I was gung ho about EQ2 and was instantly hooked when it first released, I played a bruiser at start, but then moved to a Ratonga brigand when they released the first pvp server. However I cant quite put my finger on it, but the experience just fizzled for me around the KoS expansion.

A couple of summers ago myself, and countless others were given free game time, and so I thought, well nows the time to try to re-immerse myself. Only one problem, I couldnt seem to get back into it at all. My ratonga is 65, and I did do some grouping, joined a guild again, did lots of pvp, but when it was all said and done, it wasnt enough.

So here I am, today, bored with WAR, and could use a change of pace, and I keep seeing threads about people returning to EQ2, and so with some trepidation, Im going to ask point blank.

What is it that Im missing that keeps me from returning to the game and finding my niche so to say? Ive given it a good effort, but as I mentioned I just cannot seem to really get back into it. Id like to hear some players voice their opinions as to why its their home away from home, maybe one of you will help open my eyes to what Ive been missing.

Honestly? RoK. Though some will say otherwise, it was a great expansion. The new areas, the new armor, and all the rest. One thing I didn't like about it is that your armor was way too powerful for your level and you levelled far too fast in comparison with starting in the rest of the areas. The rest of it? Great quests, beautifully done areas (I find myself wishing I could have a house on the cliff in Timorous Deep. You know the one where all the raptors are near the starting area).

I guess it depends on what you are looking for in a game. If your focus is combat and the gaining of the next level of loot, then EQ2 can fulfill that niche as good as any game out there. If that is your sole focus, however, then you could pick any number of games to play, and be satisfied.

What makes EQ2 interesting to me is the fact that you *don't* have to just mindlessy grind for that next set of armor or that next powerful weapon. There are other things one can accomplish in the game that have nothing to do with that.

For example, crafting, while less complicated than it once was, is a viable option. Following the prices on the broker, identifying a need based on changes to the game *before* they are implemented, and taking advantage of them to increase your wealth is a fascinating pastime. The market is constantly changing, and it takes patience and a shrewd hand to wring a profit out of it.

Another example would be housing, both personal and guild halls. While taking time away from grinding to decorate your "home" might seem silly to some, it is truly an exercise in creativity. It is, frankly, amazing what some people have done with their "online space". Of course, the most rare and impressive items are hard to come by, so obtaining them could be a reason to venture out and conquer in itself. The game allows you to visit the homes of other players (but not interact with the items within) so that you can see what other players and guilds have done.

And finally, the EQ2 lore comes to mind. You can, if you wish, search out answers to some of the questions that remain about the world around you. The Gods are returning, slowly. Why? To what end? There are in-game events, such as the recent one that sent you searching for clues on who killed the prophet of one of these Gods, that all tie into the storyline being set forth for us. If you like a mystery, and enjoy putting pieces of the lore-puzzle together and talking to others about it, there is plenty of that happening. Just finding and reading the books in game that deal with the races and the past is, to me, a lot of fun.

So to sum up - if all you are looking for in an online RPG is just the opportunity to kill things (and we all like to just go kill things on occasion) and grind away for the next powerful doohicky, EQ two has it's advantages and disadvantages, but it is really like any other game on the market. If you are looking to go a bit deeper, however, and interact with the online world around you, learn about what came before and guess about what will come soon, you will find that EQ2 provides you that opportunity without the need to go grind the next instance after instance.

That is why, while I try other games such as WOW, WAR and AOC, I have been playing EQ2 steadily for the last two years.

Best of luck to you!

Originally posted by Jeff44

I guess it depends on what you are looking for in a game. If your focus is combat and the gaining of the next level of loot, then EQ2 can fulfill that niche as good as any game out there. If that is your sole focus, however, then you could pick any number of games to play, and be satisfied.

What makes EQ2 interesting to me is the fact that you *don't* have to just mindlessy grind for that next set of armor or that next powerful weapon. There are other things one can accomplish in the game that have nothing to do with that.

For example, crafting, while less complicated than it once was, is a viable option. Following the prices on the broker, identifying a need based on changes to the game *before* they are implemented, and taking advantage of them to increase your wealth is a fascinating pastime. The market is constantly changing, and it takes patience and a shrewd hand to wring a profit out of it.

Another example would be housing, both personal and guild halls. While taking time away from grinding to decorate your "home" might seem silly to some, it is truly an exercise in creativity. It is, frankly, amazing what some people have done with their "online space". Of course, the most rare and impressive items are hard to come by, so obtaining them could be a reason to venture out and conquer in itself. The game allows you to visit the homes of other players (but not interact with the items within) so that you can see what other players and guilds have done.

