Infymus.COM - GAMING

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GAMING - EVERQUEST
Total Articles: 34
Everquest 1 and Everquest 2.

Picked Up Everquest 2
Posted: Aug 8, 2005, at 04:43 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

I picked up Everquest 2 this week. Only $19 bucks and first month free. The subscription plan is similar to World Of Warcraft.

Initial look: Wow, it's amazing. Beautiful, very well done. I didn't care for the nearly 3 hours of patching, but what can you expect when you install a new MMOG like this.

I created a human, female - as I always do and started my journey onboard a ship heading for some distant land.

Once I get my keys and shiz together I think I'll really start to enjoy this game.

Everquest 2 Graphic Intensive
Posted: Aug 13, 2005, at 03:36 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

I've been playing EverQuest 2 the last week and I'm having a difficult time with the engine. My rig is an AMD 2500 XP with 1g of 333 DDR memory. It's an 8x AGP board running an ATI Radeon 9800 XT 256mb card.

Shadows are impossible. In most areas I get around 15-20 FPS in Qeynos. If I turn the system on EXTREME performance, I can get 30-32 FPS. Who wants to play like that? People are bald and naked until you are standing right next to them.

Either I upgrade again (last year it cost me $800 for a video card and motherboard), or I just play in lame graphics mode, OR, I just stop playing completely.

DOOM 3 runs fine on my system. HalfLife 2 runs fine on my system. FarCry runs with everything turned on HIGH fine on my system.

Not EverQuest 2.

Hmmmmmmm.

Everquest 2 And The Slow Machine
Posted: Aug 20, 2005, at 08:58 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

My machine is an AMD 2500 XP + on an MSI motherboard. It's an AGP board with 8x AGP and the 8x is turned on. I have 1 gig of 333 DDR memory and my video card is an ATI 9800 XT 256mb. I have had to go back to the Omega 5.2 Drivers because the 5.6 and 5.7 drivers were giving me constant VPU errors. This is SOLEY an EQ2 issue as all my other games (DOOM3, HalfLife2, FarCry) all run on high detail (shadows, shaders, bump mapping, lighting, etc) with framerates of 28 FPS or better.

I cannot understand why with complex shaders set to 2, no shadows, no flora, texture details set to medium, I am going getting roughly 12-15 FPS in Qeynos. I can get 30 FPS if I set EQ2 on "extreme performance", but who wants to play like that?

I built this machine last spring to play Far Cry. And I can play Far Cry with everything turned on 100% and still get 40-50 FPS. When DOOM 3 came out last year, I was getting 32-35 FPS with everything set on high quality. When Half Life 2 came out last year, I was getting 40-50 FPS with everything set on High Quality.

I am starting to believe that it isn't my machine that has the problem, but perhaps a poorly written EQ2 rendering engine. Even friends in the gaming industry who are now playing EQ2 (friends who wrote Battlefield 2) are starting to wonder if EQ2's rendering engine is shoddy.

Upgrade? Sure, I could go from my 2.5 to a 3.8 for several hundred dollars. I could get an equal card - say NVIDIA 256mb, but I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't make a difference. AlienWare is highway robbery at $4000+ per machine...

I've followed the guides here on setting up video and regardless, the FPS is terrible unless I want to play like I'm back on my 486.

I've even picked up a 7500 RPM 40 gig drive, formatted it clean and put EQ on the root directory with nothing else on the drive. That way EQ didn't have to seek around the drive. This gave me an increase of perhaps 2 FPS overall.

Even at those frame rates, I've made it to level 14, but I must say that my gaming experience graphic wise has been very poor. Game experience otherwise has been delightful considering I just spent four months in WOW obtaining a level 45 paladin. I have enjoyed the quests, like the player housing and have started to explore Antonica. Couple other friends of mine from WOW have now joined.

I just wish that I could play EQ2 in anything other than extreme performance.

My 9800 XT is only slighly over a year old and from talking with hardware guys, is still considered one of the top of the line, unless you want to get into the 512mb cards and pay that kind of cash. The newer cards clock out near the 9800 XT but they are overclocking to do so.

