I know you aren't putting me down I'm just trying to figure out why we differ in opinion so much. Like I said, I WANT to really like the game, but it is missing ..something.
Perhaps the way the story is delivered in LOTRO and FFXI is the difference. In EQ2 and WAR I find that reading about the lore is not as fun or good as being in cutscenes and whatnot. Perhaps it is the lack of help from the community as well, when I play, since I am low level, it is very difficult to find parties and help for many group quests. Also, what is my goal in EQ2? besides leveling up? I'm actually asking, because I find setting goals in these games helps make them worthwhile and fun.
I'm not sure what it is about EQ2 that makes me want to play it one second and then the next second I'm like nah, maybe when I have an mmorpg glut I'll pick it up again. I don't know if its the annoying character model/movement or how insanely annoying buying ranks of spells is to upgrade their power. Or if it is something else altogether. I always liked the music and environments in EQ2 but for some reason my character always felt like a shadow in the world, not really a full part of it.....if that makes any kind of sense. I want to like this game, I really do, but so many things turn me off to it.
What? It is generally accepted that EQ2 has some of the best character models/animation in any mmo out. That is it's strongest point not it's enviroments. You might take a look at my sticky here on setting up graphics. You do know there is an animation setting and you need to max it? Character movement is fantastic. There is a huge difference in look of EQ2 between the high setting and lower ones. How is this character model annoying? It's movement is fantastic as well. I guess we are seeing different things.
They're just trying to find things to nitpick over. The haters always do that. The thing I don't understand is why they come to the EQ2 forums if all they're going to do is bash. I don't go to the wow forums just to bash the game. It makes no sense to me.
And you are better exactly how?
I've seen you dismiss valid concerns because you didn't experience that, i've seen you put down people for saying they were having frequent crashes and mind you back in the KoS days i've had mysterious crashes that only happened when i've been playing a certain amount of time and only in instanced dungeons.
You seem to get defensive really fast whenever someone is not having a rosetinted view on how the game is, sure the game have great graphics for it's age but as others have said i'm finding it hard to get a feel for it.
Anyhow, enjoy the game but don't be so quick to flame away at the people who don't like it, try a more positive persuaive method instead, might get you further.
Originally posted by eccoton What? It is generally accepted that EQ2 has some of the best character models/animation in any mmo out. That is it's strongest point not it's enviroments. You might take a look at my sticky here on setting up graphics. You do know there is an animation setting and you need to max it? Character movement is fantastic. There is a huge difference in look of EQ2 between the high setting and lower ones. How is this character model annoying? It's movement is fantastic as well. I guess we are seeing different things.
Actually I wouldn't say it is generally accepted that the models/animation are some of the best. Considering that so many people often site the animations, model and the feel of combat as being not right I would lean towards the oposite.
This is not to say the games graphics can't output beauty, but for people who tend to not stick around the game the graphics/animations are usually listed as one of the reasons for leaving.
If there is some sort of fix that can be achieved in the graphics settings it would be in the games best interest to put those as the default. While I think your screen shots look excellent, everytime I fire this game up from a fresh install it looks awkward. Keep in mind this is the first thing new players will be presented with. Maybe if they stumbled across your guide on how to tweak the graphics [which should be a sticky post, kudos to you], odds are most won't be able to find a great combination of settings to bring the game to life.
Looking at myself, I can think about several reasons why I avoid it. All the zoning. Its so much zoning so you almost are bored of the game even before you reach your destination. Every time I have resubed to this game, they have changed the game. I don´t mean added stuff or balanced some skill or rule, but really changed the game basics. First time i reactivated my account, I had to respec my character and some skills was gone and replaced with something else. Second time reactivating, a respec again. It is one thing to expand the game, to add new content, more options, but it is not ok to mess with peoples old characters imo. Its not fun to level up in this game. You grind, level up and find that you your new skills are recycled versions of old skills. I don´t know how many times my druid got the same heals and spells with improved stats to replace an outdated version with. Compared this to WoW or CoH, where you gain new skills all the way, who actually makes your character better and more fun to play. Here it is all the same over and over again. Combat could be more fun. I have never really noticed that you need different strategies for different enemies. Even in raids it was pretty much the same thing as normal group play, just with more players. I always found combat very static and slow. Nothing you did really made any big difference. It always felt like you just exchange mana into damage before you run out of life, and usually you could see early if you had enough mana to beat an enemy or not. Heroic mobs with way to much hit points takes away all sense of action, and it makes the average bad guy feels much more powerful and heroic than you, who are supposed to be the hero. EQ2 have a great community, but there is no gathering place for people to just hang around and chat. Compare to Ironforge in WoW, or Atlas park in CoH. People are just spread around the zones, and talking in guild or group chat most of the time, and this makes the game feels dead and quiet, even when much people are online. I believe they have made to much effort to split the community into smaller parts, with zones, instances, guilds, groups and by levels, that there is no sense of a world. It´s almost like they don´t want people to play together except for in small groups.
Ok, so here we have a prime example of a WoW fan boy. The feeling that I get when I read this is of a guy/girl who played WoW and loved it and is trying to compare this game to WoW. You just can't do that, granted alot of MMORPG's do have some of the same concepts... to a certain extent. Now I, for one have played WoW and EQ2.. and many ofhters for that matter. EQ2 has way more storyline and something rather amazing that WoW doesn't have, that being SEVERAL starting areas and zones to level up in. You don't have to go to your basic Barrens/Silverpine Forest and then on and on... when I say several different option. Now I am not bashing World of Warcraft, I play it myself and I can say it is an amazing game but you just can't compare these games!
As far as leveling up, that is part of the fun in this game as well as any other. The skills being recycled versions of old? Hah, I just hit 74 with my rogue and I have rank 11(i think) of ambush and rupture, just two examples haha. Poor excuses here to bash EQ2. The respecs for your character were necessary to improve the game and move forward. I wouldn't complain about this, it actually made you character better... Heroic mobs are the equivalent to Elite mobs and they are supposed to be harder than the norm. If I am not mistaken aren't you supposed to be the hero in WoW too?
If you want to hang out in this game go to one of the main cities like Freeport, Qeynos, Kelethin, Neriak, or Gorowyn.
I will admit when this game came out originally it was horrid but I fooled myself for 4 months sayinig that it was great, it wasn't. The game was released too early, simply stated right there. That is the reason the community will not come back, and it is a shame that they will never experience one of the better games out there in the market because of this bad taste left in their mouth.
Bottom line, this quote is from an uneducated and clearly biased World of Warcraft fan boy. Yes, I play World of Warcraft, it's fun as hell but I will never get rid of EverQuest 2, this game is way too good. I will admit though WoW has a way better pvp system... way better than EQ2. However when it comes to dungeon content and raids, I'm fairly certain this game is on par with WoW and hell... it may even have more.
