Originally posted by Dragim Originally posted by decoy26517 mostly because VG is way to grind happy. 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?
No it's not a good thing. I prefer games that have a lot of end game content and little grindy leveling. VG has WAAAY to much grinding and the leveling content separates the population so much that you'll rarely see another soul.
"World of Warcraft is the perfect implementation of this genre." - Hilmar Petursson. CEO of CCP.
I tried it but leveling takes WAY to long in that game.
Vanguard was originally intended to have a very very slow leveling curve. It was designed to recapture the epic grind of EQ hell levels. This was stated over and over pre-launch (not so bluntly, more going on about the epic journey, feeling the growth of your character, etc). They boosted xp a few times, cut the xp per level drastically, even retroactively leveled existing characters based off the new xp numbers vs gained xp at one point. Personally that's another thing I wish they'd have left alone, it would have slowed the need to rush out endgame encounters which took too much time away from the developing of real content by the 2 devs working on it.
Edit - 1-10 = 6 hours on the trial island (cap all 3 spheres)
11-20 = 5 hours of three rivers
21-25 = 4 hours doing HL chain
26-30 = 12 hours or so doing southwatch missives while lfg for CIS and TK
31-40 = 12 to 18 hours of Wardship of the Sleeping Moon area
41-45 = 18 to 20 hours of the Bountyhunter/arena area
45-50 = RI, Afrit, Swamp armor farming, depends on the gear you want to get before hitting SoD
not too bad when the cap is 55 imo...you want faster?? Done this on 3 chars since IoD launched
(yes, veteran xp pots -available to all accounts once of the island still?? - IoD charm and getting outside buffs but still...sheesh)
Grouping in Old school mmo's: meeting someone at the bar and chatting, getting to know them before jumping into bed. Current mmo's grouping: tinder. swipe, hookup, hope you don't get herpes, never see them again.
Why is Vanguard not a top MMO? That is an easy question to ask and a difficult one to answer.
From my experience attempting to play it in the open beta, the graphics were not optimized and they did not scale well. My poor old 6800GTX (it was a special edition Gigabyte card with matched memory that out performed most other 6800s by at least 25%) was bogged down like model T on the interstate. (note: there were games with much higher video card requirements that I could play fine with that video card.) The highest frame rates I could get was about 15FPS. I tried again, about a year after release I bought a copy of the game and played my free time. The graphics engine was still not properly optimized, I was able to get 20FPS with the 7950 I was using at the time, still looked nasty. In short, it was not worth the fifteen dollars per month to continue playing, in spite of having several friends that were playing the game at the time.
Some of the problems I noted can be summed up by these examples;
Why is it that Vanguard’s updates took twice as long to download as any other game I have ever played?
Once I got out of the “noob” area there was nothing to do, no reason to anything.
I detested the Crafting and Diplomacy system. Both were overly complex and served no apparent in game function that I could find.
As for story-line; The OP stated that Vanguard features a “deep story-line.” Deep? What depth? I have been told that there is a story, but Sigil made no attempt to engage me in it. It actually appeared as if they were hiding the story-line from me.
Music; Yes, I actually listen to the in game music. What a nasty noise most of it was. What the music lacked in quality was only surpassed by the fact that the music did not set the tone for the game and at some points to be completely disjointed from the “game play.”
As I understand it Vanguard is offering a 14 day trial period for those that have left the game. I have no desire to try Vanguard even if they offer me ninety days free, I consider my forty bucks lost.
If you want it summed up, Vanguard was a Beta product when it was released to the public. It has some potential but needs a lot of work. Why Brad McQuaid is proud of it I will never know. I would not of wanted my name associated with it. Brad McQuaid provided one heck of a vision for a possible game and no apparent guidance to make it real.
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.
It's not a vendetta against EQ's death penalty specifically, but rather against game design where pain and tedium aren't seen as enemies of fun (when they are.)
