Sony Entertainment of America released this sequel to their mega successful MMORPG Everquest in hopes of giving already addicted gamers an enhanced game experience with graphic intensive visuals and hundreds more quests. Seeming more like a polished rehash of the original than a sequel, the early version of the game turned off many of the hardcore original gamers and seemed to appeal more to newer people like myself. I originally bought Everquest 2 because of the devastating change SOE (Sony Entertainment of America) had made to Star Wars Galaxies, a game that I had played for 3.5 years. If there was anything positive about the change that occurred on SWG (Star Wars Galaxies) it was that it is now used as an example of what NOT to do in the MMORPG business. The developers had taken it upon themselves to completely change the game’s interface, playability and controls to attract younger gamers. In essence it ran off thousands of subscribers, myself included to other games.

At first glance EQ2 was eye candy, the classes were decent but different from what I was used to and it seemed to be an endless world. Spending some time on the assassin message boards, (since being the hardcore MMOer that I am, I always do a lot of research into my class preference before playing a game.) I got even more excited about the game because you had to do a quest to prove your citizenship along with class specific quests to get deeper into your profession. The assassin quest was a memorable one because I had to actually sneak into an occupied building and off a guy on the top level while he slept! The last assassin skill quest was even better since I was made to sneak into a large orc encampment and take out the leader. When you’ve done all of that and are level 20+ and a newb to the Everquest experience, you feel like an assassin… but the feeling dies after a few more levels. Quests specific to assassination do not exist out of this and your role in groups is to stay hidden and backstab a creature for a crap load of damage… so you are a glorified DnD thief. I rerolled as a berserker…

The berserker is nothing like the visual in your mind, which is fine, the name does not have to dictate the character. The EQ2 berserker is an offensive tank, damage-dealer who can takes a blow as much as he can dish it out. The berserk animation was limited to my guy doing a “most muscular” pose with red fire around him, and somehow it seemed really silly to me. Though all in all I came to really like this character whose mission to prove himself as a Zerker was to go into the sewers and fight seven guys simultaneously. Tough but fun I really stuck with him until the same issue that plagued my assassin fell on him… he became the run-of-the-mill tank for groups and I cancelled my account.

PVP Servers and Sony’s Curse
After a year of Guild Wars and World of Warcaft later, I returned when I heard that Everquest 2 now had a few PvP servers. Being a vet of the Player versus Player genre of MMO gaming, with a resume not limited to Ultima Online, Diablo 2 and Guild Wars, I perked up and relaunched my account. Without going into much detail I will say it was alot of fun. Starting a new pvp Berserker (who is now a decked out lvl 80 beast) I teamed up with a Fury (EQ2 version of a fighting druid) and an assassin. The trio of us would run about raising hell for hours all for the hell of it and the enjoyment of crushing competition. The early portions of PvP saw groups battling groups on the hills of Antonica and raids rushing cities to smash the innocent underfoot. Then SOE started the tweaks…

Right now the game of Everquest is an absolute nightmare for a new player. Old established vets like myself find it hard enough to get a group or raid to farm gear as it is so there is no-one looking out for the new little guys. Communities on the regular servers seem more close knit and helpful but on PvP we are plagued with the same childish antics and situations that give PvP a bad name. I cannot speak for the entire game but this experience has run off alot of new people. I cannot understand why Sony does some of the things they do and without marketing this game you would think it would die but they are rightfully cocky about their player-base. They just have 100% trust that EQ2 players will continue to pay the subscriptions. They are not far from the mark as witnessed by Star Wars Galaxies which still hosts thousands of players when it should have died 2 years ago. /rant off.

In any event, there are tons of new games on the horizon and this game still looks and plays well enough to compete with them. The problem however is that it has aged and the vision of the developers has seen it’s peak. If you are interested in non-competitive gear farming along with infinite amount of questing then I would reccomend it to you. If you are competitive and want some competition along with your quests, ie: other players killing you then stay far away. The game engine was not meant for PvP and it is quite evident with servers crashing after 24 vs 24 man raids clash in massive battles. Sony likes to nerf classes and buffs little to no-one, a losing strategy that I’ve dealt with since SWG. I still love EQ2 and I actively play it but if you want something fresh and new, wait for a month or 2 and try Age of Conan.

GOD KING GRADE: (C)   ★★★★★