Everquest 2 NDA Lifts

The NDA for Everquest 2 has lifted and beta testers are allowed to freely post their impressions. It took us by surprise here, so we don't yet have an EQ2 site ready to roll out for you (soon I hope). Please use this article to post your thoughts on EQ2 if you were a tester, or to ask questions of the testers who are willing to answer them. Also, if you were a beta tester and have information to submit to us for our EQ2 site, please e-mail it to me at allakhazam@allakhazam.com.
Tags: General, News

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ooh!
# Nov 12 2004 at 10:42 AM Rating: Default
Because EQ2 in 500 years in the future, I'm gonna go hide a **** under a rock near the FP main gates.. someone go look for a petrified **** and tell me if you find it!
Awesome Input Beta Testers!!
# Nov 08 2004 at 3:02 PM Rating: Decent
We could not have better ideas of the game and how to play it without you guys telling us your oppinions and also knowledge of the game that is so different.

EQ2 seems to be something I have been looking for for so long. WTF Archives will be so happy to see the little gnome monks come to life finally.. LMAO!!

Again, thanks for the insite and can't wait to see you guys in EQ2 if you are playing still!

Kymburlee Kittemkaboodle 64 Druid

my two copper
# Oct 31 2004 at 12:17 AM Rating: Decent
Just my two cents on EQ2:

As previously mentioned, the quest system is second to none for ease of use. One of the primary complaints I have with most MMO's that I've played is that when starting out, its extemely difficult and time consuming to work on the newbie quests, and for very little reward. That may also occur after EQ2 has been out for a while, but at least for now the quest system allows for a quick and fun way to outfit your character.

The graphics are stunning. My only gripe is that the characters look like the children of EQ1 and DAoC characters. You could easily smuggle an erudite mage into Midgard and he would go unnoticed for hours.

Combat is, as mentioned, much quicker than either EQ1 or DAoC. Your various combat options are invaluable when solo'ing, and are generally fun to use and watch. My main complaint is that combat feels 'plastic' and disconnected compared to the more palpable (at least to me) feel of EQ1 combat.

So far (up to level 15) it seems that its less important what your group is actually made up of than in EQ1 (again, think of DAoC during PvE). It certainly has a bearing, but nothing like in EQ1. I'm not certain I like that or not.

If you've played Camelot, you already have a leg up over most EQ1 players, and you can easily identify what got stolen from which game. The quest system, while impressive, probably won't be enough to pry DAoC characters away from the integrated RvR (pvp) that goes into that game. What could be extremely cool is a set of battleground zones set up for conflicts between the two main cities, and I hope they strongly consider that in the future.

All in all, I think I'll maintain a few characters there so that if I can't find a group in EQ1, I can hop onto future-norrath and play for a bit.
AllaKhazam's EQ2 site?
# Oct 30 2004 at 1:59 AM Rating: Decent
Scholar
*
72 posts
So, when will AllaKhazam's have an EQ2 site? Or is EQ2 that forgetable?
What classes make a good duo?
# Oct 29 2004 at 11:39 AM Rating: Decent
Great posts from all the Beta testers. Thank you. Cannot wait for release.

I play EQ extensively with my real life brother. We are interested in starting two characters that would enhance the experience and have a good chance of success together. We group when we can but always find ourselves enjoying our "just us" time.

We played a Necro and druid combo in EQ that was very successful. The two classes were great soloist on their own but the two together were awesome.

Aside from a tank/priest combo, which I suspect would be good, can anyone offer a suggestion for another potentially successful duo combo?

