Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
1st impressions of EQ2.
Puoltry
Member Posts: 956
Ok earlier in the day i was asking people to convince me to buy this game.So i was at target shopping and saw the thing on the shelf.$40.00 later and i bring it home.
I had no problem installing it went real smooth.I setup the account etc etc.Now let me tell you about my system.
Its not quite 2 years old:
A nice fast Intel motherboard.
P4 2.4 Ghz (hyper threading enabled)
On board sound
1 gig of memory.
Ati all in wonder 9700 pro.
Dvd drive and a cd recorder.
Ok now ive got that out of the way.So i log in to character creation and start creating.Well 1st thing i notice is most everything looks fuzzy.Very few sharp lines.So i shrug and think well i ll get through the tutorial and make some adjustments.
The tutorial is well done.For new players this is a charmer for sure.it introduces you to basic mechanics and lets you hear the characters talking.(ive always felt we should be able to give our characters in games voices of our choosing)So you go up couple of levels and you land at noobie island.
From here you speak to the npc that lets you decide your "profession"he gives you a quest to do etc etc.Ok so i decide to make some adjustments.I turn everything down to its lowest setting.So im messing around with the adjustments.
No matter what i do the game runs in a very very choppy manner.Im getting low framerates.I did manage to get a bit of clarity out of it.But i sacrifice even more smoothness and fluidity of my characters movements.As a matter of fact i turned off all flora and the background was just bland.When other players/npc would come on screen i would get even lower framerates.Now as you can see my system isnt a top of the line "alienware"by any means but it does a pretty damn good job on most everything i play or do on it.
Ive played a lot of games and mmo's on my system and they all run pretty good.Now im thinking at this point if its this choppy on noob island what would a city inEQ2 do?Well ill admit i didnt get to a big city yet
but i did spend 2 to 3 hours getting to know the mechanics and i created 2 characters.
To me its unplayable when i compare it to other games ive played.It doesnt run as smooth as i want it to.The bottom line here is im not going to buy a $600.00 video card to play EQ2.Im sure it would look great if i did.
Im not going to say it is a bad game.It clearly has a ton of content.If your doing quests on noob island instead of just killing to level up then SOE did a good job.Its just that i when i was playing it it all seemed so .....linear.It was like i was having my hand held the whole time.The waypoints and the lighted paths showing you exactly where to go.
The screenshots on this website to me looked nothing like the game.Im not sure if SOE created a game that was ahead of my system but i dont think it should have looked as bad as it did.
In other mmo's you can choose wich skills to improve upon right?Well from what i can gather its not this way in EQ2 you receive a preset order of skills as you advance.The skills themselves improve as you advance as well.Just for example in AO when you level up you get improvement points that YOU decide wich skill to put them into.Not so here the player just gets a new skill with the others improving.
Now look i dont want to get flamed im trying my best not to be biased here.I can see how some players are going to love EQ2.But to me its like CoH perfect for players new to this genre of gaming.Its as if its been dumbed down from the original eq.The lure of the original was the challenges and the even harder solo aspect of it.Corpse recovery alone was difficult enough to keep noobs away from the game itself.
No loss of levels,no xp loss and not losing items upon death?Folks i hate to say it but it doesnt even sound like a online mmo to me.Death in a mmo should be a dreaded thing especially at higher levels.I dont know maybe its just me but i desire more of a challenge than what EQ2 offers.I want to be able to tweak out the skills that I like and have complete control over my character.
I kind of get the feeling that SOE put a lot of cash into marketing this game.The voiceovers and actors they hired for it.The graphics that are supposed to be the best out there.The movietheaters showing the making of EQ2.SOE puts a lot of cash into marketing the product i think they should be putting that into the GAME itself.
I gotta say that after all the develpoment that went into this game im a bit dissapointed.No wonder there was no open beta (that i know of).I expected a lot more than what i experienced.It just wasnt good enough to keep me hooked on it.
Ill be returning EQ2 to Target tomorrow.
Want to ENJOY an mmo?
Dont start a guild and dont be a leader or volunteer to be coleader or captain.
Just play the damn game:)
Comments
Personally I play EverQuest II on a P4 3GHZ ( Hyper Threading ), a Radeon 9800 Card, and 1GB ram. And I actually play the game smoothly on high details, with flora, and even cloth movements. The one thing I did however completely turn off was the shadows.
