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Lord of the Rings Online verses Vanguard
danbala
Member Posts: 181
If you are looking for a new MMO, there are two new choices: Vanguard and Lord of the Rings Online. They could be viewed as polar opposites in many ways. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t have a lot in common. Before I talk about the differences it might be worthwhile to talk first about what they have in common.
They are both quest-based adventuring MMOs. They both have largely the same GUI – which was appropriated from World of Warcraft and the various UI mods that have been produced by the WoW community. Both games level based, with classes, and generally follow the D&D game model. They both feature fantastic races such as elves, dwarves, as playable races. They both progress you quickly through the beginner levels and then have an escalating experience curve as you progress.
(Note during my discussion that Vanguard has been released while Lord of the Rings Online is still in beta. Although to be honest Lord of the Rings Online already feels more polished than Vanguard).
Round One: Performance/System Requirements
Lord of the Rings Online: Lord of the Rings Online plays well on my various computers. Like, World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online has a lower polygon count. The game has also been optimized well even at this beta stage. Chances are that you’ll be able to play this game on both your desktop and that old laptop that your schlep around. I did experience some occasional hitching that I assumed to be the result of running the beta on debug mode. Presumably that will be gone by release.
Vanguard: Vanguard is the polar opposite of Lord of the Rings Online. 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. Stated plainly don't purchase Vanguard unless you have a relatively late model graphics card and 2 gigs of RAM. (If you have something less than that test it with a buddy account).
Winner: Lord of the Rings Online
Round Two: Lore and Storytelling
Lord of the Rings Online: Its very hard to fault Lord of the Rings Online in the area of Lore. They are drawing from the classic narrative that forms the basic building blocks of all modern fantasy literature and games. I am nothing of a Tolkein expert – although I am familiar with the books – and as near as I can tell they have cleverly incorporated the story and expanded on it logical and faithful ways. I am sure Tolkien geeks will be very pleased. However, as a non-Tolkein geek I have to admit that I did find much of it to be a little too familiar from all the watered-down imitations that I have been exposed to. That is not a fault of the original material but it did change my game experience.
As far as how the story is told in game, Lord of the Rings Online, excels in that department. Lord of the Rings Online makes extensive use of instancing and semi-cut scenes to quickly immerse you in the story of the Sackville Bagginses. The initial game unfolds in stages similar to the technique used in Guild Wars. By the time you are level 5 you feel like you participated in an epic adventure and you have a place in the world.
Vanguard: Does a very poor job with Lore and Storytelling. First, the game uses a more sandbox approach. It just punks you down in a starter area with very little explanation and leaves it to the player to figure out who they are and what they do. The initial quests are very simple as with Lord of the Rings Online but they often lack a larger story arch. The problem here is more a function of unevenness. The Kojan human/half-elf starter area has an excellent initial story while other areas – such as the gnome starter area – as just a series of kill quests barely kinked with any discernable story at all. As far as the larger story of Vanguard, I’ve played the game for many hours doing all kinds of quests and I still couldn’t really tell y0ou what it is. Vanguard seems more of a blank slate. The grand story is yet to be written. Ideally it will be written by the players. But right now it’s a cipher.
Winner: Lord of the Rings Online.
Round Three: Races and Classes
Lord of the Rings Online: Lord of the Rings Online is very much in keeping with the Lore of Tolkein (as noted above). But when it comes to races and classes this positive can feel like a negative. There are currently only four races and six classes in the game. The races are the most generic of fantasy tropes: human, elf, dwarf and halfling (okay, “hobbit”). There are no evil races. The classes boil down to melee DPS, tank, rogue, buffer, ranged DPS, healer and quasi-mage (there are no true mages but “Lore Keepers” amount to the same thing). All the races start in the same area and they all work through the same starting quests. As a result most characters start off with exactly the same gear and there is a certain generic look to the players around you.
