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Worried.
9216544
Member Posts: 1,904
in Everquest II
I think EQ2 looks so awesome, but as time moves on, more people are starting to dislike EQ2. I have already bought the game and im waiting for my computer, I will be able to play this game Friday. Im hoping it wont be a waste of money. From what I have read about the game, it seems like my perfect MMORPG. I really dont mind grinds, and I like to group play. I like PvE over PvP.
Are the problems EQ2 has right now fixable? Can they make this game better over time? If its just a matter of grinding that people dont like, then I really dont mind.
EQ2 Qeynos Guild- http://www.imperium-arcanum.com
Comments
I don't know why others are leaving. But I can only tell you why I quit after playing during my free month.
I burnt out on it after I got to about lvl 15. But I pushed myself to play it to try to overlook all the negatives about it. I am not a WoW fanboi nor do I even like WoW. I got to beta test WoW and I didn't get the opportunity to test EQ2.
I wasn't a EQ1 player, however I was one of them that preferred AC over EQ.
First off EQ2 is not lacking in quests thats for sure. I think I had done approx. well over 200+ quests before my Predator turned into a Ranger at lvl 20.
Coming from AC obviously I hate zoning and feel they take away from immersion, that is one reasion why I took my NwN game back to the store. I am a RPGer that loves to journey, adventure and go on long discoveries of quests. Also to get lost in a huge world that may be the death of me and the lost of my items and not being able to find my corpse. Now, I love the fear of that. Others may feel that is more of a nuisance rather than a feared terror I enjoy the capture of attention to detail to survive.
EQ2 has none of that and I am sure EQ1 didn't either. AC on the other did. Well, it was great for a while till all the decal crap came out for the kiddies that didn't like AC for what ti was. Now ruined
However I have hope in one future one, which I don't want to tell because I don't want flocks of WoW and EQ2 fanbois coming in and screaming change in my anticipated world.
Anyway, EQ2 feels like to me is not really what quests should be like, but more like a task. Hmm EverTask anyone? How would you like to hit the same sewers to do over 30 quests? Or cross Antonica to work on over 100+ quests/tasks running the same ground over and over and over and over and over and over and over again and again and again and again and again and again to see the same thing and the same thing and the same thing over and over and over again. Hmm, I think I reinacted what the emotional repeat wheel that EQ2 has kept me doing aye? I think I had more fun on the Island of Refugee than I did once I got to Willow wood.
If you talk with most NPC's and gather their quests and go to other sub-town areas to work them quests and gather more from talking to other NPC's enroute you will find out you will not see outside of Qeynos for a LONG time. I turned out having to force myself away from the forever questing in towns to take a breathe of air in the land outside of town. Only to find out I was not getting much farther with quests that took me out to Antonica. If you don't POWER PLAY or shout out to do XP grouping and want to play EQ2 like a RPG then you will notice you are slowly, one step at a time working your way to be allowed to the nest area of the Steppes. Infact I went ahead of myself just to see what this next area looks like since I have been playing this game for over 3 weeks and haven't seen more areas other than all the sub-town areas that surround Qeynos. If you haven't played EQ2, just to let you know all the sub areas like Willow-wood, The Baubleshire, The Elddar grove and such are really just a subburban area of Qeynos. All you do is go from one town area to the next and also get to go to a catacombs/sewers/downbelow, peat bog, forest ruins and a few other areas that make me feel once I finally get in a big zone like Antonica that all I have been doing was going from one room to the next. What is weird is eventhough all the town areas are much smaller than Antonica, you lag more in town than you do out in the huge zone of antonica. I can even turn my graphics up above balanced to high quality while in Antonica, but in all town areas I have to turn it down below balanced to high performance since it lags VERY bad. BTW, I am using a AMD XP Barton 2200+, Nvidia 5700 Ultra DDR2 128MB, 1024 MB DDR RAM.
