What would you be willing to pay?

[Konji]

What would you be willing to pay to have real GM's / Events again?
Bringing back dedicated server GM's not rotating ones, bringing back interactive GM events, Best of Best Tournaments etc..

Its obvious that for $13 a month they arent going to give us customer service like we once had. We are gonna get some guy in India for $13

Just curious how people feel.

[Zeone]

No chance at getting a server GM  :(

If sony has 30 servers (i think they have more) and only have 1000 players per server (which i know is more) at $13 per month they are making 390, 000 a month. Not to mention the price of the actual software, character moves, and other marketing ploys. If they cant do it now how would another dollar matter?

Edit: I think we have been so hosed rescently because EQ2 is supposed to be released some time in 2004 and all Sony's attention is probably on their new baby

[Konji]

Sony reportedly has 450,000-500,000 people paying $13 a month.

So a $1 increase would = $450,-500,000 extra a month.
I would think they could offer alot better CS if they dedicated that increase to go for GM's

Also the question was IF we could get  xxx would you pay xxx.
I think myself its a slim chance of it happening myself.
Just curious

[gamfyre]

Heck we paid more for less service when they increased the monthly rate..... :twisted:

[Tastian]

"I think we have been so hosed rescently because EQ2 is supposed to be released some time in 2004 and all Sony's attention is probably on their new baby"

Sony keeps saying they are different teams and that EQ2 doesn't effect EQ1, but *shrugs*.  EQ has been dieing in ways for awhile imo.  The game is completly different and most don't even know it.  I remember GM events, I remember knowing the names of my GM.  I remember some GM's visiting during raids and stuff well nothing was going on.  I remember GM's fixing bugged stuff.  The other night I watched a guild get it's first kill of a PoP progression god only to have the Planear projection spawn in an unhailable position.  By some act of Brell (guide was too drunk to go anon) there was a guide on and they showed up.  Walked around some, said "hrmmm I'll have to escalate this" and was gone.  Customer server is just silly.  I know people that have gone WEEKS with legitiment bugs that they have every right to be reembursed for and simply don't get a response.  I miss customer service  quite a bit(and it was never THAT good!! lol), but like I say it's just not a part of present day EQ imo.  There's no reason CS should cost even  $1 more, but lots would pay it if it was done right.  EQ is very annoying to me because it just feels like they settled.  EQ is the "best" and they just leave it at that.  They don't realize just how much better it could have been and continued to be.

[Skanda]

Problem is I highly doubt that money is real thing stopping them from having service. Yeah, I know that they want all the profits they can scrape out of this game but I really doubt that raising the price of EQ would encurage them to hire more GM's.

[Roxxorz]

It's pretty clear to me that the people that are responsible for making decisions about customer service, game design and game flaws and bugs aren't really concerned with player satisfaction.  With the amount of money that EQ produces, there are many things that the SoE leadership could do to improve the overall game, but they have chosen not to.  I would guess that the only thing a few thousand dollars more every month would accomplish is to line a few more pockets at SoE/Sony.

Sorry if I sound a bit cynical, but dying over and over in a buggy zone (Uqua)  night after night has takes its toll.   :wink:

[Dysz]

I have heard recently that they are giving lower GM's more powers in order that they may create GM events.  As it stands the controls are really weak, and currently they need higher ups and such there in order to do an event, but with more freedom opening up, they won't be restricted so much, so they can make stuff up and do it themselves.  sounds exciting to me :)

[Mindlet]

I don't consider it cheap to not want to pay more. I live in Australia and have been playing the game since July 99. I have seen 1 gm event in 5 years that was run during my play time. GMs have always been next to no existant during my play time so its basically no different that before for me.

[Murkk Dakruul]

Sadly, I would pay alot more than 3$ extra a month.

[Skanda]

Sadly, I would pay alot more than 3$ extra a month.

Stormhammer gets GM support. They just have to pay $25 more a month.

[Man0warr]

I won monk botb on rallos - that being said, i dont think SoE can do those kind of events anymore, they have half ass GMs now, not ones like Lady Dae anymore

[Gospodar]

Won arena melee event few days ago so yay for that.... But aye I remember GM events being much more common few years ago.... Next event inc on 10th anniversary  :D

[Xuthaz]

We had a ton more support when we were paying 10 bucks a month (8 if you prepaid for 6 months at a time) then we do now.  Server costs, bandwidth, hardware costs etc have went down since those days, the price was increased, and we get less and less.  They obviously spent more time/money on kunark and velious development than they have on expansions since then, so its not like that money is going to development.  I don't even care about GM events, but it's atrocious to have to wait days or even weeks for bugs, getting stuck under the world, etc, for a GM to reply to you and help you out.  I remember when if the server crashed and you died logging back in, there would be 2 or 3 GMs per dungeon (lower guk, Sol B, maybe 1 in Cazic Thule) at the zone in offering 100% rezes, since it was entirely their fault you died.  Nowadays if my character gets wiped in the LDON bug i have to petition, go to their website, send an email, and wait for weeks to get my character rebuilt and I lose days worth of advancement, any AAs or gear i may have had that was lost during the rollback.

[Hrann]

They need to provide adequate (not good, just a little bit please!) customer service.  Their profit margin must be larger than it used to be (see Xuthaz's post), they need to put some of that money back into making us happy.  There's no reason we should have to pay more just to get what any responsible business provides for free.