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#1 Dec 08 2008 at 1:24 PM Rating: Decent
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I like to start off by saying that the new zones, zone graphics, game play, equipment and spells are fantastic. SoE’s EQ1 world is my fantasy life away from reality. I have enjoyed it tremendously. I am an avid player since August of 99’ but my concerns are the dwindling population. Mind you, I have only played the PvP servers, Rallos Zek and on transfer of servers, Zek. So my concerns may not be game wide but only server wide.
This last weekend, at prime time 6-9pm (PST) there were less than 100 merchants in bazaar, and less then 200 on general chat. Hopefully because players were grouped up with guilds on raids and were not logged on to general chat or have their 2nd box not in trader mode. I do not believe this was the case. During the same time NewPlayers channel had only 36 logged on. I believe a fair estimate that half of these logged on are from experience players or bazaar merchants and the other half, hopefully, new players.
Tell me how a person that only plays, heavy advertised, WoW or other morph games would know about EverQuest besides veteran player’s word of mouth? What got me on this topic was that my son, who played EverQuest before, moved to WoW, stopped because of grades, and now started up again. Would not consider playing EQ. Because everyone he knows (high school age) is playing WoW. WoW even has commercial on the History Channel, with popular Rock Band member, Actors and Sports Heroes advertising for them. I went to Best Buy, this weekend, and the only thing available on shelf was one EQ2 game box. No game cards or reference books to EQ1 anywhere. There was a nice floor display of the new WoW expansion, lot of books and maps and even a floor poster at entrance announcing the expansion.
What made EverQuest popular was the interaction of other players, grouping, begging for ports, begging for binds, joining guilds, the feel of belonging to something and on PvP server’s anxiety and sometimes hate. But was part of the gaming experience.
What ever made the EQ player leave, all games or move to WoW? SoE is directing nothing towards bring these and or new (never played a online game before) players to our game.
One of the big things I feel hurt the game was not having a tangible game box to be sold in stores, no strategy guides, not even a poster enticing some one to try the game out.
I have to admit that I was introduced by the game from word of mouth. The best form of advertising but not the only one. Not smart to put all your eggs in one basket with, specially in the ever changing , highly competitive computer world. At one time the EQ1 economy was in the top 10 economies in the world. Now it is not even mentioned in gaming magazines.
Back again, to marketing this fantastic game. What are SoE’s plans to bring in new players? Advertising the game to the younger player? Is their intent, to add great content, graphics and game play to patronize the loyal player until there is no more players logging on to game? They were number one. You don’t stay number one by letting number two get ahead of you. You stomp, crush, out play your opponent and keep them number 2. But I have to say right now EverQuest 1 is not in the top 5 anymore. Their population was by far 3 to 4 times that of any other game. No longer now.
Thanks for having this form and letting me vent. Please fellow players, try by word of mouth to bring in new players. We need them to keep this game alive. And yes, I have some ideas for marketing, and I have sent them into Sony. Ask anyone on Zek, I have no reservation to speak my mind.

Happy and Safe Holidays may God Speed.

Armourcarr, Zek Bazaar Trader
Vinney DeWanderer, Zek Human Ranger


Edited, Dec 8th 2008 4:27pm by Vinney
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#2 Dec 08 2008 at 1:39 PM Rating: Excellent
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You don’t stay number one by letting number two get ahead of you. You stomp, crush, out play your opponent and keep them number 2. But I have to say right now EverQuest 1 is not in the top 5 anymore. Their population was by far 3 to 4 times that of any other game. No longer now.
No, but the game is nearly a decade old. When it came out, it was the only game in town of its type and the first attempts to make an EQ-Killer failed (AC, DAoC, AO, etc). It wasn't going to remain #1 any more than Doom was going to remain the #1 First Person Shooter.

EQ is old. I'm not saying that it's dead or whatever but SOE's interest in it is to keep it at a simmer for as long as it's making money but their real cooking pots are for newer ideas. Personally, I like the game plenty but it has some serious issues that'd prevent me from hyping it to a first time player. Low newbie player base (I realize this is a catch-22), tons of zones filled with worthless & outdated content, graphics ranging from passable to pathetic, etc. I like it because it's comfortable and I "grew up" in it but it's not 1999 any longer.
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#3 Dec 08 2008 at 1:53 PM Rating: Decent
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You are right, the game is old. But so is Coke, so is Heresy Bars, etc. EQ has changed, is up to date, graphic and content wise. Just like WoW or any other morph games. They remain on the cutting edge. Problem is the only people who know this are the existing players. You are right about the zones. Too many, they could have revamped them; added higher level mobs continued the zone through one of the dead ends that every zone has.
There are a lot of gimmicks they could have added. Example that WoW players, my son and his friends, is that WoW now has a motorcycle. Wow, no pun intended, big deal. Wow’s last expansion is weak. Thing is everyone in the gaming community knows about the expansion. Could you say the same for EQ’s last expansion?
There is nothing to be ashamed about EQ. It’s game play still better than any of its competition. They just have to let the world in on our little secret. They need to advertise.
Put FREE game trials on store counters. Put a damn poster in a window. Advertising just on their site is not doing it. They need to put a little more effort in.

