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EverQuest II: New Feature - Content Galore!
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It has been nearly months since Sony Online Entertainment released EverQuest II, the sequel to their smash hit EverQuest. Since this initial release much has been added to the game and countless tweaks and improvements have been made. One of our new writers, Darren Bridle has taken a closer look at exact what has been going on in this world of Norrath lately. A preview:
| Without counting bloodlines, 15 new dungeons were added, 12 of those level 50 epic dungeons. There is already a significant high end community, which needed some attention. The addition of the higher end dungeons was a good move by Sony to keep level 50 characters playing. The new epic zones support up to 24 person raids. The 2 other dungeons are for the level 25-35 community, in the Commonlands and Antonica.
The latest Dungeon to be added was return to Nektropos, where players can once again visit Nektropos Castle, one of the most popular and well designed Dungeons in the game. This time, with Lord Everling dead, you can now enter into deeper and more dangerous parts of the castle. This dungeon was also designed for the higher level community and brings some of the best treasure the game has seen to date. Also added to the game were thousands of new quests, even some more heritage quests, like the Golden Efreeti Boots. When you play Everquest 2, the sheer volume of detailed quests is a testament to the amount of content in the game, it truly is staggering. |
To read the entire feature, click here.
- MMORPG.COM Staff -
The dead know only one thing: it is better to be alive.
Comments
It's still Evercamp and the majority of quests in the game involve kill X amount of Y monsters. Days to camp BloodTalon, to camp Agony, camp camp camp.
I, for one, am enjoying the missions of Guild Wars that rather than endless camping, have you needing to work from one part of the map to the other, like a good old fashioned dungeon crawl backed by a storyline reason for doing that crawl.
Now if we could combine Guild Wars gameplay and color palate with SWG or Horizon's crafting, and EQLive's Norrath with EQ2's graphics, I'd have my perfect game.
I don't care how much content they add, SoE needs to revolutionise the entire gameplay, and make a decision, whether to appeal the casual player or the Core player.
Personally playing EQ2 doesn't feel right, should be more challenging, and things like locked encounters must go.
They could use some of their workforce to add some new Armor and Weapon for instance, instead of wasting their time in adding so many zones.
Since it feels like I am playing with lots of clones of myself.
As it is, EQ2 is a crap game with lots of useless content.
I do play EQ2 although been pondering quitting for a time . The game is very campy which . I do recall them saying you wont have to camp mobs. If its not camping then dont know what you would call it. Many of the new content is buggy as can be , nek 2 worst agro issues in the game. Mobs comming through the walls to kill 1 person for no apparent reason and leaving. The have trivialized the game by turning many areas into candyland to make things easier for people. The original EQ1 where being the first to enter Plane of fear and hate after they were released , it was difficult and extremely fun. I hope they decide to fix the game, but i dont for see it. I also see the combat upgrade and the priest balance for EQ2 will make the game realllly bad. Look at what they did with SWG.
Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!
Ehhehh.............Fun?
This world is not on SoE dictionnary
"...the sheer volume of detailed quests is a testament to the amount of content in the game, it truly is staggering."
What I find staggering is the sheer number of repetative kill 15 (name of mob here) quests. I remember them saying there would be no camping in EQ2. Yea? Let's see, camp this group of gnolls here for this armor piece, then camp undead knights for that armor piece, then camp some flying books in Stormhold's library, then camp...... every one of them kill X number of monster's, sitting in one spot till you get your quota. Wash, rinse, repeat. That's adventuring in Norrath part Deux.
The graphics engine is top notch, and they waste it on huge zones all washed in the same grey/brown color palate. Antonica, Commonlands, Thundering Steppes, all brown, brown and yet another shade of brown. Realism you say? As long as there are females in any world, they will force color on the place in which they live despite it's state if not for any other reason than to stave off depression. That's realism. World just had a cataclysm you say? Mt St Helens blew it's top off and now Spirit Lake has 5 pound trout in it. The forest around it is a riot of alder trees you can't see 10 feet in front of you when they leaf out. Oh, and they announce a new expansion in the works. Guess what, it's based in a desert. I wonder what color THAT will be...hmm. ya think maybe BROWN????
They said we wouldn't feel cramped living in two cities because they are made up of a whole lot of different zones. Most of the newbie hovels look much like the one in the next zone. It's a pain in the arse zoning from one section to another section to another section of the city you are forced to live in just to get around. And then there's the fact that you can never change your home-gate. You spend money to live in an upgraded and more spacious apartment in a better part of town? Guess what, at the end of your camping day when you use your Call-of-Qeynos or Call-of-the-Overlord, it still gates you to the newbie hovel you first started with...forever. And then once you land in your newbie spot it's zone zone zone again until you can make it to your apartment.
Also there is no special loot, no wonderous item that you just HAD to have like in EQ1, something that someone had that caught your eye and you decided you just had to have and worked all weekend on. There's no incentive, no wondrous prize to all that camping in EQ2. Top that off with the lack of surprises like in EQ1 when you accidently went through a wall and found a secret room or new passage. I actually miss the trains of EQ1's Unrest. Nothing like watching a giant hand, a ghost, and a the rest of the manor marching back through the yard.
EQ2 took all the fun out of Norrath. They didn't make it better. They made it realistic dirty brown and grey. They compartmentalized it, put restrictions on this, restrictions on that, balanced the classes to death, and chained crafters to the most boring of craft processes where you have to spend endless hours making low level components that give no experience to make for those hours in order to put together the wanted end product.
There is no fun in Norrath anymore. SoE killed it.
