Well, good writing OP but you should also mention that there are a lot really retarded quests. Since there are loads you don't have to do them but some are really dumb like those books where the whole bloody forest eaten the pager and you have to kill like 100 animals to get the pages...
There are a lot of stupid grindy quests, there are also a lot of really good ones so I use to skip anything that is boring.
I'd come back to EQ2, but I'm afraid of the cash shop garbage they just released, without telling anyone about it. That's not something you spring on your audience, you know? I spend a few months working towards X sword, X Boots and X armor, to see someone buy them later. After already paying for the game, expansions and subscription... I'd be pissed. I know currently it's just fluff items, but that's just it... it always starts out that way.
What scares me deeply is that in my experience over the past decade of playing these games is that companies don't start offering that stuff unless they're in trouble.
I love SOE as a company for saving so many MMO's from the scrap heap and offering them all together for cheap, but the item mall thing in a P2P game really makes me enraged.
I've tried to get into EQ2 3 or 4 times now. What kills it for me is the small zones (not sure if this changes in the later part of the game) and the craptastic armor. All the armor looks the same -- robes with the legs ripped out, etc. Those 2 things kill it for me.
I pretty much agree with the OP. EQII is a good solid game. I currently am a LoTRO fan but have played EQII since it was in beta. I enjoyed it for years but my old guild has all went on to other games so it does not have the same luster for me that it used to. Anyway for those looking for a good well developed PvE game I agree that EQII fills the bill.
So I have dabbled, even bothered to rave about this game. I wrote the features thread stickied here. I think Everquest II is in the best place it's ever been. The game is mature, the community is brilliant. The numbers are pretty good compared to any other MMO except WoW. There is allot to love here. What are EQ2's strengths? The community, it's number one asset. It's a great community and full of awesome people. The feeling is that people want to play how they want to play. They try and help you and guilds are willing to step in and take new members. It's easy to get along with most people. The graphics, still after 4 years the game looks good. The engine is getting more and more tweaks to allow dual-core proc, graphics card usage, etc. The game handles better then ever before. Some people say WoW or LoTRO is better graphics. But I would say, if your into unique avatars and realistic graphics, then EQ2 is the very best. Vanguard has more color and variety, but EQ2 with all settings on is a beautiful game. The gameplay. EQ2 isn't doing anything revolutionary, but it's got the core stuff done solid. Quests are good, and some are amazing. Combat is visceral and kenetic. The animations are awesome and the tools for groups, looting, etc...very very good. The thing is, EQ2 has focused their game experience on three areas: 1) soloers: these players can find solo grounds everywhere in open land areas. Soloing is rewarding and can be done completely by questing or just grinding mobs or both. Soloing from 1-cap is possible with all classes. 2) 6 man groups: This type of play is generally focused in dungeons. This is your typical EQ1 experience where you crawl through a dungeon and find phat lootz. Since each archtype can preform his/her job equally well, you don't need a specific class in that archtype to fill a role in the group. 3) Raids: There are various levels of raids, and brilliantly you can know exactly what you need in terms of numbers by seeing the /con information of the mob. Raids go from 2x groups to 4x groups. Raids can be instanced or in real time zones. Raids can be pickup or guild based, but no matter what EQ2 has your classic raids down pat. Everquest 2 does have some unique things most people never know about or care about.
Pig Racing (in the Fallen Dynasty Adventure Pack) Slot machine type gambling (Gigglegibber) PVP Arena (become a monster and play CTF or FFA or play as your avatar in level based combat) Legends of Norrath Collectible Card Game in your game client (play a very complexed card game) Player Housing (LOADS to collect and do with these) World quests, holidays, etc.
Everquest 2 has loads to do, but if you think WoW or LoTRO is going to give you better, I suggest trying this game. It has everything they have except maybe flying mounts and PVP on PVE servers.
Agreed. Been back for about 3 weeks now, and I'm enjoying it. And we all know I rarely enjoy much.
Agreed. Been back for about 3 weeks now, and I'm enjoying it. And we all know I rarely enjoy much.
What server you on mate?
Antonia Bayle. Have a kerran bruiser named Diuj, a dwarf berserker named Garaf, and a dark elf shadowknight named Sochia. The bruiser is more or less my main, but I just started playing the SK yesterday.
