Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
A word of warning to Europeans
Ryujin81
Member Posts: 2
in Everquest II
The European servers in EQ2 are largely ignored. Patches arrive late, downtime is extended for an insane number of hours, no explanations are ever given. Europeans are also not allowed to enter contests, partake in tournaments or anything else of that nature.
Customer support is a joke, farmers and spam is abuntant and nothing is done about it.
However, the game is fun and addicting, so if you tend to get annoyed over things like this, don't even think about purchasing this game (or any SOE game for that matter).
-Disgruntled but hooked European EQ2 player.
Comments
You do realise you have a choice right? Most Europeans play on the US servers as they are more populated.
If you dont like it transfer your character or start anew on a US server.
I am aware though, that last year when I played there was a dropdown on the EULA screen though of the normal launcher
Actually I am quite new to EQ2. Absolutely loving it and will continue to play until AoC is released (if it's fun). I'm an Australian player and am only given the choices of the 2 European servers - Splitpaw and Runnyeye. I would love to know how I can somehow get my char to the American servers. Also, if I have to, I have no problem with making a new character in order to play on American servers. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Currently returned to Norrath after disliking Hyboria.
I suppose we should get used to it, just a few more decades and the American economy is a complete joke. All because of that way of thinking... They are European, everybody else should be too. We are the best, Let's "help" Iraq... by killing the civilians... Don't worry, that problem is solving itself at the moment.
You know it, the best way to realize your dreams is waking up and start moving, never lose hope and always keep up.
Yes patches often arrive late, on occasion we have had to wait a week to get content that has already been released on US servers. Today a 5 hour downtime (no reason as to why was given) turned into a 11 hour downtime, which happens basicaly every time they do something.
Yes, customer support is a joke, even though there are exceptions. Most times I have gotten responses from GMs in game the "people" have acted like bots with pre generated answers that had nothing to do with what I was asking, was outright lying or had no clue what I was even talking about (i.e. most of them don't seem to know a thing about the game)
The issue with spam wasn't meant to be just for EU servers, but you can't realy hide it since they constantly find ways to get around it, and occasionaly other non-spam messages get caught in the filter.
The review was more on SOE I guess than the game. Sure the game has it's issues but I still love it, but SOE makes it hard to keep loving it.
I agree SOE could use *tons* of improvement for their interactions/communication with players
- its their biggest mmo flaw, and its a whopper
beta patcher doesnt seem to support Region select (least I couldnt find it)
launcher.station.sony.com/
but the Regular EQ2 patcher gives you that choice
EQ2 fan sites
Not to sound pompous or arrogant but.......nevermind, you already know the truth
-I will subtlety invade your psyche-
I'm on runneyeye and have no such problems as the OP was talking about,CS has always been quick (bar the new year fiasco) but otherwise its been all good
The only LU i remember coming very late was LU39 and yes that was a joke but other than that no problems at all.
I can only wonder what Europe would look like right now, if the US didn't help them out during the past three major conflicts.
I can only wonder what Europe would look like right now, if the US didn't help them out during the past three major conflicts.
That won't protect the US from the mistakes it has been making for the past 30 years. Unless politically unpopular changes are made soon, the US faces the same economic collapse the USSR had.
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.
Benjamin Franklin
I dont know what happened to you, but your post is wrong.
Playing since 2.5 years on splitpaw. Server hardware is located in Amsterdam. There is no, i repeat, no difference to US based servers. CS is the same as on any server. Patches come the same day as in the USA. Maybe a few hours earlier or later due to time difference.
Your a complete moron
Your a complete moron
This is EQ2 and has nothing to do with politics. I evem like DeLere since i have met him in New Tunaria :PLOL, probably the US economy is a complete joke. The german, french and UK economy is not better though.
I can only wonder what Europe would look like right now, if the US didn't help them out during the past three major conflicts.
This is a load of bullshit, US never entered any war to help out the Europeans.
Not until german U-boats killed a couple of Americans did the US enter the first world war for their own protection. And when they first entered the lines the Americans were so ignorant they ran head straight into the German machinegun crews who learned to perfect their tactics over the bodies of Europeans.
The second world war was the same, while Europe was being ransacked the Americans were impartial to it all except for the oppertunity to sell Britain guns for coin. Not until Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and Germany declared war to the US did they enter the second world war again for their own protection. US as ever doesnt give a shit about Europe until they get their noses rubbed in it.
Your a complete moron
This is EQ2 and has nothing to do with politics. I evem like DeLere since i have met him in New Tunaria :PLOL, probably the US economy is a complete joke. The german, french and UK economy is not better though.
I dont know if you've noticed but the Euro hasnt devalued. The US dollar went from 1.10 Dollars to one Euro to 1.50 Dollars to one Euro in the past couple of years. That does mean the European economy is better. Supermodels even dont want to be paid in Dollars anymore. It wont be long untill oil barrels wont be valued in Dollars but in Euro's too.
