WoW Compared to EQ2

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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WoW Compared to EQ2

Skill System
As you would expect, neither of these games has any shortage of ways to individualize your character's skills as you gain experience. Along with the typical skills awarded at each new level (and sometimes inbetween levels), EQ2 gives you periodic choices to make regarding personal traits, combat training, enemy specific tactics, and racial traditions.

In WoW you will be visiting a trainer every other level to purchase new abilities. Once you reach level 10, you also get to allocate talent points, which go into a Diablo-like skill tree. It's nicely transparent and allows you to enchance your character's abilities in some interesting ways. For example, you can specialize your character for a defensive role rather than an offensive one.

Combat
EverQuest 2 has introduced Heroic Opportunities, which are a combat feature that allow players to make special combination moves if a series of skills are performed in order. This is a welcome addition, particularly when playing in groups, where combat benefits the most from a new layer of complexity.

WoW hasn't strayed much from the tried and true MMORPG combat systems many of us are familiar with. Certain classes have special moves that increase in power with a number of successful hits, but nothing at this stage that rivals Heroic Opportunities. Again, WoW seems more geared to toward the solo player in this department.

Note that there is no player vs. player combat in EQ2 at this time. WoW has Horde vs. Alliance servers, and more PvP features, such as instanced PvP battlegrounds, are allegedly in the works.

Death
Death never comes without consequences, but it's safe to say that death in EQ2 is a little harsher than death in WoW, and a little less harsh than the original EQ. Both games have an assortment of minor, temporary penalties, including loss of item durability, and both reduce the overall penalties if you successfully recover your corpse, or, in the case of EQ2, spirit shard. You will want to recover your spirit shards in EQ2, because it's worth the XP you'll save, and you always run the risk of dying again in the process and compounding the problem. In WoW, you perform your corpse recovery in ghost form, making it fairly easy to avoid being repeatedly killed.

Crafting
Crafters will be delighted with EQ2, which has a system that goes well beyond simply combining components into new items. More valuable items require an intricate and interactive crafting process that resembles combat in some ways. Along with quests specifically for artisans, a player could likely spend the bulk of their time pursuing trade skills if they so desired.

In WoW crafting follows the usual formula pretty closely. You collect the raw materials, acquire the necessary recipe, click a few buttons, and it's done. Trade skills seem geared more toward giving players a break from killing and questing than giving them an alternate route for advancement.

Bottom Line
I think WoW has a broader appeal and will prove to be the more popular of these two games. If you prefer solo play or you want to PvP, it's the obvious choice. As enchanting as the artistry is, not everyone will go for the cartoony look.

EQ2 has greater depth and number of new features that are a credit to the genre, as well as an outstanding graphics engine. While the pace is a bit slower than WoW, it has some novel group dynamics that should engage even the most experienced RPGers.

No matter which way you go, it's going to be great year for MMORPGs, as these titles are clearly poised to set a new standard by which games of this kind are judged, and raise interest in massively multiplayer gaming as a whole.

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World of Warcraft System Requirements
Windows System 98/ME/2000/XP OS:
- 800 MHz or higher CPU.
- 256 MB or more RAM.
- 32 MB 3D graphics card with hardware Transform and Lighting, such as GeForce 2 or better.
- 4 GB or more of available hard drive space.
- DirectX® 9.0c or above.
- A 56k or higher modem with an Internet connection.

Mac System OS X 10.3.5 OS:
- 933 MHz or higher G4 or G5 processor.
- 512 MB RAM or higher. DDR RAM recommended.
- ATI or NVIDIA video hardware with 32 MB VRAM or more.
- 4 GB or more of available hard drive space.
- MacOS X 10.3.5 or newer.
- A 56k or higher modem with an Internet connection.

EverQuest II System Requirements
- Windows 98/2000/ME/XP.
- 1 GHz or higher CPU.
- 512 MB or more RAM.
- DirectX 9 compatible video card. Pixel shader and vertex shader compatible hardware with 64 MB of texture memory.
- DirectSound compatible audio hardware.
- 6 GB or more hard drive space.
- Internet connection.

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