To anyone that has played FFxiFollow

There are quite a few that play EQ2, and even many that read these forums. But they seem to fall into the category of, "I'll only post something if I have something to add, correct, or disagree with."

You won't find too many that post, "Yea, what he said. I did that too." Posts like that are pretty much useless.

Hard to get away from the facts that WoW has millions of players, especially with it openning in China. But you'll find a smaller and more mature crowd in EQ2.

Classes: You will start in 1 of 4 archtypes, Fighter, Mage, Scout, or Priest. When you get to level 10 you select a profession to follow that leads to your skills becoming specialized. At level 20 you do it again to select your final profession.

So you can start as a Scout, then at level 10 choose between becoming a Rogue, Bard, or Predator. If you pick Predator, at level 20 you then choose between Ranger or Assassin.

Each profession has abilities the others don't. For example, in the Scout archtype, a Ranger has the best attacks with a bow, but a Troubador has the best self and group buffs.

There are no sub-jobs, meaning, you can't be a 20 Mage and a 5 Fighter. You start with 24 possibilities, then pick between your last 2. The classes are typically split into "good" and "evil". For example, you can go Mage > Summoner > Conjurer (good) or Necromancer (evil).

Soloing is very possible here, not so hard like FFXI. There are plentiful mobs that range from solo to group encounters.

Groups are easy to get, you don't need a "required" class, although it's always good to have a healer. I've been in all mage groups, or all fighter groups and did fine, we just had to adjust our tactics.

You'll find lots of other things that separate the games, especially the economy. I'm sure you'll find the EQ2 economy much more player-fiendly.

Money is tight at first, but with literally thousands of quests available, you will be able to equip yourself with average starting gear just by completing quests. There are also loot drops from mobs that sell to vendors for some cash. Eventually the money will flow and you'll be able to afford better gear.

Overall, this game has a little of everything...if you want to grind, you can do that. If you want to craft, you can do that. If you want to solo or group...you get the picture.

Good luck and have fun!

Edited for grammar.

Edited, Mon Sep 12 13:59:37 2005 by tutanbriarpaw

My pleasure. You can also get a pre-look by downloading the free playable demo here.

Isn't that one of the Station Exchange servers? How are you likeing that so far?

Station Exchange is where you can spend real money for in-game items. The Bazaar is one of those servers along with Shadowhaven.

So instead of fighting and questing hard for items, you can just buy them from other players and be instantly equipped. SOE has sanctioned this activity on 2 servers and they get a cut on all transactions. To be a seller one must obtain a PayPal account.

Not sure what the impact will be on the economy, but you will see many characters running around with uber-gear that they purchased with daddy's credit card.

So if that's the environment you desire, then that server will suit you. If not, I suggest you select another server quickly before you get too far along.

I am finding myself at a breaking point with FFXI. Mostly because I am burned out on the lvling grind, but also because of the time it takes to do anything on that game. It was great while I was working part-time, but now I am working full-time. All I do now is farm/mine/craft because I do not have time to find a pt so I can go lvl. I stopped playing, but I am going NUTS with out a MMORPG to play. I have looked into a few of them to find out what ones are more solo friendly, but still have all the fantasy type play. From all the info I have gathered I decided that EQ2 is the best one for me. I tried it while at a friends house and I just loved it. Better graphics and you can do WAY MORE as a solo type player. Only thing I am a lil worried about is the crafting system. I don't think it is going to be on par with FFXI's system. I only got off the island when I tried out EQ2 and I can not wait til I can start my own game. If anyone from FFXI has more insight please post.

That is good to hear. I really liked to craft and mine on FFXI. It gave me something to do if I didnt feel like thinking much and just wanted to veg out. I too have only really done the isle and can not wait to start playing tonight. Only thing that I was worried is the amount of 'things' you are able to make in EQ2. FFXI had so much, I just hope EQ2 ends up having around the same amount. Any EQ crafters want to add to this?????

I was a 55 taru BLM (had just finished Genkai 2) when I quit XI. I gave all my stuff away (Genius Rings, Aquillo's Staff, etc.) when I quit so that I WOULDN'T be able to come back. I was addicted, and knew I needed to quit.

But, like all of us who have quit an MMORPG, the 5 hours of excess time in the evenings started driving me crazy, and my wife discovered that she didn't really want to spend all evening with me on the couch (I tend to make fun of all those home-improvement shows, and she got annoyed at me talking to the television). And, you can only kill so many Tri-gents before you have to move on to something else.

So, I started looking around. Guildwars was a blast at first. Instant parties, no down-time. Beautiful graphics. But in the end, the character development (i.e., there is none) drove me away. So again, I was on the prowl. After more research, decided to take a chance on EQ2. It seemed to be quicker than XI, as GW was, but had more character development.

And..... it is. Crafting is kinda fun (major improvement over XI), soloing exists (a debaucle on XI), and my biggest pet-peve so far is a non-issue: gil/gold sellers ruining the game. The majority of the equipment you need you can quest for. Getting in with a good guild is more than just a social activity. The guilds have a bank that they can drop items into to be picked up by lessers like myself.

However, in some instances, XI still beats EQ2:

1) It's not as addicting. Yes, this is wonderful, but a true addict always longs for a good fix, even when it is killing him.

2) Storyline is... where is it? There is a ton of quests with a ton of story and voice attached to them, but they don't really drive an overall story line. Though XI didn't have much story, what it had you were deeply engrossed in (maybe because you weren't overwhelmed by the meaningless dribble that the NPC's hit you with in EQ2).

3) Because in XI it is psychotically hard to travel to new areas without an extremely well-balanced party (or high level help), you really apppreciated finding something new, especially since a true adventurer probably de-leveled 3 times getting there. In EQ2, its easier to get around, so the "wow" factor isn't as high.

4) And the main reason: Because the name of the game is Everquest, and not Final Fantasy 12+. I was 11 when I shelled out $40 of hard earned allowance money to buy one of the first copies of FF1 (which was expected to be Square's "Final" game, because they were almost broke). So, emotionally it's not the same. Of course, Zelda is still my favorite game, so I'm obviously painfully old-school.

To wrap up, I don't see EQ2 as being the final end-all game for me. I would have stuck with XI if the economy wasn't so screwed up. Hopefully the next FF-MMORPG game will have the same character as XI, but more quests, more solo opportunities, and an economy that is "safe" from the gil-seller.

In the meantime, I'll be nuking cute little animals on the Highkeep server (or until my girlfriend gets captured by Ganon and I have to go whip his tail again... and again... and again).



Edited, Fri Oct 14 14:23:26 2005 by Scyltho

Edited, Fri Oct 14 14:30:01 2005 by Scyltho

Ive tried final fantasy XI out for a bit and ive talked to a lot of other people who have played it and it sounds like there is a lot of *frustration* in the game.

Mainly from not being soloable at all in the later levels. And a big problem with farmers too. I don't see that anywhere in eq2 so its probably worth a shot to any frustrated FFXI players out there.