Tag: John Smedley

Everquest's Massive FAQ: Making Sense of It


Everquest goes free to play this Friday and in preparation Sony has released a Frequently Asked Question list that covers everything, and I do mean everything. The list is enormous, and many questions overlap one another, so I’ve decided to create a list to consolidate most of the important points.

See the entire FAQ here.

  • A welcome pack will be given to all players.
  • Veteran rewards will accumulate on all accounts.
  • There will be multi-month subscriptions at a reduced rate. Existing subscriptions will become gold.
  • You need a reoccurring subscription for the monthly 500 station cash. If you have station pass, the EQ and EQ2 monthly cash does not stack. Yearly subscribers will receive 500 station cash monthly.
  • You will receive 500 station cash from each game if you subscribe separately (no station pass), but this is not advisable.
  • Silver membership is an upgrade in the store for 500 station cash, it is a separate purchase and should not be confused with “spend 500 station cash.”
  • All accounts will be upgraded to House of Thule, gold members will still have to buy Veil of Alaris if they haven’t already.
  • Alternate advancement point cap can be raised.
  • Legends of Norrath cards will still be handed out each month.

Free Limitations:

  • If you allow your subscription to expire, your gold races/classes will be locked. You will have to resubscribe or purchase to unlock those characters.
  • If you purchase Veil of Alaris, you still have access to it if your subscription lapses.
  • Free/Silver can buy from the bazaar but cannot use “trade mode.”
  • If you drop back to free with gold rank spells, you will keep the spells but they will only have rank 1 effectiveness.
  • You will not lose any platinum if you are over the limit and lapse, you will simply not be able to gain more currency.
  • Prestige gear (gold only) will not be lost on lapse of subscription, it cannot be used.
  • House of Thule augments are prestige, this will change when free to play comes.

Everquest’s Massive FAQ: Making Sense of It


Everquest goes free to play this Friday and in preparation Sony has released a Frequently Asked Question list that covers everything, and I do mean everything. The list is enormous, and many questions overlap one another, so I’ve decided to create a list to consolidate most of the important points.

See the entire FAQ here.

  • A welcome pack will be given to all players.
  • Veteran rewards will accumulate on all accounts.
  • There will be multi-month subscriptions at a reduced rate. Existing subscriptions will become gold.
  • You need a reoccurring subscription for the monthly 500 station cash. If you have station pass, the EQ and EQ2 monthly cash does not stack. Yearly subscribers will receive 500 station cash monthly.
  • You will receive 500 station cash from each game if you subscribe separately (no station pass), but this is not advisable.
  • Silver membership is an upgrade in the store for 500 station cash, it is a separate purchase and should not be confused with “spend 500 station cash.”
  • All accounts will be upgraded to House of Thule, gold members will still have to buy Veil of Alaris if they haven’t already.
  • Alternate advancement point cap can be raised.
  • Legends of Norrath cards will still be handed out each month.

Free Limitations:

  • If you allow your subscription to expire, your gold races/classes will be locked. You will have to resubscribe or purchase to unlock those characters.
  • If you purchase Veil of Alaris, you still have access to it if your subscription lapses.
  • Free/Silver can buy from the bazaar but cannot use “trade mode.”
  • If you drop back to free with gold rank spells, you will keep the spells but they will only have rank 1 effectiveness.
  • You will not lose any platinum if you are over the limit and lapse, you will simply not be able to gain more currency.
  • Prestige gear (gold only) will not be lost on lapse of subscription, it cannot be used.
  • House of Thule augments are prestige, this will change when free to play comes.

Developing: John Smedley Discussing Region Restrictions


[Update] From SOE’s Facebook page.

ProSieben and SOE Continue to Work Toward a Solution –

SOE and ProSieben worked throughout the weekend to develop a plan that will allow our players to access and play on any server regardless of where they are in the world. Our community is our top priority and rest assured, all of your concerns have been heard.

We continue to work together with ProSieben and appreciate your patience as we work around the clock to work out critical technical details. We will share more information as soon as possible. [Brasse]

[Original Story]There is relief coming for Sony Online Entertainment fans, both present and estranged. A little earlier today, SOE’s John Smedley tweeted:

“@j_smedley: We’ve come up with a plan to allow ALL players to play on any servers they want. More details to follow.”