Armourcarr, Zek Bazaar Trader
Vinney DeWanderer, Zek Human Ranger
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#4 Dec 08 2008 at 2:09 PM Rating: Excellent
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Vinney wrote:
You are right, the game is old. But so is Coke, so is Heresy Bars, etc.
Soft drinks and candy bars haven't changed dramatically since the 1930's. Video games have changed a lot since 1999.
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EQ has changed, is up to date, graphic and content wise. Just like WoW or any other morph games. They remain on the cutting edge.
Not really, no. The graphics in even the latest zones don't hold a candle to "new" games such as Vanguard, Lord of the Rings or Conan. Comparing them to WoW is difficult because WoW made the decision to go with a stylized "cartoon" look whereas EQ strives for realism. The biggest problem there is that EQ is still played on a lot of older systems and a major rehaul of the graphics system would probably only cost them more players ("If I have to drop $500 on upgrades for EQ anyway, I'm going to play New-Game-XYZ"). Instead, SOE winds up making graphic updates for six year old systems.

I'm not slamming EQ -- most of this is because Everquest is, again, an old game. Give any MMORPG a decade and I'm sure it's 5-10 year old content will be a joke by modern standards. But there's a ridiculous chaff:wheat ratio these days in Everquest.

It might not sound like it but I'm on your side. I like the game. I just don't see SOE putting any money into advertising it because it's really not sellable as a "new game" in its current condition. They tried that route with the TSS expansion, essentially making it a relaunch for new players and it didn't really work. There's just too many new shiney things on the market.
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#5 Dec 08 2008 at 3:22 PM Rating: Decent
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I agree with you Jophiel, I play on an outdated box. Hopefully to change in near future. So what are we to do? Be continent and grateful for the game the way it is now and watch it slowly lose population until it is no longer profitable for SoE? Besides there are a lot of other SoE’s games that are in far worst shape. Why not trash those and put a little effort in EQ1? I am not asking them to put the equivalent of Obama’s campaign into the game, but this game is far from obsolete. Just don’t let it die because of lack of effort. Try! What would be wrong by SoE making a common Bazaar, then when you zone out you go back to your own server. Exclude FV server because of the sale of No Drop gear. I have been a bazaar trader since day one. No finer example of supply and demand, Free trade with a consumable market. What a virtual tool for an economic class in high school. Give free games to school, filter out all bad word, and make it so they can not leave the common bazaar. Even if they made it so that it was only on one server, but I think it would be better with a larger population. The exposure it would give to future players would be great. I would be grateful for just 1% return. And what would be the cost of this? Need to spend a little money to make money. And profit is still available to EverQuest 1. But expense would be low and because it is going to a school, it would become a tax write off. This is just one of many ideas that could take place to enhance population. In game incentives to players, to bring in new people or accounts, eventually their buddies will run out of money to make another account and they will have to get new players to get the reward. More active GM events in game, besides taking away players to play LoN card game. Hold their tournaments on Tuesday night (a slow night) The LoN game is not a revenue source but an added attraction. Keep the population in game during busy days. Bring back the discovery to the game, add zones, like the Warren’s was added, free but have to find and spread the discovery though in game chat. SoE has dumb the game down, maybe not the best idea. Was a pain to beg for a port or bind but forced me to be interactive with other players. SoE has done more to isolate their population from one another then to encourage grouping. Even with the addition of mercenaries. You still need to make friends with another player to enter an instant. Maybe SoE should focus on smaller 3 man instances plus cater to the raid population. A lot of us do not fit in the profile for these high end guilds. People want and enjoy belonging, they need to group. Not all the time but I have spent hours trying to find another just to experience. Not because I am ugly or smell but because of population. Make experience points extremely higher with 6 or more or give an added AA point after time expired. You have to eliminate the multi boxers. Or make it when you zone in an instant with 6 the loot is extremely valuable, more so than with less attendance. Sometime making game easier hurts it. Nice having all the ports. Clicking on a NPC for a bind. Getting lost in the number of zones, Christ there are zones or instances I have no idea about. With this small population it is hard to find someone anyway. But those items or abilities are here to stay. If a GM were to hold an event, once a month per server, in a zone that has been forgotten how much that would improve the moral of the players. It shows that SoE cares about their population. Besides it gives the player something exciting to talk with a, none, EQ playing potential client. These are but a few and low cost ideas.
The bottom line is they need to expand on their new client base. Not rely on their experience players’ making a new toon. Or like you say it is, an obsolete game and I should be looking for something new and exciting, sniff, sob, and cry.
Armourcarr, Zek Bazaar Trader
Vinney DeWanderer, Zek Human Ranger
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#6 Dec 08 2008 at 3:50 PM Rating: Decent
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LoN is a profit center for SoE. The sale of packs items and tournaments. Beside an avenue for advertising BluRay (some of the prizes) awarded tournament winners.
My bad.
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#7 Dec 08 2008 at 7:56 PM Rating: Good
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So what are we to do? Be continent and grateful for the game the way it is now and watch it slowly lose population until it is no longer profitable for SoE?


