EverQuest 2 For New Players in 2023?

How is EverQuest 2 for New Players in 2023? Let’s talk about what you need to know. What’s the good & the bad?
Why EQ Fans Hated WoW: • World of Warcraft's Bi...
Lore of EQ2 Vanilla: • I Didn't Like EverQues...
Bear Necessities Take: • Everquest 2 Leveling E...
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#everquest2

[@IonBlaze1]

Why EQ Fans Hated WoW: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fXK3g2tuipylhdU Lore of EQ2 Vanilla: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3nSgIalf82dgM0 Bear Necessities Take: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eHqvhXupZq6gqtE

[@joezar33]

I'm a Warcraft fan , but EQ did a great job making "Champion of Norrath" on the PS2 .. so not like they haven't borrowed idea from Blizzard Diablo before and they made a RTS .. should review it CoN on PS2 ..

[@JeffRimer]

Dammit KZbin, why did you have to recommend me this video? Now I'm reinstalling EQ and EQ2 for a nostalgia trip. Thank you Ion Blaze for your EQ content and your obvious passion for the games.

[@gregorhanston6683]

I remember playing EQ at the start. When it first came out. Played until EQ2, tried to play EQ2 but it was terrible to play on my old PC. I went back to EQ and waited to see if they would release a patch to help EQ2 be more playable. Then a friend told me about WoW....

[@IonBlaze1]

Haha that's what sealed the deal. Thank you for coming by Gregor

[@erncollects]

did not expect EQ2 in my inbox today. thanks for this! love the nostalgia

[@zStC1]

Nostalgia? Lol didn't everyone who played eq just say fk right off for eq2 when you couldn't transfer your toons?

[@neiska25]

@@zStC1 i never played EQ2, had too much going on at the time. (school and stuff) and I could only play 1 or 2 games at a time. i wouldnt mind trying eq2, but id dislike it if it was paytowin or if it was impossible to catch up to everyone

[@IonBlaze1]

Thank you Ernie :)

[@mattstansbeary3068]

@@neiska25 Just get a Merc and Go to Town you be up to level 50 before you know it or get 2 or 3 accounts then box it until level 50 then continue until your level 120. But yes the 1 to 120 is going to be No Players in sight. Yes it's lonely that why He said TLP. I tried but my Memories of Good old EQ2 is in the Past Before 2016.

[@ptkelly80]

The problem with time locked servers is that everyone abandons them every time the newest one gets released.

[@sweetyd]

I am still giving you a thumbs up because you make such awesome videos, but the EQ2 slander is hurting my soul! lol - Love you man!

[@IonBlaze1]

Ahhh no! It's a really good game. Sad to see what happened though

[@MrSnrub-eb8pz]

Accurate assessment. I came to EQ2 at the start of EoF and even at that time DoF and the OG game were sort of regarded as the "bad ol' days." Kunark had some problems of its own -- the gear inflation was particularly crazy. You had quest and group zone loot equaling or in some cases surpassing what dropped in raids. Also, the most popular zones were all instanced. Very convenient for farming specific drops but it was ultimately antisocial since since you didn't have to share zones with other groups. Overall though it was still a glorious period in a storied franchise Hope you have even half as much fun as I did raiding RoK

[@nickbowerman1197]

I'm a fan of your work but you've really looked at EQ2 all wrong. It's not that the overland zones didnt have a flow. They weren't hand holdy like WoW ended up being. You had to go out and learn the quest routes. You also generally would hit 2 overland zones per 10 lvls not just try to cap out in 1. Zek, Feerott, Enchantedlands are all similar lvls. The end chain quests that need more than 1 person were designed when TONS of people were playing. The quest rewards also used to be much better/rewarding before they watered the game stat system down and made all gear give +X to "main stat". EQ2 used to have gear with ACTUAL stats.

[@IonBlaze1]

Oh thank you for that different take. I get what you're saying. It was a totally different game in the past. I remember getting excited about a +1 Stat item off the beetles outside Qeynos. The class progression was interesting too.

[@nigralurker]

The first year of EQ2 was very rough. What you're playing on the progression server is much different than how the game was mechanically during its first year. I don't recall many people ever bothering to do the quests in places like Enchanted Lands. If you think they're a slog now, well they were far worse back then when the percentage chance of getting an update on a quest was incredibly low and the gear rewards were usually very lackluster. That overland zone always suffered from being large yet much of its landmass pointless and ignored outside of the path towards Runneye and Rivervale where camps would usually be found. Still, I have a lot of nostalgia for it. Artistically many of the main vanilla zones are quite bland looking, but the music and just general feeling of cities like Freeport and Qeynos have always stayed with me. It's a shame SoE didn't just let the game bake for a few more years to iron things out instead of getting spooked by WoW and releasing a few weeks earlier than it. Same with DoF, had great looking overland zones, ambience, music, and some cool dungeons, but because the expansion came out so early and only had 5 months worth of time before Kingdom of Sky came out, it suffered greatly. Pillar of Flames is still one of my favorite overland zones just because of that music.