I've always felt that EQ2 graphics were ok at best. I also think the Art and and Gear design is very uninspiring, your characters doesn't have that epic feeling like in some other MMO's. And the character design I really don't like. I would much rather have the Vanguard character design then what EQ2 has now, along with the art and gear design.
I pretty much feel the same way....I was never blown away by the graphics at all and I never liked how any of my characters looked in the world.......This was the only game where my characters felt like a bunch of pixels and blocks rather than a being.......The community in EQ2 was Ok but nowhere near as good as EQ1......It just felt to me like EQ2 felt short of EQ1 in every way........I felt the biggest problem with EQ2 was that it was too DPS heavy....What I mean by that is that there was too much mephasis on DPS and not on anything else...Yeah you needed healers and tanks but the game mechanics were just lame compared to EQ1.......Most monsters we fought in groups died in less than 10 seconds...I could barely land a second nuke before the mobs were dead.......Then someone would always say "hey such and such only ranks 5th on the parser they arent doing a good job we better get rid of them'.........Also I didnt like that they took away so much of the skill that made EQ1 so great......The art of pulling was completely gone in EQ2 and crowd control pretty much was also.......As an enchie in EQ1 I had to lock down several monsters at times and it was thrilling....in EQ2 I never had to do anything but DPS and spot heal (Fury main) and I never saw the CCers do much of anything to lock down mobs.........In my guild anywa al lthe adds were pretty much offtanked and there was little CC.
The biggest difference between EQ2 and WoW is the severe downtime in EQ2, im not talking about combat downtime but gameplay downtime for nameds or quests. You go to a dungeon and there will be a lvl 80 running around killing everything you need for a quest, certain mobs have 3-5 hour spawn times and I just finished attempting a dungeon that has a 12 hour ---unconditional--- lockout, this is a lvl 20 area that Im now locked out of from killing the first piece of trash. Its very very easy to get a sour taste in your mouth in EQ2 whereas with WoW you can do 1-70 in a matter of days and you'll struggle to get stuck longer than waiting for the boat, even that is much longer in EQ2. There's a lot of variety in EQ2 but if you attempt anything other then straight lvling (adventure packs, HQs) then you can throw 90 minutes per level out of the window.
-- Note: PlayNC will refuse to allow you access to your account if you forget your password and can't provide a scanned image of the product key for the first product you purchased..... LOL
<rant> The biggest difference between EQ2 and WoW is the severe downtime in EQ2, im not talking about combat downtime but gameplay downtime for nameds or quests. You go to a dungeon and there will be a lvl 80 running around killing everything you need for a quest, certain mobs have 3-5 hour spawn times and I just finished attempting a dungeon that has a 12 hour ---unconditional--- lockout, this is a lvl 20 area that Im now locked out of from killing the first piece of trash. Its very very easy to get a sour taste in your mouth in EQ2 whereas with WoW you can do 1-70 in a matter of days and you'll struggle to get stuck longer than waiting for the boat, even that is much longer in EQ2. There's a lot of variety in EQ2 but if you attempt anything other then straight lvling (adventure packs, HQs) then you can throw 90 minutes per level out of the window.
Hmm, I've never had this experience... Aren't most instances that have lockouts private group only instances?? In any event I've never had the issues you describe in EQ2. Any quest mobs I've had to kill are on like a 15-30 minute respawn timer or even less. I don't think there are any 3-5 hour quest mobs spawns?? There are some triggered spawns where you gotta kill stuff to get the named to spawn.
I prefer eq2s approach to wow. In wow it is all solo and if you do group there is always someone with a high lvl buddy that runs you through the instance. VERY rarely do you ever do an instance on wow with a full level appropriate group. Although maybe part of the issue is that there are very few low level people to group with.
Wow lvl 1-70 in a matter of days is not as simple as it sounds. I tried to get my 60 to 70 and got burned out doing the quests in the outlands. Move of the same runing around and endless mindless questing solo. I think I got to 63 before I canceled wow again... Now that they cap is 80 I might go give it another whirl, but I'm focused on eq2 for awhile. I'm kinda thinking of giving wow another run in a few months but then I might also head back into vanguard as they will be having a fair amount of new stuff as well.
