Just tried the trial, lasted about 15mins then uninstalled. The feeling of my toon being heavy and clunky doesint sit well with me. Not to mention the dated optimization this game runs on. Seems to me that all SOE mmos feel this way, even with the latest hardware.
Played for 4-5 hrs yesterday, starting two week trial, and character movement felt just like any other major MMO; WoW, AO etc. Admittedly the lag spikes were killing the experince a bit. Switched over to GW and ran a few DSL tests to see if it was my end and seemed to be on VG servers end as others were complaining about the server merge causing them. I'll give it a few days and see.
On the whole I like the few classes I tried, shaman and Psionist. But the quest design is nothing different. It seems to follow the EQ model closely, with a rather decent GUI and a supposedly slightly wider breadth of play avaible via the Dimpolacy and Harvesting/Crafting will have to give those a whirl see how they pan out.
If you think that about the character movement, then perhaps you need to get your machine checked. The other guy is spot on the money - heavy and clunky. Why does everything that SoE makes feel like a throwback to the 90s. Nothing ever feels well done....
Some people really don't know what they are talking about. It just goes to show that some people just on the SOE hate band wagon just to follow others. I and many others have no problem with the character models or how they move, perhaps you need to get your pc checked.
You did make me smile though in your lack of knowledge about who actually made the game. Do you often play games that you don't know who the developers are.
Frankly, yes, I often play games and don't give a damn who the developer is. You're splitting hairs, of course. The point that's being made here is fairly clear, I think. These SoE games, specifically Vanguard and EQII, have a peculiar, old-fashioned, not-quite-modern-enough feel to them which makes them unattractive to many people. I don't care who actually developed them, I just don't really relish they way they feel. There are, however, lots of people having the time of their lives playing both and fair play to them.
I should say, though, that for me, I think Vanguard was one of the biggest disappointments in my MMO career. That game had the potential to be an awesome, open-world experience capable of giving WoW a good run for its money. I was in on it at the opening day and it was crammed with gamers who were obviously keen for the same thing. You can still see that potential when you play it today, but so much harm was done to the game's reputation by the woeful state it was in at release that I think its development has been stymied ever since.
I did go back for a few weeks quite recently and a vast amount of work has been done to clear up issues and improve this game. Despite what I say about the 'feel' and sometimes the look of the game, it's now beginning to grow into what it should have been at launch, if it only had the player base to drive it. I do hope people will come back to Vanguard because I think it deserves a second chance.
SOE just closed 3 of the last 4 servers and laid off 4 developers from the team. This is a trend that has been going on for the game the moment soe bought it. That isn't a statement of blame, just a fact.
Which is great as someone proved to me a year back that Vanguard only had 4 developers on it. In the end this means that they have more resources on the game than what is believed and said/proven/whatever.
The DDO f2p model would probably work wonders for this game and is probably the only thing that can save it.
Agreed and why they haven't made it free to play is impossible to understand!
Going F2P for Vanguard would be the most stupid thing to do for SoE. It would not only minimize all VG profit down to zero (from current value close to zero), it would also kill EQ2 as every EQ2 player already knows VG is far better game, and the only reason why they still stick to EQ2 is that they refuse to pay 15$ for a game with no devs.
SOE just closed 3 of the last 4 servers and laid off 4 developers from the team. This is a trend that has been going on for the game the moment soe bought it. That isn't a statement of blame, just a fact.
Which is great as someone proved to me a year back that Vanguard only had 4 developers on it. In the end this means that they have more resources on the game than what is believed and said/proven/whatever.
Well I think 1 or 2 of them were customer service/relations people and not developers. It is hard to tell how many resources this game actually has by the way soe operates. For example Silius is the lead producer/developer for vanguard, but he has been working on EQ2 and other games for a long time now. If soe is willing to move the leader of vanguard to work on their other games it is impossible to say anyone really works on vanguard fulltime.
I'm not sure how this is great though. Vanguard might have had only 4 developers and just most of them. Vanguard was already slashing projects, missing deadlines and breaking promises before these layoffs, so things are only going to get worse.
