EverQuest II
| EverQuest II | |||||
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| Studio | Verant Interactive | ||||
| Publisher |
 Daybreak Game Company (formerly Sony Online Entertainment ) Ubisoft
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| Erstveröffent- lichung |
 November 9, 2004 November 11, 2004 |
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| platform | Windows | ||||
| genre | MMORPG | ||||
| Subject | Fantasy | ||||
| Game mode | Multiplayer | ||||
| control | Mouse , keyboard | ||||
| language | English | ||||
| Age rating |
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| PEGI content rating |
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| information | Total players: approx. 270,000 (worldwide) | ||||
EverQuest II is a class-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) from the game developer Verant Interactive . The online game operated by Daybreak Game Company (formerly: Sony Online Entertainment ) is the successor to its predecessor EverQuest , published in 1999 , which is also still actively operated and further developed. According to the manufacturer, this part should have a different target group than EverQuest and should in no way replace part 1. In December 2011 EverQuest II was switched to free-to-play . This means that it can be played free of charge without any time or level restrictions; Only certain races, special abilities and extensions are chargeable.
action
EverQuest II takes place 500 years after EverQuest in a parallel universe on the fictional planet Norrath. The parallel universe was chosen so that the developers of EverQuest can continue to tell the story of the predecessor completely freely without conflicting with the successor.
The world of Norrath has changed radically since then, as the moon Luclin exploded and debris hit the planet's surface. The only remaining cities are Qeynos under the leadership of Antonia Bayle (the good guys) and Freeport ( in German : "Freihafen") ruled by Lucan D'Lere (the bad guys).
Gameplay
The player begins his journey in a starting area after choosing his character class, race and alignment. For example, a dark elf is evil, a high elf is good, and neutral races like humans have a choice of which side they want to belong to.
Good or neutral characters can start in New Halas or Kelethin, evil or neutral characters can start their adventure in Neriak or Gorowyn. The capitals Qeynos and Freeport are no longer starting areas, but you can move there later. The starting areas offer enough tasks ( quests ) with which the character can rise to level 20 and receive adequate equipment and a ground mount.
The character gains experience by killing monsters or completing the numerous quests from NPCs that can be found all over the world. By reaching a higher level, the player has new skills available that he does not have to learn from a trainer, but can use immediately.
EverQuest II uses "zones" as areas. This has the advantage that when a zone reaches an upper limit of players, a new copy of it is created, thus ensuring that the areas are never overcrowded.
Races
There are 20 playable races in EverQuest II - the so-called frog locomotives were only added later as a selectable race after the players unlocked them through various quests. With the add-on "Echoes of Faydwer" the race of fairies was also integrated into the game, with GU35 (Game Update 35) the breed of Arasai (dark fairies). Since the release of the add-on "Rise of Kunark", the dragon-like humanoid Sarnarks have been available as a playable race. Each breed has different attributes and of course its own distinctive appearance. The vampire race of free bloods can be activated for a fee.
- Good races : halflings, dwarves, high elves, frog locomotives, wood elves, fairies
- Evil races : Dark Elves, Rattonga (up to GU60), Iksar, Ogres, Trolls, Arasai, Sarnarks, free-bloods
- Neutral races : humans, barbarians, Erudites, gnomes, half-elves, Kerrans, Rattonga (since GU60)
Classes
The class system in EverQuest II is very complex compared to many other games. At the beginning of the game, the player chooses one of 25 classes. Originally 16, later 8 of the classes are limited to one of the two factions. To this day, the paladin, elementalist, adventurer and mystic can only be chosen by players on the good side, while the shadow knight, necromancer, brigand and molester is reserved for the bad. For some time now, however, it has been possible to keep the class on PVP servers after betraying your city. The "Beastlord" class is available in the marketplace. The "Bundler" class is part of the "Tears of Veeshan" expansion.
Main classes
- Fighters: Guardian (G&B), Berserker (G&B), Monk (G&B), Brawler (G&B), Paladin (G), Shadow Knight (B)
- Scouts: Troubadour (G&B), plaintiff (G&B), saber rassler (G), brigand (B), ranger (G&B), assassin (G&B), beastlord (G&B)
- Priest: Templer (G&B), Inquisitor (G&B), Warden (G&B), Fury (G&B), Mystic (G), molester (B), Bundler (G&B)
- Magician: Magician (G&B), Warlock (G&B), Thaumaturgist (G&B), Enforcer (G&B), Elementalist (G), Necromancer (B)
(G = good, B = bad)
Upper classes
- Warriors, thugs, crusaders
- Bard, villain, robber
- Cleric, druid, shaman
- Sorcerer, illusionist, conjurer
Craft
In EverQuest II, every character has the opportunity to learn a trade in addition to their combat class in order to produce items that they can either sell at NPC dealers or to other players. The sale takes place predominantly via brokers, where items can be searched for, similar to a swap exchange, or in-house, where the player works as a seller.
