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Everquest II is the best MMORPG out today
Johnhost
Member Posts: 146
This is why....
You can solo, group or raid at your leisure and still advance your character.
The game is like 90% non-instanced and about 10% instanced
No huge time sinks...death penalties are pretty much gone, you can keep fighting right after dying pretty much
The game offers alot for roleplayers, player houses, soon guild halls, and a huge range of emotes
The sheer amount of quests and options for gameplay is staggering. There is no one preset path for gameplay. You can truely play how you want to play.
There are simple fetch quests, and also long multi-stage quests that can take months like the epic quests
More races then probably any other MMO and very diverse in size and look. True customization!
16 classes that are pretty balanced (scout, mage, priest, melee) but still give you a nice variety of things to do.
5 starting areas each with their own theme and quest progressions.
In general a very mature and helpful player community.
Bottom line...you can play EQ2 for 30 minutes or 16 hours and accomplish something worthwhile for your character.
Comments
I like EQ2 but I still think WoW is best so far.
ff11 is my fav but eq2 comes a close second
Could you possibly give examples? I mean...I wish to take your glowing recommendation to heart...but, your just any guy on the street really..
Why not sell it like the OP did...
Here are my thoughts...(opinions)
1. My first MMO that I have made it past 45 (WoW I quit at level 43 due to boredom, LOTRO level 35 due to boredom, GW...well..Level 20...finished that one.,..lol)
2. Guilds actually mean something, and are worth something in EQ2. You must level the guild, and you gain various bonuses for those levels...Cheaper housing, Better Equipment, Armor sets, Titles, Capes. In so many words, not only is it worth it to be in a Guild, you also earn the right to be in that guild by completing specific quest to level the Guild...i.e: WoW / LOTRO guild = big personal chat room
3. Quests that mean more than go kill 10 x or fetch me that book over there or lead this guy here without getting him killed. Everything from getting captured and thrown in jail and must escape, putting ghosts to rest, learning various languages of the creatures you fight, investigative work...heck even crafting has quests...
Overall, EQ2 does offer a more wide ranging and fulfilling experience...
Or......I liked WoW, but I still think EQ2 is best so far (lol)
Later
I think I'd generally agree. Wow is obviously the most popular but that doesn't make it the best. Wow is kinda dumbed down simple game play that tends to appeal to a broad audiance. Not that EQ2 is all hard core but the higher system requirements and the much larger number of things to do gives it a greater barrier of entry for new people or MMORPG newbies. This is where wow excels. Low system requirements, low complexity, good tutorials get new people into the game quickly and easily.
Eq2 is still a much better game if you are not a newbie and looking for a bit more variety and depth.
---
Ethion
the original everquest will always hold a warm spot in my heart for me but I no longer enjoy it
WOW did one thing for me (with mixed feelings)
the game changed my perspective of what I want from a MMO for casualness and soloability
the time sinks of the original Everquest and lengthy corpse retrievals, I do not miss
(I know the CR is easy in EQ1 now but thats besides the point!)
which brings me to EQ2,
which for now, is the best mmo for me
- not as grindy and group driven as EQ1
- not "everything is GEAR" like WOW
EQ2 fan sites
that is supposed to be taken as "funny" so with that in mind.
You are correct..
Its 50% gear
and..
50% Master Spells/Combat Arts.
I should add
the EQ2 *mentoring system* makes the game alot of fun for me
EQ2 fan sites
I wouldn't say it's the best. Best is to peronal. I do not believe that having more subs makes any MMO better, just more popular.
I guess I would say that EQ2 is my best fit at the moment. It offers me more of everthing I want.
