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EverQuest 2 population?
Blazebyte
Member CommonPosts: 9
in Everquest II
Hey guys. Im just wondering, if anyone who knows anything about EQ2 could tell me how the population is?
This game as always appealed to me, but I never played it. I want to start playing it, but I absolutely hate playing MMORPG's that have a small player base. A decently sized population is important to me.
Any info on this? Honest answers much appreciated!
Thank you!
Comments
There are alot of people playing on Antonia Bayle server, but the lower levels are ghost towns. Experienced players prefer to powerlevel each other to 80-85, which is a shame because there's great content that now gets completely skipped.
I've played off and on since release and still think very well of the game and the community. I can tell you it's pretty important to start getting to know some people as soon as you start playing, or it will be a long slog until you can start grouping with those people on an even keel.
even if there are not that many players in the low level zones its not a massive issue as most of the content can be done solo if needed... or at least that was the case a few years back.
Yeh, any toon is soloable, although probably tougher with classes like guardian or berzerker. Thing is, though, if you group with a mentored higher level, say 70-90, you advance very quickly, so quickly you outlevel an entire level range (10-20, 20-30) before you see more than one or two dungeons until you get to 70s.
This is what I fear.
I actually DONT want to be able to solo "most of the content"
Although it sounds like a bad thing, I really like there being forced interaction with players in order to get something done. I don't want it to be like WoW where you can go through the entire leveling process, and experience pretty much all the endgame content without knowing or interacting with a single person.
I know EQ was one of the first "major" classic MMORPG's that had elements such as forced interaction. I just thought EQ might have retained this aspect, but I don't know.
I'm just looking for an MMO with a lot of players with a lot of interaction required, with hard earned loot, not epics that are thrown at you like candy.
If anyone knows if EQ2 is like this, or knows of any MMORPG like this, It would be very much appreciated!
Well, if you play free you can't use top end gear at any level. I'm not sure if they mention that in the pricing plan, haven't looked lately.
Lower level (1-70) nice stuff drops relatively frequently. Higher level stuff gets progressively more rare. Crafting takes time but it's rewarding if you stick with it, make yourself appropriate upgrades as you level. No, you're generally not just "handed stuff" past 80.
edit: as far as soloable encounters, outside dungeons or in the first entryways of dungeons are normal stock mobs. These are pretty easy for solo character even if they're 2 or 3 levels higher. Tougher mobs (heroic) have "up arrows" in their placards to signify they're above average opponents. A competent soloer can generally handle 1, maybe 2 "1 up arrow" "yellow" (slightly higher level) mobs or one 1 even-con "2 arrow" mob. "3 arrows" means it's superior and is intended for groups of 3 or more if even con or yellow. Superior soloers can solo 1 "3 arrow" even con or maybe 2 "3 arrow" blue con (slightly lower) depending on mob capabilities vs character strengths. Named mobs in the wilderness are usually 3arrow.
It depends on gear and your practice with positioning and spell/ability rotation. If you level quickly and outpace appropriately leveled gear, even with practice and being talented you'll be hard-pressed to solo 1 3arrow heroic.
Then there are epic mobs with health and damage appropriate to fight 2, 3 or 4 groups. They're identified by a flared-out placard. You generally shouldn't try to solo these unless they're "green con" (significantly lower but still worth xp) and you know what they'll throw at you. You get no treasure chest loot from grey cons, so it's kinda a waste to bother.
I have no problem paying a fee.
I just am trying to find the right MMORPG for me. I literally made a new character on WoW from level 1-90. Once 90, I got pretty much all purple (epic) gear within a week and a half. I did all this all without talking or interacting with a single person. There is no sense of meaningful reward, no valued "investment" in a character.
I've been watching old Everquest videos. Sure, it had many flaws, but im willing to look past it, because players actually interacted with each other, and getting an epic was a pretty big deal. You felt invested in your character, and felt rewarded and proud of what your character had.
I hope I can find this in EQ2! I'm going to give it a shot
I'm also shocked at all the replies im getting here! I'v tried asking this question on other forum sites but haven't gotten any help / replies.
You guys are great! And please if you have any other insight, suggestions or opinions, please post it! I love and value other people's opinions
This post is dead on. Lots of people powerlevel and there is a ton of lower level content that gets skipped because of it.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
I edited the post above to address your other question, but it took me awhile to articulate it because I'm tired.
I'm not sure why people keep saying ghost towns.
On AB anyway.
Good luck! I tried EQ recently and call me shallow but I could not get past it's antiquity. EQ2 feels much more modern and could be easier to get into for you. Everyone is different though, of course.
edit: I did not get very far in EQ2 either, by the by. It felt off for me somehow. Common complaint for anyone with any mmo, I suppose. Playing Final Fantasy now, which also has an off feeling to me. Giving it a shot though.