I have contacts inside Digital Illusions (makers of Battlefield 2). One of the rendering engineers on that team used to work for Sony. He states that the EQ2 engine is actually an older engine souped up to do new things like normal mapping, blurring, shaders & etc. He states that the engine was never really designed for what it's doing and the performance hits on machines isn't the machine, it's the engine. As always, you can take that with a grain of salt.

I'll put together this new rig this weekend but I have this nagging feeling that it just won't help.

Stating that EQII was "designed to scale up with technology" simply says to me that once hardware gets better, it will run the engine faster. IE: Original DOOM runs pretty good on my 2.5ghz machine, but it never ran well on my 386/33.

Everquest 2 And The Fast Machine
Posted: Aug 21, 2005, at 09:36 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

This weekend I upgraded to a Pentium 4 3200 with dual channel 400mhz memory. I replaced my slower IDE drive with a 200g SATA drive. The speed has been tremendous. Where I was getting 20 frames per second with low settings, I'm now getting 40 frames per second with high quality settings. Outside of town I'm averaging anywhere from 60 to 90 frames per second with everything turned on high.

Shadows, however, are still a resource hog. If I turn shadows on I can play about where I was with my old system. I haven't really cared for them so off they go.

Now to play...

Everquest 2 And The Dreaded Patch Day
Posted: Sep 14, 2005, at 07:53 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

Level 22 Paladin. Suddenly most of my icons have changed and the only way to know which ones are which are to have these ridiculously large popup windows that detail them when you highlight them. I understand that I toggle them but it’s annoying anyway.

Why did you group many of my icons together? Now instead of having 7 possible skills that I can use and 3 HO events, I now have 5 possible skills and 2 HO events. If I am fighting a single MOB, this is not too bad as I can manage the skills around so my HO option will come back up again. But if I fight two or more, I now end up spending most of my time in non-skill, non-HO melee combat because the skills I have all have now been placed on the same 30 second re-use timer.

Why did you make ALL of the gnoll MOBS outside Qeynos be ^^ now? They were hard enough before when we were growing up there as standard heroic, but now they’re heroic heroic? You have got to be kidding me? All of the mobs have to be ^^? Who in the right mind came up with this decision? Outright ludicrous.

A friend Wizard and I both level 22 decided to try out the new system on some level 18 heroic skeletons outside StormHold. Four skeletons standard heroic we easily took before, now suddenly I’m running away because they are kicking my butt. All of my armor is cyan to me so this is not a grey issue for armor. Our previous HO options are screwed now because my skill icons and his skill icons are now on the same buff timers, so what do we do? We spend our time in melee combat because we're waiting to re-use skills.

Now when in Antonica I have to constantly keep a distance from bears and wolves of whom I thought I had earned the right to no longer agro. I suppose that you are trying to add some kind of realism back, however annoying it may be.

Why did you nerf the skills and place many of them on the same buff timers? Why did you remove so many skill/combat options for us? Why did you change the icons around making us re-learn which icons do what? Why didn’t you tell us that if we selected “Orc Master Rage” that it would replace, not add, but replace our existing rages? Now I’m stuck with a rage I can’t use for a long time and have lost a rage I could use!

This is not what I originally signed on for. This is not the same game that I have played the last two months. This is something new you think that I wanted. Now I’m left pondering whether or not I should continue playing. Three friends in game, two cancelled yesterday after dying four-five times in TS to mobs they could easily take down before, and because of the total nerfing or changing of the skill palette.

prepatchday - all the bugs, they seemed so far away
now it looks as though they're here to stay
oh, I believe in prepatch day

suddenly - this is not the game it used to be
there's a skill nerf hanging over me
oh, [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot] patch day came suddenly

why lag had to grow, I don't know - they wouldn't say
skill gains very wrong, now I long for prepatchday

prepatchday - "this is such a killer game", I'd say
now I need a private shard to play
oh, I believe in prepatch day

Jehunnin.

