Yeah the game was buggy and incomplete, did that hurt them? Hell yes. But you notice that there are a number of people still playing this game. Most of these are the die hards who wanted a game filled with mind numbing trivial time sinks so they can call themselves "elite hard core gamers". Oh yeah you like long slow runs to everything, tedious corpse runs, spawn camping, etc...
Hate to burst your bubble but that's just tedious not really hard. At least in my book. If you really wanted some hard core PvP why don't you head over and go play a game like EvE, level up and get some nice lewt and then have it all taken from you? Now that's hard core, or at least more then this. All you're doing here is having to grind back some xp/gold, and spending alot of time doing trivial things. Oh yeah so hard core. B O R I N G! Funniest thing is some people making fun of the WoW crowd, this is just as "easy" as wow with the exception of the time sinks.
I'm hoping that Age of Conan or WAR's PvP/RvR turns out to be the real thing, until then I'll just keep playing EVE and TF2, at least that's fun.
Really? Did they give it chance to be anything? They're changing mechanics before the game is fixed. They're turning it into EQ2 before it has a chance be Vanguard. I really think this is a mistake, and believe that they could easily profit from a game that is reminiscent of the challenges early MMO's provided, with updated graphics and features. Like Vanguard was planned to be.
MMOs are never finally fixed, and they constantly changed. VG needs to open to a wider audience or be moved to the SWG niche or "small additional things here and there but practically dead", and NO ONE would profit from that. They just aim what is common sense in all other MMOs already. I dont see it as a dramatic change, but a necessity. Its now or never.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
McQuaid seemed to think that Vanguard could survive on a subscription base of 100-150K easily. I think you might be taking this "WoW-like" high subscriber count to far. When you factor in a lot of things, 100K is not a lot of people, but at $15 per, it's a good chunk of change. I know I could do alot with $1.5-2.2 million a month. The game was intentionally designed to be a very niche game as it was. (Sort of a "next step" for anyone tired of the "easy-mode" MMOs on the market.) Of course the Beta forums are no longer available to pull this quote, but I don't see any fallacy in that logic. Most people now are blinded by the massive numbers being published by some of the Korean MMOs and WoW and think that an MMO must reach a million to be a success. Of course, SOE will try to make it a million seller by dumbing it down and taking out the game that was marketed to everyone in the beginning.
I don't think this is about hardcore and non-hardcore at all. What's so hardcore about running back somewhere to get your corpse? What's so hardcore about running across continent to hook-up with a buddy? What's so hardcore about not speeding through levels? Or simplifying character models? Perhaps corpse runs, cross country exploration, and earninglevels are old standards people as a whole just don't want to deal with anymore. Just hand me the keys to the city, instantly make me king, and call it good!
This is all about an economy of time. Just like there are money sinks in MMO's, there are time sinks. That's part of what makes a virtual world what it is. I'm severely disappointed with these proposed changes. In my opinion they are turning Vanguard into WoWGaurd. I play WoW, I like WoW, but let WoW be WoW, and Vanguard be what it is. I have been waiting for fixes to Vanguard to resubscribe, but now I see more than fixes are planned. Pretty soon I won't even need to be present at the computer to play. In fact, the bot tech is there, just make it part of the game why don't you? Make it so easy that no accomplishment made can be named great. I am 1 of 9 million who have all accomplished the same mediocre thing with little to no effort. 'Tis a sad day for Vanguard. May your dreams rest in peace.
I understand what is said but I can see why it would be called Hardcore is because you have to be willing to put in the time necessary for accomplishing certain things (such as running with no gear through mobs that will attack to recover your corpse or spending an hour to travel to meet up with a friend) and not just spend 2 minutes to get back to adventuring. My opinion is the time sinks makes one need to think and plan better but have no idea what this game is going to turn into and keep wondering if there will be Classic servers as well as updated ones. Seems like there is a split with the people who play/want to play the game.
