Why does EQ pwn?Follow

So, I've never played EverQuest. A few months ago, I woke up and had only one thought, which came seemingly out of thin air: I had to buy Final Fantasy XI. So I did. And $150 and a new graphics card later, I was powering up my Elvaan warrior. I had never played a MMORPG ever in my life; they had always sounded way too dull and nerdy for me. But man, was this game getting fun. Then I realized that it was not necessarily that I was playing the next FF game (because I wouldn't touch FFX2 with a ten-foot pole), it was that I was playing with other people and relying on them and helping them to progress in the game. Which led me to the obvious question: What if there's a game like this but better? EQ was, of course, the first option that popped in my mind regarding my further exploration into this new genre of games.

Anyway, my question is (especially for the people who've played both EQ and FFXI) why is EverQuest so great? Why should I spend the time installing it, updating, and starting to play it tonight after work? What does EQ have to offer that other MMORPGs don't? Any insight would be hugely appreciated.

Hahaha. Your advice is heeded indeed. I, however, have a somewhat grounded view of online gaming. My evidence: I bought FFXI months before my friends did but am now many levels behind them. My wife keeps me accountable for my online time... =)

In playing both FFXI and EQ - I can speak for both games.

FFXI
Pros
-> very very nice graphics, very beautiful to play.
-> Very detailed, lots of people in the towns.
-> Very In Depth, lots of quests, and can change your character as you want.
Cons
-> Hard to get your friends on the same server as you
-> Takes for ever to run from point A to point B, no instant teleport at lower levels.
-> Tradeskills are mindnumbing (you combine, and sit there and watch your character kneel down, just to MAYBE get a 0.1 in a skill)
-> Takes forever to start up. First you have to log into the Play online, then you need to get past the mail screen, then you need to log in to play FFXI, then you need to choose the character, then you need to choose the name tied to that character....Oh, hope you didn't need to patch cause thats worse than EQ IMHO.

EQ
Pros
-> Estabished, easy to find information on what your looking for fast, faster IMHO than games like FFXI.
-> Quick Load, As bad as I think EQ is, it is nothing compared to the 4 or 5 screen login of FFXI
-> More Options, you have more class options and more race options, you also have options of servers you can use if you want to do RP or PvP.
Cons
-> Uberized - since this game has been done so much by so many, lots of people already have *the best* stuff. Sometimes hard to compete
-> Buggy - being as old as it is, there are a few bugs and broken things here and there, though they are trying to fix it (kinda).
-> less pretty graphics, not quite as nice as FFXI, but still respectable for the most part, some of the newer content I think looks really nice, at least the scenery.

Of course, this is all my opinion.

Last Friday night 70 of my friends and I logged on to hear the call to arms from our Grand War Marshall, Tunk the mighty Ogre.

Apparently the great god of War, Rallos Zek had been planning an invasion of the Plane of Tranquility and our intrepid band of fighters and adventures had been "volanteered" into trying to prevent it, or at least find out if there was any truth to the rumours.

The call was to gather and prepare at the front of Drunda the Fortress of Zek. We quickly assembled and like the smooth well oiled fighting machine that we are, formed up our platoons and squads, equipped and prepared ourselves for the oncoming battle and boldly stepped across the portal into the realm of the God of War.

Now, our great War Marshall is a good leader, he had carefully briefed the officers and men and we all had a clear understanding of what lay before us. It was to be a battle of three parts. To get to Rallos Zek himself we had to first defeat his two sons Tallon Zek and Vallon Zek, who's forces guarded all approaches. Tallon Zek being a mighty bowman and posessed of powerfull magics that could throw a fully armoured Ogre high into the air and dash him against the walls of his fortress. Vallon Zek a might swordsman and having the ability to make visions of himself appear manyfold, so that his enemy becomes confused and forces divided fighting the many "false" Vallons, who by the way seem to be able to wield a sword with very nearly the same ferocity as the real Vallon Zek.

One or two of my companions seemed to be shuffling their feet in a somewhat nervous manner as we digested these tidbits of information.

