I played EQ2 for two or three years with time out in between. I eventually dropped the game because, for lack of a better description, it had no soul. It was nothing more than an endless parade of hack and slash to get more gear to hack and slash. The only thing that varied were the envirnoments that still had clones of monsters from other environments.
One of the most sadly undeveloped portion of the game is the storyline, there is none. Unlike the intro trailer that implies some brewing epic battle between forces of dark and light, none of it is reflected in the game. I would say more, but to be honest, the game isn't even worth the time it takes for a bad review.
In the end it's blantantly clear that SOE's priorities are to thier investors and not the gaming community. It's a stock MMO, dumbed down over time to appeal to the casual player who doesn't want to take the time to quest or explore. The author gives the game a 7.9, realistically it's about a 5.0
I would have loved to play EQ2, and I tried out the trial and everything.I loved most things about it but one thing has kept me from playing.
SoE has an inability to make new armor models and looks for character players. All I see is re-colored and, at it's best, re-textured armor models. I would have loved to give it a go but that is a bit of a deal breaker to me. Even if it didn't look like such a medieval ghetto I might have stuck with it but the art direction is way off. Devs/Art team say that it's so so hard to make armor in that game having to fit it.. well that's your fault for setting it up that way.
Edit:
Also...intelligent gamers?
It sounds like their saying that anyone that doesn't play EQ2 is stupid. Haha intelligent gamers are actually out playing chess or games you can actually lose in. MMO's just give you a slap on the bottom and let you try again. I'd hate to say this, but here are no intelligent mmos. That's not an insult to MMOs being I love them, but lets not kid ourselves here. Just cause EQ2 has a low population, looks darker, and doesn't have an established art style doesn't mean it's intelligent,.. it just means that SoE is trying to hold on to some dignity after spending so much money to make a game that fell so short.
EQ2 overal is a good PvE game, I just hate few things about it. Mostly boring combat system and ugly zone design. I much prefer VG because of it. But EQ2 still has tonns of depth and content, so i can imagine playing it if I had more time
The only thing EQ2 managed to do when it was created was start a trend among developers in how to clone quests and take shortcuts in design just to make a cheap buck. All spellcasters, no matter the class, use the same animations and every quest is a variation of the same 'ol "Kill X creatures for Y reward". The same cloned animations apply among the melee classes as well by the way.
That boring formula has chased off any intelligent gamers and the only ones left are a pack of elitists who spend their time farming and mocking any newcomers asking questions in general chat. Not to mention if you happen to try a pvp server, those same elitist farmers have insane twink alts that camp the newbie zones, killing all new players repeatably until they get bored.
So um, yah, great game to try out if you don't mind wasting your money.
i agree. eq2 was and is a miserable excuse for a sequel to the love of my life eq1
I've liked and disliked every MMO I've played to date. There are always trade offs and I've yet to see the perfect game. What I do like about EQ2 is the variety of quests, variety of zones, crafting, housing and the community in general.
I'm not going to WoW-bash as I love it too, but to compare EQ2 global channels to what goes on in WoW trade - give me some WoW bashing over anal... chat or the kiddies swearing because they can or the same 5 people pontificating all night. I play with trade turned off in WoW.
The EQ2 community in general is more mature. Not everyone. Some wowism are creeping in, but overall most people are helpful. But there is some effort required.
As for the graphics on a decent machine they look fine. Not as cartoony as WoW nor as beauitufl as LoTRO or AoC. The armor/weapons have enough variety for me as the appearance slot makes all the difference in the world - wear a dress to quest in if you want.
My biggest gripe with SOE (other than the marketplace being shoved down my throat) is I want more character slots!! 19 races/24 classes - 7 player slots total! I know go play on EU or test - that's bullshit. Not saying it has to be generous like Blizzard - but 7? I've deleted more toons that are 40+ levels in to try a new class - pisses me off!
In all it's a fun game, I've played on and off since right after it started. It's the type of game you should enjoy leveling and exploring, I'm a tad disappointed it seems to be headed towards End game is God, as there really is alot to see and do.
But, if you haven't played EQ2 - the 14 day free trial is definitely worth trying. Sentinel's Fate is worth the price too - all the expansions in one box for under $50 is a deal.
I will say all the talk about Vanguard tempts me to pick it up! Bought it when it came out and returned it after so many said it was awful.
