Originally posted by sayuri2006

Greetings all,

The purpose of this thread is to constuctively give my feedback of my own review of Everquest 2. This is to suffice that the other main purpose is to give my own opinions for newcomers to Everquest 2 so that they may form their own about what this game is actually like.

I have played quite a few MMORPGs and I must first admit that Sony has quite a good marketing campaign to get this game "out there" but whether or not it helps subsciption rates, is another debate.

Firstly, Everquest 2 really needs a good computer (CPU/RAM/Graphics card) to run at a nice visual pace without lag, lag  spikes, and flow of movement in general. The problem is that many believe that as long as you have a decent graphics card, your CPU and RAM don't have to be top notch. Unfortunately, I had to browse various "Everquest 2" related webpages to find out that memory leakage is common and that the longer you play, the general performance of EQ2 can slow down. Therefore, people recommend having enough RAM and CPU speed. I can't give specifics as this game is evolving all the time. Which leads me to my first point...

Graphics: As one might expect, EQ 2 features really stunning visuals. It has a real medieval look and the graphics are designed to be not "cartoony" but more life-like in appearance. If your system can handle it, it is a feast on the eyes. the main problem is that for me, I had to have the settings on a lowish setting and that took away alot of what the game visually has to offer. I have heard that even though you might have a very hi-end system, the general movement and flow still feels a little slow. In other words, players know the graphics can be better but they are unable to have them more appealing than they would like.

Realms: The second main thing that I was drawn into this game was the community. I did create several characters on different servers, got to the main cities and spent enough time to get a feel for the community. The thing I found was that this game is BIG! But, where were all the players? I know that this game has been out for some time now, but there should still be some players in the main cities and common areas that I explored in. This I felt can deter new players as I often was solo for a long time, hardly encountering any life of non NPCs. The whole world seemed empty for me, not alive and interactive which resulted in me feeling at times I was just there in a pve world.

General combat: This was an interesting aspect to think about as it is in ways similar yet different to other MMORPGs. Using icons, they perform actions and/or spells the player wishes. I really tried to get used to the combat system, but for me it all felt abit too clicky, even though you can assign macros or change to an assigned key layout. The general pace of combat was fine but as I mentioned combat felt abit too clicky. This is hard to explain as it really needs to be experienced. In other words, I felt like I was just pressing a bunch of keys to kill something and it didnt feel as involved as I would have liked.

Summary: I came to Everquest 2 with little expectations and played with what experience I have had with other MMORPGs. I really gave this game a good healthy go, on several servers, joined a nice guild, but overall the fun just wasn't there. At times, I felt like it was an empty world and combined with the graphics having to be on a lowish setting and the pace of combat abit too clicky and mundane, I simply couldn't see what others rave about. Surely, graphics don't make up half of the fun of what EQ2 is about. For new players, I definitely say give it a go, and judge on your own terms. Finally, I would like to say that I can't actually pinpoint what made EQ2 NOT fun for me, even though it is an MMORPG and it has alot of common elements of one.

I would like to know in discussion what others have experienced and their general thoughts on this matter. 

 

Interesting perspective, I think it can all be summed up in "your mileage may vary” As I have seen new players post on these forums with very positive new player experiences.

 I am a bit confused about your claim that EQ II needs a decent computer, actually my wife is playing on balanced with a off the shelf Dell box with little to no hitching.  As far as populations go, no you're not going to find people in Qyenos just hanging out, most people that play EQ 2 are older have jobs, lives etc They go in quest/craft/raid and leave. It did sound like you gave the game an honest shot and it wasn't for you, EQ II is finding it's audience though, it's never going to be the mass fad WoW is, and I think  that the current community is very glad of that fact.

Originally posted by brostyn

 

Actually, people are laughing their ass off at you, because if you expect us to believe peopple are mentoring down to help out new players you're just, well, I don't want to get banned. Suffice to say, it was going to be an insult. We'll believe that as soon as we believe EQ2 is even a third of the way to 1 million subscribers. People don't mentor down to help out newbies, level 20s, level 30s or anyone unless its a friend. Go ahead and try to say otherwise.

 

 

Hell, the game probably is filled with lvl 70s mentoring level 10s. they don't even know. RIght? Is that the new way to raid?

My Guild Mentors down constantly and so do many other guilds, and Non guilded individuals in the game. it makes for a tighter community.  Our Guild even has a Mentoring day weekly.  However if you are a typical WoW player....no one will want to mentor you as the EQ II community doesn't suffer jerks gladly.

See chuckles this isn't WoW, the community is a lot more mature...that's probably why you can't comprehend that. The get mine attitude doesn’t truck in EQ II and those that have it usually end up on threads like these trashing the game because there grind and greed tactics just doesn’t work..

Originally posted by theanimedude

First comment!

And.. entered. Seems like a horrible way to try to attract beta testers... but okay. I guess it's one way.

Who knows, maybe they will fix a bunch of inherent problems in the game, like Blizzard did with Burning Crusade in this expansion.

Perfect example of the typical MMORPG.com forum user. Clueless, and quick to trash games they know nothing about.

