Why is this game never mentioned.....

A quick comment on this. You can take away WoW's foreign subscription numbers, but they are still the most populated MMO in the United States by far. So anytime I see someone go nitpicking on the whole asian/chinese crap, I know right off what mindset that individual has and what was about to come from that post. Nothing against you, but it's just all too predictable. It goes in line with what I've seen from the Everquest playerbase too often, so it really is nothing new. But as an EQ1 vet I have to be a bit ashamed whenever I see the playerbase act this way. Speaking of asian gamers, do you really think gold farmers are farming and selling on asian servers as much as they are on NA servers? No they're on the NA servers selling to the rich americans that don't hesitate to lay down the dollars, which is worth a lot more to them than selling in their own currency.

On top of that you can not possibly talk about a game acting like you know the game, when you admit you only played the vanilla version of it. That's like someone who played original EQ2 that launched in 2004, and never played one expansion beyond it, and then claim to know all there is to know about EQ2 9 years later.

This is what I mean, you can't really have a discussion about what this game needs because the playerbase is stuck on thinking there's nothing wrong with the game they play, and that all other games apparently suck. Nevermind that EQ2 devs aren't shy about copying features from other games, including copying what EQ1 does at times. So like it or not, EQ2 already has a lot of what supposedly sucky games have. The difference is some of the features EQ2 copied are done half-a'ed. Things like when the dungeon finder isn't cross server, it's pointless and useless, which is why people don't use it. Or BG's implemented poorly with poor balance and combat mechanics, just so SOE could advertise that Battlegrounds are now in EQ2. That's until people log in and realized BG's are just not fun, and get really disappointed.

Aside from those things, itemization is bad, and I have the worst luck with RNG. But both EQ1 & EQ2 love RNG and they don't seem to care that it frustrates players to put in the time playing, but not get rewarded for their time. But then to some vets they feel this bad luck factor makes the game harder somehow. I do have to ask, do people really enjoy SLR? Do you think SLR's encourage grouping?

Feedback Positive:
PlayerStudio - nice innovation.

Feedback Negative:
PlayerStudio - Announced September 7th.... still not available to EU customers. This is beginning to feel like the P7S1 fiasco all over again.

So, as the EQ franchise producer, what, if anything is your reaction to EU customers continually getting the shaft? I'll not even bother with all the exclusive stuff that is out of our reach Via LoN Loot Tournaments. And certainly not mention until at least Kunark I think we got the shaft on price (+20 to 40% over $$$ price).

It irks me that, since the announcement I have been working on stuff that I still cannot submit...

Really it seems that only the newer players enjoy this game. I always wonder why people that hate this game still play it.

I am only playing this game until the Korean game I'm waiting for comes out in the US, but in the meantime, this game is the funnest game to play based on the 50 or so I've tried in the past few years.

I'm not new, but not a vet. 4 years is still a long time to play a game, I just don't have the cool vet rewards.

I love this game. I want to play it all the time. But I, like the OP, wonder why such a good game (and it is a good game even if it's far from perfect), is such an unknown game compared to WoW.

WoW is the benchmark, it is the most popular and it is similar to EQ2, and released at roughly the same time. Yet WoW has an income of probably $100 million a month coming into it from subscriptions and I bet EQ2 has less than 1% of that.

It's probably too late to change that now. I just hope tgey learnt from it on EQNext and follow the WoW marketing model. You can have the greatest game ever, but if few know about it then few will play.

I can tell you people keep playing this game and coming back to this game for basically one reason. The combat mechanics are extremely deep compared to other MMO's. Too many other MMOs can largely be reduced down to pressing 1-2-3,1-2-3, 1-2-3. over and over and over again in order to defeat epic monsters. These other MMO's stale very quickly cause once you've seen all the encounters, there isn't much else to focus on. EQ2 offers an extreme amount of depth into min/maxing and the complexity there is what drives people to come back to it until the next shiney thing comes around.

