- Forums
- EverQuest II
- General Discussion
- Warcraft Vs. EQ 2
Warcraft Vs. EQ 2Follow
1 post
Hi guys ... So , I used to play EQ1 back in the day then went to Warcraft. Now I am a hard warcraft player, have been for about 3 years now. I am getting itchy for something more though. I have to be honest from what I have played of EQ2 it is extremely overwhelming. However the ideas and concept I love, however am hesitant due to the lack of information out there about this game. This is the best site I have found with information on quests, rewards, items and so on. Right now in WoW I am in an excellent guild, but looking for less drama and 5 year olds and more of a "world" to explore. I just wanted everyones opinnion on the game itself and if you have played WoW maybe some comparision. As I said I am very hesitant, but intrigued to give it a shot. I just don't want to give up my WoW if this isn't what i'm looking for you know. Thanks guys
Well...man. I don't know what to tell you without sounding condescending. Ah well, its a risk I'll have to take.
The general comparison made is that EQ2 hangs somewhere between EQ1 and WoW. EQ1 is the very hardcore MMO'ers MMO whereas WOW is more like, "Fisher Price: My First RPG". Thats not to say WoW is bad, but rather that it is not /that/ deep or difficult. It's very arcade-like which can be cool. EQ2 is a happy medium. Its more difficult than WoW in that it takes a good deal more effort to be truly high end, but it doesn't take nearly the dedication EQ1 does. There are thousands of quests and content for the solo'ist, grouper or raider across all level ranges and a good crafting system. Mentoring so you can't ever truly "outlevel" your pals ensures everyone can play at their own pace. You are never wanting for something to do. Visually the art in EQ2 is more realistic and the weapons and armor tend to be more utilitarian as opposed to flashy.
Don't get me wrong, WoW is a good game and does what it does very well. The most common thing we hear though from former WoW players is that there is a much younger set and a lot more drama in WoW due to its accessibility. That and high burnout factor. EQ2 tends to draw an older crowd. You will find occasional children, but for the most part the player base tends to range from college to working adults with families. This lends to a lower drama quotient.
In my opinion download the free trial (get ready for a /huge/ amount of patching/updating on the initial install). Pick a decent server and get a feel for things. If you like it, welcome aboard. If you don't, no harm done.
Let us know if you have any specific questions.
The general comparison made is that EQ2 hangs somewhere between EQ1 and WoW. EQ1 is the very hardcore MMO'ers MMO whereas WOW is more like, "Fisher Price: My First RPG". Thats not to say WoW is bad, but rather that it is not /that/ deep or difficult. It's very arcade-like which can be cool. EQ2 is a happy medium. Its more difficult than WoW in that it takes a good deal more effort to be truly high end, but it doesn't take nearly the dedication EQ1 does. There are thousands of quests and content for the solo'ist, grouper or raider across all level ranges and a good crafting system. Mentoring so you can't ever truly "outlevel" your pals ensures everyone can play at their own pace. You are never wanting for something to do. Visually the art in EQ2 is more realistic and the weapons and armor tend to be more utilitarian as opposed to flashy.
Don't get me wrong, WoW is a good game and does what it does very well. The most common thing we hear though from former WoW players is that there is a much younger set and a lot more drama in WoW due to its accessibility. That and high burnout factor. EQ2 tends to draw an older crowd. You will find occasional children, but for the most part the player base tends to range from college to working adults with families. This lends to a lower drama quotient.
In my opinion download the free trial (get ready for a /huge/ amount of patching/updating on the initial install). Pick a decent server and get a feel for things. If you like it, welcome aboard. If you don't, no harm done.
Let us know if you have any specific questions.
I think EQ2 has a much stronger community base than WoW did when I played it. It's an excellent game with something for every playstyle. EQ2 is probably the most quest-based MMO out atm.
There are a couple of free trials - which as Stugein says will involve quite a lot of patching.
The "Trial of the Isle" limits you to a small training island. You will not be able to leave the isle without purchasing the full game. "Play the Fae" has a different starting zone within a much larger zone and you are free to wander, however you are level capped.
