Comments on: Another Level? Free Everquest for Lapsed Subs

By: Tak

Tak — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:57:10 +0000

EQ is pretty much into it’s niche now. It would be like jumping into UO or something right now, as a total newb. I wouldn’t dream of returning to EQ (the expandaloth got a hold of it, and made it mor ubar or something), and will leave that one as a memory, but EQII right now holds the ‘most game’ award on my shelf.

IMO, AoC has the better combat system, WoW has the better accessibility, tons of free MMOs have better graphics, but EQII just gives you a better ‘virtual world’ experience, especially the new Kunark stuff. And this coming from someone who *hated* EQII at lauch. It was, frankly, an un-fun POS at launch, and I really really tried to like it.

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:56:35 +0000

I downloaded the EQ1 installer tonight, and ran it this morning. That worked fine, and I launched Everquest. It immediately started updating assets — estimated time, over 6 hours. Then I had a brief power outage — the laptop kept running, but when the Internet connection died, the EQ updater crashed like a Polish helicopter. Oh, Sony. I remember what I didn’t miss about this game.

By: etho

etho — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:49:30 +0000

I played eq2 up until about a month ago. I didn’t play right when it came out, but when I started only one expansion had been released. Basically, since that time, it has quietly been fixing and improving every aspect of the game, and it is now really quite a good MMO. OK, it’s ugly as sin, but it plays well!

But then I got bored and gave AoC a try, which led me to suspend my EQ2 account.

But if you tried it early on, and haven’t played since, I would definitely recommend trying it out again. You may not recognize it, but you might enjoy it.

By: malkav11

malkav11 — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:09:14 +0000

EQ was easily the worst MMO experience I’ve ever had outside of those lame micropayment MMOs that proliferate over the webs. And I have played a *lot* of MMOs.

EQ2 (despite sitting on my shelf waiting for a go) is not one of them, though. I hear that it has fixed a fair amount of what sucked about EQ, probably due to the departure of some of the more violently anti-fun folks from the company (they went on to make Vanguard, for that core audience of masochists). But I also hear that it’s a lot like WoW without that Blizzard touch. So I dunno. One of these days.

By: The Hammer

The Hammer — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:01:45 +0000

Does this mean that eq2 doesn’t have very many current active users and are trying to get players to come back?

Probably. You never ever hear of it these days.

By: Harishamo

Harishamo — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 03:59:28 +0000

Does this mean that eq2 doesn’t have very many current active users and are trying to get players to come back?

By: Ben Abraham

Ben Abraham — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 03:33:53 +0000

So… what happens to those players who already paid for their game up till July 31st? Are they not going to be a bit unhappy they wasted their money for what they could have got for free?

By: donny

donny — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 23:20:50 +0000

I took sony’s offer and tried both eq 1 and 2. I had not played eq1 for 7 years and regret trying it again. But my reasons are probably different… for one, I gave all my gear away when I quit the game, and second, I de-leveled him 12 levels. So after figuring out the ass backwards UI, I realized I couldn’t summon anything cause I had no reagents or wasn’t high enough level to cast the spell. Also, after missing out on, oh, 9 expansions I had no idea where to even start, so I just logged out.

EQ 2 was more fun, and a more modern experience, but I got burned out after getting to level 11.

I would reccomend trying eq2… waiting for all those patches for eq1 and being dissappointed was a waste. it was better left as a memory.

By: Faust

Faust — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:57:23 +0000

I played EQ2 over the christmas period for a few weeks, and I really enjoyed it, mainly because it was so unlike WoW in a few significant aspects. I prefer the aesthetics, even if they haven’t aged quite as well as WoW, and I have to say playing as a frog monk and doing some crazy stick kung fu doolally was incredibly satisfying. I’m not really sure what it was that I prefered exactly, but I definitely did.
However, there is the fact that I was burned out on WoW by this point, so maybe I was looking back with the turned up nose of someone who has seen the faults in something. *shrugs*

By: Andthensobecause

Andthensobecause — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:34:24 +0000

Sometimes even “crappy” games can have emotional significance, or the regular kind also. It’s nice to return to them for a couple hours, for free, enjoy the small taste of the lost, and then move on. Again.

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:09:30 +0000

I’m not a big fan of any of the current generation of MMOs, but what I’ve heard pretty much points EQ2 as a crappy version of WoW. With all the “pretty good” MMOs out there, I can’t imagine how cheap you’d have to be to not pony up the $14-16/month for one of those instead.

By: eyemessiah

eyemessiah — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:00:39 +0000

V.A.L.I.S. is trying to contact you!