If you liked Vanguard, give Darkfall a shot. An expansion is coming out any day that will add more goodness to an already good successor to Vanguard.
"Successor to Vanguard"? Are you on crack? The two games have very little in common.
FFA (free for all) full loot pvp
Because if there's one thing fans of a PvE-centered MMORPG will want, it's FFA full loot PVP!
While partially true, Vanguard did have exp loss and losing items until you retrieve them from your grave stone...and they did have a pvp server. Darkfall is the logical next step.
Darkfall has absolutely nothing to do you vanguard. Even today, VG is a million times a better and more complete game than DF.
DF is not even a shadow of what VG can be.... only mindless pvp ganking
I played VG off and on for a year and a half. Loved the game in all aspects, but the population on the pvp server was pretty much dying, and I have to have world pvp in my mmo.
Originally posted by Ruyn If you liked Vanguard, give Darkfall a shot. An expansion is coming out any day that will add more goodness to an already good successor to Vanguard.
"Successor to Vanguard"? Are you on crack? The two games have very little in common.
FFA (free for all) full loot pvp
Because if there's one thing fans of a PvE-centered MMORPG will want, it's FFA full loot PVP!
While partially true, Vanguard did have exp loss and losing items until you retrieve them from your grave stone...and they did have a pvp server. Darkfall is the logical next step.
For the players who play on the PVP server. I don't have figures, but the fact that there is only one PvP server tends to indicate that such are only a small fraction of Vanguard's playerbase.
The ganking did it for me, bought the game as many Guild friends switched just after SWG's NGE changes, gave it some time but all it did for me was annoy and P**s me off to no end, enemy faction was always around the starter area and ganking everyone they saw, you'd think you got away from them on some occasions only for a sneaky little sod to uncloak and kill you, then it was a case of back to spawn camping, therefore nothing got done, i enjoy PvP in games but not when it's forced on you and your only just starting out in a game. Left the game, lost interest in what could have been fun and i don't feel like going back to it because of how it used to be (if any different these days). that completely killed the game for me.
I think people are too judgemental of there MMO's...if ONE thing is wrong when it's realeased or if its not up to expectations they bash it and never return to it. This was the case of VG...and unfortunately if it was any other company that owned this game it probably would be one of the top MMO's, but because of SOE's bad rep it's nothing but dust in the wind.
It would be awesome though if VG was more popular, and maybe if a few WoW fanbois would give it a chance they'd switch...*sigh* that will never happen though.
If you liked Vanguard, give Darkfall a shot. An expansion is coming out any day that will add more goodness to an already good successor to Vanguard.
"Successor to Vanguard"? Are you on crack? The two games have very little in common.
FFA (free for all) full loot pvp
Because if there's one thing fans of a PvE-centered MMORPG will want, it's FFA full loot PVP!
While partially true, Vanguard did have exp loss and losing items until you retrieve them from your grave stone...and they did have a pvp server. Darkfall is the logical next step.
Darkfall has absolutely nothing to do you vanguard. Even today, VG is a million times a better and more complete game than DF.
DF is not even a shadow of what VG can be.... only mindless pvp ganking
I disagree. Darkfall runs better, has a healthier population and has had all the pressing issues addressed.
The biggest advantage in what I just said is the population. With Vanguard being a very group centric game with a cathartic population base, it is difficult completing the desired content. With Darkfall you don't have levels since it is all skill based and you can head of in any direction with any number of people and enjoy yourself.
You are right though, Darkfall isn't for everyone, but Darkfall is not as big of a step away from the type of game Vanguard is as you're trying to make it.
If you liked Vanguard, give Darkfall a shot. An expansion is coming out any day that will add more goodness to an already good successor to Vanguard.
"Successor to Vanguard"? Are you on crack? The two games have very little in common.
FFA (free for all) full loot pvp
Because if there's one thing fans of a PvE-centered MMORPG will want, it's FFA full loot PVP!
While partially true, Vanguard did have exp loss and losing items until you retrieve them from your grave stone...and they did have a pvp server. Darkfall is the logical next step.
