Here is why the original EQ has not been topped for over 10 years.. You couldn't do hardly anything solo - You had to mostly rely on others - Almost every aspect of the game encouraged players to work together. The game was difficult and unforgiving - Quests and zones were difficult and unforgiving, so people got satisfaction by remembering where and what killed them before and avoiding them, then later camping them - People got satisfaction by completing hard quests - People remembered their experiences as generally awesome because they were on the edge of their seat from all of the dangers and unforgiving deaths. Players regard each other highly because of the camaraderie associated with sharing dangerous and dramatic experiences with others. No maps and very little guides made groups genuinely explore. No quest logs, map markers and compass markers. You want to know which way you are facing you had to either have a compass, have a sense heading spell, have good sense heading skill, or drop a sword and see which way it points =D Players almost certainly get lost, or have trouble finding their corpses at some point, along with the fact that leveling was a slow process, you come to know the land like the back of your hand. Who can draw a detailed map of burning steppes from memory? Even though you may have spent alot of time there or traveled through it numerous times? you cannot truly get lost in wow, and even if you did purposely you wouldn't lose anything, and so there is no real reason to learn it unless you happen to spend enough time there. The main ingredient was teamwork and social interaction. Everything from getting a bind, port, buffs, revive, corpse summon, and most quests all required interaction with other players. Before the bazaar there was much player interaction with player commerce. Every expansion that SoE added after they lost the vision gave players the power to do that which they used to rely on others, unti now, where the only people who play EQ are the ones who use bots and multiple accounts simultaniously, and guess what? It's dead. I believe EQ was built on the simple vision of player interaction. All the MMOs out there today, including modern EQ seems to avoid this like the plague, calculating that the majority of the market likes to solo. I say the entirety of the market will solo if the option is given to them, just because it is easier. That doesn't make a legend of a game like classic EQ was.
LOL, this is ridiculous. So you said that grouping = good, soloing = bad? Do you have any logic to support your idea why grouping = good but soloing = bad?
I like challenge, but the no map crap is silly...you had maps and compasses in medieval times....just bad game desighn
Well actually u had a compass in the game, and you had fan made maps that you could print and use (i had a map of all "non transit zones" with all required info).
What was really great in EQ for me and made it diff from UO was :
1) the size of the world, i mean once Kunark came out and then SoL it was so huge !! And man u had no fast travel stuff, good thing i was a ranger cuz w/o SOW it was a fail
2) The scale of stuff, that was a big diff with UO !! When u faced a giant u were the size of its foot, a dragon about the size of one if its claws, a god... n stuf like that ! No other game, and i don't believe any other game released since, had that much variety between zones with Lava, undeads, gods, tree huggers, underwater zones, moon surface zones, underworld dungeons zones (remember the first times in Guk ? No train to zone possible !!!).
3) The Epic size of quests, i mean, yeah they were a definite pain in the butt sometimes, but they were quite worth it (some were just plain stupid tho, like the one for the key to VP, where u had to kill this one named newbie skeleton that actually spawned like once every couple days or something in a freaking newbie zone, yeah right).
4) Teamwork and relationship between guilds, since all raid zones were open, guilds had to work out a raiding calendar of when to raid the biggest mobs and stuff, that was quite good.
5) The evolution of ur character... i mean i saw my ranger change so much over n over the game, and when AA got released u could really feel the power of it ! (machinegun archery !!).
But well the thing i hated about the game was that IT WASNT A GAME IT WAS WORK !! FFS !!! Being a raid officer ? Euro ??? Having to be down in the raid zones with some of ur guild freaks in order to "reserve" the mobs before anyone else went down ? Spending hourrrrrrssssssss killing the same guys while waiting for the U.S part of the guild to log on to do the raid, that was bad. I mean playing EQ less than 7h per day was like, useless. As much as i really loved this game, i ain't a student anymore, and there's just no way in this world that i go back to this hardcore level again (unless it gets F2P and i just play casually for the heck of it).
I think that was the biggest diff with UO back then, UO was 100% Casual (once ya maxxed out ya just went out with ur buddies on treasure hunts, ya operated ya casino, ya collected rares, ya killed people and ya relaxed in ur castle), while EQ was 100% hardcore (ya had no life).
You're a Hardcore Survivor!
You not only survived the zombie apocalypse, but did it with style! Your mastery of zombie knowledge, survival tactics, and weaponry is nearly unmatched. Congratulations, for you are hardcore!