Did you know US was actually a pretty poor country, your not the economic superpower you would like to believe:
15% of all US citizens dont have basic healthcare, did you know everyone in the UK, France or Germany has government regulated healthcare.
12.3% of all US citizens live under the poverty line set up by the US itself. If sensible numbers were taken this would even be much more.
The United Nations Development Programme, uses the human poverty index in order to assess the development with regards to poverty among OECD countries. The index takes the likelihood of a child not surviving to age 60, functional illiteracy rate, long-term unemployment and the population living on less than 50% of the median national income into account. While the United States has one of the second lowest long-term unemployment rate in the developed world, it has the highest percentage of children who are not likely to live to age 60 and persons living on less than 50% of the national median income and the third highest percentage of adults lacking functional literacy skills.
The overwhelming consensus of economists, policy analysts, social scientists, and mayors is that the official federal poverty measure is seriously outdated. Most analyses find that a revised poverty calculation would increase the number of Americans classified as poor. Therefore, a major barrier to redefining poverty thresholds is political. US presidents are reluctant to have official poverty numbers revised upward during their terms in office. Another barrier is financial, since expenditures for many federal programs are tied to the official poverty rate – the more poverty, the more the federal government would have to pay into these programs.
In Canada, America’s neighbour to the north, poverty thresholds are not absolute income levels as they are in the US. They go beyond measuring only society’s most impoverished and most economically deprived and encompass a broader range of economic hardship.
For example, if we used Canada’s Low-Income Cut-Off Line to measure poverty in Rochester, New York – a typical mid-size American city – the poverty rate would not be 25.9 per cent, as officially defined by the US government, but 38.4 per cent.
Using the Canadian standard, New York City’s poverty rate would not be the official 21.2 per cent, but 38.2 per cent.
In San Jose, California – the center of Silicon Valley and the symbol of wealth and power in the US – the poverty rate would leap from 8.8 per cent to 20.9 per cent, when calculated according to the Canadian method.
17% of Americans lived in poverty between 1999 and 2002, the second highest percentage of any high-income OECD country.[3] Overall the U.S. ranks 16th on the Human Poverty Index, surpassed only by Ireland and Italy.
Yes patches often arrive late, on occasion we have had to wait a week to get content that has already been released on US servers. This has happened only once, according to my forum check. As I stated above it was GU39. this was mostly due to the San Diego fire incident. Today a 5 hour downtime (no reason as to why was given) turned into a 11 hour downtime, which happens basicaly every time they do something. Looking at the time of your post, I'm wondering what downtime your speaking of? I've spoken to numerous players about downtime on wednesday 23rd january, and no one can admit to experiencing any.
Yes, I admit the ocassional downtime is unannounced, but these incidents are not as frequent as you are claiming. Regular 5am downtimes on weekdays are common knowledge to most players anyway. Downtimes during peak hours are still few and far between. I've never witnessed anything as drastic as an 11 hour downtime without an announcement, and I regularly play at all hours of the day.
Yes, customer support is a joke, even though there are exceptions. Most times I have gotten responses from GMs in game the "people" have acted like bots with pre generated answers that had nothing to do with what I was asking, was outright lying or had no clue what I was even talking about (i.e. most of them don't seem to know a thing about the game) I've reported numerous 6-boxing farmers, kill-stealers, rude players, etc during my 2 1/2 years in EQ2. Not once have I received anything but praise & a positive response from my actions in doing so. Ingame GMs have always been helpful, and petitions are answered quickly, usually with an automated response I admit, but always outlining the matter I've referred to them is being taken seriously.
The issue with spam wasn't meant to be just for EU servers, but you can't realy hide it since they constantly find ways to get around it, and occasionaly other non-spam messages get caught in the filter.
The ingame spam filter works fine, and you have the ability to report anyone that comes up with a way to get around the word recon so they're spamming is shortlived. I've moved my ingame spam to a tab that I don't look at, and anything that does get through I /report and /petition as soon as I can. This stops them doing it, especially if several people actually take the time to report & petition the same spam.
The review was more on SOE I guess than the game. Sure the game has it's issues but I still love it, but SOE makes it hard to keep loving it.
This outright hatred of SOE I constanly see in forums such as this does get a bit tiresome after a while. A few people have a bad experience with them, be it the SWG thing, a bad response from a GM or customer support, or a day where they witnessed more than one bug. Shit happens! I've played plenty of MMOs in my time, and have nothing but admiration and respect for the people who make these games work, be it EQ2, WoW, LOTRO, or whatever.
