Free month is done....so is this gameFollow

Thank you so much for telling me this game is done. I was planning on playing it for awhile as I'm really enjoying it, but your insightful post has saved me lots of time and money. I'll run out and get WoW right now after I quit my RL job since it's boring (today.) I can feel the compelling pull of games forcing me to play them even as I type.

I'm enjoying EQ2 FAR FAR more.. not sure what game you're playing...



notice the sig.. 4 characters.. one is brand new.. the rest.. solo with the occassional group or duo and that was with people I know IRL, we didn't HAVE to group.. I easily have 80% solo play time on all my characters... my summoner especially is turning out to be a soloing monster.. doing far better than my predator or sorcerer in solo play.. but I can solo pretty effectively with those two as well. So I think what the OP wants EASY solo for HIGH XP.



again I must ask, what game are you playing? I was in the ocean solo'ing (yes that solo thing) some octopai for a quest and not finding many.. but I did find a cave.. asked in /ooc about it.. and got many helpful replies about what it was.. I thanked them and said "thanks for the info, back to octopai hunting".. at which time I was told in /ooc where the mob I wanted could be more easily found. I didn't ASK for the information.. and was quite content to search and figure it out myself.. again I thanked them, hopped a griffon and my quest was done far sooner.

I was also under the impression that the community was less than talkative in EQ2 but amazingly enough, if you talk to people kindly, they talk back kindly.. now I've learned something new.



now on this I have to just laugh. my App II level scarab can take down Even Match "solo" mobs on it's own.. and can effectively tank Yellows and Double Triangle Green "group" mobs.. that's VERY useful IMO, and I'm GREATLY looking forward to getting my Adept 1 book.

now granted.. my little character is delightfully 16th level.. but if the pace and scaling I've experienced in the past is any indication of the future, then for the way I do things.. EQ2 is darn near perfect.

Why do people bother to post this stuff. I for one, and I am sure many others, don't care if you plan to continue to play EQ2 or not. The people that enjoy the game will stay, the people that don't will not. So please post on the WoW site if that makes you feel better.

ok im a lvl 23 SK right now, and i feel the same way. the game looks good, but there is something missing. i dont think i will renew my accout either. havent made up my mind yet but you have to admin the game is lacking greatly... the fun facter does not even out with the tedium factor. im sure i will continue on but dude if some one is leaving i more then understand why... right now the game is not worth the price, in either time or money

Creating this thread was rather pointless. What did you expect us to do? Fall to our knees and beg you to stay? Come on...

First of all if you have an attitude with EQII players then you will loath WoW, it has that *battle.net survival of the fittest* attitude that everybody in Diablo II had. Take what you want before somebody else gets it. I've played both games and from what you said I don't think WoW will hold your interest very long. Once I realized it was an MMORPG designed for 12 year olds I uninstalled it before waiting for my subscription to end.

But hey, best of luck to you.

Fun factor whats that? Is it some multiple in the game code somewhere that somehow gathers information from your genetic code and creates a new number thus effecting how much you enjoy the game? Fun factor pah. And tedious? The only thing that I have found tedious so far is crafting all the componants needed for a final product, but even though it's tedious I tend to have fun untill some fluke error occurs and no matter how many tradeskills I use I end up with a normal product instead of a pristine. If I didn't want the tediousness I'd prolly not be a pristine wh@#$. Anywho good luck with WoW. And to all those that plan on leaving, at least hand off your equipment and money to some new character running through the street at random. Not all in one place now, spread the cheer.

Emorez hit the nail on the head. Judging from the fact that FoH went straight to WoW, and then bragged about it and bullied posters' opinions on the Blizzard boards, as if they would dictate how the rest of the EQLive populace would follow; proves that the 'L33t B4ttle.n3t' mindset will rule WoW.

Face it, a game that requires patience, and player interaction, will always appeal more to adults than the teen crowd.

In addition, I agree with other posters. Other than the random child in Antonica, the playerbase of EQ2 (on Lucan anyway) has been far more mature than the playerbase on EQLive. Fast respawns, instances, etc, that make competition less of an issue, has made people more friendly to each other and more willing to help others.

So...good riddance to another person sucking up our bandwidth. You're not going to be changing any minds here.

Well, my two cents, for what it's worth...

I come from DAoC. Never played EQ1 or WoW or any other MMORPG. I played DAoC for over a year and enjoyed it immensely. When I picked up EQ2 I was ready for a change and brought all of my enthusiasm over to the new game.

