eq2e
Latest
One Shots: Fear the frog
There's no doubt that a bunch of people have stampeded over into the lands of EverQuest II Extended to see what the experience is like. We know we've heard some interesting tales back from those first intrepid explorers. Apparently somewhere along the way they're running across a frog (likely a Froglok) who seems to be rather, shall we say, forgetful when it comes to things he wants you to do. You know the type: NPCs who send you somewhere, only to have them send you right back, leaving you to wonder why they didn't just give you a shopping list in the first place. Today's tale of forgetful frog frustration comes to us from Mike, who writes in to tell us a bit about his experience: "Hey! Just thought I'd share this shot of my new experiences in Norrath. Since EQ2 went F2P I decided I'd give it a try. To show my appreciation I threw them a few bucks and got the Silver account. Here is my MMO alter-ego Ocholivis standing atop a local peak overlooking the starting area below, contemplating his adventure thus far and wondering why that frog guy from the camp has sent him up here on yet another ridiculous errand. So it goes." Have you found a forgetful NPC? Would you like to show off what you're doing? We love to hear about our reader's travels. Email your picture and travel tale to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name and the name of the game. We'll post it out here and give you the credit for sending it in. Couldn't be easier! %Gallery-85937%
One Shots: The asylum awaits
With SOE having now rolled out the EverQuest II Extended servers into a soft launch, there are tons of folks heading into Norrath to check out the game. Meanwhile, life continues as normal on the EverQuest II servers, with higher-level groups heading into strange dungeons. One such example is the spot we see in today's One Shots, courtesy of fellow MMO blogger Ratwarlock, who also goes by Araxes on the Antonia Bayle server. He notes that this "is from the interior of the Necrotic Asylum, another of the 6-man instanced dungeons" from The Shadow Odyssey. Ratwarlock also assures us that the dungeon this was taken in is "one of the harder ones!" Calling all MMO players! We need your screenshots for One Shots. If you've seen anything fun, imposing, interesting, or silly, we want to hear from you. If you haven't, gather up your group of friends and go have some fun -- then send some screens of that in! All MMOs -- from large-budget to tiny indie, East to West -- are welcome. Send them to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name/server/game and a quick description of what we're seeing. Reader submissions keep One Shots running, so send some in today! %Gallery-85937%
The Daily Grind: Which game will receive the F2P treatment next?
Two years ago, if you'd have told many people that large Western-based developers would be shifting their games to the free-to-play model, your response might well have come in the form of a great deal of laughter. However, as we've seen in the last while, the market is changing. Turbine shifted Dungeons and Dragons Online to a F2P model and have had great success with it. So much so, that they're now working to shift Lord of the Rings Online to a F2P model as well. Sony Online Entertainment dipped their toes into the water with Free Realms, and have found the response to be overwhelming. Now, they're working on bringing EverQuest II over to a F2P model as well by spawning entirely new servers for an EverQuest II - Extended version. Even Age of Conan and Warhammer Online have offered up a modified freemium model -- unlimited "trials" giving players a certain number of levels to play for as long as they'd like. Meanwhile, we're all left wondering: With the recent shifts into the F2P market we're seeing, what game do you think will make the jump next? Will SOE garner excellent profits from the planned EQ2E servers, thereby setting off a chain reaction whereby they shift their older titles like Vanguard, Star Wars Galaxies, EverQuest, and the rest, to that model? (Might we even see them reviving The Matrix Online as a F2P if the profits are really good?) Do you think Turbine will finally turn its eye towards Asheron's Call once LotRO takes off under its new model? Will NCsoft jump into the fray with one of the games from their stable? In the world of guesses, anything is possible -- so tell us: What game do you think will make the jump to free-to-play next?