** BTW great analogy on the burger wars - that McRib is creepy beyong belief!
I found EQ2 to be boring to watch. Sterile environments. Lack luster combat. Stiff animation. Rather unappeal in anything other than still shots. As to game play...the combat just bored the crap out of me. I made one character that left the first area outside the main city for the evil side into the forest and just could not bring myself to play more. I just hated watching my guy fight. It was slow paced and just boring to watch happen infront of me.
For a game that is 5+ years old, and you find the combat boring.. I would love to hear what YOU find as thrilling from that era.. Name please so I must compare what you think is UBER Awesomeness..vs. boring.. I have played many MMO's for over 10 years and EQ2 is darn good.. I prefered Aion better from a combat graphic perspective, but hated Aion gameplay after 25th level.. To much PvP gankathon.. I'll be waiting for a response to what you call a good combat style and why..
Good article. It has lots of fun meaty stuff in it if you're looking for a game. Heritage, Signature, and L&L quests are my favorite. The quest rewards for those are cool because I can collect and arrange them in my house (which is a hookless system).
Housing itself is interesting because it provides the player a way to showcase their accomplishments, collect fluff, and design a building interior. There are different types of houses with the expensive housing having a generous allotment of rooms.
Crafting is fun for me. I found the post above about the 5, 6, 1 rotation funny because it's so very true. That part of crafting is monotonous, but no less than the "afk" batch approach in LotRO or WoW. There is a lot more to crafting in EQ2 than that though. Crafting might be an important part of a quest chain or have a dedicated quest chain just for crafting gear (I'm looking at you Cloak of the Harvester). Most importantly crafted gear is useful and can make the player money. It's a fairly valid game activity all on its own.
The criticism about the engine is pretty valid. I can tell they've done work on it since I first played in 2008, but it needs a whole new engine. I have an i7/920 with 9GB ram and an nvidia GTX260/1.8GB. On max settings with all options set to use GPU lighting and shadows when possible I still only run 40 - 60 fps on average and in some places (Kelethin) I run at 20 - 40. Even the old engine Turbine uses for LotRO running DX10 performs better than that (not much though).
In any event the game is worth a second look or a 14 day trial. There is tons to do. Buying Sentinal's Fate gets you all the back expansions (30 days free if you're new too) a little bit of fluff, and 500 Station Cash. I got it for $22 (+$6 shipping) at Amazon.com. I'm not your typical EQ2 player though cause I have only played off and on over the last couple of years.
I'll have to look you up! If you happen to get around to it before I do....there are several MMORPG.com'ers on Everfrost with us. These are my 3 most played characters.....
It is pretty obvious that most people who play EQ2 hate WoW more than they like EQ2..
Why they hell is WoW even in this discussion?
EQ2 has some great things going for it, but also some very bad things, such as optimization and how bad it looks at anything less than max settings, which is damn near impossible to run over 20fps. And yeah I have a good computer. 8g ram, core 2duo e8500 OC'd 3.8ghz, hd5870 vista 64 bit. Game still runs like crap. Every other game out there runs great on my puter. I can run LOTRO dx10 max settings at 50 fps, AoC dx10 max settings at 40fps, but not this old dog.
"and ugly textures? Are you trying to play EQ2 on a calculator? That only works for WoW. EQ2 requires an actual computer, sorry. But thanks for the "more power to you" comment."
There you go bringing up WoW again lol. Yes sorry, but EQ2 is a fairly hideous game, even with a maxed out computer. The textures were obviously slapped on without any attention or care, and what you get is mess of a visual style that is very incohesive. The only people that actually think the game looks great are the people with bad taste.
Art direction > Technology
It's a shame too. If they had hired more than just techy people to throw in specular lighting and bump mapping (like hiring actual artists), then the game could have looked pretty damn good, even with the bad optimization. As of now though, it's pretty much digital vomit on the screen
I disagree with people saying Everquest 2 has the worst AAA mmorpg engine around, go play Age of Conan. That game runs like complete ass even on insanely powerful machines. Say what you want about Everquest 2 but don't say you hate it based on its engine because its simply not that bad. I run it on extreme settings just fine with high fps. Age of Conan on the other hand runs really badly in both dx9 and dx10. In some areas it runs "ok" and then right back to trash again. A lot of us like to insult Everquest 2 just because we dislike Sony. Though Atm I'm saying all mmorpg publishers/company's are just as bad if not worse. I'm not even remotely close to being a Sony "fan" as they boned SWG hard and it upset me a great deal. However Ive played every mmorpg I could find P2P & F2P alike, and I always end up back at Everquest 2 ' saying damn you Sony for being lucky enough to not completely bone this game. I have had some seriously poor gaming experiences with Sony. Everquest 2 is not one of them. Everquest ps2 Online Adventures was. What they did to Everquest 1 was. SWG and the entire Jedi bs. I was one of the asshats who worked his ass off for Jedi only to have it be common place later on. So In conclusion, say what you want but don't let your hate for Sony cloud your judgement about what it is that makes a game playable Or good. WoW is just a polished Guild wars now with less customer service yet what 11.5 million people play that? Blizzard has boned people for years with many bad decisions and a game that looks like complete ass.