Thanks again,

Jadel Bloodraven
60 Necro
A. Ro.
kewl
# Oct 29 2004 at 12:08 AM Rating: Decent
there are some kewl features and some not so kewl features some of the ones i like are
1) you can make your character's look massivly kewl (my Dark Elf Warrior had the funkiest hair ever)
2) the weapons are awesome looking
3) the questing is alot easier to do
4) there is now a command that allows you to make your head item graphic go away
5) you can have a house for a price...
6) the best horse is 68 gold (but that is uber rich in EQ2)
7) you cant twink or PL
8) graphics are ultimatly kewl
9) VELIOUS MELTED TAKE THAT U STOOPID GIANTS! =)
10) you get to go on quests (as an evil race that is) where you get to be EXTREMELY rude to them like in the become a warrior querst where i got to tell a Dark Elf NPC that if she didnt comply with the overlord's orders i would "slit her throat and watch her choke on her own blood" i EXACTLY what was supposed to be said
so all in all i think it is a awesome game once u get used to it i like EQ1 better but that is because i am more used to it... if you have player DAOC it will help ALOT
enchanter
# Oct 28 2004 at 6:13 PM Rating: Decent
I love playing enchanters will there be enchanter class in eq2
items
# Oct 25 2004 at 9:52 AM Rating: Decent
Are the better items and spells in game player made or dropped, or some combination?


This one factor ruined DAoC for me, as the best items are almost always player made, which in turn made PvE into nothing but a grind to get pp to do tradeskills to make items. No sense exploring deep into dungeons to find that rare named dropping that JBB if you can just grind out some pp and make something better.

If EQ2's best items and spells are always player made I wont play it.

Edited, Mon Oct 25 10:53:02 2004
RE: items
# Oct 27 2004 at 7:04 AM Rating: Default
so far from what ive read, is will be a mix on loot a mob can say drop a good item, but also a dragon scale that can then be made into a good item also. but mostly have heard from SoE that some of the best items will be player made

correct me if im wrong but from reading most of the beta forums it looks like you will be able to buy the basic spells, but then a player can make a scroll that upgrades that spell/ability to make it stronger
Release date?
# Oct 24 2004 at 10:16 PM Rating: Decent
Any idea on a release date yet?

I have preordered through the EQ2 page, so anyone have a gues son how long until that comes in once its released, past on past experience?
RE: Release date?
# Oct 25 2004 at 4:26 AM Rating: Decent
Officail announcement on release date being made today, most ppl now think it will be the 8/9th November but we will all know for sure in a few hours.
RE: Release date?
# Oct 25 2004 at 11:36 AM Rating: Decent
I preordered through EBGames and got an email last week saying the official ship date is Nov. 8th. Trying to beat Blizzard to the punch no doubt.
question....
# Oct 24 2004 at 4:58 PM Rating: Default
how is it decided what city you go to after the island of refuge? is it evil/good alignment based or can you chose? I've heard about being able to betray your city to become a citizen of the other, can you do this right away? reason being me and about 5 of my friends plan to play on release, but we want to be able to play together and not have to wait till level 15ish or so. we are debating all going evil or good races so some may be forced to pick a race they dont really want.
RE: question....
# Oct 24 2004 at 5:26 PM Rating: Decent
Evil races start in Freeport, good races start in Qeynos (I found this to be the easier of the 2 cities to start in but that’s just my opinion) and your races that can go either way like Humans get to pick where they want to start during character creation.
There is a betrayal quest that you can start at lvl 15 which I plan to start with my Ogre warrior today to just to see how hard it is.
...
# Oct 22 2004 at 11:23 AM Rating: Default
It is nothing like EQ 1. It was optimized for 3rd person (which I can not stand). All the quests are go here do that kill this kill that get this get that it felt more like a single player game than an MMO. The graphics are INCREDIBLE forking great. /drool. I liked the game but it felt to alien to me. I didn't like not being able to effectively fight in 1st person. I played an Iksar Scout and must say they are VERY underpowerd the LOWEST dps. I mean sure you can dual weild. Big whoppy you are hitting for 4-6dmg. You get a skill called sneak attack (which is simular to EQ 1 back stab) you get another skill called ambush (eq 1 sneak attack) and even with all those added skills your dps is still lower than a fighter. I got sick of it after 10 lvls. When i finally got my predator class and still was stuck with a lower dps than a fighter (without his upgraded class). Also there we WAY to many zones to fight in with simular levels. I predict the lower level content being near unplayable after everyone has leveled up past those zones. The game was not fun for me a second time (meaning i tried making another chacater) and it just felt like more work than fun doing the same boring tasks again. Over all the game just doesn't have what EQ 1 has for me. Which is great friends to talk to, a very fun game solo OR grouped.
EQ2
# Oct 22 2004 at 9:13 AM Rating: Decent
Alot of what I am reading makes it sound like eq2 is similar to DAOC. I had been hoping that it would be a updated version of eq 1 but apparently not guess I will stick with the old eq till it is done away with.
Half way decent quest
# Oct 21 2004 at 10:39 PM Rating: Decent
this quest starts in North Qeynos on the steps to the Citedel (spelling). Knight-Lieutenant Alesso hail him follow the dialog boxes. he will send you to Antonica to kill 10 snakes 10 beetles and 10 rats. when you return he gives you 2 silver good reward for this game. end hail then hail him again and do it all over again. I've done this 5 times tonight and got 2 silver each time
Correction
# Oct 21 2004 at 9:54 PM Rating: Decent
Oki just want to correct a few misunderstandings some are having :)

