EverQuest II: Our Exclusive Review

Admin · January 2005

Our own Reed Hubbard has recently completed his review of the newest MMORPG from Sony Online Entertainment - EverQuest II. A glimpse at the review is below:

EverQuest II contains a lot of things that EQ just didn't or couldn't have, but it's missing something that's intangible. It's the part of EQ that made it so addictive that people would play for hours on end. It's what made websites like Allakhazam and Everlore and MMORPG.com so popular. It's what made dozens of other developers jump into the MMORPG genre with both feet in an attempt to duplicate EQ's success. It's not easy to put into words, but players know it when they experience it. There's something that's just not here, as if EQII is missing its soul.

It's not that the developers did a half-hearted job here. Not at all. The graphics engine is evidently capable of incredible things. The quests are involved and well-integrated into the story line. The dungeons are truly creepy and ominous. Regardless, the sum of the parts does not add up to a satisfying whole. There is a missing-the-forest-for-the-trees aspect to the overall game. It feels forced and artificial. It's a shame to say it, but it appears that after all the hard work and attention to detail, the team behind EQII forgot to include the fun.

To read his full review, click here.

Bhagpuss · January 2005

Some fair points, but also some factual errors in this review.

The con system is indeed complicated, overly so perhaps, but it is completely reliable and, if anything, too predictable. No player of the barest level of competence will ever be forced to run from a single green solo con mob - they are exceptionally easy. The single green-con mobs with up-arrows are group mobs, regardless of the fact that there may only be one of them. All this is clearly explained in text when you mouseover each mob. I don't like the system much, but once understood it is universally accurate - lack of any surprises when pulling is in fact one of the weaknesses of the game.

Zoning is a matter of taste. Personally, I avoid "seamless" games with no zones - I have played a good few of them and I find them tiring and somewhat depressing. I like zones and I like zoning - I also like the progress bars telling me what's being loaded. In EQ2 all the zones are accessed through large closed gates or doors, so the internal logic of waiting a few seconds to pass through makes sense -and it really is only a few seconds, maybe 5 or 10 seconds at most.

I have a very modest gaming system (AMD 2600, Radeon 9600, 1 Gig Ram) and I run EQ2 smoothly at the high-performance level with some extra features turned on. I haven't experienced any of the graphics problems described in the review, although I do get some driver-related screen-freezes now and again - but then, I get those in other games too.

Travel is indeed very slow and arduous in EQ2, which is one of the best things about it. A body of opinion in EQ1 has been complaining for years that travel in that game is too easy and trivialised and those issues have been very well addressed in EQ2. It can easily take 25-30 minutes of pure travel time just to move from where you logged in to where the group you wish to join is hunting. That's exactly how it was when I first played EQ1 in 1999 and I love it. Slow travel times and long distances are one of the key attractions of a game of this type for me. Personally I'd take the bells out and put back the boats that were in beta and make it slower still If I had the choice.

I do agree, however, that something is missing. The game does seem to lack "soul". Partly it's the lack of any really obvious and observable storyline; partly it's the really very poor AI (deliberately ppor I believe, rather than carelessly so - it seems a design decision was made to make the mobs very stupid and predictable); partly it's the lack of interaction between creatures in the world, making the whole place seem static and unconvincing.

That said, EQ1 didn't really hit it's stride until the release of the Velious expansion, so it's a bit soon to write EQ2 off. I expect to be playing it throughout most of 2005 - whether it will hold me longer than that i really couldn't predict.

methusala · January 2005

EQ2 is more frustrating than fun.Making the excuse that expansions will help it along is a fanboys wishful thinking.Sony's policy toward people that play their games makes me want to throw-up.They are only interested in your money and after that,you're on your own.

I played it for a month before it was officially released and immeadiately cancelled my pre-order.

Red_Rider · January 2005

I think people miss the obvious, Everquest 1 was for most their first MMORPG. Noting will ever be as good as the first. With all the pretty graphics, voices etc, you are in fact doing the same thing you have done for 5 years. Games like WoW will attract a ton of new players and for them it will be the same experience as it was for us in Everquest 1. But EQ 2 seems to attract mostly people with a certain experience and unless the game addresses the particular problems you had with EQ, you will not be overwhelmed.

I tries both EQ 2 and WoW and found not particuly impressed at the gameplay and have let the subscriptions lapse.

gprosch · January 2005

I have to disagree. I think the EQ2 dev team did a stellar job with this game. In my opinion the "fun" that is missing is all in the players. With EQ1 it was a whole new paradigm for all of the players and there was an almost tangible mystery. With EQ2 a large percentage of the player base brings with it an attitude of "Yeah we've done this before. Where's the best xp grind?"

