EverQuest: What You Really Get From an Online Game

Post by **pyrella** » December 27, 2002, 4:13 pm

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/1 ... at&tid=127

Midnyte_Ragebringer · December 27, 2002, 4:20 pm

Typical cry baby bullshit. The evil company is trying to make money, blah blah blah.

Sabek · Post by **Sabek** » December 27, 2002, 4:40 pm

Wait a second here!!!!1!!1!

SoE is trying to make money on a product that they have made?
How dare the bastards do that?

Ennia · Post by **Ennia** » December 27, 2002, 4:45 pm

wow so bitter

Everquest is a game centered on rewarding you for how much time you put into it.

for me it was always centered on community, hence the multi massive whatever they call it

They care little for player complaints, and less about player suggestions and requests.

starting to wonder if this guy plays at all or just based his rant on hearsay

Expansions to the game are put out about once per year. These cost around $30 to buy when released, and are required to visit new zones, gain new levels, and so forth. For anyone just entering the game now to be on equal footing with others, they will need to buy the original game and all four expansions at retail price.

he should get out more that's for sure, read his e-mails more often or visit the Station Store

People who quit are viewed as giving up on their guilds; they are ridiculed, denounced, and hated. There is massive peer pressure to keep playing.

yeah right

The game will absorb your life if you let it

And this should be his opening sentence
I can't believe I've read it

Cartalas · Post by **Cartalas** » December 27, 2002, 4:58 pm

Here is the Email I sent him

Dear Michael:

Thank you for wasting 20 minutes of my time reading your story on EQ!!! I could of been playing EQ instead.

Munt · Post by **Munt** » December 27, 2002, 4:59 pm

The rest of Sanftenberg's excellent article is below.

What a load of shit, I can't believe I wasted my time reading it.

Often people you thought were your friends in the game were simply using you to advance, or improve their characters. Online relationships between people in EQ are fickle, and are only good as long as everyone’s getting a good dose of the drug (loot, advancement in the game, and good social relations with their guild).

TT
Can someone mail a box of tissues to this guys house?

Metanis · Post by **Metanis** » December 27, 2002, 5:10 pm

Wait a minute folks! Sure you can blow this guy off as just being pissed at Sony, but 'fess up, how long did you wait for your last petition to be answered? Oh Ye of short memories... Just a few days ago everyone here was missing the good 'ol days when Saiphos was our GM.

I saw a lot of truths in that article.

Sabek · Post by **Sabek** » December 27, 2002, 5:11 pm

Actually my last petition was answered in ~10-20mins. And I was pleasantly suprised when a GM contacted me about 20mins later when I escalated the petition.

It's not about what the guy is saying being true or false. It's that this dumbass comes off like he has sekrit 133t Sony info. Anyone who plays the game knows what he wrote.

Bubba Grizz · Post by **Bubba Grizz** » December 27, 2002, 5:14 pm

I don't know, he sounded clear and concise and dead on. Granted, many people have different point of views. There are those who still find enjoyment in the game.

Munt · Post by **Munt** » December 27, 2002, 5:15 pm

Regardless, he needs to dry his eyes.

VariaVespasa · Post by **VariaVespasa** » December 27, 2002, 5:17 pm

Under 10 minutes for my last petition, and it was just a "mobs under the world, come squash them please" thing too. I was happy.

*Hugs*
Varia

Wulfran · Post by **Wulfran** » December 27, 2002, 5:28 pm

Yes, he mentions some of the actual downsides (and yes, I too still hate the fact that SOE/VI stole Saiphos by promoting him away from us!), but on the whole his monlogue is a whine, not even a rant... for those who haven't read it, don't bother...

Sionistic · Post by **Sionistic** » December 27, 2002, 5:42 pm

No "who pissed in his cherios" remark yet? I am ashamed

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » December 27, 2002, 5:59 pm

wow slashdot has come a long way from post relevant and poignant articles about the culture surrounding technology to publishing standard "I quit" posts from whineplay.

PhyscoBloodspiller · December 27, 2002, 6:03 pm

Saw Saiphos on 2 days ago with the title * EQ Support *

Ennia · Post by **Ennia** » December 27, 2002, 6:24 pm

kyoukan type-R wrote:wow slashdot has come a long way from post relevant and poignant articles about the culture surrounding technology to publishing standard "I quit" posts from whineplay.

and they called it an excellent article on top of that /boggle

Cotto · Post by **Cotto** » December 27, 2002, 6:59 pm

Is it wrong to want to smash these peoples faces upon their own monitors?

Why cant people let us enjoy our game without needing to go to rehab every three weeks!

