the total list since I do not know how many more/less players the rest of the games have added/lost.

So my question again, what is driving the top games to be number 1? Is it really the marketing? Are MMORPG players simply being told what to play through marketing?

On a side note, I would really love to see numbers on player attrition on these games. It would be interesting to see if most players stop playing after the free month, 2 months, 6 months or year. Also, did in-game patches or updates cause players to join/leave the games?

I cannot imagine why anyone would ever say EQ2 is HARDER than EQ1. That's crazy talk in my mind.

EQ1 - hard to solo, you usually need a group, or you have to play one of a few character classes that solo well.

EQ2 - I can solo or duo virtually all content up till now, with only a few times were I needed a group to accomplish a goal. I group more than I need to, but I could solo a lot of the stuff I do in groups.

EQ1 - tradeskills are easier, but you have less control over the end result.

EQ1 - massive amounts of the game are shut down from all but the highest end players. If you can't devote the time to be a heavy raider, you aren't going to see these zones. That's fine, its a philosophy, but as a non-power gamer, I won't see those zones. I'm not willing to put in that level of effort required to get access.

EQ2 - Nothing so far that I can't get access to, with a single group, or less. Basically anyone can get access to anything, so far nothing that requires powergaming.

Maybe in the high 40s there is such content, but I haven't heard of it.

EQ1 - mob cons are deceptive and have little to do with how hard a mob is going to be to kill.

EQ2 - relatively consistent mob cons, thus far mobs are roughly as hard as I expect them to be based on con color and arrows. A few exceptions (usually when a mob is easier than con indicates)

Anyway, I am getting off topic, my point is, I don't see how anyone can say EQ2 is harder than EQ1. Unless you played one of the extreme solo capable classes, like necro, then yes, EQ2 is harder.

I played EQ for about a grand total of one hour a little over a month ago after having played EQ2 for an equal amount of time, for the first time.

I have to say, based on that small amt of time I spent playing EQ2, I decided that I didnt even want to get into EQ1. I found EQ2 to be much more interesting, fun, and easier to play. Maybe it's cuz I didn't get into the meat of EQ1, but as I said, I at that point had played both versions an equal amt of time.

I'm loving EQ2!

I agree that SOE should put more effort into the marketing of EQ2. It's a great game that deserves to be publicized more widely. I DID see a commercial ad for it while in Best Buy recently, being broadcast on a huge wall of flatscreen tvs, which was encouraging.