Let people have a real idea of what it is that makes a game good don't just drop the old screw this line. It's bad because of "blah made-up excuse 92 from the handbook that is asshatdom". Everquest 2 has its ups and downs like every other game.
Though if you want Immersion in the current fantasy genre of mmorpgs its in the top 3. Just my opinion. Again, I'm in no way saying its an awesome game but I won't downgrade it based on its owners merits. The developers who worked on that game showed a real understanding of Art in almost every zone. The world builders and model workers did a good job. Is EQ 2's engine awesome? No not at all but it works.
You can't compare it to WoW Hell people have gottin WoW to run on smart-phones because it has no graphics to speak of and looks like ass. So of course its gonna run smooth as hell. Alganon and Age of Conan are the true dead beat mmorpgs with the worst Engines on the market in my book. Btw Age of Conan is not a bad game it just runs poorly on most machines. Mainly because the new expansion in my eyes was poorly done. Age of Conan is good in its own right so don't take what I said about the engine as a deal breaker give it a shot if your sick of your current game.
A man or "gamer" should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.
I disagree with people saying Everquest 2 has the worst AAA mmorpg engine around, go play Age of Conan. That game runs like complete ass even on insanely powerful machines. Say what you want about Everquest 2 but don't say you hate it based on its engine because its simply not that bad.
<<snip>>
I left out most of your quote, but what I am about to say is just as applicable to most of what you said.
Perhaps people saying EQ2 has the worst engine is an exaggeration, but at the same time the propblems of the conan engine don't make the problems of the eq2 engine irrelevant. Conan may or may not run like crap, but that won't improve or degrade the eq2 engine, because it is an entity all of its own.
If the best support you can muster for the eq2 engine is "its not that bad" then perhaps people who said they don't like the game, because of the problems with the engine have something credible to their opinion.
The eq2 engine is a pig and poorly coded. It doesn't support multicore cpus and doesn't properly use video cards. The devs have pushed a few things to a second cpu or the video card, but the majority of the work for the entire game is processed on a single core. It is an awful engine for the level of detail and graphics the game was designed for. Again, conan or some other game might be just as bad or worse, but that doesn't really matter does it?
I disagree with people saying Everquest 2 has the worst AAA mmorpg engine around, go play Age of Conan. That game runs like complete ass even on insanely powerful machines. Say what you want about Everquest 2 but don't say you hate it based on its engine because its simply not that bad.
<>
I left out most of your quote, but what I am about to say is just as applicable to most of what you said.
Perhaps people saying EQ2 has the worst engine is an exaggeration, but at the same time the propblems of the conan engine don't make the problems of the eq2 engine irrelevant. Conan may or may not run like crap, but that won't improve or degrade the eq2 engine, because it is an entity all of its own.
If the best support you can muster for the eq2 engine is "its not that bad" then perhaps people who said they don't like the game, because of the problems with the engine have something credible to their opinion.
The eq2 engine is a pig and poorly coded. It doesn't support multicore cpus and doesn't properly use video cards. The devs have pushed a few things to a second cpu or the video card, but the majority of the work for the entire game is processed on a single core. It is an awful engine for the level of detail and graphics the game was designed for. Again, conan or some other game might be just as bad or worse, but that doesn't really matter does it?
Finally you say something I can agree with....EQ2 doesn't have the best game engine.
Pffft. Meh. Doesn't ruin my enjoyment of the game at all, and they continue to improve things, so....valid point though.
I never said there are not wow players that go to eq2 and complain. Why does everything have to be such extremes when people make points here? Has all objectivity been completely lost in the zeal to defend a game? Furthermore is everyone that mentions wow or complains necessarily a wow player? Is everything beyond criticism or question just because you suspect someone plays or played wow or they don't toe the line?