Last time I played EQ2 I joined with a static group. It was only 3 of us, but we leveled together, and it gave us a great opportunity to experience much of the old content.
I've been kinda craving to do something similar but finding the right people to static with is difficult. They're all racing to the end and end up getting ahead of one another.
---
Live a life less ordinary.
Whenever I start off in a new game or on a new server in a game that is already established, I'll go to the game's official forums and seriously look through the guild recruitment posts. Generally, you can get a decent feel for them, most will describe the person they are looking for or the kind of people they are. And just look for ones looking for new players.
Getting in a guild in an older MMO is a must.
all EQ2 gear restrictions were removed a year ago
there are zero gear restrictions in game for ftp
related thread
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/423116/Worth-coming-back-and-trying-as-f2p.html
EQ2 fan sites
The server I play on Guk is pretty well populated in the last couple zones but pretty sparse everywhere else. EQ2 is a big world with easily 3 or more solo paths from level 1 to 90 plus the option for group level agnostic dungeons if you wish. It does narrow down a bit 90-96 but there are still several options for getting those levels. Unfortunately the developers did a bonehead move and made it so level 96-100 can only really be gained by doing current content so those levels really feel much more restricted than anything before it. Still if you want a game with a lot of content to choose from EQ2 is a good choice.
If you main interest is end game than you can buy a instant level 85 spend a week or so getting to 100 and get right into the end game. The time it takes to go from 1-85 isn't that large either if you are focused on leveling or you can slow down your level rate and just play though the quest lines.
Ah, ok, thanks. Are there still spell/ability restrictions, free format limited to adept, silver limited to rare crafted (expert?)?
Thanks for all this feedback guys! Keep it coming
I tried EQ earlier today, and i was absolutely shocked! I looked on EQ forums, and the Vox server is supposed to be pretty well populated.
Being a pretty dated game, I didn't expect much players to be around.
The starting zone had tons of players! And the zone chat was very active. I loved it. People were helping me get things done, I helped somoene myself. The starting zone was very populated, I was genuinly shocked!
I hope the game remains consistant like this through is mid-endgame content!
I rather like its oldschool RPG elements
Both Everquest and Everquest 2 have enough players to make the game enjoyable, provided you choose the right servers.
For Everquest 2 I'd suggest Antonia Bayle or Freeport servers as they tend to have much higher population than the rest.
For Everquest, Vox is a good server for the earlier levels but there are lots of servers with high "endgame" populations (Cazic Thule, Bertoxx, FV, etc)
What makes the EQ games so great is that they offer more complexity and attention to detail than most current MMORGP's. Guild Interaction is also some of the best I have ever seen in any game. Guild Halls, player housing, AA's, impressive dungeon layouts, amount of abilities, class diversity are among some of the things that always brings me back to Everquest (1 and 2).
You are barking up the wrong tree. I never found any of this in EQ2. It is true that, like other games, you can manufacture challenge for yourself, like not using overpowered weapons, or deleting 90% of your gold, etc. but the game is not that type. My impression after about 10 or so levels and twice that many hours is the opposite; that it is the bastardization of Everquest's strong points to pander to WoW.
in short, my life never dropped below 70%, my mana filled up in seconds and was never an issue, I ran from goal to goal like a drugged mouse, and everything was handed to me on a silver platter. Gameplay consists of choosing your rewards rather than earning them.
on the plus side, graphics, music, and flora and fauna are top notch.
Up to level 10 you never left the "newbie garden" (slang for beginner area, not that you're a newbie). You're not obligated to run around in that weak area. If you so choose you can run to a mariner bell and travel anywhere. Travel to Antonica and pull a few level 11 gnolls or Commonlands and similarly leveled orcs and you'll be in for a fight. Later, walk into Blackburrow or Wailing Caves, you won't progress past 40 yards from the entrance at all, alone.
edit: To think about it, though, you're a little bit right, but you probably don't understand why. In the first months after release, combat was a little different with regard to mob difficulty, mob health, player dps and effects of synergistic (heroic op) combos. This meant a level of difficulty slanted against the soloer. I think it was WoW's success that made the devs alter the combat overall, so that there were more soloable areas, particularly in open wilderness, but again, you wouldn't have experienced those differences, even had you been present, in that era's "newbie gardens" (peat bog, oakmyst forest, graveyard, sunken city).
EQ2 at launch was like this, WoW has always be heavily solo focused. The two games launched in the same month and one took off and the other just sort of limped along. I won't say that the difference in Solo vs Group play was the only reason WoW succeeded where EQ2 didn't but developers learned a valuable lesson from those two launches which is why there hasn't been a AAA launch since that has pushed grouping into the leveling process with the possible exception of Vanguard if you want to count that as AAA. The people who prefer it are way outnumbered.