Part I: Isle of Dawn Levels 1-10
I started playing Vanguard recently as I heard it was going F2P. (Actually, I thought it WAS F2P but entered into the Isle of Dawn 14 day Trial) and decided to stop before I left the Isle to do a thorough review of this game. I jump around and play a variety of games these days and none really grasp my attention all that much. I tend to like parts and dislike others. While it is the same for Vanguard I feel a need to give a deeper overview of this game as I think it a diamond in the rough and would like to draw a little attention to it in hopws that others would at least check it out and not just skip by it due to its bad release and reputation.
Overview
This game is in the tradition of the older template of MMOs. Travel and exploration, death penalties, in depth crafting and a new aspect called Diplomacy. The game itself is dated but still provides a visually stunning atmosphere. While there is some glitchiness to parts of the game (which I will discuss in the pros and cons) this is one of the few games in a very long time I am finding myself having a difficult time pulling away from.
Screenshot of a rentable Pegasus flying mount for quiick travel in the Isle.
There are three "spheres" that create an entire character. Adventuring, Crafting and Diplomacy. Each is as if it as individual character, with its own levelling system, gear sets and questlines.
Adventuring
As you see here as an adventurer, you will carry out all your typical killing, grinding and questing. It has its own tab for gear and attributes.
A quick pic to show the basic animations. Although the game itself is dated, you are not necessarily working with robotic EQ animations. Combat feels like combat.
The combat in my opinion works well. It is not the massacre style of combat that the newer generation of MMOs embrace, but it is engaging and one needs to think a bit as to how to not overwhelm oneself with massive pulls. The mechanics between party members is good. Although thios review is lvls 1-10 and I have yet to experience in depth dungeon grouping or raiding, you can recognize even this low when grouping that classes have specific roles. Zerging can still be done at this level but I have a definite feeling that will not be the case as this review continues later into the game.
Crafting
Crafting is its own game. It is a minigame and requires as much effort as the other two spheres. Again, your crafter self will have an entirely different set of gear on his Crafting-Equipment tab that is geared specifically for crafting as seen below.
All crafting gear is specific to the sphere granting bonuses in your specific crafting class, tool usage and/or crafting station use.
At levels 1-10 you are primarilly focused on choosing between Outfitter, Artificer and Blacksmithing.
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is an entirely different aspect that I have not seen in any other game. Your Diplomacy skill allows you to parlay with NPCs for many varying ends. You can grant a bonus to the zone area, earn Diplomacy "drops" and from what I have been reading, mounts, access to questlines etc later on.
It is more a less a complex version of the card game "war". You have a plethora of different cards available but can use only a limited amount varying by level and must be selected prior to the verbal engagement with the NPC. If you were a part of the Pokemon generation you will probably transition to this mini game easily. I was not and had a hard time getting into it at first. Once I gave it an honest shot I enjoyed it and spent an entire play session focused on it.
Screenshot of the Diplomacy Armor tab.
Screenshot of the Diplomacy game with strategy hand displayed.
Harvesting
Harvesting is much like you see in other games. The animations of trees falling after chopping one down is rather refreshing.
Timber!
Summary
This is a great game for gamers who were involved with the early EQ template. It offers an in depth and rich questing/adventuring, crafting and diplomacy game. I am hearing about how extravagant the game world is and will find out soon as I will be leaving the Isle after posting this. The graphics are modern, however not cutting edge. The animations are reasonable for the timeframe it released. This is a great option for those currently disenfranchised with the current MMO template.
I will continue with this review as I move forward into the game. If you are considering the free trial. Pull the trigger. This may not appeal to individuals who are use to nothing but the hack and slash, massacre template we see currently being the trend. But for the older gamer who is looking for the older template experience with a new face, this could be gold.
One of the greater things that I like about the game so far is that vet players roaming through the isles with alts are friendly, helpful and patient. Rolling through the temple of ancestors making plenty of mistakes, I had a guide who walked us through all the quests and more outside of it when we were done.
The level restriction will cap you just prior to lvl 11, and you can only carry 1 or 2 gold.
Pros/Cons
Pros:
* Great Community (at least so far)
* In depth Crafting and Diplomact spheres which are a game in and of itself. Less a side game as it is an individual character progression path.
