Profile: Reehay
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• • AoC refugee. could EQ2 be right for me?

  • Originally posted by Peregrine2
    

    1 - I don't know all the ins and outs of the program, but if you stopped playing before April 30th you should be eligible.

     

    2 - There are quite a few instances in EQ2, especially as you get to higher levels. There are shared (contested) dungeons as well, though they are scattered through the levels and sometimes you might need to work to get people to go explore them. There is also zoning, although it is often done using a bell to travel, or boats, and in the newest expansion there has been an effort to increase the zone size to reduce the amount of zoning.

    This should give you an idea of the rough split between instanced and non-instanced dungeons:

    http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Dungeon_Timeline

     

    3 - I would say the character development is very good. There are AAs which are organized into skill trees, each class has two sets of AAs to work with and each set is broken up into multiple trees. There are common "builds" of course but you are free to do your own thing - for example most healer classes have a tree that lets them become much better in melee, so that option is available to you.

    For example, the two trees that the Paladin class has:

    http://www.eq2ref.com/aa/index.php?class=Crusader

    http://www.eq2ref.com/aa/index.php?class=Paladin

     

    4 - I wouldn't say there are any useless classes - all classes are very effective in what they do, though they all have strengths and weaknesses. In terms of any particular area (like raiding) you might find people who think some are better than others, but really I would feel confident in advising a new player to pick up any class.

     

    5- Hard to say - there's no doubt that EQ2 has been taking a path in recent years that is making it more casual friendly, and there really aren't many of the long camps from EQ1. There are plenty of instanced and other dungeons for the normal 6 man groups, as well as raid encounters starting around level 55 for up to 24 characters.  I never did a lot of high-end EQ1 content so I can't speak to the difficulty.

     

    Hope this helps. It's a great game overall.

    great info and a great help to my decision making.

    thanks Peregrine2

  • Posted: 6/27/08 10:06 AM
    Everquest II
• • AoC refugee. could EQ2 be right for me?

  • ... actually EQ1 was my first love but that soured after a couple of years of SOE's control. i never gave EQ2 much a chance, but with this new free offer i think i might revisit Norrath--after a few questions are answered. please pardon my lack of knowledge and thanks in advance for your help.

    1. i created a trial station account in april of this year. that makes me eligible for the 2 free month offer correct? is it also true that i dont need to buy a retail copy?  if so, how does one upgrade the free trial into a full supscription?

    2. how does EQ2 handle instancing and to what extent does it exist? i know there is zoning as in EQ1--but is it as pervasive as in AoC? are there atleast common dungeons?

    3. how good is the character development? is it as flexible as a diverse skill-tree? or is it more single-track as in EQ1? i understand there are AA's but are they something you basically amass or do they follow "paths" in which you distinguish your character from other players of the same class?

    4. any gross imbalances in the game? i understand the core game is basically tank-healer-dps but are there any obviously useless classes or overpowered classes?

    5. does EQ2 continue the challenge of EQ1? granted EQ1 had its share of needless timesinks but id hope that EQ2 is still as challenging and boss events are atleast equal to or more challenging. Is there also a good amount of 5-20 man sized events?

    ok i know thats alot to ask. so i just thank you for your consideration and time in answering what you can.

    cheers

  • Posted: 6/26/08 4:13 PM
    Everquest II
• • just cant subscribe to AoC

  • Originally posted by Neanderthal
    

    Originally posted by Reehay
    

    im a High School teacher

    
     

    I don't ordinarily play the "grammer Nazi" role (something of a misnomer but that's the commonly recognized term).  God knows I make enough mistakes of my own.  But that part of your post depressed me a great deal.

     

    you mean "grammar", correct? hehe well the bait was there for the taking.

    bah im on summer vacation; i type with my toes and a beer in my hand. i think my meaning was clear enuff!

     

    @Zorndorf:

    i think you got it perfect in your points 2 and 3.

    2. The fighting technique itself is a core. You watch the keybord combos more than "controlling" your avatar. In fact it is like  the system that plays with the players instead of the player controlling his avatar. It is far worse than FPS mechanics and worse than classic solutions. Because of the timers and automatic attacks you can concentrate on the positioning and figthning or spell trics in the more classic MMO's.

    3. Conan is further proof that for many it is NOT the higher number of pixels or shades that "sucks you into an MMO. world".

    insightful and true (in that order).

    more and more i feel better about my decision to say farewell to AoC.

     

     

  • Posted: 6/22/08 2:20 PM
    Age of Conan
• • just cant subscribe to AoC

  • you got it MaeEye.

    and its funny as i had a similar situation.  i was at dinner with my wife and she happened to ask why she hadnt seen me playing "Conan Wars"...hehe so cute. and then it occurred to me that it had been over a week since i had logged online (im a High School teacher recently on vacation with lots of recreation time on my hands).  to be honest i probably would have even forgot to cancel the subscription--it had drifted so far from my attention and desire.

    i also liked the grittiness and realistic graphic style, but its just window dressing ya know? after a month it just became a shallow reason to keep playing. Guild Wars could easily release an expansion that looks and plays similar to AoC. well maybe not looks hehe but underneath the surface they are very very similar in design. bleh

    i really love MMO-rpg's... truely MASSIVE MULTI games...but im not a gamer that feels he MUST be currently subscribing to one. so im going to chill and wait for a trial period to be offered from some of the upcoming MMOs.  and in the meantime ive taken to revisiting some of my old favorite games which ive fallen in love with again.

    best of luck and happy gaming.

  • Posted: 6/22/08 8:53 AM
    Age of Conan
• • just cant subscribe to AoC

  • Originally posted by observer
    

    I'll come back several months later.  I did the same thing with LotRO and enjoyed it when everything was ironed out.

     

    i know Funcom will eventually add more gameworld and bugs will get "ironed out". but honestly its the fundamental design of the game which i just feel lacks so much.  2 years from now its still going to be an overwhelmingly instanced, arena style pvp game with a limp attempt at world pvp and with mediocre PVE instances as the alternative... albeit a very graphically pleasing and sonically pleasing mediocrity. there might have been a time in my gaming life that i would accept that much.. but not anymore. not from what i think a mature MMORPG generation should be.

  • Posted: 6/21/08 2:32 PM
    Age of Conan