Trial and level cap questionsFollow

Ok, I'm thinking about trying this game out soon, and I'll be downloading the Trial of the Isle to see how my PC handles it. But I do have a few questions.

First one is about the free download Trial of the Isle. I know you get a few days free play off it. When the Trial is done, do I get to keep my character if I purchase the full copy of EQ2? I also know when you buy a copy of the game, you get a free month before you get billed. Do you still get a free month if you keep your Trial character?

Also, there is the question of how long it takes to reach level cap. I've played World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XI, so while I want to have fun playing a game, will I reach level cap in a week if I play alot? I want a game that is fun to play, but I don't want a game that is a miserable grind fest like FFXI. I don't mind hitting level cap after playing for awhile, I just want to know if its will take years of playtime like it did with FFXI. Also, while I will have a few hours to play every day, I won't be doing daily 6+ hour sessions looking for party and then leveling.

Also, anyone recommend some good servers? And is anyone having fun on the RP servers?

I can't address how leveling here compares to WoW or FFXI because I don't play those. But I can tell you that in EQ2, some days it seems unbelievably easy to level and others it seems like it will take you a lifetime to gain another bubble!

Here's what I mean. When you shift from one tier to another and you move to the new zone, everything there is much higher in level than you.

As an example, I started playing in Enchanted Lands, (tier 4), for the first time last night and never saw a single blue or green target... and damn few white ones! I was in a duo, taking on orange and red targets and the XP was MAD! Gained a third of a level in a couple hours.

On the other hand, the day before that I was killing green skellies and giants in T-Steppes and the XP gain was like root canal without a local! Kill after kill with the bar barely inching forward.

So the risk vs. reward factor is something to consider. As you near the transition point, XP slows down and the last level or two can take longer. On the other hand, if you tend to "stick your nose where you don't belong", you should see a smoother rate of growth... and also a higher rate of death!

Please note: Early on this won't be an issue since at low levels (< 20) everything goes by pretty fast. The levels are short and it's all good! But as you progress, the distance between levels gets longer.

It's around the time you hit 18 that you begin to notice it just isn't as easy any longer... and that's when you start thinkin 'bout Thundering Steppes!

To put it into a length-of-time perspective, you could reach level 20 in a week, level 50 in 2 months.

This would mean you're doing nothing but grinding and killing. In doing that you will miss out on almost all the content and quests that EQ2 has to offer.

So many people joined the game at launch last November and sprinted to 50. They then complained about no high level cntent at that level and subsequently left the game 3-4 months after launch.

Not only did they miss out on all the content, but they missed all the extra content that was added and continues to be added.

If you like milestones, complete Heritage Quests. They are long and somewhat complicated, adding to the challenge.

So take your time and enjoy what the game has to offer. It will be a much richer experience. :)

Thank you very much everyone for answering my questions!

I'm not exactly a super speed demon leveler. On my WoW account my main toon will hit level cap within probably a week's worth of playing time from now. I've had that game since January, and I think it is time I started something new. For those of you that haven't played WoW, it is theoretically possible to reach level cap (level 60) within a week if you spend like 8 hours a day just grinding on mobs. I had friends who did this in that game, and it completely ruined it for them, since the higher level raid content hadn't been implimented at the time. Plus I was getting tons of neat quest items while they were getting alot of mob body parts.

I'm not looking to rush through everything, but some games I think take too long to accomplish anything, hence the reason I quit FFXI. The entire FFXI game is based on partying, soloing in that game is almost impossible to do, and there are other timesinks in the game that I feel place too much of a barrier to ingame advancement. PLus alot of the requirements people set for party members are too high. I was there to have fun, not spend an entire month of farming just to be able to afford an acceptable set of gear to potential party members. Not being able to really move out of the starting areas after two months of game time was enough to do it for me!

It sounds to me like EQ2 is something between these two games, which works just fine for me!

And as for entering new level areas/zones in WoW, it sounds like the mob set up is similar to EQ2. Usually when you enter a new area in WoW there are a few mobs that you can take out easily solo, a few that will be more difficult, those that will chew you up without at least one party member to back you up, and a few rare spawning elite monsters that will hand an entire party of new players thier own butts back to them! Plus alot of the mobs themselves will either hang out in a group, or wander the area with a buddy or two, so if you are not careful which mobs you tackle, they might scream for help and bring their friends. Or try to run away from you and get a friend to help back them up. It makes taking down mobs pretty fun. And the higher the mob risk, the greater your experience and rewards are.

And KuraiDeuce, I will probably start off on a normal type game server until I get the hang of things. An RP server sounds like fun, but I really don't want to be constantly pestering people out of character for basic game help. I'll be happy to make a character on Antonia Bayle after that though!

There are oter mobs that are also this persistent... Had a group of highwaymen in Antonica chase me from deep in the zone (halfway in) all the way back to the North Gate! I had already removed the shout button from my hot bar to save room so I couldn't even pull the plug!

There may also be some mobs like this in Nek Forest. I was in an HQ group there recently and as the tank and the MH went down, the MH yelled," Run! All the way to the docks and zone if you have to..."

No joke! I hate highwaymen...several of them see through sneak, which is a big deal when you have a rogue that sneaks everywhere. :) I still glare at them every time I see one, and by now, they're gray.
You can type /yell instead of hitting the shout button if you want. I took my shout button off the bar long ago as well. I don't have enough room as it is. :)

CD version comes with many more discs, so it'll take more disc swapping to install it. (I think CD version has 10 and DVD has 1 or 2.) That's the only difference I know of.

The information everyone has been providing has been quite helpful. I am quite relieved to know I can group or solo at will, and less monster camping on high pop servers is even better.

Monster campers were the worst in FFXI. One server me and a friend started toons on, the newbies zone in the Windhurst starting area we could not even complete basic quests/leveling because a farming guild/linkshell had decided it wanted to control the supplies of all humanoid and beast drops, to resell at higher prices. So a group of about 20 level 50s spent all day roaming outside the city, killing every mob outside the city's walls...even the bunny rabbits were not safe.