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What would makeEQ2 as sucessful as WoW?
Rabia
Member Posts: 622
Edit: What would makeEQ2 as sucessful as WoW?
Given this is John Smedley's second chance to make the EQ franchise wildly sucessful, why did he fail and WoW beat him to it?
I change the title, as I am not intended to flame. I just want to hear from EQ2 players as to what might make the game more sucessfully from SOE's (and J. Smedley's point of view)? Clearly, WoW has been sucessful from a subscription stand point.
I have played EQ2 and WoW, and both have strong and negative points.
WoW was Blizzards first MMO as far as I know, whereas EQ2 is John Smedley's second MMO of an established franchise.
This is more about how Smedley runs SOE as compared to other MMOs rather than a comparison of the games themselves.
Comments
Okay I'll bite your flame bait, but I'll answer it with a couple questions of my own:
Why isn't AC2 more succssful than WoW? It was Turbine's second chance at a franchise. Why isn't ANY MMO EVER CREATED beating WoW?
Now go back to trolling the WoW forums, no one is fooled.
It would take the rest of my lifetime and then some listing all the reasons.
Lineage 1... Lineage 2...
To be honest, the #1 thing that EQ2 could do to get around the same number of subscribers as WoW would be to go back in time, release a 2d dungeon crawl and a sci-fi RTS that all 12-14 year olds will get hooked on and then start idolizing the company that made the game.
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"Io rido, e rider mio non passa dentro;
Io ardo, e l'arsion mia non par di fore."
-Machiavelli
haha that is great! I am personally glad EQ2 doesn't have the numbers WoW has. Not cause of the community or gameplay or whatever. I think being number one with that many people you run the game your way and not what the players ask. I think WoW is the best thing to happen to the SOE cause it provided competition for the first time. Just my opinion.
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Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.
They'd have to make the art appealing, remove or modify the zoning, and lower the system requirements. The artwork in the game is quite bland for quite a few zones, like Antonica and Thundering Steppes. There's only a few places where you can go and say "wow, that looks cool". Everywhere else, it has a computer-generated feel. As for the zoning, because of how the zones are placed and the barriers surrounding each zone, it makes the game feel more like a collection of islands rather than an actual land mass. Zoning in games is not necessarily a bad thing, since most MMORPGs use some sort of zoning system. The reason why EQ2's is so bad is because it severely reduces the feel of how big each zone is. And for system requirements...WoW on my computer at max detail: 50-60 FPS. EQ2 on my computer on high performance: 20's, in a group on very high performance: 10-20. It's a big difference.
1. Improve the roleplaying aspect of the game. Specifically, don't make the game have a hard divide between 100% good and 100% evil, then allow people to guild and group together across both sides with zero penalty.
2. Add more content. People look at the original world of EQ1 with three full continents and 1 or more massive starting cities for each race. Then they look at EQ2 with two slightly larger cities and only bits and pieces of the largest original continent.
3. Diversify characters. More armor textures and models for armor and weapons. Armor dye is good, but unnecessary if the level of textures and models is increased.
4. FEWER quests. I'm a content whore, I admit. I try to do everything in minute detail before moving on. Eliminating most of the silly delivery tasks, meaningless kill tasks, hell, ANYTHING that doesn't have a significant story behind it should just be scrapped. As it is, all my characters are mired down doing green and blue quests before they grow up too much and completely trivialize them. I'm fine with tough quests that make me run to the darkest corners of Norrath, but not tedious and tiresome excuses for tasks. Yes, I know killing those diseased rats was crucial to saving the kingdom because the guards can't leave their posts, etc. A more focused approach to questing would provide substantial benefit.
5. Less need for grouping at lower levels. It's hard enough finding people to group up with that are in your level range AND want to go to the zone you want. Access requirements further complicate matters.
6. If we're going to have so much content packed into the lower levels, the EXP rate needs to be slowed down for those levels.
