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Everquest 2 or Vanguard?
I am having a difficult time deciding what game to buy. I used to play Everquest and really enjoyed it for a few years up until the Planes of Power. I have tried WoW and can't stay hooked. I have played a handful of MMOs. I really want a game with a good community where finding a group is easy. I also want a challenging game that is on the same level of what everquest was. One of my favorite memories from EQ was my epic quest, it took me months lol.
What i am really hoping is to hear what people who used to play EQ when it was good have to say about either of these games.
I have tried both before and am currently playing the Vanguard trial.
Playing: Vanguard SoH
Played: EQ, Planetside, SWG, WoW, EQ2
Comments
If you've tried them both then shouldn't you know which one you prefered?
Vanguard has the most chance of being shut down next cause the game is dead and don'y expect much content in the future where as Everquest 2 has a long future ahead of it. I'm suprised the character models in Vanguard didn't put you off already.
Vanguard is by far the better gameworld and general play experience, but I personally wouldnt play any game that SOE puts out on general principle.
Someone needs to buy that game off them, give it 6 months of heavy investment and love, and then rerelease it. It would easily be the best social PvE mmorpg on the market.
I don't know, I just love Vanguard. The "wolf-like" star, and the dark-elf star. The diplomacy thing. The size of the world.
Is worth tryiing. But I don't know if the other will give you more fun on the long term. I don't like EQ2 because feels like artificial. Not a world. Not combat. But thats me.
Being a old EQ player imo i find Vangaurd to be a better game compare to EQ2
not that it reminds me of EQ because to tbh there are acouple things but not much ,there are people who i have talk to in game that find it to be alot like old EQ but i just dont get that feeling ...Myself i look at it as a new game exp all together an i enjoy it very much
Grouping has never been a problem for me but i dont just sit around an wait for people to invite me to groups, i start my own most the time so long as your not scared to try an make your own you shouldnt have any problems
This is my exp playing on Xeth server..dunno how the others are never played on them
I've recently started Vanguard after several years of WoW. The challenge level of the game is considerably higher, and I'm really enjoying it.
However, when I tried EQ2 several years ago, it just fealt like WoW without the atmosphere - everything was so generic fantasy.
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how about none as option.. see eq2 and vanguard so alike.. vanguard is like eq3 or like eq3 would have been i guess.
Well you don't have to pay anything for the game, only for the subscription
. I went back to Vanguard few months ago and gave it a good try, you must know that VG is a group-based game, I leveled from L15 to L36 by only doing group dungeons and shadowhound questline with the same group!
Unfortunately I played a hayatet shaman and by that level I had only healing gear (full set from CW) and all my mates I used to group with stopped playing, that's pretty much why I stopped playing, it was impossible to find another group. But hey, I played on the EU server Halgar wich doesn't have as much people as on Seradon I think.
As for Everquest 2 I have no idea, tried the trial before I decided to resub to Vanguard, guess that's something. What would really help is if you can find a couple of friends or on this community people who are willing to play with you. I never liked solo-playing anyway, it's called MMO.
Vanguard is superior to Everquest 2, with an excellent open game world and great mechanics, though... it's numbers are only declinning because it's gets harder to find a group.
You can play vanguard all day long and just explore.. it's endless like EQ. EQ2 is funneled content and ZONES... yuck! Though I had many good years in EQ2, I just couldn't handle instancing, zones and funneled content.
"No they are not charity. That is where the whales come in. (I play for free. Whales pays.) Devs get a business. That is how it works."
-Nariusseldon
EQ2 is more reliable coding and larger population. Vanguard has a more interesting combat system. Your choice.
no... i don't, hence this thread...
Vanguard seems to be the better choice. I prefer a game that focuses more on grouping. The only concern is the population and being able to find people to group with. Plus i heard the free trial area of Vanguard doesn't do the game much justice.
Playing: Vanguard SoH
Played: EQ, Planetside, SWG, WoW, EQ2
no... i don't, hence this thread...
Vanguard seems to be the better choice. I prefer a game that focuses more on grouping. The only concern is the population and being able to find people to group with. Plus i heard the free trial area of Vanguard doesn't do the game much justice.
