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Lets set some things straight.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 29 / 45
Date: August 06, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I'd like to first respond to the review pointing out that there are 2 cities your character can start off in. The reason you shouldn't worry about this is that it means there are only 2 STARTING cities. They have to include "outpost" cities, like Highpass Hold or Surefall Glade (which actually was a starting city, but so close to Qeynos it didn't matter). Whenever they add an expansion or a new race, they'll be forced to include a new city.

In many of the original EQ zones there were rogue clans of merchants (ex. the Gypsies of north karana). People will likely gather in places such as these in EQ2 for protection in numbers. Everyone will be there, particularly since there will be no spires or druid rings nearby. This will ultimately form something of a makeshift town, very cool if you ask me. Not to mention what this adds to the mood of the huge starting zones.

Next!

I would like to answer to the review talking about good graphics not making a good game.
What is it about the pretty graphics that make you think this game is going to suck? Graphics only make a game better. They have no correlation at all to the quality of programming. Take Doom3 for example, oh what a marvelous looking game, the engine just has to suck (BZZZZT!!!!).
I don't know what you are crying about against SOE. If you hated it that much, WHY DID YOU PLAY FOR FIVE F$%#ING YEARS?!?! Are you a god **** masochist or somthing?? If you don't enjoy it, play something else. Not to mention, Why are you here reviewing a game that you won't play that hasn't been released yet??

The fact is, the game will always require maintenance. All MMORPGs do. And Everquest may have had it worst because it was simply the most popular MMORPG. In any case, I played the game for 4 years, quitting only because I had to go to college (and the graphics were starting to bet to be quite the burden on my out-dated PC) and I only recall SOE being a minor inconvenience on a roughly weekly basis.

And, to respond to the reviewer who reviewed the reviews... The game is now officially in Beta. Which means there ARE thousands of people who are playing the game right now. I'm sure that as soon as they can pull themselves away from the addiction they'll come and start writing reviews :-P

Moreover, having played the game is not a requisite to post your opinions about the game. Plenty is known about the mechanics and such of the game, more becoming known on an increasingly frequent basis, as the game nears it's launch date (Which, by the way, most places agree on November 15th now, with still no official word from SOE I'm guessing they'll want it out in time for christmas).

And now that I've critiqued the other reviews :-P I would like to add my own little thoughts.

History speaks. When game release dates are delayed and delayed and delayed, that means they're not rushing the programming, this results in generally a higher quality of game.

Also, about the graphics. They're not good. They're not excellent. They're other worldly. The water in the game is MUCH more beautiful than real life. The trees are greener, and (depending on your video card, I guess) the air is always clean, and the stars will shine even in the middle of the city. With EQII, video game worlds have become more beautiful (in some respects) than the real world.

I for one, am so confident in this game that I plan on buying a whole new pc just so I can play it.

Sure to please

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 26 / 54
Date: June 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have played EverQuest continuously since the open-beta some four years ago. I believe I have the qualifications to make a comment. ;)

"A Gamer from New Jersey" paints a pretty jaundiced picture of EQ. I suggest that if you find grouping a pain, than you shouldn't review a game that is fundamentally designed to be social and group-oriented.

Soloing in Everquest is like removing a philips-head screw with a flat-tipped screwdriver; not a problem with the tool, but with the mechanic.

Everquest has evolved and expanded into a rich and almost unbelievably nuanced game for the fantasy roleplayer, old-school or new player alike.

Sony Online Entertainment has taken the fruits of their unequaled MMORPG experience and combined it with the latest of cutting-edge graphical technology.

For the *social* role-player (anyone who is not social should probably stick to first-person shooters) this new rendition of Everquest is sure to please.

EQ2 doesn't get enough credit

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 13
Date: December 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game seriously isn't nearly as popular as it should be. Yes, the system requirements are pricey, but it's well worth it, trust me. People regard it as a bad game mostly just because it's challenging. But come on people. It makes the game more interesting if you have to work for what you get.
{EDIT} The reason it isn't as popular as WoW is because it is a challenge. It is actually for people who have more brain capacity than a mentally challenged turtle. WoW is so simple, you press the same button a few times and it's Oh Jolly Gee! I killed something! Yay! Now I'm level 60 and it's only been 10 minutes! Give me a break. EQ2 is a little more mature than that, which is why I'm sort of glad it's not as popular. We lose the idiots and gain the patient, smart gamers who deserve to be there. Unfortunately for the makers of EQ2, most gamers go like this: "Aww, 30 seconds waiting time?? Come on! Oh My Goodness!! I actually have to kill stuff and work for what I get and not get immediate results? This is STUPID!". Yeah. Somehow I think I'm a little more mature than that. If you're looking for brainless level-ups, go to WoW. If you're looking for a unique, awesome, mature gaming experience that will challenge you and hone your skills into perfection, stick with EQ2. Now on to the basics.

