Ok, here we go again with my MMORPG comparison, If you want to read up and get familiar with what I had been talking about, make sure you check Part 1 and Part 2

Everquest 2 was the next game on EQ comparison list. I have to say, I was really looking forward to this game. So looking forward that when my preorder didn’t come, I went to my local EB and bought it (ended up with 2 copies).

I don’t have to go down the list with this game. Why? Basically EQ2 was a lateral step in a lot of ways. All of the things that annoyed me about Everquest was still in EQ2. They even managed to add annoyances to EQ 2, like having to get Keys to go into dungeons. Leveling times were still long, Death penalty was improved but still too harsh. Balance was better, but they replaced it with a lot of “duplicate” classes. 2 things Id say was a nod to the good was that it looked a lot better, and the random instant deaths were minimal. But overall, they didn’t learn a thing, and its sad.  I am however going to go down my dislike comparisons

Compared to my EQ dislikes

Random Deaths

This I think was improved a bit with EQ2. But the makers of EQ (and Im guessing a lot of gamers) think that having monster that is unbeatable to people that the area is intended, is good. I hate it, like I mentioned it before. The way EQ2 tuned it down was by being a little more descriptive of what type of monster you are fighting. If the monster is one of those “hero” class monsters that is meant to kill anyone not in a group it was labeled as such and not wandering as much through a typical low level area.

Death Penalty

The death penalty was greatly improved. I still thought it needed to be toned down a little more, but I could deal with the changes made.

Leveling

EQ2 did something that I thought was sneaky. They made the first 10 or so levels appear to be a big improvement, then it all slowed to a crawl. I was actually a little offended that they decided to “trick” players.

Balance

like I said, I didn’t play EQ2 for long. But they did improve a little as far as class balance. A little, the game still had classes that were overpowered and classes that were week. The funny thing is that some of the same classes that had balance issues in the first Everquest, also had issues with the second Everquest

Forced Grouping

In Everquest 2, you weren’t forced to group as much as EQ1. In fact, they even had enemies that were target for solo and some targeted to groups, with labeling and the works. There was still a bigger benefit to grouping, beyond just being able to kill stronger or more monsters at a time, so Grouping was still encouraged.

I’ll be honest with you, Everquest is a really good game, the landscape, the monsters, the quest, the combat. The problem with this game is that they way of thinking by the creators of Everquest is an old way of thinking that expired in the original EQ’s life span. People that play MMORPG’s are looking for functionality, fun, and interaction. Having to grind and do things over and over to progress is a necessary chore and I feel is enough. The makers of EQ have this belief that you have to pay dearly for everything, they have a brutal, extremist outlook on everything which I think removes any positives the game has. Which is why WOW is now dominating the market and not EQ2 (who should’ve be dominating the market right now)