Why did some EQ players dislike WoW?

[Issar]

EQ started to lose me after PoP. I had started getting into games like DAoC and ShadowBane prior to WoW. When WoW came out it was the quality of life improvements from EQ were welcome because I was becoming an adult with responsibilities. As much as I loved gaming EQ required too much time. As much as I loved wow, the pop culture stuff, the rails, the lack of races and classes were all things I didn’t love at the time. Outside of that, I still play retail wow. I can’t be bothered to play retail EQ, after several attempts over years to try. P99 and TAKP are irreplaceable sanctuaries now.

[GardylooGubbins]

I played EQ all the way through LDoN, and started playing WoW when it came out. Here are my memories good and bad:

Good:

1) WoW was definitely the prettier game. I didn't care as much for the cartoony graphics, but I remember the color pallet and the overall aesthetic of the towns being better.

2) Gameplay was super easy to pick up, and skills/spells didn't seem like they'd be crap until you ground them out for dozens of hours.

3) It was much easier to make a "cool" looking character early in the game.

Bad:

1) I could never get fully immersed in the world. This is one of those things that I've never understood, because for all intents and purposes, WoW's world was much more alive and less static than EQ. But there was always something missing. I couldn't get sucked in like in EQ. Maybe it was the quest markers telling me which NPCs were worth talking to. Maybe it was the way I didn't have to figure anything out on my own. I don't know. All I can say is that EQ always felt like a world I was transported to, and WoW felt like a theme park I was playing in.

2) While the class variety seemed good at first, the choice to give every player solo abilities eventually led to me not really caring what I played. Grouping and solo strategies were less important it seemed, and most people seemed content to solo most of the PvE content.

3) There was always a heavy emphasis on PvP. I despise PvP content. In MMOs I want my experience to be more DnD night, and less Halo night. I know this is not the attitude of many players these days, but it was one of the major factors that drove me away from WoW as expansions went on.

4) Very little downtime for mana/health regen means less time chatting with friends in game. Some of my best memories of EQ are the random conversations I'd have with groupmates while waiting for the cleric to regen mana.

[Jibartik]

I cant explain this but when I see someone from across the zone in EQ I know who it is, but in wow I cant make out one person from the next.

[unsunghero]

Originally Posted by Ghost of Starman [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

the classic WoW servers would have been a blast except for the horrible, horrible player base and Blizzard refusing to change things. Level 60 mages shouldn't have been able to run people through low level zones for XP, world buffs should not have been a raiding requirement, and the worst of the worst was the whole community was overrun by an extreme min-max mentality to where you would only bring specific classes to raids to steamroll them as fast as possible. The game was the same, but the player base sure wasn't,

I think this is a phenomenon that will affect any game that was released so long ago. People had been playing classic WoW era on Nostalrius (sp?) and other private servers for a decade before classic launched. So these people became the authority on exactly how to min/max everything, and then put all that information online

No game will ever be able to escape this anymore. It’s just like if they released a new Green, everyone will know exactly where to level and exactly what to farm and everything is now basically a speed run, shaving smaller and smaller amounts of time off in regards to getting what you want in game

That’s why people are nostalgic for vanilla WoW and EQ, because it was in an era where this wasn’t possible. That era is long gone and is never coming back

[Sadre Spinegnawer]

eq2 yer gear needed repairing. Could get pricey. Hope your guild helps ya out!
I loved that design choice. It was so irritating to so many people. But the ease of use juggernaut is relentless.

Again, the core issue, the core mistake, the error, is people conceptualize a game as something that is or should be designed to co-exist with something called a life.

That is a design assumption I am not willing to make. I think it is the exact opposite of how you develop true elf simulator excellence.

Somebody needs to come to their senses and realize this is what matters now. This is all that matters. Or sure, we all have loved ones, but let's face it, did you sign some kind of contract that says you have to be Mr. I Am Balanced? Why are loved ones an obstacle to you disappearing from all local human contact for days on end?

I deal with old people. Some of them, you get one day out of four, you got a real live wire.

The unrealistic expectations people have about life are like leads weights on the human spirit. People tell me to get with it, but when I ask them what discord channel they are on, they get defensive. "Oh, this upsets my routine! I have to get back to my car!"

