LOL 14 posts all but 2 negative yet the poll shows 32 votes with 62% positive, looks like th efanbois are busy with their alt logins LOL. Why bother? Rigged polls won't make people stay if they are not enjoying it.
You are actually wrong..Those who like the game (your so-called fanboys) are playing the game...Others are here trying to flame it out disappointment/boredom/trollness....
Please believe me when I say that I really wanted to like Vanguard. For the first time in my MMO "career", I was actually able to play something that looks like my avatar on this forum. Unfortunately, that's the only thing I find inspiring about Vanguard and unless something spectacular happens before launch, I just don't see it as enough of a reason to buy it.
What it boils down to is that it's just the same old dish served with a slightly different wine. I can only take so many characters to max. level before the old level grind makes me wonder why I'm doing it again over and over. It's a serious case of deja-vu for a millisecond until my memory banks fire up with a list of all the almost identical MMOs I've played before Vanguard. So basically, what I'm saying is that I'm a bit burned out on the "lets level up another fantasy character" concept and there really isn't enough new in Vanguard to make me go "ahhh....oohhh... yaaaaaiii". Add the fact that the game just somehow feels a bit uninspiring (but not bad ) in general, such as art direction, world design, story etc. and it just becomes dead end for me. Despite the fact that Vulmanes rock *sigh*.
Having said that, I'll still keep an eye on it. I didn't like EQ2 in the beginning either, but a couple of expansions down the road, I tried it again and found it to be very enjoyable and in many ways better than WoW. I wouldn't be surprised if Vanguard turns out to be a similar experience. At least, I hope that'll be the case and good luck to those that will buy it at release.
I'm a big ol' fluffy carewolf. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
when my brother told me he got in as a beta tester we all got excited to try it out...i got to play on the 3rd day cuz i waited for my turn...but anyway something that really troubles me...when i started i was lagging pretty bad...and i mean 1 step wait 10 secs 1 step wait another 10 sec...i turned down the settings to pretty much playable for me and a few hours later it started lagging again...then i told my bro to buy me a 1 gig stick of memory hehe so now i have 2 gigs of memory..this time it was still like 1 step 3 secs...my point is my COMP (2.8ghz duo core 2gig ram 512mb ati radeon x1600 vid card) was much more updated then my bro's comp 2.0ghz 2gig ram 256mb vid card (we bought this comp about 6-7 yrs ago) he his game play was MUCH better than mine no lag whatsoever...thats when i jsut gave up on this game even tho its still in beta i dont see why i would want to play it if its this bad for me....on the other hand my brother says its great and hes already pre ordered 2...since i only got my guy to like lvl 3 or something he told me its kinda like UO in 3d graphics...its skilled based and you can do lots of things but thats jsut his opinion, and its a game im probably not going to play...
also my comp's been really slow lately ever since my bro upgraded my comp with windows vistas, maybe that might be the case but anyway i jsut hope u all enjoy the game...
Well, for me, the old "same ol, same ol" line of thinking doesn't matter. Pretty much all games anymore are things that have been done before but with different spins. There just isn't much innovation left in my opinion. All that matters to me is if I am having fun, and yes I'm having fun with Vanguard, so yes I am going to buy it. If I stop having fun I will simply do what I always do and stop playing.
P.S. I find it highly amusing how so many rabid WoW fans criticize other games, not just Vanguard, for ripping off ideas when WoW has done such a fantastic job of that itself. *cough* Warhammer *cough*
when my brother told me he got in as a beta tester we all got excited to try it out...i got to play on the 3rd day cuz i waited for my turn...but anyway something that really troubles me...when i started i was lagging pretty bad...and i mean 1 step wait 10 secs 1 step wait another 10 sec...i turned down the settings to pretty much playable for me and a few hours later it started lagging again...then i told my bro to buy me a 1 gig stick of memory hehe so now i have 2 gigs of memory..this time it was still like 1 step 3 secs...my point is my COMP (2.8ghz duo core 2gig ram 512mb ati radeon x1600 vid card) was much more updated then my bro's comp 2.0ghz 2gig ram 256mb vid card (we bought this comp about 6-7 yrs ago) he his game play was MUCH better than mine no lag whatsoever...thats when i jsut gave up on this game even tho its still in beta i dont see why i would want to play it if its this bad for me....on the other hand my brother says its great and hes already pre ordered 2...since i only got my guy to like lvl 3 or something he told me its kinda like UO in 3d graphics...its skilled based and you can do lots of things but thats jsut his opinion, and its a game im probably not going to play... also my comp's been really slow lately ever since my bro upgraded my comp with windows vistas, maybe that might be the case but anyway i jsut hope u all enjoy the game...