I always said "hardcore"/classic servers would help to end this ENDLESS argument VG faces. I am just so fed with those ppl defending this.
Just one example. Recently I was in Trengal Keep, in a 3 hour session. The loot I got was meager, just verndor trash and some undead bones. Alas, since our healer made a slight mistake, we got a wipe, and later 2 more wipes, one because the MT crashed and one more I dunno why. Then the group disbanded and it was late, because I had work next morning. The result: I had to call my corpse and lost more XP than I had accomplished and had to spent all meager coin for repair. There are just too many short, precious evenings I loose instead of gain, and thats just a BIG "NO NO" for a game. Call that carebearish if you enjoy it, but *my* time is too precious for such frustration.
No my friend...this is not carebarish. This is common sense. Ironicly the same people who push for hardcore rules are the same people who kill the game. Point in case.
The only people who killed the game were Sigil people and the only persons who are trying to give it the final blow are those who want it to be carebarish and most of the time carebears are MMO hoppers that will stay for a few months until the next big thing hit the market.
About 200k copies of VG were sold and about 75 % left due to perfomance issues and bugs so don`t give us the crap that the "hardcore" players killed the game.Why not playing LOTRO if you want to have everything quick.Adventuring and exploration in VG is like a safari not a Formula one race.
The one pros that the so called hardcore community have is not being "selfish" there's always one or more people to help...it`s the difficulty of the game that strengthen the bond between the players it`s something that MR I want it now will never understand
In the land of Predators,the lion does not fear the jackals...
I'm sitting here and read some of the reponses. So you don't like corpse runs...then don't die. Oh to late...you foolishly wondered into the Pantheon at level 20 and aggro'd all those scarab beetles in the Antechamber. Tough. You messed up. You learned the Pantheon isn't for your character yet. That death hurt. It suppose to. Death in MMORPG's isn't suppose to be a nonissue...it is suppose to let you know that you screwed up...be moe careful next time or you'll get stung again.
Are corpse runs tedious timesinks? Yes. Just as having to kill 100 of this MOB is a stupid timesink and killing 100 of those MOBS is a tedious, boring timesink. Theres tons of things wrong with all these MMORPG's, but there is no reason that every MMORPG should be just like the other. So there are people like me that don't mind the corpse runs, the slower rate of exp gain or the slower travel. There are lots of ways to travel in Vanguard, like portals, riftways and such...use them if you wish to or don't...doesn't bother me one bit. Just don't take them out now. They are in game and some people are use to them. In the same token don't add faster was to travel either. Why? Because then it once again changes the basic mechanics of a game that haas been out for almost a year. I dunno about anyone else but I am fine with the current way travel is set up in Vanguard. It doesn't need fixed and it is a waste of development resources that could be spent fixing broken quest, squashing nasty bugs, and tweaking the games performacne and adding CONTENT!
The basic core game play that is Vanguard does not need changed in any way. Really..it is fine as it is. Just fix the rest of the games more serious problems and add CONTENT.
Thats all SOE ahs to do and they'll get people to play. The world of Telon is awesome. It just needs some love and some CONTENT to keep us all playing for years to come.