Yeah, like that 5 minutes in the Rite Aid parking lot messed up your entire day. I was thinking. Get with it. I am with it, honey!

[SantagarBrax]

EQ was a Juggernaut when WoW released. We knew EQ was a much better game and didn't feel threatened by wow in the slightest. The cartoony graphics alone killed any viable fantasy feel to it and that was the majority of the opinion of the players on Xegony.

Unfortunately, SOE made some fatal mistakes that boosted WoW into the frontrunner spot without putting in the time and killed their own brand at the same time. WoW was a "dumber" game designed for easy access and less commitment.

1. EQ2 - split dev teams and made em go over there.
2. The transition to instancing thus killing off inconceivable interactions within the game (LDON)
3. EQ Marketing was terrible in the U.S. Overseas, they were wonderful, yet you never saw any advertising on TV for EQ, it simply didn't exist.
4. SOE's relentless bullshit keying for every expansion from VP to ST, Luclin, PoP, etc. We were tired of it and needed a break and GoD broke the camels back.
5. SOE's bullshit "we need a new expansion drop!" that went from 18 months with kunark to 4 months with LoY and the trend persisted for money grabbing's sake with the average around 6-9 months thereafter.

SOE fucked up royally in so many ways it's hard to list them all. The one thing we can be sure of is that they lost the player base from their own greediness, rush to drop broken/limited expansions and everyone knew it at the time it was happening. We saw it live and experienced the degradation from the poor choices at the top and we never forgave them.

[Encroaching Death]

I remember playing EQ and Asheron's Call, and then when DAoC dropped it was like a fine ass naked woman walked by me and I got tunnel vision and I completely forgot about EQ and AC.

Then WoW came out. I largely ignored it until I saw my sister's boyfriend playing it and I was like "WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUU???"

Then I ate some ass.

[Sadre Spinegnawer]

Originally Posted by SantagarBrax [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

EQ was a Juggernaut when WoW released. We knew EQ was a much better game and didn't feel threatened by wow in the slightest. The cartoony graphics alone killed any viable fantasy feel to it and that was the majority of the opinion of the players on Xegony.

Unfortunately, SOE made some fatal mistakes that boosted WoW into the frontrunner spot without putting in the time and killed their own brand at the same time. WoW was a "dumber" game designed for easy access and less commitment.

1. EQ2 - split dev teams and made em go over there.
2. The transition to instancing thus killing off inconceivable interactions within the game (LDON)
3. EQ Marketing was terrible in the U.S. Overseas, they were wonderful, yet you never saw any advertising on TV for EQ, it simply didn't exist.
4. SOE's relentless bullshit keying for every expansion from VP to ST, Luclin, PoP, etc. We were tired of it and needed a break and GoD broke the camels back.
5. SOE's bullshit "we need a new expansion drop!" that went from 18 months with kunark to 4 months with LoY and the trend persisted for money grabbing's sake with the average around 6-9 months thereafter.

SOE fucked up royally in so many ways it's hard to list them all. The one thing we can be sure of is that they lost the player base from their own greediness, rush to drop broken/limited expansions and everyone knew it at the time it was happening. We saw it live and experienced the degradation from the poor choices at the top and we never forgave them.

But the ease of use issue. Even you note it. Ease of use = a game that can co-exist with a broader range of players' lives.



Both instancing and key reduction are ease of use adjustments. The nerf bat.



I just think one is missing the boat (HAHAH) if you think ease of use / ease of life was as central an idea then as it certainly is today. That is why Jibartik's post earlier is so concise.



He used the word nerds. I'll use the word weirdos. The weirdos liked this fantasy persistent world. WoW introduced a "FPW" that was easier.


And everyone wanted easier. Nerf the fucking hell out of it. Instance your mother. Eliminate the pain of incompetence. The weirdos had lost.

WE ALWAYS LOSE.


Most people here are closeted. They dream of giant nerf bats swinging back and forth making the game ejaculate pure quality of life excellence.


That's a turn off for me.

[SantagarBrax]

True Sadre, yet nothing in life worth having comes easy, otherwise it's not cherished.

[Allishia]

Originally Posted by SantagarBrax [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

True Sadre, yet nothing in life worth having comes easy, otherwise it's not cherished.

/nod.