Cancelled My Everquest 2 Account
Posted: Sep 16, 2005, at 01:19 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

I cancelled my Everquest 2 account today. The new changes that they have made to the game (Patch #13) has totally destroyed any fun this game had left.

Money that I had spent on getting some of my skills to ADEPT 1 were totally wiped out with Apprentice 1 spells. That 4g I spent on my armor modification spell is gone because the spell is also gone - totally taken away from me.

The whole game has totally changed. Now there are super super super (called Triple Heroic) mobs running around making it impossible to solo anymore.

Areas that Zerkion (wizard 23) and I used to be able to get into, we can't anymore because it's just too hard.

Sony's forums http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq... are burning up in FLAMES right now because the only ones who like the changes are the level 50+ players. New players are being slaughtered left and right because of all the super high monsters.

This isn't the game I bought. This isn't the game I played for the last two months. It's now crap.

I logged into World Of Warcraft and actually had two hours of pure enjoyment playing my level 12 Shaman. I haven't had a single minute of fun in Everquest since the patch on Tuesday.

I gave my gold to my friends in game, walked into my house, and /EXIT'd forever. I will never come back again until they fix it.

Sorry Sony, but you just lost another customer.

A Faster Machine And Testing A Gaming Engine
Posted: Feb 26, 2006, at 11:12 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

This weekend I needed to build my daughter a computer. Instead of just building her a new machine, I decided to build myself a new machine and give her my old hardware.

I had a P4-3200mhz on an MSI NEO board 800mhz, ATI Radeon 9800 XT (256mb DDR) and 1gig dual-channel 400mhz (2 512mb sticks).

I now have a p4-4000mhz on an MSI NEO-F 915P, two sticks of 1g 533mhz DDR and a GFORCE 6800 ULTRA OC PCI-E (256mb).

3d Mark 2001 gave the old machine a 14222. The new machine clocks in at 24766 - so it is a vast improvement over the old, but not quite double.

SONY recently offered me a come-back to Everquest II, just as Mytic offered me a free month. I took up the chance to see what kind of framerates I might get in-game with EQ2 as opposed to my old system.

Before, putting the setting on "Balanced" would net me an average of 7 to 14 FPS in city, and 12-30 FPS on highway. With the new system, "Balanced" nets me 22-37 city, and 40-120 highway.

Not a big difference, and because the FPS with shadows on is still under 30, in the long run it is not playable.

I really do believe that Sony's EQ2 rendering engine has serious problems.

I booted up Half Life 2 and in 1280x1024 with everything on high I was averaging around 120 FPS all of the time. I have yet to put in DOOM 3 and give that a try, but I will this week.

I'm just not sure that I would go back to EQ2 - especially not my old characters. I started a different character on a different server - and the evil faction rather than good Paladin.

For now I'll kick around a little longer in WOW just because it works so well as an MMOG even though the graphics are pitifully simple.

Sorry Sony, But I Can't Play Everquest The Way I Want To
Posted: Mar 1, 2006, at 05:03 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

My system:

Intel Pentium 4 560 running at 3600mhz
FSB 200.5 mhz
Bus Speed 802.0 mhz
L1 Data 16k
L1 Trace 1k
2 Gig Dual channel 533mhz memory
Nvidia GeForce 6800 BFG OC pci-e

I cancelled my account with Everquest 2 again and deleted the game. I had tried every tweak I could find but my hardware just is not up to spec enough to run this game the way I want. I even moved the game to a free 7200 - 10g drive (totally formatted clean except for EQ2). That decreased the load and seek rates, increasing the FPS overall, but I just could not get 30 FPS consistantly.

I'm the kind of gamer who buys a new game and then when my rig can't play it decently - I upgrade. This time I upgraded to a superb system, but it is still not enough to play Everquest 2 yet.

I'm assuming that I need to go to an SLI board and go with dual GeForce 6800 BFG cards in tandem before I'll ever get to see any kind of quality in this game. And what good is that anyway if your friends who might play can't match it?

You can play this game in shit mode, or you can be like me and expect better.

