Hey all,
I am curious to know how good Everquest II actually is. I do not personally know anyone who plays the game, so I figured I would ask you all here.
I have been playing MMORPG's for years, and so far I have played NexusTK, Star Wars Galaxies, Final Fantasy XI, World of Warcraft, and Guild Wars.
My problem is, after I reached a certain point in all of the above games (Max level in all except FFXI), the game simply got boring. You could make it funner by creating new characters but then you have to do the grind all-over again and it simply takes far too long.
I just want to know what type of game Everquest II is, and is it still fun after you have a fully built character?
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How Good is EQ2?Follow
Scholar
34 posts
Hey Yohdrin, I've not played EQ II yet, but I have been asking similar questions on several forums to decide if I wanna play EQ II or WOW. Here is the answer I've come up with. I've played EQ I, Star Wars, City of Heroes, and FF XI.
EQ was the origional, and man was it tough in the beginning. It's hard to solo, it's hard to level, it's hard to raise your skill level in tradeskilling. And when you die, you have to take the shift off of work to get your body back. And yet this is a good thing. The game was challenging!
Then people started making the "EQ Look-alikes", except each one would "improve" the game by making certain areas easier. This make the games much less stressfull, but a lot less challenging. Lack of challenge, in turn leads to boredom. I hear that getting a character to max level in WOW only takes 2 months. Where is the fun in that?
If it takes a year to reach level 70 with your first character in EQ, you will have spent an entire year seeing new stuff and reacting to new challenges. If it takes 3 hours to get your corpse back, then you will be more carefull in selecting who you group with next time. If it takes an astounding amount of money and time to reach grandmaster at smithing, then the products that you can make are worth a lot of money, cuz there just arent that many people who have done it yet. You see me point?
This is Varsity MMORPGing - the real deal. The other games will never leave you with the same sense of accomplishment that you will experience with EQ. At least as you will with EQ I.
I would love to see some input from players that 1) started with EQ I. 2) Played other MMORPG's, and 3) Play EQ II now.
And while you are at it, answer this: what are the best two or three solo classes. I'm buying the game next week, and want my main to be a good solo class for farming for tradeskill items.
Thanks, and I hope this helps. And I hope the community will respond with more info
EQ was the origional, and man was it tough in the beginning. It's hard to solo, it's hard to level, it's hard to raise your skill level in tradeskilling. And when you die, you have to take the shift off of work to get your body back. And yet this is a good thing. The game was challenging!
Then people started making the "EQ Look-alikes", except each one would "improve" the game by making certain areas easier. This make the games much less stressfull, but a lot less challenging. Lack of challenge, in turn leads to boredom. I hear that getting a character to max level in WOW only takes 2 months. Where is the fun in that?
If it takes a year to reach level 70 with your first character in EQ, you will have spent an entire year seeing new stuff and reacting to new challenges. If it takes 3 hours to get your corpse back, then you will be more carefull in selecting who you group with next time. If it takes an astounding amount of money and time to reach grandmaster at smithing, then the products that you can make are worth a lot of money, cuz there just arent that many people who have done it yet. You see me point?
This is Varsity MMORPGing - the real deal. The other games will never leave you with the same sense of accomplishment that you will experience with EQ. At least as you will with EQ I.
I would love to see some input from players that 1) started with EQ I. 2) Played other MMORPG's, and 3) Play EQ II now.
And while you are at it, answer this: what are the best two or three solo classes. I'm buying the game next week, and want my main to be a good solo class for farming for tradeskill items.
Thanks, and I hope this helps. And I hope the community will respond with more info
38 posts
Hey, I think I can help here!
I've played games my whole life. From tabletop to Atari and the home game systems, up to MMORPGS. So far, I've played EQ1, WoW, and EQ2. Of what I've seen, EQ2 is the best out there.
BUT
EQ1 was more fun. EQ1 was an experience. Running to get your corpse with all your belongings on it, dodging bears and orcs, even putting on whole other sets of gear just to try and get your corpse. Or begging a high lvl friend to help out. Running around as a young Froglok Paladin in the swamp, scared as hell of the gnolls and undead frogloks, then hitting L20 and slaughtering every mob in the swamp that used to chase me to the PoK book. Trying to figure out exactly what phrase you needed to type to get a quest. (don't miss that so much) Going to Paludal Caverns and seeing 30 people PL ing on those poor bandits and cruddy lizard things, then having guilds recruit there by giving out buffs and gear. Seeing prople get sworn into a guild with well written macros, "do you swear to uphold the honor of the guild, yadda yadda?" /bow "yes."
EQ2 is a great game, great graphics, good fight mechanics, Heroic opportunities: a mechanic that seperates it from WoW and anything else out there (And something not enopugh people seem into doing), Huge Quests, Great character editor, Great range of class/race options, A great group experience (if you can get a good group), Very good crafting system, (not perfect, but better then anything else I've seen, I hear SWG is a little better), lots of fun to be had. You can make halfling Necromancers and Troll illusionists. Gotta love that.
