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WoW v. Vanguard: The Cage Match
danbala
Member Posts: 181
Ok, people want this war so lets just get it on. Vanguard verses WoW in a no holds barred cage match:
Round One: Solo Adventuring
WoW: In WoW you can solo adventure up to level 70. In fact, with the exception of instances and raids, pretty much all of the content is solo content. That means that it’s easy to log in and play WoW even when you friends aren’t on. As a proportion of content, the instance and raid content is not significant. As a result, it is quite possible to essentially “solo the game.” However, one you hit the level cap the content is almost exclusively group based. This sudden transition has been disconcerting for some players.
Vanguard: the solo content in Van, more or less stops after about level 12. While you still can solo some quests after that, most quests after level 12 become group quests of one kind or another. Soling to max level in Vanguard would require at least some significant amount of time devoted to just mob grinding.
Winner: WoW, easily
Round Two: Gorup Adventuring
WoW: Again, most of the content in WoW is tuned around soloing. As a result, when you play much of WoW content in a group it becomes very easy. You may find yourself moving through quests so quickly in a group that you eliminate the content for your level and are forced to grind to catch up. While there are instances that are tuned for groups they are meant to be the exception during your leveling experience. If you want to level exclusively through instances be prepared to repeat them over and over. On the other hand, at the level cap the content is almost exclusively geared to groups.
Vanguard: Again, this game is tuned primarily around groups (especially small groups of 2-3 players). As a result, there is huge variety of small group quests and adventures. The number of dungeons in the game is almost overwhelming. But note that the game can be very unforgiving without another player to back you up – you have been warned.
Winner: Vanguard.
Round three: Performance/System Requirements
WoW: WoW plays flawlessly on most computers. The secret is in the low polygon count. These optimized graphics can display well even when there are many players on the screen. The game runs on both Apple and Wintel and on old and new machines alike. Chances are that you’ll be able to play this game on both your desktop and that old laptop that your schlep around. On a newer computers, the FPS can reach well above the limits of your visual perception. WoW has you covered here.
Vanguard: Vanguard is the polar opposite of WoW. It does not run well on older machines. Its performance is highly idiosyncratic based on your individual graphics card and your driver support. The chances are excellent that it will not run on your laptop nor will it run on that hand-me-down computer you gave to your mother. Even if you have the top end graphics card of the moment, an nvidia 8800, the game will still only have an FPS of about 15-20 in populated areas on the highest graphics settings. There is really no excuse for this games poor performance and for many people who sample this game it will be a deal breaker.
Winner: WoW, brutally
Round Three: Graphics – Environment and Architecture
WoW: WoE has a beautiful, stylized environment that covers up for the low polygon count with wonderfully realized vistas. There is never a lack of imagination on what is on display. On the other hand, what you see is fairly limited in it scope. Mountain ranges are really just walls surrounding limited zones. The zones themselves are arranged based on the needs of the game progression rather than on any in game logic and so you end up with a hodge-podge of zones – artic regions that border on subtropical forest, etc. The net effect is that WoW sometimes feels more like a theme park than a real place. (Dwarfland is right next door to Tommorrowland, etc.) After a while, you learn that the mountain ranges are really only slightly taller than the tallest buildings. The buildings themselves are really just facades for the most part (even the largest of castles only has 4-6 rooms; most buildings in Orgimmar only have one rooms). And the same buildings and caves systems are repeated over and over and over again.
Vanguard: The scale of Vanguard is much, much bigger. So much so that the entire landmass of WoW and expansions could easily fit one of Vanguards three continents. All that room means that there is more room for mountain ranges that feel like regions, cave systems that seem to stretch on forever; and oceans that are impossibly vast and dotted with explorable islands. The topography is realistically rendered and seems to be more on scale with your toon. The mountains are tall – you can spend literally hours winding your way up the twisted mountain roads. The buildings – while lacking some of the imagination of WoW – are built to a more correct scale and their floor plans are rarely repeated. As a result, the cities are much bigger in Vanguard. Tursh, an early village in Vanguard, covers about half the area of WoW’s Ellwyn Forest. The massive Vanguard city of New Tarangor has a keep, a city proper, an underground “undercity” and a port that could easily accommodate WoW’s Stormind, Ironforge, Orgrimmar and Thunderbluff combined and still have room for WoW’s four other capitals.
