Ventrilo is a nice thing to have around. Chatting is a lot easier when you don’t have to type everything you’re saying. And last night, the subject of EQ2 came up… with more than a couple of people saying they wanted to try it again, to see how the new changes were working out.
I hadn’t really been on for more than to make screenshots now and again, and to visit my apartment, for quite some time. So last night, after we were done with our ZG raid, I logged on to EQ2 and played Nashuya, my level 8 fighter (on her way to shadow knight-dom), for awhile.
Nashuya in Dina’s West Freeport apartment
The quests are even easier to find than in WoW now. Icons on the map and over the heads of NPCs alert you to quests you have not gotten; different icons on the map and over their heads tells you of NPCs who can help with a quest you already have.
Nashuya with her dog, Foofoo, and Dina’s cat, Lochinvar
Combat is still pretty much the same, though fighters get stances right off – which helps a lot. Death, when it comes (and it came pretty often in the group I joined last night), is not as harsh as it once was. You no longer drop a shard when you die; you just get some experience debt, which is no longer shared with your party.
Tipa is a monk in EQ2
EQ2 lets you have fun with classes in a way EQ1 never did. Any race can, potentially, be any class, though you may have to switch sides in the cold war between Qeynos and Freeport to do so. Tipa (above) is a halfling monk in her level 20-25 quest armor; and Dera (below) is an Inquisitor in the service of Lucan D’Lere, in the evil quest armor.
Dera, in her apartment in Big Bend
In WoW, hardly anyone is really evil. The Horde is anything but – well, aside from the Forsaken. In Freeport, evil is just a way of life. When you beg for your free room from the slumlord, he abuses you freely (and hilariously). Your newbie quests include convincing bartenders not to serve undesirables, finding people who are having a good day and ruining it, and in general becoming a good little oppressor in Lucan’s service.
I find it a refreshing change from the goody-goody quests on the Qeynos side; so much so that one of the first things I did with my second character, Dina, a troubadour (my highest character at 43), was follow Dera straight to the dark side.
Dina with her cat, Lochinvar, in her apartment
When EQ2 was released to the Japanese market, they did more than localize the text and speech. They also contracted with another company, SOGA, to make more anime-ish character models. When the Western players heard about this, they demanded SOE bring those models to everyone – and so they did, as an option. Personally, I think it makes halflings look too boyish, so I turned it off for them.
Dina with the SOGA model
Before the expansions, the overriding theme of EQ2 was one of rediscovery – exploring the shattered remains of Norrath (having pieces of a moon fall on you can really ruin your day). Initially, little was known about much of the world; but there were rumors that the home of halflings, Rivervale, had miraculously escaped from the widespread destruction following Luclin’s demise. But with those rumors came news of demons and insanity stalking Rivervale, and strange magics running free in Misty Thicket, now known as the Enchanted Lands. Nothing prepared me for the mixed emotions I felt when I first laid eyes on Rivervale once more.
Dina, looking out from the Fool’s Gold Inn
After five years (at that time) playing halflings on EverQuest, it was exactly like coming home after a long time away… and finding you had been robbed.
EQ2 added solo instances for those who wanted a significant challenge and good loot without having others around. The first added was an “expansion pack” adding a few vampire dungeons. I wasn’t that thrilled by it, to be honest.
Confronting a ghostly spider
However, the followup expansion pack, Splitpaw, showed what they could really do with this concept – and I loved every moment spent sneaking around, taking on groups, getting a couple decent items each run, adrenalin always going because the dungeons adjusted themselves to my level.
They also added many solo instances with a fixed level all over the world; including this one in Everfrost that involves killing a bunch of trash mobs, four summoners and their guardians, a priest summoning a huge evil, and the demon summoned as well. I have beaten it just once… and I was walking on air after that.
An Everfrost solo instance
I really did love the game. But as a casual player, the guilds open to me tended to break up again and again, and I didn’t have the time to join a raiding guild. Eventually, the friends I joined EQ2 with moved on, and so did I.
EQ2 is still a wonderful game. I am kind of sad that Vanguard will take their best ideas and take them, and probably a lot of the players. EQ2 is a shining gem that truly builds upon EQ1’s lore; and for those of us who really got into EQ1’s lore, it will be missed.
