On Beta: Mercenary Unlocks — Gotta Collect Em All!

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Daybreak Cash, EQ2

merc_unlock

At SOE Live this year, the ability to store Mercenaries on EQ2 characters was announced to deafening applause. The feature was reconfirmed in an October Producer letter. So when Tears of Veeshan beta opened, players quickly found the new interface allowing them to store Mercenaries, along with a few surprises in the implementation (and cost) which have spawned a multi-page discussion.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a BETA feature and as such may change between now and live, so readers should not make any assumptions about pricing, etc. until Tears of Veeshan launches on November 12th.

NOTE: The Mercenary window has been substantially upgraded since this screenshot was taken.

Nothing in Life is Free

First up, Mercenary Unlocks are not free. Mercenary Unlocks are currently priced at 100SC ($1) each. When they first appeared on Beta, they were set to 250SC each, so pricing is subject to change before launch.

What’s the difference between Unlocks and Slots?

With Mercenary Unlocks as currently implemented, the Merc window displays a list of every Merc you’ve encountered and presents the option to permanently Unlock them one-by-one.

For someone who’s been lucky enough to track down some of the rarer mercs like KennyMatri Dut, or Perrin Wanderhoof, or any of the Ancient or Looted Mercenaries in Skyshrine or Chains of Eternity zones, and who wants the security of always being able to summon them any time, then a Mercenary Unlock will be exactly what you want, and they’re dead easy to use.

Do you need to unlock every merc? Not at all. If you don’t mind returning to your home city to hire the more common mercs and are only concerned about stashing rare ones, then Unlocks offer a reasonable cost for convenience.

Who Could Pay More?

Players who situationally rotate between several mercs depending on the needs of different instances may end up needing to unlock quite a few mercs, costing them more than a Mercenary Slots system. With Slots, they’d be able to manage their costs by choosing just the right mercs needed for a gameplay session. One drawback to Slots is, players need to manage their posse of Mercs through some kind of Load/Save interface. Unlocks are a much simpler system to use and explain.

This Week on Mercbusters!

Q: Does this mean Mercs cost 250SC or 100SC each time you want to hire them?

A: No! Unlocks are a totally optional convenience feature allowing players to have the game permanently “remember” certain Mercs they want to always be able to Hire without having to go find them again in a home city (or camping overland zones for weeks/months).

Q: Wasn’t this announced as part of the expansion/update?

A: At the SOE Live keynote, Holly announced: “And as part of our free live content, finally, we’re giving you mercenary slots.” In the October producer’s letter, Holly reiterated : “And as part of our content update available to everyone, we’re adding Mercenary slots and the Tier 4 Guild Hall too!”.

An Example of how Merc Unlocks Work

Senya Shadowbone of the Crushbone server has posted a detailed explanation of how the Merc Unlocks system works:

It’s not really a “slot”. You can always run to town and hire any merc you want for no station cash. It’s the switching between mercs that you’ve ever hired that runs into alot of station cash. For the record I think it’s a really poor implementation but I’m going to try and explain it as best I can.

You have Stamper already (no station cash charge)
You find Matri up so you opt to hire her (no station cash charge)
You need a healer merc for something so you want to switch back to Stamper instead of keeping Matri. You have 2 choices here:

  • You can go back to where Stamper hangs out to rehire him for no station cash.
  • You can rehire him directly from the merc tab with an unlock for 250sc.

Now you want Matri back. You again have 2 choices here.

  • You can wait to find her up again and rehire her for no station cash (not really much of an option).
  • You can rehire her directly from the merc tab with an unlock for 250sc.

So now you have unlocked Stamper and Matri. You can switch between Stamper and Matri from the merc tab at any time and it won’t cost you any more station cash.

But now let’s say you find Kenny up and hire Kenny.
You are in an instance and don’t need a healer. You decide you want to use a different merc besides Kenny. You can now:

  • Switch from Kenny to Matri from the merc tab (no unlock because Matri has already been unlocked)
  • Switch from Kenny to Stamper from the merc tab (no unlock because Stamper has already been unlocked)

So now you have Matri back, but you need a healer. Since Kenny is the elite merc you prefer to use Kenny.

  • You can switch to Stamper from the merc tab (no unlock, Stamper has been unlocked already)
  • You can switch to Kenny from the merc tab (250sc – Kenny has not been unlocked yet).

