Anyone still playing EQII?

[Soygen]

Originally Posted by Lyenae

If you want some EQ Nostalgia, try progression.

After all that griping about giving bad advice, you end your post with some of the worst advice possible. Nice.

[Etadanik]

I'd avoid this game like the plague. If you want some EQ Nostalgia, try progression.

At which point I stroll over to the other thread and behold people saying the same thing about the progression server.

EQ nostalgia is called nostalgia for a reason - it lives only in people's memories. You will never relive it, because the circumstances that made EQ what it was are gone, perhaps for good. The best you can hope for now is a brand new experience that changes the way you think about MMOs, because that's what EQ, ultimately, was.

Consequently, the lot of us EQ nostalgists (is it too soon for WoW nostalgists?) should be clamoring for innovation in MMOs rather than throwing our lot with games that attempt to simply clone EQ/WoW's success. You can never recapture the joy of a first time by repeating what you did. Instead, you should be looking for more "first times."

[Kaxmax]

While I hate to do this, Utnayan may have a point.

It's a bit ironic that Braen:

1) got all those people to play EQ2 with Mistwalkers
2) disappeared from both the game and this message board (literally, I can't recall a post from him in months)
3) shows up right before an expansion talking about starting up again, and giving helpful information about EQ2 like his last post

Now, I don't honestly think Braen is a shill, but if there was ever a textbook case it would be him.

[redjunkopera]

This is what EQ nostalgia is about in a nutshell:

-You have no skill and no gear = takes you 30 hours to level one lvl
-You get a couple nice pieces of gear = takes you 25 hours to level one lvl
-You learn to play your class = takes you 20 hours to level one lvl
-You get a decent guild and regular group who knows wtf they are doing = takes you 15 hours to level one lvl
-You get awesome gear = Takes you 10 hours to level one lvl

The whole thing about old EQ was that leveling sucked, but there were so many little things you could do to make it suck less that it kept you busy.

You can level up naked in EQ2... it's not much slower than fully geared, unless you are a tank.

[Zuuljin]

Originally Posted by Theramor Laeroth

From what I understand of the backstory for EQ2, the Gods got tired of being beat up by PCs and pulled away from Norrath which caused a war and the destruction of Luclin.

When Luclin blew, it tore the world into islands.

There are some similarlities from EQ, but alot of differences. For instance, the Spires to Luclin were still there, just ruined and rebuilt when KoS was "found".

Also, the next expansion "Echoes of Faydwer" will be bringing back alot of the old stomping grounds (Kelethin, Felwithe, Crushbone, Castle Mistmoore). Faydwer was cut off with the Shattering, but not completely unscathed in the past 500 years.

I'm looking forward to seeing what happened there.

I think this expansion will at least pique the curiosity of past EQ1 players......the big question tho is will they remain playing EQ2 once the "honeymoon" is over.....


T

I am more talking about when it first released. I am also very very excited to see what EoF brings, since from the looks of things they are going back to old EQ1 roots, instead of a crazy divergence into new territory.

And I know that there is lore to explain everything in the game, but the game itself doesnt reflect much of EQ1, which is why I said its a new game wrapped in an EQ shell.

For instance, Neriak was in Nek forest, not commonlands. There were not luclin spires in commonlands, nek forest, the feerrott, or everfrost. There were wizard spires, but they were 1/3 the size of the current ones. Did the rendering cause them to grow? What about landmarks that people should recognize from EQ1 in the zones they redid? EC/NRO tunnel? The toll booth and sign in WC? That giant frozen giant in EF? Ice giants in EF? All those little towers everywhere in EF? That GIANT bridge in the karana's? I dont even remember what Zek is supposed to be, but theres no discernable landmarks there for me to remember. The GIANT doors to najena are now little dinky things which dont look anything like najena. Oggok in the feerrott is nowhere to be found.

The list goes on and on and on. You cant just say "Oh yea thats gone cause a meteor hit it. Here's some new stuff wrapped in old lore! Yay!?"

Then theres EQ1 game mechanics that are unique that should have been brought over immediatly. Augments, AA's, Epic weapons, tributes, LDON/DoN style missions for better gear. All that other stuff they have added since I played. All they had to do was take EQ1, expand on everything, and call it EQ2. Now I know AA's are in, and augments are coming next expansion, which is great. But none of these things were there at release.