But it's not as fun as EQ1. A lot of the humor is not there. Remember the ridiculous stuff that would scroll on the bottom of the screen as the zones loaded? Like "teaching snakes to kick..."
Instead, we get the same 12 sketches of designs for the game. Like it's a work in progress, which I suppose it is. But it really needs some humor. I remember for halloween, being in a zone, Butcherblock I think, and seeing special skeletons spawn all over the place attacking people. I think there was a pumpkin king, too. great drops, got killed about 4 times before i stopped trying to kill the damn things. I've been told about huge banquets being set up with dancing giants. Or Live events with SOE staff telling stories around a campfire. I haven't seen any of that kind of thing in EQ2, and I miss it. I haven't heard of any weddings, either, which weren't that uncommon in EQ1.
Is EQ2 a great game? Yes. Is it fun? Yes. Is it better then WoW? Hell yes, IMHO. Is it getting better? Yeah, things are improving from a gameplay standpoint. SOE seems willing to listen to the community on occasion and fix things, like now you can sell while offline. Is EQ2 worth playing? Yes, as long as you roll a char on Mistmoore. But is it a true sequel to EQ1? It doesn't really feel like it. it's a different game, for better or worse. Hell, it's selling for $20. Buy it, create a character (On Mistmoore, of course), and look me up. I'll make you a pie. If you don't like it, transfer to Station Exchange server and sell your char for $100 or so.
I've played games my whole life. From tabletop to Atari and the home game systems, up to MMORPGS. So far, I've played EQ1, WoW, and EQ2. Of what I've seen, EQ2 is the best out there.
BUT
EQ1 was more fun. EQ1 was an experience. Running to get your corpse with all your belongings on it, dodging bears and orcs, even putting on whole other sets of gear just to try and get your corpse. Or begging a high lvl friend to help out. Running around as a young Froglok Paladin in the swamp, scared as hell of the gnolls and undead frogloks, then hitting L20 and slaughtering every mob in the swamp that used to chase me to the PoK book. Trying to figure out exactly what phrase you needed to type to get a quest. (don't miss that so much) Going to Paludal Caverns and seeing 30 people PL ing on those poor bandits and cruddy lizard things, then having guilds recruit there by giving out buffs and gear. Seeing prople get sworn into a guild with well written macros, "do you swear to uphold the honor of the guild, yadda yadda?" /bow "yes."
EQ2 is a great game, great graphics, good fight mechanics, Heroic opportunities: a mechanic that seperates it from WoW and anything else out there (And something not enopugh people seem into doing), Huge Quests, Great character editor, Great range of class/race options, A great group experience (if you can get a good group), Very good crafting system, (not perfect, but better then anything else I've seen, I hear SWG is a little better), lots of fun to be had. You can make halfling Necromancers and Troll illusionists. Gotta love that.
But it's not as fun as EQ1. A lot of the humor is not there. Remember the ridiculous stuff that would scroll on the bottom of the screen as the zones loaded? Like "teaching snakes to kick..."
Instead, we get the same 12 sketches of designs for the game. Like it's a work in progress, which I suppose it is. But it really needs some humor. I remember for halloween, being in a zone, Butcherblock I think, and seeing special skeletons spawn all over the place attacking people. I think there was a pumpkin king, too. great drops, got killed about 4 times before i stopped trying to kill the damn things. I've been told about huge banquets being set up with dancing giants. Or Live events with SOE staff telling stories around a campfire. I haven't seen any of that kind of thing in EQ2, and I miss it. I haven't heard of any weddings, either, which weren't that uncommon in EQ1.
Is EQ2 a great game? Yes. Is it fun? Yes. Is it better then WoW? Hell yes, IMHO. Is it getting better? Yeah, things are improving from a gameplay standpoint. SOE seems willing to listen to the community on occasion and fix things, like now you can sell while offline. Is EQ2 worth playing? Yes, as long as you roll a char on Mistmoore. But is it a true sequel to EQ1? It doesn't really feel like it. it's a different game, for better or worse. Hell, it's selling for $20. Buy it, create a character (On Mistmoore, of course), and look me up. I'll make you a pie. If you don't like it, transfer to Station Exchange server and sell your char for $100 or so.
38 posts
Oh, forgot to answer your last question:
The best solo classes? I'm sure there may be some argument here, but IMHO, the best solo classes are:
Necromancer/Summoner (Pets are nice. Make a halfling Necromancer)
Any Scout class (You won't solo lots of heroic mobs, but your stealth abilities will keep you safe while you travel, Tracking <which all Scout classes get> will make your life soooo much easier when hunting a specific mob for a quest, or looking for an NPC, and the run buff and evac are really nice to have. Plus, you dual weild. Try Dirge, Ranger, or assasian.)
Paladin (of all the fighters, I think Paladins solo the best. Healing is nice. Make a Iskar Paladin. The betrayl quest is worth doing once. Don't bother with a shadowknight, people never seem happy with them)
Druids I hear solo well. Fury has better nukes, Warden has better heals.
Any other opinions?
