They have had at least one patch per day since 'Open Beta' (01/04/07). An incredible amount of things have been added/improved/fixed. There are many focused tests going on at the moment with help of the players.
As a long time Closed Beta Player i have to say that i am more than impressed what Sigil has been able to do in the last few days. The game is taking leaps forward with every new patch. If this continues i can definately see the game ready end of the month.
Performance and stability is getting better aswell and after removal of the Beta code and packaging of the Client (right now it is an unpacked UT2.5 developer version we are testing with) we will get another significant boost in performance.
I am very optimistic right now.
I can personally attest as another long time CLOSED beta tester that Sigil has been making leaps and bounds in progress towards makings the game ready.They have literally been implementing 1-3 patches per day over the last month that has improved the game's readiness drmaticly.Try not to read into too many of the doomsayers that say the beta is a wreck because it's not.Most likely they are disgruntled public beta testers that don't like Vanguard because it's not either entertaining their playstyle, and it's also NOT a game for soloer's or WoW lovers.
While i do agree that come release day there will stil likely be things that still need to be addressed, Sigil will have delivered the most ready for release mmorpg i've played in a VERY long time.Don't buy into the doom and gloom of those that have a personal dislike of the game if you think you might be interested in playing.Do listen to those that have spent actual time in beta and can give an honest and objective opinion of the state of the beta as i have done.
I've been beta testing Vanguard as well, and I've really enjoyed the game a lot. But, unfortunately, I'm not buying the game because of stability issues and crashes. The frustration I experience with the stability issues is too much to offset the fun I have when playing. It's too bad really. I realize everybody is different, but for me, some bugs and lack of some content is not a big deal. I can put up with that. I mean, I loved SWG Pre-CU. But, I can't put up with constant crashes and being unable to move in population centers. (To be fair, if I have graphics on lowest settings, I am able to move around quite smoothly in the cities. However, I think Vanguard has some great graphics, and it's too bad I can't actually see them in certain spots due to fps issues.)
I had stopped playing the beta for about two weeks because of the crashes. And, then I was reading some forums and people kept saying how much better stability was so I decided to log on again last weekend. Maybe it was bad luck, but within an hour, I crashed 3 times and could barely move until I lowered my graphics settings to the lowest setting. Well, from what I could see, there hadn't been any improved performance at all, so I'm back to not logging in again.
Some people will claim, "it's beta!" And, maybe they're right. But, in two weeks, on launch day, do they really believe this crashing issue will be over? It's too frustrating for me to pay for something like that. And, like I said, that's too bad, because I genuinely like what I've seen so far. Quite frankly, I like it a lot. But, like so many others, the word "potential" has become a four letter word and I refuse to pay for potential.
The suits behind SOE are idiots, plain and simple. I don't blame Sigil too much for this. They do have financial issues they have to deal with. But, where are these financial issues coming from? Obviously, they're coming from SOE. There's no way that someone can tell me that SOE does not have the money to give Sigil to delay the release. They do, so there's no other real explanation. And, as others have said, this is a prime example of SOE having a direct influence on Sigil's game. It was nothing but naive to think that they wouldn't. No creative control? Maybe...at least for now. But, the purse strings and finances have a huge control over the fact that Vanguard is being released before it's stable enough to be played. I knew this was going to be a bad move when it happened.
And, yes, there have been a lot of fast and wonderful improvements during the beta. I won't argue with that. However, it's the stability! Get that to work, and I guarantee you'd have a lot less frustrated people.
SOE simply never learns. They tried to remake SWG to be more like WoW thinking they'd get more players. This of course, has obviously backfired for them. They just don't seem to get that a huge part of WoW's popularity has to do with the fact that Blizzard does all it can to release a stable product. Yes, I play WoW. Yes, I have fun playing WoW. However, WoW is not the epitome of gaming for me. It has great quests and is stable and fun. But, there's no sandbox to the game. There's very little choice, which is one thing I was looking forward to having with Vanguard. The "choice" factor, is something I loved so dearly about SWG pre-CU. Having raids and tons of quest related content certainly doesn't hurt WoW. But, if SOE wants to have a product on its list that does as well as WoW, they need to stop trying to copy the gameplay of WoW, and focus on trying to copy the stability and ease of WoW. Complex doesn't have to mean complicated and frustrating. Vanguard has the lore, and it hooked me in right away. The game is complex and full of choice. But, it's not complicated, nor does it have to be to succeed. I love the richness and depth that Vanguard seems to have. Vanguard could be "the next big thing." But, it will never become that until SOE starts to copy Blizzard's business practices of releasing a quality product in terms of stability. And, until it does, I will continue to buy and support the products that do, like WoW. I'm not a teenager who wants an "I win" button. I'm just a semi-intelligent guy with a real 9-5 job at a University who wants to come home and enjoy an innovative game that doesn't crash or frustrate me because it doesn't work. Vanguard is providing the innovative game, but SOE continues to provide the frustration that I just don't want to deal with anymore, and I'm not going to pay for that.
