Everquest 2

[mikewl]

Hey all,

Is anyone here actually on Everquest 2, I know not many picked it up, mostly because of WoW and FFXI.

I have been on EQ2 on and off since release and played the Beta before that.

I got the Bard job today and reached level 11 Bard, after having done the quest which lets you progress from Rogue to Bard I had already gained about 50% of the next level just from quest exp, one of the good features it feels like exploring is worthwhile for discovery exp, same for quest exp, its not just about progressing from group battles.

I get the feeling that this game has alot of potential down the line, already they have made some nice improvements and with regular updates it should only get better.

If anyone else is on it, what server did you join, I am on the Mistmoore server, name is Efio and I choose Queynos, Freeport is very dull ^^.

[Daragon]

I got the game a few days ago.

Only problem is, I ordered the Us collector's edition off ebay for ?30 (real bargain) until I found out that my dvd rom drive isn't multi regional ; ;
I've tweaked the region playback setting for R1 but my drive still refuses to start up the disks ><.
Probably broken or something, anyway I'm not giving up on it until I've got this thing sorted, so hopefully I'll be loading up sometime this week.

[Super Stu]

There is dvd region encoding on a game?

[Irons]

I got it a few weeks ago and I'm not sure if I'll play past the free month.

There are things I love about the game, the quest system is great and so is the crafting system.

However the game is a real system hog and personally I don't think the standard of graphics warrent the specs required to play it smoothly. I don't doubt that if you have the system it will look brilliant but games like Half Life2 look fantastic as well and don't require the same resources, at least on my PC. One minute the game will look great and the next I have to go tweak some settings

The merchant board/player to player selling system is something I detest with a passion, having to be online and in your room to sell items through the merchant board system is a real pain. Whilst in your room you can basically do nothing! you can't craft etc so the only real option is to leave your character logged in while you're at work or asleep.

You could sell face to face with people but this is limited by how many people are in the area and selling to npcs usually doesn't grant as great a reward.

I got EQ2 because I'm tired of FFXI but I don't think this is the game for me. WoW is released next month, unless it slips which seems possible as final beta only started at the weekend, and I'll probably try it.

MMORPGs take up all my gaming time and for the past 6-7 months I've hardly played any other games but FFXI and I'm wary of being sucked into another game like it as there are so many good games I miss while playing them.

I'm on the Lavastorm server by the way but my free month is up at the end of the week and I think I'll cancel my subscription.

[Daragon]

There is dvd region encoding on a game?

Its the only US game DVD I've got, so I'm assuming they're like movie DVDs. The clear side on the back of the disk also looks different to what you'd find on a UK one

[Super Stu]

No, dvd regional encoding is in the video data itself, it's not inherent to dvd media.

I got EQ2 because I'm tired of FFXI but I don't think this is the game for me. WoW is released next month, unless it slips which seems possible as final beta only started at the weekend, and I'll probably try it.

World of Warcraft has been retail in the states for about 6 weeks, this final EU beta is to presumably iron out niggles in language variations and to generally stress test the servers with more beta testers. US final beta lasted 3 weeks - expect a Feb launch.

[Daragon]

Apparently, I have the issue that a few EQ2 gamers have mentioned on the official tech support site.

My DVD rom drive will not read the disks as I put them in. Obviously the drive doesn't like them as its making some pretty unsettling sounds (I heard scratching at one point, never a good thing). Obviously I can't post on the official forum with my question because I can't subscribe to the game.

How SOE can get away with something like this completely baffles me

[Super Stu]

Can you not make an account on the eq2 website using the CD-key? IIRC, that's how my beta account was created, the game disc wasn't required.

Meanwhile, get a mate to copy the disc to dvdr or perhaps see if you can find an official torrent or site holding the installer (maybe Fileplanet?). More than one way to skin a cat, innit.

[mikewl]

Been playing more of this.

Im nearly a lvl 13 Bard now, got some cool new skills.

After about 20 hours of gametime I have a fairly good impression of the game and how it compares to other mmorpg's.

The good points:
Good Quest system with actual decent rewards, even though alot of the quests are the usual take this to such a such, but its amazing how many quests ive completed without even trying, just from doing stuff or talking to computer characters.

Group Battle so far has been quite fun, I will give a comparison to FFXI, the other day I was lvling on FFXI for a few hours with the NTSC static, we got to our camp area and stayed there untill we finished, fighting crabs and gobs, crabs and gobs and so on.
On EQ2 tonight I was lvling in Antonica, which involved moving, yes the whole party moving in a group looking for stuff to fight and seeing many parts of the area, including a short trip on a flying bird giving a cool overhead view as the zone, all the variety kept things interesting.