[@mattstansbeary3068]

Play EQ1 and you really feel different about EQ2 sorry to say it but I feel like it was EQ1,Wow & FF14. sadly like I said Lets shatter the lands in EQ2 sucks and even if it's not Norrath WoW followed EQ1 ideas Having The Whole Landmass to Explore. SOE made some Big Mistakes in the Making of EQ2 and I started Playing it in 2004 and don't regret it but Oh boy was the Why did they think this was a Great idea looking back.

[@jc6218]

It's interesting you say all the original Shatter Lands quest lines were suppose to be soloable - that's the thing, overworld content when the game was first made was not soloable except for a few classes (and even then you still needed to git gud). The game was meant for group play from the get go, and the tweaks done to make it more approachable to wider audiences (i.e. people who learned from WoW that overworld content is for solo play) didn't really go back to vanilla content and rework the feel of the quest lines.

[@mrslashes8378]

I recently came back to EQ2 and have found that the standard servers are pretty soloable. I also discovered that there are agnostic dungeons which can be either soloed or grouped with players of any level, which is pretty nice. But yeah, if you really want to enjoy the game with others, tlp is probably the best way to go.

[@elbuenomalo]

Hi friend! On which server are u playing? Playing heroics makes really a lot of fun u should try it hehe

[@DoorknobTheOgryn]

This is how everquest games keep their players...they keep dialing back the clock to the good old days .... my good old days died when they took down everquest on the playstation 2 and their terrible marketing team fucked everyone

[@michaelsasse8427]

Why don't we stop blaming WOW and point to 'theybreak games" for botching the EQ Next development. There WERE plenty of people devoted to the EQ IP. The longer time goes on... the fewer people care.

[@smartmonkey777]

Hey lets face it wow stole every thing good from EQ and made it better. WOW ran on a literal toaster 400mhz and 32 mb Vram like lol wtf ? EQ 2 took a p4 3.2 ghz and a 6800GT a 500 dollar graphics card just to turn the grass to medium, on launch day. LMAO. But yeah there still are a ton of people care about EQ , but with NEXT failing there's not a lot of hope, and people are easy to just ride the new hype games.

[@joezar33]

​@@smartmonkey777I never played EQ before , but Sony EQ gave Blizzard the middle finger with PS2 "Champions of Norrath".. the best ARPG on the Playstation 2 , Blizzard devs back in the days had more of a passion too make WoW the perfect mmorpg experience , plus they had a full Trilogy set up with their RTS in the 90s.. of course it was going too knock it outta the ball park , back in 2004..

[@baarthoos9799]

Currently, in my opinion, the best MMORPG - beautiful and interesting locations (also underwater), day is day, and night is night, when the ability to see in the dark comes in handy (caves/undergrounds are really dark and atmospheric), various weather conditions create a great atmosphere, great mounts (also flying), interesting plot threads of quests (cool dialogues with NPCs), the character is one of many other living and traveling around the world, without making her/his the "navel of the World", which is perceived as a hero from the first level savior of the world, we are simply a traveler and an adventurer. I've been playing for a long time and I'm still surprised by the developers 😊❤👍

[@Unchainedfury]

With all due respect, I've seen several of your videos on EQ, P99, and now this latest EQ2 and I must agree with others that you misunderstand what Everquest truly was and is. It was never about racing the shortest path through content to be the max level and acquiring everything in the quickest timeframe, regardless if that was Smedley's vision. It's not about holding your hand to show you every little step of the way like WoW. It's certainly not about instancing content so you don't have to interact with other players and can exist within your own little bubble. I appreciate the amount of effort and time you have put into your research and videos as well as your passion.

[@Trueflights]

There is a "golden Path" quest thing in the quest log that directs you on the best path to go through the game. It is difficult to find if you do not know that it is there, but it was a great addition to the game.

[@covemitchell7110]

Ion Blaze I really love your content and it's pretty much 90% of what I watch on youtube haha. Thank you!

[@IonBlaze1]

Oh that is such a nice compliment. Thank you so much

[@DevlogBill]

I am only 1 week in with playing EQ2. I am on the evil side as a troll heretic. What are the best solo zones for level's 20+? Any recommendations?

[@zapolistinkerman7588]

I started playing EQ2 on Muj Dul, a live server, a month ago. I have plenty of krono from EQ1 for all access. I have not sold a krono in EQ2. I am doing great solo/molo. I have AA xp set at 90-95%. I am in no hurry to level as I want to see content. I am afk off and on and it is fine for me.

