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EverQuake is more like it

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 34 / 40
Date: December 10, 1999
Author: Amazon User

They call EverQuest a massively multiplayer roleplaying game. A better description would be a massively multiplayer cooperative first person shooter. There's very little roleplay going on in EverQuest but a whole lot of hack-n-slash. The publisher's slogan is, "You're in our world now!" It should have been "tastes great, less filling." EverQuest is beautiful eye candy but, when you get right down to it, there's not a whole lot of substance to the gameplay. From level 1 to level 50 it all comes down to killing the monsters to take their stuff so you can kill bigger monsters to take better stuff.

The basic system will be familiar to anyone who's ever played AD&D which means that there won't be a whole lot to distinguish your character from everyone else who's playing the same class. A wizard is a wizard is a wizard. They all have the same spells and the same skills. They even look the exactly the same. Yes, you can select your character's face but there are only about 8 choices for each race/sex combination and with server populations now starting to exceed 1700 players at peak times, there will be a lot of people running around with your face.

Female characters, with the exception of spellcasters, are pretty much locked into the chainmail bikini look. There's even an "easter egg" that allows you to oggle a semi-topless half-elf's nipples. Which just serves to encourage the less mature players to sexually harrass female characters. I actually had a nice bit of RP going the other day when some slobbering simp started sending me /tells about how great I looked in my thong. That pretty much ruined the mood instantly.

Trade skills are largely worthless. With the exception of jewelcraft and, on the younger servers, smithing they mainly amount to expensive hobbies.

Customer support is virtually non-existant. When I had a video problem it took tech support a week to reply to my email, their preferred method of contact, and then they just sent me a form letter referring me to their video FAQ which I, as I had indicated in my initial email, had already gone through and tried. In game support is just as bad. If you need help, expect to wait a minimum of 20 minutes to get a response from someone and several hours is not unheard of. When a GM finally does show up...well, they have well deserved reputations for being rude, obnoxious, arrogant, and not particularly helpful.

And I hope you like sitting in one place for hours on end killing the same thing over and over again waiting for something that only spawns once ever 8 hours (or more) to show up so you can kill it in the hopes that it will drop an item that it only drops on rare occasions. In fact, I hope you like standing in line for hours on end waiting for your turn to sit in one place for hours on end, etc. because you will be doing that alot at the higher levels. You see, that's the only way to get a lot of the nicer high level items.

Special events are largely excuses for GMs to run amok with high powered creatures that the players have little to no hope of defeating, killing players left and right until they get bored.

Verant is constantly tweaking the game to improve play balance which would normally be a good thing but they favor quick fixes over good fixes and that means they usually cause more problems than they fix. Also, it is their standard procedure to *NOT* announce when they make a change that will have a major negative impact on the players. Which means players find out about the changes the hard way. A lot of necromancers died when the previously unresistable Lifetap spell series became very resistable but no one bothered to tell them.

For what it is, EverQuest is a good game but it does have some serious problems. There's not a whole lot of depth to the game and customer support is among the worst I've ever seen. If all you're interested in is hack-n-slash, then EverQuest may very well be the game for you. But if you're looking to get anything else out of the game, look elsewhere. I know people who've played for a few months before finally quitting in disgust and going back to text-based MU*s because they're more fun. When you think about it, that's a pretty sad comment about EverQuest.

EverQuest is just that!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 25 / 28
Date: November 22, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Cut to the chase...EQ is a game unlike no other. Asheron's Call is zoneless, yes, and you can have larger parties, yes, but EQ is more of a roleplaying game than the others. It does not allow player killing unless you agree to be one (which you can do at any time). It gives spells real names - rather than Heal Song One for instance, a bard sings Hymn of Restoration. Rather than speed, a shaman cast Spirit of the Wolf (SoW). It is this type of verassimilitude within the genre that make EQ great. In addition the world is huge. I have been playing for three months now and have only really explored four zones out of 70 some odd - though I have been to about 10 others. Each zone is unique, and exploring the EQ world reveals stunning vistas and new enemies to be dealt with. The early going is a bit tedious, but by level 7 the game becomes rivetting. You will have forged friendships with other characters and will regularly use your friends list to see if they are online and ready to group with you on another quest. You will also continue to make friends by your actions and words in the EQ world, and as they start exploring they will invariably invite you along to share the adventure. Finally, let me mention the updates. EQ is regularly updated and they actually listen to the players when they make changes. And changes are not to allow players to advance faster - rather they are to increase the pleasure of the gaming experience. They even run a test server that any EQ player can log onto and experience potential updates that might occur on the main servers themselves. Also, in March comes out the add-on which launches a new continent in the south and a new race of lizard-like creatures with their own unique abilities. It also promises improved graphics (and believe me, the graphics are already stunning) and game handling. So...if you want to purchase an on-line multi-user massive world game, EverQuest is the one for you.

