Will EQ2 get lost in the release of Vanguard?

Yes...I was trying to pin exactly what it is that is not quite the same, then you nailed it. When we played EQ-1, for the most part it was THE Mmog on the Market Et Al. You really did not have a choice so you built up a reputation and realized everyone was doing the same so you made lots of new friends and had some pretty awesome groups. Returned are the long runs to camps, death penalties and slower exp with far lesser rewards in the line of loot if your starting fresh as I am. Unfortunately, gone is the spirit of EQ-1 from 5 years ago. I spent almost 3 hours tonight finally resorting to NPC's that were 2-3 levels below me after incurring more debt than exp and a loss of 25% of my funds in repairs do to adds and laggy targeting. To those who feel that VG got the questing right and a purpose to hunt, I would add that my level 8 Quests are mainly deliver a note from this camp to that camp or kill 10-15 of a mob. I also miss the auto no space taken in the inventory updates. I quickly find my bags full after an hour with 5 ears, two snouts, 6 essences, 4 scales....you get the picture.

Well, I go to load the toon that I spent 10 hours playing yesterday (was my day off) and there it sits on the character select screen with the two toons that I started with to explore the game mechanics a bit with. Of course the level 4 and 5 toons can log in perfectly, however my main can't. Two hours later, no response from petition, live chat, technical support forums and here I sit wondering if it will be fixed. The only pages available that are "official" are the support pages and it appears that they don't get answered all that much by technical support.

[p]I have to say that I reluctantly tried Vanguard out because, frankly, I have hit a wall in EQ2 and have little to do other than play the broker and farm SP/Faction.../YAWN.[/p][p]That being said, I will warn anyone who wishes to try VG....it is EXTREMELY addictive!! It blows away EQ2 imho. There is sooooo much to do there, it's unbelieveable. You CAN be just a crafter and it actually has depth, challenge AND the stuff you make is actually good stuff that people want. You can be purely a diplomat if you chose to and travel from city to city negotiating with them and get rewarded for it. You can be just an adventurer too and solo, group or raid....it's all there and viable. Or, naturally, you can do all 3![/p][p]The world is absolutely HUGE! I'm not sure but I would bet that it's 5-10 times the size of EQ2. For example, I had this Fed Ex quest to a (cough) nearby town...it took me over a half an hour to get there by horse! Yes, you get a horse at level 10 and they are cheap to buy and you can buy gear for your horse that increases it's speed and stability. Then, due to the enormity of the world I am sure, at higher levels you can get flying mounts...awesome! Someone also told me that chariots will be a mount that can be made by Blacksmiths. I already saw someone go cruising by on a camel LOL.[/p][p]There are just as many, if not more, quests to do as there are in EQ and the rewards are actually useful at the level you complete them![/p][p]The game is complex, has depth and fantastic graphics. I would not recommend it for the instant gratification types that just want to click their mouse and land in the zone of their choice and immediately start getting exp and loot though.[/p]

I must fall into the instant gratification type. After playing a toon for several days I expected to be "instantly gratified" by being able to log in my toon and play. Three hours later, no answer from tech support, the live chat area down, no answer on their boards, no answer on my petition or /bug report. Sure I can log in the level 4 toons that I made when I started the game, however the main toon I have been playing that lists on the select screen does not load, simply reverts back to the select screen. Great game by the way, so long as you require no support.

[p]Heh...I had a support issue and got a reply within 5 minutes. I also reported an offensive name and it was changed within a few minutes AND I got a tell from a GM saying thanks for the report. There was some gold sales spammer sending mail to people and within a DAY, we got a system-wide broadcast announcing that "Plat Seller Name" has been removed from the game....enjoy![/p][p]Sure, there are some bugs but they are working very fast to eliminate them. [/p]

I can see how something as important as a gold seller or a offensive name would take priority over something trivial like not being able to log in your main. Oddly, given the "Vision" it does not surprise me that these issues are handled 1st. As for me, it's been about 3 hours with zero response from any avenue of communication. Again, I really am enjoying the game, perhaps that's why my inability to log in my main toon ticks me off. The other two toons were only to see how things worked in the game and are the same class, hense, why play them.

