Interesting things new with EQ2

Lisandre · Post by **Lisandre** » November 13, 2004, 6:12 am

Shared debt. When you're grouped, and a member of your group dies, you all share in the XP debt. It kinda sucks when you're grouped with a bunch of dumbasses who can't even get accross a zone without dying. On the other hand, it seems fair that people who tend to die a lot (like pullers) don't get burdened with all the debt. What do you guys think of this?

Locked encounters. I found out today that once you're engaged in battle, no one else can assist you in any way until you yell for help (which makes you lose all XP/quest/loot for the encounter) -- they can't attack your mobs, and they can't heal you unless they're in your group. This seems like a good way to prevent killstealing and power leveling.

I haven't really gotten a good feel for the game yet. My highest level character is only level 13. But, I found those two to be the most interesting innovations they've made to gameplay.

VariaVespasa · Post by **VariaVespasa** » November 13, 2004, 8:21 am

Nods, its got some neat stuff.

Did I hear right that youre limited to 4 characters total though?

*Hugs*
Varia

Akaran_D · Post by **Akaran_D** » November 13, 2004, 11:23 am

Right, 4 characters period. It doesn't help those of us sharing our accounts, I can assure you of that.

It is speculated that they will open up more slots either after they get everything sttled or in the first expansion, and I'll admit, there's A Lot of room for expansions here. If I can remember, I'll post a pic of the world map for you to see.

Other things:
You can ride griffons for transport.
Summoners can summon damn near anything in terms of pets.
Exp debt is BAD BAD BAD if your entire group wipes.
Shamans can rez too.
Taunt is still ass - at least till 20.
Sergeant Quackers and Commander Fluffy > you.
You can buy housepets.

Pherr the Dorf · Post by **Pherr the Dorf** » November 13, 2004, 1:34 pm

Like I'd ever wanna do those first 10 levels again! Immersive yes, but I am very glad they are over

Rivera Bladestrike · November 13, 2004, 2:31 pm

I had no problem keeping agro as a warrior, taunt was fine.

Lisandre · Post by **Lisandre** » November 13, 2004, 2:33 pm

Getting a character to citizen level isn't too bad. You can do it in a few hours. My first character took a while to get citizenship, but the next two went much faster. Solo XP seems to slow down a lot at level 13, though.

Gnomies · Post by **Gnomies** » November 13, 2004, 3:07 pm

check yer damn email lisa =-P

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » November 13, 2004, 5:02 pm

I thought the visual trails that guide you to locations or team mates rocked. Don't forget to use that if grouped or trying to find something you've already discoverd and is on your list. Alt-W I think brings up your waypoint list.

The spell effects and other particle effects are much improved and I found no desire to turn them off like I did in EQ.

The ratonga jumping sound tops them all though.

Lisandre · Post by **Lisandre** » November 13, 2004, 8:27 pm

Gnomies wrote:check yer damn email lisa =-P

Oops. Sorry Gnomies.

Winnow wrote:I thought the visual trails that guide you to locations or team mates rocked. Don't forget to use that if grouped or trying to find something you've already discoverd and is on your list. Alt-W I think brings up your waypoint list.

The waypoints are nice, but don't always work properly. They sometimes point you through walls, or go under the world. It's useful sometimes, though.

Xzion · Post by **Xzion** » November 13, 2004, 10:44 pm

So you would all advise (in freeport) to do the citizen quest before grabing a couple of levels?

Tyek · Post by **Tyek** » November 13, 2004, 11:15 pm

It does not matter, once you finish the citizen quest you get all your backlogged xp.

Lisandre · Post by **Lisandre** » November 14, 2004, 12:36 am

there's a cap -- 220%. After that, you won't be earning any XP anymore.

Xzion · Post by **Xzion** » November 14, 2004, 11:51 am

Lisandre wrote:there's a cap -- 220%. After that, you won't be earning any XP anymore.

so lvl 2 and 20% then you have to do the quest?

Tyek · Post by **Tyek** » November 14, 2004, 2:11 pm

I would a few quests on the island. You are going to need the gear to start. Just doing a couple quests should get you to level 4 fast.