Ive been enjoying EQ from day 1 and 10 years later im still playing every day for 3-4 hrs a day. The original was by far the best MMORPG ive ever played and i pretty much beta'ed or played them all at one point. Through all the changes eq still has its upside even though its been dumbed down to easy mode and leveling to 70 takes 12 hrs total now it still is one hell of a game despite it being 10 years old. I always wondered will WOW ever last this long as I see EQ going for atleast 4-5 more years. Do any of us think wow will last 15 years ? god i hope not.
The only reason EQ is still alive today is SOE was releasing 2 expansions a year for 4 years straight it was basically a new game every year. The old EQ is dead infact not many people even visit zones 4 expansions old anymore so its all about the new expansions if they stop making them EQ will die.
LOL, this is ridiculous. So you said that grouping = good, soloing = bad? Do you have any logic to support your idea why grouping = good but soloing = bad?
EQ was a great game. However, the end of EQ for me was the release of Velious and the clear vision of raider catering. Until Velious the power difference between raiders and non-raiders really wasn't all that bad. Until velious the amount of raider and group content was more in balance with the player base. The isolation of players to their guilds through powercurve increasing killed that game for me. I loved the nearly one big community that EQ was early on.
UO is still my favorite MMO. We grouped and interacted with each other because we wanted to, not because the game mechanics forced us to.
Forever looking for employment. Life is rather dull without it.
wrong. when eq frist came out there where classes that could level faster by soloing, you just needed to know the game, which most didnt. later on you had powerleveling. what made EQ so magical.. was most people didnt come into the game knowing every little detail, didnt have a 100 person guild behind them months befor the games release, and people didnt just use each other as a means to progress through content. i enjoyed EQ for over a year from release, and made quite a bit of money selling full planer geared characters, but a game like EQ would never make it in todays market it.
That's partly why I enjoyed EQOA so much, that it was an even playing field, naive in a sense, and my first MMO game. It looks like most of the contributors in this thread are pretty old or were playing P.C. games long before me so I can't comment on how EQ was but I subscribed recently to see what it was like after I heard it was ten years old. I like it, it carried a sense of the original D&D books and reminded me of the smell of them and the promise of depth, possibilities and interest that they held. I can agree with what's being said here, by the majority, things like the text based UI system felt like it had plenty of scope and depth and loads to discover and learn within it. There wasn't much competition back then though which means it's easier to become a loyal player because there's no-where else to play and one great thing about MMO games is that they really reward loyal players by allowing them to un-cover lore and become more involved in their chosen game world, that makes it easier to fall in love with a game, when a player's loyal. Maybe that's what made it great.
Graphics are important and I think they were then and EQ had great graphics too so despite feeling that I nerf my-self for believing that I still do, I like looking at the art and I like what-ever fantasy world I'm playing in to look as real as it can be so how can there be another EQ now when there's so much choice while guilds carve each and every game up and hand out the portions on forums six months before any game is released? Compromise has to be made between the wants of players who've grown up with digital fantasy and I think, what many designers would agree would make a great MMO; to make it as close to PnP as can be to provide all of the opportunities and choices that system offers. So many players now aren't going to have felt what some of us must have, that sense of PnP opening up and I think perhaps it's just closing a bit now until a sunny developer shines on it.
Yep. Social interaction is what makes a MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER Online Role-Playing Game great. Interesting that people seem to have forgotten the first two words in the name of the genre... I wonder when First Person Shooters will move away from first person and just become shooters? Meh... on the bright side, FFXI has much of the same features that made EQ great by rewarding social interaction. It's the closest there is that is still alive. Even they have recently introduced several changes that have made it possible to solo, but it is still HUGELY beneficial to group instead of solo, so solo is normally reserved for Beastmasters (the one solo class) and other players that are looking for a party and need something to do while waiting. Because SE did so well capturing the social aspect of MMORPGs, I have high hopes that FFXIV will do things even better... but we'll see. Until then, I will continue to morn the tragic loss of the once great Everquest, and it's long lost allies, MASSIVELY and MULTIPLAYER....
Since when do the first two words "MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER" = Social Interaction. That just means alot of people! Having to rely on other people to have fun is crazy. When they are there great it enhances the game (If u get a decent group). But my experiences have been mostly waiting around, hence the new trend toward Public Quests. So yeah I'll agree that social interaction is fun but it's not what makes the MMO for me.
