I actually feel sorry for the players whos first MMO was WoW, seriously, all kidding aside I feel for them.
These people were cheated, robbed of thier innocence, I wish I could ease thier pain, if only there were some way!
My first MMO was UO and that was great. My second MMO was EQ and that was terrible. My third MMO was WoW and that was great.
Point is EQ is overrated and it is just meh. I feel sorry for people who's first MMO was EQ and they praise it till this very day. It was a mediocre grindy game and WoW did it much better.
I never feel sorry for people who have some perspective with which to form an opinion, which is why I also feel sorry for people who's first MMO was WoW.
Whether you liked EQ or not, if you gave it a fair try, thats all well and good.
EQ was not my first, but my 3rd MMO. I never played UO so I cant comment on it. I loved EQ. A lot of people say Luclin was when it began to deteriorate, but I didn't mind it so much. I felt it really started to go downhill with LDoN, and that was when I quit.
WoW was my 6th MMO. I thought it was just ok during Vanilla. Not great, but not bad. In my opinion WoW, as well as WoW's community, got progressively worse with each expansion. My first character was a Night Elf Druid (this was back before druids were cool...or even liked).
I have since played a multitude of other MMOs and none, not even numbers 1 & 2, have really come close to 3 & 4; EQ and FFXI; for me. Unlike a lot of today's MMO gamers, though, I've got some perspective from which to base my opinion. I'm not saying everyone who likes WoW lacks perspective, but many do, and for those people, I truly feel sympathy for not having experienced the games that came before.
Sure, I haven't played UO, and I'm sorry myself that I never knew about it back when it was popular. I could try to play it now, but I'm sure its nothing in comparison to what it was way back when. Same goes for EQ today. Same goes even for WoW today.
There's a reason why WOW is the standard for MMOs and UO and EQ are just footnotes.
Because most gamers are easily fooled by heavily pre-scripted game mechanics that are designed for players to ultimately win in the end.
Completing a raid that countless tens if not hundreds of thousands of player have finished is not epic, despite how many times NPCs parrot it, and no matter how much purple text is thrown at you in loot windows.
Epic is a feeling, a subjective emotion tied to the enjoyment of an experience and the trill of it etc.
Who are you to define what others believe is epic or not?
OP reminds me of younger SW fans who rave about how much better episodes 1-3 are when compared to the original trilogy. They'll insist the original trilogy just isn't as good as the newer movies because of how much better the special FX are, how much flashier the battles are, how much faster the lightsaber fights are, etc. All you can do is sigh and shake your head.
Sometimes beauty (or "epicness" in this case) really is in the eyes of the beholder. It is almost impossible to communicate how special the original trilogy was, and how *EPIC* its effects, stories, and battles were for its time. It takes a special person to be able to watch an older movie, or play an older game, for the first time and to be able to put that movie/game into the context of when it first released and have a sense of what made it so amazing and groundbreaking for its time. Sure, even back then there were people who didn't care for SW and who liked other movies instead (and there are even some younger fans now who are able to realize how much better episodes 4-6 are compared to 1-3). It doesn't lessen the sadness that I feel when I realize I can't communicate the "epicness" of the old in a way a person who didn't experience it would comprehend though.
In other words, some people understand that "each age is a dream that is dying, / Or one that is coming to birth." Some do not. And never the twain shall meet, I'm afraid.
Comments
I never feel sorry for people who have some perspective with which to form an opinion, which is why I also feel sorry for people who's first MMO was WoW.
Whether you liked EQ or not, if you gave it a fair try, thats all well and good.
EQ was not my first, but my 3rd MMO. I never played UO so I cant comment on it. I loved EQ. A lot of people say Luclin was when it began to deteriorate, but I didn't mind it so much. I felt it really started to go downhill with LDoN, and that was when I quit.
WoW was my 6th MMO. I thought it was just ok during Vanilla. Not great, but not bad. In my opinion WoW, as well as WoW's community, got progressively worse with each expansion. My first character was a Night Elf Druid (this was back before druids were cool...or even liked).
I have since played a multitude of other MMOs and none, not even numbers 1 & 2, have really come close to 3 & 4; EQ and FFXI; for me. Unlike a lot of today's MMO gamers, though, I've got some perspective from which to base my opinion. I'm not saying everyone who likes WoW lacks perspective, but many do, and for those people, I truly feel sympathy for not having experienced the games that came before.
Sure, I haven't played UO, and I'm sorry myself that I never knew about it back when it was popular. I could try to play it now, but I'm sure its nothing in comparison to what it was way back when. Same goes for EQ today. Same goes even for WoW today.
Thempark Fanboi Alert...
Yes because AoC has such epic battleground pvp were I can buy all my pvp gear on the marketplace. Yeah that sure is epic *sarcasm
OP reminds me of younger SW fans who rave about how much better episodes 1-3 are when compared to the original trilogy. They'll insist the original trilogy just isn't as good as the newer movies because of how much better the special FX are, how much flashier the battles are, how much faster the lightsaber fights are, etc. All you can do is sigh and shake your head.
Sometimes beauty (or "epicness" in this case) really is in the eyes of the beholder. It is almost impossible to communicate how special the original trilogy was, and how *EPIC* its effects, stories, and battles were for its time. It takes a special person to be able to watch an older movie, or play an older game, for the first time and to be able to put that movie/game into the context of when it first released and have a sense of what made it so amazing and groundbreaking for its time. Sure, even back then there were people who didn't care for SW and who liked other movies instead (and there are even some younger fans now who are able to realize how much better episodes 4-6 are compared to 1-3). It doesn't lessen the sadness that I feel when I realize I can't communicate the "epicness" of the old in a way a person who didn't experience it would comprehend though.
In other words, some people understand that "each age is a dream that is dying, / Or one that is coming to birth." Some do not. And never the twain shall meet, I'm afraid.