Lisandre · Post by **Lisandre** » November 15, 2004, 5:11 am

Xzion wrote:
Lisandre wrote:there's a cap -- 220%. After that, you won't be earning any XP anymore.
so lvl 2 and 20% then you have to do the quest?

You will not be allowed to hit level 7 until you are a citizen. So, at level 6+220%, you will stop earning XP until you do the citizenship quest -- after which you will ding level 8.

Xzion · Post by **Xzion** » November 15, 2004, 8:52 am

That group thing is a horrible idea. You know that there will always be some assholes that will join your group to die over and over again out of spite...that and the entire group shouldnt suffer over 1 player

Homercles · Post by **Homercles** » November 15, 2004, 11:41 am

I really like how they reqorked the tradeskills. I nearly killed my self while working with the chemistry set last night.

Im also finding the money situation much different. Mobs dont drop coin (at least as far as Ive gotten) so money is harder to obtain. Quests and tradeskills appear to be the way to get money. Almost forces you to work on your tradeskills so you can buy the essentials.

Kaldaur · Post by **Kaldaur** » November 15, 2004, 2:20 pm

I really don't see that happening Xzion. You all remember how assholes would be revealed pretty damn quick, through guild chat, friends, and forums "outing" who was a jackass. I see the same happening in EQ2. Also, if you get someone in your group who is dying a lot, the answer is easy: drop them.

Midnyte_Ragebringer · November 15, 2004, 2:48 pm

Homercles wrote:I really like how they reqorked the tradeskills. I nearly killed my self while working with the chemistry set last night.

Im also finding the money situation much different. Mobs dont drop coin (at least as far as Ive gotten) so money is harder to obtain. Quests and tradeskills appear to be the way to get money. Almost forces you to work on your tradeskills so you can buy the essentials.

Is there a good website that explains tradeskills for the dummies like me. I have no friggin clue what to do. Which tradeskills I allowed to participate in. What is a fuel? Can I get into scribing my own rogue skills(apps)? I even joined a wholesale company and they gave me a task to collect 15 tin clusters. I have no fucking clue what a tin cluster is or where I would collect it.

HELP! hehe

Akaran_D · Post by **Akaran_D** » November 15, 2004, 2:59 pm

Answering your questsions:
http://eq2-artisan.com/ and http://eq2.eqtraders.com/articles/news_page.php for tradeskill questions.

A fuel is an item that is always consumed in the process. Smithing, for example, uses coal. These are all vendor bought.

Tin clusters can be found in the newbie zones. Look for rocks. Click them to mine them out. Harvesting in this game comes down to finding 'resource nodes' and mining the fuck out of it. And you need lots and lots of them.

There was a note at EQ2Traders about makng sure you dump out Fish nodes as well. Every time a node is depleted, a new node spawns of a random resource. Fish count - and hardly anyone fishes.

Homercles · Post by **Homercles** » November 15, 2004, 3:00 pm

the fuels Ive used have been coal, candles, and filaments.

I learned by going to a machine and clicking to create something. It will show the ingredients needed. Then you just go find them. Fuels are sold on site, along with other essentials.

The primary ingredient are gathered or constructed.

Midnyte_Ragebringer · November 15, 2004, 3:06 pm

Thank you fellas

I think I want to be a cook.

Akaran_D · Post by **Akaran_D** » November 15, 2004, 3:09 pm

Just spent 2hrs this morning doing tradeskills, got from 3 to 7, having a blast, ran outta components and using up more cash than I had expected, but this is damn fun. Going in merchant mode for the next couple hours.

Homercles · Post by **Homercles** » November 15, 2004, 3:22 pm

I'll be spending most of this week on Tradeskills while I wait for Bandog to get a system that can run the game.

I'll be a master craftsman!!

Pherr the Dorf · Post by **Pherr the Dorf** » November 15, 2004, 3:47 pm

To me the most interesting part of the game is the fact that it is really OMGIAMRETARDEDCAUSEALOTISTWOWORDS of fun. From the quests to the gameplay to the immersion and tradeskilling, it really tells you what sony has been doing with thier time while ignoring EQ. The game really is a, and I hate to say this as it's sony, it is really a great damn game.

