EQ2 or WoW>> Which is better??Follow

"quirky sense of humour" (/ie complete moron nerd humour, the type that makes you feel sorry for the person that made it in the first place). Can't believe there are people that actually found the ending in WarcraftIII funny. The shadowknight guy playing guitar like he's a "rockstar", oh that was so incredibly hilarious woo hoo... if your in the first grade.

Continue to defend it. Still just a low polygon count poor graphical cartoon that attempts to be funny in a way that makes one want to almost never play another game for the rest of their life in fear that they might be subjected to something so moronic again.

Most people you know gave it up, wow then that MUST mean WoW is better? Nice 1st Grader logic. As far as hassles, like there aren't any on WoW? But lets just say that Everquest 2 has a Monumental amount of bugs and one could only get on and play for an hour a week. Lets just say they made WoW free, no wait, they actually PAID people to play it. Doesn't change the fact that the game has "My Little Pony" graphics. I'd rather Aragorn/Gimli/Balrog type characters to look like Aragorn/Gimli/Balrog than Pikachu, but that's just my personal taste I suppose. Like I said before enjoy your little Strawberry Shortcake World of Warcraft game.

Reading through this thread just makes me even more glad I'm playing EQ and not WoW. The WoW community representatives here leave a lot to be desired...

Some people make a total generalization about video games by either A) Looking at screenshots B) Reading a magazine or online site review or C) Reading on the message boards here. Well I'd love to be the person who can give a game a 1/10 by never PLAYING IT!

The majority of the EQ guys here and WoW as well seem to be posting on a game they've never invested time into. I myself played EQ2 for over a month getting to level 25, and have been on WoW since release to now. I don't think EQ2 is a bad game at all, that's far from the truth. But what it ISNT is great, and WoW wins that aspect in my book.

Jimmy is dogging on cel-shaded type graphics and reffering to Pokemon. Well to some extent that's true, but to base the whole game as childish experience is just ignorant. The undead race is a perfect example of this, being they want nothing but death and destruction.

Also, Jimmy you wouldn't happen to be trolling? I see your spectacular 6 posts, and just happens to make me wonder.

As far as I see it though, none of us can are going to convert each other through this post, and the answer as to which is better is not going to be found, thus making this whole thread pointless. So let's just act like good people here, and put the guns down. =)

I've to agree with the above post, graphics matters a lot. At least ,the look of human in plate in EQ2 is just awesome. WoW's version of human looks odd with a pair of huge arms. Though, the horde models are nice but why all of them have hunch back??? Gnome looks cute in WoW but the possibility of having a "Naruto" anime series lookalike character in 3D in EQ2 is way better...:) And if SOE ever give me the Korean version of models....

After reading various reviews and people here giving high rating to WoW, I decided to play it. However, after just a few weeks of playing a WoW's tauren warrior, the gameplay and graphics just don't cut it for me. Boring. Mind you I'm a solo player.

Some says WoW is more fun than EQ2. What's the definition of fun here? Able to solo everything including named for quests? Able to gain tradeskill at the rate of 1 skillup for every combine? Able to see your exp bar moving at the speed of light? For me the fun factor is the encounter must be challenging. Killing mob one at a time is boring. I like killing green/blue group mobs. As a level 24 solo berzerker, taking on group mob gives a rush in adrenalin. You never know if you are going to win until you attempt it..:) If there is a named in the group, it is even more challenging. So far have taken down a few named (3-4 levels below). Named hits for up to 342. Yet with only 1.3k hp, still managed to win with some HO combo strats..:) The encounter is not bugged and not using any exploit. Sadly can never get that feeling in WoW. Also there are no named roaming in newbie zone in WoW. Roaming named makes a zone interesting. It keeps you on your toes looking around all the time. Also in WoW, there are no raid and group content at low levels that I know of. As comparison killed a raid level worm called Windstalker Rumbler with 2 pickup groups at level 20.

Some says that people are leaving EQ2 for WoW. 50++ people in a level 10-20 zone in EQ2 during off-peak tells a very different picture. In WoW, hardly ever get more than 5 people in a single newbie zone even on a medium population server.