There once was a vision that was Norrath, now it has been reduced to fruitless and empty promises, and a weak lack-luster world that is but the merest shadow of what it might have become. I used to honor Sony, but over these past few years I cannot close my eyes anymore to what they have done to both EverQuest, and EverQuest II. I went into EQ2 praying and hoping that that virginhood feel I experienced in the original Norrath might again occur, if even to the smallest degree, and was dissapointed - more so then that, I was lied to, and felt cheated of 5+ years of loyalty to Sony.
Many people are of the opinion that the newbie experience cannot be recreated..Let us discuss exactly what the newbie experience "is": Today, most MMORPGs don't "invite" a new character into their world, or not in a real sense where the experience as a new player is an overly lasting, or important one.
Think about it - when you create a character in most current MMORPGs, the new character appears in the world, usually to live their life swiping at rats, and blazing through the tiers until you start getting to mid-levels, and thats when things begin to get "serious". There you have it ladies, and gentlemen, and gnomes ... the lifestory of most typical newbies in today's "2nd generation gaming". There's no real character definite experiences. No blood, sweat, and to the top. No reason why you would want to remain a newbie - frankly, the newb lvls, have become just "fluff".
It is time for this to change, it's time for the newb experience, to become something truely definitive and eventful, a crucial and integral part of "growing up". The concept of making each player "special", starting from day one, has far-reaching benefits on character development, and will ingrain a sense of pride, affection, and fondness for your avatar. I think that one of the only companies to understand the importance of the newbie experience, is Sigil (producers of VSOH). It is an important part of any game, because the experience of an individual defines the person's entire perspective and spin on said game --- this being said, I truely believe that to make that the newbie stage a quick process, is not the correct way to go about leveling. Make the character important on the get-go, present them with dynamics/mechanics that will challenge them, and then your onto something....I think it's a step down that road to finding the magic, and reascending to that feeling of "mmorpg virginity" - to feel for your character the moment you take your first steps in Telon. Mind, this is my personal opinion after feeling quite literally, no real connection to my avatars in either WoW or EQ2...I had just never gotten that sense of pride and affection, and I do not think that the newbie levels of play should be dismissed as "simple", but just as hard as every other step down the road to 100 (situationally of course).
"when life knocks you to your knees...well, thats the best posistion to pray in, isn't it ?"
The author of this article needs to realize that just because you cram alot of garbage into a game doesn't mean that it's "full of content", but instead it's just full of.. exactly.
This article reads like a SoE advertisement and nothing like the truth spoken by real players.
Exactly, that s what I thought.
Also great posts from -KitFox- and Defafnyr
Everquest II is the supreme example of what a game designed by Corporate Marketing "Experts" would look like. The game is like a Patchwork monster, with random pieces stitched together in some semblance of life, but with no soul to inspire it.
Sony's marketing people should be ashamed.
"Soloists and those who prefer small groups should never have to feel like they''re the ones getting the proverbial table scraps, as it were." - Scott Hartsman, Senior Producer, Everquest II
"People love groups. Its a fallacy that people want to play solo all the time." - Scott Hartsman, Executive Producer, Rift
You have to wonder how much sony " donates" to MMORPG.COM...... They got great reviews about both SWG and EQ2. Two games that are sooo fecked up its pitiful. In beta they said all Tanks would fit the role of the tank , but in differnt ways. Only real tank is a Guardian, everyone else is secondrate. All Priest would be equal , templar has the best ability to heal out of all priest and the most desired. All scouts would be balanced, Bard dps is pathetic. Mages... Wizard and Warlocks supremely powerful and enchanters are just there for mana batteries, summoners are not prefered mage types also.
Also look at how complete the Good side is compared to evil side. Good classes vs evil classes as well. Now with combat upgrade their view on Tanks has changed . Who knows what they have instore for priest.
Exactly, that s what I thought.
Also great posts from -KitFox- and Defafnyr
I too agree. A bunch of cookie cutter quests and cookie cutter dungeons don't really mean much. The basic game still just isn't fun to me.
That they're still trying to cater to the hardcore types, and all others are considered 2nd class still bugs me no end.
And now with the Sony exchange? What a conflict of interest. Clearly the OP is playing a different game than I played. And as another poster asked, just how much does this website get from SOE. Or you just trying to stay on their good side? So you get that hot(boring) information?
You must be joking! EQII is fundamentally broken, so much so that the devs are revamping its entire combat and spell system (much to the consternation of the players). Class nerfs and imbalances dominate gameplay. Added content is meaningless if the game's underlying system is in such flux that no one can anticipate how the game will play two weeks from now (or, more likely, two years from now when SOE finally gets its act together).
If you have any interest in playing this game, wait until these "fixes" are finally implemented. Otherwise, you'll fall into the pay to play beta trap which SOE seems to excell at.
Why is it that everytime anyone writes a positive article, we are clearly being paid by the company? You realize, people get into this industry and volunteer their time as writers for game sites because they... like games. I am all for you guys debating the merits of his argument, but the personal attacks and insinuations about the writer and/or the site are totally ridiculous.
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
No idea on this, this is simply news to the players. Well anyways, thanks for posting, I do appreciate the news updates, its part of why I am here.
- 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
Lepidus I agree with you. Not that I am saying I liked EQ2 or anything but it seems that when an article is posted that supports ANY mmorpg, there are always people who have to flame the writer and say they are payed by the company. Happen to think that the writer likes EQ2 or the other games that are reviewed? I mean EQ2 did get a 7.5 rating...thats not bad at all compared to all of the MMORPG's featured on this site.
Maybe others think your "garbage" is something good? Dont look at it so one sided, your opinion is not gods rule. Im not sure if you have looked at the EQ2 rating by the players (i put this in my previous post) but it got a 7.5.....if thats the truth then it cant just be all graphics....the content DOES have some value to the players.