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EQ2, VG, or LOTRO?
JHesychast
Member Posts: 15
I am stuck debating between the 3 - EQ2, VG, and LOTRO. I have played EQ2 on and off since release; game back with a free month until Nov. 4 and I love it. It's very pretty and realistic, but character customization isn't great (but it is one of the better ones). Not sure if I like combat.
I left VG after being a vanboi for over a year; came back on a 10 day trial and I really enjoy it and can now run it halfway decently. The character customization is great, but 3 non-RP servers ate the RP server. Animations all seem stiff and unrealistic. All of the changes are some good, some bad, that have changed the core of the game. Plus it's no longer with Sigil... both a good and bad thing.
I bought LOTRO because I love Tolkien and Middle-earth; it's really fun, but I hear that it's bad upper levels. Plus I dislike Epic Quests and the interaction with the Fellowship. Character customization is almost null. But it's really pretty, even if it is 2D skins over 3D models. And it seems really linear.
I am posting this on all 3 games' boards. I am really confused and in an awful debate with myself for the past 2 weeks. So any thoughts and opinions are lovely. Thank you! ^_^
Comments
Am on the same boat m8 :
Got VG + Lotro but thinkin to move to EQ2 and get a station pass so I can check out VG progress as well...and maybe get a 3rd mmo for the heck of it smthn like MXO or SWG...then again I can just take Lotro
I'm baffled for a long time now
I want VG to get better cause it has so much potential. I know, the whole potential thing. It does.
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WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
EQ2 is probably the best game of the three. If you can run VG well, it may be more rewarding in the end though. I like EQ2 and VG about the same and tend to float back and forth between the two. LotRO is completely lackluster IMO. If you are a huge Tolkien fan, then maybe I would recommend it, but in the end the game offers very little IMO other than playing in Middle Earth.
EQ2 and WoW are the only 2 games in town right now for a traditional MMORPG. Stick with EQ2. It is a great game.
I'd probably recommend eq2 it is solid and mature and pretty good. VG still needs some more time in the oven although it has come a long way.
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Ethion
Eliminate LOTRO from the list.
It is a pretty game but it s not gonna last long.
Vanguard is getting better but I am not sure if SoE will keep it alive for long, I decided not to play it cause there is not guarantee that the game will be a long term project, and the fact that the Vanguard team has been reduced in size is not a good omen.
If you have to invest your time I ll go for EQ2, the game is doing decently and its getting better after every expansion.
With the new "skeleton system" there will be many more armor sets available in the future, making your character more customizable.
Also the comunity is great.
I am personally waiting for AoC, but EQ2 has been my back up game since its launch.
I play it when I am bored of the new games (which happens quite often) and every time I come back the game seems better.
I d say EQ2. I played it for almost 2 years. I have a harder joice, because i know EQ2 in and out. Not much left to do there. Vanguard is good if you have a handfull of good friends who plays not only the main quests but explore with you. Vanguard has the most grind of all. The heavy grind outside of the main quest lines is Vanguards weakest point. Lotro is somewhat relaxing and, as far as i know, quite solo friendly. Vanguard is the only of the three with a real sandbox in it. You can advance and itemize with crafting only and do quests just if you like. I think it will last, but i have the feeling that some deeper changes are ahead.
Aint it sad that we are stuck with 4 titles to play ? I have some hope for AoC.
vanguard is still broke, EQII is long in the tooth, very top heavy and not very many newbies and the community is pretty bad. Pretty much just a dying game with a lot of high lvls, the new expansion is pretty much going to be just lvl 70 content also.
LoTRO is the best out there at the moment , great graphics, great community and still growing.
I miss DAoC
Everquest 2 is definitely the best out there right now. The PvP is fairly decent, aside from zone runners. The lore is fantastic, the character models are terrific and the crafting is better then the other 2 selections.
if you play, try Antonia Bayle. I forget the name of the large PvP server (veneker?) but theres one PvP server which is also fairly large.
you wont necessarily need a lot of grouping at lower levels, but I would suggest getting into a guild soon. If you run into problems with questing (such as armor questing) you'll need your guild.
Its by far the most healthy of the three choices as far as content goes.
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a robot foot stomping on a human face -- forever."
After play EQ2 and Vanguard i would say vanguard if you can run it, EQ2 if you cant. LOTRO is nothing....
I really am suprised with how much I enjoy Vanguard. Alot of people were down talking it but i like it.
I enjoyed VG for the time I played it too. The ONLY thing I didnt like about it was that its very group centric and accomplishing things in a short period of time was extremely difficult. More so than EQ2, which I also stopped playing because of how demanding it is.
not that its a bad thing, I just couldnt fit them into my schedule. I think theyre both great games.
LOTRO, on the other hand.. is way too casual and beneath its surface is the same as any other fantasy based MMO.. watered down.
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a robot foot stomping on a human face -- forever."
This is really personal taste. Some people really like some fo these games and some other people hate them.
