I need an exceptionaly large amount of opinions i am thinking about buying the game but im not sure about things i should know before i get it!!!!! keep in mind i came from asherons call
First off, it has been a very (and I do mean VERY) long time since I've played Asheron's Call. To give you an idea, people were still figuring out the spell formulae when I played.
So with that in mind, I'll say that EQ and Asheron's Call are two very different beasts. AC, at least when I played, had a much more casual atmosphere.
Also, I always preferred AC's death system over the system that EQ uses. That is to say, in EQ when your character dies your character will also lose a percentage of experience. If your character dies enough, or if your character dies immediately after leveling, then the toon's current level will be lost.
EQ is a huge time sink. The quests and item drop rates are specifically designed to eat up huge ammounts of time, and in the more extreme cases these camps requir days or weeks of camping to obtain an item. Be it either for a quest, or simply something that's considered "uber".
It's not all bad though. For all of the years of burn out with EQ that I have behind me, I also have some incredible memories. I love to bash it, but when you're new to the game it can be awfully exciting.
First off, as a newbie you will have it a lot easier today than back then. In the newbie levels your character will not lose experience and you won't even be forced to recover your items from your character's corpse. So the initial experience, at least, is a pretty laid-back one.
The newbie experience is a lot less "creative". You will be bashing large rats and beetles, skeletons, and zombies. That about sums up your life as a newb. Rats, rats, rats, beetles, skeletons... occasional zombie..
The world of EQ is, in my opinion, a lot more "cold" than the world of AC however. In AC you have amazing vistas that stretch on for long distances, that you can actually travel to, and some towns even have butterflies that flutter about.
On the other hand, in EQ, most of the world (at least the "old world" in which your character will start) is no where near as colorful and a lot of the world is obviously artificial. For instance, "hills" in the grass will go up into pyramid-shaped points instead of forming an actual hill. Water, too, in the old (aka "newbie") world looks more like some ooze that a science student spilled instead of actual water. There are no swirling dust devils (deserts surfaces in EQ always reminded me of glass) and I recall no falling leaves - but that may be just my memory.
Also remember that EQ has zones, and as I recall AC only made you "zone" when you portaled into dungeons or over large distances. There is no animation when you zone in EQ, only "LOADING... PLEASE WAIT...".
I also do not think that the color in EQ can match the color effects used in AC. I'll never forget the lightening bolt spell that I tossed at a drudge in AC and how the various colors lit up the room. It wasn't just some lame glitter-dust sparklies as you will see in EQ.
On the upside, you'll find dungeons in EQ that are a lot more interesting than you'll find in AC. Slippery ice paths, under water mazes, undead dungeons, and any number of things. EQ is the "content king".
EQ also has much more interesting races, if not a bit unimaginative. Frog people and cat people come to mind, but at least they look decent and they add that much more flair to the world. No more "all human" selection.
You'll also eventually (like, in a year, heh heh) get a horse or a lizard to ride around on - I would recommend the lizard so that you don't have the back of a horse's head in your face all the time (if that still happens?).
In all, EQ will probably seem a lot more "alive" to you. I suggest that you do NOT start in Qeynos, but, if you visit the city in EQ, hail a guard and ask him where you can buy food and he will lead you to the muffin shop.. I think that it was a muffin shop. At any rate, it's a place to buy food. Same with drink. I strongly suggest AGAINST Qeynos as your starting city simply because their entire newbie area absolutely blows. Start anywhere else. . . but visit for a quick look-see.
It's an entire different beast. Don't forget the time-sink that it will most definitely become, and the frustration that you most definitely will feel when you lose a level and/or have to trek into some place dangerous to loot your corpse.
Should you get it? I won't say that it's bad or good. That's up to you to decide. I will say that, despite how I like to bash it these days, it obviously has its good points.
I do +not+ personally believe that it is worth a long term investment as the upper levels become nothing more than a potlical bickering camp fest.