Ok, taking a little break from expansion overload to check out forums and see this still has activity, which is good to see. I like that there are opposing arguments and views. After a couple months, I come back to see activity and interest, which is a good thing. So don't bash each other for bringing up points that may very well be completely valid to them, but maybe misunderstood. OR maybe they have a point, but are unable to validate through forums what they mean.
Here's an example:
LORE: I've seen this brought up before, and was very confused before. I mean, there is SO much lore and content, and stories, that I often find myself completely overloaded with lore in EQ2. I have stacks, upon stacks, upon stacks, etc., of books and lore and stories and collections that I'm STILL finding new books to put together in tier1-5 zones after 4 years and 80 levels. Whenever I'm in an old zone, I see a shiny, and think, cool, maybe I'll finish an old collection quest finally, and BAM, a NEW page to a book I haven't even disco'd yet and I'm like WTF?
I played LotRO and WoW and here's the significant difference I've found in quests and lore. Quests in those games, while I think the presentation is absolutely horrid, are very spectacular and over dramatized. They usually sound, in the literary sense, to me like a flamboyant commercial. I like the presentation better in EQ2 because it's presented as a conversation. Just a couple "dudes" talking, and having a conversation. While the other games put up this annoying conversation box (I hate that). But here's the real kicker, and I'll present it in example form so you'll understand.
EQ2 quest: Hey traveler, would you mind helping out an old man, and get me a sandwich? I really do like those deer sandwiches, and I'm just too old and feeble to run to town and get one. I must meditate and save my strength, but doing this small favor would be appreciated.
WoW quest: Hey traveler, I'm about to die of starvation, and I'm too feeble to get to town. If you would be kind enough to get me a deer sandwich, it would save my life. Please hurry, as my life hangs in the balance.
Now that particular quest in EQ2 is full of lore and interesting story, but if you could care less about the old man to even get him a sandwich, then you'll never advance to what the old man REALLY wants. WoW and LotRO give a feeling of ergency, and danger. While in EQ2 when you get the sandwich he says thanks and could you get something else, while in the other games, he's like omg, you saved my life, and perhaps the entire world. You've single handedly thwarted all the evil in the world by getting him the sandwich.
Character and animation: The animation in EQ2 is life like. In fact, it's too life like. There is also the problem of CA's and spells that "interrupt" animation. In EQ2, when you swing a sword, it is exactly as you would swing it in real life. If you watch fencing, or swordfighting, you'll notice they take quick jabs and short swings. The shield should always be held in front of you, and you crouch to eliminate the surface area of your body for stabs. If you've watched movies and anime you'll notice they like flamboyant swings and big arcs. You'll see jumps, and twirls that are completely unrealistic and that open themselves up to critical attacks and stabs that a good fencer would use to win. BUT that's what people like to see. They like flamboyant, unrealistic arcs and swings. Look at all the martial arts movies and the people in EQ2 that play brawlers. WHY? Because it's fun to watch.
Also, I've noticed that with WoW, not so much with LotRO (as the animations in LotRO imo are worse than EQ2, but I had more lag in that game), when you hit a CA or spell, they've made a "transition animation" that basically returns the character to a ready state and completes the animation. Very smart, and it happens so quickly that when you watch the fight at normal speed it looks complete and fluid. In EQ2, the character immediately stops his animation and completes the CA or spell which might, and usually is, completely different than the animation he/she was doing. So it looks jerky and stop action, and looses fluid movements. Plus the fact that WoW has 4 or 5 animations/CA's/spells that all link in some way. While EQ2 has 8 animations and up to 16-20 CA's and spells. In this case, more is not necessarily better.
I would have liked to see EQ2 keep the abundancy of actions, but use animations that were more similar and "linked" to a common ready state. Then the animations wouldn't be so jerky and could get back a lot of the fluid movements they should have. I do like, however, the more realistic, non-flamboyant, attacks though.
That's all for now, going back to game. Keep it civil, and GAME ON.
"Granted thinking for yourself could be considered a timesink of shorter or longer duration depending on how smart..or how dumb you are."
I'm not sure what it is about EQ2 that makes me want to play it one second and then the next second I'm like nah, maybe when I have an mmorpg glut I'll pick it up again. I don't know if its the annoying character model/movement or how insanely annoying buying ranks of spells is to upgrade their power. Or if it is something else altogether. I always liked the music and environments in EQ2 but for some reason my character always felt like a shadow in the world, not really a full part of it.....if that makes any kind of sense. I want to like this game, I really do, but so many things turn me off to it.
What? It is generally accepted that EQ2 has some of the best character models/animation in any mmo out. That is it's strongest point not it's enviroments. You might take a look at my sticky here on setting up graphics. You do know there is an animation setting and you need to max it? Character movement is fantastic. There is a huge difference in look of EQ2 between the high setting and lower ones. How is this character model annoying? It's movement is fantastic as well. I guess we are seeing different things.
Nice screenshot And perfect for explaining what I dont like about EQ2 characters. Graphics in EQ2 can look very sharp. It is also not the model that I dont like, but what they wear. I cant even tell what kind of fabric its supposed to be made of by looking at that screenshot.
I always craft (if a game has interesting crafting) and one of my incentives for crafting is how gear looks. I really dont like the over the top kind of crap like in WoW or Lineage, but prefer the more 'realistic' looking sets. To me Vanguard does this way better. Sober, but with nice decoration at higher tiers. A bit like 16th and 17th century outfits from nobels.
Outfits in EQ2 (but also the surroundings in the world) just show a lack of imagination. As if they didnt hire artists, but only 3d modellers.
The mount looks very nice btw and also seems to be from a later expansion then the gear your character is wearing. At launch EQ2 was even worse in terms of artstyle.
Do you know why there's no one in the Freeport cities? because there doesn't have to be any longer. People can just immediately zone to their guild and out bypassing the cities entirely. Most people don't bother going to the cities anymore.
Don't talk about what you don't understand.
Many players like to see a main or several main cities as social hubs. This can also be very important to new players. Personally, I never join a guild right away when I start a game. I always want to learn the game a bit first and get a sense of the community. Hopefully getting to know a few guilded ppl through some PUGs. Cities with players in it, helps with that
I'm not sure what it is about EQ2 that makes me want to play it one second and then the next second I'm like nah, maybe when I have an mmorpg glut I'll pick it up again. I don't know if its the annoying character model/movement or how insanely annoying buying ranks of spells is to upgrade their power. Or if it is something else altogether. I always liked the music and environments in EQ2 but for some reason my character always felt like a shadow in the world, not really a full part of it.....if that makes any kind of sense. I want to like this game, I really do, but so many things turn me off to it.
What? It is generally accepted that EQ2 has some of the best character models/animation in any mmo out. That is it's strongest point not it's enviroments. You might take a look at my sticky here on setting up graphics. You do know there is an animation setting and you need to max it? Character movement is fantastic. There is a huge difference in look of EQ2 between the high setting and lower ones. How is this character model annoying? It's movement is fantastic as well. I guess we are seeing different things.
