to be honest, this move on the part of soe was the first (and so far only) thing they've done which really has me considering whether or not to cancel my eq subscription. to me, it's not that they decided to publish maps, it's the fact that they grabbed the name of a site that they must have been aware of, and used it as if it were their own creation. this demonstrates two things to me; first, that they are not very original, and second, that they are not particularly ethical.
in that i don't see muse leaving or calling for anyone to leave, i shall keep my subscription. but as for soe's book, i cannot figure for the life of me why i would by it. i suppose if you want to own everything everquest, you might be in the market for it, but value-wise, it's a non-starter.
muse's site will forever be the better deal for all the reasons mentioned below, and more. you can update a web page. how do you expect to update a book? maybe release another one? ...lacking all the detail and information we have come to expect and enjoy from muse's site? $20.00 (plus shipping and handling) will garner much more information for you from the several sites affiliated here. to me, it would be worth it at twice the price!
the soe book is a niknak. buy it if you are into that sort of thing. the value for your gaming dollar is right here, and with the many other wonderful player created sites. i hope that soe does not try to kill these sites off with the issuing of inferior products. as player created sites, these are the foundation and cornerstone of everquest.
sincerely,
katherine porterfield
Don't confuse the new Atlas Book with EQ Atlas
Just copying over what I posted on the update page so you can comment:
Muse sent me this note to post for you: "SOE recently began promoting their new book, the Everquest Atlas, and some of you have expressed to me some confusion regarding this. Despite the similarity between the name of this product and their use of "EQ Atlas" to advertise it on the Everquest Live site, the product is not related in any way to my site, EQ Atlas (www.eqatlas.com). While we both offer maps and descriptions, the specific content is quite different. I hope that this announcement will clear up any confusion."
I'll go a bit further.
/rant on. It seems pretty rotten of them to be using the good will he built up over the past three years to sell their book in a way that would clearly confuse players into thinking Muse is involved with it. Muse is a friend, so I may be prejudiced on this one, and yeah it is Sony's game, but I can easily think of a dozen names they could have picked that would have been just as good and wouldn't have suggested a connection with his site. The only logical conclusion to draw is that they are hoping people will go "Cool. EQ Atlas has a book" and buy it based upon that. Shameful, really. Moreover, having looked at the example pdf file SOE lists and compared it to the information on Muse's site, I'm not sure why anyone would buy that book when EQ Atlas offers far superior maps and information for free, and has been serving the community for years. Yeah they're pretty, but who wants a map without locs and camp information? /rant off.