Why is this game never mentioned.....

It may be just because it was my first MMO, but I do think this is one of the better games out there. That is why I get confused when it is never mentioned as one of the even top 10, and why it is not even in the top 20 most popular. I have tried just about every other MMO that comes out, and none engage me and keep me playing quite like this one does. Like I said, it may be pure sentimental value being that it was my first and only MMO for a very long time, but why do you guys think the game became such a "niche", low popularity game?

I think a huge reason is because it's an old game that was never really advertised.
If I mention that I play this game, I'm met with either a "what's that?" response, or a disbelieving "that game is still around?"

Hard to be popular when no one knows you exist.

/Can of worms

Apparently, alot of people think there are too many classes and those classes have too many abilities/skills. I can see why they would say that when compared to other, newer games. If you look up end game videos of people playing Rift, SWTOR, WoW and the likes, most people have 1 maybe 2 hotbars of abilities/skills. On top of that, the global cooldown crutch is pretty standard in every other game.

Could it really be a matter of "complexity" that makes this game so unpopular? I personally love the combat in this game and the ability pools that every class gets. I will say, 25 classes is a bit overkill though, and completely unnecessary.

I'm gonna come right out and say that if the only issue is complexity, then I'm 100% okay with this game being unpopular.
I don't play those other MMOs because it feels like super-easy-babytown hold-my-hand-it's-too-hard type games, and that gets boring really fast.

Its a terrible game? Always has been.

Truely frightening thought.. since I like it better then all the others I've tried.

Explain?

Whenever someone brings up this game that conversation usually includes "it's like WoW but different/better." Most mmos are more well known because they are new so they are in the news or seen on tv/ads. WoW is so well known because sooo many people played it that it became a sort of popculture icon (there was a southpark episode devoted to it, etc).

Being a good game and a popular game are 2 different things. Most lists are made up of popular good games and those lists change basically every month. This game *might* make it to some sort of all time best MMOs list from a source that actually did research and didn't name games off the top of their head.

Do I really need to?

Raiding is far from unique.
Mats dropping from old raid zones that aren't used any more for the best stat food / drink.
Population is terrible.
Grouping is laughable at best.
Dungeon finder = trash
PVP = trash ( seriously how do you balance 300 classes )
Open World PVP = Does this even happen?
Loot = Itemization = crap.
Group Encounters = This was always a bad idea.
Rezz sickness = Stupid
Beastlords = New Class with utility, dps, and a pet.... good utility, GREAT DPS ( even iif you lack gear ), and good pet.
Adornments = Currently no way to buy them unless you can clear POW or old zones

These are just things that still happen in game today. Upon release here are some more.

Crafting = Stupid a different item for every tier of completion.
Rezz Debt = Stupid Idea even in EQ1.
Black Market Broker = Stupid
Broke fees = Stupid.
Chunky UI = bad feeling

Those are all I can remember, things along the way.

Total revamp = stupid when you forget about zones.
Miracles = Stupid released and worked in pvp, like that wasn't forseeable
Devs = Still lack responses.
Support = A big steaming pile of poop.
Quests = suck in general
Support Classes = most boring job there will ever be yet you are required to have 1 in each group ( more or less )
Appearance Items = The best looking is bought with Station Cash instead of the tailor.
House Items = The best looking furniture is bought with station cash instead of the carpenter.

I could keep going. But instead I will let you defend this game. The items I posted are what makes MMO profitable today. This is what the majority of the play base wants. A few things they did get right:

Housing
Crafting - in its new form.
Travel
Mounts
Flying Mounts
Graphics ( for an 8 year old game )
Voice Chat ( it at least works )

So serious go ahead defend your game.

Well, whether you agree or not, that was the most detailed and concise response so far.

Not true about not being advertised. When EQ2 went F2P, SOE ran ads on many many websites, including mmorpg.com. I saw ads for at least a year and half on websites. I do believe EQ2 got quite a bump in population when this happened. The real questions, why did the game not keep those people that it drew in.

Plavem:

While I disagree with you regarding your stance on whether EQ 2 is a good game or not. ( I obviously think its one of the best well rounded out there, imo ), I give you a HUGE thumbs up for having an articulate and well thought out answer. Most people just say.. Cuz it sucks.

