Have you ever been in an actual low/mid level group, say below level 80? How many of those peoples are running around with master spells?
Yes I have. Those people that WANT to stay 30 for a while and level slowly, they WANT to have good gear and appropriate spells. Doing things like heritage and hallmark quests for a major part of EQ2. Those that are powerleveling to cap and know that they will be level 50 the next day after being 30, those do not need gear or spells, but those people - like you said - will not be "in a real group". So, for those that want to play slow and explore all the content and have "real" level 30 (or 50 or 70) experience, for them it's important to get proper gear and spells at those levels. For those that just want to PL through all that stuff so they can get to the endgame, well, those people probably want to participate in the endgame, so for them it's impotant to have proper gear and spells. I suppose there may be people who want to power level through all the content to 90 and then just quit the game or start over again - for these people gear and spells would not matter.
You CAN sub. Why on earth would you want to switch to live when your friends and guild are on EQ2X? Do you not realize that the servers really do play pretty much identical? That people can and do raid without paying a cent more than their sub?
I thought you had to pay extra for races? Does that cost less than a cent? So basically, what you're saying is that you can pay the exact same sub to play on a limited server that you can never leave or to play on a live server where the majority of the population plays and where you have the choice of many other servers and 300+ endgame guilds that you can move to. Where is the savings in this again?
Like I said, you can take it from someone that's been playing EQ2 for 8 years and has successfully led an endgame guild through the majority of the content or you can take it from the dude above who thinks that "pay to win" is acceptable because "peple shouldn't care that their character sucks!"
You are one of those hardcore raiders out of touch with reality. The type of person who said in EQ1 'You must have a warrior tank, a cleric, and an enchanter, when my group came along with a Pally tank, a druid healer, a shaman, and bard and did the content no problem.. You have zero idea how the group game works sub 80 in EQ2, probably because you PL your alts and then buy SLR gear for them. You play in a different world than most. You know the casuals that complain about SLR? You probably hate them. You are being the same thing.
Please don't assume anything about me. I've never played EQ1. My guild is made up of casual players - adults all - from 9 different countries and we raid twice a week. Between my alts, i have done virtually all the content in the game. I have around 3000 completed quests between the 3 or 4 of them and the only power-leveling i've done is to get additional AAs because SOE doesn't release expansions with enough AA to cover the the character to cap. I have an excellent idea of how the game works because I played the game - at all levels - when the cap was 50, when the cap was 60, when the cap was 70, 80 and now 90. I have done every dungeon in the game at the level that it's supposed to be done with the AAs and gear that a character was expected to have in it.
(on a separate note: Casuals don't complain about SLR, idiots complain about SLR. There is something called a game economy, people do what they're good at - crafting, adventuring, raiding - and then sell the results to others in order to buy other things. I don't craft, but i never complain about crafters selling things. they spend time crafting, sell stuff to me then use the money to buy something for themselves. I spend time adventuring, and if i find something that may be of use to others, i'll sell it to someone that can't get it themselves. It's the very basis of economics and trade - everyone does what they can and trades it.)
You keep going on about how you will be gimp, but how many people in a level 30 group will have 100 AAs? Those are far more gimp then the the person in MC and Experts. Yes, but people aren't limited in how many AAs they have, so if they wanted to get the AAs, they can, if they want to get better spells, they can't. So they need to pay to get better. A character's power shouldn't be determined by how much a person is paying.
you probably also resent that you feel it stops new people from joining EQ2 Live. That i probably do. I think it's a good idea for a game to have a large population and for everyone to be able to play together. You got me there.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall Currently Playing: ESO
I saw someone mentioning in this thread that EQ2 unlike EQ2X has NO item shop? I'm playing the EQ2 trial with 11 days left but I have seen a item shop in the bottom right corner so whats that about? O_o
I saw someone mentioning in this thread that EQ2 unlike EQ2X has NO item shop? I'm playing the EQ2 trial with 11 days left but I have seen a item shop in the bottom right corner so whats that about? O_o
live has an item shop, but it's cosmetic items only. plus the vampire race
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall Currently Playing: ESO
I saw someone mentioning in this thread that EQ2 unlike EQ2X has NO item shop? I'm playing the EQ2 trial with 11 days left but I have seen a item shop in the bottom right corner so whats that about? O_o
EQ2 and EQ2X both have item shops but the EQ2X has more items
EQ2 -- beyond fluff, can buy experience potions and mounts
EQ2X - same as EQ2 but also can buy Spell research reducers, Rare materials for tradesklling, mana potions, health potions
I have done every dungeon in the game at the level that it's supposed to be done with the AAs and gear that a character was expected to have in it.
Not going to go back and forth with all the rest of the stuff. This right here is the key point though.