Maybe in 5 more years when computers are faster, Everquest 2 might be playable.

But not now.

Sad too, really.

With The Patch Horrors From World Of Warcraft, I Decided To Try Everquest 2 Again
Posted: Dec 9, 2006, at 08:24 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

Earlier this year when I upgraded my machine, Sony had sent me a "Please Come Back" with a free month. I took it up and tried it out but was dismayed that I could not get the graphics to a point where I wanted them. I was seeing a lot of choppiness and being alone in the game, decided to back out.

My guild leader in WOW (Manny) decided he he'd had enough of WOW and the last rediculous patch and decided to join me in EQ2. My friend Zerk has also said that when he gets moved, he will be joining us in game. Cool.

I found a great EverQuest 2 Graphics Tweak Guide and in no time I was getting great framerates and was able to play. There is still choppiness in certain areas of Qeynos - like the docks, and when then are dozens of players on the screen at the same time, but I never saw it go below FPS. After I removed a few games on my drive I hadn't been playing for a long time (including World Of Warcraft) and defragmented my drive - my performance increased again.

They have really changed this game. I have only played a Paladin before, and so I started a Paladin again. My option keys are different than I remember a year ago, but that is why I started over.

Things that are different that I have noted:

You no longer start on a boat then end up in a refugee camp. You now start in the Queen's Colony - which looks like the refuge island, but all of the surrounding area is totally different and with different characters.
By the time I got to Qeynos, I was level 8 and had a great set of armor and a good weapon. Instead of Starcrest Community, I was placed in NettleVille. No biggy, I quicky got my room and settled down.
I did a couple of quests in the Peat Bog and noticed that too had totally changed around both in graphics, layout and mobs.
The down below looks the same, but they removed the Double and Triple heroics down there - that really pissed me off before.
I wasn't paying attention in the Peat Bog and was killed by a Heroic 15 (at level 10). To my wonderful surprise, THEY GOT RID OF THE SOUL SHARDS. Yes, I got some experience debt and had to repair, but NO MORE SOUL SHARDS! Woooooot!
The quests, what TEH HAY, they are all new, some the same, some different.

This is the same game, yet totally different than it was. I really like it so far.

I'll continue to screen shot and play.

Ok, I Understand My New Paladin Enough To Move Back To Jehunnin
Posted: Dec 12, 2006, at 05:26 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

Tonite I reached level 15 Paladin with my test Paladin. When I hit 15, I was ready. I transferred all of the money, bags, room goods and special items back to Jehunnin - my level 25 Paladin - and then I deleted my test Paladin.

I have been having so much fun now with Everquest II, there is no way in HELL anyone could make me come back to WOW now. I have spent nearly two years playing WOW, only to have them nerf all my characters. So now it's time to play EverQuest II.

Can't wait to see my old friend Zerkion back in game. BTW Zerkion, I stopped by your house but was not able to enter - you have not paid your upkeep! I couldn't pay it myself, so I had to go back home. See you when you get back, hope your move from Canada to the States goes well.

It's too bad that Nitche had a couple of graphical issues with his computer while playing EQ2 and decided that EQ2 was the problem. He backed out and will not be playing and has gone back to WOW "Toonland". Enjoy your nerfs there Manny, see you in the funnai pages.

If you like the screen layout (which is very close to my old WOW settings), you can download this INI file and use it for yourself:

Instructions:

Download The ZIP File.
Save the INI file in your EVERQUEST 2 directory.
Click to rename your original CHARACTER NAME INI file (as if you were to rename it) and COPY THE FILENAME.
There are TWO FILENAMES, one for 1280x1024 and one for 1024x768.
Erase your OLD INI file.
Rename my "1024x768 settings.ini" or "1280x1024 settings.ini" to your CHARACTER NAME (depending upon if you are running in 1280x1024 or 1024x768).
Run the game.

Your screen will then look like mine.

Having A Hard Time Deciding What Class To Play In Everquest 2
Posted: Dec 14, 2006, at 07:04 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

I have now created and played a Warden, Wizard, Warlock, Paladin, Fury and Guardian to level 8. Each time I hit level 8, I deleted the character and tried another one.

