What keeps you here?

i know . I transfered from MD to AB to curb the temptation to raid again! LOL

Well, moving to AB would do it, lol. Cant raid there even if you want to

I've been playing eq2 for 16 years. I love this game: The beauty of Norrath: sunsets, mountains, forests, oceans, rain, snow, etc. There is not an expansion I haven't liked or found challenging. I have my favorites, but none I dislike. I think the developers do a fantastic job. I work to keep my characters maxed on adventuring and trade skilling - I like both. When I'm tired of adventuring, I can decorate. There is no other game that has the same housing and decorating. I play on the Halls of Fate server (formerly from Everfrost sever) and find most all others on the sever helpful and upbeat. I don't raid. For me, most raids are at the wrong time of day and take to long as I also have a house in real life to manage. Most of my time is spent soloing and getting my 9 characters through the expansion content. I would like to group more, but can't seem to build my guild to 6 players who consistently play. I've a guildhall with all the amenities, but new recruits join, find not enough players to group, then leave in a couple days. It would be nice if some would stay and help recruit. Oh well, it is what it is, and I still love the game. I'll be here until it dies.

Obviously, I'm still here because I'm a masochist and this is the only place I can be rewarded for mass extermintation of multiple factions instead of going to jail. Oh, and bunny and squirrel mounts, of course.

Indeed, first love is special. Been in and out since 2004. Was like 20 years then and the last days my two sons made me install eq2 again. There is so much to love, and so much to complain about when it comes to this damn game. One thing I did hate more than anything (not sure if it's still around), was the hour/days-counter stating your total in-game hours. You could always blame on lots of afk, but holy Jupiter which horrific numbers you saw there...

What keeps me here? Mostly waiting to see when VoV actually launches, haha. Oh wait...you mean the game--not this forum thread.

I feel what Buggabug said, we're all masochists.

Personally, I have tried a few other games, they never kept my interest longer than a week. This game, this game though, it has everything I want in a game. Excellent Lore, good quests, the chance to die in new zones (it's ALWAYS a good day to die in EQ or EQ2!), trade skilling, Horses!! And other mounts, as I've gotten even older, all my guild has drifted away to other games, soloing or duoing are my main ways of adventuring. I have played EQ in one form or another since 1999, came over to EQ2 in 2004 shortly after the server went live. Haven't looked back but one time and EQ was so gosh darned clunky compared to EQ2. The art has consistently gotten better as tech has evolved in the real world, the devs have always tended to come up with good quests. They need to put in interim quests after the expansion goes live, like in maybe 6 months or so, exploring more lore and keeping people's interest. Mostly what I hear from people that play daily is they get bored with doing the same old daily missions. Me, I like nothing better than to take it slow, harvest and hunt for shinies because, SHINY! Well, you rarely see me on the forums because I'm usually logging into the game whenever I can.

I cancelled my 8 accounts 3 weeks ago playing Diablo 2 resurrected having way more fun their than eq2 .

You can still see that, type in /played in chat and it shows your "birth" date and total time. You can also see that information on u.eq2wire.com for each character. Yes, sometimes it's sobering to see how much of your life has been spent in Norrath.

I tried Guildwars not long after I started playing in 2005 based on a guildee's recommendation but didn't care much for it. Only other time I played other games was during the great shutdown after the server hacks. There's just always something to do here (at least if you have more than a couple of characters...).

Because I love the community and there is always something to do. I've been playing for years and I've not come close to doing everything and there is always something new right around the corner. I'm loyal to a fault, one of my downfalls, so when I find something I love, I stick with it. I love the decorating community and the crafting. I do like the adventuring and the lore but it seems I can never keep up and/or devote the time to getting the perfect gear and all the stuff that comes with it, so I miss out on any raids. But there is still plenty that I can do on my own. They will have to drag me out kicking and screaming. I've tried other games, but they simply don't have what this game has. I've found one other that I like, but I always play this the most.

I do love the game you don't have to rush to end game you can get lost in the first 20 levels and come out for the better. this expansion will appease many that love exploration or those just taking it slow... I know those can get to end game two hours after the launch comes out but those that do are the ones that done beta for the last month... I dont care that they rediscovered items and achievements... those are the raiders that what they do but life and games are cherished more at one's own pace. Thank you all for the years of entertainment and enlightenment!