I played VG from beta 2 to the launch, and I was not that impressed. Then again, IMOP I am a casual/sometimes casual hardcore player. To me, those types of missions equate to a "time-sink". Running across an empty world, for an hour and a half as newbie was the type of thing that drew me away from VG. In a way this is a good thing, because VG has its own hardcore base, while EQ2 has something a little less casual than WOW. To that end, the answer to your question is NO, EQ2 will not get lost in the relase of Vanguard. I'd be more worried about LOTR. I haven't played the beta yet but I've heard good things about it. Though, I know I won't play because I know there will be too many LOTR movie bandwagon kids, etc.

[p] [/p][p]I am a VERY casual soloer mostly and I can see where I will have plenty to do for years to come as opposed to finishing EQ2 in a year where my solo character has made over 2k in plat, is maxed in all levels except a couple AA and is wearing all Legendary/Fabled and has nothing better to do than farm faction or play the market.[/p][p]What you call a "time-sink", I call immersive content of the kind that kept me actively engaged in EQ1 for over 5 years. You see....being able to travel almost instantly to anywhere you want to go shrinks the world and enables people to get to the end much too quickly and then complain that there's not enough content. As the game progresses, there will be faster means of travel like the flying mounts which will be a good thing because by the the time you are high enough level to get said mounts, running through the same old zones will no longer be fun and it will be better to just fly over them...VERY smart imho. And, in between, there will be mounts like chariots that you can use to zoom through the newbie zones....wow...how much fun will that be? [/p]

[p]LOTR is very good and has a lot of potential. A little low in content right now (and not much creature variety) but the engine is very polished. Also rewards crafting very well (crafted items are some of the best you can get). Its very WoW like in terms of the interface (which is a good thing) but exceeds it in many areas. Its a very melee orientated game, magic plays relatively low key right now (no dedicated Priest classes, no dedicated Mage classes -- unless u count Loremaster). I predict this game as being becoming a successful major MMORPG within 6 months.[/p][p]Vanguard is.... well the best way i can describe it is kinda "blah" right now. Overall very high system requirements (yes, you need an even better rig than for EQ2). Even on my relatively high end machine it runs a little sluggishly on fairly moderate graphic settings. Current quests lack imagination and overall gameplay feels very bare bones. Has a lot of time-sinks (which some of our more confused community members equate to "challenging") and progress feels dreadfully slow. Even travelling is slow. I just didn't get any feeling of satisfaction out of playing it. Maybe I just need to play it more or something but it certainly didn't grab me within a few hours like WoW and EQ/EQ2 did. Its a very "pretty" game though, if you can get it to run well on your machine -- graphics are very good.[/p]

I am still baffled by these folks that think long travel times are a good thing. They may make the world feel bigger at first, but when you have to travel the same route over and over and the travel time is long, the good impression wears off very fast. Seriously, why do you want to pay money to watch your toon "travel" for 30 mins just to do a quest? Same thing with tougher death penalties. Yeah, death needs some kind of penalty, and EQ2's is probably too light. But really, why do you want to have to spend time on CR's, or grinding back hours (or even days) worth of xp debt because of a death due to bug, or party member DC, or whatever? It's like you guys are clamouring for more reason to sit in front of your computer waiting for cool stuff to happen. Personally, I'd prefer more cool stuff, thanks. Adding pointless timesinks is just a way for developers to procrastinate about adding real content. And you guys are eating it up, because OMG it's Brad McQuaid and he did EQ1 and it's a MMO for l33t people OMG OMG!!11! VG is not that good. It's not that bad either, but it's not nearly the quantum leap into MMO perfection that some people are making it out to be. Those people want it to be good, maybe because they've been looking forward to it for a long time, or they've emotionally invested themselves in it (or in the idea that it'll prove their MMO manhood) but right now, it's not worth the hype its getting.

