Introducing the EQ2 Passport Program
I’ve just received an unexpected e-mail from the EverQuest II team regarding a new program for players on the fence, considering returning to EQ2, wanting to participate in seasonal and special events, or wanting to spin up an inactive account to do some Multiboxing.
If you’ve let your any of your EQ2 account expire, and don’t want to commit for the whole $15 to restore access, you can now play for up to 3 days access for $5 through the new EQ2 Passport program.
Commentary
While it might seem a nice gesture to offer players who are short on cash the opportunity to login infrequently at a discounted rate, the seams begin to unravel when we consider the terms and key publicity points of this program.
The SOE Marketing Team, who have a penchant for operating as if the players do not exist, seem to have been pressed into service to create another whiz-bang program to increase revenues. However the devil is in the details.
It seems unlikely that players will bite at $5 for a 3 day subscription, when $15 buys 30 days. The math simply doesn’t add up.
It stands to reason that if the SOE Marketing Team sidesteps the players, surely they must give little weight to concerns expressed by developers and designers as well, regardless of their understanding of the players. If asked, any EQ2 dev would have told Marketing straightaway that 3 days was just not a large enough carrot.
Another startling angle to the EQ2 Passport announcement is the front-and-center publicity given to Multiboxing. While we have reported both sides of this topic, ending in a sort of “don’t ask, don’t tell” standoff, it seems surprising that Multiboxing, which some players have genuine ethical concerns about, would have earned such a prominent space in this announcement.
One wonders what performance indicators will be used to determine the success or failure of this program, if any. With the shaky Sentinel’s Fate launch, the Marketing team showed a staggering fearlessness about their job security.
Tags: eq2 passport
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Comments (15)
Yerkich
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Agreed. $5 for 3 days does not a good deal make.
Give a a week for $5 and I can see it being a viable option.
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n1md4
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4euros 3 days
14euros 1 month
34euros 3 month
62euros 6 month
…
30 days would be 40 euros not 14 for a common 1 month sub.
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Eschia
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I got this email too and I’m really confused about it. They didn’t do a good job explaining it. I clicked the button on the site showing “Jump In” and it brought me to a subscription page to subscribe t the game that i am already subscribed to. I was like WTF is this?
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Halkagon
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30mins to zone to anyway in the game. Save yourself the money and play something else.
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Halkagon
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30mins to zone to anywhere in the game. Save yourself the money and play something else.
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Zizzu
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Have to be the dumbest thing to date from SoE. Are you kidding me? $5 for 3 days. And I thought Brenlo was stupid.
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jeremy j
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it would be viable if your time stopped when you logged off. $5 for 72 hours of play time would be acceptable for a very casual player. Like, someone who plays 1-2 hours max every few days, etc.
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Grugg
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The program is aimed at specifically ultra-casual players who only want to participate in seasonal and special events every now and then. The pricing makes sense in that context.
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Ghouti
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Probably also meant for those players that left and just want to try the game for a few days to see if they like the changes. You can make a new account and use the trial, but if you already have an excisting account you had to pay full bucks to try it again.
Although i’d still say $5 for 3 days is way to much compared to the price per month lol
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Zimrathon
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They look to be targeting multi-box or alt accounts from the marketing blurb. Rather, add the mechanics to link two accounts or have multiple toons from the same account playable in parallel for an increased subscription and they would generate far more interest.
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Lessing
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You know what brings people back? Content that is fun to play. Proper progression, itemization that makes sense, and a lack of lag and massive zoning times.
Like OMG.
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Ghouti
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I doubt its really intended solely for multi-boxing, those that want to will probably want to multi-box more often then 3 days every 30 days (as it’s only 3 days every 30 days so play 3 days and then wait for 27 days or get a subscription).
But well it might be a bit weird idea, but it might get a few people over the line to try it out once more. I know i only came back two years ago when we got a free month to play in lol
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Feldon
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Oh I know it’s not “solely” for multiboxing. I’m just saying why pick a controversial issue to market your program with?
And the response overwhelmingly here and on flames and the eq2 forums has been “it’s not the days, it’s the hours stupid”. If this were 30-40 hours of gameplay per month, like a limited cell phone plan, people would use the hell out of it. But 3 consecutive days (basically a weekend)? Few people will use it.
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Grugg
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“Few people will use it.”
But those few people now have another option.
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Rat
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If this was 72 non-consecutive hours I might have bit. So I could log in, play 2 hours, not play for 3 days, play 8 hours over a weekend and still have 62 hours left for the rest of the month, etc.
However.. 3 days? So what happens if I log in, get a call 5 minutes later and have to go? Thats 1/3 days burnt off? That’s ridiculous. I can’t pop on just to check mail / market without burning an entire day?
Its ridiculous.
If you want part time players to re-sub with this $5 for ‘x’ hours, make it 72 non-consecutive hours a month.
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