Nice screenshot And perfect for explaining what I dont like about EQ2 characters. Graphics in EQ2 can look very sharp. It is also not the model that I dont like, but what they wear. I cant even tell what kind of fabric its supposed to be made of by looking at that screenshot.
I always craft (if a game has interesting crafting) and one of my incentives for crafting is how gear looks. I really dont like the over the top kind of crap like in WoW or Lineage, but prefer the more 'realistic' looking sets. To me Vanguard does this way better. Sober, but with nice decoration at higher tiers. A bit like 16th and 17th century outfits from nobels.
Outfits in EQ2 (but also the surroundings in the world) just show a lack of imagination. As if they didnt hire artists, but only 3d modellers.
The mount looks very nice btw and also seems to be from a later expansion then the gear your character is wearing. At launch EQ2 was even worse in terms of artstyle.
Nope the gear is new. Earned it in a recent world event. Also do you notice something about it? No gloves or shoulder pads. I also got the imperceptible armors. SOE added appearance armor so this added a lot of creativity in your characters look. I have not seen a single player dress like mine even with this very simple looking armor. This Black metallic, not fabric, armor is not common , simple but not common. I do not like the crazy flashy stuff ,to Cher for me. This was a choice I made not one SOE forced on me. That is the core of why I like EQ2 more choices then other mmos (accept pre-nge swg, and vanguard).
I'm not sure what it is about EQ2 that makes me want to play it one second and then the next second I'm like nah, maybe when I have an mmorpg glut I'll pick it up again. I don't know if its the annoying character model/movement or how insanely annoying buying ranks of spells is to upgrade their power. Or if it is something else altogether. I always liked the music and environments in EQ2 but for some reason my character always felt like a shadow in the world, not really a full part of it.....if that makes any kind of sense. I want to like this game, I really do, but so many things turn me off to it.
What? It is generally accepted that EQ2 has some of the best character models/animation in any mmo out. That is it's strongest point not it's enviroments. You might take a look at my sticky here on setting up graphics. You do know there is an animation setting and you need to max it? Character movement is fantastic. There is a huge difference in look of EQ2 between the high setting and lower ones. How is this character model annoying? It's movement is fantastic as well. I guess we are seeing different things.
Nice screenshot And perfect for explaining what I dont like about EQ2 characters. Graphics in EQ2 can look very sharp. It is also not the model that I dont like, but what they wear. I cant even tell what kind of fabric its supposed to be made of by looking at that screenshot.
I always craft (if a game has interesting crafting) and one of my incentives for crafting is how gear looks. I really dont like the over the top kind of crap like in WoW or Lineage, but prefer the more 'realistic' looking sets. To me Vanguard does this way better. Sober, but with nice decoration at higher tiers. A bit like 16th and 17th century outfits from nobels.
Outfits in EQ2 (but also the surroundings in the world) just show a lack of imagination. As if they didnt hire artists, but only 3d modellers.
The mount looks very nice btw and also seems to be from a later expansion then the gear your character is wearing. At launch EQ2 was even worse in terms of artstyle.
Nope the gear is new. Earned it in a recent world event. Also do you notice something about it? No gloves or shoulder pads. I also got the imperceptible armors. SOE added appearance armor so this added a lot of creativity in your characters look. I have not seen a single player dress like mine even with this very simple looking armor. This Black metallic, not fabric, armor is not common , simple but not common. I do not like the crazy flashy stuff ,to Cher for me. This was a choice I made not one SOE forced on me. That is the core of why I like EQ2 more choices then other mmos (accept pre-nge swg, and vanguard).
But it doesnt look metallic. More synthetic or oddly coloured leather to me. If you would put your character on a motorcycle it would look more convincing then now
Anyway, I only explained why I didnt like the character outfits. I never said anything about other features in EQ2 like for example the appearance tab which I really like.
The problem however is that my monk for example had the choice to wear generic looking medium armour or those..I forgot the names, the monk specific clothes that all have the same model, just different skin on them but still looked nice. So I ended up with changing gear for stats and keeping one of the first Ki's or whatever they were called for looks. Which gets boring fast.
Still the surroundings were worse then the outfits. To neatly divided into zoned tiers.
I'm not sure what it is about EQ2 that makes me want to play it one second and then the next second I'm like nah, maybe when I have an mmorpg glut I'll pick it up again. I don't know if its the annoying character model/movement or how insanely annoying buying ranks of spells is to upgrade their power. Or if it is something else altogether. I always liked the music and environments in EQ2 but for some reason my character always felt like a shadow in the world, not really a full part of it.....if that makes any kind of sense. I want to like this game, I really do, but so many things turn me off to it.
What? It is generally accepted that EQ2 has some of the best character models/animation in any mmo out. That is it's strongest point not it's enviroments. You might take a look at my sticky here on setting up graphics. You do know there is an animation setting and you need to max it? Character movement is fantastic. There is a huge difference in look of EQ2 between the high setting and lower ones. How is this character model annoying? It's movement is fantastic as well. I guess we are seeing different things.
They're just trying to find things to nitpick over. The haters always do that. The thing I don't understand is why they come to the EQ2 forums if all they're going to do is bash. I don't go to the wow forums just to bash the game. It makes no sense to me.
And you are better exactly how?
I've seen you dismiss valid concerns because you didn't experience that, i've seen you put down people for saying they were having frequent crashes and mind you back in the KoS days i've had mysterious crashes that only happened when i've been playing a certain amount of time and only in instanced dungeons.
You seem to get defensive really fast whenever someone is not having a rosetinted view on how the game is, sure the game have great graphics for it's age but as others have said i'm finding it hard to get a feel for it.
Anyhow, enjoy the game but don't be so quick to flame away at the people who don't like it, try a more positive persuaive method instead, might get you further.
Honey, at least I don't go on the forums of a game I don't like just to bash it. Unlike many people posting here.
one thing that wow has over many games, is that it runs well on just about any computer. EQII, well not so much. I love the game, but the engine is a real pig.
one thing that wow has over many games, is that it runs well on just about any computer. EQII, well not so much. I love the game, but the engine is a real pig.
And there lies the crux of the issue
WOW will more or less run on a calculator wereas EQ2 and its lik need at least a halfway decent pc to run them
Honey, at least I don't go on the forums of a game I don't like just to bash it. Unlike many people posting here.
The OP asks why EQ2 doesnt attract more players and as result a lot of players that didnt start/continue EQ2 explain why. That isnt bashing, that is just being modest in trying to help the OP to answer his question. Instead of acting like arrogant 'know-it-alls' they simply restrict themselves to explaining why they personally didnt like EQ2.
Maybe you prefer an answer to the OP's question along the lines of ' well most people are too stupid to realise how much fun EQ2 is!'.