The answer to your question is Yes.

Everquest will stop running someday and none of my characters or yours will exist. That may be in 1 year, 10 years or 100 years in which case you and I will stop existing before our characters do.

Enjoy the game as it is. Perhaps additions or changes will be made that will let you enjoy it further. Perhaps not.

Everquest will never be an 11 million subscriber game like WoW nor will it ever be "reborn" with sudden and renewed popularity as a 1 million subscriber game.

Like Jophiel, I'm on your side too. I have all 10 Veteran rewards on my account.

To quote Elrond: "He is not coming back."

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#8 Dec 09 2008 at 8:55 AM Rating: Good
It could be worse. I logged onto Star Wars about a year ago and I didnt see but a handfull of people the whole month I played.

#9 Dec 09 2008 at 10:52 AM Rating: Excellent
Well we came back after a 5 year jaunt through EQII, Vanguard and Conan, and we both think that on a new system, with the graphic details maxed there isn't much difference, at least in newer zones.

And there is soooo much content......

From our experience away from EQ, an 'older' game is a synonym for well thoght out, balanced and above all stable and bug free game. For example, Conan was a hoot for a couple of months, what with nekkid toons and blood and body parts flying everywhere, but there was no top end, no real variety available in the levelling process, and no variety in the spells and abilities. As we left, server populations were crashing, and the viability of the game seemed to be in doubt.

Sure there are issues with EQ, but the sheer volume of content pretty much guaranttes years of fun game play.
#10 Dec 09 2008 at 1:18 PM Rating: Decent
Okay, I play Wow and War and have posted here and seriously thinking of adding EQ back in the shuffle.

I have played Wow for a long time as you can see below. If you were referring to LK as failing, am not sure. Has hooked me more because I love questing but I dont think it is going to hold me to get my 3 toons plus Dark Knight to 80.

I like WAR, if you want fantastic graphics, WAR is it for sure. It is still a baby but think it is going to survive but will take some time.

I assume I want to go back and visit the old spots as was in EQ a very long time. Am sure it has changed a lot with the expansions but think I can find enough to do even if I can't get my two high level toons back.

#11 Dec 11 2008 at 2:16 PM Rating: Decent
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Well, fellow players, after the patch with the introduction of the merchant link, and the creation of Mercenaries and SoB with the last expansion. I have to disagree with you Jophiel and Reyla. Unless you believe SoE is just trying to squeeze every last dollar from their loyal, dwindling clients?
Their effort seems to be a little more than “Just keeping it alive”. It is my opinion that SoE believes there is still a market for EverQuest One, this last move is not to please the veteran player but to attract the new gamer. It is a business and SoE is out to make a profit. My problem is now that it seems like they are trying to make $$$ the wrong way. Instead of selling game items (I have no problem with this). I think, with the same effort applied, they can try to enhance all the servers’ population. Like I said above, this merchant link, in my opinion, is directed to the younger newer player. How are these new young players going to know about this, unless SoE MARKETS the game? I don’t remember seeing a poll or them asking for an opinion on real dollars for in game items? My heart tells me that the population, that is still left, did not request this option from SoE. I also believe that it is just not bells and whistles that keeps a game alive, especially for 10 years, it is content and the interaction between game, content, the player and his fellow players.
To address the problem of out dated boxes, If SoE believes this to be the reason not to enhance graphics or game play. They could just make a server to handle the lower resolution and speed. If someone is playing on a 10 year computer, especially how fast this industry develops, they would better off stick to pong. They need to catch up to speed. Speaking about old, I am running a Pent III but with an upper end graphic card and am doing just fine. Only thing I do not run is shadows. And to add a little humor personally I am so old I was the busboy at the “Last Supper”. Look for the elbow in the next velvet painting you see…LOL
Again SoE MARKET the game aggressively!!!!
They did a good job of ramming Blu-ray on us
And fellow players invite someone new to play.
Word of mouth is still the best form of advertising.