And finally, the EQ2 lore comes to mind. You can, if you wish, search out answers to some of the questions that remain about the world around you. The Gods are returning, slowly. Why? To what end? There are in-game events, such as the recent one that sent you searching for clues on who killed the prophet of one of these Gods, that all tie into the storyline being set forth for us. If you like a mystery, and enjoy putting pieces of the lore-puzzle together and talking to others about it, there is plenty of that happening. Just finding and reading the books in game that deal with the races and the past is, to me, a lot of fun.

So to sum up - if all you are looking for in an online RPG is just the opportunity to kill things (and we all like to just go kill things on occasion) and grind away for the next powerful doohicky, EQ two has it's advantages and disadvantages, but it is really like any other game on the market. If you are looking to go a bit deeper, however, and interact with the online world around you, learn about what came before and guess about what will come soon, you will find that EQ2 provides you that opportunity without the need to go grind the next instance after instance.

That is why, while I try other games such as WOW, WAR and AOC, I have been playing EQ2 steadily for the last two years.

Best of luck to you!

 

 

Well I was playing War hammer and decided to check out the new guild halls on a whim. That was my mistake because now I am hooked back on EQ2. They have done a ton of additional things to the game. I deleted all my old character or sold them on the exchange and started anew (kept the cash). I don’t regret it one bit either. The game is flawless at extreme graphic, and it has tons of eye candy. A GM stopped by and role played with me for 10 minutes and gave me a quest, which was fun. I am glad I came back to try EQ2. Even preordered the expansion for future dungeon crawls.
 

And I agree with Jeff44!

Originally posted by Moirae

Honestly? RoK. Though some will say otherwise, it was a great expansion.

You are one of the few that thinks it was great, because designed for people like you.
Many more left the game because of it, but at the same time didn't attract any new subscribers.

So I am happy you liked it, but in commercial terms, it was an epic failure  (yes I know it was the best selling expansion, but I think the next expansion is not going anywhere near that number because of RoK)

To the OP, what EQ2 has that very few MMO have at the moment is the great community.
This could be a good reason enough to start playing it again, if you don't mind the shallow gameplay.

RoK brought me back to EQ2... So maybe I'm bucking the trend and it looks like this new expansion is bringing me back yet again once I finish off fallout :P

I'd come back were the game as hardcore as upon release (i.e,. elite mobs, death penalty), but I have heard it has become a softened solo quest-a-thon.

I world that has no challenge has not interest for me.

It largely depends on your server, if you were playing on EU servers before, tough luck, because most of them are dead except t8 and below tiers are populated solely by alt leveling. No idea how it is on US servers though.

Game has changed alot, everything is easier, takes no effort. Your only enemy is boredom because you can do about anything without any real danger.

You'll enjoy it if:

You have old friends that can group with you or,
You enjoy solo A LOT,

EQ2 changed alot, to me, not in a positive way, game become too easy, too wowish.

Originally posted by Nickless_man

It largely depends on your server, if you were playing on EU servers before, tough luck, because most of them are dead except t8 and below tiers are populated solely by alt leveling. No idea how it is on US servers though.

Game has changed alot, everything is easier, takes no effort. Your only enemy is boredom because you can do about anything without any real danger.

You'll enjoy it if:

You have old friends that can group with you or,
You enjoy solo A LOT,

EQ2 changed alot, to me, not in a positive way, game become too easy, too wowish.

I played the couple free months a few months  back and EQ2 excells at about everything games like WOW and WAR do not.  Easier then release maybe but more interesting and like many have said a more mature player base. I played WAR for a free month plus i paid for one. I'm done with it. Why? Because it feels like WOW but in much more simplistic style with even worse graphics if you can believe that.. I do agree that game companies have strayed away from the challenge they once were and thats dissappointing.

My only drawback and its major with EQ2 having played it for a decent amount of time is i dont feel the newness factor that i like to experience in new games. I like to have to learn to play a new game but anymore we're spoon fed. If you can hit 3 buttons your good. It took me about 60 sec to figure out how to play Warhammer Online and its no wonder i was bored senseless after a couple weeks.

I have to agree with the recent xp changes..its getting downright silly at the moment,it needed tweaking but not to the point it is at this moment in time..even with xp turn off you cant possibly hope to keep up with quests before they grey out,it madness and mindlessly boring too

Originally posted by ste2000

Originally posted by Moirae

Honestly? RoK. Though some will say otherwise, it was a great expansion.

You are one of the few that thinks it was great, because designed for people like you.
Many more left the game because of it, but at the same time didn't attract any new subscribers.

Yeah well, apparently I'm not the only one.

Jeff44 hit the nail on the head.

Arcken, You have gotten some good and balanced responses to you topic. Checkout my thread on graphic setting. It has a few screens that might help convince you that EQ2 looks great and with what some have said here about game play might convince you to give it a try.

www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/2/view/forums/thread/195915

Originally posted by Moirae

Originally posted by ste2000

Originally posted by Moirae

Honestly? RoK. Though some will say otherwise, it was a great expansion.

