Ironically the best MMO "Launch" this year...
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- čas přidán 13. 07. 2024
- Everquest 2 has outdone themselves in a way I didn't expect.
They have somehow made me extremely excited to play Everquest 2, a game released in 2004...in 2024. After 20 years in World of Warcraft's Shadow Everquest 2 has gone and done something pretty incredible with their Everquest 2 Origins server by once again copying World of Warcraft...but in the best way possible. It's not quite Age of Discovery or P99 for Everquest, but Everquest 2's Origin Server does an even better job of re-creating the classic experience of EQ2 and it does something really special: it provides a middle ground in this version for players who are looking for a group focused social game as well as a game with bountiful quests and Quality of life, just like WoW.
Everquest 2's Origin Server may well be the best MMORPG "Launch" of this year with the dissapointments surrounding other higher profile games.
Jump in today and give it a try, you may be surprised to find you enjoy Everquest 2, whether you've played it before or not.
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I’m a OG EQ1 and EQ2 player….its been years since I’ve jumped back in..just finished a 2 hour session..made a new friend…and had the most fun I’ve had in some time in Norrath…on the origins server👍…well done👍
I loved EQ2 back in the day. When I tried to play it again recently I was bombarded with so many menus from all the systems that had piled up over the years that I gave up trying to make sense of the interface and just uninstalled it. This sounds like it'd be right up my alley if I hadn't sworn off monthly subscriptions
nothing is ever free. i'll gladly pay a sub for a solid mmo rather than deal with free to play nickle and diming.
Same!
@@Feracitusthis! For sure
you can't get good games without supporting them. the sub is literally pocket change.
Turtle wow is free and amazing
The origins server runs 100000x smoother than the live servers. No shit. 😮
My brother and I had so much fun playing Everquest 2. Totally will be diving into that game again some time.
When EQOA servers went down of my 9 years of playing. I bought EQ2 and WoW at the SAME time. To try both out to see what one I liked best to call my new home. WoW won... which I'm not mad about. I met the love of my life of almost 10 years now! I'm really surprised I went from EQOA to WoW... Thank you for this video! I'm going to go try this! Excited!
Oh I'd say you won at life then! Congratulations to you and your partner!
Mentoring was an absolutely awesome mechanic. I wish every MMO had it.
Deadass
FFXI has a similar system later on in its life, was really nice to have.
Ahh that made me sad you didn't like the Ratonga voice acting. It's so in character and fun.
😅 I can't. In trying but I just can't.
I've been really enjoying it. Anyone on the fence definitely try it. It's more fun than any other mmo I've played
Might have to dive in!
When EQ2 first came out the graphics were so advanced for an mmo that it took years for graphics technology to not only catch up but to be affordable enough to have a machine capable of running it at max graphics.
Bullshit. It was just an unoptimized mess because that's all SOE knew how to do.
lmao
I just wish they would re release Everquest online adventures for PC. It was my very first MMO back in the day and I remember it being an amazing experience. I would love the opportunity to retry it in the current age to see if I was just blinded by nostalgia? or if the game really was that good.
EQ2 is a lot more like EQOA than EQ1 is. You might like this . 👍👍
Eqoa was the best mmo ever made! There's a private server in the works. You can actually hop in and play with some people but it's still very early access full of bugs and broken enemies.
I remember my pc struggling to run EQ2 back in the day. I would've love to try out this server to get the experience of EQ2 how it was back then but i can't pay that monthly sub right now, maybe later down the road.
REMINDER: alternate models are available. I use them all the time, especially for Erudites.
They did mentoring in City of Heroes, they called it "side kicking". I miss that game...
I believe they have an emulator server that's been approved, haven't they?
Homecoming has NCsofts permission to run some EMUS. It is fantastic. New content / Tons of players
Homecoming is the new City of Heroes server. Come join up!
Phenomenal job on this video and you really drove it home well! I played back in 2004-06 and have been thinking whether or not I should give it a shot again... well, you literally "SOLD" me lol
ok Red! You talked me into it..Downloading now!
The wife says if I make it to 10 she will come play as well! Geez im not sure how long 10 will take lol
@@KraxThebOld 6 is easy, stay on the island, after that it is a little rough. if solo, work on quests, if you can get a group go through the small zones off the starter area you get placed after the island
I'm a completely new player to EQ2 and I'm enjoying the game a lot. I love how the gameplay isn't as stream-lined, quests coming from all sorts of ways, the exploration and I really, really love the tradeskilling and housing system. Plus, the origins server is beyond active, it is actually crowded, even a week in. I'm having a blast.