Now a giant problem here is, the number one complaint about the game is broken itemization, and that itemization is a huge component of the above statement and one's ability to effectively min/max. When itemization is better, this game is better, cause thats what this game really boils down to, or at least what separates it from many other MMOs.

SoE, and in particular the latest producers really lack at their ability to differentiate what makes EQ2 attractive compared to other MMOs being offered, and in my opinion have spent their efforts on fluff rather than the meat of the game that keeps people playing and what keeps bringing these people back.

This game is first and foremost hindered by its leadership, and the game continues to survive very much in spite of that leadership. However, I think there is only so much longer this is going to stay afloat with itemization, tread-milling, and gear progression paths all not making a lick of sense. Couple that with the inability to support and fix broken mob scripts within a reasonable time of their release.

Note, I didn't even set an expectation of them working on release date...

One can continually compare this to that, but it really doesn't matter if you are enjoying a game, then play it. I enjoy EQ2 and I find tons of things to do as well as chuckle over. I'm in a very active guild so it's no problem to group in dungeons or even raid if I want.

You make what you want out of a game. Yes, a lot of the population is at Tier 10 level 90 and above, but frankly, I couldn't care less as it doesn't effect my game play. I do solo quests and do run into other players.

However, just because there aren't 100 players or even 50 in a zone, doesn't mean that's a negative. I get to harvest and find shinies without fighting for a node. I get to pick and choose which mobs I want to fight without someone rushing in to kill that starred name I wanted to get as I carefully pulled nearby mobs so I didn't have to fight a crowd.

I can read retorts by the NPC without people telling me to hurry up, nothing to look at. I can take my time without being rushed and if I want to rush, yeah, I can do that, too.

No, this game is not the latest and greatest, but it has so many facets to it - more than new games can offer since they just started and have to build upon a base.

And yes, there are people who jump from game to game always wanted to find that perfect game to play. I have fun and enjoy EQ2 - the way I enjoy a massive game such as this one. And yes, I also play GW2 and enjoy that, too - my own style.

Why EQ2 is not well known today? It doesn't get much media play anymore except on rare occasions to let the populace know it's still around. In it's heyday, EQ2 was popular in its own right. WOW attracted a bigger audience because you could have a low end computer and still play a MMO. EQ2 demanded a more higher end computer, so it tended to limit who could play. Of course, over the years, things change and now you don't need a high end computer to play EQ2 unless you want all the bells & whistles to show.

Over time, games do get old and people move on to the latest. Some will continue to play, perhaps not as often. Even EverQuest still has enough people playing for SoE to continue putting out expansions. EQ will be 14 years old in March. That's longevity for a MMORPG.

SJ, problem is that you, EQ2 devs, do not talk about future plans for eq2... We don't know what is going on. You keep everything so secret and it is surprising to me that Planetside 2 devs are working for the same company as you.

Just look what they are doing and do the same in EQ2. PS2 developers are streaming game while they play, there is twitchtv channel, producer and developers are actually speaking and communicating with public. And now there is Roadmap - 6 month plan for PS2 open to public for discussion and players love it. The best thing is that devs are actually taking players feedback into account and react quickly to problems and look at eq2 - 2,5 month after CoE release and Drinal still not working correctly...

I love this game, but it hurts when I go to eq2zam and I see adverts of other MMO games...

Of course, no offense taken. Your posts are of the variety I dislike the most in the forums as well. The post always gravitates toward a general lack of reading comprehension. I raided high end through when the game had a real high end. I played the game past that for several years. The game is incredibly simplified and is in fact catering to the "give it to me now" mindset. That's why there isn't any such thing as high end raiding there. Nothing is difficult now, it primarily caters to the lowest common denominator.

