This is a great game its a great game for the player who like immersion and complex gameplay it has alot of grind but its good and fun grind it has rewards tons of name critters too hunt down and find rare loot plenty of quests crafting and what not. Its not a game for a WoW style quest driven player. This is like eq1 on steroids very great i give it a 9.5/10 its how a real mmorpg should have been.
Vanguard has no more PvP (server population in the teens most of the time save the starting area), has a steep leveling curve and strong need for grouping after 20 (but population issues make it difficult to group), the mmorpg is missing the 'massively' componant big time, and the community is seperated between the "been here forever" camp and the "I am a noob" camp. There is very little integration between the two groups. Even joining an active recruiting guild it seemed that I was destined to spend the first 6 months soloing. You are MUCH better off just starting a noob in WoW if you want an interactive group experience. If you want to pay a monthly sub to play a mostly solo game, this may be the game for you.
If only my system could handle playing it. I have tried a handfull of times to get back into the game, but my puny PC is not up to the task. I am always left frustrated. Of all the current MMOs on the market today, this is the one I wish I could rally sink my teeth into. I just can't play a game on low settings ... takes all the immersion away from it for me. "sigh" Alas Telon ... perhaps it is not meant to be.
Updating ATM.....tried the trial last year.....think the only reason I didn't fully move onto actually buying the game was because of the fact I was already subbed to 3 other mmo's. Now that Aion is just going bleh for me.....WoW is getting really boring and is now too EZ street......quest grind is now the new style....although Dungeon Finder was the greatest invention ever invented for groups......and my LOTRO account is currently hacked XD.....guess I'll give this a go again.
Last thing I remember while trying this out was that playing was really smooth, I had no problems leveling and It was probably the first mmo to where leveling and staring at my level wasn't the first thing on my mind.
My husband and i have'nt played in almost 2 years,we loved the game but at the time about every other quest we got was broken and was extremely frustrating.We've tried a few other games,WoW,we never made it past the trial,after playing EQ and Vanguard it was just too trivial and not a lot of fun for us,Eve,which was great but just did'nt have the time it required,so we settled on EQ2,which even though is mostly a cool little game,just never had the"sense of having worked for something feel",as silly as it sounds.
@.We mostly duo,he's a dreadknight and im a blood mage so we do ok,we're both level 37 and both had several offers to join groups throughout the night.I'll be honest,it took a while to relearn being a bloodmage,i could'nt remember how to do anything but it really is just like riding a bike=).
We did'nt get the "massive but empty" feel some folks are complaining about,population a little low?,perhaps,but like i said we got several offers through the night for groups.
Bottom line,if you've not tried VG yet,do yourself a favor,try the trial,if you have'nt been on in a while,you should take some time and do a retry,it really is what the game should have been at launch,as for us,who are not in the 30 something crowd and won't be for a bit yet,we'll be spending a lot of time getting reaquainted with an old friend=).
I would like to play Vanguard but what is stopping me is SOE. As was stated earlier they cancelled some of their plans for the game. If they would stop treating it like a 'Red-Headed stepchild' I would sub to the game.
It seems that SOE does not care about the game. I might be wrong but that is the impression that I get from reading its forums.
I played....for a short while.....but THIS ^^^^^ ....this is what keeps me away. SoE could decide to just close the doors on Vanguard TOMORROW, and there's nothing anyone could do about it. I don't want to get so immersed and in love with a game only to have that happen.
I kind of always felt that SoE didn't buy Vanguard to "save" it, but more to save EQ2 from ever being threatened by it, and therefore, they just treat it like a second class citizen, so to speak, and it really gets no love in comparison to what they pour into EQ2.
I think probably the only way I would go back and play Vanguard full on....is if SoE commited to it, and frankly, I just don't see that happening. I guess time will tell.
Didn't we just hear like a few months ago that plans for new updates and expansions to Vanguard had been scraped?
This review is pretty much accurate but fails to tell the entire truth. Simply put, Vanguard is a game you play for the moment. I've heard they got one more server merge coming up? Good grief, but I guess hey, you have to pay the bills somehow. But its frightening to know that the population/money inflow has come to this where you're looking at a 1-2 server game. My advice? Enjoy the game for what it is now because Vanguard's future is far from promised. You basically have to enter the game with the expectations of "this is what it is" in order to enjoy it. If you expect high marketing, lots of hype, energetic flaring out of the game, then you'll be sorely disappointed. The players of Vanguard have pretty much accepted the fate of the game. The game is and will continue to be neglected. Its nice to see players are returning and giving it another shot but like others have said, they eventually just don't stay.
