How do you compare Vanguard to other MMO's you have played?

Sceptix

Im speaking about initial first impressions since most of us wont experience every zone and thing in the game right off the bat, but compared to you starting out other mmo's.



For me these games are deceptive because i have fun off the bat, and usually lose interest very quick after and only few have kept me on for months at a time even years. Some people are the opposite, they are miserable until later on.



For me the list would probably be out of top 5.



1. Dark age of camelot

2. World of Warcraft

3. Everquest(when it was still run by Verant)

4. Lineage 2(boy did this disapoint me fast)

5. Vanguard(jury is still out whether i will develop a hate for this game, right now im neutral, but the bugs are pissing me off) But its definatly not bad compared to some through the years. The hardware requirments also will probably make me rate this game way lower if it doesint meet my expecations after a few months.



I actually ended up hating 3 out of the 5 games, 1 because it was horrible from the start, the other 2 because of too many changes to the game that made it a shadow of its former self.



Ive played about 11 MMO's total, ranging from 3 months, to 2 years, but the long term is usually of and on. Ive always passed the initial free trail period to give the games a bigger chance to fulfill their promises, i guess im too optimistic sometimes!



The rest were so damn buggy. Trust me if you tried Anarchy Online, you would think Vanguard is polished more then a porn stars nob. I can think of many worse launches. Shadowbane, dont even get me started on that!

jackilojohn

I don't know if you are one of these people that won't let yourself like a game but I find myself doing that sometimes. I have played many MMOs and I haven't found the one that I really like yet. I am playing WoW right now but it is lacking in alot of departments. What is in the game is great though but they just left alot of stuff out. The combat system is probably the best I have played on. As for rating a game low because your computer's hardware can't handle the up to date graphics.....what is that about. It's like saying half life 2 looked like shit when it came out because my computer was still rocking a mx4000. Peple were always saying EQ2 ran very bad but I never had any problems out of it. It game tons of ways to tweak the graphics to fit your rig and I made it look as good as I could on what hardware I had. I didn't start saying it's performance was bad because my computer couldn't handle it.

Sceptix

Its not so much complaining that the hardware is too high, but the requirments for this game as massive so much that you need a top of the line PC, and that only should be required when a game can fullfill its promise of being next gen and new.



I cant really see the effort to upgrade a whole computer just to play this game, i do that only when there are multiple titles coming out that i will be playing. No one game is worth that much.



Half life 2 might have needed a high end pc, but when you need a PIXAR quality computer to enjoy a game on high settings, you know its screwy. But yeah my point is, if the game is horrible, there is no point in me upgrading to get the high graphics, because graphics arent that important to me anyways, they shouldint be the only reason you play a game.



So if a game promises to be next gen and its really not, dont waste money. Oblivion ran at most full settings on this comp, and this game i cant even get close to that.



Anyways dont wanna derail the topic, but would you upgrade a comp for one game thats not even close to amazing? How powerfull does a comp need to be to enjoy this, it just seems it requires to much.

majoch

I guess I can list what my top 3-5 are/were as well.

1. Original EQ including Kunark and Scars expansions.

2. SWG:  Well the SWG that was advertised on the CE box I bought at least, Not Nintendo SWG as is.

3. DAoC:  Still fun from time to time and a lot easier to jump back in than EQ.

4. Anarchy Online:  Granted launch was one of the biggest stinkers of all times they fixed it up decently and there was always something to do whenever you logged on.

5. AC2:  I really liked it for some reason.

 

Verdict is still out on Vanguard, been playing 3 days prior to launch and haven't tired of it yet.  Definently has the check in the box for launch bugs but I haven't ran accrosss any game breakers yet.  Needs some more hair/face options and some more polish on the select screen.  A bunch of graphics glitches that pop up now and then but again fixable.

 

Also has the usual crowd you find in most of these games such as the guy that likes to show how he has mastered the shout command with great one liners like "kiss my %&# arse ask a guard, or why don't all you newbs starting today re-roll on a light server so we won't get your retarded spam.  Ah youth. 

 

Well if anyone is playing on the EU Infinium (sp)? server thats where I be stationed so if you need any questions answered give one of my Orcs Greln or Yuln a tell and I'll do my best to get you the right info. 

