SOE rolls out Station Cash microtransactions in EQ

by Justin McElroy { Dec 10th 2008 at 9:30AM }

We were all just a little terrified when we heard of upcoming MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic being microtransaction-based. But it's already been beaten to the punch by Station Cash, a microtransaction system just rolled out in EverQuest and EverQuest II.

Unsurprisingly, the system seems similar to the PSN scheme, with players putting money into a virtual wallet, 100SC for $1.00. It sounds fine for people looking to hurry up and beat EQ II already so they can play WoW with everyone else, we'd just prefer it stay far, far away from games we actually have an interest in playing.

Tags: everquest, everquest-ii, soe, station-cash

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

koehler83 @ Dec 10th 2008 9:42AM

SoE... sigh

I just don't get them. Putting so much time, effort and money into someone else's platform while completely and utterly ignoring their own platforms.. all of them.

Who's in charge?

Kodros @ Dec 10th 2008 12:31PM

"while completely and utterly ignoring their own platforms"

Umm, what? They have The Agency and DC Universe in the works for the PS3. Besides that, they already made like 10 games for PSP/PS2/PS3.

Mischa @ Dec 10th 2008 10:13AM

Am I the only one that thinks that picture is hilarious..?

Dan D @ Dec 10th 2008 10:20AM

Maybe this means the Agency will be micro-transaction based.

Haggard @ Dec 10th 2008 1:10PM

"Now 007, I've got some rather interesting toys for you.. try not break them.. oh, and they'll be $1.99 each"

Lord Negatron @ Dec 10th 2008 10:31AM

EQ?

Wow, i know i know...
People still play it...

I did for a while...

10 years ago.
*sarcastic stare*
Good job SOE... Ga-Ooooood jaaab.
*begins The Slow Clap*

Lars @ Dec 10th 2008 10:38AM

Wow, poorly written article... hardly any info beyond saying it exists.

I still maintain that eq2 is far better than wow. I only play wow because that's where all my friends are.

mewoks @ Dec 10th 2008 10:49AM

It is better than WoW. Joystiq is just confusing popularity with quality again.

Ben @ Dec 10th 2008 12:18PM

I'd say that EQ1 is still better than WoW, at least it was when it was in it's prime... 5 years ago...
I still play it occasionally on an emulated server. There's a lot of cool custom content on some of the emulated servers, best of all, there's no monthly fee.
But, if I had money, or the time, (mostly time is the issue), I'd be playing EQII.

Lars @ Dec 10th 2008 12:30PM

Yeah, I loved the original EQ back in it's hay day. It started going downhill after SoL.

I really loved the LDoN expansion though, that was brilliant. I wish more games would add dungeon features like LDoN did.

Ben @ Dec 10th 2008 12:54PM

I didn't really like LDoN that much, it was too hard to find groups for me, I'd spend like 1-2 hours just finding a group, then doing a 1 hour dungeon or two... repeat that 20+ times just to get one piece of armor.
I did like PoP a lot, I thought it started to go down hill after that. I have no idea what the last 6 expansions are like though as I stopped playing a while ago, the last expansion I bought was OoW, and the last one I actually got to play with was GoD. Over all, Velious was the most fun.

Haggard @ Dec 10th 2008 1:12PM

Doesn't EQ have many millions of people still playing?

If I remember correctly it was like 21 million or something..

UltimateQ @ Dec 10th 2008 5:47PM

Haggard >_< No.

Everquest in its peak only reached something like 400k subscribers and maintains less than that currently. Was still a HUUUUGE achievement considering the internet was just starting to gain its MASS popularity and online gaming was still (in reality) its infancy.

I loved my Everquest back in the day! I sold both of my accounts a few years back just after the release of "The Serpent's Spine". I hold no bad blood for the game, I just thought it was time I cut myself loose.

Lars @ Dec 10th 2008 5:58PM

@Ben: Really? I loved that whole concept of streamlining LFG and doing timed instance runs with more of a "live" dungeon than the typical MMO dungeon where all the mobs are just standing in one spot for eternity. Was PoP right before or after SoL? Either way, SoL brought some good stuff, but all in all I think it started the downfall.

@Haggard: Not even remotely close. It was a huge accomplishment at the time, especially considering that most players (and PC users in general) were still using dial up. Most MMO's don't break 1 million, but instead bank on fees to recoup the steep costs of creating and running an MMO. WoW is the only MMO to break into mainstream. I still can't quite figure out why. I guess maybe 'cause it's easy to play, has friendly cartoonish graphics, extends on franchise recognition, runs on a lot of older machines, etc. It's like the casual gamer's MMO, with a dash of hardcore thrown in.

Haggard @ Dec 10th 2008 6:58PM

Ah, I was thinking of Lineage 2.

Ryan @ Dec 10th 2008 11:03AM

EQ2 is by far the best fantasy MMO. WoW is good, but people who have never played EQ2 really are missing out on a great experience.

Lord Negatron @ Dec 10th 2008 11:21AM

My VooDoo 2 can't handle EQ2, but it laughs @ WoW.

^-^

ScottG13 @ Dec 10th 2008 11:05AM

I'm drawing a blank on a good IGE child molester joke for this one...

JB87 @ Dec 10th 2008 12:41PM

I'm rather "meh" on this whole concept, couldn't care less. Everyone in-game is saying it'll destroy both the economy and make it so that new players can buy their way to endgame gear, but that's the exact same thing they said about Legends of Norrath and it has yet to be anywhere near true. Currently the only things available are appearance armor (statless), some experience bonus potions, and a few house pets.. /yawn.

Also, I played WoW for a few months and thought EQ2 kicked its ass in just about every aspect (overall quality of programming is the only area it wins in IMO. I'd love to see more games, EQ2 included, with that virtual fullscreen mode.)