Was playing on the Origins server, kind of bounced off of it because of how slow the grind was.
Now I'm on the live server for the time being, and while there's stuff I probably don't get, there's also stuff I'm liking so far. Having fun as an iksar conjuror. It'll be fun until Dawntrail comes out, and then probably fun again after I destroy the MSQ.
I always said EverQuest 2 is the most underrated MMO, and had the bad luck of being released 2 weeks before WoW. This is one of the best videos of EverQuest 2 and I am thinking of giving the origin version of EverQuest 2 a try.
Plus it ran so badly on basic PCs of the day. Wow could run on any computer including MAC
@@bobbyzig3879 it ran badly on high end pcs of the day as well x.x
I was going to make an argument of 'no its not!', but i guess nowadays, sadly it is. It's still pretty infamous if you were a huge MMO person back in the days of the golden age -- however, long since has passed. However, when I played it back in the day, it def. was not my cup of tea. I'd choose SWG over that game, Runescape over it, AION over it, Maplestory over it, and even Guild Wars over it. Reasons being, it was slow combat, confusing interface, and no PvP. Even the raids weren't up to par. However, I have not played it in a long, long time so a lot of these justifications are null because i know they've added a lot to it since then.
@@ecogreco it still had multiple zones within a city! Within a city! It had the name and had two weeks head start but still flopped on it face on launch.
Things about Everquest 2 that made it supreme compared to other games during its time and even modern games:
The housing customization was top.
Collections. So many collections all over the place with so many completion rewards.
The indepth lore.
Face over IP
The Crafting that was almost like combat encounters
Lots of fond memories of this game. May have to check it out again.
You just blew my mind when you made that table big. I had NO IDEA you could change the size of decorations!!
I loved eq2 from the moment I logged in. I miss some of the things they weren't able/chose not to re-implement, but the tiptoe I took in the beta was very nice. I'm trying not to spread myself so thing on gaming anymore, but you may have inspired me to re-commit to coming back. I'm already subbed for access to the beta, so, maybe Ill see you around! Love your videos!
That’s what I was saying on my stream when I played it on launch!! I never played it I was a wow kid, and I’m so mad I missed out on this game back in the day. I’m so hyped to get to end game and raid!!! 💪🏻
Great Video! I'm loving EQ2... the pace is slow but every level feels impactful. I have an 11 berserker/14 Outfitter, 10 brigand/11scholar, and a 10 craftsman so far... I'm gonna focus on leveling the zerker and he'll do the gathering to help the others keep up with tradeskills. Zerker is a Dwarf, but gonna betray at some point... I'm having lots of fun!
This is a great video, you hit the nail on the head. Ive been playing since launch and getting back to basics has been so refreshing.
I was in EQ2 at launch (give or take a week, it was hard to get out to the Gamestop amid college classes) and as much fun as it was it was ROUGH, I just found out about the Origins server a few days ago and hopped in and so far this is what I wanted the OG EQ2 to be. They were smart to keep a lot of the QOL stuff that's been introduced since launch, while stripping away a lot of the stuff they added that dumbed the game down or over-complicated it.
I never tried EQ2 after years of EQ1. I was turned off because of the lack of pvp and went on to WOW. I'm thinking I might try it now, after you video.
The struggle you feel as a low level is so poignant. Getting my new nuke at lvl 9 as a Defiler was huge. Where I would struggle to kill anything before, I grew to blow things up with ease!
Then my next set of challenges arose. The sense of reward and progression you get is so much fun. I'm definitely going to keep playing. I resubbed just to play EQ on Teek, but EQ2 is my new favorite.
Fine… you have twisted my arm enough to get me to try it out before Dawntrail. Never having played EQ2 I must say, this is a dang good time. I’ve had a blast with it so far and will definitely be jumping back in. If the folks behind this MMO are taking notes, the focus on group play, deep grinds, and no real cash currency is the way to get me to sub. Amazing game here. Don’t be afraid to try this one out and support the devs for a return to form.
(also great video once again)
I love the Origins server - it reminds me back when I was in beta and after release, before all the ability bloat. And the leveling is harsh, but doable. I'm having a blast! Good to see a video about it
I tried a monk when it was new. Made it to lvl 30 or so and jumped right back to eq. Spose I could try again...
I have millions of memories of old classic eq and almost none of playing eq 2 to 60 then quit after release
They should eventually do some double xp catch-up, don't want to see the population drop off too soon.
