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Everquest: Titanium for Windows
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Everquest: Titanium for Windows
127 reviews   3.6 of 5

Product Description

Sound

Music is horrible, seriously. It sounds like midi music from 1995. The actual effects are ok tho.

Gameplay

The gameplay lacks a lot of substance. On the top, it seems that there is a lot to do but when you start to look into the details you find it is very shallow. Lets start with combat first since that is what most of this, supposedly, roleplaying game consists of. The combat involves 3 stages the first being clicking on a mob, the second clicking attack and the third going making a cup of tea while the computer does all the fighting for you. No seriously that is what combat consists of, apart from the occasional click of the "kick" or "bash" button. There is no ill use my oil flask and a match to set them on fire or even finding a creature's weak spot and attacking it, you just sit back and watch your animated self stand there and trade hits. You cannot believe how boring this gets when you add in the second element, camping. Camping, this consists of staying in the same spot for up to 10 hours, it really depends on how long you play the game. One person, maybe two, runs off and whacks a monster to lure it back to the group so they can kill it, as a side note since monsters respawn every 5/10 minutes so you usually end up attacking the same 4-6 creatures again and again. What is that? Dungeon crawling, sorry in this game you cant do that because every dungeon has at least 40 people in it all sitting in safe spots all camping their own little area. Now onto the next part of the gameplay, quests. Quests, the meat and bones of roleplaying games, shame Everquest messed them up. Why are they messed up? Well for one just going to up a NPC to get a quest is an ordeal in its self as you have to type the right 'keyword' to get the NPC to spout its quest information. This can lead to my strange and funny sights as you see NPCs go "Hello , I'm busy at the minute making a spell but I cant seem to find the right 'ROOT'.", only to see the player then go "What root", "Ill find your root", "Can I help you find the root", "What root are you looking for" and so on trying every single thing they can think of with the word root in it until they come to "flowerpot, smoke, jelly, ROOT" which then the NPC carries on talking. The quests don’t even give you a good amount of reward for all the messing around, which leads me onto items. There are 1000's of items in Everquest, which is a good thing. However since everyone hunts in the same place nearly for each level bracket its more or less pointless because you end up with every player having to choose from around 15 of each item meaning its more less cookie cutter. Even if you do go to places were most people don’t they are usually that dangerous that it's not worth it, its far easier to just sit, camp and get money from hill giants which only appear in any quantity in one zone meaning the camping and boredom levels go through the roof. Ah but there is another way to get items, trade-skills and guess what they are bad too. Trade skills in Everquest consist of opening some kind of container, be it a forge, an oven, fletching kit putting a few components in it and then clicking combine. No that’s it, really. You might be able to experiment except there are that many guides on the internet it's very hard not to go and look at one to make sure you are not wasting your hard earned money which you just got from camping hill giants for 8 hours while watching Buffy as your character fought. Oh but these items are not even the best ones, you get them from raiding, which unfortunately is even worse than camping. Raiding is meant to consist of a numbers of playing facing off a powerful foe using their minds and knowledge of the foe to take it down, in reality it consists of 80 to 100 idiots whacking the foe until it drops. For a good idea of what a raid consists off ill give you an example of one of mine, which consisted of a dragon called Vox (this isn't even a high level raid). We, being the 100 so people, meet up in one place and going into our pre-formed groups (you see there is a formula to grouping) then we get really high level spells cast on us so that the dragons breathe can't really hurt us. Next we just run like mad idiots into the zone zerging everything (a zerge is where a 100 people just run over mobs slaughtering them) and then into the dragons den were we go at it with mad abandon until it's dead. Oh if you try and use height for advantage or use the terrain in any way to aid you the GMs will pull you up for exploiting, yes I know in PnP RPGs it's normal to use strategy but this is an MMORPG, where the tank rush from the RTS genre has gone to a whole new level. However that all doesn't matter because you can meet new people! Half of which are immature little 13 year old teenagers. ROLEPLAYING! I knew I forgot something. Actually I didn’t because it's not existent. If you want to roleplay on this game, don’t bother in fact avoid it like the plague and go and play on a good nwn rp server.
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Summary

