I Didn't Like EverQuest 2 Until...

A review of EverQuest 2. A comparison of how EverQuest 2 relates to the original EverQuest. The good & bad changes. Also what is it like to play on the Varsoon TLE server? ‪@bear.necessities‬
Link to 4 Part Yelinak Series: • Why We Broke Up | Ever...
I will reply to all comments made within 24 hours of a video upload.
Main Channel: / ianbclark93
Spotify Page: open.spotify.com/artist/4EkCz...
Bandcamp: ionblazemusic.bandcamp.com/ [Free Music Downloads]
Viewer Discretion Advised: EverQuest is rated "T" for teen. But Discord & In-Game Chat may contain material not suitable for minors. Cursing is kept to a minimum when possible.
#EverQuest2 #VarsoonTLE

[@IonBlaze1]

Special Thanks to Bear Necessities for helping out with the video! Link to 4 Part Yelinak EQ1 Series: kzbin.info/www/bejne/govFf62jr5lrqa8

[@bear.necessities]

No problem at all! Love your content!

[@IonBlaze1]

@@Op2623D thank you Pierce :)

[@kurticusmaximus]

You couldn't imagine my joy when I finally convinced my dad to play P99 again after 20 years since we last played together. EQ is my game for life. Thanks for helping relive the glory days.

[@IonBlaze1]

Oh that's awesome you were able to do that Kurt. Thank you for the kind words :)

[@KingZercules]

EQ2 has been my main MMO since 2004. I have played over 30,000 hours on it, done every quests, raids, expansions, etc. I would take breaks, but I would always find myself back to it months later. There was something to it that appealed to me more than EverQuest which I played from 1999 to 2004.

[@Nickelback8469]

It’s been the opposite for me; I’d love to give EQ2 another try some day but my friends and family have all stuck with EQ1 and making the swap sounds like it would demand a large time and social investment which may or may not pay off

[@louisburland5346]

I quit when pro sieves sat1 briefly took eu I’m glad I did cos next time I looked in the game felt like it was on life support Eq1 return too frequently but krono farmers destroy tle

[@nickm9134]

Man I played for so long. I quit when they got rid of multi attack as a viable main stat. And I had to re roll all of my raid gear to learn the new playstyle. I miss this game. Sitting here watching these videos telling me everything I already know just for the nostalgia

[@Classic_DM]

WOW WOW!

[@ChrisRed6]

Is there a steady player count?

[@Faith_Risen]

Man that nostalgic eq1 music is beyond real. the feels.

[@IonBlaze1]

Definitely great music :)

[@eddie5525]

Just dropping a comment to tell you that I very much appreciate your Everquest content. EQ holds a very dear & special place in my heart. I lost someone very close to me.. we used to play daily. It was traumatic and I wasn't able to play/enjoy EQ anymore.. as the memories were always there and always deeply painful. I've been able to get back to playing it and enjoying it (on TAKP), and your channel was very influential in me being able to 'ease back into it'. I know it's cheesy.. but it felt like you held my hand through it. Just know, you've been a force for good in my life. May God bless you and everyone you hold dear. Thank you.

[@IonBlaze1]

I'm sorry for your loss. I'm flattered you feel that way about my cheesy videos. Thank you for the great comment Eddie.

[@WhyYouAskingMe]

When EQ 2 first launched... it k.o.'d my computer even on low settings.

[@IonBlaze1]

Oh yeah it did not run well at all.

[@brettbender10]

Lol that's how everqust was for me too, I had to look at the ground the whole time during raids, especially when moving, still loved it, and same with eq II and it was a dif computer

[@billycutiep]

I still remember everyone freaking out when the Ancient Cyclops would spawn in EQ1.

[@novellerfane]

Let's Go! Love you bro, keep the juice for EQ alive!

[@IonBlaze1]

Thank you for the support Tony :)

[@JasonfromEarth]

Glad to see you covering this. I just started on Varsoon a week or so ago.

[@IonBlaze1]

Oh how's it going for you?

[@JasonfromEarth]

@@IonBlaze1 Good. I am slowly leveling up a DE Wizard. My altaholicism is holding me back. ;)

[@WesleyWyndam-Pryce]

It is good to see someone producing an Everquest 2 video in a positive light. The TLE is a lot of and the game really can be a blast.

[@IonBlaze1]

It's rare to see positive Eq2 videos haha? Thank for coming back around Juan

[@BerraLJ]

I played EQ2 and while i love the crafting i never really got into the game.

