Feldon For many, the damage is already done, but here are some updates…
From John Smedley, President of Sony Online Entertainment via Twitter:
We are working on a plan to insure we don’t split the communities up. More info to follow.
From Brasse on the EQ2 Forums:
As we approach the weekend, we wanted to share that we are working on a plan to keep our communities together with the ProSieben deal. Again, we thank you for your patience – we’ll provide more information as soon as it is available.
From Protagonist, a Manager at Alaplaya, CEO of ProSiebenGames, via Alaplaya forums:
Before weekend we will not have an answer. Sorry about it but the Technicans needs to figure out things first.
If the idea works out we will have no barriers for everyone but we need to see and wait what is possible.Before abandon and run away I would wait as the idea we have in mind really solves a lot.
Commentary
I could comment on the finer grammatical points of “ensure” vs “insure”, but others have already covered that ground.
Also interesting is how a few people have turned their venom towards me for giving some credit to Alaplaya for at least responding to player concerns and engaging the community unlike SOE who have not said a word since the FAQ, and said nothing for the 6 weeks prior. Alaplaya doesn’t get a “pass”, but they’re playing this the right way.
I posited the following in longer form in the forums…in brief, I’m suspecting we’re seeing a small part of a larger deal between SOE’s parent company and ProSiebenSat.1, alaplaya’s parent company. The decision was likely made with minimal input from SOE folks by higher-ups with minimal familiarity with the products or communities involved.
The parent company (SCEA, do I have that right?) will make more money from maxdome than it would have from MMOs in the Euro market. It’s P7S.1/alaplayer that stands to lose from this Charlie Foxtrot, as the customer base they thought they were getting is sublimating before their eyes. That would account for how they’ve taken point in trying to mitigate this disaster.
Meanwhile, if you are not directly affected by this change, cancelling North American/US accounts will actually hurt SOE, but I suspect not the folks responsible for this–which may prove to be counterproductive in the longer haul.
Sadly, the forums seem to have hit a point of no return, and are just looking for folks to lead to the guillotine at this point.
We might be seeing a larger deal between ps1 parent company. However I think what we are seing here is what they term a fire sale. You have an under performing division SOE online games. I think this comes down to Sony taking a hard look at what to do with its under performing divisions. Most companies go two ways they either sale the division off, or close it.
So what I think we are seeing is the beginning of the end for SOE online games. I think its just a matter of time before the US side gets sold as well.
It is all about the bottom line, its kind of what I said in the post earlier this way above the pay grade of the devs this is at Smedley’s level and above.
I hope I am wrong and I will have to eat my words but logically this is what a large corporation does. The liquidate the unprofitable divisions.
Even if they get rid off the IP region lock, one thing bothers me. Can Prosieben assure they’ll never destroy the balance of the game with “pay-to-win” items ? (like they already crushed “Last Chaos” or “S4 League”)
I will say that even though I think alaplayer is a load of BS, they are at least communicating with people. SOE could learn that from them as typically just a little bit of communication will always go a long way.
The entire ordeal was not very well thought out and as of now I have boycotted Sony as a whole from my life. I had 2 accounts come up for renewal on Tuesday, neither of them were renewed and wont be renewed until I see something more pro-customer from Sony.
As far as the hostility that Feldon has received, I’m actually disgusted about that. My forum ban said 5 days, but later reverted to 3 days so while I did not get the 1 day ban, I do not doubt for a second that Feldon only got a 1 day ban and you guys attacking, insinuating, or otherwise trash talking is just purely “open mouth, insert foot” statements.
Man Feldon you cant get a break they already deleted your last post.
Flament,
In one of their post, the new company did say something to the effect of “we won’t allow pay-win items in the cash shop”.
They say that now anyway…
Wait a moment … looks like Domino has left the building …
From Twitter:
Domino @pentapod
Close
Let it be noted, @domino_eq2 is henceforth known as @pentapod. Same person, new challenges to face on a new game. Much <3 to EQ2 always!
Reposting what I’d posted on the forums:
Ok let’s clarify here.
The first message I saw was that I had been banned for 3 days. Then a few hours later I saw a different message that I had been banned for 1 day. There was inconsistency.
Some people got 3 day bans. Some people got 1 day bans. I don’t know anyone whose ban has been lifted early. I was not “unbanned early”.
As soon as I was unbanned, I posted (well, I tried to). It was deleted within 5 minutes and I was told I could not mention the circumstances of being banned. (?) Trust me there ain’t no love coming my way from SOE. There has been no divine intervention.
