Switching games

I recently decided to cancel my Everquest 2 account, I think for the 4th time now. As for game mechanics, I think EQ2 is a neat game and it has lots of features. There is a wide variety of classes and there are a number of fun quests. The game has lots going for it.

But I currently do not have any people to play with and in my previous comebacks to EQ2 the guilds and groups I joined were too much focused on raids or high level content for my taste. In low level and mid level group it was mostly to maximize xp, farm master spells from named mobs or just do some heritage quests as quickly as possible. Neither has been particularly interesting for me. And with EQ2 only being number 2 on my list of MMOGs I spend time on (City of Heroes/Villains has the top spot), there was not much meaningful time in there. So I leave the game again.

This is a problem not only with Everquest 2, but with other “oldies” I have jumped into again. Most players are focused on high level, end/elder game content and if they have lower level characters they tend to rush them through the lower level content in order to get to the high level parts ASAP.

This actually makes me appreciate City of Heroes/Villains and the “no end game, make alts” approach the game has. It is easy to group and have fun at pretty much any level and at lower level there is usually a mixture of new players, those that have played for a while and the real veterans grouping together.

Lord of the Rings Online has been on hold for quite a while also. I did preorder the game and paid the 6-month option, so there is no need to cancel that game yet. At the end of this 6-month period I will probably take a peek again and see if the subscription will be worth extending.

However, I did start to play Guild Wars again. So far I have actually bought all three reelased Guild Wars campaigns – Prophecies, Factions and Nightfall. But I never played any of them for more than a few hours before I got tired of it and my highest character in there is level 7, and a couple others in level 3-5 range. I decided to give it another try though and started a new character, a dervish – no secondary yet. I only play a few hours per week at most, and will see if this will have any more staying power this time. The game should fit reasonably well with a casual playstyle and make the time useful and fun in shorter time periods, at least that is my hope. We will see.