The core of WOW's success is minimizing pain/tedium wherever possible; focusing on the core of what made MMORPGs fun. Vanguard appeared to be taking a significantly different approach, and the lack of a focus on fun gameplay was concerning to me so I just didn't bother.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
I strongly disagree that the game (at least at lower levels) is at all "sad" as some posters suggested. The opening Isle experience was awesome. It did not totally hand hold you, but it was almost like Oblivion in an MMO. Amazing really, that is why I asked the first question, this has such potential and it is pretty damn polished right now--
Originally posted by Axehilt It's not a vendetta against EQ's death penalty specifically, but rather against game design where pain and tedium aren't seen as enemies of fun (when they are.) The core of WOW's success is minimizing pain/tedium wherever possible; focusing on the core of what made MMORPGs fun. Vanguard appeared to be taking a significantly different approach, and the lack of a focus on fun gameplay was concerning to me so I just didn't bother.
I don't agree. VGs death penalty could be better but so could Wows.
Thats the part old Lineage did best. You lost some Xp and sometimes (like 1 time in 5) a random item on you. Unless you wiped could your group pick it up for you (sometimes a #¤%& logged off and stole it), if you wiped swiped a monster it and dropped the item when someone killed the mob.
VGs death penalty is somewhat messy. Wow death penalty is too light and makes people taking stupid risk and dying all the time without any consequenses.
You should fear the reaper, but not enough to want to quit the game just because you died. In Wow is dying just a small moneysink that affects the gameplay very little. It is worth dying 20 times to get a nice drop there, in Lineage that would be a rather bad deal.
I'd say the reason why VG is not as popular as it could be was due to the fiasco surrounding it's founding company Sigil prior to being sold to SOE. It didn't appear that it was going to be able to live up to all the hype from their viral marketing scheme. People such as myself that were looking forward to the game coming out got a bit disillusioned. So the smart consumer at the time stayed far away from the game as possible.
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.
Content = fluff if half of what you people ask for is considered content as far as end game content, it works for the game as is, the majority of the players that I've played with can't seem to keep to a character long enough to hit end game content anyway they keep remaking them.
As far as facts I didn't state a single thing that was untrue. there is end game content there are things to do.
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.
So true
All the original ideas behind VG have been turned to useless fluff by SOE / Silius.
**************************** Playing : Uncharted Waters Online ****************************
I could never overcome the technical difficulties. By the time they sorted out those problems I had already moved on to other games. I did try to go back during a free trial offer, but the newbie areas seemed very deserted and I don't play mmo's to be by myself.
I played in the VG beta and again tested VG just 4 month ago. In total I have played VG for 4 month. It's like WoW, very quest dependent. I can't put my finger on it but it feels boring after just a short while. The world feels so predictable and classes isn't that interesting. Just my opinion.
Instead, I am going to play Mortal Online and it will be totally different compaired to WoW, VG and EQ2. It's more hard core game in FPV and they have done that really nice. Just check out the leaks on youtube. Now, I heard, the coming patch (monday) will be hugh and add alot to the game.
Mortal Online is PvP, full loot, no instances at all, no minimaps, no maps, FPV-only, Skill based, alot of real skill (you hit where you aim, hit locations), build your own house (no instanced), taiming (horses and pets), not quest dependent etc ... it's still in beta phase, but if you preorder it you can play it today. It will be released around this new year.
I tried it but leveling takes WAY to long in that game.
I wish it took a long time to level in Vanguard. I tunred off my xp for a while simply because there is SO MUCH quest content with great obscure storylines that you cannot do it all. I found a random level 19 quest in the desert that no one had ever heard of that ended in a raid like boss mob encounter that in other MMOs would be considered like an end game expansion boss batttle. But it was just another quest, there are tons of them that epic. Truly a shame SoE wants Vanguard to die.
I tried EQ2 last night, since I am a station member now-
While there is a ton content, I dunno, EQ2 seemed too easy, too simple. I found myself starting VG up. The first 14 levels in VG so far, are some of the best I have seen. A couple of other neat things...