You're asking for trouble running Vista, it's not properly supported yet. You've basically dug your own grave there. I'd switch back to XP ASAP.
LOL 14 posts all but 2 negative yet the poll shows 32 votes with 62% positive, looks like th efanbois are busy with their alt logins LOL. Why bother? Rigged polls won't make people stay if they are not enjoying it.
You are actually wrong..Those who like the game (your so-called fanboys) are playing the game...Others are here trying to flame it out disappointment/boredom/trollness....
common sense
Just gotta love all of the one and two post fans out here praising the game LOL, you guys are pretty transparent.
common sense really
The smart people will wait a few months, I figure within 2 to 3 months they will be offering 10 day free trials.Save yourself 50 bucks and let the fanboys work the bugs out in the paid beta.
Normally, I would not have even been playing Vanguard's beta. However, a friend of mine got into it, quickly grew weary of the beta, and rather than let it go to waste, he allowed me to play the game.
I leveled up to 22 before I just couldn't stomach the game anymore.
Questing is generic fetch-and-kill crap. There are a few unique gems, my favorite quest was the slave ship one. I really hoped THAT was what the game would be like all around, but it is not the case.
Diplomacy is praised a lot on this forum. It is fun...at first. However, it just had so much more potential, it seems like Sigil just half-assed it, as to say "Well, THAT'S out of the way...". After playing around with diplomacy for an hour, I never touched it again.
The one thing I notice being said on the forums quite a bit is about the size of the world. This is true, there are some truly beautiful areas in the game. Unfortunately, I'd go as far as to say 85% of this game was randomly spawned. Uninspired, wandering mobs. Caves and dungeons smack dab in the middle of nowhere (similar to TES: Oblivion). It's cool to have a huge world, but I'd rather have a world 1/3 the size and 5x as detailed, as opposed to giant, open masses of land with nothing interesting about them. Yes, there are resources for crafting out in these empty areas, but who cares, honestly?
The animations get a lot of hate on this website. They're not really THAT bad, it's just that they're exceptionally generic.
Gameplay though...it's just boring. Unlike many of the haters, I realize many games aren't fun right off the bat, but this is the first time I was actually pondering uninstalling the client before level 10. Still, I persevered. Many of the Vanboi's argue that the game doesn't start until level 10, and to an extent, I'll agree. However, the game is STILL boring at level 10. I wasn't ready to give up hope, but button mashing combat in "fixed" areas is predominant. Level 15. When does it start getting more interesting? Level 20. this is unreal. Level 22, I can't take anymore. I'd rather be playing a game of hide-and-seek by myself than suffer through this game a minute longer. That's Vanguard's biggest problem. It's just....so focused on trying to be Everquest, that they forgot the fun-factor. Yeah, pretty graphics, and a nice sound track with weak sound effects, and a large world. Sigil, you forgot one thing though.
Lastly, there's the community. You know, I really think Community makes/breaks a game. Vanguard's community broke the game for me. In-game, the only people who seemed to share similar views with me were the haters/quitters, and I stopped seeing them after level 15. Try and badmouth the game, or even criticize it. You'll have the Vanboi's slamming propaganda, threats, flames, and plenty of other things down your throat. No one likes being surrounded by asshats, especially not ones who think the game is flawless.
For such a large world, I find it depressing that it's completely devoid of any and all types of entertainment. An oppressive community, lack of innovation, and undeserved level of hype will be the downfall Vanguard.
