EverQuest II Preview

Massively Multiplayer Hell has written up a preview of EverQuest II, based upon what they’ve seen in the game’s ongoing beta test. An excerpt:

Character development starts out with a surprise: Gaining a new experience level doesn’t mean that you are allowed to distribute points to different attributes and skills. The only choice you have is to basically outline your path of adventuring whether you want to be a fighter, a scout, a crafter or a magician depends on what you say and do at certain stages in the game. After that, your character automatically gains skills after reaching another level, according to the chosen class.

As weak as this may sound compared to other RPGs, it doesn’t really matter the longer you play because they are numerous items, skills, spells and other factors that influence the development of your avatar. Every single armament, weapon and jewelry gives a various enhancements to your basic attributes and you are able to gain even more potential out of those objects the more experience you earn. For example, a basic long sword gives you a damage factor of 4 to 10 if you are at level 4. If you reach level 7, however, you are much more skilled in sword-wielding, so you hit with a factor of 6 to 12.