EQ2 vs WoW

[tshontikidis]

OhhK so....

I was panning on starting to play WoW because all my friends were playing and i have always wanted to start. but then all my friends stoped playing and now they are going to start EQ2. so now i think i am going to go to EQ2

i just wanted to hear what other people think that have been playing the game.

keep in mind this is my first MMORPG.

thanks

 

[Bane]

OhhK so....

I was panning on starting to play WoW because all my friends were playing and i have always wanted to start. but then all my friends stoped playing and now they are going to start EQ2. so now i think i am going to go to EQ2

i just wanted to hear what other people think that have been playing the game.

keep in mind this is my first MMORPG.

thanks

Play the one your friends are playing, you'll have more fun regardless of which one people prefer.

 

[Badger_sly]

2 thumbs up from me for EQ2. Be prepared for a new addiction.

 

[MrWolf710]

Play the one your friends are playing, you'll have more fun regardless of which one people prefer.

I agree. Even if the game sucks (as EQ2 does) playing it with your friends can make it a lot more fun.

 

[Trepidati0n]

Play the one your friends are playing, you'll have more fun regardless of which one people prefer.

QFT

The best MMOG is the one your friends are playing. A MMOG w/o friends is about as much fun a smelling a used sock. There is a reason why the original EQ still has such a large market share..

 

[Saloma Teale]

I agree. Even if the game sucks (as EQ2 does) playing it with your friends can make it a lot more fun.

Sorry, but EQ2 does not suck. Its very entertaining, and as of last night, I am now a lvl 35 Wizardess. I dont think I would have gotten that far if the game were not any good.

Generalizations like "X game sucks" is not what the poster is looking for. However, you are right about playing with your friends. It makes it much more enjoyable.

In big MMORPGs, its sometimes hard to get a regular crew of people together who want to go adventuring, so if you have friends with you right off the bat, you have a better time.

 

[Deadly sk1llz]

Actually, I think he has asking if X game sucks and should stay away from it and not play it. His friends could get bored of EQ2 and end up going to Guild Wars or something else random.

I'd say stick with your friends an play the same game. Although, personally, I prefer WoW over EQ2, it is the safe decision to stay with your friends and play on their server. EQ2 doesn't suck hardcore, but it wasn't as fun as WoW is for me at the moment. Simple personal preference.

EQ2 seems to have alot more longer, tougher, slow leveling process, that puts more detail into graphics and character development. WoW allows quicker, easier leveling, built for a 'casual' MMORPG player, but allowing for higher end raids. It puts less details on graphics and more on overall enjoyment and seems to be slightly easier.

This is all preference though, so, make your decision based on how much playing alone is and playing with your friends.

 

[QHalo]

This thread has flamewar all over it.

Anyway, if you do just a bit of searching on here you'll find about eleventy billion threads like this and they have some great information in them on the similarities and differences of the two games. But like Bane said, when it boils down to it playing with your friends is what MMO's are all about. If you don't like that game, you can always switch over. Most of the people on the WoW servers are generally nice guys and gals and are there to help the lowbie people. Finding guilds isn't that difficult either and is the best way to make friends quickly.

Whether it's EQ2 or WoW just enjoy playing. Don't let anyone sway you whether which one is better. Decide for yourself. Because all these posts are are opinions, and just like assholes, everyone has one.

 

[Ashtaka]

I enjoyed the WoW beta much more than the EQ2 beta and that effected my final decision on which game I'd invest time in in the long run. Being a full time employee and a part time college kid (only taking 10 credits, need 12 to be full time.) with a vocal group on the side, I just don't have the time it takes to get anywhere in EQ2... whereas in WoW, when I'm not there, I'm getting double exp bonus which i can fill every night in an hour. At level 46, I can still group with my 55+ friends and be useful. (Although I am a paladin holy specced. With 3600 mana unbuffed a 1300 point regular heal and a 2000+ critical heal that returns my invested mana, I can act as a primary healer in instances like Sunken Temple. I'm also apparently the only paladin who uses divine intervention as everyone wonders why I die with a full bar of life and no mana when the cleric with no life and no mana gets a holy shield cast on them that calms all the creatures attacking him/her and makes the cleric invulnerable for 30 seconds...)