I'm sitting here and read some of the reponses. So you don't like corpse runs...then don't die. Oh to late...you foolishly wondered into the Pantheon at level 20 and aggro'd all those scarab beetles in the Antechamber. Tough. You messed up. You learned the Pantheon isn't for your character yet. That death hurt. It suppose to. Death in MMORPG's isn't suppose to be a nonissue...it is suppose to let you know that you screwed up...be moe careful next time or you'll get stung again. Are corpse runs tedious timesinks? Yes. Just as having to kill 100 of this MOB is a stupid timesink and killing 100 of those MOBS is a tedious, boring timesink. Theres tons of things wrong with all these MMORPG's, but there is no reason that every MMORPG should be just like the other. So there are people like me that don't mind the corpse runs, the slower rate of exp gain or the slower travel. There are lots of ways to travel in Vanguard, like portals, riftways and such...use them if you wish to or don't...doesn't bother me one bit. Just don't take them out now. They are in game and some people are use to them. In the same token don't add faster was to travel either. Why? Because then it once again changes the basic mechanics of a game that haas been out for almost a year. I dunno about anyone else but I am fine with the current way travel is set up in Vanguard. It doesn't need fixed and it is a waste of development resources that could be spent fixing broken quest, squashing nasty bugs, and tweaking the games performacne and adding CONTENT! The basic core game play that is Vanguard does not need changed in any way. Really..it is fine as it is. Just fix the rest of the games more serious problems and add CONTENT. Thats all SOE ahs to do and they'll get people to play. The world of Telon is awesome. It just needs some love and some CONTENT to keep us all playing for years to come.
You are not going to see SOE add major content unless subscriptions rise, Subscriptions are not going to rise unless SOE makes the game more mainstream and does away with nuisances that really add no purpose and only server to aggravate players. Unless SOE makes some changes VG is going to end up just like MXO, they will do just enough to keep the servers running and thats it. You end up with servers of lvl 50s strutting around talking about how hardcore they are.. oh wait thats already happening.
Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. Lao-Tze
Vanguard changes or it won't exist anymore. It's as simple as that.
Now you have to decide whether or not a few relatively small changes will make you quit playing a game that you otherwise enjoy. You have to sit back and objectively look at the state of the game and decide what will be better for it in terms of profitability and overall health. The game needs to be made stable, and it still needs even the most basic of things fixed: Helmets, tails, basic combat mechanics etc. Most of all, it needs a fresh infusion of players, and you aren't going to get that without some changes.
There's no use crying about any of this as these are just propositions and are not yet set in stone. They have a forum where you can leave your feedback. Use it.
Kenze if they'd fix the game people would play it. Changing it now is what is stupid when there things in game that need fixed first and foremost. It is a huge waste of time to change the game and then expect people to come in and play it and it is still broken in so many ways it isn't even funny. The whole of the Pantheon Quest line is broken. The whole thing! And the sad thing is it's not the only one and it and the other quest have been broken for months! There are still graphic glitches in the game and some pretty serious bugs...like the vanishing MOB.s and the Vanishing weapons. Then there are the many places where your computer takes a nose dive in performance due to poor graphics optimization.
So yea..that'll win people over. Change the game and then have them come play it and it still in the shape it is in. I say fix it first and foremost, add content while doing it and when it is running good and everyone is happy...then start worrying about the other things.
I'm sitting here and read some of the reponses. So you don't like corpse runs...then don't die. Oh to late...you foolishly wondered into the Pantheon at level 20 and aggro'd all those scarab beetles in the Antechamber. Tough. You messed up. You learned the Pantheon isn't for your character yet. That death hurt. It suppose to. Death in MMORPG's isn't suppose to be a nonissue...it is suppose to let you know that you screwed up...be moe careful next time or you'll get stung again.
Are corpse runs tedious timesinks? Yes. Just as having to kill 100 of this MOB is a stupid timesink and killing 100 of those MOBS is a tedious, boring timesink. Theres tons of things wrong with all these MMORPG's, but there is no reason that every MMORPG should be just like the other. So there are people like me that don't mind the corpse runs, the slower rate of exp gain or the slower travel. There are lots of ways to travel in Vanguard, like portals, riftways and such...use them if you wish to or don't...doesn't bother me one bit. Just don't take them out now. They are in game and some people are use to them. In the same token don't add faster was to travel either. Why? Because then it once again changes the basic mechanics of a game that haas been out for almost a year. I dunno about anyone else but I am fine with the current way travel is set up in Vanguard. It doesn't need fixed and it is a waste of development resources that could be spent fixing broken quest, squashing nasty bugs, and tweaking the games performacne and adding CONTENT!
