Well after I gave poor reviews to Everquest, Everquest II I am giving high reviews to! My hat goes off to sony for making an amazing game. Everquest II is the paragon of fantasy games. Almost all my quibbles I had about Everquest are fixed with Everquest II. I played Everquest for a while and got bored and fustrated that the fun didn't really begin until I became a higher level character. Also solo play and death in Everquest was not fun. It seemed unsurmountable to solo a character past level 20. Well sony listened to players carping criticism and made a better game with Everquest II.

Improvements:

1) The death system is more congenial in everquest II. You don't loose your body, you don't loose experience, levels, the only attribute that is affected in death is wisdom, you can still equip all your items after death.

2) In my opinion graphics transcend any game to date including Doom 3! Surreal graphics, character detail is immaculate, lighting and reflection affects are resplendent. This game is a pearl! My paladin's pulchritude left me stunned. Those incredulous graphics come at a cost though, it requires a goliath of a system to play this game well. My desktop is rigged with a 3ghz processor, 768 megabytes of ram, a 10,000 rpm hard disk - RAID configured, and a Geforce 6600 GT with 128 megs of VRAM and my computer is still not effacacious enough for this game. The ultra high graphic settings in Everquest II can freeze my computer with ease. So I can only image how eye-popping this game can be! The game recommends to play the game at ultra high (maxed out) video system you should have a video card with 512 megabytes of VRAM, YIKES !!! For now I can only play it at a resolution of 1024 x 1280 pixels on a High Quality setting.

3) No kill/loot stealing ! This is a treasure trove. I wallow this in everquest II once you attack a monster that monster is locked with you. A little lock appears at the top indicating to other players that kill is all yours and other players cannot barge in and kill the monster ( steal your kill and your experience and loot from that monster). This was an unsurmountable problem in Everquest that vexed me as a player, because some players  were inconsiderate and plundered my experience points and spoils! This is probally one of the biggest reasons why I prefer this game over World of Warcraft, in World of Wacraft no such system like this is in place other players can pillage your earned loot without reprimand. I speak from my own personal experience.

4) I wallow in the monolithic labyrinth of timorous passageways and chambers found in the dungeons in Everquest II !! What an improvement the dungeons are from it's predecessor. The dungeons were not all that arousing to me in Everquest, except for mistmore and kurnst. And what is nice about it is a wide range of characters from many different levels can savor these dungeons. I fell in love with Stromhold ! Given my druthers, this is my favorite dungeon. I can still gain experience from this dungeon even at level 27.  The level range of the monsters in this dungeon are from 15 - 25. I have seen characters as low as level 13 and as high as level 30 adventuring through this dungeon. This is a dungeon you can revist over and over again as you level up and pioneer into unfathomable depths. This dungeon doesn't look like a hundred other dungeons, it is a novelty and has its own look. Graphically one of the most jaw dropping zones.

5) Even green players can venture through entrancing dungeons and caves. This wasn't true with everquest before the expansions. The origonal everquest was unfriendly to new players, it was only until later after the expansions that they added oddments of new zones and features for the inexperienced characters. YOu can participate in a raid at only level 23 in this game ! In everquest Raids were origonally only reseved for high level characters.

6) Equiptment and spells were basic and only a small farrago of items to choose from. The crafting system in Everquest was elemtary and crude. Everquest II is a stark contrast, a conglomeration of hundreds of arms and incantations to pick from. An motley of mythical, legendary, fabled and treasured loot.  Crafting is unparralled in Evequest II. Players can become apt in their chosen craft in little time. Better crafting systems create a more robust economy. The economy in this sequel is so volatile it is surreal ! Spells can be upgraded from other players that specialize in scribing scrolls. All my items I wear are handcrafted by other players. There is just something special about being able to wear items other players tailored specifically for your needs !

7) Solo adventuring is actually an option in this sequel. Cresting to that elusive level 60 can be concievably be done alone in this game without any other players help. I enjoyed the fast clip I could level up while playing solo in this game, this was a pampering change compared to its predecessor. This sate my appetite for an online game that had an oustanding single player experience. Leveling up is a lot faster in EQ II also because you never loose experience or levels ! You don't have to worry about recovering a body in order to level up, example in everquest whenever I died I couldn't kill anything or level at all period because all my stuff was gone left on my body somewhere !

8) The principal cities in Everquest II, Queynos and Freeport, sate my fantasy reveries. Queynos I found a serene solace where my character would retreat to ease the days tensions. The king arthur atmosphere of the city made me feel as if I was repute and wore a laurel over my head. I had a profound feeling of chivalry and swagger.  Freeport was a becon for vile irreverence and servitude. NPC's were contempt and shallow in this city. The city's sky was marred by the gloom of the precipice turrets and pallisades.

cons:

1) I think the general opinion that the party system is flawed in Everquest II is a cogent argument. Although I am sure Sony carefully crafted the new party system, anyone who has played the game can't deny the inherent shortcomings. The party system in other games ,like for example World of Warcraft, does not bludgeon the players when they make a fatal mistake. I do not like groups sharing experience debt. This can make playing in groups an irremediable calamity. Players do not like losing expeirence and if I was the cause most players wouldn't hesitate to chafe me with a pompous lecture. Other players would get infuriated and berate me if I died, one group booted me out of the group when I died. I quickly learned some players are pious and haughty about this game. This game overall is quant and pleasing even with its flaws.
Well after I gave poor reviews to Everquest, Everquest II I am giving high reviews to! My hat goes off to sony for making an amazing game. Everquest II is the paragon of fantasy games. Almost all my quibbles I had about Everquest are fixed with Everquest II. I played Everquest for a while and got bored and fustrated that the fun didn't really begin until I became a higher level character. Also solo play and death in Everquest was not fun. It seemed unsurmountable to solo a character past level 20. Well sony listened to players carping criticism and made a better game with Everquest II. Improvements:

