EverQuest II going free-to-play in December

SOE has announced EverQuest II, which launched in 2004, will be going free-to-play starting early next month.

The F2P relaunch, according to executive producer Dave Georgeson, will require no up-front fee as the game client will be free as well. There will still be sub-models, however, with Bronze being the free version, Silver for those who pay a $5 upgrade fee, and Gold will run players $15 per month with access to all races. Expansions and adventure packs will still require separate purchases, and players will be able to transfer across all the servers.

The MMO's Marketplace will also be consolidated, and it will offer the same items across all optional plans.

All prepaid subs will be refunded the difference based on the new pricing, and full compensation for race packs Gold subs previously purchased.

Upon relaunch, the game will come with new features such as a Dungeon Marker system.

More on the transition can be found through Massively and Gamespot.