Some questions from a WoW convert. Your comments are appreciated!

[kotafey]

<p>Hi, I'm an ex hardcore WoW player who quit several months ago. I've also played several other MMOs including CoV, Guild Wars, Lineage 2, but none of them as much as WoW which I played several hours a day, every day, for 2 years.</p><p> I've stayed away from MMOs for a while since I quit, but have now decided to give EQ2 a shot to see what all the hype is about.</p><p> I've now got a level 10 Fury on Runnyeye (EU) and am enjoying the game on the whole, but have a few questions about what's to come. I'd be very grateful if someone could spare a few minutes to answer them:</p><p>1. In WoW the game really only started when you got to the level cap, is it the same in EQ2 or is getting to level 70 considered a big achievement in itself (as in Lineage for example)?</p><p>2. Is it realistic to expect to be able to get to the level cap in 2 months using a casual but focused approach?</p><p>3. At the moment I haven't found the community as immersive as WoW, as in I still haven't really found anybody who's keen to chat or group. Will this change as my character grows in level, or do you really have to work to make friends in this game?</p><p>4. How accessible is raid content in EQ2? Assuming I have adequate skills, how difficult will I find it to find a guild capable of taking on at least some raid content?</p><p> I understand some of these questions may depend on personal habits or approaches, but it would be good to hear your experiences and opinions on these subjects.</p><p> Many thanks in advance,</p><p>K</p>

[Forsaken1]

<cite>kotafey wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Hi, I'm an ex hardcore WoW player who quit several months ago. I've also played several other MMOs including CoV, Guild Wars, Lineage 2, but none of them as much as WoW which I played several hours a day, every day, for 2 years.</p><p> I've stayed away from MMOs for a while since I quit, but have now decided to give EQ2 a shot to see what all the hype is about.</p><p> I've now got a level 10 Fury on Runnyeye (EU) and am enjoying the game on the whole, but have a few questions about what's to come. I'd be very grateful if someone could spare a few minutes to answer them:</p><p>1. In WoW the game really only started when you got to the level cap, is it the same in EQ2 or is getting to level 70 considered a big achievement in itself (as in Lineage for example)?</p><p><span style="color: #ff0000">No. You will miss out on the majority of the game if you rush to the end. There are so many places to see and quests to do that it will take multiple characters to get it all.</span></p><p>2. Is it realistic to expect to be able to get to the level cap in 2 months using a casual but focused approach?</p><p><span style="color: #ff0000">Depends just how focused or casual you mean.... again, you will miss ALOT of the content that way.</span></p><p>3. At the moment I haven't found the community as immersive as WoW, as in I still haven't really found anybody who's keen to chat or group. Will this change as my character grows in level, or do you really have to work to make friends in this game?</p><p><span style="color: #ff0000">I didnt find the WoW community to be that immersive. Mostly it consisted of people banding together to accomplish one or two goals then dropping the group as soon as their personal objectives were met. And dont get me started on the chat channels... </span></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000">There isnt alot of grouping till around 20 or so because the lower levels fly by very quickly. Once you get to T3 zones and dungeons you will see alot more people looking to group and adventure.</span></p><p>4. How accessible is raid content in EQ2? Assuming I have adequate skills, how difficult will I find it to find a guild capable of taking on at least some raid content?</p><p><span style="color: #ff0000">Again it depends on your criteria. If you're a decent player with a good reputation, getting into a good guild isnt hard. Alot of guilds will accept players at any level and help them learn how to be a good player. Press the "U" button tp bring up your guild recruiting screen.</span></p><p> I understand some of these questions may depend on personal habits or approaches, but it would be good to hear your experiences and opinions on these subjects.</p><p> Many thanks in advance,</p><p>K</p></blockquote>

[novok]

I agree that you will miss a lot if you rush to end game. I am levelling up 11 alts in various tiers and each one of them is seeing and doing things none of the others ever did.

