WoWs content is interesting from 1-70, nothing in EQ2 compares to how awesome razorfend downs is in WoW. By far my favorite instance/dungeon in any mmorpg.
I think the main reason EQ2 didn't do as well as WoW is because of the fact (and anyone who has played EQ1for more than a year can attest to this) that SoE regularly sends content out to early. Patches and expansions are released when they should still be in beta. I know that EQ2 and WoW were due out at relatively the same time and that SoE was under pressure to get their product to market, but the end all is that the product they sent out wasn't ready.
When word got out around the MMO community of the bugs and errors that EQ2 had it dratically removed many,many players from their pool of potential accounts. In contratst the launch of WoW was smoother and this in turn garnered them a larger group of supporters. Also Blizzard was new to the MMO world and had a clean track record and SoE (EQ1) had IMO a less than stellar reputation in the MMO community.
SoE already had a following from the EQ1 crowd and in some aspects were splitting their playerbase. Blizzard on the other hand was able to draw upon the millions of their RTS players.
Overall many gamers were ready for a different type of MMO company and Blizzard provided them with what they were looking for at just the right time.
Sometimes no matter how hard you try it's the first impression that sticks.
B.S EQ2 was ass then and is semi ass now. EQ2 launched it was a terrible game, not many computers could run it, it just was not fun. WoW has the success EQ2 should never have. Blizzard is a way more quality company then SOE can ever be. WoW is fun and always will be fun and WoW is fun for the people with jobs and going to school and dont have to much time on their hands. WoW started the first mmorpg for the casual dont have alot of time player. I will try out WAR yes, but i also hope WoW has many good years, and the only thing to kill WoW will be a new blizzard mmo.
Fanboi response.
EQ2 didnt launch a terrible game, it just didnt launch as a 'noob' friendly game. You cant knock the quality of a game by how many pc's can run it at high graphic settings.
I hope WoW has many good years left too... not because I think I'm better than WoW players, but because I do not want casual players to cause SoE to water my game down anymore than they already have.
Its quite simple actually: Wow is more fun. In the end comparisions of numbers and values are just that: statistics. If people have more fun playing wow then it should be more successfull. Once Wow had 500k subs nothing could stop it and the sub number started to rise like mad. Even I as a pvper enjoyed the pve aspects of the game (level 1- 60, a few end game dungeons).
lol WoW is more fun? Blech. I wasted my money on that game and tossed it before my free month was out. EQ2 I've been playing almost since release. WoW is definately NOT more fun. I can't stand anything about that game. The ease of everything, the extremely fast levelling, the cartoony style, the raid grind of over and over and over and over. Terrible game. I have no idea why people like it so much.
WoWs content is interesting from 1-70, nothing in EQ2 compares to how awesome razorfend downs is in WoW. By far my favorite instance/dungeon in any mmorpg.
Beg to differ. I was playing maybe two hours a night (often with a couple days in between logins) and was level 26 in two weeks. By the time I quit, it was giving me headaches to even watch it. The thought of logging in was something I was dreading. Especially with all the leetfreak kids on it.
I'm currently playing the EQ II trial, and so far both games are very similar, too similar.. is it just me, or do both of these games miss the reason to play? however I'm not evey convinced of EQ II being a (very) good game, altough it lasted longer than the WoW trial, which is 9 hours , so it's not the first parts of the game that make WoW the most played MMORPG, but just people who know other people, who play it, so they decide to play too, the succes of WoW is keeping the game big
You know it, the best way to realize your dreams is waking up and start moving, never lose hope and always keep up.
As a person in my 30's, who played with a lot of people similarly aged when I used to play WoW, can people PLEASE stop saying that the WoW graphics style appeals to 'young' people. No, when I was ten years younger, it was important to me that stuff was realistic and that I wasn't tainted by silly things. 'True' adults are too laid back to give half a pile of shit about that. If the actual execution is good, then yay, great, whatever the chosen style was.
Getting all uptight because the graphics aren't ultra realistic is something I've encountered far, far, far more in the younger generations.
Oh, and I love both games, but no longer play either.
I bought WoW 1st week of release. Tried the EQ2 Free Trial which was sometime after that. WoW just grabbed me from the get go. Probably the main thing that stood out and still seems to shine above the rest was the fluidity and smoothness of the controls. The characters just felt *right* moving around the world, while in some other games things felt stiff or robotic. Was hard to get into EQ2 after playing WoW for awhile (How long was it till the free trials came out? Maybe a year into release?). EQ2 just seemed stiff and I didn't like the "kinda-realistic" look - usually just comes off even weirder and more bizzaro looking than probably intended.
I'm pretty burned out on MMORPGs in general so not playing any of them right now, but I think WoW nailed it and I played for about 2 years. Here's looking forward to the next generation of games, let's hope someone comes out with something that'll blow us away.
I am in agreement. However, EQ 2 does have the creative success that WoW lacks. The reason for WoW's high subscription numbers is the Asian market, the accessibility of the game due to low tech demands, and individuals with multiple accounts. When I was a Guild Leader in WoW, I had two accounts: 1) a hunter and 2) a dwarf Priest. I had the other account to help my Guild with raiding certain dungeons. Many in WoW have multiple accounts, bot programs on other computer programs, and a sizable population is involved in gold farming and power leveling services.
