For our first show we have the privilege of interviewing Karen from Shut Up We’re Talking and EQual Perspectives. She allowed herself to be grilled pretty heavily on the ‘noob’ experience and knowledgeably answered a ton of questions about the game.

Here’s some of the links she mentioned.

http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2
http://www.eq2i.com
http://maps.eq2interface.com

We welcome comments on our show. You can leave us feedback here or at the VirginWorlds website http://www.virginworlds.com

You can find Karen at:

http://www.journeyswithjaye.com

I hope you enjoy the show~!
Jute

There are currently 19 different races with 24 different classes. There are currently 22 servers with rulesets varying from Standard, Roleplaying and Player vs. Player.

You will need a Sony Station Account to play.

Adventure Packs
The Bloodline Chronicles March 21, 2005
The Splitpaw Saga June 28, 2005
The Fallen Dynasty June 14, 2006

Expansions

Desert of Flames September 13, 2005
Kingdom of Sky February 21, 2006
Echoes of Faydwer November 14, 2006
Rise of Kunark November 13, 2007

Current price for the game in US dollars is $29.99 for the latest expansion Rise of Kunark. The game is still available in many retail stores and easily available online, either from Sony at full price or from an online retail outlet often at a discount.

Current subscription fees in US dollars are:

1 month - $14.99
3 months - $41.99
6 months - $77.99
12 months - $143.99

Required System Specs

Pentium III – 1 GHz
• 512M RAM
• Windows 2000/XP
• 64M DirectX 9 compatible video card (Pixel/Vertex shader)
• DirectSound Compatible Audio hardware
• 56K internet connection
•16x DVD-ROM
•10 GB HD space
DirectX 9.0c

Recommended System Specs

Pentium 4 – 2 GHz
•1 GB RAM
•Windows 2000/XP/Vista
•128M DirectX 9 compatible video card (Pixel/Vertex shader)
•DirectSound Compatible Audio Hardware
•Broadband Connection
•16x DVD-ROM
•10 GB HD space DirectX 9.0c
NOTE: System requirements subject to change as the game progresses.

There I said it, out in the open… I LOVE MMOs.   For years I’ve been ashamed to actually admit they were my passion, but I have at last come to terms with the fact that even if the entirety of my workmates believe I’m pretty darn weird for playing games, I no longer care.

After all, I never comment on their passion for baseball, or their obsession over American Idol.  So, I’ve finally decided that I no longer need pretend I spent last night watching network television instead of raiding.  How I choose to spend my time is as valid as theirs.  After all, neither one of us are out saving the lepers of Calcutta now, are we?

The acceptance of playing games among the public has come a long way, but we still aren’t completely mainstream.  So I’ve decided to help by infecting as many people as I can with my love of the genre!  That combined with my love of talking… well, here you have it.

There are a lot of good games out there, some of them have even been around for awhile.  Most reviews are done by professional writers who play the game for a very short time, usually with information given them by the game company.  I thought it would be great to have games reviewed by the people who would normally play them.  I also thought it would be interesting to have a Veteran player think about how much the game has changed since they first started and, perhaps, be able to impart some wisdom they wish they’d known when they first entered their particular game world.

So, these will be two part shows.  In the first show, I’ll talk to the Veteran player and ask them questions about the game.  I’ll then have someone who is an MMO player, but never played this particular game, listen to the podcast and I’ll foot the bill for them to play the MMO for a week or two.  After that time, I’ll interview the newcomer and get their impressions on the game and the advice they were given by the Veteran MMO player.

Hopefully it will be fun and we’ll all learn something!

So welcome to The Noob Review!  I’m your host Jute and with me today is….