1) The death system is more congenial in everquest II. You don't loose your body, you don't loose experience, levels, the only attribute that is affected in death is wisdom, you can still equip all your items after death. 2) In my opinion graphics transcend any game to date including Doom 3! Surreal graphics, character detail is immaculate, lighting and reflection affects are resplendent. This game is a pearl! My paladin's pulchritude left me stunned. Those incredulous graphics come at a cost though, it requires a goliath of a system to play this game well. My desktop is rigged with a 3ghz processor, 768 megabytes of ram, a 10,000 rpm hard disk - RAID configured, and a Geforce 6600 GT with 128 megs of VRAM and my computer is still not effacacious enough for this game. The ultra high graphic settings in Everquest II can freeze my computer with ease. So I can only image how eye-popping this game can be! The game recommends to play the game at ultra high (maxed out) video system you should have a video card with 512 megabytes of VRAM, YIKES!!! For now I can only play it at a resolution of 1024 x 1280 pixels on a High Quality setting. 3) No kill/loot stealing! This is a treasure trove. I wallow this in everquest II once you attack a monster that monster is locked with you. A little lock appears at the top indicating to other players that kill is all yours and other players cannot barge in and kill the monster ( steal your kill and your experience and loot from that monster). This was an unsurmountable problem in Everquest that vexed me as a player, because some players  were inconsiderate and plundered my experience points and spoils! This is probally one of the biggest reasons why I prefer this game over World of Warcraft, in World of Wacraft no such system like this is in place other players can pillage your earned loot without reprimand. I speak from my own personal experience. 4) I wallow in the monolithic labyrinth of timorous passageways and chambers found in the dungeons in Everquest II!! What an improvement the dungeons are from it's predecessor. The dungeons were not all that arousing to me in Everquest, except for mistmore and kurnst. And what is nice about it is a wide range of characters from many different levels can savor these dungeons. I fell in love with Stromhold! Given my druthers, this is my favorite dungeon. I can still gain experience from this dungeon even at level 27. The level range of the monsters in this dungeon are from 15 - 25. I have seen characters as low as level 13 and as high as level 30 adventuring through this dungeon. This is a dungeon you can revist over and over again as you level up and pioneer into unfathomable depths. This dungeon doesn't look like a hundred other dungeons, it is a novelty and has its own look. Graphically one of the most jaw dropping zones. 5) Even green players can venture through entrancing dungeons and caves. This wasn't true with everquest before the expansions. The origonal everquest was unfriendly to new players, it was only until later after the expansions that they added oddments of new zones and features for the inexperienced characters. YOu can participate in a raid at only level 23 in this game! In everquest Raids were origonally only reseved for high level characters. 6) Equiptment and spells were basic and only a small farrago of items to choose from. The crafting system in Everquest was elemtary and crude. Everquest II is a stark contrast, a conglomeration of hundreds of arms and incantations to pick from. An motley of mythical, legendary, fabled and treasured loot. Crafting is unparralled in Evequest II. Players can become apt in their chosen craft in little time. Better crafting systems create a more robust economy. The economy in this sequel is so volatile it is surreal! Spells can be upgraded from other players that specialize in scribing scrolls. All my items I wear are handcrafted by other players. There is just something special about being able to wear items other players tailored specifically for your needs! 7) Solo adventuring is actually an option in this sequel. Cresting to that elusive level 60 can be concievably be done alone in this game without any other players help. I enjoyed the fast clip I could level up while playing solo in this game, this was a pampering change compared to its predecessor. This sate my appetite for an online game that had an oustanding single player experience. Leveling up is a lot faster in EQ II also because you never loose experience or levels! You don't have to worry about recovering a body in order to level up, example in everquest whenever I died I couldn't kill anything or level at all period because all my stuff was gone left on my body somewhere! 8) The principal cities in Everquest II, Queynos and Freeport, sate my fantasy reveries. Queynos I found a serene solace where my character would retreat to ease the days tensions. The king arthur atmosphere of the city made me feel as if I was repute and wore a laurel over my head. I had a profound feeling of chivalry and swagger. Freeport was a becon for vile irreverence and servitude. NPC's were contempt and shallow in this city. The city's sky was marred by the gloom of the precipice turrets and pallisades. cons:

1) I think the general opinion that the party system is flawed in Everquest II is a cogent argument. Although I am sure Sony carefully crafted the new party system, anyone who has played the game can't deny the inherent shortcomings. The party system in other games ,like for example World of Warcraft, does not bludgeon the players when they make a fatal mistake. I do not like groups sharing experience debt. This can make playing in groups an irremediable calamity. Players do not like losing expeirence and if I was the cause most players wouldn't hesitate to chafe me with a pompous lecture. Other players would get infuriated and berate me if I died, one group booted me out of the group when I died. I quickly learned some players are pious and haughty about this game. This game overall is quant and pleasing even with its flaws.