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Would a WoW player like Everquest?
I have played World of Warcraft (my first mmo experience) since open beta and have really enjoyed the time I have spent playing it. As it happens I (along with many others) am ready to move on and try something different. I remember when WoW was first released how people spoke of Everquest and many other mmorpg titles, comparing/contrasting, bitching/praising and so on. Much of what was said was spoken of with great passion both positve and negative and I don't think I ever came away from EQ discussions with anything useful.
I see that EQ 1 is still around so I was curious if there are players who have played both and chose EQ over WoW and why. Thanks in advance to those who respond. I've heard a great deal about this mmo and am very much interested to hear what you guys have to say.
thx and have a good day 
Comments
I would start playing a new or newer mmo because the urlier content is still more populated and it has alot more new players you can relate to.
but for the real question I'm sure youl like eq2 sinds the gameplay feels just as good as wow ( it diffrent don't get met wrong) and I never played eq so can't say anything about that
There is a free trail, I would play with it. From what i understand is not as easy as WoW. Though it is easier then it once was.
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Final Fantasy 7
To be totally honest? No definitley no. WoW in short is a really dumbed down version of EQ, the game is much different from what you've grown accustomed to in WoW. Leveling in EQ took FOREVER when I played and dying meant losing hours worth of experience with the exp loss you had to recover your corpse because when you died you revived butt naked. Quests were scarce and there were no maps to places every destination had to be memorized. Unless they fixed it NPC's could attack you regardless of distance if they were directly above you or below you. I have fond memories of the game I do admit, but I wouldn't revisit EQ just because I'll spoil my memories by remembering why I also hated the game.
Current MMO: Aion
MMO Watch: Warhammer 40k Online, SWToR, GW2.
Played: Planetside, SWG, EQ, EQ2, L2, WoW, RFO, KAL, MxO, Voyage, RO,Vanguard,Tabula Rasa, Horizons, CoH/CoV,, Lotro, FFXI
First MMO: Everquest (Tunare Server, Ronin/Tide Guild)
I would have to say that only having 8 spell slots is another big reason WoW players might not like it. I myself will never go back to having only a set amount of spells or abilities available out of my stuffed spellbook. That is one of the main reasons I could never get into Guild Wars as well. Some players may argue that it adds more strategy, but I like having a large arsenal personally.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
EQ is really old and outdated. I switch between WoW and EQ II all the time.
A very accurate post there.
EQ was interesting, but also frustrating for the reasons that Database82 posted above. I'd never put up with that level of frustration again while trying to have "fun". No way.
For me, Everquest was my first MMO, and looking back through my rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia +5, I want to tell you 'Sure, go for it!'
The truth is no, you probably wouldn't like it. The combat and graphics of old EQ have been revised here and there, but they largely do not stand the test of time when compared to modern MMOs. I would say the best days of EQ were in the early expansions (Kunark, Velious), and for a lot of folks, the game got weaker after that. Many old players wish for a "classic" server type that stops at a few expansions in. Most of the people playing at this point are at the high end of the game, so with some exceptions, you would have a lonely experience trying to solo-burn through what was a very group-centric game when I played.
If you want to take a stab at EQ1 though, I would recommend looking into the 51/50 server they are making (you start at level 51 with 50 AAs <alternate advancement points for class customization>). The server was announced at the latest Sony Fan Faire after a community vote on server type.
Regards,
Farrox
would just stick with world of warcraft little longer until some of the new releases are coming up nor suggest to trial try to Vanguard saga of heroes more than everquest at this moment.
cheers
EQ was the first truly great raiding game. WoW attempts, and mostly succeeds in being the next great raiding game. You can have fun in both games for a few months leveling up, but the real game begins when you start playing in a Massive Multiplayer setting.
EQ, when I quit playing, around planes of power, had alot more content already than WoW I would say, espeically raiding content. WoW has streamlined the raiding game to a very constrictive level (only 25 or 10 man raiding dungeons for relative content), but they have great control over the balance of the raiding. EQ2 has tried to do what WoW has done, but in a amateurish way. It is still a great game but compared to WoW its amateur hour.
The biggest benefits to EQ, if you are interested in raiding, is the sheer amount of content thats available if you can find the people to play with. Compared to WoW where there are only a few raids that are rewarding to an end game player.
While WoW offers a great many things that I did enjoy there are aspects that put me off.
