So. Station access is getting bumped up to $29.99 a month American. x 2 for my house. Ouch.
Converted over that’s almost $100 a month to play video games, and only two of those games are played to any extent, Vanguard and EverQuestII. Worth it? I’m beginning to think not. So the new decision I have to make, is which game am I giving up. There are good and bad points for each.
EverQuestII is still a lot of fun for me, I have three level 70 characters, two raid geared, fully mastered, and a bunch of crafters. The issue with that game for me, is lack of players on my server specifically, Lucan D’Lere. If it merged, I wouldn’t have so much of an issue. The down side, well obviously a lot of my friends have left for Vanguard. The game is lacking high end content. If you’ve been there and done it all, why bother any more?
Vanguard is also a lot of fun for me. My highest level character is 20, meaning I have a lot of work left (if I were to stay). The game unfortunately is very buggy. Not that it won’t get fixed over time I am sure, but do I want to be paying full price for a game still in beta? How many people are going to stay around in Vanguard once LoTR and WarHammer and Conan and all those other MMO’s come out? At least in EverQuestII I know there is some sort of a player base. It’s just relatively small. If I were to spend some money and move to a more populated server, would that solve my issues? Najena for example is still thriving. Lucan can barely support one ‘real’ raiding guild.
It’s a shame that they’ve decided to raise the price. I feel even worse for those who had station access due to the free adventure packs, as well as the extra character slots. Why would you pay TWICE as much as one monthly subscription if you only play EQ2. I’d be mighty pissed off if that were the case. They should allow you to keep your $24.99 price if all you’re after is the extra characters and the free adventure packs (splitpaw, the village of shin, etc). I think this was a very unwise business move. Not only will Sigil lose money from those who were only playing Vanguard due to station access and the ability to play both games at a discounted price, but SoE will lose money from those who decide to give up their station access fully and move to Vanguard. It will be interesting to see how (if any) affect this will have on the populations of both games. I know I’m tempted to just throw in the towel and go play WoW again, just to not deal with this any more.
The price change goes into affect April 2nd, so they’ve given one months warning. Unless Vanguard by some miracle fixes the numerous issues that players face every day, I won’t be renewing my subscription. If the situation on EQ2 doesn’t improve with the decline in players (and so many servers that we’re all spread over) then they also will no longer have my monthly business. Does SoE care? Of course not, I’m one small subscriber. In the grand scheme of things it doesn’t make the slightest dent. If enough people do it though, they’ll see the change. I already know quite a few bloggers out there are talking about what they’ll be doing, which game they’ll be playing, and what’s next.
For further reading about the ideas and opinions out there, check out the following:
The Ancient Gaming Noob , CuppyCake , West Karana
Im still debating it really..i play eq hardly ever ..eq2 i got burned out on but my son plays it..he also plays swg..planetside needs a server merge as its dying..vanguard is fun but what will lotr be like and adding the fact i pay for wow for my stepson means i gotta think about it lol:(
Ouch… that is a ton. In all honesty most people probably do the station access if they are going to play two of the bigger games like EQ2 and Vangaurd and then it is a bonus with the extra slots. At 29.99 it is not dif than have a seperate sub for each really. Since it isn’t a deal I can imagine that most people will just chose one or the other.
And to think I was gonna buy Vanguard with my birthday money next week, and get station access. =/
Oh well. I’m just glad I read your blog. It’s going to save me a lot of money.
Thanks. =D
You’re not just one small subscriber! *hugs* There are hordes of people who agree with your thoughts and concerns considering both the price increase and the population inbalance. I too fear for the days when AoC and Warhammer are released – further spreading the population so thin. I don’t really know what to suggest to SOE except to keep the price where it is at and continue to differentiate between their games with new original content.
Personally I’m undecided between VG and EQ2. I like both games – but I enjoy the EQ2 setting better and also the performance. I just wish more people played =/ *sigh*