First off, not flaming WoW or trying to start a flame WoW thread, love the game to death. Recently, however, I've decided to part from WoW. I have played the game since day one and I still love it, but I'm just gonna freeze my account untill a few raids and stuff come up for WotLK. Hopefully I won't need to even reopen for i have been searching for a new game. I played AoC when it came out and the combat was innovative, but I thought it was too confusing and the game world really wasn't doing it for me. I'm a pve player at heart so WAR never appealed me. Alot of the older games like DaoC and others I tried really have a huge gap between newcomers and endgame players. In my quest to find a new game to play i came along free trial for EQII. I never would've thought the game would still be going as it is being in the shadow of WoW's release. So far I've only leveled my Iskar Necromancer to 9, but I just wanted to say how refreshing and fun the game is. The beginning area is as easy to jump into and simple to navigate as WoW which was a huge plus for me. AoC was really out there and I still felt as though I had the skills like i just started playing when I was in my 20s. Some nice player also offered to show me where to go and we powered through some levels. I'm having a blast and hope it doesn't give out later most fun I've had since well, WoW.

At level 9 you've only just scratched the surface tbh.   EQ2 has some cool things you don't get in WoW, like housing - some people have absolutely huge mansions now, which is a very nice feature because you can decorate them completely.  Very much like The Sims.

EQ2 doesn't feel and flow quite as silky and smooth as WoW, in terms of control and interface, and travel, but it does have its own interesting twists that can seem seductive for long-term WoW players seeking a change.

I'm sure much has been done to improve the game since I was playing last.  Back then you'd have to wait hours for a Heritage quest mob to spawn, or have to kill mobs in a room repeatedly until a boss magically spawned so you could complete the quest (utterly terrible system and one of the main reasons I left).

If they still utilize the old "wait for mob to spawn trick", then they should be shot, on the other hand, EQ2 is probably the only worthwhile alternative to WoW in the medieval fantasy genre.

imo of course.

I enjoy WoW...or at least I do off and on. I played since Beta...but this last expansion just killed my will to log in anymore. I cancelled my account 3 weeks ago. This last expansion has zero difficulty to it. I'm tired of everything just being given to me without me even working for it or putting in next to no time to get full epics.

That said...EQ2 is always the game I come back to after I stop playing another game...such as being disapointed in nearly every new MMO thats been released the last few years. Both my girlfriend and I really enjoy the game.

Keep in mind while playing EQ2 your never going to be as spoiled as you are in WoW...No questhelper,very little mods at all really. And very few good information sites like WoW has either. eqwiki is more or less the only eq2 I look at. It's not the best but it works.

EQ2 is also not quite as linear as WoW is...I've seen alot of people get frustrated on where they need to go after they are finished with a zone.  eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Zones_By_Level Is good at check out if you get lost on where to go.

Anyways enjoy the game.  :)

I am actually having the opposite experience, played EQ2 since launch and recently migrated to WoW. WoW just seems to have more to do & the community while full of little turds is on average better then the snobbish vibe I got form the folks over on the Everfrost server.

EQ2 actually has extremely linear zone progression… too much so for me to be honest. I felt a little locked into what I ‘had’ to do and really appreciate the relative freedom of games like WoW and VSoH. Also RoK just left me exhausted and somehow sapped my will to play the game, I tried to play TSO but could not get myself re-excited and never really got into it.