I'm playing Origins with some folk from the WoW guild. My game was EQ 1999-2004, so I (mostly) missed this one, first time around. Looks good!
Been well over a decade since I played EQ2 but seriously loving Origins Server. Even saw Ratbeardflynn run by me in game!
Our EQ timelines are pretty similar-started with UO, jumped to EQ in 2000, then EQ2 on launch in 2004. It wasn’t really able to grab me, though, and I hopped over to WoW after a few months. I’ve since returned to Norrath on the Teek server, and have been having an absolute blast! I know that EQ2 isn’t the game for me, but I wish you much enjoyment! (Will be sad not to see any more Redbeardflynn corpses lying around Teek, though 😉)
So for people on the fence about coming back here is my two cents. I reinstalled and truefully have only sunk 2-3hrs maybe. However from some who played from before DoF xpac and quit shortly after SF xpac so 8 or 9 years. This brings it all back for me. Having a blast the game play is hard and challenging but not rage quit challenging it does put a focus on getting grouping like how it used to be. Give a shot espically you old veteran players
Gonna try it out today. It apparently runs out of the box on steam for Linux users. Does the game need/have addons or fanmade texture packs or anything like that?
Update 2: cannot make character without subscription. Thought it was free to start at least
EverQuest 2 is the best MMO i have ever played... And I've played a lot of them! People should give this game a try!
Something I'm running into as a new player, and it is quite obvious, is that if I don't play a solo class I quite literally can't do that content, and for the life of me, can't find someone to help me with said certain quests, even on the tutorial island lol. Maybe I just need to get friends that actually play these older style mmorpg with.
Definitely try using the OOC or General channels to find a group. The tutorial island should be mostly solo content until the final quest which you *can* skip at any time and jump to your home city where you will likely find more players.
Some people may group up with you just for a quest while others may group up for hours. I wish you the best of luck and hope you find some friendly folks out there! I'm sure there's some guilds out there forming up, too that should be there to help new players.
Tarisland lol. They don’t even let you keybind actions to numpad 1-9. I can’t use my mmo mouse on an mmo.
its a mobile game ported to pc
@@bigcucumber1233 With p2w
Man I might have to retry EQ2 again I played at launch and came back a few years later after wow burn out, you're right about it having bad luck just 1 question do they have the 1-10 classes again then 10-20?
No it doesn't go that far back. Basically you choose your class and play that class from lvl 1.
EQ1 and EQ2 were amazing.
The reason I haven't gone back to EQ2 ever again is because in order to play with the few other people left playing it you need to buy the latest DLC most of the time cause they will be in those new zones.
Is that solved on that Origins server?
I would say so. its really easy to use the LFG channel to get a group at the moment for lower levels, i only had to wait like 5 minutes to get in a party of 4 after posting an add as a dps
Loving this server! Absolutely fantastic game having a blast!!!
That's awesome to hear!
Christopher Lee is the voice of the shrew in Redwall lol
Can you give a link to this in your description?
You mentioned the faces looking ugly. Try going into the options and looking for the second set of humanoid character models. They look way better.
I played EQ2 from Desert of Flames to the Shadow Odyssey. It kinda started to lose it's way after Rise of Kunark. The numbers and damage mitigation started to go a bit crazy after that.
I'm tempted to try this Origin server. I did not like the Progression servers at all.
Great video. Love this server. I played EQ2 for 10+ years and it will always be #1 for me. I wish Pantheon would pick up on the quest progressions and incorporate more into their leveling structure because they are super fun and intuitive. Straight grinding gets old fast. EQ2 has a great balance that the Origin server plays out beautifully.
Ironically the best mmo “Launch” in the entirety of EQ2’s history
oh god im going to fall for this game all over again aren't i.
I played EQ2 from launched up until the shadow Odyssey. Eq2 was so good back in the day. The quest lines were unreal.
EQ2s crafting is the best original crafting system I've seen in any RPG. I dont remember much, but I hope someone combines EQ 1 and EQ2s crafting system. Having to buy and read books, experiment with materials AND play the minigame would be SO MUCH FUN.
EQ2 got destroyed because Sony thought they could bank on the EverQuest name alone from word of mouth.
Blizzard (Or should I say the Sony devs that got fired or left Sony and went to blizzard) Pushed for mass advertising so for YEARS on TV you saw WoW commercials NONSTOP.
Sony should have advertised EQ2. They didn't and we all lost out. WE DID get the cover of TV guide! hehh
Goes beyond that, Warcraft was already a much bigger name than Everquest. You had a decade of RTS games to lay the ground work. You could say Warcraft's marketing started years before the first EQ even launched.
