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EQ1 or EQ2 at this point? Or are they close to maintenance mode?
MightyUnclean
Member EpicPosts: 3,531
I kind of feel a pull to try EQ1 or EQ2. I have nostalgia for EQ1, and I've always wanted to give EQ2 a shot. Which do you guys think offers the best experience at this point, especially for someone who wants to group and socialize, at least at max level? Or are they both about to go on life support or be buried, you think?
Comments
I love Everquest 2,
In years past they did some nice revamps to the beginners areas. However be careful of servers. Like all classics their top heavy. Keep an eye out for new "Time Lock servers" where they start off fresh and add expansions every so many months..... these are where you can see new populations at the lower end.
I screwed up and stopped playing after 30 days, and fell behind. If you really like this game DON'T DO THAT..... Make sure you pay the sub, I think its the only way to play on the TLC server anyway. Besides you get all their games for free if you do.
It's my understanding, a new PvP/PvE server is to start soon, research as to when. I added a link below of this and many other changes below.
Timing of when to start is important !
Important tip,
In all the years I've been playing (on and off), I never realized how important "food and drink" is to you health and strength of your character. Possibly 50% or more. More so than any other game..... I suggest crafting cooking, also crafting is very fun, better than most games.
Unfortunately, I can't play do to seizure's. I can't play games for long anymore, or I would jump at the chance.
Again watch the YouTube link below.
Retail Everquest 1,
With all the expansions and updates, they never really fixed the "God awful UI".
It's almost as bad as P1999.... from my studies, but never actually played retail. You will spend as much time researching work arounds as much as playing.
This one is best left to the old nostalgia players. However, their is a great game behind the BAD PROGRAMMING if your ok with the huge time investment, if it's your thing.
To re-cap,
Try both, it's all free if you sub.
(3) EverQuest 2 2021 New TLE PvP Server Tarinax APRIL UPDATE - YouTube
They are both remarkable games although I might advice the TLE servers for both but P99 for EQ1 but in P99 forget the end game that is controlled by the top guilds.
EQ2 has a mountain of things to learn though. It is not easy to start but if you do your research and read stuff even as far back as 2012 you will be fine. You won't find that many current guides but the community is excellent. There are some helpful videos by Katlania and Eldergamer Girl for you to check out for some help on the various systems.
Just like to add...According to Nathan NAPALM, EQ2 is adding a lot of content, so they shouldn't be going anyplace for a long time, however I didn't research this myself.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
There isnt much they offer, forced grouping in a game that has no people isn't fun, so if you missed the launch of a progression server you won't get groups. Then even if you didn't miss it the server will be over loaded, and I won't get in. If you enjoy soloing 6 characters on 6 computers that might work for you. Which seems to be fun for some people.
Between EverQuest and 2, everything they offer was just done way better by other games. Swtor, wow, eso have better everything than EverQuest. It's not like say swg that has a better crafting system than all modern games. Or ultima online that has a item system that rivals Diablo 2, and the best housing system. EverQuests literally do not do anything better than the new mmorpgs.
Eq2 is def dead, I wouldn't recommend going there if you have no nostiliga for it. It's just a really baddly done mmo with a EverQuest skin. It's also the least populated. Project 1999 has the most socialization and tightest control on cheating and bots. Which I never had trouble grouping low to high . EverQuest live no one does anything together till the end game, and the economies are so far gone due to cheating, and botting with kronos being the cash currency that people use to buy everything. Last I played it was over 2 million plat for one. Which most I see just play to get kronos from the influx of starting players of a progression server. So kronos on a starting progression server start out at like 2 to 4k plat. So you can see how inflated a live server is with over 2 million for one.
If the rat race, and hamster wheel of going through EverQuest with playing on 6 computers, competing with bots and cheaters to get to end game to have it die and restart again next year sounds fun eq 1 progression is what you want.
If bad graphics, laggy servers, bots, and a quest grind of boring quests with linear progression to get items with numbers to big to fit on the screen than eq2. Eq2 will be the first of those games that will shut down. Eq will be the next, and I doubt project 1999 will ever shut down.
If you just want to hop in randomly group up with people and just remember the days of that, project 1999 is better. The end game gets a bit toxic due to no instances .
If you take the nostiliga glasses off which I use to have it bad for eq. Both games are terribly aged games with boring classes, no character customization what so ever, static items, even more boring and static game play, game play so simple a bot can do it . With nothing to do but try and get items that every one else has, to have them deleted and start again.
I know a couple in real life just joined our guild and they are locking their experience and going zone by zone completing quests. I enjoy doing this too and I love the classes a lot. The Monk and Beastlord look and feel great and there is much to learn about the classes. Same with the Defiler I am playing I wanted one character on Qeynos and my defiler is on the Freeport side. This way I get to experience the game from scratch from both sides.
It is definitely worth playing if you're wiling to solo in EQ2. Otherwise try the TLE server.
I was reflecting on this topic while I was playing Everquest 2 yesterday.
Granted it is pretty dead if you want to group with anyone at low levels but I am going back and doing the older quests and dungeons and having fun believe it or not. Of course you must have a love for quest completion like I do. It also helps that Everquest 2 can completely stop the level mechanic. You can freeze your level at a certain point and do all the content and not outlevel it this way in an area.