The best solo classes? I'm sure there may be some argument here, but IMHO, the best solo classes are:
Necromancer/Summoner (Pets are nice. Make a halfling Necromancer)
Any Scout class (You won't solo lots of heroic mobs, but your stealth abilities will keep you safe while you travel, Tracking <which all Scout classes get> will make your life soooo much easier when hunting a specific mob for a quest, or looking for an NPC, and the run buff and evac are really nice to have. Plus, you dual weild. Try Dirge, Ranger, or assasian.)
Paladin (of all the fighters, I think Paladins solo the best. Healing is nice. Make a Iskar Paladin. The betrayl quest is worth doing once. Don't bother with a shadowknight, people never seem happy with them)
Druids I hear solo well. Fury has better nukes, Warden has better heals.
Any other opinions?
Chunt noted:
I'll put either of my druids, (I have one of each), up against any other class in the game for ease of soloing.
With fury or warden, I can easily take orange and yellow mobs all day and all night long without breaking a sweat! And pairs or groups, (3 to 5), of blues and whites are little trouble.
The other night I had my fury out duoing with another fury and we were working an area with a lot of aggressive critters that were orange to us both. We were catching a lot of adds and usually had 2 or 3 of them at a time chewing on us. This plus the odd yellow or white that wandered by. We worked the area for an hour or two and neither one of us was ever even close to dying.
The self heals coupled with decent DPS is the key. If I start to drop into the orange, I just toss a heal and BAM I'm back in the green.
Quote:
Druids I hear solo well. Fury has better nukes, Warden has better heals.
I'll put either of my druids, (I have one of each), up against any other class in the game for ease of soloing.
With fury or warden, I can easily take orange and yellow mobs all day and all night long without breaking a sweat! And pairs or groups, (3 to 5), of blues and whites are little trouble.
The other night I had my fury out duoing with another fury and we were working an area with a lot of aggressive critters that were orange to us both. We were catching a lot of adds and usually had 2 or 3 of them at a time chewing on us. This plus the odd yellow or white that wandered by. We worked the area for an hour or two and neither one of us was ever even close to dying.
The self heals coupled with decent DPS is the key. If I start to drop into the orange, I just toss a heal and BAM I'm back in the green.
12 posts
As someone who has played WoW since the beta and as someone who has barely tried EQ2, I would like to stand up and defend WoW. Someone mentioned that they missed the humor from EQ. Rest assured, rolling a Horde character on WoW will deliver more laughs than you can handle for a while. Simplicity puts EQ2 to shame. When I started EQ2 I had some initial questions that just did not seem to make sence at the time. When I started WoW, I was guided by the hand -and- enjoyed the challenge at the same time. When it comes to comparing quests, both games have very superior quest engine.
Generally speaking, if there was one major thing that separates the two games it would be complexity and atmosphere. World of Warcraft is by far easier to handle than EverQuest 2. By far! WoW seems to be more silly but I that only adds to the atmosphere. Roll an undead Warlock on WoW and you will see what I mean. I mean, how would -you- like this as a start? You wake up... dead. In the background you have the spooky gospel and sinister death music, you alone are what appears to be a corpse, but hey, you are not alone. Should you die, oooh man, you'll learn to appreciate the death effects.
Regarding the graphics, all I will say is this: I wanted to originally play EQ2 because of superior graphics. In a corse of few months I now ponder why EQ2's graphics are so complex when you can get graphics that run -far- smoother, are far more beautiful (take a flight from Ironforge down to Menethil Harbor during sunrise or from Stormwind City to Ironforge. It consists of simple graphics yet far more beautiful than the hodgepodge of sprites I have so far seen in EQ2.
The biggest aspect that separates the gameplay in EQ2 and WoW would probably be the PvP combat. I personally grew up on EQ1 and could not imagine how people would waste their time fighting each other. It had no meaning. It had no benneficial reason. Well, WoW changed all that. You are encouraged -and- rewarded handsomely for defeating your opposition (Alliance Vs. Horde). Untill level 60 you may find it very irritating and infuriating to die after a higher level or a group of lower levels attack you. Once you reach level 60, you will certianly enjoy doing the same, even if you are a "carebear". By the way, reaching level 60 can take you anywhere from 15 days to a few months, but in my oppinion, level 60 is where the game truly begins, rather than when you have reached your limits.
I could go on for hours praising WoW, but I will leave the rest to you. Simply get a trial version from one of those gaming magazines (I forgot which one, but I think it was either Electronic Gaming or PC Gamer, or something like that).
Generally speaking, if there was one major thing that separates the two games it would be complexity and atmosphere. World of Warcraft is by far easier to handle than EverQuest 2. By far! WoW seems to be more silly but I that only adds to the atmosphere. Roll an undead Warlock on WoW and you will see what I mean. I mean, how would -you- like this as a start? You wake up... dead. In the background you have the spooky gospel and sinister death music, you alone are what appears to be a corpse, but hey, you are not alone. Should you die, oooh man, you'll learn to appreciate the death effects.