Wow Drygo, i'm sorry your expiriences in beta have been so bad.I do agree with you that for a few people i'm aware of, no matter what they do, beta has been a rough ride for them.I don't know if it's the type of equipment they aare running,drivers,their internet connection, or whether the beta client just doesn't run well on their pc.I really do hope you can find a way to see performance increase on your pc and maybe decide to join us when the game goes live.
I wish Sigil had not decided to go with SOE as well and don't trust them(SOE) but i do have faith in the gyus at Sigil and give them the benefit of the doubt.I also expect them to keep SOE at arms length and FAR AWAY from letting them have any influence on the game.The game would have beeen much better off shipping in March and having a little longer beta development time, but that's not happening.The client is gettign better every day due to consistant patching and bug squashing, so i still thinklaunch will be one of the better mmorpg launches in recent time.
Comments
I'm a big ol' fluffy carewolf. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
While i do agree that come release day there will stil likely be things that still need to be addressed, Sigil will have delivered the most ready for release mmorpg i've played in a VERY long time.Don't buy into the doom and gloom of those that have a personal dislike of the game if you think you might be interested in playing.Do listen to those that have spent actual time in beta and can give an honest and objective opinion of the state of the beta as i have done.
I've been beta testing Vanguard as well, and I've really enjoyed the game a lot. But, unfortunately, I'm not buying the game because of stability issues and crashes. The frustration I experience with the stability issues is too much to offset the fun I have when playing. It's too bad really. I realize everybody is different, but for me, some bugs and lack of some content is not a big deal. I can put up with that. I mean, I loved SWG Pre-CU. But, I can't put up with constant crashes and being unable to move in population centers. (To be fair, if I have graphics on lowest settings, I am able to move around quite smoothly in the cities. However, I think Vanguard has some great graphics, and it's too bad I can't actually see them in certain spots due to fps issues.)
I had stopped playing the beta for about two weeks because of the crashes. And, then I was reading some forums and people kept saying how much better stability was so I decided to log on again last weekend. Maybe it was bad luck, but within an hour, I crashed 3 times and could barely move until I lowered my graphics settings to the lowest setting. Well, from what I could see, there hadn't been any improved performance at all, so I'm back to not logging in again.
Some people will claim, "it's beta!" And, maybe they're right. But, in two weeks, on launch day, do they really believe this crashing issue will be over? It's too frustrating for me to pay for something like that. And, like I said, that's too bad, because I genuinely like what I've seen so far. Quite frankly, I like it a lot. But, like so many others, the word "potential" has become a four letter word and I refuse to pay for potential.
The suits behind SOE are idiots, plain and simple. I don't blame Sigil too much for this. They do have financial issues they have to deal with. But, where are these financial issues coming from? Obviously, they're coming from SOE. There's no way that someone can tell me that SOE does not have the money to give Sigil to delay the release. They do, so there's no other real explanation. And, as others have said, this is a prime example of SOE having a direct influence on Sigil's game. It was nothing but naive to think that they wouldn't. No creative control? Maybe...at least for now. But, the purse strings and finances have a huge control over the fact that Vanguard is being released before it's stable enough to be played. I knew this was going to be a bad move when it happened.
And, yes, there have been a lot of fast and wonderful improvements during the beta. I won't argue with that. However, it's the stability! Get that to work, and I guarantee you'd have a lot less frustrated people.
SOE simply never learns. They tried to remake SWG to be more like WoW thinking they'd get more players. This of course, has obviously backfired for them. They just don't seem to get that a huge part of WoW's popularity has to do with the fact that Blizzard does all it can to release a stable product. Yes, I play WoW. Yes, I have fun playing WoW. However, WoW is not the epitome of gaming for me. It has great quests and is stable and fun. But, there's no sandbox to the game. There's very little choice, which is one thing I was looking forward to having with Vanguard. The "choice" factor, is something I loved so dearly about SWG pre-CU. Having raids and tons of quest related content certainly doesn't hurt WoW. But, if SOE wants to have a product on its list that does as well as WoW, they need to stop trying to copy the gameplay of WoW, and focus on trying to copy the stability and ease of WoW. Complex doesn't have to mean complicated and frustrating. Vanguard has the lore, and it hooked me in right away. The game is complex and full of choice. But, it's not complicated, nor does it have to be to succeed. I love the richness and depth that Vanguard seems to have. Vanguard could be "the next big thing." But, it will never become that until SOE starts to copy Blizzard's business practices of releasing a quality product in terms of stability. And, until it does, I will continue to buy and support the products that do, like WoW. I'm not a teenager who wants an "I win" button. I'm just a semi-intelligent guy with a real 9-5 job at a University who wants to come home and enjoy an innovative game that doesn't crash or frustrate me because it doesn't work. Vanguard is providing the innovative game, but SOE continues to provide the frustration that I just don't want to deal with anymore, and I'm not going to pay for that.
I wish Sigil had not decided to go with SOE as well and don't trust them(SOE) but i do have faith in the gyus at Sigil and give them the benefit of the doubt.I also expect them to keep SOE at arms length and FAR AWAY from letting them have any influence on the game.The game would have beeen much better off shipping in March and having a little longer beta development time, but that's not happening.The client is gettign better every day due to consistant patching and bug squashing, so i still thinklaunch will be one of the better mmorpg launches in recent time.