I am not giving SOE or Alaplaya a “free pass”. They will have to prove themselves. If you think I’m in anyone’s pocket, you must not read my site.
Sounds to me like they are saying whatever they think will calm the masses. Romans called it bread and circuses. When it comes to the nut-cutting, I don’t expect much.
I have been around the game for a very, very long time.
“We are working on a plan to insure we don’t split the communities up. More info to follow.”
Here is what I see – All of EQ2 will be handed over to ProSiebenSat.1
Tada! No separation of the community.
Just saying…
At the moment it might be better if Pro7/Ala took over publishing of EQ2 all over the world and paid SOE for the development, imagine (and I a dreaming now I know) what a publisher that has SOME clue of what to do and listens SOMEWHAT to feedback from customers would be able to do in a position where they contractually woud be able to place demands on the developers (yes they can destroy it too we have already seen that from SoE).
From what I have seen of the 2 companies hancing it all to ProSiebem might not be the worst idea !! SoE get worse and it truly is a shame to see such a behemyth company go this way.
Although a German guildy has said PSS are a terrible company, I know little about them.
Man Feldon, you just can’t get a break. Some players are thinking you are part of SoE, maybe one of their agents in disguise … har har, what a hoot. I did say early on, that we had to give Alaplaya a break, maybe not welcome them with open arms, but give them a chance to prove themsleves. I did say that I noted they did not ask us to trust them, but they did say just give us a chane and that thrust would have to be earned and it would be a long road. It seems they are the only ones talking, granted it might just be damage control, but heck, with the villages at the gate with burning torches and pitch forks … it might be a good idea to try a little damage control. Things can still be salvadged from this ship wreck.
This was Protagonist’s last statement, today, on the alaplaya forums:
“Let´s wait about the possible solution. When it works out it will be a big step”
Sounds like they have come up with something.
It does not solve the security or EULA issues, of course.
crossposting here. a slightly lighter version is on eq2 forum.
I will have to say one more thing before I abandon the SOE-EQ2 forum for good. I see a lot of prejudice towards PSS1, some might be viable some just might be, well…prejudice. Prejudice is nothing else but a precursor to segregration everyone condems rightfully so. Remember one thing how SOE has treated their community over the years and how they are going about it now. Compare this to PSS1 who are trying to get serious about MMO’s, which will be something completely new to them. Do you think that they are going to repeat the same mistakes SOE has been making through all those years or are you going to give them the benefit of the doubt to do things actually better. So far they have been very proactive in their forum about possibilities and explaining things that have irked a lot of people here about the listing of names publicly of accounts in default.
I truly believe that they are trying hard to get things done for us gamers and I also believe that there might be one company involved that makes it even harder to solve those problems and everyone probably knows who that is
One more statement by Protagonist everyone should take to heart. It gives me hope and I will support PSS1 until they prove me wrong. Until then I am actually very happy to leave that crummy company behind which hides under a big company label but is really not more than a completely unprofessional conglomeration of very Simple Organism Entirely
Re: SOE / ProSiebenSat1 Games partnership FAQ
by Protagonist » Fri Feb 24, 2012 10:55 am
Before weekend we will not have an answer. Sorry about it but the Technicans needs to figure out things first.
If the idea works out we will have no barriers for everyone but we need to see and wait what is possible.
Before abandon and run away I would wait as the idea we have in mind really solves a lot.
Unfortunately while Protagonist of Alaplayer/Prosebien is apparently someone who is running the show over there the answers so far at least have been inconsistent.
First they said that there would be no problem with US players, and that they did not want to change the game.
Later the FAQ arrived and US/EU region locks appeared and a lot of changes were apparent, the FAQ didn’t mention about the cash shop being controlled by Prosebien, but its later been confirm from them that they will be deciding what goes in there.
To me I cannot see what else they can put there that is not items for power since they have no staff able to create the graphics or modify the mechanics.
Still, every so often I’ve enjoyed the blast of hot air from a community rep as well as watching the hard working 02 and 04 mods removing anything they personally don’t like as well as herding everyone into one thread where people are trying to discuss 30 or so different points at once.
Then the new community rep has the balls to say its confusing, duh.
I would suggest that they allow multiple threads to be created discussing each point, but that would probably earn me a ban. To be honest I’m surprised I haven’t been banned yet anyway, if I post anymore no doubt I will for “excessive negativity” as I remember Gaige did in the past (in other words not liking what they say).