When I consider WoW's commercial success, I consider it a bit misleading. I would be interested to know what the American subscription number is for WoW. It might be lower than EQ 2?
In terms of creativity, I seldom discuss the issue because it is not even debatable. EQ 2 has greater depth, superior graphics, more interesting and fun gameplay, and Quests that are actually meaningful. WoW lacks player housing, and I really enjoy EQ's player housing as you can have bars in your house to pictures taken of EQ 1's dungeons. In WoW, you are very forced. You can solo to the max level but your options at the end-game are limited to certain activities. In EQ 1, you can mentor (and receive experience from mentoring) by helping lower level friends and community members in various dungeons. In other words, if you are only level 10 but your friend is level 35, you two can both group and receive AA experience. The character customization in EQ 2, from appearance to abilities, is by far better. As I said, EQ 2 is truly better than WoW in each and every way from community to graphics to the important fun factor.
Yes I agree..EQ2 is by far (today) the better game and deserves credit and players for the good job SOE has done with this game in the 3 years(aprox) that it has been out..
And to all of you saing that EQ2 was broken at release..Well it wasnt..It was only a tougher more group centric game, and I liked the old EQ2 better infact..But..even today efter countless changes to the more easier gameplay(WoW) ', it's stil better than WoW..
The only real thing EQ2 has against it and that several has mentioned is the steep hardware req's, even today it will require a very good PC to run it in full glory..
Many players mentiones that WoW feels more alive..??? Hmm..WoW doesnt even have talking NPC's and this makes Eq2 so much alive like no other game on the market..
I don't know why we even bother to try and convince each other that one is the better. Just reading the posts in this thread and other threads it's clear that it's all personal taste. This can be different depending on your age, nationality, race, parents, childhood, etc. EQ2 seems to be the better game for those who believe they are mature. WoW is for the rest of us who are immature and just like to have fun.
Just as an answer to the topic I would like to say "no". If EQ2 didn't get as successful as WoW did, then it did it for a reason. Don't ask me for the reasons, I'm sure many others have pointed out those, but I believe that success is gained for a reason.
Originally posted by Shorun Everquest is better than WoW in every way, so why don't have their success? Just only of the hardware?
Then why isnt it number 1 in sales and/or subs? Perhaps because its a clunky crappy game?
Seriously, im just getting sick of people trying to bash WOW and say this game is better or that game is better then it. Atleast you people can try to compare games that are actually fun and not clunky pieces of crap with horrible combat.
I might have had my problems with WOW in the past which has caused me to leave and try out other MMO's.. The the more I play other MMO's (EQ2, DAOC, City of Heros/Villians, GW, SWG, DnD online, LOTR (beta) Tabula Rasa (beta), Face of Mankind, EVE) the more I want to go back to WOW.. I think that alone speaks volumes, and its just another reason why WOW is the number 1 selling MMO in history. You people can come on here and spew that crap about how WOW is so Noob friendly and it has silly looking Graphics but its number 1 why the MMO you play struggles to stay afloat.
------------------------------ You see, every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with their surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You spread to an area, and you multiply, and you multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet.-Mr.Smith
I think WoW has 9 million accounts, what's about 8 million players. Everquest 2 has about 270.000-300.000 players, which is, compared to WoW, not really much. But EQ1 was so succesful (for the year 1999 it had many players!), why isn't Everquest 2? We start at the character creation. In WoW you've got 10 races, in EQ2 16. In WoW you have got about 10 things you can change at your character, in Everquest about 40. Then choose the class. In Everquest you have 24 classes (I think) in WoW 9. It goes on with the "WoW is so beginner friendly". I tell you what! In WoW there is no tutorial and you have to choose a craft without knowing what it does. When my friend started he didn't know anything, and without my help (I played MMOs before) he would have given up early. In Everquest 2 you were on a ship (this tutorial doesn't exist anymore.....don't know why) and youhad a good tutorial. You got a book were every craft is explained. You start playing. First impression of Everquest 2 graphics: This game has the best MMO graphics in 2007, and it was created in 2004! First impression of WoW graphics: A) Teletubbies Online or Blizzard's Starcraft 2 comes out in 2008 and looks like a game from early 2006, that tells you everything. Now to the gameplay. It's not very different, but EQ2 gameplay is faster, in WoW you battle about 30 secs in EQ2 about 10 secs (Exception: Paladin). The quests are not very different. Crafting is bigger and better in EQ2. I don't have to tell you more. I think you all know it. The world is big enough in both games, but I can't say one is bigger. But what I'm able to say is, that Everquest 2 brought 6 expansions in 2004-2007. In this time WoW had only one expansion. Blizzard is really slow. The content is the same lvl1-70. Everquest is better than WoW in every way, so why don't have their success? Just only of the hardware?
Well tbh we have no idea what EQ2 numbers are since the only ever published figure was a "guesswork"(and he even sort of admitted it on this forums) ancient data from sirbruce which was given way after his best days of actually getting more accurate data.I say 300k is an extremely low estimate to be honest.