Bait and Switch

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 18 / 18
Date: March 15, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I have been very disappointed with Everquest. The game itself is quite good, although the company has been slow to resolve bugs, often denying that they exist.

1) The biggest problem is that the company is not truthful with the players. The starting statistics for character formation, for example, are extremely incorrect, and the company refuses to give the actual effect of various statistics.

2) More serious, the company vowed that it would keep online servers at 1500 players. Now that a lot of people have signed up and spent a lot of time building up their characters, the company has reneged on its promise and lets over 2000 players on a server in order to make more money. This means that you are frequently disconnected in the middle of a fight and also that, many times, you simply cannot play when you want to -- on weekends and between 6 pm and 11 pm.

The most important effect of this overcrowding, though, is that the game is downright unpleasant to play. The "prizes" that players get for accomplishing various missions are very limited. Thus, you will have maybe 50 players wanting to get into a dungeon and fight a particular battle, but only 6 are able to do so. And even then, the object will be obtainable only, say, once every four hours, so even among the six, only the one who has been there the longest will be able to get it.

Like an overcrowded highway, this makes the players very irritable towards each other and makes for an extremely unpleasant gaming environment. Not to mention, a lot of people paying money for a game they can't play.

In practice, therefore, if you want to play this game, you must be willing to play for 24 hours straight while snarling at other people.

Huge World; Great Graphics; No Role Playing;

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 16 / 17
Date: March 03, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Visually this game is awesome. The monsters the NPC's the other players, all stunning.

At low levels this game can be a lot of fun. You have a sense of accomplishment every time you log on. Whether its for half an hour or an entire day.

As you progress it becomes more and more diificult. Eventually you cannot log on for half an hour and accomplish something. The creatures you have to fight to lvl are camped with 20-30 other players (during peak time) with a waiting list to get at them. They have made it impossible for the casual player to get to high lvls.

I have had fun in this world. But i caution anyone without a whole lot of free time, DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. All the high lvl players are students who are skipping class, guys who are laid off from jobs, or housewives.

Buy this game if you have tons of free time and a lot of patience. Do not buy this game if you like a story line, and historical background. This game is visually stunning, but behind the graphics there isnt much else!

Very Fun Game ... But there is better out there IMHO

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: January 18, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I am an addict. I LOVE RPG games. I started with Muds, and moved on to single player RPGs and then Massive Multiplayer RPGS. I greatly enjoyed UO when it came out, and enjoyed Everquest for 6 months. Now, however, I am spending 10s of hours per week on Asheron's Call. MY POINTS --------------- ONE: I love the "High Fantasy" aspects of Everquest. If you play an Ogre, you have to actually look down to see the elf you may be talking with. TWO: I also really liked the graphics in Everquest, but then i realized that eventually the characters all look the same since you cannot customize your appearance such as hair/eyes etc. THREE: If you are patient, and love to play cooperatively with others, there is nothing wrong with the game play. FOUR: The 2 things I liked least were the "Zones" .. which feel like a bunch of quake levels, and the lack of advanced quests. The quests are simple "Get [insert object name here] from [insert NPC character name] in [insert far away town name] and return to [you get the idea]" FIVE: Also, the different races offer too many advantages that tend to have all Fighters as ogres and all mages as elfs. I prefer a more level playing field and skill/XP vs just XP based character development. SIX: I must say the Everquest character development/combat systems are weak at best (far better then UO's, and noticeably worse then Asheron Call's)Simply put the char and combat system are too simple. It takes very little strategy in battles. Simply "hit as best you can then run." SUMMARY : Good Game if you like High Fantasy and you are patient, But Check out Asheron's Call as I think it offers more all round.(but you wont be able to play a troll or elf etc .. just human) -- TROG lvl 23 Ogre Shaman - Bristlebane -- Camber lvl 29 Sho War/Item Mage - Morningthaw

Things you can't see by looking at the box

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: March 31, 2000
Author: Amazon User

First off -- as a piece of programming, EverQuest truly is amazing. It's an enormous world, with a lot of possibilities. However, in a game like this, that's not all you get when you open the box.

You're also getting the people within the game. I think this is mostly up to you, but if you don't want to interract with and sometimes depend on others -- look elsewhere.

The last part is the customer service. I have to say everquest has probably the most awful customer relations policies and staff I have ever seen from a company ANYWHERE. Don't count on having your questions answered, your problems resolved, or your bugs acknowledged.

Balance all that when making your choice.