Its not until late SF and DoV that you come to a point where you cant get the expected level of power (Gears/AA) to complete, or even overpower, the content. LEts take EoF endgame content for instance. AT the time it was released, MC/Experts would have been fine for any of the group content like Unrest or OoB, but raiding is a different story. But whats the difference now? AAs. You can more than overcome that difference with being able to delve deeper into the trees than you could during EoF era.
An EQ2X silver will have no problems at all getting to the expected level of power for 95% of the content in the game and be able to greatly overpower 90% of the content if they want.
Also, your fantasy world of a level 70 group consisting of people in all fableds and master spells is not reality.
aside from endgame content, the content in EQ2 CAN be defeated with crafted gear and absolutely no AAs. that's not the point. the point it that generally, people who play MMOs enjoy the part where they get to advance their characters - whether that is through gear, more powerful spells, levels, AAs or accomplishments. When you take away people's ability to advance their characters as far as others can because they pay less, you're taking away a major part of the reason to play MMOs in the first place.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall Currently Playing: ESO
aside from endgame content, the content in EQ2 CAN be defeated with crafted gear and absolutely no AAs. that's not the point. the point it that generally, people who play MMOs enjoy the part where they get to advance their characters - whether that is through gear, more powerful spells, levels, AAs or accomplishments. When you take away people's ability to advance their characters as far as others can because they pay less, you're taking away a major part of the reason to play MMOs in the first place.
A lot of people play to see content, not to be superman. Its not like their isnt still a ton of advancement with the AA system, and a metric asston of different accomplishments. You are one of the players that the system is not good for. But you fail to realize that people play the game for different reasons. It becomes a problem if you have to pay for enough power to do the content, but thats not the case in eq2x except for the top 5%.
We are talkimg about the difference between being incredibly powerful or being superman here.
OP, if you really want to know which is better I would download the 14 day trial for Live and check populations/guilds at the same time you do it on X. The player search engine is great and let's you filter level, class, etc. Along with the guild search you should be able to create a character on most of the Live servers and see the population. Just my 2cp
OP, if you really want to know which is better I would download the 14 day trial for Live and check populations/guilds at the same time you do it on X. The player search engine is great and let's you filter level, class, etc. Along with the guild search you should be able to create a character on most of the Live servers and see the population. Just my 2cp
If you're going to go this route, one thing you need to understand is that EQ2's chat channels are level based, so the global chat for level 20-29 is not available until you hit 20, 30-39 until you hit 30, etc. So really, you'll only ever be able to judge the population of the level range that you're at, not the overall server pop. One thing you CAN do is join the Auction channel (which is all levels) and ask in it "hey people, i'm new, how would you say this server's population is?". People will generally be quick to tell you if it sucks. How active the auction channel is depends on server also though.
A better way to check how active a server is to check the server forums on eq2flames.com. Every server board has a progression thread. The more active the thread is and the more guilds are on it, the more active the server.
eq2guildprogress.com is another source for endgame activity info.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall Currently Playing: ESO
OP, if you really want to know which is better I would download the 14 day trial for Live and check populations/guilds at the same time you do it on X. The player search engine is great and let's you filter level, class, etc. Along with the guild search you should be able to create a character on most of the Live servers and see the population. Just my 2cp
If you're going to go this route, one thing you need to understand is that EQ2's chat channels are level based, so the global chat for level 20-29 is not available until you hit 20, 30-39 until you hit 30, etc. So really, you'll only ever be able to judge the population of the level range that you're at, not the overall server pop. One thing you CAN do is join the Auction channel (which is all levels) and ask in it "hey people, i'm new, how would you say this server's population is?". People will generally be quick to tell you if it sucks. How active the auction channel is depends on server also though.
A better way to check how active a server is to check the server forums on eq2flames.com. Every server board has a progression thread. The more active the thread is and the more guilds are on it, the more active the server.
eq2guildprogress.com is another source for endgame activity info.
EQ2 has a direct search function. If I'm in game I can tell you in a matter of seconds how many level 54 Troubadors are on at that moment for example. In game channels and this kind of thread seem more based on sales pitches and incorrect/misused information than honestly answers.
OP, if you really want to know which is better I would download the 14 day trial for Live and check populations/guilds at the same time you do it on X. The player search engine is great and let's you filter level, class, etc. Along with the guild search you should be able to create a character on most of the Live servers and see the population. Just my 2cp
If you're going to go this route, one thing you need to understand is that EQ2's chat channels are level based, so the global chat for level 20-29 is not available until you hit 20, 30-39 until you hit 30, etc. So really, you'll only ever be able to judge the population of the level range that you're at, not the overall server pop. One thing you CAN do is join the Auction channel (which is all levels) and ask in it "hey people, i'm new, how would you say this server's population is?". People will generally be quick to tell you if it sucks. How active the auction channel is depends on server also though.