[@IonBlaze1]

Oh that's great you're enjoying it. There's this one girl streamer there who seems to be having a good time too

[@rremnar]

Why does every one in a MMORPG want to be max level like yesterday? I have played many MMORPG's and some are quite the bore to get to the end game, others just take a very long time. But depending on the game, your experience during that leveling phase actually taught you something on how to play the game and your character role. How'd you like it if some nub at max level, came and ruined your raid experience because he didn't know how to play as a tank or w/e role he chose? Also, when you reach max level, there isn't much to do. This isn't like Diablo where being max level is the actual start of the game. If the game is going to be like that, why have levels at all? Is EQ2 the same?

[@Dave-tl7ol]

How is this game doing in 2024? I played this when I was 10 years old... Crazy the nostalgia listening to the game music. Wondering if I could somehow relive a part of this experience at age 30 Lol

[@SantaDuJuan]

Great to see you’re back!

[@IonBlaze1]

Thank you Beast :)

[@Learnerofthings]

Oh Ionblaze you did it again! I am playing EQ II again, but the free account. Also playing P99. I can't escape the fun and you make it fun again.

[@Grinningfartking6969]

Also eq2 is ment for you to do every single quest you find. Rep and you had to do quests to unlock more quests

[@Sloris19]

So fun me and 5 friends started this week!!

[@rremnar]

As for the progression server; is it like in WoW where you have to deal with the severe lack of QoL and other BS mechanics that made it bad in the first place? Or do you get the current version, with the early expansion pack story?

[@Grinningfartking6969]

You find the quest chains from all cities and tent areas. Every zone is the same for the most part

[@radolfkalis4041]

It is extremely hard starting new in EQ2, not many low lvl characters

[@covemitchell7110]

oh man your sponsor moment just killed me hahahaha xD!!!

[@IonBlaze1]

Aw that's awesome. Thank you Cove

[@gmoneygaming164]

is it worth playing on the varsoon as a new player. or is it to late

[@GalantiasWorld]

So I'm new to the game and use the old server because the connection is just better in the EU. I think it's a shame that so many youtuber/streamer always want to get to max level quickly and communicate that instead of encouraging people to explore the lore and the game itself.😘😛

[@IonBlaze1]

You make a good point. It's the journey that's the most fun. Not the grind per se.

[@Trueflights]

I played from launch almost daily for 15+ years. Even did a weekly podcast for the game for over a decade (all hail the heyday of EQ2'sDay's). I still log in and play from time to time, but not nearly like the old days. For people looking for a populated server without the issues of the time locked one, Antonia Bayle is the way to go. Roleplay is a huge part of the game for me and the community is amazing. The server has a huge population (I would argue more than the new servers) and there are tons of player created events where the devs even decorate the areas and set up things for the player created events. Definitely the biggest draw to the classic game for me. Still, by far, the best mmo that has been released to date.

[@HorrorTubeHDTV]

Once you hit level 125 on live, you'll find alot of groups easier. Just 2 box on live to get there, pretty quick.

[@vinchetti_spaghetti]

TSO is the best xpac ever made. But I will say that you definitely see a visible increase from KoS+. KoS is when you start to see the vision, EoF expands on that, then RoK is extremely good, and then TSO is perfect. The only thing that I will add is, the best raid experience I ever had was Roehn Theer in Sentinel's Fate xpac. SF is kinda meh (In my opinion) but Roehn Theer makes up for it. I will always play (at least) EoF through TSO, and then hopefully jump in with a guild for Roehn Theer in SF.

[@IonBlaze1]

Huh, thank you for that info. I gotta look into tso

[@dalu_]

True, TSO was also my best experience. Raiding Avatars. But also the quests. Nowadays though I can't be bothered. Been there done that. Especially with those assholes running the game. EQ2 has lost its spirit, it's a shell of what it once was.

[@dfess6463]

So...I grew up playing EQ and EQ2. I'm 33 now. But, I never once boxed. Even now, I still go back and play from time to time. I don't box. I solo. It takes time sure but I don't think it takes away from the experience. Boxing imo takes away from the experience. I only play on PvP servers when I do play.

[@williamsmith5049]

You should check out a final fantasy 11 classic server

[@faverodefavero]

Classic server, as close to the original 2004 game as possible and progressing slowly up until Rise of the Kunark expansion and stopping there. A P1999 or HorizonXI of Everquest2, with a healthy population. Anything like that, official or otherwise on the horizon, please?