* Modern graphics
* Does not hand walk you through quests, but doesnt leave you completely in the dark. You have mini maps, a quest log and a compass marker to guide you through quest locations.
* Enjoyable combat. Not the hack and slash template of the newer games.
Cons:
* Glitchiness. Even from levels 1-10 I have found mobs that die but continue to mantain a posture as if they are alive with attack animations still in effect and still targettable. This is annoying and sometimes you lose a few seconds of dps before swutching targets but not gamebreaking.
* Occassionally the breath timer appears as if underwater, although I am nowhere near water
* Small community. This is right now. The community needs new players. There will definitely be some changes as it is going F2P this summer. Although I am sure the game will not appeal to every MMO gamer out there, there are alot on the forums who talk about a game just like this. I am hoping if they have not tried it they will.
* Although there is more attention as of late, and the promise of additional content this game has been neglected by SOE. Hopefully with the promise of incomming revenue this changes with the launch of F2P.
Dissolution
Member Posts: 210
Comments
Fair review from someone who is new to Vanguard.The only thing i find hard to take is when a newbie is worried about Vanguard content.A newbie really should understand that they will not even see 3/4 of what Vanguard has to offer in a year of playing the game,even 1.5 years.
Vanguard has so much content and quest lines plus lore(Diplomacy is the gate way to Vanguard lore) that your head will spin.
Yes good review for the Island, which is really a tutorial for the rest of the game, Once off the Island the world really opens up, If you are into exploring you will love this game. Sony really needs to work on continueing performance issues which cause hitching in parts of the World
I think that was misinterpreted. Not really worried about the actual content per se. However, lack of content in the timespan between release (2005?) to now is only disconcerting because I think it indicateS that SOE has neglected the game. I think it is important to point that out.
In addition, I just left the island for Veskel's Exchange and am beginning to see the true definition of content in the context of Vanguard.
I will make a new update to the review for levels 11-20. I do not want this review to be negative, however, I am going to blatantly lay out deficiencies as I see them as well. Really, the only thing I can point out as a negative is the bugs/glitches. Possibly the population, but to counter that the population that does exist (that I have encountered so far) is appears to be of the old community based mold. Outside of that I am loving this game.
I also would love to see a influx of people trying to play this game if they missed it. With that, I think you and I can agree this game will not be for everyone. The target market would be an older more mature audience (most likely from the older EQ/DAoC genre) and possibly newer gamers looking for a more challenging setting for a mmorpg.
Wasn't personal to you,i thought your review was good and informative.Your right,SOE have not put as much effort into the game as they could of done over the last 5 years.
FTP will see a change in SOE where Vanguard is concerned.
Didnt take it personal at all. I understand how worrying about content before you are out of the isle could come across.
Anyway, I got my wife on board and currently she is playing a pally and myself a bard in the isle. I get to play more than her as the kids keep her a little more intermittent until they go to sleep so I normally play a character just for when she is on in games.
Discovered brotherhood, and i really like the concept. Especially for the circumstances with my wife and I. I really like the xp debuff at 11 as well. Alot of really cool things I am finding in this game. I will defineitely add some of these things to my next review.
Saw an option to invite her to a caravan but havent figured out what that one is yet.
The more I am playing, the more pleased I am becoming. Dont want to say this is the be all end all yet but I do have to say that if things keep up the way its been going then my wife and I most likely found a new home. Gonna let her dick around with the crafting and diplomacy a bit and see if she wants to do the sub. As I can see it so far its no question. She is really liking it as well.
The breath meter is not a bug! Some mobs on the island actually have an ability called suffocation or something, which shows the breath meter as if you were under water.
REALITY CHECK
The game is fantastic. Its the only game that gets me all "ooohhh I wanna play it again!". I am by no means a wizard on this game, only played it for the first 6 month, but during that time I was the 2nd Necro on my server to reach the level cap and had a ton of server firsts in Rahz Inkur (sp?) before there were any real raid content. My guild was named Riot, EU.
I however am starting a new job on Monday and my shift finishes at 6pm. By the time I get home, walk the dog, spend some time with my daughter and had my grub, its probably going to be 9pm. By that time, my Mrs would want me to spend some time with her which unfortunately = no gaming time other than weekends.
