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EverQuest II Review: EverQuest II: Re-Review - Edit
7.9
Average
| Graphics | 9 | |
| Role-Playing | 9 | |
| Fun | 9 | |
| Performance | 5 | |
| Sound | 9 | |
| Value | 8 | |
| Community | 10 | |
| Service | 4 |
EverQuest II Re-Review
Staff Writer Adele Caelia pens this re-review of Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest II.
Everquest II has come a long way. Now in its second year, it has continued to wow the MMO world with amazing expansions such as Desert of Flames, Kingdom of the Sky, and most recently the well-accepted Echoes of Faydwer, which brought us the beautiful race of the fae. With so many wonderful changes there is need to review the game again.
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Simply amazing is what comes to mind. 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. Regardless if you are playing a fae or an elf, whether you are in Kelethin or Thundering Steppes beauty is not hard to find. If you are lucky enough to be able to play the game on high quality the sights are a wonder to behold. The world of Norrath is a beautiful place indeed, and if you take the time to stop and look around you might find yourself noticing things that you have never noticed before. Everquest II is very easily the best looking game currently on the market even beating out next generation mmo's like Vanguard.
;)
An MMO is Fun or it's Dead
To my mind, the average MMO player sticks with a game for one and a half years. That's about the point that the game becomes old. It begins to lose its fun factor. After two years, the world of Norrath remains strong in the gaming world because it remains fun. While there are many quests that take little time and like many other games consist of killing x mob x many times and bringing those items back to quest giver, there are also many quests in Everquest II that require a bit of thinking on the player's part. These quests not only require thought, but they require skill, and often times, teamwork. Completing a quest that rewards you with not only a very nice item but also a sense of accomplishment adds a huge element to the game. It makes the player feel like they are part of the world and that what they do matters. When you see the same quest givers appear in game that you saw at level ten and they remember you, it makes you feel good. It makes the game fun and drives you to keep on playing. The only problem I might see for newcomers to the game would be grouping. A lot of the quests do require a group and in the lower levels this is something that isn't easy to find. It could be that a majority of players in the lower stages like to solo or just grind through solo mobs to level, or perhaps there aren't enough lower levels playing. Soloing is fine, but the problems appear when you need to finish a quest that requires a group. Perhaps they might add an option to do a solo version of some of the quests? A solution to this will not come easily. The only suggestion would be that lower level characters try to find a guild that also has lots of lower levels in its ranks.
Did You Hear That?
;)
Just like the sound and music in a movie can change the way a viewer is feeling or help to create a scene, it can dramatically change the feeling of the mmo world. Everquest II does an excellent job of setting the mood for each of their zones. As you fight your way through places of the undead such as Stormhold or The Living Tomb, you can feel your skin crawl as the cackling of the undead echo through the air. While standing in Qeynos Harbor you fill with pride as the sound of Antonia's voice encourages you to be strong and fight the evil that has fallen upon Norrath. The quest givers each have their own voice, and even leveling has a sound. Emotes add sound as well enhancing the role-playing aspect of the game. The sounds of Everquest II easily immerse players into the world of Norrath adding a unique depth to the game.
The MM in MMO
The community can make or break a game. A good community will welcome players old and new and keep them coming back, and often keep them subscribed long after the game has become old. A horrid community will send players running to their account menu to cancel. The Everquest II community is very friendly and welcoming. New players to the game will not have a problem getting help with their questions, and will likely not find it hard to find someone that will even mentor down and group with them, or perhaps escort them to their location if they are lost. Players who have been around awhile have made many friends who they will continue to play with for years to come. You will very rarely in Everquest II find the general chat filled with profanity or players insulting one another. It will be rare to find someone with an offensive name as when these are created they are quickly reported and forced to change. You won't find guilds with childish names either. Everquest II is the game for the serious and mature mmo player. It has found what World of Warcraft is lacking: Adults.
Worry Not Fair Lady
;)
Role-player or not, at some point in the mmo world you will most likely find yourself acting in character. It may be in the form of a simple emote to respond to someone else who obviously is into role-playing, or it may be that you are trying to impress that cute wood elf. If you are new to role-playing or a pro Everquest II makes it easy to become your character. They have an endless amount of emotes, some of which do the talking and acting for you! They also have something they call the guide program. Guides are players who volunteer their time to run around the world of Norrath in character to hand out quests, live events, or just to entertain the population. It is a lot of fun to participate in a quest where you can actually speak to the quest giver and they can answer! They will also reward you with treats for role-playing with them. This is a great way for a game to encourage role-playing in the community, and it also adds to the fun element. If you are a developer take note on this because it will really propel the RPG part of your mmorpg.
