Because the internet needs another gaming blog.

Diablo 2. How many hours of my life have I lost to you? I’d be willing to bet that only EverQuest II has more of my play hours invested in it than Diablo 2. It was also the victim of one of my harshest game burnouts ever. I was already growing tired of the repetitive gameplay by the time the expansion, Lord of Destruction, came out. After LoD’s release, I whipped through the content as quickly as possible just so I could get to the end. After killing Baal, I quit the game and never went back. I was done.

For the past while I’ve had an urge to bring out my old game discs and try it out again, which I finally did following the announcement of Diablo 3. At present, I’ve had two relatively short play sessions with it and am currently standing at the Outer Cloister in the Monastery. Honestly, I’m having a difficult time seeing why I loved the game as much as I did. I like the story behind it, but gameplay-wise, so much of it feels like a chore. Regardless, I’ve vowed to at least fight my way through to the end of Act 1. After that, whether I continue or not will be up in the air. I may force myself to complete the game again, given that I’ve only killed Baal the one time.

The whole experience got me wondering if I’d be able to go back to any of my old favourites and try them again. My inability to enjoy my brief return to EverQuest II during its Living Legacy promotion has me wondering if I’ll be able to go back to it when the next expansion comes out, like I said I would.

I’ve actually got a few games on my shelf that I’d like to check out again which I’ll get to as soon as I determine how much further I’m going to take Diablo 2. At the top of that list are Baldur’s Gate II and Fallout 2. It’ll be interesting, for me at least, to see if I can enjoy them again. I’m going to do my best to dedicate some time to these older games and report my findings here.

I received an email notification last night that my free time in EverQuest II with the Living Legacy promotion was coming to an end which included a link to a survey regarding the promotion.  I’ve included the survey and my answers below, along with expanded explanation of some of my answers, something the survey didn’t allow for aside from the additional comments box at the very end.

I’ll preface this by saying that the Living Legacy promotion came at the wrong time for me.  It had only been a couple of months past the point I left EverQuest II, so I wasn’t really all that eager to go  back just yet.  I was, and still am, thoroughly enjoying my time in World of Warcraft.  Yes, I know, everyone and their dog has played WoW to death, but I haven’t, so it’s very new and fresh for me.  That said, I didn’t take advantage of the Living Legacy promotion as much as I thought I would.  I logged in a few times here and there, but every time I did, all the reasons that I quit in the first place came quickly flooding back.

So, keep that in mind as you read my responses.  Without further ado, questions are bolded, my answer will follow on the next line and some additional comments will be italicized :

Will you convert your trial EQII account to a paying subscription once your free play period ends?
No

Why won’t you convert? (Please check all that apply)
- I am bored with the game.
- I feel that my character is still advancing too slowly.
- I rather continue playing another MMO.
- I don’t care for the new content that has been added with the latest expansions.

How would you rate your overall Living Legacy experience?
In-game (game updates and social experience): Neutral (It was pretty much the same game I left)
Out-of-game (community and promotional events): Unsatisfied

How important was each of the following offers in your decision to come back and try EQII again?
In-game items – Not important
Free expansion and adventure packs – Not important (I had them already anyway)
Free gameplay – Very important (Wouldn’t have come back otherwise)
$5.00 discount coupon – Not important
Game update – Somewhat important (I wanted to see the in-game events)
Contests and community events – Not important

How did you first hear about the Living Legacy program? (Select all that apply)
Email blast
Fan site / Press site

What new content did you experience and how would you rate it?
I wasn’t sure how to answer this one, because none of the listed options were “new content” to me.  I had been there, done that, many times before.
The Fallen Dynasty Adventure Pack Content – Didn’t Try
The Splitpaw Saga Adventure Pack Content – Didn’t Try
The Bloodline Chronicles Adventure Pack Content – Didn’t Try
Desert of Flames™ Expansion Pack Content – Didn’t Try
Kingdom of Sky™ Expansion Pack Content – Didn’t Try
Echoes of Faydwer™ Expansion Pack Content – Didn’t Try
Rise of KunarkTM Expansion Pack Content – Didn’t enjoy
EverQuest II base game