This is an incredible game. It is so indepth and gets you so involved, you can easily lose countless hours in it. That is why it prompts you to set an alarm right when you log on. I can't tell you how many times I've played for more than 10 hours straight. If you like role playing games, this goes WAY beyond anything you've ever played. The world is HUGE, the items are countless, as are the quests. There are always people around that are willing to help out those that are new. You will make friends that you can group with normally, even join a guild that will help you along the way. Those that do not like this game do not like a challenge and obviously like to have things handed to them. Well, you'll have to work for it in this game, for the most part, but it is MORE than worth it once you start to get into it. I have been playing games my whole life, and this is by far the most fun I have ever had. Just remember that you are playing to have fun, and do not let it take over your life. They don't call it "Evercrack" for nothing :)
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Summary

Excitement. First emotion I can remember experiencing as i first logged onto Everquest, hearing the amazing musical piece as i created my Erudite Wizard. Unfortunately thats about the time that reality started to set in for me.

I bought Everquest and its three expansions in a bundle pack around 6 months ago, being told by my friends how incredibly awesome the game was and how huge the world was. I, an avid RPG gamer, was skeptical about MMORPGs. I was used to always having something to do and storyline to advance. Don't get me wrong. Everquest does has something for you to do all the time...its called WALKING AROUND AIMLESSLY.

When playing with my buddies in a 6-person group I had a blast, mainly because they knew where they were going and what they were doing (not to mention they bought me all the spells i would need until level 20). However, by myself was a completely different matter.

You see this game is designed completely on Co-op play and thats all fine and dandy when there are people actually around. The problem lies in the fact that since the game has been around soooo long most people have done all there is to do in the Beginner areas, and therefore there is virtually know one who can lend a helping hand in these areas. Most of the people who are in these areas were in the same boat i was in, and none of us really knew much (unless you call knowing the layout of Greater Faydark "knowledge". I think its more like "ive wondered around this place sooo much i pretty much know where every tree is!" Of course thats just my opinion i could be wrong). All those who actually knew how to make their way around the game had moved onto the Promised Lands (AKA the Planes of Power).

My friends were right...the world is HUGE....TOOO HUGE. Well at least too huge to not provide a map for each level. Yes, I like exploration but finding something totally cool and then trying to find it again are pretty near to impossible.

Also, i realize this game is designed to basically allow you to live a life of an alter ego in a fantasy world and thus you are given all the freedom in the world to do whatever you want. Of course finding something to do is the real feat. I was hoping that quests would be akin to the first one you do (go to a guy who tells you to do this for another guy). This is true but finding the guy that will send you on the quest is like trying to find Jimmy Hoffa.

I must say though that this games depth is what saves it from me giving it a 1 in the ratings. There are so many choices available to you right from the start (which race and class and religion etc). This game is sooo open that you could choose to be the ultimate fighter, destroying everything in your path in order to level your character up, or you can attempt to become the best blacksmith this side of Erudin. You can be a banker, a merchant, a beggar, a sidekick...the list goes on and on and on and on.

I don't blame the game for its luck of appeal to me. I'm used to games that are slightly more linear, and with world's that actually don't have to be measured in kilometers. I just wish that in the future the programmers of Everquest realize the strife newbies face and correct this problem by making the newbie levels more interesting the the wily veterans.

The game is a decent game, i just think the programmers are under the impression that in order to keep this game going they only have to appeal to the higher levels.

Sound

You know the feeling you get in your ear when a little girl shreeks. Thats how most of the music in this game sounds.

Honestly why couldnt they make all of the songs sound more epic like the first song you hear everytime you log on? That one is awesome. The rest uhhhh...exhale profusily.

Songs stink to begin with and progressivly get worse as you play because they dont ever seem to change. The battle song is the same song everywhere I've been, and makes you wanna instantly muter your CPU as result...which you cannot do.

The reason you cant is because you wont be able to hear your enemies attacking you as a result. I remember walking through the Orc camp, not realizing they didnt exactly like me, and the next thing i know i'm dead on the floor. I look at the dialogue box (which tells you everything) and i realize that i had been getting back attacked for about five minutes by this lil Orc pawn overachiever who finally killed me and i had no clue he was there. If i hadnt muted i would have heard at least one of his attacks. I'm not saying enemy attacks actually sound good, I'm just saying they're helpful.