[@Pantaro2007]

@@IonBlaze1 it really is tho. i swear i only ever hear or see people dump on eq2 and praise eq1. people do seem to agree eq2 has some of the best housing in the entire genre tho!

[@bear.necessities]

EQ2 Hypeeee

[@IonBlaze1]

Thanks Bear :)

[@sweetfry]

Depending on the class you can actually get a lot done solo. As a conjuror I had a lot of fun finding challenges I could solo, dungeons and things like that....they were brutal but getting it done was rewarding af!

[@kidocman]

EQ2 LETS GOOOO. I was worried when you said you were done with EQ but this content is just as good

[@IonBlaze1]

Thank you so much for the compliment Eldoorman :)

[@Truecaveman1999]

I tried EQ2 just for the hell of it a month or so ago. I was decently surprised at how many people there were grouping and how streamlined everything was. Looks great, has a more fleshed out plot, and has a nice class system. I didnt stick around but definitely worth a shot especially since it’s ftp.

[@IonBlaze1]

There was people grouping on free to play?

[@Truecaveman1999]

@@IonBlaze1 there was man. I was shocked by how many people were playing. From watching Josh Strife’s video I thought it would be a ghost town.

[@eideticex]

I had the opposite experience when I gave EQ2 a seriously shot a couple years ago. After months of playing I felt confident enough to lead a group and started to try inviting people in the zones I was having the most fun in. There were people out there doing their own thing but I was met with confusion. Kept trying and eventually a player filled me in on why. From what he said it was rare that anyone wanted to group up unless they had something they needed help with, where I was just trying to do the EQ thing of forming a group and seeing what everyone wanted to do. That tutorial though... holy crap that was a lot of fun. Really set the stage for how to handle playing. If that was there when the game launched, I might have stuck with it for more than a month back then.

[@possibly12]

Yours a very unique viewpoint and experience that I totally vibe-with. As a young girl I was playing my own games while my dad and stepmom played EQ2 religiously. And now, literally one year off of 20 years later, I'm playing it on my dad's old account he still had the login for. Been playing for about a week now. The sounds of this game are triggering some of the most intense emotional memories I've ever had even though I've never even played it myself. I'm mostly a housing enthusiast with my MMO's of choice. It's why I decided to start playing again since EQ2 still boasts one of the best housing/decorating systems. But now I'm enjoying it all around!

[@sweetyd]

Love the EQ2 content .. more please!!!

[@IonBlaze1]

Thank you D :)

[@ehliaskarim1520]

Awesome vid, and it really has me debating trying EQ 2. I haven’t been able to log on to yelinak for a month or so due to real life work stuff but I never knew anything about EQ 2 until now and this vid is great endorsement to try it. Oh and I totally agree and love the music and EQ 1 clips added

[@IonBlaze1]

Ehlias! Nice to see you again. Thank you for coming by :)

[@DrScientistSounds]

Hey what a nice surprise! I've always been curious about EQ2, I think it looks really good actually.. great review, thanks IB!

[@IonBlaze1]

Thank you for coming back around & the compliment :)

[@demris15]

Great review. Glad to see the post!! Hope new dad life is treating you well!!

[@IonBlaze1]

Haha not a dad yet but thank you Demris

[@RichardEKranz]

I'll never get used to Voice chat. Having someone breathing through their nose in my ear or hearing their insane families yelling and fighting in the back ground. Uugh.

[@IonBlaze1]

Oooof that is bad. Were you using push to talk? Every guild I've seen uses mandatory push to talk in their raid chat channels to curb that annoyingness

[@RichardEKranz]

@@IonBlaze1 Im just not comfortable with it in general.

[@Fizzinthorpe]

Each race having it's own starter city and newbie area was great IMHO. It helped flesh out the world. It gave each race a different introduction to the world and their particular peoples story and background. Your character should mean something and be a fun investment. That's been lost in modern MMO's where everybody is basically the same just with a different skin. Forgettable and replaceable.

[@cmdrfunk]

Yeah, make a new character of a different race and you then get to have the same exact experience in the same zone again.

[@cktp971]

I was an avid EQ player and I was excited to play EQ II. My computer had no chance of running EQ II, though, so I became a WoW player. One part I disagree with you is on the amount of starting zones. I felt this added variety; starting an ogre in Feerot was a completely different experience than a human in Freeport. I think it was one of the things that EQ did better than WoW. It is good to see another EQ video from you, thank you.

