I haven't played EQ2 in years, and am still on the fence. I really only have time for one MMORPG at the moment due to work and home life and bouncing between League of Legends, and I'm trying to figure out what I want to invest my time in. I have high level characters in Rift, WoW and SWTOR, but I don't know if I can really get into those. I also don't want to be slammed with a million limitations though; as Rift currently is 100% free with no restrictions on content and gear, and it's a pretty good game that is well polished. If I want to group with anyone, will I find it here? What can I expect as a new player, and what is EQ2 going to offer e that the others don't?
As a new player if you start from scratch you'll want to go on a higher population server and if you want to group you'll be able to.. you'll just have to take the initiative to try and form it yourself though. You won't get the 100% free with no restrictions like rift but the restrictions in place aren't that bad for free accts here. Though I find the money paid for this game for the sheer amnt of content and extras well worth it. As for what EQ2 offers that others don't. IMHO it's BY FAR the deepest game out there. between the size of the game itself, no other game comes close when it comes to stuff like housing, crafting, guild halls and other areas of that nature that aren't just the solo and/or raid centric game play stuff all MMORPGS have. While I highly prefer EQ2 game play over other games, and I've tried a ton of others but always stay true to here, it's of then the other stuff I mentioned and more that keep me constantly coming back for more. Always cool to go through houses, guild halls, etc and see the many varied and unique styles people decorate them with.
From your post I get this. You are wanting to dedicate the majority of your "MMO time" to one game. That is not an uncommon desire with working adults with families who also enjoy gaming. I will agree with Liral about grouping, you have to take the initiative if you want to get in a group, a high pop server will help with this though. As for what EQ2 has to offer that the others don't, depth, a rich history and lore (I hope eq2 gets Drakken someday!!!!), 25 classes, 20 races! I believe eq2 has the most classes available in any game to date. The free to play system for EQ2 is not that restrictive any more, they removed the class and race restrictions with the exception of the Beast Lord and Freeblood (vampire). Eq2 (well Soe games, EQ, EQ2, Vanguard) have a unique sort of service we can enjoy. It is the volunteer guide program, guides will run quests or events occasionally rewarding players with unique in game items like house items or cosmetic items. This alone is a good reason to play, it adds a level of interactivity to the game that the others don't get. Overall I would say EQ2 has much more going for it at times. Pros: A more mature community 25 Classes 20 Races Various class/race combinations. Non-Linear progression wherein you can chose what you want to do. Arguably a strong crafting system, it's a crafting system you either like it or you don't. I Think most just tolerate it. Nice Graphics Each expansions you purchase includes the older expansions. So if you're behind, you only have to buy one expansion versus 3 or 4+. Cons: Community can be sparse as a result of the size of the game and the saturated genre. A lot of quests to do...a lot. Questing is fun, but there are a ton so sometimes you might feel like you missed some story or lore somewhere. Grouping can be hard to do on the lower pop servers. SOE sometimes abandons projects, like the dungeon finder. Overall, there would be no real harm in giving the game a shot for a weekend or something. Worst case you wasted a few hours deciding if you like it or not. I really like EQ2 for all of the reasons I listed above, and in spite of the negatives about the game. Every game has its ups and downs. It's just a matter of choosing which ones you want to both enjoy and perhaps which not so good things you would be okay with tolerating. Good luck in your decision, you can't go wrong with eq2. As I said though, it's really about what type of game play you want to enjoy and what little things you are okay with tolerating. Don't be fooled by my "title" on the forums, I have been playing this game for 8 years...since pretty close to launch, I just don't post much on the forums. At any rate, try the game out if you don't like it what have ya lost but a few hours. I would also suggest trying a few different classes, they all play slightly differently. My favorite is the Necromancer, Beast Lord and Conjurer. Although you may not have access to BL, as it is an addition from an expansion. I will stop talking now. Good luck.
Every time I think of trying out a new MMO, I spend about an hour or two on that game's forums, especially in the "new players" area to get a feeling on what the community is like. You can also check the general discussion, classes areas, etc. to estimate if the game is still actively played or more or less a graveyard. Another thing to check is the amount of guides, articles, info and if they are recently updated. This clearly indicates a solid community with strong contribution to the game. As I am exactly in your shoes and I am trying to decide wether or not EQ2 will be my next "project", I did what I mentioned above. And let me tell you, it is at the very least worth to try it for a few days. For a game this old, it is very active and vibrant, the new player forum is filled with very decent and kind pieces of advice such as Truwen posted earlier. I already made up my mind and will try the game. Hopefully you will too
I am going on my second week of this game and I really enjoy it. I am a refugee from the old SWG, WOW, SWTOR, and LOTRO and I find that this game gives so much more. I made the mistake of listening to folks telling me I don't want to get into this game. If I knew then what I know now about EQ2 , I would have gotten into this game and skip all the others years ago. I have no problem finding help in-game and looking online for content to answer questions. Just got my Tradeskill apprentice and merc and can't wait to see what that brings to the table.