Pro's:

1. The graphics are awesome. Although the drawback that comes with this (system requirements) are infamous, people, it's not that big of a sacrifice and when I upgraded my computer I was glad to, it needed the upgrade!
2. The game is challenging but fun, which is a positive thing, not a negative! Too many people base their views on this game on their own stupidity and lack of gaming ability. I'm not even that good of a gamer, and I was able to figure everything out and have immense amounts of fun. The tutorial in the beginning is a useful addition, and if you're having trouble figuring things out don't skip it!
3. Everyone is friendly. If you're having trouble, pipe up, I'm sure someone will come to the rescue as they have so many times before with me.
4. There are practically no bugs. I've heard of a few, but they are being combed out extremely quickly and I never personally experienced any.
5. There are so many classes and races to choose from, the variety is great. When you customize your character's appearance, you can actually customize it, not just choose from a list of premaid faces and bodies!
6. There are so many quests and so much to do that you will never get bored. The variety is great.

Cons:

1. System requirements. Yes they are a pain, but the benefits definitely outweigh the drawbacks.
2. Lack of variety in landscape. If there was one thing I would change in Everquest 2, it would be landscape. Yeah, it's beautiful and the graphics are awesome, but there is hardly any variety. Everything is, well, normal I guess. Which can be viewed as a good thing, but in a fantasy RPG, come on. Give us a little variety. More stuff should be happening on the screen, in simple terms.
3. LOADING! This is a big drawback. Loading takes forever, and if you are going to do quests, you have to zone in and out of areas so much, it will take you 20 minutes just to get from one place to another.
4. They changed it from Everquest 1 so that everyone starts in Qeynos or Freeport. BAD IDEA. It really does lose flavor and magic this way. I really wish they put it back the way it was in that respect. It would fix the problem stated in #2 partially as well.

*****

Overall, GREAT GAME. I'm hooked. Really.

EQ2 - The Thinking Gamer's Crumpet

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 12
Date: December 30, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is my first review of EQ2 and will probably be added to as time goes on. I'm currently a level 18 Kerran Predator who played a 52 Woodelf Druid on EQ1 for several years before dropping it for SWG (Teras Kasi Master, Master Creature Handler, Master Ranger, Rebel Colonel, Jedi Glowie) because it just became impossible to have any fun without a 20-person group to help do anything at higher levels. And I dropped SWG because, well, because. If you've played it yourself, you'll understand.

Some things EQ2 has gotten right so far:

1) Excellent quest progression from simple delivery missions to multi-part expeditions that can take you to every part of the globe. Very newbie friendly although more experienced gamers may find the early quests too simple for their tastes. Even the simple ones can give good rewards, though, including magic items that were ridiculously hard to get in EQ1. And everything you do expands your knowledge of the world which will come in handy later.

That's the best part of EQ2: it encourages you to use your mind to really think and develop as you play the game rather than simplistic plots or raw sensory overload.

2) Wherever you go, you can find new quests in the most unexpected places. Besides city-based NPC's, you can find others outside of the cities to give you more and better quests the further afield you go. That's one reward for moving around and exploring. Even simply locating a new landmark for the first time gives you experience, sometimes quite a lot, whether you have a specific quest for the location or not.

3) You CAN solo in this game, most definitely. You may need to experiment with various class/race combinations to find the particular skill set that works best for you, but once you have it and really learn how to use it you can solo as well as anyone.

That being said, of course, you can't do every single thing by yourself in the game, as in real life. Sometimes we all need a helping hand from other people to deal with the tougher situations. But what's wrong with that? It actually adds a lot of pleasure to the game, and there are plenty of options to go out on your own if you want to.

And if you really don't like working with people, why are you playing a multi-player game in the first place?

3) No power leveling, kill stealing, camping or twinking. Everyone in a group who is working on the same quest gets the same reward when the quest is completed, so there's no competition only the benefits of cooperation.

It's hard to know for sure, but my gut feeling is that a lot of complaints regarding EQ2 are from those who find that they can't exploit the game like they could in EQ1 and can't enjoy themselves unless they feel like they're "putting one over" on the rest of the player population.

