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EverQuest Atlas

EverQuest Atlas

List Price: $19.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Too bad
Review: This book had the potential to be a "must have" on every avid EQ player's desk, but it falls painfully short. So short, in fact, that as a map resource, it is horribly inferior to most maps available on the internet. As a source of practical zone information, it is completely useless, in some cases (as have been mentioned in other reviews) the information is simply incorrect. As a bit of light reading including some EQ lore minutiae that may have been heretofore unknown, it might actually succeed. I can't tell, however, since I really don't care.
Things that are not included that should be, in my opinion:
The positions of Plane of Knowledge books.
A grid for finding locations.
Names for prominent map locations.
Descriptions and possibly level ranges for various monsters. found in the zone and information on where they can be found
Faction information in a more specific sense.

Almost all of these things can be found on maps provided by many of the various EQ cartography sites.

If you want hand drawn maps with colorful commentary about the various zone, but not much else, maybe this book is for you. If you want a legitimate EQ resource, look elsewhere.

One more thing, the book that I purchased (brand new) was missing roughly 30 pages. Zones starting with the letters "E", "F" and "G" had vanished from inside the shrinkwrap mysteriously.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: An Absolute Waste
Review: The idea of an atlas, should be a fairly simple concept. Unfortunately what I ended up buying was quite frankly an art catalog. Now I'm sure on some obsene level someone feels this is a real atlas, but for the majority of us it isn't. Maps are inaccurate and for the most part artist's renditions. Information on the zones is limited mostly to lore. Monster lists are often lacking in terms of what you might actually find. There is literally no quest information, or race information on who controls the area. NPC's often seem to be included as viable targets throwing the suggested level scale way off. Way off? Let me re-phrase... the suggested level for almost every zone is downright wrong! For instance one of the most common areas in the game, Qeynos Hills has a suggested fighting level between 1 and 50 (page 362). 50! I'd love to meet the poor sop who managed to make 20 in Qeynos hills, let alone 50. Furthermore another area called The Dreadlands has a suggested level of 1-10. Honestly I'm just appalled at the blatant misinformation here. I can't remember the last time I felt more... Case and point... you want art and collectors memorblia buy it, you want something you can use? Visit a website. Good luck and happy hunting.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I'm very impressed
Review: Hi all!

First of all, I have been playing for over 2 years, and have a 53 Pally and a 34 Ranger. I thought that I knew a lot about EQ - a lot, that is, until I received this beauty in the mail!

I admit - the maps, while colorful and exciting, are a bit lacking. Those who truly want to navigate by them will be a bit disappointed; however, the insight into the zones and stories involved in EQ are phenomenal.

I feel almost as if I have a new purpose to play the game - that purpose being to explore every zone and experience the lore involved.

=)

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Save your money
Review: The reviewers who said this atlas is a waste were absolutely right. The maps are very general (and in some cases inaccurate) and contain none of the detail needed to find your way around the various zones. There is little to no detail on vendors, camps, guard houses, NPCs or quest information -- just a lot of pretty but useless sketches. Want to avoid getting lost? Go to the EQ Atlas site online (independent) and print out the maps available there.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Worth it for Some People
Review: The Maps of Myrist is a colorful addition and is worth the buy for a true collector. Despite all the nay-saying reviews I read here at Amazon.com I purchased this book anyway and was pleasantly surprised to find the book to be of much better quality than I expected.

First of all, the book was a lot smaller in size than I had previously anticipated. I was expecting it to be the size of a large portfolio, but instead it turned out to be a much more compact size. This is incredibly convenient as it doesn't take up too much room of my already limited desk space. In addition to that, the book is spiral bound (as you can see from the picture), which helps to keep the pages open when you need a constant reference.

Now lets get down to the nitty gritty. The maps are arranged entirely in alphabetical order (except the Planes of Power, which is a seperate section in the back, which I will talk about in a minute). So far this has made the maps easy to locate as long as you know the name of the zone in which you are seaching for. Some people feel it would have been better if the maps had been grouped together by region, however nifty zone-connection maps in the back of the book give you a good indication of how all the maps connect together. With the maps alphabeticallized, you will not need to constantly refer to a table of content to see which order the maps are in.