I loved EQ up until around the velious expansion ..
EQ simply was great because noone knew any better back then but it soon changed intoa community of loot farming users trying to have the best gear with little REAL socialising left..
the first months in EQ will alway sbe the best..a totally niaeve customer base who had never seen this kind of game really a first of its kind that spawned rubbish like WoW afterwards...once we all became pros and you camped 6 hours for a bubble or two of experience at level 51 the game lost its magic.
EQ would not be "successful" today because the market has changed it would be a niche game that would appeal to many older MMO players but todays markey is saturated by post WoW players who would never tolerate a harder game ..this is because MMOs used to target niche markets and today are really trying to mass market their products (and thus dumb them down )
I loved EQ up until around the velious expansion .. EQ simply was great because noone knew any better back then but it soon changed intoa community of loot farming users trying to have the best gear with little REAL socialising left.. the first months in EQ will alway sbe the best..a totally niaeve customer base who had never seen this kind of game really a first of its kind that spawned rubbish like WoW afterwards...once we all became pros and you camped 6 hours for a bubble or two of experience at level 51 the game lost its magic. EQ would not be "successful" today because the market has changed it would be a niche game that would appeal to many older MMO players but todays markey is saturated by post WoW players who would never tolerate a harder game ..this is because MMOs used to target niche markets and today are really trying to mass market their products (and thus dumb them down )
in short, MMO companies are targeting spoiled brats who are young and dont know what it means to work for something
I loved EQ up until around the velious expansion .. EQ simply was great because noone knew any better back then but it soon changed intoa community of loot farming users trying to have the best gear with little REAL socialising left.. the first months in EQ will alway sbe the best..a totally niaeve customer base who had never seen this kind of game really a first of its kind that spawned rubbish like WoW afterwards...once we all became pros and you camped 6 hours for a bubble or two of experience at level 51 the game lost its magic. EQ would not be "successful" today because the market has changed it would be a niche game that would appeal to many older MMO players but todays markey is saturated by post WoW players who would never tolerate a harder game ..this is because MMOs used to target niche markets and today are really trying to mass market their products (and thus dumb them down )
in short, MMO companies are targeting spoiled brats who are young and dont know what it means to work for something
Don't forget the adults that don't have the play time they used to.
Forever looking for employment. Life is rather dull without it.
I loved EQ up until around the velious expansion .. EQ simply was great because noone knew any better back then but it soon changed intoa community of loot farming users trying to have the best gear with little REAL socialising left.. the first months in EQ will alway sbe the best..a totally niaeve customer base who had never seen this kind of game really a first of its kind that spawned rubbish like WoW afterwards...once we all became pros and you camped 6 hours for a bubble or two of experience at level 51 the game lost its magic. EQ would not be "successful" today because the market has changed it would be a niche game that would appeal to many older MMO players but todays markey is saturated by post WoW players who would never tolerate a harder game ..this is because MMOs used to target niche markets and today are really trying to mass market their products (and thus dumb them down )
in short, MMO companies are targeting spoiled brats who are young and dont know what it means to work for something
Don't forget the adults that don't have the play time they used to.
oh ya lol forgot about them, oh and Adults who have a desk job but dont have anything to actualy do... i know so many of them lol who play video games all day because their job is boring and slow
im not really agaisnt a "easy" mmo i just wish it wasnt So friggin easy where i could get to Cap level from Solo`n that just inst fun i think team play should be a Forced element, at some point in a game even if it is only for a 5 lvl period thatll take like 5 hours of game play tops, this would actualy INCREASE the community, and probaly make it a better place for every one
LOL, this is ridiculous. So you said that grouping = good, soloing = bad? Do you have any logic to support your idea why grouping = good but soloing = bad?
It's in the post you just read.
I rereaded it twice but still not get the idea why grouping orient game = good game, it's just 2 different things. My idea is it is a good game when you feel that it is fun while playing, nothing related to grouping or soloing, very simple.