Frist.

Spell upgrades are app2 = store | App3 = Playermade | Adept1 = Drops | Adept2 = quested (not in yet) | Adept3 = Playermade -

Adept1 upgrades might be playermade also. Not sure what goes for the master upgrades, ill think its either drops og uber rare playermade stuff, maybe both.

And also plz beaware there might be some chances yet in the system and that im not perfectly adept at it yet so might have made some mistakes.

But the main thing here is that all upgrades post app2 are not only playermade!!!
That goes for alot of the stuff ingame.

and for those that say battles arnt tactic,, well try battling some real stuff :P ya know its all about choiceing the more dangerous stuff where you might just not make it, and diffently wont if one in ya groups ***** up, and yes that stuff are in, done it myself acouple of times in some sweet groups, though they are rare as most groups you get into atm are just pickup random know felling groups :(

anyways
just my 2 cents

Edit a comma fault :D


Edited, Thu Oct 21 22:57:45 2004
Locked Encounters
# Oct 21 2004 at 8:17 PM Rating: Decent
Something to keep in mind is that you can receive help, you just have to ask for it. An encounter is "locked" until you shout for help. Then passers by may attack the mob and save you. It's the same system as FFXI has been using and it does in time lower the camp stealing and stops KS'ing completely. It just takes a bit to get used to having to yell for help.
remember this please
# Oct 20 2004 at 9:44 AM Rating: Good
Just wanted to repeat a couple of key points already mentioned.
1. This isn't EQ live nor EQOA. It is really a stand alone game. Some of your previous concepts of race/class and stratagies don't work here.
2. Lag. 2 types of lag can occur. one being server lag. This will be when you hit a command or say some text, and the action or chat is delayed. ( the Devs have been working furiously on fixing these problems, and severly stressing the zones mostly affected those being Antonica and Commonlands, by having as many people in the zones doing their explorations,fights and some dieing =p )and they've made extraordinary progress on them. the other 'lag' is client side. this is the laggy movement freeze frame type stuttering that even my computer hits in some zones. (P4 1.8ghz, 1Gb Ram, Radeon 9800 Pro with 128, and cable modem) this can also be caused by memory leak ( think of PoK after you've played a while and suddenly it seems laggy, fixable sometimes by making computer resynch by resizing window (alt-shift-enter)) This type lag can be fixed by adjusting your settings downward (mine are high grafix intense).
3. Quests are simply fantastic with their content and rewards at times, and the quest givers are legion. Many that previously just talked to you earlier, may/will give you a quest in later levels or as your status in the city increases ( think of status points as good faction hehe) Hail and Talk to everyone you meet. Lots of folks have some odd jobs that need done (or vengence desired).
4. Yes money is kinda slow, but mostly, you will get money more than adequate for your needs. My Druid has an obsession with making her lil home comfey. but, The Devs are constantly adding more and more content and items in game. and yes. it's base 100. Wish I had 1kpp now lol.
5. Trade skilling is more involved (sorry can't comment too much on this, more involved with exploration myself) but you go ( correct me if I'm wrong please) artiasian to say lvl 20, which is kinda all basic tradeskills, then you begin to do whichever you want to master and cannot do the others from that point so you'll probably need to interact with others to make the best items you can. ie, no making your Acylia studs you would be master clothespinners. researchers, you are to be the scribes, Please master this so I can buy my upgrades for spells ;p.
6. Locked Encounters. that's right. No interference in someone elses fight. Priests will not be able to heal you if they are not in your group . No one else can hit or nuke the mobs either. until/unless you or a group member hit the /yell key. or run to the guard, or run out of their range. Some are very persistant. or you or the mob is dead. No Rezzes untill the encounter broken either. (ps before you hit the revive button, you might do a /w all cleric/druid/shaman and send a tell. you may get lucky.
7. Deaths. Each death you lose power until you recover your shard, or are resurected. Your armor becomes more damaged, and if armor get's damaged too badly, you cannot equipt it. that's right, you be doin the scantily clad run to the local menders (one in each village and city zone)with the resultant decreased AC and stats. <insert wolf whistles here> and rez effects only slow down your regen, eating and drinking are a must do to regen faster. live large. die well !
well, I've started to ramble. but All in all, I think it's a great game. and look forward to the release of the retail version and although I mourn the eventual death of my EQ1 chars, I believe my eq addiction just got better graphics and content. See Ya's in Norrath.

