Everquest 2 - worth starting?

With EQ 2 when you moved from one zone to another you got a loading screen. Dyou still get that or have they made it a seemless transition like on WoW?
 
I think that the loading screens are necessary to enable the level of graphical detail, i'm not a coder but I imagine that it is easier on resources to have the areas split up, and as EQ2 is about a billion times more resource hungry than WoW it probably makes a difference.

I dont really mind that much, its only a few seconds.
 
I think that the loading screens are necessary to enable the level of graphical detail, i'm not a coder but I imagine that it is easier on resources to have the areas split up, and as EQ2 is about a billion times more resource hungry than WoW it probably makes a difference.

I dont really mind that much, its only a few seconds.

No idea how much truth there is in it, but I once read a long time ago that one reason for zoning in MMOs was so that if there was a problem with something they could effectively "take down" just that particular zone while it was resolved, rather than having to take down an entire game/continent.
 
Speaking of sow, some of you EQ1 vets will remember this. For those that aren't familiar with this story, it's part of EQ1's history. WoW has Leeroy, EQ1 has Burned Woods and Fansy the Bard.

Not read that in years, forgot how funny it is :D
 
Still play my 80 guardian on Runnyeye server.

I still hold firm on the fact that the game engine was designed poorly. I know, that its an mmo and it needs to improve over time to sustain interest. But, engine struggles with a lot of new things.

They have added multicore support which i think is far from being used properly. The up coming S.M. 3.0 support seems like an increase in light intensity to me.

The new shadow system takes load off of the cpu and puts it on to the gpu (you gain a few fps) but conjurs up scruffy looking soft shadows and puts tremendous strain on the gpu (My temps skyrocket after 5 minutes of them being on).

That said, the game has truly improved from its early days when it should have been called bugquest 2.

I still play because of the friends i have made and the fact i simply walk away from the game after a few months play and then come back later and enjoy it a little.
 
I still hold firm on the fact that the game engine was designed poorly.

It wasn't anything of the kind, they just misread where computers were going to go in regards to power and bet on CPU's getting faster and faster as intel said they would. It didn't happen and alas they were left with an engine that was utterly ill-suited to the advances in GPU and mutli-core processing.
 
I think that the loading screens are necessary to enable the level of graphical detail, i'm not a coder but I imagine that it is easier on resources to have the areas split up, and as EQ2 is about a billion times more resource hungry than WoW it probably makes a difference.

I dont really mind that much, its only a few seconds.

Yeah, with a zoned world it gives developers a lot more room to create zone-specific art assets, weather, character models, audio etc. Loading and unloading as a player moves around means the designer can afford to be a bit more ambitious.

It's a preference thing, but for me personally, I've never been troubled by losing 5 seconds every so often, especially when the gain is worth it.
 
Is the XP debt still pretty formidable if you die?

Are the Common lands still the low level areas for players allied with Freeport?

Are Queynos & Freeport still the main cities for the two sides?
 
Is the XP debt still pretty formidable if you die?
Just started to notice it in the mid 20's so probably quite bad in the 50's plus

Are the Common lands still the low level areas for players allied with Freeport??

Yup, and Darklight Woods if you are Neriak

Are Queynos & Freeport still the main cities for the two sides?
Yes, although there is now Neriak and Kelethin, and the Sarnak staring city as a neutral town, name escapes me though.
 
XP debt is f all now. Think it was 0.5% xp so only takes a few kills to get rid of it. Even with repeated deaths it's barely noticable.
 
I like it, it makes dying *mean* something, so you try and avoid it more. Having a death penalty makes for more skilled players imo.

Yeah, it was in a few MMO's when I first started playing, but with seems to have left out of a lot of the newer ones. I get why they do it, but I'm guilty of trying to take on just a little bit too much sometimes, and if I die then fair enough, but I'd rather not have my derring do penalised :p

XP debt is f all now. Think it was 0.5% xp so only takes a few kills to get rid of it. Even with repeated deaths it's barely noticable.

Thats good to hear :)
 
XP debt is f all now. Think it was 0.5% xp so only takes a few kills to get rid of it. Even with repeated deaths it's barely noticable.

It's also only personal debt, not like when you used to gain it from other group members dying.
 
It's also only personal debt, not like when you used to gain it from other group members dying.

Shortly after release, I got invited into a group in Antonica. I was all the way over at one end of the zone and the group was all the way over at the other end. During the time it took me to get to them, there'd been around 4 or 5 deaths. When I finally arrived, the group broke up and I was left with a stack of shared xp death, none of it my fault.

A stupid, stupid mechanic that thankfully has gone the way of the dodo. I dont mind xp debt (in fact, I'm a staunch supporter of xp loss AND lvl loss, which would probably have some of you thinking I'm a freak), but shared xp debt was dumb. Punish the individual for playing poorly, sure, but not the group.
 
Undinging was a nightmare, but yeah it was one of those things that made the game what it was, so I'm with you on that :)
 
Found Shadow Odessy in a local shop for a tenner, and I'm really tempted. Whats is like now?

The last time I played Vanilla EQ2 I had a cat person rogue type thing, they still any good?
 
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