Then lets move onto the EQ1 name.Lets remember that SoE said 2 million accounts have past thru EQ1 doors.Now even at its peak it had 550k accounts.This for its time was something massive just like WoW 9m is massive now.
So it means 2m have tried EQ1 (the real numbers will be less due to multiple accounts).This was over a lifespan of quite a few years with many quiting mmorpg altogether etc.Remember EQ1 was initally filled with childless couples and university/college students(i was a student when i started too).Lots have had kids and become career minded and given up this time consuming venture(mmorpg).Also EQ is a popular name in USA/Canada and very select places in europe.
Now lets compare this to the much higher numbers of people across the world(not a select area) who have played warcraft and know about it espically in asia which has the vast majority of wow players.You can see the signficant difference.
Also EQ2 specs even today is very high for a good majority of gamers.You will hardly see the average eastern european or chinese with a high spec system.In fact when i played WoW my guild had a good number from poland.Most were using intergraded or low spec graphics cards which ofc will not even boot EQ2 .
So yes hardware comes into place.
Then lets go into launch.I was an early beta tester in EQ2 and sadly my voice got drowned by invited EQ1 guilds on some crucial matters.I said the shared death penalty was a terrible idea and should never had made it life.Even as early as level 10 i recall we would invite someone into the group and suddenly we get message of us getting exp debt due to some jerk multi dying even when NOT close to us but somewhere spamming deaths in the zone.Before you can disband him you are already in debt .It was a horrible idea and many new gamers complained bitterly about this.
Then there the matter of soloing which was hard initally something not appealing to solo and causal gamers with little time.
OFC things like shared exp debt and poor soloing are things of the past but it sold quite a few players to wow by then.
Now i can confidently say EQ2 has evolved to be a better game then wow at present but really might be too late to strongly compete with wow espically outside europe and NA
Well tbh we have no idea what EQ2 numbers are since the only ever published figure was a "guesswork"(and he even sort of admitted it on this forums) ancient data from sirbruce which was given way after his best days of actually getting more accurate data.I say 300k is an extremely low estimate to be honest.
173k of June of this year. Although Ten Ton Hammer reported Subs were down below 90k a month or two ago. But since then SOE has given away over 200k free copies of EQ2 including all expansions and free play time so one would think the game population is going up even if its just from free players.
I think WoW has 9 million accounts, what's about 8 million players. Everquest 2 has about 270.000-300.000 players, which is, compared to WoW, not really much. But EQ1 was so succesful (for the year 1999 it had many players!), why isn't Everquest 2? We start at the character creation. In WoW you've got 10 races, in EQ2 16. In WoW you have got about 10 things you can change at your character, in Everquest about 40. Then choose the class. In Everquest you have 24 classes (I think) in WoW 9. It goes on with the "WoW is so beginner friendly". I tell you what! In WoW there is no tutorial and you have to choose a craft without knowing what it does. When my friend started he didn't know anything, and without my help (I played MMOs before) he would have given up early. In Everquest 2 you were on a ship (this tutorial doesn't exist anymore.....don't know why) and youhad a good tutorial. You got a book were every craft is explained. You start playing. First impression of Everquest 2 graphics: This game has the best MMO graphics in 2007, and it was created in 2004! First impression of WoW graphics: A) Teletubbies Online or Blizzard's Starcraft 2 comes out in 2008 and looks like a game from early 2006, that tells you everything. Now to the gameplay. It's not very different, but EQ2 gameplay is faster, in WoW you battle about 30 secs in EQ2 about 10 secs (Exception: Paladin). The quests are not very different. Crafting is bigger and better in EQ2. I don't have to tell you more. I think you all know it. The world is big enough in both games, but I can't say one is bigger. But what I'm able to say is, that Everquest 2 brought 6 expansions in 2004-2007. In this time WoW had only one expansion. Blizzard is really slow. The content is the same lvl1-70. Everquest is better than WoW in every way, so why don't have their success? Just only of the hardware?
Apparently you have not played passed the newbie areas. Crafting in EQ2 is at the least more fun, but in neither game is it anything to be proud of.
1: EQ2 has about 8 good classes, and 8 more that are just blah, the only main classes you need are the same as in wow, the warrior, the wizard, the cleric, the shaman, the rogue, the ranger, the paladin and the "dark wizard" aka the necromancer, the rest are half breed wannabes.
2: If you have trouble locating the yellow !'s in wow's beginner areas, well.. im sorry lol. an actual tutorial like EQ2's was nice, but definatly not needed.
3: EQ2's graphics are NOT the best of 2007, that title belongs to vanguard, whatever you might wanna say. and besides, I still to this day hear people saying WoW's graphics are still amazing. and they are. I'm not trying to say eq2's graphics suck, they are indeed very very nice, but definatly not the best.
4: and here is what it boils down to. EQ2 is NOT, I repeat NOT a solo game, by no means. once you get into the mid 30's, unless you are a necromancer or another class that has a little chance of soloing.. you are pretty much out of luck. neither is wow, but outside of dungeons you can do pretty much anything solo, which is good for everyone, because as many of us have learned in eq2.. when you are not in a group, you are waiting to get in a group... which is more often than actually being in a group. which is why, WoW is so popular.. it's user friendly and not user demanding. people don't want to wait for a farking hour with /lfg turned on.