Darkfall has absolutely nothing to do you vanguard. Even today, VG is a million times a better and more complete game than DF.
DF is not even a shadow of what VG can be.... only mindless pvp ganking
This coming from someone who clearly never ever even took a cursory glance at Vanguard. I have played both. Darkfall and Vanguard are the ONLY MMOs in the past 8 years I've been able to play for over a month, so obviously they have to be similar in some regard. As little as you want to admit it, out of all the games on the market, the two are closely linked in terms of oldschool veteran MMORPG players, open sandbox world, risk vs reward, ect. Well, Vanguard used to be anyway, but no longer is, hence why I no longer play it.
Simple question, complex answer. I think the largest culprit is Brad McQuaid. Tremendous idea man, but zero idea how to run a company, and oversee development of an entire game. "Vision" for a game? Awesome, attention to details, not so much.
I've seen people here say some dumb stuff, like that Microsoft should have stuck with it. I think that everytime this disucssion comes up, we get people posting who arent familiar with how VG came to be.
f13.net: In terms of hands-on involvement, how much did Microsoft make their presence known?
Ex-Sigil: We gave demos to high-level Microsoft people frequently. These demos were often just dog and pony shows where content was created specifically for the demo. There was no intention that this content ever be used in game. When you spend 30+ million on a project, you want to see results. They became more and more suspect as time went on, and more and more people got involved. Though, they were mostly just oversight. They never sent anyone down here to actually work on the project.
If you read both interviews, and yes, I'm sure the ex-employee is biased, you'll get a feel like what things were like during the VG development, and you'll see that McQuaid wasnt much of a leader. (he thought he'd cry, so he had other people fire the staff?) His suggestions that MS should just keep funding, they should not have milestones, and the creative drive cant be put into a time frame? Sorry, this is business guy, other CEO's get it, he never did.
I think that explains in part why it had an awful launch (and take both interviews with a grain of salt) but I think it's state now is because there are plenty of other options out there, and what VG offers isnt for everyone. It's a nice game, could have been a better game, but it never stood a chance.
If you liked Vanguard, give Darkfall a shot. An expansion is coming out any day that will add more goodness to an already good successor to Vanguard.
"Successor to Vanguard"? Are you on crack? The two games have very little in common.
FFA (free for all) full loot pvp
Because if there's one thing fans of a PvE-centered MMORPG will want, it's FFA full loot PVP!
While partially true, Vanguard did have exp loss and losing items until you retrieve them from your grave stone...and they did have a pvp server. Darkfall is the logical next step.
For the players who play on the PVP server. I don't have figures, but the fact that there is only one PvP server tends to indicate that such are only a small fraction of Vanguard's playerbase.
At launch there were two pvp servers, one for FFA & and for Faction. And believe me there was mindless ganking going on there too. I played VG and I'm starting DF, and I can see a lot of players who played VG on the pvp servers coming here and enjoying themselves. Yes, there's many features way better in VG, but there's many that are similar and restricting. If Darkfall could have VG's graphics, crafting and diverse races, it would be really tits.
Originally posted by solareus VG is pretty amazing, if they could of not gone down the SOe road , it would of been a much more successful game. SOE is tarnished, has been for years, and any game developer that gets locked into SOE will have a hard ime finding success in the industry. THe VG team is doing a great job but is all for nothing.
I'll call shens.
SoE has a rotten rep, and it is WELL earned, but VG should not be dumped in their lap, and it's frankly ignorant to suggest so. Truth be told, VG would probably have went the way of UO:X, Mourning, and other MMO's that were hugely hyped but never released. Fact is, had McQuaid not suckered SoE into co-publishing and spending any money on it, VG probably would never have seen the light of day.
Basic Info: (McQuaid/Sigil leadership, PRE-SoE)
1) No scripting language for dev's. 2) Spent 30 million of MS money, had maybe 65% of a game (if release was 100%) 3) How much private captial and resources did they go thru? 4) Leadership that did not want to be constratined with timelines/milestones. 5) McQuaid never tried WoW, to try to understand why it was popular. 6) Content created for MS, no intention of putting it in game. 7) ONE (yes ONE) Q/A person from inception until 2 months prior to release. 8) McQuaid stopped playing during Beta 2.