Regarding the graphics, all I will say is this: I wanted to originally play EQ2 because of superior graphics. In a corse of few months I now ponder why EQ2's graphics are so complex when you can get graphics that run -far- smoother, are far more beautiful (take a flight from Ironforge down to Menethil Harbor during sunrise or from Stormwind City to Ironforge. It consists of simple graphics yet far more beautiful than the hodgepodge of sprites I have so far seen in EQ2.
The biggest aspect that separates the gameplay in EQ2 and WoW would probably be the PvP combat. I personally grew up on EQ1 and could not imagine how people would waste their time fighting each other. It had no meaning. It had no benneficial reason. Well, WoW changed all that. You are encouraged -and- rewarded handsomely for defeating your opposition (Alliance Vs. Horde). Untill level 60 you may find it very irritating and infuriating to die after a higher level or a group of lower levels attack you. Once you reach level 60, you will certianly enjoy doing the same, even if you are a "carebear". By the way, reaching level 60 can take you anywhere from 15 days to a few months, but in my oppinion, level 60 is where the game truly begins, rather than when you have reached your limits.
I could go on for hours praising WoW, but I will leave the rest to you. Simply get a trial version from one of those gaming magazines (I forgot which one, but I think it was either Electronic Gaming or PC Gamer, or something like that).
Quote:
By the way, reaching level 60 can take you anywhere from 15 days to a few months
Hmmm...may as well play Diablo then...
I guess if you're into that kind of thing then WoW is for you. If you like what EQ2 has to offer, then go for it. To each his own.
There is no "best" game, only games that provide players with fun and immersion in it's own style. EQ2 is not perfect, WoW is not perfect, but play what you like.
5 posts
[quote]but in my oppinion, level 60 is where the game truly begins, rather than when you have reached your limits.
Everything I have been reading states that there is a significant lack of content at 60. People seem to resort to ganking all the lower levels just to keep themselves busy. Im not sure how or why this is fun. It certainly isn't a challange.
Everything I have been reading states that there is a significant lack of content at 60. People seem to resort to ganking all the lower levels just to keep themselves busy. Im not sure how or why this is fun. It certainly isn't a challange.
18 posts
started on eq1 and played that for a few years, excellent game!!!i wonder why i even quit, best game ever imo...then moved to wc3 i think, good game...different from the others like diablo and stuff, i still play it when i need something different...then i got eq2 /sigh ... totaly not what i expected!
This game could have done sooooooo much better. I think soe is trying way to hard on this game, it was really annoying at first when they would have a 2 hour+ patch just to fix someones beard or something stupid. There are plenty of bugs in this game, pretty much everytime i go on, i get ownd by them. stupid stuff, like ill be running and ill suddenly turn around to fight the mob attacking me....whatever
now WOW is my game... lot more to do, lot more fun, lot more everything... /duel is the best. and yes, like someone said before...it is super hilarious when u own a horde member when they are bummin around ur town. or when u own people in duels then /laugh at them ... just an excellent game.. id bypass eq2 if i were u.... solitare is better ;-(
This game could have done sooooooo much better. I think soe is trying way to hard on this game, it was really annoying at first when they would have a 2 hour+ patch just to fix someones beard or something stupid. There are plenty of bugs in this game, pretty much everytime i go on, i get ownd by them. stupid stuff, like ill be running and ill suddenly turn around to fight the mob attacking me....whatever
now WOW is my game... lot more to do, lot more fun, lot more everything... /duel is the best. and yes, like someone said before...it is super hilarious when u own a horde member when they are bummin around ur town. or when u own people in duels then /laugh at them ... just an excellent game.. id bypass eq2 if i were u.... solitare is better ;-(
5 posts
[quote]2 hour+ patch just to fix someones beard or something stupid.
Most of the larg patches were for major additions to content. How much new content has WoW added sinch launch??
[quote]There are plenty of bugs in this game, pretty much everytime i go on, i get ownd by them. stupid stuff, like ill be running and ill suddenly turn around to fight the mob attacking me
You probably had auto attack on when your running. In EQ2 you face the mob that your are attacking automatically. Not a bug.
[quote]now WOW is my game... lot more to do, lot more fun, lot more everything...
Infact EQ has many more quests, a much more indepth trade crafting system and a more mature community. The only thing WoW has, at the moment, that EQ2 does not have is PVP. But this will be added in the expansion next week.
Most of the larg patches were for major additions to content. How much new content has WoW added sinch launch??
[quote]There are plenty of bugs in this game, pretty much everytime i go on, i get ownd by them. stupid stuff, like ill be running and ill suddenly turn around to fight the mob attacking me
You probably had auto attack on when your running. In EQ2 you face the mob that your are attacking automatically. Not a bug.
[quote]now WOW is my game... lot more to do, lot more fun, lot more everything...
Infact EQ has many more quests, a much more indepth trade crafting system and a more mature community. The only thing WoW has, at the moment, that EQ2 does not have is PVP. But this will be added in the expansion next week.