[@IonBlaze1]

You bring up a good point about starting areas. I do definitely prefer varied starts like you say. I think what aLovingRobot said was that they made Plane of Knowledge to fix the problem of having everyone spread out. But it created unintended consequences.

[@feeblemind]

I agree. While I didnt play EQ1 I put years into EQOA because I didnt have a good PC back then which is basically like EQ1.5 because it mixed systems from both games. Half the fun of the early game was coach running and trying to get to the "central hub" which in those days for lower-mid leveled players was freeport due to its close proximity to good camp spots. I prefer each race having its own unique civilization and starting zone and its something that should come back into design philosophy.

[@bernatzmark]

Looking forward to your explanations of the class differences and such.... Always love your vids man! Cheers! Felixx

[@IonBlaze1]

Thank you for coming by again Felixx :) Nice to see you here.

[@bernatzmark]

@@IonBlaze1 Well..... I'm here.... not sure I'll be THERE (in EQII) LOL

[@raouldegrunt2685]

As a 2000 EQ1 player who moved to EQ2 when it launched I agree with all the points that you brought up. I had a lot of fun in both games, but EQ1 was my more fun experience. It could be the guild I was in, but it just seemed more engaging and less of a walk-through and pull-everything game that EQ2 was/is. Although it is fair to mention the abilities being a plus for EQ2, especially for tanks and healers, for me it is a big minus as well. Later in the game, there are so many abilities, via AA/Prestige, that magically appear on your hotbar when you level up. A fast leveling player will just gets lost in all those choices. I think EQ2 would actually benefit from purchasing abilities and spell gems the way EQ1 does while offering the same number of spells. P.S As a EQ1 Bard I totally understand your point. Expecting the Dirge/Troubador to be a replacement of an EQ1 Bard will make anyone disappointed, but with my Dirge I was able to find my role as a Support/DPS in the MT group of my raid. The proudest I was of my Dirge was in a PoH raid back in the day, where I was late, but when I joined the DPS of the entire raid force went up from 40k to 50k. Just because I joined.

[@IonBlaze1]

Thank you for the excellent comment Raoul. Good point about ability bloat. It gets very overwhelming at times with all the buttons & crazy numbers.

[@matthewolson2386]

I think I will give EQ 2 a try again, thanks for the video.

[@IonBlaze1]

Thank you for the comment Matthew :)

[@mimicryofnothing]

this video is super helpful ive been slowly getting into eq2 again after playing years ago when i was a kid im currently ftp but honestly it has been really fun so far. at some point i may go sub to exprience the more fast paced stuff

[@boss_gamers]

I haven’t played EQ 2 since just after launch. I like that they used the Vanguard crating system

[@IonBlaze1]

Oh Vanguard used that system? I really wish Vanguard was still around beyond emulator. I've heard great things.

[@boss_gamers]

@@IonBlaze1 loved it but the combat was a bit slow, especially if you were a tank 😂

[@joshh828]

@@IonBlaze1 the Vanguard emulator is still going and is actively being worked on by the devs. I tried it a few years back and was underwhelmed (particularly because Bard songs weren't functional at the time), but I've tried again recently and have a static group that plays together weekly. You should try it again!

[@IonBlaze1]

@@joshh828 Thank you. Yeah I might check it out. Heard Vanguard's bard was the best designed in any MMO

[@Merkades13]

I hated that EQ2 made the starting areas just 2. It felt so cheap (from a dev/money side), especially as there were areas where the denizens of norrrath lived outside of the two cities. There is no way all the races would have just moved in together like in EQ2 even if the moon rained down on it. I still fondly remember Kelethin though.

[@joelfernandez536]

Loved playing a fury to lol 80. Lots of solo and one group-friendly early and mid game stuff too

[@Fred_BlackB]

Thanks for the video. I just started up EQ2 again on Varsoon. Haven’t played since 2009ish.

[@FirstNameLastName-okayyoutube]

Early computer problems for eq2 was memory leaking. That was server side if I understood correctly. You would run around and suddenly end up on the other side of the zone. It could have been processor related but I didn't have much issues after they did some patching

[@boss_gamers]

Something to watch while I play my bard on EQ TAKP tonight! 👌👍

[@IonBlaze1]

Heck yeah! Thank you for swinging by :)

[@Lessthanpropane]

as a quarm player who appreciates the QOL features and heard horror stories from classic and P99, You have convinced me EQ2 is worth giving a whole hearted shot sometime From its unique experience as its own game and as a family member in the EQ tree.

