My current MMO:

[dday_0612]

Hello friends,

I am a long time Togger and a looong time MMO’er. I have played and quit many many games in my gamer life. Some of these games have given me great memories, and others have given me heartburn Most recently I played SWTOR for a few months and enjoyed my time, but the game just did not have the magic appeal and addiction factor that I am looking for with a MMO.

Like many out there, my first love was EQ1. I am very sure I will never ever again catch the magic that I felt when playing that game. A lot of that magic was based on it being the first time I had ever actually played along with my friends in an online world. I spent months absolutely spellbound with this idea! This is back in the days of dial up internet and wife agro was at a high due to busy phone lines J

To my point: I recently decided to re-install EQ2 and check out the new F2P model that was just revamped a few months ago. I played EQ2 at launch for about 4 months before I quit in anger and frustration. I then came back in 2009 and was very very happy with the state of the product. I ended up leaving again to start a new MMO and due to the EQ2 population dwindling.

Here I am again in EQ2, and I just love it. I am a subscribing member, but I do believe that the new F2P model gives more content than any other model out there. The restrictions of the F2P account will make you pull your hair out, but overall content available for free is overwhelming. You can level to 90 and partake in all expansions except for the last 2. Basically the game content from 2005 to 2010 is free (with restrictions to classes, races, best gear, bag space, etc).

So, why am I here telling you this? Because this game is really amazing if you have not tried it or have been gone a long time. A few of the things that blow my mind are:

Class options (25 classes total, I am playing the new Beastlord class now)
Housing (IMO the best MMO housing system on the market, now with prestige housing)
Guild control and guild housing (IMO the best guild leveling and system in MMO’s)
Lore (I am not a huge lore guy, but there is so much lore in this game is overwhelming)
Crafting (IMO the best crafting system in MMO’s)
Solo Friendly (This is a big one. I can’t play often and I don’t always have time for groups. Not a problem at all. And now hirable mercs too)
Endgame (Definitely not the best in MMO’s, but substantial content for small to large groups and many active endgame guilds on every server)
Graphics (After 7 years, still one of the best looking MMOs out. Now will re-modeled races for many of the original races)


Now, don’t get me wrong, there are still frustrating things about this game. First and foremost is SOE.

The biggest and most glaring problem with the game is population While I have been surprised to find a very active core player base ( I was expecting a ghost town after SWTOR was released), population remains the major Achilles heal for the game. The servers are actually very populated, but 90% of that is endgame characters. The low level zones are very empty… So, come on over and join the fun!

I play on the Permafrost server and I am in a casual but nice size guild.

Until the next big release, I will be in Norrath hunting and crafting. Maybe you can join me!

[Justin Kace]

Hehe nice write up DDay. You tempt me, but only a little. I never played either of the EQs. In any case, I have sworn to behave (??) myself until The Secret World releases. I'm learning to program. Self teaching until a course I am signed up for starts in July. So that's using up 90% of my computer time now!!

[Morimoto]

I've been tempted go back to EQ2 again since the f2p change but I think I'm done with that game, I love the most of the game, the amount of classes, the housing!!, the crafting, but I can't stand the mob models for some reason it takes me out of the game and I just can't play it for long all the times I've gone back.

[sschrupp]

I was tempted to take another look when they released the Beastlord. Loved that in EQ1.

[Finnwe]

tempting however i am really looking forward to EQ3 i think they are calling it EQnext. some time away tho

[Wabbajack]

Lost a couple of members from our swtor raid group to eq2. So your not alone =)

[Moolin]

We played EQ2 for a while a couple years ago and were really impressed with it.

There are a number of games out there which were relatively hyped at launch but after looking at them for a bit people wrote them off as not being very good. Many of these have survived, and it's amazing what a few extra years of development can do for a game that was perhaps released prematurely.

I'm pretty sure SWTOR will fall into this category eventually

But if you're looking for something to play, by all means check out EQ2, LOTRO, CoH, AOC, Guild Wars, etc., as pretty much all of them are a lot more polished now than any new game will be at launch, and in most cases the things people hated at have been addressed.

You can usually try them out in Free to Pay mode as well.

[ketsum]

trying to find more toggers to play eq2 with I judt came back and am loving it free to play model is quite nice compared to some of them out there
plus they grandfathered old characters over so anything you used to have you still have

[dday_0612]

Hey Ketsum, what server are you on? If you want to start a char on Permafrost I am in a nice active, casual and helpful, guild. Look me up, here are my toon names:

Hematuria
Hemophobia
Phlegm
Minmaxx
Dermatitis
Psoriasis

[Banquetto]

I've made a number of attempts to get into EQ2, both back in the day, and since it went F2P, and every time I fizzle out after a few weeks for the same reason: I just cannot stand the combat.

Once my level gets up into the late 20's, and I've filled more than one whole action bar with various almost-identical attack skills/spells that are all on 10-20 second cooldowns, so combat consists of pulling a mob and hitting 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0, I just give up.

Which is a damn shame, because I agree with almost everything nice you said about EQ2. The amount of content in that game is truly staggering.

Anyway, tastes differ, and certainly anyone who has never tried EQ2 should do so!