Yes, I did delete Morabis, my level 15 Paladin - but that is because I already have a level 25 Paladin named Jehunnin. The problem with Jehunnin is that I am so out of touch with my Paladin it makes it difficult. I played my level 25 Paladin now for a few days and decided because of all of the changes that Sony has made to the game over the last year and a half, I am not sure in the end that I can really play her. I am missing so many skills that may be given to me during the course of regular play - I don't know. I don't know really what Sony has done in the way of changes since then.

So tonite I started a Guardian (read Warrior for all you WOW buffs) and started playing this new dwarf named Hollan.

I did very well and the damage that I have been able to do has been greater than a Paladin, but no healing abilities. No problem, out of all of the classes I've played so far, I have really liked this Guardian.

My friend Eric has still not been online yet - but he just got his new apartment in Salt Lake and doesn't have his roots settled (Ie. NO INTERNETS!).

Hopefuly by the time he gets back in game I will have my Guardian up around level 15+.

For now, I journey onward.

Level 15, Joined A Guild
Posted: Dec 16, 2006, at 05:53 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

Earned 6 levels this weekend. At level 15 now. I joined a guild called "Finest Hour". It is nice to be able to ask questions and have them answered. There are several young members in that guild and I was able to group and take down several hard quests this weekend.

Ok, now I need to go cook steaks and watch Barnyard.

I'll back off on the EQ2 stuff this week and do otherstuff for now.

My Everquest 2 Quaint Little Home
Posted: Dec 17, 2006, at 05:15 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

This is cool - in Everquest 2 you get your own home and can decorate it. Here is a small shot of mine.

I better go eat.

Here There Be Snowmen
Posted: Dec 20, 2006, at 07:09 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

Here there be snowmen.

There are presents and stuff all over Qeynos. Snowballs, christmas trees for your house and more.

Turkey Dinner For The Friends Of My House
Posted: Dec 23, 2006, at 04:57 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

I made some special turkey dinner for the friends of my house.

I have a christmas tree, but it's not in this shot.

Hollan, The Paladin Of Blackburrow
Posted: Jan 6, 2007, at 08:42 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: infymus

I put up a character sheet for my Paladin:

Hollan - the Paladin of BlackBurrow

Herrix And Hollan, Together Again
Posted: Jan 7, 2007, at 12:34 PM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

It has been 10 years since Herrix and Hollan played together.

The last time they were together was Hythloth where we both got killed and left the game.:

This weekend we played in the Thundering Steppes and both made level 23.

Herrix And Hollan, Sailing Away Into The Night
Posted: Jan 21, 2007, at 08:37 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

Herrix and Hollan, sitting on the bow of the ship, sailing off into the night.

Herrix And The Insane Group Roll Ability
Posted: Jan 25, 2007, at 05:34 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

As far back as I can remember when Herrix and I have grouped, he has had the insane ability to win group rolls. When you play MMOG games and you group together, you put your loot method onto "Group Loot". This way, any good items that pop from creatures, spawns, chests and the like are then present befored the group and everyone has a chance to roll for the item.

Nacho would say, "Es el lanzar de los dados", or, it is a throwing of the dice.

Herrix, has an insane ability to win these. When grouping with him it is not uncommon for him to wih 90% of the time. I will win a roll 1 out of 7 times, or 1 out of 9 times, or 1 out of 10 times when we play.

He is one lucky gnome.

This is for you Herrix.

Eric (Herrix) - know that you rock and gaming with you since 1993 when you became a moderator for me on my BBS "The Gaming Edge" has always been great. We have played so many games together, we cannot even begin to count them or the hours we have spent within them. Thank you man, you are a great friend. Now, update your blog you fiend!

Triox The Carpenter Of Blackburrow
Posted: Jan 27, 2007, at 09:07 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

Triox has always been the name of my carpenters in any MMOG I play. Last night I hit level 20 and can make some pretty rad furniture.