I always liked EQ2, played with my wife for almost 4 years but after the Kunark expansion I just didn't want to play anymore. After seeing the game morph from what it was at the beginning, I didn't like the direction it was going (a dozen changes to the crafting system, zone revamps, mob recons, etc.). There might be a day when I pick it up again, but for right now I'm going to find something else to enjoy.
EQ2 is attracting the right people. I don't think it could be the great game it is if it was intended to attract everyone. Let the impatient winy people move on to WoW if they want to. The player-base has a thoughtful tendency, and game mechanics don't require fixing in my opinion.
EQ2 is attracting the right people. I don't think it could be the great game it is if it was intended to attract everyone. Let the impatient winy people move on to WoW if they want to. The player-base has a thoughtful tendency, and game mechanics don't require fixing in my opinion.
The constantly changing game design in EQ2 is the direct result of SOE trying to attract a different and larger segment of gamers.
In my opinion EQ2 is a great game with a lot of content,the game has at high levels very much focus on raids and I think that is the reason for the low playerbase.most people dont like raids,tho reading forums around internet raid lovers are overrepresentatet.Regular players quit when they find the only way to advance their character further is by raiding or doing pvp. This is my opininon and I hope we all will continue to love our games for a long time, yake care.
I played EQ2 at the start and left it, came back a couple of times to retry in and left every time. Why? What it boils down to is simply the fact that my wife and I weren't having fun. All the features, etc don't matter - what matters is the fun level. Here are the reasons EQ2 isn't fun:
1. Too many stupid innane quests - "Take this broom to my friend 2 zones away". Boring!
2. The "What the heck is this thing in my inventory?" issue. Wow has made it pretty easy to figure that out. EQ2 has all kinds of objects like "This might be useful to a guild of scouts" things which you can give to a particular person for faction.
3. "Where do I go next?" After having played Wow with the QuestHelper add-on, I don't think I could play any MMO that doesn't help you identify where to go (without a lot of reading)
4. Travel times are BORING!
5. Combat is very repetative. All fights seem to be the same. Despite different graphics, all the creatures are the same. The spells aren't interesting and don't require any tactical manuvering. My level 49 mage in wow has 15 spells ready to be cast at a moment's notice, and every single one of them is very important for at least one situation, and would cost me my life if I didn't have it. Also, as a wow mage, I can AOE fight. Even EQ1 had tactics (fear kiting, bard song twisting, charm fighting, root & rot, etc), although most of these were created despite the developers not because of them.
6. Long-term and Overall objectives are missing. The only long term objective I saw in EQ2 was gaining levels. At least EQ1 had faction grinding, LDON token collecting, or collecting tradeskill items (that was a major grind!). Other objectives that could be added are working with all the people on your server to unlock new content (new zones or bosses for instance).
7. Selling items is annoying. It could be worse (EQ1), but could have been better.
8. Lack of community feeling. Sure, there are a lot of great people on the server, but the only place you'll meet them is in groups. If your level 25ish right now there isn't anyone around to play with. I agree with the person who said that they need an Ironforge-like area where all players congregated. In EQ1 they had PoK.
Two bigs reasons, time and requirements. When the game came out, it launched right about when WoW did, and the requirements were a beast and still are to a point. At this point, the game is considered "old" and the lower level areas feel empty without a low level population, so while the mentor system and such helps, not many are going to want to spend so much time leveling through a barren world to play with everyone else left at the top end. This is a problem that many MMOs face in their later years and short of being a sandbox MMO ala UO without levels, I don't see how you can really escape the divide.
Actually, if devs put new "Starter towns" around the high level areas with each expansion that the high levels can use to restock and do their thing and the newbies can use to level around. Then they might have at least a chance at pulling people in given that while they might not be out with the rest of the population, at least there would be people around to make it feel less empty.
I played EQ2 at the start and left it, came back a couple of times to retry in and left every time. Why? What it boils down to is simply the fact that my wife and I weren't having fun. All the features, etc don't matter - what matters is the fun level. Here are the reasons EQ2 isn't fun: 1. Too many stupid innane quests - "Take this broom to my friend 2 zones away". Boring! 2. The "What the heck is this thing in my inventory?" issue. Wow has made it pretty easy to figure that out. EQ2 has all kinds of objects like "This might be useful to a guild of scouts" things which you can give to a particular person for faction. 3. "Where do I go next?" After having played Wow with the QuestHelper add-on, I don't think I could play any MMO that doesn't help you identify where to go (without a lot of reading) 4. Travel times are BORING! 5. Combat is very repetative. All fights seem to be the same. Despite different graphics, all the creatures are the same. The spells aren't interesting and don't require any tactical manuvering. My level 49 mage in wow has 15 spells ready to be cast at a moment's notice, and every single one of them is very important for at least one situation, and would cost me my life if I didn't have it. Also, as a wow mage, I can AOE fight. Even EQ1 had tactics (fear kiting, bard song twisting, charm fighting, root & rot, etc), although most of these were created despite the developers not because of them. 6. Long-term and Overall objectives are missing. The only long term objective I saw in EQ2 was gaining levels. At least EQ1 had faction grinding, LDON token collecting, or collecting tradeskill items (that was a major grind!). Other objectives that could be added are working with all the people on your server to unlock new content (new zones or bosses for instance). 7. Selling items is annoying. It could be worse (EQ1), but could have been better. 8. Lack of community feeling. Sure, there are a lot of great people on the server, but the only place you'll meet them is in groups. If your level 25ish right now there isn't anyone around to play with. I agree with the person who said that they need an Ironforge-like area where all players congregated. In EQ1 they had PoK.
This is my experience as well. Last month I reopened my subscription, all my characters are in their high 20s to low 40s and The whole month i couldnt find anyone wanting to group. If i did find someone out and about at my level they were usually 2 boxing with their level 70 blah blah. I should mention too that my character are on the Antonia Bayle and Lucan Dlere serers, supposedly the 2 highest pop servers. EQ2 has become just like EQ1 in regards to population you either have people stuck below 30 because they missed the rush to max level or you have those who rushed to max level and are now grinding raid contwent. Id love nothing more than to love&play EQ2. But I cant BYOG(bring your own group)
As a soon to be ex-long time player of EQ2 you cant deny the problem of not having enough new people to level with,its a problem thats not going away either with the TSO expansion becuase if you make an expansion that only caters to high end toons then new people just wont come or at least stay in the game.
I do fear SOE have begun the process of moving on from EQ2 and are turning thier thoughts to the 3 PS3 MMO's due soon (while keeping the next EQ game in the pan as well),so they've moved from big expansions like the last 2 back to the smaller "lets fleece the playerbase" models of the first 2 expansions.
I doubt that we'll ever see a big an expansion as say EoF or ROK again tbh,i'd go so far as to put money on it but that being said i hope i'm wrong,sadly though i dont think i will be.
