EverQuest II: Fanboy 4 LYFE
Updated Mon, Nov 10, 2008 by Coyote
EverQuest II is my first real love.
Sure, I had played the original EverQuest, and a handful of other MMO's, and I was pretty loyal to all of them, but none have ever held my attention or caused me as much conflict as EQ2. You see, most of my friends have moved on. They had played for years and eventually grew bored with the zones that they knew better than their own real life neighborhoods and the quests that they could do blind folded.
Such is the way of the MMOG.
They're meant to hold your attention for as long as they can, but they know that someday you'll find something else to focus your unnatural and kinda creepy lusts on, and that one day you'd just be gone.
And I'll admit my dalliances.
I had an affair with Pirates of the Burning Sea, casually dated Age of Conan, and even got to second base with World of Warcraft...but I always came home to EverQuest II.
As hard as it is for any gamer to admit about his true love, server populations have gone down. Not to the point where zones are barren and empty, but it is definitely noticeable. My normal group of real life friends and guildies who could form a raid inthe blink of an eye has eroded away to the four of us who remain. New MMOG's with shiny new loot systems, twists on conventional game play or exciting worlds have whisked them away, and while some do come back, the crowd is gone.
Yet she's STILL aged well.
Expansions and add-ons, free content and upgrades, she has weathered the test of time and has improved because of it. Every game has its flaws:
* Warcraft looks like a Saturday Morning Cartoon in it's vibrancy and tongue-swallowing colors.
* DnD Online suffered from grouping and soloing woes that dropped too many nails in the coffin of what is honestly a great game.
* Warhammer Online's chat system consists of two tin cans and a string.
And while EverQuest II still has its flaws, it has been around long enough to address them, correct them, and implement the corrections. Abilities and applications that the masses have been shouting for since launch have been added, class balances have almost stabilized, (almost, put down the noose, I said almost) and user inspired content has been patched in to the delight of the many who suggested and fought for it. And graphically, even being years old, she's STILL second to none in looks. No sag, no droop, and her ass is POPPING.
And yet, even with all of these good things - I'm still looking for something better.
I pick up the newest MMOG and hop in with my friends, hoping to rekindle that EQ2 spark that we all had years ago. Old faces mingle with new, and as I play I hope that THIS is the game that somehow surpasses the standards that I set against the bar that EverQuest II hoisted. My friends tease me for sticking with the game, call me a fanboy and shill and try to lure me away.
And I go.
Willingly.
I feel guilty, almost silly for "still playing THAT old game", like the guy who won't leave the Pac Man machine to try the newest incarnation of Street Fighter. The old fogie who suffers from anachronism to the point where he refuses to accept anything new, when the truth is - nothing new holds up to the old. As hardcore of a gamer as I am, the only thing that I lack is TIME. Something the majority of the crowd seems to have an abundance of.
I putter around the lower levels, reading every book, getting every quest, and taking in every nuance as they eat through the content like locusts hungrily wanting more. And while I have that hunger, time forces me to eat more slowly so my plate has never gone empty while theirs is licked clean.
And now that the next expansion is on the horizon, offering to dump even more chow onto my battered tin plate, and it's getting harder to step away from the table to try other buffets.
Dammit EverQuest II....I WISH I KNEW HOW TO QUIT YOU!
But the truth is, I don't.
I love the game, the genre, and the players who have stayed. It offers an abundance of classes, quests and endless zones full of content both new and old. And with luck, with the new expansion - I'll end up with the one thing that the game lacks and that I've been craving the most...
The old faces.
-Coyote
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I never played Everquest tried it once several months back to see what it was like and did not like it to used to Everquest II. I love the game and have been playing for about 4 years and like you stopping to smell the roses. I also do not have the play time most of my guild mates seem to have. I tried AOC liked the game but it did not truly grab me also played LOTRO (still do on occasion usually when EQII is down). I finally have 140 AA’s and I am looking forward to the new expansion and the group mobs. My main is a Warlock and ROK has been very lonely for us, we are just misunderstood.:)
Gah! Browser ate half my post. Ah well. Basically I've joined some EQ2 guildies in Warhammer despite the wierd chat system (supposedly being revamped based on user feedback). Without Ratonga though it seems a somewhat sadder place. Greenskins and fart jokes just don't quite cut it for me. Currently the EQ2 account is still live. I peek in from time to time, rearrange the furniture, grumble about what *still* hasn't sold on my broker, wander about for a bit... then log. I just can't muster the will to do another 45min+ instance run or roll yet another alt. So... I'm learning to PvP instead and wondering why, with all it's rich lore, EQ2 never implemented a Tome of Knowledge. Well... aside from the fact that it'd be more like an encyclopedia, but still. ;)
Hey Coy, as you seem to like old stuff that should be consigned to a museum, try this BBC Quis out!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7671677.stm
Its all about old PCs! I got 7/10, stupid console questions.