Lyndro has chimed in with his explanation for why an Unlock system was implemented:

The reason why we went with individual merc unlocks instead of slot unlocks is that it would have been very difficult for you to decide which merc went into which slot, and you would have to (potentially) unlock many slots in order to get to the merc that you actually wanted. Let me explain. There are 5 mercs: Mike, Sally, Timmy, and Lucy. Right now, you can individually unlock Mike and Lucy, and Mike and Lucy are always available to you. You don’t have to pay SC or go back to town to switch to use them once they are unlocked. If you decide that you want to run with Timmy then you need to unlock him as well, but then he’s yours and you can switch between the 3 whenever you want.

When we started working on this as a slot system like is being suggested, the system got terribly convoluted. So you start with 1 slot and you hire Mike. Now Mike is in your first slot. Then you go and hire Lucy. Now Lucy is in your first slot and Mike is in your second slot. So you have access to Lucy and Mike just like you have access to them in the current system. However once you hire Sally, Sally goes into slot 1, Lucy goes to slot 2 and Mike goes to slot 3. In order for you to hire Mike again, even though you could access him without returning to town a moment ago, you need to either unlock slot 3. Now that may not be so bad, because you could always return to town to get Mike back into slot 1 (And move Lucy to slot 3). However say that Mike is a rare merc that you spent some time camping. Now the only way for you to get Mike back into slot 1 is for you to camp Mike and get him again. With the current system, every mercenary that you hire after it launches is going to be available to you, if you choose it to be.

Could a Slot System Work?

As someone who thinks a lot about User Interface design, I’ve thought about how a Slot system could work, allowing players to manage their own mercs in 1, 2, or more slots. I created these mockups not knowing if this is possible with the game’s UI architecture:

With a slot system, whenever you hired or summoned your active merc, you’d be able to pull down a menu in the Merc window and choose to “write” or “save” that Merc to one of your paid-for Merc Slots. On the positive side, this would allow players to manage their own slots. On the negative side, it would be possible to overwrite a rare elite merc which may have taken weeks/months to acquire.

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Comments (54)

  • Anaogi

    |

    Wait, what?

    This smells of unnecessary (deliberate?) complication. Why not handle it like the Mounts tab?

    I’m sensing excuses to try to make money here…

    Reply

    • Feldon

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      The Mounts tab actually gives you 50 slots. But it’s not obvious until you try to add a 51st and it gives you an error message.

      Also, Mounts have an icon that you can drag to and from your inventory. Mercs, once auto-consumed, don’t really have an inventory item, so what would you drag?

      Reply

  • Betony

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    Yep, it’s just gonna KILL me to spend $1.00 (one dollar US) for a merc slot. Sheesh. Whiners gonna whine.

    Reply

    • Feldon

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      Yeah I can see why some people wanted Slots, but $1 is very reasonable to be able to hang onto Billy forever. Weren’t people saying “Shut up and take my money” like 6 months ago?

      Reply

    • Loch

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      It was originally 2.50 when the “whining” started. And now it’s down to a dollar. So I guess you can thank the “whiners” for that if you ever purchase one.

      Double or Triple SC sales diluting the value aside, if you wanted to unlock just TWO mercs and switch between them across an account of 8 characters, that would have been 40.00. The price of an expansion. That would have been ridiculous.

      Or, how about this, include it as a feature for gold subscribers? Give me a good reason to continue paying for both of my accounts and support the game that I enjoy playing.

      I know that this feature is not required to play. And I could get by just fine without it. But I show my support of this game by paying a subscription fee and paying for expansions. I’ve bought fluff off of the SC shop. I’m not playing for free.

      This just crosses the line into making me feel nickel and dimed. It makes me ask, will all FEATURES such as this moving forward cost additional SC? Why should I continue paying for gold at all?

      Reply

      • Syndic

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        But doesn’t a gold membership give you 500sc each month, so essentially you could unlock 5 mercs a month for no more than your normal sub.

        Reply

  • Evlavios

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    See here’s the problem, I can’t afford that whole dollar. They need to drop it down to a lower price 🙂

    Reply

  • yadrizzle

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    If you’re paying for the gold sub then you also get 500 SC every month. Why not unlock 5 slots the first month after the expac come out?

    Reply

  • Kruzzen

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    The issue is not the 1 dollar that peeps are complaing about. Its the 1 dollar per merc per toon. So if you heaven forbid had 10 toons and had your top 5 mercs you like, you are looking at 50 dollars. That is more where the discussion and talk has been. Also each time you switch a merc you pay the full rehire price. So 2 plat for each time you switch to a different merc. So you will have to decide if the option is for you or not. It becomes a choice if you wanna say ya you like it or no you don’t.

    Reply

  • Noguchi

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    Haha Soe Need more Money Lol….
    The New Addon is more and more a new Fake…

    Why Need Soe for all this Money can you guys not give free,

    Reply

  • Avianna

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    I pay my sub every month, I do not feel like I should pay additional to get ALL that this game has to offer so in my opinion while it’s only a buck it is still a money grab that I do not feel is right.