The basic core game play that is Vanguard does not need changed in any way. Really..it is fine as it is. Just fix the rest of the games more serious problems and add CONTENT.
Thats all SOE ahs to do and they'll get people to play. The world of Telon is awesome. It just needs some love and some CONTENT to keep us all playing for years to come.
You are not going to see SOE add major content unless subscriptions rise, Subscriptions are not going to rise unless SOE makes the game more mainstream and does away with nuisances that really add no purpose and only server to aggravate players. Unless SOE makes some changes VG is going to end up just like MXO, they will do just enough to keep the servers running and thats it. You end up with servers of lvl 50s strutting around talking about how hardcore they are.. oh wait thats already happening.
Do you really think that making the game mainstream will bring more players?Why would they leave WoW or lotro to play VG which is buggy. And do you think the actual player base will still play the game.
In the land of Predators,the lion does not fear the jackals...
Vanguard needs to take three steps. THREE STEPS 1) Fix the Game a) improve performance; optimize graphics; make things look better (good job on Khal!) 2) Finish the Game a) fulfill promises made about classes and other aspects 3) Enhance the Game a) Introduce Deep Character Customization b) Implement Fishing c) Consider a fun and functioning PvP system d) Player-run taverns (fun stuff) e) Player farming f) More unique housing g) Modify Crafting: make it more accessible h) Modify Diplomacy: make it more accessible
Vanguard can possibly sustain itself and then thrive if it undertakes to take the three above steps.
Lol, in other words: Dump this pile like the turd that it is and start over
Vanguard needs to take three steps. THREE STEPS 1) Fix the Game a) improve performance; optimize graphics; make things look better (good job on Khal!) 2) Finish the Game a) fulfill promises made about classes and other aspects 3) Enhance the Game a) Introduce Deep Character Customization b) Implement Fishing c) Consider a fun and functioning PvP system d) Player-run taverns (fun stuff) e) Player farming f) More unique housing g) Modify Crafting: make it more accessible h) Modify Diplomacy: make it more accessible
Vanguard can possibly sustain itself and then thrive if it undertakes to take the three above steps.
Lol, in other words: Dump this pile like the turd that it is and start over
Deucallion Vanguard is not a bad game...it just has some problems that the dvelopers need to address before they even think about changing it in any way. The game itself is aweome...I haven't had this much fun in an MMORPG since SWG pre-NGE.
I was only interpreting what truenorthbg seemed to be pointing out. I myself do not think the game itself is bad. Insofar as level-based linear games go(i myself am a fan of the more old school skill-based games), i'm sure it's probably one of the best, especially after they reportedly fixed alot of the performance issues it suffered so famously from. My issue with Vanguard stems solely from the companies responsible for releasing it in such a sorry condition. How i wish syphilis on them all! The game itself looks just fine and dandy from what i can tell, but i just can't have the karma of supporting such douchebrains as SoE on my soul.
I liked VG the way it was, I liked the fact you had to be careful in a dungeon and wiping hurt. It meant not wiping was an achievement and was rewarded, screwing up and dying hurt. I know some people want to be rewarded no matter how poorly they play, if your party sucks so much you cant make xp/hour in a dungeon in VG, try an easier dungeon or choose an easier area within the dungeon to fight, there is usually several choices as to where to fight, overextending you parties abilities results in little or no reward, fighting at a level your party can handle and kill efficiently resulted in very nice rewards. The difference between a good and a terrible party is large, the way I like it.
Some people like the zero death penalty in WoW. personally it made the game boring, REALLY boring, it didnt matter if you played well or poorly you'd still get the same results (ok the poor party might have several 30s downtimes but in reality it was a zero penalty.) Death should be meaningful. If not, skill becomes irrelevant and you get a game as challenging as WoW, about as challenging as falling out of a tree. Personally, I (and many others) like challenges, 9 million wow players don't. That doesn't mean making a challenging game is wrong.
The only games I will consider playing would be ones that offers a decent challenge and rewards people for playing well.