Quote:
what are the best two or three solo classes
There is no "best" class. Every class has strengths and weaknesses, and use different tactics to solo. No one class will get "to the end" faster than another.
While a fighter will stand toe-to-toe and duke it out like rock'em sock'em robots, I stay back and let the pet do the damage. A priest can self heal during the battle but has lower DPS.
As a Conjurer, I can solo an orange normal, or a blue solo ^^, or a group of 3 green heroics. Beyond that I need help.
So depending on what class you play, your style and tactics will differ. The bottom line is play what is fun and challenging for you. You may find that it takes a few different characters to settle on what works for you.
Scholar
24 posts
Quote:
As someone who has played WoW since the beta and as someone who has barely tried EQ2, I would like to stand up and defend WoW. Someone mentioned that they missed the humor from EQ. Rest assured, rolling a Horde character on WoW will deliver more laughs than you can handle for a while. Simplicity puts EQ2 to shame. When I started EQ2 I had some initial questions that just did not seem to make sence at the time. When I started WoW, I was guided by the hand -and- enjoyed the challenge at the same time. When it comes to comparing quests, both games have very superior quest engine.
As someone who has played WoW since beta but has also played alot of EQ2, I would like to stand up for EQ. I agree with you that playing a Horde character brought alot of humor to the table in World of Warcraft. The simplictic "go do this, and this is what you get" in World of Warcraft was just too boring and took less effort. EQ2 can take you through some pretty retarded time consuming crap to finish quests, but call me an "old school" mmo player, for it makes me feel more rewarded. I also am really digging the new combat changes that are being made. You can still solo but exp parties are where it's at now. Something I've really missed =)
Quote:
The biggest aspect that separates the gameplay in EQ2 and WoW would probably be the PvP combat. I personally grew up on EQ1 and could not imagine how people would waste their time fighting each other. It had no meaning. It had no benneficial reason. Well, WoW changed all that. You are encouraged -and- rewarded handsomely for defeating your opposition (Alliance Vs. Horde). Untill level 60 you may find it very irritating and infuriating to die after a higher level or a group of lower levels attack you. Once you reach level 60, you will certianly enjoy doing the same, even if you are a "carebear". By the way, reaching level 60 can take you anywhere from 15 days to a few months, but in my oppinion, level 60 is where the game truly begins, rather than when you have reached your limits.
WoW did change the aspect of PvP in alot of peoples minds. I personally didn't have alot of experience with this either and really wanted to give it a shot, but took a look at my friends waiting for hours for the Horde (since of the horrible imbalance issues) that I'd change my mind.
All in all, it just comes down to identifing your personal "playstyle". I used to rave like WoW was the best thing since sliced bread. But I got really bored with it, real quick, faster than any other mmo that I've played.
38 posts
WoW has more humor? /agree. The biggest mistake SOE made was trying to be too serious. The folks at Blizzard are good at what they do, and WoW probably had a lot of fun things going on. I just couldn't slog through it long enough to see it.
WoW having better graphics? i suppose it's a matter of taste, but EQ2 has crazy graphics. I've seen some high end comps run EQ2, and it looks beautiful. WoW is friendlier for lower end systems, which is nice, but EQ2 will keep looking better and better.
As far as learning the game goes, I had an opposite experience with WoW. When i started EQ2, it held my hand the whole way, taught me the interface, and i never had any problems after that that /ooc couldn't solve. In WoW, everything was completely alien. There's no tutorial at all, no online instructions really, you have to reach around in the dark. Very little storage space, loot drops give you no info as to what they are, whether you can craft with them or vender trash, I couldn't tradeskill in my starting city, and everyone just ran around babbling and dueling. Quests were annoying to get, with the slow scroll thing. Quests were the same as EQ2, and the fighting was way too simple. No HO, crappy interface, and everyone soloing.
the big thing WoW has is PvP. Honestly, If I want PvP, i play a FPS like Halo, or another Blizzard game, Satrcraft. PvP in MMORPGS just isn't that interesting. I like the idea of the Horde/alliance war (and I wish EQ2 would rip it off, like creating a new, disputed continent), but the PvP wasn't so interesting. I dueled another hunter. We just shot each other full of arrows, and I died right before he would have. Woo. Tanks and Wizzies own 1 on 1, since the other classes are more support. Haven't tried dueling on the EQ2 test server yet, but i imagine it's the same.
I tried WoW for about a week, and the whole time, i kept thinking about playing EQ2 (my comp was messed up). It was like driving a BMW around town, then driving a toyota instead while the BMW is in the shop. I missed the intuitive interface, Combat wheel, detailed text on items, and the individuality you have in EQ2. In EQ2, I have a troll Illusionist. i think he's the only one on the server. In WoW, everyone looks the same. The char editor is teh suck.
Don't get me wrong, WOW is a good game with good ideas, like hunters feeding pets. I'm sure if I had given it a month and got to Lvl 60, I might have had a little more fun. But i can't waste that much time away from EQ2...
Oh, OBD: I'm making a druid for the +Xp event. Fury or Warden?
