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EverQuest II: Age of Discovery Review

2

Comments

  • NovusodNovusod Member UncommonPosts: 912

    Originally posted by marzatplay



    AoC has a terrble F2P model as well imo but thanks for the heads up, I won't be downloading now, I'll keep looking. Cheers!

    You should try Eq2 free to play for yourself and form your own conclusion.

     

    SoE's free to play model is really not that bad especially for silver level members. Five dollars for a lifetime Silver Membership is one of the best deals out there.

  • NetspookNetspook Member UncommonPosts: 1,583

    Originally posted by MurlockDance

    It is a bit of a shame that this rather expensive xpac boils down to just one new class, a dungeon maker that seems limited, mercenaries, and a few doodads for crafters. If they were offering it for 20€ I would get it. 

     

    Well, I bought it simply because of the triple SC deal two weeks ago, which basically means I got the expansion for a third of the original price.

    The author wrote:

    "Age of Discovery does not provide players with drastic changes, and it doesn’t really feel like an actual expansion, but rather, a big update."

    I agree. It's the most shallow expansion I've ever experienced, and should have been a free update instead. Because of this, I won't buy the next expansion unless I know it's actually worth paying for, or I get same triple SC deal as this time.

    This review is much better and down to earth than the preview that was posted here November 29, where Bill Murhpy among other things said:

    "There are more new features and additions in this expansion than many games have at launch." ""sd

    Lol...

    Link: http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/2/feature/5858/Age-of-Discovery-Preview.html/page/1 

  • darkbladeddarkbladed Member Posts: 193

    Originally posted by Moirae

    Originally posted by tixylix

    Worst scoring system ever!

     

     


    7.6

    Average

     

     

    LOL no 5 is average, 7.6 should be a good game considering it's 0.4 points off 8 out of fucking 10.

    In highschool 76% is a B at best. More likely it's a C. So yes, average. 


     

    In highschool, I'm a HS teach, an 80.25 is a B-. a 76 is a solid C (77.25 is C+).  So yeah, Average!

  • deadmilkdeadmilk Member Posts: 173

    Originally posted by darkbladed



    Originally posted by Moirae






    Originally posted by tixylix





    Worst scoring system ever!

     

     




    7.6



    Average

     

     

    LOL no 5 is average, 7.6 should be a good game considering it's 0.4 points off 8 out of fucking 10.

    In highschool 76% is a B at best. More likely it's a C. So yes, average. 






     

    In highschool, I'm a HS teach, an 80.25 is a B-. a 76 is a solid C (77.25 is C+).  So yeah, Average!




     

    Like a poster above said, this has nothing to do with a high school or any other school grade scale...

  • LeodiousLeodious Member UncommonPosts: 773


    Originally posted by Moirae

    Originally posted by tixylix
    Worst scoring system ever!
     
     

    7.6
    Average
     
     
    LOL no 5 is average, 7.6 should be a good game considering it's 0.4 points off 8 out of fucking 10.
    In highschool 76% is a B at best. More likely it's a C. So yes, average. 

    It is a terrible and nonsensical grading scale. But it's the one almost everyone uses (often with a ten point scale instead of 100). So deal with it. We all know what they really mean.

    That said, I agree with the review for the most part. It isn't really any different, and it is a bit restrictive on what you can play, but it is pretty much the same game. I am starting to really like this business model, mostly.

    "There are two great powers, and they've been fighting since time began. Every advance in human life, every scrap of knowledge and wisdom and decency we have has been torn by one side from the teeth of the other. Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit."

    — John Parry, to his son Will; "The Subtle Knife," by Phillip Pullman

  • IsaneIsane Member UncommonPosts: 2,630

    Originally posted by elocke







    Originally posted by Timacek







    still eq2 has 100x more depth than swtor IMO. [Mod Edit]






















     





    And yet at least in SWTOR I have epic storylines to reward me for my time spent there as opposed to EQ2 where I really feel like a fly on the wall and not important at all to the world of Norrath.  I'll take SWTOR any day over EQ2.  Only thing EQ2 does right anyway, is the guild system.  Guild leveling and guild housing is great.  The rest, not so much.






    I like EQ2 for the playtime it gave me after I grew bored of WoW but now that something better has come along, it just makes EQ2's wrinkles really stand out.




