I’ve spent about 5+ hours with Everquest 2, so before I jump back into another session, I thought I’d share a few thoughts of my first experiences with the game.
First, a little history of how I play MMOGs. When I play a new game, I jump into the game blindly. I don’t read FAQs, player guides, anything. I jump in, make a character and start playing. Whether I stick with that character or not depends, but I get a flavor of the game and then I start reading the guides, following the forums, and I change my play style accordingly. With that in mind, here’s how things are going so far.
I started my life in Norrath as a Barbarian Bruiser. I usually go with the “good” character types, but I was feeling a little evil, so I went with the evil version of a monk. I haven’t played a tank since my Diablo 2 days, so I thought a tank would be fun to play. The character creation had quite a few options, and after a few nips and tucks, my nasty looking Bruiser was ready to go.
All new players start off on a “newbie” island, that acts as a mini tutorial. It didn’t take long to do most of the island missions, and I was ready to head to the real world in a few hours, already a level 6 Bruiser.
So far, I like what I’ve seen. It plays fine (if a little choppy on my four year old computer). Once I got off the island at to Freeport, the world opened instantly. Exploring the city of Freeport looks like it could take forever, and that’s just the city! When I ventured outside it seemed to get even larger. It did seem like there weren’t a lot of other people playing, but that could simply be the server I’m on (Crushbone) or the time I’m playing. There seemed to be an endless supply of missions and quests, so there looks to be plenty of content. I’ve always loved the crafting aspects of MMOGs, and EQ 2’s tradeskill content looks like it should be a good time. So far, so good for me and EQ 2.
I’d love to play any readers who play on the Crushbone server or any tips for a newbie. Drop me a note in the comments.
The best advice for any newbie in EQ2 is to try everything you can.
When you are out monster bashing, do quests (don’t just grind). The quest exp is plenty enough to get leveling going. Stop and harvest all the different resource nodes. Then when you go back to town craft things. Rent an apartment in Freeport and sell things on the broker. Buy things on the broker.
I’m biased for obvious reasons, but the best part about being new in the game is that there are a lot of different things to tinker with and enjoy.
Not on Crushbone, but if your ever on Butcherblock Server gimme a hollar, I’ll show you around. Character names Tien.. like post name
Do you have to pay to play? (eg: warcraft is $15 a month)
You’ll change your mind about this game once you get into your higher levels and learn a little more. Believe me… it’s not as wonderful as they make it look out to be. I’m an EQ2 vet (been playing since launch) so I think I know what I’m talking about.
Not everyone is quite as jaded as some might want you to think. Quite a few of us (been playing since early beta, currently hitting higher end raid targets) are having a blast 2+ years in.
As far as paying to play, it’s roughly the same as World of Warcraft. If you’re not ready to take the plunge, you can start up with one of two different free trials (everquest2.com) and see if you like the game that way.
I am not going to make claims to have some extraordinary play time to make my thoughts seem more valid to you but I can tell you my experiences in EQ2 are more fun than not. The quests, which there are a ton of, are mostly fun. My only complaint with them is that many are not really there for anything other than to give you a quest. One thing I like about quests is when they lead you to new areas or through the history of an area. WoW does this really well I think. EQ2 has many quests like that but they also have quests that seem to be there for the simple reason of giving you a quest for EXP.
The end game was much more enjoyable for me than EQ1. Smaller raids, instanced so no fighting with other guilds/etc. I’ve got a 70 templar, fury, defiler and enchanter and enjoy them all, though I play my defiler the most (shaman).
I really find the crafting system quite tedious however. It’s been improved 100% since release but it’s still just a lot of mashing buttons and boredom for me. Some folks love it but I just can’t make it past any decent level to make it worth while.
My suggestion to you is to try and find people your level and try to group with them. Grouping makes the game that much more fun really. Avoid the people that “know it all” and have been around 2+ years. Grab the new guys and play through the game with them. You’ll have a great time of it.
Thanks to everyone who’s replied. I’ve still got some time to put in before I can definitely say whether I love it or not, but for now, things still have that “honeymoon” feel, and I’m enjoying it so far.