WoW having better graphics? i suppose it's a matter of taste, but EQ2 has crazy graphics. I've seen some high end comps run EQ2, and it looks beautiful. WoW is friendlier for lower end systems, which is nice, but EQ2 will keep looking better and better.
As far as learning the game goes, I had an opposite experience with WoW. When i started EQ2, it held my hand the whole way, taught me the interface, and i never had any problems after that that /ooc couldn't solve. In WoW, everything was completely alien. There's no tutorial at all, no online instructions really, you have to reach around in the dark. Very little storage space, loot drops give you no info as to what they are, whether you can craft with them or vender trash, I couldn't tradeskill in my starting city, and everyone just ran around babbling and dueling. Quests were annoying to get, with the slow scroll thing. Quests were the same as EQ2, and the fighting was way too simple. No HO, crappy interface, and everyone soloing.
the big thing WoW has is PvP. Honestly, If I want PvP, i play a FPS like Halo, or another Blizzard game, Satrcraft. PvP in MMORPGS just isn't that interesting. I like the idea of the Horde/alliance war (and I wish EQ2 would rip it off, like creating a new, disputed continent), but the PvP wasn't so interesting. I dueled another hunter. We just shot each other full of arrows, and I died right before he would have. Woo. Tanks and Wizzies own 1 on 1, since the other classes are more support. Haven't tried dueling on the EQ2 test server yet, but i imagine it's the same.
I tried WoW for about a week, and the whole time, i kept thinking about playing EQ2 (my comp was messed up). It was like driving a BMW around town, then driving a toyota instead while the BMW is in the shop. I missed the intuitive interface, Combat wheel, detailed text on items, and the individuality you have in EQ2. In EQ2, I have a troll Illusionist. i think he's the only one on the server. In WoW, everyone looks the same. The char editor is teh suck.
Don't get me wrong, WOW is a good game with good ideas, like hunters feeding pets. I'm sure if I had given it a month and got to Lvl 60, I might have had a little more fun. But i can't waste that much time away from EQ2...
Oh, OBD: I'm making a druid for the +Xp event. Fury or Warden?
Scholar
24 posts
My biggest reason for wanting to play World of Warcraft was to try their raiding game and while I initally had fun, after a short time it just plan sucked! Playing a Warlock (equiv to a ****** up Necro) and simply spamming Shadowbolt over and over again made me cry. And I specifically felt bad for the mages since they were more limited than I was. Think the stacking problems where bad pre-revamp? Go play WoW and try it for yourself. Warlocks couldn't even DoT AT ALL, and the mages lost most of their dps from having to respec from fire to frost since alot of the mobs were immune to fire and it also put a crappy DoT on the mob. Rogues/Hunters/Warriors were top DPS on mostly everything. Kinda funny that the weakest armored dps class couldn't dish out the damage like medium and heavier armed classes could!
Progression sucked. I love how EQ has a progression system in progress and not only are their a buttload of spells and combat arts but by crafting, raiding, drops you can get more powerful versions of these spells and combat arts!
You wanna know why raiding got the shortend of the stick in WoW? PvP. You wanna know why it takes them forever to patch anything or produce an expansion? Because they are targeting more than one player base. They can't satisfy just one, but ALL. This takes more time to develop. Also, if you truely want to get the benefit from PvP, you have to devout ALOT of time to this, and not raiding. If you wanna get benefit from raiding you have to devout ALOT of time to this, and not PvP.
With that being said, if you want an "all purpose" MMO, stay in World of Warcraft. If you want a specialized type of gaming, I would suggest you take time to decide by thinking of what you want out of a game, researching and exploring MMOs with what you've come up with.
Progression sucked. I love how EQ has a progression system in progress and not only are their a buttload of spells and combat arts but by crafting, raiding, drops you can get more powerful versions of these spells and combat arts!
You wanna know why raiding got the shortend of the stick in WoW? PvP. You wanna know why it takes them forever to patch anything or produce an expansion? Because they are targeting more than one player base. They can't satisfy just one, but ALL. This takes more time to develop. Also, if you truely want to get the benefit from PvP, you have to devout ALOT of time to this, and not raiding. If you wanna get benefit from raiding you have to devout ALOT of time to this, and not PvP.
With that being said, if you want an "all purpose" MMO, stay in World of Warcraft. If you want a specialized type of gaming, I would suggest you take time to decide by thinking of what you want out of a game, researching and exploring MMOs with what you've come up with.
9 posts
AquaExcalibur wrote:
As someone who has played WoW since the beta and as someone who has barely tried EQ2, I would like to stand up and defend WoW. Someone mentioned that they missed the humor from EQ. Rest assured, rolling a Horde character on WoW will deliver more laughs than you can handle for a while.
Spend less than 3 minutes in any zone with an NPC troll/ratonga/gnome/halfling/dorf and you will get humor. The rat 'Chef' chasing the cats/rats/dogs through temple street still makes me smile.