Vinney DeWanderer, Zek Human Ranger
Armourcarr, Zek Bazaar Trader
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#12 Dec 11 2008 at 3:09 PM Rating: Excellent
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Vinney wrote:
Well, fellow players, after the patch with the introduction of the merchant link, and the creation of Mercenaries and SoB with the last expansion. I have to disagree with you Jophiel and Reyla. Unless you believe SoE is just trying to squeeze every last dollar from their loyal, dwindling clients?
You saw selling potions and graphic widgets for cold, hard cash as anything other than "squeezing every last dollar"?
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#13 Dec 11 2008 at 5:55 PM Rating: Decent
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I agree, this was not just an attepmt to get more cash out of a dieing game as so many have stated.. This game is seeing an influx of new players (perosnal experience at least on Xegony) I am seeing more and more new players and old world zones being populated that have not been for a long time. With that said the station cash is really a neat addition and only is useful to the players who want something flashy but not game breaking.. If they were really milking a dead cow they would have had it so you could BUY LEVELS/PLAT/EXP not potions/ And TOP TIER GEAR from raids.... They wouldnt have put illusions/familiars that do nothing and Exp potions which are a dime a dozen.. there are so many quests (holiday/legacy/fabled/LON/etc..) that it really isnt anything special.. Its just flare that is fun and with it they can now slowly add new ideas.. but I dont think one will ever see Top Tier Gear and Levels or Plat (however the plat may actually kill the plat farmer's off so that might be good.)

This game is strong... I see a hard core base that is keeping this game going strong.. When Warhammer is relased.. watch how fast WOW dies and burns.. they dont have what EQ has and thats a dedicated player core that will not just abandon and jump ship whenever some new change occurs or flashy new game comes out.. Everquest has seen these same DOOM and Gloom arguments since the first Expansion... I quite vividly remember the Screamming that Human Monks were saying about a new race that could be their class... People shouted then that the game is dieng and they were just pumping it to keep it going.. every signal expansion the same people say the same thing.. after 15 expansions I guess it isnt going to change..

I will play this game till the day it is shut off.. and that day I will go before Sony and offer to buy the server...
#14 Dec 14 2008 at 7:14 PM Rating: Good
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I read this thread and definitely felt like I needed to add my 2 coppers / silver to it. I played EQ for 7 years and have ALL 16 classes on 2 diferent servers from lvls 55 to 68. I am absolutely enthralled with the game , or was, before I took my 6 month break. One of the more immense games with PLENTY to do. Lmao, when you were around for like Velious and Kunark only, the plethora of zones is just mind boggling. During that 6 month break from EQ my son got me involved in WoW, where I do have 8 characters now...none above 30 but still , it is quite a bit. Here are what I feel may or may not be some salient points between the 2 games, with more emphasis on why WoW is stomping EQ.

First in WoW there is the seamless zoning. That in and of itself is a godsend. EQ is known for long load times and crashing when zoning, and I have had many high end pcs so the hardware wasnt the issue.

Second there is the traveling in WoW. You can use griffons or bats or what not to fly you around continents when you discover flight paths in various places. Also there are blimps and boats (actual working boats) to go from continent to continent. You also get level mounts and certain class specific mounts. All us old EQers know the horror of broken boats, platinum greedy druids, and zone marathons w/o sow.

Third is the graphics in WoW. The toons are a bit cartoony but they also work , fight, and spell cast almost seamlessly. In addition WoW seems , to my untrained art eye, to have a bit more richer detail in all their stuff. Everquest can have some pretty spots , but WoW just takes your breath away . To top it all off the same pc that runs WoW scenery and environments will get bogged down occasionally by EQ.

Fourth, coinage and bazaar / auction houses. In WoW you can carry 575 gold coins on your gnome warlock and NEVER get weighed down, whereas in EQ if you zone out of bazaar with too much coin you are looking for a str buff and maybe levi. Also in WoW, your coin is ALWAYS on you ...less you bank it. EQ has redone the bazaar but it does nothing to phase the WoW auction houses , where you buy an item from a drop down menu , then go to your mailbox and get it.

Fifth, the drop system. In EQ we all rely on the honor system of noone ninja looting something and we have an anitquated dice system , which again presupposes you wont loot said item. In WoW you loot corpses based on how the pc assigns it to you in groups for common loot and then you have to roll on special drops via a Need or Greed system and whoever wins is the only one who can loot it. So basically there is no ninja looting...Even if you are soloing and kill something noone can loot it because the corpse is assigned to you.

Sixth , mana/hp regen , soloability, and AAs/talents. Everquest did do a nice job when they made mounts so that you could cast from them and also regen mana/hp like you were sitting w/o the sit aggro, then they even went a step further and gave us OOC mana/hp regen. That said' NOTHING compares to WoW mana/hp regen. Once you sit in WoW it goes up FAST...and you can eat or drink which gives CONSIDERABLE regen rates. Also in Wow ..least up till lvl 30 , that I have seen, you can solo QUITE well due to the balanced classes and the aforementioned mana/hp regen. Every class can do quite decent dps and keep themselves alive via heals or pet aggro or what not. EQ has an EXTENSIVE line of AAs per class which is awesome but to be truthful it is overkill. How many encs are going to get damage mitigating AAs? In Wow , after level 10, you receive one talent point per lvl up to lvl 80. And you have only 3 different talent "trees" to choose from , so you shape your character very specifically with them

Seventh, the viewpoint and UI. For some reason WoW enables you to be able to play in a sort of behind your toon third person view. This also is obtainable in EQ but not with the free range of motion that WoW has. It is very smooth and easy to run your toon and see around him at all times. A bit weird at first but you get quite used to it, then find you cannot live w/o it. Also the UI in WoW is extremely different from EQ , but clearly more funtional than EQ. Seamless and so handy to use it is amazing. I know you can use different UIs in EQ, but never have I found anything like what Wow has.