1) Leveling - It was already very easy to reach the lvl cap and now with the recent expansions the lvling process has become even easier. While I appreciate (and to a certain extent enjoy) the option to solo 1-80 I do think it should be more of a challenge.
2) Professions - I really felt they could have done more with them. I can't fault them for being 'bad' but I really felt them to be conventional, predictable and of limited use. I have no other game to compare them to but I can say that I was left wanting.
3) Raiding - I like to interact with the world and other players. Raiding never really appealed to me. It went from being an interesting social/management experiment to a part-time job with angry people wanting this-or-that loot even at the expense of the enjoyment of both themselves and others. I enjoy doing 5 or even 10 man dungeons from time to time but for *fun*.
4) Immersion - I guess when I really think about it I want to talk to npc characters and read books in game where I can learn the lore and feel like my character has a place in the world. I like to occasionally walk instead of run and just take in my surroundings and enjoy myself as though I were really out for a stroll. Being surrounded by people that need instant gratification to make their gaming experience meaningful really can be discouraging.
I left WoW feeling disconnected from the other players. What is the point of playing an mmorpg when interacting with other people lessens (as opposed to enhances) my gaming experience?
I probably should have posted right up front but I don't think I really knew just how I felt until my 2nd cup of coffee.
So I guess I want to know, is EQ a place where the story, environment and other players might be a good fit for me? If not do you know of a mmo where I would fit? Thanks for your posts, this thread has been really helpful to me.
You might want to check out LOTRO (Lord of the Rings Online). I've played EQ1, EQ2, and WoW (10-day trial), and LOTRO is imho the most engaging game of them all. They did a great job on the content, your characters are similar to regular classes but different in a LotR way, and the community is very very good compared to the other games.
I really liked the way their quests were set up - generally, they're all short storylines where you complete quest chains, so instead of running around filling up your quest log with unrelated stuff, you jump in a group that's going through the storyline in the area and roll with them for your fun.
I keep thinking of reinstalling as they have a 9.99/mo deal going atm (but I can't, I've too much RL to do at this time. Sigh.) But they've a free trial so you can check it out on the cheap.
*Oh beware, hobbits get a lot of "homey" quests at first - fun for kids but if you're a little older, you might want to start as a different race.
a new Everquest server, Mayong
where ALL players start at a level 51 will be available starting today
eqplayers.station.sony.com/news_article.vm
may be worth a try
EQ2 fan sites
Wouldn't recommend you play now. Now there is an item shop on top of a subscription in Everquest. Also the game is horrible now. If it was only up the the expansion Velious, I would advised you jump on it. Now, it is a utter mess.
Man, you would LOVE Everquest-----------if you could hop into a time machine and go back to 1999.
The real EQ that most people loved was the grouping game they played as they leveled up. It was very social and friendly and it was incredibly easy to get into groups because that's what most people were doing. It was also very slow (so what, it made it last longer) and painfull at times with experience loss and corpse runs (but the fear of that added some excitement to the game).
Because the game could be somewhat punishing people would help each other out. You knew what it was like when the game knocked you down and kicked you in the nuts so you sympathized with others. Honestly, it was common for total strangers to drop what they were doing and take the time to help someone they had never met before even though there was no reward in it for them. A sort of "we're all in the same boat" feeling pervaded the community in the early days.
Unfortunately the "end-game" was absolutely atrocious. If you think raiding felt like a job in WoW you ain't seen nothing. Raids in EQ commonly lasted 10 hours or more with 80+ people and were the most horrifically boring, tedious, mind numbing crap I have ever seen in any game ever. And the developers had some inexplicable obsession with raiding so the game focused more and more on that crap as time went on.
As the bulk of the average playerbase caught up to the powergamers at max level and started experiencing the "end game" it was the beginning of the decline of EQ. And that's why, today, the population of the game is a sad token of what it once was, because the only people who stayed with it were the ones who liked raiding.
If you started the game now you couldn't experience what I think of as the real EQ because it no longer exists. You wouldn't have anyone to group with while leveling up and as I understand it they have accelerated and streamlined the leveling process anyway to get people to the raiding game sooner.
Well said, Neanderthal.