1. Gathering is fun, when you gather wood, the tree falls down!
2. Crafting is so much more immersive and interesting
3. Great community on my server, maybe cause they all want new players to stick around!
4. Characters are interesting and diverse
Not sure why people struggled outside the newb area, maybe cause there are so many places to go? This is not an MMO of the WoW, Aion mold, it is more freeform, but still has lots of quests etc.
Originally posted by Elreic I tried EQ2 last night, since I am a station member now-
While there is a ton content, I dunno, EQ2 seemed too easy, too simple. I found myself starting VG up. The first 14 levels in VG so far, are some of the best I have seen. A couple of other neat things...
1. Gathering is fun, when you gather wood, the tree falls down! 2. Crafting is so much more immersive and interesting 3. Great community on my server, maybe cause they all want new players to stick around! 4. Characters are interesting and diverse Not sure why people struggled outside the newb area, maybe cause there are so many places to go? This is not an MMO of the WoW, Aion mold, it is more freeform, but still has lots of quests etc.
Summed up above, by the person who said he wanted minimum "grind" and maximum end-game "content." Some people just have the mind-set that the stuff you do getting to max level is "grind", but the stuff you do after you hit the cap is "content". Naturally, when you look at it that way, you don't like a game where it takes time to level up. They're making it tough to get to the "good stuff"!
Dont take MMORPG.com's ratings seriously. Why isn't WoW number one? Its arguably the best MMO out there. Most of us really enjoyed it at one point or another, and you can't deny how well made the game is. All WoW haters are simply band-wagoners or people who think its cool to hate the big boy.
I recently went back to WoW after giving a good shot at several other games over the past couple of years. I am no longer sick of the game, and now comparing it back against the rest, you can really tell that its just a better made game. People who dont give it that really dont know anything beyond their own ignorance.
Sandbox? Half the game consisting of 'desert continents' doesn't make the game a sandbox. There's nothing sandbox about Vanguard. It was just supposed to be the spiritual successor to Everquest 1 and it failed badly at that.
I tried EQ2 last night, since I am a station member now-
While there is a ton content, I dunno, EQ2 seemed too easy, too simple. I found myself starting VG up. The first 14 levels in VG so far, are some of the best I have seen. A couple of other neat things...
1. Gathering is fun, when you gather wood, the tree falls down!
2. Crafting is so much more immersive and interesting
3. Great community on my server, maybe cause they all want new players to stick around!
4. Characters are interesting and diverse
Not sure why people struggled outside the newb area, maybe cause there are so many places to go? This is not an MMO of the WoW, Aion mold, it is more freeform, but still has lots of quests etc.
Summed up above, by the person who said he wanted minimum "grind" and maximum end-game "content." Some people just have the mind-set that the stuff you do getting to max level is "grind", but the stuff you do after you hit the cap is "content". Naturally, when you look at it that way, you don't like a game where it takes time to level up. They're making it tough to get to the "good stuff"!
That's true, I've never understood why people play leveling games when they hate leveling. They essentially don't want to play all the content of the game and are only interested in what players do at the highest levels. Which really isn't that much. I couldn't imagine myself raiding every night. PvP every night would be more ineresting but for me part of the fun is staying competitive.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Vanguard is one of my absolute favorite games. I enjoy it immensely but I felt SO alone. Even the addition of a guild to my gameplaying didn't make a whole lot of difference.
I probably would have stuck around even longer if they hadn't messed up the ranger. By the time you got close enough to shoot a mob they'd be on you just by aggroing.
But yeah, the unfortunate part was the terrible launch and SOE has no hopes or desire of making the game what it could be. The potential is there, but they don't want to lose their EQ franchise. So... unfortunately the development team has been taken apart and now there is unfortunately a total of like 10 devs working for Vanguard while the rest are split among their other games, EQ2 & Free Realms being the highest dev-populated games according to some articles I've read.
It's a shame, but VG will never be what it should.
Couple of simple answers for why VG isn't bigger/more popular:
1. Botched launch - delays, confusion and lots of problems - always bad to start off that way
2. Over-saturation at launch: there were just too many other choices and VG did *nothing* in promotion to market itself as significantly enough different from the other fantasy MMOs available to attract a following.