Basic Info: (Post SoE Co-publish/pre-release)
1) SoE sent 6 dev's total to help with design/art/programming. 2) SoE had to spend money to buy the publishing rights. 3) Beta 2 to relase SoE get's involved, release date set. 4) SoE Finally sees first hand the state of the game they bought the rights to co-pub. 5) Mass e-mail telling employees to meet out front, and fire them. Some to be re-hired by SoE. McQuaid did not bother to show, in fear that he would cry.
Read the interviews I linked before (in point of fact, it's McQuaid himself who said that he was afraid he'd cry. Dont you think as the CEO of the company he owes it to his employees to be there, isnt that what a CEO does?)
VG has had a lot of problems, but pre-release neither of 'em was SoE or MS. If it wasnt for 30 million wasted MS dollars, and the purchases of the publishing rights by SoE, I seriously doubt that anyone else would have kept pouring money down the black hole that Sigil needed to fund the game.
You can debate ad nausem about how those things impacted the game, but I think that it's pretty hard to blame a company for trying to salvage a bad investment, or to expect other companies to fund a bad investment eternally. Great ideas, poor execution. The state of VG today? Well, no argument, that's SoE's responsibility now.
I keep hearing lack of content, its very apparent those have never touched the game. Please shut the hell up unless you have a valid argument or complaint.
This game is everything people have been wanting for a long time, seamless world lots of PvE tons of places to explore, flying mounts, player owned ships, player houses, guild houses, best crafting system out there, diplomacy system, and a shit ton of places to go. Sure some of you can gripe and not play the game because theres a board sticking out of the bottom of your boat that shouldnt. But seriously? Lack of content is the last thing that should be said and probably the biggest lie uttered thus far.
I disagree. Darkfall runs better, has a healthier population and has had all the pressing issues addressed. The biggest advantage in what I just said is the population. With Vanguard being a very group centric game with a cathartic population base, it is difficult completing the desired content. With Darkfall you don't have levels since it is all skill based and you can head of in any direction with any number of people and enjoy yourself. You are right though, Darkfall isn't for everyone, but Darkfall is not as big of a step away from the type of game Vanguard is as you're trying to make it.
Do you have links to prove this statement? Otherwise, you are just passing on unfounded rumors.
On to topic:
I tried the game out, and it just didn't "hook" me. The game play was kinda bland for me. I had a two week trial and only logged in for two days. I just can't pin point it, but I just couldn't bring myself to log back in.
I followed VG for a good while during development up to and beyond release. Decided to wait and see how launch went before I bought it and saved $50 bucks lol
The game released in a bad state. Buggy release killed it imo.
A buddy of mines entire EQ2 guild of around 150 all left for VG, they all quit within 2 months he told me. That should tell you something at least.
SoE did not kill or destroy this game. Brad Mc did. SoE actually tried to salvage his fail train.
IMO, if they had not revamped the game and tried to EQII-WoW it so much. The first few parts of the beta were awesome. If you could get past the 3 fps.
Rumors instead of quest icons! Meaning you had to talk with NPC to find people that had quests. Wholly cow! A MMO that did not spoon feed content! However, their pre-school game testers from MS xBox 360 QA dept said it was too hard and took too long. = SCRAPPED
Different weapons types having different specials! Slash type weapons had one bonus type to damage, piercing another, and blunt different as well. However, their pre-school game testers from MS xBox 360 QA dept said it was too confusing and made them have to think about picking up the shiney new sword or not = SCRAPPED
And much more I cannot think of atm. Still, these were in their infancy and never got fleshed out very well but, it was awesome! Then, rather than blancing it out and fleshing out the rest of the abilities and skills and such..... a damn revamp of the WHOLE GAME paramount to a NGE in SWG came about. Game just really went down hill from there and never recovered.
Say hello, To the things you've left behind. They are more a part of your life now that you can't touch them.