Vanguard: As with many things, Vanguard was more ambitious with their races and classes. There are more than a dozen races in the game each with their own starting area. They include all of the Lord of the Rings Online races as well as dozens of others – including evil races. The classes are divided 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 Four: Quests and Adventuring
Lord of the Rings Online: Lord of the Rings Online has many quests that will be quite common to MMO players. They are all there: kill quests, fed ex quests, and so on. What makes Lord of the Rings Online questing work is how well the quests seemed to be tied into the game world and the clever use of well known characters. In that sense, Lord of the Rings Online has a bit of an advantage. Its hard not to feel more excited about a dungeon crawl when you are doing it with Gimli. On the other hand, the scope in Lord of the Rings Online seems much more narrow. All players work their way through the same exact quests initially – so there is less reliability. Also the downside to the heavy emphasis on narrative is that the quests can feel very channeled. In general, I liked it but I doubt I’d want to run through it a second time. But after a while I felt like my options were too narrow.
Vanguard: The adventure quality in Vanguard runs the gamuts from very fun to quite poor. You sometimes get the feeling that the developers ran out of time and just stuffed certain areas full of generic quests. The dialog windows for the quests can sometimes be a bit sloppy. Also, the solo content in Van, diminished after about level 12. While there are still some solo some quests , most quests after level 12 become group quests of one kind or another. The “premier” locations after level 12 are tuned for a group. In fact, you get the idea playing Vanguard that the whole game is really built around the group dynamic with soloing just added on the side. People who have solo leveled to 50 report that they devoted a significant amount of time to just mob grinding.
Winner: Lord of the Rings Online
Round Five: Graphics – Environment and Architecture
Lord of the Rings Online: Lord of the Rings Online has a beautiful environment. It looks just like you imagine Middle Earth to look. The art is original to Lord of the Rings Online and not derived from the movies. Many things – such as the character models – you have a certain cartoonishness to them reminiscent of World of Warcraft. But the detail and small touches make the setting come alive (the dead animals in the hunting lodge buzzing with flies, the dust motes floating a way of light in a disserted building, etc). The water in a particular looks very nice with nice reflections.
Vanguard: The scale of Vanguard is much, much bigger. 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 are built to a more correct scale and their floor plans are rarely repeated. As a result, the cities are much bigger in Vanguard. The irony is that many of the buildings and setting look more directly lifted from the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies than the buildings from Lord of the Rings Online. For example, Ca’el Briel, the wood elf home city in Vanguard is a dead ringer for Lothlorien from the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies. Likewise the Vanguard high elf starter area seems directly inspired by Rivendell in the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies.
Winner: Push
Round Six: Crafting
Lord of the Rings Online: I have not had the opportunity to experiment much with Lord of the Rings Online’s crafting system. In general it looks very simple and quick.
Vanguard: 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: Not enough data.
Round Seven: Diplomacy
Lord of the Rings Online: There is no diplomacy in Lord of the Rings Online.
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
Lord of the Rings Online: There is no traditional PvP in Lord of the Rings Online. Instead, you have the option to play a monster that is encountered by other players. I have not yet played around with this feature so I can’t really report on it effectively.
Vanguard: PvP in Vanguard is in its infancy. While there are both free-for-all and realm-verses-realm servers, there seems to have been very little thought given to 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: Not enough data
Overall:
Despite superficial similarities, these are really very different games. Vanguard tries for a more “sandbox” approach and there is much more in terms of player choice and many more game features. On the other hand, what is there is often not polished and even buggy. And performance is always an issue.
Lord of the Rings Online takes a more limited approach. The players are all channeled through more or less the same experience. But what is there is much more polished. The game also runs much better on most machines without looking significantly worse.
If you have an older system, less free time and a need for solo play, I think you will find Lord of the Rings Online much more appealing. If you have a top end machine and a desire for an experience with an emphasis on exploration, item creation and group play – Vanguard is for you.
