EQ2 revisited

I had heard enough about the changes to EQ2 over the past couple of
years, that I decided to give it another look. After all, right now I
am without MMORPG, what with Vanguard disappointing so.

Pardon me while I ramble a bit.

None of my old characters were higher than low-twenties in level, so I
decided to just re-roll them, as I'd be re-learning them anyway. Plus,
their spells and abilities were greatly changed since I last played
them.

Following are just a few observations:

I've only seen the Neriak content this time around, but I must say
that the city and the surrounding DarkLight zone look just incredible.
I've got to give kudos to the design team on that particular content
update (free update, I might add). The story lines also seem to be
very well done.

I'm running it on a newer PC (a step or two below bleeding edge), so I
really can't comment on whether or not they have made performance
improvements. What I *can* say is that with a Core2 Duo E6300/2GB
PC6400 DDR2/GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB system, I am able to run it with
most of the eye candy set pretty high, and it does look really good.

I've gotten my troll assassin up to a mere level 14, but so far he's
been very fun to play. Getting new abilities every level keeps it
interesting as well. He solos very well, also. That's both good and
bad. It's good because I can play any time I want without worrying
about being able to find a group. It's bad because, generally
speaking, if people can solo well, they often will do just that, not
worrying with grouping. Additionally, I've found my 11 defiler doesn't
solo nearly as well (though still capable) as my ranger. If the DPS
classes don't so much *need* healers, they won't look for them, while
at the same time the healers have a greater need for the DPS classes.
Like I said, however, just about everyone can solo just fine. The
difference in efficiency between the classes (which normally I would
*like* to see) is just great enough that it can make a real difference
for some people. Let me put it this way; my assassin died for the
first time at level 14 and is able to take +1 level mobs without
breaking a sweat. That was the first time he had really ever come all
that close. At level 11, my defiler has died several times, and now
even-levelled mobs sometimes provide all the challenge he can handle.
I'm only guessing that this gap between the classes' capabilities will
close a bit at higher levels.

There is still the sense of knowing somewhat going in to a fight how
it is going to turn out, but they *have* improved this, it seems. I'd
say it's no longer a problem at this point, as combat is interesting
and just a bit more unpredictable. However, this could change with all
adept-level abilities/spells.

The new AA system is nice. It's very much like the WoW talents system
- one of the few things about WoW I really liked. There's not much
more to say about that. It works.

The jury is still out on the new betrayal quests. When I left before,
my troll predator was in the middle of the long, tedious betrayal
quest from Freeport to Qeynos. I had about 300 more gnolls left to
kill, including a couple of nameds that I was going to need a group to
manage. Like I said, tedious, but manageable. Now, I seem to be a bit
lost. I've started the quest - and therefore been banned from my home
city (KoS in both Neriak and Freeport now) - but am having trouble
finding my way.

They've made it easier with a new Haven zone that offers banking (no
shared slots here, though), tradeskill resources and class trainers
for those in exile. However, having betrayed from Neriak, I had
trouble finding what I should do after being transported into Haven.
Once I *did* find the first NPC there that progresses the betrayal
quest, I found that one of the steps was to contact an NPC back in the
Commonlands. I couldn't find a passage there from Haven, like those
for other zones, so I had to wander through Nektulos Forest, which
took quite some time. I was wandering about the zone, trying my
hardest to avoid every mob there, as they were all a minimum of 8-10
levels higher than me, for a good 30 minutes, before getting to close
and aggro'ing a couple treant-like critters. Dieing in the middle of
Nektulos, however, caused me to respawn at the Commonlands zoneline.
Heck, if I'd known that, I would have thrown myself on my sword the
second I zoned into that god forsaken place. I might also mention that
I found it curious that the zones from Haven to both Neriak and the
Thundering Steppes both drop you in the middle of level 25-ish mobs,
while they recommend starting the betrayal quest much earlier than
that. /shrug

Fine, I was finally in the Commonlands. The quest text said to look
for an NPC by the side of the road near the West Freeport gates.
Travelling from one end of the city walls to the other, I found no one
by that name. I'm hoping at some point it will begin to click, but I'm
also expecting a fair amount of faction building along the way. Ahh
well. I knew there would be some work to becoming a troll ranger. I've
just yet to decide if it's more or less rewarding than before. We'll
see.

Mudflation rears its ugly head. When I first logged back in after
years away, I figured I'd sell all my gear to vendors and buy a few
decent bags for my re-rolled characters, since most of my gear was
attuned, anyway (don't get me wrong, I *like* no-drop gear in
MMORPGs). After selling everything off of my old characters (except
for one) and mailing the proceeds to the last one, I went to check the
broker. Holy cow! The prices on bags is easily ten times what I can
remember paying when last I played. It wasn't long before I saw why:

Every twenty minutes *at least* I get random /tells from several
different characters advertising gold sales and power levelling. I
report every one I can (outside of the required five minute period
between /reports), though I'm not sure how much good, if any, it does.
I hear it's bad in WoW as well, though it wasn't during the first few
months after launch when I played. This is the first time I've ever
really seen it practiced with such freedom. I'm not caring for it. Not
at all.

Well, that's it off the top of my head. Overall, so far it seems like
they really *have* made improvements to the game. Time will tell
though.

Rich

When you are playing - give a look for Tradevman or SailorHal - I'll
be happy to mentor. I really enjoy the game. If somebody knows what
"Tradevman" stands for - send me a private email.