[@calebfairchild3247]

I enjoy your video but even with 5 minutes of research I found about mercenaries, which makes a game that many already consider solo friendly, a lot more soloable, but even without them the game is very soloable. And regardless, you can always grind and come back later, similar to many other mmos or even dual box as well. There's also classes that make soloing even easier as well (Necro, beastlord, inquisitor, troubadour, etc) I think your approach to soloing is also a bit wrong as well, in many mmos, soloing things just takes longer that's how it is. EQ2 is an older mmo, and many actually don't mind that aspect, as well as hidden questlies you have to find by playing or research. I think it's because not everyone approaches MMOs like they're WoW (spamming dungeons on repeat) personally a lot of the time they're fun as single player RPGs that just happen to have other players in the world. Not that there's anything wrong with power leveling on the boosted servers or focusing on raiding asap (that's a big part of why many people play MMOs) but just remember not everyone plays them for the same reasons, some like leveling characters and questing, some like focusing more on trade skills, some like role playing or making lots of $ on auction houses, that's part of why they're so popular. Old school MMOs , many of them just have a different pace, playstyle and even player base than a lot of what you see in modern MMOs like FFXIV and retail wow, it's not always about the rush to the top but enjoying the journey as well. Anyways, sorry for the long comment but just my 2 cents.

[@ravenhawkgameplay3863]

Thx for putting the effort and time into this video. I am an EX EverCrac... I mean Everquest II addict who literally found it very soon to be the only MMORPG I wanted to play and 15-20 years since i did stop playing I still have not found any MMO that has what EQ2 had above all others I have tried. A couple of main reasons. 1: BEST PVP due to it being open world PVP ! (Yes you could play in care bear PVE servers if you wished) but even on the PVP servers You do have a Friendly starting city and an Evil city being 2 of the safest places to relax, trade meet other players etc etc, BUT if a max level Player wanted to stroll into the City they could but if they Started a fight the would get wiped so fast by the EPIC type level City Guards wouldnt see any very often. However if someone not trespassing started the fight and the NME player didn't hit any players or guards by accident with AOE dmg you could fight even in these zones but it was VERY RARE. There were also some neutral type of champion classes that had a different starting zones which you could have funny fights within but only up to L10 then you had to decide if you were good aligned or evil aligned BUT i bet everyone is thinking "oh just sounds like you get ganked anywhere you go - Nowehere is safe" Wrong. L1-10 could only fight with L1-10 players but the spike you get every 10 - levels if you mined the mineral for that level bracket and found yourself an Armour crafter player as you had different subsets of champs, skill trees and crafting but, like armourer, and for me I went down a rarer crafting route called a Tinker, bit like a Gnome inventor who could make strange more situational items very useful. Like a 1 time EVAC, Parachutes but one of the best things you could make was for higher end EPIC dungeon quest runs where when maxed out I could spawn a robot type NPC that for 1g piece would repair any dmg'd weapons, clothing or rings etc (It was a rare crafting tree but if you had it - Your guild loved you because when you were doing an EPIC dungeon run and perhaps its a newer one so not all 24 players have mastered how to kill the final boss first time or even if still took 2-3 times then this is when your equipment would degrade. I could spawn the repair NPC and all your team could pay 1g piece to it to fully repair all their stuff. 1g is not huge amounts of money btw. Anyway sorry back to PVP - When you hit L11 unless you made the better armour then you were much more vulnerable if you got into a fight with a L19 player but soon as they 20 they could not start a fights with you but you could get to L30 pretty quick and assuming you did the 2nd very good thing about EQ2 you joined a guild THEN you would always have players who had lower level alts to help you power level. This game was not designed for solo grinding out in dungeons but I do remember 1 specific quest you could do for the Rainmaker bow I believe which was a rly good final reward for finishing the questline for nearly any player to have as secondary weapon or main if you were Ranger class even at Max level. Which was I think 80 when i stopped playing but I cannot be absolutely certain. Dungeon Quest and zones also unless you were in a team with the Level bracket you just would go there or try it. These dungeons were instances I recall and once you entered the dungeon you could not be attacked by other players while doing it but there were a couple of Quest dungeons in neutral zones where it was possible to bump into another team of 6 running it but again worse case scenario is they were L15-20 and you team might up to L11-15 but even then depending on items, team comp etc it was still very possible to win a fight against higher level's if you had a perhaps a warlock or a healer, Warden, 2 high dps types and your frontline tank knew how to control what was called back then "aggro" which meant you tank could pull nme players off your team making sure all dmg was if played well only being done to them and your team would be targeting through you to deal dmg and heal you. Then it was just down to Macro key setups, a good tank able to control aggro and target the right dangerous players first so you could win the skirmish. Ok sorry its starting to become a WIKI comment but EQ2 / Sony should have been what WOW became in terms of popularity imo but once again Sony dropped the ball and let over the next 1-2 years 7 million players a month subscribe to WOW instead of promoting the game before anyone heard of WOW, They did same with Planetside 1 which was ground breaking 500v500 player battles working in 4 squads of 12, in Tanks, Air, Ground - It was just epic huge futuristic war across 3 continents. What happened poor marketing and eventually died out until Planetside 2 came out BUT guess what Sony did it again - By release 80% of gamer had no idea what it was but if you asked anyone about whichever Call of Duty smashing it at the time you can bet there was almost no one who wasnt aware in some way of COD. Final comment if an EQ3 ever was to come out I would highly recommend and even now I would still recommend Everquest 2 if you looking for more exciting openworld pvp rather than choosing to PVP and play capture more flags then other team... yawwwwwntastic. EQ2 was and always will be the best MMOG that should have been No.1 over WOW after it was released. Still even without making £70m a month from subs when WOW at its peak EQ2 has still stood the test of time and i am actually considering revisiting it after checkout this video and a couple of others.