I was listening to podcast and he brought up a good point; Why doesn't EQ2 have more players? With the tons of content and great community why do you think EQ2 can't retain its player base or add to it. It always seems to hover around the same amount of people. Now, new people join, but they seem to quit a month or so later. To me, it seems like EQ2 just can't really grow like WOW, or WAR. What do you think the problem is?
Having attempted to play EQ2 a few times, for several months, I can say that the main problem for me and EQ2 was the lack of intuitive play and the bad interface.
I felt like I was driving a school bus trying to work my way around the bloated and poorly designed interface. The combat was fairly boring, and the world not easy to navigate.
Interesting game, has some fun elements, but overall just didn't have enough appeal for someone brand new to the game to sit down and really get into.
While all of the above are correct - the one thing I believe was the main reason they lost their playerbase from start was the outright lack of Marketing. Europe alone saw 2 servers, and no games for sale in any stores. If you wanted EQ2 it had to be digitally bought. Meaning not even in a regular store selling games could a MMO player see EQ2 on the shelves.
I havent read all the post.. But I can say this is a absolute lie, at least in my case..
I live in that small country Denmark ( that small country above Germany and under Sweden/Norway)
I bought it... They even had a pre-order box which I also bought..
I dunno why it doesnt attract more people.. I, my self, am absolutely amazed everytime I log in!! I love the classes, the races and everything else about the game.. sadly I dont have the money to subscribe.. so its rare I log in (usually every 2-3 months, when I actually got the money..)
I love this game almost as much as I love SWG pre-Cu/NGE.
its all a matter of taste I supposse.. but I can agree with some of the poster saying grouping aint much different with solo and raiding.. all it is, is more people together at once, hoping to take down that one mob, which is harder then a solo mob.
Overall its a great game IMO.. but yes It got SOE which a lot of people hate! and I can understand that..
But even though, they should forget their hate for a sec and try a game for what it really is..
I did and it worked out for me.. Im not saying people should forget about the "SOE Disaster" but SOE wasnt the only ones in the game, Lucas Arts was as well..
I play SOE games with its "Disaster" in the back of my mind always, but it doesnt ruin my game if its a good game, despise who controls/runs it..
Give it a try.. If you like it! AWESOME! if you dont, then meh.. move on to the next one..
Only you can tell what you like.. no matter what the others say..
And actually that goes out to all players!!
Dont get biased about what someone else tell you about a game..
try it, then make your own decisions, and then decide if its good or bad, if you like it or not..
Well try buying the EQ2 box in the UK,my local gamestation and GAME stores both said it'd be in yesterday (just doing a bit of reaserch really) and hey presto NONE IN STOCK!! it didnt even come into the stores and thats not an outright lie.
I was listening to podcast and he brought up a good point; Why doesn't EQ2 have more players? With the tons of content and great community why do you think EQ2 can't retain its player base or add to it. It always seems to hover around the same amount of people. Now, new people join, but they seem to quit a month or so later. To me, it seems like EQ2 just can't really grow like WOW, or WAR. What do you think the problem is?
The game isn't really atl that great? Very limited appearance options in terms of armor/clothing. EQII is the one robe model wonder. Animations are clunky. The art in the game looks nothing like the art of the box. While technically the graphics are good, there is something about the artwork of creating a breathing, living world that is missing. It feels very confining and not 'open'. The whole everything is an island approach and 'forced' paths i.e. nektulous forest just felt very limiting. (Rember the Original EQ Nektulous? SO MUCH BETTER! It had much more character too, everything went crazy at night). Only two major cities makes you feel like your doing the same thing over and over again and is confining. The adoption of instances only makes it feel more 'closed in'. I didn't think the music was all that great. Too many kill xxx number of this mob or that mob. There also wasn't anything really 'new' or original/inventive/creative with the features of the game. It was just all the same stuff we'lve all done before. More or less the same of the same. The game also was definitely dumbed down since EQ1 to a WoW level. If I want WoW, I'll play WoW. This should have been different. The pvp isn't compelling either, just meaningless skirmishes that have no bearing on anything.
Comments
I know you aren't putting me down I'm just trying to figure out why we differ in opinion so much. Like I said, I WANT to really like the game, but it is missing ..something.
Perhaps the way the story is delivered in LOTRO and FFXI is the difference. In EQ2 and WAR I find that reading about the lore is not as fun or good as being in cutscenes and whatnot. Perhaps it is the lack of help from the community as well, when I play, since I am low level, it is very difficult to find parties and help for many group quests. Also, what is my goal in EQ2? besides leveling up? I'm actually asking, because I find setting goals in these games helps make them worthwhile and fun.
What? It is generally accepted that EQ2 has some of the best character models/animation in any mmo out. That is it's strongest point not it's enviroments. You might take a look at my sticky here on setting up graphics. You do know there is an animation setting and you need to max it? Character movement is fantastic. There is a huge difference in look of EQ2 between the high setting and lower ones. How is this character model annoying? It's movement is fantastic as well. I guess we are seeing different things.
They're just trying to find things to nitpick over. The haters always do that. The thing I don't understand is why they come to the EQ2 forums if all they're going to do is bash. I don't go to the wow forums just to bash the game. It makes no sense to me.
And you are better exactly how?
I've seen you dismiss valid concerns because you didn't experience that, i've seen you put down people for saying they were having frequent crashes and mind you back in the KoS days i've had mysterious crashes that only happened when i've been playing a certain amount of time and only in instanced dungeons.
You seem to get defensive really fast whenever someone is not having a rosetinted view on how the game is, sure the game have great graphics for it's age but as others have said i'm finding it hard to get a feel for it.
Anyhow, enjoy the game but don't be so quick to flame away at the people who don't like it, try a more positive persuaive method instead, might get you further.
Actually I wouldn't say it is generally accepted that the models/animation are some of the best. Considering that so many people often site the animations, model and the feel of combat as being not right I would lean towards the oposite.
This is not to say the games graphics can't output beauty, but for people who tend to not stick around the game the graphics/animations are usually listed as one of the reasons for leaving.
If there is some sort of fix that can be achieved in the graphics settings it would be in the games best interest to put those as the default. While I think your screen shots look excellent, everytime I fire this game up from a fresh install it looks awkward. Keep in mind this is the first thing new players will be presented with. Maybe if they stumbled across your guide on how to tweak the graphics [which should be a sticky post, kudos to you], odds are most won't be able to find a great combination of settings to bring the game to life.
Ok, so here we have a prime example of a WoW fan boy. The feeling that I get when I read this is of a guy/girl who played WoW and loved it and is trying to compare this game to WoW. You just can't do that, granted alot of MMORPG's do have some of the same concepts... to a certain extent. Now I, for one have played WoW and EQ2.. and many ofhters for that matter. EQ2 has way more storyline and something rather amazing that WoW doesn't have, that being SEVERAL starting areas and zones to level up in. You don't have to go to your basic Barrens/Silverpine Forest and then on and on... when I say several different option. Now I am not bashing World of Warcraft, I play it myself and I can say it is an amazing game but you just can't compare these games!
