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I know nothing about EQ2. Should I play it?
frumbert
Member Posts: 190
I played Anarchy Online because it had a big and diverse world. I played Horizons because it had a great friendly community who supported rather than beat down new players. I played Asherons Calls because they had great graphics and I couldn't see the whole world at level 2 - it forced me to explore my way or find ways to get around. I played Saga of Ryzom because it promised a diverse, rich world. I played Wish for 10 days!
And now Everquest 2 has come out...
I couldn't care less about fighting monsters.
I couldn't care less about making weapons and armour for fighting monsters.
I couldn't care less about making tools to help other people make weapons and armour for fighting monsters.
I like exploring worlds. Seeing things. Hearing things. Surviving things.
I LOVE to get to know the lore of a world. The nuances that make it the way it is. How things work. Play trading games in the economy.
If the game provides them, I do all the quests that involve finding people and getting to hear their stories and helping them out. If the quest involves killing monsters, I skip it. Kill kill, blah blah every other game. Stories are unique to the game, unique across games. Much more interesting.
If I have to level up to a very high level in order to progress to somewhere new and unexplored, I probably WON'T ever reach that level. I play slowly. A few hours a week AT MOST. What takes other players a week can easily take me months.
My only question is: Is everyquest 2 more like the things I love or more like the things I dislike?
Forum signatures are stupid and annoying. I've turned mine off.
Comments
I played for almost two months and I can't remember a darn thing about the EQ2 universe.
You wont be able to explore (much) without either taking up a tradeskill (that will open up the "main" zones as you level, but it will be a *very* dangerous way to explore), or level as an adventurer. The last will involve killing monsters to finish quests. There are quests that dont involve killing, but I kinda doubt there is enough to let you level from them on a regular basis. The "lore" quests mostly involve killing at some stage or the other.
You'll basically have to try for yourself. I would say its way less "kill-kill-kill" oriented then AO.
I play EQ2 since it came out, the world of Norrath looks amazing (wonderful graphics but need a good machine), if you like exploring and questing this is the game for you, however...
There is something seriously wrong with the game once you get to level 35-40. Spells and skills are broken, the boards are full about it and the response from devs is minimal. It feels like the content at low level is of highest quality and the content for high levels is a copy/paste thing wich was far from ready when released.
Many high levels are frustrated and leaving the game, nothing so dissapointing as taking the time to level up a character to find out half of your spells is broken or doesn't work as intended.
I'm about to give up on Everquest 2, though i had such big expectations of it ...
I can only hope for those who start playing now, things get finaly fixed when they reach the higher levels.
It's pretty even. Norrath is big and beautiful and there is a lot to see and explore. And with all the voiceovers, there is certainly plenty to hear. If you take the time to actually listen to NPCs and read the details of quests, you will get a much better feel for the world around you. You can purchase books which tell the history of the various races as you explore key areas of the world, though these aren't as detailed as I would have liked. I'd also have to say that the world of EQ2 is very much your bog-standard vanilla fantasy - it doesn't have the unique flavour offered by games like Saga of Ryzom for example. The lack of originality and imagination can make the world that little bit less interesting and believable. There is also no getting away from the fact that you're going to have to kill stuff. A lot. Many of the areas in the world will only open up for you after you do "access quests" and you'll be bashing monsters for the most part in order to complete these. There are no tourist visas. As for crafting, nobody will force you to do it. However, you need to regularly update your equipment if you want to survive and crafting is the best way to make money. Unfortunately, most items now need to be attuned to your character so their resale value is minimal once you have outgrown them. And while you can get some new equipment through questing rather than from the market, for the most part those quests are going to be kill quests. The bottom line is that in the early stage you will find much to explore and discover, but if you want to see the whole world and explore every nook and cranny of Norrath you're going to have to do a lot of monster bashing. However, if you pay enough attention to the lore and the stories that unfold you may find it worth it.
For the most part what everyone has said is correct.
No matter which way you look at norrath, you will need to do some killing to get anywhere.
If what you say is true (what would take some people weeks would take you a month or more) then I would suggest World of Warcraft.
You have to kill to explore the world, I will not lie to you about that, but you will level a lot faster than in EQ2, so it would seem much more bearable for someone such as yourself (IE a cassual gamer. In WoW 15-20 days in game played for one character is standard for hitting level 60, which is pretty fast by any games standards) Also, WoW has a rich world full of history and backstory, many of which is found outside the game and inside the game (I would suggest Warcraft: The War of the Ancients trilogy if you want to know the kind of backstory. It's a book)
Though, it's really a matter of opinion.
I say try to find someone who has the game (EQ2) and see if you like it.
Though, there IS a trial of EQ2 that takes you through the tutorial and the starter isle, I would have to say do NOT try this trial. It is in no way an even remotely accurate representation of the world of norrath and is very missleading. (I never knew a shark could levitate above the water...)
Nothing personal against you but why are you even asking this about a level based game? Your intent may be good but honestly this seems like a plant post to get more flammage. Everquest II is a level based game, if you don't want to do steps towards personal development and growth in the game then you arent going to get anywhere. I would probably suggest Eve Online or Ultima Online for what you want. Those are your best 2 chances at doing the exploration you want to do without having to earn the right to go to the new places.
