When was the last big patch for this game? Just wondering. I haven't any news on this game in awhile.
From a content perspective the last big patch was April 2007 when they added RI, NN and Heg. More content was added in the 2 month period between February 2007 and April 2007 by far then has been added the last 2.5 years in total. Since then almost no new content has been added. But post Sigil the biggest additions have been APW, the Griffon questline, and the re-release of PoTA.
To give you an idea how much (or little) new content SOE has added to Vanguard in over 2 years I will list it all for you. Its about as much as a normal game adds in 1-2 months.
1. Lvl 12 quest line in Ksvari gulch
2. Raid Dungeon and Overland raid mobs
3. Griffon questline
4. More overland raid mobs
5. IoD
6. Reworked faction adding faction mounts and faction gear.
7. BoD weapon questline
8. SoD Daily Quests
9. PoTA dungoen along with new lvl increase to 55
Kind of missed Isle of Dawn there buddy... kind of an important miss. And APW is a huge, awesome raid and the Griffon questline was great. And PoTA was an awesome dungeon that needed fixed, its a very good addition. Not saying the improvements were massive over time, but plenty has happened. And fishing, new mounts, all kinds of smaller things.
Yes a lot has happened sonny. If they had produced all this content in a month it would be fine. But its not May, 2007. they have added a total amount of content that a normal game would add in 1-2 months but it has taken them 2.5 years. APW was a well done starter raid dungoen but if Sigil hasd stayed inc harge it would have released in June 2007. The dungeon was already done and in game at releae all SOE had to do was add and balance the bosses. I love VG as much as the next guy. It has great core mechanics but SOE has not developed the game and have added almost nothing unless you count the bugs they have added. Almost every patch and mob has been released far to early with almost no testing (except APW) and with serious game breaking bugs.
Just a matter of time. Less than 12 months. Bye bye vangaurd.
No VG thread can ever be considered complete without Trueth, neonwire and Daffid011 sprewing their negativity toward the game. Such hatred for a game as these guys have is completely irrational.
I'm sure the other two will show up sooner rather than later.
Just a matter of time. Less than 12 months. Bye bye vangaurd.
No VG thread can ever be considered complete without Trueth, neonwire and Daffod1l sprewing their negativity toward the game. Such hatred for a game as these guys have is completely irrational.
I'm sure the other two will show up sooner rather than later.
Sweet, I have a fan! FYI: hate is far to strong a word for a game and people toss it around far to much to be taken credible.
I don't think vanguard is closing down any time soon.
From what current players have posted it sounds like VG has roughly 2,000-2,500 combined people online at peak hours from all four servers. Just speculating using the '20% of a games population is online during prime time' formula that some developers have stated, that would put vanguard around 10k users give or take. Even if that is lower than what people chose to speculate at, it is still enough people to generate close to 2 million in revenue. That is more than enough for a small staff, overhead and a some margin of profit.
There are plenty of small games that survive with those population numbers. Mostly independents, but still the same can equally apply here.
Just looking at how the matrix went and planetside is heading, I would guess that Vanguard would still see another round of server mergers and then a major staff cutting to almost nothing before it gets into the danger area of closing down.
If matrix online is still active, Id shut that one down and move the resources over to vanguard. Havent played either, but vanguard appears to have interesting features
Matrix online isn't active, it was shut down a few days ago.
I recall reading in one of SOE's blogs that planetside does not have any dev's that are dedicated to that game. Matrix, had its plug pulled just recently. July 31st
When was the last big patch for this game? Just wondering. I haven't any news on this game in awhile.
From a content perspective the last big patch was April 2007 when they added RI, NN and Heg. More content was added in the 2 month period between February 2007 and April 2007 by far then has been added the last 2.5 years in total. Since then almost no new content has been added. But post Sigil the biggest additions have been APW, the Griffon questline, and the re-release of PoTA.
To give you an idea how much (or little) new content SOE has added to Vanguard in over 2 years I will list it all for you. Its about as much as a normal game adds in 1-2 months.
1. Lvl 12 quest line in Ksvari gulch
2. Raid Dungeon and Overland raid mobs
3. Griffon questline
4. More overland raid mobs
5. IoD
6. Reworked faction adding faction mounts and faction gear.
7. BoD weapon questline
8. SoD Daily Quests
9. PoTA dungoen along with new lvl increase to 55
Kind of missed Isle of Dawn there buddy... kind of an important miss. And APW is a huge, awesome raid and the Griffon questline was great. And PoTA was an awesome dungeon that needed fixed, its a very good addition. Not saying the improvements were massive over time, but plenty has happened. And fishing, new mounts, all kinds of smaller things.
Yes a lot has happened sonny. If they had produced all this content in a month it would be fine. But its not May, 2007. they have added a total amount of content that a normal game would add in 1-2 months but it has taken them 2.5 years. APW was a well done starter raid dungoen but if Sigil hasd stayed inc harge it would have released in June 2007. The dungeon was already done and in game at releae all SOE had to do was add and balance the bosses. I love VG as much as the next guy. It has great core mechanics but SOE has not developed the game and have added almost nothing unless you count the bugs they have added. Almost every patch and mob has been released far to early with almost no testing (except APW) and with serious game breaking bugs.
Come on 1-2 months? Please name a game that has come out with that much content in 1-2 months.
When was the last big patch for this game? Just wondering. I haven't any news on this game in awhile.
From a content perspective the last big patch was April 2007 when they added RI, NN and Heg. More content was added in the 2 month period between February 2007 and April 2007 by far then has been added the last 2.5 years in total. Since then almost no new content has been added. But post Sigil the biggest additions have been APW (12/07), the Griffon questline (3/08), and the re-release of PoTA with level increase(6/09).
To give you an idea how much (or little) new content SOE has added to Vanguard in over 2 years I will list it all for you. Its about as much as a normal game adds in 1-2 months.
