Zone loading screens

I decided to take advantage of a 7-day trial offered by EQ2. Its for the expansion Echoes of Faudwer, where you are given the option to play a faerie in addition to the other characters. I think this expansion was first released back in September. I wasn't actively looking for something else to play besides WoW then.

I played the original EQ2 (funny to see software only a few years old being sold as EQ II Classic, and hearing people call Azeroth "vanilla WoW") right before WoW was first released. I had a decent computer back then, but not good enough to play EQ2 without the graphics set low. Well I could set them high but at the risk of performance. I would join groups for instances - thus causing more lag and I had to set my settings so low, I couldn't see my way around in caves.

I remember thinking, what's the purpose of having such wonderful graphics if your players can't enjoy them. I read that EQ2's graphics were made to be years ahead and playing it now 2 years later on a newer computer I see that it was true.

I spent some time making a Fae and I spent some time making a high elf. Since I had played before, the part I've done so far I've already experienced. But the graphics looked better so I spent a little time appreciating that.

I was surprised to see others in the starter area. Perhaps that's as a result of the free trial, but it was nice that it wasn't empty. I did a search and about 10-15 people were listed, I came across about 5-6.

I still like collecting things and I decided to try out a mage class instead of sticking to the healer class I have a love/hate relationship with. I figure the chance of me grouping would be slim, so I might as well pick a class that solos better. I tried to read up on what classes would be best, but mostly read things like "all classes can solo". "Soloing with determination" isn't my idea of fun anymore - one of the reason's I won't level up a WoW paladin.

One little thing that I noticed that bugged me is the delay in messages. When I finished killing something or gathering something there was a long enough delay to think I hadn't met the quest objective or been successful. When I mouse over a spell, it would take a few seconds to display. You think a few seconds wouldn't matter but it was enough to annoy me. I don't know if that's how the game is, or my computer performance.

What I sadly remembered from the last time I played 2 years ago, were the zone loading screens. I made the mistake of zoning out of the tradeskill area, then logging out and the 2 combined took long enough for me to have time to think "yeah this will get old fast".

Like all MMORPGs, EQ2 has lots of things to do. But I can organize my dvd collection (very small) if I want something to do. I want something fun to do. Something that compels me to continue. I did have that when first playing EQ2 and I had it for a very long time playing WoW. I'm jonesing for that feeling again.