Hello, I really want to play this game but I want to be sure first it worth it with some questions: - Is the game alive enough to not close in the next few years ? - Is the game challenging even when you get good gear ? - What is the most populated european server ? - What stage of the progression server are we, and once all expansions are unlocked, what happen ? - If I want all the content, do I need to both subscribe and pay for the expansion ? - What it does for the subscription and expansions if I play it on steam ? And what about my daybreak money ? Then, it would be a pleasure to finally play this game with full graphical options, and enjoy thousand of adventures
- Is the game alive enough to not close in the next few years ? I think it is, but number of players may not affect whether the game closes in the next few years. - Is the game challenging even when you get good gear ? yes - What is the most populated european server ? I believe there is only one European server, Thurgadin. - What exactly is the progression server ? Read about it here: https://www.everquest2.com/news/kaladim-tle-time-locked-expansion-server-2019 and https://www.everquest2.com/news/eq2-kaladim-tle-server-faq-2019 - If I want all the content, do I need to both subscribe and pay for the expansion ? As far as content you will need the expansion, but technically a sub is not required. I would highly recommend it though as a free to play account has several limitations on what it can and cannot do. - What it does for the subscription and expansions if I play it on steam ? And what about my daybreak money ? I have no idea.
Daybreak does not publish population numbers. I *think* the game will still be here is a few years, but that is just my opinion. That is subjective. Does it get easier with good gear? Certainly. Is it challenging enough for you? Only you can answer that. There is only one european server. This may partly answer question #1 for you, depending on how you perceive it. I think the progression server is on the 4th expansion, but I don't play there and do not know for sure. The progression server never gets all expansions unlocked, as it becomes closer and closer to the live servers, which is what folks on that server apparently do not like. Subscribe and buy the latest expansion (included all previous expansions). You can buy the latest expansion without subscribing, but there are limitations if not subscribed (getting nagged to subscribe [once per login], have to buy broker credits to use the broker, limited spell quality usable, using only non-prestige gear, etc). For certain features that are not included in the expansions, you will need to purchase them from the in-game shop [two classes: beastlord (a scout), channeler (a healer), two races: arakyn (dragonish-humanoid) and freeblood (pseudo-vampire), reforging (change one stat into another that is not already present), and maybe a few other things]. All purchased features are account-wide and only need to be purchased once. While Steam may still offer the game, is not the preferred way to acquire the game and may cause problems as Daybreak does not support that method. You should download the game directly from the Daybreak servers. Also, Everquest 2 requires DirectX 9.0c. Yes, I know that is a very old version. Yes, I know you probably have a much newer version of DirectX. It doesn't matter, EQ2 needs 9.0c. The good part is that 9.0c and the version you have already have work just fine together, and 9.0c should be installed automatically when you install Everquest 2. If you already have a Daybreak account, you should be able to play EQ2 using that account and any DB cash you have will still work [exception for H1Z1 games].
EQ1 is still running, and EQ2 has made it 15 years. It's unlikely to shut down anytime soon. The good gear is relatively difficult to obtain, so yeah. The end-game in Blood of Luclin (level 120) has methods for getting 165 Resolve gear for many slots soloing. The brand new Diaku Corral solo zone has 170 and 175 Resolve gear, which is comparable to heroic gear. There's just one EU server at the moment, Thurgadin. That's Kaladim, and I think they're at Kingdom of Sky right now? I don't have a toon over there so I'm not positive. I played on the previous Time Locked Expansion server (Fallen Gate) and when population dropped off, they merged it into the US server Antonia Bayle. Buying the most current expansion (Blood of Luclin) gets you all the previous expansions. What is NOT included are some helpful features: premium races (Freeblood vampires, and Aerakyn dragon-men); premium classes (Channeler and Beastlord); the ability to use Mercenaries, and the ability to use Reforging to adjust the stats on your gear. All these items are available from the Marketplace, which you access from the EQ2 button in-game. Paying the monthly subscription is worthwhile, I think. I've been playing as a subscriber for all these years. Some of the limitations of NOT subscribing: Free To Play (F2P) members start with only two character slots (they can buy additional character slots via the Marketplace). F2P players can't use any of the "broadcast" channels, such as /auction, /level, /shout. F2P can receive in-game email without a membership, but can't send in-game mail without a subscription. F2P has limited access to the broker. You can purchase broker tokens from the Marketplace, but simply having unfettered access to the broker is worth the subscription price all on its own. F2P cannot form guilds. Nothing special for using Steam. I personally just go to the EQ2 webpage (click the Home button at the top of the page) and get what I need from there directly. The hardware requirements from 15 years ago won't do it today. EQ2's game engine was designed at a time when it was believed that CPUs would continue doubling capacity for the foreseeable future (instead we got multi-cores and graphics cards with their own GPU). Until last week, I was using 10 year old hardware, and it was excruciatingly laggy and I had to play at the lowest graphics settings. I upgraded to a modern motherboard, CPU, video card, and liquid cooling so I could overclock the CPU, and now I can even raid with high graphics settings.