If you decide to purchase the full game, you will be able to keep any characters you create in the trial, and you will have already downloaded most of the patches. Obviously either trial will limit the amount of the "world" you can explore, but will give you an idea of the graphics and gameplay. With all the expansions, there are more than a dozen large adventure zones, spread across several continents, each with access to several smaller zones, dungeons and instances. There are 5 starting cities.
The latest release "The Rise of Kunark" includes all previous expansions and adventure packs.
As mentioned, most of the players are a little more mature than on WOW. As in all games you get a few idiots, but they are a very small minority. The zones are physically smaller, but getting bigger with each expansion. WOW is a lot more PVP oriented, which you can do in EQ2, but the main focus is PVE. Crafting is more rewarding in EQ2. As the name suggests, there are quests galore. It is possible to play solo/group/raid as much as you want.
The "Trial of the Isle" limits you to a small training island. You will not be able to leave the isle without purchasing the full game. "Play the Fae" has a different starting zone within a much larger zone and you are free to wander, however you are level capped.
If you decide to purchase the full game, you will be able to keep any characters you create in the trial, and you will have already downloaded most of the patches. Obviously either trial will limit the amount of the "world" you can explore, but will give you an idea of the graphics and gameplay. With all the expansions, there are more than a dozen large adventure zones, spread across several continents, each with access to several smaller zones, dungeons and instances. There are 5 starting cities.
The latest release "The Rise of Kunark" includes all previous expansions and adventure packs.
As mentioned, most of the players are a little more mature than on WOW. As in all games you get a few idiots, but they are a very small minority. The zones are physically smaller, but getting bigger with each expansion. WOW is a lot more PVP oriented, which you can do in EQ2, but the main focus is PVE. Crafting is more rewarding in EQ2. As the name suggests, there are quests galore. It is possible to play solo/group/raid as much as you want.
I have played both WOW and EQ2. In WOW I have two level 70 characters, and in EQ2, I have one level 48 character and several lower level alts. Here is my take on both games:
WOW is very much like EQ2.In fact, there are more similarities than differences.
1. Choices: WOW has nine or ten character classes.EQ2 have 24 classes to choose from. In addition, WOW has three lines where you put skill points in order to tailor your character. EQ2 has two tiers of three lines for AA skills, which gives 6 lines to place points. There is no question that EQ2 gives more choices and options for characters.
2. PVP: WOW is really a game geared towards PVP in the endgame. They provide special rewards, items, competitions etc. EQ2 has PvP as an after thought. I certainly give WOW the advantage here if you like PVP,which I don't.
I should note that this can be a real disadvantage to WOW too. In order to get the really good stuff, players need to participate in PVP. Also, the end game in WOW is NOT really raiding but PVP participation. Thus, if you don't like PVP, you will not only miss out on a lot of what the game is geared for but also not get a lot of top stuff. This becomes a particular problem in game balancing since some classes ( such as warlocks) have must strong PVP skills than that of other classes such as paladins. For PVP, the classes are not really balanced well.
3. Balance: With WOW, each class can solo almost as well as other classes.They aren't as balanced for PVP, however. With RAIDS, each class offers a lot to the raid. I can't say that any one class isn't useful. With EQ2, not all classes can solo equally. Rangers, for example, have a tough time soloing in dungeons.Not all classes provide useful stuff in raids too. Overall, I would give WOW the advantage here.
4. Quests: Both have a lot of quests. I would say that EQ2 have more quests,which are needed due to AA skill requirements. EQ2 also has quests that seem related to the plot line. WOW doesn't usually have multiple step quests as with EQ2 nor are any steps related to any major plot. If there are multiple steps,, each step gets experience. Because each game has their advantages here, I would rate this as even.
5. Leveling: No question, it is easier to level in WOW than EQ2. It is about 20% faster based on my experience. In addition, there is no exp debt in WOW. You just need to repair your items, which is also true for EQ2. For the casual player, WOW thus is a bit more casual player friendly due to the faster leveling.
6. Graphics, Both have superb graphics. Frankly, I like the graphics of WOW a bit batter ,but I would say this is a close call.