However, i did buy EQ2 this weekend from Fry's. $19.99 with a $20 rebate = Free EQ2. I'll give it a try once my WoW needs have been satiated.

 

[Deque]

If you pay 7 bucks for a fileplanet premium subscription, you can try EQ2 for free for a year. The only downside is that you can't leave the Isle of Refuge (The newbie island).

I still had my fileplanet subscription from when I signed up for Open Beta for WoW. I thought I was only paying for a month, but apparently it's a recurring monthly charge, so be careful if you do sign up for it.

From my brief experience with EQ2, I'm glad I"m with WoW. That's not to say EQ2 is a bad game (hell, you can't even get to the part where the classes diverge, you're stuck playing a mage instead of a wizard).

My main beef with EQ2 is that my level 6 mage has more downtime then my level 58 mage in WoW, and that's unaccetable. I may play EQ2 again after I graduate and get a job, but right now there is no way I can afford that much time to play the game.

Maybe downtime in EQ2 changes, but I doubt it. I played a high level mage in EQ1, and I'm sure the downtime between the two games is very similiar (at least not drastically different).

 

[Saloma Teale]

Well... downtime is larger after lvl 17. Pre 17, you can solo to your heart's content.

Recently though, the dev team added new solo instanced dungeons to the Test Server, so the solo aspect of the game is really coming into being for those people that like to solo alot.

You also just have to make sure you have a nice stack of player made food/water, and that lessens the downtime ALOT. I purchase the highest lvl food that I can manage, and my downtime is next to nothing because of it. Between the food, water, and my wizard's own ability to heal her own power bar using spells, downtime is not really a huge issue anymore.

 

[Badger_sly]

..........
My main beef with EQ2 is that my level 6 mage has more downtime then my level 58 mage in WoW, and that's unaccetable. ...........

That seems like correct common sense to me.

Anyway, below level 10 in EQ2 there sometimes is more downtime, depending on what you're fighting, but as you go up in levels and your health and power increase, then the downtime becomes less and less. And of course a mage class will have more downtime from taking greater damage as compared to more heavily armored classes. That's why grouping, even with just 1 fighter class, has such great benefits.

And I agree about the food/water. Get the best you can and it makes a big difference.

 

[michealo]

food and water makes a HUGE difference in EQ2

i solo'd my way to level 30, and downtime is like 30 seconds from empty power to full

 

[colin]

man, I'm still playing the original Asheron's Call....

 

[Saloma Teale]

I played AC! That was a pretty good game though. When I quit, I went on to Asheron's Call 2, and that blew chunks!

 

[theNoid]

WoW was built for easy of use. EQ2 was not.

While I agree play with your friends, you will have a much harder time learning the ins & outs of a MMORPG playing EQ2.

I am still hooked on WoW.

 

[Jasonx82]

I Just Bought WOW

 

[Saloma Teale]

Yeah... i agree. EQ2 has a bigger learning curve than WoW. Takes a while to get used to everything, and really understand how to go about surviving in the world.

 

[dano]

My main beef with EQ2 is that my level 6 mage has more downtime then my level 58 mage in WoW, and that's unaccetable. I may play EQ2 again after I graduate and get a job, but right now there is no way I can afford that much time to play the game.

Maybe downtime in EQ2 changes, but I doubt it. I played a high level mage in EQ1, and I'm sure the downtime between the two games is very similiar (at least not drastically different).

You're just missing some info here, drinking and eating as a previous poster stated has a massive effect on downtime. If you are not drinking and eating your downtime will be big, even the chaep food and drink will cut that in half, get some decent player crafted stuff in you(you can make it on the island) and you'll be fighting almost non-stop with a very occasional bit of downtime.

Dano.

 

[Saloma Teale]

Yeah... as for me I use lvl 30 superior quality drink and food. Most often I buy drink/food that has a lasting time of an hour or more. Downtime is really non-existant if you outfit yourself with the right consumables.