Help! I'm Rooted
The lag in this game has to be its biggest downfall. I have yet to meet anyone who can run the game on the highest settings, and even people with high-end systems have trouble running Everquest II smoothly. I am currently running the game with a Geforce 8800GTX, 5200+ X2 CPU, 4gb of ram and still have to run the game on balanced in certain zones even if those zones are empty. In crowded zones like Qeynos Harbor trying to get to the docks or to your inn room is equal to being rooted by a mob or being overburdened. There are also zones I can run the game on high quality and go through the fight with magic flying everywhere and not have an ounce of lag. Obviously there is still some tweaking to be done here.
Has anyone seen a GM?
;)
The customer service department for Everquest II is very lacking. It used to be readily available and quite easy to get in touch with a customer service rep, but this is one area of the game where SOE has downgraded. The new ticket system is horrible. I am talking about the one that they just implemented after they removed the old new once because it was horrid. I have many times attempted to use this new in-game petition system that will load the site in a built-in game browser, and I have not yet been able to get it to load. I have waited approximately ten minutes with each try and still nothing. It sits there with the message at the bottom that it is connecting, but it never will. If you have an issue you are best to wait until your game time is over (if you can remember what the issue was) so that you can go to the site on your own, and even then it rarely works. It makes one wonder if they just do not want to be bothered so they made it as difficult as possible to submit a ticket. I also have to ask, "What was wrong with the original petition system?" It worked and it worked every time. If it's not broke don't fix it.
Value is What You Get
Overall, Everquest II is a well-rounded enjoyable mmorpg. It has a lot to offer players old and new. One can hardly tell that the game is in its second year, and with the low pricing of expansions that include the original game, the option of digital download, or the option for the station access if you play multiple SOE games you cannot beat the value for the price. If it has been awhile since you have tried Everquest II, I suggest that you give it another go. You will most likely be pleasantly surprised. Considering the games currently out on the market, those just released, and those about to be released Everquest II is arguably the best mmo out there.
Certainly allot of good points brought up by the reviewer. Some things are in the eye of the beholder I suspect, from day one I have fond the graphics in EQ2 to far surpass WoW's saturday morning cartoon look. But I do agree that Echoes of Faydwar sets the bar even higher with some of the most incredible artwork seen to date in a MOG!
As for not able to run on balanced in all zones I am a bit amazed. I have a AMD x2 4200+ with a nvdia 7900gt and the only time I have ever had to set it below balanced was on large raids! In any case they have built a graphic engine for the future and it is nice to know it will still be working well in the upcoming years.
Soloing is something that SOE has put allot of time into changing. Originally the game was like Vanguard and 80% group oreintated. That is no longer the case, a good 50% of the content is now geared for solo or 2 man groups. Yes there are numerous signature and hertiage items that will require groups or raids but there are still many great items that can be gotten by a solo player!
If you haven't playe EQ2, or had and then went away, this is agreat time to come Norrath.
I suggest the Antonia Bayle server where i play with my guild Vindicators. www. vindicators.org We are always open to having new friends to play with!
Happy Adventuring
I never liked WOW's cartoony graphics either.
"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!
I would expect a staff writer to do a bit more research before making claims about bad preformance. Yes, the game will most likely prefore very badly IF YOU HAVE A GF8800 series card.
Drop the 8800 and use an ATI or a 7000 series and you will be able to play perfectly fine.
Now, that topic has been dragging on the official SOE tech forums since the cards were released, it also has a rather leanghty thread on the Nzone forums hosted by nvidia itself.
It is actually a very disturbing issue, seeing that the most expensive gfx card on the market has drivers that preform like utter crap on many games- and in this case especially EQ2.
It is even more disturbing founding out how uninterested and slow Nvidia seems to be in adressing those matters. After my experience with this, i am positive that the 8800gtx was the last card i have bought from Nvidia as it would seem that thier driver-writing staff consists of badly trained circus monkeys.
A nice re-review, although I am puzzled by the comparison between World of Warcrafts and Everquest II's graphics. EQ2 may not have had the artistic presentation of WoW early on, but now it does, and it always had the edge in graphical quality. As far as gameplay, I have seen EQ2 improve, but in some areas it has gotten worse as far as I'm concerned.
I like grouping and SOE's attmepts at making EQ2 a solo friendly mmo turned me off a little. I am not quite happy about how the game got a little dumbed down not long after release, but I suppose that's the way most mmos are going these days, with one exception (Vanguard: Saga of Hereos).
I have played Vanguard and thought it would sweep me off my feet like EQ2 once did, but I was wrong, and now I am even thinking of returning to Norrath (if I don't enter Middle Earth first
)
I beta tested that expansion, and I can safely say that not only does it have the best sights and looks of any game I've ever played, it's also got nearly as much content as EQ2 had on release!
One thing to be wary of though, is that the PVP in EQ2 is bad. I stopped playing due to it. Rule abusers (outside healing, exploits, etc), gank squads (6 people 7 levels above you killing you is not fun) and the fact that most PvP happens in the 20-30 level, made me stop playing.
