Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Have you ever left a game and not gone back for years? That's exactly what I did this week when I decided to revisit EverQuest II to see what has changed since my hiatus. I left the game shortly before the first expansion, Desert of Flames. The server I was on at the time was suffering from population issues and my hours had become so bizarre that it became virtually impossible to group with anyone on a regular basis. Eventually, I went on my way, but knew that sooner or later, I would return to the lands of Norrath.

What I enjoy most about playing MMOG's is they're continually changing. I know this evolution both terrifies and infuriates some people (I'm looking at you, my faithful Vanguard players!), but as a person that gets bored easily, I always love seeing something new. It's for this reason that not only am I glad I finally got around to dusting off my ancient EQII account, but was completely floored by the depth of changes as well.

To say things were slightly altered from the last time I played would be an understatement of gargantuan proportion. The biggest change I discovered the moment I went to create a new character (aside from the new races: Arasai, Fae, and the Sarnaks) was the absence of the archetype system. I can't stress how much of a pain this system was, especially for those of us that have a habit of making alternate characters on a regular basis.

I don't want to bore anyone with a "back in my day" story, but I have to give the quick version so you can understand. Back in the day (sorry, couldn't resist!), you had to start as one of four archetype classes (Fighter, Scout, Priest, or Mage). At level 10 each archetype would split three ways for a total of 12 classes. I'd like to say you were done at this point, but you weren't. Those 12 classes would then split further at level 20 for a total of 24 classes.

Any time you wanted to try another class, you had to play through 20 levels of content first. As if that wasn't bad enough, once you finally became the class of your choice, you only received one or two new abilities. This meant that you were basically still playing the same class you had been for the last 20 levels. My necromancer never even felt like one until I finally hit level 32 or so. That kind of system may have looked good on paper, but in practice, it was an absolute nightmare. Thank the gods it's changed now!

With the addition of five expansions (Desert of Flames, Kingdom of Sky, Echoes of Faydwer, Rise of Kunark, and The Shadow Odyssey), there are new lands to begin your quest for glory and adventure depending on your race and class. No longer are we poor souls relegated to the cities of Qeynos or Freeport. Characters can now begin in Timorous Deep and my beloved home away from home, Neriak. There was no way humanly possible that I could resist checking out a new version of a city I had known every nook and cranny of from my EQ days, so I created an Asarai Shadowknight.