Daybreak Sues The Heroes Journey EQ EMU Server Devs

Cinge said:

Lol.

Not sure who thinks or thought DBG was a good company. I would be hard pressed to not name a bad gaming corporation. They are all out for max profits and obfuscate any hard numbers to prevent bad PR.

Most of this thread is the people who play THJ and are lashing out because it will probably be shut down, and the rest that are just poking them for reactions.

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I made the mistake of thinking the thread title was an indicator of the discussion. Turned out it's people wallowing in feels over reals writing shitty fanfics about what they wish would happen way outside the bounds of reality.

The copyright infringement is on lock. 100%, no way out of it. The ball is in DPG's court as to how hard they want to crush THJ. That is the only variable that has any possibility of changing the outcome. P99 got their license because there was a huge outcry from the players, and the show runners weren't corporate slaves yet.

DPG is going to have to ask ENAD's permission even if they wanted to hand out a license, and I don't think that conversation goes anywhere unless THJ can fork over a lot of money on a regular basis for one. Otherwise THJ does not increase shareholder revenue, and gets dumpstered.

Kirun said:

I mean, that's only 2500ish people on low pop servers, and while it doesn't include people who have left chats, it also doesn't tell you if they're a subscriber or not, since EQ is technically F2P now.

It seems to me that 20-30k accounts is probably pretty accurate. I think that number goes up if they're also including any account that has "paid" subscription time on it via Krono - which is probably how they're getting their 60k+ number.

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F2P accounts cannot join general channels.

dragonbr said:

F2P accounts cannot join general channels.

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Was that changed or is it just because I'm a silver (having previously paid) that I can join?

DickTrickle said:

Was that changed or is it just because I'm a silver (having previously paid) that I can join?

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As far as I know there was a grandfather period that allowed once paying accounts to be set to silver. I don't think actual silver is a thing anymore outside of that situation.

DickTrickle said:

Anyone remember that website that used to track the high/medium/low status of each server throughout the day? Then it would give a percentage of time each server spent as each status. I think it eventually went behind a paywall but maybe there's some older links or screenshots still around (or it still exists and someone has access). That was somewhat useful.

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https://eqresource.com/serverstatus.php

dragonbr said:

F2P accounts cannot join general channels.

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But don't they join the "NewPlayer" channel?

Mrniceguy said:

EQ Server Status - EQ Resource - The Resource for your EverQuest needs

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Thanks.

Yeah, that shows that almost all the regular low servers end up medium for about 1/3 of their time, on average. Former TLP low servers never get to medium, though. Bristlebane and FV are almost always high.

Sylas said:

Every indicator, daily logins, revenue, server status, first hand reports, and even your "leaked" stats show that they are are running on about 15-16k accounts (around 4k players) spread across 3-4 active servers. But you think that the other 50k accounts are just raid logging, that's why they don't show up in any numbers anywhere? On TLPs? 50k ppl only login to the game for bat phones at 3am on some random Tuesday, yet only 20-30 ppl actually get to participate in those kills? The rest are just there to spectate?

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Like the laundry list of other things you struggle to comprehend, I think you have a very hard time comprehending the diff between monthly active users, daily active peak, and unique daily logins.

When we say 66k mau, do you think that means at some point of the day someone who cracked the code of figuring out server pops should be able to attain a number like you are claiming above? Because that's definitely not the case and wild how you ended up there. I finished what DickTrickle started and went look at every server @ 2:00 on Monday. These are the general chat channel chat numbers.


There's the caveat that someone could be in multiple general channels if the main is full, although in this case that was only FangFang. I believe a fair % to attach to that number is 10% for people who left the chat. I think that % server by server is smaller for old servers and higher for any of the new ones that get spammed by PL messages non fucking stop. That gives you 8675 online accounts in the middle of the work day. If I was a betting man, I'd wager that those numbers go up during raid time? I won't guess at what rate that is and check again tonight during prime time.

Now, before you get lost again. Yes, 8675 is not 66k or the 30-40k claimed in those documents. 66 monthly active users is throughout the month, can be counted on one day, and then not be seen again.

So "50k ppl only login to the game for bat phones at 3am on some random Tuesday, yet only 20-30 ppl actually get to participate in those kills?" isn't a real thing. Population numbers aside this statement made me chuckle. Why are batphone kills limited to 20-30 people participating? Do you know what a batphone is for? This isn't what people are referring to when they say raid logging.