If you really wanna risk it the game does provide you with the ability to play WAV files you have saved on you CPU (so if you wanna get jiggy with P. Diddy while your getting medieval on bad guys' glutei maximi (hey i took latin its gotta be plural people!) then you can). I personally never tried this feature so i dunno how it effects background sounds.

Bottomline: Hey if you're into Massively Multiplayer stuff give this game a go you probably will like it. I must however warn people that this game takes a long time to even figure out how to use half right. Also, if you are a fan of console RPGs (Final Fantasy series, Dragon Quest series etc) you may wanna steer clear of this game as it is very much different from what you may be accustomed to.

Gameplay

"Dude, its like totally deep man."

This game puts console RPGs to shame. With more spells than the Library of Congress has books, this game gives you soooo many ways to attack that you will have much difficulty sifting through your options. Luckily you can acquire larger spell books to hold your growing collection.

Iventory does seem small at times, as you will often find yourself having to choose from what things to keep and what to toss. Again the game tries to help you in your decision be providing packs for your back and wrist in which you can keep more stuff.

Battles absolutely suck in single player(or "inhales profusily" if your my English teacher). They basically constitute you slapping on auto attack and then watching. And thats only if your a melee character. Weak attackers like Wizards are forced to actually take part in battle, attempting to launch off a spell between enemy attacks otherwise they dont work and your character buys the farm.

And boy do you not want to kick the bucket because if you do you arise again with absolutely none of the items you were carrying. You see, the geniuses at SOE thought it be cool that your corpse would be left where you died, and you would have to go find it and loot it of all the materials you were carrying. Gee, how interesting a gesture. Of course actually finding you corpse is about as difficult as the good ole needle and haystack search. Its even harder if your character is rooted to lets say Faydark (always appear in that area after you die) and your body lies literally over on the other side of the world. Did i mention you must find your body before it decays? Good luck on that one.

Of course i experienced all those horrors while i was walking around all by my lonesome. But hey if you have friends this game is a whole new and i must admit better experience. When hunting in a party one can actually take joy in battles. Strategy can actually be used for once. My groups fav move was to send a melee person out to attack an enemy and lore him to a spot where the rest of us were. Then the rest of the melee guys attacked, while the the clerics and wizards stayed to the outside of the battle casting spells when needed. This is by far the best way to do battle in the game and is also the easiest way to level your character up.

The bottomline as far as gameplay is concerned is if you dont read the manual or dont have any friends, have fun trying to accomplish anything.
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Summary

Well what can one say about the best MMORPG.....ive played so many games and have gotten bored after several weeks. With everquest i found it impossable to get bored...true it can get a little frustrating at times but overall it is a fantastic game. Either you will hate it or absolutly love it.
If your into a fast moving, quick leveling, blood and guts shooting game then Everquest will not be for you. It is very addictive and time consuming. Time flys when playing it, you will look at the clock and realise the whole day is gone but it feels like you have only been playing for an hour.
The addictive thing about everquest is the people. You get to interact with anyone you want to, chat, help others out, go shopping for new weapons and armour and kick some ass. There are many races to choose from and the different races have different classes you can be.
You have the choice of playing a good, neutral or evil character all with numerous lands to explore.
There are quests to complete or you can have a go at soloing or joining groups.
You can also try your skills at tailoring, fishing, jewlry making, baking, blacksmithing, brewing etc and create products to sell or improve your own stats.
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Summary