It looks like a list of all the things people complained about when EQ2 launched. Group-level mobs all over the roads and overland zones, long spawn timers on quest mobs, and death penalties. People don't want that stuff anymore apparently. EQ2 is now moving to be as close to WoW as they can get it, the gear treadmill's in overdrive currently with rewards just for running the same instances over and over and over again. What fun... The last two expansions had their own solo questlines, because who would want to interact with people in a MMORPG? Now you can even teleport almost anywhere from a guild hall and avoid travelling and possibly running into random players. I miss the games people complained about. I can solo in the dozens of RPG games I have on the shelf that were designed for that.
mm let me explain!when your a new gamer in mmo and you start with eq ,the learning curve was probably very steep
the game should have had a warning for advanced player only why?
that way experienced gamer had a good time and newb gamer could learn the rope
wow im sorry to say is just too easy maybe in part its blizzard fault but lot of add-on made it too easy
check this!when i quitted wow i didnt think about this but seeing the little bit of eq2 i got starting zone
i found one thing i was asking for help the dude steered me to add-on !
thats the trouble today too many add-on every but one !
i was so surprised ,good old silkroad online booted add-on from its game and enforcing it since this month and you know what
the game might actually be more fun .ad--on speed up game yes and thats the problem
if you dont have time to mmo go play free realm lol dont scrap good mmo with thing not needed
what made eq and lot of other game fun was the fact you had plenty of time to chat you probably didnt know where you were going anyway (giggle)but now you got coord x,y,z plus map so no more scret there or even searching a bit
i wish game dev would remove coord and map add-on ,hell probably even all add-on
EQ was the best because it was new and different. UO was the best for the same reason. AC was the best to a lot of people, because compared to the few MMOs around at the time, it was pretty damn new and different, too. Then there was DAOC, which was a lot like EQ, but added RvR, which was huge, as far as bringing something new to the genre.
Almost every game since then hasn't brought anything all that new or different to the genre at all. They're all just part of an evolution of baby steps, and a whole lot of one step forward two steps back, with the only thing new and improved being the graphics.
In gaming, in almost every genre of gaming, the best games are always the ones that do something new and different. EQ was one of those games. Trying to copy its formula for success is just moronic.
When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.
Actually EQ was the worst thing to hit the MMO genre. It introduced the restrictive class level nightmare.
It was easy mode for the masses. They did not have to think about developing their character, it was all done through the class structure for them.
You really need to get a better perspective of the genre.
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was the first to introduce a broken travel system aka boats. Anyone that traveled from Butcherblock to Freeport prayed to their God before zoning in hopes that they didn't go linkdead (an uncommon problem but common enough to make it a pain in the ass) and be able to log back on just before zoning back into the OOT, resulting in waiting about 40 more minutes of real time, to ride the boat back through OOT, back into BB mountains, 180 back into OOT, go through OOT again, and pray AGAIN that you didn't go linkdead zoning back into Freeport. It was a worthless timesink that they didn't fix for years after release.
/shout "(insert level/class) LFG, PST!" got old after limited places to level AT your level, having to get in a player-made que.
/corpse got old after having to drag your body from a uberguild-made train that consisted of half the zone that ended your camp, because the uberguild wanted to get their guildies the item you were camping, so they just ran a monk in and feigned death at your feet with a train from Grand Central Station.
Reporting issues, griefing, or problems in general got old after only getting "guides" instead of "GM's" who's macro'd button was "We can't help you with that problem, sorry."
Questing was a joke, as it was also often called "Neverquest" among other nicknames. For the most part in early EQ, MOST of the ACTUAL quests were broken, rewards weren't worth the time taken away from potential grinding... The only quest that was worth doing was Tumpy Tonics, and it was nerfed into the ground as well.
Leveling was unforgiving as you could have grinded the past 5 hours in the same spot for a few bubbles of xp, to lose ALL the xp you gained and then some due to circumstance (linkdeath, trains, griefing, ect) and be back at where you started after only 1 death.
BUT....
Early EQ did make those of us who played it, despite it's difficulty, rather damned good at how to "Know our Role". The social aspect made it so that you couldn't progress without others who knew their ass from a hole in the ground. It also made you learn about everyone elses capabilities in conjunction with your own, damage and healing mitigation, aggro management, ect. The game was unforgiving enough to weed out people by level 20, especially by the time people started to be more social in Unrest and Mistmoore. Dumbasses got bad names, no one grouped with them, they never level... so very seldom would you see anyone above that that wasn't good at what they did.
The ONLY thing I miss about EQ, is the "ding". After going through everything you had to JUST to get the next level, It was pavlovian.
"There is only one thing of which I am certain, and that's nothing is certain."
Actually EQ was the worst thing to hit the MMO genre. It introduced the restrictive class level nightmare.
It was easy mode for the masses. They did not have to think about developing their character, it was all done through the class structure for them.
You really need to get a better perspective of the genre.