Play EQ2 in normal PvE, you'll love it so much more!
I will return one day and reclaim my PvE characters!
heerobya
Have you ever had any inkling of thought that staff writers don't review every game here and new writers come onboard and have the right to express their own opinions? Just to fill you in, each game here is handed out to different writers, and yes some are biased to that particular game. The rating scale does not reflect mmorpg.com as a whole, but as each individual writers perspective.
And about the gameplay performance. I for one have a very nice system, AMD X2 5200+ 8800 GTX, 4GB Ram and so on. The game still when maxed in heavy areas like QH lags for me. I know the issue with 8800's, but if the game lags for some and not for others then lucky for the others. Don't call the people who have performance issues liars.
im in the same boat as you dude, im deciding to go back to EQ2. i have a new powerful system now iwth a 8800 now. the graphics are gonna be sweet. i gotta admit I never liked Eq1, maybe cause i didnt get into it when it was popular and by the time i noticed it and had a good system it was like 2002 etc. but either way, i played WoW until lvl 62 and have til april 1st when my sub cancels I wont be going back, its fun, but there is just alot that is lacking. it lacks depth, the pvp is to basic, the graphical look is far too dumbed down and low poly and has a too cartoony RTS feel to it. not to imply the game isnt good, its just not my thing anymore, its running long on the tooth for me.
Eq2 just like SWG has alwyas had a place in my heart, except I learned and accepted SWG is a POS and will never be what it was so i moved on. But Eq2 is one of the few MMO's SOE has done a fantastic job with minus a few silly decisions here and there, but overall i commend them ont heir work on that game thus far, they definitely got a good dev team.
I just gotta wait til i get paid to get my sub redone agian :P bills gotta get paid first hehehe. Like you I was debating whether or not to go to eq2 again this review has more or less cemented my decision in going back. I even believe im still in my Guild as I checked my character so thats good. glad my guild kept me :P. oh yeah im also playing vanguard which is pretty good, and getting better as I get higher levels and continue to explore and do quests, ic ant complain on that game getting better and better as time progresses.
PvP has been tweaked alot since the early days. Out of group healing has gone, lower level ranges in all zones (except the top 70 zone) means you wont get ganked by people any more than 4-5 levels above you until you get to level 40, and the population has grown in levels, so although alot happens around level 20-30, there is alot more at top levels now. Although the people at 20-30 are "level locked" (for those who dont play you can lock your xp gain from killing so you dont level as fast if you dont want to) and you can easily out level them, and then get your own back.
PvP in EQ2 is the fairest and most fun (imho). You wont get WoW's level 70's camping a level 20, plus you choose your resurection point. You also have immunity zones now, if you die you are unattackable until you move from the immune zone, and have a 30 second cool down on zoning, enough time to Call home or try to run for it!
You also get alot more PvP rewards now, with city faction unlocking new armour / weapons, and Tokens being dropped by players, which you can exchange for more armour / weapons.
PvP in EQ2 is also more exciting, as you can lose a percentage of your coin (unless its banked), lose things from your bag (that arent bound) and you gain alot of XP from the kill (as well as getting these from the person killed). Repeat killing is frowned upon, and you have a 30 minute recent list, if you kill someone on your list you get nothing for it, if you do it more than a few times you lose your faction.
so MMORPG.com hate wow, why do you use it? or more specificly the eq2 section of it? so tonnes of people play wow, tonnes of people belive 9/11 conspiracy theories, numbers really dont mean everything
"A*B=C
A=wow level
B=intelligence
C=a constant" lol
I don't want to say anything about the review or compare EQ2 to WoW - it's a matter of personal preference as you already said.
But i would not rely to much on ratings if there's only 0.2 or 0.3 points difference between two games. There are simply too much fanboys and too much haters in all the games who are influencing the results.
If the difference between overall ratings is more than 0.5 it starts to get significant. So don't stick too much on 0.1 or 0.2 differences, that leads to nowhere.
Edit: Hehe, ok i just saw that you are referring to the "our rating" section and not to user rating. Then take my apology :)
So because someone doesn't suck blizzard's or WoW's nuts, you feel the need to tear down thier opinion? You mention freedom of speech guess what? the original reviewer also has freedom of speech ... and because they use it, they must be getting paid by Sony? Then people like yourself wonder why many of us can't stand stupid WoW fanbois.
WoW may be doing something right, but that doesn't mean its the best. I have said thise before most population does not equal the best. if that was the case then McDonalds would be the best resturant of all time and Titanic the Greatest movie of all time
I don't think the reviewer had any business putting the stink on Vanguard and WoW in the middle of a review for EQ2. Those tactics certainly add " fanboi " element.....and nooooo...I'm not saying that just because Vanguard was included.
I don't think that was very professional and just screams " hidden agenda " !
