Hey everyone,
I'm new around here. Well not exactly new, but it's been a while since I've posted on an Everquest forum. I started playing the original in 1999, but left it at that. Few small time MMORPGS then, World of Warcraft... and now back to Everquest 2. With the system requirements easier to swallow nowadays... I've finally revitalized my love for MMOs.
In fact I wrote a blog highlighting EQ2's strengths towards WoW here:
http://www.thekartel.com/thegreatone/blog/2010/02/11/5_reasons_why_everquest_ii_is_still_a_great_alternative_to_world_of_warcraft
One question I have though is the lack of player in the huge towns in EQ2 like Qeynos. Is it really bare, or am I just so new that I'm just in a low-population zone?
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Layout and content wise, you get an A. I found it to be a nice review, which for a game that's been out awhile its nice that you took the time to revisit (by the way welcome back). :)
As for your question, this is something Cyliena (a Zam admin), another player , and myself were discussing the other day on the streets of East Freeport. The streets of any city used to be busy with the traffic of players going to and fro..but with the introduction of guild halls people now have an easier way to travel (druid portals, spires, bell systems..that can take you all over Norrath).
The 'Call to Guild' ability is a nice short 15 minutes...far from the one hour recast that city calls used to have (and they are now down to 30 minutes which helps, but still not as convenient). So you will find a majority of players don't have a reason to travel in the city unless its for picking up quests, or using NPC's that they may not have inside their guild.
Edited, Feb 11th 2010 8:50pm by Dyadem
As for your question, this is something Cyliena (a Zam admin), another player , and myself were discussing the other day on the streets of East Freeport. The streets of any city used to be busy with the traffic of players going to and fro..but with the introduction of guild halls people now have an easier way to travel (druid portals, spires, bell systems..that can take you all over Norrath).
The 'Call to Guild' ability is a nice short 15 minutes...far from the one hour recast that city calls used to have (and they are now down to 30 minutes which helps, but still not as convenient). So you will find a majority of players don't have a reason to travel in the city unless its for picking up quests, or using NPC's that they may not have inside their guild.
Edited, Feb 11th 2010 8:50pm by Dyadem
Things I sometimes play...
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"I want to be a unicorn!"
"Awww, why's that?"........
"So I can stab people with my face."
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"I want to be a unicorn!"
"Awww, why's that?"........
"So I can stab people with my face."
Great review and yes, welcome back!
I've been with the game off and on since launch. I quit because I had a crappy computer at first, then because the game started becoming too time consuming (too much forced grouping in the beginning), but I always enjoyed it and knew I'd be back some day. I've been back now for a couple of years and IMO the game just keeps getting better. I also played EQ1, WoW, SWG, LotRO, Vanguard, CoH and tried a few other MMOs that didn't stick. EQ2 is my fav by far.
And now that you're giving it another go, like Dya said, you might just want to find yourself a guild. That's where all the people are, in their guild halls. Oh, and hanging out on the Lavastorm dock so that my loading time to that zone is crap.
I've been with the game off and on since launch. I quit because I had a crappy computer at first, then because the game started becoming too time consuming (too much forced grouping in the beginning), but I always enjoyed it and knew I'd be back some day. I've been back now for a couple of years and IMO the game just keeps getting better. I also played EQ1, WoW, SWG, LotRO, Vanguard, CoH and tried a few other MMOs that didn't stick. EQ2 is my fav by far.
And now that you're giving it another go, like Dya said, you might just want to find yourself a guild. That's where all the people are, in their guild halls. Oh, and hanging out on the Lavastorm dock so that my loading time to that zone is crap.
48 posts
I have recently returned to EQ after having played the original from just after the Kunark release till SoF release. I left EQ at that time, frustrated by low server populations and lack of being able to do anything other than solo.
I played WoW for about two years before I finally got sick of their small amount of content and running the exact same quests day after day.
After having returned to EQ, but in the form of EQ2, I am now having fun playing an mmo again. I missed the difficulty that was present with EQ. I missed the environtmental affects that are present in EQ2 but sorely lacking from WoW (Oh the memories of walking around blindly at night in East commons back in the day on my erudite enchanter. I missed the attention to details such as the music quality as compared to other MMO's. I missed actual "named". I missed dungeons that you might actually see someone other than yourself or those in your group.
