EverQuest II beefs up its free trial

Sony Online Entertainment is going to great lengths to rope in prospective EverQuest II players, as today the company announced that it is vastly improving its free trial for the game. Assuming that you're not interested in EQII's free-to-play version, you might want to check out these changes and see if they're enough to tempt you into a taste or two.

The beefed-up trial includes two weeks -- 14 days -- of commitment-free play in the core game plus the first seven expansions up through the recent Destiny of Velious. In addition, SOE is sweetening the deal by giving trial players a Superior Experience potion that bumps up advancement for two hours as well as a Green Journeyman's Cloak that contains a respectable 25% speed boost.

It's a good of as time as any to give EverQuest II a try, especially since the much-anticipated GU61 lands on the live servers today.

Reader Comments (15)

So EQ2 has a F2P server AND a free trial on P2P servers? How odd....

@EndDream It's a completely broke set up where if you pay $15 /mo on the "F2P" server you get less from the game than if you pay $15/mo on the subscription based servers.

They're a joke. SOE = Slimy Online Exploiters.

The cloak and the potion you already get on EQ2 Extended (the F2P version), if anyone is interested. Just go to the menu and the "Claim" window. There will be some house items there too.

I don't think this is a good idea. New players who do this instead of going to the free EQ2X server will see that its only high level players there and will leave the game due to feeling alone in the gameworld.

@duppsko Actually it is a good idea. You can try out the classes that are normally locked away in the cash shop, and if you genuinely like everything, stick to the p2p version, if you like it but not enough to sub, then go back and get the classes you liked and play on the f2p version.

@duppsko The worlds are plenty populated at most levels. At least on the servers I've played on.

I've played EQ2 at release and when Faydark was introduced, and I have to say I had a blast.

I returned about a year to chek the expansion packs but I got really turned down by the incredible "easyness" of the game. I couldn't literally get to enjoy quests and dungeons because I outleveled them before even completing my tasks.

And group-wise, I couldn't really find the reason to get a full group going in the first 50 levels. Even with a treasured/adept I geared group, heroic mobs just melt down before you..

I remember it differently from when I started, don't you think the difficulty of the game is too low? Or am I missing something? Maybe it gets better in the latter levels..

@Marekh

You can turn off xp at any time if you don't want to outlevel content. A lot of people used to do it (haven't played in a while) to build up their AA while maintaining a given level.

Edit

third line: "I returned about a year LATER"

Had no idea EQ2 had a F2P version. I absolutely loved the game, but couldn't afford the monthly fee. It was so much better than WoW. Storywise, it had so much lore. Loved it. I will have to check it out.

@Pipp

You definitely should try it out, although I would rather play on the P2P servers, personally.

I play EQ2 and a little Vanguard, and have started dabbling in DC Universe. I was a dedicated SWG player (since beta) until LA stabbed it in the back. But with a station access account, I can still play EQ2, Vanguard and DC Universe for a whopping $19.99 per month, and if madness ever seizes me, I could play Pirates of the Burning Seas and Planetside as well (and WILL play PS2 when it launches). For 20 bucks a month, that is the best deal in town, imo.

Killing the free trial on the P2P servers was a slap in the face to the P2P players, particularly since you cannot transfer from a F2P server to the P2P ones (you can, however, "copy" your character from the P2P to the F2P ones). This is a welcome move for we P2P players, who feared the slow death by attrition of our servers.

I wish there was a cloak that sped up how fast the game runs on modern PCs.

I get 50 FPS with Deus Ex: Human Revolution at max settings, which was released two days ago.

I get 22 FPS with Everquest 2 at medium settings, which came out almost seven years ago.

@slickie EverQuest II was one of those forward thinking games, in that it was designed with an eye on the future, not what was the best at the time. Now granted, the engine does have its rough edges, but when you are able to crank the settings to the limit, the game is really nice looking.

Wow, it's like you can see that dragon's texture get progressively worse until BAM! Everquest 1 head model.

I also second Slickie's comment. EQ2 runs abysmally compared to the level of detail it provides. It's literally one of the worst running AAA games on the market.

EverQuest II beefs up its free trial

Reader Comments (15)

Posted: Aug 25th 2011 9:13AM EndDream said

Posted: Aug 25th 2011 6:29PM ChongShin said

Posted: Aug 25th 2011 9:38AM Carolina said

Posted: Aug 25th 2011 9:52AM duppsko said

Posted: Aug 25th 2011 10:31AM Darkerson420 said

Posted: Aug 25th 2011 10:45AM DoctorSmart said

Posted: Aug 25th 2011 10:01AM Marekh said

Posted: Aug 25th 2011 11:11AM chum said

Posted: Aug 25th 2011 10:03AM Marekh said

Posted: Aug 25th 2011 11:00AM Pipp said

Posted: Aug 25th 2011 11:19AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 25th 2011 11:15AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 25th 2011 11:54AM slickie said

Posted: Aug 25th 2011 12:51PM Darkerson420 said

Posted: Aug 25th 2011 4:23PM gamebynight said

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