And before anyone responds with current stuff, I'm talking about when they first released, and why they never got the initial subs they wanted. Now I completely 100% agree things have gotten much better, and EoF looks to be truely amazing. But their bad launch ruined it for alot of people.

Lastly, I'm sorry I'm trying to get other people to play. Part of EQ2's problem is that the newby zones are empty because alot of new people are not playing. If more people play, they would have more fun playing with people. Its a vicious cycle. Noone to play with, so they dont play, and since they dont play, theres noone to play with.

In the end, its your money, do what you will. But I am having fun, and think people should give it a 2nd chance. I'm sure there will be some promo closer to EoF launch, so perhaps wait for that so you dont want to spend money.

[Braen]

Originally Posted by Kaxmax

While I hate to do this, Utnayan may have a point.

It's a bit ironic that Braen:

1) got all those people to play EQ2 with Mistwalkers
2) disappeared from both the game and this message board (literally, I can't recall a post from him in months)
3) shows up right before an expansion talking about starting up again, and giving helpful information about EQ2 like his last post

Now, I don't honestly think Braen is a shill, but if there was ever a textbook case it would be him.

I admit that it does look that way. But honestly maybe I was doing something for months that I couldn't discuss on these boards... When I was a regular poster I would post every Live Update notes... I think I stopped around 21 or something... cause I just didn't have the time for it or EQ2 anymore.

Maybe I am cheering on the underdog cause the main game out there doesn't need a shill or anything. It speaks for itself.

I honestly do like where EQ2 is going, I think going back to EQ1 lore and seeing things that people recognise instead of stuff that is called the same thing but looks almost nothing like it was a stretch. I keep hoping that people will latch on to it and get a group of players that enjoy playing and raiding together, but usually it starts to fall apart and as they leave.. I lose interest as well. And that is my fault.

Honestly, and you can believe me if you want, I have been lurking the boards in my silence and saw this thread and thought "I want to see what the last few Live Updates have done and see if anyone else is checking it out". The next expansion is just under 2 months away. Plerty of time for me to decide if this is worth my time, or another game is.

I have honestly thought about playing WoW, but would be so far behind from anyone I would like to play and raid with, that it isn't even worth it to try. At least EQ2 give mentoring to catch people up. So WoW is really not an option, especially with the expansion coming out.

Call me a shill if you want (I could use the free account). I don't care. When I like something I support it full on. Remember when I was (still am) a vocal Vanguard supporter?

Oh and just because I am not posting in the MMO part of this board doesnt' mean I ahve been gone from the whole board..

[Utnayan]

I suggest resubbing for a month (or wait and buy the expansion pack) and play around a bit. Its alot better

.

Or download it and not pay to try it out. I am sure they will have a 30 day free trial again soon, or just buy it off a discount rack for $9.99 at Best Buy. No need for any of the expansion packs to realize how much they hate it still.

The "It's alot better" doesn't work anymore. Time for a new trademark comment. If it was a lot better, as in the last two expansion packs everyone claimed it as such, people would STILL BE PLAYING.

[holymight]

Originally Posted by Utnayan

people would STILL BE PLAYING.

What makes you think people are not playing? Give me some actual proof, not some rhetoric pulled from your anus.

[Utnayan]

Oh. I am sorry.

There are currently about 170k or so playing, after an initial peak of about 350k last year sometime.

Things sure look good

[holymight]

Originally Posted by Utnayan

Oh. I am sorry.

There are currently about 170k or so playing, after an initial peak of about 350k last year sometime.

Things sure look good

Yes, people leave the game after a while as they do with any MMO. Problem is, they have not released an expansion targeted towards aquiring new people to fill that decline. The expansion coming out this year, however, is designed to attract new people.

[Digits]

Where are these numbers coming from :[

It's serious QQ if they have only 170k subscribers.

[Cantatus]

Originally Posted by Zuuljin

I thought you could leave the island in the trial? Isnt that what half of mistwalkers was? Anyhow, they made a bunch of changes to the trial for gold farming reasons, heres a clip from the notes:

Last I remember, theres no brokers or mail boxes on the newby island, so I'm pretty sure you can leave it.