There is an XP loss at death. There even is a temporary stat loss ( if you don't recover your spirit shard ) which lasts for 72 hours if I recall correctly. And trust me, death can be a complete and utter pain in the ass in EQ2, especially if you die in the middle of an instance, as I did today in Wailing Cavers. Also, if a member of your team drops, you get to share his XP debt. So, whilst not as severe as in EQ, death is nothing to laugh at in EQ2.At first I actually thought EQ2 was really really newbie friendly. I was handheld through everything, and everything went so smoothly. Now however, I'm starting to taste some of the real challenges of this game. It's by no means an easy game, or a casual friendly game, if you ask me. In order to be somewhat successful later on in EQ2, especially in instances, you will need a well coordinated group of skilled players.
My first impression of EQ2...It was EQ1 with a bottle of Champagne.
And beer is much better!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"The greatest trick the devil played on humanity in the 20th century was convincing them that he didnt exist." (Paraphrasing) C.S. Lewis
"If a mother can kill her own child, what is left before I kill you and you kill me?" -Mother Teresa when talking about abortion after accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979
"The greatest trick the devil played on humanity in the 20th century was convincing them that he didn't exist." (Paraphrasing) C.S. Lewis
"If a mother can kill her own child, what is left before I kill you and you kill me?" -Mother Teresa when talking about abortion after accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979
My dear man, to say you are a liar would be a gross understatement. Only you can possibly explain the reasons for this bizarre post ... which should be entirely disregarded by anyone with any interest in facts.
No experience loss on death? Yeah, uh huh, you played EQ2.
Was that "CD recorder" on your computer relevant to this somehow?
The first skill you should "tweak out" ... if this is truly your chosen path in life, is how to lie with some semblance of credibility.
The rest of your BS isn't worth any more of my time. Unless you're being paid to do this, think seriously whether you should seek therapy.
i have no probs with grafics
amd 3500
gf 6800 gt
2 gb ram
about death penalty..its up to u
u can make it harder..everytime u die...start a new char
eq2 is ok...dont think i will cancel it after free month
isnt my dream mmorpg but its fun
I guess first impressions can be deceiving. :-)
The graphics are the best I've seen in any MMORPG to date. Some people are having graphics issues, thankfully I'm not one of them. I can run the 'balanced' settings at 1280x1024 4AA/8AF and maintain a respectable frame rate. When it gets crowded, I bump it down to 2AA/4AF.
On the Isle of Refuge, you will feel like you're having your hand held the whole time. After all, the purpose of the island is to get new players accustomed to the game.
As far as skills are concerned, EQ2 is primarily a level-based system, as opposed to a primarily skill-based one like some games (AO, UO, SoR). However, there are many skills that improve in the game with use. Want to improve your mining skill? Go mine some ore. Want to improve your piercing ability? Equip a dagger in combat instead of a sword.
I didn't play the original EQ, but even SoE said EQ2 is more friendly to the casual gamer. However, I have played CoH, and it is much more complex than that. :-)
You do not lose levels upon death, but you do acquire XP debt. You do not lose items, but they decay. You will also be weakened with 'revive sickness'. Again, I didn't play the original EQ, but did hear from quite a few people that the death penalty was too harsh. SoE addressed this in EQ2.
All this probably won't make you like the game, but hopefully it will clear up some misconceptions one might get from reading the original post.
Great post thanks for the info.. I was originally sitting on the fence about buying this game but your post and a few others have helped me make the decision.. People said they had problems with SWG on the FPS lag front the fanbois said things were fine. I started to listen to the Fanbois and was fooled into buying it... I have a very good system maybe not the best but far better then what there min requirments said you need, but when I would go to cities in that game it was a FPS lagmere....
Moral of this story dont listen to the fanbois, they will paint crap and tell you its icecream just so you can go out and buy it. I'll pass on this game, them not having a open beta (what were they scared off) was another factor as well. I'll just save that 40 bucks and spend it on something else, plus I have a feeling there going to have to have a free trial very soon, only having 100k preorders for the sequal to the most played MMORPG ever to date will do that type of thing.