What killed VG was the incompleteness, both in stability and endgame content AND the fact the Brad McQuaid LIED about the games completeness to the community. Saying the VG was 2 months from the completed article lost a huge amount of confidence with the community.
Vanguard needs to take three steps. THREE STEPS 1) Fix the Game a) improve performance; optimize graphics; make things look better (good job on Khal!) 2) Finish the Game a) fulfill promises made about classes and other aspects 3) Enhance the Game a) Introduce Deep Character Customization b) Implement Fishing c) Consider a fun and functioning PvP system d) Player-run taverns (fun stuff) e) Player farming f) More unique housing g) Modify Crafting: make it more accessible h) Modify Diplomacy: make it more accessible
Vanguard can possibly sustain itself and then thrive if it undertakes to take the three above steps.
Lol, in other words: Dump this pile like the turd that it is and start over
No. I am simply saying "finish what you started but first fix; and after you finish, enhance." First: fix. Then: finish. And then: enhance. If you can do all three simultaneously, great.
----- WoW and fast food = commercial successes. I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
i still read articles on Vanguard with interest . like a lot of players i thought it had potential but was disapointed at the actual experiance . it did a lot of things right and had a lot of great ideas but the game itself was my worst experiance with any mmorpg i ve had this far . i m not sure what it would take for me to give it a try. if it became no fee gameplay i might load it onto my pc again . but then if it did i doubt all thats wrong with it would be ever put right . i ve a feeling it might go the way of the dodo within the next couple of years .
I still suggest to all us former & the potential players of Vanguard to await the "free trial isle" to experience the changes Vanguard has endured then decide for ourselves. Then again, perhaps that purposed concept was a lure since this Producer's Letter had no mention in it. Vanguard was released wrong, incorrectly, too soon, however it is to be stated it should not had been released yet when it was. Vanguard still however has great potential with many factors determining it's fate. SOE is trying to repair Vanguard's glitches & implement fresh ideas to Telon for players' benefits. I like a lot of the ideas of the recent Producer's Letter, but a few need to be kept an eye on so not to create trivial meaning in the game.
Overall, these MMOGs are games which are suppose to be fun. We all want a challenge, but we want to be able to progress too at a reasonable rate especially when we dedicate/invest our attempts at it. Also, I am more grown-up now in real-life with more responsibilities & though I still enjoy gaming I cannot dedicate as much time to it because of priorities. Having a time-sink for the sake of a time-sink is not challenging, but repetious. Besides, those that feel any game is being dummified too much in most cases if you played with discipline then just because their are now teleports does not mean you have to use them for example. Having more accessibility for more players in a game does not mean the "hard-core" have to utilize it. Want a brand new slower paced progression server? There is no need, just play the game as if the rest of the content wasn't available yet. Perhaps in the future, there will be a features window on the interface so we all may click & decide which options we wish to play with or disregard.
Comments
Yeah the game was buggy and incomplete, did that hurt them? Hell yes. But you notice that there are a number of people still playing this game. Most of these are the die hards who wanted a game filled with mind numbing trivial time sinks so they can call themselves "elite hard core gamers". Oh yeah you like long slow runs to everything, tedious corpse runs, spawn camping, etc...
Hate to burst your bubble but that's just tedious not really hard. At least in my book. If you really wanted some hard core PvP why don't you head over and go play a game like EvE, level up and get some nice lewt and then have it all taken from you? Now that's hard core, or at least more then this. All you're doing here is having to grind back some xp/gold, and spending alot of time doing trivial things. Oh yeah so hard core. B O R I N G! Funniest thing is some people making fun of the WoW crowd, this is just as "easy" as wow with the exception of the time sinks.
I'm hoping that Age of Conan or WAR's PvP/RvR turns out to be the real thing, until then I'll just keep playing EVE and TF2, at least that's fun.