Each map is hand drawn in a 3D isometric fashion, which gives them a very nice appearance that you won't find on any online reference. Each map is marked with points of interest (for the most part) and zone exits. Each section has some useful information, like Bestiary (or example monsters for zones with huge monster lists), Dangers, Benefits, Background (my personal favorite) and Notable NPCs. Each story opens up a whole new dimension to these places that have been reduced to nothing more than hunting grounds for most players.

So with all the praise, what are the downsides? Well, for starters, the Atlas is not the answer-all cheat guide that tells you the spawn locations for the hardcore campers. The guide is generally a book of lore that still tries to capture some of the mystery of the game. If you swear by the /loc command, than you will sorely be disappointed as this game does not have grids over the map. Also, the maps are generally vague in markings. You will not have a marker for every point of interest. In addition to that, not every zone has a complete list of monsters. You won't find monster spawn points or an references to NPCs on the map. In short, this map will severely disappoint any hardcore EQ junky that heavily depends on online guides to even play this game. This atlas was more geared towards the adventurer who likes to have a little mystery and yet know enough about their surroundings to appreciate them and to not get lost. Also the book is a good reference of what zones you should be in at what level. Lastly, the maps for the new Planes of Power are non existant, which is unfortunate.

Unfortunately, the book does have some errors. I've noticed some missing details or some wrongly place details in some locations, as well as the famous Dreadlands level typo (the book lists the level range as 1-10 which is far from the truth).

All in all I think this book is excellent addition for people who like to explorer, for people who like lore and for new players. Hardcore gamers should steer clear of this book.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: What everyone else says
Review: I really wish there was an EQ Atlas, but this isn't it. Comparing it to the Prima DAOC Atlas, the EQ one is just a pale joke.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Much better than that
Review: I have used maps from the internet for the years that i have played Everquest.... but i think this book is really good. The internet maps are useful but dont give the same atmosphere. The maps in this official atlas with the background stories make me want to explore many areas that I have never bothered with before. The 3D representations are not the same as the /loc method of mapping, but are still really good. I can recommend this.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: For PnP EQ only...
Review: This book is not for your average EQ player. Its not a prima guide to spawns or anything along those lines. If you want that sort of detail goto eqatlas.

What it is useful for is those who are starting a EQ Pen and Paper game. Or designing a mud or NWN game based on EQ. This is an invaluable (if a little lackluster in the imagination department) resource for the lore of the game. Lots of plot and player hooks spread throughout.

The maps are also quite nice, if somewhat small. Would love to see a REAL atlas that just had the maps on large glossy A4 with all the landmarks displayed on a separate map that you could write on.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: ...
Review: If you want "The EQ Story Book", this is your product. However, very few people purchase this for the stories. People purchase this for excellent, detailed maps and they do not exist.

There is nothing in this book that cannot be pulled from a website... Owners of the other Sony authorized guides were probably aware this would be the problem.

This material is sold as if it contains in-depth information to help people find secrets in game, but like all other materials Sony has released on EQ, it is full of "roleplay" speak and void of detailed substance.


Rating: 1 stars
Summary: SAVE YOUR MONEY!!!
Review: This book is pure ...! OK, the pictures are pretty...and that's the only thing positive I have to say. First of all, there are VERY little descriptions on the maps...maybe the zone line or a fortress listed, but that's really about all. Secondly, there are misspelled words throughout the entire book...didn't the publishers put it through an editor/spell-checker before releasing it? And, finally...this may be the most important...the information is WRONG about some of the zones!!! For example, it lists the level of mobs in the Dreadlands to be from level 1 to level 10. Anybody who plays the game knows that that is WAY off! Could you imagine someone who is just starting off in the game uses the Nexus and zones into that zone? They'd be surprised! I didn't even look through the whole book...I saw so many problems with it during the 3 minutes I browsed it, that I'm returning it to the store and getting my money back. Do yourselves a favor...keep downloading the maps from the web (you know what website I'm talking about) and save your money. You'll be much happier!


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