I do however agree that while this game does have its issues, and that they got a lot of things right in this game. I have tried many others, and I just can't stay with them. EQ2 is home, and by far has kept my attention for the better part of 8 years now.

Edit: Though it does surprise me that people say how dumb and horrible a game is, yet they continue to play it. Or if they do quit, why do they come back and continue to post on the forums. /shrug to each his own I guess.

You are clearly looking for a FPS or a game built around Hack'N SLash PVP... Many of the itemns you listed are built for lore and flavor and TBH, were toned down from their EQ1 roots or watered down since launch.

EQ2 has the largest amount of raw content available for its players by a huge margine. And though the Dev / Producers move in an EverChanging direction, they are in part enganged into the environemnts overall development.

I've played nearly every other FPS, Console or MMO available and most can be finished / defeated in record time with minimal effort.

Good for you and your accomplishments. Please don't tell me what I am looking for. I know exactly why I hate playing this game. EQ2 has the largest amount of raw content, who are you talking to?

Raw content. YES COME PLAY EQ2 WE HAVE MORE CONTENT THAN ANYONE ELSE. THERE IS SIMPLY NO BENEFIT TO DOING ANY OF IT. STEP RIGHT UP, STEP RIGHT UP wanna try a zone that is on par with your level? You might get some nice drops. Whats that you say? You friend got better gear doing quest? Oh yeah thats right another zone they must have forgotten to revamp.

LOL if we are talking about pure content eq1 has the most of any mmo on the market. Are we talking about actually playable content that is constantly being used? Then look at world of warcraft or rift.

Hack and Slash lol really. I think you are confused with the game you are playing. But Ill humor it, yeah it is more fun then going up against a premade and just watching each person in your group afk as they win. Actually I think I prefer hack and slash more than that.

Dev / Producers moving in a direction? Really, look at the freaking content you twit... Does it really seem like it has a sense of direction? Oh you mean a sense of direction where PoW stuff is better then the Drinal Stuff. Or are you talking about the direction they went with adorns dropping on items they have no point in being on. Yeah man you don't even have a ground to stand on.

Why bring up FPS, do you really consider FPS's to be in the same category? BTW you saying you play FPS means you must be pretty young.

Lastly minimal effort? Really to be honest of all the mmo's i have played this is the only mmo it took me 4 hours to max lvl a toon. LOL man you think this game is hard really? Whatever I just shot every single piece of your post to pieces, pick it up and try again kthxbia

I can't help but shake my head at the forums. I have read various threads today, and on more than one ( or even 4 ) I have seen where people are saying they can lvl a toon to max lvl ( in either adventure or crafting ) in 4 hours.

I call serious BS on this.

I know you can do some serious lvling in lower lvls with shinies, hord them up, and get some major lvls, power leveling, but in 4 hours? seriously? I don't care what kind of grinding you do, I just don't see where that is truely possible. I have seen some amazing lvling, but SERIOUSLY!
...
Even with crafting, 4 hours from 0 to 95? yea, not even with all the mats provided to you are you going to be able to do that. I just can't see it happening. During a double XP weekend, with Progress potions I went 40 lvls in 5 hours, doing writs.

I'm not saying, that just cuz I haven't seen it, doesn't mean its not true... I just think people are pushing the numbers to make themself seem more like a badass than they are.

it was possible to level a toon when Dungeon finder was bugged, before that you could macro abilities to an AE class and powerlevel a toon in anathema, and a bunch of other zones. Its doable to level to max in a day with assistance, even less time if you have potions and so on.

eq1 has atleast 1/3 more content than eq2 im sure, but i would say that even less is used in that game than eq2.


If you look at any other MMO, i can tell you that the developers of eq2 either have no control or just dont care about their job, nearly every new feature, or any effort to do anything is always abandoned halfway down the road, while MMOs we all love to hate on (rift, WoW) actually refine the elements that they introduce. I hope you can see the difference here koleg. I love eq2 more than other MMOs but its hard not to agree with plav.

Because it caters to the raid/min/max population which is a very small percentage of MMO populations overall.

Are you kidding? It wasn't articulate or well thought out. He just rattled off every aspect of any MMO and gave them a one liner like 'stupid', 'trash', 'laughable'. "Cuz it sucks" would honestly have been a better answer because at least it wastes less time to arrive at the same conclusion