I started playing Evercrack...I mean Everquest in 2000 and played until 2002. At first I was totally blown away by the game until a group stranded my lvl 27 shaman in a bad dungeon and I lost a lot of hard to replace armor and weapons; feeling angry I quit. Soon I went on to play Ultima Online which was not much more than a fancy nethack, then I tried Dark Age of Camelot, but at certain levels your development slows to a crawl do to balencing issues and the world was much too small. Then came Asheron's Call and AC2 both of which were good, but lacking in depth(kinda like Microsoft who makes it.). In the end I came back to Everquest when it occurred to me that the reason I had gotten so angry at the game was that I had gotten totally caught up in it...it was so immersive that I forgot that it was a game and became angry when things didn't go my way(like real life). Many reviews here mention killstealers, campers, and dealing with idiots in general. These issues are player issues not game issues...they too have become so immersed that they started to take these things personally(like real life). So last week I signed back up and started a new frog character and am now Level 11 and having the time of my life. The new areas have really great graphics and sound. Though the old areas are starting to look dated the game remains fresh. I've quit worrying about power leveling and running the kill-level-kill-level treadmill, which is also a player generated issue, and just stared to explore and have fun. In the end EQ is the deepest, most immersive and fun MMORPG ever created and EQ 2 is shaping up to be something monument also. If you found the other MMORPGs lacing or you never tried one try Everquest...just check your reality at the door and have fun.
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Summary

Gameplay is where the game dies badly, its very newbie unfriendly and with the introduction of PoP no-one really bothers with the older zones now to the point of there almost totally deserted, before when i used to play nearly a year ago, the caves in east commonlands used to be a large gathering place for duelers, auctioneers and just a general hang-out place, now its all but totally deserted and you get that feeling in each zone, most i've ever seen on a zone is 19 people.

For newbies, the only way to safely get experience is to join a group and hunt together however because very little people play in those areas now its near impossible for new people to level, and without the BEST items in the game those newbies have no chance. And the game guides serve no purpose at all because i asked them the very same question, and i had no reply from my petition. Also be very prepared to have to wait DAYS to level up, no hours or minutes like you can in diablo 2, levelling is an extremely slow process and the only reason for it because it means the player has to spend more time on Everquest, meaning more money for Sony, sorry guys we saw through your little plan.

Also, newbies have to be very careful of monster spawnings, because they can literally spawn right in front of you and if there hard (red) monsters, your dead. From level 1-9 you don't have to worry to much because you respawn at your safezone with all your equipment, however after that you have a LIMITED amount of time to retrieve your body before that, and ALL your items are lost forever so basically group warfare is essential for 90% of the character classes in the game, the only exception being the druid that can barely be played solo, however even a newbie player without good equipment stands no chance to level without some form of help, but none is available.

My advice for anyone out there thinking about joining Norrath, DON'T because its simply not worth it, wait for either Star Wars: Galaxys, Everquest 2 or planetside.

Sound

The only good music is when the game is loading, other than that the music is midi based meaning you get quality thats years behind the times, but you can turn that off, and its wise to turn the music off when your hunting dangerous foes.

The sound effects are fine, nothing special though but they do the job. Basically again, its old school now.

Gameplay

Its a multi-view MMoRPG, that unfortuntely charges you to play the game, i still think that games that charge you money to buy the game, and money to actually play the game is day-light robbery, it should never have been allowed. But aside from that, what you get is a pretty unique RPG in some respects and a very bog standard hack-and-slash/magic-em-up game unfortuntely niether styles suit the game because its darn boring most of the time, mostly due to the new expansions and lack of people in the basic zones, read my summary about zoning.
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Sound

Nothing change here. I would have like to hear some changes, but it doesn't seem possible without getting expansions.

Gameplay

There are basically three points I need to make that will help explain why I think Everquest is a poor MMORPG.

First, I miss out on at least 3 expansions over the two years I left. The expansions introduce alot of new items, spells, zones. The three most important new additions were the travel books, enhanced 3d graphics, and finally changes to the interface. Now, these features are really great except that in order to have all of them you must purchase the expansions (What?!!). Without the expansions, I wasn't really able to see the major changes that occur during my absence. My experience was with the basic Everquest package with Kunark expansion, so what I had experience during this free month was not different from what I left two years ago.

Second, lots of new items and spells eventually led to the decrease of value on skills and old items. It seems that its easier to obtain items of value than to use tradeskills. Also, most of the old servers have a over surplus of magic items which leads to low level players walking around with level 50 armor and weapons. One postive aspect was that I found the imblance of equipment did allow characters to solo more than their level allowed in the past.

Third, the new expansions seem to have killed interested in the old zones. Some of the old zones like BlackBarrow were nearly empty during prime time hours. In the past, I always wish that the old zones would be less crowded but I never wanted them to be nearly empty of players.