At the beginning every character is an artisan, similar to the combat class, he gains experience by making objects and can specialize when he reaches the 9th craft level. A further specialization in the final profession takes place upon reaching the 19th craft level.
Since every item needs certain ingredients, the player has to mine or collect them outside the cities in Norrath or buy them from other players through the broker. With LU24 (Live Update 24) the crafting system was changed and the intermediate components have been omitted. You now get directly from the collected raw materials to the end product.
Craft classes
- Master craftsman (sub-classes: supplier, woodworker, carpenter)
- Outfitter (armorer, tailor, armorer)
- Scholar (Jeweler, Knower, Alchemist)
Groups and Guilds
EverQuest II was initially very much designed for group play, but over time it was adapted to the very strong desire in the community to be able to achieve a lot on your own. Many players who had been there from the beginning and preferred the game in groups, which is now rarely required and often no longer useful, left the game.
A full group can have up to six members. The role concept comes into play here for the first time. A group typically needs at least one tank , one healer, and one damage dealer . Depending on their very special properties, the various classes can fulfill one of these roles. The knowledge and skills of the player are also of considerable importance. Especially with very difficult opponents, the game does not forgive any mistakes made by a member and requires that every player knows his task within a group. A fighter is usually a tank that is only there to take the damage, while the so-called damage dealers , who are almost always provided by mages and scouts, inflict their powerful spells and melee attacks on the opponent. The healer's job is to ensure that the tank is constantly healed. Another role within a group can be the supporter . Its task is to increase the skills of the group members and to weaken those of the enemy. In the early days of the game, this role was largely overlooked, so that typical support classes such as bards (troubadour, plaintiff) or enchanters (illusionist, enforcer) were initially unpopular in the gaming community and were rarely played. However, it became clear that the correct use of the support classes is essential for larger challenges.
The heroic opportunities (HOs = Heroic Opportunities ) represent a special feature. Another player starts a heroic opportunity (which is indicated by a wheel with flashing symbols). Due to the activities of the other players, the wheel moves on and as soon as all the necessary steps have been completed, a particularly powerful spell is activated, which damages the opponent, strengthens the group or something similar.
Guilds also play a big role in EverQuest II . They can also rise in level, for example by the members doing so-called inheritance quests. These are very difficult and tedious tasks that give your own character and especially your own guild many status points, which means that guild members gradually get the opportunity to purchase special armor, robes or horses from the traders for faster travel. The goals of the guilds in the game and the resulting internal rules can be very different.
Raid
A raid is the union of several groups, in EverQuest II currently max. 4 groups with 6 members each. Up to 24 people can form a raid, also known as a raid group or a robbery. Raid groups are formed to defeat particularly powerful opponents. Since a raid is always about extensive actions, there are various strategy descriptions , in English also walk-throughs .
particularities
EverQuest II was supposed to be the first MMORPG with full speech output. More than 1,700 speakers were used for this, who recorded 130 hours of dialogue. In the English version, Antonia Bayle is voiced by Heather Graham and Lucan D'Lere by Christopher Lee . Due to the large amount of language texts, the goal has not yet been achieved. The localization of speech output on non-English servers has also been stopped for the time being.
The game was one of the most graphically complex games of its kind, which is why it had high hardware requirements . With over 24 classes to choose from, EverQuest II is very complex.
criticism
Since its release, and especially after the release of World of Warcraft is EverQuest II under constant criticism of the community. Many of these criticisms have already been improved by the developers.
The game is only available in English after the Russian-language localizations were discontinued on March 31, 2016 and the German and French localizations on April 18, 2016. Japanese localization support will also be removed in early May 2016.
There is only one European server called "Thurgadin"
Adventure packs and add-ons
Currently three so-called "Adventure Packs" for EverQuest II have been released, which can be bought and activated online and expand the game with smaller dungeons and new opponents.
- Adventure Pack # 1: The bloodlines Chronicles (. English title The Bloodline Chronicles )
- Adventure Pack # 2: Die Splitpfoten Saga (English title The Splitpaw Saga )
- Adventure Pack # 3: The Fallen Dynasty (English title. The Fallen Dynasty )
On September 13, 2005 the first add-on with the title "Desert of Flames" appeared and added a completely new area, the desert of Ro, as well as PvP battles , new creatures to the game and monsters. In addition, long-missing "Voice Over Emotes" have been added to the game with the add-on - so far all player characters have remained largely silent. With the add-on, the maximum achievable experience level was raised to 60.
