EQ2 Producer’s Letter: Enter the Den of Darkpaw Games

Dreamweaver is doing a much better job over there, and I'm confident that'll temper down the frustrations that find themselves vented here.

 

While I completely understand that Longdale's letter is simply more BS spin (and don't believe a word she says), I do find myself hoping that with the split-up of the titles into their own separate entities, that *someone* will make them an offer they can't refuse and they sell the Darkpaw one to a studio that will actually do something to improve the games. The cash shop is here to stay, but it would be incredible if they rolled it back to fluff stuff only, not the rampant and rabid P2W that it currently is. EQ2 could be so good, but it is badly hamstrung by management incompetence at the highest levels.

 

Are you talking to someone in particular?
Have you provided some form of differing opinion that I should read?

I have to say though, if someone (not you at this point) has a differing opinion that is not agreeable to me and I have stated that I have disagreed with said opinion. Then said person goes into further detail of why they think they are right, and I still disagree, should I go into a back and forth of opinions until they exhaust themselves?
Or should I just state that I disagree with them and no longer give them answers?
Personally, if the conversation is not fun, then I will go with the latter.

Although I must admit when someone has a completely different way of thinking to me, it can be fun to match wills with a debate.
I had a friend who is an animal rights activist, we had a good time talking about the merits and demerits of eating meat.
We both knew that the other would not change their stance, but it was good fun talking about it, gives you a different perspective on the matter.

Edit: I see that at the time that I posted this, your posts had been moved to a separate thread and that I couldn't see the initial posts. I will reply in the new thread.

 

That link says an error Feldon.

 

It's not just the official forums. Even the fanbase on places like reddit have been rabid, sometimes dishonest, blind defenders of EQ2 (specifically). I didn't care about the flack I received from players on the official forums because in my opinion most of the ones that bothered to respond to me were dishonest and/or idiots and every word they typed proved them so. As I see it this just went to diminish their position in the eyes of any casual reader who might see the exchange.

That's not to say that I'm perfect, always right, or super cool smart guy. I mean, I dropped out of college to party with strippers and ended up a dad. I also have a broken brain. I clearly have my flaws and shortcomings. There are many people on this forum alone who I believe are probably more intelligent than I am and definitely far better educated. You don't have to be brilliant if you're honest, clear, and consistent while remaining reasonably humble, though.

So, I've followed and commented on several SOE/DBG titles since the buyout until maybe a year ago or so. I've had interactions in multiple places with different people from the fan bases for those titles. Only EQ2 players have harassed me and censored me/attempted to censor me on other sites. Only EQ2 players have attempted to harass me in game.

Do I think this is because I was so effective at poking people with sticks on the official forums? No, many of the people who went after me on reddit or other gaming sites didn't know who I was on the official forums. No one from DC, Landmark, or EQ ever acted like that towards me when we disagreed or I made a comment they didn't like. I don't know what perfect storm of jackassery conspired to turn the EQ2 online community into what it is, but from my perspective it is very specific to that game among the other SOE/DBG titles.

This realization combined with the state of the roleplay and regular community on AB is the reason why I let go. It's not so much that I gave up as I stopped caring. As I have said many times, it's the people who really make these games great. I find I don't care about the community much any more so I just kind of don't care. It makes me sad because I spent so many years playing and enjoying EQ and EQ2, but it is what it is.

 

I wish I could be positive here, but I wouldn't have quit playing if I were positive about EQ2. However, I spent a lot of my adult life span playing either EQ1 or EQ2 and went to my only gaming con (the last SOE live) for this franchise, so I'm here because while I feel it's unlikely we'll see a "next" version of this game, I keep hoping they will sell it to someone else who will do a really great job and produce a great game successor. Yes I do like sunshine, rainbows and unicorns.

 

Best quote ever. I quit posting on the official forums long before I quit the game just for this reason.

 

In previous discussions, a lot of folks speculated that something of this nature was likely to happen before the company began to shut down or sell off titles.

Half of that equation has played out, now it's time to see what happens going forward. Given what's happened since the DBG takeover, it's difficult to imagine it will be something good.

The last numbers I saw from Planetside 2 made me surprised it hadn't been unplugged yet.

I don't think EQ2 is much better, though at last check EQ was ahead in the numbers game.

DCUO is doing better than the rest, but that's a really low bar to hit. Super hero games are niche anyhow, and the big draw for that title is you could play it on PC and console. With City of Heroes back in the mix (for now), I imagine the PC side of it took a bit of a hit.

So realistically, where does it go from here?

 

49 guilds currently reporting to the raid progression site.

With alternates, call it around 1,500 accounts raiding.

17,715 111+ toons from eq2u/4 = 4,429 accts.

Guesstimate = 34% of accounts are raiders.

Be interesting to see what activity looks like around June, especially if there are no adjustments to the tradeskilling game.

Edit:
Of course, that number doesn't include the tle servers. Kaladim reports 41,336 toons. /4 = 10,334. Dunno how many of those are still active, nor how many accounts are also playing on a live server.

Querying level 60+ = 5,896/4 = 1,474 accts.

The difference between all levels and 60+ is kinda interesting.

 

Afista will always be my favourite. She was fabulous. Firm, but fabulous.

 

That poor guy who had to deal with the ProSieben7 fiasco was pretty good too, considering the crappy job he had to do there. Piestro, wasn't it?

 

I don't suppose you happen to know what the deal was to take us back in the end? As a sold chattel that rebelled mightily I'd be curious to know.

 

Those comics were awesome.

Someone else also had a comic series that made use of screenshots from the game and some program that SOE made for comic creation. Forget the name of it. It was a stickied thread at the top of a fan art (or something like that) on the official forums long long ago.

 

Afista was fabulous, I still have mail from her in-game from a comp she ran. She was probably the most involved with the community out of all of them.

But it was Kiara I was thinking of, and she was the firm but fabulous one. She kept us all in line .. most of the time.