Date: Nov 22 2004
Two very big MMORPGs are arriving on the scene this year just in time to compete for your Christmas dollars. I know some will feel the need to play both EverQuest II (EQ2) and World of Warcraft (WoW), but, for anyone with a life, this probably isn't an option. If you're trying to figure out which way to go, I've put together a quick comparison of these two blockbuster titles with as little bias as I could manage.
Graphics
Apart from the fact that the graphics in both games are excellent, there is a big difference in the artistic styles. World of Warcraft looks a bit like a comic book or an animated movie. Polygons have been kept to a minimum, but the environment has a tremendous amount of detail. Water and light effects are acceptable, although nothing dazzling. Nevertheless, it's one of the most attractive MMORPGs yet, and a trip on a Wind Rider does not disappoint. The most common complaint seems to be that there are, at the moment, a shortage of integrated ways to customize the GUI.
EverQuest II has a much more "realistic" appearance, insofar as a fantasy game can be said to look realistic. Familiar things like humans and bears are quite accurately proportioned, with relatively smooth edges. The scenery is gorgeous, and even the facial expressions are impressive. Sony has employed DX9 to create water, lighting, and spell effects that rival those of the latest first-person shooters. EQ2 does have the higher system requirements of the two games, which may in itself make the decision easy, and you will undoubtedly need to exceed those requirements to run at the highest settings. (See the end of this article for the system requirements of the two games.)
Character Creation
World of Warcraft has 8 races and 9 classes, but it should be noted that not all classes are available to every race. Some classes are also unique to the Horde or Alliance side. Although you have a few appearance-related choices to make, including gender, skin color, hair style, and so on, it's a somewhat limited selection. You're bound to run into twins for the first few levels until your gear begins to set you apart.
EverQuest 2 has 16 races, 4 archetypes, 12 classes, and 24 subclasses. Again, good and evil races have their own set of subclasses, so your options are limited but still respectable. As well as colors and hair styles, EQ2 lets you customize and position your avatar's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. You can even accessorize with glasses and earings. While you are sure to encounter the odd double, it's a character creation system as robust as any you will find in a MMORPG.
Questing
Quest logs are handled in a very similar way in the two games, giving you a handy list of active quests and their status. In WoW, a quest giver is denoted by a simple, but effective, yellow exclamation mark that floats over their head. This becomes a question mark after the quest is taken, making it easy to find the NPC again when you've done the requisite deed.
EQ2 has gone the extra mile by having non-player characters (NPCs) make requests of nearby players by actually talking. If they need you they will ask for your help, and the monsters like to taunt you vocally during combat, which is a nice touch. They've gone to considerable lengths to add these voiceovers, in some cases even hiring celebrities for the job, and it does make the game more immersive.
Instancing is used for higher level content in both games. EQ2 will even instance certain areas based on population, in an effort to keep line-ups to kill key mobs to a minimum. Like its predecessor, EQ2 uses zones, so you will be waiting for areas to load as you move around Norrath, which is a little distracting after traveling through the comparatively seamless WoW.
One big difference in the quest systems is that WoW is a lot more freindly to the solo player. There appears to be ways to reach the game's highest levels with minimal need to rely on others. You can solo for a while in EQ2, but once you reach about level 20 you will find that it gets increasingly difficult. Fortunately there are some decent tools to facilitate grouping, and it does encourage players to socialize.
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