[FahlenCryptwalk]

<cite>kotafey wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Hi, I'm an ex hardcore WoW player who quit several months ago. I've also played several other MMOs including CoV, Guild Wars, Lineage 2, but none of them as much as WoW which I played several hours a day, every day, for 2 years.</p><p> I've stayed away from MMOs for a while since I quit, but have now decided to give EQ2 a shot to see what all the hype is about.</p><p> I've now got a level 10 Fury on Runnyeye (EU) and am enjoying the game on the whole, but have a few questions about what's to come. I'd be very grateful if someone could spare a few minutes to answer them:</p><p>1. In WoW the game really only started when you got to the level cap, is it the same in EQ2 or is getting to level 70 considered a big achievement in itself (as in Lineage for example)?</p><p><span style="color: #33ccff">Getting to 70 is a great achievement, but the fun's along the way. Unlike WoW there's so much to do that unless you actually turn off combat experience, you'll outlevel a huge number of quests and plenty of content before you've exhausted it. The quest journal has room for 75 quests (not including the 100's of collection quests that are out there), and you'll still find yourself running out of space for new quests.</span> </p><p>2. Is it realistic to expect to be able to get to the level cap in 2 months using a casual but focused approach?</p><p><span style="color: #33ccff">Possibly, but I wouldn't, at least for your first couple of characters. As the others have replied, you'll miss so much along the way that there's no point in rushing to get there.</span> </p><p>3. At the moment I haven't found the community as immersive as WoW, as in I still haven't really found anybody who's keen to chat or group. Will this change as my character grows in level, or do you really have to work to make friends in this game?</p><p><span style="color: #33ccff">Get yourself into a good, friendly guild. There are fewer people playing this game than WoW, but there's alot of good people out there. There are far fewer children playing EQ2 than WoW.</span> </p><p>4. How accessible is raid content in EQ2? Assuming I have adequate skills, how difficult will I find it to find a guild capable of taking on at least some raid content?</p><p><span style="color: #33ccff">Again, get yourself into a decent guild. There are a number of level-scaled raids that allow even guilds with people spread across level ranges to all participate together in (due to the mentor system), and with the smaller raid sizes (either 2 or 4 group max), they're more accessible than some of the other games out there.</span> </p><p> I understand some of these questions may depend on personal habits or approaches, but it would be good to hear your experiences and opinions on these subjects.</p><p> Many thanks in advance,</p><p>K</p></blockquote>

[Kari]

<p>I also came back to EQ2 after playing WoW to level cap and running out of things to do in the game. After I switched I really enjoyed leveling up to 70, but was worried that when I hit the level cap I would run into the same problem in this game. However, just like there is a lot more lower level content, there is also a lot more high level content. There are numerous tier 7 raid zones available. There is also a whole expansion coming out in a couple of months devoted mostly to higher level content. So I am not worried at all about running out of content any time soon.</p><p>As far as accessibility to raids, as everyone else has said that depends on your guild. It is also dependant on your class. For example I play a defiler (a type of healer) and I have been accepted into every raid my guild does, as well as every raid that was advertised on the channels. I have never been told "we have enough defilers" and been turned down. However my friends that play monks have a harder time getting into raids. My guild will bring them because we are willing to have a less than ideal mix to include people, but they would have a much harder time getting into pickup raids. So although everyone would advise you to play the class that is fun for you, if you know for certain that you want to raid you may want to also consider which classes are in demand by raid guilds on your server. You can usually see that from their forum posts, or if you press "u" sometimes the raid guilds will list in their blurb what classes they are looking for.</p>

[BarkerGaming]

Agreed, there is SO much content in the lower levels, sometimes I stare at my quest log and see ALL gray and sit there scratching my head, it will take QUITE a few passes to get around to doing everything. As for grouping and community, there's always help available, and as long as you get in a helpful guild they will be glad to mentor you and go through instances/quests or whatever it is you need help with, or just for fun! My guild never passes up chances to revisit old content, or discover some new lower leveled content that they may have missed!