The force grouping I don't like. I would prefer that I shouldn't have to group to play, but group when I want to group, but of course grouping should be a benefit, not a requirement. Another good thing about AC. On top of that you have to be careful who you group with. I got a lot of XP debt because of other players that give in to death without much of a fight or even running away. Some would see they have over 50% health lost while running and since the creature was still on their back they would stop just to save time and let themselves die. Then they would quit the group figuring no one was helping them. Grouping in EQ2 is such a highly controversial element and too much of a burden in my opinion. As for having so much quests/tasks. A lot of them are broken and sometimes certain instances are messed up. Long story on that one, but I am sure a lot of players know what I am talking about, however I am sure the same will deny if they are on the defensive with EQ2. To me EQ2 is like a house. You get 50 tasks from the kitchen and take each one to every room and while you are in each room of the house you pick up more to give you reasons to return to each room over a hundred times. Oh and even worst, imagine Antonica being your front yard. All rooms of the house sends you on hundreds of quest to do in your back yard. But forwarning, you will not see across the street until you have played to about lvl 15 to 18. Unless of course you just decide to run it. But you chances of dying on the way is highly likely unless you stick to the road. Even then you still may die. Final note on this... I hate a RPG that sets up it's play style to keep you on tasks for all the peasnats in a single city. Where is the true adventure? Where is the vast world to discover? Where is the journies that bring so much that not everyone does the same thing, walking the same path, killing the same monsters. That is what I loved about AC. Anyway, if you like rooms/zones/not closterfobic then EQ2 may be your stylr of RPG, but for me nah, I want adventure, I want to get lsot and I want to FEAR for my characters life, amor, weapons and all items and gold when ever I see a creature I don't know if it will give chase or ignore me all together, or...can I outrun it running for my life, closing my eyes praying to my god not to die. What is this zoning to avoid death crapor all the other stuff I see in EQ2. Well, I should have known it was just another EQ game ro worse from what I am already hearing.
Oh, also the trades completely SUCK in EQ2. First off most crafters think everyone is SOOO desparate to pay high end sp and gp for armor, weapons and items that should be sold way much lower. I wonder if this will compete with Ebay very well? LOL....Also the ones that do sell have to have their char in their little rented Inn room on their bulletin board selling their stuff. You can't logout, you can't leave the room to go hunting. So, then most people put their stuff up for sale when they are done for the night. So, if you wan't to find a good deal, it is HIGHLY advisable to login between 12 mid-night and 6am PST-EST to get the best deals or anything really at all.
IF you are a RPer, how fun, there are 2 servers that are RP "preferred" which preferred can mean 2 things. One meaning if you "Prefer" RP go here. Or what is most popluar to assume it means... that it is "ONLY" preferred. Which you will turn out having to go into your chat options and not only turn off shout, but even most chat channels if you don't what your immersion ruined by people that are constantly yelling at others to stop doing OOC in the shout and general chats. You might as well close all windows or only have a window for combat and your HO. Which on the topic of Heroic Opportunity is a complete joke. I hope while you play in your groups that you are using a voice chat so there is some organisation to using HO's since most use them in battle and can benefit strongly for each one playing, however one's HO can and will cancel out others attempted HO more than 90% of the time if there is no STRONG communication about how the group plans to use it.
My over all persona opinion of EQ2. It is a Forced Grouping game where grouping is really the burden of the game. The tasks seem more like work orders that you pace the floors of your job site going from room to room. You see the same areas over and over so much you start to feel like you are trapped and need to be freed. The combat and skills are so "timed" you spend more time watching the meter on each skill/spell than you do "watching" your guy fight. And I mean Watching if you even do that. The skills I suppose are there to make you feel like you are in more controll of your character than I saw breifly in EQ when I made my decision to stay with AC back in 1999-2000. I prefer the advanced combat mode in AC than any combat stuff EQ and EQ2 has provided. You would think SOE would have learned that when Turbine made the EQ clone with AC2 that they knew it wasn't going to work. Infact in my best opinion. AC2 is better and more fun. The only thing EQ2 has over AC2 is the graphics. AC2's questing system is even much nicer than EQ2's
My final thought is the story in EQ2 isn't there is a good order of fashion to really tell you much. Most players play for XP groups or some sort of status of being a Killer of %. If you look at the eqplayers.com you will see even every aspect of EQ2 is a big race of who is the highest level. who is the first to do this who is the first to become that and etc. All EQ2 seems to me is a big race to the top which I believe a lot of us MMORPG gamer from the beginning are tired of. All in all EQ2 truly only has the graphics going for it. There is nothing new, nothing better, but however it sucks that after playing EQ2 with the beautiful armor and lighting in the game, hard to keep myself away and then to go to another to look at anything less. OK Devs, you got the visuals perfect, now start getting everything else up there as well. For now, MMORPG games are on the shelf and I can only allow myself to play HL2 since all others seem so outdated now because of the crappy graphics, LOL. Damn you SOE, you had to ruin my gaming with those awesome graphics.