One of the thing I love about EQ2 is that people can mentor with you when you do content. So doing a dungeon is still fun even if it is lvl 25 and you got several lvl 80s. And with the way AAs are setup and mentor xp high lvls really benefit from mentoring lower level players.
Anyway it sounds like you ran into some bad experience. All games got them somewhere.
I love this game. I play both solo and in small groups in tough sections where it's way more fun and adventagous to be in a four to six person party and there are players available nearby. I like all the things you can busy yourself with. Quests, Collections, Harvesting and Crafting, Leveling (grinding), decorating your house, etc...
I am def not of your jaded, angry, and often unrealistic group of players who want their MMO to peform pleasurable acts on them while at the keyboard. I like games, for one, and a lot of MMO players hate games and even themselves on some level. For me, EQ2 is awesome. I think the problem with a lot of MMO players is that they have no life at all outside of their computer room, and play these games 12 hrs a day expecting it to be great in every aspect, and have a truly unlimited amount to do. No matter how vast a game, a 12-hr/day habit cannot be satisfied.
So I have dabbled, even bothered to rave about this game. I wrote the features thread stickied here. I think Everquest II is in the best place it's ever been. The game is mature, the community is brilliant. The numbers are pretty good compared to any other MMO except WoW. There is allot to love here. What are EQ2's strengths? The community, it's number one asset. It's a great community and full of awesome people. The feeling is that people want to play how they want to play. They try and help you and guilds are willing to step in and take new members. It's easy to get along with most people. The graphics, still after 4 years the game looks good. The engine is getting more and more tweaks to allow dual-core proc, graphics card usage, etc. The game handles better then ever before. Some people say WoW or LoTRO is better graphics. But I would say, if your into unique avatars and realistic graphics, then EQ2 is the very best. Vanguard has more color and variety, but EQ2 with all settings on is a beautiful game. The gameplay. EQ2 isn't doing anything revolutionary, but it's got the core stuff done solid. Quests are good, and some are amazing. Combat is visceral and kenetic. The animations are awesome and the tools for groups, looting, etc...very very good. The thing is, EQ2 has focused their game experience on three areas: 1) soloers: these players can find solo grounds everywhere in open land areas. Soloing is rewarding and can be done completely by questing or just grinding mobs or both. Soloing from 1-cap is possible with all classes. 2) 6 man groups: This type of play is generally focused in dungeons. This is your typical EQ1 experience where you crawl through a dungeon and find phat lootz. Since each archtype can preform his/her job equally well, you don't need a specific class in that archtype to fill a role in the group. 3) Raids: There are various levels of raids, and brilliantly you can know exactly what you need in terms of numbers by seeing the /con information of the mob. Raids go from 2x groups to 4x groups. Raids can be instanced or in real time zones. Raids can be pickup or guild based, but no matter what EQ2 has your classic raids down pat. Everquest 2 does have some unique things most people never know about or care about.
Pig Racing (in the Fallen Dynasty Adventure Pack) Slot machine type gambling (Gigglegibber) PVP Arena (become a monster and play CTF or FFA or play as your avatar in level based combat) Legends of Norrath Collectible Card Game in your game client (play a very complexed card game) Player Housing (LOADS to collect and do with these) World quests, holidays, etc.
Everquest 2 has loads to do, but if you think WoW or LoTRO is going to give you better, I suggest trying this game. It has everything they have except maybe flying mounts and PVP on PVE servers.
And also dont forget the new RMT shop where you get yer very own Smed Da Liar cap.. This beautifully crafted Jughhead Cap can be yours .. Be the 1st to have have one ,be the envy of yer friends... But hurry they are going fast .. bahh nevermind every has one now......
I hate it when people use the word "skill" in the context of a video game. There is no art or skill to playing an MMO. Ripping through "Crossroads" on a fender takes skill...cooking a 5 course meal that people are drooling to dive into takes skill...throwing a 40 yard TD pass takes skill...playing an MMO takes no skill at all. Any drooling idiot can play a video game. That doesn't make games bad, it just makes them what they are: entertaining diversion that is easy no matter what.
One of the thing I love about EQ2 is that people can mentor with you when you do content. So doing a dungeon is still fun even if it is lvl 25 and you got several lvl 80s. And with the way AAs are setup and mentor xp high lvls really benefit from mentoring lower level players. Anyway it sounds like you ran into some bad experience. All games got them somewhere.
