EQ2 VS Lotro? and general questions

dscar23

this is entirely a matter of opinion, but im debating between these two games and would like if some people could clarify some issues im having.

1. I know that EQ2 has a ton to do, but is most of it outdated content? Not sure sure if your familiar with WoW, but when new expansions are released the old raid content is done with and is rarely ever ran, is this the case in EQ2?

2. overall would you say that lotro or eq2 has more to experience? also which game has a nicer community to experience it in.

(ive played both eq2 and lotro for a short time, getting characters to the low 20s.)

3. pertaining to a classes in eq2, im a big fan of healing as well as being able to dps for groups. is there any class like this in eq2? ive played a fury for a little on a trial and they seem fun, was thinking about them or a mystic.

4. final question, if i make a ratonga bruiser, and betray to qeynos, i change my class to a monk, correct?

 

thanks for the insight

cheers

Moirae

Originally posted by dscar23


this is entirely a matter of opinion, but im debating between these two games and would like if some people could clarify some issues im having.
1. I know that EQ2 has a ton to do, but is most of it outdated content? Not sure sure if your familiar with WoW, but when new expansions are released the old raid content is done with and is rarely ever ran, is this the case in EQ2?
The content is fine. There are thousands upon thousands of quests. You can play over and over again and not repeat quests unless you want to. There are so many quests that there are whole areas you can skip and still level up.
2. overall would you say that lotro or eq2 has more to experience? also which game has a nicer community to experience it in.
(ive played both eq2 and lotro for a short time, getting characters to the low 20s.)
EQ2 has infinitely more to experience than LOTRO. I beta'd LOTRO, my husband currently  has an account with LOTRO, and it doesn't even remotely hold a candle to the sheer amount that EQ2 has to offer.
3. pertaining to a classes in eq2, im a big fan of healing as well as being able to dps for groups. is there any class like this in eq2? ive played a fury for a little on a trial and they seem fun, was thinking about them or a mystic.
Fury is one of the best soloers in the game. They have a nuke thats incredible. One of my mains is a firy.


As for grouping, your best bet is to make liberal use of the LFG ability and to join a guild.
4. final question, if i make a ratonga bruiser, and betray to qeynos, i change my class to a monk, correct?
Yes.
 
thanks for the insight
cheers

 

elocke

Having played both LOTRO and EQ2, and loving both to some degree or another, I give EQ2 more props only to sheer content and class numbers. Also, unlike WoW where old content offers no reward, EQ2 has the alternate advancement system(achievement points) that are gained by completing any and all quests, even grey ones, killing nameds(as long as they con above grey which can be solved via mentoring lower level party mates) and exploration xp for finding Points of Interest. Which makes going back to old areas almost a MUST DO.

However, the community in LOTRO is hands down the better. Although the EQ2 community is pretty good to, much better than games like WoW, WAR or AoC.

I think the Fury is a popular dps healer class. Haven't really gotten into the healers yet, playing wizard and dirge at the moment and loving them.

ethion

Originally posted by dscar23


this is entirely a matter of opinion, but im debating between these two games and would like if some people could clarify some issues im having.
I've been playing eq2 for almost 2 years.  I've been playing LoTR for maybe a couple weeks.  So I can't really represent much contrast with LoTR.  I'm liking LoTR and people say there is a lot of content for higher levels.  There is a lot of similarity in general terms between the games.  I think LoTR combat system is better.  I think eq2 housing is better.  EQ2 voice is better.  EQ2 guild houses are better.  LoTR story line quests are better.  Both have frequent content updates.  Graphics run better in LoTR.  Graphic styles are different but LoTR seems like it has a better graphics engine.
1. I know that EQ2 has a ton to do, but is most of it outdated content? Not sure sure if your familiar with WoW, but when new expansions are released the old raid content is done with and is rarely ever ran, is this the case in EQ2?
Yes most of the content at a previous tier is largely outdated.  Raid zones that were lvl 70 are no longer being raided much.  However it isn't true that they are never raided.  Unlike many other games eq2 uses an AA system that gives you points for killing boss npcs and exploring new areas.  So doing some of the lower level raid instances is very worth it for the AAs.  Although you won't see people running them a lot.  I've run them all a few times to get AA or help people get AA.  Or course the loot is no longer worth the effort as the lvl 80 stuff is much better.
 