As for WoW, I am not a WoW fan and I don't care for it as well. It may not have the same problems as EQ2 has, but it is just as worse as EQ2 but in a different aspect. I won't go there however. It would be a much longer output than this on EQ2. However, eventhough I have played Warcraft 1 and 2, Diablo 1 and 2 and Starcraft doesn't mean I am like others and wil flock to a game just because of this. Then titles and the name of Blizzard doesn't get me to blow more money, it is just nonsense and a waste of time. I think when speaking of WoW, it is just like showing how most people bought Camaro's iduring the 70's or even better yet, the typical brain pattern of a rat that always goes for the cheese even when shocked.
Rudnoc, that was decent review of why you didn't like the game. Much better than fanboy ravings, and for that I give a ton of credit.
921... when it comes down to it don't belive the hype negative or positive. It all depends on whether YOU like it or not. To hell with everyone else. If you like it awesome, if you don't, good luck with another game of your choice. I was kinda like you, I saw some bad reviews so I expected crap when I got the game. Much to my suprise that game is awesome. The complaints about zoning are really overblown IMO. Once you leave your home city the zones are so big it doesn't take away from the immersion at all. And as far as the grind goes, I can assure you it's not nearly as bad as L2 which you said you have played before. I'm not even close to frusturated with the grind. Also with a bit of a grind involved it makes for a much longer playing experience. Not all grind is bad IMO.
Grouping is definitley helpful but in no way forced. I have soloed just as much as I have grouped thus far. All you have to do is find a nice spot with the right mobs and your set. One thing I really like about EQ2 is that you actually have to use a vastly different strategy with different races/classes while soloing. This makes soloing challenging, but that good kind of challenging. It's not just point and click like alot of MMORPG's. You actually have to think about what you're doing.
EQ2 has also had alot more content than any other MMORPG I've played as well. It never seems like theres nothing to do.
LIke I said I was expecting crap but I found an awesome game. Try it, and hopefully you like it. JUst don't take all these fanboy ravings to heart.
through past experiences I've noted that you like what I like.
And I like the game. Have more than 6 days on my account, and am loving it.
(I know this isn't an informative post as to WHY, but I am just saying)
I like it.
http://www.facebook.com/murtb
Although Siagon, made some good points, and you have to read through the posts,
understand if there as a continual theme on specfic infomration, inventory managment, locked combat,
great that it prevents steal killing, bad when trying to move after combat has started.
In the great eq tradition some hold overs were wandering npc that were red to the player spawn out of no where, one shot you. Though every mmorpg has this most have ways ablities to use to out run these "as soon as you see them death" the ability to get away. Holly is a name despiesed amoung eq 2 players and boy does this wandering mob get around!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shared debt exp in group seems to be punishing a group for playing together and only seems to slow down advancement and to me is well yeeky. Since launch i only had one group experaince that was decent and it didn't end up with shared debt exp
When you click on the mob one says group one says solo. There is little way a player can kill a grouped mob when they are soloing. Not because the group mob is green and or blue to them but soe decided solo players cannot attack "group mobs" so again its a shard run.
There are mobs that go poof as in any game and suddenly appear as you are fighting another mob.
buffs are manged when in group only, so no fly by helping a person in "locked combat" with a buff
Selling as stated one has to be loged in no out of game merchants (Yet)
The other biggy for some players is there are halmark quests at specific levels that must be completed in order to advance. Anotherwords you are forced to do these things if you want to see you next level.