Eigth, the QUESTS and EXP. For a game called Everquest we do seem to have a ton of useless, or outdated, or broken quests. In WoW questing is like the life and blood of the game. Sure you can do groups but they eat exp and the questing usually can be done by you alone. And the rewards / exp for quest completions can be phenomenal. Also in WoW WHEN YOU DIE YOU DO NOT LOSE EXP ! You merely go back to a spirit healer and then get rezzed there or travel back to your corpse in ghost form where you will not be attacked while running through the zone. So death in WoW, is aggravating but is in no ways a huge detriment or factor in your game. Note , if you die too often, your armor and weapons break, whereas you will have to have them repaired.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, spells and dungeons. In EQ you have to hunt down or make your spells, carry them, mem them at next level and what not. In WoW, about every 2 levels or so you go back to your class trainer and learn your spells...and your spellbook/ bar is automatically updated with newest version of said spell. Also just about every spellcasting class has one to three INSTAcast buffs/spells...meaning they can cast it while they run.Very very handy. And dungeons, o god, all of us old EQers know about dungeons. Form a party , go to said dungeon to kill said mob to get said item only to have 14 other groups there killstealing and training and calling you something your mom would blush at . In WoW, dungeons are instances , meaning as you probably figured out, your group is the only one there, and with the no ninja stealing dice system WoW has then item distribution is not a problem.

There are a few things about WoW that do suck...there are quite a few kids that play it ( I am 37 myself ), so they can be unruly, the general chats in cities can be exceptionally rude (noobs in EQ can actually get help whereas WoW will slander your mothers virtue if you ask questions), also the "party" ethics in WoW...you get a group together and people have an annoying tendency to log off like instantly w/o saying bye ot whatnot. So groups in WoW, unless you with good friends, are rare to come by. And the Horde / Alliance aspect of WoW takes getting used to. Evil races can only group, speak, send whispers (tells) with evil races and good races to good. So if your bud is an orc warrior and your are a gnome priest you aint ever going to be grouping with him. Or talking to him.

Sorry for the long post but I am a player of both games, and honestly if EQ paid attention to what Wow has doen and even implement some of these things into EQ, then more people would be into EQ...It probably will never happen and if EQ dies out then I will cry fora week and lament all my 16 guys there. But WoW has made it's game immersive yet easy to play and work with.

And yes, EQ advertising is pretty much nonexistent

Just this old fleabag druid's 2 copper. Hope you enjoyed it
#15 Dec 14 2008 at 7:53 PM Rating: Good
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To start with the last comment...
Qyva wrote:
if EQ paid attention to what Wow has doen and even implement some of these things into EQ, then more people would be into EQ
...it's kind of ironic because many of te things you mention have been addressed.
Quote:
First in WoW there is the seamless zoning. That in and of itself is a godsend. EQ is known for long load times and crashing when zoning, and I have had many high end pcs so the hardware wasnt the issue.
I'll give you this one. Even today, EQ has insanely long zone/load times and a cumbersome system to even log into the game. I'm sure that a bunch of people can say that they always zone in 2 seconds, etc. That's fine. For me, it takes much longer than traveling between areas in WoW or LoTRO ever did. There's no good reason for that.
Quote:
Second there is the traveling in WoW. You can use griffons or bats or what not to fly you around continents when you discover flight paths in various places. Also there are blimps and boats (actual working boats) to go from continent to continent. You also get level mounts and certain class specific mounts. All us old EQers know the horror of broken boats, platinum greedy druids, and zone marathons w/o sow.
Travel in most of EQ is a joke these days. SoW potions, horses, Plane of Knowledge books, Ports & Translocates, The Guild Hall geode portal, LDoN Magi, Vet rewards, Expansion freebie porting staves, etc. The days of taking two hours to meet your friends because you're in Greater Fay and they're in Qeynos are long, long over.
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Third is the graphics in WoW.
No argument.
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Fourth, coinage and bazaar / auction houses. In WoW you can carry 575 gold coins on your gnome warlock and NEVER get weighed down, whereas in EQ if you zone out of bazaar with too much coin you are looking for a str buff and maybe levi.
Coin is now weightless in EQ. People travel with literally millions of platinum on their person. EQ could benefit from "out of character" trading though rather than the silly Bazaar system they have now.
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In WoW you loot corpses based on how the pc assigns it to you in groups for common loot and then you have to roll on special drops via a Need or Greed system and whoever wins is the only one who can loot it.
Unless it's changed, I always thought the WoW system was silly but that was just me. It's been a long while since I played but you'd either have one guy clicking Need and winning by default (and everyone else getting pissy and saying he didn't really NEED it) or everyone clicking Need so they'd get a chance to win. Again, just my experience and opinion.
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That said' NOTHING compares to WoW mana/hp regen.
That might be. But EQ regen is plenty quick these days and made even quicker if you hire a mercenary and don't even need to worry about regenning hp (cleric healer bot).
Quote:
EQ has an EXTENSIVE line of AAs per class which is awesome but to be truthful it is overkill. How many encs are going to get damage mitigating AAs? In Wow , after level 10, you receive one talent point per lvl up to lvl 80. And you have only 3 different talent "trees" to choose from , so you shape your character very specifically with them
Different strokes but I consider EQ to be superior in that regard. I'd rather have more options than fewer and EQ has, far and away, the greatest array of traits, skills, AA-style growth, spells, etc.
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Seventh, the viewpoint and UI.
Viewpoint I don't really see. They're pretty much the same to me. But then I prefer 1st person anyway. WoW's UI is superior though.
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Also in WoW WHEN YOU DIE YOU DO NOT LOSE EXP ! You merely go back to a spirit healer and then get rezzed there or travel back to your corpse in ghost form where you will not be attacked while running through the zone. So death in WoW, is aggravating but is in no ways a huge detriment or factor in your game. Note , if you die too often, your armor and weapons break, whereas you will have to have them repaired.
Death in EQ is practically meaingless these days, especially compared to the old days. When you die, you pop at your bind point will all your gear on you. The only reason to recover your corpse is for an xp resurrection. NPCs in the Guild lobby will summon your corpse to you for a pretty nominal fee. 96% rez's are easy to come by.