It's also not the 30-40k referenced either. In general, I think that number is probably closer to 20-25k daily unique during non launch time depending on where TLP's are expansion wise, active bonuses, what time of the year it is, ect. That number references every account logged into the game at some point in the day. So all the accounts that logged in before I pulled those numbers that are no longer online get added and all accounts that are a fresh login after that number pull get added. The issue here is that if you aren't scraping those chat channel member list at a decent rate and filtering for duplicates throughout the day you will not be able to eyeball this with any accuracy.

Kirun said:

But don't they join the "NewPlayer" channel?

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Yes, I was insinuating that you could tell how many accounts were actually subbed by the general channel but that assumption isn't correct after Dick brought up the grandfather'd accounts having access to those channels as well.

moonarchia said:

I made the mistake of thinking the thread title was an indicator of the discussion. Turned out it's people wallowing in feels over reals writing shitty fanfics about what they wish would happen way outside the bounds of reality.

The copyright infringement is on lock. 100%, no way out of it. The ball is in DPG's court as to how hard they want to crush THJ. That is the only variable that has any possibility of changing the outcome. P99 got their license because there was a huge outcry from the players, and the show runners weren't corporate slaves yet.

DPG is going to have to ask ENAD's permission even if they wanted to hand out a license, and I don't think that conversation goes anywhere unless THJ can fork over a lot of money on a regular basis for one. Otherwise THJ does not increase shareholder revenue, and gets dumpstered.

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You’re not really debating here; you’re running interference for Daybreak. By obsessively keeping this conversation locked in legal IP technicalities, you’re shielding them from the real issues: creative failure and community betrayal. It’s classic corporate defense mode. You stay in your safe little legal box so you never have to face what actually matters to players.

The rest of us are here to talk about vision, legacy, and what made EQ feel alive in the first place. We’re asking why two volunteers with no budget can capture the heart of Norrath better than an entire paid studio. Your endless “they own it, so it’s fine” mantra completely misses the point. Owning something doesn’t mean you understand it or deserve respect for it. You can own a garden and still let every flower die.

If you’re happy being the self-appointed IP cop who cheers for shareholder value over worldbuilding, that’s on you. But don’t act like you’re on the same level as people who actually care about what EQ was and what it could still be. You’re gatekeeping the conversation to protect mediocrity. We’re here to talk about soul, something you clearly sold off a long time ago.

Old Man Potter said:

The rest of us are here to talk about vision, legacy, and what made EQ feel alive in the first place.

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You do realize that there are many eq-related threads right? Some are hundreds of pages long.
This thread is literally titled "Daybreak Sues The Heroes Journey EQ EMU Server Devs". Discussing legal IP technicalities in this thread is probably the most on-topic thing that has ever happened on this entire forum.

Control said:

You do realize that there are many eq-related threads right? Some are hundreds of pages long.
This thread is literally titled "Daybreak Sues The Heroes Journey EQ EMU Server Devs". Discussing legal IP technicalities in this thread is probably the most on-topic thing that has ever happened on this entire forum.

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Sure, the thread title mentions the lawsuit. We all get that the legal angle exists and needs discussing. But talking about the lawsuit doesn’t mean we have to ignore the why behind it, the creative failures, the community betrayal, and the bigger picture of what EQ has become under Daybreak.

The legal mechanics are obvious and pretty boring on their own. What's actually interesting and worth fighting over is how a couple of volunteers managed to capture more heart and loyalty than the official devs with all their resources. That is the real story here, and pretending it is off-topic is just another way to avoid facing the uncomfortable truth about Daybreak’s leadership and priorities.

If all you want is dry legal commentary, there are corporate press releases for that. The rest of us are here to talk about the soul of the game, not just the paperwork stapled to it.

By the way, here’s the head of the studio literally inserting herself into the game’s "acid trip" promo art like some awkward self-insert fanfic character. Nothing screams “we lost the soul of EQ” louder than turning an expansion announcement into a personal vanity cameo meets cult of personality.

Old Man Potter said:

avoid facing the uncomfortable truth about Daybreak’s leadership and priorities.

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why would anyone avoid this? and why would it be uncomfortable? Nobody thinks daybreak is a good company or that it's run well or that it gives a shit about anything other than scraping eq pennies off the floor. I'm pretty sure there's never been a time when anyone here thought eq was managed well. All of eq's magic was a happy fucking accident that both daybreak and your two amazing thj volunteers are still leeching off of today. It's literally hard to imagine a more windmilly windmill to go tilting at.

Also, not one word of that is relevant to the lawsuit.

