Larsay
12-06-2004, 02:25 PM
Ok, as many of you all know I have stated not once but many of time when EQ2 is brought up that there is no way in hell that I am going to play it. I have also stated many of times that I feel that it is just all eye candy.
Well as there was no way I was probably ever going to get my hands on a copy of EQ2 myself, one was bought for me as a gift. Now I desided what the hell I have a SOE all access for Planetside why not load it up and log on not like at that point I had anything to lose other then my soul... but then again I already sold that to Merr before we started dating for a slice of Pizza and a drink :radicaled
So now after all the patching is done (no more then any other game right after it came out), I log on in. Well I must say I loved the character creation. It was probably the most customizable character creations that I have seen. Granted there are a few things you are limited on like hair style, but please there are more then enough to chose from, and I have yet to see two characters look the same. Now besides that the character models as a whole look really really good aside from the Troll which must be the ugly tree itself.
Now that brings me to my next thought. I am all done making "Larsay 2.0" :thumbup2: and I am thinking ok, this game is going to be 100% eye candy and the game play is going to just be about as lame as it could get. Again, I was wrong. I long in and the intro story was not bad, would have loved to see so CGI but still cool. Then I get into the tutorial which for those that have not played EQ2 is on a ship right after you have been plucked from the sea. The tutorial was actrully pretty fun, tought me everything a newb needed to know. I also found here that its really not alot different then EQ. For starters combat is still basicly the same, you enter auto attack and your character goes at it. You still have other attacks on separate timmers to use as well as plenty of spells to pick from as well.
They actrully fixed alot of things in EQ2 and I am seeing less problems with character balancing in it then ANY other game I have played. Now this is for those of you who have yet to play EQ2. When you start the game you pick from one of 4 route classes. Fighter, Preist, Scout, and Mage. This has got to be one of the best ideas I have seen personally and let me exsplain why. For starters lets take EQ, There are 3 tanks in the game and to be frank none are really balanced, one has this giving an unfair advantage here, another in another spot and area causing conflict and troubles when it comes to normal XP groups in normal situations. EQ2 has solved this. All tank classes (sticking to the same exsample) start as fighters. Do to this EVERY class that sprouts from a fighter gets the same exsact abilities and skills for the first 10 levels of their lives. Now again for those that have not tryed EQ2, the abilities "level" with you by acquiring a higher level scroll of the same spell. So these abilities are around for a long time. Then at this point in the game is where you start to get your diversity. At 10 you pick your sub class. Now here the abilitys get different based on what you pick, but all seem to be in par with one another. Only thing I see that makes a differance here is your play style. Do to the fact that you have the first 10 levels of the same exsact abilities most of everything you do is about the same. At 20 is where you finnaly pick your class and the most diversity is found, but again those last 10 levels are the same as another big group of characters. So by the time you reach 50 (end level currently) You are unique from other classes, but yet you share enough of the same abilities that there really is no "better" tank etc, because your core abilities are still the same as the rest. Now I am sure some flaws will be found in this system, but this has to be the best attempt at balancing I have seen so far. (On a last note. All classes seem to get about the same spells/combat abilities as well).
This brings me to my next part. Twinking, Power Leveling, and KSing. All three of these things have been solved in EQ2. For starters all gear is based off of your current skill cap. So higher level items are not able to be equipted by lower levels do to lack of skill. Very cool I think as this helps the casual player stay in par to the guy who plays 24/7. Power Leveling has been killed as well. Once a mob is engaged the fight becomes "locked" this also kills KSing. At this point in time no spells can be casted on the played/group that has engaged the mob other then by thoses engaged in the fight. No spells or attacks can be made on the mob as well. The fight can be broke by calling for help where assistance can be obtained but at the loss of any XP for either party. I like this alot because it makes you learn and play your class. Another thing they found to stop plving is that all buffs that can be casted on others are "group" spells. They only land on members of your group, and only stay as long as you remain in the group. They also drop if you get too far out of range.
The last and best part I think is that currently every class can solo with about the same ease/difficulty. I think this in its self states that they have gotten balancing down. The one thing that I think they have done to help this is "casting through the mobs" now when you have a hostle target you have engaged targeted and cast a benifital spell, it lands on the target the mob has targeted. This elimitates any need to change your target to yourself when soloing, or when casting a benifital spell such as a rune etc, when engaged in combat.
The game for me seems to have very few problems, I have little lag, I have yet to crash. The game for me has been very stable.
All in all, you are going to see me from time to time in EQ2. For now EQ1 is still my home and where 99% of my time will be spent. EQ2 will be a side thing for me now, just to give me a change a pace or somthing to do when I have little time to be on, sence I have found I can accomplish things there in a short period of time.