 

[101998]

I agree with the rational people, play what your friends play, I really enjoy playing eq2 because all my friends play. EQ2 is a soild game just like WoW is a soild game, anyone who says EQ2 is a "long and horrible grind" didn't ever play EQ2 or really sucked at playing it. I don't recall ever going out just to kill shit for xp until I was in my mid-20s; up until that point everything I went and did was for quests of some sort.

And on the downtime subject, with a good mid 30s group I can usually pull 6-7 yellow^^ in a row before I call a power break and those usually only last less than a minute.

 

[arentol]

My main beef with EQ2 is that my level 6 mage has more downtime then my level 58 mage in WoW, and that's unaccetable.

Sounds like a personal problem to me.

 

[ThunderGod66]

Didn't read the rest but here's the bottom line from someone who previously played EQ2 for 2 months then switched to WoW for a little over a month now.

If you're always going to play with your friends and NEVER EVER alone then EQ2 will be fun for you. If you ever plan on going solo just don't bother with EQ2 because past a certain level it's not really possible. EQ2 is very formulaic and you need a well rounded group and everyone has to perform their single job function flawlessly. One person messes up and the whole group gets wiped and you have a ton of debt which gets very annoying and aggrivating pretty fast. I stopped playing EQ2 because my guild broke up, I had no one to group with for a while and pickup groups SUCK.

WoW is more friendly. I've played a month and a week and I'm lvl 42 and most of that was solo quests. PvP is so much more fun than I ever imagined it would be. Grouping is still fun and when you get a good group going you can accomplish a lot more in less time than soloing.


There's a lot more I could compare between the two but it would take up a lot of space .

 

[Jasonx82]

Sounds good reading these posts make me want to hurry and open the box and play!!!

 

[Badger_sly]

...........
If you're always going to play with your friends and NEVER EVER alone then EQ2 will be fun for you. If you ever plan on going solo just don't bother with EQ2 because past a certain level it's not really possible.

That is completely untrue. It's quite easy to solo in EQ2, you just have to be smart about what you fight. Sometime you have to group, even just 2 people, to complete a tough quest, but finding effective yet polite players is very easy.

EQ2 is very formulaic and you need a well rounded group and everyone has to perform their single job function flawlessly. One person messes up and the whole group gets wiped and you have a ton of debt which gets very annoying and aggrivating pretty fast.

Again, untrue. 2 players can form an effective group, as can 8, even complete strangers to one another previous to forming. Memeber of a group mess up once in a while and it's no big deal. If one group member continuously makes mistakes, shows no concern for the well being of others in the group (you won't get debt if you do), and in general is being an idiot, then he or she is usually booted from the group pretty quick. Rarely does that happen though. I'd say about 95% of all the players that I've made contact with in EQ2 have been friendly, helpful, and effective.

I stopped playing EQ2 because my guild broke up, I had no one to group with for a while and pickup groups SUCK.
...............

From that, I get the strong impression that you possibly have social issues. Maybe you were on some unknown horrible server, but I doubt it.

 

[Ashtaka]

From that, I get the strong impression that you possibly have social issues. Maybe you were on some unknown horrible server, but I doubt it.

I dunno, I've noticed that pickup groups do kinda suck. I don't play EQ2, I come from EQ and WoW, but it seems that anyone who does join a pickup group is only there to look out for themselves.

In EQ, people would do stupid pulls. If they saw a named mob, they'd tag the mob, aggro a group, and run back expecting you to bail em out. They'd loot things while you were still fighting, loot things their class couldn't use. In WoW, you have people looting stuff that's BIND ON PICKUP that's not even usable by them, people dropping from the group as soon as they finish their quest, etc.

 

[Trepidati0n]

I dunno, I've noticed that pickup groups do kinda suck. I don't play EQ2, I come from EQ and WoW, but it seems that anyone who does join a pickup group is only there to look out for themselves.