Listening to (the voice-overs in EQ2 are overlooked, but are **amazing** at times, lame at others) the bickering gnome/ratonga merchants in temple street is funnier than all my experiences in WoW.
AquaExcalibur wrote:
Simplicity puts EQ2 to shame. When I started EQ2 I had some initial questions that just did not seem to make sence at the time. When I started WoW, I was guided by the hand -and- enjoyed the challenge at the same time. When it comes to comparing quests, both games have very superior quest engine.
Actually, I felt that the Isle / city citizenship quests covered absolutely everything you needed to learn to play they game. If you paid attention to the prompts / voice-overs and followed along, you got decent gear, and learned about the various types of quests, where to go to fight, tradeskill, and choose your class.
In WoW, it was the same...ish. I played a shaman and wandered out into the Barrens looking for the well (I was having a braindead moment and managed to invert northeast / southeast).
WoW's quests were not as involved as the more interesting EQ2 quests. Though the simplified quest helper showing status of up to 5 quests was nice. Overall, WoW quests > EQ1, not as good as CoH (love story arcs), and not as good as EQ2. The quests in EQ2 were more challenging without being silly gimmes. I got 1000xp (1/10th a level) for walking over and Hailing a guy in the same city in WoW. Thats ridiculous.
AquaExcalibur wrote:
Generally speaking, if there was one major thing that separates the two games it would be complexity and atmosphere. World of Warcraft is by far easier to handle than EverQuest 2. By far! WoW seems to be more silly but I that only adds to the atmosphere. Roll an undead Warlock on WoW and you will see what I mean. I mean, how would -you- like this as a start? You wake up... dead. In the background you have the spooky gospel and sinister death music, you alone are what appears to be a corpse, but hey, you are not alone. Should you die, oooh man, you'll learn to appreciate the death effects.
WoW is a lot easier to handle than EQ2. But even playing a shaman, which I was hoping would be the most complex character to play (balancing totems, mana use for healing/nukes, melee gear/mana gear, etc etc), it was.... boring.
Animations were, overall, trite, character models are stiff and obviously just painted canvases stetched over a fixed frame.
I do like WoW's variety of dance animations, and the /flirt animation / voiceovers are hillarious (esp for tauren). But combat animations were boring boring boring. Might as well just watch the text window. I like CoH's power animations, I like EQ2's variety of combat maneuver animations. As a troubador, my various combat arts trigger different maneuvers. Combine them with the twisting / fluid dual-wield animations and its just fun to watch.
Comaratively... my tauren shaman stands there... feet rooted, swinging from the hips... swing swing backhand swing backhand backhand swing. I watched rogues fighting and even they were stuck in the same 2-3 max animations.
AquaExcalibur wrote:
Regarding the graphics, all I will say is this: I wanted to originally play EQ2 because of superior graphics. In a corse of few months I now ponder why EQ2's graphics are so complex when you can get graphics that run -far- smoother, are far more beautiful (take a flight from Ironforge down to Menethil Harbor during sunrise or from Stormwind City to Ironforge. It consists of simple graphics yet far more beautiful than the hodgepodge of sprites I have so far seen in EQ2.
Heh, well, I at first agreed with people when they said EQ2 has 'bland monochromatic' zones (Freeport was quite dank and dreary for a while). Then i played WoW and went to Duratar. Red... everything was... red... talk about monochromatic.
The griffon flights across the commonlands / antonica are just as striking as the flights in WoW. The world graphics are absolutely stunning. Whats even better is that the character models are equally as stunning... and fluid. WoW characters - you can see the blocks that make up the model... esp the griffon things on the Horde side.
WoW, aside from landscape geography, every surface is flat. Any texture is painted on. In EQ2, the wood has texture, the drapes on the wall, you can practically determine the thread count.
AquaExcalibur wrote:
The biggest aspect that separates the gameplay in EQ2 and WoW would probably be the PvP combat. I personally grew up on EQ1 and could not imagine how people would waste their time fighting each other. It had no meaning. It had no benneficial reason. Well, WoW changed all that. You are encouraged -and- rewarded handsomely for defeating your opposition (Alliance Vs. Horde). Untill level 60 you may find it very irritating and infuriating to die after a higher level or a group of lower levels attack you. Once you reach level 60, you will certianly enjoy doing the same, even if you are a "carebear". By the way, reaching level 60 can take you anywhere from 15 days to a few months, but in my oppinion, level 60 is where the game truly begins, rather than when you have reached your limits.
I could go on for hours praising WoW, but I will leave the rest to you. Simply get a trial version from one of those gaming magazines (I forgot which one, but I think it was either Electronic Gaming or PC Gamer, or something like that).
Thats what I did, and as you can see... I am completely underwhelmed. I jacked the graphics up to the max, and still... unimpressed. They did good to allow more people to play now, but unless they also designed the graphics to be quickly and easily revamped when tech upgrades... in another 6 months people will be whining at how cheap WoW looks.
I am not interested in playing a game that doesnt get started until you reach your max level. I am lvl 34, have a full quest journal (75 vs 20 in WoW), plus the collections I am working on. I have guild writs to do, working on my tradeskills, and exploring zones before they grey out to me.