1. Lvl 12 quest line in Ksvari gulch
2. Raid Dungeon and Overland raid mobs
3. Griffon questline
4. More overland raid mobs
5. IoD
6. Reworked faction adding faction mounts and faction gear.
7. BoD weapon questline
8. SoD Daily Quests
9. PoTA dungoen along with new lvl increase to 55
This isn't a good list. I posted a complete list awhile back but for the life of me I can't get search to work for these forums. And I can't even get it to list post post topics I created. So anyway I posted a topic a few months back listing all the changes to vanguard in the past couple years. Not counting bugs there have been a lot of things you are missing on your list.
Its unfortunate but I do expect VG to close its doors within the next 2 years for the following reasons:
- VG has a small but extremely loyal fanbase. However MxO had the exact same but it continued to twindle over the years and eventually it started to generate next to no money. Now I am not saying VG has that small of a population, however with the mistreatment it has recieved from SOE's pocket, it will continue to go in that direction but at a slower rate. SOE is a business, loyal or no loyal fans, they will continue to only use the smallest numer of developers they can get away with. The fact it is well known that the game has a small loyal fanbase, puts the game into question of shutting down. Question being keyword.
- Will VG continue to fit the current business model that SOE has planned out? SOE has 3 new upcoming MMOS: The Agency, DC Universe, and an unnanounced "flagship MMO". Free Realms has already been launched and has proven to some success. Now DCU and The Agency aren't going to threaten VG at all but this new flagship MMO has put alot of surrounding questions on could it be the "next EQ/VG" vision. We all know SOE loves to recycle resources in-house to newer projects, the same has been done with even the smallest of dev teams, VG. This will adversely affect VG's current slow trend of pushing content/bug fixes/etc.
- Money. Lets face it, SOE is all about money. Currently VG is quite possibly generating money. SOME money. The fact is that the game still generates money, SOE is keeping it afloat. Now if it goes negative, they will close it down. This proves true to SWG and Planetside. They are still making money for the fact that they have JUST ENOUGH subscriptions to pay the bills and devs. However the same applies to VG and Planetside (since those 2 have been up for discussion of shutting down), making they have the lowest subs of SOE games, they get skeleton dev crews that can barely keep up with their own game. This works against the game as it frustrates old and new customers. The games can appeal to a niche community but when you start losing those of the niche community and your more hardcore fans begin to walk, the game dies.
- Competitive MMO scene. This is a no-brainer, yet being apart of the VG community since beta, I know many will deny this. 2 years from today, August 4th 2009, there will be about 5 more MMOs out on the market thus making it tighter than ever. Going off the top of my head, Mortal Online, Aion, Heroes of Telara, Champions Online, The Old Republic, Final Fantasy 14 (unlikely). Now like AoC/War, people will deny that such games will touch the VG population and "you'll be back". Even if this is true, the simple fact is VG is in no position at all to lose a single sub to any game. But like any customer, players will be trying games as they launch and if they appeal enough may just win them over. Now these MMOs aren't going to be exactly like VG but it can be a breathe of fresh air for some players. So all in all, VG will take a few population hits as new games are released even if they aren't the exact same PVE fantasy-based type MMO. They may be small hits but VG is fragile in the population category. Now of course the game can still attract, but you can't be satisfied by breaking even.
Those are just some of the few reasons that the game could potentially shut down. All and all it will come down to the population of the game. Even if the game comes down to 1000 active subs, if it is enough to keep its small dev team employed, and atleast 2 servers up, the game will live. The game has been on a rollercoaster all its life in terms of population and public reception, so its no secret that people expect the game to go down.
The fate of the game no longer relies on SOE, they have made their statement very clear that they will not be giving VG anymore resources and is left to fend on its own. The fate now lies in the hands of Silius and co and if they can product content and fix the game to attract new players but not at a slow pace that will make veteran players leave.
This is just a small overview of what COULD happen. Not saying it will.
When was the last big patch for this game? Just wondering. I haven't any news on this game in awhile.
From a content perspective the last big patch was April 2007 when they added RI, NN and Heg. More content was added in the 2 month period between February 2007 and April 2007 by far then has been added the last 2.5 years in total. Since then almost no new content has been added. But post Sigil the biggest additions have been APW (12/07), the Griffon questline (3/08), and the re-release of PoTA with level increase(6/09).
To give you an idea how much (or little) new content SOE has added to Vanguard in over 2 years I will list it all for you. Its about as much as a normal game adds in 1-2 months.
1. Lvl 12 quest line in Ksvari gulch
2. Raid Dungeon and Overland raid mobs
3. Griffon questline
4. More overland raid mobs
5. IoD
6. Reworked faction adding faction mounts and faction gear.
7. BoD weapon questline
8. SoD Daily Quests
9. PoTA dungoen along with new lvl increase to 55
This isn't a good list. I posted a complete list awhile back but for the life of me I can't get search to work for these forums. And I can't even get it to list post post topics I created. So anyway I posted a topic a few months back listing all the changes to vanguard in the past couple years. Not counting bugs there have been a lot of things you are missing on your list.
It is a good list. It is close to an actual list of actual content thats beena dded in the last 2.5 years. There may be some minor things like the EE change which is not content, the crafting nerf, The CTD performance bug SOE introduced in May 2007 which took them 3 months to fix, adding t5 boats and fishing, and the brotherhood system (but in actuality it is the exact same system that was in beta just renamed) But its all the major content and most of the minor content.
Originally posted by morpin
Come on 1-2 months? Please name a game that has come out with that much content in 1-2 months.
I can name one. Vanguard. Sigil added a ton more content in the first two months of release than SOE has been able to add in the last 2.5 years.