 

Robbgobb

Too soon for me to decide but so far the crafting/harvesting combined with Diplomacy is turning out to add extra fun for me to the game. I will know in about 3 months whether it is a game for me. There is 2 games in development that I am interested in and one starts open beta in April so Vanguard has a period of time to actually pull me in.

Aeronis

You can't really compare it with older MMORPGs, so try comparing it with the latest offerings - EQ2, WoW, Saga of Ryzom, RF Online....



Vanguard is the best of those IMO.



WoW is a solid game, but I had trouble getting into it due to it's cartoonish style. I don't like games that revolve around instances either. And in terms of features Vanguard has more going for it now, more potential, with things like crafting, houses, boats...



Saga of Ryzom had a good crafting and market system, but there was absolutely no content when I played.  I'm not sure how it has advanced since then, but personally I think Ryzom would be the next best thing after Vanguard. Given the advances they've made with PvP and the system that allows for players to create questing content.



RF Online is really just a grinding mechanism before you participate in it's PvP.



Everquest 2 is a solid game, but does not has as much complexity and depth as Vanguard.

spikenog

Anyone have a Buddy key available for use...would like to give the game a go.



spikenog@gmail.com

Aeronis

The requirements for Vanguard are not "massive". A mid-range gaming computer can run it well on balanced settings, and an older computer can run it on the lowest settings.

Only people who are using five year old PCs and playing WoW would consider Vanguard's requirements to be unreasonable.

Sceptix

Originally posted by Aeronis

The requirements for Vanguard are not "massive". A mid-range gaming computer can run it well on balanced settings, and an older computer can run it on the lowest settings.

Only people who are using five year old PCs and playing WoW would consider Vanguard's requirements to be unreasonable.

Then i blame the game and not my comp, since i only have a year old computer that can play Oblivion on the highest settings, if you bothered reading that.



Must be compatibility problems, of course if there was an official forum with bug lists and issues like this i could look it up.

Aeronis

MMORPGs require more resources than a single player game.



If you've already got a decent processor and video card, but can't run Vanguard well on balanced, then you probably don't have enough RAM or video card memory.

Jackdog

Quality wise Vanguard reminds me more of Horizons than any other game, however the community in Horizons was a bit more mature. Gameplay wise it is pretty much EQ1.5 with EQII graphics

Terranah

My computer:

p4 3.6 ghz

atix1950 pro 256mb pcie

2gb ram

fresh install on empty 250 gb hd, 7500 rpm, defragged after install

cable connection: T3

Location: Central California

The game is beautiful.  I love taking screenshots.

My frustration lies in the performance aspect of the game.  Running on balanced settings with a rez of 1600x1200 (decreasing rez seems to have no impact on performance) I can get anywhere from 35 fps to 20 fps.  When I hit a chunk, the game will freeze for a second or drop to 4 or 5 fps for a few secs.   At other times when I am riding my horse down the road fps will fluctuate wildly from 20 to 7.  In town my fps can fluctuate from 10 to 17 fps maybe...sometimes lower. 

If my fps would just stay in the 20+ range it would be acceptable to me.  Basically they need to optimize the game engine a lot more than it's current state.  That being said, I cancelled my subscription after the free month.  I'm gonna give them time to optimize things and add some features.  I will most likely give it another shot a few months down the road, but there are a few mmos' being released this year and I want to see how well they stack up.

As far as gameplay, it's fun.  I"ve solo'd and grouped and both are satisfying so far.  I really love to just explore.  I am more interested in enjoying the game as opposed to maxing my level.  Seems like for me the journey is more fun than the actual destination in mmo's.

I have played SWG, EQ2, COH and WOW.  Probably SWG precu is my favorite game.  Except for some balance issues I think SWG precu was about as close to a perfect fit for me as any mmo will ever be.   But regarding Vanguard,  I think unless they get the performance aspect under control and really optimize their game engine, you are gonna see a lot of players initially and then slowly over next few months numbers will drop...especially as other mmo's near completion.