Originally posted by arctarus Please do not call others players who like playing the game that they like being rip off. WoW gives content without asking you to pay, but in Eq2 you have to buy every x-pac.
Ok, care to mention 1 expansion to WoW that is free?
Can you explain why you have to buy first wow for its retail price and then you have to also buy(!) the expansion pack for its retail price. While you can buy EQ2 all in one package(s).
Um content isnt just an xpansion pack, yea you have to buy an expansion pack but Blizzard has and continually adds new content for FREE. The battle grounds, BWL, AQ40, AQ20, Zul Gurub, new items, pvp sets and the list goes on and on. Thats all stuff that has been added for free, you did not have to purchase those, and its not just a little thing adding new content is actually pretty big.
The explansion pack added alot of content to the game, Outlands is its own world with alot of areas and filled with quests/new items dungeons raids, new races etc. That is pretty amazing for an expansion.
The reason why you can buy all EQ2 expacs and the game in one box its because like someone mentioned earlier their game is hurting and they are even giving away games for free, if they all sold separately they simply wouldn't sell or it wouldnt make people buy it, it is part of their marketing.
The original WoW is like what, 10 dollars? and the xpac is somewhere around 30 if not cheaper, thats what 40 dollars? Thats less than what an actual new game costs.
A man dies daily, only to be reborn in the morning, bigger, better and wiser.
-Playing AoC -Playing WoW -Retired- SWG -Retired- EVE -Retired- LotR
Computer (- Phenom 9600 Black Edition @ 2.81 Ghz (Quad Core CPU)- Gigabyte MA790FX-DS5 - 4 Gigs of PC 8500 ram (1066)- EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS PCI Express 2.0 - WD 500GB 7500RPM - Zalman CPU cooler (air cooled) - 24" Widescreen 1080P HD display).
I think WoW has 9 million accounts, what's about 8 million players. Everquest 2 has about 270.000-300.000 players, which is, compared to WoW, not really much. But EQ1 was so succesful (for the year 1999 it had many players!), why isn't Everquest 2? We start at the character creation. In WoW you've got 10 races, in EQ2 16. In WoW you have got about 10 things you can change at your character, in Everquest about 40. Then choose the class. In Everquest you have 24 classes (I think) in WoW 9. It goes on with the "WoW is so beginner friendly". I tell you what! In WoW there is no tutorial and you have to choose a craft without knowing what it does. When my friend started he didn't know anything, and without my help (I played MMOs before) he would have given up early. In Everquest 2 you were on a ship (this tutorial doesn't exist anymore.....don't know why) and youhad a good tutorial. You got a book were every craft is explained. You start playing. First impression of Everquest 2 graphics: This game has the best MMO graphics in 2007, and it was created in 2004! First impression of WoW graphics: A) Teletubbies Online or Blizzard's Starcraft 2 comes out in 2008 and looks like a game from early 2006, that tells you everything. Now to the gameplay. It's not very different, but EQ2 gameplay is faster, in WoW you battle about 30 secs in EQ2 about 10 secs (Exception: Paladin). The quests are not very different. Crafting is bigger and better in EQ2. I don't have to tell you more. I think you all know it. The world is big enough in both games, but I can't say one is bigger. But what I'm able to say is, that Everquest 2 brought 6 expansions in 2004-2007. In this time WoW had only one expansion. Blizzard is really slow. The content is the same lvl1-70. Everquest is better than WoW in every way, so why don't have their success? Just only of the hardware?
I started playing EQ2 but I found the game very slow and had so many features that made u go "now why isn't this diffrent?" To me there were just way to many of those things. Aucthion house that was not userfriendly. Long loading times between schenes, Slow moving around, and then some more loading screens. Sorry thats not for me.
The game might have chanced since 2004 when I started playing it - but at that time there was no comparison between EQ2 and WoW. Wow won hands down. Easy and fast gameplay. Smooth graphix that help the gameplay instead of slowing it down. Friendly userinterface that you could get into very fast. And we can go on and on and on. WoW was the first game I could actually say ... Now this is exactly like it should be !!. Sadly WoW has now taken many paths away from that and more and more are realising it. Maybe EQ has been catching up in terms of content but the gameplay has to have improved by 10000% to get close to WoW. And Im not sure it has.
EQ was not meant to be a 9 million ppl game. Thats why it was build with alot of noneuserfriendly things that made the gameplay just not as much fun. It may still be a great game - but not for the masses. I doubt no other game will get close to wow in that, even tho Blizzard are very slow on new content - but maybe its cause they still have 9 million ppl playing it anyway. So why rush things?
Don't take me wrong - there is alot of things I dont like in WoW and there will probably be many more if the new expansion is gonna go the way it was annouched on Blizzcon.
When I consider WoW's commercial success, I consider it a bit misleading. I would be interested to know what the American subscription number is for WoW. It might be lower than EQ 2?