They are both quest-based adventuring MMOs. They both have largely the same GUI – which was appropriated from World of Warcraft and the various UI mods that have been produced by the WoW community. Both games level based, with classes, and generally follow the D&D game model. They both feature fantastic races such as elves, dwarves, as playable races. They both progress you quickly through the beginner levels and then have an escalating experience curve as you progress.
(Note during my discussion that Vanguard has been released while Lord of the Rings Online is still in beta. Although to be honest Lord of the Rings Online already feels more polished than Vanguard).
Round One: Performance/System Requirements
Lord of the Rings Online: Lord of the Rings Online plays well on my various computers. Like, World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online has a lower polygon count. The game has also been optimized well even at this beta stage. Chances are that you’ll be able to play this game on both your desktop and that old laptop that your schlep around. I did experience some occasional hitching that I assumed to be the result of running the beta on debug mode. Presumably that will be gone by release.
Vanguard: Vanguard is the polar opposite of Lord of the Rings Online. 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. Stated plainly don't purchase Vanguard unless you have a relatively late model graphics card and 2 gigs of RAM. (If you have something less than that test it with a buddy account).
Winner: Lord of the Rings Online
Round Two: Lore and Storytelling
Lord of the Rings Online: Its very hard to fault Lord of the Rings Online in the area of Lore. They are drawing from the classic narrative that forms the basic building blocks of all modern fantasy literature and games. I am nothing of a Tolkein expert – although I am familiar with the books – and as near as I can tell they have cleverly incorporated the story and expanded on it logical and faithful ways. I am sure Tolkien geeks will be very pleased. However, as a non-Tolkein geek I have to admit that I did find much of it to be a little too familiar from all the watered-down imitations that I have been exposed to. That is not a fault of the original material but it did change my game experience.
As far as how the story is told in game, Lord of the Rings Online, excels in that department. Lord of the Rings Online makes extensive use of instancing and semi-cut scenes to quickly immerse you in the story of the Sackville Bagginses. The initial game unfolds in stages similar to the technique used in Guild Wars. By the time you are level 5 you feel like you participated in an epic adventure and you have a place in the world.
Vanguard: Does a very poor job with Lore and Storytelling. First, the game uses a more sandbox approach. It just punks you down in a starter area with very little explanation and leaves it to the player to figure out who they are and what they do. The initial quests are very simple as with Lord of the Rings Online but they often lack a larger story arch. The problem here is more a function of unevenness. The Kojan human/half-elf starter area has an excellent initial story while other areas – such as the gnome starter area – as just a series of kill quests barely kinked with any discernable story at all. As far as the larger story of Vanguard, I’ve played the game for many hours doing all kinds of quests and I still couldn’t really tell y0ou what it is. Vanguard seems more of a blank slate. The grand story is yet to be written. Ideally it will be written by the players. But right now it’s a cipher.
Winner: Lord of the Rings Online.
Round Three: Races and Classes
Lord of the Rings Online: Lord of the Rings Online is very much in keeping with the Lore of Tolkein (as noted above). But when it comes to races and classes this positive can feel like a negative. There are currently only four races and six classes in the game. The races are the most generic of fantasy tropes: human, elf, dwarf and halfling (okay, “hobbit”). There are no evil races. The classes boil down to melee DPS, tank, rogue, buffer, ranged DPS, healer and quasi-mage (there are no true mages but “Lore Keepers” amount to the same thing). All the races start in the same area and they all work through the same starting quests. As a result most characters start off with exactly the same gear and there is a certain generic look to the players around you.