Claiming it was the likely the best mmorpg out there was the last straw. Everybody knows that title belongs to Vanguard !
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 !
Making a public statement towards WoW for being a kiddie game was uncalled for too ..imo. I'm not saying I disagree BUT it should never have been said in a featured re-review ..particularly in the manner in which it was stated. I don't play WoW nor even like WoW ..but that wasn't necessary nor was it very nice. It added nothing to the review cept some obvious bias.
And everyone here that agrees with the general view expressed by the reviewer are paid by Sony as well right?
Yeah.. right...
EQ2 is a lot of fun if you like real MMORPGs (as opposed to the new generation of MMO arcade games), it's very very pretty, and it's only getting better with time. Why does that bother you so much?
I have just restarted the game with a newbie friend, and he is enjoying sooo much it's funny hehe. We are duoing mostly as a fury and pally, and have found a great guild very easily. The game is still very starter friendly imho.
The best fantasy MMO out there? Definitly, well, definitly at least until AoC arrives
(hopefully...)
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).
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
"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.
The whole interconnected crafting thing I hated. 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 hated how the devs kept making crafting more about randomness and less about any input effect the player might have on it. 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. Grind grind grind, that is what it was all about. 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.
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.
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.
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
Yawn, working hard to play a dying game for free aren't they?
I made the mistake of going back and the game has changed. It has, but not for the better.
If you hate WoW then you have to hate EQ2. It's best points now are just standard in most other MMOs. Sure the graphics are pretty and it performs well even on a 6800 based machine. Indeed, it does. There's just hardly any game play to it and the quests are so repeative.
The lack of choice and the fact your hand is held all the way through EQ2 and WoW is what makes them blow ass. Stop supporting cookie cutter companies folks. You'll just encourage them to keep doing the same..
"Oh it looks pretty and I can play pretty for years." "How does it actually play tho'?" "PRETTY I SAID! It's pretty!"
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.
I read that and probably made the same face you made. I kind of turned my head at an angle, squinted up my face, and went "wh-wh-what?"
I don't think anyone can say with a straight face that the graphical quality of WoW ever even touched the hem of EQ2's pants, much less shadowed it. Perhaps the "style" of WoW is better, but not the graphics in general.
EQ2 immerses you in a world that's realistic, and WoW immerses you in their RTS of low poly-counts and horribly placed objects (I mention the objects a lot, but it bothers me a lot and shows a lack of attention to detail).
The only thing I will say that WoW had and still has on EQ2 was the griffon flights. EQ2's griffon was horribly animated and the flight path was not very well-done, whereas WoW's griffon rides are enjoyable (until you do it for the umpteenth time).
Aside from the graphical comment, everything else seemed to be how I remember it. :) Good review overall. Short and to the point.
I just couldn't play a game that couldn't decide whether it wanted to enforce grouping, or strongly encourage soloing. If there was an interesting storyline I could see myself playing. Its essentially a solo player game, but you are expected to grind for no reason. Add a damn storyline in.
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
1. None of the expansions upgraded the graphics. Yes the graphics are "different" and well done(echoes) but not "upgraded". There has not been a graphics upgrade expansion and if there was it would most likely make the game run even worse than it does atm. In the end the graphics in the game(models and freeport art design)are decent at most. Yes SOGA models help but 60% of equipment in the game is downright ugly and looked like an attempt to show off pixel shaders.
2. "Perhaps they might add an option to do a solo version of some of the quests?" - If you ran out of solo quests then you are clearly not looking around. I didn't start running out of solo quests til around 50 and I mostly have exp turned off. Heroic quests are there for higher difficulty and higher reward(but many can be soloed when green).
3. In the same paragraph: "The only suggestion would be that lower level characters try to find a guild that also has lots of lower levels in its ranks." It looks like the reviewer wrote this previously to learning of mentoring.
4. The reviewer mentioned nothing about the quality of past Live Updates. Each one is fairly significant in making the game more enjoyable, whereas it's rare to see game modifying updates in other MMO's.
5. This rating system seems odd.. 9 graphics/fun/sound/role playing, 8 value, 10 community, 5 performance, 4 service = 7.9 ?
Is it just me or is performance and service modifying the score too much?
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.
Me and a few friends are looking for something new. We thought we might want to take another look at EQ2 (played it in beta, briefly).
Here are the things that made us not want to play the game in retail:
1. Locked encounters. Not being able to assist someone when they're about to die was just rediculous.
2. Shared XP loss. If someone in your group died, everyone lost XP.
3. Ceramic doll look for all the models and the ambiance of the world. Artwork is what makes graphics nice, not poly counts.
Have these areas been improved?
A few months ago, I downloaded the trial and was thoroughly unimpressed with it... but I've been told that the trial island hasn't been updated since launch and that the game is actually fairly different, is this true?
