ProSiebenSat Answers Remain Elusive
From Piestro on the EQ2 Forums:
Details on our end are still being worked on to make the solution a reality. Essentially we are going to resolve the difficulties on our end rather than region lock. See Brasse and Smed’s statements. How we accomplish this will mostly be technical mumbo jumbo that doesn’t mean much unless you are a programmer working at SOE and intimately familiar with how our servers are architected AND how our account management works. Sharing those details would be more confusing and less meaningful than just saying “we’re going to take care of it”.
We’ve got plenty of time to resolve this for EQII, since this change was not planned for the near future.
As to other concerns brought up in this and previous threads, we will continue to work to answer as many of them as we can as well as to rework our current FAQ to more completely address things which mayhave changed in the meantime. We know this process isn’t as quick as folks would like, unfortunately quick and complete answers are pretty much polar opposites. Our initial FAQ was addressed at questions that could be answered relatively quickly, and even that took a significant amount of time.
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Comments (37)
Murfalad
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As for region locks they are giving me exactly the answer I wanted – its getting taken care of, how it gets implemented and when isn’t a issue.
Hopefully the security will be good too, looking forward to getting back to some non-drama news 🙂
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Seffrid
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People on the official forums are increasingly making it clear that SOE are running out of time to fix this mess and actually talk to the players. Guilds are disbanding, cancellations continue to be made, other games are tried and found entertaining, and with each passing day it becomes a lot easier to put EQ2 behind one and settle into other things.
Priesto is trying to maintain some sort of relationship with the posters, but the people who really matter are simply nowhere to be seen. There really is a concern now that SOE have hung this game out to dry and don’t intend to do anything except sit back and watch it burn. An absurd proposition, but what other conclusion is there when such damage is done and nobody can be bothered to speak to the players about it?
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Seffrid
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Murfalad, the current situation is about so much more than region locks, not least (but not only) for the European players. There is no benefit in the lifting of region locks if players still have to run their account through a company with such poor security and other credentials as ProSiebenSat.1, and that’s just one of the issues no-one can get any answers to.
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Jinxsy
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I was always under the impression that very few of the guys at SOE understood how their servers work 🙂
Again, another “More details to come soon folks!” message.
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skippydippy
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Region locks are but one issue theres many more to my eyes account security and Pro7’s competence being if i’m honest of higher priority than region locks.
Gut instinct..SOE are stringing us along they’re saying words that say nothing at all and are,to my mind in fire fighting mode nothing more.
Remaining elusive..perhaps an understatement of the year for me
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thait
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@Seffrid
It’s corporate negotiations, i don’t expect anything to go easy or quick. Both sides want to snag what they consider is the best deal for themselves. Since SOE probably didn’t make this deal but got caught up in it when sony corporate made the deal to compete with netflix SOE likely didn’t have a lot of solid ground to stand on in negotiations anyway as Smed’s bosses were likely the ones making the deals.
I’m not surprised that they haven’t said much either. Mostly because it’s entirely possible they litterally arn’t allowed to say much right now due to their lawyers telling them not to say anything for the time being. And lawyers won’t care how many people cancel, they’ll still tell the people who know whats going on not to talk.
The players likely won’t hear much until the entire deal is ironed out.
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Daffodil
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So patronising. He won’t tell us what the effect will be because our little brains will burst.
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Nyna
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“How we accomplish this will mostly be technical mumbo jumbo that doesn’t mean much”
-it would mean more to me than the totally meaningless quacksalvery he gave us instead.
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badcat
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What we have is soe has already sealed the deal. Now they are just delaying the inevitable. Thus the total lack of any real information. One day were going to log in and find out that they went live, while waiting for an answer, and that is what I am afraid of what is really going on.
I still ask the question, is soe so far in the red with running the game, and running out of money that they had to do this to get a cash infusion to keep the game going. That is what I am also afraid of.
This all looks like an act of desperation before bad things happen to the game division. That’s my take, going to put my tin foil hat on and sit in the corner now and watch x files back to the future.
