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Questions for Everquest 2 players that already played Lord of The Rings Online.Which is better?Detai
Dekapitator
Member UncommonPosts: 261
in Everquest II
Very basically I would like to know which of the games is better? Does Lord of The Rings have allot of creatures to kill like Everquest 2?
Are the quests as good or better than Everquest 2?
Which of the games is more fun in questing?
I know they both have crafting and housing so thats cool. Any advice on choosing one of these games would be great.
Big speeches are welcome.Small to.
Help me choose one of these games.
Comments
In short, EQ2 has the most to offer out of any MMO.
If you are into questing, EQ offers many quests - short and VERY long. Honestly though, I am not a fan of questing in EQ2. Let me explain. Eq2 has so many zones, each very different. Exploring and exping with a group is the best way to level in EQ2. Its not like WoW where you solo-quest to 70. EQ2 is based around groups. I like it that way. If you are into soloing, your not going to get the same experience, and I would recogment sticking with LotRO.
Now, endgame... EQ2 rules. Raids range from acouple hours to 15+. And with the new skeletal advancements, expect to see alot of really cool armor in the works.
-FawD
"Better" is personal. What I like, you may not.
That said, both games are similar in terms of being pretty traditional MMORPGs, standard turn-based combat, skill bars, WASD movement, etc. If you've played WoW you can jump right into both EQ2 and LOTRO.
Content: EQ2 is about 3 years old and has a ton of content. LOTRO is only a few months old so comparatively has much less content currently. EQ2 bounces back and forth between adding free content updates and releasing commercial expansion packs. Turbine releases pretty big content updates for all their games; I don't recall seeing anything definitive saying that they would release a commercial expansion at some point rather than sticking to the free update model, but anything could happen in the future. Currently EQ2 arguably has the most content out of any MMO on the market, and will probably remain that way for quite some time to come.
Housing: EQ2 has instanced player housing now, LOTRO will be adding player housing in the next big content update in a few months. Specific details have not been released yet (at least not that I've read) but I seem to recall full instanced player villages being discussed as a possibility.
Quests: Both games are very quest-heavy, but I'd say LOTRO is way more quest-centric. In EQ2 my impression is that if you just want to grind some mobs or whatever, it's fine, you'll get decent xp for it. In LOTRO however, grinding mobs barely gives any xp at all and to me just isn't worth the boredom and the huge repair bill at the end. Completing quests in LOTRO is where the real xp is at. I will say that even though many of LOTRO's quests involve pretty standard activities, like the Kill Ten Rats style of quests, the actual quest dialogue and stories are very well written and entertaining, and I find myself actually stopping to read the full text rather than "yeah whatever, just tell me how many of what to kill" and just clicking OK like I do in so many other games with uninteresting quest text.
Setting: EQ2 is very high-fantasy with a lot of races and classes to play, wild crazy magic spells and mobs. LOTRO on the other hand is obviously set in Middle Earth which, to me, is very low-fantasy. LOTRO offers only the basic races in the books: Man, Elf, Dwarf and Hobbit. Just like the books and movies, there's no crazy magic spells being slung around. It's primarily melee-oriented, with three of the classes being variations of the warrior archetype, plus the burglar (the rogue-like class of the game) and minstrel are also best in melee. The hunter is the main ranged class, while the loremaster is good at crowd control though despite being one of the squishiest squishie classes I've ever played, actually seem to do the best damage in melee rather than ranged. In a good group, though, a LRM should be able to hang back just fine and concentrate on other things rather than doing melee dps. The low fantasy carries over to the world as well; most of the mobs you'll be fighting during your quests are of the bandit/bear/boar/wolf variety, which is one of the reasons listed in the many "I'm bored" threads here. You'll eventually get to areas with more unique fancy mobs, but in the meantime you might get sick of just fighting a lot of the same mob types as you level.
Graphics: Again, graphics is a very personal thing. For me, I prefer LOTRO overall. I do really enjoy the actual character graphics and animations in EQ2 but the actual terrain and mob graphics and animations that I've seen so far were downright horrid and embarassing. (Disclaimer: I haven't spent much time in EQ2 yet and I'm hoping the rest of the game improves when I get to some other zones, so just hold the flames.) Despite its age, EQ2 still has somewhat higher system requirements than LOTRO, and even on a newly-built gaming rig I had to tweak trial-and-error with a ton of options and ask in forums before I could get EQ2 to run smoothly. LOTRO on the other hand, I was able to completely max-out every single option including the high-res textures and it never drops below 60fps except when I run through Bree or some other crowded town. LOTRO can be quite RAM-hungry though, it definitely prefers 1.5+ gb of RAM. LOTRO also has a more seamless style world, similar to WoW, whereas in EQ2 (so far) I've been getting to the end of one zone and have to load into the next.
