This is the comments I wrote on QT3 that summarize at best my point of view on the game. The truth is at the end :)

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I’m playing right now. I just started two days ago for the first time and I never saw the game before.

I have to say that the overall graphic is much better than how I expected. There are many aspects I don’t like (animations, particle effect indigestion, very bad clipping) but the game has plenty of jaw-dropping moments. It makes you go “OH WOW!”.

And then it is also hugely varying. Some of the art is gorgeous, some even below the amateur level. Overall, again, I’m positively surprised but the game has those sharp highs and lows.

The first and foremost problem is that to enjoy the prettiness at its best you need a computer that doesn’t exists yet. EQ2 engine is highly demanding.

The PvE encounters themselves are much more polished and feel so much better in WoW. The respawn rates in EQ2 are insanely fast and you cannot move anywhere without the mobs popping on top of you midfight without even a fade effect. They run around and chase with jerky movements and don’t look too good while in combat, it’s also not rare that the animation breaks and the mob stands there dead but without an actual dead animation. During combat even *a bear* will hit you with FRIGGIN particle effects, and the spell effects always look terribly “inflated” besides the hugely varying quality.

WoW is smoother, polished. It feels better also thanks to the fluidity of the engine and the movements/animations/attacks of the mobs. EQ2 here feels directly rougher and approximate.

The design of the zones is another element of difference. WoW is bigger, with open spaces and a rather complex and detailed world design. Each zone is unique with its own interesting corners and Points Of Interest. EQ2 is more “compressed”, sometimes it feels closer to Guild Wars. The world design is much less polished. The open zones may look horrible. I’ve been in the Commonlands that would be subpar even compared to DAoC. You just have a barren zone surrounded by mountains (the typical “bowl” type of zone) with two ground textures (desert and grass) and rocks scattered around randomly. It completely lacks any world design. There are groups of mobs standing around without any sense. These spawn points look silly because you see clusters of different mobs types as if you walked around a showroom. Yes, the beetles are amazing to see at closer range with the specular lights and everything, but the zone looks awful overall and the superiority of WoW on the zone design is evident.

In general I’d say that EQ2 does a good work with structures and indoor/city/slums locations, while WoW is far superior with the zone design (ground textures, zone layout and planning, vegetation etc..)

I really find hard to say if I’m liking it or not. There are some parts I absolutely love. Some parts that are awful. As I play I have moments of amazement and moments of delusion.

Overall EQ2 feels more “compressed” and rich compared to WoW. As you start the game you are sort of overwhelmed. WoW’s newbie experience is MUCH more directed and with smaller steps. EQ2 happens all at once. In quick repetition.

This may seem an advantage for WoW, but it’s not. EQ2 is really capable of sucking you inside the monitor from the first minute and not letting you out anymore. I found it way more addicting. I loved to discover the game and all its various systems. WoW feels smaller while bigger. EQ2 feels bigger while smaller.

WoW has more “breadth”. Less elements but planned much better, to have a clear and direct role in the game. EQ2 is much more confused, crowded and rich. This means that a single element in WoW can be much better than EQ2. Much better designed and presented. EQ2 is rougher, imprecise, approximate, garbled. This for game design, graphic and presentation. But this also makes it feel richer. It’s immersive in a totally different way from WoW. But I have to admit it works.

The truth:

Right now EQ2 isn’t there as an heritage of EQ Classic. It’s instead strategically put as a gate for the new players that arrived with WoW, those who couldn’t metabolize the endgame content and are now looking for a product that is similar, yet different. EQ2 is a trapdoor on WoW. An exit point. It’s not a competitor for WoW. EQ2 is instead a parasite. It draws life from WoW and is slowly shaping up as a really nice and fun game.