
Let’s be honest, who among us did not see this service merger coming? Back when Sony announced Everquest 2 Extended, and how the game would be its own product split from Everquest 2, I questioned how long it would be before the Everquest 2 community either filtered into the service or filtered out completely, and Sony merged the two. Dave Georgeson states that this is due to Sony reviewing their other free to play games, but the factor of developing two separate versions of the same game must have had some factor.
As a result, EQ2X will be updated to bring gold subscription in line with what live players expect, losing restrictions on classes and races. Silver is being reduced to $5 from $10. Platinum, the $200 yearly membership, will be discontinued while anyone still with time left will live out the rest of their paid time without automatic renewal. In a surprising move, Georgeson revealed that power items will be removed from the cash shop. Potions, Rez scrolls, mastercrafted gear, etc, and a vote will be taken with the community as to how, or rather if, these items will be reintroduced.
This is great for people who have allowed their Everquest 2 subscriptions to lapse, but didn’t want to pay the money to transfer to Freeport and did not want to create a new character and start new. Everquest 2 changes to free to play in early December.