     



    What a load of blinkered rubbish. SWTOR is a good game so is |EQ2.... Nothing special just good games.

    ________________________________________________________
    Sorcery must persist, the future is the Citadel 

  • teakboisteakbois Member Posts: 2,154

    Originally posted by evilastro



    Originally posted by ascroobla



    EQ2 is a good game, spoiled by a dreadful F2P model.






     

    They definitely do have the worst F2P model ever seen. Then they wonder why they arent having the same success as LOTRO or AoC.

    Too much greed at SoE.




     

    EQ2's model is to entice people to sub.  Its also overall less restrictive than LOTRO because you can access almost the entire game.  they could probably have made more money selling the quests like LOTRO did, because there is substantially more content in EQ2.

  • winterwinter Member UncommonPosts: 2,281

    Originally posted by kevjards

    i recentely subbed to eq2 for the first time and i have to say it has way more depth of gameplay than wow.lotro or most other mmo's i have come across.the crafting alone is in itself a game within a game.thoroughly enjoying myself.




     

     actually the game has no depth the game does not focus on the players and ones choices have no effect. basically your whole game will be go kill 10 xrats rinse repeat with the rats occasionally becomeing stronger/different monsters. its a treadmill experience plain and simple. SOE itself is more then happy to let players accounts be hacked because they can't be bothered to do anything to protect their customers till they get caught with there pants down and FORCED to actually do something from the fallout. I played eq2 for many years it had its moments but its time is past now its just a more expensive then subsuscrption f2p money grab for soe

  • BanquettoBanquetto Member UncommonPosts: 1,037

    Is this a review of the "Age of Discovery" expansion or of Everquest 2 as a whole? It seems to bounce back and forth between the two.

    Regardless, I can't see how EQ2 could ever be rated 8/10 for gameplay. I've wanted to like EQ2 for a long time, taken a number of stabs at playing it because it's such a massive and interesting and sprawling game. But the fact is, it has the worst implementation of the "tab-target, autoattack and skill bar" model of MMORPG combat I have ever seen. Just awful. Dozens of barely distinguishable skills on 10-20 seconds cooldowns, so combat is quite literally "faceroll" - you target the enemy and then hit 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0. Hopefully that kills it, and skill 1 will be cooled down ready to pull the next mob.

    No reactive skills. No decision making. Just slide your finger along the keyboard hitting each skill in turn.

    It is absolutely light years behind WoW, LOTRO, Rift, WAR, SW:TOR, every other similar combat system I have ever seen. Such a pity.

  • IadienIadien Member UncommonPosts: 638

    It should have received a 1 for value. Paying $40 for 1 class, 20 extra AA (not new abilities, just 20 more spent on current abilities, with the previous cap of 300, most classes didn't have anything useful to spend the extra AA on), ability to create dungeons (going through them is free), hire mercs, Tradeskill Apprentices (takes 15 days to receive 1 recipe at max level, 10 days if you do the daily and coach), etc. Luckily SoE had a triple SC day, which brought the expansion down to $15.

  • zellmerzellmer Member UncommonPosts: 442

    For how annoyed I am at yet another EQ 2 feature on the front page, I'm glad they addressed the over the top ridiculousness with it's F2P that is far worse then any monthly game out there..

     

     

  • pierrenard53pierrenard53 Member UncommonPosts: 14

    i just quit playing the game 2 mounth agos WHY cause of lack of players and when you find some if your not the class they want or gear the way they want your left playing alone,,,after trying to find a guild that was realy getting involve with new guild members i realise i was again plsying on my own after 6 guilds in 6 mounths i got bored playing alone and after being active in game for 4almost 4 years i quit...tired of playing alone all the time...

  • MurlockDanceMurlockDance Member Posts: 1,223

    Originally posted by Netspook

    Well, I bought it simply because of the triple SC deal two weeks ago, which basically means I got the expansion for a third of the original price.

    (...)

    "There are more new features and additions in this expansion than many games have at launch." ""sd

    Lol...

    Link: http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/2/feature/5858/Age-of-Discovery-Preview.html/page/1 

    The price you got for yours for is what I think SOE should have asked for in the first place. I wonder how many people are holding off buying it and whether it will eventually fall to roughly a 20€ asking price for the most part. I think this xpac is only for the most die-hard fans of the EQ series. I am a fan for sure, but not a die-hard...