No the free trial area was well done, imo.
hmm tough call, despite ne thing ne one says about either, especially vanguard, i like them both for various reasons. if u can do the trials for both, id do that unless by this point u have already. as to the trial area of vanguard, ooh, ooh theres a few.. flaws with that area. i ran several toons through it so i knwo.. unless they've vanished, not ne thing harsh really, minor things that with effort can b taken care of outside the isle, otherwise the trial area in vanguard on that isle(isle of dawn) does a great job introducing new players to alot if not all that vanguard as to offer, access to lvl all 3 spheres to lvl 10, along with gear for each sphere(crafting, diplomacy, adventuring) all of which is great starter gear once u get off the isle to the main game, it has a dungeon at the end of the adventuring sphere of lvl quests that does a good job providing players a sample of dungeons in vanguard. u can rent and sample flying mounts right there on the isle as well, special mobs that spawn with rare drops if u have the patience as well, it was a well done trial area in my opinion
Waiting For: FF14,Guild Wars2
RIP: Tabula Rasa&Hellgate:London(online)
Playing:Fallen Earth&Guild Wars& Dragon Age
I'd say EQ2 is the better game. It's far more polished, has tons of content for every level range, and has really blossomed into a fantastic PvE game (although I've not played in a year and a half or so... it might have changed some). My only gripes with it are the occasionally awful armor models and the zoned/instanced gameplay (Vanguard is far superior in these regards). It also has enough population to continue to churn out new expansions and updates on a regular basis, unlike Vanguard.
I had tremendously high hopes for Vanguard, but it never really followed through on being a great game. EQ2 has improved drastically since launch and has my highest recommendation. Let us know what you decide!
Although I'm somewhat uninterested in MMOs right at this moment if I were to play one it would be Vanguard.
Vanguard is a finished product and I've played the game casually for quite some time off and on and never encountered any of these bugs that others talk about.
SOE doesn't give a crap about Vanguard but it suceeeds despite them. SOE doesn't want Vanguard competing in any way shape or form with EQ2, which is why I think they took it on in the first place.
Vanguard is the best EQ3 game out there > its a seamless huge world.
ah with this and the poster above them i did forget to mention, since i was defending the isle of dawns quality. EQ2 has got to be one of the most polished mmos out there right now, this is no lie lol, there is TONS to do like they said above, both are good games in the own rate. u may just need to do ur deciding by coin toss lol, def good things for the PvE gamer in both, maximum game polish leans in EQ'2s favor though. but i like em both
Waiting For: FF14,Guild Wars2
RIP: Tabula Rasa&Hellgate:London(online)
Playing:Fallen Earth&Guild Wars& Dragon Age
Gah such a tough decision.
If i did choose to play vanguard are the two servers that i believe are the American servers both pretty even on population or does one have more than the other?
Playing: Vanguard SoH
Played: EQ, Planetside, SWG, WoW, EQ2
I've always had technical problems with Vanguard and always given up but I played EQ2 for about 6 months - I'd say EQ2 was better at being a game than Everquest but less good at being a world. I hated having to run from elite mobs even when they were grey but other than that the game was all pretty good. However (for me) it didn't have that world feeling I got from EQ and that's pretty critical for me to get into a game long-term so...
From all I've read and seen Vanguard looks like the spiritual successor to the Everquest style of game whereas EQ2 is more of a compromise but like I say, I've always had technical problems so I don't know for sure. Personally I think they made it too big at the beginning and should have started with just one continent but who knows. Shame though, some of the Vanguard vids you can see on youtube have some really cool looking dungeons.
look into the forums , but from personal experience, i play on seradon.(when my account is active) and that server i always saw ongoing chatter through the general/region chats. in the few towns ive been in, i always saw someone runnin around. etc. sure, it may not have the booming population of some, but thats fine, theres people out there, u can tell, u just wont be tripping over them lol. some complained in the case of vanguards HUGE world that it felt under populated, that world is what drew my interest into vanguard to begin with, i love the huge seamless world where everything in the distance i see, i can go to that spot if i desire to. havin a huge world to adventure in adds a lil bit to immersion. so really. population on seradon is solid. theres always people there doing something. maybe (if ur willing to pay for it) get the station access pass for SOE. that way u can play them both
with boosted char slots and some other goodies for EQ2 lol.