I personally never bothered trying it because pre-launch they were like, "Oh man, look at us we're such a hardcore MMORPG. Look our death penalty's painful and death sets you back, isn't that sooo fun. Oh god we're awesome."
Just made it seem like they weren't focusing on a fun game but rather trying to recapture some of the things that made EQ terrible.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
IMO, if they had not revamped the game and tried to EQII-WoW it so much. The first few parts of the beta were awesome. If you could get past the 3 fps.
Rumors instead of quest icons! Meaning you had to talk with NPC to find people that had quests. Wholly cow! A MMO that did not spoon feed content! However, their pre-school game testers from MS xBox 360 QA dept said it was too hard and took too long. = SCRAPPED
Different weapons types having different specials! Slash type weapons had one bonus type to damage, piercing another, and blunt different as well. However, their pre-school game testers from MS xBox 360 QA dept said it was too confusing and made them have to think about picking up the shiney new sword or not = SCRAPPED
And much more I cannot think of atm. Still, these were in their infancy and never got fleshed out very well but, it was awesome! Then, rather than blancing it out and fleshing out the rest of the abilities and skills and such..... a damn revamp of the WHOLE GAME paramount to a NGE in SWG came about. Game just really went down hill from there and never recovered.
totally agree
SOE as usual decided to dumb down the game to appeal to the masses .
Result : No more real factions, crafting cant compete to drops, Boats are useless, xp so fast you outlevel your questbook, etc etc..
**************************** Playing : Uncharted Waters Online ****************************
Different weapons types having different specials! Slash type weapons had one bonus type to damage, piercing another, and blunt different as well. However, their pre-school game testers from MS xBox 360 QA dept said it was too confusing and made them have to think about picking up the shiney new sword or not = SCRAPPED
Not so special. WOW had that at launch. Blunt weapons had stun or slowing effects. Slashing weapons had bleeds or other dots. It got wattered down over the years, but the original intention was there. Just the facts.
I personally never bothered trying it because pre-launch they were like, "Oh man, look at us we're such a hardcore MMORPG. Look our death penalty's painful and death sets you back, isn't that sooo fun. Oh god we're awesome." Just made it seem like they weren't focusing on a fun game but rather trying to recapture some of the things that made EQ terrible.
Those are the things that many people loved about EQ and WANTED to come back. I know you have some holy vendetta against EQ's death penalty but it served its purpose.
I like alot of them, but seriously, was the poor launch? The game has a vast world, amazing graphics, especially cranked up. Crafting, flying mounts, ships, sandbox, PVE, PVP...it is all there. Especially, if people like PVE and grouping and amazing content with a helluva great sandbox, why not VG?? I see new games coming out all the time and this one really is deep, seems it ought to be in the same coversation as LOTRO, Aion, FE and Darkfall...at the very least. Though I think it is better, although DF and LoTRO have great features as well and DF is innovating.
Have you tried VG...thoughts?
Are you freaking serious? Obviously you haven't played VG or you wouldn't ask such a rediculous question. Let's put it this way. I went and "retried" VG on a free week promotion... I felt embarrassed for the developers after seeing the game in the light of newer better games out there. it's really really sad.
I like alot of them, but seriously, was the poor launch? The game has a vast world, amazing graphics, especially cranked up. Crafting, flying mounts, ships, sandbox, PVE, PVP...it is all there. Especially, if people like PVE and grouping and amazing content with a helluva great sandbox, why not VG?? I see new games coming out all the time and this one really is deep, seems it ought to be in the same coversation as LOTRO, Aion, FE and Darkfall...at the very least. Though I think it is better, although DF and LoTRO have great features as well and DF is innovating.
Have you tried VG...thoughts?
Are you freaking serious? Obviously you haven't played VG or you wouldn't ask such a rediculous question. Let's put it this way. I went and "retried" VG on a free week promotion... I felt embarrassed for the developers after seeing the game in the light of newer better games out there. it's really really sad.
That can also be said about a great many mmo's released recently.
The moment a new MMO loses momentum from such crappy launch, they rarely recover. Like many other MMO's that launched too early, their development crew gets cut severly after they realise they dont get the subscription numbers they hoped for. From that point on its just on life support with a little update here and there.