Greg

Knoxay · January 2005

I was gonna point out most of the stuff Bhagpuss did. Now I don't have to write so much.

It was a decent review as far as explaining the different features and everything. I think it whined about the loading screens a little much, I've honestly never been frustrated by them. Once you're in a zone you tend to stay there for a while, you really don't spend that much time running between city zones unless you love fedex missions. Also I would have hoped for some better detail on why he didn't think the game was fun.

Skorn1972 · January 2005

I for one think EQ2 is very fun. It is probably the most fun I've had on a MMO. You cannot compare this game to EQ for the following reason. When EQ came out it was a one of a kind game and many people got sucked into it for obvious reasons. Im sure we all have fond memories of EQ and if not EQ then AC or UO, etc. My point is that you will never be able to experience the feelings you had for your first MMO or your first favorite MMO again. So dont let your love of a previous game cloud how much fun you could have in a new one. For my money, only someone who had made it to at least the high 30's of Everquest 2 can really comment on the fun factor. Ive played almost every single MMO out there for at least a year each and I think EQ2 is second on my list of them all behind AC which was my first real MMO addiction. Give the freaking game a chance.

analogue · January 2005

I agree with the review. I tried it but I+ never felt addicted to it like I did for AO, Eve Online, Lineage and now WoW.

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Best to Worst list of MMOs :
Bought : AO, EVE, PS, Lineage II, Lineage, Neocron, StarPeace, Horizons, DAOC
Tried : WoW, Guild Wars, EQ2, Ryzom, CoH, SWG, AC2, E&B, RO, The Sims Online, EQ, Shadowbane

Roin · January 2005

Originally posted by Skorn1972
I for one think EQ2 is very fun. It is probably the most fun I've had on a MMO. You cannot compare this game to EQ for the following reason. When EQ came out it was a one of a kind game and many people got sucked into it for obvious reasons. Im sure we all have fond memories of EQ and if not EQ then AC or UO, etc. My point is that you will never be able to experience the feelings you had for your first MMO or your first favorite MMO again. So dont let your love of a previous game cloud how much fun you could have in a new one. For my money, only someone who had made it to at least the high 30's of Everquest 2 can really comment on the fun factor. Ive played almost every single MMO out there for at least a year each and I think EQ2 is second on my list of them all behind AC which was my first real MMO addiction. Give the freaking game a chance.

So basically what you are saying is the fun doesn't start till 30? That's a cop out, an MMO should not be fun only when you get to the high end content.

You really should learn not to get bent out of shape. As the review is nothing more then just the reviewers opinion about the game. If you are going to disagree with the review. At the very least you should have done a contructive post like the first reply. He gave wonderful points on why he disagreed, and the reason for the difference.

rathma · January 2005

Originally posted by Admin
There's something that's just not here, as if EQII is missing its soul.

That's exactly what happened to me when I played.

Scythes of Bodom

Seabrook · January 2005

I agree. I had such high hopes for this game. The graphics are stellar no doubt about that. But after the ooooh and ahhh wear off your left with the gameplay.

I like the quest journal but for the most part the quests are not worth doing. There are a few exceptions.

I hate hate hate the locked encounters. The only thing they are good for is keeping people from KSing a named mob. Personally I would rather deal with the KSing because it is just as bad to watch somebody walk up and lock the encounter first while your getting ready as it is to have somebody come a long and KS it form you. At least if the encounter is not locked you have a chance.

I also hate the fact that you can not buff/rez or help somebody who is not in your group in any way. That really hurts the RPG aspect of this game. One of the fun parts of EQ1 was being able to help a player who had gotten in over their head. In EQ2 you have to just watch them die. Then not be able te rez them afterwards. Does this make any sense from a RP standpoint that you should watch your fellow citizen die and not be able to help?

I don't care for the way the encounters are setup either. Knowing what mobs are linked together is nice and all but it takes out some of the strategy to the game. It was always fun to find new ways to seperate mobs in EQ1 so you could kill them one at a time if you wanted to. In EQ2 this does not seem possible, if they are linked they are always linked.

The combat wheel while a nice idea just plain is not worth the effort. You can do more damage if everybody just uses their styles than you can by trying to get together and run a wheel. Oh and I think it is dumb that heals can break the wheel. Lets see complete the next step in the starter chain or heal my tank that is almost dead.