Old Man Potter said:

By the way, here’s the head of the studio literally inserting herself into the game’s "acid trip" promo art like some awkward self-insert fanfic character. Nothing screams “we lost the soul of EQ” louder than turning an expansion announcement into a personal vanity cameo meets cult of personality.

https://www.everquest.com/news/eq-producers-letter-july-2025

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This seems like kind of a reach. Many many publications Ive read have had the writer's pic like that at the end; she put said pic into an eq image. For all my potential criticisms of jchan, her being vain seems really really low.

Old Man Potter said:

You’re not really debating here; you’re running interference for Daybreak. By obsessively keeping this conversation locked in legal IP technicalities, you’re shielding them from the real issues: creative failure and community betrayal. It’s classic corporate defense mode. You stay in your safe little legal box so you never have to face what actually matters to players.

The rest of us are here to talk about vision, legacy, and what made EQ feel alive in the first place. We’re asking why two volunteers with no budget can capture the heart of Norrath better than an entire paid studio. Your endless “they own it, so it’s fine” mantra completely misses the point. Owning something doesn’t mean you understand it or deserve respect for it. You can own a garden and still let every flower die.

If you’re happy being the self-appointed IP cop who cheers for shareholder value over worldbuilding, that’s on you. But don’t act like you’re on the same level as people who actually care about what EQ was and what it could still be. You’re gatekeeping the conversation to protect mediocrity. We’re here to talk about soul, something you clearly sold off a long time ago.

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Soul means fuck all in a lawsuit, which is what kicked this all off. Whether you like DPG or not also means fuck all. Your weird obsession about intangibles that will have no part in either the lawsuit or the future of EQ while DPG owns it also means... you guessed It, fuck all.

I am not here to protect anything, but your flights of fancy aren't doing anything useful to promote a positive outcome. DPG is a business owned entirely by ENAD who want $$$ out of it. Unless you have a way to put a lot of $$$ into ENAD's bank account, they are not going to listen to a word you say. Either enjoy their shitty memberberry TLP slop, or find the $$$ to buy DPG yourself, or waste more time pissing into the wind.

At the end of the day they own EQ. It's not about being fine or not, it's about legal reality. Copyright has been around longer than the US, and is in fact covered in the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8). Disney bought enough congress critters to extend it long past any fair point, but that isn't going to change without bigger $$$ or the Day of the Warm Hugs (Hi, BoozeCube ).

EQ is still an active game being sold by DPG. That means you are living dangerously running an emulated server. Most stay under the radar by just being passion projects that don't take money. They don't get big enough to be an issue, and don't have any resources to take. THJ failed to abide by both of those, and launched to great fanfare while actively encouraging people to pay. EOMs being needed for all the useful QOL and character changing things while being 'unofficially' sold for 'donations'. They brought this on themselves, and I am going to miss the server if it gets shut down.

Tarew Marr always had so many people playing at the same time. While leveling up, I'd always see people in EVERY zone that was decent for hunting. Maybe a few exceptions, like Lake Rathe, but the majority of zones were always packed. Especially the Karana's. They'd always have like 50 in them while I was passing through and doing /who as I auto ran.

yerm said:

This seems like kind of a reach. Many many publications Ive read have had the writer's pic like that at the end; she put said pic into an eq image. For all my potential criticisms of jchan, her being vain seems really really low.

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She inserts her picture into every Producer's Letter as if she were a demigod or a philosopher king. She's not Brad McQuaid, she's not Notch, she's not Chris Metzen. She has no notable accomplishments. EverQuest is not about her; it's about Norrath. She's got zero presence on the forums. She's a DEI hire from way back. Smedley hired her.

Daybreak is laughing at you. This is an obvious humiliation ritual.

Old Man Potter said:

Sure, the thread title mentions the lawsuit. We all get that the legal angle exists and needs discussing. But talking about the lawsuit doesn’t mean we have to ignore the why behind it, the creative failures, the community betrayal, and the bigger picture of what EQ has become under Daybreak.

The legal mechanics are obvious and pretty boring on their own. What's actually interesting and worth fighting over is how a couple of volunteers managed to capture more heart and loyalty than the official devs with all their resources. That is the real story here, and pretending it is off-topic is just another way to avoid facing the uncomfortable truth about Daybreak’s leadership and priorities.

If all you want is dry legal commentary, there are corporate press releases for that. The rest of us are here to talk about the soul of the game, not just the paperwork stapled to it.

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You seem to be the only one talking about the soul of EQ, everyone else is in some way talking about the lawsuit. Fucking EQ lifers stuck 25 years ago.