A better way to check how active a server is to check the server forums on eq2flames.com. Every server board has a progression thread. The more active the thread is and the more guilds are on it, the more active the server.
eq2guildprogress.com is another source for endgame activity info.
EQ2 has a direct search function. If I'm in game I can tell you in a matter of seconds how many level 54 Troubadors are on at that moment for example. In game channels and this kind of thread seem more based on sales pitches and incorrect/misused information than honestly answers.
afaik anon players don't come up on and it has a cap of 100 results, so unless it so happens that there are less than 100 people on and none of them are /anon, you won't get an accurate read with /who. But yeah, for low levels it's a pretty good method. It's more used for finding someone to fill a group than to accurately measure population.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall Currently Playing: ESO
Comments
correct - EQ2X gold members have no restrictions for gear or spells
if you sub on EQ2X, the only restriction is player race
beyond that you have the same freedom as playing on Live servers
EQ2X has an advantage that its international too, thats why you can find players at all hours
worth noting,
you dont need to buy the game for either service
EQ2Live 14 day Trial gives you all expansions except DOV -- only need to sub
http://www.everquest2.com/news/read/082011/4039
theres a similar topic about this on the SOE forums
EQ2x vs EQ2 for new player
http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=508608
EQ2 fan sites
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
I saw someone mentioning in this thread that EQ2 unlike EQ2X has NO item shop? I'm playing the EQ2 trial with 11 days left but I have seen a item shop in the bottom right corner so whats that about? O_o
live has an item shop, but it's cosmetic items only. plus the vampire race
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
EQ2 and EQ2X both have item shops but the EQ2X has more items
EQ2 -- beyond fluff, can buy experience potions and mounts
EQ2X - same as EQ2 but also can buy Spell research reducers, Rare materials for tradesklling, mana potions, health potions
EQ2X shop used to have gear
but adventure gear been removed for over 4 months
EQ2 fan sites
Not going to go back and forth with all the rest of the stuff. This right here is the key point though.
Its not until late SF and DoV that you come to a point where you cant get the expected level of power (Gears/AA) to complete, or even overpower, the content. LEts take EoF endgame content for instance. AT the time it was released, MC/Experts would have been fine for any of the group content like Unrest or OoB, but raiding is a different story. But whats the difference now? AAs. You can more than overcome that difference with being able to delve deeper into the trees than you could during EoF era.
An EQ2X silver will have no problems at all getting to the expected level of power for 95% of the content in the game and be able to greatly overpower 90% of the content if they want.
Also, your fantasy world of a level 70 group consisting of people in all fableds and master spells is not reality.
aside from endgame content, the content in EQ2 CAN be defeated with crafted gear and absolutely no AAs. that's not the point. the point it that generally, people who play MMOs enjoy the part where they get to advance their characters - whether that is through gear, more powerful spells, levels, AAs or accomplishments. When you take away people's ability to advance their characters as far as others can because they pay less, you're taking away a major part of the reason to play MMOs in the first place.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
A lot of people play to see content, not to be superman. Its not like their isnt still a ton of advancement with the AA system, and a metric asston of different accomplishments. You are one of the players that the system is not good for. But you fail to realize that people play the game for different reasons. It becomes a problem if you have to pay for enough power to do the content, but thats not the case in eq2x except for the top 5%.
We are talkimg about the difference between being incredibly powerful or being superman here.
If you're going to go this route, one thing you need to understand is that EQ2's chat channels are level based, so the global chat for level 20-29 is not available until you hit 20, 30-39 until you hit 30, etc. So really, you'll only ever be able to judge the population of the level range that you're at, not the overall server pop. One thing you CAN do is join the Auction channel (which is all levels) and ask in it "hey people, i'm new, how would you say this server's population is?". People will generally be quick to tell you if it sucks. How active the auction channel is depends on server also though.
A better way to check how active a server is to check the server forums on eq2flames.com. Every server board has a progression thread. The more active the thread is and the more guilds are on it, the more active the server.
eq2guildprogress.com is another source for endgame activity info.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
EQ2 has a direct search function. If I'm in game I can tell you in a matter of seconds how many level 54 Troubadors are on at that moment for example. In game channels and this kind of thread seem more based on sales pitches and incorrect/misused information than honestly answers.
Thanks everybody; got some reallly helpful answers here.
I decided to go EQ2 live and next month I will probably go with the SOE all-access because I would like to play both EQ2 and Vanguard.
I live in Europe but at the hours I play there are some US servers with more people online, so I choosed to play there instead of the EU server.
Cheers.
afaik anon players don't come up on and it has a cap of 100 results, so unless it so happens that there are less than 100 people on and none of them are /anon, you won't get an accurate read with /who. But yeah, for low levels it's a pretty good method. It's more used for finding someone to fill a group than to accurately measure population.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO