The only MMORPG i've ever played is WoW. I've cancelled and resubscribed to WoW maybe 5 times now, and this latest patch got me itchin to subscribe again. I came to my senses, though, and realized that once the novelty of the new skills wear off, it'll be the same thing that I've quit over and over.

So I decided to look into Everquest 2. I remembered they have a free trial, and went to their website to check it out. This isn't meant to be a troll, but I couldn't believe how horrible this games looks. I've watched a few movies, and went through some online tutorials, and it just looks so generic and sterile. The characters have nice polys, I guess, but they don't appear to have a soul. And that screenshot of a mouse faced guy in the pirate costume was just too much for me.

So I guess my question is, is this even worth downloading and running? Hows the gameplay? Are they just showing the crappy stuff on the web, and the game is much more "alive"? Is it possible to solo a lot? That's the thing that drove me nuts about WoW, is all the good quests with the hot rewards required grouping, which I hated.

Do not let looks deceive you. i am now playing Warcraft but used to play Everquest 1 and 2. Loved my time there. What you will discover is that Everquest Has a much older base then the kids that play Warcraft. After the month i am planning to resubscribing to Everquest 1 and 2 . i am just using this time to try something different.

One more thing. Everquest 1 and 2 is not so much a soloers game. Not like Warcraft. The emphasis from my experience is much more grouping.

I couldn't agree more. Their art team has no actual artistic ability. The proportions on the character models are horrible (even humans), the postures are un-natural and look so, the terrain is flat (ie grass looks like a golf course without any attempt to actually make it look good), the lines where textures meet up stand out blatantly with no effort made to make them blend in, etc.


In my opinion no, eq2 is horrible and as background I spent *years* playing EQ1 and also played wow for quite a while (as well as many other mmogs, UO, daoc, vanguard's beta, etc). EQ2 is flawed at the design level, the class balance is *impossible* because of flawed design. The game requires grouping solo'ing is theoreticall possible but practially its not possible. Wow is actually the most solo friendly mmog of them all, if you want to solo stick with wow.

Eq and Eq2 will have classes that can solo fairly well, but for the most part to do the difficult (and most rewarding) quests you need a group. Or a raid.

While I thought the character graphics in EQ2 were very nicely detailed (and rough on most computers) a big problem was you ended up with relatively few different sets of armor and weapons. Things were done by Tiers which are the equivalent of 10 player levels. so for instance at Tier 5 (levels 40-50) everyone would aspire to the same Ebon Weapons and Armor. I found myself having unusual weapons made that I didnt really like the stats of (short spear anyone?) just to get a different looking weapon.

And, what finally killed Eq2 for me was the first expansion. While it had some nice zones and good concepts, it was obviously unfinished the farther you got into it. My guild was busting their behind to get at new content ahead of everyone else only to find it unitemized or just plain not working. Because of the detailed art, a lot of zones ended up looking the same (or they would make a generic "mini-zone" that was used for multiple instanced encounters). So my guild started quitting and that pretty much killed my interest in the game.

The game also has undergone rather wholesale changes in its patches. From what ive heard the entire experience from levels 1-20 has been drastically altered.

I play EQ2 and recommend it. It's never a game you're going to "love" but it's a lot of fun. If you decide to play it, I recommend buying the Echoes of Faydwer expansion in the stores. You get EQ2 and the three expansion for $40.

I tried out the 10 day free trial and enjoyed it. They definitely made ALOT of changes since I last played in beta. My only problem with the game is no organized PvP, like battlegrounds and such otherwise I would have continued playing. Right now WoW seems like the best option if you enjoy both PvE and PvP.

WoW is decent for solo play early on, but as your level progresses it becomes obvious that if you want get good equipment or participate in the storylines of the game, you have to group. Even PVP is primarily grouping.