EQ2 Origins

[Evia]

EQ2 recently launched a new server that's trying to be as 2004 as possible (think it's 2006 client?) And even though EQ2 sucks compared to EQ1, this might be the best way to play it. It's pretty group centric in this state and very difficult to solo. They even outlawed Krono on this one in an attempt to make it as "authentic" as possible.

https://www.everquest2.com/news/eq2-anashti-sul-is-live

Idk if I'm going to try it or not...but it seemed interesting enough to share. I thought maybe someone here might be intrigued enough to try it out.

[Ciderpress]

I will say I played EQ2 at launch and actually really enjoyed it. Got in with the "uber" guild on my server and we were the first to kill Darathar\get prismatics and that whole experience was super epic and cool.

Quickly lost interest after the second expansion came out though and went back to EQ1 heh. Game just feels too on the rails and hand holdy.

[Topgunben]

I didn’t find EQ2 to be all that good. Might as well play wow, which is basically what most people did.

[Swish]

What may have helped any EQ2 resurgence is just that, nobody at the time really gave it a real chance and WoW was certainly fresh and could be played on any potato PC.

I bought a new PC for EQ2 and the specs weren't bad for the time yet the frame rate/optimization was so borked even on low-medium settings it was just an easy choice to switch.

[Ciderpress]

Yeah they wanted a "futureproof" engine (lol) which basically means "hey this game is gonna run like shit even on good systems!".

I had to turn every graphic setting to the lowest possible value and it honestly looked worse than EQ1 that way, but the actual content of vanilla EQ2 had a real charm to it.

[magnetaress]

I started up wow again i'm a loser i just like soloing on low lvl alts now in that game too

bet EQ2 Origins will be a Gem for those that love it. Tho so I'm all for its success among those folks.

[Wakanda]

I started up wow again i'm a loser i just like soloing on low lvl alts now in that game too

bet EQ2 Origins will be a Gem for those that love it. Tho so I'm all for its success among those folks.

MoP remix is ridiculous for leveling alts, basically 1-70 in like 4 hours. I got all my new dudes leveled for War Within this way.

[Wakanda]

It annoys me that they won't do an EQ 1 origins. Like one of the worst parts about playing on TLPs is the new Freeport. And the fact that Monks are a hero class with Plane of Time fists at launch while everyone else is stuck using really crummy weapons. UR always sucks on launch day because of the key system. Like the one time they could have made Rogue lock picking a cool and useful thing.. they didn't.

[Ciderpress]

Yeah I absolutely loathe the "revamped" zone architectures like ro and freeport and highpass and stuff.

For one thing, they look super generic and way different than the original game, but it's mainly annoying cause it's totally scattershot which zones were redone and which ones weren't, so you're constantly being jerked around between a vastly different visual look depending on where you are.

[magnetaress]

MoP remix is ridiculous for leveling alts, basically 1-70 in like 4 hours. I got all my new dudes leveled for War Within this way.

Too easy for me i'm sittin here watchin sunset 800m from my last quest waypoint

[Wakanda]

Too easy for me i'm sittin here watchin sunset 800m from my last quest waypoint

I relate to this. It can be fun though if you have friends 😹 I play with my girlfriend and her friends and just roast them the entire time for being GRRRRRL gamers 😹

[Bisonzabi]

Yeah I absolutely loathe the "revamped" zone architectures like ro and freeport and highpass and stuff.

For one thing, they look super generic and way different than the original game, but it's mainly annoying cause it's totally scattershot which zones were redone and which ones weren't, so you're constantly being jerked around between a vastly different visual look depending on where you are.

I think it varies and all comes down to how well its done. Nothing is wrong with revamped zones as long as you can nail an atmosphere. Obviously SoE diverted a lot of their more seasoned developers into the development of EQ2 in early-mid 2000's and we saw a lot of newcomer level designers fill in the ranks for EQ1. Or at least that's how I recall it. Either way the worst offender back then was Nek Forest 2.0 and and a distant second being Freeport. Layout was atrocious and far too spacious for Freeport, meanwhile Nek 2.0 was so bad that it got a second revamp that is actually pretty faithful. Same with Innuthule Swamp which got a revamp somewhere down the line. Though it is very jarring that half of the old zones are a mixture of old and "new"

[putrid_plum]

Never played eq2 but I tried it. Enjoying. Timing killed this game if it had launched not days before WoW and if you didn’t need a super computer to run it, would had done well. The game is good and looks good. Sadly, fate had its hand in it!!

[Lune]

I've been trying my hardest to upload my consciousness into Elder Scrolls Online. It's kinda working, pretty fun tbh in a 'something to do while my ankle monitor is plugged into the wall charging' sort of way

[patrickwiley]

EQ2 recently launched a new server that's trying to be as 2004 as possible (think it's 2006 client?) And even though EQ2 sucks compared to EQ1, this might be the best way to play it. It's pretty group centric in this state and very difficult to solo. They even outlawed Krono on this one in an attempt to make it as "authentic" as possible.

https://www.everquest2.com/news/eq2-anashti-sul-is-live/slope game (https://slopegameonline.org)

Idk if I'm going to try it or not...but it seemed interesting enough to share. I thought maybe someone here might be intrigued enough to try it out.

I went back to Whoa, I feel like a loser today. I now like to use low-level alts to play that game by myself.

[Jimjam]

I think it varies and all comes down to how well its done. Nothing is wrong with revamped zones as long as you can nail an atmosphere. Obviously SoE diverted a lot of their more seasoned developers into the development of EQ2 in early-mid 2000's and we saw a lot of newcomer level designers fill in the ranks for EQ1. Or at least that's how I recall it. Either way the worst offender back then was Nek Forest 2.0 and and a distant second being Freeport. Layout was atrocious and far too spacious for Freeport, meanwhile Nek 2.0 was so bad that it got a second revamp that is actually pretty faithful. Same with Innuthule Swamp which got a revamp somewhere down the line. Though it is very jarring that half of the old zones are a mixture of old and "new"

The old new nek forest did work really well for the monster missions though! It did a good job of being a spooky fay forest, which I suppose Nek forest technically is, but it just wasn’t good at specifically being Nek forest.

[Castle2.0]

Crafting was cool, but linked mobs and other things were lame. After EQ1, it really could have been epic, but just wasn't it.