Time and or money managment should be in any mmorpg but when it becoms a Half to and take away players choices of to do or not do, that is when players get frustrated and move on.
But as in any game there will be those that try there first month and move on, nada wrong with trying and deciding it's not for you. On the other hand some folks find it is for them and stay gladly.
You know, I read some of these "reviews" and I sit and wonder if we're playing the same game. Some of you seem to have constant problems with things where I never have any problem, and, sorry to say it guys, in many cases you seem to have failed to discover basic things about how the game works and how to play it to your advantage. And it seems that however things are designed you want them the opposite way. You complain about easy quests, you complain about hard quests ...
EQ games (1&2) are forced grouping games. No secret there. They're social games. They are also grind games. No secret there either. Neither EQ is intended for people who like things quick and easy. There are plenty of options out there for that.
Rudnoc, the whole point of having mobs marked group and solo is, well ....... isn't this obvious??? And yet .... oh, why waste the time, lol. Enjoy whatever you choose
I don't know about this theory of so many people being driven away guys ... all I see is more and more people and activity. Of course some will leave, as well they should ... all part of the sorting out process in games. Happens in every game. EQ1 & 2 are for hardcore gamers who don't mind grinding to get where they want to get. End of story.
"They're social games."
Does hunting solo mean that you aren't social? I read this so often on these forums.
To be honest I played UO and 80% of my time I hunted solo, but I was a lot more social in that game. I had the time to help others and talking with others.
In DaoC, FFXI and EQ2 I was more busy with finding ppl (sending messages to ppl and hope they would reply etc.), and gaining exp, usually the whole group was only busy with exp,exp,exp.
Finding harder monsters and more exp, till they where to hard and the whole group died and everybody suddenly had to log. (This experience was in all the 3 group based MMORPGs I played)
Only had a few groups where it was fun, and usually it where great groups because everyone was working together, and exp goes fast when you're having fun. Usually I play healer, so I don't have the time to chat in group, because I am busy with looking at the health...
If it was always like this then I would love grouping, but to much ppl like to power play.
In DaoC and FFXI (UO too
) I loved to help ppl with healing them and buffing I maked a lot of good friends. Helping low levels was usually more fun then leveling myself 
Oh a good point in EQ2 was that with food and drink you could pull fast and had very little downtime.
And as healer i could cast a spell for water and food, and I really miss that spell on my mage and scout.
I don't really know how the soloing is in EQ2, I do know I solo yellow with my druid at lvl 13 and with my buffs it was no problem.
The city zones in EQ2 is .... irritating, I used lowest settings (The game really looks ugly on lowest settings) in town, so I could zone quick, and had no preformance problems. In busy dungeons I used these settings too. I never had problems on the lowest settings
) But after a few days I got irritated too...
In the begin my BF really hated it, and I didn't care. (he used higher settings and I could zone in and out 3 times before he could come in a zone, he had only long zone times, his performance was always ok, mine was a little better off course if I had my lowest settings on
I FFXI had some zones, but I never had trouble with the zones in that game.
EQ2 can be really fun, I would love this game if it was my first group based MMORPG, but that is just my opinion.
It's not that you personally are not social, but in this context it means you aren't playing the game as a social game the way it was designed. EQ1&2 are desiged to be played by groups and ultimately raids, although there is some provision for some soloing. Had you tried to solo 80% of the time through EQ1, your prospects would have been very limited. You would have done okay at the lower levels, just like you can do fine at the lower levels in EQ2. But as you got to higher levels in EQ1 you would have reached more and more content which simply could not be done without grouping and raiding, and raiding means needing a good-sized guild. You could have soloed your way to 65, hanging out on the fringes, so to speak, but you would have deprived yourself of a major portion of the higher end content (including activities, spells, equipment, etc.). That's a matter of invidividual choice, obviously, but for me, if I am going to play a game, I am going to try to get to the end, or as close as I reasonably can given my time constraints, etc. EQ1 was designed so that you cannot get to the end without playing it as a social game.
