Jon (along with his girlfriend), Jason, and I, under heavy influence of recent marketing, are taking another look at EQ2. We’re on the Lucan D’Lere server, Qeynos side. Jon, our art guy, said Freeport was “too brown,” and Jason, our tech guy, had a list of reasons why Qeynos was functionally better. Me, I wanted Freeport; I’m all about ‘tude. But hey, life is sacrifice.
I’m level six, and they’re a few levels ahead of me, but we’ve all been really impressed thus far. It’s been a year since release, and our hardware upgrades have begun to catch up to the game’s engine. Being able to navigate cities without enduring a RAM-deprived slide show does wonders for replayability. On top of that, the game’s just beautiful.
I’m really digging the gameplay, too. I stepped out of line a year ago when I said EQ2 was a better game than WoW, but I still hold to that. The overall atmosphere and aesthetic makes the place feel like it’s worth visiting, whereas WoW‘s always felt like a holding bay for pop culture references. The combat is a lot better; my Rogue actually has more than three useful skills. I’m also a fan of forced grouping when it’s done right, and EQ2‘s Heroic Opportunity system is good about incentivizing people to figure out what they’re supposed to do with their class.
It’s still not a perfect world, but it’s been a nice visit so far. If you wanna hang out, drop me a line. I’m Panzeraa in game.
