Feldon 
Well, this should change the tone and tenor of the ProSiebenSat.1 Panel at SOE Live a bit.
From SOE President John Smedley‘s twitter:
[I] wanted to thank our players for continuing feedback. We’ve been listening along with our European partners at Prosieben.We’ve found a way to let existing players of our current games that are migrating over to Prosieben (EQ, EQ II, Planetside 2) keep their SOE accounts and stay with SOE. Down the road we may offer an option to move over to Prosieben.
Just to be clear after these games launch on Prosieben’s service new accounts will be created on their sites. However all US and EU players can still play together no matter which service they are on.
I want to be clear that Prosieben will have better European CS and payment options IMO. That’s why we went with them in the first place. Also Prosieben has done a great job of listening and is working on changing some of their CS policies. More to come on that soon.
UPDATE
Just going back and forth with our partners at Prosieben. I can confirm that we WILL offer the ability to migrate to Prosieben. No word on timeframe just yet but shouldn’t take too long.
[I] want to make sure I’m crystal clear – after we launch Planetside 2 – new EU accounts can only be created on Prosieben.
This has subsequently been posted on the EQ2 Forums.
SOE doing something right ? i cant believe it, time will tell.
Good news for now, at last for my guild.
You know TBQH I would not be the least bit surprised that after fan faire/SOE Live whatever the F they want to call it now…
Next week we just might be hearing.
“Sorry guys, we tried to make this work, we really wanted to make it work but in the end we couldn’t find a way”
Off to P7S, run along now.
I do not think that it is a stretch in the least to think that this was made to squelch discussions on the subject at SOE live, the timing is simply too suspect. They have demonstrated time and time again that something this underhanded is totally within what they are willing to do as a company and to the playerbase.
YAY YAY YAY !That’s a VERY big announcement and victory of the community !
Well, I’ll still wait to see how it works out, not overly confident about Smedley word there.
Hehe, Lempo, you can’t even be happy about good news.
Believe me, Smed would not say this to such a sensitive topic unless it was a firm decision and reiterated by both SOE and PSG.
As to the timing, obviously defusing concern prior to SOE Live* is the appropriate thing to so. In fact, announcing it as soon as possible regardless of timing is good for all those who had concerns – nothing “suspect” about that. =)
;-)#
*(you can call it Fan Faire and even get the shirt if you like)
we found a way, no want tell they ll used that way.
“we may offer” is also a form of … perhaps, perhaps not for the whole thing.
Just some word for dont talk about that with physical public. Some wish… telling us they listening… lol.
I also thing the time is too suspect. But it s great IF it’s true.
Waiting the time where he ll tell us he ll dont have his word, he have no choice, or he would have done the way we want…
Wow, omg the players actually won this round. I guess they could not make the cutover to ps1 without major problems.
Oh Feldon love the picture of McCoy saying its dead Jim!!!!
It may be a Pyrrhic victory, but yes, we won. 😉
When Smedley says something is coming in 2 weeks, I tend to believe it (at least the broad strokes). It’s when Smedley says that SOE will never do X that I stock up on canned goods. Cause never say never. 🙂
Victory for current players. Whil I had just commented that you’d be thrilled to see this news and you are already here cheering. 🙂
@Cyliena: I sent her an email as soon as I heard. 🙂
We all win here. =)
The partnership with ProSiebenSat.1 is alive and well (though I love the pic too); this announcement offers our existing folks the choice they wanted.
Business negotiations and contracts are hard, as are platform programming and account management on the back end. If they weren’t, we’d have been able to change MUCH more quickly. We are happy when our players are happy.
I do hope that some of you will make it to the PSG panel at SOE Live. Their team is full of some really great people, and you should have the chance to meet them!
~Brasse
That’s a fu… good news. A little bit too late for most of us, but a very very, very, very good news.
With the PSS crap off the table for EU players, many may come back. I’m sure I will.
Good for all you EU players. Just make sure you have all your accounts set before the transition.
Great news for the EU players that remained this long. Not so great for the ones that left because they didn’t want to deal with SOE’s bullcrap through this entire process.
Also Smed has said things before that turned out to be direct lies (RMT, F2P). I wouldn’t be so quick to come in here and defend your king. Especially when this arena doesn’t utilize the same totalitarian control the forums do.