So much better to be limited to 1-3 templates instead, right? UO and AC both had a pathetically limited number of viable choices when it all came down to it. Better to have 8 working classes than 50 skills, all of which only a handfull were actually usefull. Class systems allow MORE choices and more balance, which is why those systems prevailed. Being able to choose any skill but be gimped compared to the next guy doesn't make for balanced play. Good systems get emulated. Broken ones do not. Skill systems work great in single player games. Theres no doubt about it. But they're horrible in MMOs. They look great on paper but never pan out in practice.
Actually EQ was the worst thing to hit the MMO genre. It introduced the restrictive class level nightmare.
It was easy mode for the masses. They did not have to think about developing their character, it was all done through the class structure for them.
You really need to get a better perspective of the genre.
So much better to be limited to 1-3 templates instead, right? UO and AC both had a pathetically limited number of viable choices when it all came down to it. Better to have 8 working classes than 50 skills, all of which only a handfull were actually usefull. Class systems allow MORE choices and more balance, which is why those systems prevailed. Being able to choose any skill but be gimped compared to the next guy doesn't make for balanced play. Good systems get emulated. Broken ones do not. Skill systems work great in single player games. Theres no doubt about it. But they're horrible in MMOs. They look great on paper but never pan out in practice.
UO is horrible in terms of progression design. Everyone is a tank mage .. a lot LESS variety than EQ. EQ classes are much better.
Asheron's Call 1 being my first MMO, EQ was ruined for me. I played it.. a lot.. with a group of RL friends, who all had ridiculously geared characters on Rallos Zek.. we PvPed a lot, and raided a lot, and grinded a lot. It never got more fun though. It was all pretty much the same.. I never felt that sense of adventure like I felt in AC1. So.. to me, EQ is far from the best MMO, and not because I wasn't good at it.. just because it never gave me that sense of satisfaction that AC1 did when playing it.
UO is horrible in terms of progression design. Everyone is a tank mage .. a lot LESS variety than EQ. EQ classes are much better.
Um what? This is like the post of someone who says everyone in SWG had the same exact template and was in the same exact armor..
in other words complete non sense.
Even if you want to promote that belief.. class systems are the exact same... fotm op class ftw.
The difference in a class-less system is that people can try alternate builds without having to make an entirely new character. That is really the benefit of a class-less system. You also are allowed within the limits (700 points at UO launch) to take the skills you want.
Where in a class system even if they allow you to change classes or even dual class you are still stuck with the pre-made.
In UO I used many builds and the tank-mage was probably one of the weakest builds for pvp... then again maybe that was why I did so well in UO pvp...
From my UO Perspective EQ was a pos... and I only went there because my guild kept asking me to come over. I had even given away my EQ beta account I hated it so much. So I would log into EQ and play for a day and go right back to UO.
In EverQuest you were lost, clueless, scared, exploring (not looking at pointers, quest journals and your gps radar map, but REALLY EXPLORING, socializing, making friends, achieving hard goals and feeling good about it!)
Comments
The map they have now is weird like you look at it and still have no clue where you are lol.
Also if I'm not mistaken, the game probably came with a map of the world in the box.
LOL, this is ridiculous. So you said that grouping = good, soloing = bad? Do you have any logic to support your idea why grouping = good but soloing = bad?
not pain, challenge :P
I like challenge, but the no map crap is silly...you had maps and compasses in medieval times....just bad game desighn
Well actually u had a compass in the game, and you had fan made maps that you could print and use (i had a map of all "non transit zones" with all required info).
What was really great in EQ for me and made it diff from UO was :
1) the size of the world, i mean once Kunark came out and then SoL it was so huge !! And man u had no fast travel stuff, good thing i was a ranger cuz w/o SOW it was a fail
2) The scale of stuff, that was a big diff with UO !! When u faced a giant u were the size of its foot, a dragon about the size of one if its claws, a god... n stuf like that ! No other game, and i don't believe any other game released since, had that much variety between zones with Lava, undeads, gods, tree huggers, underwater zones, moon surface zones, underworld dungeons zones (remember the first times in Guk ? No train to zone possible !!!).
3) The Epic size of quests, i mean, yeah they were a definite pain in the butt sometimes, but they were quite worth it (some were just plain stupid tho, like the one for the key to VP, where u had to kill this one named newbie skeleton that actually spawned like once every couple days or something in a freaking newbie zone, yeah right).
