Response to Survey

But Daybreak itself is a U.S. company.

it is still owned by Daybreak a U.S company.

Daybreak Game Company LLC (formerly Sony Online Entertainment Inc.) is an American video game developer and video game publisher. It is a subsidiary of Columbus Nova.

Which is the American name for Renova Group

Renova Group is a Russian conglomerate with interests in aluminium, oil, energy, telecoms and a variety of other sectors.

Chain effect

I as saying the Servers were owned by daybreak not Columbus Nova.

WoW and FF XIV.

As people have said here, it's "cool" to piss on WoW because this is just a massive echo chamber, but for those that haven't played it, maybe you should. You can play both, you know...

I was an EQ fanboy in the beginning, completely ignored WoW when it was released, and then all the crap happened in EQ2 which made me quit the game for about a year and I went to WoW.

I'm going to do a "top of my head" list of things here, and circle back to the original question.

When EQ2 was first released, I thought it was MMO nirvana. SO much to do. However, it got to a point where my quest log was full in my mid-30s with nobody to help finish stuff with because everyone was moving forward. Need help with your HQ? Too bad. But one of the biggest problems I had with EQ2, as much as I love the game, was that it wasn't keeping up with technology. Want proof? Where's the proper 4K and multicore support? Where's the mobile crafting support? Even still, EQ2 just started to feel clunky. Animations weren't matching up with events (eg: spells, etc.), and it was tough seeing what was going on in real time. What I mean is that spells hit before animations are finished, and other weird things like that.

And don't get me started on the s*show that was PvP.

EQ2 really didn't even have a proper story. Sure it had *A* story, but not a compelling one. Good writing in the quests, yes, but nobody ever sat down and said "ok, what's going on with Norrath?". I can name at least two dozen major characters in WoW, maybe more, and give you some backstory on them. See, EQ2 never had *personality*.

In the end, I think EQ2 suffered from having TOO much to do. Too many little things to do. I felt that the game slowed me down because you'd go to the Q sewers for one thing and come out with another 20. You don't need micro immersion. And I hated Feerott.

So when I moved to WoW in Feb. '05, I was very impressed. Lots to do without micromanaging your time. I do miss housing, though. And so I came back to EQ2 when they fixed the mess of a game it was in the early days and I really liked it for a while, but the same issues plagued the game. Oh, and WHY do wizards have SO. MANY. SPELLS? And people go off about AAs and how awesome they are. No...they're not. It was too much. Death by paper cuts.

And the game never improved their graphics. I don't mean 4K, I mean things look exactly the same today as it did in 2004, just with larger monitors. WoW has gone through two (maybe more?) graphics overhauls.

So back to the original question - what can you do in an hour in WoW and feel like you accomplished something? Plenty. Today is Monday so I generally do my "end of the week" stuff. Mount runs I put off, put stuff up on the Auction House that's been sitting in my bags, world quests, get my artifact power up, maybe farm Nethershards for a bit. Tuesdays is the server reset so I farm mounts for a little bit, work on legendaries, run some mythics, maybe pick up a raid in the week (but remember, WoW is easy, so we just one-shot stuff, right?).

EQ2 was an amazing game. I've defended it many times, even on WoW forums, but it's just not nearly as interesting as it used to be. With so many of the people that were the heart and soul of the game gone, I don't know how much longer it has. It's sad because I made some good friends in the game, but every single one of them left.

Correct me if I wrong but I remember one of the reasons they couldn't update the servers was become they were renting them....

And alot more stuff than that. You try to make a list that you could go both ways and say they copied another game, and if they don't have those certain things then they aren't any better. Truth is, they have more than that list, way more, and actually more content and not even near as old. Seeing as no two games are the exact same asking most of that was just pointless. Then again, in a different concept, that a much larger base follows, they have just about all that and then some. The crafting system is harder, and takes alot more time, the game doesn't stop at certain content, nor level 50, you get bonuses for actually being a good player. If this was a different forum I would write you a little yes and no list lmao

PvP Yes

The missus didn't get it either. She's pissed (and pays for two accounts).

