Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Tried New Vanguard GU6 and Fell in LOVE
Teradyne
Member Posts: 16
Ok I come from a four year background of EQ2 and some on and off WOW.
WOW, as much as I tried time and time again the game just did not do it for me with a meager 8 races, 9 classes and NO slider based character creation everone just looks like everyone else but with different wigs on, simple but very limited scope.
I did however love the free roaming, almost totally non-zoning world that really added to the exploration factor, but toontown graphics kept me from entering the emersion factor.
EQ2 took me by storm with its astounding 19 races(currently) and 26 classes, one of the first mmo with slider based character gen, add to that a graphically gorgeous world that was second to none at the time and you had the perfect game until....you start to spend some serious time in the game and all the faults start to peer there ugly heads:
: Zone, Zone, Zone, everytime you need to go somewhere other than where you currently are, you need to Zone to where your going, whether it be a different region or just a cave within that same region, or whether it be a city or just a different community within that same city. It really degrades the overall emersion factor of the game. The feeling that you really are in a massive world all your own to freely explore and discover in absent in EQ2
: An unnessesary 4 different grades of spells, a single top tier Adept III and Fabled costing many hundreds of gold, and think....you must do this every lvl to be on top of the game, and if your not going to be on top of your game then what really is the point?
: And my biggest gripe.....The whole Rare Component crafting, equipment/gear based system that the entire game hinges on, Harvesting in any game is no fun, but a nessesary part of a living, breathing economic game world with real professions. But EQ2 makes it a far more loathing, time consuming (Read TIME WASTING) experience requiring all players who want to have the Good not Epic gear to spend mindless hours and sometimes countless days harvesting these rare components just to get there MasterCraft armor, weapons and jewelry for every lvl tier.
These three reasons are in my imho the very reasons why WOW took off like a bat otta hell and EQ2 first waned, consolodated servers, and now loathes.
So anyhow i returned to vanguard last week after quiting long ago for the same reasons as everone else and would return every so often to check on its progress as it always held a place in my heart, and lo and behold its just about all fixed !!. They returned all the character gen sliders (all save 3) and added a new EQ2 like training/trial island and everything as far as i can tell works with no crashes.
Now this is a very significant addition to the MMO gaming world as far as Im concerned because Vanguard always did have it all:
: The game truly is on a GRAND scale all its own, enormous continental land masses (3 of them, not one) that would take literal RL days to traverse through if not using alternate means of travel, theres nothing like it !
: Total non-zoning free-roam world, no invisible walls to hit, if you can see it, you can get to it.
: Unparalleled character creation with slider based Face and Body customization and 19 diverse races and 15 classes to choose from.
The variety of options of EQ2 to create a truly unique character and class with the free roam,go anywhere adventurous mood of Warcraft is what ive gotten from it.
If you haven't tried Vanguard in some time, you owe it to yourself to give it another look, and if you've never tried it, you simply owe it to yourself as a gamer, there truly is nothing like it ! There is a free 14 day island trial download.
The aforementioned commentary of each game is just my opinion and I by no means am trying to change the minds of anyone concerning there beloved games. Just speaking my experience with each game and many a player are sure to differ, I acknowledge my views and opinions are no more valid than anyone elses, to each there own, peace=)
Comments
I think I may get it tomorrow. I was checking out some gameplay videos and looking at the website and it looks very good. From what I read on your post, it seems worth trying.
Then here's some appetizers
Character model: http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj272/marcelmichael/ScreenShot_00002JPG.jpg
World: http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj272/marcelmichael/ScreenShot_00007JPG.jpg
World Shot from an unknown player: http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj272/marcelmichael/ScreenShot_A.jpg
Its more graphically advanced than any brand new mmo out there
EQ2 had not the first slider based creation, Meridian 59 had a crude verion of it already...
But maybe Ill try Vanguard when I get some time, it does sound a bit intresting, I like EQ2 but got kinda burnout on Kuunark, never liked the expansion.
i dont know how ppl can say the graphics are more advanced then any mmo out there.
i just played the trial version and id say they were on par with DAOC graphics now. dosnt that character model u put up look a lot like those hib guys in daoc i think they were called a furbolg or something been awile.
i dont know how ppl can say the graphics are more advanced then any mmo out there.
i just played the trial version and id say they were on par with DAOC graphics now. dosnt that character model u put up look a lot like those hib guys in daoc i think they were called a furbolg or something been awile.
DAoC? Come on, I am no VG lover, but its graphics is way above DAoC and much better than almost any MMO, maybe outside LOTRO landscapes and AoC. VG is not for everyone, but surely shaping to be a good game.
