EverQuest II

It's still fun all these years on. The only difference being now my machine can finally run it on full graphics which is amazing really how far ahead of its time it really was.

For the free2play section there's one server which is always medium/full so its fairly active. Most of the playerbase is now at cap but you can hire mercs so you can solo/duo a lot of the dungeons (haven't found one i can't yet). I have a feeling the mercs are way overpowered to compensate for solo play to be honest.

If you pay to sub, there are always fresh start servers or classic servers launching where the world is in various states, those are always popular for a time and a lot better to group up when levelling.

For me though i am happy mostly soloing the free2play. Doing old dungeons, getting stuff for my house to decorate and having ridiculous adventures with BigDave (my Ogre) who apparently spends the majority of his time just collecting butterflies for his collection rather than smashing skulls which was the original idea.

It really is worth a shot, I mean it's mostly free what's to lose? Microtransactions are in but its mostly level skips and cosmetic stuff so it doesnt feel horrendous, it's just there to either use or ignore.

I will always come back to this game at various times of the year until it finally gets shutdown. It's a good comfort game, give it a shot!

9/10 for being an all time favourite of mine and for being incredibly versatile in how you can play it.
Every minute aspect of this game has been fleshed out to such a degree that it functions as multiple games in one.

This is possibly the hardest game to review.. and the score really depends on what aspects you are trying to enjoy here. Be it early game, Questing, Raiding, Lore hunting, collecting mounts/familiars/armor sets/shinies, building your own house or just chatting with other people.

The game itself is very well crafted, you can tell that hundreds of thousands of hours went into making this beautiful world and designing its thousands of quests and events.

The graphics do admittedly look old, there is defenitly no HD ultra realism here BUT that doesnt mean it looks bad. It all fits together rather perfectly and for being such an old game they really held up well even for todays standarts. Just dont expect any 4k textures..
Most of this games charm actually lies in its graphics and in the level detail.
If you take your time to explore the world it can really feel like reading a book, and you are a part of it.

The gameplay is amazing. You get to choose between dozens of different classes. Each completely unique in their abilities and usefulness in a group setting.
Some classes and character races are locked to being "evil" some are always "good" and others count as neutral, which means they get to choose. This makes it so your character will always thematically fit into the region you are playing. No ogres or shadowknights in a good aligned city.
There are 5 different starting regions, each of them completely different and unique. My favourite is Kelethin for its Fairy/Forest setting

Some of the things you can do in Everquest:
-Explore ~20-30 different zones
-Finish ~10k quests
-Decorate up to 4 houses per character (There are probably over 100 different houses to find and even more you can purchase)
-Become a crafter and choose between Carpenter (Decorates your houses), Weaponsmith, Armorer, Provisioner (makes temporary Food), Tailor (Light armor + bags), Woodworker (Ammunition and Temporary Buffs), Jeweler (accessories), Sage (Skill upgrades) and Alchemist (skill upgrades)
-Collect every Mount you can get your grubby little mits on. There are probably around 50-100 that you can earn through quests and events, another ~150 when you visit a stable and EVEN MORE on the marketplace for real money.
-Finish every Shiny collection you can. "Shinies" are little yellow orbs on the ground that you can pick up to recieve a random item from a collection. These collections, when completed, give you items that you can use on your character, to decorate houses, or complete further collections and can fetch a hefty penny from other players.
-Collect every set of unique looking armor in the game (There are hundreds, possibly thousands of them)
-Change your characters size with the help of obtainable items and become as small as a speck of dust or even as large as entire buildings. (Becoming Larger is by far the more difficult and really shows dedication)
-Try to finish every Raid in the game. (There are at least a couple hundred of them and some are very hidden/unknown) Raids can vary from "kill everything" to "kill everything in a very specific order" or "solve a bunch of riddles with no help". The wiki is really your best friend for this.
-Walk around the City and roleplay with others. The game has a relatively deep emote system and you can also create your own emotes ( "/emote tips his hat" will become "CharName tips his hat") Roleplaying has fallen out of fashion a little but its still very much appreciated by the players and I have never had a bad interaction with anyone. When Everquest 2 was in its prime it was very common to find people just standing around in the cities telling the whole world of their guilds achievments and self-made lore. IMO one of the best aspects of this game.
-Explore the Lore of this game. There are whole guilds dedicated to this task and, correct me If iam wrong, they are still not finished after all these years. And I dont mean because of new expansions (which there are, the game is still getting annual expansions) but because some lore is REALLY REALLY REALLY hidden. A random note, with 1% drop chance, from a level 5 enemy in Antonica might just elaborate on why the gnolls are hated throughout the lands. Its seriously obscure stuff but that makes it all the more rewarding when you find something. Roleplaying with the proper lore knowledge is pretty much the highest art in this game.

If you made it this far "/emote tips his hat".
Now, after listing everything positive that I could think of..

WHATS BAD ABOUT EVERQUEST 2:
-The biggest thing here is probably the price and its the same as World of Warcraft. To be a "member" you need to pay monthly.
As a f2p player you cant use the global chat (local chat still works), you cant sell to other players on the broker (You can still buy items there), your alternate advancement points will be locked at around half its max (not too consequential, these are not your main skills, just upgrades) and you wont get double experience points (From a long-time players perspective, taking the game slower is actually a positive)
Personally I played this game f2p for the longest time and the only thing thats impactful is not selling on the broker. The economy is very inflated and quests will not give you relevant amounts of money. Just ask a guild mate or even just a random guy in the world and they will help you with some plat.
-The second worst thing in this game are actually its expansions.. While they do keep the game fresh and interesting for some players it also messed with the power curve of your characters. PUT SIMPLY Characters from lvl 1-95 have items with up to +60 Strength (for example). Once you are 95 your items will suddenly jump to +350 and level 130 (the current max) you get like 10.000 and other stats that quite simply take your damage and x10.000% it or add a flat 10.000.000 damage to it.. Its becomes very.. whack and artifical..
I usually play my characters to level 100 and then get bored of them.

All in all I think Everquest 2 is an amazing game and it is almost impossible to pick it up and not enjoy at least some of its features, there has to be something here that even YOU will enjoy. YES YOU! Iam talking to you!
The only "Deal breaker" so to say would be how much time you can sink into it. Nothing in this game will actually try to keep you there but it can easily happen that you enjoy it and suddenly you sank 100h into it and forget write your report or whatever work you got going on. Its actually a common story on here lol

Actually enjoying this more than I can say, a total adventure, if you enjoy MMO's, give this a try, make a character, play for 2 or 3 hours, see if you fall in love with it like I did recently :)

I have played this game for 20yrs and will probably play til the end. No better housing in any other mmo.
This game still releases new content every year.
They just started up the "Origins" server where you play as it was then, mostly.....the fish don't chase you across the zone out of water like in the old days and you don't die tradeskilling 😜 That being said it is good to see it busy again, but I will take it anyway it comes.

Great mmorpg tons to do i play on the anashti sul Origins server that takes you back through classic and the first few expansions totally worth it. Just like the old days where players relied on each other to get far in the game. cant speak for the live version but the origins is top notch mmorpg fun

I always loved EQ2, but dropped out of it after awhile. Now with the Origins server, I am enjoying it the same way I did when I was younger. I missed those days all the time, and now I feel like I have it back, in full. It's awesome.

In its hayday, EQ2 was a great game, and amazingly, still is. I found it to be a great way to socialize with people who had similar interests and enjoyed gaming as much if not more than I did. Be careful, though! It might just take over your life and ruin your marriage and some of your friendships as well. That said, with moderation, it is a great way to spend time with like-minded people and have fun doing things you like to do.