I have played it a lot in the past month and have gotten to the point in adventuring AND in crafting where I can glimpse the demarcation point between fun and grind.

However, since I can see that point it is now my responsibility not to pass it! I am in control of my game experience, not the game! It will be fun as long as I let it be fun. Whenever I get bored going solo, I group. Whenever groups are dragging me down (usually because of poor communication) I go solo. When I get tired of adventuring, I craft. When crafting gets tedious, I go solo.... and on and on and on...

Above all, however, I try to establish relationships with people. I play on Lucan D'Lere and try very hard to roleplay everything! You think Blue 2-up mobs are hard, try communicating when you are a poor typist at best! <lol>

So, WoW, EQ2, DAoC, it makes no difference. Take some responsibility for your own pleasure- no matter what that is- and go have fun. It's your life...

I'm actually quite encouraged by these posts from people telling us they're leaving. It sounds like all the *right* kinds of people are going

As far as a guide to grouping goes, I supposed I could write one. The only problem is- at this point a lot of the tactics that would be applicable in EQ2 coming from EQ1 will almost be guesswork. Sure there are main generic roles to fill. There are generic ways to fill them, but the combat mechanics are, while similar, very different than in EQ1.

It's hard to pinpoint what it is, but let me see if I can whip out some similarities, differences and possible situational tactics. If people like it I'll work on rewriting it with more detail.

I know I should start a new thread for this, but wtf this thread is useless so why take up more space due to a whim. =)

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Deykann's Suxguide to Grouping
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Groups have multiple base roles that need to be filled. Keeping in mind that I am currently at the time of writing only a level 21 ShadowKnight, here is what I have seen so far.

The main roles in a group should be divided into 4 groups. Tanks, DPS (Damage Per Second, EQ1 term for any primary damage dealer), Damage Mitigation (healers, or anyone that can offset damage via buffs, runes, heals, etc), Crowd Control. In EverQuest (1) we saw similar groupings: Tanks, DPS, Healer, Buffer, Crowd Control. I have combined Healer and Buffer into one group as EQ2 has expanded the usefullness of healer into a base class instead of a master healer (cleric) and 2 or 3 sub-par healers (druid, shaman, beastlord).

In EQ2 we see the people that make up the Tank class as the people that started with a base of Fighter. In a group these are your meat-flavored shields. They absorb damage so you don't have to. If you are a tank the last thing you should be worrying about is how much damage you do. While high damage is good, that is NOT your role. You are supposed to take damage so other people can use their high damage abilities.

Priorities for a Tank:
1) Hold Aggro
2) AC and HP, nothing else matters.

If you don't hold aggro, you die. You die because the healer is usually the next in line to get aggro and when he/she dies who is left to keep you from dropping? Noone. Beyond keeping aggro, you need to have your AC and HP as high as you can possibly afford to get it. If you can't absorb the damage then you will die and so will the rest of the group.

Moving on to healers next. A healers first and foremost concern is the Tank. You keep that person alive at ALL COSTS. If the Tank drops, you are next. Forget nukes, unless tactics call for mass nuking and DPS over anything else. In 98% of all cases you are to be healing. I have not played an EQ2 healer, but in EQ1 a healer avoided aggro at the beginning of fights (the most crucial time) by casting a low aggro "heal over time" (HOT) on the main tank. This simple cast will keep the tank alive for you to get a stronger heal off. It also gives them time to get aggro efficiently. After assuring the tank is in good condition, and only when he/she has controlable health, THEN you may worry about group heals or spot healing one of the other group members. They should never have the focus of the enemy so if they get whacked once or twice it's not going to kill them.

DPS classes, usually of the scout sub-type, rangers, rogues, bards and also mage sub-types are the stuff DPS classes are made from. You deal damage, that is your job. Forget anything else (unless you are designated to do a specific alterior job). First on your list DISH IT OUT. Even if you can't take it - give the mobs hell. It is your primary job to see the mobs die. You need to be careful however, as you do not want the attention of a mob. If necessary, space your attacks out some. This requires a bit of trial and error. If you are in a group and are spamming your most powerfull spells/abilities and you are consistantly gaining aggro from the mob that the tank is trying to hold then you are overdoing it. You need to find the balance where the mob dies fast and you stay unhurt.