Different people have different taste. So if you dislike EQ2, don't make it as if most of us dislike it and not having fun. Last thing I hate is to see it gets turned into another WoW. To me WoW is more like EQ than EQ2 is. Just imaging adding those WoW character skills set to EQ characters.....:))

Hello everyone. I haven't been posting because I was off playing WoW all this time. I, like many of you have asked, did not feel inclined to post on a message forum to a game which I no longer played. I also was off in WoW forums so I had no desire to read EQ2 sites.

After a long hiatus I have come back to post my feelings about WoW. Many of you do not care nor wish to read what I have to say, and that is fine. I post this for those that wish to know about the differences in the games and that really wish to compare the two games. I would like to give fair warning that the following is a bit biased towards WoW. I still hope that SOE will fix many of my dislikes of EQ2 since my 6 month subscription is still active. That being said, on to my views of both games graphics. I will make a post on gameplay once I have another boring day at work. But for now, its a post about graphics.

Graphics
I see this comparison being thrown around a lot between the two games and it seems to be the Make or Break factor for a lot of players. Let me start off by saying that the graphics in EQ2 are spectacular. They use a lot of the newest technologies that are available today, plus some that are currently only workable in writing. I have tried to turn up the graphics to the max and I must say that it's beautiful. That being said, the game is unplayable in those settings. If you can play the game in a slide show format, then you are able to keep all of the options on and up to the max.

I have a high end computer that I built myself and am very happy with it. There are not a lot of new technologies that my system does not support so I know there's still more to the graphics than what I am able to view.

On the down side, depending on the settings and what I enable or disable, textures have that 'plastic' dead look to them. Characters shine in places where they shouldn't and makes them look like mannequins. This really is a turn off from all the beautiful textures they have in place. They need to rework the lighting and shine aspect of the player models. Disabling lighting and other effects will make the characters look more life-like. The same goes for other textures. Everything seems to have too much 'shine'. I don't expect leather to shine as much as plate mail. But it does. The EQ2 graphics are also missing a lot of color. For a game that supports the latest technologies it missed on the basics. There's a lot of dull brown thrown around everywhere. Another problem is that all characters seem to be walking with a stick... you know where. They do not have fluid movements and its fitting that they move in this manner with the plastic look they have.

Between the brown, the plastic look of graphics and the upright characters, it makes the world seem lifeless to me. Like a bunch of androids running around.

My pet peeve though is my class. In order for me to use my buffs to full effect I have to look at my dull lioness all the time. With all the customization choices (including race) this is a major turn off. It's upsetting that I spent so much time making sure that the eyebrow was just perfect to what I imagined my character to look, so in the end I stare at a lioness' rear end most of the time.

To those here that agree with the graphical look, do what I do, turn down the effects until the textures no longer shine. Yes, you get less quality and it looks more washed out, but at least characters no longer look like mannequins.

WoW's graphics are totally different. Where EQ2 went for features, realism and power crunching, WoW went for style, color and optimization.

There's a 'feel' to the graphics in WoW that just ooze style. I really enjoy looking at the characters in WoW. My favorite has to be the Tauren. From their head to their thick shoulders to their thin waists and huge hands and feet. I love the fluidity of the graphics in the game. Characters have a 'bob' to them as they run. They seem to have more bendable joints and more animations (this is of course my opinion).

The world is full of color. This color, for me, makes the world seem alive. Very alive. Even the dead areas, that are fully covered in darkness, have a lot of color and a huge range of them. Its not just some brown terrain with grass thrown in over it to make it look different.

The game is also optimized for PvP. With less polygon count, you can have more players onscreen without a huge impact on the speed. There's still slow down issues when in Ogrimmar but that's because this area is a center point of interest due to being where the Horde has its AH. I can travel to any area in the game and see very little slowdown, even in Crossroads when the Alliance decides to sack our town. Compared to EQ2 and the slowdown I would receive if more than just my group was in the immediate area.