------------------------------
You see, every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with their surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You spread to an area, and you multiply, and you multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet.-Mr.Smith
The thing is, I can't see how they can have an Open Beta or a Free Trial, considering the size of the game. To download that would take a few days minimum, so unless they created a condensed version which only contained the newbie area, I can't see them being able to do it. Its possible they might do a newbie area version, or a 'trial' version, something like the 'learning the game' thing from the original EverQuest, which was played purely offline.
But whatever, I think I'll save my money too. 1) I simply don't trust SOE after the mess they made of SW:G and Planetside (and what EverQuest became), and 2) I have a system thats worse than the original posters - 2Ghz, 512Mb RAM, Geforce 4 - so I imagine I won't even be able to play it decently.
Ah well, at least I'm working now, so I'll put some cash aside for upgrades...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"The greatest trick the devil played on humanity in the 20th century was convincing them that he didnt exist." (Paraphrasing) C.S. Lewis
"If a mother can kill her own child, what is left before I kill you and you kill me?" -Mother Teresa when talking about abortion after accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979
"The greatest trick the devil played on humanity in the 20th century was convincing them that he didn't exist." (Paraphrasing) C.S. Lewis
"If a mother can kill her own child, what is left before I kill you and you kill me?" -Mother Teresa when talking about abortion after accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979
Thank you. You are very accurate. I'm trying not to get into this again, but even with a x800 XT the screens from the site don't look like anything in the game. You will be returning yours? I've already returned mine.
Thank you. You are very accurate. I'm trying not to get into this again, but even with a x800 XT the screens from the site don't look like anything in the game. You will be returning yours? I've already returned mine.
returned open box with game password?
rofl
P4 3.6GHz HT
Asus P5 AD2 Delux
1Gig DDR2 533 Ram
x800 XT PCI 256Mb
I can run at extreme detail but not at the kind of frame rates I like.
I guess the moral is that two year old systems need updating. I update my system just before Xmas every year and buy a completely new system every other year.
----------------------------------
Don't jump off the roof Dad
You'll make a hole in the yard
----------------------------------
----------------------------------
Don't jump off the roof Dad
You'll make a hole in the yard
----------------------------------
No offense but people with lower systems are running the game fine so you have to look at your system.
A)drivers.Have you updated them.
B)Some Radeon cards seems to have issues running EQ2 at 8x and need resetting to 4xAGP.
c) what connection you are on.
If you bothered to check the hardware/tech forum you would know your specs are more then fine but if you want to rant away rather then spent 1 hour firguring whats wrong and then dump the game hey its your money and your time.
I have written a post about how my old system of Athlon 1600,768RAM,ti4600 ,cable connection is running the game smoothly on high performance (like 2 setting above the minimal).This is obviosly a inferior system to yours.
Posting here all you get is trolls cheering you on rather then make you see the problem lies in som driver or setting of your card which you can solve in a short time and enjoy the game.
And just a side note you realise the setting for the some offical screenshots are made with a even higher setting then extreme.Thas right the setting can go even higher SoE is expanding the options as the Gcards are released.And i have yet to meet anyone who can run the extreme setting comfortably.
My brother has a X800 and can run the extreme but dares not use it in crowded combat.So if they gave you the setting of those screenshots no one will be able to run it as of now but maybe in next generation card they will.
No im not getting paid and to be honest i think WoW looks even worse than Eq2.If i was getting paid i wouldnt have said things like"i wont call EQ2 a bad game".
Honestly i never even cared for the original eq played it for a week and hated it.Too much of a time sink imho.
And yes i guess if you have a 2 year old system like mine it wont run EQ2 like other games.So hey if ya got a spare $1200.00 dollars laying about go buy your self a whole new system so you can play EQ2.
Namja
you need to reread my post nowhere in it do i call EQ2 stupid.Calm down breath deep i got news for not everyone will like everything you like!!
Can you beleive it?
Want to ENJOY an mmo?
Dont start a guild and dont be a leader or volunteer to be coleader or captain.
Just play the damn game:)
I seriously doubt poultry is here to bash EQ2.But he certainly has some issues that needs him to do some technical work and get that card working fine.
When my brother got into beta of EQ2 his X800 was running worse then my R9800pro turned out to be a simple matter that he had used the driver that came with the card and forgot to update.
Of course now he is making me jealous
.