Were to wager a guess, I would say that it'd be enjoyable for the first 5 months. Regardless how it actually turns out for you, if you do indeed get EQ, do yourself a HUGE favor and do _not_ start to make excuses for the game. MMOG players seem to have a habbit of continuing to play after the game stops being fun, in hopes of the fun coming back "after the next drop", or "when I reach level x!". The fun does not come back. At that point, do yourself a favor and take a break from the game. Real life > EQ after all, all of your friends will understand.
As far as worrying about your characters goes: don't. Do feel free to take that break. I didn't play for over a year and I found that my characters, despite my cancelled account, were still all intact. They still are today.
One last note : AC will run on a system much less powerful than EQ requires. Make sure that you have a DirectX 9 compatible 3D card or EQ will not work for you.
Thanks for telling me that. I really do consider buying the game now. The way you talk about it does make it sound interesting. My cpu at!
1.4 GIGHRZ
512 MB (ram)
40 GIG HD
33,000 BPS CONNECTION
Geforce II (64) MB
Lag on asherons call Was very minimal. The time part of it might be tough but I will see how it all works out. I am 14 and time really isnt on my side for most of these games. But thanks for your reply
If your computer can support FF XI, it would prolly be better then EQ honestly...But EQ is not a bad choice in itself either.
Your computer might be able to run even some future game like WoW or EQ2(unsure for ram and graphic card there althought).
There are tons of reviews from many folks, including me. Feel free to ask direct questions, but I feel to much at a loss to answer such a general question.
Just answer 1 tiny question first: What motivate you in a MMORPG? (be honest, since if you lie just to seem nice to me, a person you will never meet again, it is a pure waste since it is not based on your interests) You want to do crafting? To adventure alone? To adventures with friends you already have? To adventure with a few persons? To be part of a massive army that destroy everything they encounter? To fight other players? I mean, depending on what you answer on those questions, the answers would be very differents.
- EQ is the best game out there for someone that want to be part of an army and crush everything after doing some time adventuring with a few persons, as long as you can invest a lot of time.
- On the other hand, with very limited time, if all you want is to run around and experience the game a little(not achieve anything beside leveling), it might be very great as well.
If you are somewhere in between the 2 possibilities above, I strongly suggest that you find another game.
- "Coercing? No no, I assure you, they are willing to bring my bags and pay public transportation just to help me, it is true!''
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
Well not sure if it's a good time to buy EQ because EQII beta is almost out and the game will come out probally this year or early next year. But since you ask about opinions on EQ I suggest YES because even though fighting is dull and boring due to game really old it is still really fun. Spells are pretty cool and there are tons of them.
There is TONS of zones in games and MILLIONS of items due to all the expansion so I suggest you to get the bundle packs for cheapness and all fun. Also grouping soloing our 2 choices you can do so you can do both if want to. Also you really need to go to those noobie servers where there are tons of people and no one can transfer character to that server.
Guild Raids on EQ are like the coolest things. Your guilds need to be smart and have a puller like a monk. Monks are best at pulling since they can feign death (fake death). Also this game has tons of skills, quests, weapons, items to go around for years and years of game play. My friend started playing this game like during 1998 or 1999 and he still plays today this year 2004. So if you manage to start out well and get a cool guild you'll get addictived to the game and it will probally be called EverCrack. So I suggest you to get the game and beta test EQII if possible .
Originally posted by carenza I need an exceptionaly large amount of opinions i am thinking about buying the game but im not sure about things i should know before i get it!!!!! keep in mind i came from asherons call
Carenza,
Welcome to EQ.
AC was my first ever "major" MMORPG I played. (I played Runescape for a few months before it.)
AC is a Skill Based game. Players have 100% control over what skills they pick. Theoretically every player can be different from all other players on the same server. AC also has a persistant world aka the monsters can chase you down through the towns, across montains, etc... there is almost no way to escape them. (Well there is.. like finding a portal and jumping into it, swimming across a deep river, or running inside a buiding inside a town.)
