Beta testers: how is the story?

ezorn33

One of the complaints I've seen about EQ2 -- the one that most concerns me -- is that your character's sole motivation is a level grind.  In other words, there isn't much of a central story to hold the game together, which means that the quests run the risk of becoming boring quite quickly (around level 20, I hear).

To those who are in beta, is this true?  What is the motivation to move forward with the game, aside from "I want to get to the next level"?

Roland_Aseph

Well I've only made it to lvl 12 with my highest char atm...I have received a few "City" quests that imply that there is some concerns running through the city, though it seems more of a hushed issue atm. And if I remember right a member of the ruling family was the target of an attempted assignation. So there seems to be some under-currents of a plot, but perhaps because of my low lvl I don't see the main story arch yet?

Any veteran beta player here that can tell us about or if there is a MAIN story line that becomes more apparent?

Good question ezorn33...thanks for the post!

RA

ezorn33

Anyone else?

Roin

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Originally posted by Roland_Aseph

Well I've only made it to lvl 12 with my highest char atm...I have received a few "City" quests that imply that there is some concerns running through the city, though it seems more of a hushed issue atm. And if I remember right a member of the ruling family was the target of an attempted assignation. So there seems to be some under-currents of a plot, but perhaps because of my low lvl I don't see the main story arch yet?
Any veteran beta player here that can tell us about or if there is a MAIN story line that becomes more apparent?
Good question ezorn33...thanks for the post!
RA

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elvenangel

I only got to beta test the game for a week but got to level 13 as a Predator.  I did ...god knows how many quests, found quests off mobs, found quests off ground spawns.  There's quite a bit a history involved to some of them.   I Love how I went on a quest to help kill gnolls after feeling "enraged" by the images I saw from an old abandoned tower bell  that my character touched. By the time that quest was done I had found another quest that involved the gnolls and their plans to cause havoc on the food supply for Qeynos by making these haunted scarecrows. I actually had one quest that when I was finshed with the item they gave me was a quest that would take me all over the continent, but I wasn't quit eold enough to risk one of the places I needed to go.  

Everquest 2 is FAR FAR FAR from storyless or contentless, infact the content seems never ending which i like.    when I beta'd WoW for the stress test, I became incredibly bored, incredibly fast.  Their were very few quest and still is.  But if you are into PvP thats what WoW is, if you're into PvE then Eq2 is the place for you. 

TalionNelson

I only got to a level 16 Sorcerer but my experience is like ElvanAngel's, in that the quests did seem to have an ongoing story-arc that would be visible if I had more time to connect them all. I, too, had quests that my character wasn't quite ready for but hinted at bigger issues in Qeynos and the surrounds.

Incidentally, the game UI does a great job of keeping your quests organized.

I did play in the WoW stress test and in the current one, I wouldn't be as harsh on its quests (as I did connect with its story arc and enjoyed them, too) as much as I'm just not enchanted with the game the way I am with EQ2.

xcalibur

There are many storylines.  One is figuring out exactly what caused the shattering.  Another is figuring out what this 'green mist' is.  There are all of the stories dealing with the city factions as well as freeport/qeynos I'm sure.  There are a multitude of other side-stories. 

 

Keep in mind, these are only the things I picked up on in the first 15 levels...as I played to lvl 15 probably 12 times or so during the beta trying to figure out what class I wanted to be in retail.

Also, I remember reading something from the devs saying how the players were going to be very interested in how the dragons affect the world. 

cuzzo222

One question that i had about eq2 that kind of goes along with quests is:do players make lasting effects on the environment?I used to play horizons(yea yea i know what your thinking, lol :P, i only played until the free month was up) and in that game players could start towns in the middle of no-where, or build bridges and things like that.There were also epic quests involving everybody to push back invaders and reclaim a land or unlock a race.Is there anything like this in EQ2?

 

xcalibur

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Originally posted by cuzzo222

One question that i had about eq2 that kind of goes along with quests is:do players make lasting effects on the environment?I used to play horizons(yea yea i know what your thinking, lol :P, i only played until the free month was up) and in that game players could start towns in the middle of no-where, or build bridges and things like that.There were also epic quests involving everybody to push back invaders and reclaim a land or unlock a race.Is there anything like this in EQ2?
 

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Not right now.  The devs stated that they wanted freeport and qeynos to be THE places of commerce and gathering for the world...probably easier to keep to their storyline that way. 

kboy_5

IF greenmist is anythihg like it was from eq1 its the iksar shadowknight faction.....

peruru84

Actually, the Greenmist is a race killing green cloud that was released by the Avatar of Fear on the ogres outside of Freeport. It was also released on the Shissar, but they fled to Luclin to save themselves. I think the iksars were named Greenmist because of the fact that they were servants to the shissar until the greenmist came to free them. I love Eq2 lore, and I am so glad the quests in-game reflect it.