In current state I see 3 problems :
- Crappy client. Has a very bad graphical awe vs pc requirement ratio. It can also barely be scaled down.This severly cuts into the amount of potential players.
- Too few updates and too slow fixes (are city diplomacy levers on noob island fixed?). Current skeleton crew cant handle this MMO. Even SWG with its few devs is way faster with its updates/fixes. A lot of players that do stay because they dont have a problem with the client, will leave because of this.
- The Noob Island, although very solid gameplay, gives the wrong impression on a new player. The noob island is a themepark. It holds you by the hand from quest to quest and there is barely room left for exploring. Then when you get to the mainland you are suddenly thrown in the middle of loads of possible questhubs to continue from. Although I really like the mainland, I know from experience that most players nowadays prefer themeparks.
There are also only a few websites left that have updated information about the game. Just try to find solid specific information about the noob island or diplomacy.
I tried it but leveling takes WAY to long in that game.
This should be a good thing. I am considering playing vangaurd. I played the beta for 8 months and loved it, but it was plagued with issues at release and I never bought it. If I did start, would I find people to play with or would I be doomed to solo because the game is a bit older now?
I am entitled to my opinions, misspellings, and grammatical errors.
I keep hearing lack of content, its very apparent those have never touched the game. Please shut the hell up unless you have a valid argument or complaint. This game is everything people have been wanting for a long time, seamless world lots of PvE tons of places to explore, flying mounts, player owned ships, player houses, guild houses, best crafting system out there, diplomacy system, and a shit ton of places to go. Sure some of you can gripe and not play the game because theres a board sticking out of the bottom of your boat that shouldnt. But seriously? Lack of content is the last thing that should be said and probably the biggest lie uttered thus far.
There is a lack of content end-game. Obviously you haven't touched the game.
Guild Houses = fluff
Flying Mounts = fluff and faster travel that makes the world look smaller
Boats/Ship = fluff
Player Houses = bigger banks
Crafting System = doesn't sell although it is good but make eyes bleed
Diplomacy System = make eyes bleed and team got depleted before made useful aside city buffs
Get the facts straight before you attempt to tell people to shut the hell up.
Comments
"Successor to Vanguard"? Are you on crack? The two games have very little in common.
Because if there's one thing fans of a PvE-centered MMORPG will want, it's FFA full loot PVP!
While partially true, Vanguard did have exp loss and losing items until you retrieve them from your grave stone...and they did have a pvp server. Darkfall is the logical next step.
Darkfall has absolutely nothing to do you vanguard. Even today, VG is a million times a better and more complete game than DF.
DF is not even a shadow of what VG can be.... only mindless pvp ganking
I played VG off and on for a year and a half. Loved the game in all aspects, but the population on the pvp server was pretty much dying, and I have to have world pvp in my mmo.
For the players who play on the PVP server. I don't have figures, but the fact that there is only one PvP server tends to indicate that such are only a small fraction of Vanguard's playerbase.
The ganking did it for me, bought the game as many Guild friends switched just after SWG's NGE changes, gave it some time but all it did for me was annoy and P**s me off to no end, enemy faction was always around the starter area and ganking everyone they saw, you'd think you got away from them on some occasions only for a sneaky little sod to uncloak and kill you, then it was a case of back to spawn camping, therefore nothing got done, i enjoy PvP in games but not when it's forced on you and your only just starting out in a game. Left the game, lost interest in what could have been fun and i don't feel like going back to it because of how it used to be (if any different these days). that completely killed the game for me.
I think people are too judgemental of there MMO's...if ONE thing is wrong when it's realeased or if its not up to expectations they bash it and never return to it. This was the case of VG...and unfortunately if it was any other company that owned this game it probably would be one of the top MMO's, but because of SOE's bad rep it's nothing but dust in the wind.
It would be awesome though if VG was more popular, and maybe if a few WoW fanbois would give it a chance they'd switch...*sigh* that will never happen though.
