EverQuest

[Deaddude]

Hey everyone, Does anyone know what is better, Everquest or Everquest 2? At the moment I am downloading a free trial for Everquest but its gonna take a while. Also, does anyone know if it is free to play or if there s a monthly fee? Thanks to all that can help.

[The Prince of Cats]

Both games have a monthly fee, which is something like $15 a month (you can look it up on the website, I pay £9.79) and is generally considered the standard price.

As to which is better... I used to play Everquest, then gave it up to play EQ2. I now play Everquest 1 again.

Everquest 2 has prettier graphics and the cities are much larger, with many zones to a city. The interface is similar for all classes, with hotkeys for abilities that use up your energy. As a fighter, it would be things like power-attack or crippling blows. As a mage, it would be spells. All races wear armour that looks the same, though it is rare to see two suits of chain that are the same, due to the range of graphics; a suit of chain on a Tier'Dal will look identical to the same suit on a human.

Everquest, the original, always seemed more fleshed out to me. The graphics are still late-1990s level and the 'cities' are tiny, though the world itself is larger. It takes about 6 hours to traverse the Everquest world, not counting the moon or the planes, while EQ2's main world can be crossed in about an hour.
Spells in Everquest have their own system, with each class very much different from the others. A mage has a spell quick-bar, while a fighter will have a combat-ability pane. All races do have their own armour, though there is no variety within a race, only across races; two half-elves in platemail will look the same, unless one suit is dyed, but nothing like a human would look in the exact same suit.

All in all, Everquest is aged. It is a milestone and certainly, its time has not yet passed. It is a great reminder of the way things used to be. The graphics, the music and the sound will not amaze you or tax your system.

Everquest 2 is brash, bold and modern. It needs a fairly up-to-date graphics card with shader-support and looks good. In my mind, the models look like Barbie-dolls, but that is probably just me. It does suffer from d00dz though; those irritating gamers who play every game like it was Counterstrike. As such, it is dumbed down badly and you can sprint around like an olympic athlete even in full plate and maille. Everything is simple, exquisitely-rendered, obvious in its use.

EQ2 is the prettier, younger model. EQ is the older, bookish sister. It all depends on your taste in women games, in the end.

[Mr. Moon]

I've been sorta wanting to play ever since I first saw the ad on my copy of Champions of Norath, but I doubt I'm ever going to.

[Shikton]

People still play EQ1? Or let me rephrase: "Low level people still play EQ1?"

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I used to play EQ. I was in the top 50 monks on my server, and was in one of the top five guilds on my server (and, in fact, *THE* family-raiding guild, as opposed to hardcore raiding guilds).

It was fun mostly because I had a lot of friends in my guild. I wouldn't have had nearly the fun I did if I didn't. The game itself isn't really all that appealing, although I had fun with it. But it was when I was running around with my buddies, and knowing that I was at the top of my game, that I had the real fun.

As far as EQ2... I didn't really see much improvement. They unlocked any race/class combinations. The only improvement was graphics, the rest was, in my opinion, a downgrade more than an improvement in user interface.

Reccently, I had to discontinue EQ due to monetary consideration (bills > EQ). Simultaniously, my friend gave me a copy of WoW and a game card good for two months.

I'm a total convert. I love the WoW game style as well as graphics. WoW graphics beat both EQ and EQ2. Game play style is awsome. Each class has it's own unique method of playing, and several different ways to play each class depending on how you spend your Talents.

While some classes can cover some rolls better than others, there are multiple ways to handle various rolls with different classes, making each class valuable and no 'holy trinity' of classes (such as the infamous War/Enc/Clr requirement of EQ back in the LDoN days). Every class has more than one thing they can do to be useful to a group so that important rolls can be covered with nearly any combination.

For example, a Mage has the primary function as a DPS machine, a 'glass cannon', if you will. However, with Frost and Poly, he can also be an extremely effective crowd control, locking down multiple opponents, slowing them down, sticking them in place, and keeping things distracted by Burst DPSing it to get it's attention, then running it ragged with Blink and Mana Shield to stay alive until the rest of the group can deal with it.

Furthermore, every single class can solo experience at a decent rate. This is another vast improvement from EQ, which virtually requires grouping to xp grind for some classes, while other classes can get hordes of xp solo.