I JUST picked this game up this weekend and to comment on these...I can answer two of them.
1: You can unlock them...if someone is in trouble there is a way to unlock it so you can get help. Actually, I think there is even a setting so they are never locked to begin with, but I may be mistaken. I know that I have assisted players several times by doing damage to the mob and by healing them.
3: The graphics were enhanced with the last expansion I have read. They look decent to me, not the best ever, but not something I would complain about either.
I have only grouped once so far and it was briefly just to share a boss kill, so not sure about shared XP loss.
This re-review is BS, i hate when reviewers spew propoganda lies.
Locked encounters only exist if you lock them. You can choose to lock or leave it open to help. So if that player locked his encoutner then if he dies that's that cards he drew.
There is not shared XP loss. You dont lose XP like in Vanguard. Instead you get XP debt which must be paid off. No chasing shards or running around as a ghost. You just re-zone and start that bit again.
The look of the game will depend greatly on your GPU and CPU. You need a decent machine. You also have to option of running a different set of models known as the SOGA models. Again you chose what you want and how they look. With the Graphics turned up to max the visual display of this game is outstanding. The 3D engine they have used is amazing. Cloth looks like and acts like cloth. Bushes move when you run through them (unlike some snow capped trees that you can pass right through). Water, moves like it should when you swim.
Locked encounters are totally optional now and default to being unlocked. I know they changed the XP debt and I think it is no longer effecting the other group members. I think they changed that over a year ago. The artwork in Faydwer is fantastic. In fact you can see for yourself.
You can try the new expansion out for yourself and see how you like it with the free trial: http://everquest2.station.sony.com/promotions/playthefae/
What do you get when you take,
1 cup of WOW
2 cups of EQ
and a pinch of Vanguard
Few more questions. Forgive me if I'm a little wary... I vowed to never play another Sony MMO a few years back.
Is the Trial Island an accurate representation of the full game?
Was the whole game given some artistic upgrades or just the new Faydwer area?
Do I need to buy the original game and the two expansions to get all the content or does the last expansion come with all the previous content?
Downtime. How bad is it?
I read they added in PvP. Is it a faction vs. faction world PvP or is it limited to instanced areas?
What are the three best things in the game?
What are the three worst things in the game?
Another sentence that annoys the heck out of me is this:
" Everquest II is very easily the best looking game currently on the market even beating out next generation mmo's like Vanguard."
Just read that again. "Very easily". My dear Adele, please look up games such as Granado Espada, ZerA, or even older games like EVE, Lineage 2 and even WoW (all maybe not WoW, as this website is as anti-WoW as it can get), and then come back here saying Everquest 2 is "Very easily" the best looking game on the market. My problem isn't with the fact the Adele says Everquest 2 is the best looking mmorpg out there, I am not saying it isn't (nor am I saying it is, if you want my opinion on that, just ask me), my problem is the "Very easily" part. Adele is acting like Everquest 2 has no competition whatsoever in the graphic department.
More examples are the fact that WoW received a 6 in roleplaying, but somehow, Everquest 2 deserves a 9? I am not saying that WoW didn't deserve that score, but my point is that EQ2, imo, definitly doesn't deserve a 9 if your going to give WoW a 6. Everquest 2 doesn't add that much more to roleplaying then WoW does.
As an example that is supposed to enhance EQ2's Roleplaying part is this.
"Just like the sound and music in a movie can change the way a viewer is feeling or help to create a scene, it can dramatically change the feeling of the mmo world. Everquest II does an excellent job of setting the mood for each of their zones. As you fight your way through places of the undead such as Stormhold or The Living Tomb, you can feel your skin crawl as the cackling of the undead echo through the air. While standing in Qeynos Harbor you fill with pride as the sound of Antonia's voice encourages you to be strong and fight the evil that has fallen upon Norrath. The quest givers each have their own voice, and even leveling has a sound. Emotes add sound as well enhancing the role-playing aspect of the game".
But that should be taken into consideration when your judging the sound and music of the game, not the roleplaying part.
Other examples of roleplaying are the emotes (its shorter to make a list of MMO's that doesn't have emotes), and the so called guides. In all 3 months I have played Everquest 2, I have yet to see 1 of those guides. In fact, I didn't even know they existed.
a bit off-topic, but I find it rediculous mmorpg's get even judged on roleplaying aspects. Some MMO's like Lineage 2 and RF Online are simply not build for roleplaying. that would be like judging the RPG aspects of Counter strike and take it into consideration when giving the final score.
Another one is the Community score. a perfect 10? are you kidding me? are you going to tell me there is not a single bastard, annoying kiddy, or "Go-back-to-WoW elitist?" let us stay realistic here. Funny thing is in the part talking about the community, it mentions this: "It has found what World of Warcraft is lacking: Adults". Nice going, lets attack a diffrent game in a game's review. absolutely amazing. there are plenty of other Games with even far more immature communities, such as Guild Wars or actually pretty much every free to play mmorpg out there, but No, we, as mmorpg.com have an anti-WoW reputation to keep up, so it must be WoW we're attacking in an EQ2 review.