Hey wheres my post!?
Land of the free eh??
I even came back (again) to EQ2 recently - started the subscription back up again. Now, haven't actually had much time to play tho when I do log in, it IS like coming home again... It is hard to choose between LOTRO and EQ2 tho - both have great details and mechanics that give each wonderful gameplay...
You could play OGame, TSC has a group in Universe 4
Ya gotta remember to fleetsave tho, or they kill you while you sleep :(
Screw that, I went vacation mode...
Going on 1.5 years now
Oh yes, I forgot...
You won't believe this
I prepared for over a week for that video
Gathering props, costumes, explosives...
Then comes the day of the shoot, and I FORGET to hook up the frikken BOMB !
How embarrassing is that ?
It was so funny, we left it in...
And yes, it surprised me, the frikken lackey set it off when I didn't expect it
Scared the heck out of me
Do you have ANY idea what a flame like that could do to my hair ???
Sheesh
Yes, they have patched that old EQ2 lady over and over- sadly a lot of us feel it's like giving plastic surgery to a pig- it's still a resource pig. And a few of us like to play (and communicate) with other players, it's kinda hard when you are the only all by yourself.
Some of us like to race to get to the end game content, which currently in almost every game (at least all the ones you mentioned) involves either 1) PvE Raiding (all mmorpg's mentioned); 2) PvP guild vs guild raiding (AoC); 3) PvP/RvR (ie Warhammer/WoW); or 4) RvE (Warhammer)
As much as I used to love the old EQ2, the gameplay has changed, they have WoWified tons of content, and paying SOE another $50 to play with myself is not my idea of fun.
And, your ogre in Warhammer misses you.
I've been in EQ2 since Jan '07 and only recently started poking around elsewhere. I still love the game, but instance running is just too time consuming and stressful to me these days. I blame dinging 80... I was fine til I hit cap. >.
Hate to say it I am a warcraft convert. Having more fun there then I did in EQ! If you do care return, say hi to me on Thrall! Alliance of course!
I only started playing EQ1 to get informed about MMO's, back when I was eagerly waiting Warhammer Online. The version by Climax that got canned that is, not the recent Mythic game.
Stuck around playing EQ1 for a year, then EQ2 came along. It was just, better, in all respects. And my zerker could look proper savage with an axe in each hand, rather than limited to 2handers.
Now though, I'm clinging on. Not cancelling the account is like hanging in there with a lover whose bad habits are becoming all you can see.
The old crowd has gone. Drawn to real life responsibilities, or other games. And I'd love both myself, but the real world is scary and "thar be dragons", while the new games grab me not at all.
Even Warhammer, I've been a fan of the setting since the late 80's, but that WAR game gets me sneering. Despite the assurances it'd be a Warhammer game and not DaoC with a Warhammer skin, it kinda is. RvR ain't the most perfect platform for Warhammer, considering the "realms" the setting has are not unified. The character options are a hollow range of choices knowing what the Warhammer world has to offer. And they've slapped a ruddy bridge between the Empire and Norsca. That's like a bridge between Europe and the icy lands we have north, or something. Ludicrous. But they're just validations to fuel the real reason I'd require wild horses to touch it. I can't stand PvP. I'd get nothing from killing some person I don't know, and less from being killed by them. Nothing positive anyway.
And that Mark Jacobs, I want to leave a flaming bag of poo on his doorstep. One of his podcasts described the wonderful WO Climax was making, then barked "but who wants that eh".
So clinging on, hoping that TSO will bring back old friends. Then maybe my evenings will involve instance runs with people I would pee on if they on fire, rather than soloing, or being dragged along with a friend to a group of people who wouldn't get my pee and would be lucky if I stopped pouring petrol on 'em.
Wow. Wrong! EQ2 is same old same old, looks great if you have a whopping PC but still lags like hell. Its even unoriginal really seeing as they basically just rehashed the old stuff from EQ1, sure, obviously seeing as it was V2 but it took no thought to do it.