So prepped and briefed, we began the the battle and started to fight our way into the stronghold of Tallon Zek our first objective. It was tough going, the guards of the outerlying areas were no second rate troop sleeping at their posts. We struggled with wave after wave of mighty Ogre warriors and shadow knights, some of whom had similar (but thankfully less powerful) magic powers to their masters. Some would split into two equally powerful fighters as soon as they attacked, some had the power to remove some of our magic protection and freeze us to the spot, or send us flying backward into the walls and pillars.

We did prevail though, and with but a small number of deaths our force gathered at the entrance to Tallon's lair. Our healers and clerics resurected those fallen on the way, I did what I could to mend the wounds of my squad, we applied our magics to our protection and strength and were ready for our first great encounter with a son of the God of War.

A brave Monk, Acidfer by name, had been given the glorious task of going forth and banging on Tallon's door and challenging him to the battle. This of course resulted in Tallon sending out some of his deputies to dismiss us, as no doubt he thought of us as a mere rabble, puny mortals not fit for his attention. Little did he know.

The deputies and inner guards were dealt with in swift fashion, our warrior squads moving quickly along the corridors pinning down and dispatching any defenders that came to interfere. And then suddenly there he was. Tallon Zek, standing the height of at least three Ogres end to end, a towering mighty figure.

He began firing his bow this way and that, our force was taking mighty damage, but our fearless leader leapt into position right in Tallon's face (well knee actually) and began to taunt and berate him in such away that Tallon forgot his own battle tactics and turned on our great warrior trying to swat him away. Our plan had worked. Tallons back was now exposed and we all leapt into the fray the rogues in a backstabing frenzy, the rangers flinging arrow upon arrow, our wizards and mages conjuring up great firestorms and hurling them at him.

We druids did what we could, assisting the clerics heal the wounds of our comrades, calling down the wrath of Karana upon Tallon where we could, and, suddenly the battle was over.

Tallon lay dead on the floor of his fathers fortress.

By this time our scouts had discovered the way into his broher Vallon Zek's wing of the fortress, we quickly raised our fallen fighers and used our magics and transported our entire force into a secluded area where we could prepare once again and launch our asault on Vallon's domain.

Once again we had to fight our way through a maze of corridors and hallways until we were standing in Vallon's very courtyard, we again fought wave after wave of his personal guard testing our resolve and stamina to the limit, until Vallon himself appeared to take command of his forces.

Our moment of truth had arrived could we deal with a god that could split himself into multiple copies of himself? Each with the power of a god? As many as five at a time we were to learn.

"Turning back" are two words not in the vocabulary of our merry band of troublemakers and so the battle was set.

Each of our great Warriors and Knights were assigned there task and their men gathered about them ready to play their part or die in the trying. Once again our mighty leader hurled taunts at Vallon in the hope of making him angry and distracting him from his battle plan. Well I don't know if he was distacted or not but he certainly was angry. He attacked with full ferocity, as you might expect a Zek to do and the battle was engaged.

We fought and fought, for what seemed like hours, but it couldn't have been of course, or none of us would have survived to tell the tale. But it was clearly a great test of undurance tht we faced. We over came the first wave of counterfiet Vallons, then a second then a third, our force was becoming sorely tested, our warriors and knights were falling to the left and to the right, our clerics were raising them back to life, slapping some blood back into their cheeks and sending them back out into the fray as quickly as they could utter the words of prayer to the Ladies Tunare and Quellious.

We Druids were dashing here and there, helping the clerics to mend wounds, recasting our magic protections on the fighters and hurling Tunare's fire at the many Vallons where we could.

Then suddenly as quickly as it had begun the noise of battle came to an end and the last Vallon, the real Vallon fell to the floor.

I stood and gazed around me at the carnage of the battle field, many of our brothers and sisters had fallen, it was a terrible fight, but we had prevailed. Nothing stood between us the God of War, Rallos Zek now.

Our scouts had been busy and had located Rallos preparing to do battle with us, he had postioned himself down in his arena of testing, "The Pit" as it is known amongst his guards and gladiators. A fearfull place packed with his boars of war and foe of all description.

We needed tme though, to recover our dead, re-equip and prepare for this ultimate battle. Our leaders commanded our wizards to use their magic to transport the whole force back to the gates of the fortress, where our medics had set up an aid station. Our necromancers summoned up the bodies of our fallen comrades where they were brought back to life and we all prepared to face the God of War.