A lot of the complaints I see are that the graphics are old and dated. I play the old RPG games with the super deformed heads. I am an older gamer and I guess I played too many of these games (and still do!) that polygon count doesn't mean anything to me. Give me a 5 pixel head on a 2 pixel body any day. As long as there is gameplay and story to keep me hooked, I will play. I am a power user and I like to have the most up to date technology, but it doesn't need to be used every second and in everything. I still find myself playing FF 5, Chip's Challenge, Wizardry 5-8 and Ultima from time to time. These games have addictive gameplay.

In closing, both games are very different in the graphics department. Saying that you cannot enjoy WoW because of the graphics is like saying that you can't enjoy a movie that doesn't have CGI graphics or tons of special effects. Why do we still enjoy cartoons when we can watch CGI movies instead? Why do some of us prefer Princess Mononoke over The Incredibles? Please note that I am not comparing storylines, only the visuals.

To choose not to play a game because it doesn't use the latest technologies is madness to me. Why miss out on so much enjoyment because the hair isn't made up of thousands of polygons? Besides, once you get over the wow factor of the graphics, you are left with the game play. Which is why I currently play WoW and haven't touched EQ2 in a while. The new changes to EQ2 do seem to make it better, but most of them seem to be taken directly from WoW. Like the window displaying the enemies. The border gets nicer and nicer depending on the creature type. I am not sure if this was intended from the start or if it was taken from WoW so I cannot comment on it directly, but the patch does seem to make EQ2 more WoWish.

Some would think that this would or should make me happy... but it doesn't. I started playing EQ2 for what it was, not so I could play WoW. The game felt too different to me after level 20 (crafting level 10) that I found myself playing a different game. I wanted to experience the same type of gameplay that hooked me in at level 1, up to level 50 and beyond, and not WoW's gameplay or a different version of EQ2. I don't want EQ2 to become WoW but at the same time I don't want it to suddenly become a game I am not accustomed to. I am fine with change but the basic gameplay should not be changed mid game. I still feel that the free 30 days was a bait and switch... And this last comment will now be the focus of any replies to my post. It just tends to happen.

This is clearly a biased post based on my own opinions formed from years of online play. I have read a good deal of the thread, agree with some and disagree with most. Here are my thoughts, please feel free to correct me where you believe I am wrong. Please forgive the formatting of the below text, I know nothing of markup and have done this with spaces and carriage returns.

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Graphics:

1. Effects

By this I mean the spectacular spells, reflective water,
and even the motions and movement of the characters.

WoW - 4
EQ2 - 3
EQ1 - 2
UO - 1

This was a tough call. The water is better on EQ2,
hands down. The spells were about even, except that
projectile spells in WoW definately tracked and flew
better. The real problem was EQ2's character motions.
They are terrible.
In their defense they tried to make it realistic when
a character swings and hits a mob the mob reacts to
that swing...but it wasn't pulled off well.

2. Level of Detail

By this I mean the number of pixels, the number of
polygons, and the ability of the game to push a system.

WoW - 3
EQ2 - 5
EQ1 - 1
UO - 0

This was an easy call. While EQ2 really seems to
personify the next-gen mmorpg with the fact that
I have to set the detail levels to minimum and my
system still barely runs it, WoW is set to max and
it runs fine. This is good in that I can see it
as good as it gets, but bad in that as good as it
gets isn't that great. Also, even on the highest
detail settings, the most you see with chain armor
(for example) on your character is a gray textured
matte. On EQ2, on 2/3's detail, you can count each
individual rings (some actually missing). No
contest on this one.

3. Atmosphere

This one is more of a matter of preference, but refers
to the use of light, shapes, colors, and general art to
convey the message of the game.

WoW - 3
EQ2 - 4
EQ1 - 2
UO - 1

I may be biased, but here is where the 'cartoony'
feel really kills me. The WoW artwork reminds me
of an attempt at the exaggerated limbs and features
of Japanese Animation done by sorry US hacks.
Nothing is done to scale.
Even with this, though, it isn't done well either.
Add to it the over-use of primary colors and the
under-use of actual detailed textures and it makes
it almost impossible to suspend reality. EQ2 looks
like an online world. WoW looks like an online
video game.

