Im sorry I know your all sick of it... Follow

We don't mind newb questions at all :) I can't answer a lot of your questions, as I have no clue on FFXI, but This Thread compares EQ2 to several other games, including FFXI.

I will say I've heard nothing reliable whatsoever about EQ3, and the rumors have been out there, well, about every time someone got frustrated with the game. We watch the SOE press releases, nothing there. If they had a new title coming out in under a year, I'm pretty sure we would have heard. It's way to early, IMO, to release another title in the line, this one is still young. What you may have heard about was the EQ2 expansion due out in November.

The community rocks. We're having a nice influx of new players (refugees from other games) and returning players (again, refugees!), and the game has developed very nicely.

The game is designed for any playstyle. You can solo, group, raid, craft, sit around and chat... you will find quests and progression however you choose to play. You are not "required" to do any one playstyle to enjoy the game.

Game cards are avaulable for SOE games via the Station Players site, or you can purchase pre-paid credit cards and load them online - they work like a credit card as far as the merchant is concerned but are just filled with your own cash.

I'm pretty sure that was a pvp server and it was just a higher level guy killing a lower leveled one. The fact that the guy was invised until he ambushed the other guy pretty much confirms that for me.
I don't have any idea what that video was trying to prove other then that some people are mean to each other.

Ok thanks for all the help, I'm Going to give guild wars a try first though, I researched it as I was looking for a new mmo today and Free online playing got to me really quick hehe, If Its not as fun or enjoyable as I expect it to be (I dont expect much since its free online) Then I'm for sure going to try out EQII It sounds like a Tight game, Thanks for all your help.

I won't even try to tell you it doesn't exist. But it's not that bad, really. As a matter of fact, I haven't stumbled over a crafting bot (that what we call folks who use 3rd party software to play the game, a bot) in ages and ages. The most common one seems to be a speed-warping hack, and the GM's are on it.

While plat farmers are definately out there, they're at least usually live people you can report and get banned. They just did a huge ban of a plat-farming ring on the Permafrost server.

The most annoying thing in game right now regarding plat farmers is they send tells and mail as advertisements. SOE's probably keeping GM's hopping banning them as fast as they can. Oh, that's the other annoying thing. SOE doesn't make announcements like "We banned eventy-jillion people for exploits and Code of Conduct violations last mont." I wish they would.

Edited, May 26th 2007 9:42pm by Calthine

Nah, there's lots and lots of people playing the game. Just not all of them are forum lurkers, and those who are tend to hang on the official forums.

There are two demos. I'd do Play the Fae.

Play the Fae
The Trial of the Isle

I've only ever played Everquest titles, but this thread does a comparison to other games.

I was in the same boat as you not too long ago, looking for a new game. I had just about the same concerns as you (except for the hacking...nothing can beat the hacking on those free korean games with cash shops). I have yet to come across a hacker or noticable bot.

I've played EQ1, DAOC, CoH, DDO, Guild Wars, and some other ones too. I started EQ2 on my uncle's spare account roughly 3-4 months ago. My main concern when starting EQ2 was the community and ability to do stuff solo. Thus far I am very happy I decided to give EQ2 a try.

Early on, its very easy to solo effectively and there is no real need for groups till ~20 or so. Not to mention it takes a while to get used to the game and get familliar with your surroundings. The game world is huge, but I think because of the many different tavel methods, it doesn't seem quite as immense as EQ1. You can get to most destinations in the game within 10-15 mins. From 20 on I really had no problems finding a group for xp or quests. I think I've spent maybe 50/50 of my time grouping or doing solo work.

The economy is pretty stable since EQ2 has some good cash sinks built into the game. Armor and equipment is pretty much no-trade or can only be used by one person, so it creates a health market for new equipment. The top grade player-crafted items are some of the best items you can get aside from rare and raid drops. Buying horses and houses and equipment repair also provides a good money sink.

One of the nice things I've enjoyed about the game is the mentoring system. Any player who is above your level can reduce their lvl to yours. The mentor system also allows you to go back and do new areas and still benefit from it or turn in quests that are too far below your current level.

All in all, EQ2 caters to just about any type of player. Hardcore raiders may find EQ2 a bit too easy. The risk vs reward isn't the same as on EQ1 since dying in EQ2 really doesn't incur much of a penaly (~0.5-1% xp debt and 10% armor damage, at 100% your armor becomes unwearable, but no actual armor penalty for damaging your armor).

Now I can't tell you if it will be all that different from WoW since I never played that one, but I can tell you there is plenty to do in EQ2 and plenty of friendly people to play with.

There is a demo on the main EQ2 sony station page. Its 15 days free to try the fae race. Just download the client and then let the patcher get the game files overnight. Its about a 6-12 hour update for the trial plus 2-3 hours for rest of the game expansions and mini expansions.

Oh one last thing regarding your comment on these forums. Allakhazam's has a very nice search engine for just about every aspect of EQ2. And each item, monster, zone, and quest has a comments section. So the whole site is like a giant forum. If you want to see what people have to say about a certian quest...then you just look up that quest. Thats my theory why the general forums are so vacant.

Sorry for the rambling post.

Trio - 62 Swashbuckler
Blackburrow

Edited, Jun 5th 2007 4:16pm by Hybro