I did not care for the two cities aspect of the game. This forced me to make certain decisions about my character that I might not have normally made. This is sort of a made for PvP thing without the PvP. It felt forced.

In the end I guess I could sum up my feeling about EQ2 as this. When I played it felt too much like somebody was forcing me to play a certain way. These mobs are linked so you must fight them all or find something else to do. Want to help that guy over there dying, too bad he is not grouped. There was not near enough solo content for my liking. The two cities thing felt forced. I wanted to play a Brigand but my RL friend wanted to play a mage. So one of us had to change as we did nto feel spending time on the betrayal quest was worth it. In the end I just felt like I was being forced to play a certain way and go down a certain path and the whole time it felt like an exp grind. I missed the "fun".

See you all in WoW.

Skorn1972 · January 2005

I'm not "bent out of shape", and you totally missed my point as well. No, the fun doesnt start at 30. The fun factor should be based on a range of levels. If you know anything about MMO's you know that the higher you get in level the more opportunity you have for adventure. For instance, DAOC is very boring at low levels but when you get to the point where you can RvR in later levels you can have some great fun with that particular game. For someone to play levels 1-10 and then review the game and say its all kill tasks and repairing your equipment would be only half of the story the game has to offer. That's my point. And by "give the game a freaking break" I simply meant that its only been out a few months and let's dont start slamming it right out of the gate. I think the game represents a huge effort in every department. In closing the reviewer should not comment on the "fun" factor in his review as if he's speaking for everyone. It wasnt fun for him, period. Fun is in the eye of the beholder isnt it? I would also like to see the same reviewer's review of WOW, I think they might have made their mind up about EQ2 prior to playing it. Just a gamer's opinion.

Dekron · January 2005

Originally posted by rathma

Originally posted by Admin

There's something that's just not here, as if EQII is missing its soul.

That's exactly what happened to me when I played.

Scythes of Bodom

Same here. I haven't played for almost 3 weeks, then I got on last night for about 20 minutes and just couldn't get into it. I then cancelled my subscription. I think that EQ2s letdown for me is going to stray me away from all mmorpgs. Sure some may have some new and cool features, but in the end, they are all the same. I've been taking up FPSs and that is holding me for my multiplayer games, but if I want an RPG, I will play something like NWN or something similiar that actually ends.

EQ2, I hate to say, is turning out just like AC2. Both AC and EQ were great games, but both came out with too cartoony graphics and a very dumbed down system of gameplay. I think EQ2s population has hit the peak and will start dying down like AC2 did.

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33.333333333333336% of me is a huge nerd! How about you?

Killer 100%
Achiever 53%
Explorer 33%
Socializer 13%

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XanderZane · January 2005

I thought the review was pretty much right on. EverQuest II is a good game, there's no question about it. It's just not an exciting game if you ask me. The only time I seem to play EQ2 is when WoW's servers are down for maintenance. I have over 300 guild members playing WoW and about 44 playing EQ2. For some reason EQ2 feels more like work. The only thing I enjoy more about EQ2 is the speaking NPC's calling for you when they have quests. The world seems more alive in that aspect. For overall fun though, I'd have to pick WoW. It's just more enjoyable. What's really weird about WoW is that I've been playing since Closed Beta and have never read and instructions at all. I'm still flipping through EQ2 manual trying to figure out how to craft things.

Xander

Valorus · January 2005

Bottom line is if you get into forced group play EQ2 is right up your alley. If you don't like forced grouping to level your character then no matter how good the game or how pretty the graphics are you will simply waste your money.

I wonder what Everquest II would be like if you actually had the freedom to level your character without the need to have to meet up with a bunch of strangers. Oh well the world will never know.

Kiamde · January 2005

The con system is indeed complicated, overly so perhaps, but it is completely reliable and, if anything, too predictable. No player of the barest level of competence will ever be forced to run from a single green solo con mob - they are exceptionally easy. The single green-con mobs with up-arrows are group mobs, regardless of the fact that there may only be one of them. All this is clearly explained in text when you mouseover each mob. I don't like the system much, but once understood it is universally accurate - lack of any surprises when pulling is in fact one of the weaknesses of the game.

There is not much to it. No arrows = Group meat ^= harder prey ^^=Take caution. Do not pull in groups ^^^=Nearly impossible unless it is a low color con. ^^^^=Only possible in a raiding party.

