Poll: EverQuest: Is it worth it?

[glen]

I used to play Quake 2 and Tribes on line and I was pumped about the upcoming Quake 3.
Everyday I would go to Bluesnews to read up on the progress of Quake 3. But, I kept reading about how one of the programmers had gotten addicted to a game and was quitting ID software to join the company that made the game. This blew my mind. I mean who would quit a job making tons of money for ID making Quake 3?!? Well, the programmer was Brian Hook, and the game was Everquest. So, on a lark I decided to drive over to Best Buys and buy the game. The first hour of the game was really frustrating. I was a human, and it was night on the server, so I logged on and could not see for crap. I wanted to tell the game makers that it was the stupidest game ever, and that they could shove it.. that not being able to see at night because I was human was not cute, but stupid and had no place in a computer game. Just then, a player noticed me walking into things, and ask me if I needed help. Then they handed me a light and explained a few things to me. We went to a tavern where I bought some spells and some food and met some other folks who invited me to go travel with them to the nearest city, Qeynos... I was hooked. It was the coolest thing ever. EQ is very fun and very addicting. PM me if you want to see some screen shots.

 

[paruhd0x]

WHAT YOU SAY !! EverQuest 0wnZ j00!

 

[fake]

Does anyone know when the next MMORPG is coming out ? Shadowbane, UO2, etc ..

I quit AC last summer due to of course, time requirements .. now I have a craving

 

[paruhd0x]

Ok ok. PEOPLE wake up. You are not paying for only the game monthly. You are paying for the AWESOME support and all those non-lag servers you can play on! Go try it for a month and if you don't like it. Get a full refund. (Get it from costco.com and you can do a full refund on the game itself)

Have fun.

 

[glen]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=38&threadid=355454

 

[glen]

Runes on Druid Epic weapon!!!!!!Buwuhhhaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Rendus]

Guys, if $10 a month is even worth WORRYING ABOUT to you, you shouldn't be on the forums, but rather out GETTING A JOB.

Considering there are about a hundred zones in EQ, and Verant maintains a physical, individual server for nearly EVERY ZONE IN THE GAME, and runs what, 20 worlds, it's not hard to see where the money goes.

I used to play EQ, and it was highly addictive. That's why I quit playing. At this point, I wouldn't get started on EQ because it's probably getting close to the end of it's life span, with the new generation of games on the horizon.

Personally, my preference has always been Asheron's Call, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms.

Dameon said:

<< I seriously don't like these games at all. The monthly fee hooks you to it, making you feel like you have to get your $10 worth out of it. They make it inconvenient to quit, no online-removal or account termination. Ugh. Stay away from them, your family will love you for it. >>



No, no, and no.

There's a rather HUGE button on the EQ signon screen that says something to the effect of &quot;CANCEL ACCOUNT&quot;. I've canceled and resubscribed a good half dozen times, and NEVER, EVER had any problem with them terminating my account as soon as the billing cycle was up. It's cheaper for them to let you cancel online than to have you call up and waste hours on the phone with CSRs pulling $10 an hour or so trying to get you to stay.

-edit- Glen, I PRAY that screenshot is a fake

 

[glen]

No, it is not a fake!
You guys have to see this:
screenshot of Everquest druid epic quest uber weapon

 

[Rendus]

That frightens me.


ALL YOUR LEVELS ARE BELONG TO US!
ALL YOUR LOOT ARE BLONG TO US!

&quot;Train to zone!&quot;
&quot;YOU HAVE NO CHOICE TO SURVIVE MAKE YOUR TIME!&quot;

I could go on, but I'm sure someone else will.

 

[brown234]

Is it possible to try out Everquest before buying it?

 

[Rendus]

No, no demos or anything exist. They give you a free month with the purchase of the game, though.

 

[paruhd0x]

Heehhehe Glen you'll have to show me that weapon sometime... What server you play on?

 

[glen]

After logging 2500 hours in less than a year, I decided I NEEDED to stop playing the game.
I sold my level 54 Druid on the Quellious server for a lot of money on E-bay. As an hourly wage, it was horrible, but I made well over the amount I spent on the game, expansion, and monthly fees.

BTW, incase no one figured it out. The Epic weapon picture is faked so that the runes read, &quot;All Your Base Are Belong To Us!&quot;
weapon pic

 

[chemos]

Everquest is pretty LAME imo. i bought and played it for a bit, and i could feel my brain cells popping out of existence. i made a character, used the rather lousy controls/interface to wander outside, and get attacked by a little bugbear thing. i killed it, and then another bugbear thing appeared. i killed it, and another bugbear thing appeared.

hello?? this is fun?

no random encounters.. nothing random in fact. just the same tired monsters wandering out of the same dark corner with the same attack every time.

guess i just never could get into it. you'd think a game that charged you a monthly fee would be a lot more innovative, have better controls/playability, and at least have random encounters. of course, the game devalues like no other (mostly due to the wasted free month of play) so it's not exactly very resellable either.