Lets start with EQ2. I have many friinds who I respect that love EQ2. I think its one of the worst made MMOs ever made. People that like it say they like the raiding. Most of these people will admit that the game is not fun or enjoyable but that it has good raiding. What EQ2 lacks IMO is a decent combat system and its quests are very poorly done. The game is simply not fun. But its game you can enjoy with a good guild.
The combat system and the pace of combat are awkard. The refresh timers are poorly done and it ends up becoming a mindless button mashing affair. If your looking for a good well thought out combat system stay away from EQ2. EQ2 is a lot of flash little substance. EQ2 has a ton of quests but they are poorly done. Like Vanguard EQ2 suffered greatly from lack of quality control. Which is something LOTR greatly benefited from. But the EQ2 quest system problems go deeper than poorly designed quests but rather a poorly designed system. EQ2 has far to many fed ex quests and the quests are not centralized in small hubs like WoW/LOTR and even EQ2. Rather they involve a lot of senseless running. The quality of the EQ2 quests are awful. EQ2's quest system is all about quantity over quality although thier quest journal gets an A+ and is the best quest journal in the genre. Unfortunately questing gets tedious and boring rather quickly in EQ2. SOE changed the design of EQ2 late in development to copy WoW's quest orientated gameplay but they simply did not have time to make and redesign their game so late in development.
In a sense EQ2 is the opposite of Vanguard it suffers from very poor core systems but is quite complete. It's combat and crafting systems and horribly done while Vanguard's crafting and combat systems are amazingly well done almost to the point that the rest of the game suffered because they spent so much time perfecting these systems. Vanguard's classes are diversified and unique while EQ2's classes are all about the same. In terms of completeness EQ2 is a lot more complete, polished and stability than Vanguard. It is not even close here.
Potential wise Vanguard is a much better game with much better core systems but EQ2's development team is twice the size of Vanguard and SOE seems to care litle at this point about developing Vanguard into a triple AAA game. Eq2 is their baby and thats where they are putting their marketing and their development money. The future for both games in terms of sales is somewhat bleak but that does not mean either game cannot be fun.
If one can except either game for what it is one can have a great time. Vanguard is a very flawed, incomplete and unstable game. EQ2 has terrible combat and crafting but is shiny and somewhat polished. But again this is just my opinion.
In regards to LOTR I have a lifetime account. I like LOTR think tis a great game, well made and fun but I cannot talk myself into playing it much. While I think tis a much better game than Vanguard I enjoy Vanguard a lot more.
I like the classes in LOTR. Theya re fun deversified. The quests are substantially better done than Vanguard or EQ2. Theya re simply fun. The Shire is absolutely beautiful. Vanguard has beautiful vistas but I think LOTRs world graphics are better simply because they are more complete and unlike Vanguard the building and objects fit into the terrian. But Vanguard's Armor graphics are amazing annd much better than that of LOTR. EQ2 would be a distant third in tems of graphics. LOTR's characters move better than the stiff character models in eq2 or semi stiff ones in Vanguard. The water in LOTR is by fare the best of the three games. Some of vanguards areas are very well done and some look awful. But again the armor looks amazing.
If you loved the LOTR books then I am sure you will love the game. The game is much closer to the books than those awful movies. The Shire is absolutely beautiful. You get to meet Tom Bombadill, go to the prancing pony, meet Strider and Gandalf and much more. If this kind of thing excites you then you are LOTR geek like myself and you will probably love running around Middle Earth. LOTR is very well nade game. The amount of detatil and polish is amazing. I played LOTR to level cap back in Alpha II last August and It was much more polished then 95% of most MMOs at release. Turbine should be commended for pushing back release and releasing such a polished and well made game.
Commmunity wise EQ2 and Vanguard both have great, helpful and mature communities. LOTR while not awful seems to be populated by many new playersthat do not understand MMO manners and courtsey unfoprtunately also many loud kiddies. Much betetr than WoW but I have had good and bad expereinces with LOTR's community while I have almost only good expereinces with EQ2's and Vanguard's communities.
Vanguard's problems are instabilty, high hardware requirements, terrible reputation, low population and lack of high end content, While there qre quite a large number of quests in the game they could surely use another pass and polish on quests. Vanguard also sffers from lack of tutortials and road marks. There is a lto of hidden content that many people will never have the patience to find. A year from now it could be a very very good game. Hopefully SOE will make a better effort in attempting to develop VG.
LOTR is superior in many ways to both games its not a game I can not play for long. For whatever reason I can only play LOTR for a day or two then I have had enough and cannot play it again for weeks. But Vanguard is such an addicting fun game if you enjoy it for what it has to offer and can ignore its flaws it can be quite a fun game. I am sure the same can be said for the other two games.
Of the three, I'd say EQ2 as well. However, if you include EQ1 in the choices, I would say EQ1 hands down. Content, challenge, and community is what really make a great MMO.
Everquest 2 by far
LoTRO is just too easy but playable.
Vanguard is trailing in the lead by a few hundred miles' it's probably the last MMO I would play for fun; Shadowbane and Dark and light following closely behind.
People who have to create conspiracy and hate threads to further a cause lacks in intellectual comprehension of diversity.