Don't get me wrong. I doubt I will ever have fun in ANY mmo like I did in EQ, but that has more to do with EQ being my 1st mmo experience thean it does EQ2 failing to meet expectations.
I LOVE the mentoring function. One of my big complaints about any mmo is not really being able to hang with friends I recruit to the game unless one of us wants to be bored outta their minds, solved.
I must also list my dissapointments. I played a monk in 1 and do so again in 2, and I miss the role of the puller. I also miss classes having individual abilities, like rogues with stealth, as compared to all scouts now having that ability.
The graphics are greta. The lore familiar. The ingame maps not failing to incorporate some of the old.
In a nutshell, I am very pleased with EQ2.
I played WoW for about two years before I finally got sick of their small amount of content and running the exact same quests day after day.
After having returned to EQ, but in the form of EQ2, I am now having fun playing an mmo again. I missed the difficulty that was present with EQ. I missed the environtmental affects that are present in EQ2 but sorely lacking from WoW (Oh the memories of walking around blindly at night in East commons back in the day on my erudite enchanter. I missed the attention to details such as the music quality as compared to other MMO's. I missed actual "named". I missed dungeons that you might actually see someone other than yourself or those in your group.
Don't get me wrong. I doubt I will ever have fun in ANY mmo like I did in EQ, but that has more to do with EQ being my 1st mmo experience thean it does EQ2 failing to meet expectations.
I LOVE the mentoring function. One of my big complaints about any mmo is not really being able to hang with friends I recruit to the game unless one of us wants to be bored outta their minds, solved.
I must also list my dissapointments. I played a monk in 1 and do so again in 2, and I miss the role of the puller. I also miss classes having individual abilities, like rogues with stealth, as compared to all scouts now having that ability.
The graphics are greta. The lore familiar. The ingame maps not failing to incorporate some of the old.
In a nutshell, I am very pleased with EQ2.
2 posts
I agree with your assessment of EQ2 vs WOW to the "nth" degree. I got burned out playing on WOW for the very reasons you have mentioned and applaud your great write up.
I've only played EQ2 for a few weeks now but I have been completely satisfied with the content and the interaction I have encountered...except for one thing. The animal animation/graphics are a bit odd. I happened to be watching my son shape shift to a cat and wolf last night but when he started moving around, I was appalled at the awful animation of the animal movement. It appeared his character suddenly morphed into a gerbil hopping around like a rabbit. Definitely this animation needs work by the SOE graphics people. I hope to see a better animation in future for animal movements.
All in all, though, the EQ2 experience has been vastly rewarding.
I've only played EQ2 for a few weeks now but I have been completely satisfied with the content and the interaction I have encountered...except for one thing. The animal animation/graphics are a bit odd. I happened to be watching my son shape shift to a cat and wolf last night but when he started moving around, I was appalled at the awful animation of the animal movement. It appeared his character suddenly morphed into a gerbil hopping around like a rabbit. Definitely this animation needs work by the SOE graphics people. I hope to see a better animation in future for animal movements.
All in all, though, the EQ2 experience has been vastly rewarding.
To be fair, the cities were never really busy, with the guild halls it's definitely not improved.
Not a bad review, although there are a couple of points I do disagree with.
Also, EQII at the very start suffered from the WoW release at the same time, very true, but the game back then is truly uncomparable to the game today. The changes made are so legio that it's impossible to explain it to someone who begins now. And about every change made is an improvement. EQII is a great game, but it did take some time and a lot of work that SOE thankfully did.
Not a bad review, although there are a couple of points I do disagree with.
Also, EQII at the very start suffered from the WoW release at the same time, very true, but the game back then is truly uncomparable to the game today. The changes made are so legio that it's impossible to explain it to someone who begins now. And about every change made is an improvement. EQII is a great game, but it did take some time and a lot of work that SOE thankfully did.
Quote:
The changes made are so legio that it's impossible to explain it to someone who begins now.
"Forced grouping" for tradeskills. Ok, not grouping, but forced interdependence.
Group experience debt.
Not being able to even go through Antonica or Commonlands without a full group because every mob was heroic.
Tradeskilling could kill you. So could opening chests and setting off the trap.
After dying, leaving a "shard" that you needed to run back to in order to make your experience debt less painful.
Those are just a few I can remember...