As far as leveling up, that is part of the fun in this game as well as any other. The skills being recycled versions of old? Hah, I just hit 74 with my rogue and I have rank 11(i think) of ambush and rupture, just two examples haha. Poor excuses here to bash EQ2. The respecs for your character were necessary to improve the game and move forward. I wouldn't complain about this, it actually made you character better... Heroic mobs are the equivalent to Elite mobs and they are supposed to be harder than the norm. If I am not mistaken aren't you supposed to be the hero in WoW too?
If you want to hang out in this game go to one of the main cities like Freeport, Qeynos, Kelethin, Neriak, or Gorowyn.
I will admit when this game came out originally it was horrid but I fooled myself for 4 months sayinig that it was great, it wasn't. The game was released too early, simply stated right there. That is the reason the community will not come back, and it is a shame that they will never experience one of the better games out there in the market because of this bad taste left in their mouth.
Bottom line, this quote is from an uneducated and clearly biased World of Warcraft fan boy. Yes, I play World of Warcraft, it's fun as hell but I will never get rid of EverQuest 2, this game is way too good. I will admit though WoW has a way better pvp system... way better than EQ2. However when it comes to dungeon content and raids, I'm fairly certain this game is on par with WoW and hell... it may even have more.
Thank you
Ok, taking a little break from expansion overload to check out forums and see this still has activity, which is good to see. I like that there are opposing arguments and views. After a couple months, I come back to see activity and interest, which is a good thing. So don't bash each other for bringing up points that may very well be completely valid to them, but maybe misunderstood. OR maybe they have a point, but are unable to validate through forums what they mean.
Here's an example:
LORE: I've seen this brought up before, and was very confused before. I mean, there is SO much lore and content, and stories, that I often find myself completely overloaded with lore in EQ2. I have stacks, upon stacks, upon stacks, etc., of books and lore and stories and collections that I'm STILL finding new books to put together in tier1-5 zones after 4 years and 80 levels. Whenever I'm in an old zone, I see a shiny, and think, cool, maybe I'll finish an old collection quest finally, and BAM, a NEW page to a book I haven't even disco'd yet and I'm like WTF?
I played LotRO and WoW and here's the significant difference I've found in quests and lore. Quests in those games, while I think the presentation is absolutely horrid, are very spectacular and over dramatized. They usually sound, in the literary sense, to me like a flamboyant commercial. I like the presentation better in EQ2 because it's presented as a conversation. Just a couple "dudes" talking, and having a conversation. While the other games put up this annoying conversation box (I hate that). But here's the real kicker, and I'll present it in example form so you'll understand.
EQ2 quest: Hey traveler, would you mind helping out an old man, and get me a sandwich? I really do like those deer sandwiches, and I'm just too old and feeble to run to town and get one. I must meditate and save my strength, but doing this small favor would be appreciated.
WoW quest: Hey traveler, I'm about to die of starvation, and I'm too feeble to get to town. If you would be kind enough to get me a deer sandwich, it would save my life. Please hurry, as my life hangs in the balance.
Now that particular quest in EQ2 is full of lore and interesting story, but if you could care less about the old man to even get him a sandwich, then you'll never advance to what the old man REALLY wants. WoW and LotRO give a feeling of ergency, and danger. While in EQ2 when you get the sandwich he says thanks and could you get something else, while in the other games, he's like omg, you saved my life, and perhaps the entire world. You've single handedly thwarted all the evil in the world by getting him the sandwich.
Character and animation: The animation in EQ2 is life like. In fact, it's too life like. There is also the problem of CA's and spells that "interrupt" animation. In EQ2, when you swing a sword, it is exactly as you would swing it in real life. If you watch fencing, or swordfighting, you'll notice they take quick jabs and short swings. The shield should always be held in front of you, and you crouch to eliminate the surface area of your body for stabs. If you've watched movies and anime you'll notice they like flamboyant swings and big arcs. You'll see jumps, and twirls that are completely unrealistic and that open themselves up to critical attacks and stabs that a good fencer would use to win. BUT that's what people like to see. They like flamboyant, unrealistic arcs and swings. Look at all the martial arts movies and the people in EQ2 that play brawlers. WHY? Because it's fun to watch.
Also, I've noticed that with WoW, not so much with LotRO (as the animations in LotRO imo are worse than EQ2, but I had more lag in that game), when you hit a CA or spell, they've made a "transition animation" that basically returns the character to a ready state and completes the animation. Very smart, and it happens so quickly that when you watch the fight at normal speed it looks complete and fluid. In EQ2, the character immediately stops his animation and completes the CA or spell which might, and usually is, completely different than the animation he/she was doing. So it looks jerky and stop action, and looses fluid movements. Plus the fact that WoW has 4 or 5 animations/CA's/spells that all link in some way. While EQ2 has 8 animations and up to 16-20 CA's and spells. In this case, more is not necessarily better.
I would have liked to see EQ2 keep the abundancy of actions, but use animations that were more similar and "linked" to a common ready state. Then the animations wouldn't be so jerky and could get back a lot of the fluid movements they should have. I do like, however, the more realistic, non-flamboyant, attacks though.
That's all for now, going back to game. Keep it civil, and GAME ON.
"Granted thinking for yourself could be considered a timesink of shorter or longer duration depending on how smart..or how dumb you are."
What? It is generally accepted that EQ2 has some of the best character models/animation in any mmo out. That is it's strongest point not it's enviroments. You might take a look at my sticky here on setting up graphics. You do know there is an animation setting and you need to max it? Character movement is fantastic. There is a huge difference in look of EQ2 between the high setting and lower ones. How is this character model annoying? It's movement is fantastic as well. I guess we are seeing different things.
Nice screenshot
And perfect for explaining what I dont like about EQ2 characters. Graphics in EQ2 can look very sharp. It is also not the model that I dont like, but what they wear. I cant even tell what kind of fabric its supposed to be made of by looking at that screenshot.
I always craft (if a game has interesting crafting) and one of my incentives for crafting is how gear looks. I really dont like the over the top kind of crap like in WoW or Lineage, but prefer the more 'realistic' looking sets. To me Vanguard does this way better. Sober, but with nice decoration at higher tiers. A bit like 16th and 17th century outfits from nobels.
Outfits in EQ2 (but also the surroundings in the world) just show a lack of imagination. As if they didnt hire artists, but only 3d modellers.
The mount looks very nice btw and also seems to be from a later expansion then the gear your character is wearing. At launch EQ2 was even worse in terms of artstyle.
Many players like to see a main or several main cities as social hubs. This can also be very important to new players. Personally, I never join a guild right away when I start a game. I always want to learn the game a bit first and get a sense of the community. Hopefully getting to know a few guilded ppl through some PUGs. Cities with players in it, helps with that
What? It is generally accepted that EQ2 has some of the best character models/animation in any mmo out. That is it's strongest point not it's enviroments. You might take a look at my sticky here on setting up graphics. You do know there is an animation setting and you need to max it? Character movement is fantastic. There is a huge difference in look of EQ2 between the high setting and lower ones. How is this character model annoying? It's movement is fantastic as well. I guess we are seeing different things.
