In video game years, Everquest II's like the great grandpa to newer MMOs like The Old Republic or Rift. Launched in 2004, it's got a faithful community that's still questing around on its servers but the game's days of accruing new players month after month seems to have ended a while back.
But, in a trend that's becoming familiar to anyone who's followed MMO over the last year or so, Sony Online Entertainment's venerable fantasy warhorse saw a bunch of new users jump when the publisher did away with its two-tiered subscription model last November. A Gamasutra articles points out a 300% increase in new users, with purchases of in-game items jumping 200%. Paired up with the new Dungeon Maker features, the move to a totally free-to-play might make one of the older MMOs around an entirely new experience. Or at least one worth trying out for free.
EverQuest II's free-to-play switch spurs 300% jump in new players [Gamasutra]