I'm in a better mood today After harvesting enough plat to twink and mentoring 5 or 6 different groups of content I remember why I like the game. I tried to duo bloodskull valley, evaced by accident and got a 12 hour timer. This was after waiting 3 hours for bloodtalon lol
-- Note: PlayNC will refuse to allow you access to your account if you forget your password and can't provide a scanned image of the product key for the first product you purchased..... LOL
Been playing EQ2 for several years and being a hardcore raiding ranger i have been having lots of fun. Biggest selling point has to be the community is more mature and just overall more SKILLED at playing the game in general.
Comments
Well, good writing OP but you should also mention that there are a lot really retarded quests. Since there are loads you don't have to do them but some are really dumb like those books where the whole bloody forest eaten the pager and you have to kill like 100 animals to get the pages...
There are a lot of stupid grindy quests, there are also a lot of really good ones so I use to skip anything that is boring.
I'd come back to EQ2, but I'm afraid of the cash shop garbage they just released, without telling anyone about it. That's not something you spring on your audience, you know? I spend a few months working towards X sword, X Boots and X armor, to see someone buy them later. After already paying for the game, expansions and subscription... I'd be pissed. I know currently it's just fluff items, but that's just it... it always starts out that way.
What scares me deeply is that in my experience over the past decade of playing these games is that companies don't start offering that stuff unless they're in trouble.
I love SOE as a company for saving so many MMO's from the scrap heap and offering them all together for cheap, but the item mall thing in a P2P game really makes me enraged.
I've tried to get into EQ2 3 or 4 times now. What kills it for me is the small zones (not sure if this changes in the later part of the game) and the craptastic armor. All the armor looks the same -- robes with the legs ripped out, etc. Those 2 things kill it for me.
I pretty much agree with the OP. EQII is a good solid game. I currently am a LoTRO fan but have played EQII since it was in beta. I enjoyed it for years but my old guild has all went on to other games so it does not have the same luster for me that it used to. Anyway for those looking for a good well developed PvE game I agree that EQII fills the bill.
I miss DAoC
Agreed. Been back for about 3 weeks now, and I'm enjoying it. And we all know I rarely enjoy much.
What server you on mate?
What server you on mate?
Antonia Bayle. Have a kerran bruiser named Diuj, a dwarf berserker named Garaf, and a dark elf shadowknight named Sochia. The bruiser is more or less my main, but I just started playing the SK yesterday.
I pretty much feel the same way....I was never blown away by the graphics at all and I never liked how any of my characters looked in the world.......This was the only game where my characters felt like a bunch of pixels and blocks rather than a being.......The community in EQ2 was Ok but nowhere near as good as EQ1......It just felt to me like EQ2 felt short of EQ1 in every way........I felt the biggest problem with EQ2 was that it was too DPS heavy....What I mean by that is that there was too much mephasis on DPS and not on anything else...Yeah you needed healers and tanks but the game mechanics were just lame compared to EQ1.......Most monsters we fought in groups died in less than 10 seconds...I could barely land a second nuke before the mobs were dead.......Then someone would always say "hey such and such only ranks 5th on the parser they arent doing a good job we better get rid of them'.........Also I didnt like that they took away so much of the skill that made EQ1 so great......The art of pulling was completely gone in EQ2 and crowd control pretty much was also.......As an enchie in EQ1 I had to lock down several monsters at times and it was thrilling....in EQ2 I never had to do anything but DPS and spot heal (Fury main) and I never saw the CCers do much of anything to lock down mobs.........In my guild anywa al lthe adds were pretty much offtanked and there was little CC.
<rant>
The biggest difference between EQ2 and WoW is the severe downtime in EQ2, im not talking about combat downtime but gameplay downtime for nameds or quests. You go to a dungeon and there will be a lvl 80 running around killing everything you need for a quest, certain mobs have 3-5 hour spawn times and I just finished attempting a dungeon that has a 12 hour ---unconditional--- lockout, this is a lvl 20 area that Im now locked out of from killing the first piece of trash. Its very very easy to get a sour taste in your mouth in EQ2 whereas with WoW you can do 1-70 in a matter of days and you'll struggle to get stuck longer than waiting for the boat, even that is much longer in EQ2. There's a lot of variety in EQ2 but if you attempt anything other then straight lvling (adventure packs, HQs) then you can throw 90 minutes per level out of the window.