I didn't like EQ1 back then, I don't like it now, and I'm not going to like it when it's called Vanguard.
Waiting for something fresh to arrive on the MMO scene...
As long as it has the freedom I had in old-SWG, I'll be getting it. I don't mind having to find quests. SWG never really had any quests, but I managed to enjoy building up a character and a community for three years until the NGE killed everything.
I like me WoW just fine, but it'll be nice to get back to some roaming about on a player-made ship, and fiddling with furniture in a house.
I was really looking forward to Vanguard, but no, I won't be purchasing it at this time.
The art direction of the game is stunning. I love the design of the armors, the world and the music. Frankly, I was hoping for more innovative gameplay though. It plays like every other fantasy MMO out there, but with pretty poor performance.
Character creation is surprisingly limited and cumbersome. There are very few hairstyle options available, and most don't look particularly appealing. There are sliders for making selections that would be better displayed with lists or swatches. Choosing hair colors with a slider that seems almost pixel-sensitive? What was the UI designer thinking? Apparently moving the hair slider too far to the right also makes your character bald as well, although he still has hair in the creator screen.
Many of the starting quests left me scratching my head. "Go release the spirits of these wolf-things", which meant running around clicking on a bunch of all but stationary non-aggro phantom wolves. Useless busy work devoid of challenge and doesn't even attempt to teach you anything new about the game or the interface. Most quests were standard fed-ex or kills, but there were some that required you to be in specific places while only giving you vague directions. "Go to the Southwest Citadel and use this item to create a distraction"...I must have run all around that damn citadel for a half hour without finding it, then stumbled across it next time I logged in because I saw someone else doing something that looked unusual enough to be considered a "distraction" event.
Maybe a year from now if I hear there's been some significant improvements to the gameplay, but for the time being it's like a new Ferrari with a 20-year old 4-banger under the hood. It's downright inspiring to look at, but you'll get a lot more milegage out of the Ford in the garage.
Normally, I would not have even been playing Vanguard's beta. However, a friend of mine got into it, quickly grew weary of the beta, and rather than let it go to waste, he allowed me to play the game.
I leveled up to 22 before I just couldn't stomach the game anymore.
Questing is generic fetch-and-kill crap. There are a few unique gems, my favorite quest was the slave ship one. I really hoped THAT was what the game would be like all around, but it is not the case.
Diplomacy is praised a lot on this forum. It is fun...at first. However, it just had so much more potential, it seems like Sigil just half-assed it, as to say "Well, THAT'S out of the way...". After playing around with diplomacy for an hour, I never touched it again.
The one thing I notice being said on the forums quite a bit is about the size of the world. This is true, there are some truly beautiful areas in the game. Unfortunately, I'd go as far as to say 85% of this game was randomly spawned. Uninspired, wandering mobs. Caves and dungeons smack dab in the middle of nowhere (similar to TES: Oblivion). It's cool to have a huge world, but I'd rather have a world 1/3 the size and 5x as detailed, as opposed to giant, open masses of land with nothing interesting about them. Yes, there are resources for crafting out in these empty areas, but who cares, honestly?
The animations get a lot of hate on this website. They're not really THAT bad, it's just that they're exceptionally generic.
Gameplay though...it's just boring. Unlike many of the haters, I realize many games aren't fun right off the bat, but this is the first time I was actually pondering uninstalling the client before level 10. Still, I persevered. Many of the Vanboi's argue that the game doesn't start until level 10, and to an extent, I'll agree. However, the game is STILL boring at level 10. I wasn't ready to give up hope, but button mashing combat in "fixed" areas is predominant. Level 15. When does it start getting more interesting? Level 20. this is unreal. Level 22, I can't take anymore. I'd rather be playing a game of hide-and-seek by myself than suffer through this game a minute longer. That's Vanguard's biggest problem. It's just....so focused on trying to be Everquest, that they forgot the fun-factor. Yeah, pretty graphics, and a nice sound track with weak sound effects, and a large world. Sigil, you forgot one thing though.