You can leave it as soon as you want if you own the game. If you just downloaded the trial, however, you're stuck on it.

Originally Posted by Zuuljin

EQ2 dropped the ball IMO by radically changing its layout, in terms of zone design, graphics, itemization etc. EQ2 could have ridden EQ1's familiar zones, lore and similar game mechanics, but instead chose to redo the entire game, and wrap it in an EQ shell. EQ2's biggest selling point was that it was EQ2. And they didnt play up on it enough to pull in the numbers.

Basically what I mean is, you can look at WoW and immediatly tell its simliar to WC3. But can you honestly tell me, that ANY SS from EQ2 would immidiatly remind you of EQ1 if you were not told what game it was?

And that perfectly sums up why I didn't have a ton of interest in EQ2 when it first came out. Honestly, I can't blame them for updating the graphics or changing the zones a little so they could make them bigger, but it really just seems like they tried to distances themselves as far away from EQ1 as they could without completely getting rid of it. I mean, they could've completely changed the name of the game and everything in it, and few people likely would've made the connection that it was a sequel.

My thinking is they were trying to play things safe. If they made EQ2 too close to EQ1, why would people switch or play both? They had to make them different enough so they weren't in direct competition, which basically resulted in the game not feeling/looking much like EQ1.

They seem to have realized this though and are going in the right direction with EoF (and even KoS to some extent.)

But, like Zuuljin said, there are too many stinging reminders of how different it is from the EQ we love and remember. And if even goes down so basic as things like High Elves not being able to have facial hair or the whacky hairstyles they came up with to even the various starting areas. It's also sad to play their version of the Enchanter and notice how little they have in common with EQ's. EQ Enchanters summoned a sword and shield, not a twin. They could turn into all races, not just a select few. Where's the Tashania line? I understand them changing classes around somewhat to erase some of the balancing errors from the original game, but the changes were a little too drastic. I mean, my Illusionist has a line of nukes. Why not have them share the same name/look from my Enchanter's rather than come up with something completely new?

Hopefully they start realizing stuff like this more and more, and maybe even go back and fix some of the inconsistencies from the original content. But, regardless, I'm still enjoying the game (not that you can tell from this post, heh.)

[Zuuljin]

Its hard to say whether 170k users is alright or not. One would think its bad, but if you compare it to every other game out there, they are pretty close to everything minus the lineage twins and WoW. EQ2 has about 170, city of heros/villans is about about 160, EQ1 is about 190, SWG is about 160. FFXI is up there at around 500k, then lineage and WoW in the multimillion range. However, the vast majority of lineage and FFXI players are on asian servers. So out of north america/europe etc, you have WoW at #1, EQ1 at #2, and EQ2 at #3.

And its undeniable that WoW is taking the vast majority of the people. Is it so bad to be #3 in NA, or #5 worldwide?

Sources: http://www.mmorpgchart.com/

[Coladar]

I don't know where the hell this 170,000 as a bad thing came from. Back before WoW, 170,000 would have been fucking amazing. Take WoW out of the picture, compare the 170,000 with EQ1 and all other MMOs and you have an extremely successful game for two years after launch. Add in the fact the biggest competitor has millions of subscriptions, and you have an unquestionable success.

These games don't allow people to play multiple ones at the same time. The fact EQ2 has almost 200,000, in an extreme lull-period between expansions I might add, is absolutely fine. I can guarantee you that SoE is not unhappy with the numbers at this point, given the shitty launch.

[Itzena]

Originally Posted by Coladar

I don't know where the hell this 170,000 as a bad thing came from. Back before WoW, 170,000 would have been fucking amazing. Take WoW out of the picture, compare the 170,000 with EQ1 and all other MMOs and you have an extremely successful game for two years after launch. Add in the fact the biggest competitor has millions of subscriptions, and you have an unquestionable success.

Before WoW, market leading meant ~500,000 or more (see FFXI or, say, EQ). 170K - for a game costing as much as EQ2 did to develop - is a failure. EQ2 is about to be overtaken in the subs chart by EVE (the king of the niche mmogs) FFS.