MMOs are never finally fixed, and they constantly changed. VG needs to open to a wider audience or be moved to the SWG niche or "small additional things here and there but practically dead", and NO ONE would profit from that. They just aim what is common sense in all other MMOs already. I dont see it as a dramatic change, but a necessity. Its now or never.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
McQuaid seemed to think that Vanguard could survive on a subscription base of 100-150K easily. I think you might be taking this "WoW-like" high subscriber count to far. When you factor in a lot of things, 100K is not a lot of people, but at $15 per, it's a good chunk of change. I know I could do alot with $1.5-2.2 million a month. The game was intentionally designed to be a very niche game as it was. (Sort of a "next step" for anyone tired of the "easy-mode" MMOs on the market.) Of course the Beta forums are no longer available to pull this quote, but I don't see any fallacy in that logic. Most people now are blinded by the massive numbers being published by some of the Korean MMOs and WoW and think that an MMO must reach a million to be a success. Of course, SOE will try to make it a million seller by dumbing it down and taking out the game that was marketed to everyone in the beginning.
I understand what is said but I can see why it would be called Hardcore is because you have to be willing to put in the time necessary for accomplishing certain things (such as running with no gear through mobs that will attack to recover your corpse or spending an hour to travel to meet up with a friend) and not just spend 2 minutes to get back to adventuring. My opinion is the time sinks makes one need to think and plan better but have no idea what this game is going to turn into and keep wondering if there will be Classic servers as well as updated ones. Seems like there is a split with the people who play/want to play the game.
I always said "hardcore"/classic servers would help to end this ENDLESS argument VG faces. I am just so fed with those ppl defending this.
Just one example. Recently I was in Trengal Keep, in a 3 hour session. The loot I got was meager, just verndor trash and some undead bones. Alas, since our healer made a slight mistake, we got a wipe, and later 2 more wipes, one because the MT crashed and one more I dunno why. Then the group disbanded and it was late, because I had work next morning. The result: I had to call my corpse and lost more XP than I had accomplished and had to spent all meager coin for repair. There are just too many short, precious evenings I loose instead of gain, and thats just a BIG "NO NO" for a game. Call that carebearish if you enjoy it, but *my* time is too precious for such frustration.
No my friend...this is not carebarish. This is common sense. Ironicly the same people who push for hardcore rules are the same people who kill the game. Point in case.
The only people who killed the game were Sigil people and the only persons who are trying to give it the final blow are those who want it to be carebarish and most of the time carebears are MMO hoppers that will stay for a few months until the next big thing hit the market.
About 200k copies of VG were sold and about 75 % left due to perfomance issues and bugs so don`t give us the crap that the "hardcore" players killed the game.Why not playing LOTRO if you want to have everything quick.Adventuring and exploration in VG is like a safari not a Formula one race.
The one pros that the so called hardcore community have is not being "selfish" there's always one or more people to help...it`s the difficulty of the game that strengthen the bond between the players it`s something that MR I want it now will never understand
In the land of Predators,the lion does not fear the jackals...
I'm sitting here and read some of the reponses. So you don't like corpse runs...then don't die. Oh to late...you foolishly wondered into the Pantheon at level 20 and aggro'd all those scarab beetles in the Antechamber. Tough. You messed up. You learned the Pantheon isn't for your character yet. That death hurt. It suppose to. Death in MMORPG's isn't suppose to be a nonissue...it is suppose to let you know that you screwed up...be moe careful next time or you'll get stung again.
Are corpse runs tedious timesinks? Yes. Just as having to kill 100 of this MOB is a stupid timesink and killing 100 of those MOBS is a tedious, boring timesink. Theres tons of things wrong with all these MMORPG's, but there is no reason that every MMORPG should be just like the other. So there are people like me that don't mind the corpse runs, the slower rate of exp gain or the slower travel. There are lots of ways to travel in Vanguard, like portals, riftways and such...use them if you wish to or don't...doesn't bother me one bit. Just don't take them out now. They are in game and some people are use to them. In the same token don't add faster was to travel either. Why? Because then it once again changes the basic mechanics of a game that haas been out for almost a year. I dunno about anyone else but I am fine with the current way travel is set up in Vanguard. It doesn't need fixed and it is a waste of development resources that could be spent fixing broken quest, squashing nasty bugs, and tweaking the games performacne and adding CONTENT!