--
Note: PlayNC will refuse to allow you access to your account if you forget your password and can't provide a scanned image of the product key for the first product you purchased..... LOL
Hmm, I've never had this experience... Aren't most instances that have lockouts private group only instances?? In any event I've never had the issues you describe in EQ2. Any quest mobs I've had to kill are on like a 15-30 minute respawn timer or even less. I don't think there are any 3-5 hour quest mobs spawns?? There are some triggered spawns where you gotta kill stuff to get the named to spawn.
I prefer eq2s approach to wow. In wow it is all solo and if you do group there is always someone with a high lvl buddy that runs you through the instance. VERY rarely do you ever do an instance on wow with a full level appropriate group. Although maybe part of the issue is that there are very few low level people to group with.
Wow lvl 1-70 in a matter of days is not as simple as it sounds. I tried to get my 60 to 70 and got burned out doing the quests in the outlands. Move of the same runing around and endless mindless questing solo. I think I got to 63 before I canceled wow again... Now that they cap is 80 I might go give it another whirl, but I'm focused on eq2 for awhile. I'm kinda thinking of giving wow another run in a few months but then I might also head back into vanguard as they will be having a fair amount of new stuff as well.
One of the thing I love about EQ2 is that people can mentor with you when you do content. So doing a dungeon is still fun even if it is lvl 25 and you got several lvl 80s. And with the way AAs are setup and mentor xp high lvls really benefit from mentoring lower level players.
Anyway it sounds like you ran into some bad experience. All games got them somewhere.
---
Ethion
I love this game. I play both solo and in small groups in tough sections where it's way more fun and adventagous to be in a four to six person party and there are players available nearby. I like all the things you can busy yourself with. Quests, Collections, Harvesting and Crafting, Leveling (grinding), decorating your house, etc...
I am def not of your jaded, angry, and often unrealistic group of players who want their MMO to peform pleasurable acts on them while at the keyboard. I like games, for one, and a lot of MMO players hate games and even themselves on some level. For me, EQ2 is awesome. I think the problem with a lot of MMO players is that they have no life at all outside of their computer room, and play these games 12 hrs a day expecting it to be great in every aspect, and have a truly unlimited amount to do. No matter how vast a game, a 12-hr/day habit cannot be satisfied.
A/V Nerd-
Onkyo TX-SR706b receiver
(2)Klipsch RF-35
(1)Klipsch RC-35
(2)Klipsch RS-42
(2)Polk R15
(1)Premier Acoustic PA-10 sub
And also dont forget the new RMT shop where you get yer very own Smed Da Liar cap.. This beautifully crafted Jughhead Cap can be yours .. Be the 1st to have have one ,be the envy of yer friends... But hurry they are going fast .. bahh nevermind every has one now......
I hate it when people use the word "skill" in the context of a video game. There is no art or skill to playing an MMO. Ripping through "Crossroads" on a fender takes skill...cooking a 5 course meal that people are drooling to dive into takes skill...throwing a 40 yard TD pass takes skill...playing an MMO takes no skill at all. Any drooling idiot can play a video game. That doesn't make games bad, it just makes them what they are: entertaining diversion that is easy no matter what.
A/V Nerd-
Onkyo TX-SR706b receiver
(2)Klipsch RF-35
(1)Klipsch RC-35
(2)Klipsch RS-42
(2)Polk R15
(1)Premier Acoustic PA-10 sub
Would that be a Stratocaster or a Telecaster?
I'm in a better mood today
After harvesting enough plat to twink and mentoring 5 or 6 different groups of content I remember why I like the game. I tried to duo bloodskull valley, evaced by accident and got a 12 hour timer. This was after waiting 3 hours for bloodtalon lol
--
Note: PlayNC will refuse to allow you access to your account if you forget your password and can't provide a scanned image of the product key for the first product you purchased..... LOL
Been playing EQ2 for several years and being a hardcore raiding ranger i have been having lots of fun. Biggest selling point has to be the community is more mature and just overall more SKILLED at playing the game in general.