Overall, I didn't see any reason to renew my subscription or get the expansions. The gameplay has not change and the expansions feature lists seem to only add more of the same. If SOE was hoping I would come back, then they were mistaken. I didn't see enough improvement to make it worth the $13-14 a month. Ah, by the way, I use to pay $9 a month. I don't believe that the pricing is due to higher maintaince costs, but I do see a price that is equal to the rates of other MMORPGs. Still, I would give a two here because I did get a free month. If only SOE would allow the game to be played offline, then I would I score this game much higher.
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Sound

The sound is Ok But not Great the characters and non players characters do not talk. Your communtication with other players is all type. The sounds you will hear are Monsters and players hitting you, you hitting them, Monsters dying, you dying, other players dying.The music really stinks no comparison to the Graphics at all. Overall the Game is fun, time consuming,hours + of adventure, frustrating, addictive only because you want to Gain nice stuff and put hours into getting it.However if you Want a Life outside of your PC and Willing to call in work to play games you might want to pass this game up Also the monthly fee just to play the game can add up and Really isn't worth it when you can find MMORPGS to play without an online monthly fee.

Gameplay

The game play was not simple at first but easy to catch on. The player can switch Camera views around to your desired view and still play rather easy.
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Summary

What can I say that hasn't been already said? This game was the spark that ignited the explosive trend of rapid MMORPG development we are currently seeing. Every game that comes out that is massively multiplayer will be compared to, and possibly based off, of EverQuest.

Vast in its scope, sickening in its addiction. They should place a warning label on the box, or classify it as a controlled substance. In fact, you might do better to just buy some heroin or crack than touch this product, which will surely be a black hole for your time unless you have an iron will.

The whole point of this game is time-released reward. The reason it's so successful is because you don't get your reward all at once. If you did, you'd get bored and quit like you do with every other game.

In EverQuest, you get it over a period of time, intermittently, unreliably, and eventually it stretches into days of real life work to obtain the next reward, whatever that might be. This figure is not an exaggeration. And it keeps you going, because you WANT that reward because it gets sweeter and sweeter.

Press the button, get the reward. Press it enough, spend enough time tapping away at that button, and you'll get your reward. Aren't you happy now! Was it worth it? It's all meaningless of course. Your money is now in their pocket.

Not that I am bitter--I've had a tremendous amount of fun playing EQ. It's a very enjoyable game. I've never played any game longer. It's so utterly captivating and enjoyable. Even more so now with recent expansions and graphics updates.

I'm going to have to give this game an overall rating of 5, because I feel it really is that good. Some of it's elements, particularly the sound, are abysmal. But NO other game, NOTHING has kept me enthralled like this. The fun factor is through the roof on this one.

But eventually the spell will wear off, you'll have seen the nasty duality of the game and wonder where all that time went.

Sound

Pathetic. The sound is horrible, in every possible way. The music is garbage and sounds like it was composed on a $20 child's keyboard, by a 4 year old. It really is that bad. I've had the music turned off since I started.

The sound effects are also pretty weak. I also have them turned off. Nothing worth hearing more than a few times.

They've actually added an in-game MP3 player now, which is more or less straight out confession from the developers that the sound in the game is complete garbage.

Gameplay

Bleh. Hack and slash. Kill, kill, kill. Anihilate your foes. That's it. Virtually every quest in the game revolves around killing or other time sink legwork.

Of course it can get pretty tactical at the high levels, and requires a great deal of planning and foresight in order to win. But still, this is a game of slaughter. There are no NPCs that will provide meaningful interaction. There is no storyline worth a mention, just whatever they ripped off from J.R.R. Tolkien/Dungeons and Dragons.
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Summary

Everquest is easily the best game I've ever played. (Diablo II, Alpha Centuri, Alien Crossfire, Heros of Might and Magic, Civ II are other good games IMHO)

I was only able to play for a year and that is a serious drawback to this game. While the original game does not require more than the system listed above, you can't really advance without purchasing all the expansion packs and they have much higher hardware requirements. So, after purchasing the original for $10 or so and adding all the expansion packs, you will have spent between $60 and $100 on the game itself. Then add the monthly $12.95 fee and EQ becomes a small investment in time and money. The game requirements can change on a daily basis as new downloads add features to the on-line world (those are free). That is only a good thing if you can afford to constantly upgrade. Lastly, there is virtually no technical support so be prepared to figure out how to get this game to work on your own. It worked for me for a little more than a year with just dial-up service, but the lag could be bad some days. Better if you have cable or dsl.

