Is this game too much like WOW? and it is worth it withough buying all the expansions?

gandardockin · May 2007

Hello all,

While I enjoy WOW, I get tired of the same ole - same ole in the game and I hate the inability to solo at higher levels.

Is this game much like WOW in those respects?

Also, if I don't plan to buy the expansions am I going to "lose out" on a lot of content? It seems like there are tons of expansions and that makes me think the game is relatively small but as a marketing scheme you can buy additional content....

Please let me know,

Possible Future Everquest II Player

calibek · May 2007

Depending on your current location, you can buy the original game and all expansions for $30. Don't remember the name of it but I bought it and have access to everything minus the adventure packs. Good deal if i do say so myself. I'm not even sure if they sell the old expansions anymore. They do sell the new one and i believe it comes with the original game, all expansions, and a free month of game time.

Not sure about how the high levels are but I do know that there are a lot of differences between this and WoW. Some good some bad. I'm not going to get into them as there are other posts that cover these difference better than i ever could but i can say that I can solo pretty effectively, There are a lot of interesting race/class combinations, and Crafting has a purpose. I find that the game has something for everyone now. I find it worth the $30 but you may want to look at other posts and weigh the pros and cons.

QSatu · May 2007

Ppl always forget that everything for 40$ is only for US.. In europe we have to buy every expansion seperatly.

Ceohai · May 2007

Originally posted by TwilightEdge

Ppl always forget that everything for 40$ is only for US.. In europe we have to buy every expansion seperatly.

why is that?

Sramota · May 2007

Originally posted by TwilightEdge
Ppl always forget that everything for 40$ is only for US.. In europe we have to buy every expansion seperatly.

Get your facts straight-
this took me about 30seconds to find:

http://www.cdon.com/main.phtml?navroot=902&session=1

I also know play.com tends to get in packages if you ask them and I'm sure they ship all over EU.

So, shush.

QSatu · May 2007

I checked both links and eq2 wasn't available there...

Edit.. ok sorry.. I was wrong..

DwynApNudd · May 2007

I would like to point out that if anything, WoW took things from EQ2, since it was released several months if not 1 year prior. At this point in time they both take from each other which is fine in the software industry, no one has patents on game features.

I hear some very good things about the state of EQ2, I have to admit I am in a similar state of mind. After playing EQ2 from Beta to 1 year into release I went to WoW. I now find myself looking for a more realistic looking game, the WoW cartoon have their place but I'm a big fan of eye candy.

In essence WoW is a very simple game, I crave a bit more depth. I know many will say that WoW has depth but its hard to explain what I feel just give me some latitude here before flaming.

I'm on the fence on this one, I might just go pick up the game and give it another shot, the expense is minimal with bundle purchase these days.

- Dwyn

[Deleted User] · May 2007

The user and all related content has been deleted.

jposavatz · May 2007

Originally posted by DwynApNudd

I would like to point out that if anything, WoW took things from EQ2, since it was released several months if not 1 year prior. At this point in time they both take from each other which is fine in the software industry, no one has patents on game features.
I hear some very good things about the state of EQ2, I have to admit I am in a similar state of mind. After playing EQ2 from Beta to 1 year into release I went to WoW. I now find myself looking for a more realistic looking game, the WoW cartoon have their place but I'm a big fan of eye candy.
In essence WoW is a very simple game, I crave a bit more depth. I know many will say that WoW has depth but its hard to explain what I feel just give me some latitude here before flaming.
I'm on the fence on this one, I might just go pick up the game and give it another shot, the expense is minimal with bundle purchase these days.
- Dwyn

EQ2 is humming along quite nicely (actually I've left it recenlty for LOTRO, but that's not to say I left because I was unhappy with the game). I've also played WoW.

For me it came down to 2 things... (1) eye candy... you either like WoW graphics or you don't... personally I just never quite got used to them, and the character appearance customization just wasn't quite good enough for me... more importanly (2) community... I don't mean size, I mean quality... I though the WoW community was a bunch of immature kids that loved spamming public chat channels (I had most of them turned off, and tons of people on my ignore list) whereas I kept all of my EQ2 channels on and only ignored 1 person there in 2+ years of playing.

Please don't flame/troll/whatever that opinion, because I'm the first to admit that's exactly what it is, and I'm sure every person who reads this posting was not one of the aforementioned immature chat channel spammers...

ferthala · May 2007

EQ2 is way better than wow in my opinion.

1.- the community is mature and friendly

2.- the game has awesome deep contents

    - better questing system than wow

    - better and deeper crafting

    - better raiding

    - better and more complete pvp

in fact WoW is a nice "but" simple game. EQ2 is way more complex to learn, and more oriented to hardcore gamers, but if u like that kind of content u will love EQ2.

about the exansions you will miss EoF and KoS if you dont have them. The others are not used often so you can avoid them if you want.

edmonal · May 2007

I find WoW had two things going for it over EQ2:

1) Combat seems to flow better, and is it's strongest point.

2) The art is consistent from the get go, everything looks like it belongs in the world.

I like both games, and play each of them. I use them as a break from each other.