Even though there is no pure open world PVE fantasy game on the horizon, making that the industry is already over-crowded with competition, with upcoming games like SWTOR, GW2, D3, Rift, etc...there's only so much the last bit of developers can do at SOE when the odds are highly stacked. People don't play because of population issues, they have good reasons.
As for why people won't leave EQ2 for VG...even though of the features of each game are different. Plain and simple and game with full blown development will have that extra appeal compared to one that's being ran by a hampster.
Played this game from beta through the disasterous release, and then onward until (just about) everyone left. I eventuially moved to EQ2, and then onto other games, but I harbored some hope that this title might make a comeback someday.
Soooo, long story short, I fired up the newbie isle trial the other day. Played through it for a few solo sessions - I think I ran into only 2 other players in my few hours of gametime. Population (or lack thereof) is a real problem. But I was still interested, even as a soloist, to see how my memories of VG (good and bad) stacked up against the current version of the game.
Although my PC today is considerably better than the one I used originally for VG, I was disappointed to find that I STILL couldn't really run it reasonably on any setting other than 'balanced' or whatever that midrange setting is called. Anything above that turned the game into a sluggish slideshow, complete with almost constant disk grinding (was it just swapping out gobs of virtual memory or something? Who knows...) and for all that, the graphics weren't all that remarkable, even in slideshow mode. Even in balanced, graphics would load in as I turned toward them - hardly an 'immersive' experience. Maybe I'm jaded, or maybe I sabotaged myself by having such high expectations, but it just didn't WOW me like I thought it would.
Gameplay was pretty standard fare - quest driven storyline to gather new skills and equipment. Having been through VG a few years ago, this was mostly expected, and I actually didn't mind that game setup. Of course it got slightly annoying when the first non-soloable quest came along. Having no options for grouping, I figured I'd better grind out some levels, skills, or equipment so I could try the quest again.
So I was in a building, selling some goods, looking for equipment upgrade options when the game abruptly crashed back to WIndows. I had seen a few bugs up to that point, but hadn't run across anything resembling the show stoppers I remembered from the old days. And then, poof, I was staring at my Windows desktop, and suddenly I remembered how incredibly frustrating it had been to play VG before, with all the engine bugs. Crashing to desktop, losing items. falling through the world (to my death), getting stuck on the terrain all over the place. Did I really want to go through that all over again?
It only took me a minute to decide "Nope!". VG is once again off my hard drive. Sorry VG lovers, there may be a pretty decent game in there somewhere, but if they can't fix the engine after several years of work, it's pretty obvious that they never will.
Played this game from beta through the disasterous release, and then onward until (just about) everyone left. I eventuially moved to EQ2, and then onto other games, but I harbored some hope that this title might make a comeback someday.
Soooo, long story short, I fired up the newbie isle trial the other day. Played through it for a few solo sessions - I think I ran into only 2 other players in my few hours of gametime. Population (or lack thereof) is a real problem. But I was still interested, even as a soloist, to see how my memories of VG (good and bad) stacked up against the current version of the game.
Although my PC today is considerably better than the one I used originally for VG, I was disappointed to find that I STILL couldn't really run it reasonably on any setting other than 'balanced' or whatever that midrange setting is called. Anything above that turned the game into a sluggish slideshow, complete with almost constant disk grinding (was it just swapping out gobs of virtual memory or something? Who knows...) and for all that, the graphics weren't all that remarkable, even in slideshow mode. Even in balanced, graphics would load in as I turned toward them - hardly an 'immersive' experience. Maybe I'm jaded, or maybe I sabotaged myself by having such high expectations, but it just didn't WOW me like I thought it would.
Gameplay was pretty standard fare - quest driven storyline to gather new skills and equipment. Having been through VG a few years ago, this was mostly expected, and I actually didn't mind that game setup. Of course it got slightly annoying when the first non-soloable quest came along. Having no options for grouping, I figured I'd better grind out some levels, skills, or equipment so I could try the quest again.