Sony has been in hot water this past week over an announcement that European publishing would be handed over to German ProSiebenSat.1, a side effect of which being that while existing European customers would still have access to their characters on US servers, new accounts would be restricted by region.

I will update this as more information appears.

DC Universe F2P Fun Facts, And Vanguard Free To Play?


If tweets carried a physical representation, the updates by John Smedley today would look not unlike grasping critics by the hair and smearing their faces in Sony’s statistics. Earlier today, Smedley tweeted a few of DC Universe’s accomplishments since its move to free to play:

  • Over 100% pre-f2p concurrent users.
  • 6% growth daily.
  • 700% increase in revenue (47% PC / 53% PS3)
  • Over 85% of daily logins are returning players.

Additionally, a user by the name of mupchu777 tweeted to John Smedley: “how about making vanguard saga of Heroes ftp… If not just kill the game already.” Mr. Smedley tweeted a response, “stay tuned.”

Cryptic.

John Smedley on Everquest, Free To Play, Vita, and More


For the record I tried to hold off on the “are you thinking what I’m thinking?” I make no promises. In an interview with Gamespot, Sony Online Entertainment’s President John Smedley sat down to talk about Everquest, DC Universe, and more. Most important, Smedley mentioned that Sony has no intent on shuttering Everquest at any point in the foreseeable future.

 I look at EverQuest the way I look at Dungeons & Dragons. We’re on version 4 of D&D and people are still playing in droves. Look at Magic: The Gathering…15 years I think of an awesome game. So we are big believers that this franchise is going to be there for a very long time, and we’re investing in it a lot.

Sony has quite the load on their hands, with upcoming MMOs Planetside 2, Everquest Next, and the transition of DC Universe to free to play later this month. The developer has also shown interest in revitalizing their much-neglected MMO Vanguard, as well as a heavy hand in development for Free Realms and Clone Wars Adventures. In the same interview, Smedley also confirmed that SOE plans on utilizing the Vita for its own products, but would not comment on specifics. All I know is that if Everquest is ported over to Vita, I can kiss my productivity and wallet goodbye.

When asked about the changing environment of the MMO pricing model, Smedley commented that although the market is shifting toward free to play, the subscription model definitely still has its place, especially with The Old Republic coming this December. In essence, the subscription isn’t going anywhere until the fat lady sings.

This is good news, especially after Ten Ton Hammer published a rather in-depth article on the issue of cheating in Everquest. You can read up on that here.

Planetside 2 Will Have A Cash Shop

Planetside 2 will have a cash shop, but without offering exclusive weapons/armor.


I’ve downplayed cash shops quite a bit here on MMO Fallout, but I understand the people who do not like them, and why, and the factions of supporters and opposers continues to widen as new ideas are implemented. On the extreme sides you have players who won’t play a game now unless it has a cash shop, and players who will not play any game with a cash shop. There are issues over items in the cash shop being attainable through natural gameplay, or only selling vanity items or variations of existing weapons (for instance a different color/design but with the same stats).

So for some, the SyndCon experience of Planetside 2 was less about destructible buildings, space gameplay, and skill-based system, and more about the inevitable presence of a cash shop.

If a weapon can be bought in the cash store, he was quick to assure us that it would be attainable in the game as well. Definitely though, one of the things that will be sold would be customization.

In a game like Planetside 2, the cash shop ultimately comes down to a matter of skill over stats. Unlike a traditional MMORPG, will it matter that your store-bought rifle does 20% more damage if you can’t aim it properly? Or how a tuned sniper rifle won’t change the fact that the player still has to draw a bead on your head from across the valley. Watching the impact of the cash shop will be interesting, to say the least.

More on Planetside 2 as it appears.

Star Wars Galaxies Shuts Down December 15th


Six years. Back when the New Game Enhancements and Combat Upgrade hit Star Wars Galaxies in 2005, players asked: How long can the game last now that Sony has alienated its core group? The answer is six years. What can be called the biggest PR blunder in the history of the gaming industry, spawned a game that survived six years, countless updates, and a steadily dwindling player base. Here at MMO Fallout, I always hate having to write these articles, and thankfully for the past two years I’ve only had to write them once every few months. I’m the only person in my room currently, so to say that the room fell silent at this news may not make sense to anyone but those dwelling in my mind.