[Aiani]

I used to play Everquest and now I play EQ2. I reallly love EQ2. I love being able to play any race/class combo and I love that all classes are more able to solo now. I think the questing is much better as well because quests were very tedious in Everquest I thought.
If you like tradeskilling then I think EQ2 is a great choice because I found tradeskills in Everquest to be rather lacking. It seemed like they were just thrown in as an after thought and they were pretty boring. I'm not saying that crafting in EQ2 is necessarily thrilling but it feels like there is more to it and I have been able to outfit my characters with lots of crafted gear and weapons and such.
One thing to keep in mind if you pick up EQ2 is that the latest expansion, Echoes of Faydwer is extremely fun and if you buy it retail it will include the original game as well as the two previous expansions all for about $40 if I remember right. That is a good deal no matter how you look at it. All right I am beginning to sound like an advertisement for EQ2 so I'll stop now. I hope you have a happy gaming experience whatever you choose.

[Daracaex]

I played Everquest II for a while, but I didn't know any friends who played it and what server to be on to find good guilds and such. It was fun, but my only complaint was that it is kind of hard to level up in the outset because you get much of your experience from quests, and many of the lower-level quests are simply fetch or delivery quests. Also, they didn't open a very large area to explore for lower leveled players. Every place to go fight monsters scaled very quickly as you went deeper into it. I found myself lost in the field one time, only just able to avoid some monsters to get out there, and had to ask someone running by for an escort back into safer lands so that I wouldn't get killed on my way back.

But it is a fun game, and I imagine it mould be more fun if you can get into the mid-high levels and fully explore the map, but I haven't played it enough to find out. Maybe I should think about starting up again...

[MaxKaladin]

Furthermore, every single class can solo experience at a decent rate. This is another vast improvement from EQ, which virtually requires grouping to xp grind for some classes, while other classes can get hordes of xp solo.That was what drove me from EQ. I played for a few months back when it was brand new and there were no expansions. Trying to make any progress solo was like repeatedly smashing your head into a brick wall. I tried several classes and had that problem with all of them to some extent or another. It just got so frustrating that I quit after a few months of trying different things and different classes with no success.

Grouping worked better for leveling, but I really hated it since all grouping seemed to involve was going out in a mob and finding a spawn point to "camp". You waited for monsters to spawn, killed them and waited for more. If someone else came along, you tried to run them off to keep the spot you had claimed. Boring.

I've found I much prefer the gameplay in WoW.

[Sailacela]

I've been playing EQ2 for over 2 years now and still enjoy it. Being a flashier game than EQ, you will need a more powerful computer to play it (as others have already stated).

As far as MMORPGs go, I think what really keeps me logging in isn't just the game itself but the people I've met. I have a circle of close online friends that I'd never have met under other circumstances; people with similar interests and senses of humor. So whatever game you decide upon (EQ, EQ2, WoW, Vanguard), be sure to talk to people and group with them. There are a lot of potential friends out there.

[Arlanthe]

/quit Foreverquest
/load Vanguard: Saga of Heroes

[Crazy Owl]

/quit Foreverquest
/load Vanguard: Saga of Heroes

Whats wrong with an MMO that lasts for ever?

[Arlanthe]

Actually, I'd love an MMO that lasts forever. The fact me and half my guild have multiple level ^60 characters and no more quests to do is testimony to the fact that indeed, no MMO has built enough content in yet.

The joke "Foreverquest" refers to the grind.

[Airk]

Everyone I know who has started Vanguard is either bored or frustrated with it already. =/

EQ1 still has a lot of miles on it; Whether you like it better than WoW is strictly a matter of personal taste. WoW is a fairly amusing single player game. Everyone can solo. It's really easy. EQ1's pace is slower, less spazzy, and far more group oriented.

Your best bet if you want to start EQ1 these days though, is to start it with a friend.

[talsine]

I played EQ for a couple years, got EQ2 and stoped when my free 30 days expired. Its was a lot of the things i hated about the first game, and little true improvement. Now, i mostly play WoW, very casual player friendly, and will probebly start Vanguard in a month or so, i loved the Beta, i just don't have time at the moment.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Foreverquest, eh? First I ever heard of that, although it doesn't quite fit anymore now that you have Monster Missions which you can use to level from 1-75 and still not have the slightest idea how to play your class, and do it in about a week. So you'll have a 75 toon with no gear other than a rusty weapon, no spells/combat abilities, no skills... but 300 AA.

Neverquest, due to the fact that most quests you want to complete can't be completed unless you have an UberGuild (TM) behind you, or the quests are broken, or it's just plain pointless since the rewards are not worth the risk and you can get to uber level without completing a single quest (other than, perhaps, your epic and 1.5).

Evercrack due to it's former addictiveness

Evercamp due to some of the more obnoxiously long spawn times on necessary quest mobs (Raster... *shudder* or even worse... old-skool Ragefire pre-pearl...)

[Deaddude]

Well, Today I went over to future shop and I looked at the EQ games. I saw EQ1 for $10(canadian) and it came with 10 expansions, and EQ2 for $5 canadian. Still don't know what one to buy though, but I'll figure it out. Thanks everyone!