Lastly, there's the community. You know, I really think Community makes/breaks a game. Vanguard's community broke the game for me. In-game, the only people who seemed to share similar views with me were the haters/quitters, and I stopped seeing them after level 15. Try and badmouth the game, or even criticize it. You'll have the Vanboi's slamming propaganda, threats, flames, and plenty of other things down your throat. No one likes being surrounded by asshats, especially not ones who think the game is flawless.
For such a large world, I find it depressing that it's completely devoid of any and all types of entertainment. An oppressive community, lack of innovation, and undeserved level of hype will be the downfall Vanguard.
I didn't like EQ1 back then, I don't like it now, and I'm not going to like it when it's called Vanguard.
I was just thinking to myself, what a well written review this was until I realized you're a staff writer. Now I know why. Well done.
I'll be there opening day, but It's a damn shame and waste of lots of hard work and money just to be blown on a launch many will consider botched, just because they can't hold out another 3-4 months to optimize the game. Real damn shame.
Normally, I would not have even been playing Vanguard's beta. However, a friend of mine got into it, quickly grew weary of the beta, and rather than let it go to waste, he allowed me to play the game.
I leveled up to 22 before I just couldn't stomach the game anymore.
Questing is generic fetch-and-kill crap. There are a few unique gems, my favorite quest was the slave ship one. I really hoped THAT was what the game would be like all around, but it is not the case.
Diplomacy is praised a lot on this forum. It is fun...at first. However, it just had so much more potential, it seems like Sigil just half-assed it, as to say "Well, THAT'S out of the way...". After playing around with diplomacy for an hour, I never touched it again.
The one thing I notice being said on the forums quite a bit is about the size of the world. This is true, there are some truly beautiful areas in the game. Unfortunately, I'd go as far as to say 85% of this game was randomly spawned. Uninspired, wandering mobs. Caves and dungeons smack dab in the middle of nowhere (similar to TES: Oblivion). It's cool to have a huge world, but I'd rather have a world 1/3 the size and 5x as detailed, as opposed to giant, open masses of land with nothing interesting about them. Yes, there are resources for crafting out in these empty areas, but who cares, honestly?
The animations get a lot of hate on this website. They're not really THAT bad, it's just that they're exceptionally generic.
Gameplay though...it's just boring. Unlike many of the haters, I realize many games aren't fun right off the bat, but this is the first time I was actually pondering uninstalling the client before level 10. Still, I persevered. Many of the Vanboi's argue that the game doesn't start until level 10, and to an extent, I'll agree. However, the game is STILL boring at level 10. I wasn't ready to give up hope, but button mashing combat in "fixed" areas is predominant. Level 15. When does it start getting more interesting? Level 20. this is unreal. Level 22, I can't take anymore. I'd rather be playing a game of hide-and-seek by myself than suffer through this game a minute longer. That's Vanguard's biggest problem. It's just....so focused on trying to be Everquest, that they forgot the fun-factor. Yeah, pretty graphics, and a nice sound track with weak sound effects, and a large world. Sigil, you forgot one thing though.
Lastly, there's the community. You know, I really think Community makes/breaks a game. Vanguard's community broke the game for me. In-game, the only people who seemed to share similar views with me were the haters/quitters, and I stopped seeing them after level 15. Try and badmouth the game, or even criticize it. You'll have the Vanboi's slamming propaganda, threats, flames, and plenty of other things down your throat. No one likes being surrounded by asshats, especially not ones who think the game is flawless.
For such a large world, I find it depressing that it's completely devoid of any and all types of entertainment. An oppressive community, lack of innovation, and undeserved level of hype will be the downfall Vanguard.
I didn't like EQ1 back then, I don't like it now, and I'm not going to like it when it's called Vanguard.