All that combined with thist last sentence: "Everquest II is arguably the best mmo out there.",
I find it harder and harder to take these reviews seriously. If you ask me, these reviews should be taken just as seriously as the ratings on the front page. This is also the very first time I doubt the ubiasedness of the reviewer. Not saying that SOE opened its wallet to pay for a good review, but Its a coincidence that, now that Everquest 2 reaches the top of the raitng, we, by totall coincidence ofcourse, get an Everquest 2 re-review. I have a feeling that this review is either made by an Everquest 2 fan, or its just a tool to keep the community of mmorpg.com happy.
1) Play the Fae is moer representative now. But trial of the Isle is great too.
2) Every expansion since the original game has gotten better and better looking. This is the 3rd expansion and they are at their prime. Original zones have not been updated.
3) If you buy the Expansion of Faydwer retail box you get the base game and all 3 expansions. Only things you don't get are the 3 (or was it 4?) adventure pakces
4) Downtime. There is no downtime. You use food and drink to replenish power and health after a fight.
5) Best things? I love the vast number of zones and things to do. I love the quests and the feeling I am never grinding. I simply do quests and have a blast. I love heritage quests. I love playing with my guild. I love druid teleports and Conjurer's call of the hero. I simply love this game as being the best of all MOGs at present and I have tried allot of them.
6) worse things? You have to pay to play! If you play more than one SOE mog then all pass costs as much now as 2 subscriptions. I don't play another mog at present so dont use it. I wish there was a true Z axis in game with levitate etc. Fae glide comes close but its not the same. I wish the game was seamless like Vanguard. there are some big giant zones but they are still zones. I also wish there were more druid rings around the world, but in gneral I can get anywhere I want in under 15 minutes now.
Hehe people like some games, don't like others.
People complain in every game, just go to the vanguard, wow, EQ2, etc, etc. forums and people will be complaining about things they don't like.
Hell in EQ2 forums people that want to solo complain that there isn't enough solo content, those that want to group complain that there isn't enough grouping content or it is too hard to find groups, raid people complain about some mob being too difficult or in some cases too easy.
My suggestion is you try any game you are interested in and see for yourself.
Personally I like EQ2, been playing it for the most part straight through from launch. I play on one of the RP servers mainly because those seem to have had more mature players over other servers.
As was mentioned before Try the new play as a fae, I don't think the trial of the isle has been updated in awhile. Also note that in these "freebies" some stuff is probably locked down. I know it is one way plat sellers were using to spam players so they put some restrictions on them.
I thought we were only talking to adults?
Yes, I certainly did not understand that statement either. I have played EQ2 since release, and also tried very briefly WOW, and the graphics in WOW were a definate turn off - and I don't mean the cartoon character models, I mean the almost total lack of any detail. Even when EQ2 first came out it was by far the most detailed game around, beating WOW by a wide margin.
And what others have said about the 8800 card is true - the 8800 has some serious problems with MANY games, not juse EQ2.
I have a 7950 and am easily able to run the game on nearly all max settings with practically no lag at all.
And I also question the 7.9 rating - This game is far better than some others with higher ratings.
Compare the character models and character animations in Vanguard with what EQ2 has, and then come back and tell me that VG is better.
And funny, but I have never seen any of those "elitist high level morons" you speak of. Maybe you just have an attitude problem and are on everyone's ignore list...
the new petition system is a little less convenient but i find it no less responsive. i've had nothing but good experiences dealing with soe support. the in-game browser works fine, so not sure what you meant there. i even downloaded a UI extension that lets you browse any web page while playing. check your own system before complaining.
i ONCE failed to receive a reply from a petition filed from the new site and after letting them know that i only got the 72hr "hey we haven't heard back from you so we assume it's ok" notice, i got an email from the "Executive Director of Global Customer Service for Sony Online Entertainment, LLC" apologizing. so yes you no longer have access instantly to a GM but i recall waiting hours sometimes for a GM to get to me anyway.
you said eq2's graphics were shadowed by wow? in terms of complexity/realism then i think you don't know what you're talking about. if you prefer the cartoon style then sure wow was "way better". the engine hasn't changed so how can you say it's better now? they only have higher poly areas and better textures to go along with the hardware improvements in the last few years.
the rest of the article was pretty decent. i just wish writers wouldn't pull stuff out of their asses just to fill an article.