Theres about 2.5 Million players in North America around 1.5 Million in Europe and about 4 Million in Asia. The reason for WoWs success isnt Asia not the low specs or the kiddie graphics that so many claim that wow has but its a well polished fun game, thats why people play games because they are fun not because they have low computer specs. The game came out in Asia a while after it came out in US and Europe and it was still a success before it was released in Asia.
The graphics arent meant to lure kids but the graphics are WoWish (if that can even be used as a word) it relates alot to the previous Warcraft games. I played LotR where the graphics are pretty good, and I have a good computer so I was able to play it with maxed out everything, and it was running smooth. The game didnt satisfy me so I came back to wow, yea the graphics are different and definately not as realistic as LotR but they are appealing in their own way, and also unique.
An unbiased statement I will make is that we know that every game that Blizzard has released has been a quality product, something well done, polished with a very high fun factor, all their games have been games of the year with millions of copies sold. WoW is no different, if Blizzard makes a game they make sure it is fun, and that people enjoy it and people do. SOE on the other hand does not have those standards, at least it doesnt seem like they do, seeing how their games are dying. I may be bitter against sony because of how they ruined SWG but they release games unpolished and clearly that is not a quality product, I would rather have a game come out much later and be quality than hit the shelves early and go down to crap, all the potential of a great idea and or development is lost.
These are both different games with different player fan base and you will never be able to convince the other side that your mountain is higher.
A man dies daily, only to be reborn in the morning, bigger, better and wiser.
-Playing AoC -Playing WoW -Retired- SWG -Retired- EVE -Retired- LotR
Computer (- Phenom 9600 Black Edition @ 2.81 Ghz (Quad Core CPU)- Gigabyte MA790FX-DS5 - 4 Gigs of PC 8500 ram (1066)- EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS PCI Express 2.0 - WD 500GB 7500RPM - Zalman CPU cooler (air cooled) - 24" Widescreen 1080P HD display).
Part of what pissed me off about EQ2... You get the same spell/skill but an upgraded version every 10-15 levels. Usually they get more powerfull. But at the last tier before level cap they nerfed the spells so that they are less effective than the previous versoins. They do this to balance raid content. It pissed me off that they would take this approach to game balance. Also due to thier "con" system you cannot use the older versions of the spells against high level monsters.
Also, they give you powerfull spells/skills that you get used to playing with. And when you get to level cap... you find that you can only use a quarter of your spells/skills against raid mobs. They are immune to stuns, they cannot be mesmerized, they cannot be stifled, they cannot be powerdrained... ugh why bother giving us the spells if we cannot use them?
At this point in time, I consider EQ2 a much better game than WoW.
I went back to try out WoW about a month ago and found out nothing much had changed. EQ2 has kept my interest. It's a more complex game with fun exploration. The monsters are a lot more scary too.
Well tbh we have no idea what EQ2 numbers are since the only ever published figure was a "guesswork"(and he even sort of admitted it on this forums) ancient data from sirbruce which was given way after his best days of actually getting more accurate data.I say 300k is an extremely low estimate to be honest.
173k of June of this year. Although Ten Ton Hammer reported Subs were down below 90k a month or two ago. But since then SOE has given away over 200k free copies of EQ2 including all expansions and free play time so one would think the game population is going up even if its just from free players.
sorry but that site is certainly nowhere convincing.As always mmorpg numbers remain purely guesswork for most parts as companies generally hide their numbers.
At one point(a while ago) i only trusted sirbruce because he tends to have some good inside information which was confirmed later on when a company released its numbers.And when his contacts faded off he did same as all the rest sites-guess.
Until i find another sirbruce who releases numbers and then gets confirmed later by a company i would not trust any random guessing.
Comments
WoWs content is interesting from 1-70, nothing in EQ2 compares to how awesome razorfend downs is in WoW. By far my favorite instance/dungeon in any mmorpg.
I think the main reason EQ2 didn't do as well as WoW is because of the fact (and anyone who has played EQ1for more than a year can attest to this) that SoE regularly sends content out to early. Patches and expansions are released when they should still be in beta. I know that EQ2 and WoW were due out at relatively the same time and that SoE was under pressure to get their product to market, but the end all is that the product they sent out wasn't ready.
When word got out around the MMO community of the bugs and errors that EQ2 had it dratically removed many,many players from their pool of potential accounts. In contratst the launch of WoW was smoother and this in turn garnered them a larger group of supporters. Also Blizzard was new to the MMO world and had a clean track record and SoE (EQ1) had IMO a less than stellar reputation in the MMO community.
SoE already had a following from the EQ1 crowd and in some aspects were splitting their playerbase. Blizzard on the other hand was able to draw upon the millions of their RTS players.
Overall many gamers were ready for a different type of MMO company and Blizzard provided them with what they were looking for at just the right time.
Sometimes no matter how hard you try it's the first impression that sticks.
EQ2 didnt launch a terrible game, it just didnt launch as a 'noob' friendly game. You cant knock the quality of a game by how many pc's can run it at high graphic settings.
I hope WoW has many good years left too... not because I think I'm better than WoW players, but because I do not want casual players to cause SoE to water my game down anymore than they already have.
So please by all means, do not play EQ2.
