The reason I say this is simple: even in this case, I gave up even before playing the game!!!

I downloaded the HUGE client (over 2Gb). Even with a broadband connection, that isn’t a joke. Anyway, once I finally finished, I installed it and started the game. Then the patcher started. The progression was insanely slow…. 0.1%….0.2%….0.3%… and so on!!!

What I download a 2Gb client and isn’t even the latest version? I quit after I reached 1% in about 5 minutes… then I played the latest shareware demo of Spidweb, Avernum 5. Less than 10 minutes from download to begin playing. Those big MMORPG producers need to learn a lot from indie developers!!!

An evening playing EQ2:

“I logged in and of course nobody is looking for group, as always, despite being a healer. Fine, I go to loping plain to finish some quests, since they give really a good boost to XP. I travel there…. travel… run by horse, that’s 24% running speed bonus! …still quite slow… running… I am almost there! ah but must climb that loooooooong wall in butcherblock mountains, great, another 5min gone… running… now take the griffon… running… zoning… now running again to avoid the monsters to reach the zone – but wait, someone is calling for an healer to do Karnor Castle! that would be great XP and loot, so I ask to join. They accept! but… now must travel back! ;_; well ok, I can make it, Call of the Overlord to teleport back to Freeport, then I take the boat to Kylong Plains and I arrive there, great, only another 15 min wasted, not bad.

I zone in, and an idiot puller make me die twice in a row. He can’t make it, really. Keeps pulling 2 monsters at once, and I can’t heal him fast enough since they hit him for 2k at once…! I go out deciding to quit, but they convince me to wait, they want to do an instance in Loping Plain. Great! just where I was only 15 min ago…!

The druid creates the portal and I click to enter but… great, I didn’t harvest the special bush to be able to travel there!! that’s where I decide to say goodbye, and log. I downloaded Istaria, I’m going to try that, since I am really fed up with EQ2 and its insane wasting times. Sony should realize that not everyone has the time and patience to waste 15-20 min EVERYTIME they want to group or do anything!!!!!!!!!!!!

It must be true, since I found a pleasant surprise when I was checking the website for the Rise of Kunark new expansion: they gave me 60-days of free trial. I heard that is a promotion they’re doing with people that were previously paid-subscribers like me. However I stopped playing it in 2005 for time problems, so I was pleased to see that Sony was remembering the people who paid even so long ago.

So I downloaded the client and all the various patches (almost an entire afternoon gone!) and resumed playing with my old character. Quite lot of stuff has changed, new AA (Alternate Advancement) that help people solo. Talking with people in game I also understood that Sony did a very strong job to fight the EQ Gold vendors / sellers, by applying a strict banning to everyone was caught sending in-game email to sell gold!

Also, I’ve found that soloing now is more enjoyable, with the new Kunark zone perfect for my old character (that was a level 62 inquisitor).

So it’s all good? well, no, not exactly – soloing is great but grouping is really a problem now. Maybe because there aren’t many players around, or simply because everyone is playing with people they already know. And I can understand why: last time I found a group we waited 45 min (yes you read well, 45 MINUTES!!) for a tank to come!!! of course after the 45 min was gone, I camped and left the group (I have a real life too!).

So there are still the old problems: takes a while to travel from one place to another, and if you’re like me that can’t spend too many hours a day on a MMORPG, you really don’t watn to waste precious time traveling on Everquest lands…

A pity because the game itself, with his detailed combat system, is really good now. And has depth, with lot of quests and storylines. But if takes 15 min to reach a zone I want, I don’t see myself playing it for long time in future. I know that would break the realism, but some fast teleport thing available to every player, would be much appreciated!!