WoW is the only other MMO that can keep me playing for stretches at a time, and up to recently WoW was winning. It's hard to stick with another MMO when you have familly and RL friends playing WoW with you. Very few things can compete with killing the flight master at Southshore and holding Ally hostage in thier own town with your bestest friend in the whole wide world. In fact, most of the fun I had with Wow wasn't even in the game itself. It was nights laughing my ass off over vent, or pissing people off on the WoW forums. Aside from that I really couldn't stand the game, and I don't think there was anyone I played with that didn't know I hated WoW. I deleted my first toon shortly after getting it to 23 and told my brother, "dude, this was cool from lvl 1-10, now it's boring as hell, get some balls and come play L2 with me." Then my boy calls and says he just baught the game and I agree to give it another go. Since then it's been off and on with more on then off and all the fualt of those two bastards.
Sometimes there is nothing that can replace great company. I was fortunate enough to be an oginal member of one the first guilds on our server. A guild that lasted several years, and helped to spawn some of the largest, and most successful raiding guilds. I had the pleasure of meeting some of the most enteraining people I have ever had the honor of playing a game with. If it was pokemon online I probably would have played for just as long if I was playing with these people. The game itself had always been more unfun then fun for me though.
WoW offers ONE game mechanic. Combat. The ONLY thing that WoW does is fighting; everything about the game revolves solely around that one mechanic, and an 8 year old can master that one thing just as well as anyone else. One of the guys I played with had a 7yr old that played with us sometimes. He would type whatever his son wanted to say or tell us over vent, but aside from that his kid could participate in a weekend afternoon raid or two. The only thing his dad had to do was tell him were to stand and when to start fighting, the kid did the rest. Then again, I played CoH with a guy and his 6 year old, I guess kids are smarter nowadays.
Quests. EQ2 surpasses any other MMO i've played. Not always in numbers but in delivery and variety. Nothing beats having an NPC talk to you.
Crafting. It's simple, very simple, but it keeps you watching the screen and feels like I'm acomplishing something when I do it. Not to mention the stuff I make is usefull and the mechanic isn't simply an ancillary ability. Def not the best system, others have it beat, but it's one that I can do for a little bit then go do something else and feel like I've achieved something.
Character customization. Lots of races, and classes. The creation part isn't the greatest but it's better then a LOT of MMO's out there. The AA system is excellent and puts talent systems in other games to shame. Not just in the number of points you get to spend, but all of the half dozen classes I've tried each of them offered more then a single viable AA build. Not to say there isn't cookie cutter builds, just to say that I don't HAVE to have a specific spec, or I can do dif. thngs without feeling gimped or underpowered.
Combat. It's like most every other MMO out there. Personally I think VG is the only game that really beats it within the mold of combat used. EQ2 still keeps up with the number of dif. abilities you get, the way you upgrade them, and the need to actually know your target. It doesn't break from the button timing and sequence orientated combat used in 99.9% of MMO's today, but it does give a couple of abilities that you can through into the mix depending on the situation or oponent. It's a far shot from simply pressing the one and two key for hours on end.
PvP!!!! I will say that EQ2 has the best PvP system out. I won't say that it's the best PvP combat out, just the best system out. If I want to FFA I can, if I want to stay in faction I can. "Ganking" isn't that big a deal with level based zones, and you can twink. It's not restricted to an arena, everywhere I go there is someone to fight, and if I kill them I get XP (!@#@ A xP@!! !@#@ XP!!!!!) and loot (@#$@!$LOOT!!! @#$@LOOT!!!!!!!!) My abilities work in PvP, yeah that's right I'm a fudging warrior and if I taunt you you should be hitting me, that's what I'm there for! (It is beyond annoying to be in PvP with a warrior in my group that can be ignored and unable to actually perform the role they are there for, tanking) EQ2 does a nice job of allowing characters to fullfill thier role without completely messing up PvP. I'm a PvPer, I don't PvP for rewards, I don't PvP to gank, I PvP because people should be smarter then the game and more fun to fight, but I do want a reason in game to kill another player other then they are there, and I want to fill a role in a group and EQ2 does this nicely. Hell, EQ2 pvp is more brutal and less carebear then some pvp based games I've played; I like that.