Sound: Both games have gorgeous soundtracks, EQ2's perhaps being the more "epic" of the two. LOTRO is based on the books, not the movies, so the game does not have Howard Shore's brilliant movie soundtrack. However, the game's music fits each zone well, and is unobtrusive. Combat and spell sounds are well done, but standard fare. EQ2 has voiceovers for quest dialogue, which is cool even though I can read much faster than they speak so I usually click OK before they finish talking.
Crafting: EQ2 has one of the more "deeper" and involved crafting systems out there, and people really seem to enjoy it and find it rewarding. LOTRO's actual crafting is much simpler, though I'd rate it slightly more complex than WoW's. LOTRO's crafting is also interdependent on other crafting vocations, the intention being to get the players to work together more. One problem there is the interdependency kicks in immediately, and money is hard to come by during the early levels so it can be difficult to get certain items that other crafters have to make for you. Typically I find people roll alts to do their crafting and mail items to their alts rather than actually working with other players. Once you master a crafting tier though, you have a chance of having a "critical" craft and making an item better than what you intended to make, which is cool, and the crafted end-game/master level items are among the best items in the game. I'm not sure how EQ2 ranks yet in that respect, but I'm sure the crafted items there are the best as well at the end-game.
I have way more experience with LOTRO than EQ2, but I hope I listed both pros and cons to each. Every game has its pros and cons because we're all different and we want different things. For me, I love EQ2's character graphics, all the races and classes to choose from and the cool animations. Everything else about EQ2 *so far* has made a very poor impression on me but I'm dedicated to slugging it out to find the quality content that *must* be there for EQ2 to be as popular as it is. LOTRO has a nice engine that runs smoother and great graphics and art direction, but it's more "plain" or down to earth and the combat turns are slower than you'd see in WoW or EQ2 so the combat doesn't always have that visceral feeling you'd get in a game with faster combat turns. Avatar graphics aside however, EQ2 has really made the worst first impression on me I've ever had in any MMO. So I personally rate LOTRO higher, but as I said, with EQ2's popularity and all the good things I read about it, I'm willing to keep playing to find the quality content but for first impressions... wow... SOE really should go back and do something with it. The brand new starter areas are much better, but I didn't pick one of the brand new races or whatever so I got sent to the old noob area.
Just my two cents here...
Think both games are very good, but aimed at different audiences. I personally prefer LOTRO after playing both, but I'd play EQ2 again if the urge arose (still on my hard drive...probably take a month to update though...lol)
Wow Talyn, very well done! Detailed and objective
I have played/play both games and Talyn assessment is pretty much right on. But as always your own personal opinion is the only one that matters. See if you can get a "buddy key" for LoTRO and give both a try.
Good Luck & Enjoy
Wow Talyn pretty much explained most of it.
Phew I must admit this is a tough question for me. I play EQ2 since launch, but its a love-hate. I was ecstatic with LOTRO, but it has kinda cooled down. Overall I pretty much agree with what Talyn has written. This is just my own brainstorm:
1) The graphics of LOTRO are nothing short but stunning! I never had played a PC game where so often just stood in awe, gazing at the meadows and hills, lakes and mountains and everything. Compared to that even the best EQ2 areas looks like plastic. The character models of EQ2, if you use alternative models, are aa tad better than LOTRO, but then, you dont stare into your characters face in a game all the time.
2) LOTRO gives better rewards, usually. You can play short sessions and still feel like you accomplished something. In EQ2 most quests need schedules and coordination to get anything real done. One the other hand, LOTRO doesnt really challange to you, I never felt I made a lasting impact on my character or the world, its more as if I pass through, partially because of the ultra-fast levelling in LOTRO. In EQ2 you build something that lasts, because EQ2 just has SO many different things to do, but thats of course because it exists a longer time.
3) Generally LOTRO has GREAT story telling, which is quite stale in EQ2. On the other hand you can do many more things, buy many kinds of mounts and houses, many types of quests asf., so EQ2 is cuisine and LOTRO more fast food, even if luxus fast food. LOTRO really needs another year to fully flourish, maybe 2 years. Its just that way with MMOs, People today are impatient, and VG showed it just doesnt work. You cant make a full, perfect MMO at launch, it needs its years, like it or not. But some love to be in the pioneer years, when a MMO is young but also limited.
So essentially it comes down to what you prefer. I think EQ2 has a trial, and LOTRO is at least placing ads with some 30 free days here, so maybe they have one too. LOTRO really did some thing great, but atm it lacks the long lasting appeal, which made me go back to EQ2 right now.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
I beta'd LOTRO. Its just WoW in an LOTR wrapper. Since I loath WoW with a passion, I'll choose EQ2 any day. The others have answered why.