I'm not trying to argue with you but it seems as though you've missed some major changes in EQ which you think it should make (and already has).
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#16 Dec 15 2008 at 7:00 PM Rating: Good
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No problem. I know you werent arguing with me and I do realize that Everquest is different from WoW in many regards. Just , from my viewpoint, having played EQ for 7 years and fully exploring the game with all the characters and changes and whatnot, I find that WoW itsefl has aremarkably easy playing yet intricate system . Very learn on teh run and user friendly. And dont get me wrong I will keep playing EQ (when I get back to it, because we all know you never truly leave), but it is just funny how WoW is smacking EQ down . Again I am die hard EQer myself, but after experiencing WoW , I cant help but grimace when I think of what EQ could do to inprove somewhat. and yeah, I realize most of the changes you were talking about , although I have not experienced the Merc thing yet as I quit before the SoD expansion came out. I didnt know the coin was weightless now..that is sweet. As for the AA versus talent thing I brought that up because WoW gets you to focus your character where EQ definitely takes you for a whirl with all those dang AAs. Trust me, I speak from experience with well over 1500AAs over all my toons.


I do have to admit that I will always love EQ and am still jonesing to come back to it, but WoW is always a welcome relief. See yall in game some day on Torv / Povar servers.
#17 Dec 16 2008 at 8:14 AM Rating: Good
47 posts
I had been a member of a top 20 worldwide guild in EQ until about three years ago. Then I spent those three years roaming through EQ2 and WoW in high end raiding guilds. I wrote gameplay guides, I had many server and worldwide discoveries. I even dabbled in Vanguard and LotR.

I finally came to the realization that the game I had been looking for is the one I had left three years ago and I came back home to EQ. Graphics are pretty but it is content that makes you want to play the game. Vanguard is very pretty but the game mechanics leave much to be desired. EQ2 and WoW were fairly easy to play and not much of a challenge.
#18 Dec 17 2008 at 5:31 AM Rating: Decent
My parents had a book when I was young called "The Good Old Days, They Were Horrible" it was about the turn of the century America and all the problems that have been fixed now to advances in technology, medicine and science. I feel that way about EQ, I played for 3 years and had some very fond memories and many that were horrid at the time but I can laugh about them now. Most of the nagging issues EQ had difficult to solo, naked death runs, slow travel, camping single mobs for hours for quest items, loading screens, training mobs, clunky interfaces, staying logged on to selling items, and others I cant think of all may have been fixed or updated but I still remember the pain. Along comes WoW and all those issues are addressed and or simplified, why go back?

I logged on this summer during the free activation and just could not get into it, in order to make EQ one attractive to the current group of MMOs it will need a major overhaul. I'm proud of the "hardcore" aspect that I put up with in EQ, of course at the time I didn't know anything different, looking back there was a lot of wasted time for little reward.

I am surprised they are still supporting EQ1 and it doesnt appear they are trying to push people to EQ2 which was an unfortunate victim of being released the same month as WoW.
#19 Dec 17 2008 at 10:59 PM Rating: Decent
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I told myself I would never ever play EQ2.