Its unfortunate but I do expect VG to close its doors within the next 2 years for the following reasons: - VG has a small but extremely loyal fanbase. However MxO had the exact same but it continued to twindle over the years and eventually it started to generate next to no money. Now I am not saying VG has that small of a population, however with the mistreatment it has recieved from SOE's pocket, it will continue to go in that direction but at a slower rate. SOE is a business, loyal or no loyal fans, they will continue to only use the smallest numer of developers they can get away with. The fact it is well known that the game has a small loyal fanbase, puts the game into question of shutting down. Question being keyword. - Will VG continue to fit the current business model that SOE has planned out? SOE has 3 new upcoming MMOS: The Agency, DC Universe, and an unnanounced "flagship MMO". Free Realms has already been launched and has proven to some success. Now DCU and The Agency aren't going to threaten VG at all but this new flagship MMO has put alot of surrounding questions on could it be the "next EQ/VG" vision. We all know SOE loves to recycle resources in-house to newer projects, the same has been done with even the smallest of dev teams, VG. This will adversely affect VG's current slow trend of pushing content/bug fixes/etc. - Money. Lets face it, SOE is all about money. Currently VG is quite possibly generating money. SOME money. The fact is that the game still generates money, SOE is keeping it afloat. Now if it goes negative, they will close it down. This proves true to SWG and Planetside. They are still making money for the fact that they have JUST ENOUGH subscriptions to pay the bills and devs. However the same applies to VG and Planetside (since those 2 have been up for discussion of shutting down), making they have the lowest subs of SOE games, they get skeleton dev crews that can barely keep up with their own game. This works against the game as it frustrates old and new customers. The games can appeal to a niche community but when you start losing those of the niche community and your more hardcore fans begin to walk, the game dies. - Competitive MMO scene. This is a no-brainer, yet being apart of the VG community since beta, I know many will deny this. 2 years from today, August 4th 2009, there will be about 5 more MMOs out on the market thus making it tighter than ever. Going off the top of my head, Mortal Online, Aion, Heroes of Telara, Champions Online, The Old Republic, Final Fantasy 14 (unlikely). Now like AoC/War, people will deny that such games will touch the VG population and "you'll be back". Even if this is true, the simple fact is VG is in no position at all to lose a single sub to any game. But like any customer, players will be trying games as they launch and if they appeal enough may just win them over. Now these MMOs aren't going to be exactly like VG but it can be a breathe of fresh air for some players. So all in all, VG will take a few population hits as new games are released even if they aren't the exact same PVE fantasy-based type MMO. They may be small hits but VG is fragile in the population category. Now of course the game can still attract, but you can't be satisfied by breaking even. Those are just some of the few reasons that the game could potentially shut down. All and all it will come down to the population of the game. Even if the game comes down to 1000 active subs, if it is enough to keep its small dev team employed, and atleast 2 servers up, the game will live. The game has been on a rollercoaster all its life in terms of population and public reception, so its no secret that people expect the game to go down. The fate of the game no longer relies on SOE, they have made their statement very clear that they will not be giving VG anymore resources and is left to fend on its own. The fate now lies in the hands of Silius and co and if they can product content and fix the game to attract new players but not at a slow pace that will make veteran players leave. This is just a small overview of what COULD happen. Not saying it will.
I'm sure we could all speculate this to dead (meanwhile the game is still running lol)
But it all comes down to this:
Is it making a profit. It's not just SOE that is worried about money, it is the primary concern of any business. If they don't make the moola, they no provide the product. So really, unless SOE puts out any info on that, it's just us yammering about nuttin instead of playing the games. People on these boards have been claiming SWG is going "shut down" anyday for YEARS and yet it chugs on for 4 years since the NGE and has regular content patches. Hardly the hallmark of a game about to shut down, but then people on the site do love to hate their games.
My apologies on my question, I meant to ask how many content patches since Aug 08 and what did they add. (when I stopped playing) The last thing I saw was the racial mounts patch I believe.
I personally think VG will stick around but it will just be there. It will never move. Its a sink or swim contest and VG has its head half way in the water.
If the news about them not even having a 3d programmer (?) is correct, than im afraid it may happen... Really hate to see a seemless world gone down like that, but they really need to do something unique so make more players interested in it and when soe see more players joining they MAY put some effort to advertise for VG... So to me, the ball is really on the Devs side...
If the news about them not even having a 3d programmer (?) is correct, than im afraid it may happen... Really hate to see a seemless world gone down like that, but they really need to do something unique so make more players interested in it and when soe see more players joining they MAY put some effort to advertise for VG... So to me, the ball is really on the Devs side...
Just was interested to hear people's opinions on whether they think this game will get shut down in the next year or so. The development team is already paper thin and it seems over time they continue to pull people from it. Also SOE has shown over the last month that they will shut down a game. Personally I'm kind of about 50/50 regarding whether I think they will shut it down. What do you all think?
Doesn't matter. I will keep a vanguard account until they shut the servers down. Not one game that I know offers such a huge world to explore.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Just was interested to hear people's opinions on whether they think this game will get shut down in the next year or so. The development team is already paper thin and it seems over time they continue to pull people from it. Also SOE has shown over the last month that they will shut down a game. Personally I'm kind of about 50/50 regarding whether I think they will shut it down. What do you all think?
Doesn't matter. I will keep a vanguard account until they shut the servers down. Not one game that I know offers such a huge world to explore.
I love Vanguard and it's too bad the game doesn't seem to grow with contents, like expansions...
But why everyone is saying it's so huge!? I have max characters in VG and when I was playing, I thought that the world was huge indeed but empty. I remember finding lots of bare tunnels and plains...
I prefer a relatively smaller world map but more detailed with tons of dongeons and creatures etc...
Now playing : FFXIV Waiting on : TBD Best MMORPGs played : EQ, FFXI
Just was interested to hear people's opinions on whether they think this game will get shut down in the next year or so. The development team is already paper thin and it seems over time they continue to pull people from it. Also SOE has shown over the last month that they will shut down a game. Personally I'm kind of about 50/50 regarding whether I think they will shut it down. What do you all think?
Doesn't matter. I will keep a vanguard account until they shut the servers down. Not one game that I know offers such a huge world to explore.
I love Vanguard and it's too bad the game doesn't seem to grow with contents, like expansions...
But why everyone is saying it's so huge!? I have max characters in VG and when I was playing, I thought that the world was huge indeed but empty. I remember finding lots of bare tunnels and plains...
I prefer a relatively smaller world map but more detailed with tons of dongeons and creatures etc...
This is Vanguard number 1 problem right now... people who say things that are completely false.
"I remember finding lots of bare tunnels and plains... "
when did you play last, 2 years ago or were you in a player housing outpost? Because there's no mobs in those areas.