Anyway,  I can't really say too much because of beta but  it obvious the game is going to be very popular , my biggest  concern right now is the dilemma of having players bagging out on quest because they want to play LoN.

So looking forward to this.....  From the looks of it this will be the best Xpac yet, which is saying a lot because EoF was simply incredible.

EQ II is hands down the best MMOROG available today. SOE  has taken a broken product and  completely turned it around. The game is very soloable, but with the mature friendly community grouping is never a problem. They quest are fun and exciting, the ability to have pets that can fight in the arenas, house ownership, customization that is just insane....... No anyone that says the game is bad today is lying, or hasn't played since 2005.

The population right now stands at about 1 million active U.S. subscribers (SOE's numbers  from Las Vegas Fanfaire )  and 40,000 European active subscribers, so tales of ghost town  servers are false.  My guild currently has about a hundred members and we are one of the smaller guilds.  The community is growing, and for the most part content...unlike WoW where 90% of the player base is waiting for the next big MMO. One thing...B.net kiddies don't last very long, as SOE does not put up with the shit Blizzard does.  The average player age is late 20's to mid 30's.....it is defiantly an adult MMO. 

Rise of Kunark is the upcoming expansion; both EQ II and WoW  have been out about the same amount of time, and SOE has given us  Three major expansions with a fourth on the way, three adventure packs and more free content than I can mention. Blizzard which has raked in a hundred times more profit has managed to squeeze out a paid for patch that is a bad rip off of Planes of Power. Yes Blizzard has more players, but more doesn’t mean better.  Give the game a shot you can pick up Echoes of Faydwer pretty much anywhere.

Originally posted by Aserhe

Just one more sign SOE wants to duplicate everything Blizzard does because Blizzard can make money with everything they do. Poor poor Sony, they'll never understand how to run a company...

B.net kiddies are so hypocritical. Shall I list everything Blizzard has ripped off from EQ?

Asinine comments aside. The major difference between LoN and  The WoWzor TCG is LoN is actually fun to play, you can play in game, and  there trash loot cards put WoW's "Epic "loot cards to shame.  I call that beating Blizzard at it's own game.

Now make your whine about Nine Million players....Hee Haw had about the same number of viewers.......didn't make the show  must  see T.V. did it?

Originally posted by Xiaoki

martinj63 - you just cant help but be ignorant can you.

You say that Burning Crudade was only purchased by a fraction of the player base but when BC was released WoW had 4 million subscribers in the US and Europe. A month after BCs release it had sold 3.5 million copies.

So, I guess the fraction you were speaking of is 7/8.

Won't even comment on basing your assumption that 9 out of 10 Americans ready to quit WoW because of message boards posts.

Well it took longer  for the  Blizzard Viral Marketers to show up than it usually does.  http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/02/10

Originally posted by Faelan

 

 

Not trying to defend Blizzard or calling you a liar, but where does that nine in ten figure come from? It just seems too extreme to make sense that so many people are on the verge of quitting.

Yeah hard numbers really can't be given, and in fairness I should have prefaced that with a "It Seems" but there is the steady stream of converts that  you see in ooc in EQ 2, the fact that only a fraction of players even purchased BC compared to the original game, and the plethora of I quit/I can't wait  for X game post on the WoW forums. 

I don't think that any rational person can claim that WoW has a content fan base; especially if you compare them to LOTRO, EQ II or even EQ's fan base.  And it really has nothing to do with size of population. LOTRO has a sizeable demographic, as EQ II dose...heck even EQ is chugging along, but look at there forums...you don't see the dissatisfaction to outright loathing you do from the WoW community.  I'm not saying the game will die...I'm saying  that it is basically going to follow Starcarfts footsteps, have a Rabid fanbase in the Asian market and a ever decreasing one in the Western market.

Originally posted by Maggotscream

 
Sigh.

 

Too many people, unexperienced people keep complaining about World of Warcraft being some cheap poor quality game. First of all i'll just say this in reply to martin's post, Blizzard are well known for polishing off their games and that's what makes them the best quality. If you wish to sit here and say SOE can do better then may I direct your attention to SWG and EQ1. Expansion after expansion, aswell as revamps that changed the whole game. That's not polishing is it ? no, it's not.

 

Actually SOE is doing better with EQ II. They have been cranking out quality expansion after quality expansion while Blizzard basically has given its fan base a really bad copy of Planes of Power, and forced Raid or die on a demographic that  has no interest in Raiding.

Yes you can cling to the mistakes of Lucasarts, and Brad McQuaids EQ 1 development team.(We can all see now after the Sigil fiasco that the problems with EQ 1 wasn’t so much SOE they were more the vision of McQuaids)  But the current EQ II team has taken a broken unfun product and has refined it  until it is actually one of the few MMOs worth the subscription price. 

Diametrically Blizzard took a fun game and turned it into a tedious unfun grindfest...Tigole and the gang seem to be bound and determined to make WoW that game they cried and bitched about for so many years...EQ.. Yes Blizzard may dominate the world market, but they are losing there North American base, If you take to ten U.S. WoW players Nine of them are either on there last month or waiting for <Insert next MMMO here>. 