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--Proud member of Desolation--

LVL 20 Guardian on Befallen

"The Job Of Art Is To Chase Away Ugliness" - Bono

bryanA · January 2005

hahahah, noobs noobs noobs noobs. This is so funny you guys don't have a clue about the game. One there is alot more on the way and the guy who did the review prolly didn't even go to Nektropos Castle. Take your WoW and play. We don't miss you. We don't care about what you guys have to say. Also last I checked all the servers are now full during peak hours. Hahaha, omg how old are you guys? 12 13 or maybe 16? Well like I said please leave EQ2 and fast we don't need you and we never will. The community is better off with less children. Heheh, WoW haha heheh. Bye and if any of you started on the Lucan server can I have your gold? Wow, what smart people these days ::::31:: ::::29:: ::::32::

Kasmar · January 2005

I have to agree with Bhag. Some of Reed Hubbards` comments were on the mark, but quite a few of them were just not true.

Reed, I think you need to upgrade your computer. Especially if you are going to review the MMORPGs on the market today. I run with a 2 year old Alienware 2.4 gig cpu, 1.2 gig mem, and an GEforce 4, FX5700 with 256 meg of mem. This system costs, not the $5000 that you claim in your review, but at todays values it is worth maybe $1500. I run perfectly well on Balanced performance settings, which allow me to see heat shimmer and underwater effects just fine. I know I could run even better at High Performance with some custom settings as Bhag does, but I am too lazy to mess around with it.

Also Reed, you need to not exaggerate your facts when you are writing a review. it is just not professional and it makes your reviews not very believable. I am referring to your comment about seeing 10 messages during a zone. I see approximately 4 different messages and I for one prefer seeing the progress. I zone in less than 15 seconds and that is not bad. You are perfectly free to express your opinion that you don't like the zoning part of EQII, but you should not attempt to reinforce your opinion by exagerrating the facts.

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It's just me, so open the door.

Scaris · January 2005

Originally posted by Kasmar

Reed, I think you need to upgrade your computer. Especially if you are going to review the MMORPGs on the market today. I run with a 2 year old Alienware 2.4 gig cpu, 1.2 gig mem, and an GEforce 4, FX5700 with 256 meg of mem. This system costs, not the $5000 that you claim in your review, but at todays values it is worth maybe $1500. I run perfectly well on Balanced performance settings, which allow me to see heat shimmer and underwater effects just fine. I know I could run even better at High Performance with some custom settings as Bhag does, but I am too lazy to mess around with it.

I am not real sure I can agree with that. I guess that depends on what your idea of good and acceptable gameplay and graphics. I do feel the review exxagerated a fair bit, but I do feel the game has to high a demand considering what you get back out of it.

- Fadeus Hawkwood

Kasmar · January 2005

Thanks for your reply Fadeus.

What I was referring to was in Mr. Reeds review he made special note of heat shimmer and underwater effects and needing a high end machine in order to see these types of effects. What I was saying was, with my average system I can see these effects just fine.

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It's just me, so open the door.

Scaris · January 2005

ahhhh, fair enough. I am a 6800GT owner btw, so I am alittle stressed with the Graphics in EQ2 atm. Especially since I had to find out the hard way about anti aliasing, I guess I was taking a nap when that got discussed before I bought it.

- Fadeus Hawkwood

Koltrane · January 2005

Originally posted by Kasmar
I have to agree with Bhag. Some of Reed Hubbards` comments were on the mark, but quite a few of them were just not true.

Reed, I think you need to upgrade your computer. Especially if you are going to review the MMORPGs on the market today. I run with a 2 year old Alienware 2.4 gig cpu, 1.2 gig mem, and an GEforce 4, FX5700 with 256 meg of mem. This system costs, not the $5000 that you claim in your review, but at todays values it is worth maybe $1500. I run perfectly well on Balanced performance settings, which allow me to see heat shimmer and underwater effects just fine. I know I could run even better at High Performance with some custom settings as Bhag does, but I am too lazy to mess around with it.

Thank you for your comments, Kasmar. I hope I can address your concerns. If I do not, please let me know.

I currently run a P4 2.8GHz system with 1GB RAM and a geForce FX 5200 with 128 MB RAM. This is a system that runs Half Life 2, Doom3, Tron 2.0, DAoC Catacombs and World of Warcraft with no performance issues. It is more than sufficient for my gaming needs and is probably a good representative system of what gamers use currently. Surely there are people with better systems, but there are many more with equal or lesser systems.