Overall game experience
Then: Very Good
Now: Good

Overall polish and quality
Then: Good
Now: Good

Grouping/guild play
EQII has the best grouping mechanics in any game I’ve played
Then: Very Good
Now: Very Good

Solo play
Then: Very Good
Now: Moderate (RoK’s focus on soloing killed the game for me.  It may take a while before I feel any motivation whatsoever to come back and progress my characters past their current level of 73)

Tradeskilling
Then: Good
Now: Good

Social/community experience
For the most part, a fantastic community.  It definitely has its share of idiots, but they’re usually the exception to the rule.
Then: Very Good
Now: Very Good

Amount of content
Then: Very Good
Now: Very Good

Quality of customer service
I’ve never had to use it, which may say something in and of itself.
Then: Never Tried
Now: Never Tried

Time to resolve technical game issues
The game has always been very stable for me.
Then: Never Tried
Now: Never Tried

Ability to manage inventory, set game window preferences, equip weapons and chat with others
Easily the best UI I’ve seen in an MMO
Then: Very Good
Now: Very Good

Pacing of advancement/leveling opportunities
Then: Good
Now: Poor (Same as above, RoK ground the game to a halt for me.  With limited play time, I just felt like nothing was happening)

Quality and quantity of rewards/loot
Then: Good
Now: Good

Ability to acquire items and abilities that distinguish your character from others in-game
This has always been a problem I’ve had with the game; everyone ends up looking pretty much the same and using the same equipment.
Then: Poor
Now: Poor

Which portion of the game has been most enjoyable for you?
I struggled with this one, because I also enjoyed the Mid Level (21-60), but ultimately, my fondest memories of EQII come from the Kingdom of Sky.
High Level (61+)

Did you participate in any of the live story events or new quest/zone content additions from the regularly scheduled game updates?
No (I never did do any of those cloud killing quests, and again, none of the zones were new to me)

Why not? (Please check all that apply.)
I rather play other game content.

How do you find out about the game updates? (Check all that apply)
Fan site / Press sites

What type of updates would you prefer? (Rank 1-4, where 1 is most preferred and 4 least preferred):
1. New zones (Preferably single-group dungeons for the 70-75 level range)
2. Live story based events
3. Content updates
4. Bug fixing and game polish (Never has been a problem for me)

What would we need to improve for you to continue to enjoy EverQuest II ?
More group play activities (70-75 please)
Better solo play activities (Less grindy in RoK please)

How would you rate EverQuest II in comparison to other MMO games you’ve played?
I still consider it among the best games I’ve ever played, and easily on par with, or surpassing other MMOs in most areas.
Excellent

If you are leaving to play another MMO game, which game is it? (Please check all that apply)
World of Warcraft

How many other MMOs do you subscribe to right now (Not including EverQuest II )?
1

How many other MMOs have you subscribed to this year (Not including EverQuest II )?
2 (Wow, Vanguard)

Please answer Yes, No, or Not Applicable to the following questions:
Did you enjoy playing Legends of Norrath? -No (not my thing)
Would you play Legends of Norrath without an EverQuest II subscription? -No
If you weren’t offered free play would you have come back to EQII this summer? -No
Do you expect to return to EverQuest II at some point in the future? -Yes
Is www.everquest2players.com your main source for information? -No
Did you visit www.eqlivinglegacy.com? -Yes
Did you see the Living Legacy online ads? -Yes
Are you going to purchase the upcoming expansion in the fall? -Yes (Most likely, we’ll see)
Would you refer a friend to EQII? -Yes (I tried in fact, but they won’t leave WoW)
If you were able to earn free game play by recruiting friends would you participate? -Yes
Did you feel like you were part of the Living Legacy celebration? -No

