Category: Everquest 2

EQ2 Producer’s Letter:

This generation of gamers is very different from those that have gone before. Many people out there (quite a few of the dev team included) just don’t have the large blocks of uninterrupted time that we used to. We still want to be able to come online, have fun, be challenged, and be rewarded for our efforts. Soloists and those who prefer small groups should never have to feel like they’re the ones getting the proverbial table scraps, as it were.

And:

In tomorrow’s update, expect significant solo and small group experience boosts across the board that allow for advancement that will be much more visible and feel much more satisfying.

In the following weeks’ updates, there will be a new class of creatures added to the game that present an increased challenge to soloers and small groups. Specific details will be posted in the message that accompanies the update. Soloing shouldn’t feel like a grind; it should be an exciting and fun style of play in its own right.

Also in those updates, brand new item rewards will be added for soloists and small-groupers. Additionally, some of the rewards that have been reserved solely for groups will also make their way, though more rarely, to the solo and small group encounters in the world. At the same time, expect group rewards to improve as well. The chances for some of the group-only ultra-rare drops will likewise be increased.

In the weeks following that, expect new dungeon instances to be made available for those who solo, duo, and trio. Exciting dungeon crawling is a core part of what people love the most about online fantasy games, and it shouldn’t be reserved solely for those who choose to play in full groups.

Essentially, the way it should work is like this:

Soloing and small grouping should be a way to advance at a satisfying rate. You should be able to earn good rewards that are exciting in their own right. Soloing and small grouping should also provide a chance at the great rewards that people might not expect in anything except the traditional six-person group.

This (depending on how it goes as I will be watching it) and the firesale price of the EQ2 game in stores may just be enough for me to try it. Well, not that likely.

SOE has released an Everquest 2 offline character creator to the general public. I played around with it some last night and was mildy impressed. I felt the customization did not have a lot of obvious effect, but at least there were lots of races to choose from.

Still, better than the meager choices World of Warcraft gives you.

“group content is heavily dispersed within the solo content”
“ridiculous aggro ranges”
“attempting to solo is just fraught with all sorts of hassles”
“The camping in the game is ridiculous.”
“typical quest is to collect parts of a mob but the parts are obscenely rare drops”
“spent all day trying to find a location because they are too lazy to provide some signs”
“EQ2 lacks a way for players to creatively problem solve.”
“This game is not for the casual, it’s not for the solo oriented. The intial experience may be dazzling, but if you’re of the casual/solo vein; you’re in the wrong place.”
“A good deal of the quests I’ve been assigned cannot be completed at their appropriate level without a group.”

Is it just me or is hardly anyone interested in Everquest 2? I mean, Everquest is probably one of if not the most successful MMORPGs ever. Why is there very little buzz about EQ2? I don’t understand. Perhaps it is the restrictive NDA? All I know is I rarely hear anything about EQ2. I have no idea what the game will be like and yet it is supposed be released November 15th.

At this point it has no chance in getting me to play it, because they have not teased me with it. I have heard of it, but that is about it. Unless they put up an open beta, the odds that I will pick it up are pretty much nil. Not very good marketing for what should be the biggest player in the market today.

UPDATE: EQ2 lifts NDA. Nobody cares.