7. Overall content: This may be the most important factor for evaluation. EQ2 seems to have a LOT more content than WOW. There are more zones, quests, more dungeons, more items to choose from etc. Also, as mentioned below, crafting items seem to be more useful in EQ2 than for WOW. I would give EQ2 the higher score here.
8. Grinding: Frankly, both games involve some grinding or tedious quests. However, with multiple steps for quests in EQ2, not to mention slower runing speed than found in WOW ( WOW does have easy and cheap horses to buy), EQ2 initially seems to involve more of a grind.. Wow does, however, have corpse recovery,which SUCKS. Let me be clear about this. You don't have to recover your corpse,but you will suffer a lot more damage to equipment and and substantially increased sickness time. Thus, geting your body may not be required but is very much encouraged in WOW. If you filter the corpse recovery into account for WOW, the grinding is about even, although it does subjectively feel longer with EQ2. Maybe it is the longer leveling time.
9. Crafting: Both have interesting crafting. With WOW it is easier but not necessarily more compelling. EQ2 does have a compelling form of crafting. In addition, the items made from crafters are more useful on the whole. Overall, I would give EQ2 the advantage in crafting.
10. Auction house: It seems to be a LOT easier to do search for items in WOW's auction house. In addition there are third party software that will search all items for sale and tell you when there are good prices for investment. There seems to be a lot more investors trading stuff on the auction house then with EQ2. Maybe it is the third party software that encourages this. Also, due to having more sellers, prices tend to be more reasonable for good items.
11. Player base: With WOW being a bit more casual player friendly, there seems to be more adults in WOW. My prior guild had most folks who had families, jobs etc. I am sure these types of players are found in EQ2 too. However, I don't think there are as many adults in EQ2 as in WOW,but I could be mistaken here.
12. Casual player friendly: Frankly, I think both games are more casual player friendly than EQ1. However, WOW has faster leveling time. Notice, I didn't say fast,but faster! In addition, most dungeon crawls, even raid dungeons, don't normally take over 1.5 hours to complete. This isn't usually true with EQ2. Thus, I would rate WOW a bit better for the casual player, although it probably is a close call.
13. Third party software: Certainly EQ2 has all kinds of third party software for interface improvements. WOW, however, not only has that but has fabulous sites that give in detail how to do each quests with the exact location of each quest items. It is MUCH easier to accomplish quests by going to to the thottbot site than using any site for EQ2. It isn't that sites like this aren't good,because they are. They just aren't has helpful on quests as found in thottbot. Also, there is a lot of third party stuff for WOW that is terrific such as software that keeps track of all prices in auction house and lets you know when something is underpriced. Overall, I would give WOW the advantage for third party software and for web site help.
14. Player base: It has been said that there are more "adults" here in EQ2 than in WOW. I don't believe this to be true. I belonged to a guild in WOW that had mostly adult players with families, jobs etc. I would say that the player base is probably about the same.
15 Miscellaneous: I can't put my finger on it,but EQ2 tends to be more compelling. Maybe it is the greater amount of quests. Maybe it is the larger pool of skills (AA points) available or more compelling crafting, but EQ2 does seem to be more compelling from a long term perspective UNLESS you are into PVP.
WOW is very much like EQ2.In fact, there are more similarities than differences.
1. Choices: WOW has nine or ten character classes.EQ2 have 24 classes to choose from. In addition, WOW has three lines where you put skill points in order to tailor your character. EQ2 has two tiers of three lines for AA skills, which gives 6 lines to place points. There is no question that EQ2 gives more choices and options for characters.
2. PVP: WOW is really a game geared towards PVP in the endgame. They provide special rewards, items, competitions etc. EQ2 has PvP as an after thought. I certainly give WOW the advantage here if you like PVP,which I don't.
I should note that this can be a real disadvantage to WOW too. In order to get the really good stuff, players need to participate in PVP. Also, the end game in WOW is NOT really raiding but PVP participation. Thus, if you don't like PVP, you will not only miss out on a lot of what the game is geared for but also not get a lot of top stuff. This becomes a particular problem in game balancing since some classes ( such as warlocks) have must strong PVP skills than that of other classes such as paladins. For PVP, the classes are not really balanced well.