One other thing I would mention. Get into a guild. Look for one that matches your play-style, and especially look for one that offers training to new players. There is a metric crap-ton of information in the game, and it can be rather overwhelming at first to new players. Having a guild that you can pepper with questions is a big help.
active and vibrant- now how do we get that message to people who think we are dying? i love eq2. I have high level toons on eq1 but eq2 is now my home. my favorite classes are wiz and ranger. i say give it a try. yeah it can be hard to find groups because eq2 supports all playstyles. the crafting could use a few changes but it's basically a better system than most. and constant questing- weeelll - it is called everquest.
Welcome to the game guys =) Its wonderful to continue to see new peeps heading this way! I hope you enjoy it as much as I have over the years.
I say just download, roll a character and give it a try - forgetting the top level characters you have in another game. You will very soon find if it is capturing your attention or not, and will also very soon find if you want to invest more time playing it. What I mean is...it's not all or nothing. If the game is engaging you - you will have your own answer in pretty quick order, I'd think. I play one character here pretty much solely, although I have a stable of them. When another game calls louder than this one, I go, and when this one calls louder, I come back. I just don't think you have to make a commitment....these are GAMES.
Welcome to Norrath! Everyone has made great suggestions thus far. If you're looking to join a guild, you should swing by the Guild Recruitment Forum. Guilds looking for new members post, but so do players looking for guilds. If you're looking for more tips/tricks or player guides, visit the official EverQuest II Wikia. They have a great section of Beginner Guides to help you get started. I'd also recommend visiting a few of our fansites. There's a pretty comprehensive link list available here. Again, welcome to the EverQuest II!
I just got back into the game myself (high end PVPer on WoW for the past few seasons) and this game is really quite refreshing to come back to. Only reason I stopped playing was due to the Army barracks insane guidelines and port blocking at FLW, Missouri. I have owned both games from launch, played EQ1 from the launch of Rise of Kunark til EQ2 came out. In both games, the communities tended to treat each other with respect and shun out those who couldn't figure out how to be decent human beings, instead of encouraging them (WoW). Guilds in EQ2 (every experience I have had) have been extremely helpful in not only crafting, but helping you get started out. It's a whole different system from a lot of other games (Heroic Opportunities and being able to recover from a blow that knocks you out for example), with its own little quirks. Crafting is actually interesting in this game, unlike most which just give a progress bar of some sort or another, with no chance to fail or make a superior product. The enviroment (if your computer can handle extreme graphics) is completely unreal, while even at lower settings beats the pants off of the majority of other MMO's out there... and from what I remember, they havent updated the graphics system since LAUNCH (looks exactly the way I remember it, only better from a superior computer). They took some serious time to make the NPC's of cities actually interact with you and do their thing, which adds to the immersion of playing the game. Only piece of advice I can tell you though, is make sure you pay some attention to time while playing. I look up all the time at my clock and go "HOLY CRAP! ITS 2 AM!!" and promptly become sleep deprived the next day. That, in my opinion, is the sign of a very well designed and made game on the immersion standpoint. I feel like I'm rambling at the moment, so I'll stop. I can't tell you how the endgame and PVP systems work, since I haven't gotten that far yet (only been back less than a week), but I know that this game will hook me back into playing it for quite some time
I also have been playing EQ2 since launch and I started off with EQ1 so I've played it in the past. I quit for a while and took up WoW pretty heavily then one day decided to go and see if anything has changed. Now my EQ2 time far surpasses my WoW time. Some things I have found about the game. -You really do have to take the initiative to get a group going, with the use of mercs, you just don't need to have any social interaction with people at all if you don't want it, so people tend to stick to themselves until the end-game content. You will do alot of soloing until that point. -However, if you can find a good guild, and by good I mean active and one that advertises themselves to be helpful and enjoys participating in all the game content, then you should be able to get a good group going. -There are too many guilds for the low population that EQ2 has. Everyone wants to run their own guild so you find alot of dead end guilds that have 3 people in it with all of their alts. Personally, I cant stand an inactive guild where people do not communicate in guild chat at the very least. -There are ALOT of things to keep you from getting bored. There are so many options for things to do in this game. Questing, crafting, decorating, HQs, instances, etc. And everything is so in-depth and detailed and sometimes challenging. -As previously mentioned, you have a wide spectrum of race/class combinations to choose from, which for me, character development is half the fun. No two characters are ever alike, it seems. I started the EQ series as my first MMO and I just keep coming back. If you decide that you like it, recommend it to your friends because if i wanted to play the game by myself, I'd play Skyrim or Dragon Age. =)