4) Teamwork and relationship between guilds, since all raid zones were open, guilds had to work out a raiding calendar of when to raid the biggest mobs and stuff, that was quite good.
5) The evolution of ur character... i mean i saw my ranger change so much over n over the game, and when AA got released u could really feel the power of it ! (machinegun archery !!).
But well the thing i hated about the game was that IT WASNT A GAME IT WAS WORK !! FFS !!! Being a raid officer ? Euro ??? Having to be down in the raid zones with some of ur guild freaks in order to "reserve" the mobs before anyone else went down ? Spending hourrrrrrssssssss killing the same guys while waiting for the U.S part of the guild to log on to do the raid, that was bad. I mean playing EQ less than 7h per day was like, useless. As much as i really loved this game, i ain't a student anymore, and there's just no way in this world that i go back to this hardcore level again (unless it gets F2P and i just play casually for the heck of it).
I think that was the biggest diff with UO back then, UO was 100% Casual (once ya maxxed out ya just went out with ur buddies on treasure hunts, ya operated ya casino, ya collected rares, ya killed people and ya relaxed in ur castle), while EQ was 100% hardcore (ya had no life).
You're a Hardcore Survivor!
You not only survived the zombie apocalypse, but did it with style! Your mastery of zombie knowledge, survival tactics, and weaponry is nearly unmatched. Congratulations, for you are hardcore!
Ive been enjoying EQ from day 1 and 10 years later im still playing every day for 3-4 hrs a day. The original was by far the best MMORPG ive ever played and i pretty much beta'ed or played them all at one point. Through all the changes eq still has its upside even though its been dumbed down to easy mode and leveling to 70 takes 12 hrs total now it still is one hell of a game despite it being 10 years old. I always wondered will WOW ever last this long as I see EQ going for atleast 4-5 more years. Do any of us think wow will last 15 years ? god i hope not.
The only reason EQ is still alive today is SOE was releasing 2 expansions a year for 4 years straight it was basically a new game every year. The old EQ is dead infact not many people even visit zones 4 expansions old anymore so its all about the new expansions if they stop making them EQ will die.
It's in the post you just read.
EQ was a great game. However, the end of EQ for me was the release of Velious and the clear vision of raider catering. Until Velious the power difference between raiders and non-raiders really wasn't all that bad. Until velious the amount of raider and group content was more in balance with the player base. The isolation of players to their guilds through powercurve increasing killed that game for me. I loved the nearly one big community that EQ was early on.
UO is still my favorite MMO. We grouped and interacted with each other because we wanted to, not because the game mechanics forced us to.
Forever looking for employment. Life is rather dull without it.
That's partly why I enjoyed EQOA so much, that it was an even playing field, naive in a sense, and my first MMO game. It looks like most of the contributors in this thread are pretty old or were playing P.C. games long before me so I can't comment on how EQ was but I subscribed recently to see what it was like after I heard it was ten years old. I like it, it carried a sense of the original D&D books and reminded me of the smell of them and the promise of depth, possibilities and interest that they held. I can agree with what's being said here, by the majority, things like the text based UI system felt like it had plenty of scope and depth and loads to discover and learn within it. There wasn't much competition back then though which means it's easier to become a loyal player because there's no-where else to play and one great thing about MMO games is that they really reward loyal players by allowing them to un-cover lore and become more involved in their chosen game world, that makes it easier to fall in love with a game, when a player's loyal. Maybe that's what made it great.
Graphics are important and I think they were then and EQ had great graphics too so despite feeling that I nerf my-self for believing that I still do, I like looking at the art and I like what-ever fantasy world I'm playing in to look as real as it can be so how can there be another EQ now when there's so much choice while guilds carve each and every game up and hand out the portions on forums six months before any game is released? Compromise has to be made between the wants of players who've grown up with digital fantasy and I think, what many designers would agree would make a great MMO; to make it as close to PnP as can be to provide all of the opportunities and choices that system offers. So many players now aren't going to have felt what some of us must have, that sense of PnP opening up and I think perhaps it's just closing a bit now until a sunny developer shines on it.
Since when do the first two words "MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER" = Social Interaction. That just means alot of people! Having to rely on other people to have fun is crazy. When they are there great it enhances the game (If u get a decent group). But my experiences have been mostly waiting around, hence the new trend toward Public Quests. So yeah I'll agree that social interaction is fun but it's not what makes the MMO for me.
