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My EQ2 Review

Similar to what others have been saying: It's not finished! If World of Warcraft wasn't looming over their heads like an executioner they would have waited at least another few months.
I am not a WoW "fanboy", I have been in the closed beta for a while though and can say without doubt that it's entirely better than EQ2. (I just wish I had time to play it)
 
About the site :

+ A tip of the hat to doing something you enjoy.
+ I like the quotes in the top right corner. How often is it updated? I suggest daily.
+ I can appreciate the thoroughness and honesty of your review.


- Remove the Google search box. Alot of people have the google tool bar anyways.
- Put your reviews score (the star rating) at the very end of the review. Make them wait for it.
- The pictures your have should be clickable (linked) to a higher rez version.
 
Thanks folks

Warcrow:

+2 Its random - I have fed it about 30 quotes so far and you get a random one each time you load the page. Its a core module of postnuke and a favourite of mine too 🙂

-1 more for my convenience more than anything that one - but yeah I am pretty sure it will go 🙂
-2 The stars annoy me as well (I dont want them at all!) but the module uses them at the moment so I am actively seeking a better module for the reviews. There is one I havent got around to installing yet which
-3 handles screenshots a lot better 🙂

 
Troubling review. I have EQ 2 on preorder and I might just have to hold off picking it up....especially since I'm enjoying WoW so much. The loading of screens you describe....I *really* dislike that. And your rig is pretty hefty too. A couple of things that I would have liked you to address is loot drops and the voices.....the voices that supposedly the NPCs have now. Also travel....I guess we have griffins now, right? Anyway, well done.
 
Doesn't even deserve 2 stars, heh heh.

EDIT:

Troubling review. I have EQ 2 on preorder and I might just have to hold off picking it up....especially since I'm enjoying WoW so much. The loading of screens you describe....I *really* dislike that. And your rig is pretty hefty too. A couple of things that I would have liked you to address is loot drops and the voices.....the voices that supposedly the NPCs have now. Also travel....I guess we have griffins now, right? Anyway, well done.
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If EQ2 had an open beta, and you tried it, there wouldn't even be the small bit of hesitation left that you have. Sounds like you know what to do, cancel that EQ2 preorder!

WoW isn't perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than EQ2. I think WoW could've used another month of tweak/polish before release, but I guess the early EQ2 release made Vivendi push the release up.

Loading screens:

EQ2: Everywhere and long. You see them every few minutes or so in the early part of the game.

WoW: One quick one to get in the game, then maybe another quick one while playing if you enter an instance or travel to the opposite continent. Extremely rare.
 
Originally posted by: Hadsus
Troubling review. I have EQ 2 on preorder and I might just have to hold off picking it up....especially since I'm enjoying WoW so much. The loading of screens you describe....I *really* dislike that. And your rig is pretty hefty too. A couple of things that I would have liked you to address is loot drops and the voices.....the voices that supposedly the NPCs have now. Also travel....I guess we have griffins now, right? Anyway, well done.
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Yup - annoy the crap out of me too! You know the loading screens were only like 10-20 secs each for me, but there are just so many of them when running errand missions. My poor gf who has AMD2800+/512MB Ram and a 9800pro was anywhere between 30secs to a minute for each of them!! She stopped playing at around level 11 swearing her ass off lol.

I agree I could have covered loot tables and thats an oversight on my part. I would say that approx 30-50% of mobs drop loot depending on the mob, but mostly its useless crap that sells for a few copper (usual crap like bats ears, bear's fur, etc etc). Then every so often (maybe 1/100 kills (ish) you get an uber drop in a chest which is usually something way too high, or way too low for you to use so you end up flogging it.
You are bringing me onto the inventory system which is terrible. 8 slots which can be filled with bags (of capacity 4-8 each). On top of that a bank with 8 slots (again can be filled with bags) and 4 shared slots which were bugged to hell last time I tried to use them (admittedly a few weeks ago). Its all so awkward and is another of those unecessary annoyances. Why not have no bags and a bigger inventory grrr.

 
Notice that I didn't beta test the game but I am still picking it up today (although sadly they are already out of dvd versions, yuk).

