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EverQuest II: Re-Review

13

Comments

  • dalessitdalessit Member Posts: 17

    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.

     

     

     

  • Mattbell69Mattbell69 Member UncommonPosts: 58
    Originally posted by Citron


    What do you get when you take,
    1 cup of WOW

    2 cups of EQ

    and a pinch of Vanguard

    I thought we were only talking to adults?

  • euangelioneuangelion Member Posts: 109
    Good review, however I had to laugh when I read the part about WoW's graphics having the edge over EQ2, EQ 2 was pushing the limit on MMO's graphics when it was released, WoW was already behind with it's muddy textures, lack of detail, and low quality character models.

    Tried: Vanguard, UO, Rappelz, Archlord, RF Online, SWG, WAR, Ryzom, Anarchy Online, AC, APB, STO, Perfect World, Black Prophecy...

    Played: EQ,EQII, Lineage, Lineage 2, GW, EVE Online, AoC, DoAC, iRO, AC2, WoW, SWTOR, Runes of Magic, Allods, Rift..
    Currently Playing: Tera

  • LordRikerQLordRikerQ Member Posts: 2
    heh yeah EQ2 isnt too good with solo, moreover some of the community doesnt help because they are too elitiest to accept alot of people enjoy soloing. Everyone I know though is laughing about this review, mostly the part of the graphics, its so bizzare someone actually wrote EQ2's graphics are as good as Vanguard but Wows Graphics are better then EQ2 lol, that is really crazy.
  • RyowulfRyowulf Member UncommonPosts: 664
    Originally posted by vesavius



    Yeah, so much hate...
    You obviously left EQ2 a long time ago and it's definitly not the same experience that it was when when you played.  Maybe it's time to let go of the anger and realise not everything stays the same and opinions/ views can become outdated. I'm not asking you to give EQ2 another chance or anything, but please realise that this isnt the same game it was on release, for better or worse depending on personal preference.
    They might have changed a lot, but the old resentments I feel over it all still there. Maybe if it was the only game out there, I'd try it again, but its not. With spellborn and Conan and the pirate one just to name a few coming out just this year, I have no reason to waste my time with EQ2. I tried it. It wasn't for me. The glowing review just reminded me of a lot of things I didn't like about it.

  • batpuppybatpuppy Member Posts: 32
    Originally posted by dogsalad


    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.
    Well the person about to die could unlock the encounter by calling for help (/yell). Then anyone around that wanted to could assist. Its simple to set up a macro for that.
    You can also heal someone if they are in trouble even if they don't yell for help. I have had random people do that for me plenty of times when I was soloing a quest and got in trouble.


    2.  Shared XP loss.  If someone in your group died, everyone lost XP.
    Since EQ2 is not a grind game or at least does not have to be one unless you insist on playing that way and the xp loss on death is so minor, I not ever really noticed the loss on death.

    Note that the xp loss on death was more significant in the game early on near release.



    3.  Ceramic doll look for all the models and the ambiance of the world.  Artwork is what makes graphics nice, not poly counts.
    Well guess this is a matter of taste. The models look about as good as vanguard to me on my system at playable settings. But then I can play EQ2 on very high or extreme settings and "at the time" I had to use balance or lower in vanguard. 
    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?
    If you want to do the trial in EQ2 then get the fae one.

     





     



  • GameloadingGameloading Member UncommonPosts: 14,182
    Originally posted by batpuppy

    Originally posted by dogsalad



    3.  Ceramic doll look for all the models and the ambiance of the world.  Artwork is what makes graphics nice, not poly counts.
    Well guess this is a matter of taste. The models look about as good as vanguard to me on my system at playable settings. But then I can play EQ2 on very high or extreme settings and "at the time" I had to use balance or lower in vanguard. 


     



    Thats not really saying much tbh.
  • Originally posted by euangelion

    Good review, however I had to laugh when I read the part about WoW's graphics having the edge over EQ2, EQ 2 was pushing the limit on MMO's graphics when it was released, WoW was already behind with it's muddy textures, lack of detail, and low quality character models.



    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.

