More Friday afternoon announcements from Daybreak, spotted by Feldon over at EQ2 Wire.
The first to go will be PlanetSide, which will be shut down as of July 1, 2016.
PlanetSide back in the day…
Unsupported and basically free for ages now, its continued existence was largely due to the grace of Smed, who championed the game and its successor, the troubled PlanetSide 2, and a sense of nostalgia.
Smed is gone and nostalgia without financial support only gets you so far, and so the following was posted to the PlanetSide 2 site… because PlanetSide doesn’t have its own anymore.
April and May were really exciting months for us with the release of the new Construction System, base revamp of Indar, and new population caps to improve battle flow. It’s been exciting to watch all of you experiment with base design and shift battles in new directions. A big thanks to all of you who have jumped in to try it out and given us feedback.
While we hope you are as excited as we are about the recent changes, we do have to make a more solemn announcement. On July 1st, at 4:00 PM PT, we will be closing the PlanetSide 1 server. PlanetSide 1 has a very important history with Daybreak Games and a special place in the hearts of those who work on its successor. While we have run the game for free since 2014, due to evolving business needs and technical requirements it has become necessary to conclude this service.
We hope you will take this opportunity to enjoy the remaining time available with each other and please help us give PlanetSide 1 the sendoff it deserves.
And so it goes. I was never a fan myself, but the game had a dedicated, if small, following.
The next item is Legends of Norrath, which was removed from the EverQuest and EverQuest II clients recently, followed by loot packs from the card game becoming available in the cash shop. That seemed to be a sign of things to come. Today there was a post in the forums and on the Legends of Norrath site, accompanied by email notification to subscribers, indicating that the collectable card game would no longer be available after noon on August 17, 2016. The email notification says:
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING LEGENDS OF NORRATH
On August 17, 2016 at noon pacific, the Legends of Norrath Trading Card game server will close.
The monthly All Access Membership claim of Legends of Norrath booster packs and the ability to purchase Legends of Norrath booster packs will no longer be available after July 18, 2016 at 10AM pacific. Legends of Norrath packs will need to be opened in the LON client and all loot rewards will need to be claimed prior to August 17, 2016 at noon pacific to ensure your loot rewards are available in EverQuest or EverQuest II.For more information regarding this announcement, please see the Legends of Norrath website.
Daybreak Game Company LLC
Again, the writing seemed to be on the wall recently. The forum post indicates that the game has not had an active development for some time.
At one point, just before the announcement of the Daybreak acquisition, Smed seemed to have taken inspiration from Blizzard’s Hearthstone and indicated that SOE might do something with the game. That clearly never came to pass.
I was never a fan of this game either, and only tinkered with it because as an All Access member I was given free card packs. The last time I checked I had ~70 unopened packs waiting for my attention. Now they aren’t even in the EQ or EQII client and I am not sure it is worth the effort to grab the stand alone LON client just to see what they may hold. And hell, if there was anything I really wanted I will be able to buy it in the cash shop eventually I suppose… if I am willing to buy a pig in a poke.
Random… I hate random…
I will mostly remember LON for using members of the community as models for some of the cards. I was pretty happy when I finally got the card that had Brent from VirginWorlds on it.
Brent from VirginWorlds
Daybreak continues to trim down. I do wonder at times if they are planning anything new, or just riding out an extended end game on the few assets of value they have left.
The Ancient Gaming Noob 
I have never even looked at Planetside so I think I will survive that closure without too much trauma. LoN I am somewhat more miffed about. Opening those five packs has been a monthly ritual for years and one I enjoy. It’s a small perk but not insignificant and I will miss it.
I have about 20 packs left to open but Mrs Bhagpuss, who hasn’t played for over three years but who insists on keeping an All Access account anyway, has over a hundred. I log her account in at least monthly just to get the 500 SC and the 5 paks. If she isn’t interested in coming back long enough to open them then I certainly will – that’s going to be a fun session!
At least they are giving a decent notice period. I did have a concern when they disconnected the LoN client from the main game that I’d just log in one day after a patch and find all the packs gone and the game closed for good. So there’s that.
It is very interesting, though, the whole direction of travel. Obviously there is cost cutting going on and everything that’s seen as dead wood is being trimmed. Also I see no sign whatsoever of any new properties being developed. If Columbus Nova want to realize a healthy profit on their purchase, though, presumably they are either going to have to run the profitable properties on for quite some time or else sell them off for more than they paid. At the moment the latter option seems unlikely and the idea of CN acting as a service provider for EQ fans for the next decade or two does seem fanciful.
Oh well. Time will tell, I guess. I logged into EQ yesterday and there were still 60+ people in Plane of knowledge and as many again idling in the Guild lobby so I don’t think we’re in sunset mode yet a while. Fingers crossed.
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I would love a real honest interview with whoever at Columbus Nova pulled the trigger on buying SOE. Was there ever enthusiasm and an intention to finish EQN? Or did they pay bottom dollar, and everything has been going according to plan?
I think there is only one possible answer to your last question, and other than some sort of app phone game, it’s not a happy one.
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This is sad news. I never messed with Planetside, but I did enjoy LoN briefly when it first launched. I’m glad I never put any money into buying the cards, though, or I’d be pretty upset about this. I bet this was a costly game back in the day.
I enjoyed the free packs they used to give out before they locked it behind All Access, and did earn some neat cosmetics, mounts and even a really nice lifetime mansion in Halas on my main character. Watching Daybreak gradually dissolve is not surprising, but still hard. :/
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