7. Remove instant travel.
8. Stop with the corporate greed. Yes, I know companies are there to make money, but SOE is going a lttle far. I have zero issues with the exchange, but adventure packs really should have been free. Likewise, expansion packs should have allowed free access to features benefiting all levels. (voice emotes, AA)
9. In line with #8, SOE needs to improve their image. Few big-name companies in the MMO industry have been bashed for good reasons more than SOE.
10. Have expansion packs actually EXPAND the game, rather than merely extend it.
Short answer: nothing at this point.
(Slightly) Longer answer: EQ2 would have needed the Blizzard name, the Warcraft name (yes its bigger than EQ franchise), lighter computer requirements, and a more noob friendly experience upon release.
Lineage 1... Lineage 2...
To be honest, the #1 thing that EQ2 could do to get around the same number of subscribers as WoW would be to go back in time, release a 2d dungeon crawl and a sci-fi RTS that all 12-14 year olds will get hooked on and then start idolizing the company that made the game.
Right if you add all the subscribers from Lineage 1 with all the subscribers from Lineage 2 combined, they have as many as WoW. Linage 2 has less than half WoW's numbers, and Lineage 1 has about 3/5ths. No single MMO has more subscibers than WoW. Hell there have been very few video games period that have sold 5million units.
EQ2 can never beat WOW!
Youonly have one first impression an if you screw that up 90% of the people wont give it another try ever!
EQ2 had a poor launch and was very disappointing at the time, WOW on the other hand was a much better game at the time.
Only thing EQ2 can do is give the client away for free as a download, give them 14 days free and improve the game.
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Don't click here...no2
Poor launch? - looked good to me.
No the way EQ2 could approach WoW would be to do away with the subs of course. As that guy at Arena.net says, subs alone is the biggest barrier to people playing a MMOG.
Raymondo
and when regarding getting numbers such as WoW, it's a no brainer.
For the required advertising campaign to appeal to the average WoW gamer, let me demonstrate:
Bring in Chuck, and EQ2's subs will triple overnight.
Guaranteed.
"(The) Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude." - George W Bush.
Oh. My. God.
Could someone please explain this Chuck Norris thing to me ???
I have heard some mention of him and online gaming. What is going on ??
Support Bacteria, its the only culture some people have.
It wasn't fun and wasn't ready to be released.
Erm dunno how to start as you seems to think EQ has a bigger name then warcraft for some weird weird reason.
First,apart from the older generation of mmo players EQ is totally unknown.More so its totally unknown in asia the biggest market for games in the world.
People in asia know the warcraft /starcraft name well.
Ask yourself why the lineage series(1 and 2) has over 6 million accounts.I mean its relatively unknown in NA/europe but it is a known name in Asia.
Also the specs is a driving factor.
However,i like what one article wrote in a pcgamer mag in uk.It said both are great games but WoW is the "star wars" of mmorpg an instant hit and cult legend,whereas EQ2 is the "star trek" a successful game but growing in its legend status by the day(referring to the original ST to how it became a cult favourite).
This basically says it all.
Not that everything has to be compared to WoW.
WoW has been most sucessful due to all the hype and friend-to-friend advertising.
Actually some things that could improve the game as a whole is to strenghten the overall feeling of the game, which includes removal of choppy targeting, bulky UI system, more easy customizable UI (makes players feel more at home while playing).
$OE lies list
http://www.rlmmo.com/viewtopic.php?t=424&start=0
"
And I don't want to hear anything about "I don't believe in vampires" because *I* don't believe in vampires, but I believe in my own two eyes, and what *I* saw is ******* vampires! "
ruat caelum
More advertising maby, since all too many WoW players hardly knows there are other MMORPG's out there. It's always as fun hearing people go "Wow I have been playing WoW so much as my first emo and always bashed down other mmorpg's, but now when I tried this one I was in for a promising surprise"
They could also rewind time and make a new Real time strategy serie called "EverQuest Battles" that is just as good as WC3 and SC to get millions of stable subscribers right from there.