If VG shuts down and I'm sure it will ... it's a self fulfilling prophecy. It's not even close to a bad game if your comparing to the other games on the market. But people keep hammering this game because the graphics aren't anime enough or they can't play on their 500 dollar computer is ridiculous
However its like a general rule ... anything that's quality goes to waste.
Just was interested to hear people's opinions on whether they think this game will get shut down in the next year or so. The development team is already paper thin and it seems over time they continue to pull people from it. Also SOE has shown over the last month that they will shut down a game. Personally I'm kind of about 50/50 regarding whether I think they will shut it down. What do you all think?
Doesn't matter. I will keep a vanguard account until they shut the servers down. Not one game that I know offers such a huge world to explore.
I love Vanguard and it's too bad the game doesn't seem to grow with contents, like expansions...
But why everyone is saying it's so huge!? I have max characters in VG and when I was playing, I thought that the world was huge indeed but empty. I remember finding lots of bare tunnels and plains...
I prefer a relatively smaller world map but more detailed with tons of dongeons and creatures etc...
You see, I don't want a world that's coverd in mobs. I get that from LOTRO and it's just plain garbage.
It's ok to travel and not be attacked or have to do anything other than travel.
The world IS huge. I'm talking space. And I like space. I have had so much fun just seeing something in the distance and going there. If there's something to do there great. If it's just a tower that I can go up and look around then great.
having a huge world just covered in mobs is as bad as a small world covered in mobs. worse in fact.
There is an ineffable feeling of getting on your (virtual) horse and just riding. Having to stop every 10 seconds to fight a mob or having to contend with being thrown from the horse sort of negates the reason to have a mount. In fact it makes it worse. Now I can rush to the next mob faster.
Sorry but I'll take my open world feeling with Vangaurd and take my encounters when they come.
And as someone said there are place to go.
What about that tower that has cyclopses withing the walls at the base. Saw that went there and was destroyed. that was fun.
Or the tomb I saw on top of a mountain. Or that monastery that I flew to in the distance.
Once came upon an area with yeti and stayed to do some fun quests.
Or the islands in the distance that had lizard people who would sacrifice themselves. I even discovered a cave filled with spiders that led to some unknown (to me) quests.
remember, music isn't just notes. It's also the silence between those notes.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
You see, I don't want a world that's coverd in mobs. I get that from LOTRO and it's just plain garbage.
It's ok to travel and not be attacked or have to do anything other than travel.
The world IS huge. I'm talking space. And I like space. I have had so much fun just seeing something in the distance and going there. If there's something to do there great. If it's just a tower that I can go up and look around then great.
having a huge world just covered in mobs is as bad as a small world covered in mobs. worse in fact.
There is an ineffable feeling of getting on your (virtual) horse and just riding. Having to stop every 20 seconds to fight a mob or having to contend with being thrown from the horse sort of negates the reason to have a mount. In fact it makes it worse. Now I can rush to the next mob faster.
Sorry but I'll take my open world feeling with Vangaurd and take my encounters when they come.
Agreed.
The reason most games, unlike VG, have mobs spaced six inches apart is because a lot of players have very short attention spans. If there isn't something for them to kill every time they turn around, they get bored and quit.
VG is without question the largest mmo world currently in existence. Now if they'd only get rid of the silly-ass bind on equip nonsense in favor of a real player economy, I'd re-subscribe.
You see, I don't want a world that's coverd in mobs. I get that from LOTRO and it's just plain garbage.
It's ok to travel and not be attacked or have to do anything other than travel.
The world IS huge. I'm talking space. And I like space. I have had so much fun just seeing something in the distance and going there. If there's something to do there great. If it's just a tower that I can go up and look around then great.
having a huge world just covered in mobs is as bad as a small world covered in mobs. worse in fact.
There is an ineffable feeling of getting on your (virtual) horse and just riding. Having to stop every 20 seconds to fight a mob or having to contend with being thrown from the horse sort of negates the reason to have a mount. In fact it makes it worse. Now I can rush to the next mob faster.
Sorry but I'll take my open world feeling with Vangaurd and take my encounters when they come.
Agreed.
The reason most games, unlike VG, have mobs spaced six inches apart is because a lot of players have very short attention spans. If there isn't something for them to kill every time they turn around, they get bored and quit.
VG is without question the largest mmo world currently in existence. Now if they'd only get rid of the silly-ass bind on equip nonsense in favor of a real player economy, I'd re-subscribe.
QFT. This is one of the reasons why I don't play VG.
When I played VG at launch, I was hooked. Bugs and all, I still played it probably 12+ hours a day for a few months. I dominated every single aspect of the game, but then the end game was so lacking. Areas were full of NOTHING. Mobs didn't drop loot, quests were incomplete, areas were half mob filled....
VG was a damn good game and is even better than at launch. The game has so much detail and exploration. I was the first person worldwide to discover the invis click bracer from those one islands with the lizards. That was amazing. To say that you spent 10+ hours grinding for something that NOBODY else ever discovered...that is amazing.
Its sad to see the game go, but with the standards people have today and the market we're in, money runs everything. If VG had more money and staff before they were pushed to launch the game, the game would be over the top of everything. Not exaggerating. The bugs stayed around for too long when the game was out for people to give it another shot. I admit, I didn't even try it again until a 1 year+ later after my 5 month launch stint. It was still good.
You see, I don't want a world that's coverd in mobs. I get that from LOTRO and it's just plain garbage. It's ok to travel and not be attacked or have to do anything other than travel. The world IS huge. I'm talking space. And I like space. I have had so much fun just seeing something in the distance and going there. If there's something to do there great. If it's just a tower that I can go up and look around then great. having a huge world just covered in mobs is as bad as a small world covered in mobs. worse in fact. There is an ineffable feeling of getting on your (virtual) horse and just riding. Having to stop every 10 seconds to fight a mob or having to contend with being thrown from the horse sort of negates the reason to have a mount. In fact it makes it worse. Now I can rush to the next mob faster. Sorry but I'll take my open world feeling with Vangaurd and take my encounters when they come. And as someone said there are place to go. What about that tower that has cyclopses withing the walls at the base. Saw that went there and was destroyed. that was fun. Or the tomb I saw on top of a mountain. Or that monastery that I flew to in the distance. Once came upon an area with yeti and stayed to do some fun quests. Or the islands in the distance that had lizard people who would sacrifice themselves. I even discovered a cave filled with spiders that led to some unknown (to me) quests. remember, music isn't just notes. It's also the silence between those notes.
Hey Sovrath,
I hear what you are saying, it fits that old "romantic" or classical notion of what MMO's should be like.
However VG has a few problems that really prevent it from being that.
1) It's totally static. Yes you can fly around and gallop around and the first time it is a expansive and somewhat refreshing however nothing changes. I mean nothing has changed at all. There is no dynamic element to VG whatso ever. The game lacks "life", it never feels alive at all. Even the NPC's just stand there for the mostpart.
2) It's confused. Crafting for example. There was a serious shortage of crafters last year when I played. So much that even buying arrows became an issue. Why? Because of loot. On top of it, loot that for the mostpart bound and was slightly better then crafted items. Now thats fine for a game like LotR or WoW but VG has one of the, if not THE most elaborate crafting of any game. So it undoes itself there. Dipolmacy...the forgotten sphere. Possiblly one of the better ideas not tied to an item shop these days. It could have been built on but it has been abandon.
3) Raids...SOE's tried and true lazy way out of everything. Rather then make a dynamic world all they did was throw in a huge time sink of a raid that is on a difficulty level designed to frustrate.
4) lacks any real purpose. You can build a ship, right? But why? It doesn't take you anywhere special, you can teleport everywhere now. You can't fight in it, you can't "adventure" in it...you can fish in it. Not a big motivator. You can build a house but again...why? No one looks at them, you can't do anything with them but decorate them. The original proposal was that you would be able to run shops and things out of them...that got bumped. The content, although some of it is "ok" the vast majority is "kill 10 rats" and recycle.
5) Factional system has no impact. What does it do? Stops you from getting a mount? Weee...maybe some NPC's attack you? It's only a point grinder system, typical of SOE's lazy way out of things. Look at SWG and EQ2, they did the same damn things in both of those games. Point collection systems. EQ2, collect 10 seashells and get a nice little prize, SWG, collect 8 Jabba boogers and you get a shiny object...or Ewok chocolate or something stupid like that...
6) oh, and the class system is not customizable which really hurts it. (unless they changed that recently)
VG was a missed opportunity IMHO. Just like so many other MMO's. SOE put the usual cookie cutter conventions in it a let it ride. They have done MORE to stagnate MMO's then anyone else in the genre.
Comments
From a content perspective the last big patch was April 2007 when they added RI, NN and Heg. More content was added in the 2 month period between February 2007 and April 2007 by far then has been added the last 2.5 years in total. Since then almost no new content has been added. But post Sigil the biggest additions have been APW, the Griffon questline, and the re-release of PoTA.
To give you an idea how much (or little) new content SOE has added to Vanguard in over 2 years I will list it all for you. Its about as much as a normal game adds in 1-2 months.
1. Lvl 12 quest line in Ksvari gulch
2. Raid Dungeon and Overland raid mobs
3. Griffon questline
4. More overland raid mobs
5. IoD
6. Reworked faction adding faction mounts and faction gear.
7. BoD weapon questline
8. SoD Daily Quests
9. PoTA dungoen along with new lvl increase to 55
Kind of missed Isle of Dawn there buddy... kind of an important miss. And APW is a huge, awesome raid and the Griffon questline was great. And PoTA was an awesome dungeon that needed fixed, its a very good addition. Not saying the improvements were massive over time, but plenty has happened. And fishing, new mounts, all kinds of smaller things.
Yes a lot has happened sonny. If they had produced all this content in a month it would be fine. But its not May, 2007. they have added a total amount of content that a normal game would add in 1-2 months but it has taken them 2.5 years. APW was a well done starter raid dungoen but if Sigil hasd stayed inc harge it would have released in June 2007. The dungeon was already done and in game at releae all SOE had to do was add and balance the bosses. I love VG as much as the next guy. It has great core mechanics but SOE has not developed the game and have added almost nothing unless you count the bugs they have added. Almost every patch and mob has been released far to early with almost no testing (except APW) and with serious game breaking bugs.
No VG thread can ever be considered complete without Trueth, neonwire and Daffid011 sprewing their negativity toward the game. Such hatred for a game as these guys have is completely irrational.
I'm sure the other two will show up sooner rather than later.
Edit: speeling
No VG thread can ever be considered complete without Trueth, neonwire and Daffod1l sprewing their negativity toward the game. Such hatred for a game as these guys have is completely irrational.
I'm sure the other two will show up sooner rather than later.
Sweet, I have a fan! FYI: hate is far to strong a word for a game and people toss it around far to much to be taken credible.
@original poster.
I don't think vanguard is closing down any time soon.
From what current players have posted it sounds like VG has roughly 2,000-2,500 combined people online at peak hours from all four servers. Just speculating using the '20% of a games population is online during prime time' formula that some developers have stated, that would put vanguard around 10k users give or take. Even if that is lower than what people chose to speculate at, it is still enough people to generate close to 2 million in revenue. That is more than enough for a small staff, overhead and a some margin of profit.
There are plenty of small games that survive with those population numbers. Mostly independents, but still the same can equally apply here.
Just looking at how the matrix went and planetside is heading, I would guess that Vanguard would still see another round of server mergers and then a major staff cutting to almost nothing before it gets into the danger area of closing down.
If matrix online is still active, Id shut that one down and move the resources over to vanguard.
Havent played either, but vanguard appears to have interesting features
Matrix online isn't active, it was shut down a few days ago.
I do believe the Matrix has been unplugged.
Pun intended.
Say hello, To the things you've left behind. They are more a part of your life now that you can't touch them.
I recall reading in one of SOE's blogs that planetside does not have any dev's that are dedicated to that game. Matrix, had its plug pulled just recently. July 31st
From a content perspective the last big patch was April 2007 when they added RI, NN and Heg. More content was added in the 2 month period between February 2007 and April 2007 by far then has been added the last 2.5 years in total. Since then almost no new content has been added. But post Sigil the biggest additions have been APW, the Griffon questline, and the re-release of PoTA.
To give you an idea how much (or little) new content SOE has added to Vanguard in over 2 years I will list it all for you. Its about as much as a normal game adds in 1-2 months.
1. Lvl 12 quest line in Ksvari gulch
2. Raid Dungeon and Overland raid mobs
3. Griffon questline
4. More overland raid mobs
5. IoD
6. Reworked faction adding faction mounts and faction gear.
7. BoD weapon questline
8. SoD Daily Quests
9. PoTA dungoen along with new lvl increase to 55
Kind of missed Isle of Dawn there buddy... kind of an important miss. And APW is a huge, awesome raid and the Griffon questline was great. And PoTA was an awesome dungeon that needed fixed, its a very good addition. Not saying the improvements were massive over time, but plenty has happened. And fishing, new mounts, all kinds of smaller things.
Yes a lot has happened sonny. If they had produced all this content in a month it would be fine. But its not May, 2007. they have added a total amount of content that a normal game would add in 1-2 months but it has taken them 2.5 years. APW was a well done starter raid dungoen but if Sigil hasd stayed inc harge it would have released in June 2007. The dungeon was already done and in game at releae all SOE had to do was add and balance the bosses. I love VG as much as the next guy. It has great core mechanics but SOE has not developed the game and have added almost nothing unless you count the bugs they have added. Almost every patch and mob has been released far to early with almost no testing (except APW) and with serious game breaking bugs.
Come on 1-2 months? Please name a game that has come out with that much content in 1-2 months.
From a content perspective the last big patch was April 2007 when they added RI, NN and Heg. More content was added in the 2 month period between February 2007 and April 2007 by far then has been added the last 2.5 years in total. Since then almost no new content has been added. But post Sigil the biggest additions have been APW (12/07), the Griffon questline (3/08), and the re-release of PoTA with level increase(6/09).
To give you an idea how much (or little) new content SOE has added to Vanguard in over 2 years I will list it all for you. Its about as much as a normal game adds in 1-2 months.
1. Lvl 12 quest line in Ksvari gulch
2. Raid Dungeon and Overland raid mobs
3. Griffon questline
4. More overland raid mobs
5. IoD
6. Reworked faction adding faction mounts and faction gear.
7. BoD weapon questline
8. SoD Daily Quests
9. PoTA dungoen along with new lvl increase to 55
This isn't a good list. I posted a complete list awhile back but for the life of me I can't get search to work for these forums. And I can't even get it to list post post topics I created. So anyway I posted a topic a few months back listing all the changes to vanguard in the past couple years. Not counting bugs there have been a lot of things you are missing on your list.
---
Ethion
Its unfortunate but I do expect VG to close its doors within the next 2 years for the following reasons:
- VG has a small but extremely loyal fanbase. However MxO had the exact same but it continued to twindle over the years and eventually it started to generate next to no money. Now I am not saying VG has that small of a population, however with the mistreatment it has recieved from SOE's pocket, it will continue to go in that direction but at a slower rate. SOE is a business, loyal or no loyal fans, they will continue to only use the smallest numer of developers they can get away with. The fact it is well known that the game has a small loyal fanbase, puts the game into question of shutting down. Question being keyword.
- Will VG continue to fit the current business model that SOE has planned out? SOE has 3 new upcoming MMOS: The Agency, DC Universe, and an unnanounced "flagship MMO". Free Realms has already been launched and has proven to some success. Now DCU and The Agency aren't going to threaten VG at all but this new flagship MMO has put alot of surrounding questions on could it be the "next EQ/VG" vision. We all know SOE loves to recycle resources in-house to newer projects, the same has been done with even the smallest of dev teams, VG. This will adversely affect VG's current slow trend of pushing content/bug fixes/etc.
- Money. Lets face it, SOE is all about money. Currently VG is quite possibly generating money. SOME money. The fact is that the game still generates money, SOE is keeping it afloat. Now if it goes negative, they will close it down. This proves true to SWG and Planetside. They are still making money for the fact that they have JUST ENOUGH subscriptions to pay the bills and devs. However the same applies to VG and Planetside (since those 2 have been up for discussion of shutting down), making they have the lowest subs of SOE games, they get skeleton dev crews that can barely keep up with their own game. This works against the game as it frustrates old and new customers. The games can appeal to a niche community but when you start losing those of the niche community and your more hardcore fans begin to walk, the game dies.
- Competitive MMO scene. This is a no-brainer, yet being apart of the VG community since beta, I know many will deny this. 2 years from today, August 4th 2009, there will be about 5 more MMOs out on the market thus making it tighter than ever. Going off the top of my head, Mortal Online, Aion, Heroes of Telara, Champions Online, The Old Republic, Final Fantasy 14 (unlikely). Now like AoC/War, people will deny that such games will touch the VG population and "you'll be back". Even if this is true, the simple fact is VG is in no position at all to lose a single sub to any game. But like any customer, players will be trying games as they launch and if they appeal enough may just win them over. Now these MMOs aren't going to be exactly like VG but it can be a breathe of fresh air for some players. So all in all, VG will take a few population hits as new games are released even if they aren't the exact same PVE fantasy-based type MMO. They may be small hits but VG is fragile in the population category. Now of course the game can still attract, but you can't be satisfied by breaking even.
Those are just some of the few reasons that the game could potentially shut down. All and all it will come down to the population of the game. Even if the game comes down to 1000 active subs, if it is enough to keep its small dev team employed, and atleast 2 servers up, the game will live. The game has been on a rollercoaster all its life in terms of population and public reception, so its no secret that people expect the game to go down.
The fate of the game no longer relies on SOE, they have made their statement very clear that they will not be giving VG anymore resources and is left to fend on its own. The fate now lies in the hands of Silius and co and if they can product content and fix the game to attract new players but not at a slow pace that will make veteran players leave.