I played EQ and WoW and returned to EQ because I hated the quest-driven play of WoW-- most of your experience in EQ comes from killing, not from questing, so questing is optional most of the time in EQ (except for some zone access, which is still optional if you don't go there). EverQUEST would have been a better name for WoW than for EQ. Also, I have zero interest in PvP, so that part of WoW was wasted on me.
Although I used to hate AAs, because grinding them was a chore, there are a massive number of alternate advancement abilities that you can get that affect your character (and his/her viability) in different ways, but it isn't a skill tree where picking one sort of ability precludes another. If you put in enough time, you can have it all. And I seem to come by those AA points pretty rapidly in more recent times. I like having mini-goals along the way-- so many AAs til the next ability I want. This is a plus for EQ over other, similar games. To me, the number and diversity of AAs makes a level-capped character a few thousand AAs feel like it is approaching heroic/godly status.
Gear is the other half of that, of course, but EQ has a huge number of items, so even if we all look pretty much alike, there's always choices to be made for every slot. I like that too.
A lot of the frustrations that people always mention with regard to EQ simply aren't part of the game again. There's no corpse retrieval anymore-- you spawn with all your stuff, and you can summon your corpse to guild lobby (a hub zone) if you want to get your experience back with a cleric rez... and you can get a rez from your merc, at least the last time I played. Experience loss is a minor and often temporary annoyance now.
Leveling is a lot faster, over all. Downtime has been reduced with out-of-combat regen-- you regain 3% per 6 seconds, whether you have 100 hp/mana or 40000 hp/mana. The timer to start ooc combat is 30 seconds for regular mobs but 5 minutes for raid mobs, and it doesn't affect standing regen, so getting that KEI (or better) is still worth it. This means you don't have to go on vacation while waiting for your high hp or mana (or both) character's bars to fill up. (It amounts to a slight penalty against the very lowest levels though, since it will take longer to get back that 100 hp as a fixed percentage...)
The thing is, what you know from WoW will only help you so far in EQ. You're going to have to find groups in the upper levels, and not just "group for this instance" groups. You're going to see familiar words used in a different way. For instance, an EQ druid or shaman is not very much like a WoW druid or shaman. If you've played WoW extensively, you'll probably find a lot ot hate about EQ, simply because it's not the same sort of game. The combat will feel slow, for instance, at least until you get used to it. (Even I had to make THAT adjustment, coming back after WoW and EQ2.) If you've got a really open mind and don't keep saying "well, that's not how we did it in WoW," you might enjoy it.
...
This is where I draw the line: __________________.
I just started back up with EQ. It has gotten incredibly easier. With mercs and hot zones, leveling is faster. However, while the majority of your leveling in wow comes from questing, in EQ you basically sit in a spot and pull mobs over and over again. Quests are more of a side item, even though some can get pretty involved.
It's still a fun game, but grouping at the lower levels is pretty non-existent . Most people still there are, as someone already pointed out, the hard core raiders. Also as someone said before, raiding in EQ is terrible - way worse than anything in wow.
If you want really slow and vast amounts of reading, you could try LOTRO. I thought it was incredibly boring because you can't step one toe off the path the developers laid out for you, but obviously a lot of people really like it.
I'm not trying to turn you from EQ, just perhaps caution your expectations.
I say run the trial of both games and decide for yourself.
If you want to try something different than WoW, then I would definitely suggest giving EQ1 a try. It's one of the very few remaining MMO's that's designed to be different than WoW. This isn't to diss WoW, I enjoyed it when I played. But if you try games like EQ2, LOTR Online, WAR, etc.. they will feel like WoW, because their gameplay is modeled after it.
Is the game different now than before? Sure, there's no MMO out there that stays the same after a couple of years. I took a long 5 year break from EQ1 from 2004-2009, and I can say the devs did a very good job upgrading and evolving the game with us gamers. The game is no longer about raid or die, the same mentality WoW had during its first 2 years. It actually focus more on single group content and providing you means to progress even if you don't have a full group.
So if you really want to try something different, a game with a long history, a game that helped start the 3D MMO genre, I'd suggest to give it a try. No guarantees if you'll like it or not, but why listen to others when you could try it yourself
p.s. While I don't usually recommend 51/50 server to new players, it went live today. And for those looking for the new server rush, the newbie gold rush, it's happening right now. So while it isn't the same as startinga t lvl 1, everybody is starting over at lvl 51 with a fresh economy and a chance to compete for raid bosses.