EQ is a Level Based game. Every single Paladin will end up the same as all other Paladins. Every single High Elf Druid will end up the same as all ofther High Elf Druids. There is very little to nothing for players to decide and pick for their characters. Reach level 10, every player has the exact same new items/spells they can use. Reach level 20 rinse repeate.
EQ also has many zones. There is no persistant world. If a monster chases you, you simply cross the zone border. Also be carefull entering new zones - a train of monsters can be waiting on the other side.
Death in AC and EQ sting the same. (Though recently EQ has been softening the sting of death.)
Two things that EQ has that no other MMORPG has (not even the newest ones) are:
1. The best, most advanced swimming feature! Swim to the bottom of the ocean. Explore a watery underworld! (Unfortunatly there are few to little underwater game content.)
2. The most incredible variety of Race selections! Tiny Gnomes all the way to Halflings to Huge Ogres and Trolls, and everything in between.
EQ is a fun game. But it is a different game than AC. I recommend you try EQ, just to check out one of the most well known MMORPGs ever made. Just to check out and live and experience a piece of MMORPG history.
AC definatly has a more friendlier, more tight knit, player community than EQ. But there are some nice and friendly players who still play EQ, even if they are in the minority. Just have to find and meet them. Don't take the "lewt d00d" players personally. Watch out for trains.
Starting out as a raw newbie in both AC and EQ is extreeeeemly hard. It's much easier if you make friends with nice players, and group together.
I recommend you make your first EQ character a Druid. Pick either Elf, High Elf, or Half Elf. Druids are the easiest, most newbie firendly profession. And Elves can visit the most areas without being killed on sight. And I recommend you hunt in open out door areas - it's easiest to watch for trains, trouble, and to run for the zone border. Outside Queynos, Freeport or any city at newbie levels. Later the planes of the Karanas (Eastern and Western Karanas). Then Desert of Roe, and the lands south of Freeport.
-> One of the most spectacular sightsin EQ is the Tree Elf city. (aka Lothlorien heheh.) No other MMORPG has such a sight! It is incredible thinking how it was made from a programers point of view! Tolkien fans will be in love!
Much later on try playing as a Ogre or Troll Shadowknight heheh. One of the most hardest races and professions to play. Just about every NPC will try to kill you every where you travel!
Unlike the guy who posted above, I do recommend you do start in Queynos. How good or bad the newbie zones are depends on the server you pick, not on where you start off at. LOL.
Queynos is nice to start at because it is surrounded by open outdoor hunting zones, good enough for level 1 - 30. You can later venture into the nearby Gnoll dungeon. And you can easily make the trip to the planes of western and eastern Karanas which are a few zones east of Queynos. The Karanas are one of the best "secret" hunting zones in the game. Monsters range from level 10 to 40. Since it is open area, it is very easy to run away and zone. Just keep an eye out on what is going on around you while fighting a monster. You can also run to the guard towers for limited protection. The guards will protect you if you are an Elf, Human, or a "good" race. (The guards might kill you instead if you are an Ogre, Troll, etc... a "bad" aka "evil" race.)
Freeport is an ok city. But it has less surrounding hunting zones for levels 1-30. There's the zone right outside the city, and the zones south of it. The dungeon that is a few zones west of Freeport is very hard. Monsters team up on you, and it is a maze. All the other starting cities have less surrounding areas that are newbie friendly vs Queynos.
I went from AC to EQ to try it out. 40 bucks less and 3 days later I was back on AC. EQ is nothing like AC, and by that I mean it's not nearly as good. The user interface for EQ is a lot more confusing, and the gameplay a lot less smooth. What do I mean by smooth? Well I don't really know how to describe it, but I can tell you now that if you enjoy AC, you will not enjoy EQ. Though I'm sure there can be exceptions I would STRONGLY recommend not buying it. Try it somewhere if you want to see what it's like, but don't waste your money.
Did I meantion the gameplay is a lot slower as well? RUN!!!!!!!!