Upset Right Now With Everquest 2
Posted: Jan 27, 2007, at 05:48 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

Early this week I began crashing when logging in with chars. It was about every 5 logins, I would crash to desktop and when I was able to get back in, my UI was toast. I keep backups of my UI just in case, so I was able to restore. The UI file (.ini) would always be -0- bytes in size, so watch your .INI files.

Yesterday the crashing was getting insane. Join a group - crash. Open quest window - crash. Accept quest - crash. Fulfil quest (like pick up griff eggs in Nek Forest) - crash.

Finally I gave up. I could not play. Could not group, could not do anything. Crash Crash Crash.

So, I deleted ALL of my INI files, all of my setting files, all of my UI files and let the patcher bring back some of the files.

That didn't work. Crash crash crash even with default EQ2 UI files.

So I deleted my entire EQ2 directory and re-installed.

After downloading and installing (I don't have the discs) for nearly 10+ hours. I let it run all night.

Early this morning - no crashes. I was able to get on a griffen and fly. I accepted a quest. I haven't joined a group yet - and that is where it was crashing on me all night. The second crash was when I completed or accepted any quests (ie. I was in Nek Forest and picked up some griffen eggs and crashed to desktop).

After switching characters, I crashed once so far and wiped out my UI for that character.

I came back to EQ2 in December after WOW made a patch that nerfed pretty much all my chars in prep for TBC. I never had any issues with the UI crashing until this week. Something they did or something they patched did this. I have not changed anything on my machine, no new games, no new programs, nothing. I have an entire drive set aside just for EQ2 - the only thing on the drive is EQ2. The only GAME I am playing right now is EQ2 so I have not changed a single thing. I haven't even put any new UI in my UI directory for over three weeks!

Like I said before: This just started happening THIS WEEK.

I will continue to watch this and see if it continues to crash. If it does, then I will walk away for a while until I see some kind of patch that resolves it. For now it makes playing extremely difficult when you crash out, then your UI is reset to default when you come back.

There are now large threads appearing right now in the EQ2 forums.

This One and This One and This One.

I’m Sorry, But I Can't Play Everquest 2 Due To UI Crashes
Posted: Feb 2, 2007, at 01:57 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

I have been plagued hard with the UI crashing bug for the last two weeks now.

I have tried everything to get around this crashing and have not been successful.

Log into a char – crash. Switch chars – crash. Join group, pick up quest, accept quest and in some cases, just move – crash. Zone – crash.

In all cases, my UI for that character is returned to -0- bytes.

Again, I have tried everything. I deleted all my INI files, all my personal UI, the crash comes back within minutes.

I erased the entire EQ2 directory and re-installed from scratch. Logged into ONE character, set up the UI and then backed up the whole EQ2 directory somewhere else.

Within hours the crashes started coming back.

Last nite, I could not even work in the broker because I would crash.

I have been watching and posting in the forums now for two weeks on this bug – watching dozens of others in frustration also being unable to play. I have not seen a single word from anyone from SOE even stating that they have acknowledged that “some of us” are having crashing problems.

I can’t play. I have spent almost $100 dollars on this game in the last month, buying expansion packs and adventure packs – yet something SOE did in a patch or hotfix over the last two weeks has made the game unplayable – for me. When I installed and began playing in December I never had a single issue - I played for nearly a month without crashing a single time.

So OK SOE, I’m going to go play something else for a while. I cancelled my account this morning. Told my guildies I would be back when I saw that SOE had acknowledged the problem and was looking into fixing it.

This is not a whinge post – this is simply stating that “I cannot play the game due to UI crashes” post. My frustration with trying everything I could to get the game to run for more than a half hour at a time have met with defeat.

Meanwhile, I’ll be here, watching and waiting, but for now I am not going to pay a monthly fee for something I cannot play. Fix it or at least acknowledge it – and I’ll be back in a heartbeat. Please please fix this game so I can play?

Thanks.