On February 21, 2006 the second Everquest II expansion "Kingdom of Sky" was released. In addition to new zones, enemies and equipment, the level cap has been increased to 70. Furthermore, a new system was introduced, the so-called Alternative Achievement System, in which you can achieve 50 points and which allows players to further individualize their characters.
On November 14, 2006, the third add-on entitled “Echoes of Faydwer” was integrated into the game, which expanded the world to include the continent “Feendunkel” ( Faydwer ) known from Everquest 1 . If you only look at the upper world, Fairy Dark is roughly 5 times larger than the continent "Ro" introduced in the first add-on. The add-on is primarily of a nostalgic nature, as many popular zones from the first part of the game have been brought back to life. Features to be highlighted are the introduction of the new fairy race, guild cloaks, a belief system, over 350 new quests and the coverage of all experience levels from 1 to 70 with new adventure content. With the expansion, the Alternative Achivement System (AA system for short) was expanded to 100 points. When the add-on was released, the quality of the German translation, which was always a major shortcoming of EverQuest 2 , was astonishingly high.
On November 13th 2007 another add-on with the title "Rise of Kunark" appeared in which new areas, quests, creatures and monsters are waiting for the player. Epic weapons have also been introduced for each class. The maximum achievable experience level for adventurers, craftsmen and guilds has been increased to 80, the AA system has been expanded to 140 points. The dragon-like humanoid Sarnarks are available as a new race.
On November 18, 2008 the new add-on "The Shadow Odyssey" was released. With this add-on, a new overland zone and 20 new dungeons were added to the game. Many of the dungeons are based on familiar areas from Everquest. The AA system has been expanded to 200 points, two new gods have returned to Norrath and, in addition to the many new quests, a new class-specific quest series is also available.
On February 16, 2010, the sixth add-on "Sentinel's Fate" was released. This time there were two new overland zones (the divided frontier and the rockfall highlands), 12 new dungeons, 400 quests and 2000 new armor and weapon parts. The maximum experience level that can be achieved has been increased to 90 and new points and skills have been added to the AA system. In addition, PvP battlefields have been integrated into the game.
On February 22nd, 2011 the seventh add-on "Destiny of Velious" was released.
On December 6, 2011, the eighth add-on "Age of Discovery" was released. This add-on expands the game with the features of mercenaries, tradesman apprentice, dungeon creator, beastlord class and reforging. Since October 1, 2013, these functions have been available individually or as a bundle in the in-game marketplace.
On November 13th, 2012 the ninth add-on "Chains of Eternity" was released.
On November 12, 2013 the tenth add-on "Tears of Veeshan" was released. It expands the game to include the healer class "Bundler", a T4 guild hall, the overland zone "Vesspyr Islands" and new dungeons and raid zones. The "Chains of Eternity" extension is included in this add-on.
On November 11th 2014 the eleventh add-on "Altar of Malice" was released.
On November 17th, 2015 the twelfth add-on "Terrors of Thalumbra" was released.
On November 15, 2016 the thirteenth add-on "Kunark Ascending" was released. The adventure pack also includes mercenary skills and all previous expansions.
On November 28, 2017 the fourteenth add-on "Planes of Prophecy" was released. The maximum achievable experience level and the craft level have been increased to 110.
On November 13th, 2018 the fifteenth add-on "Chaos Descending" was released.
With the free-to-play membership, the player receives access to all Adventure Packs and the expansions up to and including "Planes of Prophecy".
Customizability and user interface
The appearance and behavior of the user interface of EverQuest 2 is saved in xml files, which can be freely edited by any user, provided that he has previous knowledge of the structure of these files. Within these files there are predefined XML structures that represent objects, properties and functions of the user interface and can be called up in the game. This very powerful customizability makes it possible to give the user interface of the game a completely new look or even to expand it with functionalities. For example, there is an extension of the interface that enriches the postal system with a "forward" button, or it enables the screen resolution to be switched with a single keystroke.
literature
- Dmitri Williams, Nick Yee, Scott E. Caplan: Who Plays, How Much, and Why? A Behavioral Player Census of Virtual World. In: Journal of Computer Mediated Communication. No. 3, 2008, ISSN 1083-6101 , pp. 993-1018. ( PDF; 204 kB )
Web links
- Official website for EverQuest 2 (German)
- EverQuest 2 Wiki (English)
- EverQuest II at MobyGames (English)
- German EverQuest blog
Individual evidence
- ↑ EverQuest2.com (Red.): Free to Play , tot. 2012-1218-1818.
- ↑ EverQuest2.com (Red.): How much does it cost to play EverQuest II? , sat. 2012-1218-1818.