In the past I said Vanguard did not have much to worry about until they merged to 1 server, another game joined the station pass and cut most of the developer team. Something I thought would take at least another year to happen and even then would not happen at the same time. I'm sad to say this, but vanguard has one foot in the grave right now.
It has had one foot in the grave for a long time. It is still a fun game to play for those looking for a good PvE game as an interim for something else. There is a community there and it is a bit scattered.
I will presonally keep this game as something to play until it either dies or I get hooked on something that can hold my attention for more than a month. Until then and I continue to get a good PUG occasionally. I will keep the sub.
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 really like vanguard. What kills it for me is the imbalance of group over solo play. For those of us who prefer not to group, far too much of the content is just undoable.
Still, it is a good game and worth a shot if you are in between games or looking for something different.
One thing that this has over so many others is you don't really have to quest if you don't want to. Far too many games put you on the endless treadmill of quest leveling and that gets really old as well as hurts the alt game.
SOE just closed 3 of the last 4 servers and laid off 4 developers from the team. This is a trend that has been going on for the game the moment soe bought it. That isn't a statement of blame, just a fact.
Which is great as someone proved to me a year back that Vanguard only had 4 developers on it. In the end this means that they have more resources on the game than what is believed and said/proven/whatever.
How is Vanguard losing a couple of people on their already small tiny team a "great" thing? No matter how you spin it, losing people is not a good thing. With whatever they had before, they couldn't release content out at a decent pace, they couldn't release content out without it being buggy as heck. Now with less people on the team, things will only get worse.
This isn't good news, no matter how you want to spin it. And people have always said off and on that Vanguard's making a come back, or that popular is on the rise. I've heard those claims over the past 3 years. But the bottom line is, they just had to merge all the servers because the population was so low. They've completely scrapped the PvP ruleset, and they are going to merge euro server with US which is a disaster for anybody overseas trying to play with high ping. If the population was on the rise, none of this would've happened. If Vanguard was making a come back, SOE would not have pulled Vanguard discussion panel out of the SOE Fan Faire.
I think Vanguard is and will always be that game with potential, just missed the chance because Brad & Sigil co. messed up the development & launch of the game. I wonder with such a small team, if they have what it takes to fix existing issues such as the horrible lag that happened since the last patch (http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=54003)
SOE just closed 3 of the last 4 servers and laid off 4 developers from the team. This is a trend that has been going on for the game the moment soe bought it. That isn't a statement of blame, just a fact.
Which is great as someone proved to me a year back that Vanguard only had 4 developers on it. In the end this means that they have more resources on the game than what is believed and said/proven/whatever.
How is Vanguard losing a couple of people on their already small tiny team a "great" thing? No matter how you spin it, losing people is not a good thing. With whatever they had before, they couldn't release content out at a decent pace, they couldn't release content out without it being buggy as heck. Now with less people on the team, things will only get worse.
This isn't good news, no matter how you want to spin it. And people have always said off and on that Vanguard's making a come back, or that popular is on the rise. I've heard those claims over the past 3 years. But the bottom line is, they just had to merge all the servers because the population was so low. They've completely scrapped the PvP ruleset, and they are going to merge euro server with US which is a disaster for anybody overseas trying to play with high ping. If the population was on the rise, none of this would've happened. If Vanguard was making a come back, SOE would not have pulled Vanguard discussion panel out of the SOE Fan Faire.
I think Vanguard is and will always be that game with potential, just missed the chance because Brad & Sigil co. messed up the development & launch of the game. I wonder with such a small team, if they have what it takes to fix existing issues such as the horrible lag that happened since the last patch (http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=54003)
Blahblahblah, spin.
People say "I know for a fact" when it should be "I believe". Losing four members of a team consistent of four persons would mean they have zero members left, otherwise someone must be lying.
SOE just closed 3 of the last 4 servers and laid off 4 developers from the team. This is a trend that has been going on for the game the moment soe bought it. That isn't a statement of blame, just a fact.
