Everquest 2 is Sony's sequel to their hit game Everquest with updated graphics engine.

Everquest 2 was released on Nov 8th 2004 by Sony Online Entertainment (SOE).

Everquest 2 used to require a software client purchase and monthly subscription fees; however today it is free to download and play with restrictions. Even though the game is now free to play, Sony is still selling subscriptions and content expansions at their regular prices, subscribing is the only way to have account restrictions lifted.

SOE has released numerous content expansions for Everquest 2 in the past, and these expansions cost extra but are optional.

Several of the Past Expansion packages have become a standard part of the free content included in the basic game.

Currently there are two Expansions being offered for purchase; "Destiny of Velious" and "Age of Discovery".

Age of Discovery is notable because it adds NPC Mercenaries to the game which can be hired by players and allow them to solo as a group; this constitues a definate advantage for players who have purchased this content expansion.

The basic F2P offering allows for two characters to be created and played to the level cap of 90.

Your choices are restriced to a few of the races and 8 of the available classes.

Loot/Equipment tiers are limited, you can not use items from Legendary or Fabled tiers or higher, these are the better items in the game. Treasured or Mastercrafted items are equipable.

Class specific Spells or Skills also are ranked into tiers, the basic F2P access will only allow spell tiers below Expert level.

The F2P player cannot use the Broker to buy or sell items to other players; however there is an ingame Auction chat channel and chat is unrestricted.

It should also be noted that players can setup vendors in their homes which players can buy from directly, these transactions are also not allowed to F2P players.

For a one-time fee of $5USD you can upgrade your account to Silver access. Silver allows the creation of 4 Characters on the account.

With Silver access you are allowed to upgrade your Spells/Skills to the Expert level, which are Mastercrafted items created from rare harvests by players.

A Silver account is able to buy from the Broker but still unable to sell or buy from a player's in-home vendor.

The Equipment tiers are limited in the same way as the basic F2P access.

You can purchase "Station Cash"(SC) for real-money which is used by SOE's marketplace to offer various kinds of in-game perks (mostly cosmetic).

You can use SC to purchase incremental unlocks for broker sales and to equip higher tier items without the normal F2P restrictions; but you have to purchase these unlocks for each individual item so it's hardly economical compared to the basic subscription rate for unlimited Gold access.

SC can also be used to unlock additional playable races and classes, or add character slots.

Occassionally SOE makes an SC promotional offer of double or triple the amount of SC for your dollars spent; which enables you to get a good discount on things like Expansion Packages.

I believe it's SOE policy that when a Gold subscription account reverts to F2P access all characters are forced to unequip Legendary and higher-teir items.

Some of Everquest 2's most appealing features include an extensive and customizeable player housing system.

A wide variety of mounts that can be purchased with in-game plats or SC or earned by questing.

An additional currency system that utilizes "Status Points" which can be aquired through certain repeatable quests known as writs, work orders, or rush orders.

A wide variety of races and classes to choose from each with thier own bountiful number of spells/skills; in-fact to the best of my own personal knowledge this game supports more class/profession choices than any other MMORPG on the market currently.

An exceptional and customizeable Graphical User Interface.

IHMO despite the game's age, it remains one of the highest quality products available from the online Entertainment Industry.

I have played this game in the past during two different periods of time and my main complaint is the generally poor quality of customer service that SOE provides.

In one case, one of my main characters became un-playable, unable to even log into the game, oddly only affecting a single character on an account with 8 characters on it.

SOE customer service was completely unable to do anything to resolve this situation after transfering my case between their Game Masters and Technical Support departments, back and forth several times. At that time I said to myself that I'd never return to an SOE product and offer them my hard-earned dollars again, but I guess that the times and the people do change so I'm giving it another shot. Incidentally F2P account users are not entitled to any kind of customer service unless they've spent some money on the game in which case they are entitled to Billing Support Only.

Everquest2 Characters on the Butcherblock server include:

Bromundo      Class: Berserker     Tradeskill: Provisioner 

Mehthusula     Class: Wizard          Tradeskill: Sage

Mungrowl       Class: Dirge          Tradeskill: Armorer

Mondugal     Class: Inquisitor     Tradeskill: Carpenter

Infinitus          Class: Conjuror     Tradeskill: Alchemist

Broscillius     Class: Bruiser          Tradeskill: Tailor

Chidraken     Class: Assassin         Tradeskill: Jeweler

Peaberry       Class: Paladin          Tradeskill: Weaponsmith