In EQ, people would do stupid pulls. If they saw a named mob, they'd tag the mob, aggro a group, and run back expecting you to bail em out. They'd loot things while you were still fighting, loot things their class couldn't use. In WoW, you have people looting stuff that's BIND ON PICKUP that's not even usable by them, people dropping from the group as soon as they finish their quest, etc.

Most guilds worth joining have a website. Go there and get involved in their forum. Become a part of a guild. If you are a person with decent character (no pun intended) you should be in like flint. Our guild has over 400 members in WoW spread across three servers (Tich, Storm, and now europe). You can find a good guild...you just need to make the effort. You might even make some new friends.

-tReP

 

[Saloma Teale]

I rarely have issues with pickup groups. Generally, my play is very serious, and I pay attention to what I'm doing. I look for the same qualities in pickup groups if I have to take one. Mostly its the Tank and the Healer you have to watch. If the tank is a noob and doesnt know how to pull correctly, you're going to die. Same goes for the healer if he is expending power on frivolous heals on party members that dont need healing.

I keep a list of good and bad group members on my friends list. This way, I can keep track of those people that know what they are doing, and the others that are a waste of life. It enables me to be more cautious in my group choices.

 

[Saloma Teale]

Most guilds worth joining have a website. Go there and get involved in their forum. Become a part of a guild. If you are a person with decent character (no pun intended) you should be in like flint. Our guild has over 400 members in WoW spread across three servers (Tich, Storm, and now europe). You can find a good guild...you just need to make the effort. You might even make some new friends.

-tReP

Good advice right there. Joining a guild is one thing that advances me so much in EQ2. If you look around ingame, or read your server's respective forums, most likely you'll find a guild advertising that they need new members. Check em out. They do help.

 

[ViTo]

I played EQ2 for about 6 weeks. It's a good game, but it had some issues I didn't like. Stuff like merchanting,(why do I have to be online to sell stuff?) and group mechanics left me wanting. Also the no pvp thing was a turn off... computer controlled monsters get old.


I picked up wow over the weekend,. I am enjoying it a lot, all my gripes about eq2 seemed to be addressed. though I hear that the end game is kind of wanting... hurry up with the battleground already!

 

[Saloma Teale]

Yeah... i hear everyone is looking forward to battlegrounds. Its a very sound concept and could REALLY add alot to WoW. My only hope is that they handle it a bit better than SWG did. I know from experience that the 'battleground' zones around the galaxy are very much a joke. No one enterst them, and they are never utilized. Hopefully all the issues SWG had with them wont make an appearance on the WoW side.

 

[Saloma Teale]

Oh! I got a couple nice items over the weekend from various travels I did, including the Journeyman Boots quest, so I figured I'd post them for any that are interested in seeing things like items =)











Cant wear it all yet, but i'm getting there!

 

[ThunderGod66]

That is completely untrue. It's quite easy to solo in EQ2, you just have to be smart about what you fight. Sometime you have to group, even just 2 people, to complete a tough quest, but finding effective yet polite players is very easy.


Again, untrue. 2 players can form an effective group, as can 8, even complete strangers to one another previous to forming. Memeber of a group mess up once in a while and it's no big deal. If one group member continuously makes mistakes, shows no concern for the well being of others in the group (you won't get debt if you do), and in general is being an idiot, then he or she is usually booted from the group pretty quick. Rarely does that happen though. I'd say about 95% of all the players that I've made contact with in EQ2 have been friendly, helpful, and effective.


From that, I get the strong impression that you possibly have social issues. Maybe you were on some unknown horrible server, but I doubt it.

Wow man...pretty harsh, relax.

Well I stopped playing a month ago and I heard they added more solo mobs but I haven't played to find out. I had a level 30 wizard and there's no way you can solo anything with an up arrow (even green) or any mobs that come in groups of more than one. Mobs that fit this requirement were few and far between...and usually camped. Not very effective for soloing.

Finding a group is not always as easy as you say. If you're a healer or a tank, yes a group is easy to find but for a wizard it's not.

When I say you need a well rounded group, you NEED a healer and a tank...there's no way you can group effectively without them. I can't tell you how many times I've had a group waiting around to try to find a healer and/or tank. I heard Qeynos had an abundance of healers but Freeport did not. The fact is EQ2 is a group game. You can solo but it's not very fun or effective.