3. Balance: With WOW, each class can solo almost as well as other classes.They aren't as balanced for PVP, however. With RAIDS, each class offers a lot to the raid. I can't say that any one class isn't useful. With EQ2, not all classes can solo equally. Rangers, for example, have a tough time soloing in dungeons.Not all classes provide useful stuff in raids too. Overall, I would give WOW the advantage here.
4. Quests: Both have a lot of quests. I would say that EQ2 have more quests,which are needed due to AA skill requirements. EQ2 also has quests that seem related to the plot line. WOW doesn't usually have multiple step quests as with EQ2 nor are any steps related to any major plot. If there are multiple steps,, each step gets experience. Because each game has their advantages here, I would rate this as even.
5. Leveling: No question, it is easier to level in WOW than EQ2. It is about 20% faster based on my experience. In addition, there is no exp debt in WOW. You just need to repair your items, which is also true for EQ2. For the casual player, WOW thus is a bit more casual player friendly due to the faster leveling.
6. Graphics, Both have superb graphics. Frankly, I like the graphics of WOW a bit batter ,but I would say this is a close call.
7. Overall content: This may be the most important factor for evaluation. EQ2 seems to have a LOT more content than WOW. There are more zones, quests, more dungeons, more items to choose from etc. Also, as mentioned below, crafting items seem to be more useful in EQ2 than for WOW. I would give EQ2 the higher score here.
8. Grinding: Frankly, both games involve some grinding or tedious quests. However, with multiple steps for quests in EQ2, not to mention slower runing speed than found in WOW ( WOW does have easy and cheap horses to buy), EQ2 initially seems to involve more of a grind.. Wow does, however, have corpse recovery,which SUCKS. Let me be clear about this. You don't have to recover your corpse,but you will suffer a lot more damage to equipment and and substantially increased sickness time. Thus, geting your body may not be required but is very much encouraged in WOW. If you filter the corpse recovery into account for WOW, the grinding is about even, although it does subjectively feel longer with EQ2. Maybe it is the longer leveling time.
9. Crafting: Both have interesting crafting. With WOW it is easier but not necessarily more compelling. EQ2 does have a compelling form of crafting. In addition, the items made from crafters are more useful on the whole. Overall, I would give EQ2 the advantage in crafting.
10. Auction house: It seems to be a LOT easier to do search for items in WOW's auction house. In addition there are third party software that will search all items for sale and tell you when there are good prices for investment. There seems to be a lot more investors trading stuff on the auction house then with EQ2. Maybe it is the third party software that encourages this. Also, due to having more sellers, prices tend to be more reasonable for good items.
11. Player base: With WOW being a bit more casual player friendly, there seems to be more adults in WOW. My prior guild had most folks who had families, jobs etc. I am sure these types of players are found in EQ2 too. However, I don't think there are as many adults in EQ2 as in WOW,but I could be mistaken here.
12. Casual player friendly: Frankly, I think both games are more casual player friendly than EQ1. However, WOW has faster leveling time. Notice, I didn't say fast,but faster! In addition, most dungeon crawls, even raid dungeons, don't normally take over 1.5 hours to complete. This isn't usually true with EQ2. Thus, I would rate WOW a bit better for the casual player, although it probably is a close call.
13. Third party software: Certainly EQ2 has all kinds of third party software for interface improvements. WOW, however, not only has that but has fabulous sites that give in detail how to do each quests with the exact location of each quest items. It is MUCH easier to accomplish quests by going to to the thottbot site than using any site for EQ2. It isn't that sites like this aren't good,because they are. They just aren't has helpful on quests as found in thottbot. Also, there is a lot of third party stuff for WOW that is terrific such as software that keeps track of all prices in auction house and lets you know when something is underpriced. Overall, I would give WOW the advantage for third party software and for web site help.
14. Player base: It has been said that there are more "adults" here in EQ2 than in WOW. I don't believe this to be true. I belonged to a guild in WOW that had mostly adult players with families, jobs etc. I would say that the player base is probably about the same.