"Successor to Vanguard"? Are you on crack? The two games have very little in common.
Because if there's one thing fans of a PvE-centered MMORPG will want, it's FFA full loot PVP!
While partially true, Vanguard did have exp loss and losing items until you retrieve them from your grave stone...and they did have a pvp server. Darkfall is the logical next step.
Darkfall has absolutely nothing to do you vanguard. Even today, VG is a million times a better and more complete game than DF.
DF is not even a shadow of what VG can be.... only mindless pvp ganking
I disagree. Darkfall runs better, has a healthier population and has had all the pressing issues addressed.
The biggest advantage in what I just said is the population. With Vanguard being a very group centric game with a cathartic population base, it is difficult completing the desired content. With Darkfall you don't have levels since it is all skill based and you can head of in any direction with any number of people and enjoy yourself.
You are right though, Darkfall isn't for everyone, but Darkfall is not as big of a step away from the type of game Vanguard is as you're trying to make it.
"Successor to Vanguard"? Are you on crack? The two games have very little in common.
Because if there's one thing fans of a PvE-centered MMORPG will want, it's FFA full loot PVP!
While partially true, Vanguard did have exp loss and losing items until you retrieve them from your grave stone...and they did have a pvp server. Darkfall is the logical next step.
Darkfall has absolutely nothing to do you vanguard. Even today, VG is a million times a better and more complete game than DF.
DF is not even a shadow of what VG can be.... only mindless pvp ganking
This coming from someone who clearly never ever even took a cursory glance at Vanguard. I have played both. Darkfall and Vanguard are the ONLY MMOs in the past 8 years I've been able to play for over a month, so obviously they have to be similar in some regard. As little as you want to admit it, out of all the games on the market, the two are closely linked in terms of oldschool veteran MMORPG players, open sandbox world, risk vs reward, ect. Well, Vanguard used to be anyway, but no longer is, hence why I no longer play it.
Darkfall Travelogues!
Why is VG not the top MMO?
Simple question, complex answer. I think the largest culprit is Brad McQuaid. Tremendous idea man, but zero idea how to run a company, and oversee development of an entire game. "Vision" for a game? Awesome, attention to details, not so much.
I've seen people here say some dumb stuff, like that Microsoft should have stuck with it. I think that everytime this disucssion comes up, we get people posting who arent familiar with how VG came to be.
F13 Interview w/former VG Employee
F13 Interview w/McQuaid
Some wonderful excerpts:
f13.net: In terms of hands-on involvement, how much did Microsoft make their presence known?
Ex-Sigil: We gave demos to high-level Microsoft people frequently. These demos were often just dog and pony shows where content was created specifically for the demo. There was no intention that this content ever be used in game. When you spend 30+ million on a project, you want to see results. They became more and more suspect as time went on, and more and more people got involved. Though, they were mostly just oversight. They never sent anyone down here to actually work on the project.
If you read both interviews, and yes, I'm sure the ex-employee is biased, you'll get a feel like what things were like during the VG development, and you'll see that McQuaid wasnt much of a leader. (he thought he'd cry, so he had other people fire the staff?) His suggestions that MS should just keep funding, they should not have milestones, and the creative drive cant be put into a time frame? Sorry, this is business guy, other CEO's get it, he never did.
I think that explains in part why it had an awful launch (and take both interviews with a grain of salt) but I think it's state now is because there are plenty of other options out there, and what VG offers isnt for everyone. It's a nice game, could have been a better game, but it never stood a chance.
Because if there's one thing fans of a PvE-centered MMORPG will want, it's FFA full loot PVP!
While partially true, Vanguard did have exp loss and losing items until you retrieve them from your grave stone...and they did have a pvp server. Darkfall is the logical next step.
For the players who play on the PVP server. I don't have figures, but the fact that there is only one PvP server tends to indicate that such are only a small fraction of Vanguard's playerbase.
At launch there were two pvp servers, one for FFA & and for Faction. And believe me there was mindless ganking going on there too. I played VG and I'm starting DF, and I can see a lot of players who played VG on the pvp servers coming here and enjoying themselves. Yes, there's many features way better in VG, but there's many that are similar and restricting. If Darkfall could have VG's graphics, crafting and diverse races, it would be really tits.