I could write more but ultimately, you have to try the game out for yourself and see what you think.  Vanguard is a diamond in the rough, but after SWG I'm not really interested in sticking around for what 'might' happen.  I'm more interested in the game as it stands now and in the short term.

jackilojohn

Oblivion if you ran it on completely full graphics then....your rig is a beast. Go to tomshardware and watch it tear down on systems time and time again.

miagisan

Original SWG

Vanguard

FFXI

Eq2

DAOC

Asheron's Call

CoX

WoW

and waaaaaaaay at the bottom is DnL

AutemOx

I have only played Vanguard for a few hours now!  Just this morning I started up with it and I'm only at level 5.  I think the game will turn out pretty good, but I'm not having a ton of fun in it right now...  I'm just getting hints of the fun-  Getting to try dimplomacy is very cool, interesting new mini game, seeing people riding flying mounts in the distance, and just getting to see all the mountains and knowing that there are players in them, far far away, fighting epic battles, its fun.  I can tell it will take longer to level than in WoW, but I wasnt surprised with that, you level pretty fast in WoW.  The combat is really challenging-  I started playing with a friend of mine and we died a lot of times already.  We are both dreading level 7 which is when you start having death penalties   When I die its always like "gah I'm such an idiot" as opposed to "omg that is such bullshit" so its cool.

There are some funky lag spikes that I experience sometimes, usually when I'm running long distances, as if the whole world has to stop for a moment so I can catch up with loading enviornment objects or such...  I am waiting for a shiny new laptop which will arrive next week, and hopefully that will solve the lag spikes, else maybe the vanguard team will release a patch to help it.

I'm happy to say there arent a ton of glitches...  I was worried after reading forum posts that make the game out to be bug ridden.  The fellowship option is disabled right now though, I dont konw why, hopefully theyll enable it again soon becuase we were planning on using it from day 1.

I think I will really enjoy this game, probably the worst part of it for me is the graphics.  I dont really like how the characters look-  Sorta chubby, like a stick figure made out of a series of ellipses.  Pretty much everything in the world is covered in that bumpy texture that you see in EQ2 also, and I dont really fancy that bumpy look.  The colors are sorta drab as well, also reminding me of EQ2.  These problems are apparent in the screenshots and movie previews of this game, so if you are thinking about getting the game, dont worry that the screenshots are fake or anything like that, I never really liked the graphics, far before I bought the game.  I almost didnt buy it because of my dislike for the graphics style, but then I hit myself on the head for being so shallow and realized that the gameplay is what really matters.

  Only about 6 hours in, and I am very happy with Vanguard.  Oops, I didnt compare it to any other mmorpgs.  Oh well.

Copeland

1. EQ - Pre PoP
2. EVE
3. Vanguard (which will probably move to the top given time to play it as much as EQ)
4. Saga of Ryzom
5. DAOC

To me WoW wouldn't even make my top 10. It lacks both content and the "massive" that should be part of the mmo genre. The world is just way too small for me.

sepher

1. DAoC - Sadly, without the level of nested reactionary combat. DAoC even has more fluent emotions. Let's not forget the lack of meaningful PvP. But yeah, my Kojani Bard reminds me a lot of a Mercenary combined with a nerfed Minstrel.



2. Oblivion - Not an MMO, but I went back and played through Knights of the Nine today. A lot about Vanguard reminds me of Oblivion. Don't know if it's the perpetual following the red marker on my compass, or the thought-out features such as raising certain attributes to do things like increase your run speed. Mounts with different speeds, etc. Chock it up to coincidental good ideas if you want, but a lot of Vanguard reminds me of Oblivion.



3. WoW - Anyone who looks at a screenshot, especially any involving a lot of UI will first think this game is a WoW clone. Some things like a limit of 20 quests seem very blatantly copied from WoW with no reason or rationale applied to Vanguard in particular, and in that way its pretty annoying. If you're crafting, doing diplomacy, AND adventuring..your quest log fills up very quick. So copied without modifying features like that are annoying.



Warriors are also ridiculously identical to WoW's version, just nerfed and less tactical despite the 'tactical recognition'. I base this on my Beta 3 impression though, could be wrong.



4. SWG - I played SWG after release 2-3 months. The whole bugginess, formless feel of the world, loose and sporadic content reminds me of SWG. Just the whole feel of uncertainty and stability from one patch to another, knowing major changes are always looming in the distance. In a way, this is fun for those like being pioneers in new MMOs.



5. Horizons - Ambitious ideas (especially towards crafting), niche fanbase, but a product that feels rather amateurishly made. Not to say Vanguard isn't leaps and bounds better than Horizons. Just that I've gotten the impression that if it's design doc fell into another popular developer's hands with 30 million dollars, they'd execute the game better.