So the above interview confuses me for one main point:

If the playtime is down and people don't want to log in for hours to raid anymore, then why are all these progression servers popping up and filling up with people who, shock, want to play for hours on end?

the answer in my mind is simple: The old content was far superior to the new content.

Give the players what they want to play and they will come back and play. The replay value of EQ's first 6 years is enormous. Its not just nostalgic.

I run a old raiding guild from 2001 (now a casual guild in the last few years) on Drinal and I have noticed that many many people still come back to EQ1, even after lengthy periods of being gone. They might sub for a month or a few months and sometimes they stay, but often they go for a time and come back again. There seems to be a constant churn of interest in the game. Something keeps me playing every day and something prevents many people from sticking with it. I always assumed that it's other games that are more compelling, but just don'y satisfy in the long run like EQ1? I keep trying other games but nothing has the depth of EQ1. I never get bored, and all those old players don't want to let go.

If Daybreak can figure out how to keep all the old players satisfied, so that they can play casually, as a gold player, they just might be able to get all those old players to maintain a gold account with a reduced playtime restriction. Something like: Gold account monthly for $5 but they can only play 2hrs a day. I get the sneaky feeling that there are a lot of old players that want to play but don't want to shell out the monthly cost or commit to a yearly cost. They hate the free account because all their old raid gear is useless. I think a reduced cost gold sub. offering with a play time restriction would be a nice hook. Let them enjoy their old raid gear and goof around in the old content they remember for the short amount of time they are going to play. Bring back the revamped and revised Silver account.

I truly hope, with all my heart, that Daybreak doesn't give up on EQ. I have devoted countless hours of my life to this game, developing characters, conquering zones, raiding, and my passion for this game has not waned in the Many Years I have been playing it. I talk to people every day in game that I would not talk to otherwise. I have met and created life-long friendships from this game. So, if what I say matters at all, I hope you decide to keep EQ around for many years to come because we still have a great fan base and people love to play this game for the friendships, the social aspect of the game, and to just get away and do something together while having fun.

Hiya,
From what I am seeing, these are my thoughts ( and I have not read every last article or post, so bare that in mind).

1.) Everquest was originally based as an adventure, where players had options to advance their characters. These options included:
a.) Killing to grind xp
b.) questing to grind xp
c.) farming for special drops from boss monsters ( named)
d.) progression
e.) special events ( GM events like Castle Mistmoore, fighting Mayong)
f.) Gm tournaments ( specialized titles and bragging rights)
g.) tradeskills ( increasing skill value to make bigger and better, as well as making a source of income (lets face it, you are stuck in towns usually doing Tradeskills, so you aren't adventuring, you need a revenue source. Just one of many trade ups in the game)).
h.) Raiding ( for progression, special drops, competition between guilds on server or across servers)
i.) Special 1 time events ( Sleeper raid, among a limited few others)

Doing these you had options:
a.) solo
b.) duo
c.) group
d.) raid

2.) The vast majority of the Player base are used to how the game was meant to be played and acknowledges that it's their choice how they play; whether it's short duration, medium duration, or long duration ( IE 1-3 hours, 3-6 hours, 6+ hours). ( This does not mean that people's playtimes and/or situations don't change, it's just an overview). With that in mind there should always be introduced content in equal amounts for each type.
a.) It's a fact that those that play longer will always be further ahead. That's a universal truth to these types of games. Trying to make everyone equal in any terms by adding ways to boost a characters progression through levels, gear, or expansion progression just to catch up is demeaning to everyone, including those that are trying to catch up. It ruins the adventure, the experience.
b.) on the other hand there should be ways that players can catch up, without creating a rift between each other. in the days of old, people would Powerlevel: through buffing, level differences, class mechanics, zone bonuses, gear 'twinking", etc.
There are ways to help those that are lower to catch up. There always have been. People just need to become a community again. ( I say this because the game has turned inward and too much to greed lately, that those lower find it harder and harder to find help).(mind you I have run the same guild for 12 of it's 16 years of life, and the vast majority of the time we help our lower players succeed; through grouping, tips, info, strategy, class training, etc.) It's all how you look at things.

