Free to Play FAQ (EQ2)

EverQuest II Free-to-Play FAQ
FAQ as written and released by Sony Online Entertainment Original Free-to-Play FAQ on EverQuest2.com.
==When will I be able to play EverQuest II for free?==
We do not have an exact date at this time, but we are anticipating transitioning EverQuest II to the Free-to-Play model in early December 2011.
==How much does EverQuest II cost to play?==
Basic access to EverQuest II is free! This includes access to a large portion of the game, with some limitations on available content and features. Free membership provides access to the original EverQuest II game and seven years worth of expansions through "EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate." Additional content and features can be acquired by upgrading your membership to Silver for a one-time payment of US$5.00, or to Gold for US$14.99 per month. You can also purchase in-game items and services to enhance your game play experience. The two most recent expansion packs, EverQuest II: Destiny of Velious and EverQuest II: Age of Discovery, are also separately available for purchase. 
==What are the differences between Free, Silver, and Gold memberships?==
The features and benefits of Free, Silver, and Gold memberships are detailed on the EverQuest II membership matrix page (view the matrix here).
==What is included with the Free membership?==
Free membership provides access to the vast world of Norrath, with some limitations on available content and features. Additional content and features can be acquired by upgrading your membership to Silver or Gold. You can also purchase in-game items and services to enhance your gameplay experience. Free membership includes the following features:
* Access to the vast world of Norrath, including game content through the Sentinel’s Fate expansion
* Create up to two characters
* Two bag slots per character
* Four different character races and eight different classes to choose from
* Access to Adept level skills and spells
* You can advance your character up to the current level cap (level 90)
* Limited chat options (/say, /tell, /group, /guild)
* Keep track of up to 20 quests in each character’s quest journal
* Join guilds
* And more! See the EverQuest II membership matrix page (view the matrix here) for more details
==What is included with the Silver membership?==
Silver membership can be purchased for 500 Station Cash or US$5.00. This is a one-time purchase and there is no recurring fee for this membership. Silver membership does not expire and includes all of the Free membership features plus the following:
* Two additional character slots (create up to four characters)
* Two additional bag slots (four per character)
* Access to Expert level skills and spells
* Unlimited chat options
* Increased quest journal limit (up to 20 quests)
* The ability to create guilds
* And more! See the EverQuest II membership matrix page (view the matrix here) for more details
==What is included with the Gold membership?==
A Gold membership is 1,499 Station Cash or $14.99 per month. Gold members can choose either a recurring or non-recurring payment method. Gold membership provides all of the features of the Silver membership, plus the following:
* Three more character slots (create up to seven characters)
* Two more bag slots (six per character)
* Full access to all available races (except the Freeblood race, which can be purchased in the Marketplace)
* Full access to all available classes (except the Beastlord class, which is available with a purchase of the Age of Discovery expansion)
* Ability to equip Legendary and Fabled items
* Full access to Master character skills/spells
* No coin limits
* Access to the Broker, our huge in-game player-to-player marketplace so that you can buy and sell with other players for in-game coins
* Actively hold up to 75 quests in your quest journal
* And more! See the EverQuest II membership matrix page (view the matrix here) for more details
==Why should I upgrade my account to a Silver or Gold membership?==
Quite simply, better features! Buying a Silver membership is a one-time purchase of only 500 Station Cash or US$5.00 that, as compared to the Free membership, adds two extra character slots, two backpack slots, a larger character coin limit, unlimited chat access, and the ability to collect more active quests.
Upgrading to the Gold membership lets you use some of the game's most powerful items, such as Legendary and Fabled items, and allows you to upgrade to the most powerful spells and skills. Gold also gives you access to 24 character classes in the game (up from the eight classes provided with Free and Silver memberships), seven character slots, access to six backpack slots per character, no per character coin limit, access to the player-controlled Broker system, the ability to send in-game mail, and more!
==I used to play as an EverQuest II subscriber before the transition to the Free-to-Play model. What does this change mean for me?==
If you have an active paid subscription in either EverQuest II or EverQuest II: Extended, you will automatically be rolled into a Gold membership, with full perks and privileges. This conversion will be seamless and no change will need to be made by the player.