    Oh jeez with respect to the link. That was a real porkie! I actually read that article, but didn't remember the last bit. Thanks for linking it lol!

    Playing MUDs and MMOs since 1994.

    image
  • angerbeaverangerbeaver Member UncommonPosts: 1,258
    Maybe I'm wrong but I think they might have meant the average of the score. Seeing as:

    8+8+8+7+7+6+9 = 53 / 7 = 7.6 (rounded).

    Not that the score based on any scale means 7.6 warrants it an aavverage game, just that it is the mathematical average of the scores given.
  • AeolronAeolron Member Posts: 648
    You can't compare a seven year old mmo to a mmo that has afew weeks that's just stupid. Eq2 was a fantastic game, but like I said, you cannot compare the two.
  • erictlewiserictlewis Member UncommonPosts: 3,022

    The freeport revamp ripped the heart out of freeport. Starting suburbs now turned into instances, and players housing was forcibly moved to another location in the city.  there is a thread 11 pages long about how the revamp to freeport has taken away more options than it had. 

    To call this an xpac, ahem with 0 content other than they added a design your own dungeon, and the beast lord class. 

    I got invited to beta 3 days before the xapc went live, and all I have to say is wow I was happy I did because I canceled my pre order for the xpac for me and the wife.  It is not worth the price.  It is the first xpac that I have never bought for the game. Quite frankly I am done with eq2.  

    Eq2 has turned into all the other free to play games with the shop driving the content, now what quality of the game that we did have remaining will go out the window and it will just be another crappy free to play game with a cash shop.

  • WSIMikeWSIMike Member Posts: 5,564

    In my opinion, the revamp of Freeport looks pretty awful. 

    As for making it one large combined area... yeah that's cool as long as performance isn't too greatly affected.

    However, what made Freeport great to me, my favorite city in the game from the earliest days, is the gritty and dirty and very lived-in "feel" it had. It was always the most believable of the cities to me, with the most personality. 

    That's been pretty much wiped away with this new paint job.

    Again, my opinion.

     

    "If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road,
    and the cash shop selling asphalt..."
    - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops

    image

  • LowcaianLowcaian Member Posts: 265

    Then they should be clear about it and relative scoring like in school is irrelevant. If the scale goes from 1-10 then 5 is an average score and thus a decent game.

    image
  • cougmerrikcougmerrik Member Posts: 15

    Since EQ2 is delivering features rather than content through expansions, I think the review is fair to count and review some content delivered recently as basically being the content portion of AoD (and free).  On some levels, I don't mind a small player population because smaller populations usually form tighter communities, but I play on Freeport so population issues don't really exist for me.  

    I think the dungeon maker is the single biggest thing in this expansion - the box that this feature has opened is overflowing with potential value and fun.  Consider that SOE recently announced that players will be able to take their characters (rather than the avatars) into the player-made dungeons, and then consider the amount of new dungeon-maker content that has been put up in just the last few weeks (dozens of new items and tools for dungeon makers to use).  This feature is in its infancy, and I can see it evolving in 2012 into something that really makes EQ2 stand out among its peers.

    The business model doesn't bother me - it allows some people to pay less for the game if they aren't using some features - it lowers the barrier for entry into the game.  Very nice.  

  • AutemOxAutemOx Member Posts: 1,704

    Originally posted by elocke

    Originally posted by Timace





    still eq2 has 100x more depth than swtor IMO. [Mod Edit] 

    And yet at least in SWTOR I have epic storylines to reward me for my time spent there as opposed to EQ2 where I really feel like a fly on the wall and not important at all to the world of Norrath.  I'll take SWTOR any day over EQ2.  Only thing EQ2 does right anyway, is the guild system.  Guild leveling and guild housing is great.  The rest, not so much.




    I like EQ2 for the playtime it gave me after I grew bored of WoW but now that something better has come along, it just makes EQ2's wrinkles really stand out.

    Epic storyline?   Look around you man, open your eyes.  Just because they story tells you you are saving the world and there are voice over to the text does not mean you are making a difference in the game.  A person would have to be dellusional to think that they matter on their swtor server.

