Well, I have to say that all this is rather entertaining.
I never played WoW. I did play EQ, EQII, Ashrons Call, Shadowbane, Dungeons and Dragons Online, World War II Online, Eve Online, Pirates of the Burning Sea and a few other games here and there. I even played EQ and AC at the same time. I liked them both but for different reasons.
I preferred to play on the PvP servers. The simple reason is this; when things got boring, and they always did, I could rely on the Pvp aspect to keep things alive.
There has been a lot of talk about the woes of what caused EQ to fail. I can say that they are all rather true. EQ failed because the game changed so much from what it originally was that it was no longer the same game after a few years from its release. The game suffered from too many expansions that did not add any serious content to the game but merely mucked up the game with adding more loot that over balanced the game. After the 3rd expansion came out, people could come back to the "old world" and dominate with their new gear. That is why the game "got" easy. In the beginning, it was not so easy. I started playing the day the Valllon Zek server came online. The game was not easy back then.
EQ has always suffered from "balance" issues. The game was made for the sole purpose to have players group. Soloing was not in the agenda. Only a few classes could solo very well, and some classes could not solo at all. The classes where balanced with each other only in terms of what each class could do with each other in a group. When you take a full group of 6 and assess each class in that group, they all worked well together. However, if you take them apart from the group and assess them, you find many flaws. The melee classes had it the worst.
As stated before, a lot of the "gear" that was offered in quests, just was not up to speed with what was being dropped by the latest greatest mob in the latest greatest dungeon. Even before the expansions, a lot of the quest gear was not really that great at all. The rogues Burning Rapier comes to mind. Only a decent weapon for mid teens to low twenties but by the time you got the damn thing you where nearly lvl 30. I did not get my rapier till I was lvl 36. The exp dinged me the lvl.
I have always hated raids and being forced to group.
I remember back when i played, was a Froglok Wizard. Did this one quest for a piece of equipment, by the time i was done I was kinda outleveled on the braclet (had just dinged 39 and the braclet only boosted up to lvl 34 spells)
Well, it's good to see my thread has devolved into another useless WoW vs EQ less shrivelled dick contest.
Anyway, seeing as the progression server is no longer up and the new 51/50 server option sounds about as fun as cancer, I was wondering about the EQMac server. It seems like the closest thing there is to classic, but considering how old the server is I have to assume the population is pretty stagnant. If there's anyone who plays on that server, would there be anyone to group with if I started a new character there?
If it has been a number of years since you played last, then do yourself the favor and log onto the station account web page, station.com There is a free trial menue that you can get a 14 day pass to play EverQuest: Escape to Norrath. It is free of charge and you can advance up to lvl 10, if you so choise.
I just got done wasting the last hour and a half of my life finding out just how bad they have crapped up the game. The User Interface is for total crap now. The graphics have completely gone down hill. I could barely move around. Couldnt even make it down a hall way without bouncing off all the walls. Damn, I am so glade I found thatout before I decided to give the game another try. It brind back to memorie all the reasons why I quit in the first place. Every time they tried to improve the game they just made it worse.
I so wish I could play again back in the days when the game was fun. Sadly, those golden days are long past.
The "free trial" is only the tutorial zone, which isn't connected to the game (you can't return after level 10, anyway), the UI is completely configurable. EQInterface to the rescue! (Though I hardly ever do anything other than put in a new player window that has experience bars on it-- otherwise it's all opening new windows, filtering chat, and moving/resizing/recoloring the existing windows. Once or twice I've replaced the entire UI with a complete set from EQInterface, just for a change of scenery. )
I really don't miss the square trees from the "good old days".
But if you hated the tutorial zone, you'd REALLY hate the new Freeport. (Everybody hates the new Freeport.)
... This is where I draw the line: __________________.
They never should have played around with the games graphics in the first place. They were not that horrible to begin with. Even if it was a tutorial area, it was nothing what I recalled the game being like, nothing. The sound was off, the partical effects were going crazy, the charater models looked horrible. Why change something that does not need to be changed? If its not broken, dont fix it!
Tutorial zone? I didnt like the tutorial zone in EQII, why the hell would I want them to muck it up in EQI? Idiots!