Excellent post, I couldn't have worded it better myself. The only thing I disagree on is EQ1, I enjoyed playing the game. But Vanguard fails to even have the EQ feel to it, it's more like a dysfunctional questing, bland gameplay version of it. I really could care less how big the world is. What difference does that make if what's in the world isn't fun?! I'm struggling to keep from uninstalling the beta but the part of me that had such high hopes is still hopeful that there will be a huge overhaul before launch so I can go buy it. But the other part of me knows the truth. There's just too many problems with this game to be that optimistic, no way they can fix this game in three weeks. It's going to take that long just to try and optimize the performance, let alone messing around with gameplay and animations. No, it's going to be sad ending to this game I think. If they had more money and time to fix things it might turn out different. But since they handed over their influence to SOE, we all know where it's probably headed...
"Censorship is never over for those who have experienced it. It is a brand on the imagination that affects the individual who has suffered it, forever." - Noam Chomsky
I am concerned about the issues other people have mentioned (slow graphics performance, lots of rather generic quests, etc...), but I do see enough potential in the game that I am going to let my pre-order stand.
The things that are making me willing to stick around and try it out:
Practicality: I have a station access account, so this won't cost me anything extra monthly, just the initial purchase of the game. So, the bar is already set a touch lower for that alone....
Art design: This is very subjective, but I really like the look of the game overall. I've only been playing a few hours so far, but there already have been a few times I've just stopped to admire the scenery. Yes, there are still some stilted animations, and the spell effects I've seen so far are underwhelming to say the least, but I like the aesthetics of the game overall, and expect that these other areas will be addressed in time.
Rich crafting system: I like having significant alternatives to just combat. The ability to take a break from one set of activities and take up another for awhile is key to me not getting burned out and bored with a game. I still play EQ2 quite a bit because of the variety of things I can do in the game.
Diplomacy: It's an intriguing idea, and this is another area I'm willing to give them some time to flesh out and make more compelling. Having a third major area of activities will make the game that much richer in possibilities. I look forward to seeing if they can make this work.
Race/Class variety: I haven't been playing long, and don't know whether or not the classes are shaping up to be sufficiently distinct from one another or not, but at least they have what seems to be a strong selection.
I do have my reservations, but I like lots of what I've seen so far, and I think the major shortcomings are fixable. So I voted YES, I am willing to go along for the ride in the meantime and wish the dev team luck in making it all come together and bring their world to life.
-------------------------------------------------- Regard all phenomena as dreams...
Don't plan on buying it. It's much to much like EQ1 for me.
Even though I have the All Access Pass and I'd just need to buy the game I just can't imagine playing this game. The graphics are stunning but the animations are ... practically taken from EQ1 and makes combat extreemly dull.
Yes, I will buy it. I've been in the beta and have seen improvement, but I still am very worried about the games performance on my system, which easily meets the games recommended requirements. A lot of polish and improved coding will make the game much better, but that can be done relatively easy. The core game and its features are great for me, so once I get good performance, I'll be really happy. I just wish I could get that now in beta and not have to worry about whether I'll have to suffer through some months of lag and crashing after final release.
This is all part of stress testing...it's normal man, so don't get too discouraged. It will be better.
It's hard not to be discouraged. It took forever to download then when I try to play it lags so bad I can't even move. I currently play several other games and have no problems with them so it is not my system.
I was reading the Vanguard forums and many users expressed concern about the performance. Brad's reply was that he expected a 10% improvement in performance by launch. A whole 10%.
I won't be buying it because I'd have to build a whole new PC to be able to play it. I was in the beta for about a week before I could no longer stand barely being able to move around on even the lowest settings which looked horrible.
I'll be the first to admit that my PC is on the low end (crappy side) of PC's. (*See my pitiful specs below, hehe.) However, I play many MMORPG's including, WoW, EQ2, Guild Wars, City of Villians, and even old DAoC. I'm also currently in a the beta for another upcoming MMORPG. I have no trouble running any of them on my current system and am quite happy playing any of them.
I understand the whole future scalability of Vanguard with newer and newer hardware, but it would have been nice if it still ran on the trusty, crusty, dusty old PC I already have.