3. Related to #2: Horrible marketing campaign, virtually a stealth release in some ways
Couple of simple answers for why VG isn't bigger/more popular: 1. Botched launch - delays, confusion and lots of problems - always bad to start off that way 2. Over-saturation at launch: there were just too many other choices and VG did *nothing* in promotion to market itself as significantly enough different from the other fantasy MMOs available to attract a following. 3. Related to #2: Horrible marketing campaign, virtually a stealth release in some ways
Yeah, they really never advertised it very well. Frankly, people talk about creating their own advertising plan so that SOE would gain new members for VG, and be forced to dev it more... Frankly, I wish people would do that. But it'll never happen.
Comments
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?
No it's not a good thing. I prefer games that have a lot of end game content and little grindy leveling. VG has WAAAY to much grinding and the leveling content separates the population so much that you'll rarely see another soul.
"World of Warcraft is the perfect implementation of this genre." - Hilmar Petursson. CEO of CCP.
I had a thread in general that got moved to LFGame, which doesn't get as much traffic as this does. You can find it here http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/255407/Bored-of-your-MMO-Play-Vanguard-Saga-of-Heroes.html
-Computer specs no one cares about: check.
-MMOs played no one cares about: check.
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-Signature no one cares about: check.
------------------------------------------------------------
-Narcissism: check.
Vanguard was originally intended to have a very very slow leveling curve. It was designed to recapture the epic grind of EQ hell levels. This was stated over and over pre-launch (not so bluntly, more going on about the epic journey, feeling the growth of your character, etc). They boosted xp a few times, cut the xp per level drastically, even retroactively leveled existing characters based off the new xp numbers vs gained xp at one point. Personally that's another thing I wish they'd have left alone, it would have slowed the need to rush out endgame encounters which took too much time away from the developing of real content by the 2 devs working on it.
Edit - 1-10 = 6 hours on the trial island (cap all 3 spheres)
11-20 = 5 hours of three rivers
21-25 = 4 hours doing HL chain
26-30 = 12 hours or so doing southwatch missives while lfg for CIS and TK
31-40 = 12 to 18 hours of Wardship of the Sleeping Moon area
41-45 = 18 to 20 hours of the Bountyhunter/arena area
45-50 = RI, Afrit, Swamp armor farming, depends on the gear you want to get before hitting SoD
not too bad when the cap is 55 imo...you want faster?? Done this on 3 chars since IoD launched
(yes, veteran xp pots -available to all accounts once of the island still?? - IoD charm and getting outside buffs but still...sheesh)
Why is Vanguard not a top MMO? That is an easy question to ask and a difficult one to answer.
From my experience attempting to play it in the open beta, the graphics were not optimized and they did not scale well. My poor old 6800GTX (it was a special edition Gigabyte card with matched memory that out performed most other 6800s by at least 25%) was bogged down like model T on the interstate. (note: there were games with much higher video card requirements that I could play fine with that video card.) The highest frame rates I could get was about 15FPS. I tried again, about a year after release I bought a copy of the game and played my free time. The graphics engine was still not properly optimized, I was able to get 20FPS with the 7950 I was using at the time, still looked nasty. In short, it was not worth the fifteen dollars per month to continue playing, in spite of having several friends that were playing the game at the time.
Some of the problems I noted can be summed up by these examples;
Why is it that Vanguard’s updates took twice as long to download as any other game I have ever played?
Once I got out of the “noob” area there was nothing to do, no reason to anything.
I detested the Crafting and Diplomacy system. Both were overly complex and served no apparent in game function that I could find.
As for story-line; The OP stated that Vanguard features a “deep story-line.” Deep? What depth? I have been told that there is a story, but Sigil made no attempt to engage me in it. It actually appeared as if they were hiding the story-line from me.