From what I have seen on the WoW forums... for most people 2 months after level 60 is when the game ends. They played WoW because soloing was easy, they want to solo and progress. They reached 60, soloed what they could, and to progress further, they have to raid. 5 main instances, 10 man raids, 20 man raids, 40 main raids. So they play alts instead. Or they try to PVP and do ok, until they cant compete with the uber raiders who are bored and start PvPing.
There is more to do in EQ2, with out a doubt, hands down, period. Tradeskilling, heritage quests, housing, guild development, and now PvP via dueling or arena combat.
WoW is great for the Diablo players, and there are a lot more of them than there are the old style MMORPGers.
37 posts
Meneldur wrote:
From what I have seen on the WoW forums... for most people 2 months after level 60 is when the game ends... They reached 60, soloed what they could, and to progress further, they have to raid. 5 man instances, 10 man raids, 20 man raids, 40 main raids. So they play alts instead. Or they try to PVP and do ok, until they cant compete with the uber raiders who are bored and start PvPing.
Well, you nailed that, Meneldur. But are you saying EQ2 is different? I played a little at launch, and it sure looked to me like it was going to be "EverRaid" all over again - the promised game for casual/solo players ending somewhere around the time you leave the starting city. Also, I absolutely hated the death system - the shared XP debt was making for a lot of ill will and paranoia. First death in a dungeon, and everybody quits the group so fast you don't have time to blink. Has that gotten any better?
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Also, I absolutely hated the death system - the shared XP debt was making for a lot of ill will and paranoia. First death in a dungeon, and everybody quits the group so fast you don't have time to blink. Has that gotten any better?
It hasn't just gotten better. It has gotten gone. There is no more shared XP debt. So if you happen to be the unfortunate soul that used to cost your groupmates 2% debt each time you fell off a cliff, rejoice, for now you can cliff dive as many times as you like and only you will feel the brunt of it.
Note to monks: Safe Fall is not infallible.
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the promised game for casual/solo players ending somewhere around the time you leave the starting city. Also, I absolutely hated the death system - the shared XP debt was making for a lot of ill will and paranoia.
Shared debt is gone.
I soloed 90% of the way to where I am now, so I don't see what you mean about the lack of content for solo/casual... how long has it been since you played? They added many, many quests and changed 75% of the group only MoB's to solo shortly after launch. (With the combat update, they've changed some back trying to find balance. I think too few people were grouping than is healthy for an MMO and people who wanted to group all the time were feeling left out.)
37 posts
Well, no shared debt, and actually able to solo - I'm impressed that they've made some changes in the right direction. I read somewhere else here that they got rid of locked encounters, too, another "feature" I really didn't care for. I'm intrigued enough to try out my comeback trial week thingy.
There still remains the OP's question, though:
This was my main problem with EQ1, and now with WoW, is that the game is basically over once you reach the level cap. Unless you like the uber-guild large-scale raid thing, that is, and can spend 6 hours at a time power-gaming to get a chance at a piece of loot. I know it takes a lot longer to level in EQ2, but that makes the nature of the end game even *more* of a concern, because you have to invest so much time to get there. So - for a casual/solo player - is it still fun? Are there still quests and adventures and things to explore, or is it just raid, raid, raid?
There still remains the OP's question, though:
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is it still fun after you have a fully built character?
This was my main problem with EQ1, and now with WoW, is that the game is basically over once you reach the level cap. Unless you like the uber-guild large-scale raid thing, that is, and can spend 6 hours at a time power-gaming to get a chance at a piece of loot. I know it takes a lot longer to level in EQ2, but that makes the nature of the end game even *more* of a concern, because you have to invest so much time to get there. So - for a casual/solo player - is it still fun? Are there still quests and adventures and things to explore, or is it just raid, raid, raid?
You have the new Desert of Flames expansion pack to extend your playing from level 50 to level 60.
Of course if someone does nothing but grinds to 60 without doing any quests or content, they will be whining in a month that "there's no level 60 content!".
The game is not designed to grind as fast as possible. And if someone wants to do that, then this game may not be for them.
Of course if you are in a raid guild then you'll have lot's more to do. Well, not relly lots more, just lots of waiting for your turn at the uber loot drop for the 15th time.
Of course if someone does nothing but grinds to 60 without doing any quests or content, they will be whining in a month that "there's no level 60 content!".
The game is not designed to grind as fast as possible. And if someone wants to do that, then this game may not be for them.
Of course if you are in a raid guild then you'll have lot's more to do. Well, not relly lots more, just lots of waiting for your turn at the uber loot drop for the 15th time.
If you want to see what the graphics are suppose to look like go to an area where no one is around you and you are not going to get ganked by anything. Then set them to max and dont move. If you move you will probably get really choppy:D. They look awesome just no computers can really handle it yet and it was designed with that intent. In 3 years they will still have the top of the line graphics and the stuff they have for low settings now will be "user friendly" for those with the low end pcs of that time. :D
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