So I was in a building, selling some goods, looking for equipment upgrade options when the game abruptly crashed back to WIndows. I had seen a few bugs up to that point, but hadn't run across anything resembling the show stoppers I remembered from the old days. And then, poof, I was staring at my Windows desktop, and suddenly I remembered how incredibly frustrating it had been to play VG before, with all the engine bugs. Crashing to desktop, losing items. falling through the world (to my death), getting stuck on the terrain all over the place. Did I really want to go through that all over again?
It only took me a minute to decide "Nope!". VG is once again off my hard drive. Sorry VG lovers, there may be a pretty decent game in there somewhere, but if they can't fix the engine after several years of work, it's pretty obvious that they never will.
And you know sad enough, the game has become guild orientated. From what I've heard its basically you join a guild or your gameplay experience will be shot because there isn't enough people out there to have true pugs. To me this takes away from the social aspect of mmos in general. Like back in the day of EQ if you was guilded or not you go LFG for a little bit and you'll snag a group.
But having it where you need to go through guilds like TASC/TPO/SH in order to really get into the game is just wrong. But hey its free advertisement for them
I must be missing something on Seradon then. Wife and I are level 20. Log in and need to start working HL quest on Skalra (sp?). Mind you this is a level 22 quest on a 3 year old game. Shout for a group and get like 6 immediate responses. Actually made a waiting list for a level 22 quest. Do a /who for the zone and there were 13 people in this one chunk that is low 20 content with no dungeons to my knowledge.
I loved Vanguard. Played at release, then left because I couldnt get my client to run stable enough. Returned after Isle of Dawn was released. Noticed the performance was increased immensely. But at this point the amount of updates/fixes were already going very slow.
An example was that they broke diplomacy levers on Isle on Dawn with an update, something that worked at release of Isle of Dawn. I played a few months after that update, but all that time they didnt fix that. To me this was a bad sign. Not specifically for this bug, but overall how long it took for them to fix NEW bugs. So I left again, because I didnt trust SOE for investing enough in VG.
After that I kept track of VG for about a year. Compared the bugfix/content updates with a different SOE MMO on lifesupport (SWG). The difference is immense. SWG actually gets loads of new stuff and bugfixes, while VG gets it at a pace that is a lot slower, which made me conclude that it wont be there for long.
I must be missing something on Seradon then. Wife and I are level 20. Log in and need to start working HL quest on Skalra (sp?). Mind you this is a level 22 quest on a 3 year old game. Shout for a group and get like 6 immediate responses. Actually made a waiting list for a level 22 quest. Do a /who for the zone and there were 13 people in this one chunk that is low 20 content with no dungeons to my knowledge.
Yeah I've NEVER had a hard time finding a group for any of the group zones unless it is way off on the other side of the world when there is a zone the same level with better quest rewards.
I don't know what people are talking about when they say it is "empty" or mocking Vangaurd when the writer says this game is immersive. Graphically, yeah it is rather weak compared to the likes of AoC. But for me, it has pretty much everything else. I actually enjoy crafting. The diplomacy card games are a nice change of scenery after fighting mobs all day. Why am I NOT there? Because of lack of faith that SOE will stick with Van. I just don't see it happening.
Players and companies are guilty of "get rich quick" mentality. If it isn't everything they want, the give up. Sure, as a consumer that is your prerogative. But SOE bailed on Vangaurd much too quickly when it wasn't Eq2 or WoW. I'm also guessing they were the same ones pushing a horribly early deadline for launch.
Vanguard is a good game. It's solid pve with plenty of alternate activities should you feel yourself inclined. To say it's bad because "people don't play it" is insane and short sighted. People don't play games unless they are marketed in their face. How many people play half the Indies coming out without PR? No one. Vanguard had a horrible launch. But just because it isn't pulling the numbers of Lotro doesn't mean it's bad. It's just different. And it takes a lot of marketing to make people try different.
I loved Vanguard. Played at release, then left because I couldnt get my client to run stable enough. Returned after Isle of Dawn was released. Noticed the performance was increased immensely. But at this point the amount of updates/fixes were already going very slow.
An example was that they broke diplomacy levers on Isle on Dawn with an update, something that worked at release of Isle of Dawn. I played a few months after that update, but all that time they didnt fix that. To me this was a bad sign. Not specifically for this bug, but overall how long it took for them to fix NEW bugs. So I left again, because I didnt trust SOE for investing enough in VG.
After that I kept track of VG for about a year. Compared the bugfix/content updates with a different SOE MMO on lifesupport (SWG). The difference is immense. SWG actually gets loads of new stuff and bugfixes, while VG gets it at a pace that is a lot slower, which made me conclude that it wont be there for long.
