Originally posted by Thamoris

I found it interesting...that while I battle the multitudes of posts bashing Vanguards performance ( particularly those with 8800 cards ) .. Eq2 is being judged as even worse performance AND in a game 2+ yrs old !

 

No one thinks EQ2 is worse perfomance than VG.

EQ2's balanced settings are still much prettier than VG's max settings. (imho although its all down to taste).

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Originally posted by jayanti

No one thinks EQ2 is worse perfomance than VG.
EQ2's balanced settings are still much prettier than VG's max settings. (imho although its all down to taste).

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I am not a huge fan of VG but I can tell you from personal experience that VG performed better on my XP system with 8800GTX x 2 in SLI than it did in EQ2. I didn't see that as a huge problem however since EQ2 is using a 2 year old engine so all the bells and whistles and options that I'd have in a new game.

I could crank VG to MAX and have very little slag, do the same thing in EQ2 and I'd get a lot of slag even outside of raid/large population zones.

That's about the only good thing that I had to say about VG though. EQ2 beats VG in every other way by leaps and bounds.

Everquest 2 is indeed the best MMORPG on the market right now, even thou I slowly getting tired after playing it since release(2+ years)...

And yes its also the best looking game on the MMO market, cant really understand how he could compare it with WoW they are in 2 diffrent ballparks, WoW is for every computer(still looking good thou) and EQ2 is for those that has new or a year old hardware, but has all the "bells and whistles you could ever want". And yes this game is absolutly better looking(the whole picture) than Vanguard. Vanguard has good outdoor graphics but after that it stops.

/Thark

Originally posted by shrunken_man
Well I agree with much of what this review has to say. When I first tried EQ2 I was on the fence about it. It launched buggy, was laggy and put my computer through its paces. I think I also expected it to be more like EQ1 at the time, just with better graphics. The game mechanics (combat, obtaining spells/skills, only two starting cities, etc) just seemed a little too different at the time. I have to admit that WoW seemed a lot more familiar to me, and was easy to get into. I didn't mind the cartoon look, because it was well directed and made sense. So I put EQ2 on the shelf and dedicated play time to WoW. Well, I slowly starting becoming more and more bored with WoW. And I didn't find the community all that great to be honest. Mostly people who'd rather insult and gank you than work cooperatively toward anything. I thought the community would get better, or I'd just have to hook up with the right people. Never happened. An excellent game nontheless for what it is. When Vanguard came close to release I knew this would have the right community for me, and I was excited because it looked amazing and appeared to have a lot of depth. I even got invited to beta in the final stages, whoo-hoo! Except, I couldn't run it very well. Even after it released I relunctantly bought it, and still can't run it well. I'm still excited for it, but I think it's launch is a lot like EQ2's was initially. So on the shelf it goes for now. So, having heard sooo much about how EQ2 has changed, I decided to blow the dust off my account and give it a second chance. I'm far enough past the EQ1 days that there's no more comparison there. First of all, I was surprised at how well the game runs now. I don't have what would be considered all that great of a system (2600 Barton, 1.5GB RAM, x1300 graphics) but it runs and looks great on balanced settings. Next I found it extremely fun and addictive. I didn't think I would, but it's got that X-factor now, if you know what I mean. And much to my surprise, I fell into a really nice guild with some nice people who've answered all my newbie questions and we're polite and helpful. And I've only been back for about a week now. I'm slowly learning about all the different levels of depth the game has, and it goes pretty deep, so I don't think I'll become as bored as I did in WoW. And I haven't even considered any of the expansions yet, I'm just playing the core game. If you've had your fill of other MMO's like I have, or you're frustrated with Vanguard like me, or you just didn't find the LOTR online beta compelling like me, then I think you'll be surprised by EQ2 and how its come around.