I never really played EQ for the game, I play because I love the social aspect. I play on the roleplay server so compared to the other servers or games like World of Warcraft, the majority of people are very nice and helpful. It's great going out to hunt with a bunch of friends so I usually overlook the stuff like loading and poor loot. Besides, when Everquest originally came out, it was the same way, a lot of bugs, the equipment was extremely poor quality (shiny brass halberd was a well above average weapon at something like 14/48) and with our pcs, loading took 2-3 minutes.

Give EQ2 another 6 months before you join up f you don't want to have these problems and it should have improved noticeably.
 
Yup - annoy the crap out of me too! You know the loading screens were only like 10-20 secs each for me, but there are just so many of them when running errand missions.
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Things aren't as bad in EQ2 as they were in EQ1 from what I've heard, some of the zones are as big as 4 Karanas combined which is pretty big. EQ1 people will know what I'm talking about.

Why not have no bags and a bigger inventory grrr.
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It's a system that's been in place since EQ1 and it has worked well. I don't know about EQ2 but in EQ1 monks needed to stay below a certain weight limit or they took an AC hit. Since bags weighed a lot you needed to either get magical weightless ones or not carry anything.

especially since I'm enjoying WoW so much.
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I think WoW is geared towards more casual gamers while EQ towards people who have more time. The rate of leveling in WoW seems to be pretty fast and the death penalty a little too relaxed.
 
Originally posted by: fyleow
I think WoW is geared towards more casual gamers while EQ towards people who have more time. The rate of leveling in WoW seems to be pretty fast and the death penalty a little too relaxed.
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People graduate college. They get full time jobs and start families. The new gamer, and, in fact, the new MMO gamer, ARE casual players. And guess what, they're the ones who bring the spice from their rich lives into the game world and make it that much more interesting. Appealing to the "hardcore" crowd results in instanced zones and boring/mundane gameplay from levels 1-49.
 
Originally posted by: fyleow
Yup - annoy the crap out of me too! You know the loading screens were only like 10-20 secs each for me, but there are just so many of them when running errand missions.
Click to expand...

Things aren't as bad in EQ2 as they were in EQ1 from what I've heard, some of the zones are as big as 4 Karanas combined which is pretty big. EQ1 people will know what I'm talking about.

Why not have no bags and a bigger inventory grrr.
Click to expand...

It's a system that's been in place since EQ1 and it has worked well. I don't know about EQ2 but in EQ1 monks needed to stay below a certain weight limit or they took an AC hit. Since bags weighed a lot you needed to either get magical weightless ones or not carry anything.

especially since I'm enjoying WoW so much.
Click to expand...

I think WoW is geared towards more casual gamers while EQ towards people who have more time. The rate of leveling in WoW seems to be pretty fast and the death penalty a little too relaxed.
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Not anymore..
after yesterdays patch the death penalty in WOW is harsher than EQ2s...
10% degrade in all gear carried when you die.. if you res at healer 100% degrade in weps..
30 minute death sickness that makes you unplayable for 30 mins...
the costs to repair gear are insane... it ruined my L18 warrior i went from doing ok for my level to having no money to travel buy food buy a ride buy repairs etc...
and since my gear is broken i cannot fight to get more cash...
great way to ruin a fun game...
 
Interesting.....I died three times last nite and looted my corpse each time. I noticed no death penalty. My paper character never showed up below the minimap which would indicate equipment degradation. Is this penalty level-based? I died at level 9 and now I'm level 10.

BTW, I checked some the EQ boards and they are on the whole raving about the game and smoothness of release. I saw no comments on zone lags.
 
Hmmmm, interesting review, but how can we trust you when you don't even know what race character you made? You said you made an Iksar when in fact you made a Kerra.

Ahh well, in the end no biggie. Thanx for saving me 40 dollars, for now anyway.
 
People graduate college. They get full time jobs and start families. The new gamer, and, in fact, the new MMO gamer, ARE casual players. And guess what, they're the ones who bring the spice from their rich lives into the game world and make it that much more interesting. Appealing to the "hardcore" crowd results in instanced zones and boring/mundane gameplay from levels 1-49.
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Different strokes for different folks.