    Reply

    • Dedith

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      You are already paying for your sub, so there are 5 unlocks included in your sub each month (in the form of 500sc). So for you, it’s free.

      Reply

      • Filly67

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        Not to be snarky but how many items can I earmark this 500SC to go to. I am in no way anti SC store. I actually wish they offered more. But this is the perfect type of situation that could be used as a reward option to committed paying customers.

        Also, I am not a programmer but if they can do up to 50 mounts that are able to be switched then they should be able to do it with mercs. Create a different icon to go with each one if that’s what is needed.

        Reply

        • Dedith

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          As for the monthly 500sc, I really don’t spend it and I’m at about.. 8k or so. I believe it can go fairly far if you want it to.

          As for the mount selection design vs the merc design, inherently the internals are different. They could do it the way they are without having to change the internals on the merc system at all. All they’re allowing you rehire directly from the menu option. Development time on this type of code change is miniscule compared to revamping the internal structure of mercs to be more like mounts or other various things.

          After and interesting talk with Zoltaroth during the dev brunch, I’m fairly certain any form of account-wide merc feature would be a pain as well. Due to the accounting platform, storing data across a single account is limited to small strings. I’m highly impressed how they managed to get the currency system to work with that.. and that much data is already pushing it.

          And before you ask, yes, I am a developer.

          Reply

  • milliebii

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    $1 per merc, fine. $1 per merc per toon is cash grab. Somewhere in the middle might be OK, say $1 for the first toon and $0.25 for each other toon.

    I foresee a lot of Sturm and Drang over this impost.

    Reply

  • Pipsissiwa

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    I’m with those gold subscribers (I’ve subbed since launch) that hate the idea that a game feature is suddenly going to cost real money when we already subscribe in order to get access to everything. I have bought every xpac, and am happy to make those one off purchases along with my sub to allow all my toons endless access to the whole game. Adding micropayments for actual useful game features is a new low for SOE. I can understand for F2P accounts, but not subbed. It makes me feel icky – SOE know this is very, very useful and thus know they will make money from it. Yes, we subbers get the 500 SC stipend, but that really isn’t the point. One wonders how many other useful features in future will follow the same money grabbing pattern.

    Reply

  • Greygore

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    If you’re already a Gold Sub it’s not going to cost you anything really since you’re getting the included 500 SC a month anyway…

    Reply

    • Kruzzen

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      Peeps seem to forget that you only get the 500 sc if you are a recurring subscriber with a CC on file. Any other gold accounts do not get that benefit. Either way, the whole gold subscriber issue is something they need to fix.

      Reply

  • Trepide@Storms

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    It’s less a matter of price than a matter of respect for gold subscriber. The little xp/money/speed bonus is great, but are we really willing to pay 10+ bucks every month to get that? (ok, that’s not really all we get, but it’s the spirit)
    For the first time, they are implementing a game feature that goldsubscriber have to pay, just as any other players. That’s not a good sign…

    Reply

    • Pipsissiwa

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      My thoughts exactly, Trepide.

      I pay my monthly money to gain access to all features of this game, some of which I don’t find that useful, some I do – that is the point of a sub after all. I buy the xpacs to get access to the newest features. Then I get told that this particular feature will cost me extra money, on top of the xpac I just bought too. I don’t think it is unreasonable to start to get a bit annoyed.

      Reply

    • Loch

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      What I don’t understand, are those defending the constant addition of features that cost SC on top of subscriptions and expansions. Why defend that? Because SOE is a business and needs to make money?

      I agree with that. That’s why I pay a subscription and pay for expansions. The problem will come when there is no one left paying subscriptions because every feature and addition costs SC in the shop.

      If that’s the way they would like to go, then it would be great if they just shut down the subscription program and sold all the “bonuses” gold gets for SC. With the newest changes, a gold subscription is a 15 dollar charity donation to SOE.

      Reply

  • Dedith

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    My whole take on this is that this is an awesome way to find and unlock the rare/elite/hard to get mercs, and that only. You want Stamper back? Click the bell and head back into town, or if you really need to be lazy then you have the option pay up the 100sc.

    So, my recommendation to everyone, don’t unlock the mercs you can get from the cities. Just use unlocks for the others.

    Reply

    • Dethdlr

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      I agree Dedith. I’m a gold subscriber. But that doesn’t mean when I research a new spell that it happens instantly. If I want it to happen instantly, I’ve got to cough up the SC to reduce the wait time. If I want to rehire a merc, I can do so for free. I just have to go find the merc and hire them. If I want it to happen instantly, I’ve got to cough up the SC to unlock them.