You are one of the few that thinks it was great, because designed for people like you.
Many more left the game because of it, but at the same time didn't attract any new subscribers.

 

Yeah well, apparently I'm not the only one.

 

Jeff44 hit the nail on the head.

This notion that only a small few like RoK is total hog wash. Rok was a fine expansion that added lots of great new stuff to experience. I guess I am one of the few that liked it as well. ste2000 says a lot of stuff that is his opinion but presents them as some sort of facts. I would like to see where he gets his facts that RoK sent people running from the game. I guess he has access to subscription information on SOE games that no one else has. Some people think their opinion is so right that all others must have reacted as they did. RoK did not send people running EQ2 is alive and well and gets better all the time.
 

For what it is, the PVE in this game is actually pretty good.

The PVP is completely unbalanced, lacking reward, exploit-filled, and just downright wrong.  There's too much wrong with the PVP in this game to list.  Mid lvl range pvp is about the best balance you can get, and they're hopefully fixing the pvp xp next live update, with a slider.

I basically enjoy the game. The recent XP changes are very foolish in my opinion. Things have been if anything too easy before the changes, now their ridiculous, but that's what WoW has done to the genre, everything needs dumbed down for the WoW-kiddies

Originally posted by bongloads

For what it is, the PVE in this game is actually pretty good.

 

The PVP is completely unbalanced, lacking reward, exploit-filled, and just downright wrong.  There's too much wrong with the PVP in this game to list.  Mid lvl range pvp is about the best balance you can get, and they're hopefully fixing the pvp xp next live update, with a slider.

Which is exactly the way it should be. The PvP'rs have been turning MMO's away from the RPG and toward "bash em" contests.

The PvE'rs have ONE GAME where the game isn't geared toward PvP'rs. And all the PvP'rs ever do is moan about it. You can let us have ONE GAME. It isn't going to kill you. You have all the others.

Thank you! I never get tired of people calling them out.

PvP'ers have ruined an entire lot of amazing MMORPGs in the last five years, it's disgusting to see them go down so fast. I guess people forget what RPG actually stands for; Role-Playing-Game.

Not omg-its-so-fun-to-run-around-in-some-craphole-battlegrounds-and-kill-people-with-my-uber-1337-armor-plus-wep0nz-rockzorz!!onon1one!!!1-Playing-Game

But I digress. It seems as though it's *winces*, like they say, a "niche" market. If you like PvEing, questing, great stories, etc. Go back. EQ2 is amazing for that. I just finished reading this BioWare blog and I must say, it brought back some memories of wonderful RPGs that have been released throughout the years.

I guess I should speak against RoK since it is getting so much love here.

My problem with RoK is this:
It is the same thing over and over and over again in a much more rapid succession than I have previously seen in EQ2. As a point of contrast they redesigned the initial tier zones 10-40 if I recall to contain a progressive series of quests that functionally led you to the next tier, along the way there were detailed sub quests and solo instances as well as options to hit the group zones, a really great balance that allowed for ALL types of players to mix and mingle. This should have been the model for RoK but nope they really crapped out on the detail and quest line succession they was so deeply needed. The quest lines in RoK are so stinking vanilla it is hard to drag one main through them let alone alts. I had my main (SK) up to 79 when I decided that I needed to group or never play this game again. Upon getting my Brig to level 75 I called it quits for about four months due to the raw tedium of the single strand flavorless quests. I came back in anticipation of the new expansion that is rumored to bring us back to the days of LDoN in EQ, I have brought my Brig up to level 80 (mostly by grouping, DPS is less critical to be at cap than tanks so pick up groups were an option) and have once again completely lost interest in grinding out quests for AP gain. The game is just so hollow, the player base is thin and these never ending solo quests really isolate players. I will give you another example, back in the day the quest base was so spread out that they implemented a quest sharing system to allow players to share most quests to make for more enjoyable questing. In RoK this is really useless since the quests have become a leveling device and taking on previously completed quests (if even possible) becomes nothing more then a remedial time sink. Basically if you are not on the same stage of progression you can NOT group unless you have some really charitable people that are willing to waste their time to help you out.

/end rant

That said I really hope beyond hope that TSO is really a great expansion that brings this diverse game back into balance as opposed to the “/level_chat LFG for VoES, locked out of all the other instances that players actually go to under their own free will or I will just grind solo trash till I drown in my own drool” mess that RoK has turned EQ2 into.
 

What you have missed is the 2 last expansions.

DoF the first was crappy pure and simple and even when i started my defiler i avoided that expansion as much as possible if not almost totally

KoS was at best average .

But EoF was an amazing expansion and it let me level my toon up to 70 from level 1 which was great and i could avoid the last 2.

RoK was great too i say even better then EoF.