Slackers, Wannabes And Chancers Need Not Apply

Due to circumstances beyond my control (Multiple mildly annoying real life events, mostly of the things breaking down or needing to be replaced variety, having to be dealt with at once.) posts here may be a tad more sporadic than usual for a while, and/or shorter, and/or obviously cobbled together in a few minutes with little or no regard to whether they make sense/are of interest to anyone/appear to be in any way original or worth the virtual paper they're written on. 

Whether anyone would have noticed if I hadn't just pointed it out is another question altogether...

Anyway, in that spirit, here's something I bookmarked to write a thoughtful and considered post about and then did this instead.

Up there at the top, that's the splash for the new EverQuest II Content Creator Program as announced by Senior Community Manager Angeliana on the forums on Friday. What the significance of the image might be I have no idea. It looks like Ice vs Fire but how that has anything to do with creating content beats me. I guess it might be a metaphor but if so I can't imagine how it would be a complimentary one. When fire and ice meet, all you get is a lot of steam.

The forum post itself contains a daunting amount of detail about the new program. A lot of it seemed slightly odd to me and some of it I felt almost verged on the passive-aggressive, as if whoever wrote it was anticipating people trying to blag their way onto the program without having the necessary bona fides. Then again, gamers, so...

The elevator pitch is that the program offers "an official initiative by Daybreak Games to support and empower creators who bring the world of EQII to life." but when you read the whole thing it seems more like an attempt to spin up some social media presence, something the game is currently lacking, by handing out bribes. 

Not a bad idea at all. What surprised me were the requirements for inclusion in the program, which seem very stringent, especially for a twenty year-old MMORPG with a relatively small player-base, and most especially in view of the way that player-base skews towards the upper end of the age scale, at least for online gaming. 

Nevertheless, Angeliana is uncompromising in her determination to professionalize the enterprise. The whole things begins with this statement of intent:

"This is the first official round of the Creator Program. Spots are limited, and while many applicants may meet the base requirements, acceptance is not guaranteed. We’re prioritizing active, engaged creators who align with the goals of the program and can help us shape the future of the EQII community."

My first thought was to wonder if there would be enough interest to fill the available spots at all. The idea that there will be such a rush to join that spots need to be limited seems a little fanciful. How many EQII players even use social media, much less create it, I wonder? Is there really going to be that much competition for places?

Further down the announcement there are some quite specific entry requirements:

"Who can apply?

• Creators aged 18+
• Content makers generating at least 15 pieces of content in the last 90 days across at least three categories (Streaming, Writing, Long-form Video, Short-form Video, Podcasting, Social Reach)
• Must be in good standing in the EverQuest II community"

Over 18s only is standard, of course, and being in "good standing" (I.e. not currently banned or suspended from the game.) makes perfect sense.  I don't have an issue with any of that. 

It's the "15 pieces of content in the last 90 days across at least three categories" part that I find hard to rationalize. I mean, even as an either/or, it seems like a big barrier to entry but both?

And while it's very nice to see blogs included among social media. (It says "writing" in the above quote but elsewhere blogs are specifically mentioned.), who is out there writing blog posts, making videos and podcasting about EQII more than once a week? Anyone? Enough people to make restricted access to a program specifically designed for them necessary?

In case what's expected isn't clear enough from the bullet points, the announcement goes on to delineate the expected participation levels in excruciating detail:

Eligible Content Types (must meet at least 3):

• Streaming:
  • Streamed at least 3 times in the last 90 days
  • VODs must be viewable
  • Must average 10+ concurrent viewers
• Social Short-Form Video Content:
  • Posted at least 3 videos in the last 90 days
  • Platforms include TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, etc.
• Writing:
  • Written at least 3 articles in the last 90 days
• Long-Form Video Content:
  • Produced at least 3 videos, each 15 minutes or longer, in the last 90 days
• Podcasting:
  • Produced at least 3 podcast episodes in the last 90 days
• Social Media Reach:
  • Have at least 200 combined followers across all platforms
  • Posted at least 9 Social posts in the last 90 days
• X, Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Other

So, you need to be active across a number of platforms and operate using a number of media and be consistent about it before you're deemed worthy of consideration for one of the limited places on the program. For which, if accepted, you will be entitled to:

Full access to all adventure packs and expansions through the most recent release

All-access account status

Marketplace cash each month for in-game use

Content Codes to give away to your audience

Access to promo content and preview codes for upcoming expansions

Opportunities to be featured in official EQII social media or articles

Which, actually, isn't bad. You get free expansions beyond the ones that are already free anyway. You get your subscription paid, which is worth a decent chunk of cash. You get some toy money to spend in the game (Although I wonder if that's just the 500DBC you get for being an All Access member anyway?)

You get giveaways for your audience (Twitch Codes and the like, presumably.) You get a first look at the new stuff (Which as far as expansions go, you would generally get for pre-ordering anyway, so once again, probably nothing you couldn't already get as a regular player, just for free.) so you can write/talk/video about it, presumably, unless it's under NDA, of course. And you get to be talked about by people who actually get paid to do what you're doing for free. Big whoop.

Personally, I'd rather pay for my own expansions and All Access membership and get to see everything at the same time as everyone else. I never use the beta access for Game Updates or expansions because it spoils the fun when the real thing arrives and as for getting the expansions and membership for free, I always feel that if someone's giving me stuff like that, even if they make it plain there are no strings, there are ALWAYS strings.

At the very least it makes me feel uncomfortable if I want to say something negative. It's bad-mannered, like accepting an invite to a dinner party, eating the food and then criticizing the host's taste in wallpaper and soft furnishings. I mean, you can, if you want, but everyone's going to think you're a dick, even if they secretly agree with you and so they should.

At this point, if I really wanted to bulk this post out, I'd have no trouble doing it. The announcement goes on and on and on... I could cut and past half a dozen more sections like the above, most of which repeat the previous ones and maybe find something to say about them but that would be as much of an overkill as the thing itself. 

Why there needs to be such a wealth of detail in the opening announcement beats me. Maybe the legal team wrote it. It certainly reads like it.

Anyway, I won't be applying but I can think of two or three bloggers who'd I'd happily endorse if they were interested. I imagine they'd have more sense than to apply, though.

I'll be interested to see if the whole thing goes anywhere. I suspect it won't but I'll be happy enough if it does. More coverage of EQII out in the world would be nice, especially if I can scrape it for posts of my own!