As Snake Plissken said “land of the free….” 😉
Just to add, I kind of feel for PSS too, apart from the problem at the start where they said one thing and the FAQ came along they don’t seem to have done much else wrong, well apart from having a crummy record of running pay to win MMO’s.
Heck, I can’t see the positives here.
But it is not helping things either with the slagging off they are getting before they have started, keeping this up will just sour them to the user base. Really though the problem here is SOE, PSS have simplistic security, no experience of a major MMO and at best a amateurish support, in time they might develop it, but they are not prepared today.
Now SOE think that’s a good pair of hands to place the European future of EQNext and PS2 in as well as their current cash cow – EQ2.
Murfalad, you are turning the timelines up and down. The FAQ’s came out and the sh*t hit the fan. PSS1 are the ones that probably were not aware of all the implications and they are actively trying to work it out and are very consistent with the info they are giving. Leave it at that until they say “No, can’t do”.
How in the world can they put “items for power” on their marketplace since according to you they don’t have the staff to create this? Maybe I misunderstand you here, but the logic seems upside down.
PSS1 is facing an incredibly hostile community at the moment. I do believe they are trying their best, despite the language barriers, which aren’t helping.
Perhaps they do have the best intentions, but whether they are capable of following through on them is another thing entirely. They have been hired to do a job that their published track record seems not to support. Who is Protagonist? Apparently he is high enough up to affect changes in major roadblocks. That’s a good thing. He seems to be able to answer most questions, and obviously knows what his technical team is doing. He also is honest enough to state that any changes/solutions won’t be announced before Monday.
PSS1 does seem proactive, but it remains to be seen whether they can step up to a AAA title in terms of security and service. As others have pointed out, the only past history we have is of corruption in their current games, poor jugement in security matters, and a design philosophy of selling power items for cash.
Protagonist, at least, seems very excited and upbeat to own the European rights to a prestigious title such as EQ2. They seem to have the idea, from what I can gather, that they can advertise it heavily and attract more players. I see a lot of initial enthusaism, but the fact that they plan to take the game into their own hands does seem a little scary. You wouldn’t think just hosting the game would allow them to make changes, but it has been stated by the PSS1 reps that they do plan to make improvements of some kind (but not with items for cash that are game changing, according to their posts). I don’t know … with their lack of experience, enthusiasm and a love of the game may not be enough to make sure those changes are all positive.
SOE has sold the Euro market, that’s just a fact. Let’s hope that PSS1 wants to preserve the current climate, and can somehow engineer things so the drastic changes don’t occur.
It will be a long weekend waiting for an answer.
“Before abandon and run away I would wait as the idea we have in mind really solves a lot.”
Before selling people, they could’ve waited too. I’ll keep my subscription cancelled until things will have been solved.
Sorry but for me they’re just saying what they think we want to hear just like their posts from the January thread,nothing they’ve said in any way shape or form give me any hope that there will be any huge changes.
Indeed the biggest flaw will still the there at the end of the day we as players in Europe will have to pay Alaplaya and it just aint going to happen in my case,so no the smoke and mirrors they’re trying to erect are just that to me
I think at this point they are just trying to get though the end of the day, hoping we will go away and when Monday comes nothing will have changed.
I think right now what they just said about wait for the latest solution you will see its a big step on the s1 boards, I’m like that’s what they want to do deflect this off and hope folks cool down over the week end.
I fear that EQ2 is dead in the water now. It was already in nigh-on terminal decline not least with both Rothgar and Domino leaving (speculation about whether she has simply moved on within SOE is naive given that she has changed her Facebook identity from her SOE tag), and of course the whole SmokeJumper/F2P thing coupled with the total absence from the forums of the new Producer since her appointment, not to mention the disappointing expansions. Add to that the fact that Smedley only tweets about the current crisis and doesn’t appear on the forums either and it’s pretty clear where the game is headed.
Unfortunately this will also hit Planetside 2 and EQ Next very hard, even if EQ Next is intended to be “Free Realms in Norrath” rather than the spiritual successor to EQ that EQ2 never was, as was originally indicated.
So many people have cancelled, so many guilds have disbanded, so much bitter taste will be left in the mouths of the community irrespective of how SOE try to claw back support next week or whenever they decide to speak to their players who in many cases have invested substantially more than £1,000 and countless hours over a number of years in this game.
More than anything, I feel so sorry for the SOE staff at ground level, they know that with the sale of a large chunk of their playerbase and with it the customer support function for it that there will inevitably be another round of redundancies, and yet they are decent enough people to feel for the players as well as for themselves.