Which is great as someone proved to me a year back that Vanguard only had 4 developers on it. In the end this means that they have more resources on the game than what is believed and said/proven/whatever.
Well I think 1 or 2 of them were customer service/relations people and not developers. It is hard to tell how many resources this game actually has by the way soe operates. For example Silius is the lead producer/developer for vanguard, but he has been working on EQ2 and other games for a long time now. If soe is willing to move the leader of vanguard to work on their other games it is impossible to say anyone really works on vanguard fulltime.
I'm not sure how this is great though. Vanguard might have had only 4 developers and just most of them. Vanguard was already slashing projects, missing deadlines and breaking promises before these layoffs, so things are only going to get worse.
In the past I said Vanguard did not have much to worry about until they merged to 1 server, another game joined the station pass and cut most of the developer team. Something I thought would take at least another year to happen and even then would not happen at the same time. I'm sad to say this, but vanguard has one foot in the grave right now.
It do not surprise me, that you say that Vanguard is not doing well, nor do I object that it is a bad thing that they lose team-members.
What surprises me is the steadfast knowledge, earlier from others, that VG had this and that number of developers (four for instance). That did not come from you, I'm not saying that. And now you, for instance, make claim of four members less in the team. It do not add up.
Oh, maybe it is not a developer as in a developer. Perhaps a team-member only as in community staff. Honestly I can't see how much it really would make any difference for VG in the state the team been the last two years when losing community staff.
(Bad thing vs difference?)
The sarcasm was not only not obvious, I also used bad wording in what I originally said. For it was great news, as now it is apperant that they had more then 4 people on the team, and it is also apperant that someone saying I know really is not the same thing as they knowing. This matters little though as this won't be read by more people then the few closest grieving people... and they most likely will not care.
Yeah I sort of figured out what you were saying and the slight sarcasm of your comment. A bit after I made my post, so I figured I'd just leave my comments there and take whatever lumps I get.
Now that you mention it I recall discussions of 4-6 developers on the game. Now I'm getting nervous that I didn't misread that it was 4 people from vanguard or another game.
Enjoying the trial, running around Isle of Dawn with an ugly Blood Mage. It's a blast, but it's on the EU server so not so many people. I have to say the game world is incredibly immersive and beautiful, but yeah I guess the char model isn't to 2010. Good thing I wear a cloak . PS. The crafting and diplomacy seems like really fun systems, from a level 5 perspective...
I really wish Vanguard could recover from it's nosedive, but I just do not believe SOE will ever do what is required to bring people back to this game and keep them.
Two months ago I resubbed and brought several friends to the game who had never played it before. They all loved the graphics, loved the game play, the dungeons, the diplomacy, the combat...there were just so many great things about the game that they couldn't understand why the population was so small.
After the 2nd week passed and some of the newness wore off, they slowly began to notice and talk about the bugs, the crashes, the sluggishness, and the low population. For a game that they thought was so wonderful at first look, not one of my five friends resubbed after the first month.
If SOE wanted VG to make a comeback, they could have done it by now. I just do not see them fixing this game and the issues that have plagued if for the last three and a half years now or ever.
Such a shame that you are fairly accurate in your friends assessment. Personally I do not think the bugs are THAT bad but, I have not encountered that many recently.
Say hello, To the things you've left behind. They are more a part of your life now that you can't touch them.
Two months ago I resubbed and brought several friends to the game who had never played it before. They all loved the graphics, loved the game play, the dungeons, the diplomacy, the combat...there were just so many great things about the game that they couldn't understand why the population was so small.
After the 2nd week passed and some of the newness wore off, they slowly began to notice and talk about the bugs, the crashes, the sluggishness, and the low population. For a game that they thought was so wonderful at first look, not one
Pretty much the problem with Vanguard. The game at first glance looks great. You won't find many people that look at it and don't go "oooh ahhhhhhhhhh" or "omg look at that". The problem is still at the core of the game, it can't keep players around after the newness wears off. Beyond pretty graphics and "interesting" ideas such as diplomacy, you realize there are too many things that haven't been finished, haven't been fixed, and all those cool things in VG look to be pieced together by departments that never talked to each other during development.
