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ianubisi's Horizon
Clever_Glove
Member Posts: 996
You said you playing HZ, did you play EQ also? If so tell a little about how they compare, and witch you like better and why 
Thanks
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"The beauty of MMORPGS is the merging of gaming and chatrooms. EQ is really just AOL merged with a fantasy game." - billus8
Bartle: A: 93% E: 55% S:3% K: 50% Test learn what it means here.
Comments
Let me explain a little more, several of my old EQ friends have been asking me about Hz. I have no interest in playing Hz. (for reasons outside the scope of this message) But just because I wouldn't enjoy Hz doesn't mean someone won't.
What is it that makes Hz worthy of playing over EQ? Many reviews have been less than complementary towards Hz, but often MMORPG have troubles in there fist few months, is Hz getting together all the things they promised on the box?
Does Hz have the content to keep players busy for long period of gametime?
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"The beauty of MMORPGS is the merging of gaming and chatrooms. EQ is really just AOL merged with a fantasy game." - billus8
Bartle: A: 93% E: 55% S:3% K: 50% Test learn what it means here.
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Achievers realise that killers as a concept are necessary in order to make achievement meaningful and worthwhile (there being no way to "lose" the game if any fool can "win" just by plodding slowly unchallenged). -bartle
Bartle: A: 93% E: 55% S:3% K: 50% The Test. Learn what it means here.
I definitely played EQ. My main was a 65 Necromancer, raid leader for a Planes raiding guild. I solo'd everywhere soloable, and grouped in practically every zone...prided myself in being one of the better grouping Necromancers around. But enough of the EQ resume.
It's important to note with Horizons that the "end game" isn't really in sight right now. Nobody has reached a max level, that I know of, and content at the "end game" isn't really fleshed out yet. Content is the main gripe for a lot of the powerlevelers in Horizons, as their grind has outpaced Artifact Entertainment's curve. But let's ignore that issue for a minute and just talk about it on its evidential potential.
It's a bit tough to compare the games. They are very different in so many ways. I think the best thing I can do, since we're talking about a fairly global abstract comparison, is to talk about the things that I like about either and draw a conclusion from that.
Content:
EverQuest is, for me, the King of Content. No game in the MMOG marketspace that I know of has content like EverQuest. I'm specifically thinking of the static spawn (on respawn timer) design with loot dropping from named mobs. There are encounters in that game that are highly memorable, complex, and challenging. This has always been a feature and a problem for EverQuest. Add raiding to the mix, something that VI has provided like no other MMOG, and you have a very complex and involved system.
Horizons doesn't seem to really provide this kind of encounter at all. Instead, they are featuring the war of the Withered Aegis (that's a plural btw) against the playerbase. We have seen very little of this, but I have participated in these events so far and they are very, very promising. There was an attack on one of the towns, 2 level 75 deathly ogres with a party of level 40-65 henchmen came to attack Aughundell (the dorf town). Players from around the world ported in to Aughundell to fend them off. Many players died, but the players won. AE promises this is the norm, not an exception. If they live up to this promise there is MASSIVE potential there. That encounter was a blast. If you take this away, there's not much else. I could talk about how mobs are dispersed, they seem to be placed a lot less haphazardly than many MMOGs, but that's a waste of time.
Advantage: EQ (but revisit this in a year to see if Horizons can live up to its potential for content)
Which leads me to AI:
Horizons mob AI is, at times, mesmerizing. I'm not going to try to foist the idea that it even comes close to human tactics, but these mobs interact, with you, with each other, with the environment. They retreat to formations, stay close together as groups, defend their bosses (there are many bosses), retreat to call for help (not just run away and domino trigger aggro), and they get every ability that a player gets of a matching class. They are the smartest mobs I've ever encountered in a MMOG, and smarter than many single-player games I've played. This bodes massive potential for the war with the WA (Withered Aegis, again)...but again, we have to see how this pans out over time.
I won't bother explaining EQ AI...that's kind of like trying to explain a pencil. Aside from encounter scripts, like the Planes encounters, there's nothing to describe.
Advatage: HZ (hands down, even without the WA war)
Participation:
Horizons allows you to solo at any level, as any class. Some are better than others, but all are feasible. It is most definitely faster to level with friends, and you can see more content and respond to more dynamic situations with friends. I think this will be more important later, as I expect that AE will be delivering more dynamic responses to player interaction. Better to have a friend, but perfectly okay to play alone.