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
I stand corrected, learn something everyday
Thank you blueturtle13
It was not my intent to bash other games, there is no One size fits all game out there, but for me after 4 years of EQ2 and trying to like WOW, Vanguard is quickly becoming the Game I would have designed myself if I was smart and talented LOL.
i was thinking of giving vanguard a second chance, but whats the server population like nowadays? its either gonna be vanguard or maybe ill try lotro. not sure at this point
Server population on just about any mmo right now is feeling the impact of the Warhammer, but there are plenty of people running around the island and world chat is very active, you may be surprised !
I gave the trial a go but to be honest it just couldnt hold my interest for longer than a few days. I really felt like I was putting more effort into trying to enjoy myself than actually playing the game. It just seemed incredibly easy to me and yet never really felt rewarding at all. I was initially interested but I rapidly began to see that it is really just an unpolished version of EQ2. Its odd really because although the graphics are technically better the game world just looked really messy to me. It has definately improved though since it first launched (what a mess that was) and its now in a perfectly playable state. However the world just seems very wooden and lifeless. The odd animations dont help either.......when I was fighting things it just didnt feel right at all.
The slider based character customisation is awful and I just cant see what there is to like about it. It basicly allows you to change trivial things like the length of your nose, the position of your ears, the depth of your eyes and other silly little things that really make very little visual difference at all. The small selection of faces all look more or less the same and the hair styles are limited and really dont look good......although all of it is an improvement over the old models which in my opinion were the ugliest things I had ever seen in an mmo. I still think the animal characters look really daft though......they're just human bodies with an animal head plonked on the top.....not very well designed at all.
Vanguard has a very large seamless landscape to wander around in but for me it didnt give the impression of being in a world. Its still a static themepark like EQ2 but just one that isnt divided up. The trial for Vanguard is certainly worth checking though out (its free afterall) as it does manage to introduce some features with some partial success and may hold the interest of some people but for me it just seemed like a poor product that has been worked on and improved to the state of being mediocre.
OP=Kymee?
Neonwire if you did not like the game I understand, thats why restaurants have menus, everyone has there own tastes but regarding your statement that read:
"The slider based character customisation is awful and I just cant see what there is to like about it. It basicly allows you to change trivial things like the length of your nose, the position of your ears, the depth of your eyes and other silly little things that really make very little visual difference at all"
Hmm, well I disagree, in fact i believe you can make a Night and Day difference.
Default Thestran Human before customization http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj272/marcelmichael/ScreenShot_00008JPG.jpg
Thestran Human after customization: http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj272/marcelmichael/ScreenShot_00013JPG.jpg
Default Woodelf female before customization: http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj272/marcelmichael/ScreenShot_00010JPG.jpg
Woodelf female after customization: http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj272/marcelmichael/ScreenShot_00015JPG.jpg
I'll let you guys be the judge.
And by the way regarding the " trivial things like the length of your nose, the position of your ears, the depth of your eyes and other silly little things that really make very little visual difference at all" I just counted a Whopping 57 sliders across four windowed pages of face and body customizations, not sure how many you require to call significant, but thats about as good as your gonna get this side of "Oblivion" which is not and mmo
?? not sure what that means
Yea, you can sorta hide it with the long hair, but that sort of puts restraints on character customization for those who don't their toon to look like Pumpkinhead.
The human before picture looks better than the after picture, IMO.
Ubahnecro says: Why are you using long hair on all the "after" pictures to hide the fact that the heads and bodies aren't correctly proportioned against each other.
LOL Ubah your taking this way too seriously, Im not using long hair to hide anything, hell i dont even know what "correctly proportioned" thing your talking about . Im using long hair on the male cuz its kinda the "Conan" "Aragorn" fantasy Sword and Sandle thing, and on the female cuz ya know....alot'a girls have long hair, liten up, its just a game and I happen to like it. If you dont then fine, continue not liking it.
And no, I am not the least offended that you like the default character more than mine. LMAO =D
Also Star Wars Galaxies.
Graphics are horrible because everything looks sooo plastic and fake and sooo generic and just UGLY with horrible character models.
The big question I'd like to ask is that if you already played VG to top level and tried the raiding in the APW. Is there anything to draw players back to it?
Also, has Diplomacy been developed ALL thought the diplomacy levels so its not a complete grindfest?
Top 10 Most Misused Words in MMO's
Nice thread Teradyne.
I completely agree with the points you raise that make VG great. I spent hundreds of great hours exploring Telon and highly reccomend it to anyone looking for an A grade PvE experience. Imho it is the best PvE game out there atm.
The only thing that keeps me from playing it today is the lack of love from SOE. I have experienced near on everything the game currently has, and the rate of content addition is too slow for my $15 per month. If Smed took off his blindfold and realized how great the game is and doubled the Dev team and announced some expansion plans I would go back to my 50 Bard/50 Weaponsmith and 50 Cleric/50 Carpenter in a heartbeat.