2. overall would you say that lotro or eq2 has more to experience? also which game has a nicer community to experience it in.
I'm playing LoTR now but haven't been for long.  This is a question I have as well.  So far in the lower levels it seems great content wise.  There are 3 major areas you can adventure in and there are tons of quests.  I'm working on doing all the quests in Bree and I just keep finding more..  I don't however know how the higher level game is.  In EQ2 there are many areas you can go to.  With Kunark they added a lot of solo content and quests.  With TSO they added a ton of group content.  So in eq2 I can go solo quest in moors or some of the kunark areas or I can get in a group and run TSO instances.  Or of course I can raid.
(ive played both eq2 and lotro for a short time, getting characters to the low 20s.)
3. pertaining to a classes in eq2, im a big fan of healing as well as being able to dps for groups. is there any class like this in eq2? ive played a fury for a little on a trial and they seem fun, was thinking about them or a mystic.
Fury is probably the most obvious choice, although I think all the healer classes can play with AA specs to make them better at DPS.  For example I played with a mystic awhile back that was speced for melee and was doing amazing dps numbers beating my rogue routinely....  He was very well geared.  For furies they generally do better dps they other healers but also don't seem to heal as well.  I hear of furies doing great dps but haven't really seen it in groups.  What I generally see is that furies are the bottom of the heal parse and for healers the top of the dps parse.  However like all healers they are not generally in dps range of the other 3 archtypes.
4. final question, if i make a ratonga bruiser, and betray to qeynos, i change my class to a monk, correct?
 
thanks for the insight
cheers

 

dreamscaper

I currently have active subscriptions to both games. Here's who they compare for me:

 

LotRO Pros

• Better Quests/Writing
• Beautiful, Open World
• Better Lore
• Better Combat
• Better Gameplay
• Open world, massive amounts of terrain to explore.
• Lots of character customization options.
• Fantastic community

LotRO Cons

• Character models lean towards the ugly side
• Limited Classes
• Limited Races
• Difficult to make unique character appearances.
• Some gameplay elements such as mounts are cumbersome.
• End-game is one massive grind.
• Housing is there, but needs to be totally redone.
• PvMP is an afterthought ( I hate pvp, so this is actually a plus for me).

EQ2 Pros

• Better classes
• More quests than you'll ever need
• More racial diversity.
• Better healing system.
• Beautiful graphics, if you can crank them up.
• One of the better pvp systems.
• Great housing system.
• The game as a whole has a very distinct character, not unlike WoW.

EQ2 Cons

• Characters look 'plasticky'
• Zones, zones, zones.
• Difficult to make unique character appearances.
• The characters all move as if they're either in fast forward or on speed. Really disorienting.
• Far too hard on your system for the end result.
• Quests tend to be ho-hum for the most part.
• SoE tends to ruin everything they touch.
• This includes their penchant for nickel and diming their customers to death.

 

If I had to choose between the two, I would probably say that LotRO is the overall better game. But that's as much personal preference as anything else. EQ2 is a wonderful game in its own right. My advice would be to try free trials for them both, and level a character to 20 in each game. After that, you should have a good idea about which you prefer.

Dosas

I played both games, lotro is a great game, leveled a lorekeeper to max before the mines of moria expac.

I stuck to eq2 because as a game is more close to the AD+D spirit, I am an old P+P AD+D player so the classes in eq2

are more to my liking. Also eq2 has an Alternate Advancement system, kinda like the old AD+D 2nd edition 'kits' if you like

which give you more gameplay choices, depending if you go for raiding, heroic group play or soloing so I kinda prefer that.

Lotro seems to be more linear in how you build your class, not to say that is bad necessarily but I prefer the eq model.