[DiatribeEQ]

<cite>kotafey wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Hi, I'm an ex hardcore WoW player who quit several months ago. I've also played several other MMOs including CoV, Guild Wars, Lineage 2, but none of them as much as WoW which I played several hours a day, every day, for 2 years.</p><p> I've stayed away from MMOs for a while since I quit, but have now decided to give EQ2 a shot to see what all the hype is about.</p><p> I've now got a level 10 Fury on Runnyeye (EU) and am enjoying the game on the whole, but have a few questions about what's to come. I'd be very grateful if someone could spare a few minutes to answer them:</p><p>1. In WoW the game really only started when you got to the level cap, is it the same in EQ2 or is getting to level 70 considered a big achievement in itself (as in Lineage for example)?</p> <p><b> ** Getting to 70th level is a big deal, as all of the fun you had getting there only gets more fun once you are there.  Also, remember that there are AA points to be working on (much like the talent tree's in WoW) to help improve your toon.** </b> </p><p>2. Is it realistic to expect to be able to get to the level cap in 2 months using a casual but focused approach?</p> <p><b>** Yeah, you can pretty much get to 70th lvl in 2 months played if you focus (and don't have help getting there).   But remember, to work on getting as many AA points as you can along the way (100 total between both expansions) so it's less of a grind once you get to 70th. **</b> </p><p>3. At the moment I haven't found the community as immersive as WoW, as in I still haven't really found anybody who's keen to chat or group. Will this change as my character grows in level, or do you really have to work to make friends in this game?</p> <p><b>** Certain servers have less "Chatty" people, but have very vocal people once you're in guild.  But the general rule of thumb is this: Before 20th lvl, you shouldn't need a group, outside of adding 1-2 people occassionally to finish a Heroic Quest.  Other than that, this game is *very* solo friendly.  **</b> </p><p>4. How accessible is raid content in EQ2? Assuming I have adequate skills, how difficult will I find it to find a guild capable of taking on at least some raid content?</p><b>** Raid content is completely done up by the progression of the server and guild makeup.  Some guilds will form early in their leveling makeup and do more of the "Old Raid Content" as they're level'ing up.  Others will completely skip the old stuff and only do the T6 & T7 raid content.  As for finding a guild that does alot of raiding, just hit the U button (as long as you're not in a guild) and check out the guilds that're looking for more people.  Also, ask around in various folks, find out who the big guilds on your server are and start asking questions.  **</b> <p> I understand some of these questions may depend on personal habits or approaches, but it would be good to hear your experiences and opinions on these subjects.</p><p> Many thanks in advance,</p><p>K</p></blockquote>

[Araxes]

kotafey wrote: <blockquote>1. In WoW the game really only started when you got to the level cap, is it the same in EQ2 or is getting to level 70 considered a big achievement in itself (as in Lineage for example)? <span style="color: #6699ff">It's not considered as big of an achievement now as it was when the level cap was level 50.  For one thing, at launch, leveling was much slower, the game overall was more challenging in terms of mob difficulty and the grouping requirements (nearly everything, everywhere, was triple-up heroic after level 10), and the death penalty was - how shall I put it? - the death penalty at launch made gaining even ONE level a HUGE achievement!  I suppose whther or not you consider it an achievement now would be more a matter of personal opinion - because from my view as a veteran player, pretty much everyone can hit the cap if they simply put time into it, whereas before, it was actually something not everyone would be able to do (but don't get me wrong, the game now is far more fun for this reason -- I'm not a glutton for punishment and I don't equate tedium with challenge).</span> <p>2. Is it realistic to expect to be able to get to the level cap in 2 months using a casual but focused approach?</p><span style="color: #6699ff">If by that you mean the aforementioned 4 hours per day, then yes.  But if you mean 20 minutes here and there, each day, then no.  When I think of a casual player in this game I think of people who log in each day, work on a few quests, and log out, maybe grouping on the weekends.  In which case it takes more like 6 months to hit the cap.  But then, I also have guildies who level up alts literally every other month, to level 70.  Of course, they are also perpetually logged in, it would appear. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></span> <p>3. At the moment I haven't found the community as immersive as WoW, as in I still haven't really found anybody who's keen to chat or group. Will this change as my character grows in level, or do you really have to work to make friends in this game?</p><span style="color: #6699ff">I don't know that the population on the EU server is any better than it is on many of the States servers, which is to say, this game has a population that supports it's biggest player base - the level 70's - but it can be very much lacking for levels 1-60.  Your toughest times are ahead: finding or making groups in the 40-60 range can be extremely daunting becuase that is the point when most players have either lost interest and quit their characters, or, they have gotten bored of their alts and went back to their main.  So there is a severe lack of players in that range.  They are out there, but it can take quite awhile, in many cases, to get a group going.  Not trying to dissuade you from playing, just being honest about the state of things as I have seen it.  The good news is, I see a small but steady influx of new players, and see more and more positive feedback about this game from the new players.  </span> <p>4. How accessible is raid content in EQ2? Assuming I have adequate skills, how difficult will I find it to find a guild capable of taking on at least some raid content?</p><p><span style="color: #6699ff">I can only speak about my own guild.  We run 12-man writ raids for our lower level players and alt characters, usually once or twice a week, sometimes less depending on scheduling and what else we have going on.  At the high end, we have formed an alliance with two other long-standing, active guilds on our server, which, although we are all casual players, enables us to take on the 24-man content from DoF and KoS.  In a typical week we will do 1 or 2 of these raids, usually Labs, Lyceum, or Halls of Seeing.  We also have networked with an outside alliance of more seasoned raiders and that allows us to take on the content introduced in EoF, like Freethinkers Hideout, Mistmoore Inner Sanctum, and so forth.  My point is, if you are in a guild that is proactive about it, you won't have much trouble getting into raid content, even if you are not a 5-days-a-week raider.  The content itself is not inaccessible and not particularly restrictive.</span> </p></blockquote>