Bravo
lol WoW is more fun? Blech. I wasted my money on that game and tossed it before my free month was out. EQ2 I've been playing almost since release. WoW is definately NOT more fun. I can't stand anything about that game. The ease of everything, the extremely fast levelling, the cartoony style, the raid grind of over and over and over and over. Terrible game. I have no idea why people like it so much.
EQ2 is infinately better.
I'm currently playing the EQ II trial, and so far both games are very similar, too similar.. is it just me, or do both of these games miss the reason to play? however I'm not evey convinced of EQ II being a (very) good game, altough it lasted longer than the WoW trial, which is 9 hours
, so it's not the first parts of the game that make WoW the most played MMORPG, but just people who know other people, who play it, so they decide to play too, the succes of WoW is keeping the game big
You know it, the best way to realize your dreams is waking up and start moving, never lose hope and always keep up.
As a person in my 30's, who played with a lot of people similarly aged when I used to play WoW, can people PLEASE stop saying that the WoW graphics style appeals to 'young' people. No, when I was ten years younger, it was important to me that stuff was realistic and that I wasn't tainted by silly things. 'True' adults are too laid back to give half a pile of shit about that. If the actual execution is good, then yay, great, whatever the chosen style was.
Getting all uptight because the graphics aren't ultra realistic is something I've encountered far, far, far more in the younger generations.
Oh, and I love both games, but no longer play either.
On my opinion those two game has only one major different: Target customers.
MMORPG.COM has worst forum editor ever exists
I bought WoW 1st week of release. Tried the EQ2 Free Trial which was sometime after that. WoW just grabbed me from the get go. Probably the main thing that stood out and still seems to shine above the rest was the fluidity and smoothness of the controls. The characters just felt *right* moving around the world, while in some other games things felt stiff or robotic. Was hard to get into EQ2 after playing WoW for awhile (How long was it till the free trials came out? Maybe a year into release?). EQ2 just seemed stiff and I didn't like the "kinda-realistic" look - usually just comes off even weirder and more bizzaro looking than probably intended.
I'm pretty burned out on MMORPGs in general so not playing any of them right now, but I think WoW nailed it and I played for about 2 years. Here's looking forward to the next generation of games, let's hope someone comes out with something that'll blow us away.
I am in agreement. However, EQ 2 does have the creative success that WoW lacks. The reason for WoW's high subscription numbers is the Asian market, the accessibility of the game due to low tech demands, and individuals with multiple accounts. When I was a Guild Leader in WoW, I had two accounts: 1) a hunter and 2) a dwarf Priest. I had the other account to help my Guild with raiding certain dungeons. Many in WoW have multiple accounts, bot programs on other computer programs, and a sizable population is involved in gold farming and power leveling services.
When I consider WoW's commercial success, I consider it a bit misleading. I would be interested to know what the American subscription number is for WoW. It might be lower than EQ 2?
In terms of creativity, I seldom discuss the issue because it is not even debatable. EQ 2 has greater depth, superior graphics, more interesting and fun gameplay, and Quests that are actually meaningful. WoW lacks player housing, and I really enjoy EQ's player housing as you can have bars in your house to pictures taken of EQ 1's dungeons. In WoW, you are very forced. You can solo to the max level but your options at the end-game are limited to certain activities. In EQ 1, you can mentor (and receive experience from mentoring) by helping lower level friends and community members in various dungeons. In other words, if you are only level 10 but your friend is level 35, you two can both group and receive AA experience. The character customization in EQ 2, from appearance to abilities, is by far better. As I said, EQ 2 is truly better than WoW in each and every way from community to graphics to the important fun factor.
Yes I agree..EQ2 is by far (today) the better game and deserves credit and players for the good job SOE has done with this game in the 3 years(aprox) that it has been out..
And to all of you saing that EQ2 was broken at release..Well it wasnt..It was only a tougher more group centric game, and I liked the old EQ2 better infact..But..even today efter countless changes to the more easier gameplay(WoW) ', it's stil better than WoW..
The only real thing EQ2 has against it and that several has mentioned is the steep hardware req's, even today it will require a very good PC to run it in full glory..
Many players mentiones that WoW feels more alive..??? Hmm..WoW doesnt even have talking NPC's and this makes Eq2 so much alive like no other game on the market..
EQ2 is top notch...the best MMORPG on the market.
/thark
I don't know why we even bother to try and convince each other that one is the better. Just reading the posts in this thread and other threads it's clear that it's all personal taste. This can be different depending on your age, nationality, race, parents, childhood, etc. EQ2 seems to be the better game for those who believe they are mature. WoW is for the rest of us who are immature and just like to have fun.
Just as an answer to the topic I would like to say "no". If EQ2 didn't get as successful as WoW did, then it did it for a reason. Don't ask me for the reasons, I'm sure many others have pointed out those, but I believe that success is gained for a reason.
Its much more then just the asian market, Only half or so are located in Asia. There are over 4 milion players in the US and Europe.
World of Warcraft has this many subscribers because its simply a better game then Everquest.
Then why isnt it number 1 in sales and/or subs? Perhaps because its a clunky crappy game?
Seriously, im just getting sick of people trying to bash WOW and say this game is better or that game is better then it. Atleast you people can try to compare games that are actually fun and not clunky pieces of crap with horrible combat.
