The bigger picture behind SOE's Living Legacy strategy

by Matt Warner Jun 8th 2008 at 10:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Events, in-game

The Ancient Gaming Noob is stirring up the crack pots in this excellent post questioning whether or not a New World Order is taking shape over at Sony Online Entertainment. Why would he think that? Well all the ballyhoo surrounding the Living Legacy promotion of course. In an unprecedented move SOE reactivated and marked over a million EQ/EQ2 accounts for free play until July 25th. Oh yea, that's freakin' insane, not to mention the deal only gets sweeter because it comes with a ton of perks and incentives for those that resub to either EverQuest or EverQuestII.

While some disgruntled players who were already active EQ/EQ2 subscribers at the time of the announcement lament, as felt in various drama bombs around the blogosphere; the case he presents and the reasons listed are very intriguing. We would go into greater detail into the theory, but we don't want to spoil it. Go read it and come back here and tell us what you think about Living Legacy and the speculative truth behind it. Is he onto something?

Tags: conspiracy, eq, eq2, eq2-gu-46, everquest, living-legacy, new-world-order, soe, sony-online-entertainment, tagn, the-ancient-gaming-noob

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Isanox said on 10:12PM 6-08-2008

Wow, Matt could you be any more condescending.

Players who weren't EQ2 subscribers got $60 worth of stuff, plus in-game items.

Current CUSTOMERS got squat, not even a way to earn those same in-game items.

I would call that a valid reason to vent.

Much like the NGE, SOE cares more for the customers they don't have, then the ones they do.

tanek said on 11:35PM 6-08-2008

Maybe I missed something, but...

If the players who were reactivated in the Living Legacy push do decide to come back, don't they still have to purchase the game?

And many companies give perks to first time or returning customers. It is the whole free toaster thing from the bank. I'm not saying it is always fair, but it is what it is. And the benefit to the customers who have been there all along is that if it helps the game/company prosper, they will be able to enjoy it longer.

No one wants to see their favorite game mothballed.

deathwombat said on 3:13AM 6-09-2008

@tanek well they would only have to purchase the game if they didn't keep their original copy of game although i also believe if they could just play if they downloaded the free trial client

mietha CAG said on 1:38PM 6-09-2008

To tanek: No, they would not have to purchase the game. They can pay $15 (sub for 1 month) and have the game, plus all 14 expansions (or 3, in the case of EQII), even if all they ever had before was a free trial account. One of the MANY reasons current players are pissed off. There is no problem with bringing players back to the game, but fucking your current paying supporters in the process is just bad business.

tanek said on 2:42PM 6-09-2008

Ah. See, I thought that since this was also enabling previous trial accounts that it would be acting like an extended trial. Where, if you decide to stay, you go buy the game, enter your key, then start up your subscription.

At the same time, with an expansion coming up, I'd guess the goal is to get any returning players to purchase *that* box. And, assuming the new expansion follows the same model as the last one, that box will give access to all previous expansions and whatnot anyway.

Of course, when Kunark came out I heard complaints about the inclusion of previous expansions being unfair as well. Can't win. :)

Coherent said on 11:17PM 6-08-2008

I think the Ancient Gaming Noob is onto something. The change in culture between divisions is definitely behind the sudden urgency of bringing gamers back to SOE MMOs.

I also think he's right that this may herald a sea-change in how SOE does business. I don't know what kind of wisdom SCE may bring to revitalizing the EQ-niverse, but I'm sure they will at least bring urgency and competitiveness to the table, which may make it a closer fight.

Sony has cosmic resources to draw upon, yet in classic big-company fashion, they have consistently failed to capitalize on their advantages and smaller, more focused companies have passed them by. If SCE can light a fire under SOE, we may find a scrappier, more nimble contender in months and years to come.