[@mattstansbeary3068]

Play EQ1 and play until you understand then look back to what your wall of Text is and you go yes WoW become Number 1 because SOE handed it to them. It could of stayed with EverQuest but Mistakes and a rush to get ahead of WoW killed any chance of that. A lot of Player went from EQ1 to WoW and still after all this time the heavy loaded servers are still in EQ1 not EQ2.

[@ravenhawkgameplay3863]

@@mattstansbeary3068 Im fully aware there is still a hardcore EQ1 player base including the fact that a player had champ so pimped out I believe ppl were willing to offer £1000 to buy the champion she had created over the years playing EQ1. Not really sure what point your trying to make regarding my comment or if you are semi agreeing with me. The video was about EQ2 and I only played EQ2 and loved it for a number of years and was trying to get across that I believe it should have been able to secure many more players if as you said mistakes had not been made and some players who had transitioned to EQ2 from EQ1 were just saying its just a newer version of of EQ1 grfx wise but with the same content updates being added to EQ2 that EQ1 had making it just an EQ1 with improved grfx, animations etc.

[@mattstansbeary3068]

@@ravenhawkgameplay3863 It not the same Content. EQ2 is for the most part flooded and areas change to but use the bell to go to this isle where EQ1 is whole and if you don't go to kingdom of knowledge you better enjoy walking to get anywhere. Like I said as old as EQ1 is you get an adventure. I get the idea In EQ2 but even though I spent from 2004 in it to 20l6 besides the look I'm more on the side of EQ1 minus the updates in EQ2. Like someone said they WoWed EQ2.

[@mattstansbeary3068]

@@ravenhawkgameplay3863 My point is yes EQ2 is better but the cost of exploring & Adventuring taken away. Plus the Hardware setup is kinda like what we're they thinking oh it's 1 core CPU"s and for the time it Release hard to run and today dumb. Don't get it wrong the last time they tried making EQ3 the idea was far worst then even EQ2. Can't hardly run and oh look the colors run and the sky & Sun is also Voxel plus the whole world & it's many layers.

[@ravenhawkgameplay3863]

@@mattstansbeary3068 yeah should have just been called NeverQuest 3. It's just such a shame they cannot bring Everquest 2 into current day. As I said I cannot rly comment on EQ 1 having only played EQ 2 but if 1 still has an active server/servers community it clearly shows the game had something special that even the latest mmo,s seem to be lacking. For me my experience I enjoyed so much was it was the first mmo that I really felt had a great community and content you enjoyed most playing in teams of 6 or doing epic dungeon runs with 24 players from your guild each week farming for those fabled items that might drop for your specific champ. Also I really just felt EQ nailed it with the PvP element. I loved the fact you could choose to go looking for a fight or in a lot of the zones always the risk of running into an nme team. Even when 24 of us heading out to do an epic on a number of occasions we ran into another 24 players from a rival guild in the open world and could just get into a great fight. These days it seems like most wannabe EQ mmo games just have specific PvP zones you choose to go to and it's like capture the flag or some crap separate from the real-time free roam type PvP you could encounter In EQ. Lastly I liked that certain champs could evac your group to safety if you didn't want to have a fight. Either way sounds like I would have loved EQ 1 even more if had played it. Such a shame I can't find an mmo in this day an age that meets my expectations I had enjoyed so much in Everquest. I mean if you or anyone can suggest one that might I would love to hear about it.

[@vincentk3502]

Can you do the quests solo in EQ2?

[@belindagreen8267]

I'm just coming back after being away for a few years. Should I start on Varsoon or wait for a new progression server ? Thanks for the video !!

[@mattstansbeary3068]

Varsoon is a PVE the New one a PVP but up to you.

[@effingright3045]

I loved EQ2. However, I think I missed about 90 percent of the content. I did the heritage quests, but otherwise, I just PvPed endlessly, which was super fun back in the day. This video makes me want to go back and actually play the game, lol.

[@DoorknobTheOgryn]

Tell me you're a baby gamer that had their hand held the entire game This guy : hold my chocolate milk

[@sweetyd]

I'm only half way through the video when I write this comment ... I am heartbroken you misunderstand so much about this game. The traditional servers have been adjusted to make soloing viable all the way to end game. Also, if you pay for a subscription you can move your AA experience bar and double your XP. I love you Ian, but this video is a little off base. Though, it is very difficult to know all the details without an expert telling you. You mentioned it's not intuitive, I agree it's not. But that's why people love the EQ franchise. There is no hand holding. You have to figure it out on your own. EQ1 is the LEAST intuitive game I have every played, and I LOVE EQ1.