3.) Times do change. New games come out. New ways of thinking are developed. This is all fact; but care must be given with the discussion of change or direction that will be taken on older games / content. In this way will a product stay unique, and stand out from others.
THIS is what Everquest was and has been for more than one and a half decades.

Everquest can continue to grow and mature, remaining one of the best, if not the best, MMORPG of all time. Everquest IS the Legacy, the one that started it all. Remain true to her.
I've played since beta on across over 30 accounts. 20 of which I still have ( lot of TS mules). I have about 30-40 Mains that I play. I barely ever box, unless it's a short duration when in need ( like for tracking, TS, or getting particular missions). I have 7 characters level 105(none of which are heroic characters), each over 10k AA with at most 1k AA from the autogrants on any of them. My play times range from 1-5 hours weekdays to 12 hours+ on weekends when I don't have my daughter. I do not see a penalty in quests that take longer than my playtime to complete, as most have unlimited timers to complete them. Missions very rarely ever take more than the time I have to play to complete. I am not part of a raiding guild, in fact I haven't actively raided since 2002, when my guild was one of the top raid guilds on my server. Sure I miss it at times, but I can always guest raid with the top raid guilds, or find open raids to attend. There are enough of them around that I never feel pressured with my time, or schedule.
I actually miss solo, duo, and group content. The game has been focused on the top end to keep raiding and end levels happy; in doing so a great majority of new players, returning players and veteran players that want to start new characters are being snubbed. A great deal can be done to revitalize the lower mid to higher mid level content to make it more enjoyable for players of all backgrounds.
I love new content, gives me new things to do. However I do love existing content: original epics, Iksar weapon quest arcs, Dragons of Norrath progression, etc. as well.
I like the idea of new progression servers, however I'd love to see one with an actual timeline of that of EQ. ( Each expansion released to play in the exact time frames that the original released them.) This would allow the complete recreation of the experience. All the bugs have been fixed already, it would be smooth and fun.
EQ has very little advertising. Most I talk to that are gamers are surprised she's still running ( a few have come back, for nostalgia... at first). People need to know She's still here, that she's still growing.

I can keep going and going here. But I think if most would just think about it, many ideas could be formed that would benefit EQ ( be realistic on them, not things which are outlandish). From what I have read P99 has been doing things to keep to the original as closely as possible, they have been around a long time. If they can, we can.
P.S. I do not see how "Campaigns" compare to Staggered released content like how Rain of Fear or Call of the Forsaken was done. Individual campaigns may not have anything to do with one another ( one could be Luclin based, while another could be kunark based; with no lore or interactions of storyline of either being related to the other). If they were, then yes, it would be widely considered Staggered released content of the same item ( expansion) and would HAVE to be prices as such ( included together). I do hope the people at Daybreak Gaming Company realize that we players have already been through the, pardon the expression, **** storm of Business as usual and know what to expect, what certain language means and how short comings and short cuts are implemented.

I was worried EQ and EQ2 was going to go poof. But I think Daybreak understands that a lot of us love these games and they can still be profitable. I have high hopes for Daybreak

On a side note. I also was wondering if you guys would consider letting "Veteran Rewards" go to all characters attached to an account like EQ2 does. That would make much of the player base very, very happy.

Anyway, I wish you guys success!

If Daybreak wanted to REALLY do something right, they should have sacked him with the rest of the crew in February. It's been a mix of getting excited for new ideas for the future mixed with the same stupid crap business as usual. We went from "Xpac drips" to "Never again will we do small content releases, only full size xpacs from now on!" to "yep, xpac drips it is. But let's called them campaigns." etc etc etc. He has the feel of a career politician. It's very tired.

double post sorry

Edited, May 1st 2015 3:31am by Nitig

I understand his perspective. I for one am one of those long time EQ players that would willing and happily stay in EQ as a hard core player. specially if there is an added focus to soloing players. Forcing your populace to group might seem like a good business decision, but you have to try and reach all folks interested if possible.

I am very skeptical on whatever this person has anything to say, or anyone associated with him,along with Sony or Daybreak. Actions speak louder than words, we shall see.