Winner: Vanguard
Round Four: Graphics – Animation and Character Models
WoW: WoW’s animation works just as fluidly as you might expect from its excellent performance. The character race models looks very distinct from each other but all still belong to the highly-stylized world. The range in character appearance is somewhat limited on character creation. But you quickly gain some individuality as you acquire gear. One stumbling block is that within a given race the range of options are somewhat narrow. This is particularly true for the less human races. It is hard for example to tell one Tauren from the other if they are wearing the same clothes. The upside is that the similarity in the character models means that there is more room from the WoW programmers to create novel and fun character animations.
Vanguard: Van is in many ways opposite of WoW in this category. Van includes character customization sliders that allow you to substantially alter your characters look from the rest of your race. (Although you get only four hairstyles for some reason). But the drawback is that most of the races look very similar to each other. Unlike WoW its very hard to distinguish a character’s race from their appearance (A Half Elf, from a Wood Elf, for example) but it is very easy to tell one toon of a given race from another of the same race. As result of the sameness across races some racial models just don’t look like all that they could be (the catmen, for example, just look like a human in a cat mask). The character animations are also sometimes very wooden. My shaman, for example, runs around as if someone shoved a large stick up his butt.
Winner: WoW, it makes up the difference in style
Round Five: Crafting
WoW: WoW’s crafting is very, very simple. You gather the materials, push the button, and wait. But because of this simplicity, and for reasons of game balance, most of what you make is much worse than what you can easily find while adventuring. In those cases where you can craft something as good as a drop, you are usually dependent on using at least one ingredient that comes from a similar drop – defeating the purpose of the skill. After a while, most WoW players view crafting as an unnecessary time sink.
Vangaurd: In Van, crafting is its own mini game. The work order system gives you crafting quests that allow you to level up without even the need to run around harvesting materials. In fact, it is quite possible to play Vanguard as a crafter and never adventure at all. The fact that crafting requires as much time and work as adventuring permits the Vanguard designers to allow crafting patterns that are just as good or better than what you get from adventuring at the same levels. Also the flexible – but complicated – crafting system allows for highly customized gear which eliminates the itemization problem that you find for some WoW classes.
Winner: Vanguard
Round Six: Classes
WoW: In WoW, they used a “concentrated coolness” model for the class design. The designers wanted to make sure that each class had unique abilities that made that class the best at their game role. And they succeeded in this regard. The priest is a specialized healer. The warrior is an excellent tank. The problem is that WoW has basically four roles in a party (tank, healer, spell DPS, melee DPS) but about twice as many classes. As a result there is often no need in a party for the classes that are the odd man out. Sometimes called “hybrid classes”, these classes – such as Druid, Shaman, and Paladin – often find that their services are less desirable in group settings such as raids and instances. They are usually only called upon when the best class for a role can’t be found – or simply to fill out a party a fifth man. On the other hand, they are often better for soloing. This often leads to disenchantment as the soling which characterizes the leveling process gives way to the grouping on the end game. (Blizzard has spent months trying to correct this problem by boosting the group effectiveness of hybrids that take certain talent combinations – but so far has failed to overcome this issue).
Vanguard; Vanguard took a much wiser approach to their classes. They divide their classes into one of four roles. No class is better at that role than any other in that division. But all of the classes perform the role differently. For example Blood Mages and Disciples are both equally good healers. However, Blood Mages heal through offensive spells while Disciples heal through melee combat. Vanguard also takes some of the tedium out of its healing classes by making healing so hand in glove with dealing damage. Moreover, Vanguard classes can perform “catalysts” which are special attacks that can be chained with other party members. They can also create soft chains by using attacks that activate states on the mobs that can be exploited by other party members.
Winner: Vanguard
Round Seven: Diplomacy
WoW: There is no diplomacy in WoW
Vanguard: In Van, diplomacy is played out like a collectable card game – not unlike Magic the Gathering. Like M:tG, you collect cards and use them to build a play deck. You also earn gear and other items that improve your game in addition to cards. There are a ton of diplomacy quests in every area and they are all quest chains that are story-based and involve little or no killing. While you play the game, you are also generating a conversation that relates to the story of the game. This leads to learning a lot of information about the lore of the game and many of the details end up being clues or foreshadowing about what is to come later in other quests. The games can be played in a few minutes and the quests usually involve only a small amount of travel, if any. It’s a great way to pass the “downtime” between adventuring.