Sorry, kids, you need patience and skill to work this game, the old cheats and exploits just don't work any more. And even if you don't rely on cheats and exploits to have fun, you do need to invest some time in it so if you have to have a quick thrill rather than a more extended and satisfying progression then you'll probably be happier elsewhere.

4) Very high quality graphics, very realistic feel to the world. Some people like a totally immersive experience where they really feel like they've been transported to another dimension, others don't. I happen to like this, so the graphics in EQ2 do very well for me. It does need a good machine to get the best use out of them but if you don't have one that's not the game's fault.

5) Crafting skills are much more diverse and reward taking the time to really learn your trade through higher quality results and bigger payouts if you like to be a merchant. Much more interactive creation processes than any other game I've played.

Again, if you like to whiz through town and expect to get the best stuff just by looking at it, there's nothing for you here. Move along......

6) Death trauma is vastly improved. Now when you get killed you wake up in a nearby safe area with all your gear intact, with just a bit of experience penalty and item decay. A glowing path leads you right back to your 'spirit shard' which eliminates most of the experience penalty when it's recovered. And even if you just leave it, all the experience penalty goes away after three days automatically, although the item decay remains which can be easily repaired by an NPC mender for a small fee.

So no more needing to bind in distant locations, and no more naked corpse runs over vast distances through overwhelming enemy forces. And no losing levels just for losing a fight. This one thing alone is definitely worth the price of admission!

Things that need improvement:

1) The inter-game communication system is primitive to say the least. SWG did one thing right in that they had the best in-game chat and email system ever developed, and considering that EQ2 is coming from the same company it's totally inexplicable why they didn't do the same thing here. Hopefully they'll make improvements soon.

2) SWG also had a terrific trade system where anyone could put their wares on a bazaar terminal or personal vendor and they would be on sale 24/7 whether you were logged in or not. This business of having to keep your character logged in and in its own room if you want to sell items is absurd and adds nothing but aggravation to the game. Are you listening out there, devs?

3) EQ1 became much less enjoyable at higher levels, and I hope EQ2 will avoid that fate by continuing to give us meaningful things to accomplish without needing massive groups to succeed. If they can do that then the future will be bright indeed.

So that's my analysis of EQ2 so far. I've tried WoW and find nothing wrong with it per se, but it's not EQ2 and for now EQ2 is what feeds my soul. Aren't we lucky to live in a time where we have so many options so everyone can find something they like, even if it's not the same as what other people like? ;)

If you're on the Antonia Bayle server, drop me a line, maybe we can go adventuring sometime.

Alduranson
18th Kerran Predator

Beta tester results..

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 21 / 29
Date: November 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Ive been on beta for this game and have to say that this game far exceeds the first one in many ways. Its a completely different game. Where Everquest 1 lacked, Everquest 2 more or less picks up. I used to play a 65 ranger on the Maelin server, and well even that class has changed a lot. Plan on a lot of QUESTS (they live by the name of the game this time), more group oriented encounters, more solo-ability, a better currency system (the common coppr piece is actually worth something other than weighing you down), and many more treats that you will find out when you check this game out. If you think Evrqust 1 took your time away, plan on it tripled. This game is VERY envolved. Too much to do in so little time.

Pros:
-Graphics are amazing
-Improved gaming experience (groups, soloing, etc)
-Talking NPCs
-Fighting looks like the character is actually fighting (EQ1 was bad about that)
-Something to always do..never ending quests
-Tradeskill animiations
-Class changes..some of the classes that you may be used to arent the same aka Monks, Paladins, etc.

Cons:
-Computer requirements (If you dont have 512 RAM, a excellent recent video card, and a P4 you will have issues)
-The beginning of the game was frustrating getting citizenship.
-The gal in the streets of Starcrest Commons yapping about her kitty. You may laugh but trust me you will see what I mean when you get there!

Will Be Awesome

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 20 / 36
Date: June 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have listened to many reviews on this website and have found that many people have been hating the fact that there will be 2 cities.

For those of you who don't know, it's called a storyline

There has been 500 years passed since the first eq game and an age called the age of clatyclysms. All cities were destroyed and even the moon exploded. Only two cities had the idea to rebuild their home, Qeynos and Freeport. Well, if they were the only ones doing this and one was good the other was evil, I guess you wouldnt sit around your city's old ruins for the rest of your life, you would have to join one. EQ2 is a freeport/qeynos war. Freeport led by the always-known-to-be-evil Sir Lucan D'Lere. Qeynos being the good side led by the good looking Antonia Bayle.