I've had a similar experience. I got in to WoW and EQ2 at roughly the same time (WoW first, then tried EQ2 on release) but found it just a bit much. Now, two years later WoW is a tired old game, and when I picked up the Faedwyr expansion for EQ2 I was stunned at the potential depth and involvement that EQ2 had over WoW. To me, EQ2 feels like a natural evolution in MMO game design, a spiritual successor to the paper and pencil days of D&D gaming. WoW just feels like Diablo 3 to me now.

Given that EQ2 proved so interesting when I was ready for it (and my system runs it just fine: Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz 1 MB ram, Geforce 7300 GS card), I plan to check out Vanguard in another six months to a year or so, too. By that time it'll probably be running smoothly enough that I can appreciate it, as well, without too much frustration.

Originally posted by lancelot76
A few good points, but statements like:

 "At release, the graphics were somewhat shadowed by its competitor World of Warcraft, but with the latest expansion the graphics were given a boost, and are now up to par with its counterpart"

Betray a severe lack of understanding or familiarity with this game. The graphics were not "given a boost" with the latest expansion, there was no update to the engine, etc. Statements like this make this article opinion at best, and at worst, a waste of time. To the author: either learn more about the game or interview people who do.

I was under the impression that the game might provide a wider range of support for different machines and graphics cards than a release. It still looks about like it did on my older system, for example, but runs more smoothly. On my newer system it is very nice looking, of course, and I've yet to experience any lag.

But saying that it's graphics were inferior to WoW at release is odd, I agree, as even on lower settings EQ2 looked better than WoW. Hmmm.

Everquest 2 is good game that has become far better , as it has evolved. I strongly recommend playing it or at least trying the free trial versions of it.  

I have played EQ2 on and off since the game launched . I only got seriously into it (my main lvl 35 hooray) though.

Everquest 2 offers a great many things, from character creation with its many races , classes and almost endless posibilities in making your character unique. To large zones, great deal of lore and fun gameplay (fun gameplay in my eyes at least).

I have never tried the PvP part of the game, as PvP has never really interested me. Hell I even play WoW just for questing and exploring. But from what I have heard, PvP is getting better ingame, although I think that since EQ 2 have always been mostly a PvE game , there are other games that does this better.

The lore , the music, the pure atmosphere is why I like Everquest 2 so much. Although I play other MMOs frequently ( WoW, DDO, Vanguard, CoH/V, GW, LOTRO beta, Lineage 2 to name some of them) . I

I think Everquest 2 is my favourite, for many reasons, some reasons for prefering it to WoW are the language /grouping restrictions between factions in WoW, even on PvE servers,that annoys me a bit, have to use teamspeak to talk to players of the other faction..

I guess that is RvR , but on a PvE server? Thought the Alliance and the Horde were good buddies these days anyway. For all the RvR stuff in WoW I still find it a great game that has a lot to offer all kinds of players.

 Vanguard is just not polished enough to run comfortable on my system, and still has a bit to many bugs, Still a great game though, that is why I play it now and then, it is only going to get better I know it.

DDO feels restricting, but is fun when played in periods with friends. S

The game is hard to run smoothly at the highest settings. Still have not upgraded my system so I am running, and XP 2400, 1,5 G RAM .  Radeon X800 GT. A modest system in my eyes, but it runs the game smoothly at balanced settings.

Highest settings should demand a high end system.

I enjoy the MMORPG type of games more than any other type of games, (OK so Baldurs`s gate series, NWN, Torment, Arcanum ,Fallout score really high). I play World of Warcraft, only recently really got into it, it is a great game, and its graphics makes it stand out, and serves it well. I also play 6 other MMOs from time to time, the rest of the SOE games, NC soft games, DDO, LOTRO

Originally posted by heerobya

"the best MMO out there" eh?

why only a 7.9 then? many other MMO's are rated higher on this site, yet you give EQ2 a 7.9 and claim it's the best MMO out there.

How much did Sony pay you to say that?