Your original post has just written off EQ2 and all SOE games with a few comments that are (at the end of the day) just your opinion, not the general opinion of every EQ2 player. Your trying to warn off other players from the EU servers with non-factual comments. We've had ONE GU patch a week later than the US servers from a total of 41 so far. We DO NOT experience a large amount of unannounced downtime. The GMs & customer support are as good as they can be at the present time. The spam filter works, and if it fails, you can help fix it!!!
Sorry if I sound angry at you, but I just find your comments to be complete fiction and conjecture. Yes its very true that the EU servers do not get the attention of the US servers, but not to the extent that you have outlined above.
Currently returned to Norrath after disliking Hyboria.
Arf
never play Vg on Halgar ! much worse !
canceled my account because of Halgar (PVE/Eu) and probably, coming back to EQ2
"This is EQ2 and has nothing to do with politics. I evem like DeLere since i have met him in New Tunaria :P
LOL, probably the US economy is a complete joke. The german, french and UK economy is not better though."
yes.
Only one problem partially due to the fires. I've got to say I've never noticed anything else. I'm just playing the game which SOE have done a good job of designing IMHO.
Kunark made me grumble a little because I'm not a quest monkey but overall it was fun and the zones were stunning.
Edit: if you do use currency as an indicator to the strength of the economy then the Uk economy is over twice as strong. Of course ... all economies are tied in the world economy so if one significatly under-performs as the US is now then all feel the pinch.
I dont know what happened to you, but your post is wrong.
Playing since 2.5 years on splitpaw. Server hardware is located in Amsterdam. There is no, i repeat, no difference to US based servers. CS is the same as on any server. Patches come the same day as in the USA. Maybe a few hours earlier or later due to time difference.
Eugam, you are not completely correct either :P
There are 2 socalled European servers, one is Splitpaw and one is Runnyeye. Splitpaw is located in Amsterdam as you say, but Runnyeye is located in the states.
Patches do NOT come the same day in Europe as they do in the states. They come the day after
The difference is not due to time differences, the Euro servers simply get the patches a tad later. I can dig up the times if you don't believe it.
Now that difference is not large I admit, but I know it annoys the european players that would like to get a shot at 'Worlds First' discoveries. But I can personally live with 1 day in difference.
I'm not as disgruntled as the OP, but the service is worse on the euro servers compared to the american servers. On the Server status page the euro servers are not present. So we have no where to see if the servers are up or not.
Often we are not told if our servers are scheduled for down-time. For a very long time (over a year) we had to community person for the two english speaking servers (Runnyeye and Splitpaw). The american community person (Grinwell or Gnobrin) thought those two servers were covered by the french or german person, but they only cover their own servers.
At a point one Grimwell (english speaking community rep) simply suggested that we should all just learn german or french to get our information. He later apologised though, because he thought we were playing on the german server, he wasn't aware that there were english speaking euro servers!
That of course explains the lack of service, but it is still a bad form.
It is also true that all contests to date has been for North Americans only. So it's not only europeans that lack the options to participate. Many other nationalities lack it too.
If someone was to start EQ2 today, I would advice them to start on an american server. The game is good, but the euro servers lack service compared to the american servers.
It is also true what a poster said, that we have a choice, we can just go to an american servers
But for those of us that have played since launch, it can be hard to leave friends and guildies, just saying.
Edit: Forgot to say that europeans can't 'use' the exchange servers either. We can probably play on them, but we can't sell or buy on them, that is only for the american crowd. Just another example on the differences.
there is no way to make players happy.
at launch eu servers got downtimes and patches at same time as us servers, eu players complained that that was during their playing times and wanted to get them in off times.
So SOE switched the downtimes to early morning eu times for the eu servers and now players complain that they get patches later....
I personally prefer the patch times early in the mornings eu times.
The other claims about the service are partially true, we didn't allways get warnings before servers were taken down for a downtime (not sure how it is atm, i have not run into a downtime for some time now). The not listing on network status page and probelms with community relations are a pain sometimes.
Not starting to count beans now.
You might be true with the patches, i never recognized it. Cant be that bad.
If i need CS i do a /petition into the ticket system of SoE US, there is no EU CS. Up to now i had rather fast responses, because on EU prime time the US servers are low populated. I have seen the complaints about SoE CS, but for me it was always good to excellent. And i am not blushing here..
We are able to play on the exchange. Pre fay the trial players always where put on the exchange. I still have my lvl8 warden there. I dont know if we are allowed to trade there. This is most probably not SOEs idea, but a problem with USA tax and export laws. Same most probably for anything where you can win something. Every county has its own laws about gambling and contests. In France you find betting shops everywhere, while in germany not. I might be wrong, but i think in germany a 8 yo boy cant even win a box of Lego because he is to young for any kind of business.
The only european issue i know of are the horrible translated german and french clients. Those really suck. But that has nothing to do with the servers.
The OP talked about extended downtimes. I cant remember any real unregular downtime within the last 2 years.