    Play as your fav retro characters: cnd-online.net. My site: www.lysle.net. Blog: creatingaworld.blogspot.com.

  • Cthulhu23Cthulhu23 Member Posts: 994

    Originally posted by wormywyrm

    Originally posted by elocke


    Originally posted by Timace





    still eq2 has 100x more depth than swtor IMO. [Mod Edit] 

    And yet at least in SWTOR I have epic storylines to reward me for my time spent there as opposed to EQ2 where I really feel like a fly on the wall and not important at all to the world of Norrath.  I'll take SWTOR any day over EQ2.  Only thing EQ2 does right anyway, is the guild system.  Guild leveling and guild housing is great.  The rest, not so much.





    I like EQ2 for the playtime it gave me after I grew bored of WoW but now that something better has come along, it just makes EQ2's wrinkles really stand out.

    Epic storyline?   Look around you man, open your eyes.  Just because they story tells you you are saving the world and there are voice over to the text does not mean you are making a difference in the game.  A person would have to be dellusional to think that they matter on their swtor server.

    Where did he say that his character needed to make a difference on the server?  He's specifically talking about the ROLE that his character plays in the game being heroic.  And he's 100% correct.  You do feel as though your character is much more important in the total story in TOR than other themepark games.  

    Reading comprehension ftw.

  • elockeelocke Member UncommonPosts: 4,335

    Originally posted by wormywyrm

    Originally posted by elocke


    Originally posted by Timace





    still eq2 has 100x more depth than swtor IMO. [Mod Edit] 

    And yet at least in SWTOR I have epic storylines to reward me for my time spent there as opposed to EQ2 where I really feel like a fly on the wall and not important at all to the world of Norrath.  I'll take SWTOR any day over EQ2.  Only thing EQ2 does right anyway, is the guild system.  Guild leveling and guild housing is great.  The rest, not so much.





    I like EQ2 for the playtime it gave me after I grew bored of WoW but now that something better has come along, it just makes EQ2's wrinkles really stand out.

    Epic storyline?   Look around you man, open your eyes.  Just because they story tells you you are saving the world and there are voice over to the text does not mean you are making a difference in the game.  A person would have to be dellusional to think that they matter on their swtor server.

    I never said make a difference in the game, I said feel important or heroic for lack of a better term and SWTOR does that in droves, per character.  I'm level 48, and every quest I pick up now has the empire gushing about my past exploits and how I've helped the Empire conquer the galaxy.  I've also been reprimanded for some of my darkside choices, killing off certain important idividuals instead of capturing them, etc.  It is totally engrossing, immersive and just plain awesome.  Make me want to keep playing and then roll a new character and experience his/her story.

    As much as I liked EQ2 before, it now pales in comparison because in EQ2, you don't matter, at all.  There is no remembering what your character did for Freeport, no narrative that spans the entire game, every quest is a mirror image of a quest in a previous zone, it just lacks any soul when it comes to story.  The very cool epic weapon quest line, is soon forgotten once you need to upgrade it to a spell, after you get the spell, it's like it never happened.  In SWTOR, I can still remember and am reminded every so often about my dealing on the starter world Hutta, and my exploits on Dromund Kaas afterword.

    Like I said, the only good thing about EQ2 is the housing, guild system, and collections.  The rest, to me at least, just seems trivial now.

  • TelondarielTelondariel Member Posts: 1,001

    Originally posted by Banquetto

    Is this a review of the "Age of Discovery" expansion or of Everquest 2 as a whole? It seems to bounce back and forth between the two.

    Regardless, I can't see how EQ2 could ever be rated 8/10 for gameplay. I've wanted to like EQ2 for a long time, taken a number of stabs at playing it because it's such a massive and interesting and sprawling game. But the fact is, it has the worst implementation of the "tab-target, autoattack and skill bar" model of MMORPG combat I have ever seen. Just awful. Dozens of barely distinguishable skills on 10-20 seconds cooldowns, so combat is quite literally "faceroll" - you target the enemy and then hit 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0. Hopefully that kills it, and skill 1 will be cooled down ready to pull the next mob.

    No reactive skills. No decision making. Just slide your finger along the keyboard hitting each skill in turn.