Exp Loss, you dont actually lose exp in EQ2, you get exp debt which you pay off as you gain exp, also when a party member dies you all share the exp loss, meaning everyone wants everyone to stay alive and all do the best they can.

The Bad Points
Zone to Zone Travel, is really rubbish, all you do is double click a bell and select where to go from a list, a short load sceen and you are there. Where is the sense of distance and travel to get to these locations, I know it may be easier and more convenient but it takes something away from the game.

Control is hard to get used to and gives me aches from using keyboard and mouse, the choice to use a control pad would have been good, like FFXI which is far better played with a pad than keys and much more fun.

Thats it for now, im going to keep playing this, I have not decided yet if I want to go all out on it or not, right now though I would say its up there with the best mmorpg's out in the UK and has improved on alot of things.

[Beelzebot]

I played it for about three weeks up until Christmas, eventually ending up with a level 21 warden. It was ok, but I wasn't at all tempted to keep my subscription after the free month. It's a real system hog despite it not looking all that fantastic. It also became a real chore, most of the missions resulting in you just running around waiting for the right creature to spawn.

I played a little of the US stress test of WoW so I'm looking forward to the Euro release. It seemed to be better thought out than EQ2.

[Daragon]

I'm not enjoying EQ2 as much as I thought I would either. At the moment, its not a game I want to play monthly for (and with 2 mmorpgs on the go, its more expense, which half the time I can't afford anyway). Hard to see the future of EQ2, if anything like SWG then I don't see it getting much better after 1 year+ (SWGs updates have mostly been bug fixes and game balancing with minimal content)

Unfortunately for me, I also have an interest in WoW, and being a sucker for collector's editions, I'm a bit screwed because I don't want to pay ?100+ just so I can have a mini-diablo pet and a nice art book

[Super Stu]

It's $70 in the US, find a mate to get a copy for you. You can edit the config file to allow connection to EU servers (when they go up).

[Daragon]

US collector's editions have long since sold out and now go for ?100+ on ebay. Only gameplay.co.uk is the UK's official retailer of the CE and that sold out too within 3 hours

I don't suppose its too much of a problem if I don't get the CE. Ingame items that come with them never give a player an advantage in combat and I guess those pets are for show.

Got myself the last preorder disk from game the other day, but the final beta dlient weighs in at a hefty 2gb download, which always seems to be busy (d/l speeds of 10 kb/s or less on BB !!!!111)

[?pint]

I cancelled my EQ2 subscription after deciding that it was a bit naff. I've seen reviews for it, and in the PC magazine I subscribe to (PC Zone) they gave it 95% touting it the best online game ever. FFXI, on the other hand, got 85% (a respectable score nonetheless). I feel EQ2 is a bit overrated; undoubtedly some of the staff of this magazine do or have played the original Everquest, and are naturally that way inclined. From my own experience though, I found that EQ2 still seems a bit rough around the edges. First of all, for the specification they require, the graphics are rubbish. I got a new PC a few weeks ago and was excited at the prospect of running EQ2 at nice, high settings. Even on the 'extreme' setting (that they say is unplayable even on todays technology, bit of a lie), I was getting an OK framerate, but the graphics still looked pretty dire. I don't like having to use the mouse for everything, because in FFXI when you become used to the control method, it is very easy to do things quickly with the keyboard. In EQ2, no matter now 'clued in' I might be to the control method, I will still find it difficult to use the mouse. Minor complaint, but it's something that would affect every minute that I play the game, and hence rather important to me.
I also felt the game world was a bit dodgy. Dunno if it's the times new roman fonts (or equivalent), or the really really rough clipping, but the world does not feel as 'solid' as in any other game I've played. Comparing it to FFXI (which is the game I play, and therefore a benchmark for me), it doesn't really stand up.
Of course, the natural reply would be that EQ2 is in its infant stage, and if things do get markedly better then it might be worth another look in. But as it stands, I'm going to stick with FFXI. I've managed to cut down my playtime by a huge amount, and currently only play for one or two hours a night. My main reason for posting was to point out that people probably have a higher opinion of EQ2 simply from hype, and reading in PC Zone that EQ2 is a much better game than FFXI made me slightly annoyed about this. So yes... I guess time will tell with Everquest 2, because it is still a very new game, and I'm still have troubles getting to grips with it.

[Adam]

I've cancelled my account too, cause quite simply compared to FFXI+WoW it's pants