Moirae · May 2007

This game is nothing like WoW.

bobdog · May 2007

If you like MMOs and the theme, then this game is well worth the money. As far as quality of a game, I would rank this at the top.

Superman0X · May 2007

EQ2 has adopted some of the interface constructs from WoW... but it is definately its own game. It is MUCH more group oriented, there is a very differnt feel for the game (and how it is played). The best thing to do is get a trial account, and see if you are even interested. If you decide that you are, just buy Echos of Faydwer. This includes all previous expansions.

If you want something more quest based (less combat based) then try LOTRO.

abyss610 · May 2007

Originally posted by DwynApNudd

I would like to point out that if anything, WoW took things from EQ2, since it was released several months if not 1 year prior. At this point in time they both take from each other which is fine in the software industry, no one has patents on game features.
I hear some very good things about the state of EQ2, I have to admit I am in a similar state of mind. After playing EQ2 from Beta to 1 year into release I went to WoW. I now find myself looking for a more realistic looking game, the WoW cartoon have their place but I'm a big fan of eye candy.
In essence WoW is a very simple game, I crave a bit more depth. I know many will say that WoW has depth but its hard to explain what I feel just give me some latitude here before flaming.
I'm on the fence on this one, I might just go pick up the game and give it another shot, the expense is minimal with bundle purchase these days.
- Dwyn

actually if anything WoW took everything that eq2 WASN't at the time EQ2 lauched and went with that.EQ2 sucked at first then they made alot of changes,like you use to start out as an archtype class and picked a sub and then eventually a main class wich alot of people hated.

EQ2 now is in the middle of where old EQ2 launch and WoW, made it lil more solo friendly (not as solo as wow tho) hell they even have solo dungeons now.they made it possible to solo but you're better off grouping, where WoW you could do just as well solo as group (lvling) so everyone just solos and use each other r/q to complete quests and break group as soon as they're done.they also have rest exp wich actually lasts longer that the WoW rest.I use to play EQOA (ps2 EQ) where you HAD to group to do EVERYTHING. and to solo at a good pace required killing mobs around 10 lvls lower (one at a time) and soloing you got MAYBE 1 lvl a week..lol

it deffinitly has alot more depth than WoW, i just recently quit WoW for EQ2.its not a HUGE difference from what i seen so far but it has ALOT of what WoW is missing. to me its the little things that helps keep it from being boring.

the one thing i wish EQ2 had is the "Class Mastery" system they have in EQOA. it was kinda grind heavy BUT gave the lvl capped players something they could always do.the AA system is a VERY watered down version of the CM system. AA has like 100 possible points handful of abilities, CM system had 1500 possible points and a ton of places to put points, everything from max stat boost,stat boost, to completely new abilities and changed your class title.

DwynApNudd · May 2007

I don't mean to highjack the thread but there is one thing that made me leave EQ2 after the first year and I was wondering if it has been addressed.

Once upon a time the SOE dev team decided that balancing weapon speed and talent/skill speed was too much work and went with another approach; lets remove weapon damage from talent/skill damage. This caused a lot of disapointment for all the players that spend countless hours questing for that Heritage/Legendary weapon. I was really surprised by the decision since EQ2's combat is skill/talent based. I found that my auto swing was very rarely used and that was the only place that my weapon damage came into play.

Have the mechanics changed or is my Legendary Sword of Slaying still as usefull as a diner spoon ?

The other area, which from what I was able to find out has been adressed was the gear diversity. Back then, all caped players (lvl50) were wearing Ebon crafted sets. All plate werers looked the same and made player individuality hard.

I also hope that the Voice Over design is still as strong as it was, this is for me the one most immersive feature of the game. In WoW I find myself glazing over the quest text because its 2am and I really dont feel like reading it, I skip right to the objective and move on. I remember really enjoying the Lore when delivered using Voice over.

I hope someone can comment.

- Dwyn

quaiky · May 2007

Originally posted by DwynApNudd

I don't mean to highjack the thread but there is one thing that made me leave EQ2 after the first year and I was wondering if it has been addressed.
Once upon a time the SOE dev team decided that balancing weapon speed and talent/skill speed was too much work and went with another approach; lets remove weapon damage from talent/skill damage. This caused a lot of disapointment for all the players that spend countless hours questing for that Heritage/Legendary weapon. I was really surprised by the decision since EQ2's combat is skill/talent based. I found that my auto swing was very rarely used and that was the only place that my weapon damage came into play.
Have the mechanics changed or is my Legendary Sword of Slaying still as usefull as a diner spoon ?
The other area, which from what I was able to find out has been adressed was the gear diversity. Back then, all caped players (lvl50) were wearing Ebon crafted sets. All plate werers looked the same and made player individuality hard.
I also hope that the Voice Over design is still as strong as it was, this is for me the one most immersive feature of the game. In WoW I find myself glazing over the quest text because its 2am and I really dont feel like reading it, I skip right to the objective and move on. I remember really enjoying the Lore when delivered using Voice over.
I hope someone can comment.
- Dwyn

first part is still partially true, but the combat arts now have shorter casting times (~0.1 seconds) so autoattack gets used more and in parses you cna see that autoatatck is a big part of the playerdamage hard to give exact numbers that depends on so many things. but i would say its ~50% of your damage output now (might be more for some classes less for others).

there is lots of dropped gear now for the high levels but for lower tiers most players still use a lot crafted equip casuze its usually cheaper/easier to get than the dropepd ones.

the voicovers are still there but for new zones/quest they sometimes come late, and not all npcs get voiceovers (but they didn't have them for all in original game too)

Nightwrath · May 2007

Hello. I must confess I am also playing WOW for the moment, but I have recently saw the trial for Everquest 2. I am quite impressed with the way it looks and feels and I wish to give it a try.