I loved EQ up until around the velious expansion ..
EQ simply was great because noone knew any better back then but it soon changed intoa community of loot farming users trying to have the best gear with little REAL socialising left..
the first months in EQ will alway sbe the best..a totally niaeve customer base who had never seen this kind of game really a first of its kind that spawned rubbish like WoW afterwards...once we all became pros and you camped 6 hours for a bubble or two of experience at level 51 the game lost its magic.
EQ would not be "successful" today because the market has changed it would be a niche game that would appeal to many older MMO players but todays markey is saturated by post WoW players who would never tolerate a harder game ..this is because MMOs used to target niche markets and today are really trying to mass market their products (and thus dumb them down )
in short, MMO companies are targeting spoiled brats who are young and dont know what it means to work for something
in short, MMO companies are targeting spoiled brats who are young and dont know what it means to work for something
Don't forget the adults that don't have the play time they used to.
Forever looking for employment. Life is rather dull without it.
in short, MMO companies are targeting spoiled brats who are young and dont know what it means to work for something
Don't forget the adults that don't have the play time they used to.
oh ya lol forgot about them, oh and Adults who have a desk job but dont have anything to actualy do... i know so many of them lol who play video games all day because their job is boring and slow
im not really agaisnt a "easy" mmo i just wish it wasnt So friggin easy where i could get to Cap level from Solo`n that just inst fun i think team play should be a Forced element, at some point in a game even if it is only for a 5 lvl period thatll take like 5 hours of game play tops, this would actualy INCREASE the community, and probaly make it a better place for every one
It's in the post you just read.
I rereaded it twice but still not get the idea why grouping orient game = good game, it's just 2 different things. My idea is it is a good game when you feel that it is fun while playing, nothing related to grouping or soloing, very simple.
mm let me explain!when your a new gamer in mmo and you start with eq ,the learning curve was probably very steep
the game should have had a warning for advanced player only why?
that way experienced gamer had a good time and newb gamer could learn the rope
wow im sorry to say is just too easy maybe in part its blizzard fault but lot of add-on made it too easy
check this!when i quitted wow i didnt think about this but seeing the little bit of eq2 i got starting zone
i found one thing i was asking for help the dude steered me to add-on !
thats the trouble today too many add-on every but one !
i was so surprised ,good old silkroad online booted add-on from its game and enforcing it since this month and you know what
the game might actually be more fun .ad--on speed up game yes and thats the problem
if you dont have time to mmo go play free realm lol dont scrap good mmo with thing not needed
what made eq and lot of other game fun was the fact you had plenty of time to chat you probably didnt know where you were going anyway (giggle)but now you got coord x,y,z plus map so no more scret there or even searching a bit
i wish game dev would remove coord and map add-on ,hell probably even all add-on
EQ was the best because it was new and different. UO was the best for the same reason. AC was the best to a lot of people, because compared to the few MMOs around at the time, it was pretty damn new and different, too. Then there was DAOC, which was a lot like EQ, but added RvR, which was huge, as far as bringing something new to the genre.
Almost every game since then hasn't brought anything all that new or different to the genre at all. They're all just part of an evolution of baby steps, and a whole lot of one step forward two steps back, with the only thing new and improved being the graphics.
In gaming, in almost every genre of gaming, the best games are always the ones that do something new and different. EQ was one of those games. Trying to copy its formula for success is just moronic.
When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.
Actually EQ was the worst thing to hit the MMO genre. It introduced the restrictive class level nightmare.
It was easy mode for the masses. They did not have to think about developing their character, it was all done through the class structure for them.
You really need to get a better perspective of the genre.
The idea of working in a video game makes me chuckle. Unless they decided to pay me to play, well then I'd be all for work.
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was the first to introduce a broken travel system aka boats. Anyone that traveled from Butcherblock to Freeport prayed to their God before zoning in hopes that they didn't go linkdead (an uncommon problem but common enough to make it a pain in the ass) and be able to log back on just before zoning back into the OOT, resulting in waiting about 40 more minutes of real time, to ride the boat back through OOT, back into BB mountains, 180 back into OOT, go through OOT again, and pray AGAIN that you didn't go linkdead zoning back into Freeport. It was a worthless timesink that they didn't fix for years after release.
/shout "(insert level/class) LFG, PST!" got old after limited places to level AT your level, having to get in a player-made que.