Actually I missed that too. If I loved another game that much I would not be on this forum. I played ESO when it launched. It was beautiful, and for months I couldn't play EQ2, couldn't even look at it. I loved the graphics, the fighting, the flexibility of the classes, character creation, crafting. But in the end I just couldn't live without decorating, tinkerfest, Erollisi day, Frostfell, etc. I really found that ESO took itself *too* seriously. The Good and Evil aspect of EQ2 is only a tedious interference with commerce and travel, but the three factions of ESO make it really unpleasant. As an altaholic following the timeline some really horrible things were being done by the faction that my other toons were in. That really did not sit well with me. I don't go to a game to be reminded of the brutality of reality, I go there to escape it. If I want to hear about massacres and pogroms, I'll read a history book. And another thing, I really hated being some sort of undead "chosen one". Chosen one timelines really do not mesh with numerous alts. It's just silly. And that's coming from someone that likes to play fairies and brownies.

Eq2 is better than other games to ME probably mostly because other games have things that annoy me way more than the things that annoy me in eq2. That isn't to say there aren't things that annoy me in eq2, there certainly are and I've been vocal about them to devs, in surveys, as well as general feedback I've given in various locations.

For example, IMO ESO screwed up what could have been a lovely multiplayer offshoot of the elder scrolls singleplayer games by trying to be TOO much of a standard MMO. Ruined it for me. I hated how they handled dungeons(at least when I played last, I know they had massive updates since) And well I hate pvp in my fantasy games, so there's that as well.

GW2 bored the heck out of me right off the bat. Sorry, it might be popular with some, but not my cup of tea. I don't want to have to slog through the first bit to get to the interesting stuff. This isn't 1999 anymore, give me something.

We'll see what comes up, but thus far I've been sorely disappointed with every other MMO I've tried in the past 5 years.

You don't really get into why this would help. I THINK the reason is that it would then appeal to a larger audience if it looked and felt better to play. And by appealing to a larger audience, they would make more money and have more flexibility to do more. Perhaps.

However graphics and playability do nothing if the decisions in the game still promote endless grind that regardless of how photorealistic everything looks or how smooth it runs on even average GPUs would still discourage people from playing.

This game is super easy cakewalk at the solo level and is a full time job to maintain a character at the top level. We get untested content that even minimal fixes require fixes soon after launch. Bottom line, while there are many things to do in EQ2, the game is in nightmare phase when it comes to development and implementation. See ascension. See PG. See tithe. See potency/gear gap. Etc.

The only way to 'fix' eq2 at this point would be to improve the graphics and engine AND change the entire direction of the development. Only then would we actually bring more people to the table that might make this game come alive again. For now? We're going to be stuck lagging out while playing untested instances where the motivation behind the scripts is 'let's make it as obscure as possible so that you need combat logs and ACT to figure out what you're supposed to do. And even then you won't come close unless you have high level ascensions that would pretty much need to have been purchased at this point along with 30ish tithe points in potency. And even then, if you get TOO strong by using the items and progression at your disposal, there are scripts to slow you down on top of the obscure regular scripts that are not clear unless you're running ACT and have sherlock holmes as your guild leader.'

Anyway, nice try, but graphics and smoother are not even in my top 5 things that are wrong with the game right now. Though they obviously would be nice.

That's what I was detouring from, the personal attach meant. That's the only thing that keeps the small amount of people here still playing is personal attachments. As I said before I play to sit with old friends whom I have played with since vox and venny. That's a personal reason though. Otherwise my time is on other games. Truth be told there is not much in this game that other games don't have, that's not a personal feeling, it is just truth. Eq2 had faction wars, but they removed them. They had strategic content, but it got watered down. This isn't a personal attack, but a lot of people don't care about tinkerfest, frostfell, and erollisi day. I don't understand the reality thing you mentioned, because it is a game, I don't see reality in it. You must have played at a very early stage also, because a lot of that stuff is different, almost doesn't even sound like the same game. I also don't understand the main quest complaint, This game has them too, it is virtually the same concept.