Eq2 is filled with people that bitch and moan about warcraft for a variety of reasons. Some are instigated and some are not. However it is rampant among the community and gets hurled at people for any reason. EVEN WHEN THEY ARE NOT WOW PLAYERS! (Again see Asamof discussion) It is like a catch all defense mechanism.
Is this really off topic? Talking about the community of a game in an article that is disucssing features of a game aimed at players who might want to know more and try the game out again.
I'll be honest, I don't like to mention that I play wow, because of just how anti-wow the majority of the community is. That isn't caused by wow noobs acting afool in the trial channels. It is almost a badge of membership to hate wow in eq2.
Why do people even download the client for a game trial they care nothing for? Then even bother to log in and spam the channel about how you think the game sucks?
Lots of easier ways to try and insult or bother the players of a game you dont care for. Actually logging into a game that you are bashing in its very own chat channel seems pretty pathetic. But thats just me. I just leave the channel when that stuff happens.
For a game that is AAA top of the line, smooth, awesome, amazing, and almost flawless (lol)....they sure have a lot of people jumping ship to EQ2....AND OTHER GAMES.
Funny, but I thought earlier you were saying something about it doesn't matter how many people play a game, but now it seems that people no longer playing means something.
That is good news I guess, because then eq2 won't have to go through their upcoming server mergers with lots of people jumping ship to EQ2.... oh and "other games" of course. Lets not forget there are tons of people joining other games too.
I did a stupid thing: I started reading this thread, and then I kept reading page after page.
What started as a mildly interesting thread about EQ II, deteriorated slowly around post 50-60 until the thread got cluttered with EQ2 - WoW bashing contest where as usual people are getting on the fence and under the guise of reason a stream of extreme or irrelevant arguments are being sprouted, including the required quotes of quotes of quotes posts.
Well, not really my thing, after having read a number of that kind of discussions they usually tend to bore me to death, but one thing: Asamof, get the f*** over your hatred of SOE if you want to sounds as reasonable to others as you think of yourself you are. Besides, claiming to be a voice of reason is a very weird thing to do while insulting all EQ players of basically having bad taste and being petty and suckers. Now that's bad taste.
About EQ2, which this thread was about: I played it for some time when it launched, but I had the same gripe as some other people have, it just didn't feel like a sequel of Everquest, that magical feeling that EQ gave of in the way its world worked (talking pre-Luclin era here) somehow got lost in the making of EQ2. At least to me.
I heard and read though that EQ2 had improved a lot, and I saw a video of the Echoes of Faydwer expansion that really did seem to give a true sequel feel of the original content it was based upon: Kelethin, Felwithe and Faydark always felt like coming home when I visited there again in EQ.
So if I had buckets of time left, I'd have given it another try again, just to see how EQ2 is now. Well, who knows, maybe a few months from now I'll reconsider.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Vanguard is just a cheap imitation of EQ2 with a different skin to sucker more money out of gamers. Like my earlier post, EQ2 isn't exactly the best game to imitate either.
ummm no it isn't. it wasn't even made by SOE, and it was designed to be like EQ1
About EQ2, which this thread was about: I played it for some time when it launched, but I had the same gripe as some other people have, it just didn't feel like a sequel of Everquest, that magical feeling that EQ gave of in the way its world worked (talking pre-Luclin era here) somehow got lost in the making of EQ2. At least to me.
I completely agree on this point. I loved the original EQ! All of the zones/dungeons were very big, some huge, with no map for easy directions to anything. It was easy to get lost in some places. Every class played a specific role with unique abilities. It focused more on group play with few solo areas, though some classes were better than others for solo play. Level progression was slow but I liked that. Creatures had no restrictions and there were tons of "boss mobs" & rare encounters. You could even choose your path by taking sides in war with giants, frost dwarves or dragons (scars of velious) or dark elves or sarnaks (ruins of kunark).
I played EQ2 from its release to the Kingdom of Sky expansion. Aside from the character customization & improved graphics of EQ1, (EQ1 was blocky as hell but I loved it.), I found the game to be mildly entertaining & nothing like the original EQ. The zones were small & cramped. Almost all Dungeons were caves/small hallways, though this did seem to improve somewhat in the Desert of Flames expansion. The entire game was very linear. Class type meant next to nothing because many classes were pretty much the same with only minor differences. Experience gain was far too fast/easy for my taste. Creatures were grouped & "leashed" rebounding to their starting possition, which bothered me & there were some major quest bottle necking issues.
