17-11-2004 08:28									#61
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

quote: Originally posted by Sir Ralph More review stuff. - You aren't a homeless beggar like in EQ1. You actually do have a home. Mine is a room in an inn at this time, which came for free and costs 5 silver per real time week. Later I can buy an apartment, a whole house or even a mansion. There's a thing called "status" in the game, and the better your living place is, the higher your status gets. You can buy furniture and other stuff for your apartment, and you can invite other people into it. Seen in other MMORPGs, but I missed it a bit in EQ1. - Money isn't worthless trash anymore. The platinum inflation from EQ1, where the good weapons and armor cost tens or hundred thousands platinum does not longer exist. Now the multiplicator between the coins is not 10 but 100. In EQ1 one gold could barely feed me one real time day. In EQ2, all I earned in 5 days sums up to about 1 gold, and I succeeded to equip myself with the finest equipment available for my level for it (and eat, of course ). I like this very much. It disgusted me in EQ1, that I went three steps out of Kaladim as level 3 grunt, luckily hit a skunk and violà, had my first platinum earned. - Some zones are huge and it's easy to get lost and be killed by a roamer. Better stay on the roads if you're solo - Mobs don't hunt you down to the bitter end anymore, so you haven't run for the zone if you can't best them. They have some kind of home area, and when you leave it, they stop running after you and you're safe. No more "TRAIN TO ZONE!!!" shouts.

what do you mean money was worthless?

Are you saying it was too easy to come by?

I find money hard to come by in EQ2 (never played EQ1).

I wonder what happens if I don't have the 5 silver to pay my room rent. I probably will lose my room .

I wonder if I have to have that on my person or in the bank (or a combination of)

It seems like when I go to a merchant, I can't buy an item from them with money I have in the bank. What's the deal with the money in the bank?

	17-11-2004 14:06									#62
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

quote: Originally posted by Dissident what do you mean money was worthless?

I meant that the buying power of the coins was not well thought in EQ1. Gold, silver and copper was practically worthless, a decent level 20 equipment cost at least 1000 platinum and items for later levels cost tens or even hundred thousands platinum.

quote: Are you saying it was too easy to come by?

Definitely. When I was new to EQ1 (I was a late comer and started with zero), I had over 60 platinum to buy equipment when I hit level 10, but I still was wearing mostly leather or even cloth, because the good equipment simply cost too much in the stores. In EQ2 I had earned at most a total of 50 silver by this point, and had a comparatively good equipment. This shows, that along with the currency reform the price system has been overhauled nicely.

EQ1 had too many opportunities to make a quick buck early, like skunks and goblins in Butcherblock. You felt filthy rich (owning some nice plat) and still could buy nothing. Now I feel rich with 20 silver in my pocket and I actually can buy something decent for it.

quote: I find money hard to come by in EQ2 (never played EQ1).

Yes it is, and that is a blessing. Nothing is worse than worthless money.

quote: I wonder what happens if I don't have the 5 silver to pay my room rent. I probably will lose my room .

You won't lose it, just be unable to enter until you pay. And you have a whole real time week time to earn it. I'm level 14 now and easily earn about 10 silver per hour, and I don't have even paid my first rate yet (due on Friday ).

quote: I wonder if I have to have that on my person or in the bank (or a combination of)

I don't know exactly, but I suppose you have to carry it on your person.

quote: It seems like when I go to a merchant, I can't buy an item from them with money I have in the bank. What's the deal with the money in the bank?

Money has a weight and if you carry to much coin it can bog you down. This was especially evident in EQ1. I had a mage with only 55 strength, and as I let her carry the 325 platinum to do the Journeyman Boots quest, she already was overburdened. Now imagine she has to carry the ~10000 platinum to buy the cheapest horse. (thankfully, in the bazaar where horses were sold, weight was dysfunctioned)

But the weight/strength system has been rebalanced too. In EQ1 one strength point let you carry 1 pound, and you started with an average of 80 strength. In EQ2, one strength point lets you carry 5 pounds, but you start with merely 15 or 20.