Winner: Vanguard
Round Eight: PvP
Wow: Wow did not include much in the way of PvP when it launched but made up for that very quickly. There are now both PvP and non-PvP severs. Generally, PvP is Realm verses Realm -- that is, Horde verses Alliance. There is no free for all servers. PvP in WoW really consists of three seperate ways to play. The most common PvP is a actually a mini game (called a Battleground) in an instanced zone. The idea is to only admit even forces on both sides and play a game with limited, defined victory conidtions. This is simialr to multiplayer modes in FPS games like Halo 2. The upside is fast, instant PvP action. The downside is that the matchmaking is a bit uneven (it currently doesn't acocunt for epic gear, for example). And the maps and game types are limited. The second kind of PvP consists of non-instanced Battlegrounds. These are similar to the instanced Battlegrounds but they are ongoing and contemplate uneven combatants. The last kind of PvP is world PvP -- that is, player combat that occurs out in the world while questing, etc. Most of WoW development effort over the last few seems ave been directed to balancing the classes for PvP. They seem to have been largely successful.
Vanguard: PvP in Vanguard is in its infancy. While there are both free-for-all and realm-verses-realm servers, there seem to have been very little thought in Vanguard about PvP. By most accounts the classes are not well balanced for PvP (arcane casters and healers are perceived as over powered at present). There are no mini-games like Battlegrounds so all PvP is currently "world PvP."
Winner: WoW, easily.
Overall winner:
Who wins depends on your hardware and what you are trying to accomplish. If you have robust hardware, and a desire for an immersive experince with an emphasis on exploration and group play – Vanguard is for you.
If you have an older system, less free time and a need for solo play or PvP, you will find WoW much more rewarding.
Comments
Hey,
I love both games (even if I don't play WoW anymore) but they are so brutally different they should not even be compared! But if you are to compare the games anyway I think you did a good job. But they really are on the opposite sides of how you can design an MMO and also targeted towards different audiences, each game is good at what it does and aims to do.
Where is the part about PvP ? Economy? Player options? Balance ? etc.
In the end a one to two page comparison is just not enough to show the differences. Even if you manage to somehow create an unbiased comparison your conclusion can be wrong. You are declaring Vanguard the winner? Some would argue: 8 mio subscriptions vs 100k has to mean something.
You shouldnt be trying to find out which game does what better. You should be trying to find out which sort of player will have more fun with the games you are comparing. (example: if you are a PvP player who hates grinding and ... then choose ... because of ...)
Btw: I play neither.
---
Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
That's a very nice run down of the differences. But I tend to agree with the 2nd poster. Comparing Vanguard and WoW is like comparing Apples and Oranges. I've played both and they are fundamentally different on so many levels. Everything is structured difference from the approach with graphics to the adventuring dynamics.
I think a lot of players are figuring that out right now. For example, we have two new guild invites that were hard-core WoW players and they've fallen in love with Vanguard. I've also seen people try VG out for a week or two and decide that they prefer the WoW experience. It's all a matter of preference in the end.
C
Round One: Solo Adventuring
hm, I think this has changend in TBC...
There are many Group-Quests. There is enough content for Group players and solo players, don't know how this could have been made better. (sry 4 my bad english)
WoW Classic: You are totaly right.
But what about PvP? Is there PvP in Van? HoW is it?
I love the TBC PvP: you have open PvP, BGs and arenas...everything you need.
Very good comparison!
Quote:
http://mentaltruancy.guildportal.com - Friendly Vanguard:Saga of Heroes Qalia based Guild.
Good point about PvP. I should have a PvP round.
As far as your second point, my hiddle agenda was to suggest how both games strongly cater to different play styles. Hopefully, someone who is considering one or both games could take something useful fromthe comparison.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
[URL=http://www.ff-fan.com/final-fantasy-7]Final Fantasy 7
i don't get it, why do people think you can't compare things?
here is the definition for you;
to examine (two or more objects, ideas, people, etc.) in order to note similarities and differences
shut up please about not comparing games.
now that the rant is done
the OP was pretty good. why does one have to win though... people can play what they want.
die.
I went in to Best Buy the other day, had to take my daughter's laptop in for warrantee work again. Now, I'm going to go out on a limb here, and set myself up for the fanbois to accuse me of trolling, but Gateway's suck.
Okay, now that that's out of the way, while I'm waiting for the "Geek Squad" to figure out wtf is wrong with it this time, I waunder down the games aisle. Now, I'm pretty deperate for a new gaming fix, Vanguard just wasn't it. There is World of Warcrap sitting on the shelves priced at $19.99. OMFG, I actually picked it up and started looking at it. Luckily, an alert Best Buy employee dialed 9-1-1. The swat team arrived quickly, ordered me to carefully set the gamebox down on the floor and step away from the display. I spent the next hour with the Police Chaplain as he tried to talk me down from the ledge, out of making that fatal leap.