Membership will continue to recur as originally specified by the subscription.
Previous EverQuest II subscribers who do not have an active paid subscription at the point in time that the Free-to-Play transition occurs will automatically be converted to a Silver membership.
==Will there be Priority Queuing for Gold members?==
Yes! Gold members will get priority if we experience queues when logging into the game.
==I have an All Access membership. What does this mean for EverQuest II?==
Being an All Access member you will receive the premium Gold level membership. However, Gold access is only available while you have an active paid All Access subscription.
==Will I need a credit card to play the game?==
A credit card is not required to play EverQuest II as a free member. You can log into the game without entering any payment information. If you do decide to purchase a Silver or Gold membership or buy items from the Marketplace, you will need to fund your Station Cash wallet through one of the available methods of payment (including using a credit card, a Station Cash card – available at most large retailers, or SMS).
==Do I need to have a recurring membership in order to take advantage of a Gold Membership in EverQuest II?==
Based on player feedback, at the launch of the Free-to-Play transition you will have the option of choosing between recurring and non-recurring memberships. You can also use Station Cash to purchase non-recurring subscriptions. It's completely up to you.
==Can I buy a subscription with Station Cash?==
Yes, you can purchase non-recurring subscriptions with with Station Cash.
==I have previously purchased EverQuest II expansion packs. Will I still have access to that content?==
Yes! Any EverQuest II expansion that you previously purchased will continue to be available to you, subject to your current EverQuest II membership limitations. Free members will be able to access all previous content up to and including the "Sentinel's Fate" expansion. "Destiny of Velious" and "Age of Discovery" are both available separately for purchase.
==Will development efforts continue to be focused on EverQuest II?==
Yes! Development efforts will definitely continue to be focused on EverQuest II. Read Dave Georgeson's Producer's Letter to find out more.
==Will I have to re-download EverQuest II or EverQuest II: Extended when everything goes Free-to-Play?==
No, you will not need to re-download the game. Other than patching, it will be a seamless transition when EverQuest II goes Free-to-Play.
==What if I already had a Platinum membership in EverQuest II Extended?==
We will no longer be offering a Platinum membership plan. Current Platinum members can continue to retain their Platinum membership status for as long as they continue to pay their subscription. If there is a lapse in payment, a new membership tier must be selected (view the matrix here).
A Platinum membership included everything in Gold plus the following:
* Access to the "Destiny of Velious" expansion
* Ten character slots
* 500 Station Cash per month
==What if I currently have both an EQII subscription and EQ2X memberships?==
If you currently have both an EQII subscription and EQ2X Gold or Platinum membership, these accounts will be combined at the time of the Free-to-Play switch. Any unused game time will be credited to your account.
==Do I get anything in-game for playing EverQuest II?==
Yes! All current, returning and new players will receive a Welcome Pack for each character on their account. Players can use the /claim command in game to receive the Welcome Pack, which contains these non-tradable items:
* A bag to store your goodies in
* Experience Potions
* Vitality Potions
* And much, much more!
==Will I be able to sell or gift items that I purchased in the EverQuest II Marketplace?==
Marketplace items are usually labeled as "NO-TRADE" (can’t be traded to anyone) or "HEIRLOOM" (can only be traded to other characters on your account). To be eligible for gifting, you must have been a Gold member for 30 or more days.
==What happened to Live Gamer?==
After careful consideration and review, SOE and Live Gamer (LG) have mutually made the decision to discontinue auction services currently available in EQII. Beginning on December 14, 2011, SOE will suspend exchange services for EQII. Shortly after that, SOE will merge the LG exchange-based servers with its existing game servers, specifically Vox will merge with Nagafen and The Bazaar with Freeport. LG continues to be a valuable partner to SOE for a variety of e-commerce services.
Below is a timeline of the changes:
* November 21, 2011: Last day to transfer items from game to your LG holding area.