EverQuest:Great until lvl 20, then it gets soooo boring.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: January 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

this is really michael, mary anne's son, but that doesn't really matter. i only say that because hardly any girls play this game, if any. anyway, at first the game rocks. when you first turn on the computer you wish you could get on as fast as possible. when you turn it off, you wish you could play more, well, not really. it's addicting at first, but not THAT addicting. as i was saying, up until lvl 20 it's great and i think you level fairly fast if good at the game, but it took me 2 months and hundreds of hours of playing to get there, and i wanted to have more of a life. after all, i had a girlfriend and guitar lessons to spend time on... if you are a big RPG fan like me, you'll like it a lot the first two months. but be prepared to spend a lot; it costs $50 to buy and an addition 10 dollars each month after that, ignoring the first month which is absolutely free. and the downside is that if you cancel your account, you can't make another one so if you want to play again some months later you have to buy a new game cd. you must have LOTS of time on your hands, and it is challanging. if you are very good it's the best game in the world, but the problem is that i found the cooler, more fun classes to play were the hardest to be. my lvl 20 wizard gets killed so much, and it is impossible to solo, kill monsters alone, with him, while warriors, a very boring class, level fast and are easy to play with. all in all, buy this game if you love RPG's, otherwise forget about it.

A Complete Waste Of Time..

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 13 / 19
Date: December 25, 1999
Author: Amazon User

This game is designed to keep you online as long as it can.The higher level you get the harder it is for you to kill creatures your level...and it gets worse until you get to the point to where you CAN'T fight alone.Money becomes useless because there isn't anything to purchase at higher levels.Most players prefer trading rare items over cash.Rare items that require hours of "camping" to obtain.The servers are over crowded causing frustration and a general bad attitude to alot of people.You have to wait in line for good items.You have to wait a long while after every battle to heal.You have to wait while the game loads to another section of the map. You have to wait while the servers are being " updated" 6 hours or more at a time.You have to wait...PERIOD.

The game claim's to be a RPG but what it boils down to is a Hack & Slash in a fantasy setting.I played the game to a very high level in hopes that something would make the game better but it never changes.Even with different Race/Class combo's the game is all the same.Also do not rely on customer service at all.The "guides" in the game are more harm than help..often banning players for personal reasons.It seems that they have taken a defensive stance against the players and believe everyone is dishonest and out to get them..expect to wait upwards to 5 hours or more for any reply at all (if you ever get one) All in all i would recomend some of the more thought out games that exist out there such as Ulitma Online or Asheron's Call.EQ just ate up my time and wasted alot of money.

Greatest Online Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: November 17, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Everquest is incredible! I played UO when it first came out, and it was fun. I picked up Everquest in June and have been playing it ever since. What of Asheron's Call? I played the Beta. I liked some aspects of the game (no zones, larger parties esp.) but the feel of the world and the fealty idea just didn't hold me and back to EQ I went. The players are the best, the friendships I developed make the game so addictive that I can't leave! The best part is that the game is ever changing. GM events, updates to graphics, quests, and player run functions make the game the Greatest! I also love the fact that there are no god characters (ala UO). Even at the level max, you still have a tough time soloing; and you can't even touch a dragon by yourself! If you want an incredible world, immersive gameplay, and a whole lot of fun Everquest is for you.

Everquest starts fun....

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 10 / 13
Date: January 09, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Ok, bottom line, this game starts out fun, and addictive, ok that said and done I wanna tell you how it really is. Everquest is just what it says, a quest that just keeps going and going, now I know this may sound fun at first, but keep reading. after playing my character to lvl 19(takes forever, 2 - 3 months) I finally realised that the game is not changing, it never gets harder, its always the same, every enviroment is modeled after another, only changed a bit, the monsters are uninspired and it takes forever to get up lvls, as you can see above,(for those of you who don't know, a lvl is what you gain after getting enough experiance[which is what you get when you kill a monster] to surpase a limit which gains you a lvl and makes you better at fighting monsters.) The monsters have terrible AI(artificial inteligence) they wander about the world until you or someone comes into view, then they attack you! there is no AI in this game, a lvl 1 orc pawn will attack a lvl 20 warrior! How stupid is that? Does the pawn give any consideration to your supiriority? No, it is simply programed to attack whatever comes into view. The only thing that gets harder about EQ as you go along is how long it takes to get lvls. It can take you as much as 6 months to a year before you get up to lvl 50(the highest lvl you can obtain). Another thing is the price, which ALL online RPG's charge, you pay $40 - $50 to buy the game at the store, but it doesnt stop there, you have to pay 9.95 a month to continue playing. Now, if you have to pay $9.95 a month, why do they make you pay $50 to buy the game? they should make it $20 to buy the game, and they should lower the price of the monthly cost as the game gets old, but they don't, so you'll end up paying a ridiculous price for everything and in the end, realise it wasn't worth it. On the plus side, you get one month of play time free when you start to consider whether you want the game or not. Also the sound effects are pretty good.

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