When I asked for help during my short time in beta to see if there was anything I could do to improve the performance so I could continue testing it I received a rather snotty reply from a Sigil support member who told me what I had already stated, that I had a low end PC. He said my specs did not even meet the minimum required and short of upgrading my PC there was nothing to be done and that this game was designed to be run on current hardware and scalable for future hardware. It was then that I decided to stop testing it. I was curious though that since they had my specs before the invite came why they would bother sending me one when they apparently knew it would not run on my current system. I promtly uninstalled the game and was happy to have the 21G of hard drive space it took up available to me again to use for something else.
* 120G hard drive
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but where is this open beta? If you mean Fileplanet.com, then that's still closed beta. North America only, Subscribers only... can't get anymore closed than that.
Sadly i had High hopes for this game , didnt even care when SOE got them , played in beta alot even got a chance to talk to brad and smed himself one day. but no i wont be buying this game anytime soon , we will see in a year but looking forward to AOC or WAR .
I guess all i have to look forward is playing TBC right now oh and the 20+ gigs of hard drive space i get back when i uninstall it .
Comments
common sense
What it boils down to is that it's just the same old dish served with a slightly different wine. I can only take so many characters to max. level before the old level grind makes me wonder why I'm doing it again over and over. It's a serious case of deja-vu for a millisecond until my memory banks fire up with a list of all the almost identical MMOs I've played before Vanguard. So basically, what I'm saying is that I'm a bit burned out on the "lets level up another fantasy character" concept and there really isn't enough new in Vanguard to make me go "ahhh....oohhh... yaaaaaiii". Add the fact that the game just somehow feels a bit uninspiring (but not bad ) in general, such as art direction, world design, story etc. and it just becomes dead end for me. Despite the fact that Vulmanes rock *sigh*.
Having said that, I'll still keep an eye on it. I didn't like EQ2 in the beginning either, but a couple of expansions down the road, I tried it again and found it to be very enjoyable and in many ways better than WoW. I wouldn't be surprised if Vanguard turns out to be a similar experience. At least, I hope that'll be the case and good luck to those that will buy it at release.
I'm a big ol' fluffy carewolf. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
when my brother told me he got in as a beta tester we all got excited to try it out...i got to play on the 3rd day cuz i waited for my turn...but anyway something that really troubles me...when i started i was lagging pretty bad...and i mean 1 step wait 10 secs 1 step wait another 10 sec...i turned down the settings to pretty much playable for me and a few hours later it started lagging again...then i told my bro to buy me a 1 gig stick of memory hehe so now i have 2 gigs of memory..this time it was still like 1 step 3 secs...my point is my COMP (2.8ghz duo core 2gig ram 512mb ati radeon x1600 vid card) was much more updated then my bro's comp 2.0ghz 2gig ram 256mb vid card (we bought this comp about 6-7 yrs ago) he his game play was MUCH better than mine no lag whatsoever...thats when i jsut gave up on this game even tho its still in beta i dont see why i would want to play it if its this bad for me....on the other hand my brother says its great and hes already pre ordered 2...since i only got my guy to like lvl 3 or something he told me its kinda like UO in 3d graphics...its skilled based and you can do lots of things but thats jsut his opinion, and its a game im probably not going to play...
also my comp's been really slow lately ever since my bro upgraded my comp with windows vistas, maybe that might be the case but anyway i jsut hope u all enjoy the game...
Well, for me, the old "same ol, same ol" line of thinking doesn't matter. Pretty much all games anymore are things that have been done before but with different spins. There just isn't much innovation left in my opinion. All that matters to me is if I am having fun, and yes I'm having fun with Vanguard, so yes I am going to buy it. If I stop having fun I will simply do what I always do and stop playing.
P.S. I find it highly amusing how so many rabid WoW fans criticize other games, not just Vanguard, for ripping off ideas when WoW has done such a fantastic job of that itself. *cough* Warhammer *cough*
You're asking for trouble running Vista, it's not properly supported yet. You've basically dug your own grave there. I'd switch back to XP ASAP.