Not a good time for anyone connected in any way with SOE.
As for myself, it looks like my 13 years association with their games may be at an end. It definitely feels like the end of an era, and a very sad end at that. Unbelievably, this is even worse than the NGE.
Speaking of semantics, here is a recent post from Piestro:
“We are getting a lot of good feedback. Good doesn’t necissarily mean positive, it means high quality. When we get informative useful posts without recourse to personal insults that is good feedback. It might be negative feedback, but it is still quality feedback and that makes it good.”
Just in case you were wondering what “good” meant.
Yes I saw that were getting good feedback even though its negative, however what are they going to do. It already close to 11pm german time in Berlin, so their workday has come and gone. And yet were getting good data, and I am like ok well what are you doing now?
I really dont expect them to say anything at this point.
Alaplaya via “Protagonist” says they are working on a solution that will make everyone happy, but won’t reveal anything until at least Monday, because the technical people are working on it.
Ya they get a lot of good posts, but they are also negative posts, so they just delete them.
See Kwill that a problem we got the folks in Germany going ok it will be Monday, we got soe going we will have answers by the end of today. Meanwhile were in limbo yet again. I knew it was going to be Monday about 2 hours ago at the end of the work day for the folks in Germany. So either way you look at it nothing got resolved today, and frankly nothing is going to be resolved then. This is the same tactic that soe uses all the time, the same tactic they used during the hack.
Oh well I feel for the small guys at soe, because when this is said and done and the jobs are outsourced to Germany they will be out of a job.
When did SOE say they would have answers by the end of today? That’s news to me.
Actually looks like the germans said that, so my bad
Same difference we will have answers soon, i remember that mantra all durring the hack, every day were working on it.
If you have questions for PSS1 you can chat with Coldor tonight for an hour or so before he goes to bed at
irc.euirc.net channel #alaplaya.en
i thought i join the channel to see whats going on and be here if anything needs to be answered. i’m at home now but thats ok for me
Quick access to chat channel below:
http://wbe001.mibbit.com/?server=irc.euirc.net&nick=GuestSOE%3F%3F%3F&channel=%23alaplaya.en&settings=c76462e5055bace06e32d325963b39f2
Coldar’s comments:
“developement stays with soe. we only can make proposals what we would like to see in the marketplace and soe has to put it in…but that would only be cosmetical stuff.”
“all things in the game and on the marketplaces will be the same after the transfer as you know it”
Feldon is here so I am sure he will give us a news story with all the details!
Adding, though, that it does sound like the euro servers will be a separate entity, with their own events and so forth in addition to what SOE is doing … including their own PSS1 currency. I don’t have any idea what will happen with the current region lock idea, but it seems a done deal that anyone on the PSS1 servers appears to be playing a basically separate game.
Whether that will end up being a choice, I don’t know.
Let’s hope for the best!
I’m leaving the chat open tonight 😉
after years with this game, I feel that it is time to leave a sinking ship and move on. Perhaps D3 or some other game will replace the sony games, as i will never play any game that has anything to do with sony.
Here is some info about PSS1:
– Protagonist is the CEO of ProSiebenGames, a subsidiary of PSS1
– they just bought Alaplaya a few month ago, that means look & feel, 2009 posts etc. are legacy
– the also made a big deal with Electronic Arts to publish some f2p titles like Need for Speed World in Europe
– for sure, there will be new t&c for the integrated SOE games
– a broadcaster they have huge media power to promote our beloved games and fill the abandoned servers
After having no marketing on EverQuest II in Germany the last years, this could be a good perspective for the German localization.
Just to return a bit of perspective to things, we currently have no region locking problem, but SOE and Prosebien are currently working hard on a solution that does not include region locking.
When they have finally found their arse with both hands maybe they can get around to fixing the other 30 or so problems with the Prosebien move that we currently do not have.
Reposted from the forums:
This whole situation demonstrates that SOE has completely lost touch with the EQ2 community and hasn’t the foggiest idea how to address us. Players, fan sites, we’re all disconnected and wait for a press release to know what’s going on.
Communicating with your customers is like a marraige. Sometimes it hurts, sometimes it’s a lot of work, but if you do it right, there are some glorious moments. And it sure beats the alternative.
@feldon you are so right by that, but its been this way for a very long time. This goes all the way back to the roots of eq2. Remember when they thought everybody wanted to leave EQ and go to eq2, boy that had that wrong. Then the entire NGE thing where they sacrificed 80-90% of their player base but yet continued the deal. Now we are at this point.