Vanguard: As with many things, Vanguard was more ambitious with their races and classes. There are more than a dozen races in the game each with their own starting area. They include all of the Lord of the Rings Online races as well as dozens of others – including evil races. The classes are divided 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 Four: Quests and Adventuring
Lord of the Rings Online: Lord of the Rings Online has many quests that will be quite common to MMO players. They are all there: kill quests, fed ex quests, and so on. What makes Lord of the Rings Online questing work is how well the quests seemed to be tied into the game world and the clever use of well known characters. In that sense, Lord of the Rings Online has a bit of an advantage. Its hard not to feel more excited about a dungeon crawl when you are doing it with Gimli. On the other hand, the scope in Lord of the Rings Online seems much more narrow. All players work their way through the same exact quests initially – so there is less reliability. Also the downside to the heavy emphasis on narrative is that the quests can feel very channeled. In general, I liked it but I doubt I’d want to run through it a second time. But after a while I felt like my options were too narrow.
Vanguard: The adventure quality in Vanguard runs the gamuts from very fun to quite poor. You sometimes get the feeling that the developers ran out of time and just stuffed certain areas full of generic quests. The dialog windows for the quests can sometimes be a bit sloppy. Also, the solo content in Van, diminished after about level 12. While there are still some solo some quests , most quests after level 12 become group quests of one kind or another. The “premier” locations after level 12 are tuned for a group. In fact, you get the idea playing Vanguard that the whole game is really built around the group dynamic with soloing just added on the side. People who have solo leveled to 50 report that they devoted a significant amount of time to just mob grinding.
Winner: Lord of the Rings Online
Round Five: Graphics – Environment and Architecture
Lord of the Rings Online: Lord of the Rings Online has a beautiful environment. It looks just like you imagine Middle Earth to look. The art is original to Lord of the Rings Online and not derived from the movies. Many things – such as the character models – you have a certain cartoonishness to them reminiscent of World of Warcraft. But the detail and small touches make the setting come alive (the dead animals in the hunting lodge buzzing with flies, the dust motes floating a way of light in a disserted building, etc). The water in a particular looks very nice with nice reflections.
Vanguard: The scale of Vanguard is much, much bigger. 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 are built to a more correct scale and their floor plans are rarely repeated. As a result, the cities are much bigger in Vanguard. The irony is that many of the buildings and setting look more directly lifted from the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies than the buildings from Lord of the Rings Online. For example, Ca’el Briel, the wood elf home city in Vanguard is a dead ringer for Lothlorien from the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies. Likewise the Vanguard high elf starter area seems directly inspired by Rivendell in the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies.
Winner: Push
Round Six: Crafting
Lord of the Rings Online: I have not had the opportunity to experiment much with Lord of the Rings Online’s crafting system. In general it looks very simple and quick.
Vanguard: 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: Not enough data.
Round Seven: Diplomacy
Lord of the Rings Online: There is no diplomacy in Lord of the Rings Online.
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
Lord of the Rings Online: There is no traditional PvP in Lord of the Rings Online. Instead, you have the option to play a monster that is encountered by other players. I have not yet played around with this feature so I can’t really report on it effectively.
Vanguard: PvP in Vanguard is in its infancy. While there are both free-for-all and realm-verses-realm servers, there seems to have been very little thought given to 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: Not enough data
Overall:
Despite superficial similarities, these are really very different games. Vanguard tries for a more “sandbox” approach and there is much more in terms of player choice and many more game features. On the other hand, what is there is often not polished and even buggy. And performance is always an issue.
Lord of the Rings Online takes a more limited approach. The players are all channeled through more or less the same experience. But what is there is much more polished. The game also runs much better on most machines without looking significantly worse.
If you have an older system, less free time and a need for solo play, I think you will find Lord of the Rings Online much more appealing. If you have a top end machine and a desire for an experience with an emphasis on exploration, item creation and group play – Vanguard is for you.
Comments
I am currently playing Vanguard SOH and Betaing LOTRO. My initial plan was to play both, with Vanguard being my main focus and LOTRO being my background game. Basically, I was going to get the lifetime founders deal and just play LOTRO solo when I fancied a change from Vanguard.