Sylvos · Post by **Sylvos** » December 27, 2002, 7:06 pm

Violence is never the solution to a problem.
Only fun.

Penlog · Post by **Penlog** » December 27, 2002, 9:50 pm

Well, I hate to say it, the article is not exactly true on most points.... but the point they made about setting it up for longterm gamers iss true.... Im glad i finally stopped... i realized how much free time i have on my hands now.... Oh well.... i had to get rid of my guys gear to make sure i didnt go back to everquest..... but now that im gone im glad.... although i do enjoy checking these forums from time to time to see old names i knew...... from the game... but still glad to be gone at the same time... sorta a bittersweet combo, you miss those you played with yet your glad you finally stopped because they were your only motivation behind staying in the game..... oh well flame me off the b oard if you please.... im just posting some of my thoughts i dont care what you think......

warriorsoul · Post by **warriorsoul** » December 28, 2002, 1:05 am

David Sanftenberg
aka Dolalin Bonewielder
62 Necromancer of Lanys T`Vyl

this is who wrote the articule.

funny how he bitches and whines yet he is lvl 62 which means he got PoP....

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » December 28, 2002, 1:17 am

Penlog wrote:Well, I hate to say it, the article is not exactly true on most points.... but the point they made about setting it up for longterm gamers iss true.... Im glad i finally stopped... i realized how much free time i have on my hands now.... Oh well....

Enough time to type out all those extra periods I guess.

Penlog · Post by **Penlog** » December 29, 2002, 4:18 am

Yeah i love using mass periods... GET USED TO IT

lol

Avryce · Post by **Avryce** » December 29, 2002, 5:53 am

Metanis wrote:Wait a minute folks! Sure you can blow this guy off as just being pissed at Sony, but 'fess up, how long did you wait for your last petition to be answered? Oh Ye of short memories... Just a few days ago everyone here was missing the good 'ol days when Saiphos was our GM.

I saw a lot of truths in that article.

It took me over a month

. No response to my reply however. I do agree their customer service sucks but then again I play the game to have fun and do most of the time. Luckily I haven't ever really had any major needs for GM assistance.

Greetings,
This is GM Ashescura, I am sorry for the delay for the reply to your
email, but we have been going through some changes here. This letter was
sent as a reply to see if the issue was already resolved, if you do not
reply I can assume that you no longer need assistance with the matter. If
you have any Questions, feel free to /petition in game since I am available
Mon-Friday in game. When you /petition please give as much details as
possible so we can assist you on any future issues. Take care and see you in
game.

...Travel Lightly...

Please respond directly to the customer as needed. Our tracking number
is KMM4609017V96416L0KM.

The Station Customer Service

- Customer's Email follows -

dateOfProblem = 11/14/02

edit:snipped out more junk.

Xanupox · Post by **Xanupox** » December 29, 2002, 10:53 am

Well guys,

Denial is always the first stage to overcome, once you can admit you're addicted and get past that, its a lot easier to give it up.

He hit the nail right on the head, but of course none of you that still play daily can really see that right now =)

In the past I would have swore up and down he was just, "out to get us" or railroading our game.. ITS A CONSPIRACY! Naw, its just called the, "you care more about your pixels, than you do your life" syndrome.

Sometimes people can BE MORE in Virtual, then they can be in Reality.

Xanu Pox,
Wintersebb
AC2 - Mage/Healer lvl 43

Sabek · Post by **Sabek** » December 29, 2002, 11:32 am

This reply was brought to you by the guy who "gave up all those pixels" to go have a L42 mage in AC2 and is waiting on the edge of his seat for SWG.

Grats looking like a hypocrite.

VariaVespasa · Post by **VariaVespasa** » December 29, 2002, 11:43 am

He's right, in that once it becomes work to log in then the fun is gone and you should quit, but as long as its fun, time-sinks and all then carry on.

Yes, it can absorb your life if you let it. So can golf. It up to you, not EQ. As long as you maintain enough of your old outside of eq activities to keep a grip on what you enjoy most and allocate your time accordingly its fine.

Yes, it takes a long time to get some stuff, especially high-end stuff done in the game. Thats a business and game longevity decision. I'm smart enough to understand why it is as it is. As long as youre having fun who cares? As long as you ARE having fun.

Everyone hates VI/Sony. I dont. In my experience only the people teetering on burnout, the ones for whom it has stopped being fun, but who havent realised it yet due to conflicting senses of obligation or invested time, hate VI/Sony. I dont pay much attention to people in that phase, I know theyre going down. I cant "save" them, the acid has burned too deep. They arent gonna dampen my day by trying to take me with them, however much their misery loves company; I wont let them.