And what's with the social issues comment? When you're in a guild, there's constantly people to group with and when you're not, you have to rely on the chance that someone might need an extra person in a group. There's no socializing involved in putting your LFG tag on...it's a crapshoot.

Anyway, I was on the Mistmoore server and if you've seen the server forums, you've heard of the guild I was in, D.I.E. We broke up because the guild leader was in a dungeon (forget which one it's been so long) and teleported another group's healer back to their home town (without permission) and some other healers in the guild did similar things to other people which made no one on the server want to have anything to do with us so everyone quit.

I still group with a few of my EQ2 buddies that moved over to WoW and we're having a lot more fun. EQ2 seemed more like a chore and WoW is pure entertainment.

 

[Saloma Teale]

Anyway, I was on the Mistmoore server and if you've seen the server forums, you've heard of the guild I was in, D.I.E. We broke up because the guild leader was in a dungeon (forget which one it's been so long) and teleported another group's healer back to their home town (without permission) and some other healers in the guild did similar things to other people which made no one on the server want to have anything to do with us so everyone quit..

Eeep! I've had people do that to me before. Its very mean, and is a griefing tactic. Using Odyssey Stones to send other groups back to their home town is a bad thing. I'm not sure, but I THINK this issue was taken care of in one of the previous patches.

TBH, your guild leader (former) doesnt sound like someone who really did any good for you. Its a sad thing, but people are judged by the company they keep. Having someone like that griefer associated with you really didnt help.

 

[tshontikidis]

ahhhh. so torn, i have DL'ed a 30 day trial from file planet so i am going to try it. I didnt really know about the solo playing difference in the 2 games and i would say i am more of a solo player because all i have ever played was RPG this is my first MMO.

problem is that all of my friends stoped playing WoW but only one or 2 is going to EQ2, so i wouldnt be gaining much.

worst comes to worst i may have to buy both in the end because dont each come with 30 day trials.


ooooo the agony.

 

[kick@ss]

ahhhh. so torn, i have DL'ed a 30 day trial from file planet so i am going to try it. I didnt really know about the solo playing difference in the 2 games and i would say i am more of a solo player because all i have ever played was RPG this is my first MMO.

problem is that all of my friends stoped playing WoW but only one or 2 is going to EQ2, so i wouldnt be gaining much.

worst comes to worst i may have to buy both in the end because dont each come with 30 day trials.


ooooo the agony.

If it's only one or two people going to EQ2, I'd definitely go with WoW. WoW is SIGNIFICANTLY more solo friendly. You can solo in EQ2, it's just a lot slower. In EQ2 you'll spend a lot of time in one spot killing the same crap over and over for hours to get XP. In WoW you can choose to grind in one spot if you want to (solo I might add, so you don't have to wait and wait and wait for a tank/healer) or you can decide to do quests. Also, in WoW you can join a PvE server and never PvP or PvP when you feel like it, or you could join a PvP server and PvP all the time. In EQ2 you never get that choice.

The only things EQ2 really has going for it is the fantasy EQ environment for those who like that kind of thing, more classes, and more realistic graphics. WoW, on the other hand, has the better gameplay. WoW is about choices - where do you want to go, what quests do you want to do, to group or not to group, PvP or not, etc. EQ2 is more about following a linear path to get an acceptable amount of XP.

 

[Badger_sly]

ahhhh. so torn, i have DL'ed a 30 day trial from file planet so i am going to try it. I didnt really know about the solo playing difference in the 2 games and i would say i am more of a solo player because all i have ever played was RPG this is my first MMO.....

If you try EQ2, don't be afraid to group. The high majority of players in EQ2 are friendly and helpful. Most, around whatever level you'd be at, welcome a group to work on quests or to just help out. Players you enjoy grouping with, you can add to a friends list, and look them up at a later time, making it very easy to find someone to adventure with. And of course there are guilds, which usually doesn't cost anything to be a member of, yet gives you the resources of other players / crafters.

