Chaos within Kunark - EverQuest II Review

SBFord · December 2016

Chaos within Kunark - EverQuest II Review

Kunark Ascending, EverQuest II’s 13th expansion, continues two major storylines of Norrath: the Greenmist and the rise of Lanys T’Vyl. The northern reaches of Kunark has been opened up, introducing one new overland zone (Obulus Frontier) as well as several dungeons—including iconic EverQuest zones such as the Crypt of Dalnir, Kaesora, and the City of Mist.

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nationalcity · December 2016

Am I the only one that likes the old school pre-reqs?

Forgrimm · December 2016

DMKano said:

I thought that was EQ1 from that top screenshot - eq2 has not aged well.

Same exact thing that I thought. Looks pretty bad.

ste2000 · December 2016

DMKano said:

I thought that was EQ1 from that top screenshot - eq2 has not aged well.

Even though I never been in love with EQ2 graphics, let's not forget this is a 12 y/o game.

FelixMajor · December 2016

The game is hard to stomach, it certainly has not aged well.

fodell54 · December 2016

I agree I used to enjoy EQ2. Yet, I can't get back into it mostly because of the way it looks. Which is kind of weird. I still play Ultima Online without a problem but EQ2 is hard for me to deal with.

It's sad because EQ2 has so much to offer. It really is a good game.

fodell54 · December 2016

ste2000 said:

DMKano said:

I thought that was EQ1 from that top screenshot - eq2 has not aged well.

Even though I never been in love with EQ2 graphics, let's not forget this is a 12 y/o game.

So is Wow but it aged much better.

[Deleted User] · December 2016

The user and all related content has been deleted.

xyzercrime · December 2016

fodell54 said:

ste2000 said:

DMKano said:

I thought that was EQ1 from that top screenshot - eq2 has not aged well.

Even though I never been in love with EQ2 graphics, let's not forget this is a 12 y/o game.

So is Wow but it aged much better.

Comparing WoW and EQ2 is like comparing two ugly boys, and only one boy is rich. When they reached mature age, the rich one go to the plastic surgeon and gets "beautification" for his face and body, the doctors polished the hell out of him. While the poorer one can't get enough of food, his papa (Smed) left him, then he get sick over time and now the poor boy is waiting for his death to come.

"Bigger budget" is a defining factor here.

fodell54 · December 2016

xyzercrime said:

fodell54 said:

ste2000 said:

DMKano said:

I thought that was EQ1 from that top screenshot - eq2 has not aged well.

Even though I never been in love with EQ2 graphics, let's not forget this is a 12 y/o game.

So is Wow but it aged much better.

Comparing WoW and EQ2 is like comparing two ugly boys, and only one boy is rich. When they reached mature age, the rich one go to the plastic surgeon and gets "beautification" for his face and body, the doctors polished the hell out of him. While the poorer one can't get enough of food, then he get sick over time and now the poor boy is waiting for his death to come.

Even without any updated graphics Wow still looks better. If you weren't aware EQ2 did update the character models (alternate models) in 2006. https://www.everquest2.com/news/imported-eq2-enus-2075. So I guess they had plastic surgery as well now didn't they. Just saying.

Kind of a shitty analogy.

ste2000 · December 2016

fodell54 said:

xyzercrime said:

Even without any updated graphics Wow still looks better. If you weren't aware EQ2 did update the character models (alternate models) in 2006. https://www.everquest2.com/news/imported-eq2-enus-2075. So I guess they had plastic surgery as well now didn't they. Just saying.

Kind of a shitty analogy.

It wasn't a graphic upgrade, they just made alternative characters to appeal to Asians players.
And cartoons never age, so the comparison between WoW and EQ2 is a bit far fetched.

xyzercrime · December 2016

fodell54 said:

xyzercrime said:

fodell54 said:

ste2000 said:

DMKano said:

I thought that was EQ1 from that top screenshot - eq2 has not aged well.

Even though I never been in love with EQ2 graphics, let's not forget this is a 12 y/o game.

So is Wow but it aged much better.

Comparing WoW and EQ2 is like comparing two ugly boys, and only one boy is rich. When they reached mature age, the rich one go to the plastic surgeon and gets "beautification" for his face and body, the doctors polished the hell out of him. While the poorer one can't get enough of food, then he get sick over time and now the poor boy is waiting for his death to come.

Even without any updated graphics Wow still looks better. If you weren't aware EQ2 did update the character models (alternate models) in 2006. https://www.everquest2.com/news/imported-eq2-enus-2075. So I guess they had plastic surgery as well now didn't they. Just saying.

Kind of a shitty analogy.

Oh, I never knew EQ2 had surgery too..

Bigger budget, pal. That's why WoW aged better.

Mackaveli44 · December 2016

No one can compare WoW's graphics to EQ2's. One is lifelike(EQ2) or a more "realistic" approach with a normal color pallet, if you can even call it that, where WoW took a more cartoon'ish style, bright neon color scheme which brighter colors are more appealing to the human eye and always stay relevant because of its brightness. Neither has aged well if we want to call a spade a spade. The only thing both have done is update their texture details as time progresses. WoW did update their models and animations some where EQ2 didn't.