When someone I played WoW with would ask me what EQ2 was like I'd tell them to just think about all the stuff you can do in WoW and add more to it.
Oh, I'm a collector. In WoW I collected every mount I could get, and every passive pet I could get ahold of. The only time I would actually grind rep or an instance was when there was something I could add to my collection. Basically if you could own IT and IT never benefitted your character in any way, I wanted IT. EQ2 does this better then any game out. You start collecting crap from the moment you get your first appartment. Even quests will sometimes offer crap to collect as a reward.
That's all.
Wish Darkfall would release.
I agree with the OP. Everquest 2 is a very rich , in depth game. i originally played it when it released then left for awhile then came back. It has got even better. I know to many SOE has a very sketchy track record and in some respects i agree. When they screw up there is nothing wrong with calling them on it but when they get it right i think it should be recognized also. In this case i think they are doing a great job. I look forward to what this game continues to offer in the future.
Cen
I personally wouldn't say that any MMO is inarguably the best. They all have good points and bad.
EQ II has the most depth among games with a similar design (i.e., casual friendly quest based games, basically I mean WoW, EQ II, and LoTRO...there are other quest based PvE games but very few of them are solo/ casual freindly). More classes, more races, more flexible ability customization, more complex crafting system. I also agree that the guild system is exeptional.
LoTRO is the most "cohesive" to me. It has a really nice "feel," more than any other MMO I've played I feel like I'm in a real place. As far as the "feel" of EQ II to me it's more like a bunch of fantasy cliches got thrown in a blender than a real place. There are a lot of other little things I like about LoTRO, but that's the most important one to me.
WoW has the most fluid and responsive combat, as well as the most players (which is good and bad). The crafting in WoW bites, and I personally hate the PvP. But the combat is well done.
Everyone will rank these things differently, as so to everyone that is in to this style of MMO will rank these games differently. To me it's LoTRO > EQ II > WoW. But everyone has their own preferences.
I don't think there is any such thing as a "best" MMO for everyone. For example, someone that is only into sandbox MMOs (e.g., UO, EVE, pre NGE SWG) would think LoTRO, EQ II, and WoW all pretty much bite.
I don't want to write this, and you don't want to read it. But now it's too late for both of us.
I would like to add one reservation to EQ2, however much I like it. As an established game, the price of items are now incredibly high. Even for entry level (level 10+) items. A new player starting now in an established server will have a hard time buying anything unless he got friends. Even a bag or a box will cost you 10 levels of savings. So a starter will have to limp along till level 40s before decking himself with bigger boxes and bags, which makes the early levels very painful. I mean simple things as bags boxes or food, I do not mean the MASTER 2 spells/combat skills, or the epic stuffs. My first alt hit 70 without any Master 2 spells or epic, and has to spend months decking him out, and that was couple years back.
but if you any class over to Kunark newbie zone to quest
- you wont need gear until 25+ (that newbie area has the best gear in game under 20)
regarding bags
I know new people have no cash at beginning
but those Redwood boxes that players make are pretty cheap at 8g for 36 slots
(2 kunark newbie quests give you bags too)
EQ2 fan sites
All my bags and boxes I crafted myself. I'm a weaponsmith so it's only 8 slot bags and 11 slot boxes, but I haven't had a problem with space, with the exception of my shared space at the bank. I need boxes for the shared slot as I used the crappy little bags I got from or drops for them.
I've also never had a problem with money. I've got horses for two toons, on Q and one Freep. Nothing special but it's better then walking. Most everything with stats that drops from mobs or I get from quests sell on the AH to, but that's not the best way to make money. Harvest.
This has been my experience on Nagy.
Wish Darkfall would release.
In a world without wow I would probably play eq2...
Don't even waste time with this game. I have been playing for 3 years, only to be slap in the face by the Developers. Their Developers are a bunch of jokes and likes to leak strategy to their pet guild.
http://www.eq2flames.com/general-gameplay/22042-eq2-flames-consolidated-developer-information-list-12.html
Here is the evidence.