This is very good news for those Europeans still playing – tho too little too late for most players I fear. The guild I was in on Splitpaw is now happily ensconced in RIFT and 10 months of antagonism towards SOE are not easily forgotten.
I wonder if we need to thank DCUO here. I wonder if the take up was so appallingly bad (there are four accounts in this household that never made the transition, just simply stopped playing instead) that it caused worries for the higher ups over lost income?
Two things strike me here:
1) As P7S1 upped the cost of the subscription by 20%, who in their right mind will transfer to them – if it costs them a fifth more than those who don’t? Unless (call me an old cynic) SOE are going to up their sub to match.
2) If all post-PS2 launch EU accounts HAVE to be through P7S1, does that mean if I want to play PS2 or EQN that I’ll have to transition to P7S1 anyway? This is what happened when EQ2 launched and EU players had to make new accounts cos UBISoft, who handled our EQ1 accounts, didnt publish EQ2.
And lastly, I’d quite like my DCUO account back please. And my all-in-one Station Access please. Then we can just forget this sillyness ever happened.
@ feldon you for got this quote
Alpha Squad purchasers will not have to migrate although we will offer the optional ability to migrate to Prosieben
PS2 Presales may be hurting a lil bit
@Cyliena: yes, I got spammed by an evil guy wanting me to turn carebear and hug everybody, starting with him *hugs Dethdlr and covers Cyliena with kisses before assuming once more a regular necro garb*. See what I mean?
Hubby is thrilled too.
“I do hope that some of you will make it to the PSG panel at SOE Live. Their team is full of some really great people, and you should have the chance to meet them! “…..
Well, those who are more interested in this than anyone else are mostly not able to visit SOE Live cause of the price of a flight ticket from europe.
I wish I could go to soe live. I had two drawbacks. One family stuff, IE school meetings with teachers and staff, work stuff IE wife cant get off due to 2 folks in her department out on maternity leave. Lastly the cos of flying a family of 4 to Las Vegas.
I just wish that every other year they would have it in Atlanta. I went to the 2006 one because it was easy and did not cost us much.
The one in Las Vegas just has so many problems with me getting everything to line up the moon the stars, planets, work, kids, school and baby sitters.
Regarding your “never” comment…just remember that “never” always means “there are currently no plans for doing that in the foreseeable future”. All it would take for a “never” to change to “definitely” is either a change in command (or a direct order from above) or an unforeseen change in premises.
I would “never” not pay a bill immediately. True statement. However if I went bankrupt I would have to.
There will “never” be RMT in EQ2…unless subscriber numbers are declining and other companies have great success by going F2P with RMT and the choice would be to either halt development or go F2P.
This is awesome news! I am really happy we (current players) are left with a choice.
@Whis – Same here 🙂 Hopefully one day SOE Fan Faire will actually make it to Europe.
@Brasse
Well you know it is pretty hard to be happy with a company that makes the rash decisions that are not given proper thought in the quantities that SOE does.
This news coming on the heels of this ridiculous change that is was just made to the raid zone timers. This could have been fixed properly, but instead the easier solution was to make a change that is going to have a major impact on 90%+ of the raid guilds, this actually will probably have a negative effect on every raid guild/alliance.
This isn’t the military, this isn’t a prison environment, punishments done en masse are not an effective means of discipline, the vast majority of the players that play by the rules have no way to ‘coerce’ or ‘influence’ those that choose to exploit. The fact that a blind eye has been turned to it for all this time, that it was allowed to fester for so long is a shining example of just how piss poor the ship you are riding in is being ran.
Besides as Gaealiege said Smedley, SJ and crew have time and time again told outright lies to the playerbase and then be caught up in them. So regardless of what you say about it just happening to be this way, I don’t believe it and there is a large portion of the playerbase that if they knew probably wouldn’t believe it either.
I like how you address me directly though, really I mean if you are going to go there when exacttly was the last time that SOE did ANYTHING (that was not reactionary) that the playerbase should be happy about.
Yes I am happy for the players that this will keep in the game, I play with some of them what I am not happy with is I know that it is just a matter of time before we have another half-assed, half baked decision come down that the negative aspects of were not even given consideration.
