Hmm, I am not sure how eq2 population stacks against AoC, War, and LoTRO. I would think behind War and ahead of the other two maybe?

I know I keep coming back to Norrath because the world seems more realized for me than the others - don't know how to say it any differently really. Beyond that it is the most fully featured by far IMO.

Then the MMO draw in general - the feeling of being a small piece of world much larger than yourself - a world you can stake a claim in, make a name for yourself in. A world where you can have real friends and real enemies. That is something peculiar to MMO's. Heck, the servers themselves can grow to have their own unique cultures - there is something somewhat living about the MMOverse not replicated in other games - something that for those who enjoy it keep bringing them back.


Theo

As a player I feel like content is king and I think that WOW and EQ2 are by far leading the pack in that. I feel that in EQ2 if you really decide to try to enjoy tiers 4+ there is tons of content to play (Expansion Quests, Class Hats, Epics, etc) and that makes it more enjoyable. I don't think EQ2 necessarily has a better design/writing crew, I just think they have the advantage of being around longer.

If you are just striving to end game (75+) like SOE seems to want you to do now, then you will miss all this content and it doesn't mean shit in the end though.

Polish is one thing, content both in world and in system is something else entirely. The scope of content in EQ2 both in world and game system is freakin HUGE and dwarfs the competition. War seems to say lets not try to be more that what we are but do that particular thing well.

If I really wanted a break from PvP and concentrate on PvE exclusively I would probably give LoTRO a real shot - it tries from design to tell a story in ways unique from the others. Finally, has anyone revisited DDO? What is the state of that game these days?

As for WoW - I inexplicably do not enjoy the world much - I have played early game four separate occasions and cannot stick. Perhaps it is because I am a noob there and have always been guild/groupless? With the AA and xp bonus EQ2 entices me to solo alot. As an experiment I may pick WoW up again someday and try to group my way through the game.

The graphics engine can be the most polished of all, with realistic lifelike movements, vivid environmental designs and sounds, but ultimately if you don't have lore, gameplay balance, interesting storylines, risk vs reward, etc... you really just fall by the wayside.

It's amazing that EQ, in it's crap graphic engine, outdated mentality, and button-mashing playstyle can consistently still crank out almost 200K a month in subscriptions. Proves the point that you can have a horrible engine, but content is still the draw rather than fancy spell effects and avatars.

For me the whole levelling/XP thing doesn't seem to work too well for games after they have been launched and out there a long time, if anything I think it would be a good idea to start new players off near the old level cap each time an expansion came out - or at least give the option. As for levelling, maybe I've not really experienced a hardcore MMO, WoW has just gotten easier and easier (the easier it becomes the more it just feels like XP is a pure time thing and a roadblock in preventing me getting to enjoyable content).

EQ2 is a slower pace, but in both games levelling doesn't necessarily need any skill since I could just stand in a corner somewhere grinding mobs. For EQ2 I the main problem I have with levelling is tradeskilling, while I appreciate it needs to require some effort to be worthwhile the problem I have is where it falls a long way behind the characters main level to be useful, something that a boost to levelling depending on how it lags behind the character level would be cool, even if it cost a lot of in game gold or status points to achieve.

Here though the station cash thing looks like it would clash with making things easier, its a real hazard they have created here linking XP progression to real money.

I'd like to see modern MMO's come out that tie levelling to completing quests more here, the achievement point thing in EQ2 does help a long way there, if every 20 levels or so you had to have completed some big quest line (one of several on offer) to continue onwards it would feel more rewarding. But I'd still let newer players into the game to create someone nearer the level cap, say 58 if the Cap is 70 and going to 80, they always have the option of starting a character from 0 and getting more AA points and quests done, but as it is the current game design in both major MMO's makes it hard for friends to join in later on.