What is the status of EQ II ?

[p] [/p][p]Hello all,[/p][p] I am new to EQ II. I know it has been out a while, and I am kind of concerned about the size of the player base. Of course WoW is huge and LotRO just started, but I really like this game and want to make sure that there have been no rumblings of it ending for an EQ 3 or anything like that. I know there is an expansion due out near the end of the year, but I know of a few MMOs in the past that closed shortly after releasing expansions because sales were less than expected.[/p][p]I used to play the original EQ when it first came out, and loved that until my wimpy computer back then crapped out. I was also on the closed beta of Everquest Online Adventures for the PS 2. I have played SW:G, WoW (for way too long), and most recently, LotRO. I was less than impressed with LotRO, so decided to come back to EQ. This is by far the best MMO I have tried in a long time. The crafting has not been "dumbed down" to a simple click and create, and the graphics are beautiful. By the way, if anyone is curious about trying LotRO...give it at least a year before you try it. It has major latency and Vista compatibility issues, and while the graphics have the potential to be really good, the player models are still very bland at this point. I could go on and on, but will simply say everything about EQII, graphically and game-content considered, is superior, except for water reflections and LotRO's nifty way of having skills/spells become more powerful after repeated use (and tracking that progress). WoW was fun for quite a while, but lacked depth for me, especially in crafting and variety of questing. Anyhow, I know my concern is probably groundless, but I was just wondering what the player base was now.[/p][p]Hope to see you out there soon.[/p]

[p]I don't know what the numbers are but i think it is healthy. I just left WoW and tried LotRO, but something about it just didn't draw me in. Maybe it's similarities to WoW. But EQ2, well, it did grab me! And for the past three weeks it has been a blast.[/p][p]I'm with you though to one extent, I would love to know numbers, just out of pure curiousity. [/p][p] [/p]

[p]This is what it says on eq2census.com: 2203003 but census tends to be bit off, but round the 2 mil mark i guess.[/p][p] [/p][p] [/p]

If you want to see where there are a lot of players at one time, create an Arasai character (Neriak starting city). That race and the zones they start in were only introduced this last Wednesday. Lots of people are trying them out to explore the zone.

eq2census.com hasn't been updated since November, and I recall they said they have no plans to update it further. eq2players.com lists 1448935. Given the number of alts that people seem to have, I would guess that translates to 250k-300k accounts. That doesn't take into account those who have multiple accounts or play on the Test servers.

[p]The eq2census isn't to be trusted as gospel on numbers. And that's characters, not accounts.[/p][p]SOE doesn't release much about subscription numbers. I guess they don't want to look bad against the powerhouse that is WoW. The most consistent guess that I see is around 200,000 subscribers, which is probably pretty close.[/p][p]As for the status of EQ2, well, EQ1 is still alive and being actively supported, so I don't think EQ2 has much to worry about. I haven't played anything besides those two games, so I can't speak personally, but I do see a lot of posts praising EQ2 as the most playable and polished of all the MMORPGs currently on the market.[/p][p]SOE hasn't marketed the game very effectively, and there are a lot of haters out there that badmouth the game based either on experiences playing at launch or because they don't like SOE in general. I also think there's a lot of people (kids, perhaps?) who are very vocal about how bad the game is, despite never having played it, or even seen it being played.[/p][p]My advice is to play the game and enjoy it. It's not going away any time soon. I've heard no whispers about EQ3 (which I doubt would happen anyway; the EQ2 team have said on numerous occasions they wish they hadn't named the game EverQuest 2). I'm seeing new people starting the game all the time, as well as old ones coming back. Yes, it doesn't have the numbers that WoW does, but that doesn't mean anything. Servers have a definite capacity, so all you need to do is find one with the population density you're happy with.[/p][p]Oh, and I don't know what settings you have on, but you can ramp up water effects to absolutely stunning degrees. Ripples, displacement reactions, splashes...beautiful. No idea how they'd stack up to LoTRO, but still very very nice.[/p][p] [/p]

[p]Thanks for all the info guys. I know WoW is always crowing over the 8.5 + million subscribers it has and I was worried that EQII with it's smaller player base might think that it was not worth the cost of competing, right as I discover how amazing the game is. Just like some people complain about Wal-Mart closing down all the small businesses. I do agree that EQII probably wasn't the best name choice...it's part of the reason I stayed away so long, thinking "I've already played that game". My bad on that one.[/p][p] [/p][p]As far as the water effects...I have all my water effects on max, cube and mirror, etc...LotRO still has better water and a feature called "distant imposters" which fills in empty backgrounds on hillsides, mountains and such with non-rendered (doesn't really ding your frame rate), static vegetation that looks great and really fiils out wilderness...but the player models, animations, sound effects and spell effects in EQII are MUCH better. Put it this way. I only played LotRO for 30 days and I was at the point where I would be bored after playing it for 45 minutes, simply because everything from the colors on the screen to the wordy quests seemed very....vanilla. WoW was like sherbert. Pretty colors, but it's not really ice cream. I want the banana split, where once you put your spoon in you find a whole new layer of time-consuming goodness underneath. I think EQII is it.[/p]

[p]Our guild grabbed 179 unique accounts since may 9th (261 total members). There is a huge population explosion on AB at least, and even more coming back after some found the grass not greener on the other side.[/p][p]Kunark in November, free content a few days ago, probably the most complete well rounded MMO on the market, but also the best kept secret. [/p][p]More people coming back everyday to discover this game covers all the content they could want, and SOE is doing a decent job of balancing it. Nothing to worry about, the game has always been here, it just gets buried beneath the overhyped games[/p]

Actually, I've never really saw a problem with numbers. The 60+ game has always had a healthy population and the 1 to 60 game seemed to always have people. Often new players, often people working on Alts. This week is really a pretty good time to get started in the game too. With the release of Neriak and a new evil Fae race there is a large number of low level characters out there right now. You can expect that to happen again with the release of the Rise of Kunark expansion in November. Lots of people will be creating Sarnak characters. I'm also seeing a pretty big swell of people wanting to give EQ2 a try because of Kunark on other boards.

