Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
EverQuest II: A World of Adventure and Discovery
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Norrath, as MMORPG.com's Robert Schroeder says, has been the MMO "home" of countless players for many years. Everquest II is an enduring classic game that continues to attract new players. In our ongoing effort to re-review games that consistently show progress and improvement, MMORPG.com takes a look at Everquest II. Read what Robert has to say and then leave us your thoughts in the comments.
The land of Norrath has always been a home to me. From its creation and growth in Everquest, to its destruction and slow rebuilding process through Everquest 2, I’ve found that it is a world of adventure and discovery. Almost seven years after launch, Everquest 2 has done a good job of keeping content fresh, exciting, and mysterious. Since launch there have been numerous expansions, which have extended the game world past twice its original size.
Read more of Robert Schroeder's Everquest II: A World of Adventure and Discovery.
)
Comments
not a bad rating for such an old game. Im honestly suprised on how well its holding up, we will see how it remains once eq-next comes out though
I tried going back to EQ2 recently but I couldn't stay. The graphics are pretty good, but the art design isn't. The gameplay is what killed it for me, as X of Y quests dulled my senses to the point that I gnawed off my leg to get away from my friends who are playing the game. It's polished, full-featured (the mentoring system is great), and there is a community.
Survivor of the great MMORPG Famine of 2011
Being at a lose end, I decided to resub two weeks ago and have been having a great time and I am enjoying it more than I ever did previously. Something of a surprise for me, as I had become somewhat jaded and bored with all other mmos of late.
My Colour Is Vomit green, I puke on the tards with stupid colour sigs. My symbol is ,,!, O ,!,, My enemies are any prat with a colour sig, a meaningless personality test, or a pointless list of games and classes.
Regards Hexcaliber
if current EQ2 was like this at launch i think wow would have had stiff competition.just to add eq2 was the first i know to implement the collection quests which gives tons expand good items.in kunark some of the best trinkets were only gotten thru collections which meant the market for it was steep and someone could make a very descent living from selling collectibles.
sadly soe during beta ignored a lot of us testers(at one point i wondered why we were there) in favour of some hardcore guild from eq1 that was testing it .
thinhs like death penalty from group member dying,the over dependant crafting system on other crafting classes ,lack of solobility etc were all things we mentioned as bad in beta but despite popular voice got ignored.all this got changed but took a while by then wow became king.
hopefully soe has learnt their mistake.
I agree with most of your assessment, having been there for beta I remember the criticism and the fact that SOE didn't seem to be listening.
I don't think EQ2 would have been that much of a competitor to WoW though. EQ had a die-hard following of gamers, but Blizzard had an IP loved by millions (Warcraft games), plus the millions of people who played their other games (including Diablo and Starcraft). I think it was a perfect storm as far as Blizzard's success with WoW, and I don't think any company, no matter how polished the game was, could compete with it.
Not trying to sound like a fanboy. I'm definitely not a fan of WoW or its effect on MMORPGs. Just saying I don't think EQ2 had any real chance of competing with WoW.
<edit - holy frikkin' typos, batman!>
No godless person can comprehend those minute distinctions
in doctrine that provide true believers excuse for mayhem.
-Glen Cook
I think games like WoW, EQ2, Rift, and LotRO are excellent for the first two years, but then you get bored with "kill x number of bots" quests.
It doesn't matter how you present it - even the new Star Wars MMORPG looks tired before it's born in this respect (even though it has lots of speech).
I think The Secret World will offer more because it's based on storytelling, and it's not an obvious WoW-type.
Eve Online should be really good once DUST comes out.
However, in summary - the whole MMORPG market looks really tired because they are all too WoW-like.
If you want to play a new game, Battlefield 3 is the one to get at the moment.
I am playing eq2 right now and imo the scores are all too high.Instead of innovating or creating some new ideas or combat structure,the game has tried to streamline everything.Imo the game as most others do as well,need a sub class system.To login on a level 90 player is imo a waste of time,why bother?If you enjoy the classes and game ,then you might as well shelve that 90 and make a new player.
Selling loot rights is a very lame mechanic that should have long ago been fixed.IMO it seems like soe is just trying to hang onto players by adding mounts and making the game easy mode to solo.It is nice to have that super uber raid fight drop,but in the end it doesn't make that much of a difference and is not needed to continue leveling to 90.
Crafting has been ruined because SOE was lazy in their changes to items.Now you can get simple quests or any treausred item that can be as good as a legendary or crafted item.This leaves perhaps food?Nope food in eq2 is laughable it means almost nothing.The ONLY thing food is good for is power regen and that is ONLY if you are speed killing and even then it is hardly needed.In FFXI food actually means alot "during" combat[accuracy for example],eq2 it means nothing during combat,which is dumb.
