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Originally posted by Cleffy
Cannot beat the Dell U2410.  Its an IPS display with a large contrast ratio and descent size in your price range.  If you were spending thousands, then there are other options.

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As I read more about it, it does seem to be about on target with what I want. TheHatter's suggestion was very nice to. I'll need to go by a store that has one so I can see it up close and in action.

I'm getting ready to buy my next gaming rig and of all the research I've done finding a good if not awesome monitor has been the hardest. A few selections I've narrowed it down to:

Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP LCD. Most professional electronic sites give this monitor a 'good' review. My concerns were people pointing out the Pinkish/Blue color and input lag. Once I read it had input lag it became a deal breaker.

Dell UltraSharp U2410 LCD. A few marked improvements capture my attention, particularly since the input lag was addressed. The minor concern here is RGB preset dithering when viewing gray colors. The dithering isn't a total deal breaker, but if someone has this monitor I'd like to know just how 'bad' it may be. Also there were a few complaints about anti-glare.

I've not found anything else in the $300 to $400 price that exceeds the U2410 capabilities or I/O's. I may be willing to push the budget to $500 if the right monitor comes along.

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Originally posted by wormywyrm
I wish I tried EQ1 back in the old days.

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I wish you did too, it was quite an experience.

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Originally posted by Ozmodan
First off, Everquest is NOT the grandfather of MMO games, Ultima online is. 

Secondly, time for SOE to stop the paid expansions for this outdated game and just release free ones.  It would actually increase the playerbase.  SOE has to have the genre's worst marketing department.  I think a room full of monkies would do a better job.

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As long as people are willing to 'pay' for expansions, SOE will keep making them.

Its been a while since SOE has provided any additional information. I hope they aren't going to wait till next Fan Fair to give people an update.

I'll be tuning into the other episodes.

Lore is what brings me to the game. It provides substance to the world that I'm participating in. To me without lore there isn't much continuity or coherence to the game world. Eye candy graphics and stellar mechanics aren't going to bring a lot of meaning to my character and or my characters persona.

If people are playing just to blow off some steam or a time filler before they head out to dinner I can understand that lore isn't going to be that important to them, but to me lore is the backbone of the game.

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Originally posted by gnomechef
Ok simple question after reading Garret Fuller's column, if Mythic were to ressurect Dark age of Camelot and make it bigger and better, update graphics, etc. - Would you play it???
For me its a yes.

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No.

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Originally posted by ethion

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Originally posted by BuzWeaver

I'm considering coming back and playing soon, what updates to the settings are there with the new shadow system?

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The new shadow system is in.  I'm not sure what you are asking.  There is an option to do GPU or CPU shadows depending on your system.  So if you got a good cpu and not so go graphics card you can select cpu shadows if you have a good gpu you can do gpu shadows.  On my system switching from cpu to gpu got me like 15fps in qeynos.
There are also some shadow quality settings and an option for offscreen shadows.
The big news right now is the shader 3.0 stuff coming in the next update.  This updates all the textures and lighting stuff and makes the game look way better while at the same time reducing the hit on your computer!!  At least so the devs say and they did a video with before and after shots so it definitely looks much better.
Anyway it should be going up on test pretty soon so people will be able to check it out.

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Thanks for the explanation Ethion. I'm planning on getting a new Rig the first part of next year, just prior to the release of Halas. The new rig and graphics card(s) should be able to run the game quite well.

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Originally posted by Valarauk
Real day/night cycles.
Serious repercussions for death (made you play catious/smart)
Fire Beetles (seriously, that screetching sound they made when you hit them was awesome)
Single-world environment (no instancing until LDoN, which I thought really hurt the game)
 

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Mentioning Day and Nigh Cycles (which were 72mins long) reminded me of something a guild mate in EQII told me and I had never considered it. He was an amateur astrologer and he enjoyed the fact that EQ created constellations. I had never even given it any thought as I was under the impression the stars were fixed graphics. I suppose it was just one of those little details the devs decided to put in there.