Vanguard's problem isn't getting people to like the trial, I think most people do like the trial island. VG's problem is it can't hold onto players past a month or two. Thus the population continues to bleed month after month.
Comments
Frankly, yes, I often play games and don't give a damn who the developer is. You're splitting hairs, of course. The point that's being made here is fairly clear, I think. These SoE games, specifically Vanguard and EQII, have a peculiar, old-fashioned, not-quite-modern-enough feel to them which makes them unattractive to many people. I don't care who actually developed them, I just don't really relish they way they feel. There are, however, lots of people having the time of their lives playing both and fair play to them.
I should say, though, that for me, I think Vanguard was one of the biggest disappointments in my MMO career. That game had the potential to be an awesome, open-world experience capable of giving WoW a good run for its money. I was in on it at the opening day and it was crammed with gamers who were obviously keen for the same thing. You can still see that potential when you play it today, but so much harm was done to the game's reputation by the woeful state it was in at release that I think its development has been stymied ever since.
I did go back for a few weeks quite recently and a vast amount of work has been done to clear up issues and improve this game. Despite what I say about the 'feel' and sometimes the look of the game, it's now beginning to grow into what it should have been at launch, if it only had the player base to drive it. I do hope people will come back to Vanguard because I think it deserves a second chance.
Which is great as someone proved to me a year back that Vanguard only had 4 developers on it. In the end this means that they have more resources on the game than what is believed and said/proven/whatever.
I'm so broke. I can't even pay attention.
"You have the right not to be killed"
Going F2P for Vanguard would be the most stupid thing to do for SoE. It would not only minimize all VG profit down to zero (from current value close to zero), it would also kill EQ2 as every EQ2 player already knows VG is far better game, and the only reason why they still stick to EQ2 is that they refuse to pay 15$ for a game with no devs.
REALITY CHECK
Well I think 1 or 2 of them were customer service/relations people and not developers. It is hard to tell how many resources this game actually has by the way soe operates. For example Silius is the lead producer/developer for vanguard, but he has been working on EQ2 and other games for a long time now. If soe is willing to move the leader of vanguard to work on their other games it is impossible to say anyone really works on vanguard fulltime.
I'm not sure how this is great though. Vanguard might have had only 4 developers and just most of them. Vanguard was already slashing projects, missing deadlines and breaking promises before these layoffs, so things are only going to get worse.
In the past I said Vanguard did not have much to worry about until they merged to 1 server, another game joined the station pass and cut most of the developer team. Something I thought would take at least another year to happen and even then would not happen at the same time. I'm sad to say this, but vanguard has one foot in the grave right now.
It has had one foot in the grave for a long time. It is still a fun game to play for those looking for a good PvE game as an interim for something else. There is a community there and it is a bit scattered.
I will presonally keep this game as something to play until it either dies or I get hooked on something that can hold my attention for more than a month. Until then and I continue to get a good PUG occasionally. I will keep the sub.
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 really like vanguard. What kills it for me is the imbalance of group over solo play. For those of us who prefer not to group, far too much of the content is just undoable.
Still, it is a good game and worth a shot if you are in between games or looking for something different.
One thing that this has over so many others is you don't really have to quest if you don't want to. Far too many games put you on the endless treadmill of quest leveling and that gets really old as well as hurts the alt game.
How is Vanguard losing a couple of people on their already small tiny team a "great" thing? No matter how you spin it, losing people is not a good thing. With whatever they had before, they couldn't release content out at a decent pace, they couldn't release content out without it being buggy as heck. Now with less people on the team, things will only get worse.