Comments
I played EQ2 for two or three years with time out in between. I eventually dropped the game because, for lack of a better description, it had no soul. It was nothing more than an endless parade of hack and slash to get more gear to hack and slash. The only thing that varied were the envirnoments that still had clones of monsters from other environments.
One of the most sadly undeveloped portion of the game is the storyline, there is none. Unlike the intro trailer that implies some brewing epic battle between forces of dark and light, none of it is reflected in the game. I would say more, but to be honest, the game isn't even worth the time it takes for a bad review.
In the end it's blantantly clear that SOE's priorities are to thier investors and not the gaming community. It's a stock MMO, dumbed down over time to appeal to the casual player who doesn't want to take the time to quest or explore. The author gives the game a 7.9, realistically it's about a 5.0
I would have loved to play EQ2, and I tried out the trial and everything.I loved most things about it but one thing has kept me from playing.
SoE has an inability to make new armor models and looks for character players. All I see is re-colored and, at it's best, re-textured armor models. I would have loved to give it a go but that is a bit of a deal breaker to me. Even if it didn't look like such a medieval ghetto I might have stuck with it but the art direction is way off. Devs/Art team say that it's so so hard to make armor in that game having to fit it.. well that's your fault for setting it up that way.
Edit:
Also...intelligent gamers?
It sounds like their saying that anyone that doesn't play EQ2 is stupid. Haha intelligent gamers are actually out playing chess or games you can actually lose in. MMO's just give you a slap on the bottom and let you try again. I'd hate to say this, but here are no intelligent mmos. That's not an insult to MMOs being I love them, but lets not kid ourselves here. Just cause EQ2 has a low population, looks darker, and doesn't have an established art style doesn't mean it's intelligent,.. it just means that SoE is trying to hold on to some dignity after spending so much money to make a game that fell so short.
EQ2 overal is a good PvE game, I just hate few things about it. Mostly boring combat system and ugly zone design. I much prefer VG because of it. But EQ2 still has tonns of depth and content, so i can imagine playing it if I had more time
i agree. eq2 was and is a miserable excuse for a sequel to the love of my life eq1
I've liked and disliked every MMO I've played to date. There are always trade offs and I've yet to see the perfect game. What I do like about EQ2 is the variety of quests, variety of zones, crafting, housing and the community in general.
I'm not going to WoW-bash as I love it too, but to compare EQ2 global channels to what goes on in WoW trade - give me some WoW bashing over anal... chat or the kiddies swearing because they can or the same 5 people pontificating all night. I play with trade turned off in WoW.
The EQ2 community in general is more mature. Not everyone. Some wowism are creeping in, but overall most people are helpful. But there is some effort required.
As for the graphics on a decent machine they look fine. Not as cartoony as WoW nor as beauitufl as LoTRO or AoC. The armor/weapons have enough variety for me as the appearance slot makes all the difference in the world - wear a dress to quest in if you want.
My biggest gripe with SOE (other than the marketplace being shoved down my throat) is I want more character slots!! 19 races/24 classes - 7 player slots total! I know go play on EU or test - that's bullshit. Not saying it has to be generous like Blizzard - but 7? I've deleted more toons that are 40+ levels in to try a new class - pisses me off!
In all it's a fun game, I've played on and off since right after it started. It's the type of game you should enjoy leveling and exploring, I'm a tad disappointed it seems to be headed towards End game is God, as there really is alot to see and do.
But, if you haven't played EQ2 - the 14 day free trial is definitely worth trying. Sentinel's Fate is worth the price too - all the expansions in one box for under $50 is a deal.
I will say all the talk about Vanguard tempts me to pick it up! Bought it when it came out and returned it after so many said it was awful.
** BTW great analogy on the burger wars - that McRib is creepy beyong belief!
Proud member of Hammerfist Clan Gaming Community.
Currently playing: RIFT, EQ2, WoW, LoTRO
Retired: Warhammer, AoC, EQ
Waiting: SWToR & GW2
I found EQ2 to be boring to watch. Sterile environments. Lack luster combat. Stiff animation. Rather unappeal in anything other than still shots. As to game play...the combat just bored the crap out of me. I made one character that left the first area outside the main city for the evil side into the forest and just could not bring myself to play more. I just hated watching my guy fight. It was slow paced and just boring to watch happen infront of me.
boggled @ above poster..