About Freaking Time Sony
Posted: Feb 7, 2007, at 04:22 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

Sony Online Entertainment FINALLY acknowledged there IS a problem with their game. From SOE official forums:

Official News and Announcements : Game Client Crashes Due to UI Corruption
From: Grimwell, SOE Forum Admin
Dated: 02-05-2007 05:50 PM

Just to let everyone know, we are aware that some people are experiencing game crashes due to corrupt UI files. When the game crashes you may or may not loose your UI file in the process. Some people are deleting the UI files in an attempt to fix the problem, but this does not always work.

We do have a dev team member working on this right now, and I will do what I can to keep people updated as I learn about the progress. The best thing everyone can do is to contact customer service immediately when this happens. Do not delete your UI files before contacting customer service! The information you provide will help us get to the bottom of this quicker.

Thanks for your help!

----
Craig "Grimwell" Dalrymple
EQ2 Community Manager
Sony Online Entertainment

Good news. Maybe within the next MONTH they will get the issue resolved. Of course, they have "A DEV MEMBER" working on it, meaning one guy, brand new who is now learning how to code in C.

I just hope it wasn't this guy:

Sony Finally Fixed The User Interface Crash Bug
Posted: Feb 8, 2007, at 05:00 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

From SOE Update today:

Hotfix February / 08 / 2007

*** Gameplay***

The corruption of UI files and the subsequent client crashes that it was causing for some players has been resolved.

I logged in, then /camp'd and logged into other chars - no crash. I played Hollan for a half hour, no crash. I /camp'd Hollan and logged into all my other chars, switching around back and forth - NO CRASH.

Finally! I can play again! Yes!

I promptly deleted my World Of Warcraft Directory and I hope to never look back again.

Everquest 2 And The Ultimate Machine
Posted: Aug 24, 2007, at 03:46 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

I'm getting 43 frames per second in this scene:

That isn't always the case and in some parts of Freeport the FPS drops down to 17, but I'm playing with shaders on 100, full shadows (high quality), and pretty much every setting set on high. Most of the time the FPS is 30+. Outside of towns, the FPS is anywhere from 60-85.

This box?

Intel Core 2 Duo 600 775 Chip
EVGA 775 Core 2 680i SLI Motherboard (1000 mhz front side bus)
2 sticks of 1G Corsair TWIN2X 2048-8500C5D DDR2 (1000 mhz)
2 (yes TWO) GEFORCE 8800 GTS 320mb Video cards in SLI mode
2 SATA Seagate 320 gig drives - these puppies are 16mb cache with 3 gig per second read rates
Aspire 680 Watt Power Supply

It takes 35 seconds for Windows XP to boot after the BIOS screen. It is insane how fast this box is.

In WOW my FPS is 85 - because that is my refresh rate. In Lord Of The Rings, my FPS is 85, down to around 40 in towns (everything on high).

I was getting 403 FPS in FarCry... That is insane.

This is a killer box. Not too bad for $2 grand straight up. Should last a couple years.

Trying To Find SLI For Everquest 2
Posted: Aug 26, 2007, at 09:06 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

I have been trying to find Nvidia drivers for my Evga GEForce 8800 GTS 320mb cards for EverQuest II.

So far my search has been in vain.

My first find on the EQ2 forums:

FROM: TSR-GeoffK
DATE: 02/11/2005 22:54:24

If we start to support SLI, we will let you all know.

Geoff Kressel, Senior Customer Support Representative

I'm still looking.

But for now, regardless of being in either SLI or normal mode, EverQuest 2 just brings this box to its knees and I still can't play effectively with shadows.

Everquest 2 Does Not Support Multi-Core CPUs Or SLI
Posted: Aug 28, 2007, at 02:50 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

I've searched everywhere and I've found nothing, except EQ2 customer support people stating "EQ2 does not support SLI".

Even with my rig I'm only seeing 12 to 17 FPS in Qeynos Docks. With SLI tweaking I have seen no improvement.

In WOW with everything on high I'm getting 90-100 FPS. In FARCRY I'm getting a whopping 403 FPS indoors and 157 outside. DOOM 3 I'm getting 67 FPS. QUAKE 4 87 FPS. BIOSHOCK 73 FPS.