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Kwill
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It’s a shame that the trust in SOE has gotten so bad that people ask legitimate questions like “are you running a promotion because you are about to go bust?”
I doubt that is actually the case, but still, community morale is really at rock bottom here. I am not sure what PR strategies they can take to help bring it back to where it has been in the past — never great, but at least tolerable!
Everything they say now is regarded in a cynical and suspicious light. That’s really too bad.
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Crescent
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I go with Murfalad here. They are going to address the IP-lock and with that my personal dilemma is taking care off as well as the dilemma of everyone who might have been locked out of their guild, chars and all. Not a small feat on that one.
What still makes me nervous in regards to that is that they might come up with such a solution, therefore so much technical mumbo jumbo, that they just might implement something a lot worth. Whatever that might be.
The second most pressing issue is for only the european players or the ones who want to play on EU-servers and will/might have to go through PSS1. I do understand their concerns, but in all due respect Seffrid, This is something we might have to take and the issues with them might be exaggerated. There is always the possibility to cancel after PSS1 screws up and it is NOT a “absolute, you can’t play” issue.
However, my account stays cancelled until some solid info comes about.
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Starlakay
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The truth is that we the people that have been loyal eq paid players from day one have had their accounts deleted for posting what they think. Now upper management is back to their old tricks again. Fast talk and lies.
Treat the people that play your game like human beings and you could have been number one years ago. Now i fear that it is to late for Sony and their games.
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badcat
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@kwill it is a real shame I will agree with you but look at how we got here.
This all started back with eqii extended. The outright lies hey its doing so great were going to convert all the servers to free to play. If it was so great then why did they not open up a second free server, and why did SJ break his promise to keep the 2 games apart. Well we can see the truth of it here, it was done so soe could sell off parts of itself.
Then during the hack, the same old thing not today, were working on it. Now we get the same answers from soe. Now they added piestro who I thought was going to be ok, only to turn out to be a talking puppet for soe. The things piestor has said the past few days makes me feel like they either think were stupid. WE stuck with them because there was nothing better in town, now there is a few things that are tolerable, not better but at least I feel valued as a customer.
If it were not for all the lies (i could write pages) that soe has told us over the years we would not have such a bad issue of trust, or in our case lack of trust.
I would just like the truth from soe instead of the same old regurgitated garbage they want us to hear.
Obviously there are a lot of folks like me who love their eq2 that is why we are so passionate about this. At this point its become a pain for me to even log in, and once I get to that point I don’t care its going to be over. How many other folks are at that point. Soe has done nothing to give me a glimmer of hope of something good will be coming out of this.
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Seffrid
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@Crescent “The second most pressing issue is for only the european players or the ones who want to play on EU-servers and will/might have to go through PSS1. I do understand their concerns, but in all due respect Seffrid, This is something we might have to take and the issues with them might be exaggerated.”
The issues aren’t exaggerated, they have been reported by different people as fact. PSS1 do have a record of publishing players’ full names on an open forum, their ToS do permit them to delete whole accounts including purchased Alaplaya points, it has been reported that they do recruit 16 years old GMs off the forum in return for Alaplaya points, and that they were hacked as a result of poor security which has apparently never been upgraded in the way that SOE’s was.
Gamewise, the facts also speak for themselves in terms of the way they have trivialised every game they have run and changed them into pay-to-win games. Posters who have previous experience of the company insist they will not use them again, and no EQ2 player has posted in their defence.
So the issues are real, and it’s for that reason that so many SOE customers will continue to play EQ2 if they can do so under SOE but will not do so under PSS1.
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Trevyn
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For those able to understand german – Olnigg did a nice nycnical writeup on this.
Unfortunately google translator doesn’t do great on that (tried it) and one will need a good grasp of german to get the ghist.
http://www.gamona.de/games/olniggs-glosse,kolumne-pc:article,2067313.html#
(in case you want to give google a try: http://translate.google.de/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamona.de%2Fgames%2Folniggs-glosse%2Ckolumne-pc%3Aarticle%2C2067313.html%23 )
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Whilhelmina
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Yep, read it but terms are a bit too technical for me to fully grasp it. Well, too specific more than technical.