Yup. It doesn't seem like EQ ever had a proper marketing dept.
When I stopped raiding back in 2015 I had done almost everything. I rolled my Assassin in 2004! Thaydrian was here!
I remeber when Wow and Eq2 came out and I was at gamestop deciding which one to get and I chose EQ2 and enjoyed it even tho my PC at the time could barely handle it lol. Then Wow blew up and Eq2 was forgotten. :(
EQ2 is really slept on for MMO's and despite Darkpaw dropping the Origin server with little notice it's still pretty solid. You also forgot the best part Collectables :).
But for anyone on the fence, Heroic Oppurtunies/The wheel is nice but not required for groups. Also there are macros that make the hotbar not so cluttered but this is base EQ2 so there aren't as many abilities as later expansions.
See you in game!
Awesome video- glad you made it! So glad they came out with Origins. EQ2 was great early on and became too much like other mmos. Glad they went back to the earlier years.
My first MMO was WoW, I started around 7-8 months into vanilla and I still play it regularly (although I do takes breaks that can last several months), saying all that, I could see myself playing EQ2 if they done a graphics upgrades, even putting it in the WoW cata era graphics would be enough.
First time playing EQ2 and wow this is really fun. I've founs many friends theough groups and just killing things for XP with groups is enjoyable. I also saw Ratbeardflynn running around in the Ruins lol
EQ2 is good, it's just a darn shame that it launched right along with WoW.
this video made me immensely happy. Wish they could bring it back to the launch version, because launch difficulty was best difficulty... no quest feathers over everyones heads and the grind was very real... but I remember even back in the day the devs saying it would be impossible and the original files were long since lost. This is the next best thing and I highly recommend it, if you want to have a taste of what mmos should have been like.
oh also, rip tradeskilling, iirc that server uses the patch that literally trivialized crafting so that you smush rocks into armor. RIP
This is _really_ unfortunate to hear. I hope there's an in-game option to let me turn off quest feathers and such.
@@poisonated7467 if memory serves, I think there is an option to remove the wow style npc quest markers. Tradeskilling though is still borked
How do I get to the origin server? I just downloaded EQ2 and there's a traditional server, but it has krono
Select the game version from the patcher and move it to origin
@@Redbeardflynn Thank you, sir. The trouble I was having was it wasn't applying that I paid the monthly fee to play origin. I had to restart it all, but it did work.
Now I'm so far torn between dirge/troub/coercer/illusionist :)
im curently raiding on varsoon.. the servewr they killed off wiuth oridgins.. with this video on the other screen lol waiitng for the guild to finally just fold the varsoon chapter and move on to only playing on origins.. the consequences of a new server hit us hard on varsoon.
Oof yeah, I remember worrying about that all the time playing on Phinny on EQ, and in later expansions it did a bit but we were deep enough into the game that the people who were still there mostly stayed.
Sorry for asking but can I use the Steam version for this or do I need to download the website version?
I believe it won't matter because the steam version should just open up the EQ2 patcher. Simpler usually just to run the patcher directly, though. The Origin server is a differeng game version so you'll have to change from Live to Origin in the settings menu on the patcher.
@@Redbeardflynn Thank you so much!
I'm just going to ask in case anyone playing in the server reads this: If I'm looking for group PvE content thats more challenging than not at all, but am deathly allergic to meta builds and rotations, is this a good fit or nah?
I'm going to say yes. Challenging is going to depend on what level of challenge you're seeking so it's somewhat personal but there is group content in the game that you can't just bulldoze through.
There are also no builds so to speak in this game so the only meta would really come from say a group needing one healer one tank a support and 2 dps for optimal grouping.
@@Redbeardflynn Not being bulldozable was the main concern challenge wise. Which just leaves whether I have to do a rotation instead of "whatever the situation requires, think fast!" and hopefully, that the leveling content isn't too linear.
I loved both EQ and EQ 2 back in the day. Might have to jump back into EQ2.
I'm with ya, except for the crafting. I played the game for years and always hated that aspect (except the harvesting). At some point you're just like "c'mon just make the item already..."
Maybe when work picks back up in a couple months I will be able to justify getting the sub and try it out but not right now.
Is there something like a trial i could download for the origins server?
Kind of? You can play eq2 free but it will be quite different from the origins server in some key ways but you'll still be able to get a feel for it by playing the live game.