      (Note to anyone who wishes to point out that research time reducers are also available in game for no SC: So is rehiring a merc, but both things cost time.)

      Reply

      • Kruzzen

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        I can see both sides. I would like to see a middle ground and have them grant collectors edition mercs as already unlocked, since we already paid extra for them.

        Reply

        • Dedith

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          Technically, you paid for access to the merc. However, I do see that as a nice bonus option for the types of mercs obtained in this fasion, free auto-unlocks.

          Reply

      • Loch

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        Why not give gold subscribers 1 or 2 free merc “slots” per character then? Have them lock if you drop your sub. Anything more costs money.

        It isn’t that difficult to show your current customers some appreciation and continue to make money off of a feature.

        They JUST did this with heroic characters.

        Reply

        • Dedith

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          The way they are implementing it they would not be able to give “slots” as there are not slots to begin with.

          Also, the game is effectively free to play, and besides the minor bonuses there is little reason to keep a sub. ‘Unlocking’ the merc is a convenience feature only, you can still go get the mercs again in game at any time.

          Reply

    • Filly67

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      Good point and if this is launched as is it’s what I plan to do.

      Reply

  • Ghah

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    I could care less, I group with other people. Sometimes I wonder if Merc would be better though… :mrgreen:

    Reply

  • Sievert

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    The EQ2 FTP model reminds me of sodomy; A little bit at a time, then all of the sudden you realize your getting pounded and didn’t even know it.

    Reply

    • Trepide@Storms

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      It’s a kind of rude way to put it, but that’s the spirit 🙂

      I totally agree.

      Reply

  • striinger

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    I think everyone not asleep at their keyboard for the last couple of years expected a hand to pop out for this. I agree with Dedith about it really only being something for the rare mercs.

    The troubling part for me is justifying 3 subs. It really seems they want to do away with subs but are scared to make the leap to full f2p. They need to decide soon because hoping people will naturally migrate to f2p is likely to migrate just as many out of the game.

    Hey Feldon, how about an article or video with some input from the community and SOE… like a bit of a facilitated round table? I’ve seen some threads on the forums but I’m eager to see some real time interaction (with you filtering out disrespectful dumb shits). Please. 🙂

    Reply

    • Alenna

      |

      If EQ2 goes compeltly Free to be nickled and dimed to progress I will quit playing so they will lose my monthly sub and any chance at getting anything from me in the marketplace.

      btw i do by the occasional fluff item from marketplace while still keeping up my sub and progressing in game without the feeling i’m being forced to Pay more to play

      Reply

  • Gardon

    |

    If I purchase a mount on one toon with SC it does not grant that mount on every toon across the whole account . Why would this be any different ? This is nothing that effects gameplay in the slightest . It effects ease of use and is a time saver . This is what they are charging us for and is how f2p models continue to operate , bigger bags , more inventory slots , etc etc etc… nothing that effects the game just makes it easier and saves us time. Which is exactly what a f2p model should be doing . making money on the fluff stuff .

    Now if they start charging gold subscribers for needed game items or allowing play to win items to be bought with SC then we have a problem

    maybe ill be able to sell all these mercs ive accumulated lol

    Reply

    • Dedith

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      If I purchase a mount on one toon with SC it does not grant that mount on every toon across the whole account . Why would this be any different ?

      I’m not sure this statement is correct. I’ve bought a few mounts in the past (pegasus mostly) and I only got 1 mount. To have another toon use it I had to put it in the shared bank for that toon to pick it up. I don’t see it in claim as 1 per character.

      Now if they start charging gold subscribers for needed game items or allowing play to win items to be bought with SC then we have a problem

      What “needed game items” or “play to win items” are you talking about? SOE has been fairly straight forward about not wanting things like those as purchased items. This article is about merc unlocking, which means you can rehire a merc from your character panel instead of going to find it again to hire it. You will always be able to go and find the merc to hire it whether you unlock it or not.

      Reply

      • Loch

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        I don’t quite understand your comment…the person you’re quoting is saying exactly the same thing you are.

        The mount comment they made was about how SC mounts DO NOT go to every character on an account when you buy them.

        And the other part you quoted was agreeing with your stance on how this is NOT a big deal because it isn’t a pay to win item they’re selling. They said that IF it was ever that way, it’d be a problem. Not that it was…

        Reply

        • Dedith

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          misread, my bad

          Reply

  • abitterbeing

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    I already paid them to unlock mercs with aod.