[p] [/p][p]Haha...it's funny that you say the quests lack imagination...they are almost exactly the same as EQ1 and 2. Heck, there are even city tasks but they are called missives instead.[/p][p]I have a relatively high end machine that runs EQ2 with no trouble and I can run VG with np at all. You just have to select a lower setting. For example, I have EQ2 running on High Quality and I have to run VG on Balanced..../shrug. [/p][p]Regarding "time sinks" equalling challenge. I think it is you that is confused. At least as far as my opinion is concerned, you are. I equate these alleged time sinks to immersion. When you have to travel 30 minutes by horse to get to another town....that makes sense to me and is fitting for the "rural" setting of this game. It makes it seem a bit more realistic....to me anyway. Any other time sinks that are present are also present in every other game. Without them, one would log on and be a maxed out level 70 within a matter of days....how much fun would that be? Not very.[/p][p]If progress seems slow, it's because you are accustomed to the WoW and EQ2 leveling speed which does more harm than good in the long run because people run out of stuff to do faster than new, quality content can be released. VG is faster than EQ1 was but slower than WoW and EQ2...this is a GOOD thing.[/p][p] [/p]

[p]this is right on[/p][p] and for the poster above me, you can take a while to get anywhere you want in eq2...dont take the griffon, the bell is nothign more then a boat ride, take the boats less often travel by foot as much as you can, and there you go, there is your statisfation. When you die run around the zone for 15 mins to pentiize yourself for your death. I mean just cause they make EQ2 less of a hassle so you have more time to actually play the game you dont have to play that way. [/p]

Every board I've read and person I've talked to says Vanguard boils down to a "forced grouping" game past the 15-20ish level range. Whether this is true or not I don't know, but that alone is enough to drive me (and several other people I know) away from it. I personally don't like the harsher death penalties, increased travel times, and slower pace that Vanguard has. While it's great for people who want "something to look forward to", it's hard to believe the game will change that much playing from 20-30 and playing from 30-40, so it all it does is drag out the same type of thing you're already doing.

That's where the genious of their design is...as you level, you get faster and faster mounts. Eventually you get flying mounts that you can take anywhere and fly over that same old route eliminating this issue. Next!

[p]I have played VSoH, am currently beta testing LOTRO and play EQ2 obviously. IMHO Vanguard is a nice game, and could be fun if you had the time to invest. Someone like me who has to solo 75% of the time and only has 1-2 hours to play 75% of the time, Vanguard is not for you. On the other hand if you do play like that, and want a change from EQ2 then LoTro is a very good game. [/p][p] EQ2 is my favorite.....maybe because I been playing so long, or maybe because it's the only game I have gotten max level in....I don't know. I know that I own VSoH and don't play, and I will play LOTRO when it comes out.....along with EQ2 of course hehe[/p]

[p]I have done that in EQ2 actually....just to see if it helped but it's just not the same as when the game is designed that way.[/p][p]Death penalties are a GOOD thing. It makes people better players and actually adds some sense of danger to the game as opposed to...uh...duh...I R too lazy too aktuelly wun to da entwance...I R will just keel muself. LOL [/p]

I solo 90% of the time and can only play for an hour or so at a time and I LOVE VG. So far, I have soloed to level 14 quite easily.../shrug.

So you want an easier game....nothing wrong with that.

wow, V:SoH has flying mounts! Lets all go there! no seriously, I anticipated on this game for quite some time, i actually passed on Beta because i wanted to see the "finished" game did i get a cold shower. EQ2 i can play in highest detail, full shadows on raids, and still get 50+ fps Vanguard, i cant even play on balanced with stuttering every 2 seconds. so no thank you, I'll stay here

[p]The difficulty and frustration I get has nothing to do with intended game mechanics. I wasn't able to craft with my main character until the recent fix. I am still unable to do diplomacy. Oh I'd like to try it and hear others like it but I can't drag the damn parlay cards to the tray. I can drag them fine when not in a conversation. So that was relatively two thirds of the game I couldn't check out until it gets fixed for me. All I can do is bug and wait. That seems to do well with the quest. [/p][p]I enjoy the game but for me personally... I like fast progression. Vanguard appeals to a different side of my gaming. I surely won't play it exclusively.[/p]