 

[Kosugi]

I play asherons call, and used to play Ultima. Thing about AC is that I can walk away from it, or not play for a day or two. So it's not bad that way.

As far as the graphics goes, it was a bit confusing at first, but then when I set all the options on and run at 1280x1024, it is stunning. As a matter of fact, several times I have stopped in game just to watch the sun set, or moons rise. Amazing.

AC also gets monthly upgrades. New monsters, new dungeouns, new weapons, new quests. That keeps it going, and keeps a fair amount of interest.

The one thing you have to learn with the online games is Balance!

You can't let it dominate your life. If you are easily addicted to games, stay away from them. Everquest is highly addictive, and I won't go near it for that reason. AC is addictive too, but I can balance it with the rest of my life. Oh, and I like AC's approach. Not everyone wants to be involved in PVP... some of us old timers just want to play the game with a group of friends. Solving quests as a team is most satisfying. I like how AC has monsters in it that no single player can take down. In Ultima, my mage/archer could kill anything in the game, and that got kind of boring.

 

[Boogak]

<< no random encounters.. nothing random in fact. just the same tired monsters wandering out of the same dark corner with the same attack every time. >>



As opposed to running in what seems to be a perfectly empty dungeon but is in fact crawling with invisible monsters that initiate combat with you every 2 minutes for no reason? I can honestly say I really dislike console RPG's ever since I started playing PC games. It all seems so cheesy the way combat is initiated. And this is coming from an old school console RPG'er (I loved the Phantasy Star series, and the original Lunar: The Silver Star on SegaCD still ranks as one of my ultimate gaming experiences).

At least in Everquest you can SEE the enemies approaching and avoid them if you want. And if you want some randomness, go walk around South Ro or the Oasis of Marr and watch a sand giant randomly come at you and pound you into the dirt.

 

[Raspewtin]

EverQuest is sickningly addictive (or was for me) b/c it takes advantage of a random reward for behavior system that is the basis behind gambling (well not entirely random, but random enough). This was the first game I was ever addicted to and hated playing at the same time. I recommend staying away from this game. Like someone else $120 is the least of your concerns, what it really steals is all your time.


BTW I agree with consoles' stupid random encounters.

 

[PhaZe]

It is addicting..
My teacher plays it while we take tests.
It gets annoying sometimes because when we ask questions, he's replies with crap like.
&quot;Hold on&quot; or doesn't even say anything at all.
So yea it will take much of your time if you cant manage your time effeciantly..

 

[Namuna]

<Satan>
Ohhh, you should definately get EQ! Much fun, meet new friends online, go on adventures. Not addicting at all.
</Satan>

I was SOOOOO addicted, at one point I was RUNNING home from work to get NAKED (I log so many hours every night that I started getting sores from clothing, so I started playing naked) to play. You'll also learn the term 'camping', I 'camped' for the Journeyman Boots for 24hours straight! And that's AVERAGE!!!

Evercrack coins the phrase PERFECTLY.

 

[glen]

Heh...ever cast invisibility on yourself so that while meditating you could run pee, shower, or grab food out of fridge?

 

[paruhd0x]

Heheheh 104 days ain't that bad...

 

[Choralone]

I totally agree with Viper. It's not so much the $10 a month, but it's what people do to get their $10 a month out of the game. I'm a huge RPG fan myself but I've avoided EQ on purpose because for me to get MY $10 a month out of it would suck too much time away from far more important things like my family. I work with a guy that's hooked on Ultima Online and he's been missing work, staying up too late, and just plain doing a lousy job because he's single and spends WAAAAYYY too much time playing.

 

[KaOTiK]

I use to play EQ ALOT. IT IS CRACK. The only goodthing that came from it for me was that me and my guild were all in it for the money.....we all deceided from beta that we would make a guild and basically build our accounts with high lvl charaters and the best equipment avalibe and sell our accounts. We did everyone of those things and each one of us made enough cash to have a vacation with for sometime. When we sold our accounts it was about when EQ was almost a year or not even and high lvl charaters for sell were really rare, plus have items that were extremely rare or not even able to get anymore helped out alot.

All in all, i am happy with my EQ experince, but it is addicting. Overall it is a waste, onlything that made up for it for me and my guild was the fact we made a very nice chunk of cash each. I wouldnt do it again though. Put many many hours (well months actually) of time in.

Kao