I don't agree fully with this statement. I don't think EQ2 is as cookie cutter and quest linear as say LOTR or WoW. There's a lot of freedom to play EQ2 many different ways. You can just as easily grind out the levels and do okay if you want and people do that. The quests however give you faction and other opportunities and some interesting rewards. In fact, it's much more quest diverse over than just kill 20 of this and deliver that. Yes, there's some of that too, but it's not as redundant as WoW. When I quested in WoW it was to gain experience because it was the best way to do it, oh and maybe get a decent reward from time to time. When I quest in EQ2 it's for faction opportunities, personal status changes, guild status changes, experience, story line progression, etc. Most importantly I don't feel like I HAVE to do these quests to advance, like WoW and others. It's a choice I make.
Actually YOU are betraying a lack of knowledge of the game. I believe that the reviewer was refering to the introduction of the SOGA models. Some DID consider those a upgrade in graphics, and looking at the screenshots I believe that my impression is correct. Mostly because all of the models shown in the SS's are SOGA and not the original models. Also many items on the noob isles were redone with a mind to maximizing framerates. I don't remember if the cities got a makeover with that rerendering as well.
I have been playing the game since launch, and it has gotten much better in many ways. Though the small size of the population has driven the prices of most items though the roof. This is my impression of Antonia Bayle server, one of the most populous servers in EQ2 despite it being "RP preferred". It plays pretty well with settings tweaked toward nicer models, but shadows and other atmospheric stuff either off or rendered low rez. I don't really remember lagging in the cities like I did at launch. I have a P4 2.8G HT, ATI Radeon x800GTI 256mb with 2GB Ram.
Tasha
"The customer service department for Everquest II is very lacking. It used to be readily available and quite easy to get in touch with a customer service rep, but this is one area of the game where SOE has downgraded. "
This is true in Planetside, as well, and has been an on-going problem for a year now. You'd think customer service would the one of the number one areas of business to improve.
Why be offended when a game review invokes the name of another game, especially a competitor? WoW and Vanguard are both open for comparison to EQII. This game does not exist in a bubble. It has to compete with several other games of it's like in the genre. He even went as far as to compliment the graphics and art direction of WoW. He also made reference to EQII's launch, which in an of itself is a compliment to WoW. The only thing he really blasted in WoW was the community. Vanguard deserved to be included here as well. The reference being the EQII looks good, and plays better. This is of course my opinion, but it is one I share with the writer.
Overall I would say this is a pretty balanced review of EQ. He concentrated on it's strengths, and nailed it on weaknesses. Just because he poked your favorite game does not make it a poor overview. Moreover, to those slamming SOE again, and saying they paid for this review. Look closely at on of his main critiques, it's about SOE's customer service, you would think if Sony wanted to pay for a peice, they would want a little relief in the area where everyone knows they are weakest. EQ2 is not SWG, they killed SWG and we all know it, but that does not make EQ2 a bad game, it's just run by the company that killed our other game, and I have a hard time blaming the EQ staff for that one.
I couldnt keep reading after the few first sentences so I probably shouldnt post... but to compare any graphics to wow and making wow's graphics sound good.... thats not something funny to me... it pisses me off.... I dont care whatever you say about objects and how much you can have on screen without lagg.... guess why you can have so much on screen without lagg... BECAUSE ITS SOOO UGLY!! ....
oh and I have eq2 somewhere... I bought it for like 5$ at some shop and played the free trial for a bit.... I dont remember why I stopped playing... but I remember the character creation was very customisable compared to other games... or do I remember that part wrong?
Where EQ2 falls down is at the hands of the inept SOE mis-management. Sure the actual developers arent too bad, and try to interact with community fairly frequently, it is the level above them that needs to get theirs heads out....... In this day and age, any game that restricts the amount of character slots and gives performance as an excuse, is pulling the wool over their customers eyes. Currently you get a total of, count em, 6 slots. This is to play a game that offers you a total of 24 classes and 17 races. For the price of one subscription, you get to play only 1\4 of the content (classes). Heaven forbid you want to try your hand at PVP and PVE, forget having friends on other servers. Sure, for the cost of $10 ($25 total) additional dollars, they gave you 4 more slots, and let you play all of the other games. All of a sudden they pull the rug out from under all of the customers who were just paying for the extra slots and raise this to $15 ($30 total) extra a month. Now you have a choice to continue paying the extra $5 month or delete your extra toons, basically extortion.
Not to mention that they enticed a number of their existing Station Access customers with the ability to play VSOH for the $25 a month....then get this........one month after they raise the price $30. Basically pulling a bait and switch tactic with their subscriber base. Imagine one month after TBC coming out, Blizzard raising the sub to $20 a month.....the people there would go ape!@#.
SOE is just out to gouge their customer for as much as possible with very little in return.....the servers are becoming ghost towns, even AB sees fewer and fewer people logging every night. Shame one of the "Best" MMOs out there has to be ruined by SOEs greed.
Article title should have read 'WoW fanboi reviews EQ2 for the first time'. Sorry, but there is so much bias in that article it is hardly worth the space its stored in ...