As a Brit playing on a US server, I’m overjoyed at this news – put simply, it means I won’t have to cancel my accounts, lose all my friends across the pond amd find another game – Which I was fully prepared to do had the forced deal gone ahead.
However, I feel I must raise my concerns to a company that thought that this whole thing was a ‘great idea’.
In ps7 you selecetd a partner with little to no experience dealing with mature gamers, whose track record in dealing with complaints and causing upset is almost SOE like in its stature – and this company would be the best choice to provide ‘better service’? All I can say is – It must have been a hell of a sales pitch!
So, happy with the decision – this EQ2’er lives to fight another day – but I will not be put through the mill again. My camel has a backful and all it will take is one more straw..
@Lempo
Though the points you raise are valid sometimes, you really need to give it a rest already. Your outrageous comparisons make you sound downright ignorant. For those of us who disagree with that raid change…it makes us look like idiots.
You’re not helping.
Not a single one of your comments is ever positive. You’re obviously a miserable person. Go outside once in a while and get some fresh air. You might just find something to be HAPPY about.
Or cancel your account already and stop giving SOE money if you hate this game so much.
+1 @Winkie specialy the part “a company that thought that this whole thing was a ‘great idea’.”
@Loch we can have a lot of hate after SoE (more than it’s possible to write with word, when it’s passion…), and still have some love for Everquest world (and friends)… It’s hard to be positive when you got backstabed so often.
Still a great great new
if it’s true and if they dont come with another ‘great idea’ (who is not possible).
im happy the forced mirgation didnt go though but the timing of this is also subject
http://www.everquest2.com/expansions?tab=0
@Loch –
You are the one that needs to get out some, at least that is how it appears to me. Do you have nothing better to do than to troll me? I have give plenty of positive comments to SOE, and I am not giving them any money, I cashed in on the triple SC express/rebate scheme just in the nick of time. It will be April 2014 before either of my accounts run out. Nothing was outrageous about anything I have said regarding this.
They are using a mass punishment tactic in an environment that it is simply not suited for.
And in regards to the link that Unlce posted yeah I can imagine that has something to with it, nor would I be surprised to see SOe backstab these players very shortly after they purchase this expansion.
Like most everything else, the page for this was thrown together in a half-assed half baked manner,
2 x Portal Globe of Swift Travel
They can’t even get the names of the items correct…
The fact that this “great deal” was allowed to go so far is shameful really,clearly the game has bled players and something HAD to be done what with an expansion coming out soon.
That said i will go back to the game now i have no interest whatsoever in EQ3 or other games that SOE will release so for me i will stay with EQ2 till it closes as long as SOE continue to operate my account.
People need to see the devil in the detail so far as this announcement is concerned.
Yes, existing players of EQ and EQ2 plus prospective players of PS2 will be able to continue playing those games free of any compulsion to switch to PSS1.
However, Piestro has confirmed on the EQ board that this change applies solely to those titles, and does not, for example, extend to VG or EQNext which existing Station Account holders will only be able to play through PSS1. In such circumstances it is extremely unlikely that European players will get Station Access discounts back again, or that they would be worth having anyway. Smed has also confirmed that players who have already been forced to transfer over with DCUO are stuck with PSS1 for that game and won’t be allowed back.
This is beginning to read like a half-baked solution to a half-baked deal, cobbled together to defuse the issue before the SOE Live Panel, and in a desperate response to high cancellations of existing games and low pre-sales of future ones. Of course, that’s just my cynical view and I’m sure we’ll be told that isn’t the case, so why then not make it a complete solution by extending it to all the titles covered by the PSS1 deal? Surely that’s the only solution that makes any sense.
I was like hey maybe they are getting reasonable over at SOE, maybe I should resub. Then I saw the update on lockout timers.
I remember a long time ago when my daughter told me “I will never marry a boy” … things change you know. Last eyar when I walked her down the aisle I did not have the balls to tell her she lied to me … 🙂 Things change, circumstances change, business polocies change, we all adapt.
I really did LOL at that image! Great one!
And while this is great news, and glad the customers were finally listened to on this issue, I really wanted to just take the time here, to thank Feldon!
You really do work hard on this site and all you do for the players. You report well, have a sense of humor, try to remain impartial and observe from both sides of the fence while remaining tempered, and are fair.
