EverQuesting: The absurd number of things to do in EverQuest II, part II

Have you finished up everything there was to do in EverQuest II from last week’s list? Neither have I. That first half alone is enough to fill your calendar for an extremely long time. Even so, making fully informed decisions is important when it comes to your play time. That’s why you need all the info! EQII has a plethora of things to do outside the standard MMO fare we discussed before, and some of these off-the-beaten-path activities are actually my favorites!

In that light, here’s the second half of the I’ve-logged-in-now-what-do-I-do list to help you stave off the feeling of running around, flailing wildly like a boss with its head cut off! Use this to avoid the dreaded decisional paralysis that accompanies diving into a game as rich in features and activities as EQII by homing in on just one topic or two to occupy your time before you actually start. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with sampling a little bit of everything, either. So go forth and enjoy what Norrath has to offer!

Shiny!

I am far from the only one who loves the collection system in EQII. And while some understandably just want the reward, some of us want to actually find all the pieces to each collection out in the world. Guess what? That takes a long time — unless you have the luck of the universe. Taking into account that some collections are only available at certain times (like city festivals) or are only visible if certain requirements are met (like wearing special goggles or the new GU100 collection), there is no way to breeze through these. And there are always those certain pieces in a collection that are rarer and harder to find. Even if you expand your search to include shinies found by a friend or your guild to help you finish collections quicker, you will still spend a good chunk of time hunting plenty of pieces down. Add to that the sheer number of collections available (you can get a cramp from scrolling down that list!), and you have yourself a nice little time sink. Personally, my main has discovered 243 collections, of which 115 are completed — and there are still many more to do! Thank heavens for the awesome collectable depot, otherwise inventory and bank management would be your full-time job!

Think just finding the right shinies is hard? How about trying to retrieve one of those glowing bits of goodness from the feet of a mob or boss that can — and does — wipe the floor with you? I can’t even tell you how much time (and how many lives) I have spent just trying to acquire a shiny from a precarious place.

Play the market

You might not necessarily be able to make much money off of lower-level crafted items, but there is still a market for professions. Even beyond crafted goods, there are items and loot found throughout the world that players will pay for. You know all those extra collection pieces you’ve gathered? The can be turned in for status now, so they are a hotter commodity than before. Cosmetic items, decorations, and master-level skill books can also fetch you some coinage.

On a whole different angle of playing the market, you could actually craft things to sell in the Player Studio. Us Norrathians love our cosmetics and our housing items, and some players have made a pretty penny selling those to us. If you like creating these kinds of items, you could entertain yourself as well as make some cash. And I can only imagine the rush of seeing your item in the game!

Party all year long!

You could fill your gaming calendar with just festivals and special events! Yes, there are that many. There’s something going on every month, and sometimes multiple events each month, each lasting for days, if not weeks. If you aren’t careful, you can miss out on getting something you really want and have to wait a year to try again; here’s a handy guide for all those special events so you always know what’s coming up.

Not included in that guide are the player events that crop up. The Festival of Discord and Festival of Unity are two major events on the Antonia Bayle server, Ribbitribbit Day was celebrated on Guk (hopefully the mergers didn’t abolish this thoughtful tradition), and there are multiple Pay-it-Forward events on various servers. Although these are planned and implemented by players, devs also jump in and offer services, such as the special sets that are turned on for events. Want to really lose time to a player-made event: Plan one yourself! It can be big or small, server-wide or just for a guild.

Play a role

Believe it or not, there is still roleplay to be found In EverQuest II. The larger concentration is on Antonia Bayle, but you can do it wherever you want. Many of the features and systems in the game support this well, from housing that becomes RP hotspots to appearance slots for a personal look. Items that change your appearance to other races are also quite fun!

If you don’t want to pretend to be different person per se, you can fill the role of an event organizer, a guild leader, or some such. I can attest that those will definitely use up your time. Perhaps my personal favorite role would be bookstore owner/librarian and author! Thanks to the amazing player-made books, you could publish to your heart’s content, or spend forever tracking down and reading all the ones already written.

Be all that you can be

Players often have favorite race or classes they like to play, but the sheer number of them available in EQII means that if you wanted to give them all a whirl, it would take you a significant stretch of time. I’ve dabbled in quite a few myself, and I am no where near having experienced them all! And speaking of rerolling…

Start over

Another way you can spend your EQII time is by doing all of the above (with the exception of festivals — boo!) by starting over on a new server. The time-locked expansion servers are a good way to start from the beginning, and might help you to narrow your focus and not be as overwhelmed by what is available. Of course, the current Stormhold server has already progressed a bit, so waiting too long might just put back in the same boat of having too much to do! In that case, take a deep breath, go back to the top of these two articles, and start again. If that’s still too much, you could wait until the new Isle of Refuge server launches this summer and start over from scratch alongside everyone else.

Thanks to the recent announcement, players will also have the chance to participate in a limited-time event server. The first event, Race to Trakanon, will start this summer and end as soon as Trakanon is slain. This could be an interesting diversion from your regular gaming, and certain rewards earned there will be claimable on the live servers.