Yesterday I decided to tackle two quests in Crushbone Keep and I have a mercenary who is a Warden. The quests were to track down the pages of some history text this orc has been collecting in secret. Apparently the upper echelons aren't too pleased with him and have relegated him to a little corner of this dungeon. Mobs are heroic in here and I tackled them from blue to yellow. Mind you some are linked and 4 heroics wailing on you is a death sentence without the mercenary.
The other quest is the release of dead elves that the orcs have risen to serve them. These are group quests but between the warden mercenary and the warder pet ( I am a Beastlord) I took about close to 3 hours to complete one quest and part of the history one. All that remains is the throne room but the mobs were turning orange and heroic orange is way too hard for me even the yellow were touch and go. The colours mean blue is below your level but green is much lower and considered an easy kill, grey does not give you any challenge at all and loot either. White is your level even con and yellow above your level. The heroic mobs are 3 ^^^ meaning they are hard mobs and almost all the mobs in the dungeon were heroic or harder and some come with the ^^^ and * and the latter is intended for a group.
I went very slowly because if I used anything but a body pull I could get 6-8 mobs on me and I only can manage at most 4 heroic blues at a time. You have to be very patient to play like this but I really enjoyed the challenge although I used my scout base class Escape ability to get out when I managed to pull like 7 blue mobs and the second time when an orange heroic joined a yellow heroic I was killing my hp started to tank alarmingly and I hit escape. The way you body pull is also important because if you get too close you still risk pulling too many so by trial and error I managed to get it down.
I am in a guild but the last time I mentioned doing the Heritage quest where you get the Dwarven ringmail plans for a dwarf in Kelethin, a guild member just came and slaughtered the mobs to my dismay as I had wanted to complete it on my own when I could handle it and him killing them like that really just completely cheapened the Heritage quest completion. He was just trying to help and he was actually so puzzled why I am still taking so long to level because I am stuck at the lower levels and not getting to play and raid at 110-120 the top tier in the game right now. Oddly enough two other people joined just a few nights back doing the same thing I am and just locking their levels and playing to just enjoy the old quests and areas.
See what this whole wall of text is trying to convey is that levelling in itself is not a bad mechanic especially when you can control it as you can do in Everquest 2 because it allows you and your group to go at your pace and one you can tailor to suit you. There is also mentoring down to enable a high level to join in questing too.
More's the pity that the game has such a small population and it is quite desolate in the lower levels and grouping is non existent. So far though I am still enjoying the game although I am soloing through the content but between the entertaining quests and reading the interesting lore I am hooked for now.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
Oh I give them full credit...if you can get people to pay for the same thing over and over again by just simply opening up a new server, then more power to them.
Things are not cheap. For instance you can upgrade you spells and combat arts to the best version but it will take ages if you do not speed it up using the DB coins. This is something every raider will do. Who is going to wait one month and definitely not the guild cooling their heels while your timer runs.
Then they introduced this thing called Overseer Quests that reward you with infusions that make your gear powerful and a lot of harvests, gear and recipes if you run the quests daily. The thing is to increase the bonus you have to send your mercenary along together with your familiar in these quests. The mishap that can befall your agents reduce with the type of familiar you send. Best familiars come out of the lootbox and are random and you buy those with coins.
To send your mercenary on these quests to increase the bonus loot you have to unlock their hire anywhere ability and think about it since it like 140 DB roughly for one merc and if you have several they add up and they give subbers 500 DB a month which wont even cover 4 mercs. More alts more mercs.
So yeah the EQ2 players are spending beyond the subscription they already pay.
If I wasnt gonna be playing swg restoration, I would def try that new server though. It sounds interesting to have loot randomized, and can all be traded. I always thought eq static look was rather stupid and boring my self, and always lead to bots farming the same things with average players not being able to get anything. The random loot, and everything tradeable definitely changes things for the better. Though I doubt I would stay most of eq community is just bots, cheaters, and anti social people who think eq should be soloable while playing 6 to 50 characters at once with bots. With eq devs already showing with their last server they are incapable of enforcing no cheating, rmt, and bot armies.
Honestly though I have had loads of fun revisiting Vanguard: Saga of Heroes.. sure its like alpha phase but for the most part almost all of the content up to level 20-30 may be found... well besides the crafting part, they have not added all of the quests and such yet... but I have crafted a few characters to tenth level and decked out tons of toons with low level gear... ^ ^
I believe they have a couple classes that are almost done up to level 30.. and all of the quests/starter areas are up... well all of them but the dark elves and gnomes last I had checked but they seem to be working on adding more to the game almost daily. Its not that hard to find people to play with either. I have been crafting six players to the 2nd tier and decked out every character slot to try out every class and revisit most nostalgia! Its been loads of fun revisiting this game. I must say that its quite a bit of content to simply level 15 characters to level 20...
Of course, outside of having mounts and something that flies, I would not recommend using any items that you have not obtained off of mobs or have crafted yourself... as the auction has very powerful items that are free that may make you godlike... where is the fun in that though?
So far I have revisited maybe 5 of the dungeons that I remember really loving back when the game was released... the experience wasn't quite as good as the release but it comes pretty close.
As far as EQ2 vs EQ1 goes... I've played both and would say that EQ1 is likely a better game overall although I do like the crafting that is a bit more in EQ2..
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