The only problem I have with SoE and EQ2 is that the Marketing Department seems to have given up on the game, wich is sad because if they had just given half the Marketing TBC got from Blizzard to EoF this game would have FAR larger numbers, then it does. One last thing, don't look at Total Numbers to tell the health of the Community of a game, because even WoW with its 8mil subscribers does not have them all on the same server(could you imagine the Ques if they did). I would only worry about how busy the server you play on is, and you can see that at caractor creation, just pick a server that is near the bottom of the list.

I know for definate this game has NOT got over even one million. If I were you OP, go for a server with a high population such as Antonia Bayle and then look for a guild that suits your needs, whether timezone-wise or RP, or even RAIDING. Even if everyone is at max level, EQ2 has a much more helpful playerbase than that of WoW and can mentor down to your level and help you with quests. I too was worried about population at one point, but from what I have learned I fear nothing now. And with the game being solo-friendly now, i do not worry if it is hard to find groups. But still, it is quite easy to find people. Level 70's want to mentor down so that they can get their AA's.

I came from FFXI and WOW. WOW was lacking the seriousness and fantasy experience that I had loved about FFXI. FFXI became too much work. I came here around November and felt I had finally found the game for me. In that time, it seems to me that the community has been solid and probably even growing. I just seem to meet people all the time coming from WOW, Vanguard, or something else.

[p]I played EQ2 very early, when it was first released, prior to World of Warcraft.[/p][p]I swapped to WoW for a looooooooong time, but now i've come back. [/p][p]Coming from a relatively avid WoW'er, i gotta say, this is incredibly superior in my eyes atm.[/p][p]All the old issues in EQ2 have been resolved, and WoW is getting.... lax... in many areas.[/p][p]I'm having a ball on EQ2 now - it's such a different Feel than WoW - has more "heart" to it, if i were to try and put it into words. [/p][p]Well i'm off to see if the short Maintenence is over.[/p][p]Btw, to any who are complaning about the maintenance - head to the World of Warcraft Community Site and read around..... we're talking about item Stacks vanishing, ppl getting banned just for logging in after latest patch - i suspect the latter is related to the attempts to curb Gold Seller Spam included in said Patch.[/p][p]Anyway, i'm glad to be back on this, good luck everyone. [/p]

[p]I am quite sure you dont have to worry about eq2 getting dropped. If anything, its attracting new players by word of mouth. the last few months we've been seing quite a few WoW refugees coming over if the forums are a good way to tell. [/p]

If only SOE distribution would get the Echoes of Faydwer pack on the shelves in Europe - in the UK you can't even find it anymore, only the old Sands expansion (yes not even Kingdom of Sky). It means big downloads for anyone that wants to play here - since word of mouth is getting people back and EQ2 really is slowly but surely getting around as 'the' quality MMO current, it really is time to get the packs out. Please make sure Khnark stays on the shelves SOE everywhere it needs to be. Don't abandon the distribution one month in like you've done with EoF, in the UK/Europe anyway!

Well, I joined EQ2 yesterday for the first time.

I started playing EQ2 the day before the "official" start. What can I say, they opened a day early? I played until just before DoF, maxed my character and got very very bored. I left. I went to WoW, maxed my character in no time, became really bored and left. Then the hooplah around Vanguard started. Let's just say I started knowing how the game was played as early as last August. ;-) Been playing VG since release, and after getting my main to 36, I have started to get bored. It's very pretty and the things that are not complete and not right will get fixed. So....Friday night I decided to load up EQ2 and DoF (I had pre ordered it and still had the DVD...I was that bored). Saturday, I went to my local "if it plugs into a wall or works with something that plugs into a wall" mega mart (Let's just say they think they are the Best) and picked up the cumulative EoF pack and loaded it up. I patched all day, but I was expecting that and at about midnight (I'm a late night kinda guy) logged in. I found me way to both Ro and Faydwer and I am now hooked. Kelethin brought me to tears. I played EQLive back in the day for a long time. Kelethin was my home base. The music, the ambiance...heck, they even put the right music in when you approach the Combine Spires. After all that all I can say is, "I'm back!"

Well then, welcome back!

[p]I was given a free account to WOW as a christmas gift from a developer. I NEVER play WOW. It doesn't provide the same gameplay as EQ2. EQ2 has come a LONG way since launch and people are still coming from Wow. I just convinced a family memeber to switch. They love the new Fae and love the game. They finally understand why I was so excited about EQ2. Imo, I think EQ2 is and should stay "the best kept secret". If it was hyped like WOW we might lose the mature audience that we now have. [/p][p] [/p][p]my 2cp[/p]

[p] A lot of people I know defected to Kelthin and neriak just because the finaly "got them right".[/p]

I was conerned at first, but to fix this I started on the largest non-pvp server and looked on the Guild Recruitment listings 'ingame'. I looked for one in specific, a Euro based guild. Now I cannot get enough, always people only to talk to and if I wish to group there are people to mentor down or people my own level. Also if you are very uncertain, play in the new Neriak City, you will surely find groups as many have made alts with their new slots.