Customer Reviews

EverQuest

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

I love the concept. And I have played many hours. Inevitably, I will purchase Ruins of Kunark. However, considering the problems with Verant's so-called customer service, I will easily give up the game to something comparable like Shadowbane that I have heard much about. Everything I read "review" wise in this Amazon section, regarding EQ's failed customer SERVICE, is true. There is but a single GM that has ever handled a customer service issue of mine with care, and thoughtful resolute... if only they were all like him - alas, they are not. Obviously, these problems will not be dissimilar within RUINS OF KUNARK which is also a Verant product.

In the time that I have played, Verant has made numerous adjustments to hamper gameplayer efforts to level (I expect it to be time consuming, but requisite play time to level is ridiculous!). Also, as stated in other "reviews," there are too many important in-game items, that are all but impossible to get; thus the real-life auctions of certain items for hundreds of U.S. dollars. Why would anyone consider paying real money, except for many worthy, indeed required items for reasonable in-game progress - that are otherwise impossible to get.

Every other week or so, Verant tweaks the game. Though many issues are addressed in these updates for the betterment of the game, all too many also include alterations that ultimately put the player at a greater disadvantage than before the "update," by imposing a greater inability to gain EXPERIENCE, by which a player advances.

I give EQ RUINS OF KUNARK 5 STARS purely for the thrill of the game concept itself, along with the nothing less than INCREDIBLE graphics throughout. However, Verant strikes out in customer service, ensuring consumer displeasure. And for that, those otherwise 5 stars, drop to a TWO STAR.

I played EQ for about 6 months. This game has great potential, but is seriously flawed.

Its _NOT_ a ROLE playing game. There is no way to role play, no changes happen due to your actions. Indeed, since _most of the people on the servers do _not roleplay, you attempts to do so are doomed to failure. It is a leveling game, pure and simple.

Verant has the _the_ worst customer service I've seen, period. Problems with the game are not dealt with, long standing bugs and code flaws are ignored. A prime entire time the game has been in existance, despite _months_ of bug reports and feedback by _hundreds of customers. Verant couldn't duplicate the bug in testing, due to a flawed testing approach, and basically concluded that hundreds of customers were either lying or simply couldn't do the task properly.

Servers are grossly overcrowded, players will give detailed reasons why the servers should have an active number of players in the 1000 to 1200 range, yet the servers constantly run about 1800 to 2200. This overcrowding seriously hampers game enjoyment of any kind. Verant views this as acceptable, and has done little if anything to alleviate this problem. New servers pack to overflowing within days of their launch.

Verant's constant stream of changes and revisions to the game mean that you can't expect _anything_ to remain stable. Spells, abilities, treasure, creatures, skills, all these go through constant changes and modifications.

Overcrowding and farming of items (gathering items for sale either in or outside the game) mean that you will have to wait in line _hours_ realtime to get nice items and equipment. No, you can't avoid this, you will actually need ot constantly improve your gear as you advance, or weaken drastically. Verant's policy of putting valuable items on rare spawning creatures, and then only having a small percentage of that rare occuring creature drop the valued item means tht you will spend endless frustrating hours (yes, real hours) trying to gather the gear, and mostly failing. Oh, and that assumes someone more powerful than you simply doesn't 'killsteal' the creature, taking it and its loot from under you nose after you've waited hours.

This game has a lot of potential, but is too flawed to waste any time or money on. It will be remembered as the game that pushed the MMORPG (gah, its not a RPG, but that the acronym it has).

It will also be remembered as a the game run by a company making money hand over fist, but absolutely unwilling to spend it to give its customers the product they both expect and deserve.

Just don't.

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.