EverQuest II ReviewI think I have to start out by saying that all of the stuff that I read in order to bring you this preview just got me excited as all-hell. EverQuest II is going to be a completely different game, not an upgrade. So, for those of you who love MMORPGs, but have hated the way that EverQuest has been run and how long it takes for you to be able to actually have fun and survive, you’ll be extremely happy as well. But, it’s thanks to the people who hated the way things have been done, because without you EQII wouldn’t be the way it is. First off, I’ll list a little statistic that’ll give you an idea of exactly how many people started to get fed up with the way that EQ was run. Of the two million people that have signed up for EQ, fewer than 500,000 gamers are left playing (I was one of the 1.5 million that quit). That’s a huge drop-off. But, as I said before, all two million people who originally signed up for EQ will (I feel with the changes) come back for seconds. One of the first things that have been changed is the focus and dependence on long-lasting raids. I remember being at a buddy’s house and watching him just sit there, for hours on end, in a huge hall with 1,000 other people (slight exaggeration) waiting for monsters to spawn so that they could all team up and get experience points and whatnot. EQ II has been designed to be for a more “casual audience.” Focusing mainly on six-man groups, all gamers will need to do in EQ II is enter into a zone, or area, and an instance - which will last a lot shorter than the 10 hour battles from EQ - will be created for a raid. So, if gamers aren’t looking to spend their entire evening sitting around waiting for a raid to start, then they will be happy to see that they won’t have to do that at all in EQII. Another change that has been made in the world of EQII is the new freedom of class/race combinations. Based on the four basics: Fighter, priest, magician and scout; gamers will be able to branch off as they level up. For example, in EQ you wouldn’t see a High Elf running around performing evil, Necromancer spells on people. In EQII, that is one of the many possibilities that you could work your way towards (something to strive for – mix it up a little). For a little more depth into the preview, the listed basics can branch off to: Fighters: Warrior, Crusader or Brawler Scout: Predator, Bard or Rogue Mages: Sorcerers, Enchanters or Summoners Priests: Cleric, Druid or Shaman For those of you who did like to go the “evil” way, or had a character that was looked up on as being “weak” and were kept out of groups, EQII has fixed the balancing problems by putting comparable skills all across the board. Not one class will have a spell or action that the others won’t have – this’ll make sure that everyone is included and won’t have to suffer for their decisions. Now for a topic that really pissed me off in EQ – kill stealing. In EQII, this is no longer a problem, at all. Once your character has engaged in a battle with a creature, no one can do anything to take it from you, no one can jump in, but also no one can help you. So, if you’re getting your ass kicked by an NPC and the only choices you have are to die or run… you’ll have to run. This running that you’ll be doing leads me into the next feature that has been added in EQII. Say you’re running from… a skeleton. That bastard would chase you down until you got to an NPC that would rescue you from certain death. But now, if the monster you’re having problems with never hits you, then he’ll forget about you and not only stop trying to kill you, but all of its hit points will return, it’ll go back to its spawn location and its hatred towards you will go away. This also gets rid of, or at least severely limits, the trains or “fear kiting” that some of those jerks in EQ would do that would bring loads of monsters to people who didn’t want to be fighting them in the first place. As for fighting monsters that you do want to be engaged with, there have been some changes in the buffs that can be performed to make your group stronger – some you may like, some you may not. One thing that has been modified about using buffs is that you cannot perform one on anyone that is not in your group. So, all of those clerics that were sitting around EQ doing nothing but making money by performing spells are out of business. What sucked even more about those people is that the spells they did to you didn’t even last as long as you wish they would have. Which brings me to a plus side about the buff changes. Any buffs that are performed to your group in EQII are permanent until the group disbands. So, gamers will no longer need to worry about their little icons blinking away. Once a cleric or enchanter casts a buff on your character, you’ll keep those affects active until you leave your current group – sweet deal, eh? As we near the end of this little preview of what to expect to see in EQII, I get to my favorite part about all of the changes that have been made to EQ – newbie friendly gaming. I’m sure everyone who “hated” EQ and left within the first month of playing the game did so because you could hardly do anything by yourself, or do anything at all with such a low level character. Unless your character was in the 40’s or greater, your guy/girl “sucked.” But, with EQII, newbies will never have to fear that alienated feeling again. The first raid for new gamers will occur at level five and every five to ten levels after your fifth, you’ll have a new raid-type encounter. So, not only will you be teaming up almost right off the bat, but you’ll be doing raids and working with others to level up almost all the time – you finally get to feel special. And, while you’re feeling all special and leveling up quicker than ever, you’ll also be happier than you ever were because gamers will be awarded new skills and spells at EVERY LEVEL, as opposed to every four or five levels. For those gamers who actually stick with it and get all the way up to levels 45-50, they’ll have three high-level outdoor areas and dungeons with two instant encounters per zone – a little something for everyone.   If there are some of you who are thinking that high-level gamers will just come into the lower level zones and rape and pillage the land of all experience points, loot and items… you’re worrying for no reason. EQII has the trivial loot code installed that “The Warrens” EQ expansion had, but removed from the game, in place that will keep all high level characters out of low level zones – the people who have been ruining it for others are finally getting what’s been coming to them. Honestly, if you like MMORPGs, why would you not get EQII? It has got everything that the people who quit were missing (newbie friendly, earlier skills/spells), it has zones to keep the game challenging and it has modified the things that have been driving the masses insane (fading buffs, fear kiting, day long battles). All of these changes have hit all of the problems that I had with EverQuest, and they’re enough to make me get excited about getting back into it. And, as it is with every next installment in the videogame world, the graphics and the EQ world are only getting more amazing to enter. |