Zenyria 65 Druid Tholuxe Paells
Zenytania 42 Necromancer Firona Vie
Zenytia 15 Druid Beta1
EQ 2
# Oct 20 2004 at 3:21 AM Rating: Excellent
No more power-leveling - cannot cast buffs on peeps outside your group and buffs go away as soon as you leave group. Armor and weapons are set with level restrictions, and you are not likely to equip gear that you could not get off yellow con or below.

No more kiting - if you get too far away from a mob once engaged, you will no longer get exp or loot from killing it.

Quests - no more saving items for quests until you have all the pieces. no more MQ's either. Quest system is excellent.

Coins dont drop off mobs from what I have seen yet. At level 20, you would be lucky to have 2 gold to your name.

Invis - no more running that noob though red conned mobs, they will see right through it. on a good note though invis lasts 10mins.

Cons - arrow(s) up on a mob means harder then normal for the con, arrow(s)down means a gimp kill for the con.

grey cons = no exp and no loot except common loot like bone chips in eqLive.

Green con - like a light blue con.
Blue Con
White Con
Yellow Con
Orange Con
Red Con

When you target a mob you can see the level of that mob and a bit of info as well.

Spells - normally get one new spell/ability per level. most spells are upgrades from ealier versions. Most classes will use the same routine of spells/abilities in every fight and in every group. very little variety to choose from.

Tradeskill system is very in depth, although at this time they lack bankspace to hold the hundreds of items you may wish to hold on to for tradeskills. macro users will have to go to great lengths of effort to macro this. You will also not be able to be grandmaster of all trades.

Game has been very dumb proofed, an 8 yr old should be able to play as well as a gaming expert.
"cookie-cutter" characters is a hard knock to many veteran gamers, who want to be unique.

Voice-overs are entertaining and bring some life to the game but some of the sayings can get old after a while also.

The Devs are pumping out lots of new content, so will have to wait and see if it a great game or another SWG type game.

If you like Uber guilds and large raid encounters, you most likely will not like Eq2.

This is not a remake of EQ with better graphics, its a much different play style game.

Rigid 20 Enchanter
Asmodyus 17 Warrior
Crugar 11 Rogue
Kilgore 7 Priest






My Quick Thoughts...
# Oct 20 2004 at 12:53 AM Rating: Decent
**
308 posts
I'm not sure I like 'locked' mobs...sometimes I'll be running around in PC as a mage, and someone will shout 'help!' with 6 bandits on them. I stroll over, Scintillation the hell out of them, and gain a few karma points. Granted, you have the KSers and Camp Stealers, but that's a relatively small problem. All in all, I think EverQuest still has the best gameplay, the most dedicated Devs, and the best player community of any MMORPG right now. Worlds of War(Star...)craft is coming out soon, though...and Blizzard is no slouch in the gaming department. Getting a zergling pet already sounds pretty cool =D
EQ2 Beta Invites
# Oct 19 2004 at 11:52 PM Rating: Decent
I read on EQ2's site that allakhazam was going to be giving away beta invites. When is this going to happen?
The Bottom Line
# Oct 19 2004 at 10:37 PM Rating: Good
If you really, really, really like Everquest, you will probably not like Everquest 2. Simple as that.