The result in EQ1 was that, like it or not, people were forced to group and guild in order to succeed. Despite people's resistance to this, it's a good thing. People were forced to meet and interact with others. Many wonderful lifelong friendships were forged. Like many others, my guild started having RL get togethers around the country, including people coming in from Europe. It was all fabulous. And .... the game has lasted for *years*. In fact, althought I've moved on to EQ2, the guild I and others formed in 1999 still flourishes with probably 130 members or so now, and we are all still friends.
It's too early to know if EQ2 will progress in the same manner. But I sure hope it will. If they put in too much solo content, it will destroy what EQ is about.
I'm going to go over a few reasons why I disagree to give you some perspective on different people's viewpoints. I thought it was a good review on first skimming it, but the more I read it closely the more I saw repeated critcisms, and only a few of them at that.
My overall opinion of your post, is that you have several real reasons to not like EQ2 based on your personal gaming preferences. Not wanting grind, wanting to explore instead. Not wanting to put any time into progression, wanting it to be easy to solo through instead. Not wanting to group, and essentially just being a big fan of AC. I have rebutted your criticisms where I have not had the same experience, and I'm sorry you didn't like EQ2, it's certainly not a game for everyone, and I don't think any but the most rabid fanbois would claim that. In any case, you have some good points, but to me it seems you repeated the same criticisms over and over again, and I tend to disagree with you (or from having more experience in the game just think you're flat out wrong), but I do see how EQ2 is not the game for you, misconceptions aside. Good luck to you, and have fun with HL2 and AC.
Habit is not to be flung out the window by any man, but coaxed down the stairs one step at a time. - Mark Twain
After reading through your post (which I agree with), I would say WoW is the game for you. Although I can understant you feel that a lot of ppl are going to WoW because "It's a Blizzard game", I will tell you it's not the only reason.
EQ2 players might not believe ratings are accurate, but they do mean something. WoW succeeds in making a large, varied, well designed and seamless world. Quests are meaningful, and as you progress through them, they send you to explore new areas, at a pacing that is right for your level. So you don't feel completely lost.
Some hardcore fans do not like that. They prefer to go on the net and read spoiler sites, I guess? Like in EQ2, to complete a quest, you almost HAD to go look on Allakhazam or what not, because making your own way through it involved a LOT of research and guess work. In WoW, I prefer NOT to read any spoiler, because the game does a good job of giving me hints.
And you can play solo, if you dont like quests. I'd say half the quests are soloables, while other requires a small group (2-3), and Elite quests a full group (5). If you just grind solo, you can level up pretty fast. I'd even say faster than by questing, past level 15.
Anyway, the only thing I did not like at first was the cartoony look, from the screen shots I had seen. And also, since I did not play any RTS since Warcraft 2 (not my style of game), and I'm not a Warcraft fan, well, I had not a good feeling about this game. But just one hour of gameplay changed all that.
You should REALLY give it a chance. I feel you would love it. Btw, I also played AC2, EQ, EQ2, CoH, AO, FFXI, EO and others, but WoW truely made a big step ahead of everyone of them. I'll be playing it for a long time.
Umm this post isnt about WoW, so dont bring it up pls.
EQ2 Qeynos Guild- http://www.imperium-arcanum.com
First off, opinions are like ***holes, everyone has one.
Secondly, you really won't know if you like EQ2 until you try it. Everyone perceives it differently regardless what you are told. From what you describe of your play style, it SOUNDS like you will like it, however, there's no guarantee.
I can tell you, I play it and I like it. That's about the best I can do.
Try it.
youll be playing WoW after a month mate, dont even bother to buy everquest 2. Just wait and see..
rawr
_____________________
I am the flipside of the coin on which the troll and the fanboy are but one side.
EQ2 Qeynos Guild- http://www.imperium-arcanum.com
EQ2 Qeynos Guild- http://www.imperium-arcanum.com
Ya, I'm pretty sure you'll be fine with EQ2.