[@IonBlaze1]

Thank you so much for sharing all this info D. I do make mistakes with info sometimes. I'm glad you shared this about live & how the game is set up.

[@beauwalker2767]

@sweetyd is it worth playing the traditional servers to get a feel for the game? I would be starting as a new player and would rather not do boxing to be able to do content. If it's needed I would just go TLP but from your reply to the video, you have a different perspective on the game. Sorry if I swamped ya.

[@sweetyd]

@@beauwalker2767 I play both traditional servers and TLP. They both have pros/cons. Ion's assessment of the traditional servers is way off. The bad side of traditional servers is, you will play 100% alone until you get to level 120 (125 is cap). 99% of the population is at end game. However, the leveling and XP gain has been adjusted. You will level super fast. In fact you will level so fast you will not be able to do even half the content before you pass it (by level). (this makes alts fun to do content you missed). You will get to level 20 in a few hours. You will get to level 50 in a few days. Once you hit level 100, everything changes. Again, this is just on traditional servers. At level 100 you will need to do the Signature Timelines to gain XP. After level 100, killing mobs gives such a small amount of XP you will not notice it. But the Sig timelines are super fun and they can all be soloed. Once you hit level 120 you will be 2 expansions behind and you will start to see people. If you go to the latest expansion (Renewal of Ro) you will see people everywhere. Grouping happens everyday all day. You can get to level 120 in a feed weeks if you play a few hours everyday. Maj'Dul is the most populated server for traditional servers. TLP - The problem with TLP is long term. They all die. But, they are super fun while they last. Low level zones had a ton people, but that time has already passed. Varsoon was super fun for low levels, but again that ended a few months ago. 80-90% of the population is and at end game, so it's not quite as bad as the traditional servers. But the more time that passes the more Varsoon loses people. The reason this is a problem on Varsoon is, the game has not be adjusted for fast leveling and soloing. If you put in the time and you grind up to end game on Varsoon, you will find a lot of people and you'll be able to group at level 60 & 70 & 80 etc... However, in a few more months Varsoon will lose most everyone. It happens every time to all TLP servers. They always die and if you stay, you will be alone (even at end game). So you need to decide what is more important. And what you are willing to do to get caught up with the end game people. Varsoon is the better choice for grouping, but that will end in 6 months. Maj'dul (traditional server) will never end, but you will literally not see another person until you get to 120. I have been playing since day 1, so for me I like trinational servers. I played Varsoon, just to relive the glory days, but then I went back to my main Characters on Maj'Dul. If you plan on playing for years and years, you need to think about this.

[@beauwalker2767]

@@sweetyd thanks for the information, seriously it helps. By the sounds of what you have said, traditional servers are the way to go. I don't have a problem playing solo for a bit as long as the end game has a larger population or even just a regular pop, enough for me to be able to do end game content. The game looks interesting enough for me to want to jump in so I thank you for being able to explain what are the options! Have a wonderful day/ night mate.

[@sweetyd]

@@beauwalker2767 Happy to help. Hope to see you in game sometime! Drop me a line and I’ll send you some gold to get started.

[@jfrederickmiles6671]

Desert of Flames has been gutted in content, quests missing or not completeable, all the old zones have this issue, and the original feel isn't kept in the zones until kos, but the difficulty/gear creep for the level makes it trivial. The next expansion Rise of Kunark has some gear creep but the feel is closer to original, and the quests seem to be all there still.

[@cidien]

How do you box in EQ2? That game has so many abilities to spam.

[@hellbound00615]

You macro all your a abilities together it’s common sense.

[@wiseferret4745]

Razer Naga Trinity MMO mouse.

[@randmtsk7512]

When you say 2 or 3 days to max...is that /played?

[@IonBlaze1]

Long play sessions I'd say. Not 48-72 hrs

[@Deftone.eq2]

The new pvp server gonna be lit

[@qzxerty]

When is the next TLP being made?

[@IonBlaze1]

It seems like it's 3 years between TLE releases. So you'd be looking at 2025

[@MsZaratustra]

War ein schoenes Spiel. Ich hatte 1999 mit dem Vorgänger meine Online Karriere angefangen. Leider ist das Spiel wie so einige andere auch, unter anderem DAoC nicht mehr auf deutsch. Dadurch sind die Spielerzahlen extrem gesunken. Schade drum. Als Gamer der so ziemlich ersten MMORPG-Stunde hat mein Herz dran gehangen. Ich kann auch nicht nachvollziehen warum man mit Absicht die Liebhaber dieser Games so vergrault und riskiert ins absolute Nichts zu verschwinden.