What's funny, you always see advertisements for EQ or Eve or Vanguard on sites like MMORPG.com and they always get the BEST review, oops I meant most biased reviews.

Yet everyone here hates WoW and they don't directly advertise here or on any major gaming website... strange...

"Just because more people play WoW then every other major MMO combined doesn't mean it's the best."

No, it's all personal preference. But, if that many people love it (me being one of them) they have to be doing something right. I honestly haven't seen this site come up with an un-biased review in quite some time... budget getting a little tight?

i'm probably going to get banned for this lol. oh well, freedom of speech!

Nice write up....

But...

Is it really necessary to bash WoW in order to blow up another game ?

Im 41 y/o this year and I only recently stopped playing WoW. I was not the oldest person in my guild (oldest was 53) and as far as maturity goes, we had some 13 year olds that acted with far more maturity and skill than some of the 25 y/o. This constant generalistion about WoW being for kids and kids being too immature to add enjoyment to an MMO for other players is both poorly researched and a generally poorly thought out point of view.

WoW does not equal : Kids game

Kids do not equal : immaturity

They are both generalisations that are more often than not, completely wrong.

Originally posted by lancelot76
A few good points, but statements like:

 "At release, the graphics were somewhat shadowed by its competitor World of Warcraft, but with the latest expansion the graphics were given a boost, and are now up to par with its counterpart"

Betray a severe lack of understanding or familiarity with this game. The graphics were not "given a boost" with the latest expansion, there was no update to the engine, etc. Statements like this make this article opinion at best, and at worst, a waste of time. To the author: either learn more about the game or interview people who do.

Originally posted by Settingsun
I played for a while when it first came out. I hated the ai. I hated how there was no pulling and even one mob 20 feet away would pull over the whole group.

Yeah, I didnt like this either at the beginning, but it's different now, with body pulling etc necessary to be a skillfull puller.

I hated how there were these huge arrows above the mobs.

You would still hate this I guess...

I hated that when I was 19 lvl I could kill a mob a few levels higher then me, but when I turned 20 those same mobs killed me easy.

I have no experience of this personally... You are saying the *same* mobs were harder to kill at L20 then at L19? I have never had this problem or complaint myself.

I hated how so much of the game needed a group. Even things like level quests couldn't often be done by yourself depending on your class.

Well, this *is* a group orientated MMORPG and as such asks for social networking skills, community, and team based co-operation, but if you can't/ won't buy into that then you should know the solo content has been bossted massively since the days you played. If you want to pay a montly sub to play solo, then it is very possible. Personally, I would rather just buy Oblivion or whatever...

The whole interconnected crafting thing I hated.

This is no longer the case. Crafting is no longer interconnected and is much more a solo affair now. Personally, I think this has been a bad thing for the crafting community, but I guess it solves your persoanl issue.

I hated having to go poor trying to level in crafting and needed a group or alts to make all the different parts for an item.

I don't know many crafters who go poor at all these days... As for having alts to make different parts of an item.. well.. I think the hope was that you would be part of the community and trade and barter for the parts you needed off other crafters. It's that social networking and team work thing again... I guess some people can't handle having to deal with others in a massively multiplayer co-operative game. You should know though that the craft system is very different since the days you played, with all the different parts you made alts for now no needed. You can solo craft with ease.

I hated how the devs kept making crafting more about randomness and less about any input effect the player might have on it.

I'm not sure what you mean here... Sure, theres a random base to crafting, it would be silly not to have it, but you have always had the ability to influence it for the better by using craft skills within the process... Are you saying you don't want a random element to crafting?

I hated the whole need to buy drops to raise your spells and specials to their best every few levels, and how the ones that were crafted were crap.

Why wouldnt you need to raise your skills/ spells every few lvls if you wanted to be the best you could be? I'm confused again. Personally, I love the whole spell/ skill gain systen in EQ2... It gives you the basic spell so noone is under powered, and then gives you the option of upgrading to whatever. if you choose and can afford it. It's simple and elegant imho.

