Seffrid

@(Unverified)

EQ2 deserves more respect from SOE, that is certainly true.

I never liked the isometric graphic style of UO and it lagged badly for me in the UK at launch.

I played AC for a few months, it was ok but very limited compared to EQ which was my main game at the time, and I absolutely hated the patron system with one-sided conversations and monarchs changing all the time. AC2 was also very limited but it was in my view a markedly better game.

I played EQ from beta in '98 until 2004 when EQ2 came out, but never hit the high levels, I think 53 remains my highest level, but then I do always prefer the low-middle levels of MMOs across multiple characters rather than playing a single character to the end. At higher levels they tend to become too much of a chore and too dependent on organised groups, raids and in some cases PvP.

I'm now back on EQ on one of the progression servers, and am thoroughly enjoying the "old school" atmosphere but with the worst of the original features (hell levels for one, slow regeneration and medding with the spellbook filling the screen for another) removed.

By and large these were the three games that set the tone for the genre, and those who got established in one of them will always cite that as the best MMO ever. Clearly there are those who will trash my comments on UO and AC but we can all only speak from our personal experience of these games. I respect those who got more out of those games than I was able to, but then they probably don't get the EQ mindset either!

Whether I stay with EQ or not will be very dependent on how SOE resolve the present issues over the discarding of their European players, but for me it's the only one of the three still worth playing.

I guess the April Fool's joke back-fired so spectacularly that they really didn't have much option but to bring it back after all!

Let's hope this time the screenshots get put behind the break, that way you'll get the ratings you need whereas before there was never any reason for anyone to click on the break.

@pcgneurotic "I think it would be awesome if everyone posting here would actually read the FAQ before spouting off"

Which part has anyone got wrong?

Fact is, according to the FAQ and as clarified by Brasse on the boards, players in Europe are only going to be able to access 8 titles including EQ2 and eventually EQNext by opening an account with ProSiebenSat.1 and launching the game through them with their different version of SC. They'll still be able to play the other titles like EQ and VG through SOE but at separate expense and with considerable uncertainty over how the SC/PSS1 currency will overlap/clash.

Is anyone here suggesting anything else, or are you saying we're all reading it wrong?

This has caused a further storm of protests and round of cancellations on EQ2's boards, players being extremely critical of SOE's "Sign up with ProSiebenSat.1 or quit the game" ultimatum.

This is on the basis that anyone playing the game in Europe will have their SOE account IP-locked so they can only continue playing by creating an account with what many regard as a sub-standard broken English-speaking company specialising in pay-to-win games and with a dreadful security and privacy record.

I think aliens must have taken over Massively this weekend. They're not bothering to report MMO news and instead seem obsessed with making weak April Fools articles that duplicate each other.

Not Massively's finest hour!

@Ehra

I love April Fool's Day too, and there have been some brilliant tricks played over the years.

However, taking a subject that caused a lot of angst on the part of the site's readers and throwing it back in their faces under the guise of a joke isn't the brightest way of celebrating the day. It's just crass.

What an unbelievably stupid way of driving away those readers who protested so strongly against the removal of One Shots and it's replacement by an incredibly immature Leaderboard series.

Assuming it is an April's Fool joke, and I can't see why else it would be tagged as humour, it's a very weak one in poor taste and bound to be badly taken by all those who were quite rightly annoyed at the way in which the feature was taken down and replaced by the utterly cretinous Leaderboard series.

Unbelievably stupid.

This is like one of those Derek Smart games, where reading all the shenanigans before the game is launched is proving to be so much more entertaining than actually playing the game will ever be.