The graphics engine wasnt updated with the Echoes of Faydwer expansion, it has barely changed since launch in Nov 2004 with the exception of a few bug fixes. The graphics engine has always been technically more advanced than the one in WoW. SOE decided when they wrote the graphics engine that it would still be good a few years after realise, i.e. when I first played EQ2 at launch with my highend system I got 1-2 fps when using maximum settings, I tweaked my settings to get my desired fps and it still looked as good as WoW (style differences aside), now thanks to computer upgrades I can turn the settings up higher and it still looks very good, comparable to recent releases. Blizzard on the other hand went with the idea of making the graphics engine run well on the existing hardware, therefore at release I could run WoW on my highend machine with maximum settings and have a nice fps, but now it is showing its age, with my upgraded system I cant turn the graphics up any higher, so I get the same appearance with much higher fps, fps I dont really need, and as a result WoWs graphics are not upto scratch when compared to recent releases.
I dont get that much lag in the game, certainly very little in the way of server side lag. The only performance issue I do get is the same ones I have had in every MMO since UO, i.e. if you get lots of people in one place then you get a performance drop. Orgrimmar during peak times is no different, relic raids in DAoC were no different. Its simple netcode issues, every players details (gear, actions, etc) needs to be sent to every other player in the area, with every extra player in the area the amount of data that gets sent becomes exponentially higher and normally once you reach 50+ players in an area you start to hit bottlenecks. The developers combat this by keeping the data sent to a minimum, but there will always be a point where there are just too many players in the same area and no matter what they do someone will experience packet loss or lag. Most of the time this isnt server side, but something between the server and the client that is causing a bottleneck.
I just don't get it... how can these reviewers be so retarded, your going to lose your reader base by publishing this crap.
not going to get into the other inconsistencies.... yeah been out longer than 2 years I believe.. just looks like another paid off review, why not just sell larger BANNERS intead of printing this biased shite.
id tend to agree the customer service is horrid. and also i agree with the issue with lag, graphics lag despite having a 5600+ X2, 2gb Corsair XMS2 DDR PC6400 Ram, 8800 GTS 640mb, X-fi extreme gamer, and WD Raptor 10k RPM SATA 75GB HD, SEAGATE SATA 120 GB HD
so my system is actually pretty damn good. but yet there is are areas which run better, other areas that run like total crap. its down right frustrating with such uneven performance.but otehrwise i enjoy the game, and its quite fun being back in it and finding new things, quests, items, and reexploring old areas, and finding new ones.
I like the idea of playing a bad guy.
The only other similar game I have ever played is the 10 day WOW trial last week. I liked it but ...
I want to go solo in my first MMORPG game for a while to explore and then go in guilds. I was also looking at GW but just saw reviews of EQ2/EQ1.
AMD Athlon 3000+
2Gb memory
XP Pro SP2
ATI Radeon 9600XT
DirectX 9.0c
Plenty of HD space
id say you can run it approximately on balanced performance textures on high, characters on high, character LOD on low/medium. rest will be probably be a bit of testing seeing what works. but remember to put particles on minimal as it for some reason eats up your framerates when it is average or above.
i am finally getting better performance in general due to new drivers coming out for my 8800 so hopefully sooner than later ill start getting some respectable framerates even with shadows put on. id say get it, as it is a really good game. its fun, quest lore is done well, risk to reward ratio is done nicely. guilds are very active. grouping isnt hard even at low levels to some degree, though it depends on the time of the day. servers across the board are medium+ every single time i have checked only the RP servers are light.
but realize that most people are lvl 50-70 but you still shouldnt have too much of a hard time getting groups regardless. Id say get it, definitely worth the purchase get the packaged EQ2 with all the expansions including EOF for $40 at best buy or whatever store you go to. if you come on blackburrow server ill help get you started. my name is nakuma im a officer in Guardians of Light.
I run GF8800GTS 640mb @ 1920x1200 resolution on 24" LCD with Core 2 Duo E6600 2gb Ram and I don't have any problems at all (25-50fps). Even Qeynos Harbor runs fine and my settings are a custom mix between very high quality and High quality. This game is CPU intensive so having a faster CPU will make a big difference. At home I have X1900xt 512MB X2 4400+ CPU and 2gb ram and I still runs great at 1600x1200 although on raids I use a profile with lower settings.
My wife plays on A64 3000+ with 1gb ram but she had X850 XT video. Your CPU will work ok, the 2gb of memory will help alot but I would say your video card is lacking. It will play eq2 but you will need to turn the graphics down a good bit. Get a X1950XT for $165'ish if you have PCI-express slot otherwise pickup an AGP 7600 or 7950 if they have those in AGP.
In the almost 3 yrs playing this game i've never once needed to use Customer service so that says loads for how stable this game is.