* November 22, 2011: Players will no longer be able to post items, characters, or coin to Live Gamer Exchange in EQII
* December 13, 2011: This is the final day for players to return or claim any items, characters, or coin to their accounts
* December 14, 2011: Live Gamer Exchange is suspended in EQII
We anticipate the merges will occur on or about December 15, 2011. We will keep you updated on dates and details via the EverQuest II forums!
==What will happen to my characters when I have to transfer from the Live Gamer servers?==
The Bazaar server will be merging with Freeport and Vox will be merging with Nagafen. In some cases, this may mean that your character totals are more than what is included in your membership plan. To avoid any problems, you will want to log in as your favorite characters right before the server merges so that they are at the top of your character queue list. If you want more character slots, you will need to purchase them in the Marketplace.
==Why can't I copy my characters to EQ2X anymore?==
Due to the upcoming Free-to-Play transition, we have disabled free character copies from the Live servers to go to EQ2X.
==What is happening to the 14-day Trial?==
SOE will stop offering the 14-day trial when the new Free-to-Play model is launched. All players who took advantage of the trial offer in the past but did not subscribe to the game will be converted to the Free membership status after the transition. So if you had
a free trial in the past you can log back in and your characters will be waiting for you (subject to restrictions based on your membership level).
==What is happening to the Recruit-a-Friend program?==
As of November 10, 2011, you can no longer recruit using the Recruit-a-Friend program. In order to receive the Recruit-a-Friend bonuses, players you have recruited will need to subscribe by November 22, 2011 at 11:59 PM PST. We will offer a new Refer-a-Friend program in the future, so stay tuned.
==With Free and Silver memberships there are character coin limitations. What happens to the coin I earn once I reach the limit?==
Any coin earned beyond your current coin limit is lost. You can continue to earn items and experience, but coin will no longer be accumulated. The only way to increase the amount of coin you can collect is to upgrade your membership. If you are a Free or Silver member who comes back after the Free-to-Play transition, your coins will be locked as per your current subscription plan, but not gone.
==What chat, in-game mail and Broker restrictions do Free and Silver players have?==
Free and Silver players can receive in-game email, but can't send in-game mail unless they upgrade to a Gold membership. Broker access is restricted to Gold members only. Free members can't use any of the "broadcast" channels, such as /auction, /level, /shout,
or any other chat option that broadcasts to a large number of other players.
==If I decide to downgrade from the Gold to Silver or Free membership, what will happen to the Gold perks I had with that membership?==
You don't lose anything permanently, but the additional content and features provided by the higher level membership will become inaccessible to you unless you repurchase that membership. Letting a membership lapse is similar to allowing a subscription on the
prior EverQuest II subscription service to lapse, where you become unable to access the features of that service until you renew your subscription.
* Character Coin Limits: The amount of coin you have is unaltered when you downgrade your membership. However, you'll be unable to gain any more coin until you reduce your current coin total below the applicable per character limit for your new membership level.
* Backpack and Bank Limits: Any bags or bank slots that become unavailable when you downgrade your membership will still be present. However, you can only move items from those slots to other locations. You can't use items while they are in those deactivated slots, and you can't add anything to those slots until you upgrade to a higher membership level that provides access to them.
* Quest Limits: If at the time you downgrade your membership you have more quests in your Journal than are allowed at the new membership level, those quests still exist, however, you'll be unable to add new ones until you reduce your quest count to below the new membership limit.
* Character Slots: When you downgrade your membership level, the maximum number of characters that you can have on your account is reduced. If you had more characters than are allowed by your new membership level, the extra characters become unavailable. However, they are not deleted. They are still available if you upgrade back to a higher membership level or purchase additional character slots.
* Broker: If you had items for sale on the Broker when you downgrade your Gold membership, those items will stay on the Broker, but you will no longer have access to the Broker. If the items sell, the coin will stay in the Broker account and can be accessed if you upgrade back to a Gold membership and can open the Broker interface again. 
* Items: Any Legendary or Fabled items are automatically removed from your character and placed in your inventory when you downgrade from a Gold membership. You can use them again if you renew your Gold membership.