So for those of you unsure about EQ2, its honestly deffentatly worth checking out.
Well as there was no way I was probably ever going to get my hands on a copy of EQ2 myself, one was bought for me as a gift. Now I desided what the hell I have a SOE all access for Planetside why not load it up and log on not like at that point I had anything to lose other then my soul... but then again I already sold that to Merr before we started dating for a slice of Pizza and a drink :radicaled
So now after all the patching is done (no more then any other game right after it came out), I log on in. Well I must say I loved the character creation. It was probably the most customizable character creations that I have seen. Granted there are a few things you are limited on like hair style, but please there are more then enough to chose from, and I have yet to see two characters look the same. Now besides that the character models as a whole look really really good aside from the Troll which must be the ugly tree itself.
Now that brings me to my next thought. I am all done making "Larsay 2.0" :thumbup2: and I am thinking ok, this game is going to be 100% eye candy and the game play is going to just be about as lame as it could get. Again, I was wrong. I long in and the intro story was not bad, would have loved to see so CGI but still cool. Then I get into the tutorial which for those that have not played EQ2 is on a ship right after you have been plucked from the sea. The tutorial was actrully pretty fun, tought me everything a newb needed to know. I also found here that its really not alot different then EQ. For starters combat is still basicly the same, you enter auto attack and your character goes at it. You still have other attacks on separate timmers to use as well as plenty of spells to pick from as well.
They actrully fixed alot of things in EQ2 and I am seeing less problems with character balancing in it then ANY other game I have played. Now this is for those of you who have yet to play EQ2. When you start the game you pick from one of 4 route classes. Fighter, Preist, Scout, and Mage. This has got to be one of the best ideas I have seen personally and let me exsplain why. For starters lets take EQ, There are 3 tanks in the game and to be frank none are really balanced, one has this giving an unfair advantage here, another in another spot and area causing conflict and troubles when it comes to normal XP groups in normal situations. EQ2 has solved this. All tank classes (sticking to the same exsample) start as fighters. Do to this EVERY class that sprouts from a fighter gets the same exsact abilities and skills for the first 10 levels of their lives. Now again for those that have not tryed EQ2, the abilities "level" with you by acquiring a higher level scroll of the same spell. So these abilities are around for a long time. Then at this point in the game is where you start to get your diversity. At 10 you pick your sub class. Now here the abilitys get different based on what you pick, but all seem to be in par with one another. Only thing I see that makes a differance here is your play style. Do to the fact that you have the first 10 levels of the same exsact abilities most of everything you do is about the same. At 20 is where you finnaly pick your class and the most diversity is found, but again those last 10 levels are the same as another big group of characters. So by the time you reach 50 (end level currently) You are unique from other classes, but yet you share enough of the same abilities that there really is no "better" tank etc, because your core abilities are still the same as the rest. Now I am sure some flaws will be found in this system, but this has to be the best attempt at balancing I have seen so far. (On a last note. All classes seem to get about the same spells/combat abilities as well).
This brings me to my next part. Twinking, Power Leveling, and KSing. All three of these things have been solved in EQ2. For starters all gear is based off of your current skill cap. So higher level items are not able to be equipted by lower levels do to lack of skill. Very cool I think as this helps the casual player stay in par to the guy who plays 24/7. Power Leveling has been killed as well. Once a mob is engaged the fight becomes "locked" this also kills KSing. At this point in time no spells can be casted on the played/group that has engaged the mob other then by thoses engaged in the fight. No spells or attacks can be made on the mob as well. The fight can be broke by calling for help where assistance can be obtained but at the loss of any XP for either party. I like this alot because it makes you learn and play your class. Another thing they found to stop plving is that all buffs that can be casted on others are "group" spells. They only land on members of your group, and only stay as long as you remain in the group. They also drop if you get too far out of range.
The last and best part I think is that currently every class can solo with about the same ease/difficulty. I think this in its self states that they have gotten balancing down. The one thing that I think they have done to help this is "casting through the mobs" now when you have a hostle target you have engaged targeted and cast a benifital spell, it lands on the target the mob has targeted. This elimitates any need to change your target to yourself when soloing, or when casting a benifital spell such as a rune etc, when engaged in combat.
The game for me seems to have very few problems, I have little lag, I have yet to crash. The game for me has been very stable.
All in all, you are going to see me from time to time in EQ2. For now EQ1 is still my home and where 99% of my time will be spent. EQ2 will be a side thing for me now, just to give me a change a pace or somthing to do when I have little time to be on, sence I have found I can accomplish things there in a short period of time.
So for those of you unsure about EQ2, its honestly deffentatly worth checking out.