support.uo.com/advancedcharacter.html (http://support.uo.com/advancedcharacter.html)

Let's just hope VI doesn't catch on to this.

They will.

DAoC is also doing something similar...but for free.

If you've levelled one character up to 50 in DAoC you get to skip the first 20 levels on subsequent characters.

Yike... just yikes.....

Sounds to me like UO has jumped the shark.


I can just see it now...

Want to experience the exciting, high-level content in Planes of Power, but don't have a level 60 character?

For only $50 a month, Everquest is offering you the chance to rent a fully-loaded 60 level character of your choice!

If you are afraid of dying, DON'T be! Your rented character is specially coded to never drop below level 60... NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU DIE!

Act now and you can take advantage of our 50k-in-your-bank plan for only an extra $25.

UO must be desperate to even think of this...

The phrase 'Jumping the shark' seems appropriate...

www.jumptheshark.com/ (http://www.jumptheshark.com/)

"The phrase 'Jumping the shark' seems appropriate..."

For which game, UO or EQ?

Sorry I meant UO.

There are times however when I feel EQ is swimming in those same waters....

Heh. Reminds me a lot of the state lottery here. The state worked so hard to try to outlaw private lotteries, when they finally realized that it would be better to just run the lottery themselves and pocket the huge profit.

Why should SOE work so hard to outlaw eBay, when they can just manufacture characters and sell them off for extra revenue? I realize it's a little bit of bootstrapping, and they would have to be careful not to devalue existing characters too much. But, say, $500 for a premade level 55 character, on the server of your choice with no bad reputation? I'm sure the fools who buy on eBay would jump on that deal, and SOE would be rolling in the cash.

[Edit] By the way this also reminds me of the incident during UO's prime years (before Everquest was even in beta), when a certain GM was caught manufacturing items and selling them on online auctions in order to make some extra cash. Who's to say this isn't happening at this very moment in Everquest? If you had the power to create items, you could easily make a ton of extra income on the side.

A $500 level 55 character seems quite feasible from VI nowadays, unfortunately.

After all, this would come from the company who take advantage of those with a bad reputation and offer to rename them for... $50 was it? The exploiter is happy, as he has a fresh name to "use". VI are happy as it's another $50 in their pocket. The immediate customer and the company are both happy, which sadly is as far as VI sees at the moment (despite the fact that there are other customers out there who are also effected, only less pleasantly.)

Unfortunately that's what makes economic sense...

A high level start would be popular. Just like running Doom in God mode was popular, starting EQ at a high level would be too. Doesn't matter about the drawbacks, most people only see the easy path.

Even though popular != good when you experience it for more than 5 minutes (erm, see pop music) it's still what rakes in the money.

It'd make the most economic sense, for VI to eventually allow characters to be started from a high level at a price that is the most profitable when taking into account demand and desirability. Simple economics from someone who never studied it.

I don't think EQ is close enough to the end of their life cycle to even start thinking about this, especially with an expansion coming out.

Origin must have noticed a serious downturn in the number of new units sold, and figured this is a way to entice some people in and make money on monthly subs. In a market that's got EQ, DAoC, AC1, AC2 and Shadowbane (stop laughing) in beta, and SWG on the way, I get the feeling they see the writing on the wall. Their longterm viability isn't that strong, they might as well milk what they can out of the product.

I'd be pissed if I had been playing UO all along, though.

Gallatin says: I'd be pissed if I had been playing UO all along, though.

Not really. Look at the skill levels they take you to, it's like a day of macroing if memory serves. It would be like buying an EQ character at level 30 -- it's so easy to get there the legitimate way, no one would care.

This is just ridiculous - once again - "Have Cash, Will Trivialize"

For some reason though they do Tudamorf. I have no idea why, but people are up in arms. I can only assume its the perceived precedent being set.