	17-11-2004 17:38									#63
	Inflate your Upload Space

I just reached level 10 last night

and I am poor too

JM

	17-11-2004 18:12									#64
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

I gained only half a level last night, and spent about 2 hours figuring how the heck the new tradeskill system works. I couldn't find a ****ing forge, brew barrel or stove in the whole Qeynos, even though my manual states, that they can be found "everywhere in the world". It took quite a while to realize, that it takes to join some freemason-like society to be allowed to enter an obscure cellar, where plenty of production places are located.

It's interesting, but confusing. Tradeskilling is similar to combat now, just that your influence is limited. But you can be hurt during it. I even died once, trying to craft a simple tin edge. Go figure.

	17-11-2004 18:20									#65
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

What's also interesting about tradeskills, is that the 2-way outcome from EQ1 (succeed or failed) has been widened. There are 4 separate product quality classes you can achieve, from crude to pristine. So along with complete failure, a production cycle can have 5 possible outcomes. If I consider, that complicated products will have to go through several cycles from raw material through intermediate goods to the ready product, and that only pristine ingredients are able to give you a pristine result, it makes me believe, that top tradeskilled equipment will be very rare and you'll be able to make quite a buck if you can master it.

	17-11-2004 18:37									#66
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

I have only been hurt once, there are skills you can use to make sure you come out ok

Jon Miller

	18-11-2004 00:20									#67
	Increase the size of your Attachments

quote: Originally posted by Sir Ralph It's interesting, but confusing. Tradeskilling is similar to combat now, just that your influence is limited. But you can be hurt during it. I even died once, trying to craft a simple tin edge. Go figure.

So you are so unskilled you smacked yourself in the head with a hammer whilst trying to hit metal?

	18-11-2004 05:28									#68
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

Seems so. But JM's advice was gold, I hadn't noticed these skills yet. Now crafting is yet more similar to combat. I tradeskilled some more today, getting me to level 7 artisan, made mostly pristine stuff using the skills and didn't get hurt even once.

	19-11-2004 05:13									#69
	Get a bigger avatar today!

*sigh*

It seems like my computer just can't handle this game.

Funny though. I have no problem running games like Doom3, but I can't run this game.

I got my guy up to level 9. but I'm becoming frustrated. It's especially bad in the large areas like south Qeynos. The newbey areas such as graystone yard wasn't bad. And the Newbie island ran great.

I lowered every single graphical option to the minimum, and I even turned off zone alarm (and of course all my other programs), but this game will not run.

I exceed all the recommended requirements except one. RAM. This game is a RAM hog. I may decide to put it down for a while until I get more RAM. But it's funny when I start up the game it runs decent, but after playing a while, it gets worse and worse. And yes I have updated my video drivers and all that.

	19-11-2004 06:42									#70
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

A quick harddisk would also do wonder. I noticed, lots of trouble is caused by the disk not keeping up loading stuff.

By the way, oh joy, I found the fix for my problem (not being able to connect to US servers) in the forums, and created a character on Lucan D`Lere too.

	19-11-2004 14:25									#71
	Suffering from ads?

Why would you want to play with Americans?

	19-11-2004 14:48									#72
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

I played with them EQ1 for quite a while and they never even suspected who I am, especially since I succeeded to dodge artfully the question why I am always logging off when the evening fun is just beginning. It was quite a shock for them, when I outed myself not only as European, but even as filthy Kraut.

I don't like localized games for several reasons. First and foremost it is the ability to post in international forums and call things by their original name, and not translate a translation back, which is wrong in most cases. Second, but not less important, the quality of the localization of EQ2 is godawful and even worse than the localization of Civ II, which means a lot. You can not imagine the frustration, if you are told to kill a certain mob in a quest, but this mob can nowhere be found, because the name in the quest was translated, but the name of the real monster was not. Same with ingredients of tradeskill recipes. As it stands, the localization of EQ2 is at most at 30 or 40% at the moment, the rest is still in English. And third, people tend to shout stupid things out of character and it is better to read this idiocy in a foreign language than in your own. And fourth, you have the freedom to choose a time of less server load. When I am logging on on a Sunday morning at 10 o'clock, I have a heavenly empty server to do quests undisturbed.

