Nearly 20 years after its release, EverQuest 2 introduced a new system last month, and according to MMOBomb (opens in new tab), Daybreak developers introduced the "Personal Treasure Unlocker" to allow players to loot the game's bosses They made the lockout timer reset so that anyone with money could target the rare drop as many times as they wanted. Fans were not pleased. In fact, they were so displeased that Daybreak discontinued the system the same month it was announced.

It worked like this: players who purchased the new Libant Evernight Heritage Crate had a chance to get a Personal Treasure Unlocker, and the default 18-hour loot drop from the boss The cooldown could be avoided (players could still fight the boss and play related content during that period, but usually could not get the loot before the cooldown).

In other words, players with the funds to purchase large amounts of Heritage Crate could have a stash of Treasure Unlockers and effectively roll as many dice as they wanted on loot drops from bosses.

Players quickly rebelled. In the forum thread announcing the change, the reaction was almost uniformly negative. A player named Jrox said (open in new tab), "This will only encourage more separation." Another, Menoric, said, "This is basically a pay-to-raid system. This will be very unpopular. On the other hand, some players threatened to cancel memberships (open in new tab) altogether that were not needed to play the game.

In short, it was a disaster, so much so that the developers finally announced that the system would be discontinued (open in new tab) two weeks after it was first announced.

"We have heard from you and understand that there were certain elements of the Libant Heritage Crate that were contrary to our shared values. This crate and most of its current contents will no longer be for sale."

Frankly, I have some sympathy for the developer on this matter. However, I have to imagine that it would be difficult to find a way to keep a niche, old game like EverQuest 2 going in 2023. EverQuest 2 is a game that doesn't have a very large player base in MMO terms, and threading the needle between being business sustainable and keeping players happy must be a painstaking effort.

Due to the intensity of the feedback, Daybreak announced a "new class balance forum for EverQuest 2" that will appear in the "very near future." Kander said, "This forum will have a section for each class where you can suggest changes, communicate with us, and vote on any fixes or balance changes you think are needed."

All's well that ends well. The community has been skeptical of Daybreak's intentions following the announcement of the Libant Evernight Heritage Crate, and even more troubling for developers, they all agree that something still needs to be changed, but not in the way Daybreak tried to change it They are. Developers have a long way to go before they find a way to maintain player investment and activity in one of the older MMOs that still exists.