    Reply

  • Loch

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    In what world does paying 15.00 a month and paying for 40.00 expansions amount to FREE?

    Reply

    • Pipsissiwa

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      Once upon a time convenient features like this would be included in the sub. Now people can ‘connect to the servers‘ for free, subs have less and less purpose. It isn’t totally unreasonable for those of us who do sub to be increasingly annoyed that stuff like this demands yet more money from us when we already pay a sub to get full access to the game. It’s not comparable to saving weeks for a spell to be researched. Some things should be earned. I wouldn’t expect that as part of my sub. Nor do I mean the fluff appearance items. But this? It saves a few mins, could be handy. Charging subscribers seems petty and money grabbing, especially when you have to pay per merc per toon. At least slots could be account-wide.

      I’m sure plenty will disagree. It’s just my opinion as a jaded since-launch subscriber…..

      It amazes me how easily players now just accept the cash shop as normal and reasonable when only a few years ago the idea was anathema to most people.

      Reply

    • Loch

      |

      $15.00 USED to be the only way to connect to their servers. Now that can be done for free.

      My point was this: Nobody is asking for FREE handouts like you made it sound like. There are many players who DO play this game entirely for free. There are others who do not. They PAY for this game every month. It is not that crazy to be questioning charges for every little feature they add to the game when you’re paying monthly.

      But I guess it just comes down to a shift in where they would like money to come from. Subscription can be bought with plat now. Time invested. Those who wish to shortcut the process of earning plat buy the subscriptions and supply them to everyone else in the form of Krono. Perhaps that is where they would like this to ultimately lead?

      The people who buy Kronos to sell for platinum aren’t the ones who care about the perks of having a gold subscription. They just want to make the most plat for their money. (And rightfully so.)

      Gold perks no longer have to be appealing to those who subscribe because those who subscribe are no longer the customer purchasing subscriptions.

      Reply

    • Feldon

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      I have deleted a number of comments from a user who has previously been banned twice for posting comments berating other players on EQ2Wire.

      Reply

      • FireSmed2014

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        Why do you guys always defend Sony in these comments? if you’re going to represent your views, fine. But it seems like you guys here at Eq2wire are in the Sony loop and have them on speed dial.

        When are you guys going to start a forum for EQN? I’m dying to see all the public flames of the direction they’re going.

        Reply

        • Dethdlr

          |

          Sorry, but if you perceive me as always defending Sony it’s because you only read the posts I make where I feel they deserve to be defended.

          As for starting a forum for EQN so you can see the public flames, perhaps you should try the existing flames site.

          Reply

  • Gash

    |

    microtransactions have ruined online gaming.

    Reply

    • Pipsissiwa

      |

      Yes. Completely. I was thrilled to hear that Elder Scrolls was going for full subscription not free to play. Just let me pay and get everything. Simple.

      Reply

  • milliebii

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    Unlocking standard mercenaries is a convenience item.

    Unlocking elite mercenaries you have never even seen in game, never mind hired is a game changer and one that has an impact on game play. Charging for that, not just on every account but on every toon that you decide you want the merc on is a cash generator.

    Remember elite mercs have a respawn timer, appear in game in one of several spawn points. Now with 100SC you avoid the search and the wait, and the competition to get there first.

    Reply

    • Dedith

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      I didn’t read it as such. I read it as you have to get the merc first before you can unlock it. So you still have to find the rare spawn mercs before you can unlock them.

      Reply

  • Gigv

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    They keep wanting whole game to be pay as you go. It is ruining gaming period. Buying the expansion and paying monthly should be enough!

    Reply

  • Traxor

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    I like how all of you forget you are buying an expansion. Remember when content came in an expansion or have you all forgotten what you pay for and what you pay for updates on a monthly subscription basis.

    Reply

  • Brigh.Guk

    |

    Ok … just to make sure I understand. This isn’t so much a mercenary toggle where you unlock the ability to store an extra merc and switch them out like in EQ (which is a OTO $10 ‘fee”) , but a way rehire them in the wild without returning to their town or spawn point?

    Reply

  • Filly67

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    If you want to be make stuff like this usable with SC then make the game free, including expansions and go to a more RIFT type of model. They will charge you for everything but at least you didn’t already pay for it and they are now looking for more.

    Reply

  • sando

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    wtih f2p , everyone can wear fabled , so sub’s not really needed , all those money can go to SC
    but for me , i’ll still pay my sub’s and i i don’t really mind payin extra 10bucks on few chars

    Reply

  • Liftik

    |

    “Let me explain. There are 5 mercs: Mike, Sally, Timmy, and Lucy.”

    Hmm… I only count 4, or is this special “SoE Math”?

    Reply

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