[DwarvesR]

Araxes@Antonia Bayle wrote: <blockquote> kotafey wrote: <blockquote><p>3. At the moment I haven't found the community as immersive as WoW, as in I still haven't really found anybody who's keen to chat or group. Will this change as my character grows in level, or do you really have to work to make friends in this game?</p><span style="color: #6699ff">I don't know that the population on the EU server is any better than it is on many of the States servers, which is to say, this game has a population that supports it's biggest player base - the level 70's - but it can be very much lacking for levels 1-60.  Your toughest times are ahead: finding or making groups in the 40-60 range can be extremely daunting becuase that is the point when most players have either lost interest and quit their characters, or, they have gotten bored of their alts and went back to their main.  So there is a severe lack of players in that range.  They are out there, but it can take quite awhile, in many cases, to get a group going.  Not trying to dissuade you from playing, just being honest about the state of things as I have seen it.  The good news is, I see a small but steady influx of new players, and see more and more positive feedback about this game from the new players.  </span></blockquote> </blockquote><p>I also don't know the state of the EU servers, or this poster's server, but on my server, this paragraph is utter bunk.  On my server the 40-60 range is extremely active.  I'd daresay moreso than even the 10-30 range.</p><p>So, it can be server dependent to boot, it would seem. </p>

[Norrsken]

Jonna@Befallen wrote: <blockquote>Araxes@Antonia Bayle wrote: <blockquote> kotafey wrote: <blockquote><p>3. At the moment I haven't found the community as immersive as WoW, as in I still haven't really found anybody who's keen to chat or group. Will this change as my character grows in level, or do you really have to work to make friends in this game?</p><span style="color: #6699ff">I don't know that the population on the EU server is any better than it is on many of the States servers, which is to say, this game has a population that supports it's biggest player base - the level 70's - but it can be very much lacking for levels 1-60.  Your toughest times are ahead: finding or making groups in the 40-60 range can be extremely daunting becuase that is the point when most players have either lost interest and quit their characters, or, they have gotten bored of their alts and went back to their main.  So there is a severe lack of players in that range.  They are out there, but it can take quite awhile, in many cases, to get a group going.  Not trying to dissuade you from playing, just being honest about the state of things as I have seen it.  The good news is, I see a small but steady influx of new players, and see more and more positive feedback about this game from the new players.  </span></blockquote> </blockquote><p>I also don't know the state of the EU servers, or this poster's server, but on my server, this paragraph is utter bunk.  On my server the 40-60 range is extremely active.  I'd daresay moreso than even the 10-30 range.</p><p>So, it can be server dependent to boot, it would seem. </p></blockquote>yes. If you were on one of the pvp servers, you'd find a bulk of people locked in t2 for perpetual ganking. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[lstead]