This is my number one eq2 news source ( yes sorry SOE, even before your own news sources =P .
So, thank you, for all you do Feldon!
~~Kat of FP
Feldon, I hate to labour the point but you might want to review the title to this item in the light of Piestro’s confirmation on the EQ boards that Smed’s announcement relates solely to EQ, EQ2 and PS2. It does not apply to VG and the other existing titles, nor will it apply to EQNext. It is therefore incorrect to say that forced migration is dead and Euro SOE players can stick with SOE without at least qualifying that.
It’s a partial turnaround only, probably driven more by poor pre-sales of those expansions and launch of those games than by community feedback.
I love people like Grimmond. The people that support a company when that 2 year warranty you bought…well they decided to change that. Sorry. What we meant was it was a donate an extra $80 to Samsung policy.
Amazing. Having your daughter tell you she would never marry a boy (this experience coming from the utter ignorance and naivete of youth) and comparing it to the messages a fully mature, intellectually (hopefully) developed team of professionals delivers. Well, I don’t know that I can adequately portray how stupid that sounds.
Sorry dude – things change. That is the way of the world. In business things evolve. Companies as well as people make statements and as time passes things change. After 17 years of marriage my first wife told me she did not love me anymore … did she lie to me 17 years before ? I am not a fanboy, and I do not like what has transpired in SoE vs the palyers … but I accept that things change and we either adapt or move on.
I moved on … but I do still come back here to see how everyone is doing … and get a chuckle.
Who woulda thunk it?
Of course, now I’m torn. Flatley is doing well and having fun in GW2. Ergo, I have a dilemma.
Thanks for the choice I’m now given, but I do feel it’s come a little too late. I need to think on this as I don’t have the time for two MMO’s.
I see a huge difference between saying something that later becomes untrue and lying.
Me in July 2012: I am definitely not going to SOE Live 2012.
Me today: I will definitely be at SOE Live 2012.
Does that mean I was outright lying in July? No. I believed it to be true when I said it. Circumstances changed and now I’m going. Thats a big distinction.
If they believed what they said was true at the time, they weren’t lying. Did they make a promise and not keep it? Possibly. But that’s different from lying.
So in the end, you can say whatever you want and change it based purely on conviction and still be in the right.
Sweet action!
I wonder if this means SOE is keeping the splitpaw server and giving P7S a blank new one.
Its good news for sure, and a relief since I was struggling to fit the pitchfork in the baggage limits 😉
Seriously, now the really interesting bit will be how much more appealing Prosebien can make it to sign up to their side of the service? It would be very ironic if people end up wanting to sign up with the deal they offer.
And does this mean that the station access passes are back on the menu? Really hoping I can play EQ2, a bit of PS2 and dip my toes into EQ1 again without paying 3x full price when I’ve only got so much time I can MMO (still trying to get into EQ1, I know there is a classic game in there).
Eschia, why would they do that? All servers were always planned to continue to be run by SOE, the only difference would have been which launchpad we use to access them. So…no need for new blank servers for PSS1 customers, they use the same servers as native SOE customers.
I agree, the servers won’t change.
I also don’t think Station Access will be back, and even if it was it wouldn’t be as attractive as before given that it won’t extend to Vanguard or any of the other games that we’ll still need to play through PSS1, including EQNext in due course. In time I imagine PSS1 will have their own version of it (for the ganes you play through them) but at the moment Smed’s prediction of them offering better payment options than SOE is looking pretty nonsensical.
lol,
…… and hand took hand in the golden land,
and pigs flew overhead.
Really folks examine your options there are other games out there and better producers. Some of them even worked at SOE back in Rise Of Kunark and still remember customer service and how to make a good game better.
http://stormlegion.riftgame.com/en/
Players from Everquest 2 always welcome. Raiding positions available.
Milliebii…Rift sucked on release,and given the fact they’re constantly trying to sell it to me for 5$..likely still does.
Try it and see, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. At launch I thought it was not as good as Everquest 2. When I went there some months ago I was pleasantly surprised, it has got a lot better. I have been in beta for the new Xpac and it is even better.
Meanwhile over the year I stayed EQ2 got worse and worse. Has it improved in the last six months?
Come and have a look, at least at the free trial you may stay.
