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EQ2 Combining Servers
Darniaq writes "Scott 'Gallenite' Hartsman, Senior Producer for Everquest 2, has announced the pending combination of ten servers with ten other others. Normally, this sort of announcement would be met with immediate derision, a collectively vindictive sneering about a game that wasn't successful or is dying. However, because of when this combination is coming, and how it is being handled, I have a slightly different view." Additional commentary at Aggro Me.
Its not that it was a bad game. It was amazing! the graphics are great (if your computer can handle them).
The issue they had was that they rushed the release. They are slow on bug fixes. and they're trying to attract the WoW crowd by making it easier. The problem is that EQ2 already had its core gamers! By making it easier to attract new gamers fromw WoW they in turn have killed of the original EQ2 crowd (ie Me). I don't enjoy everything being handed to me. I don't enjoy solo'ing all the way to 60 (much like WoW its getting to be the easiest way to get to 60 instead of risking pickup groups) I want to be grouping, I want to know that if someone is lvl 60 they actualy KNOW THEIR CLASS AND HOW TO USE IT. You have no idea how many people that are 60 still don't know what their class is used for and how to act in a group.
They also are SLOW TO FIX BUGS! High end raiding content is suppose to be their crown jewell. But yet when you go to try and kill a mob that has been in the game since launch, (Drakota in The Ferrot) He still has bugged adds! At least the last time I attempted him which was 2 months ago. I had a neighbor that was in a High end raiding guild that was usualy one of the first 2-3 to beat the new content. They had to wait 2-3 weeks to even fix zoning and agroo issues with mobs. So many issues with the game that they are slow to fix, and they never have fixed. I can understand a few bugs on release. I can understand that. But this many and after this long they still aren't fixed...
I'll give EQ2 one more try on the PvP servers (Although i wish they had a sullon zek ruleset...) and after that I just will have to wait for an MMO to suit my needs. I'm still hoping Vangaurd will live up to its promise... It is a Microsoft game though, so time will only tell.
I quit WoW and bought this a month ago. It is a good game now, far far better than it was when it first came out. They've gotten rid of the stupid penalty for death (although there remains a small XP debt and item decay for dying, which is very WoW like), revised the combat spells and moves, and now they are getting rid of one of the worst starting zones in the MMO genre and streamlining the character creation process, which was a blithering mess.
It's not WoW, but then again, it isn't the pile of garbage it was when it was released. It's come a long way, and it's certainly worth $20 for a look at this sleeper of an MMO.
Nah, EQ2 doesn't really compete with EQ1. There's no grinding unless you really want to; a 24 cap on raids, which aren't available in nearly the quantity of PoP; basically four classes, the subclasses only making a huge difference on high-end stuff; very good items that are widely accessible through grouping or crafting instead of raiding (and I'm not talking about LDoN style marathon-grouping); and the gameplay is much less complicated, but more action-oriented. What I mean by the last is that pulling is much easier and chanters are hardly ever necessary, but everyone is constantly doing something, including (especially) the tank.
Personally, I really dig it. It's the Everquest world for the casual player. The playerbase seems to be much, much more mature than any other MMO I've played (I haven't played Eve, which I think would be the main contender on that front). I'd still be playing it if I didn't decide it took up too much of my time.
Us Guild Wars players don't have a world at all, we just have a bunch of instanced 8 player or less zones, that we can't even rejoin if we're disconnected. The only place you run into other people is in the chat rooms, err cities.