On a technical plus side, lotro seems to be much more well optimised to modern video cards, so you can really use your rig's capabilities with crossfire and sli or w/e and dx10 and have great results. EQ2's engine is outdated and doesn't make as much use of your modern video cards, although they are introducing a new shader system in a patch in december so that may change.

Hope it helps.

nathanvandyn

EQ2 is probably the best mmo on the market if your tastes are LOTRO and the eq line of games. And as far as the betrayal goes that only applies if you are NOT on a pvp server. If you were to betray on a pvp server you would keep the same class.

Shiseiten83

EQ2 or lotro have better pve end game raid like wow ? unique, interesting epic boss fight not just tank and spank.

Shiseiten83

I just happened to know that EQ2 have a mentor system, where high leveled players can downscale their levels and stats to help those low leveled players in the earlier zones which i think its a very great feature. All mmorpg should have this feature imo.

Moirae

Originally posted by dscar23


this is entirely a matter of opinion, but im debating between these two games and would like if some people could clarify some issues im having.
1. I know that EQ2 has a ton to do, but is most of it outdated content? Not sure sure if your familiar with WoW, but when new expansions are released the old raid content is done with and is rarely ever ran, is this the case in EQ2?
It is much better than LOTRO. I beta'd LOTRO. It sucked then and it sucked a few months ago when I husband got his butt an account. He was so bored he cancelled the account a couple weeks ago.
LOTRO characters look just as plasticky as EQ2 characters no matter how good a computer you have (mine is only about 8 months old, and it was the highest you could buy underneath the i7 when I bought it).
2. overall would you say that lotro or eq2 has more to experience? also which game has a nicer community to experience it in.
(ive played both eq2 and lotro for a short time, getting characters to the low 20s.)
EQ2 is better. Infinitely.
3. pertaining to a classes in eq2, im a big fan of healing as well as being able to dps for groups. is there any class like this in eq2? ive played a fury for a little on a trial and they seem fun, was thinking about them or a mystic.
Fury.
4. final question, if i make a ratonga bruiser, and betray to qeynos, i change my class to a monk, correct?
Yes.
 
thanks for the insight
cheers

 

Zsavooz

Damn you guys, now I want to play again. I think I'll hold off until the expansion, though.  

Kazara

Originally posted by dreamscaper


I currently have active subscriptions to both games. Here's who they compare for me:
 
LotRO Pros

Better Quests/Writing
Beautiful, Open World
Better Lore
Better Combat
Better Gameplay
Open world, massive amounts of terrain to explore.
Lots of character customization options.
Fantastic community

LotRO Cons

Character models lean towards the ugly side
Limited Classes
Limited Races
Difficult to make unique character appearances.
Some gameplay elements such as mounts are cumbersome.
End-game is one massive grind.
Housing is there, but needs to be totally redone.
PvMP is an afterthought ( I hate pvp, so this is actually a plus for me).

EQ2 Pros

Better classes
More quests than you'll ever need
More racial diversity.
Better healing system.
Beautiful graphics, if you can crank them up.
One of the better pvp systems.
Great housing system.
The game as a whole has a very distinct character, not unlike WoW.

EQ2 Cons

Characters look 'plasticky'
Zones, zones, zones.
Difficult to make unique character appearances.
The characters all move as if they're either in fast forward or on speed. Really disorienting.
Far too hard on your system for the end result.
Quests tend to be ho-hum for the most part.
SoE tends to ruin everything they touch.
This includes their penchant for nickel and diming their customers to death.

 
If I had to choose between the two, I would probably say that LotRO is the overall better game. But that's as much personal preference as anything else. EQ2 is a wonderful game in its own right. My advice would be to try free trials for them both, and level a character to 20 in each game. After that, you should have a good idea about which you prefer.

 

Excellent comparison! I also think EQ2 has a better inventory system too.

I played EQ2 and it is definitely a great game. The only real serious problem EQ2 has IMHO is $OE and its continual money grabbing schemes, such as $OE's move to RMT and the TCG. Last I heard, $OE is putting in a game instance only accessible by a TCG loot card. $OE is focused more on $OE and customers they don't have instead of the customers they do have.

