EverQuest II Release Date Rumors

MMORPG.com reports that SOE has told retailers to expect Everquest on November 9, 2004. Quote: NOTE: This is not an official word from SOE - but our sources are indicating this is a very likely release date for EQII.

I have mixed feelings about this. One the one hand I would really like to end beta and play my character in the live version. Getting you character to higher levels has always been one of the main purposes of playing a MMORPG. Leveling a character in a beta, where you are sure that he is going to be wiped in the not-so-far future, is kind of lacking this purpose. I play betas to learn about new games and be able to review them. If I then play the retail version, the knowledge is often very helpful. So I'm happy that I can play the real game in 3 weeks.

On the other hand, I honestly do not believe the game is ready for release. Lag has been worked on, and is now much better. But that just means that instead of 60 seconds of lag, you have between 2 and 5 seconds of lag. It is possible to fight mobs in Antonica, but the lag is still very noticeable. I also still experience crashes of my character, of zones, the login server, or of the whole game.

Furthermore the announcements on the official boards scare the heck out of me. They are going to completely revamp the character classes, to add more individuality. They are going to add traits, and special abilities against your most hated enemies. And all this not 3 weeks before the game goes live? You must be kidding me. "Thank you for beta testing the class balance, we are now going to completely change it, and then release the game", or what?

Now some people say "But this is just a beta", implying that everything will be fine by release. In my experience even games where the beta went smoothly had problems on release day, because with such an anticipated game, the number of players overrunning the servers is going to be huge.

So all in all, I'm looking forward to the release, but predict it will be problematic.
- posted by Tobold @ 7:42 AM Permanent Link