Blizzard has really jumped the shark on this one...... Meanwhile SOE  continues to refine Everquest 2,  and the population continues to grow. Will it ever have 9 million? Nope  but as we can see quantity doesn’t mean quality.

Looks like Legends of Noratth is beating WoW at it's own game. You can play that game in  EQ or EQ II, it dosen't suck and is actually fun....an their  trash loot cards are equal to WoW's  "Epic" loot cards.  

Originally posted by Airspell

  Lord British needs to go back to working for NCSoft and Lineage 1 :P  He needs to be left behind along with all the isometric garbage.

   Amen......it's no longer a novelty, or avant-garde to watch Lord/General/Grand Poobah  British over hype, under deliver, and waste millions in venture capital.  Nothing relevant has came out of this blow hard in Eleven plus years. His latest offering is little more than a bad hybrid of Halo and Planteside. There are so many talented creative developers out there why must NCsoft cling to this dinosaur?

http://www.pvponline.com/article/486/Fri-Mar-31

Archlord could have been a decent game..developers...especially Asian developers have got to get out of this Kick ass until you are king mindset...peopel want just a little more to do in a game besides that...AL is basically Quake with swords, if I want that type of game I'll go play Rune..which actually kicked ass.

Originally posted by Gylfi

Number of pre-orders tells nothing of the quality of the game itself, It's just that people know how good Richard Garriott is.

you tend to forget that names count also in videogaming, not only in things you usually consider more important .. a movie made by steven spielberg is different by the same movie made by Hugh Sack

That honestly is a given...and  dosen't have that much to do with my post.  The Halo series are a perfect example widly sucsessful but suck huge ones in my opinion.  I am just amazed that the numbers have increased in the past two months.....that is idicative of a positive beta buzz.  I know you see quite a few folks trashing the game as well I asked my friend who is in beta about the Comparisons to Planetside, he said that people who make those comparisions have never played the beta or Planetside, and I would not describe this guy as a Gushing fanboi lol.

I'll keep an open mind until I can log in this evening, I hope the game is decent, but if not there are plenty of MMOs in development.

Originally posted by therain93

 

Dude, while you may have something really good to say, your text size is way too small to read without leaning 8 inches from the screen or copying and pasting it into notepad, neither of which I'm inclined to do.  Please consider increasing it.

Yeah I forgot I should take the older gamers into account and increase the font size. :P

Originally posted by SonofSeth

Howmany preorders did Vanguard have?

Two I think after the fileplanet Open beta...and one of those got returned. 

My wife is the manager of the Local EB in our town.  She came home tonight with some surprising news...it seems that TR is slated as a possible Sleeper hit due to the numbers Of Pre orders in the last two months. I asked her what it took to qualify for that, and she said, it takes at least 50,000 units pre ordered to even to get noticed, to get a action alert it would take considerably more and that right now there was a waiting list on pre order boxes, because they have sold out.

I gotta say I'm surprised by this, yeah most of the buzz is favorable,  but I thought we were looking at CoH  numbers at the most, it looks like TR make take folks by surprise....I mean I know it won't have WoW numbers, but it will be awesome to see a Sci-Fi MMO with a decent sized population again. I'll be playing the beta for the forst time this weekend....Have to say I'm excited.

Has anyone else noticed that every time LotRO reaches a milestone like best selling MMO, or a certain number of subs, the haters flock to the post to minimize and flame? Let me share with you what  Jerry Castine  from Blizzard told me  at the Austin Game developers conference.  

The only game we are concerned with believe it or not is LOTRO.  WAR and AoC will have short-term appeal that may temporarily drain our subscriber base, but LOTRO has a development team that understands how to attract and keep the long term subscriber.

Is LOTRO a WoW killer? Nope, but it has a large, growing fan base.

Originally posted by Suvroc

 

 

And yet with all of these complaints I bet you played every day for 2 years, and if given a choice I bet you would choose pre-CU all over again. Even if it was full of those l337 d00d's.

 

Actually I play more today, simply because the game isn't lousy with Asshat l337 d00ds.  And the thing is SOE doesn’t want that community back either as the new community is steadily growing, is more mature and less whiney. That’s mainly because SOE made SWG about Star Wars something they should have done from  the get go. So I am a happy Veteran/beta  tester and there are a lot more out there like me.

  We like the direction SWG is going we like the new content,  Lucas has brought the whole Jedi thing  back to at least  a plausibility in the current time scheme and will continue to fit it with the upcoming T.V. series, Missions are fun and have a Star Wars feel, and  the only time I have to deal with the whiney Pre NGE power d00ds is when I come here to laugh at them.

SOE/Lucas gave SWG back to the Star Wars fans….it’s time for you guys to climb off the cross build a bridge and get over it.

Originally posted by Smoden

harsh words Martin, harsh words.

 

Cheers to the old days, where in the VERY beginning, everyone just HAD to get a full set of composite armor 

Harsh but true none the less. While I do prefer the mechanics of the game before, I  enjoy  the fact that the current community is a close knit group of SW fans and that there is actually a story, not just two idiot NPC standing by a flag. The people  that miss that are those that didn't want a SW MMO they wanted a aquistion simulator.