[@kingfisherb90]

Fun to see you complete the prismatic weapon quest near the end of the video.

[@IonBlaze1]

LOUT!!!! It's nice to hear from you again. Thank you for watching :)

[@sweetfry]

This is a really good video and fair review of EQ2 not gonna lie you hit every point very well.

[@kb6530]

Is there other players to join after the starting area? Or did you get freinds to join for the video?

[@sweetfry]

11:25 I was actually really stoked when i got GEBs on EQ2 on my Conjuror. It was such a fun quest, I agree that the hard quest system for getting realy good items that are even from EQ1 so that theyre nostalgic is really awesome.

[@JosephAlanMeador]

Love EQ2! I'd argue that it's still quite fun as a F2P account IF you are part of a guild and have folks to play with, connected through Discord. I had a blast with my guildees last winter! However, with the guild onto other MMO's atm, Antonia Bayle is a ghost town for me when I log in. So yeah, like you said, All-Access account and TLE is probably the way to go right now!

[@alley28]

had great memories raiding eq2 during the destiny of velious era. Later expansions (Thalumbra and later) were not as much fun.

[@IonBlaze1]

Never got that far but I that velious expansion seemed cool. I'm glad you had a good experience back then.

[@alley28]

@@IonBlaze1 thanks. You were spot on about the eq2 experience being enhanced greatly when you play with others.

[@immutablecantrip]

You called aLovingRobot Mandrake Farms. Mandrake Farms is the archivist but the guy in the stream was aLovingRobot

[@IonBlaze1]

Yup you're right. Thank you for the correction. He has good stuff :)

[@oliverbrandstrup7668]

Great video! I just left EQ2 again but i still love the game

[@IonBlaze1]

Thank you for kind words Oliver :)

[@CiphecDec]

Man I would be interested in coming into a ground floor of a New TLP of EQ2. I played from day one of EQ2 live and Only played an Inquisitor for 4 or 5 years before making an alt. The quests, Bosses, Raids, Dailies were just so well done. Crafting has a reason, armor and weapons are worth having crafted with special materials, and class abilities upgrades through crafting was a great idea.

[@nigralurker]

13:00 this is very true, especially in its first couple of months. I had a beefy rig in 2004 (1gb ram, 3.2mhz P4, ATI 9800xt 256mb) and it was known to absolutely chug at anything above low-medium settings, especially specific zones that acted as choke points for travel (Qeynos Harbor was legendary for running terribly back then). It didn't help that when it launched, they used old EQ1 servers to host the game before making a transfer. So bad it was that the game was down for nearly an entire month for maintenance during December of 2004.

[@chrisjarvis2287]

Played EQ1 for 5 years until EQ2 came out.

[@jprec5174]

In old vanilla eq2 you definitely needed crowd control in public dungeons. Couldnt tell you how many times you'd get a respawn from a group that was ahead of you. That role was given to enchanters/coercers in eq2.

[@dregaus]

It was actually really "refreshing" to go back (from action-packed MMOs) to just chillin in camp, having a puller or waiting on pops, sittin in discord with friends. p99 has been an incredible experience. I enjoy that it's really difficult and takes dedication... the progress I've made feels like it really means something. The scarcity of items means I really feel good about some of the items I've been able to get. The way you describe EQ2 kinda makes it sound more like WoW, but there's a reason I left: "it's a single player game where you just see other people" and it's very true. "Sitting still is intense" is a great quote from this vid! It is an experience unique to classic EQ and I felt it coming back... getting lost in the early levels and getting help from someone and it was meaningful, instead of the game itself just holding my hand the whole way. The world FELT dangerous, I was scared to go outside, that was a great feeling coming back to EQ. But yeah it's really hard to do in a group-based game trying to level on classes like a cleric or rogue. Ok sorry for rambling.

[@dw22509]

Heads up, may 22nd 2024 the new tle server launches

[@EQOAnostalgia]

That server is going insanely well atm daaaang! LOL!

[@WhatTheSmeg69]

Does anyone have an updated list for beastlord wardens just wondering if any new pets I can get with latest expansion ???