I will most definitely buy the game to get away from WoW and move to AoC when it launches
Annoyances:
- Too big areas
- Traveling times
- Must do quests to level
- Leveling seems slow already to level 10
Good stuff:
- Mounts at level 10
- Lot of races
- Lot of classes
- Crafting
- Diplomacy
- Graphics
common sense
Just gotta love all of the one and two post fans out here praising the game LOL, you guys are pretty transparent.
common sense really
The smart people will wait a few months, I figure within 2 to 3 months they will be offering 10 day free trials.Save yourself 50 bucks and let the fanboys work the bugs out in the paid beta.
I miss DAoC
Normally, I would not have even been playing Vanguard's beta. However, a friend of mine got into it, quickly grew weary of the beta, and rather than let it go to waste, he allowed me to play the game.
I leveled up to 22 before I just couldn't stomach the game anymore.
Questing is generic fetch-and-kill crap. There are a few unique gems, my favorite quest was the slave ship one. I really hoped THAT was what the game would be like all around, but it is not the case.
Diplomacy is praised a lot on this forum. It is fun...at first. However, it just had so much more potential, it seems like Sigil just half-assed it, as to say "Well, THAT'S out of the way...". After playing around with diplomacy for an hour, I never touched it again.
The one thing I notice being said on the forums quite a bit is about the size of the world. This is true, there are some truly beautiful areas in the game. Unfortunately, I'd go as far as to say 85% of this game was randomly spawned. Uninspired, wandering mobs. Caves and dungeons smack dab in the middle of nowhere (similar to TES: Oblivion). It's cool to have a huge world, but I'd rather have a world 1/3 the size and 5x as detailed, as opposed to giant, open masses of land with nothing interesting about them. Yes, there are resources for crafting out in these empty areas, but who cares, honestly?
The animations get a lot of hate on this website. They're not really THAT bad, it's just that they're exceptionally generic.
Gameplay though...it's just boring. Unlike many of the haters, I realize many games aren't fun right off the bat, but this is the first time I was actually pondering uninstalling the client before level 10. Still, I persevered. Many of the Vanboi's argue that the game doesn't start until level 10, and to an extent, I'll agree. However, the game is STILL boring at level 10. I wasn't ready to give up hope, but button mashing combat in "fixed" areas is predominant. Level 15. When does it start getting more interesting? Level 20. this is unreal. Level 22, I can't take anymore. I'd rather be playing a game of hide-and-seek by myself than suffer through this game a minute longer. That's Vanguard's biggest problem. It's just....so focused on trying to be Everquest, that they forgot the fun-factor. Yeah, pretty graphics, and a nice sound track with weak sound effects, and a large world. Sigil, you forgot one thing though.
Lastly, there's the community. You know, I really think Community makes/breaks a game. Vanguard's community broke the game for me. In-game, the only people who seemed to share similar views with me were the haters/quitters, and I stopped seeing them after level 15. Try and badmouth the game, or even criticize it. You'll have the Vanboi's slamming propaganda, threats, flames, and plenty of other things down your throat. No one likes being surrounded by asshats, especially not ones who think the game is flawless.
For such a large world, I find it depressing that it's completely devoid of any and all types of entertainment. An oppressive community, lack of innovation, and undeserved level of hype will be the downfall Vanguard.
I didn't like EQ1 back then, I don't like it now, and I'm not going to like it when it's called Vanguard.
Waiting for something fresh to arrive on the MMO scene...
I like me WoW just fine, but it'll be nice to get back to some roaming about on a player-made ship, and fiddling with furniture in a house.
The art direction of the game is stunning. I love the design of the armors, the world and the music. Frankly, I was hoping for more innovative gameplay though. It plays like every other fantasy MMO out there, but with pretty poor performance.
Character creation is surprisingly limited and cumbersome. There are very few hairstyle options available, and most don't look particularly appealing. There are sliders for making selections that would be better displayed with lists or swatches. Choosing hair colors with a slider that seems almost pixel-sensitive? What was the UI designer thinking? Apparently moving the hair slider too far to the right also makes your character bald as well, although he still has hair in the creator screen.