Read my past posts as to why VG isn't a top mmo.
This is coming from a 3 year player and beta player. Seen/done all the content. Non-bias.
Rift: Storm Legion Raid Progression Tracker
I'll call shens.
SoE has a rotten rep, and it is WELL earned, but VG should not be dumped in their lap, and it's frankly ignorant to suggest so. Truth be told, VG would probably have went the way of UO:X, Mourning, and other MMO's that were hugely hyped but never released. Fact is, had McQuaid not suckered SoE into co-publishing and spending any money on it, VG probably would never have seen the light of day.
Basic Info: (McQuaid/Sigil leadership, PRE-SoE)
1) No scripting language for dev's.
2) Spent 30 million of MS money, had maybe 65% of a game (if release was 100%)
3) How much private captial and resources did they go thru?
4) Leadership that did not want to be constratined with timelines/milestones.
5) McQuaid never tried WoW, to try to understand why it was popular.
6) Content created for MS, no intention of putting it in game.
7) ONE (yes ONE) Q/A person from inception until 2 months prior to release.
8) McQuaid stopped playing during Beta 2.
Basic Info: (Post SoE Co-publish/pre-release)
1) SoE sent 6 dev's total to help with design/art/programming.
2) SoE had to spend money to buy the publishing rights.
3) Beta 2 to relase SoE get's involved, release date set.
4) SoE Finally sees first hand the state of the game they bought the rights to co-pub.
5) Mass e-mail telling employees to meet out front, and fire them. Some to be re-hired by SoE. McQuaid did not bother to show, in fear that he would cry.
Read the interviews I linked before (in point of fact, it's McQuaid himself who said that he was afraid he'd cry. Dont you think as the CEO of the company he owes it to his employees to be there, isnt that what a CEO does?)
VG has had a lot of problems, but pre-release neither of 'em was SoE or MS. If it wasnt for 30 million wasted MS dollars, and the purchases of the publishing rights by SoE, I seriously doubt that anyone else would have kept pouring money down the black hole that Sigil needed to fund the game.
You can debate ad nausem about how those things impacted the game, but I think that it's pretty hard to blame a company for trying to salvage a bad investment, or to expect other companies to fund a bad investment eternally. Great ideas, poor execution. The state of VG today? Well, no argument, that's SoE's responsibility now.
I keep hearing lack of content, its very apparent those have never touched the game. Please shut the hell up unless you have a valid argument or complaint.
This game is everything people have been wanting for a long time, seamless world lots of PvE tons of places to explore, flying mounts, player owned ships, player houses, guild houses, best crafting system out there, diplomacy system, and a shit ton of places to go. Sure some of you can gripe and not play the game because theres a board sticking out of the bottom of your boat that shouldnt. But seriously? Lack of content is the last thing that should be said and probably the biggest lie uttered thus far.
Do you have links to prove this statement? Otherwise, you are just passing on unfounded rumors.
On to topic:
I tried the game out, and it just didn't "hook" me. The game play was kinda bland for me. I had a two week trial and only logged in for two days. I just can't pin point it, but I just couldn't bring myself to log back in.
I followed VG for a good while during development up to and beyond release. Decided to wait and see how launch went before I bought it and saved $50 bucks lol
The game released in a bad state. Buggy release killed it imo.
A buddy of mines entire EQ2 guild of around 150 all left for VG, they all quit within 2 months he told me. That should tell you something at least.
SoE did not kill or destroy this game. Brad Mc did. SoE actually tried to salvage his fail train.
IMO, if they had not revamped the game and tried to EQII-WoW it so much. The first few parts of the beta were awesome. If you could get past the 3 fps.