So, I waunder a little further down the aisle, and picked up a copy of THE SIMS 2 Seasons, to peruse. Cue the swat team, another hour with the Police Chaplian. This time, before they release me, they demand to know what game I will look at next. I'm desperate, willing to tell them anything they want to hear. Then I remember one of the fanbois comparing Vanguard to Barbie Fashion Show. In a panic I blurt out, "Barbie Fashion Design". The Chaplain looks at me with a relieved smile, and says, "Okay son, you can go, you're okay now."
You see, it was the right answer, because you don't have to twink the .ini files to play Barbie fashion Show, and it doesn't crash to desktop, etc.
Why? There is nothing based on this comparison, so why the need to be anal and go on defensive??? It's not for bragging rights. People who read this site to check out games want to compare them as they are NOW. Not as one game is now and how one could possibly maybe be if the weather is right and everything works out a year or two from now when Game #2 more closely resemble Game#3...
Yes the games may not be EXACTLY alike. That's the reason for comparing them, to see where they are different. Your post was dreadful. There are no by-laws in comparing products.
If they did do as you suggested, you would be the type to come back and say "why the heck are you comparing Vanguard to a game's state (WoW) a year or two old?" and then proceed to berate the comparison based on that silliness. Save yourself the time.
You can't effectively compare these two games.
This thread was made for the sole reason to add fuel to the fire between the WoW folks and the Vanguard folks.
It is my opinion BOTH games are good in their own rights and two entirely different beasts.
I like Vanguard alot better than WoW , but that is only my opinion.
I am happy for WoW existance because it has expanded greatly the general mmorpg player base.
Threads like these are opinion based and the arguement is impossible to win for both sides. It's like arguing which is better..Chevy trucks or Ford trucks.
Vanilla ice cream or chocolete....coke or pepsi.
I urge the community to let this thread die ... it's time to move on.
Lets all play the games we have the most fun in !
Are you comparing Barbie Fashion show to Vanguard and WoW ? You have sunk to new lows.....
I thought your comment " masterbation is a better value than playing mmo's " was low...but this takes the cake.
You been forgetting to take your meds today? Or...perhaps....a tad too much wacky tobacky? ( if such a thing is possible )
A very unbiased post. I liked that you compared them fairly on all points giving exact reasons as to why one was better than the other.
All in all a good read!
First my opinion is that i think its just a pitty how some folks spend there time on arguing wich game is best, wtf... what you trying to accomplish? I really dont get it. I know some folks in my life who are so addicted to games like wow that everything else sucks, even when they never read stuff about it or even played the game.
Second, i have played both games. WoW till 3 weeks after burning crusade. Personaly i got very very bored by it at that point and i just dont like the burning crusade. More of the same stuff... and after almost 160-170 days played with 2 chars and farming a lot the idea of farming more and more for stuff almost gave me a hartattack. But this is personal.
I stopped playing wow and moved over to Vanguard. Vanguard is a more mature game if you ask me. Graphics look better and the gameplay is also further then wow. Diplomacy / Crafting. Altho i have to say that Vangaurd doesnt get me as wow once did.
Only thing i have a problem with is that most is made for questing in groups. Iam more of a guy that likes to solo most of the stuff instead of constantly doing stuff with people. Again this is personal.
Personaly i think you cant really compaire these 2 because they are so different. Its just really personal what you like more.
People who want to go deep into a game would proberly choose vanguard and people who dont really care about crafting/housing etc. will choose wow. Nothing wrong with that.
I just got into the Lord of the Rings online Beta and for me this is a game that lies in between wow and vanguard and its great for me.
So my mmorpg life is lying in middle earth for the time being.
Trying to make a direct comparison of these two games is impossible, its like comparing rocks and apples. They both can be found on earth but only one can be used to make a house. Also depending on you preference you’ll rate them differently, if you want to make an apple pie you would rate the apples higher.
From reading this post it sounds like the writer is a WoW player. True a good attempt to look at both sides was made but he seemed to push WoW a bit more, when WoW won one of the topics he would put “easily or brutally” behind it. Also when summed up Vanguard is made out to be a beast of a game that is only going to work on the newest of systems and only the hardest of gamers will like, then WoW is for everyone else.