I might have had my problems with WOW in the past which has caused me to leave and try out other MMO's.. The the more I play other MMO's (EQ2, DAOC, City of Heros/Villians, GW, SWG, DnD online, LOTR (beta) Tabula Rasa (beta), Face of Mankind, EVE) the more I want to go back to WOW.. I think that alone speaks volumes, and its just another reason why WOW is the number 1 selling MMO in history. You people can come on here and spew that crap about how WOW is so Noob friendly and it has silly looking Graphics but its number 1 why the MMO you play struggles to stay afloat.
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You see, every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with their surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You spread to an area, and you multiply, and you multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet.-Mr.Smith
Then lets move onto the EQ1 name.Lets remember that SoE said 2 million accounts have past thru EQ1 doors.Now even at its peak it had 550k accounts.This for its time was something massive just like WoW 9m is massive now.
So it means 2m have tried EQ1 (the real numbers will be less due to multiple accounts).This was over a lifespan of quite a few years with many quiting mmorpg altogether etc.Remember EQ1 was initally filled with childless couples and university/college students(i was a student when i started too).Lots have had kids and become career minded and given up this time consuming venture(mmorpg).Also EQ is a popular name in USA/Canada and very select places in europe.
Now lets compare this to the much higher numbers of people across the world(not a select area) who have played warcraft and know about it espically in asia which has the vast majority of wow players.You can see the signficant difference.
Also EQ2 specs even today is very high for a good majority of gamers.You will hardly see the average eastern european or chinese with a high spec system.In fact when i played WoW my guild had a good number from poland.Most were using intergraded or low spec graphics cards which ofc will not even boot EQ2 .
So yes hardware comes into place.
Then lets go into launch.I was an early beta tester in EQ2 and sadly my voice got drowned by invited EQ1 guilds on some crucial matters.I said the shared death penalty was a terrible idea and should never had made it life.Even as early as level 10 i recall we would invite someone into the group and suddenly we get message of us getting exp debt due to some jerk multi dying even when NOT close to us but somewhere spamming deaths in the zone.Before you can disband him you are already in debt .It was a horrible idea and many new gamers complained bitterly about this.
Then there the matter of soloing which was hard initally something not appealing to solo and causal gamers with little time.
OFC things like shared exp debt and poor soloing are things of the past but it sold quite a few players to wow by then.
Now i can confidently say EQ2 has evolved to be a better game then wow at present but really might be too late to strongly compete with wow espically outside europe and NA
173k of June of this year. Although Ten Ton Hammer reported Subs were down below 90k a month or two ago. But since then SOE has given away over 200k free copies of EQ2 including all expansions and free play time so one would think the game population is going up even if its just from free players.
Apparently you have not played passed the newbie areas. Crafting in EQ2 is at the least more fun, but in neither game is it anything to be proud of.
1: EQ2 has about 8 good classes, and 8 more that are just blah, the only main classes you need are the same as in wow, the warrior, the wizard, the cleric, the shaman, the rogue, the ranger, the paladin and the "dark wizard" aka the necromancer, the rest are half breed wannabes.
2: If you have trouble locating the yellow !'s in wow's beginner areas, well.. im sorry lol. an actual tutorial like EQ2's was nice, but definatly not needed.
3: EQ2's graphics are NOT the best of 2007, that title belongs to vanguard, whatever you might wanna say. and besides, I still to this day hear people saying WoW's graphics are still amazing. and they are. I'm not trying to say eq2's graphics suck, they are indeed very very nice, but definatly not the best.
4: and here is what it boils down to. EQ2 is NOT, I repeat NOT a solo game, by no means. once you get into the mid 30's, unless you are a necromancer or another class that has a little chance of soloing.. you are pretty much out of luck. neither is wow, but outside of dungeons you can do pretty much anything solo, which is good for everyone, because as many of us have learned in eq2.. when you are not in a group, you are waiting to get in a group... which is more often than actually being in a group. which is why, WoW is so popular.. it's user friendly and not user demanding. people don't want to wait for a farking hour with /lfg turned on.
Ok, care to mention 1 expansion to WoW that is free?
Can you explain why you have to buy first wow for its retail price and then you have to also buy(!) the expansion pack for its retail price. While you can buy EQ2 all in one package(s).
Um content isnt just an xpansion pack, yea you have to buy an expansion pack but Blizzard has and continually adds new content for FREE. The battle grounds, BWL, AQ40, AQ20, Zul Gurub, new items, pvp sets and the list goes on and on. Thats all stuff that has been added for free, you did not have to purchase those, and its not just a little thing adding new content is actually pretty big.The explansion pack added alot of content to the game, Outlands is its own world with alot of areas and filled with quests/new items dungeons raids, new races etc. That is pretty amazing for an expansion.
The reason why you can buy all EQ2 expacs and the game in one box its because like someone mentioned earlier their game is hurting and they are even giving away games for free, if they all sold separately they simply wouldn't sell or it wouldnt make people buy it, it is part of their marketing.
The original WoW is like what, 10 dollars? and the xpac is somewhere around 30 if not cheaper, thats what 40 dollars? Thats less than what an actual new game costs.