Resisting the temptation to stay up late and play is hard, but getting up in the mornings is a job in itself already, nevermind playing till 3am like the good ol days.
Maybe when it becomes F2P I'll have another whirl on it and see if I can enjoy 30 minutes here and there.
Miss this game, almost as much as EQ1.
Great review OP and glad your enjoying it. Really is a gem.
Playing: Nothing
Played: EQ1, EQ2, VG:SoH, WoW, AoC, LoTRO, Aion, L2, DF, WAR.
Favourites: EQ1, VG:SoH, Original WoW.
Waiting: Pantheon: ROTF
In regards to the breath meter and mob choking abilities.I understand that. however, it has hapened in a couple situations where I do not believe it was a mob ability.
1. I was grinding spiders in the isle just outside of the initial start area. Out of about 30-40 spiders I had the breath meter spontaneously pop once. If this was a mob ability wouldnt I have had it trigger more than once with 30-40 mobs? You may be correct, this is an honest question.
2. Had it pop once just while running (and nowhere near any water nor engaged in any combat).
Its not a big deal, I didnt ever lose any health from it even as the timer never ran out before it dissapeared. I was just mentioning an observation of a perceived bug/glitch.
If it happened when you were running then you're right. I haven't encountered it by myself for a very long time (like 2 or 3 years) so I assumed it could be the choke debuff. About the first point, I recall these mobs cast it very rarely yes, maybe once per 30 mobs as you said.
REALITY CHECK
Pretty good review. I'm a new player myself, tried VG for the first time just recently. Actually I just subbed for a month, because I had so much fun during the tutorial and kept hearing about the huge world in the "real" game. Also, I'm kind of between games and wanted to play something I haven't tried before. I orginally intended to wait until f2p but then I just got hooked I suppose... :P
I gotta say, the world outside trial island is very different and a lot more interesting. Too bad it's a ghost town. I don't mind soloing low-level content (actually I don't like crowded started areas; tried Aion when it went f2p and the amount of people in the low-level zones was just ridiculous and totally non-immersive). But playing for hours and literally never seeing one single player is kind of sad, mostly because it speaks volumes of the failure this game was back at launch.
I mean, you've got this enormous, fucking HUGE open world just begging to be explored by bands of heroes, and there's not a soul in sight. It's apparent that the game was designed with a big playerbase in mind, a playerbase that is now down to a couple of hundreds online at any given time.
Of course f2p is bound to change that, but with f2p you'll also get a lot of idiots, snotty kids and other asshats potentially ruining what now seems to be a very mature community. Still, the game is dead without more players, and only f2p will bring them at this point.
So anyway, here's my personal list of pros and cons:
+
* Huge, beautiful, and non-instanced world. If you're tired of being funneled along straight corridors with invisible walls and static NPCs like in 90% of today's AAA games, this is the game for you. Also, VG has a really nice ambience; the music and weather really immerses you in the world.
* A plethora of races and classes to chose from. Sure, it's still a themepark game when it comes to combat and PvE, but some of the classes are really different and fun to play (obviously I haven't tried all of them yet).
* A unique diplomacy system, bascially a minigame that influences the game world in various ways. Really cool and unlike anything else on the market.
* Housing, boats - as a sandbox fan I'm really looking forward to that stuff - obviously I haven't tried it since it's endgame content, but housing and boats are never bad. Ever.
-
* Character models are just plain ugly, as are some of the animations. Char customization is very limited.
* The game is not very optimized; low fps in certain areas for no apparent reasons, some annoying glitches, etc. The graphical settings does very little to remedy the worst of it. This should not be the case in a five year old game.
* Low pop. This is the big one, as everyone already knows. I really hope VG gets a second chance and that this beautiful world will be full of life again, but it's hard to tell whether it will be the case. Hopefully it can survive with a niche audience playing and paying - that would actually be my prefered outcome since I'm very sceptical about seeing hordes of typical f2p players flooding the game.
Still, VG very old school in many ways, so the "new and shiny" locusts will probably try it for a short while and then move on to the next AAA thing anyway, leaving a more dedicated playerbase behind.