Waiting For: FF14,Guild Wars2
RIP: Tabula Rasa&Hellgate:London(online)
Playing:Fallen Earth&Guild Wars& Dragon Age
I like them both but Everquest 2 always seems to capture my interest longer, mostly because of the larger player community. Both are excellent choices and deep games though.
Vanguard has concepts that doesn't sell to the current MMO playerbase (this is not saying players want ezmode).
Everquest 2 has concepts that worked and is well supported by SOE.
Playing both games for 2+ years since launch. EQ2 has molded much better in all areas of adventuring. Sure it may have zones and instances, but seamless worlds is only something nice to put on a box description. Players don't spend 15 bucks a month just to look at something, players spend money for meaninful content and experience, this is where EQ2 wins. VG has alot of eye candy, but the ,meat of the game still has problems, class balance, bugs that will never go fixed due to lack of resources.
Vanguard will give you that fast "fix" nonetheless, but I wouldn't invest in the game if you're looking for something long term 2-4 years from now, EQ2 could give you that long term satisfaction.
Also yes, population wise its a night and day difference. EQ2 has a 250-350k population. VG has a 5 - 15k population (even I feel its much much lower than that).
If you need any indepth feedback I can provide for both games as I was an end-game raid leader in both.
Rift: Storm Legion Raid Progression Tracker
Personally, I can't think of any reason whatsoever to play EQ2. The game doesn't have the slightest advantage when it's compared to WoW. So if you want to play that sort of game, just go with Warcraft.
However, Vanguard is a considerably different beast to WoW. It has strong disadvantages and advantages. To me the key feature is the additional complexity of the gameplay - there's some real challenge to the game, which I was missing in Warcraft, and I'm willing to put up with all the downsides (low pop, bugs) in order to explore those challeneges.
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Hello Kitty Online is more challenging than WoW these days
Again from my experience with VG since launch, this "challenge and complexity" folks speak of I have yet to see. To me the game didn't pose..hardly any "thinking" criteria when getting things done. I would say the difficulty of VG is equal to that of EQ2 which happens to be greater than Warcraft but less than EQ1.
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Well - I'm guessing complexity would depend on the class you play. But the Vanguard Disciple blows away anything I've seen anywhere else in terms of playing complexity.
For example, someone posted the opening rotation for a disciple on the VG forums recently:
After ensuring that Inner Light is up and putting a Kiss of Heaven on the tank before he pulls, my initial rotation is:
Blooming Ridge Hand, Knife Hand, Blessed Wind, Crescent Kick (Endowment of Balance goes up, Jin regen), Void Hand (Endowment of Life goes up on my defensive target, normally my tank, +1500HP for 2 minutes), Leech's Grasp (because I'm low on endurance by now, need that boost), Soul Cutter, Void Hand, Knife Hand (Endowment of Mastery goes up, -10% endurance and energy costs for groupmates within 10 metres), Crescent Kick, Ra'Jin Flare (Endowment of Enmity goes up, +10% damage buff, self only).
I put up Endowment of Enmity last as it prevents me from stealing aggro from the tank. If I do get aggro from the tank, then I'll use Baiting Strike, and start spamming Soul Cutter, and, if my health drops below 40%, Feign Death.
On top of managing rotations that complex, disciples have to use chain attacks, manage aggro, and be aware of their Jin levels.
Oh - and disciples are healers. All the above is just their secondary role - their main role is to watch health bars. I've heard blood mages are similarly complex (but in a different way). Nothing in WoW comes remotely close - and during the time I played EQ2 (admittedly only to level 30) I didn't see anything particularly complex either
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Well OP, if grouping is important to you then the only real choice you have between these games is EQ2. Sure Vanguard is better in many ways, but the population is very low. That low population is even more dramatic in a game with such a huge open game world.