[@michealvincent731]

I remember back in the day you were required to do quests to unlock a lot of the raids/dungeons. Keys were a thing

[@nigralurker]

Yep. Every single dungeon and instance required you to complete an access quest that needed a group to complete, even the overland zones after TS/Nek.

[@EQ2snorkle]

As a new player, every day you play on a time locked server you get further behind live.

[@kizunadragon9]

Does the RP server Antonia Bayle still exist?

[@mikecrane2093]

It does, but it is very lightly populated these days.

[@kizunadragon9]

@@mikecrane2093 wow, at one point it was the games most populated server.

[@mikec5400]

free players only have access to that one server so you have to pay if you want to play withothers basically lol and this game just isnt worth 14 dollars a month

[@Taubenstampfer]

music starts and memories flood my brain hoooly shit

[@Gyva02]

Origins!!!! 💥💥💥

[@sudopudge]

6:55 Lol...We get it, you can play WoW and ESO with just the minimap

[@powerface71]

I started in EQ1, then I left for EQ2, I was an endgame Raid Assassin until Smedly ruined the game. I was a legend in that game! So sad to see this amazing game just fall to the wayside.

[@beauthestdane]

EQ2 is a lot more solo friendly than EQ, but EQ is a far superior game.

[@rook6591]

Wow thos graphics don't hold up

[@IonBlaze1]

Oh that's just on my end. I have to turn down graphics to be able to box without the laptop exploding.

[@vilegoat1401]

Eq fan for a long time never played eq2

[@IonBlaze1]

Some cool lore tidbits. There's a mini pack coming up that ties in with the monk epic & plane of knowledge

[@Uarell]

I do not have money so what can i do xd

[@astro9720]

Quick question, why were some of the npcs speaking non-english?

[@janelgoolsby2135]

There are quests to open up different languages.

[@Caliban_80]

DoF lore is excellent. The major strike against the expansion is that it's tiny.

[@daedaluxe]

2024-2025 would be a good time to release Everquest 3, or at least start hyping it up. Blizzards reputation is completely fucked to anyone with half a brain, Lost Ark lost most of its population due to being too much of a grind for the western audience, other unknown MMOs release and fall in the span of a couple of months (New World), there's never been a more perfect time to release a big name MMO like an Everquest re-release or Everquest 3.

[@cla3452]

EQ2 is not the same kind of game as EQ1. The classes and their abilities are different. Its EQ but in smaller scale with modern QOL and fast paced combat. Once you stop comparing it to EQ1 you will start enjoying it.

[@Ribyum]

I've been dual boxing a Berserker + Warden + bard merc through the leveling process and some vanilla dungeons by myself only. It's a bit too late to join the TLP but I've been having fun dual-boxing the game so far. It's definitely not a bad game, still feels kinda old school in its own way.

[@IonBlaze1]

EoF in April is a good launching point if you'd like to check it out. No too late honestly. Boxing & doing EoF quests should get you near all the grouping population.

[@Kulaan]

Wow killed eq2… nostalgia left at PoP on EQ1 I have been trying to follow with a EQ2 line but this version is sucky…. I still love it, trying to find a reason to play my eq2 ranger but I can’t get away from boxing eq1 TLP. I came from ES to EQ in 99. Can you do a vid on boxing in Eq2. Or a video on your life. We fallowed you for years and…..

[@Kulaan]

Like what felid of medicine do you work in? And that baby, how are you and your lady doing? We would like to know :)

[@IonBlaze1]

Speak of the devil, I was actually thinking about making that video. I find boxing easier on Eq2 cause follow & auto assisting your target.

[@IonBlaze1]

@@Kulaan oh everything is going good. Used to do nursing home work for years. Crazy stories I can't tell

[@randmtsk7512]

@@IonBlaze1 What kind of system specs do you need to box in eq2 these days?

[@IonBlaze1]

@@randmtsk7512 you'll probably need a decent system to run 6 if you wanted. I'm able to do 3 with a 2014 laptop so long as I turn down the graphics.

[@Ebolter1]

I soloed to 83 , no boxing or mercs

[@syllinx1]

Next year they are trying to switch over to Directx 11 finally so it doesn't keep running like crap.

[@hellbound00615]

It’s going to be shit.

[@Paws_Network]

I never understood this thing of making 2,000 different servers. All it does and split up your entire playerbase and make it harder for the mmo to be an mmo.

[@lulafpv6435]

Hey bud , It is a good mmo but always liked me much more eq 1 ; i follow your vídeos long time ago , i am sure will see you soon in pj1999 when Green server resets , i am super motivated for starts from classic , and make a bard 😍

[@IonBlaze1]

Thank you for the nice words LuLa

[@xzxxx-km4vy]

So yea guys just play Project Quarm

[@InimicusSolitus]

Progression server is fine if you are there at the start. Come late and it's still a ghost town... I just solo as a Necromancer on live server, it's easy. Oh I don't play past 100, because the game turns to garbage at high end, with insane power creep.