_______________________________________________
"Getting it is easy. Filling it with illegal substances and sending accross the border is not." -Ignignokt
The reason that I do not suggest Qeynos as a starting city is because it is difficult to find critters to kill, and the area gets very boring.
My examples:
Karanas : Lots of creatures, this is true. However, like you said it is a very large, open area. Therefor you run around for long periods of time as you attempt to find the next creature to kill. SoE needs to make the Karanas into a low-level "Dread lands". That is to say; make plenty of wandering creatures!
Perhaps they have done that since I last left the game.
The other main area near Qeynos to mob-bash in is Blackburrow, the gnoll "dungeon". It is neat at first, and it is also a great place for a true newbie to make money. However, the setting becomes very dull after you have hunted there for several weeks. :}
So I suggest Freeport. The newbie areas have camps in which you can try to get groups, a large number of wandering creatures (but be careful of the griffens ), and there is also close-by High Hold Keep that will allow you to continue grouping, and in general getting used to the group issues of EQ. Some of those issues are not good, of course...
These are only my observations and my own recommendations. I hope that you do not take my post as a flame.
The rest of xplor's post I agree with fully. Although my favorite character to play was always a Dark Elf Necromancer, I strongly recommend that a new player starts out as a Elven Druid. The biggest reasons for that recommendation is that you are not Killed On Sight (kos) in the majority of areas and you eventually get teleportation spells. It's a very easy class to play and very newbie friendly.
.....just be careful to not train people when you are kiting. Then you may have a Necro come along and get you killed.
I'm just curious, in your opinion why do you think AC never caught on as well as EQ did? (Yes AC and EQ are both successful, but EQ made it to steller success.)
To be honest, I have no idea why EQ was so successful. Except for maybe the fact it came out before AC, or at least I think it did (anybody know otherwise?) But ya, I really don't know... I tried it and it sucked sooo bad to me and to everybody I know who's ever played AC. Even some who played EQ then came to AC that I talked to said it sucked. So theres my answer, no clue.
_______________________________________________
"Getting it is easy. Filling it with illegal substances and sending accross the border is not." -Ignignokt
AC1 was my first mmorpg and I really enjoyed it for a few months but then it started to get boring imo. I tried EQ after that and wow! AC is fun but EQ is sooooooo much better they cant really be compared.
There is a lot more variety in races and classes in EQ. I found the skill system in AC to be neat but really not that diverse. Any 2 classes in EQ are far different from one another and game play style then anyone will be based on their skills in AC.
The EQ world is far more varied and built with a purpose. I liked the wide open views of AC but the content in EQ was much more solid with more wild landscapes like volcanos with lava, jungles, deserts, Oceans with islands, burning forests, castles, you name it.
For every one spell in AC there are about 30 in EQ, the same goes for monsters and pieces of equipment.
I would even have to say graphically EQ is far better then AC even though it is a bit older.
The thing with EQ is that you really have to give it a week or so before you will know if your going to like it or not. The interface and camera controls are very different but after you get used to them the controls are very crisp and there is none of that annoying rubberbanding from lag that you get in AC.
The two games are very very different from one another though and your individual tastes will determine which you really like.
I have been playing EQ for about 4 years now. I must say that when I first started it was fairly tough. I did not know anyone who played the game so I had few references of information regarding it.
Although due to some extreme declines in the quality of the game over the years. I do not actively play any longer. I only keep a professional trader toon in bazaar to make plat for a few of those I now know who still play.
If you do choose to take up playing EQ at this time I would suggest going to many websites regarding the game and making a few friends. It may make being a newbie a little less frustrating if you have someone who has been through it all before to give you advice when needed and such. And it never hurts to have a few good friends around when the chips are down.
I will defnintly not try to argue that AC has more diversity than EQ, because EQ has a lot more classes and races and such. But I think EQ lacks to much in it's interface, controlling of characters, and just slower gameplay. But it's all about what you enjoy. I'm an avid FPS player, so I probably crave a little faster action than many other MMORPG players.