Our Grand War Marshall conducted a final briefing as we prepared, our plan was to divide off a small part of our force to capture the attention of Rallos Zek's defenders and draw them away from the main battle. We had chosen to engage him in the southern part of "The Pit", our brave small force of fighters were to draw the remainder of his force up to the north and hold them there as best they could while the bigger part of out force attacked Rallos in concert.

At last we were ready, everyone gathered back in rank, armed and ready to go, we druids applied our levitation and invisibility magics to the force and the attack began. We poured down into the pit, our mighty warrior Tunk attacked Rallos with such ferocity that he forced him back into the corner of the pit, he could not manouvre or easily take aim at the rest of us. Our leader ws taking a horrifying reign of blows, but the clerics were working together unison healing his wounds and bolstering his spirit as rapidly as Rallos was able to strike.

With Rallos trapped and focussed on Tunk as the single target of his fury, the rest of us were free to hurl what missiles and magics we could summon. After many strikes from the rangers arrows and the blast of fire and ice hurled by the wizards, mages and druids, Rallos began to stumble, his knees buckled and he fell crashing to the ground.

It was a moment of exhilaration, but at the same time we could hear the crys and sounds of battle from the north as our comrades continued to do battle with Rallos' pets and champions, who having heard the crashing fall of their God and Battle Master had gone into a raging frenzy and were rampaging through the arena felling any they found in their path. Many of us died in that final onslaught, only rescued from being trapped for eternity in the dust of the Pit of Rallos Zek by our Necromancers who with their quick thinking summoned our corpses back to the aid station where the clerics could work their blessed miracles.

And so it was, a fitting end to an attack on the realm of the God of War, a triumphant victory for the forces of right and good but with a stinging reminder of our mortality and the great power of these gods we are destined to contend with.

WOW!!! only one comment have I... As stirring as that description was, (and believe me, I was moved), I kept wishing you guys had had an embedded news crew along for the ride!

Thanks Iluien, I was gonna log on for a while, but I'm beat... I need a nap!!!

Hey, thats me! Lol.




You were not the only one in need of a nap. In spite of Cobra's zerg jab, it was a tough night, we actualy took out a target earlier in the night (for the life of me can't recall which one it was, ahh Maneatic Behometh it was) and when we had enough people on who needed the flag decided to give it a shot.

It was our first attempt at RZ and I'm sure that we will refine our tactics as we do him again a few times, particularly the last part in the pit where darn near half our force died after RZ went down.

But it was a great raid, I hadn't felt the same tension and stress levels since ToV.

Edited, Wed Jul 28 01:52:07 2004 by Iluien

No worries mate. I knew you were .

Actually I don't think you could zerg RZ the AoE just wouldn't allow it.

That account was definitely enough to peak my interest. I did install the game this afternoon and create a character, but I must say that the beginning process is a bit daunting. And it's always difficult to go from marvelous graphics to adequate ones, but I've never let that stop me before. Thank you very much for your input. I, too, feel in need of a nap. :)

What would be nice to know is if there is a "hookah-smoking caterpillar" in PoM where they put the rest of the Alice stuff.

I can't say what hooks me so to EQ but I guess its the endless possiblities.

From a cleric that wants to make himself a name as a gifted healer and smith in the major cities..... over an elusive ranger tracking down beasts in far-away lands and taking rarely notice of other peoples affairs .....and up to a mercyless dark-elf rogue(on a PvP server).....few other cames come even close to that =)

Takin bout lyrics the old Dean Martin song "Hey Brother pour the Wine" gives me a laugh each time ist comes to:

"I have seen her with an-other.....
....no my friend, he's not her bro-ther..."

*LOL

Hehe. No way.

"Feed your head" had a very different conotation. One which the generation of that time understood only too well.

The spiritual aspect was to do with opening up your mind to embrace free thinking and new ideas and to throw off the shackles of the Establishment.

The umm tools that some chose to use to assist in the mind expanding process were another matter.

I can settle this for all of you since the Dormouse is an old friend of mine. Feed your head means exactly all of those things. Take mind expanding drugs, learn, love, get involved, make a difference. FEED YOUR HEAD baby, don't let the time just pass you by. Find your truth, most importantly for yourself, don't accept someone elses and become another clone.