The return of Neriak!

After getting home last night, I fired up EQ2 and waited for the patcher to download the new patch/content. I had previously not bothered to download the extra free content (voices and such) so I checked those off and let the patcher do its thing. I was surprised that the new update plus all extra content was downloaded in about 20 minutes or so.

I logged in and created me a new Arasai - a necro - and started playing around in Darklight Woods. After having played a Fae the other day up to level 9 in Faydwer, I had already experienced creating a new character and not having to go to the newbie isle. However, I was still a little surprised after creating Asooz (my Arasai) that I got to start in the actual real game world, and not some silly newbie instance. I saw a few level 70s running around checking stuff out - and lots of fellow Arasai brothers and sisters.

My first impressions are very good. This is free content ya'll - and it's better than some of the original content that shipped with the game. Even with three instances of Darklight Woods spawned, I didn't have to wait very long for my quest mobs as they respawned quite frequently. There were plenty of quests to do, with most of the objectives easily accessible and close to the quest givers. There are several gathering-type quests mixed in with the usual kill and delivery quests.

There are also a few quests that ask you to kill a mob that is a couple levels higher than you - at least - the mob was 2-3 levels higher than me when I was able to get the quest. I still haven't killed them yet - but I should have them dead tonight before I have to switch over to WoW for one of my final raids.

Speaking of - I cancelled both my WoW accounts two nights ago. I like WoW - don't get me wrong. However, I have some "real life" things I need to do - and I am not happy with how they are treating the Shaman community (the numerous Shaman asshats aside). So I cancelled both accounts, but I still have a Karazhan raid to go to tonight, that I had previously signed up for. I am going to miss playing - but I need to get away from it. Plus, I am having a lot of fun in EQ2 right now, so it makes it a bit easier. Even so, I really don't think I need to be paying four subscription fees every month for MMOs (2x WoW, EQ2 and LOTRO).

Anyhow, back on topic! After reaching level 10 I travelled - encumbered - to Neriak to see what the city was like. It's very well done, actually. It's got the same blue and purple tones as the old neriak had - my only complaint was finding the tradeskill trainer. I asked a guard and he marked my map and such, but I ran through the little tradeskill area five times before I accidently wandered into the side cave where she resides. After coming back out, it was real obvious where the cave was, but on intial runnings-through, the "cave" looked like a little alcove with one workbench in it - not an alcove that had a passage on the other side. That aside, the tradeskill area is actually very nice. It's not instanced and it has a banker and broker right there for all your needs. I look forward to spending some more time here in the future.

Unfortunately, at this point I really needed to get some sleep - so I went and picked up my first apartment, placed my three free items and crashed. I shall be spending more time in this area this weekend for sure.