A man dies daily, only to be reborn in the morning, bigger, better and wiser.
-Playing AoC
-Playing WoW
-Retired- SWG
-Retired- EVE
-Retired- LotR
Computer (- Phenom 9600 Black Edition @ 2.81 Ghz (Quad Core CPU)- Gigabyte MA790FX-DS5 - 4 Gigs of PC 8500 ram (1066)- EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS PCI Express 2.0 - WD 500GB 7500RPM - Zalman CPU cooler (air cooled)
- 24" Widescreen 1080P HD display).
The game might have chanced since 2004 when I started playing it - but at that time there was no comparison between EQ2 and WoW. Wow won hands down. Easy and fast gameplay. Smooth graphix that help the gameplay instead of slowing it down. Friendly userinterface that you could get into very fast. And we can go on and on and on. WoW was the first game I could actually say ... Now this is exactly like it should be !!. Sadly WoW has now taken many paths away from that and more and more are realising it. Maybe EQ has been catching up in terms of content but the gameplay has to have improved by 10000% to get close to WoW. And Im not sure it has.
EQ was not meant to be a 9 million ppl game. Thats why it was build with alot of noneuserfriendly things that made the gameplay just not as much fun. It may still be a great game - but not for the masses. I doubt no other game will get close to wow in that, even tho Blizzard are very slow on new content - but maybe its cause they still have 9 million ppl playing it anyway. So why rush things?
Don't take me wrong - there is alot of things I dont like in WoW and there will probably be many more if the new expansion is gonna go the way it was annouched on Blizzcon.
Theres about 2.5 Million players in North America around 1.5 Million in Europe and about 4 Million in Asia. The reason for WoWs success isnt Asia not the low specs or the kiddie graphics that so many claim that wow has but its a well polished fun game, thats why people play games because they are fun not because they have low computer specs. The game came out in Asia a while after it came out in US and Europe and it was still a success before it was released in Asia.
The graphics arent meant to lure kids but the graphics are WoWish (if that can even be used as a word) it relates alot to the previous Warcraft games. I played LotR where the graphics are pretty good, and I have a good computer so I was able to play it with maxed out everything, and it was running smooth. The game didnt satisfy me so I came back to wow, yea the graphics are different and definately not as realistic as LotR but they are appealing in their own way, and also unique.
An unbiased statement I will make is that we know that every game that Blizzard has released has been a quality product, something well done, polished with a very high fun factor, all their games have been games of the year with millions of copies sold. WoW is no different, if Blizzard makes a game they make sure it is fun, and that people enjoy it and people do. SOE on the other hand does not have those standards, at least it doesnt seem like they do, seeing how their games are dying. I may be bitter against sony because of how they ruined SWG but they release games unpolished and clearly that is not a quality product, I would rather have a game come out much later and be quality than hit the shelves early and go down to crap, all the potential of a great idea and or development is lost.
These are both different games with different player fan base and you will never be able to convince the other side that your mountain is higher.
A man dies daily, only to be reborn in the morning, bigger, better and wiser.
-Playing AoC
-Playing WoW
-Retired- SWG
-Retired- EVE
-Retired- LotR
Computer (- Phenom 9600 Black Edition @ 2.81 Ghz (Quad Core CPU)- Gigabyte MA790FX-DS5 - 4 Gigs of PC 8500 ram (1066)- EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS PCI Express 2.0 - WD 500GB 7500RPM - Zalman CPU cooler (air cooled)
- 24" Widescreen 1080P HD display).
Can any one tell me how EQ2 is more fun gameplay wise then WOW?
Part of what pissed me off about EQ2... You get the same spell/skill but an upgraded version every 10-15 levels. Usually they get more powerfull. But at the last tier before level cap they nerfed the spells so that they are less effective than the previous versoins. They do this to balance raid content. It pissed me off that they would take this approach to game balance. Also due to thier "con" system you cannot use the older versions of the spells against high level monsters.
Also, they give you powerfull spells/skills that you get used to playing with. And when you get to level cap... you find that you can only use a quarter of your spells/skills against raid mobs. They are immune to stuns, they cannot be mesmerized, they cannot be stifled, they cannot be powerdrained... ugh why bother giving us the spells if we cannot use them?
Piss poor design and balancing.
At this point in time, I consider EQ2 a much better game than WoW.
I went back to try out WoW about a month ago and found out nothing much had changed. EQ2 has kept my interest. It's a more complex game with fun exploration. The monsters are a lot more scary too.
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173k of June of this year. Although Ten Ton Hammer reported Subs were down below 90k a month or two ago. But since then SOE has given away over 200k free copies of EQ2 including all expansions and free play time so one would think the game population is going up even if its just from free players.
sorry but that site is certainly nowhere convincing.As always mmorpg numbers remain purely guesswork for most parts as companies generally hide their numbers.At one point(a while ago) i only trusted sirbruce because he tends to have some good inside information which was confirmed later on when a company released its numbers.And when his contacts faded off he did same as all the rest sites-guess.
Until i find another sirbruce who releases numbers and then gets confirmed later by a company i would not trust any random guessing.