As for crafted spells being crap, well last time I heard Adept III spells/ skills were crafted and these are only 1 below Master level.. How are these crap?

Grind grind grind, that is what it was all about.

I never grind, I level exclusively through doing quests. I guess you *can* grind if you choose, but I chose not to. Questing gives xp and AAs and is a very viable play style. I ahve certainly never felt pressure to grind at all.

I hated how Paladins got a speed boost at 20 from a little spell that was suppose to be just a fluff thing then have the devs post that such a boost was minor (when it wasn't) and did no harm (when it did)., until months later when they finally said oops.

Yes, they said oops, and changed it. Whats the ongoing problem here? The issue was fixed a long long time ago...

So many things I hated about that game. I have not played any other mmo which I left with a more bitter and annoyed feeling.

Yeah, so much hate...

You obviously left EQ2 a long time ago and it's definitly not the same experience that it was when when you played.  Maybe it's time to let go of the anger and realise not everything stays the same and opinions/ views can become outdated. I'm not asking you to give EQ2 another chance or anything, but please realise that this isnt the same game it was on release, for better or worse depending on personal preference.

I left because EQ2 didnt have pvp at launch and I didnt want to craft the spell scrolls. my best friend and I got lost at lvl 18 didnt know where we were supposed to go. we went to antonica and got so lost. didnt like how the city was instanced and all the mob areas was instanced - did they fix that? liked the graphics and music score and the way NPCs talked. loved newbie zone (that starting area) to death. was confused- was a wood elf but never saw this forest i came from supposedly is that there now. had a lot of neat lore.

I read the crafting was fixed and they have pvp now. but seeing how unbalanced City of Heroes turned out to be by adding pvp as an afterthought I am not convinced its going to be fun pvp quite yet. and this armor and tokens you get is it the 'best' loot? I guess I'm going to have to sit it out til WAR comes out. But if all i did was PvE I'd come back for sure

great review! this is the first time i have ever completely agreed with the reveiwer on a game - with the exception of one statement. i do not think EQ2 was lagging behind WoW in appearence in the beginning. i think the quality of EQ2's graphics blew away WoW right out of the box. i don't think alot of people realize there is a difference between quality and a style preference. most players (*cough kids*) seem to prefer the "smurfy" cartoon style of  WoW over the more realistic landscapes of EQ2. however EoF has a more cartoony look, so it's nice that they have added some variety in thier style.

EDIT: oh and i guess i disagree with one other statement. i never had a problem finding soloalbe qeusts until i got to the higher levels. there are tons of soloable quests. i always had more soloable quests than i could complete before they became worthless. i deleted at least as many as i completed.

This whole WoW - EQ2 bashing thing is ridiculous. The reviewer made a comment, a comment that was his opinion. The fact that we now have people flaming each other on comparison is silly.

This is a review of EQ2, how it is NOW, how it runs NOW and what he felt about the game NOW. If you didn't like it back when it started fine, but he is making comments about it's state of play NOW.

I play EQ2, BUT I also play many other MMO's. But I am not going to list them for a comparison war. Instead I am going to comment on the review in hand.

I do think EQ2 has got better since launch. It's a far better, well rounded game that has a great level of detail to it, especially after the expansion packs have been added. The changes that the EQ2 SOE team have done have been implemented well with very little downtime to the players.

As for hardware, I have a good PC, but not as good as the reviewer. Mine runs fine in High Quality, through Qeynos Harbor and only on Raids do I need to drop the graphics down to balanced. This does seem that there is a problem with his setup. Drivers or even Windows maybe a little screwed. But again I am not going to flame hardware. I don't confess to be a self proclaimed GPU expert!

Finally, I've been playing EQ2 (along with other MMO's) for 2+ years and probably will still play EQ2 (and others MMO's) as I find this to be a very good game with a great community. Well done to the EverQuest II SOE team.