For a game that is 5+ years old, and you find the combat boring.. I would love to hear what YOU find as thrilling from that era.. Name please so I must compare what you think is UBER Awesomeness..vs. boring.. I have played many MMO's for over 10 years and EQ2 is darn good.. I prefered Aion better from a combat graphic perspective, but hated Aion gameplay after 25th level.. To much PvP gankathon.. I'll be waiting for a response to what you call a good combat style and why..
WoW has a much better and dynamic battle system
I'll have to look you up! If you happen to get around to it before I do....there are several MMORPG.com'ers on Everfrost with us.
These are my 3 most played characters.....
Madiera 66 battlemage sage wizard / 71 provisioner
Concerto 53 harbinger troubador / 61 carpenter
Docpeppa 42 naturalist warden / 52 tailor
(I have others, but those are the ones I spend most of my time on. =D)
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
Lets cut out the personal attacks guys, keep the discussion civil.
It is pretty obvious that most people who play EQ2 hate WoW more than they like EQ2..
Why they hell is WoW even in this discussion?
EQ2 has some great things going for it, but also some very bad things, such as optimization and how bad it looks at anything less than max settings, which is damn near impossible to run over 20fps. And yeah I have a good computer. 8g ram, core 2duo e8500 OC'd 3.8ghz, hd5870 vista 64 bit. Game still runs like crap. Every other game out there runs great on my puter. I can run LOTRO dx10 max settings at 50 fps, AoC dx10 max settings at 40fps, but not this old dog.
"and ugly textures? Are you trying to play EQ2 on a calculator? That only works for WoW. EQ2 requires an actual computer, sorry. But thanks for the "more power to you" comment."
There you go bringing up WoW again lol. Yes sorry, but EQ2 is a fairly hideous game, even with a maxed out computer. The textures were obviously slapped on without any attention or care, and what you get is mess of a visual style that is very incohesive. The only people that actually think the game looks great are the people with bad taste.
Art direction > Technology
It's a shame too. If they had hired more than just techy people to throw in specular lighting and bump mapping (like hiring actual artists), then the game could have looked pretty damn good, even with the bad optimization. As of now though, it's pretty much digital vomit on the screen
I disagree with people saying Everquest 2 has the worst AAA mmorpg engine around, go play Age of Conan. That game runs like complete ass even on insanely powerful machines. Say what you want about Everquest 2 but don't say you hate it based on its engine because its simply not that bad. I run it on extreme settings just fine with high fps. Age of Conan on the other hand runs really badly in both dx9 and dx10. In some areas it runs "ok" and then right back to trash again. A lot of us like to insult Everquest 2 just because we dislike Sony. Though Atm I'm saying all mmorpg publishers/company's are just as bad if not worse. I'm not even remotely close to being a Sony "fan" as they boned SWG hard and it upset me a great deal. However Ive played every mmorpg I could find P2P & F2P alike, and I always end up back at Everquest 2 ' saying damn you Sony for being lucky enough to not completely bone this game. I have had some seriously poor gaming experiences with Sony. Everquest 2 is not one of them. Everquest ps2 Online Adventures was. What they did to Everquest 1 was. SWG and the entire Jedi bs. I was one of the asshats who worked his ass off for Jedi only to have it be common place later on. So In conclusion, say what you want but don't let your hate for Sony cloud your judgement about what it is that makes a game playable Or good. WoW is just a polished Guild wars now with less customer service yet what 11.5 million people play that? Blizzard has boned people for years with many bad decisions and a game that looks like complete ass.
Let people have a real idea of what it is that makes a game good don't just drop the old screw this line. It's bad because of "blah made-up excuse 92 from the handbook that is asshatdom". Everquest 2 has its ups and downs like every other game.
Though if you want Immersion in the current fantasy genre of mmorpgs its in the top 3. Just my opinion. Again, I'm in no way saying its an awesome game but I won't downgrade it based on its owners merits. The developers who worked on that game showed a real understanding of Art in almost every zone. The world builders and model workers did a good job. Is EQ 2's engine awesome? No not at all but it works.
You can't compare it to WoW Hell people have gottin WoW to run on smart-phones because it has no graphics to speak of and looks like ass. So of course its gonna run smooth as hell. Alganon and Age of Conan are the true dead beat mmorpgs with the worst Engines on the market in my book. Btw Age of Conan is not a bad game it just runs poorly on most machines. Mainly because the new expansion in my eyes was poorly done. Age of Conan is good in its own right so don't take what I said about the engine as a deal breaker give it a shot if your sick of your current game.
