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Guild Wars, EverQuest II or ... This is the question..
Orkhan
Member Posts: 13
Sorry, you will find the same post in the "Beta" Threads but I tought it would be more appropriate to post it here..
Hello,
First let me introduce myself; I've started playing MMORPG games a few months ago, I started with a little game called Dofus (Very light game in flash, but buggy and without chance of surviving 
) then someone introduced me to Everquest II! My god what a game! 
I'm a big fan of D&D and played a lot in my younger days, and this seem's to be the perfect game.. I can Solo or Group, there is a lot of quests and PvE ... So far so good! And I know that their is a lot more to discover from this game...
Now... what's wrong with this game ? You need the top hardware to run it! And I mean the TOP! By chance my PC just died .. 
and I went to my guru dealer to build a machine (only the box) to make this game works... Well it will cost me over 3000$ 
dollars to obtain a good quality... And you know what! I'm kind of sceptic about the engine that SoE is using. .. I've seen better graphic on Unreal Tournament 2004! and it ran on my IBM Laptop! 
Now I don't need advice from the player of EQ2, since I already playing this game... but is there anyone out there who played EQ2 and tried Guild Wars ? If so what did you think of it... Gfx, the quests are they good ? Is there more than slashing and bashing ? (remember I'm a huge fan of D&D)...
Now I know that D&D online will soon be unleashed but... I'm kind of worry... I'm guessing that they will rely too much on their reputation and launch another crappy game.. 
Well thanks a lot 
Orkhan
Comments
Hey Orkhan.
No, you don't need the best machine to run it, though I bought myself a $3,000 dollar computer to play many games, one of them EverQuest II. Any computer will basically run it. The lowest required system specs will run it, and well, but with tuned down graphics
"Alas, the beginings of things!"
Hello,
Well you did not get my point...
As far as I am concerned building an insane machine is the least of my problems... I just don't beleive in the engine that they are using... Like I've said, I've seen better Gfx quality on my laptop!! wich is a IBM R40... (I'm starting to assume that their 3D engin was outsourced in India)
But .. If I do remember the hardware is far from being the source of my question...
Cheers
Orkhan
Well I do play EQ2, however I also have guildwars preordered and have played all the open beta weekends as well. I will say it like this..you simply cannot compare the two. They share very very few similiarties.
Now to give you the simple question, yes guildwars runs on alot lower end of a machine. Its graphics are nice, not as nice as EQ2. I consider its graphics on par with lineage 2 or so. not the best, but certaintly not bad.
As for your pc question...$3000? Umm yea..someone is ripping you off dude...bad. you can buy darn near a top end alienware for that and everyone knows how badly they are overpriced. A good EQ2 machine should run you $1500 Tops.
I have a system that runs without lag on very high settings..here are the specs that should easily be attainable for $1500 or less if you shop.
Athlon64 3500+ ( however as a note, I have found an Athlon 64 3000+ overclocked to 2.3 ghz will run the same settings with no problems.
1gig Corsair XMS 4000 ram...If you buy generic ram for this setup dont bother guilding it because your performance is going to suffer. You will clock the ram in the bios to the following settings. 2-3-3-6 2T set its frequency to 230mhz, the alternative is Corsair XMS 3200 with settings of 2-3-3-5 1T with a frequency of 275 mhz. Friend of mine and i have identicle systems with me having the 4000 him the 3200..honsetly its difficult to tell any performance difference..suffice to say both are very fast. I would simply advise to go with the ram that you get the best value on.
Nforce 3 motherboard..not the nforce 4. While I was hoping the Nf4 would be what the NF2 was to the original nforce it was not, or at least at this point is not. unless you specifically insist on having PCIe, however to be brutally honest, there is not enough of a performace difference in PCIe and AGP to warrant the extra cost at this time. There might possibly be in another 6 ~ 12 months, however thats as simple as swapping a motherboard, so Stick to AGP for now. Both of us bought PCIe setups first thing, spent several hundred dollars more and found the performance increase negligable, needless to say we returned it and spent the money elsewhere. As for brand of motherboard, on the NF3 platform there should be 3 manufacturers in your vocabulary, MSI Abit and ASUS. I have been a long time Asus fan, he was a long time Abit fan. However the MSI board for the Athlon 64s has gotten nothing but Rave reviews on the hardware sites, and while I am normally skeptical on msi we took the chance. Needless to say we have been Extremely pleased. The performance of the board is phenominal, its overclocking ability and protection features allow you to maximise the potential of the cpu and ram on air cooling with Zero difficulty.