After further review and input from others I feel
that I've been a bit harsh. WoW still uses terrible
color choices and only tries to transfer the moods
between 'good' areas and 'evil' areas by a simple
lack of lighting, but it isn't quite as bad as I'd
thought. It can immerse you, just not as well.

Sound:

1. Music

Does it have a dynamic soundtrack? Combat music?
Those damned annoying birds from the PS2 Kengo?

WoW - 3
EQ2 - 3
EQ1 - 2
UO - 1

This result is probably more a product of my lack
of interest in music than any actual difference in
the games.
The music is there, and I'm sure I'd miss it if
it were gone, but past that I didn't notice it.
It wasn't great, it wasn't annoying.

2. Sound Effects

How real does the game sound?

WoW - 3
EQ2 - 3
EQ1 - 1
UO - 0

Again, not noteworthy, not annoying. WoW may
come ahead when I start seeing more technological
things that go boom, but as of yet they are both
'okay'.

3. Voice Overs

Do the characters talk? NPC's? Monsters?

WoW - 2
EQ2 - 5
EQ1 - 1
UO - 0

There is nearly no speech in WoW, and the speech
there is can obviously be placed in static voice
over tracks. Honestly, no other games have had
it either, but having played EQ2 first I was honestly
shocked the first time I spoke to an NPC and there
was nothing but text on the screen for most of WoW.
In EQ2 even the monsters taunt you in combat. Not
text taunts, they actually holler insults at you.
It provides a level of emertion beyond anything else
out there.

Mechanics:

1. Power-Gaming

Can high-level characters buff the low into greatness?
Can you twink a character into a low level god?

WoW - 3
EQ2 - 4
EQ1 - 1
UO - 1

Another easy one. While EQ2 put a lot of effort
into controlling power-levelling with their encounter
lock system WoW took the approach altering the
downtime between encounters. In my opinion this
is actually worse. Now not only can a high level
character still help a low level character, but kill
stealing and class differences aren't solved either.
Both games have level requirements for equipment to
avoid twinking.

2. Death

Do you fear it? Why?

WoW - 2
EQ2 - 4
EQ1 - 1
UO - 2

I don't feel either system is great. Both have
equipment damage from a death, but EQ2 nudges ahead
because that is the only penalty in WoW. EQ2 also
gives you an experience hit in that you must pay
part of any new experience towards a debt. Also,
your effectiveness is degraded until you retrieve
your 'shard' (your body stays with you so you don't
have to if you don't want to). Death isn't a
day-ruiner like in EQ1 for either game, but in WoW
it doesn't even really matter. At least in EQ2 you
fear death.

3. PvP

Can you do it? Is it good?

WoW - 5 (with two gold stars)
EQ2 - 1
EQ1 - 3
UO - 2

EQ2 took the sad way out of just not having PvP.
WoW implemented the best PvP system I've seen to
date. No contest.

4. Quests

Are there enough of them? Good rewards?

WoW - 5
EQ2 - 5
EQ1 - 3
UO - 1

As far as I can tell they are very close. Good
systems, plenty of them, good rewards. WoW
nudges ahead as the spawns are more rapid for
their quests, however EQ2 pulls even once more
with their huge additions to both solo and group
content (instanced or otherwise).

5. Grouping

Is it easy to find a group? Do they work well?
Is it worth it?

WoW - 3
EQ2 - 4
EQ1 - 2
UO - 0

I rated WoW a 3 because I haven't had enough
grouping experience to say. I do like EQ2's
spell and attack re-direct system though. Sadly,
you still hear a lot of 14 War LFG on the channels
though. EQ2 is fighting against this, however, with
their new emphasis on solo and small group encounters.
There are even solo instances and these are the
most fun I've had in a long, long time.

6. Trade Skills

Are they there? Do they matter? Are they fun?