EQ2? 12 FPS.

I have been playing EQ2 now for almost three years. And in that time I've upgraded my machine 3 times, the first TWO TIMES because I wanted to see BETTER graphics in EQ2. Now I have an impressive machine and yet the performance is nowhere near what I want.

In the end it's EQ2s rendering engine that sucks. It is just plain coded wrong and THAT is why no amount of money you can throw at a computer will ever be enough to run EQ2 the way you want to run it.

So I give up SONY. You've got one hell of a nice game - best in combat, ambiance, atmosphere, guild and auction house. I have current subscriptions to WOW and LOTRO but none of them come close to the gameplay of EQ2. But your rendering engine has not kept up with the times.

In hard research through the NVIDIA forums, the common consent is that EQ2 is CPU intensive, meaning that the GPU is waiting for the CPU to finish as EQ2 is rendering geometry and shadow skinning on the CPU. On top of that, those with DUO or QUAD core CPUS (the new CPU types available now) are in even more trouble because EQ2 doesn't support multi-core CPU processors. This means if you have a QUAD, EQ2 is going to run even worse than a single CPU core because it can only use 25% (in a QUAD) of the CPU.

Even so, EQ2 runs like a champ with everything turned 100% on, just no shaders. And it looks pretty damned good that way.

Look Who Is Still Haunting My House After All This Time
Posted: Sep 1, 2007, at 08:07 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

Look at these two:

Glad to see that Manocter and Irwin are still alive and well and haunting my Everquest 2 house.

I've Decided To Stay With Everquest 2 For Now
Posted: Sep 2, 2007, at 03:23 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

I have a subscription to WOW, LOTORO and EQ2 right now and have been trying to look at each one to see which one I wanted to play long term.

My play style is on for a while, off for a while. I get bored easily and like to walk away from a game and then come back.

WOW holds absolutely nothing new to me but I have good friends there who play. I know I haven't been to Outland yet, but the kind of cheesiness that is WOW just gets in my way.

LOTORO needs more time to grow up. The command structure isn't up to par, and the interface needs a lot of work - but it is fun, and nowhere near as frustrating as VANGUARD was. Maybe next year when it matures a little bit.

EQ2 is the best in terms of game play, guilds, auction house, player housing, combat system, esthetics and environment. I was just hampered by in game friends who demanded too much of my energy (making the game not very fun to play), and a machine that couldn't handle playing the game the way I really wanted it to be.

So I've decided. EQ2 it will be. Things have changed now that Herrix stopped playing and put me on ignore (for the last few weeks), and my box now is strong enough to play. Don't worry Herrix, I harbor no ill feelings towards you.

I cancelled my accounts in WOW and LOTORO and moved them offline into storage and then moved back into EQ2.

With this machine, I can play EQ2 with all of the graphic settings on 100% - except for shadows. I get over 40 FPS in cities that way, and well over 80 FPS outside. I do once in a while get a wee bit slowdown in crowded auction houses, but no big deal.

When I logged in today, Cayleigh and Reagan (friends I met in EQ2 through Herrix) were there and invited me into their guild. I said I'd be on here and there and would be finicky - but they were just happy to see me.

It's nice to not be pressured in gaming. /smirk.

Meanwhile, I am also playing Half Life 2 - Episode 1 and Bioshock. Now that I have this new box I've been installing a lot of my old games as well.

Ahh well, onward.

Everquest 2 - A Totally New Game
Posted: Sep 6, 2007, at 07:05 AM
Stored Under Topic: GAMING - EVERQUEST -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus

I have been playing EverQuest II since, oh, what, August 2005? That is when I started it. But I have never seen EverQuest 2 this way before, at least, not with this kind of hardware.

I can't believe how beautiful this game is, shadows withstanding. I used to say this game was so bland - but that was before I could have everything turned on 100% (except for shadows).

I started a Mystic on the same server that I have Hollan, and I joined the guild that Hollan was in.

I am really enjoying this because the landscape is just so beautiful.

It is nice to have a real box to play this game on.