@@Redbeardflynn ah ok, so origins server is only for subscribers then? well, might just try it anyways
@@AlexandrovitchA yeah, it's a "premium" server. It's their kind of middle ground after both eq and eq2 went free to play ages ago.
Can confirm, never played before, this game holds up well and is fleshed out
I would play it if the subscription was localized, $20 is very expensive for me.
Unfortunately for me, I played EQ2 religiously for many many years. So it's in that realm of just getting bored trying to go back it it after only an hour or so.
It's just a pity, that the voice actor translations stopped somewhere at the 3rd or 4th addon. But the coolest is Christopher Lee as Lucan D'Lere. So when i play EQ2 again, I'm switching to English. :)
Invader Zim voice over guy is in eq2 as well
I wish i could play, daybreak currencie is too expensive in Brasil, dollar got too high for us
A subscription server with no tokens?! 🎉 Heck I may check this out. Do you have a guild there, Flynn?
Might just give it a try
It has been an awesome experience so far !
I want to get into an mmo but I really dont have the time for it anymore. I tend to play games I can play for a little bit. The mmo that I am playing is runescape. I feel like its the only game that I can grind without feeling like I neeeeeeed to play all the time.
Everquest 1 was my first mmo 😢
These graphics are still competitive today.
Oh man.. Memories...
any UI scaling or wide screen support?
i need the same help the ui is very small in 4k squinting my eyes like crazy but loving the game!
Too be fair to the rat dudes voice, jar jar binks had been created already right?
If only I had friends lol. I can see how this game would be with friends
It's an opportunity to make new ones!
Thats the best part about old MMOs like og EQ2, Vanilla WoW and vanilla EQ1: It encourages you and is designed for you to make allies/friends as you adventure throughout the world.
I loved EQ2 when it launched. Erudite Wizard ftw
EverQuest II lost me not long after launch. I came from EQ 1, and it's huge world, to this tiny small handful of islands.
I love lotro ftw my first MMO
eq2 will always have a place in my heart, if WoW didn’t launch it would have been huge
Most people I know that loved EQ2 never played EQ1. I couldn't get into EQ2. It didn't feel like what I was looking for in a sequel. Most of the EQ1 players that I raided with ended up playing WoW. I'm curious to play this new server now that EQ1 is a distant memory. Hopefully, I can appreciate EQ2 as its own game and not what I wanted it to be.
Lvl 13 Templar here. So fun
Is it worth it to play on steam??
On steam it'll still launch you into the daybreak launcher I believe
@@Redbeardflynn what does that mean????
@@flaviamarinig733 a lot of games, single player and mmos, have their own game launcher. When they get added to steam many of these games retain the launcher so steam launches a new launcher instead of the game. Examples: most ea games like dragon age, baldurs gate 3, rockstar games, most mmorpgs
Everquest Next devs are revealing their new game in a few days, PlayableWorlds, its a sandbox MMO, where you can govern a planet
Headed by Raph Koster (UO and SWG) I believe more so than EQNext though there is involvement. Will be interesting to see. I'm trying to keep my hopes muted but ready for something different in the space, too.
And they've only gone and done it again and released too close to Dawntrail. Might still try the Origins server buuuuut
I am playing this. NO KRONO!!!! Finally.
We just get a new mmo after new mmo with graphics from the 2ks.
i love this game but no one plays it and no one groups at lower levels.
EQ2 was amazing at launch, and fantastic for the next several years, but after Destiny of Velious it sort of seemed to lose it's way.
want to get this but how is the pvp?
non-existent. EQ2 doesn't have pvp. They eventually added battlegrounds down the line but it was a bit of a failed experiment. If you're looking for PvP this game will be a disappointment unfortunately.
@@Redbeardflynn what do mean you can't just go out of town and flag pvp like eq1?
@@jtuber7529 PvP is non-existent in EQ1 as well since PoD flagging is permanent and people generally don't do that. Though people have wanted a Zek progression server for some time now.
@@jtuber7529 Well, aside from places like the Arena or that one zone that flagged PvP, I dont remember if areas like those exist in EQ2. Maybe.
@@poisonated7467 that would be sweet if you kill opposite faction or be a criminal and bounty hunter
It would be hilarious if this game got it's time in the sun nowadays.
EQ-2 did catch a bad break with WoW release. too bad, it had a lot going for it.
I fear that this server will also suffer from the timing issue. With FF14 and D2 expansions plus other big games like Dragon Age 4 and D3 expansion coming out later in the year I don't know if people will give it a try. I have a large group of friends that never played it that, if it wasn't for d2 and FF14 they would be on trying it out.