[@alux948]

I like how your guest never mentioned channeler's when it came to healers :P

[@Ashmoleon2006]

i can remember playing eq2 in like...2005..ish and it was lonely as a solo but i had the best grouping experience ever in the commonlands

[@XbandTv]

What's up with the Steam version? They are on separate servers?

[@LunchBoxEpics]

I enjoyed going into EQ2 with a boosted toon and just exploring and learning the lore of the game!

[@IonBlaze1]

I'm glad you had that experience Michael :)

[@LunchBoxEpics]

@@IonBlaze1 Thanks! If I remember right, the story is based on us in EQ1 not going into POP and killing our gods, and over the next 100 years or so, Luclin fractured and good and evil are at war!

[@WayneTwitch]

yea boosted toon that alone is why eq is a bad game lol.

[@pauld6222]

I just started playing again a few days ago on a progression server. One thing i quickly remembered that I absolutely hate about his game is how you cannot change your distance that you can see the text above mobs heads until you are very close to them. You really have no clue if they are aggro or neutral mobs until you are way too close.

[@IonBlaze1]

Oh yeah I get you on that! Especially when you go invis & can't tell if it's actually worked to hide you from mobs

[@feeblemind]

Finding a sick Camp spot and setting up with your group tho was really wholesome and a cool experience you wouldn't get anywhere else. It always felt dangerous where EQ2 and similarly WoW I find mindlessly holding W and murdering trash was more boring to me.

[@oldironsides4051]

My cleric never had to sit after getting Yaulp! Even keyed it to my right arrow key and was up on the front line with the rest of the tanks smackin and a healin left and right, all w/o running low on mana.

[@Lucid_Intent]

I was really enjoying Varsoon but picked a tank and could never find a guild raiding spot due to fewer thanks being required for raiding.

[@IonBlaze1]

Ooof I'm sorry about that Lucid

[@Darkasasin80]

I never played EQ1 only EQ2 and it was way back in the early days. I was a young and inexperienced gamer at the time and was easily overwhelmed playing. I had an aweful habbit of making characters spending an absurd amount of time exploring Tutorial Island, eventually leaving, getting overwhelmed and making a new character with a different class to just do it all again. To be fair I still loved it. The aesthetics are so nostalgic and the sound effects bring back so many memories. It was definitely a game that left a lasting impression on me.

[@hatirus90]

Neat video. Question: Would a Vanilla WoW fan like TLP EQ2?

[@IonBlaze1]

I got to try out WoW sometime. I really can't answer. But many of the original EQ1 devs worked & designed both WoW & EQ2.

[@ryanguerrero1303]

They are pretty different. I rolled WoW for the first time when the last Vanilla server launched. I started with a friend who played WoW back in the day. Find someone who used to play eq2 and you might have a similar experience to mine, a refreshing exploration of a game you missed in its glory days. It was a lot of fun.

[@FirstNameLastName-okayyoutube]

I came back three times and the first time my Prismatic weapon graphic was changed so that for some reason actually depressed me. The first time it was just a bunch of crazy voice emotes that I couldn't turn off so I logged out of that mad house. The second comeback they directed me to kill clusters of random NPCs, no thanks. And the third time I was on a flying Mount and high level and had absolutely no idea where I was supposed to go to get involved in anything and the best way to end that fever dream was the log out. I think I'll give EQ too a chance again someday

[@JS-rk1vc]

Crowd control was shunted to coercers/illusionists in EQ2. Over time, though, it became less needed in groups and raids. It helps in solo heroic zones, though. And as someone who has played since 2005, I heartily agree for new players to sub and go to TLEs. You'll always find low level groups until the fifth expansion releases.

[@hatemeister]

- „EQ 2 runs a lot better now than before” *background gameplay in steady 10fps*

[@IonBlaze1]

Oh lol! That was from my end. My PC struggled to record it & play at the same time. Ran smooth without OBS.

[@Tyrael2k3]

I'm a little bit late to the party, but that's probably the best EQ2 review I've seen ever. TLE somewhat the experience I had back in the day and it's nice to get a server full of people LFG for those old dungeons I used to spend so much time in. The only missing point here is the abysmal itemization on Kaladim and Varsoon (last two TLE servers) - heavily limiting the end game progression loops. It felt like DBG wasn't ready to put in the effort to balance character strength to this old content

[@ferretbob5431]

I played both games from the beginning, but I remember using vent or team speak for groups and guild. I only remember using text at the west common tunnel

[@AngelTerri]

I had the same concerns you had at the beginning of your video when it came to JoshStrifeHayes video on EQ2. Using Steam as the data for players and FTP only, really put EQ2 in a "bad" light. But when I said something on it, oh boy Josh's fanbois came out. LOL

[@Znagol]

I'm currently Playing on varsoon. Doing a decorator challenge run. I may only equip a new piece of gear after I place a new furniture item in my house.

