Thursday, April 5, 2007

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.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

So your post didn't really explain why you didn't have fun with EQ2. I highly doubt that the minor delay + loading screens was enough to make you think the game wasn't fun.

EQ2 is a blast, especially when you play with friends or meet people in game and join a guild. Keep trying!

Yane (Yet another night elf) said...

No...its not EQ2, my comments are clouded with ennui.

Keystone said...

I've played 19 MMO's, but I've never touched the EQ series (I've always wanted to test it out).

I think WoW has spoiled me with the instant gratification it provides.

I'm an avid PvP'er, and I used to have to travel all over the world in games to find a player fight, now with WoW I just hop in a BG and wa-la!

I think after a person's first MMO, it's hard to find one to live up to that, almost like a first love...

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