One day my friend signed up for a free 14day trial and it looked decent. I too tried EQ2.

Granted, you are limited on what you can do, but in that 14 days I did find some neat stuff that I liked about eq1, but eq1 is still the king in my eyes, and will be until it dies.

I like the heroic system eq2 uses, the ui is efficient as I like minimal ui, the interaction between npc and pc's is good also. I like how the characters look.

To me its all eye-candy, but the content isnt enough to drag me away
#20 Dec 17 2008 at 11:51 PM Rating: Decent
Quote:
My parents had a book when I was young called "The Good Old Days, They Were Horrible" it was about the turn of the century America and all the problems that have been fixed now to advances in technology, medicine and science. I feel that way about EQ, I played for 3 years and had some very fond memories and many that were horrid at the time but I can laugh about them now. Most of the nagging issues EQ had difficult to solo, naked death runs, slow travel, camping single mobs for hours for quest items, loading screens, training mobs, clunky interfaces, staying logged on to selling items, and others I cant think of all may have been fixed or updated but I still remember the pain. Along comes WoW and all those issues are addressed and or simplified, why go back?

I logged on this summer during the free activation and just could not get into it, in order to make EQ one attractive to the current group of MMOs it will need a major overhaul. I'm proud of the "hardcore" aspect that I put up with in EQ, of course at the time I didn't know anything different, looking back there was a lot of wasted time for little reward.

I am surprised they are still supporting EQ1 and it doesnt appear they are trying to push people to EQ2 which was an unfortunate victim of being released the same month as WoW.


You are pretty much right on. I also remember the early days with fondness but there were many nights I was ready to throw the game in the trash.

I think the only reason I stayed with EQ and didn't go over to WoW was that by then I had so much time invested into the game I didn't want to spend another year or 2 learning the ins and outs of a new game. By the time WoW came out I had 3 years into EQ and in alot of ways I was just getting to know what the hell I was doing.

Edited, Dec 18th 2008 1:58am by Boomsticker
#21 Dec 18 2008 at 10:58 AM Rating: Decent
I would say it was more of a result of "This game sucks now" than anything else.

I've played EQ since it first came out, and truly loved the game. Suffered through many server merges, and guilds that faded into the after life.

But the final straw was the constant puking of expansions that had absolutely nothing about them I liked. The past four as examples, two of which I still don't and won't own (beginning with the digital downloads, if I'm going to pay for something tangible then I want to feel it in my hands.)

I finally gave World of Warcraft a try and I am more inclined to play that now.

Examples:

Die in EQ and you spend time running back to your corpse, or you can spend cash and fetch it in the GL and hope for a rez, you also take a huge xp handicap hit, and it seems to take for ever to regain what was lost.

WoW doesn't do that, you just pop into a grave yard near where you died and run to your corpse for a "rez", or if a cleric is near by they can rez too. No loss in xp, no handicap either. Your armor takes a little hit, but easy enough to remedy.

Quests are more geared for the single player, although there are some instanced zones for groups. (single player quests can be done with a group too, plus if you have the quest and someone in the group doesn't you can "share" the quest if the haven't done it yet and they get full credit for it.

Graphics are insanely awesome, lag is practically nonexistent, when you loose time for patching (patch fixing too) you get credits for it, never had SOE do that in EQ.

WoW is much more involved with the solo player than EQ, which is geared for raiding (requiring 100 or more players).

Over all I found WoW to be a much more user and gamer friendly MMORG than EQ ever was, and sadly that hurts a bit to say.

I really think SOE has screwed up EQ, I don't know where their ideas come from but not a single one has appealed to me, and I won't even give the station cash thing a try.

I Just popped into to see if anything changed, since I haven't logged into play for several months and nothing really has changed, other than the hot zones and this station cash thing. Same old holiday crap (reward wise), maybe it's just something new, but in WoW you actually get something you can use that is prized, along with XP and achievement rewards.

The dwindling populations would be a very good indicator of a "dieing" game, don't ignore that.

Oh and one MAJOR thing WoW does that EQ won't do.

THEY ENFORCE THEIR NO PLAT SPAMMERS POLICIES,and make it easy, real easy, for you to report some one does.

Last time I played EQ NO ONE REALLY GAVE A TURTLE DROPPING ABOUT IT!

Over all that makes for a much more entertaining gaming experience, which is probably why WoW gets the influx of new accounts and new players. (BTW they reward you in game if you recruit someone to play).

Plus hooking up with famous people playing is cool too!
#22 Dec 18 2008 at 11:41 AM Rating: Good
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329 posts
Quote:
Die in EQ and you spend time running back to your corpse, or you can spend cash and fetch it in the GL and hope for a rez, you also take a huge xp handicap hit, and it seems to take for ever to regain what was lost.