Homercles · Post by **Homercles** » November 15, 2004, 4:05 pm

I agree Pherr. I am truely suprised at the quality of the gameplay so far. I didnt expect to be drawn back into the EQ world so easily. But so far this has me.

Now to find out if it has staying power.

Voronwë · Post by **Voronwë** » November 15, 2004, 4:11 pm

oh shit, i must stop readings this!

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » November 15, 2004, 4:18 pm

If I play, I'm going to the server where Homer is. He's the tradeskill king that can come through with that oddball item when needed!

Adelrune Argenti · Post by **Adelrune Argenti** » November 15, 2004, 4:23 pm

I am a level 10 artisan on Perma now. I have been making elm beds and starting on other furniture as well. I have also been making the apprentice level III runes but am always out of lead which I need in pretty good quantity.

I am almost at a point I can make my first bows and hopefully start turning some coin in selling those. Now I just need to figure out how to sell these while I am not online.

Kilmoll the Sexy · Post by **Kilmoll the Sexy** » November 15, 2004, 4:24 pm

That would be Befallen sir. Homer is still the king of getting me into exp debt though.

Kilmoll the Sexy · Post by **Kilmoll the Sexy** » November 15, 2004, 4:26 pm

To sell while you are not playing, you need to have a house. You go and buy a Message Board from a furniture merchant and hang it on your wall. You can then access other people selling like you would in the bazaar from EQ 1...and you can list and sell your own stuff the same way.

I sold Ice Strike through that last night for 20 sp!!!!

Homercles · Post by **Homercles** » November 15, 2004, 4:52 pm

If I play, I'm going to the server where Homer is. He's the tradeskill king that can come through with that oddball item when needed!

Tradeskill King?? I despised tradeskills in EQ. The only thing I did was fletching.

I think your confusing me with the true Tradeskill king....the ever famous KAVDEN. He was the man!

Fat · Post by **Fat** » November 15, 2004, 4:56 pm

I wasn't going to buy this game, but a friend from home forced me to check it out. I've only been playing since 10 last night and the game looks extremely promising. Sure, the graphics aren't cartooney like WoW (and some people seem to think cartooney = character) but the graphics are stellar and immersive.

The combat system seems like it has been tuned to a greater degree over EQ ,however, I sold my roots and am no longer playing a pure melee. The tutorial aspect seems like a big improvement over the "thrown into the wilderness" attitude of the first game. And for some reason I think I've done as many quests in 12 hours that I did in 300 days played of EQ.

So far, so good. I'll be interested to see how the endgame develops whether I make it there or not.

~ Alfan
lvl 8 HFL Priest
Unrest

Midnyte_Ragebringer · November 15, 2004, 4:57 pm

Winnow wrote:If I play, I'm going to the server where Homer is. He's the tradeskill king that can come through with that oddball item when needed!

Winnow...the anti-tradeskiller. She didn't even know what Quintessance of Knowledge until I explained it to her. I had to create my own shammy gimp to get Quintessance!

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » November 15, 2004, 5:45 pm

As a shaman, I never got past making stink bombs in alchemy class. I eventually clicked my ass off a few days in a row so I could make gate potions.

Anyone looking for 3,000 Titan Potions? Stacked in 10-packs!

What am I doing?

dkjei rfhfifh sisieh rohwp riri
wkjk 38i3 rhrirh titi wnwheor tjtjwp
skei f fnie tiotn wnptjw ntk
dkjei rfhfifh sisieh rohwp riri
wkjk 38i3 rhrirh titi wnwheor tjtjwp
skei f fnie tiotn wnptjw ntkdkjei rfhfifh
wkjk 38i3 rhrirh titi wnwheor tjtjwp
skei f fnie tiotn wnptjw ntkdkjei rfhfifh
wkjk 38i3 rhrirh titi wnwheor tjtjwp
skei f fnie tiotn wnptjw ntk

I'm learning languages in /g!