	19-11-2004 15:23									#73
	Remove this text

quote: Originally posted by Dissident *sigh* It seems like my computer just can't handle this game. Funny though. I have no problem running games like Doom3, but I can't run this game. I got my guy up to level 9. but I'm becoming frustrated. It's especially bad in the large areas like south Qeynos. The newbey areas such as graystone yard wasn't bad. And the Newbie island ran great. I lowered every single graphical option to the minimum, and I even turned off zone alarm (and of course all my other programs), but this game will not run. I exceed all the recommended requirements except one. RAM. This game is a RAM hog. I may decide to put it down for a while until I get more RAM. But it's funny when I start up the game it runs decent, but after playing a while, it gets worse and worse. And yes I have updated my video drivers and all that.

Sounds like you have a memory leak. The easiest way to solve this is to format your harddrive and install everything anew. Another way to fix this is to study up on all programs you have running and try to find the memory leak that way.

Jon Miller

	19-11-2004 15:24									#74
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

By the way, if you can turn something off to fix your memory leak, it woudl be found in processes, not programs.

Jon Miller

	19-11-2004 15:26									#75
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

According to the forums there's a bug in the game too, which under certain circumstances makes the game the slower, the more you change your zone. Must be a memory leak too, and since it isn't happening always, but only sometimes, it is hard for the developers to find.

	19-11-2004 15:35									#76
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

eh, that is bad

that means for some (maybe all who switch zones??) you will have to reset every little while

well, that is probably a good tihng (more likely to quit playing after an hour or two, instead of after 6 or 14)

Jon Millwe

	19-11-2004 21:00									#77
	Got spare money?

quote: Originally posted by Sir Ralph According to the forums there's a bug in the game too, which under certain circumstances makes the game the slower, the more you change your zone. Must be a memory leak too, and since it isn't happening always, but only sometimes, it is hard for the developers to find.

yeah it happens when I change zones a few times.

also I'm looking forward to getting out of the city. I've never been much of a city boy. I'd rather be exploring the wilderness and small towns (as in Morrowind- except for Vivec).

What level should you be before you venture out of the city? I hate cities.

	19-11-2004 21:01									#78
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

also another annoying thing is the lack of maps in dungeons and caves and such.

I get lost so easy .

	19-11-2004 21:47									#79
	Inflate your Upload Space

there is a map if you press M

go to the commonlands at level 10, oyu can't do stuff by yourself very easily, but you can group with others

Jon Miller

	19-11-2004 22:02									#80
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

I want to move far, far away from the city. and base myself out of a smaller city if I can. There have to be more than 2 cities in this entire land surely.

	19-11-2004 22:04									#81
	Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

I'm Grumbold on Runnyeye. Currently Crusader 14 / Outfitter 12. Lots of fun so far apart from the frustration of skilling up trapping to 40.

The dungeon zones don't have maps its true, but you can run the game in a window and have a map site open, which helps.

I definitely would not recommend the game to anyone without a Gig of memory. Even then I'm running at low graphics options to get acceptable performance. the game is definitely designed to challenge gaming systems for a while without needing a graphics redesign.

	19-11-2004 23:43									#82
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

quote: Originally posted by Dissident I want to move far, far away from the city. and base myself out of a smaller city if I can. There have to be more than 2 cities in this entire land surely.

There are numerous outposts, I only think the two cities though.

I have 1 GB of ram, and run fine on the third best setting.