As others mentioned, money plays a role in that. A millionaire(Blizzard) can afford a 100K + Tesla vehicle where a Lower/middle class income person(Daybreak) can't. So you can't compare apples to oranges.

flizzer · December 2016

All very subjective. I never liked Wow's graphics, some do.

SlyLoK · December 2016

Mackaveli44 said:

No one can compare WoW's graphics to EQ2's. One is lifelike(EQ2) or a more "realistic" approach with a normal color pallet, if you can even call it that, where WoW took a more cartoon'ish style, bright neon color scheme which brighter colors are more appealing to the human eye and always stay relevant because of its brightness. Neither has aged well if we want to call a spade a spade. The only thing both have done is update their texture details as time progresses. WoW did update their models and animations some where EQ2 didn't.

As others mentioned, money plays a role in that. A millionaire(Blizzard) can afford a 100K + Tesla vehicle where a Lower/middle class income person(Daybreak) can't. So you can't compare apples to oranges.

Except for the most part they were SOE with the backing of Sony.

They banked on faster single core CPUs and it backfired.

IMO EQ2 started showing its age pretty early on. The character models never looked that good from the beginning. The water looked way better than most of the terrains.

I also don't recall any bright neon color schemes in WoW..

Ziboo · December 2016

You may not like the graphics - I don't find them that off putting - but you can't argue with the amount of content in EQ2 compared to any game out there.

It has a great community compared to many games. Lore is interesting. Housing and crafting can't be touched by any existing game. Daybreak has been very responsive with the C.S. And fortunately it's hard enough to keep most of the lazy gamers from trolling around.

You don't like it don't play. Graphics are so subjective on what someone finds acceptable. But any game, after a few days, you get use to whether WoW, EQ2, or any of the Korean-style games, etc.

Hedeon · December 2016

fodell54 said:

I agree I used to enjoy EQ2. Yet, I can't get back into it mostly because of the way it looks. Which is kind of weird. I still play Ultima Online without a problem but EQ2 is hard for me to deal with.

It's sad because EQ2 has so much to offer. It really is a good game.

cant talk for UO but certainly I cant really get back into EQ2 as well, but the looks have for me nothing to do with it, for me its the "feel" of it that you have to be used to, and that is lost fast, atleast for me it didnt take more than about a year away from it.

Also when compare the looks to EQ1 Id think someone talk about their memories of EQ1 rather than the actual quality, and yep EQ2 looked dated the day it got released like any MMO, dont think Ive ever seen one that didnt.

anyway old

for EQ2 and mainly the peeps I used to play it with, as any MMO it aint better than the company

Mendel · December 2016

To me the images look okay enough, maybe not the best, but definitely not the worst. My issue with EQ2 has always been the horrific loading screen delays rather than the graphic appearance. I can live with the looks, but not the waiting.

Asamof · December 2016

EQ2 thought they could actually have zero art direction because they had a lot of neat graphic effects at the time. Game was ugly as sin even on launch day.

SlyLoK · December 2016

One thing that keeps me from playing again are the overdone particles on every little attack... Mainly melee. Just ugly.

Asamof · December 2016

Also when I read the rich boy analogy someone made I assumed it was for EQ2, which would have been more appropriate. They made shit art and threw tons of lighting effects and paid voice acting at it, while WoW labored and crafted art out of love. That's why it holds up so much better.

JhiaPet · December 2016

EQ2's graphics look better when you have the lighting from the personal torch turned on, but it only works in a small radius. The outdoor areas look a lot better when you go in and turn all the options up. The sunsets in Antonica were always really impressive, when the colors behind Qeynos turn deep pink and purple and highlight the castle.

They've lost some graphics options with the decrease in team size but they've also made some bad decisions in the past. The texturing was really lazy and they should have done much better. But the character models aren't bad. The armor is bland, if you are really into that, with the robes being the worst.

WoW's graphics are really off putting though. There's just something that doesn't engage when things look that blocky. Given that they are almost the same game these days it's funny that people feel so strongly one way or the other.

syriinx · December 2016

Mackaveli44 said:

Except for the most part they were SOE with the backing of Sony.

They were owned by Sony, but very doubtful they were backed by Sony.
Probably quite the opposite, I would bet they had less financial freedom because they had to answer to Sony.

syriinx · December 2016

JhiaPet said:

WoW's graphics are really off putting though. There's just something that doesn't engage when things look that blocky. Given that they are almost the same game these days it's funny that people feel so strongly one way or the other.

Are you saying WoW and EQ2 are almost the same game? Because that is completely ridiculous.

Ozmodan · December 2016

Never did play this game that much, but it does have a ton of content which to me is far more important that what the graphics look like.

syriinx · December 2016

Asamof said:

Also when I read the rich boy analogy someone made I assumed it was for EQ2, which would have been more appropriate. They made shit art and threw tons of lighting effects and paid voice acting at it, while WoW labored and crafted art out of love. That's why it holds up so much better.

EQ2's budget was about 1/3 of WoWs, so WoW had the luxury of taking the extra time.

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