During this time you'll find lots of people grouping, raiding, and hurrying to compete. Some people like this rush feeling, others may not. But it's always an option and it just went live today, so check it out if you like.
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO
WoW = fun for 1 month
EQ = fun for several years at least
If you aren't interested in pvp.
EQs alternative advancement system provides an almost unlimited progression for character enhancement. You will virtually never completely max out your character(hence Everquest).
However, expect to become proficient in searching Internet resources for completing quests. Oh yes, you will have to use your brain to progress within EQ. EQ doesn't hold your hand like WoW does. Still, the quests aren't all that difficult, and the instructions available on sites such as www.allakhazam.com are mostly well-documented.
Also, someone mentioned raiding. From what I have seen of WoW raiding, it doesn't even come close to comparing with the sophistication and strategy required for EQ raiding. In WoW, a raid event is like an oversized group. Where you do all the same exact things you would do if you were in a typical xp group(sounds like a typically boring experience repeating the same thing). In contrast, EQ raids have triggers and dynamic spawning, and speech, and pullers(oh my!), and crowd control(/gasp). WoW raid? I think not. If you choose to play EQ you will find an incredible game experience in raiding.
Aah, EQ1... I remember when they didn't have the level restriction on the gears. Now that was powerleveling. Since there's trials, i'll say go for it and try it and see how you like it. I quit at about the time when they introduced those AAs. Have not kept up with it, but I'd be careful to play a Wood Elf. Their city is a newbie killer. LoL! I created my ranger and died a few sec later as i stepped off the platform unto my death. I never recovered my body cause i didn't know where i died lol. Good times.
I personally would advise people that are not playing Everquest to not play it. The game isn't the fun game it was in the beginning. The only way that Everquest today resembles the Everquest of the past that made it a hit is only in name. Also Sony has added item shops to almost all their games including Everquest so not only do you pay 15/month for this older game, if you want all items you must purchase them from their item shop for real life money.
I say avoid this game.
Have you played EQ since they added the item shops? There is nothing in it that is needed. There is some exp potions and things like that and fluff items like spells to change the way your weapons look but again, nothing at all needed.
Here is the thing. Leveling in EQ1 was made MUCH easier. Sony really dumbed down the game and has an entire new starting area. You cant choose the old world starting areas anymore. You can still get to them from the plane of knowledge but you dont start out in them anymore. It seems there are people in this new starting area so it is possible to get a group right off the bat. If you have all the expansion packs, the last one allows you to hire a merc pet to run around with you. Either a warrior or healer type and they do pretty dang good.
Now the bad. The graphics and animations are bad compared to todays games. Combat is Very slow paced compared to wow. So if you expecting to kill stuff in 10 seconds, forget it, it wont happen. Combat in that game playing solo can take easily 1-2 minutes per fight and when you get higher level, you still have the downtime to worry about when regaining mana (if your a casting class).
So would I suggest EQ1 to a wow player. Well that depends. If you didnt like wow and want to try something different. Then yeah, I say go for it. If you liked wow though and are just tired of it, I doubt you would like EQ1 in its current state. Its just to outdated for most people.
Have you played EQ since they added the item shops? There is nothing in it that is needed. There is some exp potions and things like that and fluff items like spells to change the way your weapons look but again, nothing at all needed.
Here is the thing. Leveling in EQ1 was made MUCH easier. Sony really dumbed down the game and has an entire new starting area. You cant choose the old world starting areas anymore. You can still get to them from the plane of knowledge but you dont start out in them anymore. It seems there are people in this new starting area so it is possible to get a group right off the bat. If you have all the expansion packs, the last one allows you to hire a merc pet to run around with you. Either a warrior or healer type and they do pretty dang good.
Now the bad. The graphics and animations are bad compared to todays games. Combat is Very slow paced compared to wow. So if you expecting to kill stuff in 10 seconds, forget it, it wont happen. Combat in that game playing solo can take easily 1-2 minutes per fight and when you get higher level, you still have the downtime to worry about when regaining mana (if your a casting class).
So would I suggest EQ1 to a wow player. Well that depends. If you didnt like wow and want to try something different. Then yeah, I say go for it. If you liked wow though and are just tired of it, I doubt you would like EQ1 in its current state. Its just to outdated for most people.