Hal



On 30 May 2007 12:39:38 -0700, Richard Carpenter
<rumbledor.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> wrote:

>I had heard enough about the changes to EQ2 over the past couple of
>years, that I decided to give it another look. After all, right now I
>am without MMORPG, what with Vanguard disappointing so.
>
>Pardon me while I ramble a bit.
>
>None of my old characters were higher than low-twenties in level, so I
>decided to just re-roll them, as I'd be re-learning them anyway. Plus,
>their spells and abilities were greatly changed since I last played
>them.
>
>Following are just a few observations:
>
>I've only seen the Neriak content this time around, but I must say
>that the city and the surrounding DarkLight zone look just incredible.
>I've got to give kudos to the design team on that particular content
>update (free update, I might add). The story lines also seem to be
>very well done.
>
>I'm running it on a newer PC (a step or two below bleeding edge), so I
>really can't comment on whether or not they have made performance
>improvements. What I *can* say is that with a Core2 Duo E6300/2GB
>PC6400 DDR2/GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB system, I am able to run it with
>most of the eye candy set pretty high, and it does look really good.
>
>I've gotten my troll assassin up to a mere level 14, but so far he's
>been very fun to play. Getting new abilities every level keeps it
>interesting as well. He solos very well, also. That's both good and
>bad. It's good because I can play any time I want without worrying
>about being able to find a group. It's bad because, generally
>speaking, if people can solo well, they often will do just that, not
>worrying with grouping. Additionally, I've found my 11 defiler doesn't
>solo nearly as well (though still capable) as my ranger. If the DPS
>classes don't so much *need* healers, they won't look for them, while
>at the same time the healers have a greater need for the DPS classes.
>Like I said, however, just about everyone can solo just fine. The
>difference in efficiency between the classes (which normally I would
>*like* to see) is just great enough that it can make a real difference
>for some people. Let me put it this way; my assassin died for the
>first time at level 14 and is able to take +1 level mobs without
>breaking a sweat. That was the first time he had really ever come all
>that close. At level 11, my defiler has died several times, and now
>even-levelled mobs sometimes provide all the challenge he can handle.
>I'm only guessing that this gap between the classes' capabilities will
>close a bit at higher levels.
>
>There is still the sense of knowing somewhat going in to a fight how
>it is going to turn out, but they *have* improved this, it seems. I'd
>say it's no longer a problem at this point, as combat is interesting
>and just a bit more unpredictable. However, this could change with all
>adept-level abilities/spells.
>
>The new AA system is nice. It's very much like the WoW talents system
>- one of the few things about WoW I really liked. There's not much
>more to say about that. It works.
>
>The jury is still out on the new betrayal quests. When I left before,
>my troll predator was in the middle of the long, tedious betrayal
>quest from Freeport to Qeynos. I had about 300 more gnolls left to
>kill, including a couple of nameds that I was going to need a group to
>manage. Like I said, tedious, but manageable. Now, I seem to be a bit
>lost. I've started the quest - and therefore been banned from my home
>city (KoS in both Neriak and Freeport now) - but am having trouble
>finding my way.
>
>They've made it easier with a new Haven zone that offers banking (no
>shared slots here, though), tradeskill resources and class trainers
>for those in exile. However, having betrayed from Neriak, I had
>trouble finding what I should do after being transported into Haven.
>Once I *did* find the first NPC there that progresses the betrayal
>quest, I found that one of the steps was to contact an NPC back in the
>Commonlands. I couldn't find a passage there from Haven, like those
>for other zones, so I had to wander through Nektulos Forest, which
>took quite some time. I was wandering about the zone, trying my
>hardest to avoid every mob there, as they were all a minimum of 8-10
>levels higher than me, for a good 30 minutes, before getting to close
>and aggro'ing a couple treant-like critters. Dieing in the middle of
>Nektulos, however, caused me to respawn at the Commonlands zoneline.
>Heck, if I'd known that, I would have thrown myself on my sword the
>second I zoned into that god forsaken place. I might also mention that
>I found it curious that the zones from Haven to both Neriak and the
>Thundering Steppes both drop you in the middle of level 25-ish mobs,
>while they recommend starting the betrayal quest much earlier than
>that. /shrug
>
>Fine, I was finally in the Commonlands. The quest text said to look
>for an NPC by the side of the road near the West Freeport gates.
>Travelling from one end of the city walls to the other, I found no one
>by that name. I'm hoping at some point it will begin to click, but I'm
>also expecting a fair amount of faction building along the way. Ahh
>well. I knew there would be some work to becoming a troll ranger. I've
>just yet to decide if it's more or less rewarding than before. We'll
>see.
>
>Mudflation rears its ugly head. When I first logged back in after
>years away, I figured I'd sell all my gear to vendors and buy a few
>decent bags for my re-rolled characters, since most of my gear was
>attuned, anyway (don't get me wrong, I *like* no-drop gear in
>MMORPGs). After selling everything off of my old characters (except
>for one) and mailing the proceeds to the last one, I went to check the
>broker. Holy cow! The prices on bags is easily ten times what I can
>remember paying when last I played. It wasn't long before I saw why:
>
>Every twenty minutes *at least* I get random /tells from several
>different characters advertising gold sales and power levelling. I
>report every one I can (outside of the required five minute period
>between /reports), though I'm not sure how much good, if any, it does.
>I hear it's bad in WoW as well, though it wasn't during the first few
>months after launch when I played. This is the first time I've ever
>really seen it practiced with such freedom. I'm not caring for it. Not
>at all.
>
>Well, that's it off the top of my head. Overall, so far it seems like
>they really *have* made improvements to the game. Time will tell
>though.
>
>Rich