BUT, I have now cancelled my Vanguard account due to the issues I keep having with stability. My system is new and pretty high-end:
Intel C2D 6600 @ 3Ghz
Abit AB9 Mobo
2 Gb DDRII 800 RAM
Geforce 8800 GTX 768 Mb
10k RPM 320 Gb HD
Now, I know that there are 'issues' with Vanguard and the 8800, but the problems that I have in Vanguard make it a frustrating experience to say the least. CTD's every session, sometimes 1 in 4 hours, sometimes 4 in 1 hour. Flickering objects. Whiteout of various pieces of landscape with a torch on at night.... I could go on and that isnt to mention the server crashes.
So, Sigil have until my current sub runs out (April 3) to get working on at least some of these issues instead of fannying about 'balancing' (nerfing) classes and adding new weapons etc or I will be playing LOTRO exclusively and its Bye-Bye Vanguard.
LOTRO plays like an absolute dream on my system, with no problems whatsoever and is a great game. Not as in-depth as Vanguard, but it sure is a hell of a lot of fun.
P.S. To the OP: All races in LOTRO do not start in the same area at all. Up to level 5 Elves and Dwarves share a starting area and Men and Hobbits share a starting area, although the quests are different for each race. After level 5 each of the races has their own starting area - Hobbits/Shire, Men/Bree, Elves and Drarves also have their own areas, just cant remember the names off the top of my head.
MMORPG History:
Playing - EVE Online.
Played (Retired) - AO, SWG, MxO, WoW, RFO, SoR, CoX, EQ2, GW, L2, Vanguard, LotRO, AoC, TCoS, Aion.
Favourite MMO - Pre-CU SWG, 3 Years, 4 Accounts, 2 Pre-CU Jedi (1 Pre-9).
Awaiting - Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Secret World, Earthrise.
There are actually seven cardinal player classes, (which the OP actually described) and 5 monster classes. While Wargs and Burglers are both stealthers, they have different abilities and roles in the game.
Actually, Tolkien geeks generally don't care for this game, they were looking more for a Middle-Earth simulation and are generally unhappy with the liberties taken in LotRO such as mobs in the game that don't exist in the books. (they aren't too happy with the "classes" in the game either..again...not really in the lore)
To be fair...some folks like sandbox games w/o a lot of leading, and others prefer to follow a storyline... can't really call either approach a "winner", its more of a personal preference.
Solo leveled to 50 in VG? Can't imagine the sort of person who could actually do that.... I'm thinking they'd have to live in a basement and eat cheetos all day...
Its odd, I leveled a Druid to 20 and never experienced what you described as Vanguard's Catalyst attacks. (I had the Druid reactionaries, but nothing from a group perspective)
These sounded LotRO's Conjunctions (which I thought were unique to LOTRO.) "They allow a party to apply their skills in combination during attack. A member of the party uses a skill to place the opponent in a vulnerable state (dazed, knocked back) and then icons appear immediately on the other party members’ screens. The players have seconds to select an icon, and the resulting combination of individual skills is combined into a “Group Skill” that results in a coordinated group attack."
If VG had anything like this I guess I didn't group enough.
(which is true)
Good write up overall, even though it comes off from the beginning with a heavy bias towards LotRO.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
VG = unpolished 'hard-core' game that will eventually become the addict's haven that EQ1 was. People here are no stranger to investing time (on the game) and money (on their PCs).
LOTRO = polished, simplistic 'casual' gamers paradice and 1st time MMO subscribers playground. If you buy your e-machines computers from Best Buy this is probably the game for you.
That's about the summary.
Thanks for info about LotRo. I didn't realize that it has group combos too.
Ironically, Vanguard has a system for exploiting weaknesses that sounds almost identical to what you are describing for LotRo. Player attacks can put a weakness debuff on a mob. Other classes can improve their results by using attacks that exploit the weakness.