Rumors instead of quest icons! Meaning you had to talk with NPC to find people that had quests. Wholly cow! A MMO that did not spoon feed content! However, their pre-school game testers from MS xBox 360 QA dept said it was too hard and took too long. = SCRAPPED
Different weapons types having different specials! Slash type weapons had one bonus type to damage, piercing another, and blunt different as well. However, their pre-school game testers from MS xBox 360 QA dept said it was too confusing and made them have to think about picking up the shiney new sword or not = SCRAPPED
And much more I cannot think of atm. Still, these were in their infancy and never got fleshed out very well but, it was awesome! Then, rather than blancing it out and fleshing out the rest of the abilities and skills and such..... a damn revamp of the WHOLE GAME paramount to a NGE in SWG came about. Game just really went down hill from there and never recovered.
Say hello, To the things you've left behind. They are more a part of your life now that you can't touch them.
I personally never bothered trying it because pre-launch they were like, "Oh man, look at us we're such a hardcore MMORPG. Look our death penalty's painful and death sets you back, isn't that sooo fun. Oh god we're awesome."
Just made it seem like they weren't focusing on a fun game but rather trying to recapture some of the things that made EQ terrible.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
totally agree
SOE as usual decided to dumb down the game to appeal to the masses .
Result : No more real factions, crafting cant compete to drops, Boats are useless, xp so fast you outlevel your questbook, etc etc..
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Playing : Uncharted Waters Online
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Not so special. WOW had that at launch. Blunt weapons had stun or slowing effects. Slashing weapons had bleeds or other dots. It got wattered down over the years, but the original intention was there. Just the facts.
Those are the things that many people loved about EQ and WANTED to come back. I know you have some holy vendetta against EQ's death penalty but it served its purpose.
Darkfall Travelogues!
Are you freaking serious? Obviously you haven't played VG or you wouldn't ask such a rediculous question. Let's put it this way. I went and "retried" VG on a free week promotion... I felt embarrassed for the developers after seeing the game in the light of newer better games out there. it's really really sad.
Are you freaking serious? Obviously you haven't played VG or you wouldn't ask such a rediculous question. Let's put it this way. I went and "retried" VG on a free week promotion... I felt embarrassed for the developers after seeing the game in the light of newer better games out there. it's really really sad.
That can also be said about a great many mmo's released recently.
The launch was a disaster.
The moment a new MMO loses momentum from such crappy launch, they rarely recover. Like many other MMO's that launched too early, their development crew gets cut severly after they realise they dont get the subscription numbers they hoped for. From that point on its just on life support with a little update here and there.
In current state I see 3 problems :
- Crappy client. Has a very bad graphical awe vs pc requirement ratio. It can also barely be scaled down.This severly cuts into the amount of potential players.
- Too few updates and too slow fixes (are city diplomacy levers on noob island fixed?). Current skeleton crew cant handle this MMO. Even SWG with its few devs is way faster with its updates/fixes. A lot of players that do stay because they dont have a problem with the client, will leave because of this.
- The Noob Island, although very solid gameplay, gives the wrong impression on a new player. The noob island is a themepark. It holds you by the hand from quest to quest and there is barely room left for exploring. Then when you get to the mainland you are suddenly thrown in the middle of loads of possible questhubs to continue from. Although I really like the mainland, I know from experience that most players nowadays prefer themeparks.
There are also only a few websites left that have updated information about the game. Just try to find solid specific information about the noob island or diplomacy.
mostly because VG is way to grind happy.
I tried it but leveling takes WAY to long in that game.
"World of Warcraft is the perfect implementation of this genre." - Hilmar Petursson. CEO of CCP.
This should be a good thing. I am considering playing vangaurd. I played the beta for 8 months and loved it, but it was plagued with issues at release and I never bought it. If I did start, would I find people to play with or would I be doomed to solo because the game is a bit older now?
I am entitled to my opinions, misspellings, and grammatical errors.
There is a lack of content end-game. Obviously you haven't touched the game.
Guild Houses = fluff
Flying Mounts = fluff and faster travel that makes the world look smaller
Boats/Ship = fluff
Player Houses = bigger banks
Crafting System = doesn't sell although it is good but make eyes bleed
Diplomacy System = make eyes bleed and team got depleted before made useful aside city buffs
Get the facts straight before you attempt to tell people to shut the hell up.
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