Hey all... I'm looking for a new game to play. I played EQ2 back in the day, but not very seriously. I've been off and on with so many MMORPGs (like most of them), but none are cutting it for me. I like loot (already burnt out on most aarp/borderlands/etc,) and I like when finding something new makes a noticeable difference. I want something that has some fun/epic quests that give real rewards... something that has farmable mobs (like EQ did, or does), or cool dungeons that can be soloed, with interesting drops. Does EQ2 fit the bill? If so, which server would be the best to join? I don't mind subbing. Thanks for your input!
all gear in the game has been swept over with an itemization script that makes them all the same, just bigger numbers every 10 levels. so interesting drops are not a thing. The only quest rewards that will feel rewarding are heritage quests. there is no reason to play this game if you're not already an addict.
Some of the old content has great depth and quality despite the horrible things which happened to itemisation. Sadly though, nobody else will play that content, and once you have one toon on your account which has the deity stats from the panda quests, well, everything below lvl 100 is a 1-shot kill forever more. It'd probably still be fun enough as a solo experience to just quest and explore up to lvl 100, but after that, if you haven't made friends and got attached to a guild, there'll be little holding you here.
First of all, welcome to the club! There are lots of reasons to play the game tbh, dunno what Matik is talking about up there. Questing is what EQ is all about, it's even in the name Everquest, so yes, you should have plenty of questing options if you're starting fresh. Dungeons are absolutely beautiful in EQ2. See here for an example - it's the place where I am relaxing right now. There are many, many, many more places to see and visit. My advice: Start from scratch and go through the game zone by zone, taking your sweet time to smell the roses, and seek out each and every single dungeon or event on your way to the top. Try not to skip anything is my only advice in this regard. Which leads us to your next question: Yup, a lot of dungeons in EQ2 can be played by yourself (solo), with a friend (duo) or with an entire group of ppl (normal dungeon size or raids etc.). For example, my wife is lvl 95 and she wanted to give Sirens Grotto a try because she's never been there. So we created a party, I chose to mentor her (pushing my lvl down to 95 since I am over 100 rn), then we walked over to Cobalt Scar together and entered the dungeon by foot. See here for more information. Needless to say that we had a blast - and now we're heading to the Destiny of Velious region in order to give the Hold of Rime another look together (see Youtube video above). The other day I was invited into a group for a Water PQ (Public Quest) in Myrist, the Great Library. The group consisted of 10+ players (raid) and it was a relaxing, friendly and entertaining run. The last time I raided must be ten + years ago, and even though I died a lot, nobody got upset or anything. In fact, ppl motivated me to join the run, no matter my skill or experience with it. In other words, it doesn't matter if you're looking to play alone or with others, the choice is yours. In addition, we also like to take the time to decorate our homes (sandboxing elements), another time sinking feature. Highly recommended. That being said, if you're into sandboxing, housing, decoration, feel free to create your own dungeon and share it with the world. I am playing on the Halls of Fate server rn, which is the one I can recommend. Take your time when first logging in, solo a bit and then try to find a nice guild that fits your current playstyle and playtime. For example, I play mostly during the night due to my working hours, and I also have a family that I attend to and take care of (wife, son, grandparents), so time is limited nowadays. I needed a guild that understood my situation, a guild not focused on being the quickest and best raiding group out there, and that's exaclty what I found. I found a group of mature, helpful, understanding ppl that I like to engange with from time to time. Use the EQ2 Wiki only if you run out of patience when trying to solve your quests. EQ2 used to be all about exploration and trial and error and it still is for the most part. A lot of quest goals can be seen on the minimap in starter zones, if you enable the feature in your quest journal, but I recommend finding things on your own, without the need of additional tools. It's a lot more fun this way. Yes, there are items and other things to be farmed. For example, in order to get the robe-set that my char is wearing rn, you had to do an entire quest line to get it. Next thing on my list is an owl mount or pet that I saw ingame ages ago, see here and here for example. Last but not least, don't ignore the EQ2 lore that unfolds directly within the game. Unlike other mmorpgs, there is much to be read and found within the world of Norrath. For example, sometimes you get to pickup a virtual book when questing, and if you do, take the time to read it in its entirety. The quests and lore in EQ are pretty interesting to say the least and they take their inspiration from various sources, some originating from day to day things that you can find in your daily life. EQ2 is a dying breed of high adventure mmo when it comes to online rpgs with sandbox elements. The world of Norrath is superior to most newage mmos that get released nowadays in so many ways, if you're willing to take a deep and long look into the fundamental core. To new players or visitors I say: It's old but far from obsolete. Don't let its age scare you away. Give it a try and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Judge this book by yourself and make up your own mind. If it's for you; great! Welcome! If it's not your cup of tea; thx for visiting and may the force be with you!