I played Lotro until lvl 50 with all quests made (except those in Ettenmoors, Helegrod). The game just hasnt anything to offer for long time player (i don't play much per day, but also with 2h per day you'll be through in a month).
EQ2 is just bigger, since its already 3 years old, and the graphic is still great for its age
Maybe you should have asked in General, asking in either game specific forum will probably lead to bias opinions.
EQ2 has a better varity in creatures, its been out for 2+ years.
Questing, The epic story line quests in LotRO are well done for the most part, as are the EoF quests. I think LotRO quests are done better then the pre-EoF EQ2 quests. But there are alot more quests in EQ2.
Crafting in LotRO doesnt even compare to EQ2, housing in LotRO (when released) is going to be instanced like EQ2 so thats a draw.
IMO LotRO just doesnt offer enough varity. The biggest knock from me would have to be the classes, not enough and not one that I found to be alot of fun.
Wow, superb post Talyn. LotRO is a great game with a lot of story, cool quests, and beautiful scenery. I couldn't get past the no textures, as the armor was just terrible, and, as evident by my sig and webpage, I LOVE huge epic battles and challenges. Turbine says they will have them, and may have added some already, but that's the part of a game I absolutely HAVE to experience.
"Granted thinking for yourself could be considered a timesink of shorter or longer duration depending on how smart..or how dumb you are."
LoTRO is a good game, that made one hell of a good impression on me. So much so that I purchased the lifetime subscription. However, as I progressed in the game, the lack of options, and the need to group at the higher end really started to wear on me. I turned to alts as a diversion, but with little content, I found that I had to repeat the same quest lines over and over.
You see, in LoTRO there are 4 races. The humans and hobbits share one, and the dwarves and elves share another. Once the intro is completed, the elves move on to their own area, and the dwarves stay in theirs. The humans stay in their town, and the hobbits are returned to the shire. A few short levels later all of them (level 11-14) find themselves in a town called Bree. A few levels later you're moving on to an area called the Lone Lands, and from there you can split into the North Downs, and Ost Goruth (sp). From there you progress to Evendym, and more North Downs, and so the pattern continues. The point I'm trying to make, is that there are few choices of where to adventure at any level tier. In addition to that, there is the epic quest line, which you'll probably want all of your alts to go through, and the 2nd or 3rd time around that gets very old.
Quests:
EQ2 has come a long way with their quests, and now the game offers more experience, and has loads of them to complete. But I really have to give this to LoTRO. It's a questers dream come true. The main way to progress through the game is by questing. The quest dialog is well written, and is actually enjoyable to read through. The quest instanced zones contain the BEST scripting I've seen in any mmo. They are incredibly well done, and some will leave you with your jaw on the ground. I had an ABSOLUTE blast completed some of those instances.
Graphics:
I have mixed feelings here. The environment graphics in LoTRO are incredible, except for the snowy areas. Those resemble WoW too much for my taste. However, all the other landscapes look awesome. I often found myself just stopping in my tracks to take in the scenery. However, the character models are not very impressive. All humans look as if they're related. The elves look effeminate and the halfling males...yuck. They models do display lots of detail, but the lack of customization is what really hurts, and some of the hair models just look silly. The environments in EQ2 are good, but not as good as LoTRO. The newer zones in EQ2, running at max graphics look awesome. The older zones...not so much. Night time in EQ2 isn't presented very well. The scenery looks washed out. As for the character models in EQ2, the original version resembled claymation in my opinion. But the new alternate models, also known as SOGA models, are an improvement. EQ2 will be revisiting skeletal models, so I do expect to see some improvements there.
I prefer the look of armor in EQ2. Exagerated armor, with large weapons, that sort of thing is my preference.
Adventuring:
EQ2 is quite a bit larger. I would argue that even upon release EQ2 was larger than LoTRO. As it is though 3 years later the world has grown, and there is much to see, and do. You can gain good experience by killing. In LoTRO killing for xp is torture as the rewards are minuscule.
Tradeskills:
I'll have to give this to EQ2. I prefer the system.
In closing I'd say EQ2 is the winner to me. I love the large number of classes, and races to choose from. I love that there are alternate paths to improve my character (AA's). You have 100 points you can spend, which can really help you shape your class the way YOU want it to be played. LoTRO does have it's own version of character customization, but I really don't like how that was implemented. I don't think there are enough ways to customize yourself.
In LoTRO gear doesn't mean much. In EQ2, the push for better gear keeps you wanting more, pushing for the next upgrade. For pure role-playing I'd say LoTRO has done a great job, and has implemented little things in game that aid with role-playing.