Please select your age range:
25-34

Please select your gender:
Male

Please provide us with any other additional feedback (255 character limit)
I played EQII for 3+ years and loved it. That is until Rise of Kunark came out. I was unable to play as much as I had in the past and watched everyone blast their ways to level 80 while I ground my way past level 70. It seemed as though there were no grouping opportunities in RoK for level 70-75 characters and the solo play ground to a boring halt very fast for me. I just couldn’t bring myself to continue. The Fens of Nathsar was a particularly boring zone. I plan on checking out the expansion, but honestly, I can’t see myself being motivated enough to work my way to the level cap unless some very interesting group zones appear for my level.

…who needs enemies?  I was questing in Hellfire Peninsula when I came across Arzeth the Merciless, a level 63 elite.  One thing that World of Warcraft really does well is its bad guys; they stand out from the crowd.  Not only is Arzeth bigger than all those around him, and looks just plain nastier too, he also floats around the area taunting those within range to hear.  It was quite entertaining to watch so I stuck around for a bit and observed.

While taking some screenshots I received an invite to group out of the blue.  I declined immediately, as I always do with random group invites.  I got invited again, and just as I was about to hit decline again, I noticed the inviter was close by.  The other player was a level 70 Warrior, so I figured he saw me looking at Arzeth and  decided to be friendly and help me kill him.  I accepted the invite.  Before I could even type a quick “hello” he was running towards Mr. Merciless and engaged him.  I swiftly ran up to stand next to the fearless warrior and began attacking, immediately  pulling aggro.  Odd, I thought to myself, and continued my attack anticipating the warrior would pull the mob off me.

Instead, my new found comrade turned, and ran away, allowing Arzeth to mop the ground with my face.  I got ganked by proxy.  It’s no wonder I’ve gone through most of this game solo.

Inspired by a conversation at work about some of the embarrassing things we’ve done while raiding, here is a story where I displayed more than my fair share of noobishness.

It’s been a while, so I may have some details messed up, but our small guild was working on the quest Capturing Day and Night, after one of our members had finally, after endless farming, gotten the Gold Dragon Scale needed to change Barakah into her dragon form.  When the call went out to the guild that we were going to kill the two dragons in Maj’Dul, we all headed up there to assemble.

Of course, some take longer than others, so while we were waiting for everyone to arrive, some of us started dueling, or killing random mobs that happened to be around us.  We were a very laid-back, casual guild, so this sort of tomfoolery was just fine.  When it was time to get serious, we always did so, but for the moment we were just joking around, passing the time.  Ventrilo, as always, was full of laughs and dirty talk.  Then, just as the last people were arriving to the courtyard, things changed.

The call to settle down and focus came from the raid leader who was about to inform the guild on how the encounter was going to go.  This came, of course, just as I had fired an arrow off towards a Sha’ir (61 Heroic), floating so innocently above us on his magic carpet.  He flew down towards me and I finished him off easily enough, just in time to focus on our upcoming raid.  Except, what I didn’t know at the time, was that if you kill one Sha’ir, another comes immediately after.  If you kill that next one, then more will come, and keep coming.  And come they did.

Taken off guard, a few of us who were in the immediate vicinity did our best to fight off the never-ending wave.  It quickly became more than we could handle and the Sha’irs started making their way through the rest of the raid force.  Vent went completely silent, except for the raid leader’s voice, “What the hell?  Who the fuck pulled the Sha’ir?”

Silence.

“That would have been our fearless Berzerker,” said someone who had obviously scrolled up through the combat log, looking to lay some blame.  “Everyone zone out, quick.”  Those in the raid force not yet dead sprinted towards the nearest zone line.  My head sunk.

When we came back and reassembled, there was no joviality, the entire atmosphere had changed.  I felt like such a tool.  The orders over vent were clear and simple, “everyone pay attention, and don’t pull shit”.  We got through the dragons easily enough, but I certainly wasn’t having fun doing it.  The rest of the guild (hopefully) forgot about my attempt to wipe out our raid force, but I never did, and never fooled around before a raid ever again.