I'm in College now and I work 16 hours a week, no time to play like I used to and I'm still leaning towards Everquest 2. There is no fun when the game is too easy because you just hit the level cap in a matter of months even with casual play. With EQ2 that won't happen. I had a lot of fun leveling up and dungeon crawling with my friends, actually some of my worst experiences were during raiding at level 60.

I believe WoW has instanced zones too btw.

Interesting.....I died three times last nite and looted my corpse each time. I noticed no death penalty
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Are you a former EQ player? I'm guessing like most MMORPGs WoW has no death penalty until you reach a certain level.

I started a NE druid and I felt like I was in Kelethin all over again, except it was more confusing and cartoony 😛
 
The death penalty in WoW was just introduced and it will probably be toned way down before retail. The thing is everyone is used to running into any situation and not worrying about dying. So now that there's a penalty everyone is up in arms about it. It is a little harsh once you start getting some decent gear (at first it's just a few copper), which is why I think they will tone it down to like 2%/25%.

There are instanced zones in WoW, but they are really rare. They are only for things that are suposed to take a group to complete and it always seems like having it instanced was the right thing to do to me.
 
Originally posted by: AyashiKaibutsu

There are instanced zones in WoW, but they are really rare. They are only for things that are suposed to take a group to complete and it always seems like having it instanced was the right thing to do to me.
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I don't know about really rare, there's a significant list of them I've seen posted on these very forums. You can spend quite a long time in just one instance too.

They are fun provided you have a good group and the time.
 
Why not have no bags and a bigger inventory grrr.

It's a system that's been in place since EQ1 and it has worked well. I don't know about EQ2 but in EQ1 monks needed to stay below a certain weight limit or they took an AC hit. Since bags weighed a lot you needed to either get magical weightless ones or not carry anything.
Click to expand...

AFAIK - weight is not an issue in EQ2 although I havent played as priest (my GF did until getting too p155ed off with the game) and so I see no reason for it. I think I said it in the review - it really does seem like they have spent no time on anything other than the gfx. Tacked on the old DB - tweaked to suit - and voila! A "next-gen" mmorpg :/

Sorry but I aint that daft SOE lol!


Also I don't think I emphasised enough the fact I dont mind instances IN THE RIGHT PLACE. It's a great way to stop critical & progression quests getting camped out. But they have used it as a lazy shortcut to get around performance and lag issues in open areas such as antonica to the (IMO) detriment of immersion and the game as a whole.

I am sure that die-hard EQ nuts and people who have never played an mmorpg before will like the game - I guess I just expect a little more that a graphics addon 😀
 
After leveling to 23 so far in EQ2, I think you need to go back and redo your review.

I experience no network lag.
The engine was built to accomodate tomorrows computers and beyond. The game looks lush and beautiful on the "Balanced" setting, I can't imagine what it will look like on Extreme Quality when its playable at acceptable fps later.
The quest system basically mirror's WoWs. Bring this to this person. Go kill these. Kill these until you find this. EQ2's system is better in that I can have more quests at once, and I DO have more quests at once. WoW's system is better in that you can share your quests with others.
Yes there are loading screens. With 1GB of ram, the load times are negligable. I personally like zones better than wide open areas. I could never tell what people/how far people could hear me in WoW.
Sense of accomplishment: I feel like i've done something when I complete a task/level in EQ. I rarely felt that way in WoW, even after doing a few elite quests.
Locked encounters: they're helpful in group situations. Although I haven't really had the problem of any area being so overcrowded to actually need the locked encounter. If something is kicking someones ass, they can yell and break the encounter. This allows them to regen health/power at the normal rate, even in battle. Also, it allows anyone to help them out. No xp/loot will be given for that encounter.
Loot: I don't know what you're talking about 1/100 xp mobs dropping loot. I was xping in an area last night where we averaged at least 1 chest every 2 pulls. We got quite a few adepts and peices of gear (quested gear and plain old dropped gear).
As for leveling areas, in 23 levels i've leveled up in: Isle of Refuge, Freeport (quests), Commonlands, Fallen Gate, Nektulos Forest, Thundering Steppes, Edgewater Drains, and Wailing Caverns. Quite a diverse set of areas.

Overall, I think you reviewed the product to early and/or didn't experience enough of the game to give it a fair review.
 
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