I would have to go with DAOC as the best MMO, but EQ2 is in second.
Extremism in the defense of Liberty is no vice.
I find EQ2 to be pretty monotonous.It's like all the parts of an MMO are there, but the overall package lacks flavor. Moreover, I really dislike the art style and the world design. No, I don't just dislike the world design, I HATE it. I despise it. It is contrived and forced and insulting. I find EQ1 to have a much more interesting world, and if enough people still played it, I'd probably be there.
But WoW has everything on the OP's list -- everything on that list that I care about, anyway -- so that's what I'm playing at the moment.
Someone mentioned combat as the only thing WoW does. Even if it were true (which it's not), I'd say that if you are going to do one thing right in your MMO, it had better be combat. Everything else really is rather secondary.
I played and loved CoH for several years, and all it has going for it is combat and character customization. So I know what a "combat-only" game is like. WoW has slightly more depth than that. Not a lot more, but slightly.
I don't want to write this, and you don't want to read it. But now it's too late for both of us.
I have to agree - but not completely. EQ2 is also my favorite MMO out there atm, but here's the reasons why I don't play it anymore (besides a point I'll get to in a sec):
It's got depth, yeah, but not a whole lot. One point that has bugged me since the game was released: Why is there absolutely no interaction with your city? Atmospheric one I mean, not the rinse-and-repeat-faction quests for your home-city. Why, even now, years after release, can no one enter the castle in the respective city? You'd guess that at least the most prominent guilds should be able to at least visit parts of the castle and maybe, maybe, sometimes get audiences with your ruler? EQ2 had a nice story to begin with, but they did absolutely nothing with it.
EQ2 got the same grind-quests as most MMOs out there, unfortunately. By far not as bad as WoW, but could be better, more interesting. ie. back when Desert of Flames came out, questing in Maj'Dul sucked... or to be more precise - questing IN and AROUND Maj'Dul. Kill x Skeletons/Orcs/etc. For the Ashen Order "Kill x Nagas (or so)". Also back to a) Atmosphere here, DoF had no Atmosphere or good story whatsoever.
Might be KoH and EoF and the new Kunark one were a bit better in that regard, only got them after they were released and didn't play them more than a few weeks, but I left for pretty much the reasons stated above - as well as....
THE FREAKIN FORCED CLASS RESPEC... I know, it was a long time ago, but the moment SOE it didn't take long for me to quit EQ2. I really loved my old Warlock - till they forced me into the Encounters-Department. I never got around to enjoy another character that way, that pretty much killed EQ2 for me. I tried to hold on because I was in a fantastic guild, but just couldn't get into it anymore.
yeah, rants, rants, I know. whatever, sorry.
Two more reasons why I don't get back into EQ2 (with a new character) comparatively low player numbers and those who play are mostly high/max-level. ... forgot the other one... ;P
P.S.: If they did a EQ2 relaunch and there were a lot more players again I would go back. But that won't happen so.... no MMOs for me (NEEEEEED one though, MMO-hunger is burning hot inside me).
If they were not WoW-ifying Vanguard that might be worth a try but well... SOE is baaaad. -.-
Not sure if EQ2 is the best out now but it sure is in the top 5!
Channel 1-9 is the most busy chanel on my server
I'll say it's definately one of the best. At the moment for me it's EQ2, FFXI and Guild Wars. Hoping Age of Conan will replace one of those.
I will say that maybe the OP's title is misleading...as EQ2 is the best MMO out today for him...and it is for me...but, it still has it's issues...but, for now, I think it has something over other MMO's available...and that is one opinion...
Later
I love EQ2. But I hate empty servers. That's it.
The best mmo in the world is nothing if nobody plays it. I can't find a group on an european server. SO I play WoW where I make thousands of characters because the endgame content sucks.
Maybe I'll try USA-Servers ... maybe ...
Antonia Bayle is the most popular server if you do try a US server
EQ2 fan sites