A man or "gamer" should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.
Sorry about the wall of text its 5:42 AM and I was up all night eheh OMW to work now for 12 hours;p
A man or "gamer" should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.
I left out most of your quote, but what I am about to say is just as applicable to most of what you said.
Perhaps people saying EQ2 has the worst engine is an exaggeration, but at the same time the propblems of the conan engine don't make the problems of the eq2 engine irrelevant. Conan may or may not run like crap, but that won't improve or degrade the eq2 engine, because it is an entity all of its own.
If the best support you can muster for the eq2 engine is "its not that bad" then perhaps people who said they don't like the game, because of the problems with the engine have something credible to their opinion.
The eq2 engine is a pig and poorly coded. It doesn't support multicore cpus and doesn't properly use video cards. The devs have pushed a few things to a second cpu or the video card, but the majority of the work for the entire game is processed on a single core. It is an awful engine for the level of detail and graphics the game was designed for. Again, conan or some other game might be just as bad or worse, but that doesn't really matter does it?
Finally you say something I can agree with....EQ2 doesn't have the best game engine.
Pffft. Meh. Doesn't ruin my enjoyment of the game at all, and they continue to improve things, so....valid point though.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
I never said there are not wow players that go to eq2 and complain. Why does everything have to be such extremes when people make points here? Has all objectivity been completely lost in the zeal to defend a game? Furthermore is everyone that mentions wow or complains necessarily a wow player? Is everything beyond criticism or question just because you suspect someone plays or played wow or they don't toe the line?
Eq2 is filled with people that bitch and moan about warcraft for a variety of reasons. Some are instigated and some are not. However it is rampant among the community and gets hurled at people for any reason. EVEN WHEN THEY ARE NOT WOW PLAYERS! (Again see Asamof discussion) It is like a catch all defense mechanism.
Is this really off topic? Talking about the community of a game in an article that is disucssing features of a game aimed at players who might want to know more and try the game out again.
I'll be honest, I don't like to mention that I play wow, because of just how anti-wow the majority of the community is. That isn't caused by wow noobs acting afool in the trial channels. It is almost a badge of membership to hate wow in eq2.
Why do people even download the client for a game trial they care nothing for? Then even bother to log in and spam the channel about how you think the game sucks?
Lots of easier ways to try and insult or bother the players of a game you dont care for. Actually logging into a game that you are bashing in its very own chat channel seems pretty pathetic. But thats just me. I just leave the channel when that stuff happens.
Funny, but I thought earlier you were saying something about it doesn't matter how many people play a game, but now it seems that people no longer playing means something.
That is good news I guess, because then eq2 won't have to go through their upcoming server mergers with lots of people jumping ship to EQ2.... oh and "other games" of course. Lets not forget there are tons of people joining other games too.
I'm so confused now.
I did a stupid thing: I started reading this thread, and then I kept reading page after page.
What started as a mildly interesting thread about EQ II, deteriorated slowly around post 50-60 until the thread got cluttered with EQ2 - WoW bashing contest where as usual people are getting on the fence and under the guise of reason a stream of extreme or irrelevant arguments are being sprouted, including the required quotes of quotes of quotes posts.
Well, not really my thing, after having read a number of that kind of discussions they usually tend to bore me to death, but one thing: Asamof, get the f*** over your hatred of SOE if you want to sounds as reasonable to others as you think of yourself you are. Besides, claiming to be a voice of reason is a very weird thing to do while insulting all EQ players of basically having bad taste and being petty and suckers. Now that's bad taste.
About EQ2, which this thread was about: I played it for some time when it launched, but I had the same gripe as some other people have, it just didn't feel like a sequel of Everquest, that magical feeling that EQ gave of in the way its world worked (talking pre-Luclin era here) somehow got lost in the making of EQ2. At least to me.
I heard and read though that EQ2 had improved a lot, and I saw a video of the Echoes of Faydwer expansion that really did seem to give a true sequel feel of the original content it was based upon: Kelethin, Felwithe and Faydark always felt like coming home when I visited there again in EQ.
So if I had buckets of time left, I'd have given it another try again, just to see how EQ2 is now. Well, who knows, maybe a few months from now I'll reconsider.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
ummm no it isn't. it wasn't even made by SOE, and it was designed to be like EQ1