I priced a new system that would run EQ for the forseeable future... $2488. I just could not see investing that much into a PC to play a game. Even if it is the best game I've ever played.

Sound

I found it distracting and turned it off. Many players say it helps them stay clear of dangerous mobs though, so try it and see if you like it.

Gameplay

There are many classes and races to choose from... all with their own advantages and drawbacks. Do your research and read up on those characteristics before you make your first character. Know what kind of a person you are. Do you hack and slash or root and nuke? Maybe you are a healer, or you just want to be able to travel around and explore. You can have many characters, but one will usually become your "main". There is no difference in strength or power between male and female characters in this game, so you can be equally formidable as either gender.

Make your name short and easy to type.

The overall world is huge with many "zones" (like countries), many creatures and NPCs, practically unlimited equipment, spells, armor, weapons and shields. There is currency and a marketplace a magical transportation system, guilds, quests (not the greatest part of the game), etc. You can solo your character or group with up to 6 other people.

The whole thing is truly amazing if you can get it to work.

Leveling up your character can be tedious in spots, but overall it was very much worth the effort. You must pick the right character for your personality or you won't enjoy the game as much and if you like military-style fighting, then this might not appeal to you.
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Summary

This game is the best and worst thing you can ever pick up. I loved and still love EQ, although I cannot play it. It sucked my time away and threatened my health and real world happiness. I refuse to play it because I actually value going outdoors and living more than playing a game at my computer desk for up to 8 hours at a time.

I played on a PVP server. I have to say that the most exciting moment I've ever had playing a game was when I attempted to kill my first other human player. I was so nervous, it felt almost like a crime. I slowly stalked up behind a fellow troll and prepared to do the evil deed. My hands were shaking with anticipation, and I fought valiantly and took his money and armor. I was hooked. I went on to be one of the most feared PKs on that server and to me, the player vs. player game was all that kept me interested in EQ. The rest of the game is repetitive but acceptible. It has a reality level that keeps you interested even when you know its not a good idea to keep playing. I started to dislike the higher level game due to the insane time requirements- not to mention guildmates who would get better items than I did from raids because I actually limited my playing time to only evenings and weekends. I remember being told that I just didn't deserve things because I wasn't there at that 2am Wednesday morning raid- I have a job! Then i was told that they all have jobs too but they made it... Good God, this game is more than you are ready to handle.

The newbie game is loads of fun. I loved this game when I first tried it. The first few days I played until the wee hours of the morning without really having a clue how to level up. It was just fun to run around with other people and kill things. The upper levels, you kind of run out of things to chase without lots of planning and waiting around first. There are tons of diversions in this game that can pass the time without fighting. I would often just socialize or do a tradeskill when the 'grind' of xping got too much. I also spent most of my free time player-killing. EQ is so much like real life that you can become famous or in my case infamous. Your player can be whatever you want them to be. I had a ranger and I loved to wander the forests of evil lands killing at will. After time, I made quite a reputation for myself and had whole groups of evil players trying to kill me. This made the game very fun. I think without PVP, I would have quit EQ much sooner.
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Summary