I honestly expect SOE to do nothing, they are going to stick their head in the sand and hope this all blows over, as that is what they have been doing for years. It must be a company policy, because we had folks come and go over the years, but one thing has always been true — lack of communication with the player base, its just not eq2 it is all their games.
Well I have been kicked off the EverQuest 2 Facebook page. My last post, probably my most angst filled is below. I will stay in EQ2 for a little while but I seriously believe how they are doing this is so wrong and so sad.
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A tsunami of pain is coming toward Sony Online Entertainment. They may have made a sensible accounting decision and may even have had future European players best intentions in their plans BUT sadly they have made a big error. While a small number of people are leaving (a few hundred) many more are just watching the twitter and Facebook ticker tape with steadily growing disbelief, frustration, anger and even tears. Many of us cannot take our eyes off the various feeds in case we miss some welcoming and inviting news to keep playing. Many are creating US server accounts but with no clear roadmap to get your ‘stuff’ over there and a feeling of having been trapped in a place you really no longer want to be without your consent or any sense of ownership of the decision.
The small stream of resigning payers will soon become a torrent once veteran players work through this upset. Once they cross that bridge and get to a point where they can cast aside their years of work they will with a vengeance. Other games are out there and will become increasingly attractive though I suspect some of the veterans will never be the same players again on any MMO. To see 8 years brutally stripped away will almost cause a post traumatic stress situation for some.
It will not just be EQ2 affected but will be widespread across all SOE games. Action immediately, even some friendly talk might still keep the veterans, if they knew their years and years of building, questing, exploring were not wasted. Once they make that awful jump back from the MMO environment, where many have spent many years, they will walk away so swiftly it will make Smed’s head spin. It will be amazing to watch Splitpaw just vaporise. All of this to ward off or buff off to minimise the pain and anger at what SOE have done.
The veteran EQ2 player on Splitpaw is probably not that important to the total EQ2 community but they make it unique and keep the Guild Halls open, give help to newbies and when allowed give the server life and a community. The message that others unaffected today in EQ2 will get, is that all that warm trust enspired by the Faire’s, Brasse’s concern, Domino’s awesome commitment and all the wonderful messages passed through podcasters like Dellmon, Truefight, Jethel and others long gone will have been wasted and nigh impossible to regenerate. What an unmitigated mess and I suspect totally unnecessary in the overall scheme of things.
Its probably recoverable until the torrent starts but only SOE will know from its data when that will be so I pray I am wrong and they act promptly but to date that seems unlikely. I give myself personally another day …. maybe.
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Probably too close to the bone for SOE so censorship is teh only true form of communication and indicative I suspect of the fear running through those responsible for implementing this decision.
If you think this is reasonable to post feel free – will understand if you would rather not. Frankly I am exhausted worrying about it and will cross the bridge too far shortly. Guild Wars 2 is looking good but I will be wiser little avatar in future!
There is a NEW & Improved version of the FAQ posted on the EQ2 forums. The replies are already 24 pages long and growing quickly.
Basically it boils down to this:-
Anyone can play EQ2 on any server. If you have characters on multiple servers you will still be able to play them as usual.
The Kicker is – If you are in the European Area you will have to create an account with ProSiebenSat.1. You will not be able to log into EQ2 using the SOE Launcher.
Basically Linda ‘Brasse’ Carlsen said – You have a choice – Make an account with ProSiebenSat.1 or don’t play EQ2. I made my choice and cancelled my long standing account. I then sent the following to CS:-
Summary: ProSiebenSat.1 Deal – Canceled Account
Product Level 1: EverQuest II
Category Level 1: Account / Billing
Date Created: 04/01/2012 11:54 PM
Last Updated: 04/01/2012 11:54 PM
Status: Unresolved
Station Name:
Problem Description
Discussion Thread
Customer By Web Form (****** soe) 04/01/2012 11:54 PM
I don’t have a question. I want the following:-
1. If this ‘Deal’ is put into effect before my cancelled subscription ends I would like a ‘Full’ refund of the balance.
2. Please remove ALL of my details including credit/debit card details and E-Mail addresses etc from your database as soon as you can once the refund has been given.
I do NOT want and WILL not under ANY circumstances be setting up an account with ProSiebenSat.1/alaplaya. If I can continue to play my EQ2 account with my characters on Crushbone through SOE then I will resubscribe.