First off, yes, I was one of the many hardcore EQ players who bought into the hype that this would be the true sequel to the game. Then of course I was severely disappointed from the launch, where the whole game was just a buggy mess. Was it still fun? Yeah, but there were too many problems with it to warrant paying $15 a month. It was bad, even for a launch game.

But anyway, now I'm back and I want to give the game another shot. Can someone just break down what's good about the game now compared to launch?

Also, is there significantly better performance now? What kind of performance should I expect on my computer? I do not have a top of the line computer, but I would at least like to play on decent settings in full resolution if that's possible with my rig:

AMD 64 X2 4200+
2GB DDR400 RAM
9600 GSO 768MB
1920X1080 native resolution

And finally, how's the population and how many servers are there? Would you say the game is more solo-friendly now, or still very group-oriented like how EQ was? 

Thanks in advance.

Originally posted by rpgboy

First off, yes, I was one of the many hardcore EQ players who bought into the hype that this would be the true sequel to the game. Then of course I was severely disappointed from the launch, where the whole game was just a buggy mess. Was it still fun? Yeah, but there were too many problems with it to warrant paying $15 a month. It was bad, even for a launch game.

But anyway, now I'm back and I want to give the game another shot. Can someone just break down what's good about the game now compared to launch?

Also, is there significantly better performance now? What kind of performance should I expect on my computer? I do not have a top of the line computer, but I would at least like to play on decent settings in full resolution if that's possible with my rig:

AMD 64 X2 4200+
2GB DDR400 RAM
9600 GSO 768MB
1920X1080 native resolution

And finally, how's the population and how many servers are there? Would you say the game is more solo-friendly now, or still very group-oriented like how EQ was? 

Thanks in advance.

your card is fine..

your ram should be ok, but you won't be able to play on anything higher than balanced settings with that CPU. I have an AMD 4000+ with the same card, and 4 gigs of ram.. and couldn't get more than in the teens in FPS on high, and in the low 30s on balanced. I upgraded to a 6400+ and was able to play much better.

The biggest difference from launch to now is performance.  They have made serious progress and technology improvements have helped as well.  You still get hitching when you first load major scenery but it's greatly improved from launch.

Your system will performy quite nicely.  The game is initially slanted towards solo play and then it shifts to group play once you hit the mid teens.  But there is tons of stuff to do solo and group.  The world is just massive and lots to explore.  Just make sure you have the correct video driver VG recommends and you'll be fine.

http://help.station.sony.com/cgi-bin/soe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=16732

Enjoy and welcome to the Xeth server ;)