Everquest II

I finally got a chance to play Everquest II and, I must say, I am quite impressed with it.

When you first log into Everquest II, you are faced with quite a challenge: picking your race and class. I can’t think of another MMO out there that gives you quite the same variety that EQ II does. You can play elves, humans, gnomes and other classic fantasy races. Or, you can pick from some of the stranger fare, such as the ratonga, a race of devious, humanoid rats. Perhaps you prefer froglocks, a race of virtuous frog-like people. There are both good and evil fae as well as a couple of evil, repitilian races. And then…and then!…you still have to choose a class!

Generally, there is a good and evil version of just about every class listed. Now, some classes aren’t necessarily “evil.” They are simply a darker version of a more classic class. Take, for example, the bard and the dirge. They are both music-oriented classes. However, where the bard lifts up his companions, giving them courage to face the oncoming hordes of enemies, the dirge plays songs of great sorrow and despair, dragging down the enemy’s morale and causing them to falter in battle. But, that is simply one example. There are just as many class choices as there are races.

To me, that much variety is fantastic. I am an admitted alt-aholic who would gladly play one of everything if I had the time. However, I can see how that many choices could be somewhat daunting to someone starting new to MMOs. You have so many questions! What is the best race/class combination? Will I be gimping myself if I play this race/class over that? What’s the best PvP/PvE combination? My advice is this: just pick something that you think you will like and run with it. The truth of the matter is that all races and classes have their good points and bad points. It’s just a matter of finding what you like the best.

The starting areas for the Fae and Sarnak are wonderful. However, I found myself truly truly falling in love with my Fae and I ended up neglecting my Sarnak. The environment felt lush and full. I found myself pulled in by the sights, sounds and the voice-acting provided by the NPCs. That isn’t something that you find in very many MMOs, in my experience.

On the flipside of this, I didn’t care much at all for the training island that many of the other races started on. Even though you had different NPCs depending on whether you started as good or evil, the island felt the same no matter which side you were on. The layout was almost identical and the quests pretty much paralelled each other. For someone who doesn’t feel a need to play one of everything, this is not a huge deal. However, if you are an alt-aholic, this can get to be a drag after about the third or fourth character you run through here. But, the good news is that you can leave the training island at any time. I ended up jumping onto the ship with my conjurer at about level 3 and headed to the mainland. I found that I did just fine without getting to level 10 on the island. Sure, it required a little bit of grinding for me to catch up to some of the quest levels, but not much at all. I think I only grinded about half a level, at most, to get myself up to speed.

Speaking of grinding, I enjoyed the incorporation of the Legends of Norrath card game into the main EQ II game. There are days when you log in and you want to play but you end up tiring yourself out. You just don’t feel like questing or grinding for some extra cash. But, you don’t necessarily want to not play, either. This is when the Legends of Norrath card game shines. You can settle in and play a few games, allowing you to enjoy EQ II through a different medium. It’s the same game but with different mechanics. So, it’s a great break.

I’ve always been a big fan of being able to craft your own items in MMOs. However, in many games, there is just too much of an element of chance when it comes to whether or not you will actually be able to complete that Sharp Sword of Uber-Awesomesauce that you are trying to make. You simply click a button, watch a bar fill up and maybe it works and maybe it doesn’t.

In EQ II, the player feels much more involved in the whole process. Just like in most other games, you have to gather all the correct ingredients and go to a crafting station. However, things get a little different once you hit that “create” button. Challenges will pop up as you work on the item, posing threats that you could fail or your item is made subpar. The player then has a choice of different crafting related skills they can use to try and counter these challenges. You could use Skill A to counter, but it may cost you some power. Or, you could use Skill B that will advance your progress at the cost of durability. So, you’re not just watching a bar fill up. You are actively participating in the crafting process, which I really liked.

EQII has some pretty interesting quests that I found myself really enjoying. Personally, I adored the collection quests. This is because I am a virtual magpie. If it’s bright and shiny, I want to collect it. When I play Morrowind, I have a mod to give me extra houses so I can display all the pretty things I have that I’m not actually using. So, when EQII gave me the opportunity to collect things and get rewarded for it, I was in heaven.

Basically, you just find things on the ground. They range from feathers to bones to bits of shiny rock. The good thing is that once you add them to your collection, they are no longer in your inventory. So, you don’t have to worry about actually storing all of these things that you find. Once you have completed a collection, you take it to an NPC who then will give you an item in exchange for your collection. I think that is pretty awesome!

Oh! One thing that I almost forgot the mention is housing. In most MMOs, housing is a huge money sink and is a luxury that you have to work extra hard to be able to afford. Not so in EQII. You can get an instanced, private inn room that you can decorate to your liking and use to store things by level five…and rent is only five silver a week. How cool is that? Of course, there are bigger, better lodgings available but they obviously cost more. So, you can have a place to relax a decorate no matter what level you are. You don’t have to play and grind and save forever before you get that wonderful luxury.

Lastly, in my alt-aholic frenzy, I decided to play a necromancer, just to see what the evil side was like. I was impressed! It wasn’t the quality of the buildings in the evil city or the layout of the place that struck me. It was the fact that all the NPCs there are just dicks. Asses. Completely selfish pricks. There is none of this “oh, we’re a noble and misunderstood people” that you see so often in the evil races of some MMOs. Nope. All the people I ran into tried to use my character, double-cross her or get her killed to better their own positions. And,to save her own skin, she ended up having to be just as mean and nasty as they were. It was great! Finally, there is some true evil in a game.

So, overall, I really enjoyed my exploration of Everquest II’s world. I had tons of fun doing a wide variety of quests and trying out many of the various races and classes. Will I go back to Everquest II? Yes, more than likely, I will.