* Spell/Skill Tiers: Any spells/skills upgraded to above Adept/Expert level are unchanged when you downgrade from Gold. However, you'll be unable to scribe any further upgrades beyond your Silver or Free limit until you upgrade to Gold again.
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Special Cases
==I have active, paid accounts in EverQuest II (EQII) and EverQuest II Extended (EQIIX), how will they be combined?==
The vast majority of our player base will not notice a thing as we convert to the new EverQuest II service. We wanted to outline a few of the “edge cases” that may occur with the conversion if you have accounts in both EQII and EQIIX. This listing is meant as a guide to some issues you may see but will not be able to cover all potential issues.
After the transition to Free-to-Play takes place, if you have any concerns about your account, membership, billing or time credited, please contact our Customer Service reps. We will happily navigate the numbers with you: http://www.soe.com/en/support/.
If you are currently paying for a 1 month EQIIX Gold membership AND you do not have a current EQII subscription:
* At the launch of the new EQII service, SOE will set you up with 1 month recurring Gold Membership for the new service and your next billing date will remain the same as it was for your previous EQIIX Gold Membership.
If you are currently paying for a 1 month EQIIX Gold membership AND you are also paying for a 1 month EQII subscription:
* At the launch of the new EQII service, SOE will add the remaining time from your 1 month EQIIX Membership over to your EQII Subscription time and convert that subscription to a recurring Gold Membership for the new EQII service. Your next billing date will occur at the end of the combined gameplay time and will be set as a 1 month recurring Gold Membership.
If you are currently paying for a 1 month EQIIX Gold membership AND you are also paying for a 3 month EQII subscription:
* At the launch of the new EQII service, SOE will add the remaining time from your 1 month EQIIX Membership time over to your EQII Subscription time and convert that subscription to a recurring Gold Membership for the new EQII service. Your next billing date will occur at the end of the combined gameplay time and will be set as a 3 month recurring Gold Membership.
If you currently have a multi-month subscription in EQII that you have canceled but still have remaining gameplay time AND you are currently paying for a 1 month EQIIX Gold membership:
* At the launch of the new EQII service, SOE will add the remaining time from your 1 month EQIIX Membership time over to the remaining time on your multi-month EQII Subscription time and convert that subscription to a recurring Gold Membership for the new EQII service. Your next billing date will occur at the end of the combined gameplay time and will be set as a 1 month Gold recurring Membership.
If you currently have a multi-month subscription in EQII that you have canceled but still have remaining gameplay time AND you have a cancelled 1 month EQIIX Gold membership but still have remaining gameplay time:
* At the launch of the new EQII service, SOE will add the remaining time from your EQIIX Membership time over to your EQII Subscription time and convert that subscription to a non-recurring Gold Membership for the new EQII service. At the end of this combined period of gameplay time, you would no longer have access to your Gold Membership plan.
If you currently have a Platinum Membership in EQIIX that you have not canceled:
* At the launch of the new EQII service, SOE will set you up with all of the Platinum Membership benefits. You will retain these benefits as long as you remain on that recurring Membership plan. If you cancel from that plan, you no longer have the option of reinstating a Platinum level Membership as that level is being eliminated. Your next billing date will occur at the end of the combined gameplay time and will be set as a 12 month recurring Membership with Platinum benefits.
If you currently have a Platinum Membership in EQIIX that you have canceled but still have game play time remaining:
* At the launch of the new EQII service, SOE will set you up with all of the Platinum Membership benefits. You will retain these benefits for the duration of your current Platinum Membership plan. Since you have canceled this Membership, once you reach the end of your 12 month membership you will no longer have access to your Platinum Membership benefits.
==My game account was suspended or banned at the time of the Free-to-Play transition – what happens now?==
If your game account is banned or suspended at the time the Free-to-Play transition is launched, please contact SOE Customer Service for information: http://www.soe.com/en/support/. Note: Forum bans and suspensions do not affect the status of a game account, merely your ability to post on the official forums.
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