Pick your side

Everquest2 will be a better game than everquest with improved graphics, cities being a major part of the game, and a wide varity of races and classes. Everybody here is comparing it to everquest1. EQ2 IS NOT EVERQUEST. It is not even considered a sequel sometimes to the creators, it is a parrelell universe with the history, zones (with some new ones, and some old ones left out from when they were destroyed), and races of everquest, but it is COMPLETLY DIFFERENT.

Great game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 37
Date: November 01, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Everquest 2 (EQ2) is a great game. Just visit {EDITED} and read the details, see the screenshots and videos, etc.

By the way, don't be fooled by all the bad reviews posted here. It's graffiti. A bunch of kids are posting bogus reviews of EQ2 around the Internet. They are trying to promote a game called {EDITED}

The truth is, if your ten-year old child sleeps on {EDITED} sheets, you should probably get him that game. And when he grows out of that phase, he will want EQ2.

If you are looking for a game for anyone else, get them EQ2. It is better than {EDITED} in every way: graphics, content, playability, fun, replay value, etc.

The original Everuqest it is not :o(

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 17 / 33
Date: October 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have actually edited my prior review which led me to give this game both 5 stars in fun and overall. My new ranking would be 2 stars for both fun and overall. Here is the edited review after playing my character to 50 and spending some time in the game:

I played this game both during beta and after it went live. After playing the original Everuqest for over 5 years, I really wanted to enjoy this game. During the entire beta process I kept telling myself, "This will get better...They will add more quests...They will tweak the game so that it doesn't feel like WORK." I continued to tell myself after beta, when the game was rushed into Live status in order to be competitive with the release of World of Warcraft. As a result of this, you have a game that has beautiful graphics, but lacks anything substantial.

Upon creation of your character, you must choose wether you want to be good and go to the city of Qeynos, or evil and go to the city of Freeport. Qeynos is the land of happy halflings and all things daisies and sunshine. Now imagine the exact opposite and you have Freeport. The graphics in this city are so drab and depressing that you can hardly stand to even run through the streets. The NPCs do little other than call you names or threaten to pummel you in the face/kill you. Sony really neglected to realize that there are beautiful evil empires. People that will talk nicely to you and then stab you in the back. Where Qeynos is almost sickeningly sweet, Freeport leaves you wishing that you had never left the refugee island. The good news is that you are allowed to betray your starting city and move to Qeynos. At least there you don't feel like you are trudging through the sewers.

The first 5 levels of playing the game is basically a tutorial. You run around an island that is dedicated to those level 5 and below and you slay goblins. You slay LOTS of goblins. It was a decent enough tutorial for someone that is just starting the game, but I left the island thinking, "Couldn't they have found an island without goblins to take these poor refugees to??"

The game walks you through the entire process of getting to level 10 as though you're a child. There are quests that give you alot of information, and some that give you almost none and leave you wandering the streets of the zones for longer than you'd like to. The class quests that allow you to chose your very first archtype are simple, but the story line is not very well thought out. These are all things I had really hoped they'd have fixed by beta, but again, the rush to release shattered those hopes.

I've read alot of reviews that talk about how it is impossible to solo or duo. That simply isn't true. There is ALOT of solo and duo content. I think that I duo'd with someone all the way up to level 35. And we were both priest classes. We didn't stop duoing because the game didn't allow for it, we just realized it was much faster to group if you could get into a good one. A GOOD GROUP is absolutely key. The games experience pentalty upon your own death or that of a party member is ridiculous. If you end up in a poor groupo, you can easily end up having to spend hours working off the experience debt because of the foolish behaviour of a single party member. As a result, I never grouped with anyone I didn't know. One of the wonderful things about Everquest was that you could easily meet so many new people just by going into a zone and calling out that you were looking for a group. Trust me, don't do this in Everquest 2 if you are planning on playing it.

I played my character all the way up to level 50. I was in a guild that raided almost nightly and dedicated their time to doing the high end of the game. There is a single quest that can take you over a month to complete. You are sent off to find a dragon who has stolen something, only to have what you were supposed to find destroyed at the end. Not only that, but you encounter so many bugs during the final fight that it makes your head spin. Sometimes the encounter bugs, sometimes it doesn't. You never know which one you're going to get and it leaves you frustrated. It seemed like that was it for the high end. The game is mostly instanced, so you lose alot of the competition that you found all the way up through Plane of Time in Everquest 1. The fact that Sony can't seem to stop tweaking/nerfing the encounters also leaves you wondering what you're going to be fighting from week to week. A mob that your guild can go in and kill one day, may very well be unkillable for your the next. The addition of waves upon waves of spawns that continue to come without any chance of controlling them made them not fun for me.