I too love the first 20 levels of the game even though i dont have the newest expansion of VoV i will get eventually those so much to do I get overwhelmed and I dont know how to ask for help at times. you see me in game please wave hello I respond in kind... have a good gaming experience. Play on!

TBH, I started playing New World in the interim between the last expac & Vetrovia. And will likely move onto GW2's new expansion in February. So, I've let my sub lapse for a bit.

But I'll be back eventually. I always come back, lol.

FROSTFELL
Even if I have to drop my sub for financial reasons, I try to re-sub at least a month during Frostfell. Something about this holiday and the way they do it makes me smile and I just really enjoy myself! I will always be here for Frostfell even if I can't get in much the rest of the year.

My friends and I had to leave at the beginning, our machines just couldn't handle it, but EQ2 stuck with me and I was happy to finally be able to get back in later on. I still have memories from those super early days with my friends.

There is a lot that keeps me here, despite me nearly dropping my account "for real" this year for a boat load of personal reasons. But this is just such a unique game, to me. I've played others with my friends, and on my own, and this is the one that 'keeps' me. I'm not a raider or anything, I solo, but still find I am plenty occupied with even basic things in the game. EQ2 is a way for me to just relax.

I've had reasons to nearly quit for good due to frustrations with direction of the game, and have taken breaks. But I'm still here, and have realized recently I probably always will be here no matter what. There are soooo many great things about this game, and playing others has proven it still beats newer games in many ways that I find personally important for the way I tend to run.

And on a random note... the zones. They are all so interesting, so creative, and I realized earlier this month that despite how much time I've spent toodling around in them all these years, I've never ever EVER gotten tired of seeing them. Love the designs and different moods this game presents. Someone mentioned the little surprise places and quests you can find if you explore, and those are part of the delight of this game for me when I stumble upon them.

And housing which is amazing here... even the fact we have mirrors that actually reflect seems to be fairly unusual. And and and and many other things people have already listed. I was supposed to keep this short lol so, "What they said!"

So, I noticed kithicor in your signature was that your first server in eq2? was mine made a wood elf wizard name Nooz! glad you come back even when it's just for frostfell

YES!
I definitely enjoy all the holidays to varying degrees, but Frostfell does so much to make the real world holidays much more joyful. At home, I am not really into all the decorating (too expensive, nobody ever comes over to make it worth the trouble), but in this game, I do spend many days/nights decorating many of my characters homes. Personal drama/trauma may make it challenging, but at least here is a very festive place to mentally emotionally escape to for brief respite.

Ha, my first server was Kithicor! Glad two peeps from there still play!

I have been playing since launch 2004, when I lived on my own, now I am a father of a 10 year old. Never raided. Haven't got a character over level 60. I don't play every day, sometimes I get disheartened and drift off to play Tomb Raider, The Witcher, or Forza Horzon or FIFA.

But I am back because Frostfell is coming up, Christmas and Frostfell are intertwined for me, Frostfell means it's Christmas, and Christmas means it's Frostfell. I usually sub for the month of December.

So many memories of launch and choosing you class / subclass, not being allowed out of Qeynos until you'd completed the quest. Fossil temper, crafting that you needed other crafting classes to help. The wonder of not knowing what you were going to encounter. Then I drifted off and came back and played EoF they day it was released, it was like a brand new game to me and it was beautiful. The music in Kelethin still brings a small tear to my eye to this day. I had a wonderful guild on Permafrost with a greeat group of people who I used to chat to every day about anything and everything, but time has moved on. I have my own guild on Thurgadin now, there's just my toons in it so I do miss the general chit chat while I am playing, if anyone wants to /friend me just for some banter that would be cool. I do have about 9 chars, and enjoying slow questing and tradeskilling, which will all go out of the window when Frostfell starts.

I still have a lot to learn, haven't ventured into recent content yet although am up to date with expansions, and I have never been told to RTFM or received anything other than helpful comments from the forums and the in game chat.

I could write a lot more, but I won't.

Kesia / Apinia / Brina / Chrinna / Trina / Furryous and more
Thurgadin

Hi! Yes, I think I started in Kithicor, for some reason that server stuck with me despite being smushed through various merges.

Usually am in the game throughout the whole year here and there, though Frostfell is basically the guarantee that I'll definitely be in. I'm very ready for it to just get started already I'm happy I don't die crafting frostfell stockings for my messy houses. One of my friends still asks if I've died lately in the "crafter dungeon basement".