For me, I've been playing Vanguard since release. Because I don't have much time to play, and don't like soloing, I end up playing only a few hours a week with friends. Therefore I have two sub-15 characters, unfortunately. Would like to play more, but just don't have the time.
I have a pretty beefy system and Vanguard really blows chunks on it. 15-20fps is just wrong--especially when there's hardly anything around to limit the performance!
I do like the large world and the quest system. The quest system is very group friendly. Finally, I like the EQ-style feel to the game.
Lord of the Rings Online, however, I've been in since the alpha test. The graphics are fantastic and very high quality--the game has no problem running on my system. Unfortunately, that's about where the praise ends.
The quests are WoW-ish me too quests. There's very little original thought that went into them. Everything from the interface to the dialogue system to the quest system stinks of World of Warcraft. If I wanted to play WoW, then I will play WoW! Not play a WoW clone with a Lord of the Rings skin on it.
It's a shame too, since I was looking forward to this game. Sadly, I won't buy it--maybe I'll reactivate my WoW account instead.
You are correct about Vanguard being like a sandbox this game your meant to make up your story as you go.
But about haven to group your past lvl 12 your so wrong. Out of all the quests i have done probly 20-30 of them have been group quests the other 300+ ive done have been solo quests. If its a group quest they state its a group quest, or a small group quest. An there are chain quests in the game that if you complete them all the final reward is a vary nice piece of armor or weapon that will make the hole thing worth while, an you get alot of other good stuff on the way to the final item.
Also there is a group combination system well kinda it doesnt just through it in your face that if you do this after some one in you group does something you actually have to think an pay attention. An if you do an you know what ur doing you can get some pretty nice dmg fast.
Overall i wouldn't trade vanguard for any other game, its just my cup of tea. Im not staten that this game is better then LotR but just correcting an given some info that was already presented.
Your board? VG player immunity never ceases to amaze me.
All I can say is don't wonder when you hardcore people are all left alone in your huge game.
"This is not a game to be tossed aside lightly.
It should be thrown with great force"
Currently: Playing EVE Online
Previous: FFXI, Dragonrealms, sad little stint in WOWland.
Awaiting: Fallen Earth, Hero''s Journey, Tabula Rasa, Age of Conan.
Wouldn't this post be more appropriate on the general forum? Sure I'm a big fan of the LOTR books... I even enjoyed the movies. But this is a vanguard forum. While the OP made a good attempt at giving a fair comparison. There is really no need. The games are different. Because VG has its own evolving story it will have a much greater scope than a franchise such as LOTR could ever have. Some people will also enjoy the pick up and play style of LOTR but that’s not what fans of VG are looking for. I see the post as just another excuse for people who don’t even play the game in its current state to bash it. Especially those losers with uber riggs who can't squeeze 30 fps out of it. That is not a statement about the OP either.
Lord of the Rings blablabla... crap
World of Warcraft blablabla... crap
Vanguard blablabla... crap
crap crap crap = 3xcrap
3xcrap > 0 crap
0 crap = good
good = do not play crap lootwhores
People who found WoW too time consuming/complex will enjoy LOTRO.
People who found WoW too quick/simplistic will prefer Vanguard.
Winner.
FYI, if the OPs of these many posts really cared about finding out the details of a game or what the ACTUAL playerbase thinks this is not the site for it. Silkyvenom, tentonhammer all have good info and the LOTRO online forums have it as well. Don't fool yourselves into thinking that these forums on this site are anything more than a intellectual copy of the comedic WoW forums. 5% decent info and 95% of crap posts with people thinking they're funny.
Yours,
Lord Haart
Why not make a Lord of the Rings Online vs EVE Online comparison?
Or a Vanguard: Saga of Heroes vs City of Villains comparison?
Apart from the fact that they are played on my PC I do not look for the same forms of entertainment in Lord of the Rings Online as I do in Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. They are extremely different and they are propably meant to be different. I would be very surprised if the original business and development plan for both games were identical.