I honestly think SOE has stuck them with the C squad and maybe interns. I had a bug where my druid would shape shift into a larger version of himself instead of an animal. After a few days they finally responded with "try reinstalling" when that still didn't fix it, it escalated to "We're working on it. It's a known issue." and that took a few days.
The only thing that spoiled this game for me was that you really need to be in a US time zone to see enough players online. My niggling concern was that the game seemed to have become frivolous since its original conception. Being able to do a quest at level 11 that gives you a Ruddy(?) the Reindeer mount was so against all the great lore that sets the game apart. The theme of humour that seems to have been added onto the game after its launch looks out of place. This is still a MMO with a epic fantasy feel, but they should have stuck with that, not added patchy humour quests.
The diplomacy system is the most innovative achievement system I have seen in a MMO. The crafting system is one of the best I have seen and equally innovative. The races and classes are a perfect fit, if you live in an American time zone give it a go.
I realllyyy liked this game when it first came out. I didn't notice or care about the bugs, I hate how people get all upset about them, especially if they arent game breaking. I only noticed a couple, like a few times a mob disappeared while I was fighting it or walked backwards, etc.
But I stopped playing right away because I was worried it would consume my life too much.
I cant believe they don't merge the servers. They are total idiots, they really should do it. I would play again now if they merged them and I think a lot of others would too.
And like the other poster here, I hate SoE still because of what they did to SWG, and anyone who makes fun of that probably wasn't there, because it was ridiculous.
There is a lot of new high end content that is very fun. Supposedly a server merge is on the way no exact details yet. Mentoring is also in game, someone can mentor from 55 down to as low as 11 and help groups whe need classes at lower level and even the person mentoring will get xp. Combat is great and probably the best targeting system out there. There is no crappy class, they all play very well and some very unique. There is a lot of stuff now in place in Vanguard that people who want to get to high end and have even more fun have tools to help them fit in with guilds doing the new content. Log in meet new people and form a guild. There are some guilds that play active all levels and almost everyone in the game has alts that they love to play cause the classes are that fun.
If you have questions, in game people are more then happy to aid people toget in the swing of things and you'll be enjoying yourself in no time. Some guilds even pride themselves of having people off all levels and help with things like crafting and diplomacy. Though you can't speak for everyone, this is a game where there are mature people, a lot of players actually range 25+ so you don't feel like you are back in grammer school with e-peens the size of the Debai tower.
All in all it is nice to see a great progress report for a game that really is the underated gem of MMO's at the moment. If this game had the right marketing it would fill up in no time.
There is a lot of new high end content that is very fun. Supposedly a server merge is on the way no exact details yet. Mentoring is also in game, someone can mentor from 55 down to as low as 11 and help groups whe need classes at lower level and even the person mentoring will get xp. Combat is great and probably the best targeting system out there. There is no crappy class, they all play very well and some very unique. There is a lot of stuff now in place in Vanguard that people who want to get to high end and have even more fun have tools to help them fit in with guilds doing the new content. Log in meet new people and form a guild. There are some guilds that play active all levels and almost everyone in the game has alts that they love to play cause the classes are that fun.
If you have questions, in game people are more then happy to aid people toget in the swing of things and you'll be enjoying yourself in no time. Some guilds even pride themselves of having people off all levels and help with things like crafting and diplomacy. Though you can't speak for everyone, this is a game where there are mature people, a lot of players actually range 25+ so you don't feel like you are back in grammer school with e-peens the size of the Debai tower.
All in all it is nice to see a great progress report for a game that really is the underated gem of MMO's at the moment. If this game had the right marketing it would fill up in no time.
Now that's a tone I haven't seen before...interesting
I had some good flashbacks after reading this article, thank you.
I have been wanting to resubscribe but then I remember all my characters were merged on that god forsaken Sartok server. I played at launch on the server Varking(Team PVP), with I think was the greatest guild that ever existed until the server merge. I was absent for a while during the merges so I didn't seem to have a choice but to be merged in with Sartok. After the merge I really didn't feel like playing the game anymore, I never liked the "FFA" aspect. I'm more of a "Light vs. Dark" "Human vs Orc" type of player. During my time on Varking was my greatest MMO experiences except for SWG of course. Yes, it had its frustrating bugs and constant crashing but it didn't stop me from loving the game. I miss cruising on my small swoop around in the ocean and through the little rivers taking in all the beauty that was Telon. I was becoming a high level artificer remembering wanting to break my keyboard when i got a bunch of failures in a row, ah how I miss those times.