The basic core game play that is Vanguard does not need changed in any way. Really..it is fine as it is. Just fix the rest of the games more serious problems and add CONTENT.
Thats all SOE ahs to do and they'll get people to play. The world of Telon is awesome. It just needs some love and some CONTENT to keep us all playing for years to come.
Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
Lao-Tze
Vanguard changes or it won't exist anymore. It's as simple as that.
Now you have to decide whether or not a few relatively small changes will make you quit playing a game that you otherwise enjoy. You have to sit back and objectively look at the state of the game and decide what will be better for it in terms of profitability and overall health. The game needs to be made stable, and it still needs even the most basic of things fixed: Helmets, tails, basic combat mechanics etc. Most of all, it needs a fresh infusion of players, and you aren't going to get that without some changes.
There's no use crying about any of this as these are just propositions and are not yet set in stone. They have a forum where you can leave your feedback. Use it.
Kenze if they'd fix the game people would play it. Changing it now is what is stupid when there things in game that need fixed first and foremost. It is a huge waste of time to change the game and then expect people to come in and play it and it is still broken in so many ways it isn't even funny. The whole of the Pantheon Quest line is broken. The whole thing! And the sad thing is it's not the only one and it and the other quest have been broken for months! There are still graphic glitches in the game and some pretty serious bugs...like the vanishing MOB.s and the Vanishing weapons. Then there are the many places where your computer takes a nose dive in performance due to poor graphics optimization.
So yea..that'll win people over. Change the game and then have them come play it and it still in the shape it is in. I say fix it first and foremost, add content while doing it and when it is running good and everyone is happy...then start worrying about the other things.
Do you really think that making the game mainstream will bring more players?Why would they leave WoW or lotro to play VG which is buggy.
And do you think the actual player base will still play the game.
In the land of Predators,the lion does not fear the jackals...
Vanguard needs to take three steps.
THREE STEPS
1) Fix the Game
a) improve performance; optimize graphics; make things look better (good job on Khal!)
2) Finish the Game
a) fulfill promises made about classes and other aspects
3) Enhance the Game
a) Introduce Deep Character Customization
b) Implement Fishing
c) Consider a fun and functioning PvP system
d) Player-run taverns (fun stuff)
e) Player farming
f) More unique housing
g) Modify Crafting: make it more accessible
h) Modify Diplomacy: make it more accessible
Vanguard can possibly sustain itself and then thrive if it undertakes to take the three above steps.
-----
WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
Lol, in other words: Dump this pile like the turd that it is and start over
Lol, in other words: Dump this pile like the turd that it is and start over
Deucallion Vanguard is not a bad game...it just has some problems that the dvelopers need to address before they even think about changing it in any way. The game itself is aweome...I haven't had this much fun in an MMORPG since SWG pre-NGE.
I was only interpreting what truenorthbg seemed to be pointing out. I myself do not think the game itself is bad. Insofar as level-based linear games go(i myself am a fan of the more old school skill-based games), i'm sure it's probably one of the best, especially after they reportedly fixed alot of the performance issues it suffered so famously from. My issue with Vanguard stems solely from the companies responsible for releasing it in such a sorry condition. How i wish syphilis on them all! The game itself looks just fine and dandy from what i can tell, but i just can't have the karma of supporting such douchebrains as SoE on my soul.