But the power is never in the numbers, EQ2 is already as succesful as it needs to be. I play it, I am happy. That's all that counts ^^
$OE lies list
http://www.rlmmo.com/viewtopic.php?t=424&start=0
"
And I don't want to hear anything about "I don't believe in vampires" because *I* don't believe in vampires, but I believe in my own two eyes, and what *I* saw is ******* vampires! "
i think EQ2 is doing a good job getting new people all of a sudden, as i think it is obvious that more people are joining the game,
and if youve been on the interent, EQ2 has launched a huge advertising campeighn
The new EQ2, better than ever befor !
don't click this link...
Errr...
Without the fanbase to back your product, I don't see how ANY game can think of competing with a Blizzard product.
SoE, with years of raiding, erode it fanbase.
So...finding a time travel machine, going back in 1998, making sure you have a vision, remain loyal to it, make sure the vision consider the majority and not the minorities who are raiding or PvPing (raiding and PvP have a place in the game, just not at the "End Game")...Goes a LDoN way, with no restriction...all the way...but then...folks would be writing EQ vs EQ2 threads and it would be kinda like a civil war where SoE wins all the time.
But instead, SoE made sure to erode it fanbase. Raiding make a quick job of the majority of players. But releasing unfinished content on casuals was a mistake (Afterlifes are casuals and obviously can't accept unfinished content, they are not alone). See, a player like me MAY bear mistakes and unfinished content, but casuals like Afterlife...forget it. They have everything the devs could throw them, and they leave. LOL. Me I bear thousands of bugs as long as I have HOPE that the game was heading the right way and I was making fun...which happen up to GoD. I should have left before GoD, WAY before it...but...I am an optimist, and I want to believe in them when I read their LIES!
Now, from the point we are, assuming SoE understand it lesson, EQ2 should never be as popular as WoW. Because to become as popular as WoW, it mean betraying what little fanbase you have. This is something you can't do. Instead, SoE should focus on releasing a good MMORPG centered on SOLO and GROUPING, stop listening to peoples who say you need whatever is not solo or grouping, you don't need anything but those 2 aspects. Work that fine, give it a end game and maybe, I say MAYBE, put other aspects in the game but never at the expense of SOLO or GROUPING.
And, in a few years, you could beat WoW. Make a marketing that doesn't lie. Don't try to get all your EQ2 and EQ players in such a game, they love raiding if it shaft solo and grouping...so put a heavy emphasis on the word SOLO like you never before or something like that, GROUP with your friends and overtake the *insert whatever related to the story*.
To beat WoW, you need to developp a fanbase. Luckily for you, Blizzard is eroding it very fanbase with the same raiding mistakes, which is very funny IMO. Raiding is SHORT term to medium term, it is an extremely poor decision in the LONG term. Of course in an industry which consider 5 years like another life time...thinking in such long term is pretty hard.
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
Depends on what you mean by successful.
If you mean sheer numbers. I don't think it's going to happen any time soon.
If you mean as far as lasting gameplay with a steady player base, then I think the first thing is to stop trying to emulate WoW. Then I would add more challenge into the gameplay, and make more quests that are rewarding and meaningful to a lore or storyline. Then work on fixing the many issues.
To me atleast there aren't too many identifiable thing for characters to set them apart from others. Aside from flying carpets and things like that I often can tell a lvl 60 for a lvl 25 character. In my opinion games like FFXI (sorry if everyone thinks that game sucks, but I like it) made certain armor and weapons immediately identifiable, and a pain to get..... which made it feel like a sense of accomplishment.
WoW does this to some extent but seems to me far too easy. EQ2 needs more of that kind of stuff.
SOE really screwed up the game. I played EQ2 for over a year starting from release, I loved the game at the beginning, but as time went on I noticed how crappy the game was. Everyone whined how they relied on other crafters in order to advance, or how you need a group to level smoothly. With all of the new expansions and changes, you can see how EQ2 isn't successful at all. They went into panic mode for losing so many subscribers that they went from more of a hardcore game to a casual one within only a short period of time. They already started to merge servers! Sorry to all of the EQ2 players, but I think there's nothing but down hill for that game.
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