Free-To-Play

EverQuest II first began the transition to a free-to-play model with the launch of the Freeport server in 2010, an EverQuest II Extended (EQ2X) server. In December 2011, with the release of Age of Discovery, all servers became free-to-play. At the time, they had a multi-tiered approach which was fairly restrictive. In 2013, it was announced they were removing many of the free-to-play restrictions, making more races and classes available, all bag slots were unlocked and quest journal limits were removed.

Over the years, as new expansions have been released, free-to-play players have had access to additional content from previous expansions. Currently, free-to-play players have access to all of the game content up to the Planes of Prophecy expansion and the maximum level a player can reach without purchasing any expansions is level 110. When a new expansion is released, access to all previous content is included with the purchase of the new expansion and this is independent of whether or not the player is free-to-play or has an All Access membership.

Overview[]

The limitations on new players with a Free membership will not affect their ability to learn how to play the game. Most of the restrictions will only impact players who progress further into the game and limit some quality-of-life features like Fast Travel.
There is no time limit on free-to-play access as there may be with similar online games.
Players start with two character slots. If they purchase a membership, that is increased to seven slots. Additional character slots can be purchased individually via the Marketplace. If you downgrade from All Access, all characters that are on the account will be saved and still be visible to you. If you are over the cap of characters for your account, only the most recently logged-on characters will be available for play. Your other characters are still available if you upgrade back to All Access status or purchase additional character slots.
Players are limited to Master quality spells. Higher tier spells are a perk of membership. Players will still have access to Master tier versions of these spells while their membership is not active and do not lose spells. They will gain full access to their Grandmaster and Ancient tier spells again when they renew their membership.
Players can chat with other players by using /say /tell /group and /guild. Using the general broadcast channels, such as /auction, /level or /shout requires a membership. This was primarily intended as a way to reduce potential spam in the general chat channels.
Players can receive in-game email without a membership, but can't send in-game mail without an All Access membership.
Full broker access is only available to All Access members. If you had items for sale on the Broker when you downgrade from All Access, those items will stay on the Broker, but you will not have access to the Broker. If the items sell, the coin will stay in the Broker account until you upgrade back to All Access and can open the Broker interface again. Broker Tokens can be purchased by players with Free-to-Play accounts in order to sell items on the broker. See the in-game Marketplace for details on pricing and use.
Reforging has been made free to all players, and reforging requisitions can be purchased from the Marketplace to reforge items in lieu of paying platinum.
Free-to-Play players cannot change the Alternate Advancement XP conversion slider. This slider enables players to adjust how much adventure experience is converted to additional AA experience in order to gain AA points more quickly. For Free-to-Play members, this slider is locked at 50%, with half of all adventure experience being converted to AA experience and it cannot be adjusted. All Access members can change the conversion slider at will.
An All Access membership is required in order to play on any of the specialty servers, such as the Time-Locked Expansion (progression) servers and Free Trade servers. Free-to-Play members can only create characters on the standard ruleset servers.
Access to certain dungeons, such the Fabled version of the Temple of Cazic-Thule, require an All Access membership. Fabled dungeons are high-level versions of classic dungeons, recreated with new monsters and gear. Fabled dungeons over level 100 will also require the player to purchase the current expansion.
Free-to-Play players can purchase the current expansion without an All Access membership and can progress through that content, although an active membership does grant a 10% discount. Note that purchasing an expansion will not grant a 30-day All Access membership or extend an active membership.
You may only create a guild if you have an All Access plan. Anyone who plays EverQuest II can join a guild.
The online self help knowledge base will be accessible to all players regardless of their EverQuest II membership status. Customer service is only provided to players who have made a monetary transaction in EverQuest II or have an All Access membership.

Content Limitations[]

Accounts may have limits based on the features added with the most recent expansions. All memberships are limited to level 110 unless they have purchased a specific expansion released after Altar of Malice.

All content up to and including Planes of Prophecy is available to Free-to-Play players with a maximum level of 110.
There are no plans to include expansions in the Free-to-Play lineup beyond Planes of Prophecy.
Players who wish to progress past level 110 must purchase the current expansion, which includes access to all previous expansion content. You are not required to purchase an All Access membership.
A full list of available expansions can be found on the Expansions and Adventure Packs page.
The maximum tier of spells and combat arts is limited Master unless you have an All Access membership.
You cannot equip items with the Prestige tag unless you have an All Access membership.
Access to Fabled dungeons requires All Access membership and, depending on the dungeon, may require you to have purchased the expansion the original dungeon was included with.
Access to certain quests, such as The "Travels" of Yun Zi require All Access membership.
You must have an All Access membership to obtain the daily Overseer mission for a Colbalt Heritage Crate.
If you discontinue your All Access membership and revert back to Free-to-Play, the following occurs:
- You retain access to expansion content you've purchased.
- You retain your current level, even if its beyond level 110.
- You retain the equipment you've earned, except for Prestige items.
- You retain your upgrades to spells and combat arts.
- You cannot equip any new Prestige items you obtain as drops or from quests.
- You cannot research spells or combat arts beyond Master.
- You cannot use the Overseer system unless you've purchased Blood of Luclin.
- You cannot access dungeons and quests reserved for All Access members.

Membership Plans[]

There are two general membership tiers, Free and All Access. In the past, there were three tiers, Bronze (Free), Silver and Gold. Silver membership was obtained by purchasing at least 500 Daybreak Cash and it unlocked additional features, but did not require purchasing a recurring membership. Players who had a Silver tier membership prior to 2014 will retain those benefits, as well as those available as Free members.

If you had a Silver plan in the past and have returned to the game, you will continue to have the following benefits:

Two additional character slots, for a total of four.
All chat channels are enabled.
You can create a guild.
The Broker can be used for unlimited buying only. Selling on the broker requires broker tokens that must be purchased from the Marketplace.

Getting Started[]

If you are a new or returning player, you may wish to browse through our Beginner Guides. The guides may be of interest to returning players for the following reason: A great deal has changed since the game launched and continues to change. For example, guild cloaks were added in one game update; gear and mount appearance customization in another; players can now own multiple homes and those are only a few examples!

Downloading the Game[]

You can begin to play EverQuest II by downloading the game for free. To get started, visit the official EverQuest II website. Click the large Play Free button in the upper right corner to create an account and begin installing the game. If you already have a Daybreak account, they also have a link where you can download the current version of the game launcher.

Keep in mind that if you are new to EverQuest II, but have played EverQuest or another Daybreak game in the past, you should already have a Daybreak account and that same account can be used. It is not necessary to create a second, separate account just to play EverQuest II.

Notes[]

Free-to-Play is often abbreviated as F2P in the gaming community, although occasionally you will see FtP.

Because the information on this page is subject to change at the discretion of Daybreak, please see the discussion on this topic before making any major edits or removing information.