with one exception however:
essentially getting rid of the corpse retrival mechanic, by allowing people to pray at an altar to get their stuff back
corpse retrival is exiting and fun (and frustrating whe it goes wrong), it was one of the things that made AC1 exiting and fun
so please mr. devman, reconsider this change
Asheron's Call (3 Years)
Asheron's Call 2 (3 Months)
SWG (3 Months)
FFXI (1 Day)
WoW (6 Months)
DDO (1 Month)
Vanguard (off & on)
Crossfire
LotRO (3 months)
Warhammer (3 days)
GW2 (1 month)
CIV I-IV (20 Years)
I liked VG the way it was, I liked the fact you had to be careful in a dungeon and wiping hurt. It meant not wiping was an achievement and was rewarded, screwing up and dying hurt. I know some people want to be rewarded no matter how poorly they play, if your party sucks so much you cant make xp/hour in a dungeon in VG, try an easier dungeon or choose an easier area within the dungeon to fight, there is usually several choices as to where to fight, overextending you parties abilities results in little or no reward, fighting at a level your party can handle and kill efficiently resulted in very nice rewards. The difference between a good and a terrible party is large, the way I like it.
Some people like the zero death penalty in WoW. personally it made the game boring, REALLY boring, it didnt matter if you played well or poorly you'd still get the same results (ok the poor party might have several 30s downtimes but in reality it was a zero penalty.) Death should be meaningful. If not, skill becomes irrelevant and you get a game as challenging as WoW, about as challenging as falling out of a tree. Personally, I (and many others) like challenges, 9 million wow players don't. That doesn't mean making a challenging game is wrong.
The only games I will consider playing would be ones that offers a decent challenge and rewards people for playing well.
What killed VG was the incompleteness, both in stability and endgame content AND the fact the Brad McQuaid LIED about the games completeness to the community. Saying the VG was 2 months from the completed article lost a huge amount of confidence with the community.
Falling out of a tree has a penalty though. You have downtime in life where your gimped.
Lol, in other words: Dump this pile like the turd that it is and start over
No. I am simply saying "finish what you started but first fix; and after you finish, enhance." First: fix. Then: finish. And then: enhance. If you can do all three simultaneously, great.
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WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
i still read articles on Vanguard with interest . like a lot of players i thought it had potential but was disapointed at the actual experiance . it did a lot of things right and had a lot of great ideas but the game itself was my worst experiance with any mmorpg i ve had this far . i m not sure what it would take for me to give it a try. if it became no fee gameplay i might load it onto my pc again . but then if it did i doubt all thats wrong with it would be ever put right . i ve a feeling it might go the way of the dodo within the next couple of years .
sounds good, but i wouldn't come back unless they lowered the sub fee to $10 a month.
I still suggest to all us former & the potential players of Vanguard to await the "free trial isle" to experience the changes Vanguard has endured then decide for ourselves. Then again, perhaps that purposed concept was a lure since this Producer's Letter had no mention in it. Vanguard was released wrong, incorrectly, too soon, however it is to be stated it should not had been released yet when it was. Vanguard still however has great potential with many factors determining it's fate. SOE is trying to repair Vanguard's glitches & implement fresh ideas to Telon for players' benefits. I like a lot of the ideas of the recent Producer's Letter, but a few need to be kept an eye on so not to create trivial meaning in the game.
Overall, these MMOGs are games which are suppose to be fun. We all want a challenge, but we want to be able to progress too at a reasonable rate especially when we dedicate/invest our attempts at it. Also, I am more grown-up now in real-life with more responsibilities & though I still enjoy gaming I cannot dedicate as much time to it because of priorities. Having a time-sink for the sake of a time-sink is not challenging, but repetious. Besides, those that feel any game is being dummified too much in most cases if you played with discipline then just because their are now teleports does not mean you have to use them for example. Having more accessibility for more players in a game does not mean the "hard-core" have to utilize it. Want a brand new slower paced progression server? There is no need, just play the game as if the rest of the content wasn't available yet. Perhaps in the future, there will be a features window on the interface so we all may click & decide which options we wish to play with or disregard.