I just hope SOE can innovate for their next MMO project as more of the same old will simply not cut it.So far i have not seen SOE ever use any thought to innovation thorughout the entire game,so i don't have a lot of confidence.It could however be a simnple case of SOE is afraid to make change after their SWG debacle.I however played FFXI and sqaure without making a huige change [until recently] was able to add several new gameplay/ combat ideas and creative new classes.
In Eq2 for example your choice is to do that quest or kill mobs there is no variance in game play.In FFXI you could raise a npc fellow,raise your own chocobo utilize gardening or chocobo digging.You could capture a mobs picture and use it make an Arena mob for Arena fighting.Ideas like Salvage/Einhejar to name a couple allow you to get away from the same old everyday boredom.This is what EQ2 needs,it is called innovation or some simple tohught put into each new xpac,not just more maps and maybe a new levels and questline.
IMO the original FFXI was the best most innovative design,EQ2 comes in at number 2 and is pretty much lumped in with all lhe other games doing the sme old same old.There is an argument that VG is maybe the second best game in the market,it just has no players.Wow has tons of players overall,the same server to server cpaacity however ,but offers nothing to change game play either.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
You forgot to mention the housing and guild halls. Has to be the best game out there for decorating and owning multiple houses. There are over 98,000 items in eq2 according to mmo database, its just a very in depth game , they also now have outside areas you can purchase to build your own house on ect.
Well so far im enjoying it .
Not to sound like a dick to the poster two above me, but if you want people to read your stuff after you put all that effort into it, you need more newlines and please put spaces after your punctuation.
After reading this, I was looking for page 2. Because somehow the writer fails to mention crafting and housing. Which are major selling points for many EQ2 players.
Not to mention how AA isnt just a mix of talent trees. The fundamental difference with talent trees or other comparable alternate advancement systems in other games, is that you as player can chose how much xp is going to lvling and how much xp is going to AA. So you can even put 100% XP into AA. So fleshing out AA without lvling.
Then there is no mention of the mentoring system. Another very important feature for anyone who likes to group (like the writer). It makes it possible to always group with your friends regardless of lvl difference. The bonus xp that it gives makes it another incentive.
The write up is very shallow and incomplete, written by someone who only mentions what he/she is interested in.
Theres alot of whiners in comments as usuall.
there's tons and tons of great content youll be spoiled with that many new MMO's dont have (quantity) and a great playerbase on the live servers, not so mutch on the free server where many young kids come to play.
Theres still so many cool features this MMO have that others havent, like leveling up and decorating your guild, having special amenities, gatherers, miners, crafting stationsn Houserating system etc etc.
Most classes feels deep and takes a while to master, and youll notice who know their classes in group/raids etc, super rewarding.
If you havent played the game before give it a try!
The Housing system and crafting is really the best part of the game any more. It is very deep with a rating system. However, while this area of the game is thriving, the rest of the game is seriously hurting.
There is alot of content to enjoy, but the testing and development crew is so utterly incompetent that the makers of this game are their own worst enemy. This becomes more and more apparent as you advance in the adventure side of the game. Anyone who has been playing the last month knows what a mess the adventuring side of the game is. We had a massive game update which was so broken and untested it was insulting to any paying player. The raiding part of the game is so messed up right now, it has become an example of how not to run a game for every other developement team out there.
It is not a game to play as an achiever, it is a game to play very casually and live out your interior decorating fantasies. If you can look past the complete ineptitude of SOE's developer and testing teams there is some fun to be had still. Do not play this game hoping for any type of good raiding and end game progression.
2007 EQ2 - 7/10
2011 EQ2 - 5/10
Im not sure why you quoted me. I was just pointing out that the review was far from complete. You dont have to tell me that the EQ2 devs have some of the worst testers in the business. I know that they are able to botch any major update with missing sometimes quite obvious bugs.
I really tried to like this game, but it ran so horrible on my computer that I just couldn't stand it.
The gameplay I am sure is great, I got to about 26 myself before I decided I just couldn't keep playing with the way the game performs on my system.
I can run age of conan at medium to high settins, but yet even at low settings EQ2 runs like crap on my computer.
I was really liking the game, but I just cannot play a game with such horrible performance on my computer.
I am entitled to my opinions, misspellings, and grammatical errors.
i played eq2 for about 2 months. i got to lvl 60 or so i really did want to like it. problem was i was constantly solo-ing all the time everywhere i went, and that killed it for me. i like the way the skills had different lvls of power like apprentice, novice, etc. graphics were ok. i always felt like i was watcing action figures moving and fighting on a tupperware looking environment.