_______________________________________________
"Getting it is easy. Filling it with illegal substances and sending accross the border is not." -Ignignokt
Comments
First off, it has been a very (and I do mean VERY) long time since I've played Asheron's Call. To give you an idea, people were still figuring out the spell formulae when I played.
So with that in mind, I'll say that EQ and Asheron's Call are two very different beasts. AC, at least when I played, had a much more casual atmosphere.
Also, I always preferred AC's death system over the system that EQ uses. That is to say, in EQ when your character dies your character will also lose a percentage of experience. If your character dies enough, or if your character dies immediately after leveling, then the toon's current level will be lost.
EQ is a huge time sink. The quests and item drop rates are specifically designed to eat up huge ammounts of time, and in the more extreme cases these camps requir days or weeks of camping to obtain an item. Be it either for a quest, or simply something that's considered "uber".
It's not all bad though. For all of the years of burn out with EQ that I have behind me, I also have some incredible memories. I love to bash it, but when you're new to the game it can be awfully exciting.
First off, as a newbie you will have it a lot easier today than back then. In the newbie levels your character will not lose experience and you won't even be forced to recover your items from your character's corpse. So the initial experience, at least, is a pretty laid-back one.
The newbie experience is a lot less "creative". You will be bashing large rats and beetles, skeletons, and zombies. That about sums up your life as a newb. Rats, rats, rats, beetles, skeletons... occasional zombie..
The world of EQ is, in my opinion, a lot more "cold" than the world of AC however. In AC you have amazing vistas that stretch on for long distances, that you can actually travel to, and some towns even have butterflies that flutter about.
On the other hand, in EQ, most of the world (at least the "old world" in which your character will start) is no where near as colorful and a lot of the world is obviously artificial. For instance, "hills" in the grass will go up into pyramid-shaped points instead of forming an actual hill. Water, too, in the old (aka "newbie") world looks more like some ooze that a science student spilled instead of actual water. There are no swirling dust devils (deserts surfaces in EQ always reminded me of glass) and I recall no falling leaves - but that may be just my memory.
Also remember that EQ has zones, and as I recall AC only made you "zone" when you portaled into dungeons or over large distances. There is no animation when you zone in EQ, only "LOADING... PLEASE WAIT...".
I also do not think that the color in EQ can match the color effects used in AC. I'll never forget the lightening bolt spell that I tossed at a drudge in AC and how the various colors lit up the room. It wasn't just some lame glitter-dust sparklies as you will see in EQ.
On the upside, you'll find dungeons in EQ that are a lot more interesting than you'll find in AC. Slippery ice paths, under water mazes, undead dungeons, and any number of things. EQ is the "content king".
EQ also has much more interesting races, if not a bit unimaginative. Frog people and cat people come to mind, but at least they look decent and they add that much more flair to the world. No more "all human" selection.
You'll also eventually (like, in a year, heh heh) get a horse or a lizard to ride around on - I would recommend the lizard so that you don't have the back of a horse's head in your face all the time (if that still happens?).
In all, EQ will probably seem a lot more "alive" to you. I suggest that you do NOT start in Qeynos, but, if you visit the city in EQ, hail a guard and ask him where you can buy food and he will lead you to the muffin shop.. I think that it was a muffin shop. At any rate, it's a place to buy food. Same with drink. I strongly suggest AGAINST Qeynos as your starting city simply because their entire newbie area absolutely blows. Start anywhere else. . . but visit for a quick look-see.
It's an entire different beast. Don't forget the time-sink that it will most definitely become, and the frustration that you most definitely will feel when you lose a level and/or have to trek into some place dangerous to loot your corpse.
Should you get it? I won't say that it's bad or good. That's up to you to decide. I will say that, despite how I like to bash it these days, it obviously has its good points.
I do +not+ personally believe that it is worth a long term investment as the upper levels become nothing more than a potlical bickering camp fest.