Just waiting for the next generation Gcard to come out so i can return the favour
By the way where does tinybina get this numbers of 100k preorders?Even if that was so the servers are so packed they are opening 2-3 a day and they fill up quickly.I go on a younger server oasis and it is on heavy load most of the US prime time not counting those server that are almost always full at prime time.
This is wear Tinybina gets those numbers from, straight from the horses mouth...http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/setView/news/gameID/2/showArticle/2454 as usual Herc I provide proof/facts and not some opinion that I think is a fact.
For the lazy I will quote "More than 100,000 people have already pre-ordered EverQuest II in hopes of being among the first to experience this massive gaming phenomenon." Statement released on Nov 8 of this year.
Thats a very low total considering its EQ2.. I wonder why, oh wait no I dont. Peope dont trust SOE anymore or there Fanbois, should have had a Open Beta so we could have seen for ourselvs how good/playable or not the game was. Personally (opinion comming) I think they were scared that the majority of its player base would have experienced what the original thread starter did..And fearing that people would run screaming like they have the past few SOE bungles they decided to realease without a OB.
------------------------------
You see, every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with their surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You spread to an area, and you multiply, and you multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet.-Mr.Smith
i truely do not mind first impressions posts
in fact my first time i hated it as well and i have a decent video card
i made it to the city got to see a bit but felt "walled in"
the explorer side of me hated not being albe to wondar about looking at things
i saw one group on island fighting in spatial over newbe gear that dropped
the game has potential but it is to folks bests interest to look at their rig to see if it would work and if they do not find something else to play
my issues / lack of inventory space ( yes i knew about the small bags) repair costs experaince bar going and going repeating and going
there is something to be said for daoc and it made me appreicate daoc so much more
and i do hope the game does well it will please lots of players
Everquest 2's faq (which is offline right now for maintenance or I'd quote it) specifically states that the intention is to design a game that can be utilized by future systems. They also mention the 'gamble' they took requiring Everquest 1 to require a 3D card to play (when most STANDARD systems did not include them) and how it obviously paid off.
Also if you try to set Extreme Settings in game (much like Doom 3) it will say: "No existing system can handle Extreme Settings" or some such. Definetely implying they are waiting for 512mb video cards, or better processors to come out.
I can run the game fine on high preformance on low population servers or uncrowded areas.
I highly doubt you would ever get paid for that hack job of the game. How can you even talk, with any authority, of the game when you didnt even get off the island, and then on top of that you state that the graphics were over hyped and maybe doctored?! That alone told me so much where you were going with this.
Can't believe people actually waste their time posting lies about a game. If you don't like the game fine, but don't lie about it.
ok..cool..but whats ur point?
if he dont like it...hes right to say that
i think eq2 is cool and wow suxx
never played wow....but i dont like blizzards love to koreans and americans only
i will never play wow...or anything made by blizzard
maybe starcraft this game was the best ...but only warez version
Crock's at it again....
---------------------------------------------
Loved : Wish, DnL, Vanguards, Tabula Risa, Mourning
Hated : EQ, UO, AC, DaoC
I'm sorry if this sounds like trolling, it really isn't intended as such, but to me this whole bit sounds like nothing except a glorified marketing scheme by SOE. This very thing could be quite literally said about any game - "Mythic Entertainment announces today that the reason you are not able to play their game, DAoC, on 'super-elite-photorealistic-haxxer-roxxorzness-mode!!11!one!!1!' is that no existing system can handle the uber-eliteness of it all - but don't worry, it IS there and implemented into their engine already so that when you, the customer, are able to upgrade your system suffieciently to handle the power without melting your rig, you will be able to play the game using it.... in about five years or so...." Please excuse me as I go put on my hip-waders, because I'm sorry, but I'm not buying into that crap. This of course, for what it's worth, is my cynical opinion with a dash of critical thinking skills only and should be taken with a grain of salt (sorry for that banality).
Flame as you will, but I don't believe a single word of marketing hype; I can only stand hearing so many different ways of candy-coating the same crap - and I'm talking about the market as a whole, not just SOE. I will wait another couple of months to hear some reviews with actual substance in them to make my decision; not just some fanboi's spouting out "smoothest game launch in history," "most advanced graphics ever," "the game of the future," mere days, if not hours after the release; nor the critics with their equal lack of real substantial knowledge. True, first impressions are usually the greatest, but still, I will wait some months before making my decision.