HEY, DO YOU MIND IF YOU SELL YOUR SERVER OFF? CHECK ONE: YES, NO, MAYBE

From Cheesepirate.com

SOE has made some really unsettling decisions over the last few months. First up in EverQuest they announced they were ending the Recruit A Friend program, cutting off all links to accounts. Thankfully they listened to the player base and decided to grandfather it in. I still think they should have left it up until a week or so before the Free To Play conversion, but I understand that they have to have some sort of cut off. Still there could have been a better way of bringing this on could have been presented, a last call for the program, some type of word. Alas they did hear our cries and we were happy with SOE.

Next up was the announcement that the sun was setting on the lone EQ Mac server. The server was being shut down and that was that. However, a lot of players voiced how upset they were, both PC and Mac players alike hated seeing this happen, a longtime community being shut down. On top of all of this there is mainly one programmer who really keeps that server going as it is complicated with lots of old coding, but it really seems odd how to even let it get to that point. At least they do have that gem of a developer- Hobart.

So, I was surprised to see a poll on this topic of an EQMac server. Even though I don't play on a Mac I still voted I would, because if I had one I'd surely play that version of EQ on it. SOE didn't let us down, shortly after they announced that the server would remain up and go free to play with no cash shop. SOE never ceases to amaze me. That was wonderful news!

It looks like SOE is starting to make some better choices, even if they do end up startling the community in the process, right? Now I'm really puzzled over the company 'selling' off their EQ2 EU servers to what is known as a shady company that has poor support and security, thus segregating their community. I mean, really, the population isn't that healthy IMO. I couldn't even find enough players to hand out roses for the valentine event (no handing to NPCs like WoW did... Boo..hiss). I just don't get it.

You run into all kinds of problems like Canada being cut off, weird I know. How about those serving our country outside the US, they get cut off too. Lots of things that I think were not considered. I want to know why they would even do this. EQ2Wire has a great list of problematic scenarios that will tie into this.

This company could really be something great if they got their heads our of... Well, you know. They have some great games, wonderful communities, they listen to players on huge issues. I'm really glad that, with most cases, they listen to the community and do weigh in our input. I'm really happy that they do, but why not do some polls in the future instead of backpedaling so much in the future?

I have a great idea for polls- Maybe: HEY, DO YOU MIND IF YOU SELL YOUR SERVER OFF? CHECK ONE: YES<X> NO < > MAYBE< > DO YOU MIND IF WE SHUT YOUR SERVER DOWN? CHECK ONE: YES<X> NO < > MAYBE< >

I often wonder if anyone at SOE even plays their games thus having any idea of what goes on in these communities, heh. The ones making the decisions? Because they obviously don't seem to consider the players right off the bat. It is sad too because they really do have a solid foundation which they seem to overlook.

Well, I wish the EU players the best of luck. Hopefully SOE starts putting on their thinking caps in the future. I don't see this ending well, as in the past these types of servers were always pulled back into the company, which is good, but it is the players who suffer for the poor decisions.