Were to wager a guess, I would say that it'd be enjoyable for the first 5 months. Regardless how it actually turns out for you, if you do indeed get EQ, do yourself a HUGE favor and do _not_ start to make excuses for the game. MMOG players seem to have a habbit of continuing to play after the game stops being fun, in hopes of the fun coming back "after the next drop", or "when I reach level x!". The fun does not come back. At that point, do yourself a favor and take a break from the game. Real life > EQ after all, all of your friends will understand.
As far as worrying about your characters goes: don't. Do feel free to take that break. I didn't play for over a year and I found that my characters, despite my cancelled account, were still all intact. They still are today.
One last note : AC will run on a system much less powerful than EQ requires. Make sure that you have a DirectX 9 compatible 3D card or EQ will not work for you.
-Mysk
Edit: minor grammar tweak
http://www.himysk.com/blog
Thanks for telling me that. I really do consider buying the game now. The way you talk about it does make it sound interesting. My cpu at!
1.4 GIGHRZ
512 MB (ram)
40 GIG HD
33,000 BPS CONNECTION
Geforce II (64) MB
Lag on asherons call Was very minimal. The time part of it might be tough but I will see how it all works out. I am 14 and time really isnt on my side for most of these games. But thanks for your reply
If your computer can support FF XI, it would prolly be better then EQ honestly...But EQ is not a bad choice in itself either.
Your computer might be able to run even some future game like WoW or EQ2(unsure for ram and graphic card there althought).
There are tons of reviews from many folks, including me. Feel free to ask direct questions, but I feel to much at a loss to answer such a general question.
Just answer 1 tiny question first: What motivate you in a MMORPG? (be honest, since if you lie just to seem nice to me, a person you will never meet again, it is a pure waste since it is not based on your interests) You want to do crafting? To adventure alone? To adventures with friends you already have? To adventure with a few persons? To be part of a massive army that destroy everything they encounter? To fight other players? I mean, depending on what you answer on those questions, the answers would be very differents.
- EQ is the best game out there for someone that want to be part of an army and crush everything after doing some time adventuring with a few persons, as long as you can invest a lot of time.
- On the other hand, with very limited time, if all you want is to run around and experience the game a little(not achieve anything beside leveling), it might be very great as well.
If you are somewhere in between the 2 possibilities above, I strongly suggest that you find another game.
- "Coercing? No no, I assure you, they are willing to bring my bags and pay public transportation just to help me, it is true!''
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
Well not sure if it's a good time to buy EQ because EQII beta is almost out and the game will come out probally this year or early next year. But since you ask about opinions on EQ I suggest YES because even though fighting is dull and boring due to game really old it is still really fun. Spells are pretty cool and there are tons of them.
There is TONS of zones in games and MILLIONS of items due to all the expansion so I suggest you to get the bundle packs for cheapness and all fun. Also grouping soloing our 2 choices you can do so you can do both if want to. Also you really need to go to those noobie servers where there are tons of people and no one can transfer character to that server.
Guild Raids on EQ are like the coolest things. Your guilds need to be smart and have a puller like a monk. Monks are best at pulling since they can feign death (fake death). Also this game has tons of skills, quests, weapons, items to go around for years and years of game play. My friend started playing this game like during 1998 or 1999 and he still plays today this year 2004. So if you manage to start out well and get a cool guild you'll get addictived to the game and it will probally be called EverCrack. So I suggest you to get the game and beta test EQII if possible
.
.99999999999~=1?
I want to cast magic missle.
http://www.flashplayer.com/animation/8bitdnd.html
http://www.narutofan.com go there for Naruto episodes!!
Carenza,
Welcome to EQ.
AC was my first ever "major" MMORPG I played. (I played Runescape for a few months before it.)
AC is a Skill Based game. Players have 100% control over what skills they pick. Theoretically every player can be different from all other players on the same server. AC also has a persistant world aka the monsters can chase you down through the towns, across montains, etc... there is almost no way to escape them. (Well there is.. like finding a portal and jumping into it, swimming across a deep river, or running inside a buiding inside a town.)