LOTRO graphically is far superior to EQ2. WOWs raiding is better than EQ2. WARs quests, PQs, Scenarios, instances, lore, erm, everything almost is better than EQ2s.
WAR on the other hand is JUST as good looking, has waaaay better lore, the chat system is erm, no different than any other game Ive ever played so not too sure what yer on about here.
The only bad thing about WAR is theres no dressing room function yet, and you cant /dance.
Reading yer blog today, you actually have nothing to prove that EQ2 is a good game and worth playing.
I *can* kick humans, elves and stunties in the jibblies though, and that my friend is the game winner!
Just let EQ2 die a natural death, its already nearly there! Plus, who'd seriously miss SOE, the destroyer of Star Wars and supporter of gold spammers?? Your last pic is quite apt, cos SOE are still sticking it to you from behind.
S'just a shame Mythic went with the localised server crap again else I could kick you in the jibblies too, thats the only thing SOE ever did right imo :(
I have to play games for a living. Yeah, that sucks, I know...
In the name of science... err... and journalism, I have played every single MMOG ever presented to the mainstream to a significant extent, and even a few that should have been buried out back (Roma Victor, anyone?)...
EQII is still one of my top three for depth and quality, along with LOTRO and Warhammer Online. It is a good game, although sometimes I do welcome a break from it.
Every player has a gamestyle that they naturally prefer. Nuances of graphics, sound, quests and progression in one game will draw them more than another, and sometimes the nature of the enjoyment is hard to articulate. Over the years, I watched as my beloved InnMates guild, once strong and focused in EQ, drifted away when they found homes that felt more comfortable to them. We still get together a couple of times a year to drink, eat too much, play Rockband, MTG and Settlers of Cataan and trash each other's "main" games.
"Vive la difference" as the surrender monkeys say.
We've all found homes, and EQII is where my overfilled, laggy house is.
;-)#
Brasse
EQ2 is my home in MMO land and while I've seen a few people leave, I see more people coming in every day. The server population is booming and the player-run events are packed most nights. I look at other games, but so far nothings prompted me to lay down my money. The graphics are great, the content is full at almost all levels and it suits my extremely casual play style.
Long Live EQ2!
I've tried Coyote! I really have... I'm just one of those people that hit at wall at level 25 in Everquest 2 though. Sorry....
Well back to EQ2 as of Sunday. It's just more interesting for some reason. I tried the others, honest. I played them and just... couldn't keep interested. Thats the truth.
The only one that kept my interest is Vanguard. It's about as good as EQ2 with more options, but its raiding leaves lots to wish for. That and no mentoring...
I am officially Divorced from EQII since that sexy beast WAR came along. I still love you EQII, but you are not getting any younger and quite frankly you are not so good looking any more. I am with WAR now, until something younger and prettier comes along. ;-)
One Love,
Dan
So many games, all with their own good and bad points.
For now though, I'm hooked on WAR, enjoying the fart jokes and everything. I will go back to EQII though and I'll give SWG another try when Hoth arrives.
Yeah, I can even give some time to poor old SWG... she's a manky old slapper but, well, y'know, she knows some things..
first mmo i played was eq1 for years, was raiding the elemental planes when eq2 came out and the first thing i noticed about it was how easy it was to move around! I love the lore that goes into the place, and the references to things in the real world (totally awesome one in befallen, i couldn't believe it when i saw it)
But what sticks out to me is how in command of my character i am when moving around and how easy and natural. WoW feels slow, conan was just damned awkward and eq1 was like you have to spend a few feats in walk before learning to run.
so from release and ongoing for me and EQ2, and i'm having fun kicking arse in VP etc. with my guild, which certainly isn't a small community. sony keep my money for now
I keep re-buying my subscription to EQ2 every time they come out with an "old members play for free" offer. And even though I still have peeps there I just can't keep in to it anymore. I miss the jive when it was all new and cool and now I can't make myself go on raids or do long zones anymore!
I am however getting married (to the man I met playing EQ2) in 11 days. So EQ2 will always have a place in my heart!
Awwwww!! We love you too Coyote!!!
* sniffles *
War
Sylvania. Destro Lubin
Monolith. Order. Lubin
I too keep coming back to EQ2 , partly it's the people , old school players , the player base in EQ2 seems more...um...mature in nature than a lot of newer games.
I do go try out most of the newer mmos , WoW , Lotro , Vanguard (kept me there for 6 months) etc , I even tried warhammer but it just couldn't keep my interest , now I'm back in my old home again , looking forward to the newest expansion.