Originally posted by tixylix

I've worked out every ability is useless but 3 that drain the life of the enemy and heals you over time. I can literally aggro 10 mobs, hit these 3 abilities once every min or so and always be safe and it brarely drains mana too. If I want to face an elite then just it Harm Touch and it takes them down to like half health...... 4 abilities, just so boring, no skill involved in the combat like when it used to be hard back in the day.

Problem is with the game things are either too easy, 90% of the content that has been dumbed down for solo play. Or they're either too hard because they are made for big groups,

Oh I see. Well go solo the COE heroic dungeons (almost impossible) then, they are all you want, quite tough, several of them have  scripts and are far from faceroll. Instanced yes but otherwise just what you are asking for. Also the Dungeon instances from DoV are quite tricky.

I really do not understand your emphasis on slow and unrewarding gameplay? Most of us have just a couple of hours to play in an evening and spending a lot of downtime is just not fun.

EQ2 is 100% the responsibility of Raph Koster.

The game was released in poor condition, it was missing PvP and tons of other things, it didnt sell well, there was player outrage over being ignored and Koster was forced to push out an expantion quickly and in poor shape due to the speed of having to do it for damage control. After that Sony finally removed him, sent him over to their console division and wouldnt let him touch another MMO again, too bad it took 2 MMOs to realize how bad he is.

That was the reason for EQ2s fail, it originally placed into the hands of  a man with a reputation he didnt earn and has no place making MMO games...SWG could have been the greatest MMO in history if Koster and his piss poor ideas were never a part of it.

Originally posted by Razperil

Originally posted by tixylix

Originally posted by Camaro68

I finally got into EQ2 a couple years ago and I thought it was probably the deepest MMO on the market.  Lots of small group content and tons of character customization.  The fact that there's a bazillion classes doesn't hurt either.

 

But between the funky graphics engine and the feeling that some gameplay aspects were never polished left me with the feeling that SOE started the game with one overall concept in mind and did(OK, tried) an about face when WoW started open beta testing.

 

That all said I'm looking forward to the next EQ.  I'm interested to see what SOE defines as "sandbox" and if they can launch a game that feels complete this time.

The class system was one of the weakest I thought, you had to play 20 odd levels to see how your class would play out and if you liked it. They then changed it to what it is today but all the classes in each archetype feel rather bland and samey. Where WoWs classes always felt so unique from each other...

I found a lot of people, including myself all suffered from not being able to find a class we liked, trying a few and then quitting. Where as WoW, every class was fun and unique, every person can find a class they instantly like too. I found the class system to be a weak spot but I loved so much more about the game it made up for it.

Wow classes were fun and unique? Well, glad I don't share that opinion. EQ2 has changed a lot, we all know that. And of course people will always bring in this and that about Borecraft. It seems that is the bandwagon these days.

If you look at every WoW class they all play differently from each other, quite radically really and each class has like two or three playstyles thanx to the talents. Where EQ2 had too many classes, they felt watered down and lots of them played the exact same. Like WAR went with the same archetype system and it played out the same as EQ2.

Personally looking forward to EQ3. It's based on the Planetside 2 engine which is a great engine.. so i'm hoping they return to former glory with it.

There are many who still like EQ2 but from a sequel standpoint the game is horrific. EQ2 in no way compared to the immersive experience of EQ1. Sadly toward the end EQ2 became a cash grab as it made lots of WoW like changes in the last week of beta, similiar to Vangaurd, if anyone still remembers those betas. "Whoa everyone look, griffon flight points out of nowhere, no no we thought of this all along we swear."

EQ2 has its flaws

but, for me, EQ2 has seen the best mmo improvements over the years

- when compared to other mmos that had improvements

 

especially the EOF expansion that added new content for *all levels*

---

Originally posted by Nadia
EQ2 has its flaws

but, for me, EQ2 has seen the best mmo improvements over the years

- when compared to other mmos that had improvements

 

especially the EOF expansion that added new content for *all levels*

---

Agreed.

I'd pay good money for a new engine...
:|

Originally posted by Telondariel

I think your lamenting about it having an early release is..8 years too late.  Hanging on to the past like you are isn't even realistic.  The game at launch was terrible, and I think you have stars in your eyes with your nostalgia.   I started it shortly after launch, then quit for a year and returned after a fundamental GU that changed a lot of what turned many people off (like sub-combines in crafting).

 

That said, I still play the game.  I LOVE it.  It has all the depth and variety that is missing in other MMO's.  I love the class variety, contrary to your point.  How can you say they are all "samey"? 

 

Its not a failure by any stretch.  Perhaps in your opinion, but you are one bitter voice out of many that are actually having a blast playing EQ2.  The game still gets regular expansions, content updates, events, Fan Faire attention, etc.  For an 8 year old game, its doing just fine.  If you want to look at a failure, look to Vanguard.  That poor game is on life support and its last attempt to gain new blood with the F2P model failed.  If you listen, you can hear the footsteps of someone coming down the hallway to pull the plug on that old dog.

 

So, no.  EQ2 is not a failure. 

 

(no I'm not a fanboi.  I have been very critical of SOE and the EQ2 team several times over the years)

This/\

Anyone who thinks EQ2 is a failure is delutional and melodramatic which sums up 90% of the people on this wonderful site.

EQ2 had it's problem at release especially if you came from EQ.

First problem was the boxed off world.

Second problem was the engine.

I actually like the original EQ2 for it's harshness, it wasn't easy mode like it is today.

But someone on these forums saying that EQ2 failed does not supprise me.

 

EQ2's Heroic Opportunity nonsense is irrelevant, by the way.

You can disable the UI element for it and not miss oout on anything at all.

Originally posted by ShakyMo
It's soe's own fault for panicking in the face of wow and trying to copy it.

Same fate befell swg and daoc too.

Got new for you,  wow copied eq1,  eq2 and wow were released just 2 months appart, best get your fact straight. 

 

i miss the starter island , but i miss the intro in the boat ! a dragon attacks it! was just awesome at the time!

things i dislike about eq2? : spells/cas App 1-4 (soe removed app1 to 3), Journey , adept 1 , adept 3 , master

 

while the idea was "cool" but u felt like spells were a must and another "grind" , gez i never got my lvl 50 Master spell in vanilla eq2 :( and raided a lot , tried to buy it on trade /broker , no luck :( bleh

 

 

Originally posted by JimmyYO
There are many who still like EQ2 but from a sequel standpoint the game is horrific. EQ2 in no way compared to the immersive experience of EQ1. Sadly toward the end EQ2 became a cash grab as it made lots of WoW like changes in the last week of beta, similiar to Vangaurd, if anyone still remembers those betas. "Whoa everyone look, griffon flight points out of nowhere, no no we thought of this all along we swear."

Really?  That was 8 years ago.  "Wow like changes".  Hmm, that's funny considering EQ2 and WoW launched just a couple months apart, and if I remember WoW's launch correctly..it was horrible.  So horrible, in fact, that people thought it was going to outright fail.  So, no, it wasn't the competitive monster then as you are painting it to be.

How about a little more fact, and a little less troll?

The game was adjusted in the first half year after launch to reflect player demand and feedback.  It was that simple.

..and, I still don't understand why these two people are making a big deal about how things were in beta compared to launch.  It really is an asanine arguement.  That was so long ago, and the game has evolved so much past it, as does every game after its launch period.  I have to chalk it up to bored haters.