I am presently playing LoTRO and am enjoying it immensely. The game is a little more straight forward and the has an awesome community.

 

Moirae

Originally posted by Kazara

Originally posted by dreamscaper


I currently have active subscriptions to both games. Here's who they compare for me:
 
LotRO Pros

Better Quests/Writing
Beautiful, Open World
Better Lore
Better Combat
Better Gameplay
Open world, massive amounts of terrain to explore.
Lots of character customization options.
Fantastic community

LotRO Cons

Character models lean towards the ugly side
Limited Classes
Limited Races
Difficult to make unique character appearances.
Some gameplay elements such as mounts are cumbersome.
End-game is one massive grind.
Housing is there, but needs to be totally redone.
PvMP is an afterthought ( I hate pvp, so this is actually a plus for me).

EQ2 Pros

Better classes
More quests than you'll ever need
More racial diversity.
Better healing system.
Beautiful graphics, if you can crank them up.
One of the better pvp systems.
Great housing system.
The game as a whole has a very distinct character, not unlike WoW.

EQ2 Cons

Characters look 'plasticky'
Zones, zones, zones.
Difficult to make unique character appearances.
The characters all move as if they're either in fast forward or on speed. Really disorienting.
Far too hard on your system for the end result.
Quests tend to be ho-hum for the most part.
SoE tends to ruin everything they touch.
This includes their penchant for nickel and diming their customers to death.

 
If I had to choose between the two, I would probably say that LotRO is the overall better game. But that's as much personal preference as anything else. EQ2 is a wonderful game in its own right. My advice would be to try free trials for them both, and level a character to 20 in each game. After that, you should have a good idea about which you prefer.

 

Excellent comparison! I also think EQ2 has a better inventory system too.

I played EQ2 and it is definitely a great game. The only real serious problem EQ2 has IMHO is $OE and its continual money grabbing schemes, such as $OE's move to RMT and the TCG. Last I heard, $OE is putting in a game instance only accessible by a TCG loot card. $OE is focused more on $OE and customers they don't have instead of the customers they do have.

I am presently playing LoTRO and am enjoying it immensely. The game is a little more straight forward and the has an awesome community.

 

 

*sighs*

 

1. The RMT has totally useless fluff crap. Items for your house that give no status, armor thats only for looks, pets that don't do anything. Yes, it does have things like a 'race change' potion, a potion for station transfer, and some xp potions, but they are very expensive. The race change potion does NOT mean that you gain your species traits by taking the potion, IT MEANS YOU CHANGE SPECIES TO WHATEVER YOU DESIRE. It also costs $25 in real life and isn't something most people would bother with. Its not a game changing thing since the race traits really aren't a big deal and its mostly about how you look. So how about you NOT freak out about something that they've kept their word on .

 

2. Yes, and the instance is a one use instance and you won't even miss it so stop freaking out over nothing.

severity3

Originally p.
 
2. Yes, and the instance is a one use instance and you won't even miss it so stop freaking out over nothing.

 

       I have been searching for a game for a couple of months after being a long time eq1 player, then wow, then vanguard. The move to have instances accessable through tcg single handedly insured that I will never touch this game. It IS a big deal. If not in and by itself than because of the implications for the future.

     SOE is not famous for its "money grabbing schemes" as a poster above pointed out for no reason.

shamus252

If your just for PvE is really mild pvp Lotro. If you like some ok PvP  then eq2 on pvp server.

Vaedur

Soe IS famous for money grubbing currently dispite what the above says..  See the mass amount of RMT, trading card game offering in game items, full RMT in Vanguard now.. etc..

 

Lotro is a growing game, subscription wise and content wise.. it is 2 years old

EQ2 is a shrinking game, lots of servers are ghost towns, content is constantly made easier, lvling faster, AA easier, easier, easier, easier, pushing people past content..

 

Lotro is reworking old content to make it fresh, yet you'll find people in all lvl ranges on most servers...

I like them both, but i can't bring myself back to eq2 they killed my poney.. you might like it.. but lotro is where it is at for me, it has long term potential, where eq2 is a hold over till eq3 or eq"next" imo..