Oh and by the way, when TRION says customer service, they mean providing a service to customers. Not sure what SOE means by Customer Service or Community Relations anymore but it certainly is not focused on improving the customers experience of their product.
A good victory for the community and a start for me. I’d like to return one day as well but I still won’t play as long as they have health and power pots on the marketplace. I know many could care less but it is a sticking point for me, but hey they’ve managed to meet half of my expectations so maybe I’ll cross my fingers.
~Wes
Hello everyone and a few Questions to Brasse,
im one of valors player, that leaved bacause of the P7S1. Deal. Im happy to read this but, actually im not planning to coming back. Im not sure if this will be gonna happen or its just an approach to make people quietly. I believed often in much things from SoE in my SWG Ära, and we know what it comes..like NGE?
Next, for upcoming games like EQN or PS2, can we use our old SoE Account? Or must we create new accounts for with P7S1.?
Greets Sole
Can Anyone remember this “Its Dead Jim Banner”?
after i saw Feldons pic, i had to remember this.
Link: http://www.austinat.de/blog/wp-content/2006/12/2006-12-13-nge.gif
This is good news and nice to see SOE have done this. In fairness to them this would not have been easy at all and will have probably lost them money or concessions in the wider deal.
It won’t bring me back to EQ2 as I am still very jaded. A shame I feel that way about the game as I have been a loyal subscriber of 1 account since launch and a 2nd for probably 3 years until I left the game this summer, with whatever would have been the final nail (some weak content though for sure whatever it was).
Take any good news you can get in life and seiza the day I say. There is no point being negative about it. i don’t think SOE will have much interest in getting all of us old players back (in my guild probably 20-25 who left in the last yr) but that’s fine. They have a business model that I sincerely hope is successful for them. I will find somethign to spend my money on in the end and in the short term, have had fun trying all of the new MMOs out there and some old ones I never played.
Currently paying for about 6 MMOs that I dabble in but waiting for the next one that really grabs me by the socks and holds on. Will it be EQ Next ? Honestly, I hope it will. Until then my guild mates are in a few of the other games we play regularly.
Hopefully the model SOE uses at the moment will fail and they will go back to the greatness of KoS timeframes and the HQs and kind of character progression I felt so happy to be a part of back then.
@ Sole
Many players have the wrong idea about the NGE and the Post CU SWG. It wasn’t actually SoE that made those decisions but instead was lucus Arts. They killed one of the best MMOs ever. Since we all have great memories of early EQ2, SWG and anyone who seriously played it, Vanguard, as we remember the put work in and get reward out mechanism, we can hope a MMO developer finds a way to make this work.
@ the MMO community.
I suspect that while they might not say it, many will be like me and willing to pay double the EQ2 subs model every month for a game of such quality. There are enough of us who are fed up with spoon fed dumbed down trash and who want a challenge, that can still be enjoyed with 10-15 hrs of gameplay time each week, to make it commercially viable.
@Karofin
Yeah i know, the direction and order of NGE was from LucasArts, i know that. But it wasnt only LucasArts only Idea, SoE announced a big combat upgrade for SWG only a few months after SWGs launch. If you remember the first leaked CURB, it was an awesome plan. In the end LucasArts wanted a WoWish like version and the NGE was brought to our Server.
I think both have made mistakes on SWG, SoE and LA. You cant give only one Company responsible for the NGE. SoE had to defend themselves instead of produce it.
@ Sole
Thats a fair point re the CURB stuff. The trouble with the LA deal was that they had full creative license and could force onto the developer. Could they have fought more or did they get blinded by the possibility of a WOW clone ? Whatever the answer SOE have shown contempt since in many ways and in their own titles which is without defence. SOE used to be considered the godfather of this industry, now no serious gamer sees them as anything close.
Too little too late. That’s my thought on this announcement. I left EQ2 in May after reading up on the deal and the company involved. I did not like the way this whole business was handled by either side in this ‘Deal’. I would NEVER trust SOE again. Once bitten twice shy as the saying goes. I am now playing Guildwars 2, a solid game from a company with good customer relations and support, there are also no subscription fees or restrictions on playable content after you purchase the original game. Which by the way costs just a little more than the upcoming expansion for EQ2. So I will not be playing EQ2 again or be puchasing any new games that they may release in the future. I am another customer SOE have lost.