Thirteen years ago, EverQuest opened a door that would influence online gaming forever. It taught us how to camp world bosses, how painful dying can be, and most importantly, how to make a ham sandwich and take a shower in under five minutes so you can get back to the game ASAP. It isn't the flashiest or the most beginner-friendly of MMOs, but it was certainly the foundation for games like World of Warcraft and Star Wars: The Old Republic. And finally, more than a decade and nearly 20 expansions later, it's going free-to-play.
The swap to the F2P model will happen this March. New and old players will start their adventures with a Welcome Pack full of treasure, including experience potions, a decorative house item, a cosmetic weapon augment, and even a Mercenary to help you tackle trolls heralding your demise.
This isn't the first time a Sony Online Entertainment has made the move away from the traditional subscription model. Within the last six months, the switch to F2P increased DC Universe Online's concurrent users by 600% and EverQuest II's new player base by 300%.
As expected, the payment method seems to have the flexibility of the EverQuest II model, with "recurring subscriptions, non-recurring subscriptions, Silver or Free memberships, item unlockers, and more." With 18 expansions, the hardest part to the cash shop could be choosing where to start.
SOE will be discussing the details on their webcast Thursday night (February 2nd), but if you have questions, be sure to read the full announcement and check out the FAQs .