EQ is a Level Based game. Every single Paladin will end up the same as all other Paladins. Every single High Elf Druid will end up the same as all ofther High Elf Druids. There is very little to nothing for players to decide and pick for their characters. Reach level 10, every player has the exact same new items/spells they can use. Reach level 20 rinse repeate.
EQ also has many zones. There is no persistant world. If a monster chases you, you simply cross the zone border. Also be carefull entering new zones - a train of monsters can be waiting on the other side.
Death in AC and EQ sting the same. (Though recently EQ has been softening the sting of death.)
Two things that EQ has that no other MMORPG has (not even the newest ones) are:
1. The best, most advanced swimming feature! Swim to the bottom of the ocean. Explore a watery underworld! (Unfortunatly there are few to little underwater game content.)
2. The most incredible variety of Race selections! Tiny Gnomes all the way to Halflings to Huge Ogres and Trolls, and everything in between.
EQ is a fun game. But it is a different game than AC. I recommend you try EQ, just to check out one of the most well known MMORPGs ever made. Just to check out and live and experience a piece of MMORPG history.
AC definatly has a more friendlier, more tight knit, player community than EQ. But there are some nice and friendly players who still play EQ, even if they are in the minority. Just have to find and meet them. Don't take the "lewt d00d" players personally. Watch out for trains.
Starting out as a raw newbie in both AC and EQ is extreeeeemly hard. It's much easier if you make friends with nice players, and group together.
I recommend you make your first EQ character a Druid. Pick either Elf, High Elf, or Half Elf. Druids are the easiest, most newbie firendly profession. And Elves can visit the most areas without being killed on sight. And I recommend you hunt in open out door areas - it's easiest to watch for trains, trouble, and to run for the zone border. Outside Queynos, Freeport or any city at newbie levels. Later the planes of the Karanas (Eastern and Western Karanas). Then Desert of Roe, and the lands south of Freeport.
-> One of the most spectacular sights in EQ is the Tree Elf city. (aka Lothlorien heheh.) No other MMORPG has such a sight! It is incredible thinking how it was made from a programers point of view! Tolkien fans will be in love!
Much later on try playing as a Ogre or Troll Shadowknight heheh. One of the most hardest races and professions to play. Just about every NPC will try to kill you every where you travel!
Unlike the guy who posted above, I do recommend you do start in Queynos. How good or bad the newbie zones are depends on the server you pick, not on where you start off at. LOL.
Queynos is nice to start at because it is surrounded by open outdoor hunting zones, good enough for level 1 - 30. You can later venture into the nearby Gnoll dungeon. And you can easily make the trip to the planes of western and eastern Karanas which are a few zones east of Queynos. The Karanas are one of the best "secret" hunting zones in the game. Monsters range from level 10 to 40. Since it is open area, it is very easy to run away and zone. Just keep an eye out on what is going on around you while fighting a monster. You can also run to the guard towers for limited protection. The guards will protect you if you are an Elf, Human, or a "good" race. (The guards might kill you instead if you are an Ogre, Troll, etc... a "bad" aka "evil" race.)
Freeport is an ok city. But it has less surrounding hunting zones for levels 1-30. There's the zone right outside the city, and the zones south of it. The dungeon that is a few zones west of Freeport is very hard. Monsters team up on you, and it is a maze. All the other starting cities have less surrounding areas that are newbie friendly vs Queynos.
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RUNN!!!! NOW DO IT GO DON"T BUY IT LEAVE!!!!
I went from AC to EQ to try it out. 40 bucks less and 3 days later I was back on AC. EQ is nothing like AC, and by that I mean it's not nearly as good. The user interface for EQ is a lot more confusing, and the gameplay a lot less smooth. What do I mean by smooth? Well I don't really know how to describe it, but I can tell you now that if you enjoy AC, you will not enjoy EQ. Though I'm sure there can be exceptions I would STRONGLY recommend not buying it. Try it somewhere if you want to see what it's like, but don't waste your money.