FIRST OF ALL A BRIEF NOTE ON THE TIME PLAYED, the time played box can only accept numbers, but in reality I played this game my every waking hour ( work excluded) for 6 months. I also have all the mission packs. I am going to mark this game as if I was still playing it at the height of my enthusiasm, but for now, here are my real scores, based on how I feel about the game today, right now as I write this review. Overall=2 Gameplay=1 Graphics=3 Sound =2.
LET THE REVIEW BEGIN.
I, like so many others playing this game, thought for some time that this was the best thing since sliced bread. Then, slowly over the space of a few months, the realisation struck that the game was just repetition, with little real reward, anything that may give you XP was always dangerously tuff, and you were often on a knife edge of simply dying, and losing a whole evenings ( sometimes more ) XP.
I have ( or had, I'm about to cancel the account at time of writing this) a Level 35 Ranger, A lever 35 necro, A level 35 Pally, and a level 44 druid. All of these characters were very hard to build up, and the game characters you create are vastly different in their abilities and ease of play, as a level 44 drood(druid), I can travel anywhere in the game at will, as can another magic class, the Enchanter ( I think), but other characters literally have to run to get to one place from another. This has now been alleviated slightly ( after 3 years of the games life) by the Planes of Power expansion, which puts public transporters in 20 common locations throughout the world, but why on earth was that not done at the start of the game ? Anyway, I digress, I started EQ on April 2nd 2002, and right the way up to the start of October 2002, it really took my life over. I lived for EQ. and thought of little lese, and made a couple of in game friends along the way, joined a guild or two, and thought I was part of something. Unfortunately, this proved to be wrong, the only problem with virtual friendships, is they are just that...intangible, not real. One day one friend I had just stopped turning up, never did find out what happened to her. The other good friend I had, started a class that really needed to solo to improve themselves ( Druid or 'drood' as they are called), and once I found I could not have a virtual friend to meet up every day, the game got real lonely and just plain dull, even guild membership did not really help, as the people seemed to break of into little cliques, and simply excluded me, and several others from their exclusive teams. It was around October that I realised I was not playing this for fun, but out of habit instead. I turned it off, and looked at all the other games across all my other systems I had bought and barely touched since the start of EQ. I have a vast collection of USA and UK Ps1 Rpgs, lots of great Ps2 games and Rpgs
( Rpgs are really starting to pickup on the Ps2), and of course, not forgetting the amazing games the PC can provide. So having simply stopped EQ, I have discovered all my old games, or all the new ones I bought and haven't touched. Who knows, in a few months...or years...maybe I will go back to EQ, but I feel I know the game inside and out, and in my opinion, everything is unfairly stacked against the player, the singe player experience is not supported or rewarded, everything you need to buy is ludicrously expensive, playing becomes a habit...and perhaps worst of all.....its very repetitive.

Sound

Sound. Well, the music pretty much sux, it was not even in synch until the latest PoP pack came out, but at least PoP has introduced some better tunes, but they rarely play, so whats the point? Sound effects, on the other hand, are great, very distinctive and well done.
At the side of this review is a score bar, and I am going to mark this game as if I was still playing it at the height of my enthusiasm, but for now, here are my real scores, based on how I feel about the game today, right now as I write this review. Overall=2 Gameplay=1 Graphics=3 Sound =3. Everquest is a drain on your life and a gaming disapointment, and I'm kinda embarassed to admit I put so much of myself into it. Do yourself a favour, and just don't bother ok?

Gameplay

Repetitive gameplay. Stupidly vague and hard sub-quest, without focus or meaning. Insanely hard and lengthy ( did I mention vague?) Epic quests. That is the gameplay in EQ. This gameplay in this game rewards only one type of player, and thats the player with absolutely nothing going on in their life, and the rewards for this kind of lifestyle are high level characters, but I'm afraid after being obsessed, besotted...even controlled by this game for a while ( it can be amazingly addictive) I suddenly saw the light, and saw how pointless it all really was. Just put it like this, if you are currently play EQ, and suddenly decide to stop playing, what happens? The other players will forget about you, the game will go on, you will save the monthly subscription, and perhaps start having a bit more of a life outside of a virtual reality. There is something intangible about this game...a kind of vacuousness that seems to be unique to EQ. Need a game that rewards you and seems to mean something, play a good Ps1 Rpg...or one of the Might and Magic games on PC.....play Silent Hill 2 on Ps2...theres a true gaming experience. It occurs to me as I write that this is somewhat of cathartic release for me, and that in itself is kind of sad, that a game I played so passionately for so long, now engenders such negative emotions. I guess thats something that only someone who has become addicted to EQ and then had that moment of clarity and realisation will ever really understand. On the other hand, others may see this as a plus to going and starting the game, after all, it must be good if it causes this kind of reaction, surely? I'll let you be the judge of that one...onto graphics...