Level 10 is very early. People really don't start to group or get organized until about 20. I don't know where you started, but the darklight quests pretty much stream an experienced player to 20 in a few days of solo play. So a lot of the community stuff you're missing will come soon, probably very soon. Also, grouping here works differently. You're more likely to join a group and stay with them for a long time rather than the group for 10 minutes to knock out a quest and then part company. Your first real grouping opportunities will be Wailing Caves (Commonlands--so pretty hard if you're not evil) in the mid teens and then Stormhold and Fallen Gate in the 20s. And no, you don't have to be level 70 to have fun. You will do a lot of grouping starting really in your 20s and 30s. And all that content is pretty fun. You easily can get into raids on a regular basis starting in your 50s. (You'll have an advantage with your fury here.) Getting to 70 is an accomplishment. A lot depends on your "work ethic" and how soloable your class is. On Antonia-Bayle, 1-45 was easy as could be, but post 45 and under 60 is a rough spot. People seem to mostly be in guild groups (these days including me). I think different servers have different levels where things are tough. You can always solo. Again, you'll have an advantage with a fury here, they solo very well and are easy to find groups for--while super popular it's a really good class choice.

[Benamour]

Jonna@Befallen wrote: <blockquote>Araxes@Antonia Bayle wrote: <blockquote> kotafey wrote: <blockquote><p>3. At the moment I haven't found the community as immersive as WoW, as in I still haven't really found anybody who's keen to chat or group. Will this change as my character grows in level, or do you really have to work to make friends in this game?</p><span style="color: #6699ff">I don't know that the population on the EU server is any better than it is on many of the States servers, which is to say, this game has a population that supports it's biggest player base - the level 70's - but it can be very much lacking for levels 1-60.  Your toughest times are ahead: finding or making groups in the 40-60 range can be extremely daunting becuase that is the point when most players have either lost interest and quit their characters, or, they have gotten bored of their alts and went back to their main.  So there is a severe lack of players in that range.  They are out there, but it can take quite awhile, in many cases, to get a group going.  Not trying to dissuade you from playing, just being honest about the state of things as I have seen it.  The good news is, I see a small but steady influx of new players, and see more and more positive feedback about this game from the new players.  </span></blockquote> </blockquote><p>I also don't know the state of the EU servers, or this poster's server, but on my server, this paragraph is utter bunk.  On my server the 40-60 range is extremely active.  I'd daresay moreso than even the 10-30 range.</p><p>So, it can be server dependent to boot, it would seem. </p></blockquote> I'm from Storms (french server) and the population is "decent". Actually there is a lot of new player leaving WoW, SWG, ... So you can find a group very early. The best advice that I can give u is to find a guild with players in your range level and play with them <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Yrr]

You are a few weeks late. There were some newcomers when Neriak was introduced. However, its not a very bad time to start fresh out. Some Players wait for RoK with their mains and start some alts. Also, new Players from WoW and espacially Vanguard are arriving in a constant stream. Grouping in the first levels is a bit rare, yes, because most players played that content like 5 times ago and rush trough it to the more interesting stuff. It gets better the higher you are. Espacially because you are a healer...well, kind of <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />. The higher the level, the more groups a healer can in a short amount of time. The Community is basically very friendly,  a few days ago some people from a Hardcore Raiding Guild with the best stuff there is helped 2 of us healers to level. You will never see that in WoW. Wait a few levels and you will get some groups (Stormhold, Ruins of Varsoon are extremly popular among the experienced players and its just a few levels ahead!) For leveling speed, its totally a personal choice. You can try to do many quests, heritages, major Quest lines etc... (though for some you will need some luck to find a group), or you can just level and reach the cap quickly, or something in between. With the AA system, i personally feel that i have to visit every dungeon at least once and do most of the solo quests. Anyways, you will be able to reach the level cap within the time you said. My Defiler was faster and it is... a Defiler..... <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> As for raiding...you wont have a problem there.