Moonwynd · Post by **Moonwynd** » November 15, 2004, 6:27 pm

Befallen is the place to be!

Although I did create a Ratonga Fighter on Innothule..just for kicks.

I have my main, Moonwynd - Level 11 Summoner on Befallen. I also have a level 8 Priest (evil Gnome!) on Befallen as well.

I was never much of a tradeskiller in EQ1. I have a 58 Shaman as an alt that I never played unless I wanted him to make me some Quintessence of Knowledge so I can hand out summoned gate necks when goofballs zone into places they cannot zone from....

Pherr the Dorf · Post by **Pherr the Dorf** » November 15, 2004, 8:36 pm

Adelrune Argenti wrote:I am a level 10 artisan on Perma now. I have been making elm beds and starting on other furniture as well. I have also been making the apprentice level III runes but am always out of lead which I need in pretty good quantity.

I am almost at a point I can make my first bows and hopefully start turning some coin in selling those. Now I just need to figure out how to sell these while I am not online.

Same name?

Adelrune Argenti · Post by **Adelrune Argenti** » November 15, 2004, 9:57 pm

Pherr the Dorf wrote:
Adelrune Argenti wrote:I am a level 10 artisan on Perma now. I have been making elm beds and starting on other furniture as well. I have also been making the apprentice level III runes but am always out of lead which I need in pretty good quantity.

I am almost at a point I can make my first bows and hopefully start turning some coin in selling those. Now I just need to figure out how to sell these while I am not online.
Same name?

I am known as Caanais in EQ2 currently.

Xzion · Post by **Xzion** » November 15, 2004, 10:10 pm

Kaldaur wrote:I really don't see that happening Xzion. You all remember how assholes would be revealed pretty damn quick, through guild chat, friends, and forums "outing" who was a jackass. I see the same happening in EQ2. Also, if you get someone in your group who is dying a lot, the answer is easy: drop them.

but 1st that person has to die a lot. Although i played a mage in EQ1, il be playing a Zerker in this game which im guessing will be dying a lot more then most classes, so its not that kind of a situation...too communist for me

vn_Tanc · Post by **vn_Tanc** » November 16, 2004, 6:33 am

I was in a group of 3 that ate about 7 deaths trying to retrieve one of my missus's spirit shards last night ("I was exploring" she says). Total shared debt was about 0.7 yellows, or 30 minutes or orc slaughter in the commons.

I'm having a blast. The most surprising thing so far is the wife-to-be. I was looking at a laptop and mentioned being interested in EQ2 and she said to get the laptop and a wireless LAN and we could both play. She's never played a PC game before. And now she's hooked so in two weeks I'll be married to an EQ2 addict. Life sucks

The game is gorgeous, fun, immersive, easier than EQ1 but not annoyingly so, and they've taken the best ideas/technology from SWG, EQ1, DAoC, FFXI and turned out a hell of a product. It's a shame I'm on deadline crunch from now til xmas or I'd be playing like I did when I was single. And I'm soo close to level 13 ><

Lisandre · Post by **Lisandre** » November 16, 2004, 8:52 am

Tradeskills are much better in EQ2. I got my crusader killed once cause I thought it was just like EQ -- gather the components, hit combine, and hope it works. Apparently, with EQ2, you have to counter stuff that goes wrong with certain moves. It makes it more fun, I think.

And I'm finally getting into using Heroic Opportunities in a group setting. At first it was a pain, cause I was used to soloing and I would just open and try to complete them by myself -- but the others in the group would always break the cycle. It got very annoying. But, tonight, I grouped with a fairly decent player and we started doing a crusader-sorcerer HO combo. Pretty nice.

Maybe we should start a new thread on HOs. For those who are curious, here is how we did it: The warrior starts the HO, the sorcerer hits lightning, the warrior taunts, then the sorcerer hits lightning again.

Akaran_D · Post by **Akaran_D** » November 16, 2004, 11:15 am

Right there with you, Tanc. My girl now sleeps all day while I'm playing (or using the comp for other, elss fun interactions) so she can play all night while I'm in bed.