Comments
Well, I have to say that all this is rather entertaining.
I never played WoW. I did play EQ, EQII, Ashrons Call, Shadowbane, Dungeons and Dragons Online, World War II Online, Eve Online, Pirates of the Burning Sea and a few other games here and there. I even played EQ and AC at the same time. I liked them both but for different reasons.
I preferred to play on the PvP servers. The simple reason is this; when things got boring, and they always did, I could rely on the Pvp aspect to keep things alive.
There has been a lot of talk about the woes of what caused EQ to fail. I can say that they are all rather true. EQ failed because the game changed so much from what it originally was that it was no longer the same game after a few years from its release. The game suffered from too many expansions that did not add any serious content to the game but merely mucked up the game with adding more loot that over balanced the game. After the 3rd expansion came out, people could come back to the "old world" and dominate with their new gear. That is why the game "got" easy. In the beginning, it was not so easy. I started playing the day the Valllon Zek server came online. The game was not easy back then.
EQ has always suffered from "balance" issues. The game was made for the sole purpose to have players group. Soloing was not in the agenda. Only a few classes could solo very well, and some classes could not solo at all. The classes where balanced with each other only in terms of what each class could do with each other in a group. When you take a full group of 6 and assess each class in that group, they all worked well together. However, if you take them apart from the group and assess them, you find many flaws. The melee classes had it the worst.
As stated before, a lot of the "gear" that was offered in quests, just was not up to speed with what was being dropped by the latest greatest mob in the latest greatest dungeon. Even before the expansions, a lot of the quest gear was not really that great at all. The rogues Burning Rapier comes to mind. Only a decent weapon for mid teens to low twenties but by the time you got the damn thing you where nearly lvl 30. I did not get my rapier till I was lvl 36. The exp dinged me the lvl.
I have always hated raids and being forced to group.
I remember back when i played, was a Froglok Wizard. Did this one quest for a piece of equipment, by the time i was done I was kinda outleveled on the braclet (had just dinged 39 and the braclet only boosted up to lvl 34 spells)
Well, it's good to see my thread has devolved into another useless WoW vs EQ less shrivelled dick contest.
Anyway, seeing as the progression server is no longer up and the new 51/50 server option sounds about as fun as cancer, I was wondering about the EQMac server. It seems like the closest thing there is to classic, but considering how old the server is I have to assume the population is pretty stagnant. If there's anyone who plays on that server, would there be anyone to group with if I started a new character there?
Jamesd129,
If it has been a number of years since you played last, then do yourself the favor and log onto the station account web page, station.com There is a free trial menue that you can get a 14 day pass to play EverQuest: Escape to Norrath. It is free of charge and you can advance up to lvl 10, if you so choise.
I just got done wasting the last hour and a half of my life finding out just how bad they have crapped up the game. The User Interface is for total crap now. The graphics have completely gone down hill. I could barely move around. Couldnt even make it down a hall way without bouncing off all the walls. Damn, I am so glade I found thatout before I decided to give the game another try. It brind back to memorie all the reasons why I quit in the first place. Every time they tried to improve the game they just made it worse.
I so wish I could play again back in the days when the game was fun. Sadly, those golden days are long past.
The "free trial" is only the tutorial zone, which isn't connected to the game (you can't return after level 10, anyway), the UI is completely configurable. EQInterface to the rescue! (Though I hardly ever do anything other than put in a new player window that has experience bars on it-- otherwise it's all opening new windows, filtering chat, and moving/resizing/recoloring the existing windows. Once or twice I've replaced the entire UI with a complete set from EQInterface, just for a change of scenery. )
I really don't miss the square trees from the "good old days".
But if you hated the tutorial zone, you'd REALLY hate the new Freeport. (Everybody hates the new Freeport.)
...
This is where I draw the line: __________________.
They never should have played around with the games graphics in the first place. They were not that horrible to begin with. Even if it was a tutorial area, it was nothing what I recalled the game being like, nothing. The sound was off, the partical effects were going crazy, the charater models looked horrible. Why change something that does not need to be changed? If its not broken, dont fix it!
Tutorial zone? I didnt like the tutorial zone in EQII, why the hell would I want them to muck it up in EQI? Idiots!