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badcat
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OK I translated it and its darn funny, google would not translate it I had to by hand and well i feel something is lost in translation, and some of the words I did not get at all.
Nothing can be as relaxing as the preparation and the subsequent consumption of well cooked food. Whether the recipe comes from a cookbook or the internet, is even at the end usually a delicious meal ready to eat. As always, provided you have not cooked the misprints.
Although bankruptcy is the classical world on the menu, let’s take a look today at the Japanese way of preparation. With just the traditional Japanese cuisine is a guarantee for this is that this court can succeed perfectly. Not without reason, the Far Eastern Bankruptcy is estimated whether its simple ingredients of large and small companies alike.
For 2 servings of bankruptcy, you need the following ingredients:
A haphazard parent
A subsidiary company with profit in the motion field
A foreign company with too much money in your pocket
1.000.000 Spieler 1 million players
29 mistakes in the past
1 tablespoon of the brain (not more)
First, the ingredients are prepared. Take away any of the companies involved in competence and respect this out meticulously, thoroughly and in the most hidden corners of any decision instinct to wash. Any residue of expertise could make the final taste of the bitter bankruptcy is not otherwise seem enough. The tablespoon brain remains intact, and this will be kept until further notice in the refrigerator.
Although bankruptcy is a very simple recipe, it requires a little effort in the beginning. The basis of the insolvency is a comprehensive pastry from about 1 million SOE players. This needs to be deterred by ongoing tragedy and then beaten into a uniform mass. Must be made depending on the quenching region of the players in different ways.
Everquestler banners you with plenty of nice game enhancements and then leave them in F2P hinköcheln one hour before to. Who wants to have it a bit sharper, can round out the fermentation process by temporarily Pay2Win-seasoning. In the case of players from vanguardschem growing, then we recommend a two-hour fumes from any add-on hope. With players such as additions Planetside 2 or DC Universe Online can certainly handle more robust. To bring this delicate Pflänzlein in the growth phase for braising, it requires little. Depending on requirements, add to the brew in just a few half-baked sites.
Should be in your herb garden on the other hand are still SWG players, dispose of them immediately. Since the implementation of the European NCD regulation whose use is prohibited in the food industry is strictly prohibited. Remnants have since December 2011 the hazardous waste to be fed.
Notice is hereby given that the most important step is the preparation of Mürbeteigs the strict separation of American and European players ingredients. This may not unite in harmony, since the resulting sugar spoil the taste of the bitter bankruptcy could.
To improve the success of the bankruptcy, you are welcome to engage in the drawer of manufactured flavor enhancer. These provide primarily long-term preservative Smedley and Genzucht Alaplaya for guaranteed sustainable nausea. Depending on the season you can sonyischen the pastry so the passwords and credit card information can go.
If the pastry crumbly enough, it only needs a glaze. To do this, get in the pharmacy, the virus ProSiebenSat1 and return it along with a tiny pinch of experience and all the more abundant commercial breaks into a large mixing vessel. Now lift at slow stirring under its own launcher. Begins to harden the mixture, then beat with a mixer at the highest level of all parties to the mind of the head. Depending on the flavor desired, instead of ProSiebenSat.1 and RTL, Springer-Verlag or any other smelly fish can be used.
The Japanese bankruptcy is almost complete. Now we just need the cold in the refrigerator Asked brain. We presume it, cant say the glut in the sink and it down the drain with plenty of water. And even the Japanese insolvency is perfect.
We wish you a good appetite and will remain until the next time we’ll show you how to grill a sugar-sweet-tart Blizzard Titan to open the item shop for stomach cancer.
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Raz
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All this is well and good. And i’m glad its getting work out. But someone needs to step up and admit they over reacted on the forums. That in its self is almost a bigger mess than the entire prosiebsat1 deal.
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Cristamir
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That they are working it out is all well and good. But that they would even contemplate such an action against the player base is – well, disconcerting. That they seem to have no problem putting thousands of accounts and payment information at risk with a less than sterling rep company, is apalling.
Apparently they’ve backed off from region locking and I applaud that. But like any canny old politician, they will come up with another ploy. Customers are just numbers on a spreadsheet and apparently, acceptable collaterable damage when lost. That worked out great for NGE, didn’t it?
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Daffodil
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Piestro says “We’ve got plenty of time to resolve this” which just shows how little they understand their customers. I don’t care when they’re going to implement whatever they’re doing, I want to know what the effect on us will be of whatever it is that they’re doing. My guildies worked hard to build our guild on Splitpaw. All we want to know is whether we can stay there as customers of SOE. If not, will SOE transfer us and our guild to a US server? Is that so difficult to answer? It’s been about six weeks already. This threat of eviction hanging over us is so demotivating (doing business with PSS is out of the question) it’s difficult to get people interested in doing anything ingame.
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Jrel
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Pssh, I’m not a programmer, but I was a network administrator so explaining it in non-layman terms would still be fine.
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Crescent
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@ Seffrid and everyone who just wants to continue to spread panic because of a reputation of PSS1. This really doesn’t help EQ2 at all but probably does more damage than both companies, SOE and PSS1, can inflict on the game.
Some points, frequently repeated and plain wrong or assumptious (did I just create this word?) to the extend of becoming dangerously prejudice.
– The publishing of players’ full names has been answered to the fullest by PSS1′ Protagonist and is a non-issue at this point http://en.alaplaya.net/forum/general-discussion-f2906/clarification-about-real-names–t493122.html
– SOE and upgraded security: You might want to read up on what a lot of people have to say about the SOE forum formats and subsequent security of those and your associated password there. With getting a brandnew forum and Launchpad supposedly from PSS1 for EQ2 everyone should assume that they won’t repeat past mistakes not the opposite. After all it is PSS1 and not SOE.
– PSS1 has that in their EULA that they can delete accounts after inactivity but as per their statements have never ever done that. Too lazy right now but I am fairly certain that something very similar is or was in the eq2 EULA. Somehow a 6-month termination rule of accounts come to mind.
– Your concerns with 16-year old GM’s should be extended to some juvenile 30-something GM’s that are just too rampant on EQ2 servers occasionally. And see above, who says that those are the GM’s we will be getting in a PSS1 EQ2?
– and to the fears that PSS1 would change eq2 beyond recognition They will be the EU publisher, SOE is the developer. Any fears should be directed towards SOE. And to the possibility hat PSS1 would pressure SOE to create”power-items” for their cash-shop! Hey, a quick click on the “account cancelled” button at this point resolves that unlikely scenario.
Now, everyone has the right to their opinion and subsequent actions in regards to their accounts. But, please, do not spread rumors as facts and heresays as a foregone conclusion unless you seek public office somewhere in the US.
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Lempo of Everfrost
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@Crescent your post while not unreasonable it is clear that you haven’t looked and examined this fiasco as closely as others.
They called out for application from 16+ in a thread that was related to this merger so there is every reason to assume that some of these will be used here.
If PSS.1 is going to only be the publisher then why does the initial press release SPECIFICALLY state they WILL be making items, and as I go to get the quote from the FAQ they have removed it.
For you to suggest that if someone doesn’t like that that the just need to click the account cancelled button is pompus to say the least, likely or unlikely.
SOE and PSS.1 are the ones that are responsible for any damage done to either or both of their reputations here, the continued ‘mums the word on anything and everything’ is forcing the playerbase to resort to conjecture, but most people are forming on research of PSS.1/AlaPlaya’s history and SOE’s past reputation for just saying what is needed to soothe and going ahead as planned.
The publishing of those names on the forum was explained but it is still inexcuseble, either way why is the information STILL there it certainly is meaningless at this point, someone already located some of that list on facebook.
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Zoom1012
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Good post Crescent.
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Grimmond
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Crescent and Zoom,
I have to agree with Lempo here. I have to call a spade a spade. We have to keep a watchful eye on SoE. If we allow our guard to fall again we will just be right back where we were. This whole fiasco was not a simple misunderstanding that was all smoothed over by a few kind words from the Alaplaya team. This was a whole scale fubar and sale of our EU friends by SoE; without their considering all the problems that this might cause. It was callous in the extreme and shows what SoE is capable of if we do not keep a vigilant eye on them. The only reason that things are now smoothing over is because of players like us that complained, asked questions, posted on the forums (not to mention got banned from those very same forums for sticking up for YOUR rights), we demanded an explanation and finally wrestled a fix out of SoE. SoE got caught with it’s pants down in the shadiest move they have made in a LONG time. While I applaud their efforts at fixing this, we can NOT give them a pass on it. Lastly I point out that NOTHING has happened YET. This could all be a smoke screen. We have to hold them to their promises.
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Whilhelmina
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So far, we heard tons of feedback from players having played Alaplaya games and met tons of problems, or having played through a merge of their game in the Alaplaya portfolio (like S4 and Maestria). All those feedbacks were negative. I didn’t see a single positive one. All those spoke of bad support, gamebreaking changes, account lost, hack, gamebreaking marketplace changes.
Yes, the SoE/Prosieben MAY be different, but the track record of Alaplaya is very bad. Some people will give Prosieben/Alaplaya a chance. Some will just look at the track record and assume that it won’t change even if they (Prosieben or SoE) promise stuff (we all saw what SoE promises was worth).
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Crescent
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Lempo, we are just not seeing eye to eye here. As the original thread was floated to the deal with PSS1, a lot of people voiced their concerns. This was completely ignored by SOE and they just released the FAQ’s without any concern 6 weeks later. So far we agree? Than the shit hit the fan and they backpedalled. To what extend they are backing off, no one really knows, but it appears that they will eliminate the IP-block in both directions. Still in agreement?
Now to the stuff we are obviously disagreeing on. The publishing of the names, which will not happen anymore, and the legality of it, is certainly not in our hands but in the hands of the ones, who had their names posted. Ethically and morally it certainly sounds fishy to me on the surface as well, but PSS1 explanation clearly states that it was done for the benefit of the actual customers to assign made payments to the correct account. This is unfortunately not apparent in the public posting and it appears that those people are called out for non-payment. Therefore it remains questionable. To actually keep bringing up this point shows just one thing to me. Either somebody else didn’t look at closely at this fiasco as they claim or driving another agenda to make PSS1 as unappealing as possible.
Than there is that fascination with research and the history of this strange company, PSS1. As a media conglomerate, TV station and all of a somewhat trashy reputation that transcended down to their sub of alaplaya, I again see certainly reason for concern. How this company is ultimately structured and what their goals are is unknown to me and most of us. But if you look at Sony as a whole and their sub, SOE, I am pretty sure that you won’t find many differences. Matter of fact, you will not be able to find really anything about Sony and their entire structure how all of their subdivisions are related to each other.Yes, Sony is a publicly traded company and has a responsibility to the SEC of disclosure. Nowhere in this disclosure, I believe (didn’t go through it all since I am not planning to invest in their stock) will you find any mention of SOE. This again would lead to the conclusion that SOE as a matter of fact is not publicly traded. Now that everyone pretty much is on the bandwagon to refuse and reject PSS1/Alaplaya but is more than happy to stay on with Sony/SOE how do you really justify this in a comparison? IMHO both have a somewhat shady reputation and SOE over the years has certainly proven their untrustworthiness with EQ2 and SWG. PSS1/Alaplaya has done that only with some games I have never heard off.
GM’s, oh, one of my favs. Do you know where SOE gets their GM’s? I do, and I can tell you that alaplaya points might be worth more than the hourly wage of an SOE GM, no kidding.