    It is absolutely light years behind WoW, LOTRO, Rift, WAR, SW:TOR, every other similar combat system I have ever seen. Such a pity.


     



    You must have been playing a ShadowKnight, or another game.  There are plenty of classes whose gameplay involves more than facerolling.  Try a scout, or one of the enchanters, or..<insert class>.  Most of the classes have limited skills up to around level 30, then after that the more complex, class-defining abilities really start to happen.  After level 50, another heavy layer is added.  Its designed to become more complex as encounters, mobs, and dungeons evolve.

    Its far more than facerolling, buddy, and anyone who has really played the game past the intro zones would know that.

     

    image
  • erictlewiserictlewis Member UncommonPosts: 3,022

    Originally posted by Telondariel



    Originally posted by Banquetto



    Is this a review of the "Age of Discovery" expansion or of Everquest 2 as a whole? It seems to bounce back and forth between the two.

    Regardless, I can't see how EQ2 could ever be rated 8/10 for gameplay. I've wanted to like EQ2 for a long time, taken a number of stabs at playing it because it's such a massive and interesting and sprawling game. But the fact is, it has the worst implementation of the "tab-target, autoattack and skill bar" model of MMORPG combat I have ever seen. Just awful. Dozens of barely distinguishable skills on 10-20 seconds cooldowns, so combat is quite literally "faceroll" - you target the enemy and then hit 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0. Hopefully that kills it, and skill 1 will be cooled down ready to pull the next mob.

    No reactive skills. No decision making. Just slide your finger along the keyboard hitting each skill in turn.

    It is absolutely light years behind WoW, LOTRO, Rift, WAR, SW:TOR, every other similar combat system I have ever seen. Such a pity.






     





    You must have been playing a ShadowKnight, or another game.  There are plenty of classes whose gameplay involves more than facerolling.  Try a scout, or one of the enchanters, or...  Most of the classes have limited skills up to around level 30, then after that the more complex, class-defining abilities really start to happen.  After level 50, another heavy layer is added.  Its designed to become more complex as encounters, mobs, and dungeons evolve.

    Its far more than facerolling, buddy, and anyone who has really played the game past the intro zones would know that.

     

    One things for sure hes never played an inquisitor or a defiler.  I was not even got to post but after rereading that bs i have to call him out on it.

  • citadellicitadelli Member Posts: 36

    Not sure if this is a review of EQ2 as a game or the "expansion".

    As a game it is the hidden gem well worth a 9.  

    As an expansion... hardly a 5 when you consider past expansions and all they offered.  This was a feature pack that hardly had any beta testing and has been riddled with bugs especially with the FTP model being morphed into the existing Live gamer model.  It took almost 2 days just for the players to be able to play it once it went live and there has been hot fixes almost every day because of the lack of beta.  There are neat features, but nothing game changing, or adds to the core game experience except extra easier mode things.  Still not sure what we are discovering in this new "Age of Discovery" XPac...?

    Our family waited till x3 station cash and purchased it for $10 with change left over... for that a good value... $40 no.

    Community - 10! No doubt, it may be small, but you won't find better peeps anywhere.  Maybe small, but it is good and solid, just need a good guild regardless of server.

    Biggest disappointment has been the amount of bugs lack of completing the last expansion that is promised to come out now until 2013... and how many subs till then?  

    Customer service and account status is really what is going to kill them now though.  SOE used to be extremely awesome at this.  Now it's all foder, and long time players especially the All-Access folks are just screwed.  Very disappointing.

    Until they can fix account stuff and rearrange the priority to long standing players the game will have no longevity and the game will fall into a dismal state that really makes me sad discrediting more of the SOE titles the way SWG did hugely a long time ago :-( Another lesson not learned.

    Every other day we see new station cash stuff for sale over bugs fixed or new content that was promised long ago...  The game has been losing direction over lots of fluff.  The people who have been providing the game with income over the years are no longer apparently listened to this idea that the new ftp model will provide more income.  Perhaps it will upfront.  But the ftp model has been active for a year now Freeport, and managed to fill an entire Single server.  This isn't going to add a much higher active pop.

    Unfortunate, EQ2 is THE diamond in the rough.  A game that has literally almost everything.  It's now either too easy (which leads to boredom fast) or too focused decorating like Sim City online... and that went super...

     

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