Music; Yes, I actually listen to the in game music. What a nasty noise most of it was. What the music lacked in quality was only surpassed by the fact that the music did not set the tone for the game and at some points to be completely disjointed from the “game play.”
As I understand it Vanguard is offering a 14 day trial period for those that have left the game. I have no desire to try Vanguard even if they offer me ninety days free, I consider my forty bucks lost.
If you want it summed up, Vanguard was a Beta product when it was released to the public. It has some potential but needs a lot of work. Why Brad McQuaid is proud of it I will never know. I would not of wanted my name associated with it. Brad McQuaid provided one heck of a vision for a possible game and no apparent guidance to make it real.
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.
It's not a vendetta against EQ's death penalty specifically, but rather against game design where pain and tedium aren't seen as enemies of fun (when they are.)
The core of WOW's success is minimizing pain/tedium wherever possible; focusing on the core of what made MMORPGs fun. Vanguard appeared to be taking a significantly different approach, and the lack of a focus on fun gameplay was concerning to me so I just didn't bother.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
I strongly disagree that the game (at least at lower levels) is at all "sad" as some posters suggested. The opening Isle experience was awesome. It did not totally hand hold you, but it was almost like Oblivion in an MMO. Amazing really, that is why I asked the first question, this has such potential and it is pretty damn polished right now--
I don't agree. VGs death penalty could be better but so could Wows.
Thats the part old Lineage did best. You lost some Xp and sometimes (like 1 time in 5) a random item on you. Unless you wiped could your group pick it up for you (sometimes a #¤%& logged off and stole it), if you wiped swiped a monster it and dropped the item when someone killed the mob.
VGs death penalty is somewhat messy. Wow death penalty is too light and makes people taking stupid risk and dying all the time without any consequenses.
You should fear the reaper, but not enough to want to quit the game just because you died. In Wow is dying just a small moneysink that affects the gameplay very little. It is worth dying 20 times to get a nice drop there, in Lineage that would be a rather bad deal.
I'd say the reason why VG is not as popular as it could be was due to the fiasco surrounding it's founding company Sigil prior to being sold to SOE. It didn't appear that it was going to be able to live up to all the hype from their viral marketing scheme. People such as myself that were looking forward to the game coming out got a bit disillusioned. So the smart consumer at the time stayed far away from the game as possible.
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.
Content = fluff if half of what you people ask for is considered content as far as end game content, it works for the game as is, the majority of the players that I've played with can't seem to keep to a character long enough to hit end game content anyway they keep remaking them.
As far as facts I didn't state a single thing that was untrue. there is end game content there are things to do.
thats got to be a joke lol
****************************
Playing : Uncharted Waters Online
****************************
So true
All the original ideas behind VG have been turned to useless fluff by SOE / Silius.
****************************
Playing : Uncharted Waters Online
****************************
I could never overcome the technical difficulties. By the time they sorted out those problems I had already moved on to other games. I did try to go back during a free trial offer, but the newbie areas seemed very deserted and I don't play mmo's to be by myself.
I played in the VG beta and again tested VG just 4 month ago. In total I have played VG for 4 month. It's like WoW, very quest dependent. I can't put my finger on it but it feels boring after just a short while. The world feels so predictable and classes isn't that interesting. Just my opinion.
Instead, I am going to play Mortal Online and it will be totally different compaired to WoW, VG and EQ2. It's more hard core game in FPV and they have done that really nice. Just check out the leaks on youtube. Now, I heard, the coming patch (monday) will be hugh and add alot to the game.
Mortal Online is PvP, full loot, no instances at all, no minimaps, no maps, FPV-only, Skill based, alot of real skill (you hit where you aim, hit locations), build your own house (no instanced), taiming (horses and pets), not quest dependent etc ... it's still in beta phase, but if you preorder it you can play it today. It will be released around this new year.
thats got to be a joke lol
I tried it but leveling takes WAY to long in that game.