I don’t need to explain at this point about the recent comments from Richard Bartle and the response by the MMORPG community. If you haven’t been following it there is a good link explaining it better than I ever could. Me doing this post at this date, have sadly missed the height of this topic that has been circling around the blogging community. Maybe I can dredge up sour memories and beat that dead horse a little more.

I have to admit that before I read Wolfhead’s post I had no idea of who Richard Bartle was: “The God Father of MUDS”, “The Creator of Virtual Worlds”. I once tried playing a MUD early in my university days. I didn’t get it. I loved the text adventures that I had played on my friend’s Apple IIe but MUDs seemed like too much work. I never hung around with the right geeks to play a game of Dungeons and Dragons. It wasn’t until as recently as the past couple of months that I have tried playing D & D.

In regards to the Bartle controversy I actually had more fun reading people’s comments. There were many thoughtful responses as well as many hilariously childish responses.

As far as I broke it down was that the MMOGs that were out right now and under current development were being accused of being copycats of each other and innovation was being compromised over polish and streamlining. Why play Warhammer when we all have played World of Warcraft? By reading the actual text I know that this comment was meant as tongue-in-cheek and was taken out of context. The main message put out was that developers were not innovating and creating true virtual worlds. They were more content on following Blizzard’s business model and createing a “fishbowl” of a game. Fishbowl being a virtual world that never changes with a very strict set of rules that limits the player’s ability to mess around with things.

Do we really want the “Sandbox” virtual world that Bartle suggests that we should all be playing in? I for one have seen Second Life. It’s not a game. It is a virtual world created by players in a no limits environment. By abbreviating all MMORPGs (Massivley Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) as MMOs, people wrapped up in this controversy seemed to have forgotten the “G”. World of Warcraft is a really fun game. So is Everquest 2. They have different rules different limitations but I have played them both and they are really fun games. I used the word “games” many times to emphasize that I am not playing an MMOW.

WoW and EQ2 and all the other titles could be compared to playing the board game of Monopoly. Where Second Life, or the much talked about Virtual Worlds can be compared to Playdough. They are both fun, but different kinds of fun.

To answer my question I asked above, to come down to it, PEOPLE ARE JERKS. Yes Jerks. Given the opportunity to take advantage of, or humiliate another player for any little reason they will do it. And this is where my discussion comes into my experiences from World of Warcraft.

I imagine if the player base from WoW had the ability to create things that you can create in Second Life, I can guarantee that within 5 minutes there would be player made penis creatures attacking me with ghonnoreha fire balls.

Being a new player with no gold, I have quested gear. With areas completely devoid of players or others my level to complete instances with, the only other enemy players that I come into contact with are twinks that are speed leveling to 70. I think I win about 1 out of 3 PvP encounters. For this reason it has been advised to me that I should not expect to win a fair fight in Battlegrounds because they are filled with bored level 70s who have level locked lowbies with twinked gear. Already when I get beat at a PvP fight I get corpse camped and teabagged. One clever Orc that corpse camped me had learned how to take the orc language as it appears to me to say “A N A L”. Are you telling me that someone who took the time to translate Orcish into “A N A L” wouldn’t take the time to create a diarrhea emote? I know if I had the time to devote that is the FIRST thing I would do. For sure my character would have an “Ass-Helmet” with an everlasting sparkler sticking out of the business end.

Why? Because people are jerks. We take everything pristine and untouched and try our best to make a joke of it.

Blizzard know this and that’s why they have a fun fish bowl of and MMOG with multi-millions of subscribers and barely a fraction of those have heard of Second Life. Sony and Mythic also know this and want as many people as they can to subscribe to a game where their players wont get virtually pooped on.

The best business model ever: “Warhammer. A game where we are pretty sure you wont get pooped on”. You can use that if you want Mythic. But I require a royalty check in the mail each month along with my free subscription.