Do they offer transfer services for free or for a low fee? I might be interested in trying this game again.
'This game has seen its share of dark times and dismal prospects, but if my last few weeks in Telon have taught me anything, it's that the sun hasn't quite set on Vanguard, and brighter days may very well be ahead."
The writer obviously hasn't read any of the developer posts on the official forums then. There is nothing really bright to look forward to in Vanguard's future.
Thats why I've not gone back. Its one of the best PvE games around, but the player population is so small, and most are at max level now. Games like this are a long term project, and from the recent developments, its not certain that it will even be around in 9 months to a year. At some point the plug is likely to be pulled. Its too damn bad, as these days its a MUCH better game than it was at launch(or for months and months after). It would take a major marketing push to turn things around now, and I really don't see that happening.
I would give it a try again if they offered me a free months play to make up for the one I found virtually unplayable when I brought the game on release . If I liked it after that month I might even stay . Other than that my experiance of Vanguard was so poor I would'nt ever look at it again .
'This game has seen its share of dark times and dismal prospects, but if my last few weeks in Telon have taught me anything, it's that the sun hasn't quite set on Vanguard, and brighter days may very well be ahead."
The writer obviously hasn't read any of the developer posts on the official forums then. There is nothing really bright to look forward to in Vanguard's future.
Thats why I've not gone back. Its one of the best PvE games around, but the player population is so small, and most are at max level now. Games like this are a long term project, and from the recent developments, its not certain that it will even be around in 9 months to a year. At some point the plug is likely to be pulled. Its too damn bad, as these days its a MUCH better game than it was at launch(or for months and months after). It would take a major marketing push to turn things around now, and I really don't see that happening.
Yeah, I too wonder where the OP got the idea that VG has any kind of bright future whatsoever. SoE removes staff from this game at an alarming rate, and yes....financing over all. It wasn't long ago that the announcement was made that they would not be doing some (some MORE, I should say) of the things they had been recently promising....yet AGAIN.
As I said before....I do not believe that SoE has even one SHRED of desire to put any money or effort into VG. It was and always HAS been (imo) a purchase made as a form of protection for EQ2. When VG first came out....a lot of players left EQ2 for it. Some of them returned after the disastrous launch, and others, like my friends Atreus and his wife, Moondancer (sorry....no idea their real names) ended up playing EVE, actually, rather than returning to EQ2.
That exodus of people to VG from EQ2 on release....I think....was a bit of a wake up call for SoE, and when they were in a position to buy VG to "save" it....they certainly did. They "saved" it from ever being a threat to them again, and they have no intentions of advertising it, pouring an money into it, or creating for it much at all beyond just keeping the players it has...grumbling a little, but still playing.
SoE did nothing "nice" when they "saved" Vanguard. I do not trust them enough with VANGUARD....to play Vanguard. Let's just put it that way.
Originally posted by mailhunter Anyone has expirience with playing solo in VSoH? is it possible to reach the max. level, w/o grouping/guilding/raiding?
I realllyyy liked this game when it first came out. I didn't notice or care about the bugs, I hate how people get all upset about them, especially if they arent game breaking. I only noticed a couple, like a few times a mob disappeared while I was fighting it or walked backwards, etc.
But I stopped playing right away because I was worried it would consume my life too much.
I cant believe they don't merge the servers. They are total idiots, they really should do it. I would play again now if they merged them and I think a lot of others would too.
And like the other poster here, I hate SoE still because of what they did to SWG, and anyone who makes fun of that probably wasn't there, because it was ridiculous.
They are merging the servers,it's one of the main topics oin the forums right now.
Comments
This is a great game its a great game for the player who like immersion and complex gameplay it has alot of grind but its good and fun grind it has rewards tons of name critters too hunt down and find rare loot plenty of quests crafting and what not. Its not a game for a WoW style quest driven player. This is like eq1 on steroids very great i give it a 9.5/10 its how a real mmorpg should have been.