This is just a small overview of what COULD happen. Not saying it will.
Rift: Storm Legion Raid Progression Tracker
From a content perspective the last big patch was April 2007 when they added RI, NN and Heg. More content was added in the 2 month period between February 2007 and April 2007 by far then has been added the last 2.5 years in total. Since then almost no new content has been added. But post Sigil the biggest additions have been APW (12/07), the Griffon questline (3/08), and the re-release of PoTA with level increase(6/09).
To give you an idea how much (or little) new content SOE has added to Vanguard in over 2 years I will list it all for you. Its about as much as a normal game adds in 1-2 months.
1. Lvl 12 quest line in Ksvari gulch
2. Raid Dungeon and Overland raid mobs
3. Griffon questline
4. More overland raid mobs
5. IoD
6. Reworked faction adding faction mounts and faction gear.
7. BoD weapon questline
8. SoD Daily Quests
9. PoTA dungoen along with new lvl increase to 55
This isn't a good list. I posted a complete list awhile back but for the life of me I can't get search to work for these forums. And I can't even get it to list post post topics I created. So anyway I posted a topic a few months back listing all the changes to vanguard in the past couple years. Not counting bugs there have been a lot of things you are missing on your list.
It is a good list. It is close to an actual list of actual content thats beena dded in the last 2.5 years. There may be some minor things like the EE change which is not content, the crafting nerf, The CTD performance bug SOE introduced in May 2007 which took them 3 months to fix, adding t5 boats and fishing, and the brotherhood system (but in actuality it is the exact same system that was in beta just renamed) But its all the major content and most of the minor content.
Originally posted by morpin
Come on 1-2 months? Please name a game that has come out with that much content in 1-2 months.
I can name one. Vanguard. Sigil added a ton more content in the first two months of release than SOE has been able to add in the last 2.5 years.
I'm sure we could all speculate this to dead (meanwhile the game is still running lol)
But it all comes down to this:
Is it making a profit. It's not just SOE that is worried about money, it is the primary concern of any business. If they don't make the moola, they no provide the product. So really, unless SOE puts out any info on that, it's just us yammering about nuttin instead of playing the games. People on these boards have been claiming SWG is going "shut down" anyday for YEARS and yet it chugs on for 4 years since the NGE and has regular content patches. Hardly the hallmark of a game about to shut down, but then people on the site do love to hate their games.
My apologies on my question, I meant to ask how many content patches since Aug 08 and what did they add. (when I stopped playing)
The last thing I saw was the racial mounts patch I believe.
It doesnt seem like it is going that direction, no.
I personally think VG will stick around but it will just be there. It will never move. Its a sink or swim contest and VG has its head half way in the water.
Rift: Storm Legion Raid Progression Tracker
I am not sure where this "news' comes from.
Oddly enough, it comes from the devs themselves:
forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m
We do not currently have a graphics programmer so this bug is not one that we can fix at this time.
That refrain comes up a lot in their answers, and there is no indication at all that a graphics programmer has been hired.
I am not sure where this "news' comes from.
Oddly enough, it comes from the devs themselves:
forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m
We do not currently have a graphics programmer so this bug is not one that we can fix at this time.
That refrain comes up a lot in their answers, and there is no indication at all that a graphics programmer has been hired.
Yup... I knew about the graphics vacancy. I think SOE kind of floats the graphics programmers around, although I could be mistaken.
My comment was that they have at least 3 if not more programmers on the Vangaurd project.
Doesn't matter. I will keep a vanguard account until they shut the servers down. Not one game that I know offers such a huge world to explore.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Doesn't matter. I will keep a vanguard account until they shut the servers down. Not one game that I know offers such a huge world to explore.
I love Vanguard and it's too bad the game doesn't seem to grow with contents, like expansions...
But why everyone is saying it's so huge!? I have max characters in VG and when I was playing, I thought that the world was huge indeed but empty. I remember finding lots of bare tunnels and plains...
I prefer a relatively smaller world map but more detailed with tons of dongeons and creatures etc...
Now playing : FFXIV
Waiting on : TBD
Best MMORPGs played : EQ, FFXI
Doesn't matter. I will keep a vanguard account until they shut the servers down. Not one game that I know offers such a huge world to explore.
I love Vanguard and it's too bad the game doesn't seem to grow with contents, like expansions...
But why everyone is saying it's so huge!? I have max characters in VG and when I was playing, I thought that the world was huge indeed but empty. I remember finding lots of bare tunnels and plains...
I prefer a relatively smaller world map but more detailed with tons of dongeons and creatures etc...
This is Vanguard number 1 problem right now... people who say things that are completely false.
"I remember finding lots of bare tunnels and plains...
"
when did you play last, 2 years ago or were you in a player housing outpost? Because there's no mobs in those areas.
If VG shuts down and I'm sure it will ... it's a self fulfilling prophecy. It's not even close to a bad game if your comparing to the other games on the market. But people keep hammering this game because the graphics aren't anime enough or they can't play on their 500 dollar computer is ridiculous
However its like a general rule ... anything that's quality goes to waste.
Doesn't matter. I will keep a vanguard account until they shut the servers down. Not one game that I know offers such a huge world to explore.
I love Vanguard and it's too bad the game doesn't seem to grow with contents, like expansions...
But why everyone is saying it's so huge!? I have max characters in VG and when I was playing, I thought that the world was huge indeed but empty. I remember finding lots of bare tunnels and plains...
I prefer a relatively smaller world map but more detailed with tons of dongeons and creatures etc...
You see, I don't want a world that's coverd in mobs. I get that from LOTRO and it's just plain garbage.
It's ok to travel and not be attacked or have to do anything other than travel.
The world IS huge. I'm talking space. And I like space. I have had so much fun just seeing something in the distance and going there. If there's something to do there great. If it's just a tower that I can go up and look around then great.
having a huge world just covered in mobs is as bad as a small world covered in mobs. worse in fact.
