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EverQuest II

  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 12, age appropriate for kids over 15; suggested age 14.

  • Is it any good?

    4.0

  • Common Sense says

    Massively multiplayer role playing game for teens.

Why We Rated This iffy for Ages 14–15

The good stuff

  • Educational value:

    Players learn cooperative play and working as a team. They will also learn business skills by participating in virtual business transactions, including buying low and selling high, finding out what goods sell well, and obtaining them for sale in order to make a profit.

What to watch out for

  • Messages:

    Group play is highly encouraged in the game and many mature adults play the game and are willing to mentor younger players. The game is divided into "Good" and "Evil" races with some races being able to play either side. The towns of the Evil races are dark, sometimes dirty, and computer-controlled citizens can be rude and surly. The towns of the Good races, in contrast, are bright and colorful, the citizens polite and cheerful.

  • Violence:

    As an adventure game with swords and magic, expect to find lots of violence in this game. Stylized 3-D characters of humans and humanoids (dwarves, gnomes, cat-like humans, etc.) fight computer controlled characters and animals, both real (such as snakes and elephants) to fantastical (such as dragons and hell-hounds.) Characters cry out when hit and they can and will die, falling over with a groan or death scream. There is no graphic blood and gore nor do limbs fall off.

  • Sex:

    Male avatars can show their chests and females can wear revealing clothing. There are animated flirtation / dance sequences in game with male avatars cheering and whistling at the women.

  • Language:

    Language filter is ON by default, but can be disabled. Chat is freeform and although misbehavior can be reported, players can be subjected to bad language by other players. An "ignore" mechanism is available which will screen out another player if necessary.

  • Consumerism:

    A monthly fee of $14.99 is required to play this game. Two special servers are available where you can spend real dollars to buy in-game items and gold.

  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Alcohol is available in game to purchase or create and characters can get drunk and will stagger and be unable to perform simple actions.

What Parents Need to Know

This review of EverQuest II was written by Carolyn Koh

Parents need to know that this is a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) where you become a character in a fantasy world. There's a lot of fighting within this world so violence is prevalent, although there is not blood or gore. Drinking alcohol is allowed in this world and characters can become drunk. Because the game world is vast and content is deep, players can get easily drawn into the game and wish to keep on playing; and players can also spend a lot of time out of the game, searching for and reading information on how best to complete a quest (mission) or hone tradeskills. This game is CPU intensive requiring a high-end PC and graphics card, as well as broadband. In addition to the start-up cost, the game also requires a monthly fee of $14.99.

Families Can Talk About

Talk to your kids about the media in their life. We have more tools and tips that can help
  • Families can talk about the social etiquette within this game. How easy is it to make friends in the game? How important is cooperation? Since this game can be a big time-suck, parents might want to discuss time management skills and how to juggle gaming and other activities. Why did you choose the character you became? Were you drawn to be a "good" character, or did you find playing an "evil" one to be more interesting?
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OK for Your Kids to Play?

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More on EverQuest II

What’s the Story?

EVERQUEST 2 is an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) set in a fantasy world and players choose a character and alignment (good or evil) to play. This is a world of sword and sorcery, a fairy-tale world inhabited by knights and wizards, dwarves and elves. Players use swords and cast magic spells to defeat their enemies which range from insects and animals, to humanoid creatures such as giants and goblins, to fantastic creatures such as basilisks and dragons. EverQuest 2 currently has 7 expansions but the base game and all expansions are included in the current retail box.

Two different types of game play are available, the adventure game and the tradeskill game. Players go on quests to defeat wild creatures and enemies that threaten the cities to gain experience points and equipment, as well as components for tradeskills. Players can and will die (but will revive) while on these quests. Part of gameplay is also the economic game of buying and selling using an auction house system. Players will utilize the auction house to some extent: to purchase equipment or tradeskill components, and to sell the treasures they gain adventuring or the goods they produce using tradeskills.

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Is It Any Good?

Some of the fun of playing an MMORPG is exploring the vast world. Players can spend hours simply visiting the towns and surroundings, riding griffons to fly around from point to point. Other fun aspects include the interaction with other players and learning to work together to defeat a particularly difficult encounter. MMORPGs also evolve and grow as more content is added either from expansions that have to be purchased or from free content that is added every six to eight weeks. Players will also find themed quests and events that happen only around the major holidays. Harder challenges known as Raids require the cooperation of many players to defeat them; and they add depth and complexity for the more experienced players.
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Publisher’s Details

Developer: Sony Online Entertainment
Released on: 11/8/2004, Price: $40+, not online enabled
ESRB Rating: T for Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence

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