So basically nothing has changed since about December last year when I quit. The high end is still awaiting content, whilst the low end gets a trial island (rolls eyes) and a few tweaks here and there.
Oh and a permanent flying mount.
I think I'll stick with AOC.
Top 10 Most Misused Words in MMO's
Unlike some people I seem to care if I have to look at sponge bob models in game all the time. Why do all the Vanguard models look like they have Down Syndrome?
But I am still in a POLAR OPPOSITE dissagreement, I've not played everygame out there but quite a few, nwn, morrowind, oblivion, eq2, wow to name some with character gen systems and I have to say Vanguard looks Fantastic to me and there are others on this very thread that agree with me, in fact the people that say things like "The graphics are horrible" just mindboggle me to the point where I think we are not even talking about the same game, but being that more than one person has voiced his complaints about the graphics, I'm reminded that human beings have vastly different perspectives and see things quite differently to the point where it seems to oppose logic to the person on the other side.
Look I hear people say "The game looks plasticy", well that is a subjective use of terminology that can be quite ambiguous. Look, as far as a vibrant colorful fantasy world goes, WOW and probably WAR take the cake, if you like those games you probably won't like the look of vanguard.
If you like natural earth-toned more photo-realistic looking games like oblivion, then you will see the beauty in Vanguard, now this again is subjective.
Now what i believe is Objective is the way the Vanguard (modded unreal) engine has the power to produce ever blade of grass and animate wind-blow motion while producing every tree leaf on near by trees blowing them in the wind also, not just a big static blob of green with serrated leaf shaped edges around the outline like just about all other mmos, and the way the clouds are set at various altitudes and one set of lower clouds will slowly drift across another set of higher clouds, you show me another game that does that. ITS AMAZING.
And as far as character models go, again I believe they are among the best looking highest detailed for an MMO, not an ultra-graphics wonder like Crysis or the other current crop of FPSs.
If there are better Character Models out there then show us a screen of one you've taken, and i'm not talking about personal character creation talent through morphing of sliders, I mean a superior detailed character model based on higher quality Mesh and Textures.
And thank you Fischerblack for the kind words
, Regarding the question about high end content, as I stated earlier I just came back, been on eq2, Oblivion and ps3, 360 games. Better leave that one to someone better suited to answer.
No you're missing the point. The game could have 57,000 sliders and each one could slightly alter the ears, eyes, nose, mouth, tongue length, nostril hair or whatever by a a few millimeters and it still wouldnt make it any better. The point I was making is not that it doesnt have enough controls to change things but that those controls have such a tiny effect on the character model that its not even worth using them.
In your examples you show one customised character for the thestran human and the woodelf. That doesnt show variety at all. It just shows that one model from each race looks virtually same as all models from that race. The fact remains that all thestran humans will look like all the other thestran humans and the same goes for the wood elves. The only good thing Vanguard has going for it in this area is the fact that it has a large number of races to choose from so it reduces the chances of you meeting another clone of yourself if you see someone from the same race. Also the armour you wear helps to disguise it as well. This is all a bit of a cop out though as the models themselves still look virtually identical no matter how many of those 57 sliders you tweak. The character models look more varied in WoW which is kind of amusing really. The only reason you dont notice this so much is because it has less races available. The sliders are just an illusion and I'm really surprised people actually think they do anything.
Here is a challenge for you. Create 5 thestran humans that belong to the same character class and show us how different they all look. Remember though that you cannot simply just rely on changing the hairstyle because you did say that WoW customization options were poor because the only way characters look different was because of their hair styles. So show us the variety in faces and bodies that you can achieve with these magical 57 sliders.
The OP is comparing games basically by dates.You see Eq1 was the game for most,then WOW copied that game pretty much to the tee,then EQ2 out did WOW with better graphics.Now Vanguard was a more advanced game yet because it was done by the Eq staff but with a modernized feel.Vanguard IMO as well is the better game on some fields but Eq2 crafting is still more in depth than most games crafting and i didn't find the harvesting that bad.The reason is it only takes one day of harvesting to be able to gear your self quite well with some of the top of the line gear.Your not going to get top of the line gear in any game without some risk or time line,Eq2 just made it possible with little risk,unless you are under leveled for the tier.
I have said it before Vanguard is a great game,but it fails in some areas,like Faction time sinks.You can't in one breathe state how harvesting is a time sink when it has a HUGE reward for doing it,yet Faction is not?Faction is a FAR greater time sink and with a lesser reward when compared to time involved.Vanguard crafting is closer to Eq's original witch the majority seemed to not like that is why EQ2 dumbed it down.I only agreed with the dumbing down because of the massive craft bots i saw back in the day.Time sinks only work well if all the community is bound by them,botting tips the scale unfairly.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.