Graphics card, 6800Gt 256mb...period. The Ultra is not worth $200 more..Its simply not. If your an ATI fan go for their top card, though if your building for EQ2 honestly the nvidia simply has ATI beat across the board on this one.
Outside that everything else is personal choice. and cost's little to nothing..hard drives are cheap...Cdrw's are as well, make certain you have a good case and psu..It should cost you less then $1500...anyone charging you more is ripping you off. Oh and to your engine problems as far as the looks of the engine..get a computer capable of running it. trust me outside half life 2 there is no game on the market with better graphics period. Most people simply do not realize it because their computer cant turn half the features on.
WOW!
Heheheh Well you sure know your stuff... but like I said I just gave it a little bit more HP..
Planning to buy a Dual AMD 64 motherboard from Gigabyte and adding two PCIe "REAL" ATI Video Cards.. (not too sure about he model I will choose) plus I'm sure I will put 2 gig of ram (crossair of course).. and probably adding the new raptor as my primary HD... Like I said .. not a good machine.. I'm building an insane machine
! I don't buy often but when I do I pick the best... (I'm currently out of the country so I'm waiting before also I do wait a little to see the new Intel) But we did try this on the demo machine (exactly like I've said but only one CPU motherboard) And you know what ? putting everything at maximum settings on the demo PC was EQII did not perform as I intended..
Anyway My main question is.. If you have tried Guild Wars knowing that I am a total D&D fan.. Should I try it or stay with EQII ?... Like I said the hardware is no importance at this point but if they do enhance their GFX without optimizing it.. I got some doubts thats all..
Thanks!!
Orkhan
Ps : Oh by the way stick with ASUS.. MSI in known to fry easely on some models.. (believe me I know) heheh
As a fyi, Currently SLI offers no benefit's unless the drivers are specifically enabled on the specifc game. ( pissed me off ) however Its possible, that ATI's version will not require that and will work more like SLI did originally on the voodoo chips...this would get an ati card back in my machine.
As for the specs your choosing, Fair enough I can see what your looking for now. I can go up to extreme settings, but I lag a bit on a raid which is about all I do now, so High settings are more then ample for me, I honestly saw little difference going from high to extreme but again..personal perference.
Concerning Guildwars, I am a D & D fan, and I enjoy GW, off the top of my head I am not certain if its necessarly a D & D appeal, or just the fact that it is a fun game. My honest advise is to give it a try, heck the open beta that everyone can play should be out in the next few weeks, so At the minimum give that a try and see what you like. However if you are a Total D & D convert, I would say you may be interested in the upcoming D & D mmorpg...That might be more your flavor, I know I am giving it and Vanguard a very serious look, with Dark and Light at the very least keeping on the radar with me...havent decided on D & L myself still kinda just watching it develop.
As for the motherboard, As I said. I am not a complete MSI fan, I have built, overclocked, repaired, and done tech support for computers for years, So I still have my fair share of skeptism about it. However I also cannot knock the reviews its getting on specific hardware sites that I have alot of respect for their opinion, so I am giving it a spin. Right now its performance is superb...of course should it burnout thats not a problem, due to the number of machines I build and the business i bring to a local shop they will take it and anything it takes with it and swap it out same day for me..so at worst I might have a few hours downtime, so its worth the risk to me to see if their quality has improved.
----ITS A TRAP!!!----
Many thanks Mr Ackbar!
Hmmm ok, then if I want to kill, shoot, run-over someone, fall from 30 ooo feet.. I will stick with my old Battlefield as for MMORPG I will keep Mr EQII... Until D&D online (wich is build by Turbine).. Hope I will not get too disapointed..
So In resume... EQII is like the 90's Mustang.. Look's ok, use a large V8, but run's like a freaking lincoln... I'm just afraid for future versions..
Again Great Game... Great GFX.. but not well build... Hey you can have the moon if you ask for a star!
