Mystic Worlds

Weekend of EQ2 Extended

Going for the Gold

I’m enjoying myself on EQ2 Extended while the kids and my nephew roll their eyes as they pass by.  I’m New Halas aligned but questing in Greater Faydark on a Warden. Obviously, I opted to subscribe Gold in order to have access to the only class I was interested in playing.  I also purchased two Station Cash Tokens in order to copy over my 36 Illusionist / 39 Provisioner from Antonia Bayle and my 27 Conjurer / 29 Carpenter from Nagafen.  As much as I dislike snowy zones, I’m operating out of Halas because of the excellent player housing.

Greatly Simplified Travel

It’s immediately evident to someone who hasn’t played EQ2 in many months, that some ease-of-use love has gone into the game.  The two most obvious changes are simplified travel and an increase in adventure XP.  The first time I noticed the travel globes that allow you to instantly travel to any continent, I was a very pleased person.  I find it funny that people, even veterans, forget the globes are available when players ask how they can get their low character to some far away destination.  I don’t know how anyone can forget, given how time consuming travel had been previously.  Rented (auto traveling) mounts have been pepper throughout every zone allowing for convenient hands-free travel. And in cities like Kelethin – big and circuitous, they’ve added Warden-like travel rings that will port you to commonly used areas.  I realize some players feel fast travel makes a virtual world seem smaller. I’m sure it can at times.  However, in games like EQ2 where each zone is very large, the world doesn’t feel smaller, just less annoying. *smile*

A Raiding Guild Moving to EQ2X? Someone Please Explain that to me.

Tripping over EQ2 Veterans on EQ2X
It’s curious and then again not, why I keep tripping across EQ2 veterans on EQ2 Extended.  I was sure we’d see some of them around mostly playing with friends they’re trying to convert or just having a look-see on a low level F2P character.  But when I start seeing high level characters, knowing that it costs $30 $35 to copy the character across to EQ2X, that’s more than having a look.  I decided to be nosy and whisper a few folks to ask why. 

EQ2 Live Newbie Zones are Thin
The most common response was low-level zones on the Live servers are ghost towns.   For a time, newly added racial zones will have their starter areas populated but once that wave passes, it’s left to the crickets.  As I’ve said for years, even people who enjoy questing solo like populated zones.   A good percentage of the EQ2 population is comprised of veterans and even they get tired of mentoring down and repeating content to help alts.

Logic of Subscribing on EQ2 Extended

I understand why current subscribers don’t see value in anyone paying to play on the EQ2 Extended (EQ2X) servers.  However, I think they are missing a key point – different game play agendas.  They are assuming that their motivations for playing and subscribing are the only valid ways to play EQ2. They are wrong.

I don't care how you got your gear
Purchased gear seems to be a real sticking point with players who are opposed to micro-transactions being in their game.  I’m not the player who knows what gear you’re wearing by looking at you.  I don’t know what epic raid boss you’ve killed by looking at the weapon on your back.  Furthermore, I don’t actually care how you got your gear.  I can’t even recognize it, so why would I give a fart how you got it???  It’s not that I’m clueless, I just don’t care!  I’ll inspect a player when I see something pretty, fun or interesting.  In WOW, I much more likely to ask someone how they got a pet or that cool mount than a piece of armor.

I’m not an idiot. I upgrade my gear with the best that I can get for the amount of effort I’m personally willing to expend on it.  Right now in WOW, I’m rolling in all PVP gear because the BGs are instant quick-in-and-out content that I can do in small chunks of time.  If PVE was the only form of character advancement available at the moment, I wouldn’t be playing at all.

EQ2 – WOWified and ROMified

I actually smiled when I read the full patch notes on EQ2 Wire.  I’m sure there’s a contingent of long time EQ2 players that are upset by changes that many will say, “Dumb-down the game.”  I don’t see it in that light.  I see it as improving the game in a way that will provide more general appeal. Part of which, has to be simplifying the introductory experience and ensuring the feature-set is on par with what potential customers can readily get in one of the other fantasy MMO titles.  The game needs to be able to attract more new players.  And new players need other new players, in order to enjoy the experience and want to stick around for more.

Revamping the Dreaded UI
A game's UI is a big deal.  It's your portal into that virtual world and governs how you interact with many aspects of the game.  I like what I see in the Patch Notes for improving the visual aesthetics of EQ2 beyond the rendering of the world.  I never liked the EQ2 UI and spent LONG hours trying to find ways to fix it.  In the end, the game's exposed API limits what modders could change when compared to a game like WOW.  This means, it was on Sony to fix it and now they’ve taken steps in that direction.

Optimized Spell Effects
I knew the UI was getting revamped along with the release of EQII Extended.  Two other things caught my eye when reading the other updates.  First is revamping the spells.  OMG how the spell animations clog up the screen is something I’ve never experienced before.  I didn’t know if it was just me or what since I’d never seen anyone complain about it but I have on several occasions.  This statement in the patch notes shows it wasn’t just a “me thing” and I hope the change greatly improves the situation.

There and Back Again, a tale of MMO fatigue.

My Red Dead Redemption fever was cured after several weeks of playing.  It was the first time I’d ever really attempted to play a solo RPG, much less one on the console.  I didn’t get to see the credits roll but it was definitely a fun ride.  What really sold me was the open world, in which I could break away from the linear storyline at will.  I also jumped into the multi-player side every so often to get wailed on and ganked by higher level players.  No tears though, such is the nature of PVP.  I got good at the re-gank. You know, where you kill each other over and over, each racing back from resurrection hoping you got there first, so you can kill them when they arrive. LOLZ    That and stealing other player’s horses – that shit never got old!!

Played EQ2 using 3-Day Consecutive Sub Plan
After RDR, I did two rounds of EQ2 using the 3-day sub payment model.  As always, I wish I enjoyed the questing more.  I might have re-subscribed for the PVP which was actually entertaining, except for two things.  First is a regular complaint from me – the graphic animations are over-the-top in an intrusive way.  In group fights, I can never tell what the hell is going on because of the game’s particular style of doing combat animations.  I’m just pressing buttons in the order that makes sense.  I can’t actually tell what’s landing because the combat zone is completely cluttered with animations. And yes, I've played games with lots of combat animations but there's something about EQ2's that clutter up the screen in a fashion that the other games don't.  Hard to explain - they look like they happen in a 2D space so that they're all stacked over each other, not actually occurring "over there" where that player is that is executing the move.  Strange.