I have played EQ2 on and off since launch. I have tried every other major fantasy based mmorpg that has come out since and I keep going back to EQ2. Say what you want about it, it is a great game. Sure, there are things I would change, but there is far more to like about it than any other mmorpg I have tried so far. The community, the player base, puts all others to shame as far as atmosphere and friendliness are concerned. I see people here bashing it left and right everytime something positive is said about it and have to wonder how many of them played it for more than a week.  i see now that most of it is spawned by a hatred of SOE in general. This game, or any other produced by SOE, will never get a fair shake from most of negative posters here. I have had issues with some of the things SOE has done myself, but I'm not going to let it ruin a good game for me. For those of you who tried it and just didn't like it, I can respect that.

Originally posted by PapaLazarou

Cause SOE released a buggy game missing tons of content that was needed and we all warned SOE but they pushed EQ2 anyways and it got owned by WOW and since then they've ruined most of what made EQ2 unique and made it into a WOW clone with crap PVP. They did the same thing to Star Wars Galaxies and doing the same thing to Vanguard and ruined Planetside due to a lack of direction, we wanted them to change the bases so we wernt capturing the same layout over and over agian. Yet SOE scrapped that idea and decided to go for stupid things like caverns and BFR's and all that shite.

Until someone with a clue takes over John Smedleys job then SOE will continue to suck.

Hey, kid... welcome to MMO's. These are not problems inherent in SOE. Please stop. Go play a game more to your liking and stop bashing it every chance you get. It just makes you look bad.

Originally posted by goemoe

Every game I try sends me back to EQ2. Best Fantasy MMO out there. Can't understand all the hate too.

I have to /agree wholeheartedly! I've been with EQ2 since launch and it's still the fantasy game I come back to after trying all of the big guns out there. WoW, LotRO, AoC, DAoC, Vanguard, FFXI, etc...
 

IMHO no other MMO meets what EQ2 has done in the past 4 years; including it's predecessor that spawned it! Plain and simple.

Well I don't think it is only SOE, but I really think the target market of MMO's is what makes new generation MMO's nothing like the original Everquest or Final Fantasy XI.  Games produced today are for the less hardcore which leaves very little challenge to do anything.

AoC and Warhammer are great examples of MMOs recently released that are just too easy. I work 8 hours a day just like any typical person, but I was able to complete cap level before even my account could even finish the first months free trial.  This leaves me with a game that I would say "I have essentially defeated".  Even back when I use to play WoW, I spent a year getting a full set of raid gear.

Many people may not be inclined to do guild raids for bosses or actually spend time to get somewhere in the game - but I personally think that is what makes a MMO great.  When everyone and their mom can have the best epic gear in the game, what is the point?  If you can have end character progression before even the end of the first month, you are leaving very little game left to play.

I really think this industry is already over-saturated with games for casual players.  How about making a game more challenging.  I honestly don't want to be cap level till a year later after picking up the game (Like EQ1). I want to spend 5 to 6 hours just to clear through a dungeon's wing and I really hope it would take atleast 20-30 people to do so.

Without these challenges, all you will see are reproductions of failures like AoC, Tabula Rasa, and new iterations of once good MMOs (like WoW or EQ2).  I dunno if anyone else has put together a trend, but every mmo that majority of the populace would or have said has been good was difficult and took time (original EQ, FFXI, original WoW) with the only negative complains from the people that don't want to put in the time to get raids working.  I think MMO companies need to make games that last, instead of the instant gratification that can be gained from playing Gears of War or Left 4 Dead.  

Until a game that really matters comes out I guess, I am sitting in a station in Eve waiting for my skill to go up I suppose (which is the complete opposite of the spectrum and I still think the game is a bit too slow =\) 

SOE and their list of shit mmorpgs...

Ruined...

- Planetside
- Everquest

Ruined and released a buggy mess...

- SWG
- EQ2

Then the list of what was the point of these crap mmorpgs?

- PotBS
- MxO
- Vanguard

Everquest sucks because it's a bland generic world with horrible graphics and character models. Also all the zoning makes the world feel soo fake and ruins the immersion so that in turn makes me not give a shit about exploring it and so I don't. It doesn't help that SOE often just make empty rooms and stick a few mobs in there and calls it new raid content lol. Oh yeh and the combat of EQ2 sucks and the PVP isn't good and for me all online games need some sorta good PVP.

I'm not part of the SOE hater club myself but they do tend to make alot of decisions that tick me off.  While I didn't play SWG I had contemplated it until they destroyed it and rolled it into a game that was uglier than its beta form.   Hence I won't play SWG.

I loved EQ1 it was challenging but fun, I could do things solo but often needed a group to really dig into a good spot to hunt or try to figure out hidden things.   Like many games of its time it had pretty much nothing to help you with groups etc but there were always people it wasn't hard to find a good group and get yourself into a guild just by hanging around.

EQ2 was several times harder and made it impossible to do just about anything solo in the early levels with their group system completely crap and horrible system requirements it really hurt the game during its first few months.  The Guild system was one of its few awsome features that worked for the most part right at launch but the fact they had such a pretty guild interface ready made it really alienating for people who were coming into the game without an existing friend base. 

It needed some of the changes that happened but alot of the recent changes like faster leveling & xp, class changes that removed what made making and progressing them a thoughtful process, and the overwhelming and unncessary crafting nerfs sealed the reason I havent' ever fully committed to the game.  I went back and forth for a while enjoying the game but just couldn't bring myself to commit which is sad.

Maybe someday I'll go back just to have some fun but I'll never feel the love and dedication to the game as I did with its previous incarnation or even EQ1. 

SOE has the capability to make good games they just have to many greedy overlords.  

SOE has earned it's hate for good reasons.

EQ2 is an actual decent game though.

Sadly, it'd probably have 3x the subs if their publisher weren't SOE, and the leader NOT Smed...