I don't think the graphics and the art design are bad, but what's really bringing down the visuals for me is the very bad atmospheric lighting in the game. The overall scenery looks like in the cheap old hollywood movies in which they shot supposed to be outside scenes in a studio with floodlight. It doesn't look like you are being somewhere "outside" at all.
Still i loved Eq2 all the way, but couldn't get over the bad performance for years. Now that i can finally run it at max settings with 60 fps, they've build in an item shop
To me, EQ2 is like an adult version of WoW. However, both are linear and simple.
I liked EQ2 a lot back in 2006 - World PvP, No BGs, Plenty of End-Game, etc. I started to hate it back when they tossed in Battlegrounds (Arenas). When BGs became a good soruce to grind out PvP Gear, I flat out quit.
Why anyone would enjoy grinding out PvP points via the same 4-5 small arena maps is beyond me.
Great to see a re-review of EQ2!
I love this game, yes it's a themepark and it is very linear, but it is also very immersive and I love the lore.
Anyone else excited about the new expansion? I can't wait to try the build-your-own-dungeon feature :-)
http://www.questhard.com
Yea,
I started off quoting you agreeing with you about how incomplete this re-review is. Then I went off on my own tangent. I meant to take your quote off.
This game has a ton of great aspects and a ton of horrible ones. Sadly the horrible ones are game breakers and made me unsub.
1. I hit level 90 and found I couldn't do the SOLO content in the new Velious areas due to AA's not being high enough(mine were at 177 when I hit cap), this wierd critical mitigation stat requirement for the zones and the level gap is STILL there even at level 90 because the game is so gear oriented it's disgusting.
2. The crafting while a novelty at first, becomes the most boring, tedious mind numbing grind I have ever seen in a game past about level 30. I spent 10 levels crafting useless items JUST to progress. The only caveat here was the few crafting quests they have in the game that give you levels without having to craft a thing. I liked that. sadly it only gives about 2 to 3 levels and you need to be in the next tier to get the next set of quests.
Best parts of the game are the guild system, housing, collections, music, spell/ability effects and sound.
I like EQ2. It has everything a standard AAA mmo should have and then some... but...
....
I recently got into the SWTOR Beta... and I just can't bring myself to play any other mmo, ever again. I am not some fanboi, as i'm not really a Starwars fan, but Bioware did an amazing job. It may not be for everyone, but it sure beats any of the competition.
EQ2 is a good game and I wish it well.
EQ2 is a pretty good game. IMO they went from many problems up front, and fixed them. but they lost momentum and angered a lot of players.
That aside, I came back and found the game super easy to playl...almost to easy.
I found it odd too see a re-re-re review of EQ2. I played for 4 years. I loved the houseing..etc. The 1st several expansions were very nice. Then came The Shadow Odessey. This is my opionon is where the game took a drastic WTF feel for me. The odd direction seemed to go against the rest of the game the same way PoP in EQ1 did.
I'm also not a fan of the instance. In raid situations it does work. But for just regular groups I'm against. I miss the place holder dungeons. Why ? It was a way of getting to know people. Yeah people did complain..ya know the I want it NOW crowd. But what made EQ1 great was doing stuff that took time. Now you get a group..when ya get a group. And it's gogogogogogogogogo. BYE. Maybe EQNEXT will bring that back.
And last on my rant is the numbers game. Sure you may start EQ2 and get 90 in a week. But you want be able to really do anything. WHY ? What's you DPS < Biggest problem with mmo's today> What's you resist ? What's your AA tree look like. And several others. EQ2 is not a casual players game. Why have AA trees if when you get to raid content you are told " you need to respect you're tree because we need this ability"
And my last last thing. What happened to home land pride ? It used to be if you cam from Neriak, Halas, Freeport, Grobb etc. You had a pride where you where from. Now everyone comes from pretty much the same place. Citys used to be important. EQ2 destroyed that idea. You want an idea SOE put PvP in you're next game kinda like RIFT does. And rebuild home town pride.
I dunno. I love the EQ lore and cherrish my EQ1 days before the numbers game ruined it. Got my fingers crossed for EQ3 but not holding my breath.
Jymm Byuu
Playing : Blood Bowl. Waiting for 2. Holding breath for Archeage and EQN.
In my on-going efforts to bring reviews and critics back to reality...
Under cons this review listed "Little innovation, even from its outset" and yet still gave this title an 8/10 under innovation.
I feel as if people just pull numbers out of their asses (or are paid to do so?). Please, at the bottom of the review write "I was paid to give this game higher numbers" or use a numbering system that is accurate. If you feel this game is an 8/10 or 2 steps away from perfection, great, but please don't include conflicting opinions within the same article!