[@JoeBonez]

#11 - player housing! How did you miss that?

[@hkoizumi3134]

I've been playing MMORPG since 2000's as well but I chose Ragnorak as my first MMORPG then FF11 online in 2002. I did had the opportunity to try Everquest. Heck, I remember holding both FF11 and Everquest box at the store deciding which to get. I eventually settled with FF11 and that got me for 9 years of my life until FF14 was being tested. Sometimes it makes me wonder what would have happened if I chose Everquest instead. Would I had picked up Everquest II?

[@EQOAnostalgia]

The one thing i dislike with EQ2 as opposed to EQOA and EQ1 is the insane amount of spells on your hotbar. I find it needlessly complex and turns the game into a cooldown sim. Less is best with abilities/spells imo.

[@tren380]

But does EQ2 have epic quests for classes?

[@IonBlaze1]

Yup it's in the 4th kunark expansion

[@6StringPsychedelic]

This is great content, even though i disagree with almost everything in regards to EQ1 being simple etc. Still enjoy your stuff keep it coming! Long live EQ! =) I cant stand " They break Games" really thinking of checking out Lazarus EMU server.. Anyways good stuff!

[@Deadwolfthedark66]

man you made me download EQ2 again

[@arcamean785]

I've played EQ2 on and off since it was first launched back in 2004 back on Lucan D'lere server and I have A LOT of memories from this game both good and bad. It's a game that really benefits from playing with others even one other person is nice but if you can get a proper six man group is best. That said this game is a vastly different beast than I remember and targeting can be... annoying to say the least but it's manageable. I think my biggest gripe as a returning player would be button bloat as it's very easy to have a wall of icons and AFAIK they're not easily hotkeyed as other games allow. That said it does have a very nice player housing system though the original mansions of Qeynos and Freeport will always be my favorites. edit: Also QQ for the lack of UI scaling in windowed mode lol.

[@IonBlaze1]

Oh yup back in the day. You the corpse shards & you had to pick your class at 10 & 20. Hotkey bloat is definitely a problem

[@bakedbeyondbelief321]

Get ready for Origins server in late June. 2006 EQ2 build, as classic as it gets without too much 2004-2005 broken things headaches

[@bnbbattlesbraincancer]

Is EQ 2 solo friendly?

[@iwinnimi]

The trade skills leveling is crazy during frostfell. Unless they changed it. Been a long time since I played

[@fanglethorpe]

I liked the game back when my ranger could wear the Assassin hood from veeshan's peak. I had to do the quest to change my ranger to an assassin and then do the quest to change myself back to a ranger... then they patched it to be class specific instead of ranger/assassin after how many years? After that I put down the game and never went back.

[@KaleidoscopicKenergy]

Played EQ2 at launch and performance was fine. But EQ2 had really crazy graphic options that were never designed for computers of the era, so if you cranked up graphic options, you could tank your fps. WoW just ran well because it had simple graphics. But yeah, no performance issues on EQ2 if your settings matched your machine's capabilities.

[@kb6530]

Bro It's merging with planet side 2 , is that a good thing? Will EVERY everquest item be useless and only the planetside 2 guns being worthwhile? How would a scimitar be as powerful as a plasma cannon? Unless it brings players

[@powerface71]

I started EQ1 moved to EQ2 in 2004 at launch. I was in many top WW guilds as an endgame Raid Assassin. Things that killed the game were things like DEVS being in guilds giving them the strats to get server firsts, allowing guilds to sell raid loot to people who wern't even in the raid! I tried to get the GDOH for years and it just never dropped, then I see it on a pleb that isn't in a guild buy it in chat from a top guild. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!! Guild Halls is what destroyed the social aspect of the game. The game was AMAZING up until The Shadow Odyssey. Now Assassins can't come close to the beast lord so w/e. . . . . it's over.