15 Miscellaneous: I can't put my finger on it,but EQ2 tends to be more compelling. Maybe it is the greater amount of quests. Maybe it is the larger pool of skills (AA points) available or more compelling crafting, but EQ2 does seem to be more compelling from a long term perspective UNLESS you are into PVP.
I tried WoW before trying out EQ2.. and I lasted all of about 2 weeks before heading over to EQ2. And, I left in disgust. Even the friends that I had played with in UO for over 8 years had de-evolved in to a bunch of smack talking teenagers.. and most of them are in their middle to late 30's in RL. :P
The community in EQ2 is what has kept me around for over a year now. Supportive, friendly and mature.
Outside of the social aspects.. I prefer not to compare the two games. Apples and oranges as far as I'm concerned. Even if there are some common features between the two. They are night and day in my opinion.
WoW is like EQ2 with less content and an "Auto Play" button.. :P
The community in EQ2 is what has kept me around for over a year now. Supportive, friendly and mature.
Outside of the social aspects.. I prefer not to compare the two games. Apples and oranges as far as I'm concerned. Even if there are some common features between the two. They are night and day in my opinion.
WoW is like EQ2 with less content and an "Auto Play" button.. :P
WoW easy. EQ2 harder. EQ1 Impossible.
Took me 5 months to get a level 60 character in WoW. It has taken me 3 years to get a level 73 pally in EQ2. Don't even bother with eq1....
The only thing that I see as debateable is the Raiding aspect. WoW raids (just hersay) are much more creative and require a lot more strategy then raids in EQ2 or EQ1.
Since I don't raid then I can't confirm those aspects.
Crafting is much more involved in EQ2. WoW's crafting is very shallow. If you have the components, you can make the item. You never fail. Simple as that.
Soloing is easy in WoW. All classes can solo. EQ2 is different. You really don't get teh full benefit of playing the game unless you group with a few people.
Took me 5 months to get a level 60 character in WoW. It has taken me 3 years to get a level 73 pally in EQ2. Don't even bother with eq1....
The only thing that I see as debateable is the Raiding aspect. WoW raids (just hersay) are much more creative and require a lot more strategy then raids in EQ2 or EQ1.
Since I don't raid then I can't confirm those aspects.
Crafting is much more involved in EQ2. WoW's crafting is very shallow. If you have the components, you can make the item. You never fail. Simple as that.
Soloing is easy in WoW. All classes can solo. EQ2 is different. You really don't get teh full benefit of playing the game unless you group with a few people.
The difference between EQ2 and WoW? It's simple.
In WoW I am just another 70 Paladin, in tier 5 gear. If it wasn't for the fact that I am a Draenei and stand out I would fit in with any dozen or so paladins on my server.
In EQ2 I am Bhodisattva Tathagata, shadow assassin extraordinaire! Mocker of those with Mohawks, Harrasser of Hairdressers, Perpetually Broke Wood Elf. I have a character that is more than his class.
WoW raiding, post BC, is so much more challenging and dynamic than anything offered in EQ2 that there is no comparison. As a guy who has downed Tarinax and Vashj I can't state that strongly enough.
In WoW I am just another 70 Paladin, in tier 5 gear. If it wasn't for the fact that I am a Draenei and stand out I would fit in with any dozen or so paladins on my server.
In EQ2 I am Bhodisattva Tathagata, shadow assassin extraordinaire! Mocker of those with Mohawks, Harrasser of Hairdressers, Perpetually Broke Wood Elf. I have a character that is more than his class.
Quote:
The only thing that I see as debateable is the Raiding aspect. WoW raids (just hersay) are much more creative and require a lot more strategy then raids in EQ2 or EQ1.
WoW raiding, post BC, is so much more challenging and dynamic than anything offered in EQ2 that there is no comparison. As a guy who has downed Tarinax and Vashj I can't state that strongly enough.
Bode - 100 Holy Paladin - Lightbringer
Recent Visitors: 80
All times are in CST
Anonymous Guests (80)
- Forums
- EverQuest II
- General Discussion
- Warcraft Vs. EQ 2
© 2024 Fanbyte LLC