My system doesn’t meet the required specs and I think of myself as a causal gamer, I’m off most nights by midnight. I feel I am able to do more in VSoH in a few hours then I ever was in WoW.
For Solo content.
I haven’t had any issues with soloing in VSoH, I find it the same as WoW. Soloing in WoW does move faster if you take advantage of the rested XP feature. I never understood why soloing was so important in a Massively Multiplayer Online game, I guess some want to pay to play alone.
Groups
Right not I’m finding it easier to get into a PuG then WoW ever was. I find it too difficult to play WoW unless you play as everyone else wants you to play. I have a 60 warrior that isn’t protection speced, I couldn’t get a group for anything.
As for thing like performance, graphics and PvP
This game is new. I remember out of Beta WoW had its issues. It had its graphical glitches and I’m sure it was a taxing game 4 years ago. I remember how stupid the night elfs looked. True WoW is still looking good but it is dated, take a good look at a tree, all it is are 2 or 3 flat 2D images stacked to look 3D. As for PvP, WoW didn’t have any kind of PvP for about a year. When PvP came to WoW that only started other issues, super classes and stupid classes.
To sum it up, to each their own. Someone who loves WoW is going to find faults in VSoH and the other way around. I’ve played WoW for a long time and have moved on, I don’t think I will ever go back. In 4 years time I sure VSoH will be a much different game. If you don’t like it, please don’t play it and stick to your own channels.
VSoH seems to have everything I am looking for in a game. Rewarding adventuring, complex crafting and other thing to do aside from killing stuff. There are some bugs but its still new and the game is already an improvement on what it was at launch.
Not a bad set of comparisons, but I do have one disagreement.
Crafting in WoW, I think, is much more than what you portray.
* I find it amusing how folks claim crafting in WoW is 'easy', then go on to describe how difficult it is as you get to higher skill needs in it.
* Every crafting class can make 'signature' items as they progress that sell <very> well and allow the Crafter to make the Gold needed for a Mount and other needed items. Two examples are Mageweave Bags for Tailors, and Barbaric Bracers for LeatherWorkers.
* Yes, to craft the good items, you must gather disparate materials. Sometimes you have to trade with other players for materials. Sometimes you have to farm all over the world for the different materials. You bet, if you just go with the easiest Recipes, you are not going to make very good stuff; you will be making the same 'level-up' junk every other crafter makes. To make the good stuff, you have to work for it !
* At later levels, you not only need the diversity of materials, you actually have to get into Instance Groups and Raid Groups to get materials and get to the advanced Crafting Stations.
* There are Recipes that only drop from Bosses, Quests, and as World Drops. There are Recipes that are only available off one NPC vendor in the world, and only once a day. Getting those Recipes is a quest in and of itself.
So, yes, you can level your Crafting skill to max-cap just making crap that does not sell. But, if you want to be a real Master Crafter, and make stuff that your Guild and your Server population will use and pay Gold for, well, you have to be a Master Crafter. Not some Shmuck that got to max-cap just making junk in 'easy' mode.
Just FYI.
Are you comparing Barbie Fashion show to Vanguard and WoW ? You have sunk to new lows.....
I thought your comment " masterbation is a better value than playing mmo's " was low...but this takes the cake.
You been forgetting to take your meds today? Or...perhaps....a tad too much wacky tobacky? ( if such a thing is possible )
Naw, don't take this harpooned barb personal, it wasn't targeted at you, it was targeted at a fanboi that made the comment that Vanguard was tough and the weak should be playing Barbie's Fashion Show. I just love to tease the rabid fanbois when they make a really stupid statement. And, if you recall, the masterbation thread was in reply to your comment that Vanguard was a good return on entertainment dollars. All I did was point out that there are better returns, and as I recall you pretty much agreed. That comment was to give you a wakeup call that your entertainment dollar value comparision is a pretty lame arguement.
By the way, comparing WOW to Vanguard is also a pretty lame arguement, which is why I posted my reply here.
Nice job
.
The title was confrontational but the content actually mild and informative and about as objective as a mmorpg player can be.
Someone said he was a warfan pretending to be objective... personaly I think he favors Vanguard.
Anyway, it has the maturity of highlight/explore to what part of the market each is oriented to and show some of theyr strenght/weaknesses.
Subjectively, that post made me even more wanna try Vanguard which I'll buy as soon as I get near a seller... not becoze its a better game but becoze I enjoy exploration more than anything else in a mmorpg.
Maybe I'll discover a small island that will get infamously named after meh