WoW - 3
EQ2 - 4
EQ1 - 2
SWG - 5
UO - 1

I've thrown in other well-known mmorpg's for a
mainline here. WoW does have multiple tradeskills
trees, and you can choose up to two of them, but
past that it seems stagnant. Yes, you can make
things, but you still harvest raw materials in
the same ways and create in a fairly success/failure
system. EQ2 gives you all of that, plus it actually
treats your tradeskills as a class. Like UO you can
actually be a tradeskill only person. Also, creating
items uses the same system as combat with special
abilities, life, and power. It makes it fun to craft,
not tedious. SWG still wins, though, with signable
items and create your own blueprints.

7. Mentoring

Can you mentor? Are you stuck alone?

WoW - 1
EQ2 - 4
EQ1 - 1
UO - 1
AC - 5

Once again, there are other popular mmorpg's in
this one for a comparison. While WoW, EQ1, and
UO have no noticeable mentoring system in place,
EQ2 has made a recent (and soon to be publicly
released) effort. This is a huge category as it
effects grouping (now level differences don't
matter), status (compare to the guru's of India),
and quest playability. Asheron's Call (and Lineage
I've heard, though not played) wins however with
their tribute system.

8. Additional Content

How often are meaningful updates made to the game?

WoW - 3
EQ2 - 5
EQ1 - 2
UO - 1

WoW doesn't patch as often, and the majority of
its patches are bug fixes. In their defense the
Battlegrounds addition, which will be free,
looks to be one of the best game updates in history.
However EQ2 launches ahead with daily bug fixes,
weekly game updates, and many methods of adding
new content with great regularity.

Gameplay:

1. Griefing

What is the observed maturity level of the general
playerbase and how does it affect the game?

WoW - 3
EQ2 - 5
EQ1 - 4
UO - 2

While the EQ1 community is generally friendly
and often quite helpful, it seems that WoW has
taken a large number of players from Diablo 2
who truly enjoy making life painful for others.
EQ2 has improved upon the EQ1 community through
natural selection, being more expensive it roots
out at least the poor or cheap griefers. This
category and results were given to me by a friend.

2. Group Control

How easy is it to help others in your group? Assists?
Heals? Buffs?

WoW - 3
EQ2 - 4
EQ1 - 2
UO - 0

WoW has noticeable improvements such as one key
assisting, one key pet targetting, and one key
group pet targetting. EQ2 has all these, though,
and one MAJOR improvement. EQ2 introduces ability
transferrence. If you target an ally and hit
attack, you automatically attack it's target
(if enemy). If you target an enemy and cast a
healing spell, you automatically heal it's target
(if friendly). In this way it makes it MUCH easier
to get your heals and assists on the right group member.

3. Environment Interactions

Is that a real door, or just a cleverly painted wall?

WoW - 4
EQ2 - 5
EQ1 - 2
UO - 1

WoW is good, it allows you to touch many things
in the environment that in previous mmorpg's were
simply eye-candy. EQ2 is better because it not
only has more volume in the number and types of
things you can interract with, but it also refrains
from adding too many items that you can't. While
WoW still has many objects you can interract with it
has just as many that you can't, simple static things
like fake doors and odd levers.

Totals:

WoW - 52 out of 85
EQ2 - 68 out of 85
EQ1 - 32 out of 85
UO - 15 out of 85

Nice, first off thank you for ignorantly categorizing me by stating I'm trolling and snobbishly recognizing in a sarcastic manner that I have a "spectacular" 6 post total (ie someone believes that their 188 posts really are "spectacular"... sad). Expressing ones opinion on why a game is better than another under a thread concerning comparison of which of two games is better, well, if that is trolling then you are doing it as well.

"But what it ISNT is great, and WoW wins that aspect in my book"

(notice you attempt to subtely choose one game over the other while at the same time stating, hey lets not fight about it. Good job guy, lets not fight over whether your opinion is correct or not, lets just assume it is and move on. Nice :) )

I simply stated that if you like your fantasy games to look like Dance Dance Revolution or Pokemon then go ahead. I enjoy the graphical look of Everquest. I enjoyed movies like Lord of the Rings and prefer that look to some Disney movie that to me seems quite an inferior experience to even think of delving into.

