to play, frequently rewarding, and designed with just the right amount of user convenience in mind." The game's presentation and photorealistic graphics were often praised, with Computer and Video Games declaring "There are off-line games equally or even more spectacular in immediate scenery or character models, but what game can offer such outrageous landscapes on such a grandiose scale?" Computer Games Magazine similarly felt that the game's setting was "A brilliantly reworked world with technology to die for." According to GameSpot, however, the high system requirements of the title meant that performance issues were common, and that a player would need a "monster system" in order to experience the game in its highest quality. Kasavin would additionally comment that "Presumably, the developers of this engine were thinking ahead toward the computers of the future when they built EverQuest IIs technology, but this game's visuals aren't so incredibly impressive that they seem to justify the extreme system requirements." Steve Butts of IGN likewise found that attempting to play the game on higher graphic settings resulted in "terrible performance," but that a consistent frame rate with high graphic quality was possible with an appropriate gaming computer. While the editor was "not as huge a fan" of the title's visual style, he commended its high level of detail, adding "If you like the photorealistic style, you simply can't do better than EverQuest 2 in terms of graphics." EverQuest II was nominated for "Best Massively Multiplayer Online Game" in GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2004 awards, and was runner-up for "Best Persistent World Game" in IGN's Best of 2004 awards, losing both to World of Warcraft. Computer Games Magazine named it the seventh-best computer game of 2004, with its editors declaring it an improvement "upon not only its own predecessor, but just about every predecessor out there". GameSpy granted EQII the title of "Most Improved Game" during its 2006 annual PC awards due to the addition of PvP servers and the release of the Echoes of Faydwer expansion that same year. After adopting a free-to-play model in 2011, the title was named "Best Bang for the Buck" in Massively's annual awards that same year. Sales and subscriptions EverQuest II reached 100,000 active accounts within 24 hours of release, which grew to over 300,000 two months later in January 2005. As of 2012, the game had an estimated subscriber peak of 325,000 achieved sometime in