EverQuest is not only solo-unfriendly, as you undoubtedly know Brad McQuaid has been solo-hostile for years. "Forced Grouping" is practically synonymous with EQ. Personally, I think this is the absolutely horrible...but a lot of EverQuest's great content is defined due to the requirement of group-cooperation. Without that group, that encounter would be toned down too much to be fun.
Advantage: neither - they pretty much was each other out
Loot:
EverQuest and DiabloII are the benchmarks for how to do loot. They are both different, but they are both very good (and very bad, depending on what you focus on). When you have X loot from EverQuest, gotten from Y mob, that only 3 other people on the server have...that's something very special. Mind you, EQ's static spawn system of disseminating loot leaves a lot to be desired...but at its heart, the "named" mob static spawn with random drop probability makes for a sense of Achievement.
Horizons loot, in its infancy, sucks pretty badly. Go troll around in the fansites and you'll see endless whining about it. Keep something in mind: Horizons was defined as a player-driven economy. So it's not surprising that loot at this point is pretty bad. But, as has been pointed out in reviews and rants, when you kill a "boss" and get 100 copper as your drop, or *maybe* an uncommon crafting component, that leaves a lot of players feeling ripped off. Mind you, I absolutely love this system as I would 10x prefer to have all our loot provided by players than by the highly artificial mob-spawn economy. Give this sytem another 6-12 months to see if it works, though...right now it's so rough around the edges that its potential isn't even clear.
Advantage: EQ
Exploration:
The world of Horizons is a fantastic world for exploration. There are surprises everywhere, and knowing the land is incredibly important. There are no zones (unless you teleport), so it is a seamless world. It is also a beautiful world, and exploring is incredibly important. Because of the war with the WA the borders will change. Knowing what resources spawn where, and what mobs are guarding those resources, is incredibly important. Crafters that intend to rebuild bridges have to be defended...right now crafters are repairing mines to unlock the Satyr playable race, and the WA is attacking these players. You have to know the world to know how to deal with this, and being an explorer has never been so rewarding for me in a MMOG.
In EverQuest, exploration was merely a matter of knowing how to get from Zone A to Zone B, or maybe to Camp C in Zone D. There were a few sights to see, and knowing how to run from Qeynos to Freeport was an important thing...but there was absolutely no benefit to knowing every nook and cranny of each zone.
Advantage: HZ
Crafting:
Horizons. Period. I won't even bother explaining it in detail. Aside from A Tale in the Desert, Horizons has the most robust and matured crafting system I've ever seen. It's fantastic, and a lot of fun. It's also crucial to the game...crafters supply 100% of the world's Adventuring commodities. No crafters = no armor, loot, spells, or other gadgets.
EverQuest...this is how not to do crafting. End of story.
Overall conclusion:
I think you cannot really place these games side by side and expect to say one is better than the other. They cater to different playstyles and different players. The heavy requirement of grouping and (optional, but important) raiding in EQ puts certain demands on players, and has certain rewards. If you can afford the time, EQ is magnificent for many reasons. The more solo-friendly game of Horizons allows more casual play and casual players, and that means a different kind of attitude.
The loot system I think is going to be the main defining point for a lot of people. If you want unique drops off named mobs, Horizons isn't for you. If you want player item crafting to be a significant element ("my swords are the best in the land") then EverQuest isn't for you. This is a real flashpoint in the nascence of Horizons...if it pans out along the lines its traveling, it might be a real draw for a lot of people...but it's too early to tell yet.
I love the gameplay in Horizons. I love crafting, I love exploring, and I love being able to play casually or participate in bigger events. I do, however, really miss leading a raid against Lord Inquisitor Seru or Bertoxxulous. In the end, Horizons is the game I want to play because I'm too busy to play EverQuest (I just don't have 8+ hours every day to play).
Thank you for the time to write that, it was pretty much the details I was looking. That have been rather difficult to find.
-=-=-=-=-
"The beauty of MMORPGS is the merging of gaming and chatrooms. EQ is really just AOL merged with a fantasy game." - billus8
Bartle: A: 93% E: 55% S:3% K: 50% Test learn what it means here.
-=-=-=-=-
Achievers realise that killers as a concept are necessary in order to make achievement meaningful and worthwhile (there being no way to "lose" the game if any fool can "win" just by plodding slowly unchallenged). -bartle
Bartle: A: 93% E: 55% S:3% K: 50% The Test. Learn what it means here.