To respond to your "yes but high number in U.S." portion, you are correct. However the overwhelming majority of the population of World of Warcraft is in fact Chinese. WoW's American population is roughly double the size of the other average MMO population, certainly. People love to toss out that 10 million number with the hidden assumption being that most people reading will read that as 10 million American players. It's actually closer to 2 million American players. I get just as annoyed with people that try to create misinformation as you do with individuals that talk about a product they've never used.

pretty much, I came from eq1 and many people I knew also moved over to either WoW (mostly) or eq2, When I first played I had to play in extreme performance setting for much of the fights, and the game looked like garbage, like grey clay blobs. They really dropped the ball on how low graphics settings looked because the game was trying to be too real and not stylish enough. (hence why a lot of people thought the graphics sucked) in WoW you could play easily with full graphics on whatever computer you had at the time. People who were die hard eq2 fans had to upgrade left right centre just to make the game playable. That I feel is a huge reason to the difference in success. Years later I still have many issues with lag, while newer better looking games like gw2 are smooth as glass. I am not saying graphics are the only player here but for people that wanted to play a game that could just buy the box and subscription ? They went to WoW. Heck it's a hard pill to swallow for most people to upgrade their PC just for a new game they want to try.
Why I keep coming back is I am addicted to the options and features this game has. I am an addict for creating characters from my imagination, and this game has endless options for that. Housing is massive and addicitive, eq2 nailed that one. There's a ridiculous amount of mini - goals to accomplish in the game besides the end game if you know where to look and since I have played through most level cap raises I know where they are. So much variety I often feel like what should I do? rather than I have nothing to do left.. but I am one of the % who saw the diamond in the rough in eq2 but most never gave it long enough.. but I also was an eq1 fan so I knew and loved the world already. Seeing what the old school zones looked like now was enough drive to get me to keep going through those early phases.

2 million USA subs there is a significantly higher number than we have here, I don't need real numbers or data to prove it, just look around on any server, it's pretty obvious that those of us that stay or come back do so for a specific reason, certainly not because it is a high population game.

I come back after breaks because I have friends here and more than anything playing with friends is the most important part of it for me bar none.

Everquest 2 is far superior to anything out there, nuff said.

That's why we play it.
And that's why we want other people to play it.

Unfortunately other people don't know about it as EQ2 is rarely mentioned on the web...

this game ends up being funner than the other mmo's and that's why i'm still here.

things i think would improve this game is removing the mob "face planting to win" where mobs are endlessly pulled for hours sometimes till it's dead. imo raiding would be a lot funner if making a pull on a big name was something you only got 2 or 3 chances at. that way when said mob was pulled people would focus and wining would be a true triumph not beating your head against a wall till it's dead.

i actually think itemization is about right. i don't think that raiders should have gear that makes them 300% more effective than a casual player like it was in TSO because that's dumb. clearly raiding characters should have better gear but only about 15% more effective and also should throw in some "raid only" abilities that could be quested for or raided for or whatever. that would be fun incentive to get people wanting to raid again like mythicals were.

this is an older player pool for the most part or at least more mature (thought i'm like a little kid for the most part) so you're jsut not going to get that "pop" feeling from this game like you do from games with less mature/younger/dumber? player base.

Raiders don't get anything. We pay 15 dollars a month and invest time in different aspects of the game. Aspects you could also share if you chose to do so.

Im sorry you think you should be equal to someone who raids.

It is people like you that ruin this world. As an older player you would think you would have an idea as to why I am complaining about you wanting fair treatment.

In the real world. You have a job you go to your job every day. Some people work an 8 - 5 job and don't put in any extra time at all. Then they get upset when someone gets a promotion over them when this other person works 6 - 7. This is no difference than EQ2, you choose not to raid just like you choose to only work 8 - 5. With your mentality The guy who only puts in minimal effort deserves equal opportunity to the guy that puts his whole life into what he is doing.

Now tell me this is just a game. Well thats how you play it, to a lot of us its not just a game its a competition, much like the job mentions above. When we spend 4 hours a night ( sometimes more ) dedicating ourselves to the team ( guild ) and sacrificing aspects of our lives to a hobby you darn right we deserve to see a huge return on that vs the guy who logs on 1 hour a day, serves only himself then logs off abandoning the world of norrath. You see a huge reward for no playing EQ2 in the forms of a wife kids etc.