Update, all of a sudden, I felt the urge to show you some of the places my wife and I have been to last week. Maybe this will trigger your appetite Wife meeting the white dragon: The dwarven architecture is one of a kind (Zelda64 vibes, click me to feel nostalgic): Dire, dire docks (Mario64 vibes, click me to feel nostalgic): Housing and decoration, my deluxe house in Kelethin alias the Greater Faydark (Kelethin, click me to feel nostalgic): Just to show you a few of our adventures. Ofc it's more fun joining forces with the ppl you know in real life. Logging into EQ2 is like going on vacation for us sometimes. Each and every zone, dungeon, event has a distinct feel for it. I'm an 80's and 90's kid, thus I love exploring new areas, because they remind me of places that I have visited or been before: Mario64, Zelda64, original EQ, Banjo Kazooie, Harry Potter, Star Gate (believe it or not, there's some SG dna in EQ2) and many more. I love it. And if that's not enough, just look at how much content a single expansion gives you: Sure, it's an old expac, but that just goes to show you how much stuff there is to see and experience. Other mmos rinse and repeat zones and old content, not so with EQ2.
lol wow you guys impressed me and I am like Matik said already hooked But I want to give you more positive feedback . The endgame has become kind of overwhelming , but there are level locked Guilds out there , that will progress slowly through older contents before lifting up their level cap . Most dungeons and instances have a choice of solo ,heroic , hard and so on . So there is something for everybody . And than there is Kaladim a TLE server a Level locked (always forget what E stands for) server . This servers cap is level 90 and we are now in the second part of DoV , the stunning video you saw first saw posted by Sturmlocke is that expansion . TLE servers are locked to an expansion for a time period ( 4 months on Kaladim ) , and the mechanics are more simple . We just began to fly 2 months ago and now have guild halls . If you like or tolerate PvP you can join Tharinax our latest PvP server . Tharinax is level cap 70 and has KoS unlocked . We now can earn desirable rewards for PvP writs , so the killing is not meaningless . Well I guess it's up to you , and if you did not delete your old characters , they are still waiting for your return .
Thanks for the replies, especially those well thought-out ones, Sturmlocke. Clearly you put some love into those posts. EQ was my first MMORPG and even though I moved on from it (AO, AC2, then Wow,) I always wanted to go back, and recently I did, however, it felt much different. So, I decided to give EQ2 a shot, and GW2 as well. I don't like having to weapon swap in GW2 though, so I may do as you say and level from scratch on EQ2 (most likely an SK.) I do have one older character, and a bunch of boosted ones when i tried to play in the past, but I got so overwhelmed with the number of abilities, I put it down. This time, I plan on leveling from scratch. A PVP server doesn't sound like a bad idea.
Tharinax is only 2 months old , but it is already a quiet , but you don't have to deal with the complicated things on live it's a lot more simple . No mercs , minions , reforging , infusing or accretion classes or such . No guild halls and no leaping or flying .
As I was reading that comment, it caused me to realize I am not 100% certain of what the T stands for, LOL. Doesn't it stand for Time Locked Expansion. You call it level locked, which is technically true, but isn't it more that it is the content/expansions that are locked until players vote to unlock the next expansion? I've only briefly been on a TLE server. Hated having to walk everywhere, LOL.