The game absolutely needs a larger playerbase and I think F2P will give it hth exposure it needs. Also agree that along with F2P there are a ton of shenanigans that come along with it. My assumption is that this game will only appeal to a select crowd. I am just hoping that the crowd it is suited for acually give it a shot. This has the makings for a MMO cult classic.Additionally, in the settings i noticed there is an option to "ignore trial players " lmao. I wonder if that filter will be adoped to the F2P players. There are alot of friendly and helpful people who are playing this game, I hope it stays that way after the nerd raging, I want it now, non googling tell me how to do it flood gushes through the gates at F2P launch.
Additionally: I have reached 17 with the Disciple and taken a short excursion to play around with multiple classes to play with my wife along with muti-boxing. This includes Shaman, Cleric, Bard and warrior. I have found a plethora of useful sites for multiple aspects of the game and will be sharing with an add-on post in the near future.
The real game is a dramatic change from the trial in my opinion. Very much so for the better as opposed to the worst. There are some hitches here and there that will bementioned but it has been a long time since I can say my wife and I have been this immersed in a game.
The ambience with the depth of the world along with the amazing soundtrack, scenery and exploration factor have me repeatedly asking myself why I didnt get here sooner.
Best word for the experience thus far is: Mesmerised.
I wish I could express in words or purchase a billboard to reach the masses expressing how much older (in both generation and age) MMO gamers will enjoy this game if they give it a chance.
Its really a mesmerised experince
I absolutely loved Vanguard for the longest time. Mesmerising is just how I'd describe it. For me, this is the only MMO that captured the mystery, danger and adventure that I felt in old EQ back in 1999-2000.
If only SOE had invested heavily in it...
Vonatar,You should consider trying it again. It is getting attention from a new dev team. If not now, when it goes F2P. F2P will most likely have pretty limited options as that is the SOE way, but you sound as though you are from the older mmo gen and if you like it (which I think you will) you probably will not have an aversion to subscribing.
My goal is to draw attention to bring people back to at least try it, if not now when it goes F2P. I usually let dead dogs lie, but this game deserves a second wind. I think it will get more attention from SOE if they realize that they have a market for this game. That market being the players that want the old school ruleset, the inconvenient and non-instanced type world. The explorers. The challenge focused, group mechanic player.
There is a market out there. These forums are full of those individuals. I am one of them. This game has the potential to fill that gap. It requires those gamers to find this game, and SOE to realize that their target market can be something other than the biggest one. With the titles they have, and the titles they are working on, they have a good investment attempting to look backwards and forwards as far as who they are attempting to target
I have seen you in game some times now Dissolution. You seems to level quite well and I do hope you will stick around in the game for awhile
And I am also trying to spread the world about the game. I have gotten two of my mmo-guilds to be really pumped up about the f2p realse of the game so hopefully I will manage to bring around 40 senior players with me
I have been jumping around and trying the class systems a bit recently. Mostly to team with my wife who spends less time in the game due to the kids. Also playing:
Insurrection-Shaman
Rhythmatic Beats-Bard
Rejuvenation-Cleric
Obliteration-Warrior
The War and Cleric are my multi-boxing experiment until the shammy reaches the Disc's level. Hit me up in game anytime.
Think I am going to keep a Cleric at the Isle maxed out to help out new folks when they come in as well.
I don't have an aversion to subscribing. I have been subbed before and have a host of characters in the 40s as does my gf.
The reason we moved on was simply due to SOE's lack of interest in the game and the very low pop which made it near impossible to see stuff that you want to see (Greystone being the example right before we left). VG has some amazing old-style group content, but having to pass a lot of it up became quite sad.
VG with a larger community would be, as you say, a real success of an MMO for all those many people who are tired of the treadmill themepark crap of today.
I understand. Apologies for the misinterpretation. I have been playing around with dual boxing and also have my wife whos playing so I am hoping that will stifle some of the issues with the pop. I will probably look for a guild a little later on as well for those issues.
There are a couple of guilds that are suppose to be pretty good about helping out and groupng with folks who are not in their guild even for major questlines and raids and such.
Twylight song and Unleashed are the two that come to mind from what i have read being very social with players. I myself have grouped up a couple times for random quests with Twylight Song members.
Either way, I understand that issue. Hope to see you in game sometime though.