[@rudy5662]

I started playing this game as soon as Varsoon dropped, and honestly, i had a really good time. Grouping was a blast and i plowed through to 50, sometimes dropping like 8 to 10 hours + a session. Even at 50 there was a ton to do and groups farming gear at NEC2 and ICY. Then i decided it was time to start raiding, what could go wrong? I present to you EQ2's biggest problem in my eyes, raid limitations. I got perma benched. I joined a guild who told me they were just starting to raid and they could always use a tank, i was an SK. (Maurie reads the lie detector results) LIE! I showed up raid after raid for me and a few others to be left outside and told "Sorry, we already have all the tanks (or insert class here) we need for this raid, come back next time! We'll give you DKP if you stay logged in though!" And they did, i won't take that away from them, but they had lied to a handful of us. Possibly because they wanted to have extra's around for questing to help their main raid force or as standby's, i dont know. After discussing it in discord a bit i was basically told that unfortunately that's how the cookie crumbles in EQ2 and that not everyone is going to raid, just be happy you're getting DKP so you can still gear up. I didn't want the gear by filling a bench seat, i wanted to play the game and experience the content. So...i left in search of greener pastures. I decided enough was enough and left to find another raiding guild. Next problem i ran into, now all of the other raiding guilds already had faithful raid tanks who were raid geared out, it was too late...i missed the bus and got left behind. Soon, nobody was grouping for end game dungeons anymore so i was literally just logging in LFG doing trade skills. Which got old super fast and lead to me quitting EQ2 before the first expansion even dropped. It's too bad, i really liked it and if it hadn't been for that...i'd still be playing today.

[@Ribyum]

I unfortunately don't have as much time as before for guilds or investing into the social aspect of MMO raiding, I wish I could see EQ2's content by my own in solo, if that's even possible. Maybe by overleveling stuff a bit?

[@sweetfry]

You really need to somehow work on getting some higher framerate game captures...not sure what software you're using but I really think you need upgrade that.

[@darthstigater6642]

EQ 1 also had bats, Enchanters or bards that would cast power regen spells and keep the group going.

[@grazzitdvram]

Just a thought, I was there on the launch of EQ and the noobie zones were overflowing for months after the game launched. My point being that a growing healthy game kept those noob zones fairly populated for years and looking back at that game in its current dieing form and saying "there are too many noobie zones" is just kind of silly.

[@kalbic]

I liked and still do like having race specific starter cities. It does work and it makes the world seem bigger and more alluring. I was one of the 1999 original EQ players and I was a person who camped 26 hours for the FBSS. That camp was brutal BUT it was well organized. Melee was on in a que and as a person won a FBSS or left the group you moved up the que for the next drop. The best thing about this is there was a lot of honor in this and ninja looting was a big deal then because leveling a character to 40+ wasn't a easy task and nobody wanted to risk their reputation by ninja looting a item. Also, if you wanted to trade the FBSS for another item you wanted with someone else you could, like a Ykesha blade or some other high value item. I liked the difficulty of the game, it really meant something to be level 40+ and to have a Yak blade or a FBSS, people understood the pain it took to get these items. A quest to get a rare item, nobody cares about that. The Epic quests in EQ which some could be a nightmare to get, like the Mage Epic 1.0 or the Warrior 1.0 epic, people where in awe when they saw you with those, these were the exceptions.

[@Inmate533]

How does Steam make EQ2 seem like there's a lot less people? Are Steam players restricted to playing with only other Steam players?

[@IonBlaze1]

Steam can show how many people play the game except it's only showing the people using steam to log in. Most people use the proprietary launcher. Population is actually higher than steam advertises. But EQ2 is still a fraction of the population compared to EQ1

[@Inmate533]

@@IonBlaze1 That’s surprising to me that EQ1 remains more popular despite it being older and more group-centric. I’ve played both games many years ago, and I actually like EQ2 somewhat better than EQ1, but the game was way too powerful for my gaming rig back then. It was super jittery even when I lowered the settings so everything looked like mud.

[@jeffkoenig7402]

I'm all for balanced comparisons (I've dedicated years to both games), but I wish you'd at least given a caveat that your EQ1 comments were primarily applicable to TLP servers. Many of the things mentioned as big differences are far less prevalent on live servers, where a lot (but definitely not all) of the EQ2 QoL upgrades have been part of EQ1 for 10+ years now.

[@IonBlaze1]

That's a really good point Jeff. Thank you for bringing that up.