Most people don't have Alienware systems, even two year old ones, so it would not be fair to the general MMORPG.com readership for me to buy a top-of-the-line system and then write a review, telling everyone that it runs fine. Of course it will run fine with a $500 video card and a liquid cooled CPU. The point of a review is to address it to the average player. That includes those who don't have Alienware rigs.

There is always anecdotal evidence from people who swear that all the advanced graphics features work on their moderate systems. That may be true, but I cannot verify such. All I can do is report my experience. In the course of my review, I played EQII on 2 different machines. The other one was my brother's, which is a bit newer and has a nicer graphics card. His performance was no better than mine. He was unable to run the game on his laptop, a system on which he has played DAoC for over a year and is currently playing WoW, because the hardware was not sufficient.

I also don't think people should be forced to run out and upgrade their hardware just so a game (any game) will run properly. There are many gamers who run with 512MB RAM, for example, and EQII will barely make it on such a system. It's not that SOE should be forced to dumb down their technology to appease every player in the world. There has to be a cut off point. But a system should scale down to lesser technology. Whether you agree with me or not, your system is very nice. Most gamers are not as fortunate.

Also Reed, you need to not exaggerate your facts when you are writing a review. it is just not professional and it makes your reviews not very believable. I am referring to your comment about seeing 10 messages during a zone. I see approximately 4 different messages and I for one prefer seeing the progress. I zone in less than 15 seconds and that is not bad. You are perfectly free to express your opinion that you don't like the zoning part of EQII, but you should not attempt to reinforce your opinion by exagerrating the facts.

The comments about 10 messages, as well as those regarding Michael Dell's personal computer and a HAL9000 were intentional exaggerations. This is a literary device known as hyperbole - extreme exaggerating employed to underscore a particular point. The point of such is to emphasize, not deceive. Regardless, the number of messages is not the real issue. The larger issue is the time it takes to zone. I just threw 10 out as a round number, but if there were 50 messages and they clicked by in 5 seconds, I wouldn't be so aware of them. The problem is it takes anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute for me to zone in EQII. The multiple messages and the progress bars make the wait seem longer, in my opinion. This is the idea I was trying to convey.

Someone else in this thread suggested that I was biased against EQII at the outset. Of course that's ridiculous. If anything, I was a big fan of EQII. I paid full price for the game and had been following it since its announcement. I was excited about getting into the game. It was only after I started playing that my criticisms came together. I'm only human, but I do my best to approach any game I review with an open mind. As I mentioned in the piece, my previous experience with EQ may have set my expectations a bit high, but I don't think the comments I made were unreasonable at all. In fact, the most damning criticism, that of the game not being fun, was arrived at after weeks of desperately wanting it to be fun. That's a reasonable desire for a MMO.

The bottom line is that the review is just my opinion. You can agree or disagree. I knew that not giving EQII a glowing review would upset some, but I felt it more important to express my true impressions. I would ask those of you who disagree not to take it personally. My sole purpose is to present my opinions after a proper amount of information has been gathered through play. That's all the review is.

As always, I would like to hear any of your comments.

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It's just me, so open the door.

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You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.

MMORPG.com Staff

Robbgobb · January 2005

I appreciated reading the review. After hearing about the adventure packs and 2 expansions a year, I have to say that I don't think I really want to play the game because of the expense. Sounds like the game is going to cost an extra $100 a year besides subscription if want everything as it comes out. I like exploring so I would want the new stuff as soon as possible. I appreciate being able to read everyones comments. I might still try the game when I get my new computer (Dell this time but am promised by wife will be Alienware next time) at the end of the month but will probably stay with WoW (my current computer can't even run DAoC ToA) and look at some of the other games coming out like Matrix Online, Mourning and Imperator. Good luck all who are playing the EQII. I will try it if I don't find any of the other new ones that seems fun to me. I do like Sony though and hope the game keeps getting better.

Scaris · January 2005

Koltrane, thanks for coming to the thread and taking the time to answer some of the posts. It's really appreciated to see the reviewer come hit a thread and talk to everyone that has commented. I think you cleared alot up.

- Fadeus Hawkwood

ridecade152 · January 2005

Im trying to decide what mmorpg 2 get and im stuck between WOW and EQ2. Which 1 should i get?

Scaris · January 2005

Originally posted by ridecade152
Im trying to decide what mmorpg 2 get and im stuck between WOW and EQ2. Which 1 should i get?

I suggest you take some time to read the other 50 threads devoted to that topic filled with people's opinions on the game if you want that answer.

- Fadeus Hawkwood

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