I will not pay a subscription with an item shop in a game no matter the items. I think if you are paying a sub you should be able to get all items in game no matter what they are. Why play that old game which I believe is broken beyond belief from it's original design. Everyone forced to start in one new area? So how does having all these newbie starting areas in the game even make sense? That doesn't sound like an immersive world to me. Sounds like a jumbled together mess. The whole experience/world doesn't seem cohesive at all.
I would much rather go to a another subscription based game without an item shop tacted on to milk the players further. Other games give you all items in the game, even fluff for your sub. So instead of the rested xp route like in WoW to boost xp, they opt for xp potions from an item shop? That is exactly what happens with a game that has an item shop. Instead of developing ways to solve percieved problems that is included with your sub they will solve with a paid option. Why put in rested xp if you can make your players buy potions for your virtual item shop?
I stand by my original statement, avoid this game.
Have you played EQ since they added the item shops? There is nothing in it that is needed. There is some exp potions and things like that and fluff items like spells to change the way your weapons look but again, nothing at all needed.
Here is the thing. Leveling in EQ1 was made MUCH easier. Sony really dumbed down the game and has an entire new starting area. You cant choose the old world starting areas anymore. You can still get to them from the plane of knowledge but you dont start out in them anymore. It seems there are people in this new starting area so it is possible to get a group right off the bat. If you have all the expansion packs, the last one allows you to hire a merc pet to run around with you. Either a warrior or healer type and they do pretty dang good.
Now the bad. The graphics and animations are bad compared to todays games. Combat is Very slow paced compared to wow. So if you expecting to kill stuff in 10 seconds, forget it, it wont happen. Combat in that game playing solo can take easily 1-2 minutes per fight and when you get higher level, you still have the downtime to worry about when regaining mana (if your a casting class).
So would I suggest EQ1 to a wow player. Well that depends. If you didnt like wow and want to try something different. Then yeah, I say go for it. If you liked wow though and are just tired of it, I doubt you would like EQ1 in its current state. Its just to outdated for most people.
I will not pay a subscription with an item shop in a game no matter the items. I think if you are paying a sub you should be able to get all items in game no matter what they are. Why play that old game which I believe is broken beyond belief from it's original design. Everyone forced to start in one new area? So how does having all these newbie starting areas in the game even make sense? That doesn't sound like an immersive world to me. Sounds like a jumbled together mess. The whole experience/world doesn't seem cohesive at all.
I would much rather go to a another subscription based game without an item shop tacted on to milk the players further. Other games give you all items in the game, even fluff for your sub. So instead of the rested xp route like in WoW to boost xp, they opt for xp potions from an item shop? That is exactly what happens with a game that has an item shop. Instead of developing ways to solve percieved problems that is included with your sub they will solve with a paid option. Why put in rested xp if you can make your players buy potions for your virtual item shop?
I stand by my original statement, avoid this game.
EQ1 never had rested exp to begin with so what does it matter if they put an xp potion in a shop or not? With the exception of the potions, the items in the shop do not really give you anything. For armor and weapons, all you get is potions to make your armor/weapons LOOK like something you could get from somewhere else in the game. No stat changes or anything like that, just an illusion only. All I can say is get over your phobia about item shops, at least in EQ1 as there is nothing there that is worth it unless you just want to spend extra cash.
As for the old game. The old worlds are still there and are still exactly as they were when the game launched, with the exception of some additions of quest npc's and some instances they have added for groups. Its obvious you have never played EQ1 or you wouldnt even try to talk about how having multiple starting areas is not immersive, due to the fact that the lore of the game was written for each of those areas. I do hate the fact that they changed that and put in 1 starting area but I can see why they did it as it will make it easier to group in a game that requires you to group for most classes.
Oh, and to cover your little xp potion problem. EQ1 put in hot zones for all level ranges. These "hot zones" give double xp while you are in them, so in essence, if you go to these zones, you are getting the equivalent of rested xp. So they in fact DO give you xp boosts without you having to purchase anything from the item shop. Care to try again?
Edit note: For the new starting area, they did create a new lore for that, so its not like it was just thrown in. they did take the time to put in a decent story to explain why you are there. Part of the reason behind this is because they didnt go back to the old worlds and rewrite the interface that the npc's used for questing. Unlike how they do it in the new expansions, people today would be hard pressed to even figure out how to get a quest from the old world people. You know, old school dnd type stuff.
Damn! That was one of my favorite features from EQ that was lost in virtually every MMO since.