It’s just one of those fantasy worlds that offer exactly what you outlined in your post – it boils down to choice. But it keeps you in a fantasy environment that isn’t absurdly cartoonist in nature, so you can immerse yourself in specific activities much easier.

It, actually, is the only MMO I could get my fiancee to play.

If you can produce a game that allows a player to focus heavily in something else other than combat related things, I think you’re on a good path.

While I enjoy grouping, soloing, and adventuring around to explore unknown lands, I also really like to collect, build up a fancy house, and to hang out in the cities to show off my awesome gear.

That’s a lot of things for me to do.

My girlfriend really loves to spend a lot of time customizing her character, building up a fancy house (she’s an interior designer), and she also has a lot of fun collecting items for the rewards. Those alone can take up a lot of time as well.

All in all, EQ2 has an impeccable design. While it didn’t blow up to WOW standards, it still blew up in the minds of many faithful players that love a semi-realistic fantasy setting, with a dose of complexity.

As an avid player Of the EQ series(EQ1 and EQ2) I have to say I absolutely love EQ2. I have played WOW and found it too simplistic and elementary, not going into the deep character development like EQ2. I come from the old school days of EQ1 in the late nineties when EQ1 was KING. I just have a suggestion for SOE. ADVERTISE ADVERTISE ADVERTISE!!! All I see in the media is WOW this WOW that. When you go to the games store WOW is up front, EQ2 might be in the storage room in the back. I Figure since you work at SOE you should pass this on. You guys got beat due to advertising. It is a shame because EQ2 really is the superior game.

The engine and the visuals drove me away though.

My massive rig runs the game worse than my lowly box in the basement
The visuals do not change with better hardware
The models feel slightly clunky
The landscapes can look good in one zone, and horrible in another.

I can only play these wonderful mechanics so long when my game is chugging along and looking like yesterdays PS2 graphics.

EQ3, I am so ready.

The problem is twofold. First, people only look at numbers, so when they see that WoW has “one hundred BILLION” subscriptions, they think that EQ2 must really suck because they don’t have just as many. Second, people are hesitant to give a game a second chance, even though it can (and in this case, has) changed over the years.

I like EQ2 because the gameplay is deeper than what is found in WoW. I had a lot more options for my character, and there were a lot of ways I could customize my character beyond grinding faction for a tabard. I also had a lot more control over my character’s advancement; I really like the fact that my Necromancer could play “oh shit” backup healer (and actually did save the group from a wipe once when the main healer ran out of mana!)

Unfortunately, a lot of game developers are probably going to overlook a list like this in their own experience. Thanks for listing them out, Eric. :)

Concerning the housing … well .. it may be one of the best system out there … unfortunately that doesnt say much. I really was disapointed since at least at the beginning it was only eye candy. I remember that one of the first things I did, when I got my Inn room was buying a crate to store stuff in … well … it didn’t worked :P …