Tradeskills. I don't even know where to begin. They took what was a fun crafting system, and hit it with the nerf bat until I finally stopped tradeskilling altogether. Being that I loved that asp[ect of the game, it really lost alot of appeal at that time. It seems that they can't just leave well enough alone and allow people to enjoy something that will be "easy". Everything must be an uphill stuggle to the end. I'm all for making people work for the best things in the game, but there is a point where you really just want to be able to do something easy.

You are simply taken back to the beginning of Everuqest time, with better graphics. You have more gnolls to kill than you could possibly imagine. You have the ice giants of permafrost. A whole bunch of goblins. And..Yes..Lizard men in Cazic Thule. The one good thing that an EQ2 player can look forward to, is that there is no chance of space gnolls since they have blown up Luclin.

Needless to say, it was a sad day for me when I cancelled my last Sony account and ventured on to World of Warcraft. I had been a customer of theirs for 6 years. Through all the bad customer service, through all of the encounter nerfing. I loved the storyline that they had built in EQ1, and it seemed non-existant in its sequal. After truding through the game to its less than glorious "end game quest", I felt like I had really accomplished nothing. At the end of the day there was little substance. All I had was a pretty 3 room apartment, a couple baby dragons and a shiny weapon to make me feel like I had accomplished something in my time there.

The most highly anticipated game this year.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 18
Date: August 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

As a (recently) former manager of an EB Games store, I can't even begin to tell you how many times I was asked about this game. Among games like FFXI, FFX2, and Halo 2, Everquest 2 leads the swells of anticipation. While I agree that EQ is highly socially oriented, very involving, and very addicting, on November 17, regardless of what anyone thinks, you will not be able to find a copy of this game unless you pre-ordered.

Now, from an objective standpoint, there's nothing worse than someone who criticizes games with a closed mind. But why is it that some people find it necessary to babble idiocracies and generate [lame] (for lack of a more appropriate word) quotes like, "Soloing in Everquest is like removing a philips-head screw with a flat-tipped screwdriver; not a problem with the tool, but with the mechanic."

Should I even waste my time breaking down how stupid and anecdotal this quote is? If you want to solo in EQ, do it, if you don't like it, don't. People like different things and there is nothing wrong with 'soloing.' I know EQ is a MMORPG, you are supposed to interact with other players, but you don't have to. Quite frankly someone who gets so upset about soloists in EQ really should get outside and meet more physical people, and learn a new phrase like, "Physical Human Interaction."

At any rate, the game is sure to be a hit, sure to sell out, sure to have some problems, and sure to have some critics.
If I had to wager, I'd say that more people will be pleased with their purchase than not.

EverQuest is for certian people

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 30
Date: December 20, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Jeese, why do so many people have bad things to say about everquest, and how dumb the new EQ will be? If you ask me this is a great game for many differant types of people. EQ1 was a great game, i have playe dit for over a year now, but its not like it is my life.

Some good things about the upcoming EQ2 is that there is no experiance bars, or certian hit points. Everything is within the game. There are no stats accept general things like good strangth, or good intelligance. This provides the player with a more relistic view of the game. Also there is a new way to distinguish your class. As you go through the levels you will begin to make decisions tward a certian class, that will fit you the best. There is no guessing in the begining what class you will like or not like. durring the game if you are killing somthing, there is no way to know how many hit points the mob your killing has, or how many you have, because face it, there is nothing of the sort in real life anyways. Another feature is that items can be broken if you dont have the proper training to use them, or they just get old.

There is a new zoning experiance too. If you accedently get a mob on you and maybe a entire train, if u keep runing they will acually give up on you and leave, this gets rid of the "zone" idea. Also Im, not positive but, i think that mobs can and will follow you through a zone, so you no longer have a zone to save you, as you dont in real life either.

In conclusion I would say this will be the best online role playing game to hit the market. Although many will disagree, its just not their thing, because everyone is differant. So dont take advice from the people who hate it, because they are not you, so they will not know if u hate it or not. Thanks for time, and i hope like it ), /bow and i cant wait myself.

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