This isn't good news, no matter how you want to spin it. And people have always said off and on that Vanguard's making a come back, or that popular is on the rise. I've heard those claims over the past 3 years. But the bottom line is, they just had to merge all the servers because the population was so low. They've completely scrapped the PvP ruleset, and they are going to merge euro server with US which is a disaster for anybody overseas trying to play with high ping. If the population was on the rise, none of this would've happened. If Vanguard was making a come back, SOE would not have pulled Vanguard discussion panel out of the SOE Fan Faire.
I think Vanguard is and will always be that game with potential, just missed the chance because Brad & Sigil co. messed up the development & launch of the game. I wonder with such a small team, if they have what it takes to fix existing issues such as the horrible lag that happened since the last patch (http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=54003)
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO
Blahblahblah, spin.
People say "I know for a fact" when it should be "I believe". Losing four members of a team consistent of four persons would mean they have zero members left, otherwise someone must be lying.
I'm so broke. I can't even pay attention.
"You have the right not to be killed"
It do not surprise me, that you say that Vanguard is not doing well, nor do I object that it is a bad thing that they lose team-members.
What surprises me is the steadfast knowledge, earlier from others, that VG had this and that number of developers (four for instance). That did not come from you, I'm not saying that. And now you, for instance, make claim of four members less in the team. It do not add up.
Oh, maybe it is not a developer as in a developer. Perhaps a team-member only as in community staff. Honestly I can't see how much it really would make any difference for VG in the state the team been the last two years when losing community staff.
(Bad thing vs difference?)
The sarcasm was not only not obvious, I also used bad wording in what I originally said. For it was great news, as now it is apperant that they had more then 4 people on the team, and it is also apperant that someone saying I know really is not the same thing as they knowing. This matters little though as this won't be read by more people then the few closest grieving people... and they most likely will not care.
I'm so broke. I can't even pay attention.
"You have the right not to be killed"
Yeah I sort of figured out what you were saying and the slight sarcasm of your comment. A bit after I made my post, so I figured I'd just leave my comments there and take whatever lumps I get.
Now that you mention it I recall discussions of 4-6 developers on the game. Now I'm getting nervous that I didn't misread that it was 4 people from vanguard or another game.
Enjoying the trial, running around Isle of Dawn with an ugly Blood Mage. It's a blast, but it's on the EU server so not so many people. I have to say the game world is incredibly immersive and beautiful, but yeah I guess the char model isn't to 2010. Good thing I wear a cloak
. PS. The crafting and diplomacy seems like really fun systems, from a level 5 perspective...
I really wish Vanguard could recover from it's nosedive, but I just do not believe SOE will ever do what is required to bring people back to this game and keep them.
Two months ago I resubbed and brought several friends to the game who had never played it before. They all loved the graphics, loved the game play, the dungeons, the diplomacy, the combat...there were just so many great things about the game that they couldn't understand why the population was so small.
After the 2nd week passed and some of the newness wore off, they slowly began to notice and talk about the bugs, the crashes, the sluggishness, and the low population. For a game that they thought was so wonderful at first look, not one of my five friends resubbed after the first month.
If SOE wanted VG to make a comeback, they could have done it by now. I just do not see them fixing this game and the issues that have plagued if for the last three and a half years now or ever.
It is the little game that could but, didn't.
Such a shame that you are fairly accurate in your friends assessment. Personally I do not think the bugs are THAT bad but, I have not encountered that many recently.
Say hello, To the things you've left behind. They are more a part of your life now that you can't touch them.
Pretty much the problem with Vanguard. The game at first glance looks great. You won't find many people that look at it and don't go "oooh ahhhhhhhhhh" or "omg look at that". The problem is still at the core of the game, it can't keep players around after the newness wears off. Beyond pretty graphics and "interesting" ideas such as diplomacy, you realize there are too many things that haven't been finished, haven't been fixed, and all those cool things in VG look to be pieced together by departments that never talked to each other during development.
Vanguard's problem isn't getting people to like the trial, I think most people do like the trial island. VG's problem is it can't hold onto players past a month or two. Thus the population continues to bleed month after month.
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO