Feldon 
After eight and a half years, it is time for me to step back and see if there is anyone else in the EverQuest II community with writing ability and a desire to lend their voice to this site. I have barely played EQ2 in the last few years and it shows in the lack of coverage exhibited. Other than Update Notes, there has been limited discussion about the Kunark Ascending expansion, the race to discover Epic 2.0 Weapons, Public Quests, Burnt Keys, and all other elements of gameplay which EverQuest II players wish to know about. Keeping this site running without actually covering the game does a great disservice to readers who wish to stay informed about the happenings in Norrath, and so I find it necessary to find another writer to carry the torch.
I am currently looking to take on a Staff Writer to write at least two articles a week, plus all relevant update notes, to keep up with the current state of EverQuest II in a positive or at least constructive light. The perspective of a current player of EQ2 is essential. Writers should not assume they will have access to the EQ2 development team.
Applicants must:
- Be aged 18 or over
- Be willing to learn WordPress
- Be able to write with proper grammar, formatting, and sentence structure so that readers can understand the topic and how it may relate to them
- Be open to criticism, corrections, and change requests
- Be willing to monitor the official EQ2 Twitter, Website, Forums, and Discord chat for breaking news
- Have played EQ2 for at least three years
- Have a level 100 character and be actively playing EQ2
- Have completed the Kunark Ascending signature quest line
- Have gained Ascension level 10
- Have completed (at least) the prerequisites for Epic Weapon 2.0, preferably have acquired Epic 2.0
To apply, please send an e-mail using the Contact Form with your name, e-mail address, details about any past writing experience and other details you think may be relevant. Contrary to popular belief, EQ2Wire is not making me rich. Pay for this position will be determined based on a number of factors including measurable growth of site traffic.
Ahh, the memories. I responded to an article like this seven years ago this month. Quite glad I did. 🙂
Heh! I can meet all the criteria except the last two but I estimate the next expansion will have arrived by the time I hit Ascension Level 10 and hell will have frozen over shortly before I even read up on the requirements for Epic 2.0 (I’m a longtime Epic Weapon refusenik from the introduction of the pesky things back in EQ).
Thanks for all the often thankless work you’ve put in over the years, Feldon. I play a lot of MMOs, some of them a lot more high-profile and popular than EQ2 has ever been, but very few of them have a resource as reliable and accurate as EQ2Wire. Good luck getting the right person to take some of the load off your shoulders!
next expansion? lol….i doubt the game will still be up by then the way things are going
We as a community will really miss hearing from you Feldon. I guess it really is the end of the road for all good things in the EQ2 universe. 😥
Not sure he’s going anywhere so much as asking for a little help on the content side…
Hmm. Tempting. I cover the bases…it’s just a question of whether my recently-chaotic life can make space for it…
The last 5 requirements sound like you’re applying for a top level raiding guild, lol.
If we remove those 5 requirements, I could just continue writing without knowing what I’m writing about. Anyone actively playing Kunark Ascending can meet the standard.
XD I agree with both of you. It does sound like a raid guild recruit, and it is absolutely necessary to know all that from experience to be a good writer for EQ2 related articles. With out knowing from personal experience what’s going on inside the game all there is left is sensationalizing things based on hear-say to get readers/viewers. We don’t want Fox news, we want real news! =P
I meet those, and I’m hardly a top raider…
I would, but every time I discuss or write about this game I keep drifting into negative feedback about EQ3. I can’t say enough positive things about the game to remain an unbiased author.
I hate to love it and I love to hate it.
“I hate to love it and I love to hate it.”
They should make this the advertising slogan for EQ2, assuming they have an advertising budget, which they probably don’t.
Columbus Nova is just going to milk it till it dies. As little funding for any thing as possible so there’s more profit. Company dies, they sell off the parts and make that last bit of profit. Win win for C.N, lose lose for every one else.
I really do wish the remaining devs would start a kickstarter or Gofund me or something and just buy the company for themselves. :\ (Like BiMart. Employee owned, been around for ages. Totally different business, but it’s survived.) Not sure how that would work out either, but surely better than being owned by an investment company.
I hate to say this but all of you are welcome over in Black Desert Online. It’s certainly not as good as EverQuest 2, but it’s a good alternative.
Hopefully if a bunch of you head there Columbus Nova will hurry up and sell the EverQuest franchise to a company that actually knows how to make it succeed. I personally will not be returning to EQ2 this time. I wish you all the best of luck!
Feldon, good luck bud. Thanks for the best gaming website ever created! You should post the BDO financial report in an article before you leave. Short version – 3.3 million players and they took profited over $101 mil in 2016 (net profit). If that doesn’t motivate a company like Columbus Nova I don’t know what will.
I know many who would meet those last five requirements who do not raid at all, they are just players who enjoy experiencing new content.
Having done the questlines on both a mage and a healer, I would have to say that it gives you a lot more insight into how the content flows and a lot more appreciation for all of those who have experienced the lore as they completed the required prereqs and an appreciation for their dedication as they waded through the pain of faction grinding.
I would put “Be able to write with proper grammar, formatting, and sentence structure so that readers can understand the topic and how it may relate to them” first. Just based on EverQuest 2 forum posts, many posters who could fulfill the last two pre-requisites, are awful writers.
And please add something along the lines of ‘research/prove/know your facts.’
Otherwise you end up with something like this article:
Court Throws Out Digital Homicide’s Case Against Critic Jim Sterling
http://kotaku.com/court-throws-out-digital-homicides-case-against-critic-1792599942
“Yesterday, a court dismissed game developer Digital Homicide’s $10 million case”
The facts:
https://www.techdirt.com/blog/?company=digital+homicide
“Update: We’ve made some corrections to this piece to clarify that, while this is a victory for Jim Sterling, it’s a result of Digital Homicide agreeing to a settlement, rather than the court tossing the lawsuit, as the original suggested.”
Why use this example?
“Many in the game-critiquing world watched on, wondering whether or not a court was going to allow a critic to be punished for doing his job. Were it to have happened, that would have sent a chilling effect through the gaming industry.”
Easy enough to change “critic” to “writer.” And that’s been done before too.
/*
An example of “Be open to criticism, corrections, and change requests.”
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170221/14405036761/digital-homicides-10-million-lawsuit-against-game-critic-gone.shtml
… “You guys are better than this” …
“You’re right. I’ve added a correction to the post, and have reminded both the writing and editorial staff to be much more careful … I should have caught this myself before it was published, though, and unfortunately missed it. My apologies.”
I’m on par with Feldon, rarely playing enough to stay current, but he and anyone he gets to write content for the site are more than welcome to utilize my copy-editing abilities. So grammar is fixable… but sentence structure is a good foundation to have regardless. 😉
I would have tried out for it if my work didn’t demand so much of my time.
Wish I could find a job that didn’t require me to work 10-16 hours a day and pay the same, ^_^.
I enjoy writing, but I as a player, I have the player bias and get sucked too much into propaganda/rumours to write objectively.
So Feldon, this is because of your exasperation with the Development team in Discord?
In-depth articles have been lacking from EQ2Wire for a while, since long before the expansion. Unless someone is actively playing EQ2, the coverage will always be lacking and miss details. I’ve been able to fill in the gaps by asking other players but that only goes so far and I don’t have a great network of players to interview.
guess the game is dying after all….wouldn’t be shocked if its gone by years end and with feldon leaving and that other dev member in a different article (the canadian tradeskill person) seems this is just a sinking ship. i sure am glad i didn’t waste my time doing this STUPID 2.0 epic on other toons, did it on one, that’s enough—-along with the devs or whoever runs this (insert bad word here)..outfit, with poor customer service, nerfing every damn thing in the game that goes AGAINST the players and making things more difficult—they just dont care plain and simple, yet why do we still pay 15.00 a month again? i got 12 years invested in this game, hate to see it go but as the saying goes–all good things come to an end
I think the game does have more than a year. How much more? I’m not sure.
There are good qualities left in the game such as the lore and the design of some of the epic 2.0s. (My Fae is now a rock star with her guitar)
However my concern is for the new/returning players. There is a devoted fan base that still plays but things happen which cause people to leave. It’s not just people leaving because they dislike the game, sometimes real life means we have to cut back. I’m afraid new players or players returning after a long hiatus coming in a year from now will be so overwhelmed with pre-requirements in order to join a current heroic group they decide to go somewhere else where it’s easier to catch up.
So whats the new thing thats keeping you away? Or have you aged out of the genre?
I would be wiling to contribute, but I don’t meet the last three of requirements. Why? Simply because I am a solo player trying to keep what is left of my guild’s resources alive and build on them. I ran into the blocks where you need multiple players and went back to see if I could get enough alts up to do them… Four level 100 characters and another four over 80.