I’m reading an interesting thread over at F13 and I’ll save here stuff:

Rasix:
As for the other game, I’m just not convinced yet that:

a) I’ll be able to run the fucker as fluidly as WoW. And WoW’s graphics bother me not.

b) With all that I’m reading, EQ2 just won’t meet my needs. It won’t go far enough with solo/casual support (special mobs on dungeon fringes doesn’t count).

I’d love to actually get in the EQ2 beta and be proven wrong. I think I forgot to sign up, so that could be a problem. I think Norath is a much better setting than the War 3 world and would love to be convinced that my time spent in it would be worthwhile.

What are your impressions on the combat, quests and stuff other than eye candy?

Schild:
I noticed some type of animation was attached. the weapons just go through shit and I can run through enemies, etc etc. It’s crap. For the amount of money they spent – a better product should have come out of it.

Combat feels like horizons. Attacks to match up with the enemies. There are timers for related skills.

Quests? Same as everything else. Choice is neat, but uhm, that never mattered to me anyway.

I haven’t seen any new eye candy that I didn’t already see in Warcraft III.

I think it all comes down to – Blizzard aimed low and hit it’s mark. That doesn’t impress me. Far too much money spent on a refined 1st generation MMOG.

Alluvian:
NDA Rasix. Can’t compare WoW and EQ2 now, as much as I would love to. For me there is very little comparison. But I can’t discuss it.

WoW didn’t impress me. Nothing in the world made me think “Holy shit, that’s cool”. Some other nameless game has done that a lot so far. But that other nameless game is not only under an NDA, it is also a lot earlier in their beta phase, and has it’s own problems at the moment.

Bottom line is I am not considering buying WoW. Not even crossing my mind in a dream anymore. I won’t even be back for the open beta.

Merusk:
You guys are the first I’ve heard of actually enjoying EQ2. You know as well as I do that if an opion of the game sucks people break the NDA without a care. Mainly because they think their anonimity on the internet will protect them from litigation. I’ve heard from others in the beta that it’s not worth the time. I’ll still check it out when I get my invite, but It’s got a lot of ground to make up. Eyecandy doesn’t impress me much, gameplay and fun do. If the grind is anything like EQlive I’ll give it a pass without a second thought. I’m done with the pointless treadmills.

People also keep defending EQ2 with “It’s a lot earlier in it’s beta stage.” No, it’s not. It’s at the same beta stage, they just have less time under their belt and got there a lot faster. Part of that is their experienced team. Part of that is SOE at least can turn things around fast when they have to. It also means they rush shit out the door, but we’ve all bitched about that aspect of SOE for years.

Bliz has a glacial pace that I think will hurt them come live. They’ve started speeding up, but they’ll never match SOE’s frenzied pace of 2-3 patches a week. Not if they want to maintain their reputation with their fanbase. (Hell it’s already taken a small hit just on rumors that the game will be live in November.)

WoW and EQ2 both say they will release this year. I know they’ll both do it, if only out of fear that if they don’t the other guy will. My summation is, I expect WOW to be the winner in the short-term, but over the long-term EQ2 might just win out because of their understanding of MMOs.