Nice screenshot
And perfect for explaining what I dont like about EQ2 characters. Graphics in EQ2 can look very sharp. It is also not the model that I dont like, but what they wear. I cant even tell what kind of fabric its supposed to be made of by looking at that screenshot.
I always craft (if a game has interesting crafting) and one of my incentives for crafting is how gear looks. I really dont like the over the top kind of crap like in WoW or Lineage, but prefer the more 'realistic' looking sets. To me Vanguard does this way better. Sober, but with nice decoration at higher tiers. A bit like 16th and 17th century outfits from nobels.
Outfits in EQ2 (but also the surroundings in the world) just show a lack of imagination. As if they didnt hire artists, but only 3d modellers.
The mount looks very nice btw and also seems to be from a later expansion then the gear your character is wearing. At launch EQ2 was even worse in terms of artstyle.
Nope the gear is new. Earned it in a recent world event. Also do you notice something about it? No gloves or shoulder pads. I also got the imperceptible armors. SOE added appearance armor so this added a lot of creativity in your characters look. I have not seen a single player dress like mine even with this very simple looking armor. This Black metallic, not fabric, armor is not common , simple but not common. I do not like the crazy flashy stuff ,to Cher for me. This was a choice I made not one SOE forced on me. That is the core of why I like EQ2 more choices then other mmos (accept pre-nge swg, and vanguard).
What? It is generally accepted that EQ2 has some of the best character models/animation in any mmo out. That is it's strongest point not it's enviroments. You might take a look at my sticky here on setting up graphics. You do know there is an animation setting and you need to max it? Character movement is fantastic. There is a huge difference in look of EQ2 between the high setting and lower ones. How is this character model annoying? It's movement is fantastic as well. I guess we are seeing different things.
Nice screenshot
And perfect for explaining what I dont like about EQ2 characters. Graphics in EQ2 can look very sharp. It is also not the model that I dont like, but what they wear. I cant even tell what kind of fabric its supposed to be made of by looking at that screenshot.
I always craft (if a game has interesting crafting) and one of my incentives for crafting is how gear looks. I really dont like the over the top kind of crap like in WoW or Lineage, but prefer the more 'realistic' looking sets. To me Vanguard does this way better. Sober, but with nice decoration at higher tiers. A bit like 16th and 17th century outfits from nobels.
Outfits in EQ2 (but also the surroundings in the world) just show a lack of imagination. As if they didnt hire artists, but only 3d modellers.
The mount looks very nice btw and also seems to be from a later expansion then the gear your character is wearing. At launch EQ2 was even worse in terms of artstyle.
Nope the gear is new. Earned it in a recent world event. Also do you notice something about it? No gloves or shoulder pads. I also got the imperceptible armors. SOE added appearance armor so this added a lot of creativity in your characters look. I have not seen a single player dress like mine even with this very simple looking armor. This Black metallic, not fabric, armor is not common , simple but not common. I do not like the crazy flashy stuff ,to Cher for me. This was a choice I made not one SOE forced on me. That is the core of why I like EQ2 more choices then other mmos (accept pre-nge swg, and vanguard).
But it doesnt look metallic. More synthetic or oddly coloured leather to me. If you would put your character on a motorcycle it would look more convincing then now
Anyway, I only explained why I didnt like the character outfits. I never said anything about other features in EQ2 like for example the appearance tab which I really like.
The problem however is that my monk for example had the choice to wear generic looking medium armour or those..I forgot the names, the monk specific clothes that all have the same model, just different skin on them but still looked nice. So I ended up with changing gear for stats and keeping one of the first Ki's or whatever they were called for looks. Which gets boring fast.
Still the surroundings were worse then the outfits. To neatly divided into zoned tiers.
What? It is generally accepted that EQ2 has some of the best character models/animation in any mmo out. That is it's strongest point not it's enviroments. You might take a look at my sticky here on setting up graphics. You do know there is an animation setting and you need to max it? Character movement is fantastic. There is a huge difference in look of EQ2 between the high setting and lower ones. How is this character model annoying? It's movement is fantastic as well. I guess we are seeing different things.
They're just trying to find things to nitpick over. The haters always do that. The thing I don't understand is why they come to the EQ2 forums if all they're going to do is bash. I don't go to the wow forums just to bash the game. It makes no sense to me.
And you are better exactly how?
I've seen you dismiss valid concerns because you didn't experience that, i've seen you put down people for saying they were having frequent crashes and mind you back in the KoS days i've had mysterious crashes that only happened when i've been playing a certain amount of time and only in instanced dungeons.
You seem to get defensive really fast whenever someone is not having a rosetinted view on how the game is, sure the game have great graphics for it's age but as others have said i'm finding it hard to get a feel for it.
Anyhow, enjoy the game but don't be so quick to flame away at the people who don't like it, try a more positive persuaive method instead, might get you further.
Honey, at least I don't go on the forums of a game I don't like just to bash it. Unlike many people posting here.
one thing that wow has over many games, is that it runs well on just about any computer. EQII, well not so much. I love the game, but the engine is a real pig.
And there lies the crux of the issue
WOW will more or less run on a calculator wereas EQ2 and its lik need at least a halfway decent pc to run them
The OP asks why EQ2 doesnt attract more players and as result a lot of players that didnt start/continue EQ2 explain why. That isnt bashing, that is just being modest in trying to help the OP to answer his question. Instead of acting like arrogant 'know-it-alls' they simply restrict themselves to explaining why they personally didnt like EQ2.
Maybe you prefer an answer to the OP's question along the lines of ' well most people are too stupid to realise how much fun EQ2 is!'.
I always liked EQ2, played with my wife for almost 4 years but after the Kunark expansion I just didn't want to play anymore. After seeing the game morph from what it was at the beginning, I didn't like the direction it was going (a dozen changes to the crafting system, zone revamps, mob recons, etc.). There might be a day when I pick it up again, but for right now I'm going to find something else to enjoy.
EQ2 is attracting the right people. I don't think it could be the great game it is if it was intended to attract everyone. Let the impatient winy people move on to WoW if they want to. The player-base has a thoughtful tendency, and game mechanics don't require fixing in my opinion.
The constantly changing game design in EQ2 is the direct result of SOE trying to attract a different and larger segment of gamers.
An ansvere to the original post.
In my opinion EQ2 is a great game with a lot of content,the game has at high levels very much focus on raids and I think that is the reason for the low playerbase.most people dont like raids,tho reading forums around internet raid lovers are overrepresentatet.Regular players quit when they find the only way to advance their character further is by raiding or doing pvp. This is my opininon and I hope we all will continue to love our games for a long time, yake care.
