Debating on which MMO to buy...Follow

I've been holding off on buying FFXIV because of all the problems its having at launch. I've decided that no matter how much I've anticipated it, its not worth the headache right now.

I've played Aion, FFXI, and WoW and enjoyed them all but they all had their problems.

What I'm wanting to know is if anyone could give me some sort of comparisons to other MMOs that I've played or may know about, so that I can get a general idea of the feel of the game before I buy it. I never played EQ but obviously have heard a lot about it.

Aion was beautiful but the grind was unbearable, and at level 42/50 I got sick of killing 1000s of the same mob to see my exp bar jump a millimeter.

WoW was simple and easy to play but the community is trash and it became so easy that raiding was more "tedious" than a "challenge." What's the end-game like in EQ2? Are there raids?

FFXI I truly loved. Great community, the requirement to group was annoying for my class (nobody wanted a samurai) but I still enjoyed it because I hate playing solo anyways. What's the emphasis on grouping like in EQ2?


Basically any broad information would be nice, maybe comments on end-game, solo vs. group play, the community (try to stay unbiased if possible, I know you guys ARE the community), and general frustrations that are common so that I can make an educated guess of whether or not the game is for me before I purchase it.

I know it's broad: any input, opinions, or information will be appreciated!

Thanks!

Jamie

Great post, thanks for the info. I'm still debating. I'm a huge fan of FF but it just seems so broken. I guess it can't hurt too bad to try out EQ2 and if I don't like it after a couple months I can try out FFXIV then.

Any crucial things I should know before starting? I know someone said save some sorts of turn-ins for the alternate something-or-other points? I'm sure I can figure that one out once I'm in-game, but anything else like that I could royally ***** up at a low level? :)

Just daunting joining a game you know nothing about with no one you know in it! I'll manage though, hehe. Thanks for the input I'll probably jump in this week. I'll let ya know what I think!

Edited, Oct 18th 2010 8:50pm by RivenKito

Dyadem covered it pretty well, but at level 10 you can start getting Alternate Advancement (AA) points. These will allow you to choose different abilities (passive or activated) that can benefit your character in a multitude of ways. Quests that are level 10 or higher and all collections will give you experience for AAs, as well as certain named NPCs (they'll have a star next to their name). Likely the turn-ins you were told to save were for collections. :)

Here's a really nice user-submitted guide on Alternate Advancements: http://eq2.zam.com/wiki/Alternate_Advancements_%28EQ2%29

Really just dive in and have fun, try out different classes and see what you like. :) There's not really anything you can "royally ***** up" as you can always just make a new character or reset traits/abilities you've chosen if you decide you picked something you don't like for your class.

Frostfang Sea (for New Halas citizens--good alignment) and Darklight Wood (for Neriak citizens--evil alignment) are the two best newbie areas in my personal opinion, so depending on which way you pick I highly suggest one of those.

And right now we have cookies! Halloween (Nights of the Dead) cookies!