Assassin Nadenu wrote:
Quote:
The changes made are so legio that it's impossible to explain it to someone who begins now.
"Forced grouping" for tradeskills. Ok, not grouping, but forced interdependence.
Group experience debt.
Not being able to even go through Antonica or Commonlands without a full group because every mob was heroic.
Tradeskilling could kill you. So could opening chests and setting off the trap.
After dying, leaving a "shard" that you needed to run back to in order to make your experience debt less painful.
Those are just a few I can remember...
Just a few indeed lol, there have been too many to name, you'ld need a couple of pages at least.
Antonica and Commonlands weren't that hard as I recall, but I do remember that I switched to WoW shortly after I arrived in Thundering Steppes. There was just almost nothing to do for me as a soloing player.
I did like the whole approach to choosing your profession. You didn't start out as a Paladin, you had to do a questline to earn it. Every fighter started out the same, you later chose your final class. It had its merits, but didn't last that long.
I still have a bag full of sub-combines in my bank that I keep for posterity :D
The first character I created was a mage. I fondly remember the huge amount of xp debt you could rack up in those 'insta-death when root fails' moments. I've not played a 'paper armour' character since :D
I still remember being impressed when I saw a herd of deer trample a panther (?...lion?...big cat of some sorts) to death in Antonica. That was the first time I'd seen creatures interact like that.
One of the biggest changes must be the sheer amount of storage we have now. With my characters at low level, you had to crawl home on your hands & knees when your bags were full, then spend ages shuffling stuff around in bank & house slots so you could break into a run again! It took me 15 minutes to walk from broker to bank with the new crates I had bought. Ah, the memories :D
The first character I created was a mage. I fondly remember the huge amount of xp debt you could rack up in those 'insta-death when root fails' moments. I've not played a 'paper armour' character since :D
I still remember being impressed when I saw a herd of deer trample a panther (?...lion?...big cat of some sorts) to death in Antonica. That was the first time I'd seen creatures interact like that.
One of the biggest changes must be the sheer amount of storage we have now. With my characters at low level, you had to crawl home on your hands & knees when your bags were full, then spend ages shuffling stuff around in bank & house slots so you could break into a run again! It took me 15 minutes to walk from broker to bank with the new crates I had bought. Ah, the memories :D
HubertKerfuffle wrote:
I still remember being impressed when I saw a herd of deer trample a panther (?...lion?...big cat of some sorts) to death in Antonica. That was the first time I'd seen creatures interact like that.
The whole NPC vs NPC mechanic is one of my favorite little things about EQ2. I look for those skirmishes in every zone now and they crop up in the most amazing places!
I very much agree.
Hubby and I are former EQ players and found ourselves so nostalgic I actually created a thread on the O-boards about it. We've played WoW for 2 years, have taken multiple breaks, and found ourselves just trying to find something to do until the expansion comes out.
Since it had been a while, and we now have better computers and internet connection, we thought we'd give EQ2 a try. I'm having a blast!
One question I have though; where is the lore? I'm having a hard time finding it, if there is any. I'm really curious to know how Kelethin came to be inhabited by fae rather than wood elves!
Hubby and I are former EQ players and found ourselves so nostalgic I actually created a thread on the O-boards about it. We've played WoW for 2 years, have taken multiple breaks, and found ourselves just trying to find something to do until the expansion comes out.
Since it had been a while, and we now have better computers and internet connection, we thought we'd give EQ2 a try. I'm having a blast!
One question I have though; where is the lore? I'm having a hard time finding it, if there is any. I'm really curious to know how Kelethin came to be inhabited by fae rather than wood elves!
A lot of the lore is actually in the quest text, at least in Kelethin.
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
Samira wrote:
A lot of the lore is actually in the quest text, at least in Kelethin.
Some, but that's just one area. There's a pretty big gap, I assume, between EQ1 and EQ2, lore-wise. I didn't find anything on the wiki, which was fairly disappointing. :(
KassandrahKnight wrote:
Samira wrote:
A lot of the lore is actually in the quest text, at least in Kelethin.
Some, but that's just one area. There's a pretty big gap, I assume, between EQ1 and EQ2, lore-wise. I didn't find anything on the wiki, which was fairly disappointing. :(
This thread has links to a lot of lore for EQ2. And while I didn't look at all of them, maybe some of them will tell a bit about what's happened over the last 500 years.
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