I wish it took a long time to level in Vanguard. I tunred off my xp for a while simply because there is SO MUCH quest content with great obscure storylines that you cannot do it all. I found a random level 19 quest in the desert that no one had ever heard of that ended in a raid like boss mob encounter that in other MMOs would be considered like an end game expansion boss batttle. But it was just another quest, there are tons of them that epic. Truly a shame SoE wants Vanguard to die.
Darkfall Travelogues!
I tried EQ2 last night, since I am a station member now-
While there is a ton content, I dunno, EQ2 seemed too easy, too simple. I found myself starting VG up. The first 14 levels in VG so far, are some of the best I have seen. A couple of other neat things...
1. Gathering is fun, when you gather wood, the tree falls down!
2. Crafting is so much more immersive and interesting
3. Great community on my server, maybe cause they all want new players to stick around!
4. Characters are interesting and diverse
Not sure why people struggled outside the newb area, maybe cause there are so many places to go? This is not an MMO of the WoW, Aion mold, it is more freeform, but still has lots of quests etc.
Summed up above, by the person who said he wanted minimum "grind" and maximum end-game "content." Some people just have the mind-set that the stuff you do getting to max level is "grind", but the stuff you do after you hit the cap is "content". Naturally, when you look at it that way, you don't like a game where it takes time to level up. They're making it tough to get to the "good stuff"!
No doubt a good point...the journey to me is the fun part.
Me too. That's why I've enjoyed Final Fantasy XI, and I probably would've jumped into Vanguard if it had had a better launch.
I would play vanguard again but I have promised myself that I will never ever play another game with John Smedly's stink on it.
Dont take MMORPG.com's ratings seriously. Why isn't WoW number one? Its arguably the best MMO out there. Most of us really enjoyed it at one point or another, and you can't deny how well made the game is. All WoW haters are simply band-wagoners or people who think its cool to hate the big boy.
I recently went back to WoW after giving a good shot at several other games over the past couple of years. I am no longer sick of the game, and now comparing it back against the rest, you can really tell that its just a better made game. People who dont give it that really dont know anything beyond their own ignorance.
Sandbox? Half the game consisting of 'desert continents' doesn't make the game a sandbox. There's nothing sandbox about Vanguard. It was just supposed to be the spiritual successor to Everquest 1 and it failed badly at that.
Summed up above, by the person who said he wanted minimum "grind" and maximum end-game "content." Some people just have the mind-set that the stuff you do getting to max level is "grind", but the stuff you do after you hit the cap is "content". Naturally, when you look at it that way, you don't like a game where it takes time to level up. They're making it tough to get to the "good stuff"!
That's true, I've never understood why people play leveling games when they hate leveling. They essentially don't want to play all the content of the game and are only interested in what players do at the highest levels. Which really isn't that much. I couldn't imagine myself raiding every night. PvP every night would be more ineresting but for me part of the fun is staying competitive.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Vanguard is one of my absolute favorite games. I enjoy it immensely but I felt SO alone. Even the addition of a guild to my gameplaying didn't make a whole lot of difference.
I probably would have stuck around even longer if they hadn't messed up the ranger. By the time you got close enough to shoot a mob they'd be on you just by aggroing.
But yeah, the unfortunate part was the terrible launch and SOE has no hopes or desire of making the game what it could be. The potential is there, but they don't want to lose their EQ franchise. So... unfortunately the development team has been taken apart and now there is unfortunately a total of like 10 devs working for Vanguard while the rest are split among their other games, EQ2 & Free Realms being the highest dev-populated games according to some articles I've read.
It's a shame, but VG will never be what it should.
Couple of simple answers for why VG isn't bigger/more popular:
1. Botched launch - delays, confusion and lots of problems - always bad to start off that way
2. Over-saturation at launch: there were just too many other choices and VG did *nothing* in promotion to market itself as significantly enough different from the other fantasy MMOs available to attract a following.
3. Related to #2: Horrible marketing campaign, virtually a stealth release in some ways
Yeah, they really never advertised it very well. Frankly, people talk about creating their own advertising plan so that SOE would gain new members for VG, and be forced to dev it more... Frankly, I wish people would do that. But it'll never happen.