  • Originally posted by LordRikerQ

    Seriously is this reviewer getting paid off by SOE?  The graphics for one are no where as good as Vanguard, but they are much better then Wow's Cartoonish look too.  Secondly, there is a friendly and helpful community on the fourms, but in game? A bunch of elitist high level morons, that are anything but helpful to people. And random "Guides"? I've been playing EQ2 since Desert of Ro and none of my friends or I have ever seen or much less heard of said guides.



    This re-review is BS, i hate when reviewers spew propoganda lies.



    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...

  • an0maly33an0maly33 Member Posts: 42
    not going to dig thru this whole thread so excuse me if this stuff was mentioned:



    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.
  • narcannarcan Member Posts: 1
    The EQ2 graphics engine is is by far the best I've seen, it's highly scalable and things look way better which each new videocard. It's not even comparable with wow, which looks about the same on every card (rather ugly in my opinion). I guess what makes wow popular is the fact that it runs well on cheaper videocards and seems to appeal to newbies in the mmorpg genre. I must say that Vanguard didn't impress me either, graphicly or otherwise, a waste of money actually, a very average game. I must say the AOC engine looks very nice though, can't wait to try that one.
  • an0maly33an0maly33 Member Posts: 42
    agreed. i was in the vanguard beta and was very unimpressed by the visuals. it felt like i was playing EQ1 with shaders.
  • shrunken_manshrunken_man Member Posts: 38
    Originally posted by eburn
    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!"


    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.
  • TashaGTashaG Member Posts: 23
    Originally posted by lancelot76

    A few good points, but statements like:



     "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.


    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
  • Gammit100Gammit100 Member UncommonPosts: 439

    "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. 

    MMO games played or tested: EQ, DAoC, Archlord, Auto Assault, CoH, CoV, EQ2, EVE, Guild Wars, Hellgate: London, Linneage II, LOTRO, MxO, Planetside, SWG, Sword of the New World, Tabula Rasa, Vanguard, WWIIOL, WOW, Age of Conan

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  • dalevi1dalevi1 Member Posts: 829
    Sometimes these forums are funny, many of the responses here had me in tears.



     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.

    Played (more than a month): SWG, Second Life, Tabula Rasa, Lineage 2, Everquest 2, EvE, MxO, Ryzom.

    Tried: WoW, Shadowbane, Anarchy Online, Everquest, WWII Online, Planetside

    Beta: Lotro, Tabula Rasa, WAR.

  • narakuunarakuu Member Posts: 348

    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?

  • jkp0317jkp0317 Member Posts: 11
    As far as gameplay goes, EQ2 is at or near the top of the MMO list.  You guys sit here all day and argue the merits of graphics, but that comes down to personal taste.



    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 14 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.
  • shilakshilak Member Posts: 78

    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.

  • CiredricCiredric Member Posts: 723
    I like the game, but I have to agree that the customer service is horrid.  I think the GM's are on strike in this game.  That downgrades it to a 7 in my opinion, that and the lag he talks about. 
  • VodunVodun Member UncommonPosts: 87
    Great article Adele, I never thought I would be interested in playing Everquest but your review has changed that.
  • dippitydodahdippitydodah Member Posts: 130
    Graphics were worse than wow's on release?!   that's news to me.. for one the graphics look the same as they always have and I've never heard bad things about the graphics.. when it was released it was waaaaay ahead of it's time in terms of shaders, texture depth and lighting.. when wow came out graphics where the ONE thing hardly ANYBODY liked about it.





    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.

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  • nakumanakuma Member UncommonPosts: 1,310

    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.

    3.4ghz Phenom II X4 965, 8GB PC12800 DDR3 GSKILL, EVGA 560GTX 2GB OC, 640GB HD SATA II, BFG 1000WATT PSU. MSI NF980-G65 TRI-SLI MOBO.

  • nakumanakuma Member UncommonPosts: 1,310

    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.

    3.4ghz Phenom II X4 965, 8GB PC12800 DDR3 GSKILL, EVGA 560GTX 2GB OC, 640GB HD SATA II, BFG 1000WATT PSU. MSI NF980-G65 TRI-SLI MOBO.

  • RollotamasiRollotamasi Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 898
    Originally posted by heerobya

    How much did Sony pay you to say that?



    /Hands heerobya a +3 Tin foil hat

    -Currently looking forward to FFXIV

    -Currently playing EvE and Global Agenda

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