I was just accepted to the EQ 2 beta (and for that I’m very grateful). Now I haven’t played yet… and before I silence myself with the NDA I thought I’d share some of my thoughts on this MMORPG contender.

Everquest 2 has all the potential to be the sequel of year. It’s got hot contention with Half Life 2, Halo 2, Doom 3, etc. People eat this MMORPG stuff up big time.

Every preview I’ve read over the last 6 months has had the same exact focus - the graphics are pretty, all of the NPCs are voice acted, and the initial Isle of Refuge quests are entertaining. (OMG, if I hear of the Isle of Refuge one more time, or even the boat ride…) Great.

Most previews stop there. Forgive me for sounding like Comic Book Guy, but these previews of the game end at the very same moment where the game actually begins. The Isle of Refuge is the game’s tutorial and only accounts for very tiny bit of your characters progression. Most players will finish this segment in their first sitting. Meanwhile the game is supposed to capture your dollar and attention for months on end. Shouldn’t these game previews extend beyond this short introduction to the game and actually view where we’ll the player would spend most of his time?

These are the sort of previews we read when games are just announced. Low level content is established but the higher-up stuff hasn’t yet been developed and not ready to be viewed by the press. But EQ2 has been in beta over a year now and is scheduled to ship in just a few weeks. Some of the game’s classes don’t even exist until your character reaches level 20. EQ2 _must_ have preveiwable content well beyond level 5.

I think EQ 2 might actually suck big time.

In a similarly disturbing thread, not 1 preview is critical of the game at all. They all read as if they’ve been written by the Sony Online Press core. For instance, here’s a preview that Gamepro.com releaed today. It continues the trend of writing with the same soap opera Vaseline-smeared lens.

Meanwhile the gaming message boards haven’t quite built up my esteem for EQ 2 either.( Sure, most boards are junior high kid crap, but there are a few with mature, high quality communities). Buried deep within threads you’ll find folks who’ve landed accounts for both the WoW and EQ2 betas. Most have snide remarks and a common theme of, “Don’t bother, they’ve killed the series.” This comes from EQ1 lovers and haters alike. Did they break the NDA ? - sure. You’ve gotta love BBS anonymity. But at least they have an opinion instead of the commone press robot spewing out details about the same five levels.

Today I came across the first critical article of EQ 2 that I’ve seen, written by gamehelper.com.. It legitimizes just about every not-so-nice post that I’ve read by people on the boards. Far and away it’s the most complete and truthful picture I’ve seen of EQ2 in a preview.

And so before I enter my NDA obligation I thought I should make a strong suggestion to those of you who’ve preordered EQ 2 - you may want to cancel your order and wait for some reviews. There are a ton of other quality MMORPG games coming out *cough*, with fun and tested gameplay. This one might not deserve your preorder cash.

And with that, it’s beta time!

Dave