All these rating fanatics and comparison enthusiasts should in my view rather use all that energy in their personally preferred game. Take the time to sit down with the various games and find out what really works for them. All the propaganda crap (positive or negative) really doesn't do anyone any good.
The one thing I really think Vanguard: Saga of Heroes should get going RIGHT NOW is a trial option. In my oppinion that would be much preferable instead of all this myth building (Vanguard is a POS // Vanguard is GOD!). Both parties in that particular contest are in my view complete and utter idiots.
"Although to be honest Lord of the Rings Online already feels more polished than Vanguard"
so early in your post? That to me says, LOTRO wins do not read on.
You also seem to assume the standpoint of a player who is aware of the LOTR lore and story. I have never read any of the books, and seen a total of about 20mins combined viewing from all the films.
As mentioned, you can't really put these two titles head to head due to the very different nature of them.
For the record I played a bit of LOTRO beta and really just could not get into it. The graphics, although pretty gave the impression something wasn't quite right. I didn't like the cartoony style characters ( even though I have played WoW ) as they didn't fit in with all the fine scenery.
All in all I got to lvl 10 and just had to switch it off. I later came back determined to give it another go and lasted 10 mins. I also tried VG and am still playing it and enjoying it so far.
"Although to be honest Lord of the Rings Online already feels more polished than Vanguard"
so early in your post? That to me says, LOTRO wins do not read on.
You also seem to assume the standpoint of a player who is aware of the LOTR lore and story. I have never read any of the books, and seen a total of about 20mins combined viewing from all the films.
As mentioned, you can't really put these two titles head to head due to the very different nature of them.
For the record I played a bit of LOTRO beta and really just could not get into it. The graphics, although pretty gave the impression something wasn't quite right. I didn't like the cartoony style characters ( even though I have played WoW ) as they didn't fit in with all the fine scenery.
All in all I got to lvl 10 and just had to switch it off. I later came back determined to give it another go and lasted 10 mins. I also tried VG and am still playing it and enjoying it so far.
Polish isn't the whole enchelada. Its important. But I perosnally prefer Vanguard even though LotR is clearly more polished.
PS: The cartooniness of the characters bothered me too.
Sorry, I laugh every time I read things like this, it's not your fault though. But Brad promised everything, he promised so many things, that they started contradicting eachother. Most of his promises are lies, empty words.
Go back to where you belong, Brad, mediocre developer land.
Think if Brad read's your text (highlighted part)he's the one laughing allot harder, you may spit on the person that Brad is in your eye's but never I say never underestimate what the man has done for a very I do say VERY LARGE portion of morpg game's. He's no God, he's human before people might start thinking I worship him, but regardless what went right/wrong what some of you should learn is RESPECT!, but I guess some minds are just to small to conceive that. You remind me of those people on Idols they think they can sing, the jury tells them to seek another hobby and then the jury gets all sorts of rude comments about them not understanding their jobs.
Sorry if i have offended you but you gotto realize that a statement like yours can only come from a person that is either developing or creating the next big hit mmorpg that will blow away every other mmorpg current standing. Show me that you are doing any of those too things and i take every word i said back, if you can't then try to be critical where you can be critical.
On topic, seen this review i think already on beta forums not sure, nice writting style but not sure what it proofs other then it being his opinion, good read though
Sorry, I laugh every time I read things like this, it's not your fault though. But Brad promised everything, he promised so many things, that they started contradicting eachother. Most of his promises are lies, empty words. Go back to where you belong, Brad, mediocre developer land. You probably missed the part in the FAQ stating that nothing was set in stone. Dev post aren't promise either. Promise ends up in patch notes and updates.
eqnext.wikia.com
For those people Vanguard hasnt delivered, and they are the main audience for LotR.
For many other people potential and content as well as complexity is important. Today that usually comes at the cost of polish/sys reqs. At least so far no game has been released that really had both on release