Sturmlocke, they need to hire you as Head of Advertising. I have been playing EQ2 since the beginning and although I have seen all of these scenes in the clips you posted, I found a renewed awe of the beauty of the landscaping and zones. Maybe if these were shown and advertised we might have an increase in player base.
Hello there, sorry that I never replied to you again, wife and I moved places and our second son was born a few days ago. It's been a wild ride to say the very least Anyway, I'm still here and I just wanted to say thank you for your kind words. I agree though, the powers that be should make a lengthy video showcasing a big portion of the old but great content that EQ2 has been getting over all these years. A lot of ppl focus on the new and shiny, on the here and now, which is great, but I also believe that in order to grow, you should also take a good look at the past and at what has been achieved so far. Both EQ1 and 2 offer a vast amount of magical content that never gets seen by new players, because it's considered obsolete nowadays. Such a shame. This is one of the reasons why I have been uploading screenshots of old content on the Steam EQ2 page and I also plan on doing a Youtube series featuring the golden days of EQ2 somewhere down the line (when my wife and I start sleeping more than three hours per day, lol). All that being said, I also dreamt of a new collectors item the other day. Long gone are the days of retail boxes including awesome stuff for the die hard fans. Nowadays it's all digital, which is good too, but I wish the marketing and advertising team would consider creating a few oldschool items from time to time. For example, as a teenager, I was forced to sell all of my collectors editions of the EQ franchise, because I needed the cash in rl. I have started buying the stuff back I lost back then, such as these two gems: ^ Would love to see a new collectors edition of both titles, with an up to date build of the game, that incl. all expacs and all existing content to date + a bunch of exclusive goodies and behind the scenes (making of) type of videos. Instead of CDs you could just throw in a golden USB stick with the EQ brainding into the box in order to make it a bit easier for new ppl to install. You could also include ALL videos from past events in HD quality, such as this one (spoiler alert, huge dragon incoming): And ofc more behind the scenes stuff that has already been published and maybe even new videos and soundtracks etc. You could also include a "new player" introduction video for ppl joining the fun and combine that with interviews from past EQ devs. If I could have a say on any of this, I'd create just a few limited time boxes just to see how big the interest is. You could start with 100, 500 or even 1000 and sell them directly via the official EQ2 website. In simple words:
First, Grats on the move and that new baby boy. Many great years ahead of you both. No problem with not responding. You obviously have been rather busy. Your reply was awesome. I loved the video and had forgotten so much of what had happened (or when) and remembered much. Nostalgia at its best. It seems it has been a long time since we have seen a video like the one you posted. Informing and interesting at the same time. So many great things done while we had the good luck of having Holly. For sure, she is missed. There was a 'vision' and somewhere it seems that got lost or muddled. But we stay and hope that it gets back on some sort of track which with the addition of Mum, tradeskilling appears to have done so. I miss those retail boxes from EQ and EQ2. I had mine for years and years but when I had to downsize and move, they disappeared. Many things disappeared. I believe some things went to the dump that were not supposed to. Oh well. The USB stick idea is interesting. You have some great ideas. Maybe they will pay attention and look at some of them. Has our new Producer bothered to do something like Holly presented in this one? I don't recall that happening. I have not seen a film from any fan fair in years. It is still a happening? I could never get to one and always wanted to. Regardless, great ideas and I stand with my first statement except forget "advertisement" but insert "development". Thank you and very best wishes to you and your family and the years of joy, frustration, and excitement ahead for you.
Hey there again, first of all, you rock Thank you so much! True, Holly was one of a kind, a powerful force to be reckoned with, but I'm also curious to see where Jenn takes us. Gonna go to sleep in a few minutes, tired as hell, but I just wanted to post my Steam profile on here, just in case anyone wants to team up and play EQ2 a bit: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197965174893/ Doesn't matter if new player or longtime vet, feel free to seek us out for some fun. Currently playing with "Sturmlocke" on the halls of fate server. Time is limited nowadays, mostly because of work and parenting, but I am online on a regular basis. My son was sitting on my lap the other day, just chilling, while I was doing stuff in EQ2, lol. Same goes for anyone interested in trying Linux with EQ2, will gladly help you out.
