Wall of text incoming (not for the faint of eyes):
So, Mr. Palindrome, you came in here offering perspective, so allow me to do the same for you:
I played WoW from release until about 2 years ago. I quit about a month after Naxxramas was released. I picked up playing EQ2 since then and have been raiding throughout the expansion 'Echoes of Faydwer' (tier 7) and the current, 'Rise of Kunark' (tier 8).
EQ2 was an interesting shift from WoW-style leveling, and to be honest, I never got into the leveling style of early EQ2. I absolutely
loved the level 70 raids. I got into a second-on-server raiding guild and eventually became the main tank. I loved the fact that I could be a DPS oriented tank, able to hold aggro by sheer damage dealt, but still be wearing plate; a la WoW Fury/arms warrior tanking while dual wielding or with a two-hander.
One major drawback I ran into was the fact that on orange con mobs (level 75, 76 mobs in tier 7, 85-88 mobs in tier 8) my hit-rate fell through the floor. Unless the mob was yellow con, I couldn't hit it for shit. In the current expansion, end-game bosses are level 88. Now, my major gripe is not the fact that they're level 88 and require a lot of +hit gear.
It doesn't matter if you're at the hit cap or not... Melee at the hit cap(520 +piercing, slashing, or crushing) will only hit the mob about 60% of the time. I've literally gone 15 swings in a row without doing a single point of damage to bosses I've tanked. How is that fun?
At least in WoW you can stat for +hit rating and gain enough to mitigate your own misses and +expertise rating to gain enough to mitigate an enemy's dodge. In EQ2, there is a hard cap where any more of the stat is absolutely useless. Even at the +hit cap, you still end up with about a 60% hit rate.
Some of the problem I also have with end-game EQ2 itemization is that it's end-game forever... My max level character is still wearing a few pieces (or still has pieces) from the last expansion because they are so powerful still. This is compounded by the fact that percentage based effects are still percentage based regardless of your level. For instance, I have a sword that gives +5% shield block. (In EQ2, a shield block completely avoids the attack, opposed to in WoW where it only prevents a crushing blow and stops a small percentage of the hit.) So 5% of attacks coming to me are completely stopped. Now, that's always going to be 5%, regardless of the enemy's level, and my level. More and more items were released with +block percentage on them in tier 8, and when you combine all the items, you end up with this ever increasing percentage based effect that never diminishes. What's the point of using any new gear if you're sitting at 50% block? How can they design raids with progression in mind for people to be effective at higher tiers when players are using items from last tier that are still 100% effective?
Another personal issue I have with end-game EQ2 raiding is the fact that a LOT of the encounters are based on effects that completely control your character's ability to function at all. The following effects can proc when YOU hit the enemy:
Stun
Stifle (no spell casting or combat art use)
Daze (no auto attacking)
Fear
You can also be charmed and mezzed.
Realize that many of these effects overlap, and you are only able to actually DO something in a fight for about 50% of its actual duration. I want to be able to attack this mob... but I can't because I'm stunned. I want to be able to taunt, but I can't because I'm stifled.
There are also raids where at least 1 person is 100% dedicated to do nothing other than click on a statue. That's it... they just stand there and click a statue for the entire fight. (On one encounter, it's 4 people)
Now, you came from WoW and it's a refresing experience in EQ2. I can understand that completely. I am now playing WoW, and guess what? It's a refresing experience!
In the Burning Crusade expansion, the following dungeons were released (copied from
www.wowhead.com):
Shadow Labrynth
The Black Morass
The Steamvault
The Shattered Halls
The Arcatraz
The Botanica
The Mechanaar
Sethekk Halls
Old Hillsbrad Foothills
Auchenai Crypts
Mana-Tombs
The Underbog
The Slave Pens
The Blood Furnace
Hellfire Ramparts
And there are 'heroic' difficulty versions of each of those I guess.
In the Rise of Kunark expansion in EQ2, the following instance dungeons were released:
Court of Korucust
Crypt of Agony
Charassis: Maiden's Chamber
Charassis: Vault of Eternal Sleep
Chelsith
Once I completed all the instances that were available, what was left to me to do? Raid! But, with the aforementioned crappy hit rates and control effects, raiding just feels like a chore. Two parts of that, plus a pinch of the group loot being better than the raid loot, and you have a tasty 'quit the game and do something else' souffle.
Re: Why all the hate? A little perspecitve.