[@jeffkoenig7402]

​@@IonBlaze1 Don't get me wrong, with that caveat (that you're comparing TLP EQ2 to TLP EQ1) this comparison is spot on. I keep coming back to your videos because they're good, and because so few people are doing good EQ content, and in this one it's great to see EQ2 getting a fair critique for not just its flaws, but what it does really well. Keep up the great work, just keep in mind not everyone who finds your videos will be as familiar with your channel and know that you mainly focus on the TLP game. :)

[@Griz_827]

Biggest part of the whole review, you are on a time locked progression server, these are much more populated and more welcoming to new players. there is no rush to get to 120 to do current content and you can take your time and experience the entirety of the game. this is making me want to play again , i played for 10 ish years. and as for the crowd control comment, eq2 has plenty of classes that have good cc, illusionist, coercers, pretty sure conjurors have a group stun. quite a few classes

[@sweetfry]

14:50 some people like myself prefer chat because I can do it at my own pace and I feel less pressure, I get anxiety when I have to talk to people and I'm a voice chat and there s a higher expectation to speak and whatnot. Typing lets you reply and think about your responses more.

[@efraim3364]

the biggest problem EQ2 had when it was released in 2004 is you basically needed a Department of Defense computer to run it. A lot of people were still on Dial up(myself included), you are NOT playing EQ2 on dial up

[@beauthestdane]

EQ1 has revive clickies that you can buy through a couple of methods, also, all priests, Paladins, and Necros can rez. Recovering in EQ1 is not like it was years ago, it is quick and easy.

[@stabgod]

For me, EQ2 had much more enjoyable raiding (I love to raid). I love the coordination and strategic aspects of raiding, and there are so many different tactics and possibilities in EQ2 raids. It’s a bummer to be a tank in a raiding guild if you aren’t the one MT. Be prepared to sit outside the zone a lot on raid nights and hope something drops that the MT doesn’t need. I played an Illusionist which was a guaranteed raid spot. Once I buffed the right people in my group, it was tons of button mashing to come in 8th in the parse. Rarely used CC in raids. There was one time when Illies were OP but it was nerfed immediately. Was great topping the parse for a few months tho!

[@RichardEKranz]

What ever happen to Pantheon?

[@IonBlaze1]

I think it's still in the works. Takes a super long time to make an MMO without AAA developer money & staffing from my understanding

[@joelfernandez536]

Incredible soundtrack

[@gibsalot]

GM ( special event's ) in EQ1 do happen on live at least on live server Bertox they do them weekly or by weekly i almost never do them but see them happening in chat. if you know who Bonzz is he documents them on his FB group not sure if he adds them to his stand alone site or not. also side note i play EQ1 live ALot but i also mess around on EQ2 every once and a while if you want to group and are lower level / starting .......... try it on the weekend fri evening - sunday there will be way more people logged on as well as that seems to be when people who have been playing create new toon's

[@IonBlaze1]

Oh thank you for the counter there Gibs. Yeah I'm not so familiar with GM activity on Live. Just never saw anything on TLP. Thank you for that suggestion of when the play. That's really useful.

[@darkwulf2k]

I do like EQ2, but as i have commented on other vids before. picking up can be a bit rough after you start getting a lot of the abilities, and then get into having to rank them up. Things can get a tiny bit complicated. I do want to dive back into EQ2, but FFXIV takes up a good bit of my time, and been messing round on Yelinak of late.

[@jms9057]

Very long time solo EQII player here. EQII is a fantastic journey, but some just race to the level cap and miss all the lore, all the little side quests, and don't bother with tradeskills or decorating (there is a very robust decorating community). I don't like to group, and I enjoy the game so much I bought one of the lifetime memberships. ;)

[@nfefx]

The problem with EQ2's abilities/spell system is they listened to that EQ1 feedback from melee of "I don't have anything to do I'm just watching auto-attacks go off" way way too much. What you end up with in EQ2 is each class has 4 bars of 12 abilities each to just spam in order or spam them every time they highlight. Every single ability feels the same, and so many DPS classes rotation is just "go down the bar hitting everything as fast as you can". Serious button bloat, it ends up feeling like spell whack-a-mole.

[@aaronjlaw00]

Hands down the best MMO soundtrack of all time

[@Back2SquareOne]

This was a good review and I agreed with nearly all of it. The one thing I would add is that EQ2 has way too much pay-to-win in it nowadays. I understand that they need money but it is the slow acting poison that is killing the game, IMO. Being able to buy master spell upgrades and sell Krono for plat so you can just buy top level gear is incredibly toxic. Getting top level gear used to be an accomplishment. Now it is an exercise in cash.