The piece de resistance, and the final irretrieveable condemnation of the article as being written from bitterness and childish lashing out rather than helpful informativeness is the selection of complaints all touching on CS, ending with the crack about "paying $40 on Stormhammer for CS you should have been getting anyway". Totally revealing of the narrowness, selfishness and lack of awareness of his viewpoint, when even cursory crunching of numbers would show how little CS you can possibly be due for 13 bucks a month.

Just so long as youre having fun its all good.

*Hugs*
Varia

Fallanthas · Post by **Fallanthas** » December 30, 2002, 11:05 am

He didn't hit shit on the head.

The purpose of a game is to waste time.

If you log into Everquest thinking you are gonna get an education or a spiffy new career in return for your time investment........please don't reproduce.

And if you are inclined to whine about a lifestyle choice YOU made......

miir · Post by **miir** » December 30, 2002, 11:24 am

Everyone hates VI/Sony

It's the same with every MMOG.

Everyone who playes AO hates Funcom.
Everyone who plays DAOC hates Mythic.
Everyone who playes AC/AC2 hates Turbine/MS.

Even the smaller MMOGS have a very vocal portion of their userbase screaming about how much they HATE the game company.

The problem with these professional whiners is that they think that thier $10-$12 per month gives them the right to dictate how these comapnies should run their games.

Whatever....

They are just games... when you stop having fun, stop playing.
I quit EQ a year and a half ago because it stopped being fun for me. It was hard to give up the social aspects of it.. that was the only real reason I was playing for those last few months in 2000.

Xanupox · Post by **Xanupox** » December 30, 2002, 11:42 am

Sabek wrote:This reply was brought to you by the guy who "gave up all those pixels" to go have a L42 mage in AC2 and is waiting on the edge of his seat for SWG.

Grats looking like a hypocrite.

Did I ever say I was'nt addicted to EQ when I played? I think myself along with the majority of you, chose the virtual world to entertain ourselves with, over reality. Its just a whole damn lot more convienent.

Online friends/relations are quicker, you dont have to get dressed up or put on that 'happy face" to meet people online to have some fun. Unlike in RL where you have to actually put some effort into getting ready, travel to where you want to have your fun at.. hope to meet up with people that have similar intrests, then pray it all comes together.. well in online adventures, you beat RL in every aspect of the above.

You wakeup, the CPU (your means of travel) is right there next to you, touch the keyboard.. your online. Friends are in much more abundance online than that in reallife, especially post highschool/college where your just "out in the world' (even worse if you moved out of your hometown).

Finding people with similar intrests online versus in real life? laughable, I have never found anyone in over 5 years that have the same intrests as me, when it comes to having multiple PCs in my "computer room", playing online and other games in a fanatical fashion. The closest I came was someone around 8 years younger than me, that just had a computer and PS2, but never played online. The fact is, the internet brings people with similiar intrests together, whereas in reallife they would never meet or have the opportunity to play together on a daily basis.

EQ is addictive, but it is exactly what we have begged and asked for over the past 10 years. Its a vessel for "us" the people that we all are, to be able to ride on and enjoy ourselves.

Somewhere in the middle of all that happening, someone forgot to tell us all that maintaining a mixture of this great new world with some of the old world, as in still looking for friends outside the net, actually forcing yourself OFF the net and doing it the old, long and tiring ways... well that was just something you have to do, to keep your sane being in the eyes of the 'rest of the world".

If you ignore the non-online gamer completelly, and submerse yourself into the net 100%, you will find yourself in a world of dissary where you cannot connect with the people around you.

Just remember to have fun in EQ, but make damn sure you dont break your ties with the people down the street, the guy at work you shoot B-ball with and the work gatherings that you have been skipping to get on that raid. When EQ is said and done, you wont want to be standing around holding an empty bag of pixels and wondering, "what is reallife?"

Yes I love to play online games, but until I saw where the hell I was headed... online was my only life. Now I maintain a mixture, although it isnt even 50/50... I am much more socially stable and having a good time on and off the net. Just dont be a lazy ass and never leave your house...

Pilsburry · Post by **Pilsburry** » December 30, 2002, 1:55 pm

.....And if you have the chance take guild loot and sell it on the internet when you leave.

Bubba Grizz · Post by **Bubba Grizz** » December 30, 2002, 2:08 pm

Good post Xan! For all things there must be a balance.

VeeshanVault

EverQuest: What You Really Get From an Online Game

EverQuest: What You Really Get From an Online Game

Evercrack

Re: Evercrack

hehe

Heh

My 2 cents added in reply...