Socializing, interacting, grouping..... is what MMORPG games are all about. You can solo, but if that is all you do, why not just play a single player game?

......... In EQ2 you'll spend a lot of time in one spot killing the same crap over and over for hours to get XP. ............

A player can grind like that if he wants to, but by no means is it necessary.

WoW is about choices - where do you want to go, what quests do you want to do, to group or not to group, ..

That's a perfect description for how it is in EQ2 also.

EQ2 is more about following a linear path to get an acceptable amount of XP.

LOL, ask anyone that has actually played EQ2 about that statement and most if not all would disagree.

 

[kick@ss]

A player can grind like that if he wants to, but by no means is it necessary.

If you want to level faster than once per week grinding is a bit on the necessary side.

That's a perfect description for how it is in EQ2 also.

EQ2 provides you significantly less choices than WoW. At each level there tended to be THE place to level/quest, and that's where you went... for hours.

LOL, ask anyone that has actually played EQ2 about that statement and most if not all would disagree.

I played EQ2. At each level I did the same thing usually over and over - stand in one spot and kill the same crap for hours on end.

I played EQ2 and you can say all that you want to about EQ2's solo friendliness and all that crap, but I've been there and done that and know the truth behind the f4nboyism. First of all, if you want to get good XP you need to group, plain and simple. As the levels drag on (drag being a very appropriate word), quests usually require groups more and more. Also, there's a lot more wait time in EQ2. I can't tell you the number of times I sat around waiting, doing absolutely nothing, waiting for a healer or tank. Maybe we occasionally killed a few pathetic mobs for an even more pathetic amount of XP, but that's about it. Waiting around doing nothing is sooooo much fun. Total time I've spent waiting, doing nothing in WoW: 0 seconds.

Also, let's not mention how you only get four characters with EQ2 (8 if you subscribe to Station Pass). In WoW you get 8 characters too... per server, without having to spend money on a pass for games you'll probably never play.

Also, the merchant system is just stupid. Having to leave the game running to sell something is an example of incredibly poor game design. There is no way you can possibly justify this as being even remotely good; it's pathetic, inferior, and a waste of time.

People will of course prefer one game over another, but in the end WoW is a much better game because
- You can solo more easily
- There's plenty of content for grouping also
- There's more flexibility in the type of group you can have when doing some groupish quests
- Completely optional PvP
- An auction house so you can have stuff up for sale and go play another game or reboot or whatever
- A ton more characters
- You don't have to wait around doing nothing, potentiall for quite some time, just to get a simple group quest done
- You don't sit in one place and pull mobs for hours
- Leveling goes quicker

 

[Trepidati0n]

Bunch of stuff...

However...that is for you. Do not say a game "IS" that way when there are people disagreeing w/ you. If 9/10 people said the same thing then there might be credibility...but there isn't.

EQ2 has a sharper learning curve than WoW. It is also more complicated and more deep in terms of play. Maybe because you played WoW you became used to the "simple" way of playing and not the complicated method.

I found EQ2 pretty easy and WoW as trivial in terms of difficulty. They each have their own mechanics. Figure them and and work within the system. Now EQ was a bitch because a slight screw-up on your part could result in total and complete failure with hours spent getting back to where you were before. In that game...if you screwed up, everybody died (and that could be 50+ toons). Hell, at the highest levels of EQ sometimes the tank needed to have 8+ Clerics casting complete heal in a constant 1 second chain or DIE (the spell took 8 seconds to cast). If one person screwed up, everyone died. However, guilds did it...and they did it well.

Just make sure the fault is with the game and not how you are playing it.

-tReP

 

[ZeroMaxx]

It really depends. If you have one or two friends going and you arent grouping together too often stick with WoW. If its a bunch and you are always grouping with them I would switch. Personally I had never seen a mmo that i thought was good enough for my $$$. I had a friend that loves them and I always tried his. Then he gave me the wow free 10 day he got from Coll Edition and I had to get it. You might want to talk to your friends and see why they switched. Pickups are much easier in wow and, from what he tells me, friendlier.