Jon Miller

	22-11-2004 15:12									#83
	Increase Your PM Length

Got my new toon on Lucan D`Lere up to Crusader 13 / Outfitter 11 over the weekend. Very nice gameplay so far, quite rewarding quests and always the choice either to group or to solo, depending on mood. Everything is well so far, except the harvesting skillup issue mentioned by Grumbold. It's not well balanced. I did my damnedest to keep up in these skills from the start, and now that I am out in the wilderness I can' harvest stuff there, because I lack the skills. I have to return to newbie zones, which give 0 experience, just to skill up on tier 1 goods until I hit the 40 (or even 47 for gathering) required to harvest the good stuff in Antonica. But doing this, I'm taking away the harvesting nodes from newbies. SOE should balance that a bit.

	22-11-2004 15:34									#84
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

I agree on the harvesting

played for about an hour today (won't be able to play much until wednesday), am up to level 13 (I think artisan level is 7)

I am a troll shaman

Jon Miller

	22-11-2004 15:40									#85
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

I am a dwarven crusader. I played mainly elves in EQLive, so I thought I should do something different for a change. I suppose, unless one of us defects (which would break my roleplay so far), we won't meet too soon. That said, I saw a dark elf in Greystone Yard last week and a rattonga in Antonica yesterday, so some people seem to do it. And I saw two people with mounts yesterday, quite impressive considering the game isn't even out 2 weeks and the cheapest horse costs about 2 platinum.

	22-11-2004 23:51									#86
	Increase the size of your Attachments

How much walking is there? I like the travel powers in CoH, and starting WoW the walking was pretty annoying. Mounts are a loooong way off in that game.

	23-11-2004 13:28									#87
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

Not very much so far, but you have to consider that I am barely out of the newbie zones yet. There are 2 things so far to shorten your ways:

- The 2 mariner bells, available at every landing stage. One of them calls a boat, which brings you swiftly to nearly every other city zone (each city has about 10 zones), and the other brings you to locations in the wilderness. There are only a few zones without a landing stage, which then have to be reached by a walk of at most 1 zone. The Qeynos harbor has a 3rd bell, which I suppose is for intercontinental travel, but I cannot use it yet.

- In Antonica (the outside Qeynos wilderness zone for level 10-20) you have 3 towers spread across the zone (it's fairly large), where you can call a griffon (or is it an eagle?) without fee and travel to one of the other towers on his back. That's not simply a zone change like the boat, but you really fly and can look down at everything, which is pretty cool. I can nothing say about the Commonlands (not been there yet) but I suppose it's similar.

	23-11-2004 13:40									#88
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

I got some of my harvesting skills to a level, which makes it possible to harvest in Antonica. Took me the better part of 2 evenings to run around in newbie areas, ignore mobs and just harvest like mad. Got foresting and mining up to 40 and gathering even over 50 this way. Trapping no chance, still below 30. Fishing is at 30, but I didn't care much about it so far. It's easy to raise by all means, since nobody fishes.

While it took me 2 days to get mining from 30 to 40, mining in Antonica took it from 40 to 55 in 2 hours. Talk about abundant resource nodes, which most people can't harvest and thus, have to leave for me. I suppose the run on them will come later, so for now I harvest what I can while it's still easy.

Made out of my rat and badger pelts 14 nice 6-slot backpacks (8 for the bank and 6 for myself), even with 5% weight reduction, which is not an issue for me, because my dwarf is as strong as a bear. Took me some cursing and swearing, because I blew some seemingly slam-dunk combines, though. This resulted in shaped bags with only 5 slots and no weight reduction, but I sold those to the vendor for 75 copper, which kept my losses at bay.

	23-11-2004 23:08									#89
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

Isn't tradeskilling a bit dull though? Hopefully you can make much cash as a reward for 3 evenings of harvesting.

	24-11-2004 12:20									#90
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

Why, it can be rewarding even in early stages. For instance a bag with 6 slots costs 6 silver 40 copper, when you buy it in the store and it has no weight reduction. So the 14 bags I made would have cost almost 90 silver, unaffordable at the moment. But the price of the ingredients and fuel for tradeskilling them (even including failed combines) was barely about 5 silver. And having the bags makes the game so much more enjoyable, because now I can play quite a while without having to run to a merchant every 30 minutes.