[@galkanftw]

On th content of this video it is now May you will be VERY far behind everyone on that locked server.I happen to play on time lock servers when the idea first arrived and it was a huge fail that basically lopped within 4 months.I have actually been through the whole NEW server idea years ago in other games it does NOT work. I actually disagree I play on the f2p server. RPG gaming in general is just a race and time lock servers will be the same race you either keep up or you don't there is no such thing as casual play which then makes the game your LIFE instead of a hobby. Raiding is a term I have despised forever I have nothing good to say about raiding and any dev that keeps supporting raids doesn't know what it is doing.BTW in the early years I used to raid and i was THE tank and as i became a better more relaxed player I could watch all the other players around me.What I noticed was that about 6-8 of the raid players were actually a factor the rest were often just talking and not even involved in the combat. My biggest peeve that carries over to Wow and 99% of the mmorpg's is th combat feels handcuffed extremely handcuffed because it is bound to your gear and not your choices or party setup.Classes are also very handcuffed you are what the archetype says you are a tank dps healer of control and thjat is the ONLY thing you are. FFXI fixed all well most of the mistakes all these LAZY game designs gave us.Far more robust characters and classes combat and at least up to level 75 no raiding needed at all.This means you can play with just your friends a small group and FFXI added the ability to gather merc like companions that all fill any role you need ...ANY role.They are so cool it is like a collection quest you collect these npc's .O why is it even better >>you can make a FULL party as a soloer so no worries or stress.

[@z3nji]

No way you played Classic vanilla WoW and think the Eq2 quests lines are less intuitive. Also you not seeing the irony as a botter making comments about not being able to find anyone to do quests is fucking hilarious.

[@xkollx]

Vanilla eq2 a 5/10 do what? Lol

[@snonyabeeswax]

ive seen people in the free serversim cheap this game hasnt earned a dime from me yet

[@tristinbulko6786]

RoK was great

[@IonBlaze1]

Can't wait to see it here :)

[@tristinbulko6786]

@@IonBlaze1 DoF burnt me out this year after I got peacock done lol

[@IonBlaze1]

@@tristinbulko6786 yeah the collections sucked. Although I thought peacock was bad until I did claymore. It's even worse

[@internet_tough_guy_]

Huge amounts of power creep is pay walled. Don't play Daybreak Games games they don't deserve your support.

[@galkanftw]

So I do know how to make mmorpg's great again Wow did NOTHING to fix or improve anything I laugh at the notion that game was worth supporting with the numbers it garnered. Less push towards racing and leveling. Quests should feel like a quest and not an errand. GROUP play should be enforced but not limited to and NO RAIDING or any type mechanic that adds stress to the player progression. Gear should be important but NOT the be all end all.Abilities and spell choices should be more important TYP of mob TYPE of spell TYPE of gear should all be a factor. EQ2 failed got lazy when it removed the whole STAT tree and just made every class a STAM/stat character.

[@dylanharpole4017]

First

[@IonBlaze1]

Heck yeah!

[@cactuss33ds]

sounds like a total waste of time. Wht the hell would i play an MMO just the pay triple the price to play...with myself? no thanks.

[@wmtyrance]

The game is not newbie friendly at all. The map sucks travel sucks it's just horrible.

[@cyradus]

EQ2 has not aged well. There are many better options out there if you want to play MMOs. EQ2 looks like shit, and it plays like shit. Not to mention the company constantly popping up windows begging you to pay. Very predatory/phone game’ish.

[@user-xd7rc6eo8n]

It's absolutely fkin terrible as a new, only player. this game is fkin shit.

[@inzagui87]

Eq2 wack asf dawg. 😒

[@user-xd7rc6eo8n]

I'm having a terrible time with this game. I leveled up a SK to 20 by doing every quest in the first two starters zones(evil). The questing was about as cumbersome as cumbersome gets. Go back to the same place across the map 20 different fkin times, then times that by 20 npcs. Ok, anyways finished the entire first two areas, gave me a whole new set of armor, a mount, weapon and shield, most level 20. I look awesome. I get a dps merc from Freeport that has the highest damage abilities and off I go to Thundering Stepes by Antonica entrance. My God man, I can barely solo 1 - 2 heroic mobs 1 - 3 levels higher than me. I am self buffed with like 11 buffs, have like 15 different attacks. This game is really aggravating me. Gaining levels as a free player is dreadful. Simply dreadful so far. Idk wtf I'm doing wrong or if this is the way the game is designed. I've played RPG's for 40 years and I can't remember having issues in any game like Im having with this game. It's like they purposefully want the game to drag out as long as possible in every facet. Fk, even finding a vendor is madness for a new player. I just don't know. Any advice?