From what I read - the game is casual friendly? I used to raid a lot in WOW, but lately I don't really have the time for it (just from time to time maybe

).

I like to group a lot (I usually play "group friendly" chars - which means either healer / either "utility" / either tank), but I would like to do other things as well in the game. I saw that there are additional options to intereact with NPCs? Maybe it is getting closer to a more RPG-ish style than WOW?

lomiller · May 2007

Originally posted by DwynApNudd

I don't mean to highjack the thread but there is one thing that made me leave EQ2 after the first year and I was wondering if it has been addressed.
Once upon a time the SOE dev team decided that balancing weapon speed and talent/skill speed was too much work and went with another approach; lets remove weapon damage from talent/skill damage. This caused a lot of disapointment for all the players that spend countless hours questing for that Heritage/Legendary weapon. I was really surprised by the decision since EQ2's combat is skill/talent based. I found that my auto swing was very rarely used and that was the only place that my weapon damage came into play.
Have the mechanics changed or is my Legendary Sword of Slaying still as usefull as a diner spoon ?
The other area, which from what I was able to find out has been adressed was the gear diversity. Back then, all caped players (lvl50) were wearing Ebon crafted sets. All plate werers looked the same and made player individuality hard.
I also hope that the Voice Over design is still as strong as it was, this is for me the one most immersive feature of the game. In WoW I find myself glazing over the quest text because its 2am and I really dont feel like reading it, I skip right to the objective and move on. I remember really enjoying the Lore when delivered using Voice over.
I hope someone can comment.
- Dwyn

Weapon damage is important with some classes, not so important with others. For classes like fighters and some scouts weapons are a bigger factor than any one spell, but they still account for a little less then half your total damage output.

Pre LU13 the biggest single problem EQ2 had was the massive class imbalances created by the fact damage output was so heavily weapon dependant. This meant that the scout and mage classes, who were supposed to be doing DPS did nothing and were basically useless. There is always resistance to this type of change once the player base has their expectations set, but this was one of the major reasons 3/4 of the classes in EQ2 were unplayable at launch.

It would also be terribly unbalanced to have fighter classes only need to get their hands on one weapon to maximize their potential, while mage classes need to track down ~20 Master I spells to get the same relative benefit. The current compromise where weapon choice is the largest single DPS factor for fighters, and some scouts but only smaller fraction of total damage is a good one.

As for armor, the crafted stuff was nerfed a while back. In addition there has been a constant introduction of new legendary and fabled items. The best crafted armor is currently high quality starter armor, the common crafted is emergency armor for people too poor to find better.

There are a few items you see a lot of, for example Xhavaz’s Gown of Glory is one of the best robes in the game and it’s a relatively easy item to get, it drops about once every 10-20 times you clear Nest, a level 65 instance. This may not sound like a lot but considering a level 70 group can run nest in 45 min, and go back every day eventually a lot of people will have it. I think you will always have situations like this, however.

shilak · May 2007

Everquest 2 and WoW do actually have a fair bit in common: -

1) Both were inspired by the success of Everquest and its design.

2) Both have a medieval fantasy setting.

3) Both are level and equipment based systems.

In Everquest 2 it is possible to solo all the way to 70 doing quests and very little grinding, at 70 there are several group instances to do to acquire better gear but in most cases the best gear comes from raiding.

Equipment progression wise it is something like this: -

Common crafted -> Rare crafted / Solo or group quested / Group instance drops -> Raid quested / Raid instance drops / Raid contested drops

The skills (spells, combat arts, buffs, etc) are also upgradeable using crafted items and drops in a similar fashion, Apprentice 1 being the basic, Apprentice 2 are store bought, Apprentice 4 are crafted from common materials, Adept 1 are dropped from solo or group monsters, Adept 3 are crafted from rare materials and finally Master 1 are dropped from name monsters (and in rare situations from normal monsters).

I prefer EQ2 to WoW because I find it has a more mature community, I find the combat, raid & crafting systems more involving and there is a lot more content, for example at level 70 there are over 10 different group instances and a similar number of raid instances.

As for purchasing, I would recommend getting the Echos of Faydwer retail pack (approx $30) which comes with the original game plus the three major expansions (DoF+KoS+EoF). As well as that there are three mini-expansions which are not necessary as such but provide additional content, they cost under $10 each, but Fallen Dynasty (55-70 content) is probably the only one worth bothering with.

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Is this game too much like WOW? and it is worth it withough buying all the expansions?

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