Everquest 2 is unfortunately not the sequal to Everquest that many of you may have been hoping for.

That is why the fanboy mantra is EQ2 is not EQlive.

If you dont believe me, ask them why it's said over and over and over again.

What everyone says are good points so far, are indeed that. Good points. There are many good points to EQ2.

- Graphics : Very nice graphics
- Tradeskills : Much improved tradeskill system no more index finger arthristis cramps from hour long tradeskill sessions.
- Quest System : Very well done and improved quest system
- Voice Overs : Add greatly to the immersion
- Music : Very nice musical scores really get you in the right mood.

However, to the EQ lover (like myself) this is what you may not like...

- Locked Encounters : This one is a toss up, once a group or character engages a mob, it is locked and the fight cannot be effected by anyone outside of combat in anyway shape or form. On the surface this sounds great, but it leads to people feeling they can do no wrong and camp stealing is rampant, even in beta.

- TLC (Trivial Loot Code) : Is in full effect in every zone in the game, it is built into this version of Everquest.

- Linked Mobs : There is no way to split a group of mobs if they are linked together. You always know how many your going to get, and cannot change how many you are going to get in any way shape or form.

- TLC + Linked Mobs : Most named mobs are in a linked group, this combined with the TLC means that soloers will almost never be able to get their own loot, since mobs cannot be split, and by the time you are powerfull enough to defeat the whole group, they have become trivial, thusly giving you no reward for defeating them.

- ARAC (All races all classes) This ones another toss-up, but to the RPG purist, this is a turn-off, seeing ogre wizards (and whatever other illogical race/class combo you can think of) running around just doesnt seem right to me. Thats a matter of opinion though of course. The one upside to this is that, if you absolutely must have that Dark Elf Paladin, you have to complete a (from what I hear) difficult betrayal quest, which in some small way, makes ARAC tolerable at best. Unfortunately, that doesnt make it any more difficult to make that Ogre Wizard you've been dreaming about.

- Combat : Is indeed fast and furious. Unfortunately, this leads to lack of strategic oportunities. If you've played RTS and normal turn based strategy, this is the difference we are talking about here. There is neither the time, nor the tools, to make the kind of strategic decisions like you do in EQ1.

- PVP : There is none, no duels no nothing. No PVP in any way shape or form.


The Bottom Line... am I still playing EQ2 beta and testing, yes. Because I agreed to test for them and give my input as best I can to help them make the best possible game they can for you, and because I hope some of the negative things I posted may yet still change.

Farewell...

Edit : I just read a post on the beta forums about new changes to enchance individuality of characters and more choices to make regarding character development... This is a good change. Still a few more things to work on though.

Edited, Wed Oct 20 00:18:27 2004
#Rokke, Posted: Oct 19 2004 at 10:08 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) refuse to read Delsean's post
#REDACTED, Posted: Oct 19 2004 at 10:34 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) delete
#REDACTED, Posted: Oct 19 2004 at 10:32 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Yes paragraphs are your friend.
NSA is liftied
# Oct 19 2004 at 7:04 AM Rating: Decent
The NDA is gone, so where is all of the mob, quest, and item information?
lore?
# Oct 18 2004 at 9:51 PM Rating: Good
**
517 posts
So do we find out who destroyed Luclin or what happened?
RE: lore?
# Oct 19 2004 at 7:47 AM Rating: Excellent
The whole story of what has happened in the past 500 years is being released weekly on the main EQ2 website.

Its a great read, and if i knew how I would attempt to make each chapter into a small movie hehe :)

www.everquest2.com
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