The NDA has been lifted, here's the inside view from yours truely.

I have been a beta tester since the friends and family phase, but i was previously bound not to mention that.

Here i will share with you my unbiased opinion and expiriences about Everquest 2, so lets start.

When reading this plese keep in mind that these observations and conclusions are my entirely personal and subjective findgins based o­n the content i have seen so far in the games, which are not finished yet and might change to the better or to the worse.

I will get to graphics and sound last, since most of the people already know the differences and thats something that has been talked about in length.

Everquest 2
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1) EQ2 is a Grinding game.

EQ2 is, just as EQ1 a massive meatgrinder. At level 4, playing a fighter, i could sit down my character, go to the bathroom, go to the kitchen for a soda come back an be healed from having lost 50% of my few hitpoints.

At level 7 when soloing i was able to generate 1% xp per mob, which translates into 100 mobs that you need to kill from level 7 to 8. In a group of 5 killing even con mobs we got 0,25% xp per mob, or 400 mobs per level having almost no downtime. In a group of 5 killing +1 our level
con mobs we got 0,5% xp per mob, or 200 mobs per level having a minute downtime every second fight.

Taking into account that a fight takes around a minute to finish solo, and then youd need to rest for 30 seconds, it would take you 9.000 seconds or 2.5 hours to solo level from 7 to 8 when constantly fighing. But thats not possible, i'll explain why later. In a group of 5 killing level +1 mobs
2 at a time in 70 seconds average each including downtime, it would take you 7.000 seconds or around 2 hours of constant fighting, which is possible, to level. Remember, those are netto grinding times, excluding peepee, group searching, running, repairing..etc.

At level 7 this is quite something, and i dont expect it to get better later o­n.


2) EQ2 is a group game.

Most mobs in EQ2 come in group, even in the newbie zones. In the frontyard right outside the towns, out of 6 spawns o­nly o­ne is solo. This solo spawn is usually overcamped massively because all the soloers try to get it. The groups of 2 will kill you so you have no optins.
Soloing is therefore possible, but really really slow. The 2.5 hours to level can easily turn into 5 as you are desperately trying to find something to kill that isnt grouped.

If you like to solo, even just from time to time, you'll be pulling your hair out.

Fighters are of course the gimps they always were, unable to kill anything thats not below their level, but priests can heal you many times over, even at the lowest levels. If you do not want to, or do not wish to group, youre SOL. (Shit outta luck)


3) EQ2 is a socializeing game.

Wether you like it or not, grouping and downtimes are enforced upon you by the game. SOE stated that this encourages socializing and thats what they want. I feel that playstyle choices should be made by the customer and not predetermined by marketing department. Anyway, during the downtime youll have a lot of time to talk, and while you are looking for a group, or looking to replace the priest who just left and without whom you are SOL you can admire the trees. A lot of your playtime will thus be spent admiring said trees. If you dont get a group you better go tradeskilling, so dont log o­n in offpeak times.


4) EQ2 is a PVE game.

PVP has not been included in any form, and it may/will take year(s) before we see it in EQ2. Contrary to the initial comments made, PVP is not a priority anymore and will be done after pretty much evrything else is fixed. Now i know a lot of people dont care about this, i do. Lack of pvp is a serious flaw to me, and the thought that pvp is not worked into the basic
system but rather plopped o­nto it later is not encouraging.


5) EQ2 Sound

This a quick o­ne, excellent. Wonderful music and great sounds, no complaints.


6) EQ2 Graphics

In short, we got fooled. The graphics are still awesome and nice, BUT the graphics displayed in earlier videos and screenshots are not in game. The Character creation disk graphics are, which are basically a toned down version. IF you dont have a outstanding system this all wont matter to you because you wont see it anyway. Currently i see a visibility range of about 10 meters, all charatcers bald, many with no weapons and such, so i dont lag.

BUT you can play it without lag and turn it down really hard, they did a good job o­n the options. You can nerf the hell out of the graphics engine and make it look like EQ1 and play with decent FPS.



7) Quests

Uh,lol yea quests. Still no xp, as in EQ1. You still have to find the NPC's by general directions like "Find Bob the Smith in New York City" and then run around for an hour looking at every single NPC in a zone. NPC's talk to you if they have a quest for you (new feature) BUT o­nly if you pass by really close, which, unless you are drunk and are doing S lines, rarely happens. So you STILL have to go to every o­ne of the gazillion NPC's and talk to them to see if they have something to offer. Old Style. The rewards suck anyway so its not really a problem. For a game called EverQUEST its funny though. 


8) General Remarks

Freeport.

First impression: Every house looks the same.

Seriously. If you’re in beta, take a screenshot of a regular house (not the special buildings) and then another and ask any tester to tell you where it is or what the difference is. None. The "hallmark" buildings are nice though, but the urban sprawl is just....bland.

Anyway. 13 zones in o­ne city means.. Zone zone zone. Generally you do see the loading screen for a substantial time. I dislike that very much. o­nto my apartment I go, and into the instanced goodness. No storage, no crafting, no use. I place a table and leave, never to return.

9) General Fun and Content

Grind and a feeling of falling asleep come over me when i think about EQ2. I seriously dont want to put in months of pure grinding to have a character at a decent level that wont be able to pvp EVER because you cant transfer to a pvp server. Well what can i say, i rather play something else right now, even though i'm in beta.


10) In Conclusion

Will some people disagree with me? Hell yea! Do i care? No.
Everybody has his own opinion and i'm entitled to mine as you are to yours. I think Freeport looks like a copy and paste job using 16 colors. You think it's the greatest thing since bananas. Great.