"The undead race is a perfect example of this, being they want nothing but death and destruction."

Not if the undead look like disney characters. Mary Poppins could want nothing but death and destruction, doesn't change the fact that she's still Mary Poppins.

Experience and the build up of the world, ie graphics, story, scenery, more than just simple gameplay. Remember the game RA Salvatore played and is developing a new series of fantasy books out of isn't World of Warcraft. It's Everquest. People get pissed because the game isn't made for kiddies that can't understand complexity. Heck they dumbed EQ2 down as it is.

There is a huge difference between adding your comments or explaining your point of view on a forum, and insulting others or the games they play.

There is no need to come here and throw a tantrum that such and such player is immature or an idiot because of the game they choose to play. Choosing the "better" game doesn't make you any better than anyone else. Everyone has likes and dislikes. There is no need to show animosity or bitterness towards those that say they like something else. Not everyone is your enemy simply because they do not agree with you.

I cannot understand the reasoning behind your comment of "that to me seems quite an inferior experience to even think of delving into.". Must you feel superior in that your enjoyment is deeper and more thought provoking or however else you wish to categorize it? Your post seems to be nothing more than an attempt to enrage readers through insults. "This is not worthy of MY superior intellect and more important time", which is what I read from your post.

Your disdain towards those that watch Disney movies and play DDR and WoW is very clear in your post. Why the need to feel superior? What have these lowly inferior beings done to you to make you so bitter towards them?

Read and understand the above quote JimmyHHH. This is where you fail.

gossamer:

PvE or RP server in WoW, it is voluntary PvP. You can flag for PvP or Duel.


Same as 1. As long as you're not flagged, you won't get ganked. Note, there are ways to trick people into flagging and there are other ways that may not be explicitly said will flag you, but above all else, you have the choice. I myself have never been tricked into flagging. Might be the RP community and atmosphere. *shrug*


This is a criteria that can't be met by WoW. Once flagged, anyone and everyone can fight you (opposing factions of course). However, if you Duel, it is one on one (same and opposing factions).

But, WoW may not be for you even if 2 out of 3 of your standards can be met. Here's a few negatives that I've experienced in WoW.

1. Random disconnects (I've been d/c'd from EQ2 before, but not as much as I have with WoW)

2. Loot lag. With a solid performing rig that was upgraded for EQ2, I'm surprised I still encounter lag. When looting a corpse and the lag monster hits, I'm stuck in loot mode up to a minute sometimes. What really got me peeved was once I was stuck, a wandering mob came across me and started wailing on me. Thinking I could outrun it, I ran. 20 feet away I was still getting hit (the mob was standing still) and died. If that wasn't enough, I went to recover my corpse, which didn't exist... so I resurrected and lag broke. My corpse appeared and I had the dialog box to reclaim my corpse (couldn't get rid of). I ended up having to quit WoW and restart to get that fixed. -_-;

I think the one redeeming factor for the lag, is the seamless world. Very little loading (think Dungeon Siege).

I miss the random spoken dialog in EQ2 (WoW npc's do have voices, but only say a few lines when you talk to them). I miss my Vanguard armor and the parties in Qeynos and Freeport alike. I miss the photo-realistic graphics. I miss the history of Norrath, even though my first experience was with EQ2. Personally, Norrath history seems richer than WoW.

I suppose that's why I still pay for both games (and FFXI *smacks self*).

*Mein quoting skills are teh uber when I break them!*

Edited, Tue Mar 1 21:41:50 2005 by ArcosKojin

Let the dead horde rest.

Edited, Wed Mar 2 02:10:31 2005 by GnomePimp

Once again... I'm not talking about the actual game, as I've only played it in beta.

I'm talking about the folks hell-bent on turning every EQ2 player into a WoW player in this thread and this thread alone

I swear, I should go back to just reading.