Now should you ever learn to balance it all you can have the best of both worlds. But obviously you can't so you want to punish everyone who can.

This is derailing this topic a bit. The entire point of this topic was talking about advertising. They could advertise every where but it won't do anything.

As in my many post in this thread the game simply lacks style and grace. For Smokejumper to come in here and feed his stuff to any who is gullible enough to believe it. I think its quite obvious why the game fails. But here I can elaborate for you Smokejumper.

Again what fail are we talking about here, making profit or failing at the quality. Sony does make a profit. How do they make a profit? Because that deep lush content you keep mentioning isn't so much for the players as it is to make money on the station shop. Its sort of funny how everything you guys come up with is always some how tied into station cash. Housing - Station Cash Furniture ( stuff of higher quality than anything else in the game ), dungeon maker ( thanks for giving us the instance ), City Festivals ( why do the quests I can buy them from the store ). We can keep going but obviously you are going to keep defending your game.

Last note, maybe you should play rift. Sure there are complaints about the game. Lots of them. But they have just as much "stuff to do" as you guys and all I need to pay is a monthly sub. And the devs are constantly in touch with the player base taking feed back and informing the player base what their overall direction for the game is. They also give fluff out for a monthly sub. You can have a wedding, you can go out and farm shinies, you can raid, you can do housing, you can group ( with a dungeon maker that works imagine that ) you can do 10 mans, you can do achievements, you can go out and get appearance items ( really nice stuff for free! ).

KTHXBAI

Atleast Plavem is honest about being a hardcore freak. He even brought up the "treating it like a job" mentallity that hardcore freaks have. Most of them deny it, it is refreshing to see somebody embrace it and admit that they play too much and take it way too seriously.

More and more games, such as this one, are steering away from the hardcore crowd and rightfully so. Back when being hardcore was considered relatively normal, this genre was still pretty new. The longer they have been here though, the more evidence has been proven that the hardcore playstyle is unhealthy and detrimental to everyday functions. There is nothing normal about raiding 4+ times a week for 3+ hours at a time. Get with reality here people.

This is exactly the issue currently. Not all of everyone's gameplay is centered around rewards, but a good part of it is. You can only explore and pick flowers for so long before you want to kill something. Then when you do, the experience and the reward is often a huge letdown.

It's a niche game. The complex/convoluted combat system, considered a strength by the game's fans, is actually a weakness in the eyes of most other people. Then you've also got the focus on player housing, which satisfies another niche market. Most of the people who play WoW couldn't care less about that.

Not that they haven't tried (and failed) to copy a lot of WoW's features that appeal to the mainstream, but the true strengths of the game only appeal to a relatively small number of people. If this is your favorite MMO, that's great, but there aren't a lot of people who like the same things as you do.

That is true Quabi. I have watched videos of people doing first impression and walkthroughs of EQ2, and they all complain about the amount of abilities each class has. I suppose when you are used to 1 maybe 2 hotbars max in WoW and Rift, it is a bit overwhelming here.

You can be just like WoW and literally every other game and build your combat mechanics this way, but that would be a mistake. Sure you might get some wow refuges to come play the content once thru, but your not going to retain them beyond it.

Its my belief that this newbie MMO players coming from WoW will as they mature realize deeper combat mechanics is indeed a more interesting game to spend time on beyond doing the content once thru.

If EQ2 had reasonable performance and could run at its higher settings on the majority of PCs out there, I think that look and feel along with the rich combat mechanics would actually be relatively successful in gaining and retaining more mature mmo players (mature reflecting player experience in MMOs)

The issue with that theory is that EQ2's content is much simpler (as in less complicated, not necessarily easier to complete all things considered) and less varied than WoW's, Rift's, or even SW:TOR's. So yes, they might "graduate" to EQ2's combat mechanics, but they have to take a step back in terms of encounter mechanics.