I would say the same about Wow, its a level based game, its not gonna do a thing for you either. Neither will most MMORPG's simply because they are either level based or you have to do work to get your skills up enough to be strong enough to survive the regions you want to explore. Morrowind maybe?
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
Everquest 2 is a reasonable MMORPG. I would not say it has the most immersive gameworld. If you're looking for a beautiful world in which you can choose to wander off in any direction, this isn't it. In Everquest 2, you might wander off, but it will be in one direction (East for Qeynos, West for Freeport).
Everquest 2 is a reasonable MMORPG. I would not say it has the most immersive gameworld. If you're looking for a beautiful world in which you can choose to wander off in any direction, this isn't it. In Everquest 2, you might wander off, but it will be in one direction (East for Qeynos, West for Freeport).
I am not getting your whole linear thing, honestly. Because both are coastal cities and the first zone after the cities is in one direction its linear? That isn't linear, they are giving you teh entire map. They merged old zones from EQ 1 so the world isn't as broke up. I don't see how someone can't see that. By the time they start adding the other continents back with expansions everyone is gonna be complaining its to much, they haven't finished with what was already there, to fast, too much to explore or whatever else.
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
because I *haven't played it* and know nothing about it and want to know is it going to be worth it . Basically the answer from this thread is no - it's good good graphics (who cares, really) but basically the same story and kill cruss destroy mentality as everything (maybe) else at the moment.
Forum signatures are stupid and annoying. I've turned mine off.
Well, if you take the advice from lets say OnyxBMW, and read that as real advice, your in trouble mate. OnyxBMW, havent played the game your asking about and is spending a fair bit of time on this forum to recruit people to the queues of warcraft. Its basically the curse of these forums, and I'm surprised the owners of it alow such things to go on, both on the forums and in the user "reviews". The report post button will be used a lot, thats for sure. Its most certainly easy to spot when there have been network/lag issues on that other game.
Its not as open as Rubika. Or at least, its not as open as Rubika once was before they littered the entrances with guards.
Its way way way way more open the Shadowlands however. Its perfectly possible to get to every outdoor zone in Eq2 after level 6 WITHOUT KILLING A SINGLE CREATURE! I'll leave it to OnyxBMW to figure out just how you do that, but its perfectly possible, includes some 40 hours of crafting and a lot of patience.
Also, since you know AO and the faction+heckler grind, there is no counterpart to that in Eq2. Yes, thats right, you dont have to kill some uniqe mob 500 times every hour to even start advancement. Nope, you wont have to stand in one spot killing the same mobs for weeks.
Unless your sense of fun was hugging gas at tower wars, I can promise you a rewarding first month in Eq2. Depending on your playstyle a good second month too. After that it will come down to your personality. Something I dont know.
Got a 214 adventurer on Atlantean. Burned out in the heckler grind. Also got a 34 troubador on Najena, and a lot of alts around Norath (dont play much wow anymore, and might cancel that account to try out MxO a bit).
heh. i watched world of warcraft over the shoulder of an increasingly depressed looking friend one time, and found the cartoon stylings of the world and gameplay just a little too "I'm 20 years too old for this game".
It just doesn't seem worth paying the money for the game ($90.00 where I am) and THEN paying for te two months of play that I'd only end up playing. I can wait for something i really WANT to play and be happy to pay for that.
Forum signatures are stupid and annoying. I've turned mine off.
Then why ask when you've already made up your mind? While you dont know the game, WE dont know YOU. And the YOU is the most significant factor in the match between mmorpg and player.
For ME Eq2 is way better then AO and way better then WoW. And I can promise you one thing, there wont be better mmorpgs then WoW and Eq2 coming the next 3 years. Sure, there will be some that people hype, but I kinda doubt you'll see any that play better with more content and quality once they enter launch.
I have to agree with that completely, excellent point.
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
Then EQ2 is not for you... YOu have to fight to explore.. And most of the good content is done through access quests..
SG
Originally posted by Wickes
BTW, Saragoth, it's just a guess ... but I'd bet you were banned for bad language.
Thou its not related to EQ but I think you should try Lineage 2 it has some major issues sure but if you like exploring its a great game with one of the best graphics found on MMORPG's to date.
I gotta say HELL NO to L2. You are STUCK on the noob zones till, I believe...15? Not much to explore when you can't leave the starting area...
Oh...and it took me TWO WEEKS of playing 2 hours a day to get to 15!
I guess I only played on L2 officials for a maybe a month then I left for a private server with a much nicer community. I know there are private servers around with 50 x the normal xp / money / item drops so if you just want to explore try finding one of those.
Despite my undying hatred for SoE after they mercilessly slaughtered SW:G, PS, and EQ, I couldn't agree with that statement more.
Im so tired of peeps bashing SWG. Please take another look at SWG, its 10 times improved in the past 2 months. In my opinion its now living up to its potential everyone always spoke of
You cant judge the game based on playing it months ago. Its probably the best mmorpg around now.
You sure don't mind bashing other people's preferences so deal with it.
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World