This is no longer the case, you respawn with all of your gear now.
#23 Dec 18 2008 at 11:42 AM Rating: Good
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91 posts
I always have someone to play with. Always. I think that a lot of what people say about not getting groups may have more to do with them being picky about where the group goes than not having a group or raid. This can't always be the case but I often meet self centered people only interested in personal gain so if I'm not immediately doing their progression quest they aren't coming. The best way, as I see it, to deal with not having people to play with is to join an active guild. Every day I see people walking around with their pre-merge guild tag on from '02 and they are in a guild where only 4 guys log in regularly just to talk about the old days. So many people group exclusively with guild members that I really can't understand why if you cannot get a group while guildless or in an inactive guild and you want to group why don't you change what you're doing as opposed to trying to change what everyone else is doing. Just my observations.

I am confused, however, about the logic I've been reading that is cast by WoW players who say that they quit EQ because the population was too low. The reoccurring theme that these players have is that they quit a game with "too few" people because they were tired of playing alone to go play a game with I'm not even sure how many million. That makes sense, but then most of them go to talk about how they can solo their way to the top. Isn't the point of a large number of people in an MMO to play with them? I've played Blizzard games for a long time and I have never understood the lure of WoW. To me it is just Diablo with a makeover and a static world, but whatever maybe I'm missing something.
#24 Dec 18 2008 at 2:19 PM Rating: Good
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271 posts
Jesus, people. Let's face it. EQ and WoW offer two totally different experiences. Trying to compare them is, forgive the cliche, but like comparing apples and oranges. If you want to play EQ, then play EQ. If you want to play WoW, then play wow. But please stop droning on and on about how one should become more like the other. Seriously, what would be the point?

I love EQ just the way it is and I guess the most obvious conclusion to come to is that some people just have to find something to complain about. Some people are just never happy.
#25 Dec 18 2008 at 5:00 PM Rating: Decent
16 posts
Lmao , sounds like the thread may be becoming a little heated. Again, after playing for over 7 years in EQ, I am not complaining about it just noting the differences between WoW and EQ and how sweet it would be too see EQ run a bit more like WoW....game mechanics-wise. I will never give up on EQ, even though my sons and his friends have a chuckle when they seem me log into it occasionally (on a side note, I have been gone for like 6 months). But WoW , in and of itself , is just more user friendly. And it isnt really like comparing apples and oranges as pretty much all online roleplaying fantasy games have the same basic stuff...character classes, monsters, quests, exp ..what not. When you have been playing fantasy games forever you pretty much know what to expect from just about any company that puts it out there.

Eye candy does not make the game but content does. EQ does have plenty of content but that content is not always maintained as well as it should be. And there are a lot of repetitive holiday or anniversary quests/rewards. Maybe I am just mentioning all this in hopes that EQ does get a bit more popular because I really hate to think of it going away. That would suck, but it does happen.

I doont know, but I was thinking of some other things that appea to me in WoW that would be neat to see in EQ. Like your damage text appearing floating around you and the monster. That did take some getting used to but after awhile you actually appreciate seeing it all right there where you are focusing on the battle. How many times have we gotten eye strain from reading through the dps window? The instant cast spells that quite a few classes have is pretty sweet too. O, and havinga friggin hearthstone to be able to gate back to your bind is awesome. Yes, I know we can get TLs/ports/gate potions in EQ. And someone mentioned earlier that the coin in EQ is now weightless, but I just read a recent post saying they were bogged down after leaving bazaar with too much plat?

Anyways, I am not trying to disparage EQ but just looking at it from a veteran players viewpoint. If WoW could get this doen and appeal to so many in sucha relatively short period of time, then how come EQ let the ball drop?
#26 Dec 18 2008 at 8:41 PM Rating: Default
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Seems like the subject has changed from when I started it. I basicly wanted to just kick SoE in the *** and have them start promoting and advertising the game. It looks like they are still putting an effort in but in my opinion it seems in the wrong direction. Before they bring in new systems like the merchant window, mercenaries or work on another expansion just so we could get lost and confused even more. They need to take some of the development money and just run a ad in a gaming mag or even a small ad on the bottom of a bubble gum comic... something other than their site....WoW spends more money advertising on THIS site than EQ1 does. The mention of wow was not to compare the games but to compare the stratigy of their marketing.
One more thing. I think Craig "Grimwell" Dalrymple, SOE Senior Community Relations Manager is way off base.
Quote:
The initial response to Station Cash has been a success for SOE and we are looking forward to new offerings for both EverQuest and EverQuest II in the not too distant future.

In fact, the response has been so strong that game teams are adding new employees dedicated to Station Cash, to allow us to continue to add new and exciting items to the marketplace, without having to pull from the core development.

Fire his *** and use the money to advertise..he doesn't seem to know what he is talking about.

Armourcarr, Zek Bazaar Trader
Vinney DeWanderer, Zek Human Ranger



Edited, Dec 18th 2008 11:54pm by Vinney
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