Many of the starting quests left me scratching my head. "Go release the spirits of these wolf-things", which meant running around clicking on a bunch of all but stationary non-aggro phantom wolves. Useless busy work devoid of challenge and doesn't even attempt to teach you anything new about the game or the interface. Most quests were standard fed-ex or kills, but there were some that required you to be in specific places while only giving you vague directions. "Go to the Southwest Citadel and use this item to create a distraction"...I must have run all around that damn citadel for a half hour without finding it, then stumbled across it next time I logged in because I saw someone else doing something that looked unusual enough to be considered a "distraction" event.
Maybe a year from now if I hear there's been some significant improvements to the gameplay, but for the time being it's like a new Ferrari with a 20-year old 4-banger under the hood. It's downright inspiring to look at, but you'll get a lot more milegage out of the Ford in the garage.
"Censorship is never over for those who have experienced it. It is a brand on the imagination that affects the individual who has suffered it, forever." - Noam Chomsky
I am concerned about the issues other people have mentioned (slow graphics performance, lots of rather generic quests, etc...), but I do see enough potential in the game that I am going to let my pre-order stand.
The things that are making me willing to stick around and try it out:
I do have my reservations, but I like lots of what I've seen so far, and I think the major shortcomings are fixable. So I voted YES, I am willing to go along for the ride in the meantime and wish the dev team luck in making it all come together and bring their world to life.
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Regard all phenomena as dreams...
I appreciate the kind words folks!
Waiting for something fresh to arrive on the MMO scene...
Even though I have the All Access Pass and I'd just need to buy the game I just can't imagine playing this game. The graphics are stunning but the animations are ... practically taken from EQ1 and makes combat extreemly dull.
http://www.greycouncil.org/
I don't claim to be right, I'm just posting.
Retired from WoW
Rebellion - 60 Warlock || Kalaa - 60 Warrior
Littlerebel - 60 Hunter || Albie - 60 Shaman
Played: Erm, a lot more.
I won't be buying it because I'd have to build a whole new PC to be able to play it. I was in the beta for about a week before I could no longer stand barely being able to move around on even the lowest settings which looked horrible.
I'll be the first to admit that my PC is on the low end (crappy side) of PC's. (*See my pitiful specs below, hehe.) However, I play many MMORPG's including, WoW, EQ2, Guild Wars, City of Villians, and even old DAoC. I'm also currently in a the beta for another upcoming MMORPG. I have no trouble running any of them on my current system and am quite happy playing any of them.
I understand the whole future scalability of Vanguard with newer and newer hardware, but it would have been nice if it still ran on the trusty, crusty, dusty old PC I already have.
When I asked for help during my short time in beta to see if there was anything I could do to improve the performance so I could continue testing it I received a rather snotty reply from a Sigil support member who told me what I had already stated, that I had a low end PC. He said my specs did not even meet the minimum required and short of upgrading my PC there was nothing to be done and that this game was designed to be run on current hardware and scalable for future hardware. It was then that I decided to stop testing it. I was curious though that since they had my specs before the invite came why they would bother sending me one when they apparently knew it would not run on my current system. I promtly uninstalled the game and was happy to have the 21G of hard drive space it took up available to me again to use for something else.
* 120G hard drive
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2
System Manufacturer: NVIDIA
System Model: AWRDACPI
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Duron(tm) processor, MMX, 3DNow, ~1.2GHz
Memory: 1536MB RAM
Page File: 235MB used, 2154MB available
Windows Dir: C:WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce FX 5200
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: EnumPCIVEN_10DE&DEV_0322&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A1
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Mode: 1152 x 864 (32 bit) (75Hz)
Monitor: Default Monitor
Monitor Max Res:
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.9371 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 10/22/2006 12:22:00, 4527488 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys
My IQ is 145 - Free-IQTest.net - MENSA Test
No I will not buy this game.
I was hoping that this game would be the cure since I stopped playing WoW several months ago.
This game to me is unstable and boring looking and playing similar to EQII (which I did not like as well)
I guess I will wait until Warhammer is released or pray for a Beta invite...
I guess all i have to look forward is playing TBC right now oh and the 20+ gigs of hard drive space i get back when i uninstall it .