Orkhan
I play them both and love them both. They're very different. As others have said EQ2 is more the traditional, "full-fledged" MMORPG, and as such, it may appeal more to hardcore D&D fans. GW is more constant action-oriented, and, of course, PvP is a major focus. There are quests, but they are far far less of a focus than in EQ2, and traditional tradeskills don't exist. There is no way I could play GW every day, but for a change of pace game it's fabulous fun.
GW is ideal for when you don't have much time to play. Feel like some PvP action? Hit the team arena and get in some fast group fights with whoever is around (they take maybe 3-4 minutes each). Feel like some PvE action and don't have time to track down friends or guildmates? Grab some NPC "Henchmen" in whatever classes you like for your group and steer your little "group" into the PvE areas. Great fun. Some clever stuff.
Graphics-wife, make no mistake, GW is a great looking game. What they get out of a graphics engine is IMO amazing. It's not as photo-realistic as EQ2, and maybe it doesn't have the built-in upgrade engine power for the future, but it looks extremely good and runs smooth as silk on ordinary systems. I'd say they are to be congratulated on what they get out of a graphics engine on an average computer. Honestly, some days I think EQ2 looks better, some days I think GW looks better. FWIW I run them on a somewhat aged P4 2.4 1 gig with a 4200ti w/64 megs, and they both run extremely well.
Play them both
That's my plan. GW has no monthly fee anyway ... just buy the box and future expansions.
As a side note... a dual processor board won't buy you anything in the gaming world... Most game clients are not multi-threaded to utilize the extra processor.
Also, I looked at GW a while ago and it was PnC as opposed to WASD movement... that's the main reason which has kept me from checking this game out... I just can't really get into the PnC games...
Oh, you have the option? Hmmmm..... Maybe I'll need to check Guild Wars out...
Thanks!
I disabled the PnC movement option this last weekend because I was accidentally moving when trying to click targets.
Right-click and hold to turn, wheel to zoom, WASD to move/strafe, R to auto-run, and X to turn around. Works great.
I hope I am not to late... I played both... and while anyone who frequents the EQ boards knows, I despise EQ2... its better then Guild Wars.
Guild Wars is nothing more than a glorified Diablo, but not as good, and multiplayer.
I would direct you towards EQ1... but if its a choice between EQ2 and Guildwars... go with EQ2. Or, I am am putting my money on Vanguard (Like all old scholler EQ'ers). Maybe you want to wait for that.
And yes, I have the same worries about D&D online... It should be the best thing since sliced bread, but since WoC took over... yes they will probably butcher the D&D name and it will be a POS. There is however Lejendary Adventures from one of the original creators of D&D, that might be worth taking a look at.
Have to agree with most comments here. Can't afford EQ2 so going with GW, but would prefer to play both. There are some stunning visuals in GW + you can solo, PvP, or GvG (Guild vs. Guild)
Pls note: All comments, from me or others, about GW are being based on a BETA version of the game. Possibly criticisms should await the full release for accuracies sake?
[EDIT: Didn't realise someone had beat me to this comment, sry
dsorrent is wrong tho'.
Movement can be point & click OR WASD - your choice, or even a kind of mix (press W and steer with mouse+Rbutton). AD is turn, QE is strafe. Lots of combinations. Only anoying thing lacking in Beta at least is 'jump' and even then that can be used for tactical advantage.]
There are many quests and 'missions' in GW, but how much true Role Play will really be up to you and the group you hang with.
For those with honour may I humbly recommend
De Erronis Infinitus - Vagabonds of Infinity (DEI)
"If I knew then what I know now... I'ld probably do the same stupid thing
"
www.darkandlight.com
Soon all you need!
Sphinxter
Fear the cause not the symptom
Is when you're a student with a family, don't ever grow up if you wanna be hard-core gamer
"If I knew then what I know now... I'ld probably do the same stupid thing
"
You can, if I recall correctly, move around in Guild Wars with the wasd keys. And you can actually play without a mouse entirely if you want, as I think the tab key selects things and then you can hit the spacebar to attack. I've yet to play an mmo that didn't have at least a little bit of pointing and clicking though.
Guild Wars looks very promising from the betas I have played. DnL might also be cool, Ill check back at release.
Yes, yes of course. 15 Cents a day is just too much.
I can see you saying that if you actually miss meals because of money problems, and struggle to pay for the internet. Otherwise, no.