Over at the Star Wars Galaxies website, John Smedley has announced that Galaxies will shut down on December 15th.

In recognition of your incredible loyalty, we are extending special Fan Appreciation offers to the current SWG community. We also plan to go out with a bang with a galaxy-ending in-game event in December and hope to see you all there. The details relating to these offers and events as well as the timeline and specifics regarding the discontinuation of the service, are provided below.

In an interview with John Smedley at Massively, Smedley reveals that the contract for Galaxies was up in 2012, and with the release of The Old Republic late this year, the two companies mutually decided that now was a good time to end the game. Smedley talks about numerous things, but most interestingly he brings up the NGE.

There’s really nothing we can do about it. We’ve taken some hard-knocks for SWG in years past with the NGE. We’ve apologized for it. It was a mistake, and not one we’re going to make as a company ever again. But we’re really proud of the great work that we’ve done over the years since then. I’m really proud of the game. It’s great. Is it going to bum people out that it’s over? Yes. Including us. Maybe even especially us.

On one note, according to Smedley no one is losing their job over this. They are moving to an undisclosed project.

You can read the entire announcement above. For those of us who have followed or played Galaxies since its inception, this will truly be the end of an era.

More on Star Wars Galaxies as it appears. And just before Galaxies’ birthday…feliz navidad.

Everquest Reactivation Campaign


Fippy Darkpaw

Damn you, Sony! With the impending release of the Everquest progression server, people like myself are no doubt trying their hardest not to resubscribe just to try the game out one more time, a feat that (at least I am finding) is proving hard to keep up. And much like the insensitive alcoholic who shows up at your one year of sobriety celebration with a case of beer, willingly shoveling your addiction right underneath your nose, Sony is ensuring that those of us on the fence will be knocked right off with a brick to the septum.

If you log into your Station accounts, some of you may find that your Everquest accounts have been reactivated until the 21st of February, just long enough to get a good week in with the progression server. Not all accounts appear to be affected by this, and I am unable to pinpoint exactly what the prerequisites are for the reactivation. If your account shows as “pending,” then you will be able to log in until the 21st.

So thank you, Sony. While you’re at it, can you spot me twenty bucks for Cool Ranch Doritos and a couple gallons of Sweet Tea? I’m going to need them.

DC Universe Opening Up Two Servers Across PC and PS3


 

Open more servers now!

A once-employed man who may or may not be named (Mark Jakobs) once said

“Look at us six months out. Look at us six weeks out. If we’re not adding servers, we’re not doing well.”

DC Universe Online may have only been out for a couple of days, but the team over at Sony Online Entertainment is already adding servers to mitigate the load. Two new North American servers are coming to the fledgling MMO, one for the PC and one for the PS3 versions, named “Cry For Blood” and “Blood Will Run” respectively. If you haven’t picked up from the names, these are player vs player servers.

Granted, it is a bit early to start shouting uplift in population, as most MMOs either deal with server strain or introduce a few temporary servers directly after launch (see Aion’s added servers that were made obsolete by the massive merger the following year). Still, if Sony can keep what they have, and continue to improve the service, then DC Universe may climb to the top!

More on DC Universe as it appears.

Planetside Next: Coming To You March 2011


It's been a long time.

“We have a very big launch coming in the month of March,” Smedley said. “It’s a big first person shooter franchise that we’re really happy with.”

Oh John Smedley, you are so coy. We’ve known about Planetside Next for a while now, since last year when Sony released the Call To Arms asking players what they would like to see in a new MMOFPS. In a recent interview with The Escapist, Sony’s own John Smedley dropped a bombshell; Not only is Planetside Next in the works, but the title has a release window for March 2011.

“We haven’t technically announced it. This is the farthest I’ve gone [discussing it with the press] and the PR people are going to shoot me.”

We’ll have more on Planetside Next as it appears, as well as the location of John Smedley’s dumped corpse.