(No clue where to put this, so I did it in Gameplay Discussion since it makes the most sense here. Sort of.) Me, I'm someone from the current gen, the one you'd insultingly and stupidly call a 'casual carebear'. That dumb terminology aside, I've moved on from WoW since it felt empty, at least to me. It didn't suit my love of exploration, combat, skill interaction, and player skill influence. I am still having a sort of hard time deciding between the two. EverQuest? EverQuest 2? Pros of each? Cons of each? Plus I don't want to buy an XPack for one and end up moving to the other.
I think Everquest 2 is more friendly to the casual player, but why not try out both and see which one you prefer? Both games have free to play options, so all you would need to do would be to download both games and create some characters and you won't need to buy anything unless you decide you want to subscribe and/or purchase the latest expansions. There are some limitations to the free to play accounts, but you can get a very good idea of what the games are like. You can even keep playing both if you like with no extra charge because if you decide to subscribe, the subscription would cover both games.
One thing - you mention exploration - if that's your thing get away from any of the 4 start zones offered when you create a character asap. They are set up for strictly linear progression, quest node to quest node (as is the later game as well unfortunately). Shift your character over to the Commonlands or Antonica if you like looking about for things, and venturing into optional dungeons.
Original concept (when EQ2 was first put out) was that EQ had developed more into a raiding game and EQ2 was more for solo/grouping. That has changed a lot, but I think EQ2 is a bit more friendly toward grouping than EQ is/was, but both have good things about them. However, one of the BIGGEST for EQ2 is that it is more... easy to find quests and such than EQ1 is. However, if you want, you can play both for free and if you like both, go allaccess and get both for the total price of allaccess! I spend so much time here (I work at home, caretaker for family member) that though on very limited income, and we struggle to do so, we pay for allaccess when we can because I play BOTH games. Its better than staring at the idiot box *grins*. And less commercials too!
EQ2 is an old game. EQ is even older. I found it difficult to step that far back in animation for EQ.
I started writing a long, involved post, but after reading what i (long windedly) wrote, i felt it could be summed up below: EQ pro's:Amazing, helpful, and for the most part, mature community, easy to get started and leveling if you get a mercenary, and at the higher end of the game, lots of grouping to be had. So much to see and do. Also, excellent starting tutorials. EQ con's: Outdated graphics in some zones, virtually no lower level grouping to be had, timesinks galore, buffs are on a timer, crafting system is archaic, to put it kindly. Housing /decorating is available, but no where near on par with eq2. EQ2 pro's: Grouping at all level's, via the dungeon finder at lvl 20, in think? Graphics are beautiful, Tradeskill system is one of the best that i've ever experienced in any game. Joining the Crafting chat channel will put you in touch with the crafting community in this game, which are some of the most helpful, generous, kind, and decent people in the game. If you like housing/decorating, this game in my opinion offers some of the best there is. EQ2 con's: General chat is pretty much a cesspool of trolls, but it can easily be turned off, so not sure that's much of a con. I'm trying to think of more cons, i mean, i disagree with some of the recent decisions made, such as the veteran rewards, pricing of the expansions, etc., but for the most part, I really enjoy playing eq2. These are just my opinions/personal experience, but in the end, any game, much like anything else in life, is what YOU make it. I'm sure you will enjoy whatever game you choose, i've been playing both off and on since 99, and for the monthly sub fee, you can't beat the entertainment value(can't speak to free to play experience, as i have never been free to play)
This is flat out wrong. There is not much grouping to be had at all at max level and there is almost no groups below that. Most people now stick to their guilds for groups or they have a circle of friends. This game has become a solo game and its not the fault of Daybreak/SOE. My advice to the OP is that if they play EQ2, they better find a good guild otherwise they will mostly go it alone.
I never "really" played EQ, every time i was curious enough to try i couldn't get past the space shuttle interface with the hard polly look. OP, EQ2 hands down for you.
have played both games and have max level toons on both. play eq2 as there are more players to play with, leveling and gearing is easier. you also can solo at the beginning easily without a merc. tradeskilling is easier, faster and cheap if you do your own harvesting. you can do agnostics to level up and make friends in doing so. it is also easier to play and learn. eq1 has few players below heroic level and most are alts. after level 50 or so the zones were revamped in difficulty so that a merc is a must. mercs are free to everyone but you must be a subscriber to get the higher tier ones. those are not needed until level 85 or so. exp gets really slow after lvl 50. everyone plays in the "hot" zones which have a exp boost. there are daily quests for each hot zone. only one though and will give 10% exp or less as you out grow the zone. you do those quests for exp as it can take 1-4 kills for your exp bar to move. it isn't easy nor fast to level up solo which you will be doing. other quests give exp but only about 2% for the turn in. lower levels it is more. you can be all the crafters in eq1 but you can not possibly harvest all of you materials. they are level dependent body drops. eq1 isn't a easy game nor fast to level up. your toons power comes from how many aa's you have. my mage has over 9k but my lesser played enchanter is just under 9k. many are level dependent. you have 10 spell slots on your bar and can get 12 or 13 with aa's. they can be swapped out. only one tier of spells too. when you die your body has your gear. sometimes you can run back and loot it. it is safer to just have the npc summon it for you. at level 105 the token needed to buy for him to do so is about 1000 plat. stupid play can get expensive. your merc can rez you to give some exp back. ya you loose about 10% exp per death. I could go on but you should get the point. play eq2 and save yourself some frustration.