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I wish I could remember the zone, but standing at the top of the ramp next to the zone pulling dark elves.

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Mistmoore.

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Originally posted by yueamyen
I miss everything you mentioned in your post. I believe the reason some people don't go back is due to the graphics and not the gameplay. Im kind of hoping "Everquest Next" is more of a sequal to EQ 1 and not a sequal to WoW like I feel EQ2 was.

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I'd say that perhaps to 'new gen' players graphics may be an issue, however EQ in general is known for its substantive play and immersion. Graphics do add flavor, but they don't necessarily make a game enjoyable.

Wow, talk about going around the block to get to the refrigerator.

Stradden truly exemplified a 'real' noobie. Its easy for players who have been around both games to pigeon hole his outline. The guys never played EQ or EQII, he's not going to know the nuances of PvP/PvE, Classes, Races, Spells, Questing, Navigation, Trade Skills, how the Vendor Mode (EQII)/Bazaar (EQ) works or even the Lore (EQ to EQII). I've often wondered what it would be like starting either EQ or EQII as a completely new player.

I know that when EQ went live in 99 I already felt overwhelmed and Kunark was just on the drawing board. I'd be blown away if I started either game today. For me I like every aspect of the game so I'd be playing somewhat similarly (very much as I do with Betas). EQII, I would imagine has enough of the 'Old School' MMORPG feel to it without the harshness of 'Old School' EQ (Risk vs Reward and the much loved Death Penalty).

This article was great, objective and he genuinely came across as a first time player. Back in the day we had some great EQ sites with a wonderful player community where we could get information about the game when we felt lost or over whelmed. Some of those sites or ones similar to them are still around. I hope Stradden will come across them or I'd be happy to point him in the right direction.

Tailor, making my own bags (armor) and or Carpenter for Boxes.

It was RL friends (co-workers) that got me started playing MMO's (EQ). Now that there are so many MMO's out there we are typically playing different games, but upon new releases we are often playing the same game though we are in different guilds.

I'm planning on getting a new rig this coming year and will probably stop by EQII again to see how it runs/looks on the new system. As of now I'm kind of just waiting to see what SOE is going to offer with Everquest Next.

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Originally posted by Thillian
"1:36am - I tried to group with a billboard advertisement of a large man."

What a laugh! Good read.
http://www.somethingawful.com/d/feature-articles/ianarchy-onlinei-first.php?page=3
 

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Always a classic. I like the write up on EQ as well.

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Originally posted by Hodo
I am REALLY surprised that WWIIOL didnt make that list...
 
Day 1..... June 6 2001...... L-Day.
 
Game launched, server went up.....  And so began the 6 hour download patch....... 
 
IF you managedto get through this, you then might get into the game, but seeing as the patching server and the game server shared the same network connection and bandwidth, as it seemed.   You were getting horribly high ping rates, if you didnt crash out of the game with in 5 minutes of logging in.     The game launched with less than 1/5th its promised content, that was in the book that came with the game.....   The launch was so bad that 6 months later they were still sorting out launch issues and you were basicly in the first pay to beta game that I can remember.    
 
Now 8 years later, the game looks MUCH better, and continues to look better, but over all the game still is lacking many of the features that were promised, and is still a capture the flag frag fest.    Oh well theres always hopeing for the next big WWIIOL game..... but after the horrible launch and  haphazard development of the current WWIIOL, I doubt there will be any company that attempts anything that big, in that genre again.

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This was probably one of the worst MMO purchases I had ever made. After shelling out $49.00 bucks I played it for about 20 minutes, put all the information back in the box, unloaded the game and never touched it again.

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Originally posted by SeriphinX
I'm as nostalgic as the next person..played a lot of these older mmos when they first came out and enjoyed them in their prime...but this is like having a birthday party in a cemetary..let the dead rest in peace and move on with life.

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Birthday party in a cemetery, LOL, that's an amusing analogy.