Damage mitigation classes I saved for last for a reason. The reason being is that they can fall into any of the above groups. Some fighter sub-types have nice damage mitigation spells. Some scout sub-types also have important abilities to lessen enemy damage output, as do priests and mages. This is something to be decided when a group is formed. Who should do what to ensure the damage output of mobs is lowered. Shaman have, throughout EQ1, been a wonderful group addition due to their slows and hastes as well as straight stat buffs. This, in a small way, carries over to EQ2, however mroe classes have some equally usefull spells and abilities. Enchanters were also a very bigg buffing class - as were clerics and druids, and let us not forget the bards.

To close this up quickly, every class is usefull to a group, it's just a matter of figuring out what you need to be doing and sticking to that. DO NOT TRY TO DO SOMEONE ELSES JOB... YOU WILL DIE, AND SO WILL THE GROUP.


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Ok, let me know if you guys like that and I will rewrite it a little cleaner and with some further information and tactic concepts. I only scratched the surface with that, but it SHOULD help a few people not used to EQ play-styles.

OMG -- Please stop and post on some other site. No one cares about your opinion. If you hate it so much go elswhere. People read these boards for useful game info, not for useless game-bashing posts. Personally I could care less if you ever come back to the game.

GXM, I thought your post was very helpful -- for newcomers and us old eq1 players. Could you start a new thread though so we don't have to keep reading the stupid posts on how the game sucks. Thanks.

which is why I don't listen to hype.. RARE is the game that truly lives up to it's hype in every way shape or form... I love Halo2 but I can quickly point out hype busting flaws, still an awesome game that lives up to what "I" wanted to see from the game and not what I heard from the Hyped-up masses.

I check out screen shots to see if it is visually appealing.. if it is, then I'll take the extra time to investigate the claims of the developers. If those claims are something I think I would enjoy I'll check it for myself to see if the game lives up to those claims and my personally created expectations when it goes live..

so far with the exception of the merchant system of selling items, the game has done up to this point everything that I read about that I thought were good points for a MMO.. particularly after my experience in another MMO for a year I knew what I didn't want to see. and I knew about the merchant selling system going into it.. and accept it as the only major flaw for me, but since I'm not an avid trade-skiller.. it has no effect on my bottom line, which is simply this.

EverQuest2 is what I expected and is fun to me.

however, it's not to you... so I wish you luck finding something you enjoy.. be it WoW, CoH, or future MMO's such as D&D Online or MEO (Middle Earth Online).

The thread starter actually makes a really good point - is the game FUN or more like WORK? You can say "it's what you make of it", but hey, reality check - you have to go with what they give you to try to make fun.

I've been trying to find fun in this game. I'm still finding stuff to do, but ... I'm wondering how long I'll stay. Like the poster said and like I've been saying, once the novelty wears off, what will this game really offer?

Soloing had gotten just plain boring. I can either kill something or I can't. There is no "gray zone" of challenge - and I'm not given enough (this is very important) *variety of tactics* to make it challenging - to make me wonder "hm, what if I open the fight this way instead?" It just ain't there.

I know some of you feel you must defend this game and Sony to the death (hi Miaa - we cross swords in here a lot, don't we?). Let me say something that might help. Be a fan of the *game* and not of Sony. Sony needs to be pimp-slapped, hard and often. It's the only thing that keeps them sane. And listen, you have every right to question someone who is unfairly slamming the game in here. However, a lot of us keep asking "for getting so much so right, how could they have gotten so much so wrong?" And you Sony-defenders, this question isn't going to go away just because you want it to. Why? Because it is *true*.

The good news is they can fix a lot of what's wrong. They can lock nodes when you start, they can let you sell some other way than being logged in and not playing, they can flesh out solo encounters. They can add a little more variety and color to the quests (there is a monotony to 90% of them). They can do a lot to fix the myriad of small-potato issues. The thing that has me worried is, starting with us all on such a tight leash in terms of adventuring, can they ever "loosen up" and let us actually have some interesting tactics to use - a little variety? That remains to be seen.

I mean hell, if they have to do something as stupid as making certian zones where kiting works just to give us a little variety (you can go there or not depending on how u like to play) - and I know, here come the howls - some of you are so dead set against any form of kiting... but hell, people, stop being so closed minded. You can have the game you want, and we can, too. We can share this - IF - Sony will wake up to the fact that in their current "take" on this game they have EXCLUDED a whole lot of us. We aren't a handful of whiners here as some of you love to characterize us, those of you who loyally defend Sony to the death. We are a substantial # of players. And we are depressed as all sh*t. Cuz the trend of MMO's has spelled death to what we love. Death.