There is an ineffable feeling of getting on your (virtual) horse and just riding. Having to stop every 10 seconds to fight a mob or having to contend with being thrown from the horse sort of negates the reason to have a mount. In fact it makes it worse. Now I can rush to the next mob faster.
Sorry but I'll take my open world feeling with Vangaurd and take my encounters when they come.
And as someone said there are place to go.
What about that tower that has cyclopses withing the walls at the base. Saw that went there and was destroyed. that was fun.
Or the tomb I saw on top of a mountain. Or that monastery that I flew to in the distance.
Once came upon an area with yeti and stayed to do some fun quests.
Or the islands in the distance that had lizard people who would sacrifice themselves. I even discovered a cave filled with spiders that led to some unknown (to me) quests.
remember, music isn't just notes. It's also the silence between those notes.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
You see, I don't want a world that's coverd in mobs. I get that from LOTRO and it's just plain garbage.
It's ok to travel and not be attacked or have to do anything other than travel.
The world IS huge. I'm talking space. And I like space. I have had so much fun just seeing something in the distance and going there. If there's something to do there great. If it's just a tower that I can go up and look around then great.
having a huge world just covered in mobs is as bad as a small world covered in mobs. worse in fact.
There is an ineffable feeling of getting on your (virtual) horse and just riding. Having to stop every 20 seconds to fight a mob or having to contend with being thrown from the horse sort of negates the reason to have a mount. In fact it makes it worse. Now I can rush to the next mob faster.
Sorry but I'll take my open world feeling with Vangaurd and take my encounters when they come.
Agreed.
The reason most games, unlike VG, have mobs spaced six inches apart is because a lot of players have very short attention spans. If there isn't something for them to kill every time they turn around, they get bored and quit.
VG is without question the largest mmo world currently in existence. Now if they'd only get rid of the silly-ass bind on equip nonsense in favor of a real player economy, I'd re-subscribe.
You see, I don't want a world that's coverd in mobs. I get that from LOTRO and it's just plain garbage.
It's ok to travel and not be attacked or have to do anything other than travel.
The world IS huge. I'm talking space. And I like space. I have had so much fun just seeing something in the distance and going there. If there's something to do there great. If it's just a tower that I can go up and look around then great.
having a huge world just covered in mobs is as bad as a small world covered in mobs. worse in fact.
There is an ineffable feeling of getting on your (virtual) horse and just riding. Having to stop every 20 seconds to fight a mob or having to contend with being thrown from the horse sort of negates the reason to have a mount. In fact it makes it worse. Now I can rush to the next mob faster.
Sorry but I'll take my open world feeling with Vangaurd and take my encounters when they come.
Agreed.
The reason most games, unlike VG, have mobs spaced six inches apart is because a lot of players have very short attention spans. If there isn't something for them to kill every time they turn around, they get bored and quit.
VG is without question the largest mmo world currently in existence. Now if they'd only get rid of the silly-ass bind on equip nonsense in favor of a real player economy, I'd re-subscribe.
QFT. This is one of the reasons why I don't play VG.
it is my sincere belief that Vanguard will be shot down soon or made free 2 play..
When I played VG at launch, I was hooked. Bugs and all, I still played it probably 12+ hours a day for a few months. I dominated every single aspect of the game, but then the end game was so lacking. Areas were full of NOTHING. Mobs didn't drop loot, quests were incomplete, areas were half mob filled....
VG was a damn good game and is even better than at launch. The game has so much detail and exploration. I was the first person worldwide to discover the invis click bracer from those one islands with the lizards. That was amazing. To say that you spent 10+ hours grinding for something that NOBODY else ever discovered...that is amazing.
Its sad to see the game go, but with the standards people have today and the market we're in, money runs everything. If VG had more money and staff before they were pushed to launch the game, the game would be over the top of everything. Not exaggerating. The bugs stayed around for too long when the game was out for people to give it another shot. I admit, I didn't even try it again until a 1 year+ later after my 5 month launch stint. It was still good.
Hey Sovrath,
I hear what you are saying, it fits that old "romantic" or classical notion of what MMO's should be like.
However VG has a few problems that really prevent it from being that.
1) It's totally static. Yes you can fly around and gallop around and the first time it is a expansive and somewhat refreshing however nothing changes. I mean nothing has changed at all. There is no dynamic element to VG whatso ever. The game lacks "life", it never feels alive at all. Even the NPC's just stand there for the mostpart.
2) It's confused. Crafting for example. There was a serious shortage of crafters last year when I played. So much that even buying arrows became an issue. Why? Because of loot. On top of it, loot that for the mostpart bound and was slightly better then crafted items. Now thats fine for a game like LotR or WoW but VG has one of the, if not THE most elaborate crafting of any game. So it undoes itself there. Dipolmacy...the forgotten sphere. Possiblly one of the better ideas not tied to an item shop these days. It could have been built on but it has been abandon.
3) Raids...SOE's tried and true lazy way out of everything. Rather then make a dynamic world all they did was throw in a huge time sink of a raid that is on a difficulty level designed to frustrate.
4) lacks any real purpose. You can build a ship, right? But why? It doesn't take you anywhere special, you can teleport everywhere now. You can't fight in it, you can't "adventure" in it...you can fish in it. Not a big motivator. You can build a house but again...why? No one looks at them, you can't do anything with them but decorate them. The original proposal was that you would be able to run shops and things out of them...that got bumped. The content, although some of it is "ok" the vast majority is "kill 10 rats" and recycle.
5) Factional system has no impact. What does it do? Stops you from getting a mount? Weee...maybe some NPC's attack you? It's only a point grinder system, typical of SOE's lazy way out of things. Look at SWG and EQ2, they did the same damn things in both of those games. Point collection systems. EQ2, collect 10 seashells and get a nice little prize, SWG, collect 8 Jabba boogers and you get a shiny object...or Ewok chocolate or something stupid like that...
6) oh, and the class system is not customizable which really hurts it. (unless they changed that recently)
VG was a missed opportunity IMHO. Just like so many other MMO's. SOE put the usual cookie cutter conventions in it a let it ride. They have done MORE to stagnate MMO's then anyone else in the genre.
See you in AION