I played EQ2 at the start and left it, came back a couple of times to retry in and left every time. Why? What it boils down to is simply the fact that my wife and I weren't having fun. All the features, etc don't matter - what matters is the fun level. Here are the reasons EQ2 isn't fun:
1. Too many stupid innane quests - "Take this broom to my friend 2 zones away". Boring!
2. The "What the heck is this thing in my inventory?" issue. Wow has made it pretty easy to figure that out. EQ2 has all kinds of objects like "This might be useful to a guild of scouts" things which you can give to a particular person for faction.
3. "Where do I go next?" After having played Wow with the QuestHelper add-on, I don't think I could play any MMO that doesn't help you identify where to go (without a lot of reading)
4. Travel times are BORING!
5. Combat is very repetative. All fights seem to be the same. Despite different graphics, all the creatures are the same. The spells aren't interesting and don't require any tactical manuvering. My level 49 mage in wow has 15 spells ready to be cast at a moment's notice, and every single one of them is very important for at least one situation, and would cost me my life if I didn't have it. Also, as a wow mage, I can AOE fight. Even EQ1 had tactics (fear kiting, bard song twisting, charm fighting, root & rot, etc), although most of these were created despite the developers not because of them.
6. Long-term and Overall objectives are missing. The only long term objective I saw in EQ2 was gaining levels. At least EQ1 had faction grinding, LDON token collecting, or collecting tradeskill items (that was a major grind!). Other objectives that could be added are working with all the people on your server to unlock new content (new zones or bosses for instance).
7. Selling items is annoying. It could be worse (EQ1), but could have been better.
8. Lack of community feeling. Sure, there are a lot of great people on the server, but the only place you'll meet them is in groups. If your level 25ish right now there isn't anyone around to play with. I agree with the person who said that they need an Ironforge-like area where all players congregated. In EQ1 they had PoK.
Two bigs reasons, time and requirements. When the game came out, it launched right about when WoW did, and the requirements were a beast and still are to a point. At this point, the game is considered "old" and the lower level areas feel empty without a low level population, so while the mentor system and such helps, not many are going to want to spend so much time leveling through a barren world to play with everyone else left at the top end. This is a problem that many MMOs face in their later years and short of being a sandbox MMO ala UO without levels, I don't see how you can really escape the divide.
Actually, if devs put new "Starter towns" around the high level areas with each expansion that the high levels can use to restock and do their thing and the newbies can use to level around. Then they might have at least a chance at pulling people in given that while they might not be out with the rest of the population, at least there would be people around to make it feel less empty.
Bans a perma, but so are sigs in necro posts.
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This is my experience as well. Last month I reopened my subscription, all my characters are in their high 20s to low 40s and The whole month i couldnt find anyone wanting to group. If i did find someone out and about at my level they were usually 2 boxing with their level 70 blah blah. I should mention too that my character are on the Antonia Bayle and Lucan Dlere serers, supposedly the 2 highest pop servers. EQ2 has become just like EQ1 in regards to population you either have people stuck below 30 because they missed the rush to max level or you have those who rushed to max level and are now grinding raid contwent. Id love nothing more than to love&play EQ2. But I cant BYOG(bring your own group)
As a soon to be ex-long time player of EQ2 you cant deny the problem of not having enough new people to level with,its a problem thats not going away either with the TSO expansion becuase if you make an expansion that only caters to high end toons then new people just wont come or at least stay in the game.
I do fear SOE have begun the process of moving on from EQ2 and are turning thier thoughts to the 3 PS3 MMO's due soon (while keeping the next EQ game in the pan as well),so they've moved from big expansions like the last 2 back to the smaller "lets fleece the playerbase" models of the first 2 expansions.
I doubt that we'll ever see a big an expansion as say EoF or ROK again tbh,i'd go so far as to put money on it but that being said i hope i'm wrong,sadly though i dont think i will be.
Having attempted to play EQ2 a few times, for several months, I can say that the main problem for me and EQ2 was the lack of intuitive play and the bad interface.
I felt like I was driving a school bus trying to work my way around the bloated and poorly designed interface. The combat was fairly boring, and the world not easy to navigate.
Interesting game, has some fun elements, but overall just didn't have enough appeal for someone brand new to the game to sit down and really get into.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
I havent read all the post.. But I can say this is a absolute lie, at least in my case..
I live in that small country Denmark ( that small country above Germany and under Sweden/Norway)
I bought it... They even had a pre-order box which I also bought..
I dunno why it doesnt attract more people.. I, my self, am absolutely amazed everytime I log in!! I love the classes, the races and everything else about the game.. sadly I dont have the money to subscribe.. so its rare I log in (usually every 2-3 months, when I actually got the money..)
I love this game almost as much as I love SWG pre-Cu/NGE.
its all a matter of taste I supposse.. but I can agree with some of the poster saying grouping aint much different with solo and raiding.. all it is, is more people together at once, hoping to take down that one mob, which is harder then a solo mob.
Overall its a great game IMO.. but yes It got SOE which a lot of people hate! and I can understand that..
But even though, they should forget their hate for a sec and try a game for what it really is..
I did and it worked out for me.. Im not saying people should forget about the "SOE Disaster" but SOE wasnt the only ones in the game, Lucas Arts was as well..
I play SOE games with its "Disaster" in the back of my mind always, but it doesnt ruin my game if its a good game, despise who controls/runs it..
Give it a try.. If you like it! AWESOME! if you dont, then meh.. move on to the next one..
Only you can tell what you like.. no matter what the others say..
And actually that goes out to all players!!
Dont get biased about what someone else tell you about a game..
try it, then make your own decisions, and then decide if its good or bad, if you like it or not..
Well try buying the EQ2 box in the UK,my local gamestation and GAME stores both said it'd be in yesterday (just doing a bit of reaserch really) and hey presto NONE IN STOCK!! it didnt even come into the stores and thats not an outright lie.
The game isn't really atl that great? Very limited appearance options in terms of armor/clothing. EQII is the one robe model wonder. Animations are clunky. The art in the game looks nothing like the art of the box. While technically the graphics are good, there is something about the artwork of creating a breathing, living world that is missing. It feels very confining and not 'open'. The whole everything is an island approach and 'forced' paths i.e. nektulous forest just felt very limiting. (Rember the Original EQ Nektulous? SO MUCH BETTER! It had much more character too, everything went crazy at night). Only two major cities makes you feel like your doing the same thing over and over again and is confining. The adoption of instances only makes it feel more 'closed in'. I didn't think the music was all that great. Too many kill xxx number of this mob or that mob. There also wasn't anything really 'new' or original/inventive/creative with the features of the game. It was just all the same stuff we'lve all done before. More or less the same of the same. The game also was definitely dumbed down since EQ1 to a WoW level. If I want WoW, I'll play WoW. This should have been different. The pvp isn't compelling either, just meaningless skirmishes that have no bearing on anything.