Graphics are one of the top 5 things enthusiast look at first before deciding to play a game. It might not be your top 5, but you have to look at the overall. This is what was said prior, people are protecting an idea off personal self made feelings. Not attacking you but using that logic doesn't bring in new players. You have to give in to the majority, or keep losing members and servers. If what everyone on here wanted was the golden egg to the game, then it would actually be populated.

Ok I am going to break this down. If person A. owns majority of stock over person B., then person A., owns more rights than person B. Which means it doesn't matter if there is 60 other companies attached, the end decisions goes to the majority holder. This is the same way Bill Gates still holds a seat on a Microsoft even though he doesn't own Microsoft. What he says still goes, because he is the dominant holder. So if that person/company does not like a way an investment is moving, they can have it changed.

I am not denying the graphics would help. I just don't think they would be a solution when once people entered a nicer looking game, they would be hit with the mess we are currently in.

I feel that a number of things would have to be addressed, and even in that number there will be people who will cry 'hey, you're ruining the challenge or complexity of our game that separates it from the games who have millions more players!' There's really no winning here. Though if they did change the grahics, update the way it runs, and make the game a bit less complex with the number of buttons to push along with number of things to pay/waste your life on for hours in order to be decent--well I certainly wouldn't complain.

I noticed that someone earlier responded to the question of "Does ESO have collection quests" with "another who cares."

I care. If a game doesn't have collection quests, it is IMO inferior to EQ2, regardless of what else it has. YMMV.

Well technically it does have collections, keep in mind what's good for the goose isn't always good for the gander. If it was about what you liked, people would still be in the game. People are already leaving this summer again, they won't be back till months later, some of them won't be back at all. You have 4 servers and 3 of them have light populations. So instead of feelings, logic might be a good to use atm. You are going by your own standards, no one elses, when you say all other games are inferior, The lack of population alone should make you understand that. The technical issue that go on should make you see it, but there is that denial everyone is in, and they won't see it. They have actual feelings towards the game.

That's the thing though, they are not addressing them. People are in denial. I mean how many times have the servers dropped, or items and toons been lost, or xp or something else has been messed up after a update? They are not trying to bring in new players. The irritating aspect of all of this is the denial people are going through. No one is going to save this game. There has not been an effort put in to do so. The collection of issues will get worse because they are never actually addressed. Perfect example is the band aid dps fix after they nerfed auto attacks. They gave scouts fervor instead of doing anything to the actual class. It was a band aid. People don't appeal to band aids. To long lasting players, that looked like a good idea, cause you are supporting the game you always play. The question is when does all of this become to many problems? People can make list off massive issues causing game play to be awful all day. They don't get addressed though. I mean seriously look around, the moment I said something about problems and made a comparison, people got pissy, The truth shouldn't make people angry, but a person in denial will always try to defend something that doesn't exist. Also, people don't even see they are being milked for money, if they do, they don't even care. You have no say so in the game and everything you do to progress requires extra money being spent, with lack of development. Why doesn't anyone draw the line? They can't see the milking process.

It is crazy to me where people try to offer constructive criticism, and then someone speaks up and says 'but I like that wicked annoying thing!' Or 'Hey it's not too bad!' But I guess people like me are even worse. I don't even like many aspects of the game right now, and yet I still participate because I want to be good for my guild. My participation speaks much louder than my 'constructive criticism,' unfortunately. And continued participation certainly isn't forcing any change.

Because when it comes to whether or not I play a game, my standards are the only ones that count. If the game ends up dying because everyone else disagrees with me, so be it. So yes, AFAIC, every other MMO is inferior to EQ2, for reasons beyond merely collection quests.

The point being, however, that simply saying "another who cares" doesn't respond to the question at all. After all, I could say the same about PvP -- who cares what some other game's PvP is like? Obviously, the people to whom PvP is important.

Technically, Rift has "collections," but in comparison to EQ2's, Rift's "collection quests" are boring & have no worthwhile reward. That's also my opinion, & others disagree, & guess what? The world keeps on goin'.