Did I meantion the gameplay is a lot slower as well? RUN!!!!!!!!
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"Getting it is easy. Filling it with illegal substances and sending accross the border is not."
-Ignignokt
---Playing---
Asheron's Call
Mcygee,
I'm just curious, in your opinion why do you think AC never caught on as well as EQ did?
(Yes AC and EQ are both successful, but EQ made it to steller success.)
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Good post xplor
The reason that I do not suggest Qeynos as a starting city is because it is difficult to find critters to kill, and the area gets very boring.
My examples:
Karanas : Lots of creatures, this is true. However, like you said it is a very large, open area. Therefor you run around for long periods of time as you attempt to find the next creature to kill. SoE needs to make the Karanas into a low-level "Dread lands". That is to say; make plenty of wandering creatures!
Perhaps they have done that since I last left the game.
The other main area near Qeynos to mob-bash in is Blackburrow, the gnoll "dungeon". It is neat at first, and it is also a great place for a true newbie to make money. However, the setting becomes very dull after you have hunted there for several weeks. :}
So I suggest Freeport. The newbie areas have camps in which you can try to get groups, a large number of wandering creatures (but be careful of the griffens
), and there is also close-by High Hold Keep that will allow you to continue grouping, and in general getting used to the group issues of EQ. Some of those issues are not good, of course...
These are only my observations and my own recommendations. I hope that you do not take my post as a flame.
The rest of xplor's post I agree with fully. Although my favorite character to play was always a Dark Elf Necromancer, I strongly recommend that a new player starts out as a Elven Druid. The biggest reasons for that recommendation is that you are not Killed On Sight (kos) in the majority of areas and you eventually get teleportation spells. It's a very easy class to play and very newbie friendly.
.....just be careful to not train people when you are kiting. Then you may have a Necro come along and get you killed.
Not that I ever done that.
~Mysk
http://www.himysk.com/blog
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"Getting it is easy. Filling it with illegal substances and sending accross the border is not."
-Ignignokt
---Playing---
Asheron's Call
I am warning you, do not persist with the obscene language Jutaro.
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Alex "Maximane" De Line
- MMORPG.COM Staff -
AC1 was my first mmorpg and I really enjoyed it for a few months but then it started to get boring imo. I tried EQ after that and wow! AC is fun but EQ is sooooooo much better they cant really be compared.
There is a lot more variety in races and classes in EQ. I found the skill system in AC to be neat but really not that diverse. Any 2 classes in EQ are far different from one another and game play style then anyone will be based on their skills in AC.
The EQ world is far more varied and built with a purpose. I liked the wide open views of AC but the content in EQ was much more solid with more wild landscapes like volcanos with lava, jungles, deserts, Oceans with islands, burning forests, castles, you name it.
For every one spell in AC there are about 30 in EQ, the same goes for monsters and pieces of equipment.
I would even have to say graphically EQ is far better then AC even though it is a bit older.
The thing with EQ is that you really have to give it a week or so before you will know if your going to like it or not. The interface and camera controls are very different but after you get used to them the controls are very crisp and there is none of that annoying rubberbanding from lag that you get in AC.
The two games are very very different from one another though and your individual tastes will determine which you really like.
I have been playing EQ for about 4 years now. I must say that when I first started it was fairly tough. I did not know anyone who played the game so I had few references of information regarding it.
Although due to some extreme declines in the quality of the game over the years. I do not actively play any longer. I only keep a professional trader toon in bazaar to make plat for a few of those I now know who still play.
If you do choose to take up playing EQ at this time I would suggest going to many websites regarding the game and making a few friends. It may make being a newbie a little less frustrating if you have someone who has been through it all before to give you advice when needed and such. And it never hurts to have a few good friends around when the chips are down.
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"Getting it is easy. Filling it with illegal substances and sending accross the border is not."
-Ignignokt
---Playing---
Asheron's Call