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Wanda_Clamshucker
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@Crescent: I think maybe you should bring your post over to the official forums. There are EU people over there who HAVE dealt with PSS1 and can give you very detailed histories. For the most part, people over here have done their homework. Your posts are long and thought out, but you are missing crucial information and lack the critical thinking to see beyond what is plainly laid out before you.
I’m not here to argue or change your perspective. If you trust them, then go make an account and good luck with that.
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Crescent
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Hey Wanda, I have made up my mind to give PSS1 a fair shot with all caution. After all it might be the only way for me since my entire account is on a EU-server and I am US-based. Guilds do not transfer and paying for it is out of the question even though that money is one of my least concerns. Yes, they might offer a free account transfer but I am not banking on that.
What concerns me most at the moment is that with the bad rep that PSS1 has, no question about that, I am not ignorant, and the publicity that it gets from the “HAVE dealt with PSS1″ crowd might hurt the game more than it can take and really do the irreparable damage. I just don’t see the need to jump of the sinking boat and hack it apart. I’d rather try to plug the hole if possible.
As to the point that I am” missing crucial information and lack the critical thinking to see beyond”…..well, let’s leave it at that. I am not touching that Cool Aid and go and delete everything on my account.
I learn from the past not to repeat mistakes in the future. I do not learn from the past to believe that everyone else is exactly doing that, repeating mistakes.
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skippydippy
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Cresent..good for you if you want to give pro7 your buisness thats your choice but facts are facts no ammount of “assurenes” from someone on the alaplay forums will sooth the troubles,lets be fair it could be the tea lady posting over there no one knows for 100% certain.
Facts are facts they posted players details on the forum,a public forum sorry but that was downright inept theres no getting away from it,its that simple they did it the proof was posted on the forum that is not the way to run a company no matter what the circumstances are,there was and is NO EXCUSE for it.
You go on about the “have dealt with pro7” “damaging thier reputation” sorry mate pro7 did all the damage themselves with this one move its shocking theres no way round it mate,no way at all
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badcat
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@ Cresent
We are not doing damage to soe or pro7. Soe has just shot themselves in the foot yet again. They are closing down EQOA Everquest Online adventures its for the console and a few other games, then trying to placate those very upset players with a gold membership to eq2.
I have to say somebody at SOE is making some very bad decisions, and its going to have very negative effect for SOE. All you have to do is go read this thread http://forums.station.sony.com/eqoa…id=115600014245
and they are basicly having the same type of reaction to their game being shut down as the same type of reaction we all had about this shady deal. Just read http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?start=2925&topic_id=515195 all 196 pages if you can.
I had a good laugh when you were to blame us as the players for soe and pro7 dragging their reputation through the mud, they done that on their own.
It has become very obvious to me that SOE needed a cash infusion from somebody otherwise were going to get the same announcement as eqoa and that still might happen. I for sure will not be touching EQnext, not with SJ in charge of it.
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Katzilla
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Amazing isnt it? SOE come out with all sorts of good things and updates and fixes all of a sudden…so WHERE is the announce of WTF is going on re the EU/US split?
Avoid the issue once again and set up a SMOKE screen and hope it deflects from the REAL issue in hand.
Do they think we are stupid? For once, SOE assume that most of the folks that play are in fact more intelligent than the average dung heap and TELL US WHAT IS GOING ON!!!! Instead of all this pseudo-optimistic soothing BULLSH!T give us the FACTS and let us make up our own minds….for once BE HONEST!!!!!!
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Whilhelmina
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For those who follow GU comics, there’s a zapper strip on SoE closing games:
http://www.gucomics.com/comic/?cdate=20120302
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badcat
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Well I was wrong I initially said later in the week for an answer, Here it is the week end again, and we still have nothing. Oh well.
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grenith
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Anyone know if old inactive accounts will be given to prosieben.1 aswell?
Was thinking of returning to eq/eqII but not anymore 100% done this time.
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Ser
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Still no news? What are they waiting?
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badcat
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I guess everybody forgot about this, I wonder why. Oh well.
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