Allakhazam vs EQIIplayersFollow

Alla will probably be able to relate quests a lot better and do upgrades on equipment then what sony can do. I rather just pay for Alla and get more information then sony would ever give out.

I and mine will be avoiding SonyPlayers, or StationPlayers, or whatever... nice of SOE to jump on the bandwagon 5 years later and steal from Alla, Magelo, and others. Community sites are what made EQ into the juggernaut it is, and it really ticks me off to see SOE try to cicumvent the very thing that brought them success. They managed to put Muse essentially out of business (kudos to Muse for all the awesome work he did, and to Alla for picking him up), sometimes I wonder if they award themselves gold stars for 'eliminating competitors'.

***** em. I'm happily continuing my premium memberships both here and with Magelo, our guild has it's own dynamic website created by a member... just focus on the game, Sony, and leave the community to the community.


edit for spelling, duh

Edited, Mon Nov 1 10:12:43 2004 by SongShadow

I think there will still be plenty of room for Allakhazam to contribute to the EQ2 knowledge space. EQ2 players offers a glitzy item database, but minimal linkage to mobs, quests or recipes related to the item. The character info could supplant a Magelo type service and the guild info and rankings will be an nice perk to those individuals investing alot of time and effort to their guilds.

So what doesn't it offer that Allakhazam could? There are THOUSANDS of quests and THOUSANDS of crafting recipes, in addition to all the dropped and merchant sold items. From a data perspective these two will be the hardest for competing sites to get their arms around. Allakhazam already has the data models and infrastructure to handle it well. Also, Allakhazam's distinguishing feature has always been the the comment system tied to each database item. It will be huge.

My bigest problem with Soney is the fact they wrote their site for IE. Mozilla and others have issues with it. So for that reason alone I avoid the sony sites.

Steal? How can you steal from something that started out as your property?

Anyway, Legends proved some people will pay for added content,features, etc, whether it's good or not. Time will tell what the differences will be.

The Mozilla factor is interesting. I happen to be one of the masses having switched.

Allas good AND cheap, so personally there would have to be some special features to warrant switching. I probably will try Players, but would choose between them after a couple of months.

I will probably use both as well but EQPlayers will be more for Character and guild information, also I am a Stats Junkie so I will love some of that stuff.

Allakhazam however will rule for getting the definitive information on certain things....but it is up to the players to make it good, I for one am sure they will

I do think that StationPlayers will up the ante for Allakhazam and make sure that Alla's ace team evaluates what Allakhazam EQ2 offers to make sure it continues to be the best. But Sony is not evil for offering extra features with EQ2. They would be guilty of not paying attention to what players are interested in if they didn't try to meet those needs and make a bit more money for offering a bit more value. That is just good business sense.

But they can't offer the same thing that Allakhazam offers. I have really enjoyed the way things work so far. Sony serves up a really interesting, complex game that is fun and great to play with other people. Like most role-playing fantasy games, you have to figure things out, and the dungeon master isn't going to tell you everything. You get the joy of figuring it out on your own. Allakhazam can offer all the information that would be inappropriate for Sony to give away. Sony creates a bit of mystery, and the player community at Allakhazam provides helpful info, tips, and hints to get you past places where you are stuck. It is a symbiotic relationship where Sony, Allakhazam, and the players all benefit; each has their specific role.

In the end, I think that most players will use the free StationPlayers content, pay for one or two features, and combine it with Allakhazam membership. Folks just have to realize where they get the most value and be willing to pay for all the hard work the folks at Allakhazam put in.