/corpse got old after having to drag your body from a uberguild-made train that consisted of half the zone that ended your camp, because the uberguild wanted to get their guildies the item you were camping, so they just ran a monk in and feigned death at your feet with a train from Grand Central Station.
Reporting issues, griefing, or problems in general got old after only getting "guides" instead of "GM's" who's macro'd button was "We can't help you with that problem, sorry."
Questing was a joke, as it was also often called "Neverquest" among other nicknames. For the most part in early EQ, MOST of the ACTUAL quests were broken, rewards weren't worth the time taken away from potential grinding... The only quest that was worth doing was Tumpy Tonics, and it was nerfed into the ground as well.
Leveling was unforgiving as you could have grinded the past 5 hours in the same spot for a few bubbles of xp, to lose ALL the xp you gained and then some due to circumstance (linkdeath, trains, griefing, ect) and be back at where you started after only 1 death.
BUT....
Early EQ did make those of us who played it, despite it's difficulty, rather damned good at how to "Know our Role". The social aspect made it so that you couldn't progress without others who knew their ass from a hole in the ground. It also made you learn about everyone elses capabilities in conjunction with your own, damage and healing mitigation, aggro management, ect. The game was unforgiving enough to weed out people by level 20, especially by the time people started to be more social in Unrest and Mistmoore. Dumbasses got bad names, no one grouped with them, they never level... so very seldom would you see anyone above that that wasn't good at what they did.
The ONLY thing I miss about EQ, is the "ding". After going through everything you had to JUST to get the next level, It was pavlovian.
"There is only one thing of which I am certain, and that's nothing is certain."
So much better to be limited to 1-3 templates instead, right? UO and AC both had a pathetically limited number of viable choices when it all came down to it. Better to have 8 working classes than 50 skills, all of which only a handfull were actually usefull. Class systems allow MORE choices and more balance, which is why those systems prevailed. Being able to choose any skill but be gimped compared to the next guy doesn't make for balanced play. Good systems get emulated. Broken ones do not. Skill systems work great in single player games. Theres no doubt about it. But they're horrible in MMOs. They look great on paper but never pan out in practice.
So much better to be limited to 1-3 templates instead, right? UO and AC both had a pathetically limited number of viable choices when it all came down to it. Better to have 8 working classes than 50 skills, all of which only a handfull were actually usefull. Class systems allow MORE choices and more balance, which is why those systems prevailed. Being able to choose any skill but be gimped compared to the next guy doesn't make for balanced play. Good systems get emulated. Broken ones do not. Skill systems work great in single player games. Theres no doubt about it. But they're horrible in MMOs. They look great on paper but never pan out in practice.
UO is horrible in terms of progression design. Everyone is a tank mage .. a lot LESS variety than EQ. EQ classes are much better.
Asheron's Call 1 being my first MMO, EQ was ruined for me. I played it.. a lot.. with a group of RL friends, who all had ridiculously geared characters on Rallos Zek.. we PvPed a lot, and raided a lot, and grinded a lot. It never got more fun though. It was all pretty much the same.. I never felt that sense of adventure like I felt in AC1. So.. to me, EQ is far from the best MMO, and not because I wasn't good at it.. just because it never gave me that sense of satisfaction that AC1 did when playing it.
Um what? This is like the post of someone who says everyone in SWG had the same exact template and was in the same exact armor..
in other words complete non sense.
Even if you want to promote that belief.. class systems are the exact same... fotm op class ftw.
The difference in a class-less system is that people can try alternate builds without having to make an entirely new character. That is really the benefit of a class-less system. You also are allowed within the limits (700 points at UO launch) to take the skills you want.
Where in a class system even if they allow you to change classes or even dual class you are still stuck with the pre-made.
In UO I used many builds and the tank-mage was probably one of the weakest builds for pvp... then again maybe that was why I did so well in UO pvp...
From my UO Perspective EQ was a pos... and I only went there because my guild kept asking me to come over. I had even given away my EQ beta account I hated it so much. So I would log into EQ and play for a day and go right back to UO.
We all have our perspectives...
HELL F YEAH!
I want to FEEL LIKE A NEWBIE AGAIN!
A game that will SLAP ME IN THE FACE!
In EverQuest you were lost, clueless, scared, exploring (not looking at pointers, quest journals and your gps radar map, but REALLY EXPLORING, socializing, making friends, achieving hard goals and feeling good about it!)
F now thats what MMORPG 's should be about.
R.I.P Chikaca Whachuchu