I was just waiting for another WoW fanboy. 921... I've seen your posts before and I'm almost certain you'll like EQ2. I think me and you have roughly the same intrests when it comes to MMORPG's, and I love EQ2 so far.
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Avison wisdom of the ages...
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people might not like all the bugs
You stole my post!
I was going to say all that. I never played EQ1, and I was in the beta for both EQ2 and WOW. I chose EQ2 because I felt that there was more depth to it. WoW holds your hadn for everything. I'd rather figure stuff out on my own..isn't that what most RPG players want? EQ2 has a commited company behind and will continue to look better as time goes on, plus it has TONS of content. There is only one time I felt the grouping was forced and that was at the beginning to kill the Orc leader-but that just gives you a taste of what its like. I've soloed the entire game so far, (really!) and am a 21 lvl Druid(Fury). Sure there are some things to do that require grouping, but NOT everything-there's plenty of flexiability. The combat is fast, and there's always something to do.
I can't accept ppl's complaints about them not being able to play it good due to the high computer requirments: that is NOT a reason to dislike the game, that just means that you have a crappy computer and it's time for you to upgrade, or there are some serious PEBKAC issues--I have not had one single problem with the game technically, all my drivers and stuff are up to date and in proper working order.
SOE has shown their commitment to a game (EQ1 is still going..), and I'm confident that EQ2 will have many years of life. Which would you rather play 3 years from now?: World of Disney or a graphically awesome looking game?
Ppl are so quick to jump down a someone's throat...the game has only been out for a month!! SHEESH!
Give it some time. As for WoW, well, it's a nice game but I don't like the "community"(sic) and I certainly dont want to pay to play a game that has been hacked already...in less than a month!
-=JAJ=-
The chaff is blowing off is all. The people leaving are the ones who realize that they don't want a game that is as involved as EQ2.
EDIT: Every game has it's faults and bugs. People who leave for those reasons are using them as scapegoats.
Im just going to be short about this without really going into detail.
The information on the game has been available for a long time, the want and need for grouping, how quests work, there's NO pvp. ETC. Look at the posts from Beta and if you dont see what you want from a game then dont play. Alot of people stupidly buy things and play it and go OMG there's no pvp? What I have to group with people in a Massive Multiplayer Online game? what sort of concept is that?
I like the game, I've not lost interest. Infact im excited about the big patch, if it doesnt' cause the mass down time that today's lil one did. The game is new, and from the start there has been huge hype and alot of people talking smack.
You have to take into a account if someone dislikes the game even though they've never played it wont mean that they wont post negativethings about it and claim they played. Go to the Everquest Forums and read the eactual posts from people who are currently active in the game.
Please Refer to Doom Cat with all conspiracies & evil corporation complaints. He'll give you the simple explination of..WE"RE ALL DOOMED!
I make sure that I don't have too many blue/green quests (I complete them first) and find that doing white/yellow/red ones get me a lot of xp and better rewards. I tend not to pick up too many quests now, partly because I have a lot of collection quests, which even though I now the reward is poor I just want to complete collection.
Had I had more foresight I would have kept the parts on an alt, but I didn't.
Next patch week of xmas there is going to be more uniqueness with each character through training and safe fall will actually work and food will be fixed.
I think 2 things you gotta like to play eq2, you got to like grinding, and groups. I solo'd to 20 completely. but past that it becomes very difficult. Even if you ply with a group of people take a day off when they don't and you quickly become out of line with them. Sooner then latter you get to a point where their to high level to group with.
They call it evercrack for a reason, the compulsion the need to keep playing for just one more level.
Very huge problem for me was storage. it was a pain. Also the whol selling/buying method they implimented was junk. I was a pretty high level crafter, but having to leave my pc on overnight to sell or face loosing gameplay time was a pretty big pain. Item maintenance is just junk. Completly. Aside from needing a housing unit to sell stuff, you don't need a home cause you can't store things there.
I quick. By and by a very drawn out game that is a nother Sony classic for merely finding a way to be a time suck. Little entertainment but lots to draw you in enough to play for endless hours without getting a thing from it.