Vanguard has no more PvP (server population in the teens most of the time save the starting area), has a steep leveling curve and strong need for grouping after 20 (but population issues make it difficult to group), the mmorpg is missing the 'massively' componant big time, and the community is seperated between the "been here forever" camp and the "I am a noob" camp. There is very little integration between the two groups. Even joining an active recruiting guild it seemed that I was destined to spend the first 6 months soloing. You are MUCH better off just starting a noob in WoW if you want an interactive group experience. If you want to pay a monthly sub to play a mostly solo game, this may be the game for you.
If only my system could handle playing it. I have tried a handfull of times to get back into the game, but my puny PC is not up to the task. I am always left frustrated. Of all the current MMOs on the market today, this is the one I wish I could rally sink my teeth into. I just can't play a game on low settings ... takes all the immersion away from it for me. "sigh" Alas Telon ... perhaps it is not meant to be.
Updating ATM.....tried the trial last year.....think the only reason I didn't fully move onto actually buying the game was because of the fact I was already subbed to 3 other mmo's. Now that Aion is just going bleh for me.....WoW is getting really boring and is now too EZ street......quest grind is now the new style....although Dungeon Finder was the greatest invention ever invented for groups......and my LOTRO account is currently hacked XD.....guess I'll give this a go again.
Last thing I remember while trying this out was that playing was really smooth, I had no problems leveling and It was probably the first mmo to where leveling and staring at my level wasn't the first thing on my mind.
My husband and i have'nt played in almost 2 years,we loved the game but at the time about every other quest we got was broken and was extremely frustrating.We've tried a few other games,WoW,we never made it past the trial,after playing EQ and Vanguard it was just too trivial and not a lot of fun for us,Eve,which was great but just did'nt have the time it required,so we settled on EQ2,which even though is mostly a cool little game,just never had the"sense of having worked for something feel",as silly as it sounds.
@.We mostly duo,he's a dreadknight and im a blood mage so we do ok,we're both level 37 and both had several offers to join groups throughout the night.I'll be honest,it took a while to relearn being a bloodmage,i could'nt remember how to do anything but it really is just like riding a bike=).
We did'nt get the "massive but empty" feel some folks are complaining about,population a little low?,perhaps,but like i said we got several offers through the night for groups.
Bottom line,if you've not tried VG yet,do yourself a favor,try the trial,if you have'nt been on in a while,you should take some time and do a retry,it really is what the game should have been at launch,as for us,who are not in the 30 something crowd and won't be for a bit yet,we'll be spending a lot of time getting reaquainted with an old friend=).
I played....for a short while.....but THIS ^^^^^ ....this is what keeps me away. SoE could decide to just close the doors on Vanguard TOMORROW, and there's nothing anyone could do about it. I don't want to get so immersed and in love with a game only to have that happen.
I kind of always felt that SoE didn't buy Vanguard to "save" it, but more to save EQ2 from ever being threatened by it, and therefore, they just treat it like a second class citizen, so to speak, and it really gets no love in comparison to what they pour into EQ2.
I think probably the only way I would go back and play Vanguard full on....is if SoE commited to it, and frankly, I just don't see that happening. I guess time will tell.
Didn't we just hear like a few months ago that plans for new updates and expansions to Vanguard had been scraped?
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
This review is pretty much accurate but fails to tell the entire truth. Simply put, Vanguard is a game you play for the moment. I've heard they got one more server merge coming up? Good grief, but I guess hey, you have to pay the bills somehow. But its frightening to know that the population/money inflow has come to this where you're looking at a 1-2 server game. My advice? Enjoy the game for what it is now because Vanguard's future is far from promised. You basically have to enter the game with the expectations of "this is what it is" in order to enjoy it. If you expect high marketing, lots of hype, energetic flaring out of the game, then you'll be sorely disappointed. The players of Vanguard have pretty much accepted the fate of the game. The game is and will continue to be neglected. Its nice to see players are returning and giving it another shot but like others have said, they eventually just don't stay.
Even though there is no pure open world PVE fantasy game on the horizon, making that the industry is already over-crowded with competition, with upcoming games like SWTOR, GW2, D3, Rift, etc...there's only so much the last bit of developers can do at SOE when the odds are highly stacked. People don't play because of population issues, they have good reasons.
As for why people won't leave EQ2 for VG...even though of the features of each game are different. Plain and simple and game with full blown development will have that extra appeal compared to one that's being ran by a hampster.
Played this game from beta through the disasterous release, and then onward until (just about) everyone left. I eventuially moved to EQ2, and then onto other games, but I harbored some hope that this title might make a comeback someday.
Soooo, long story short, I fired up the newbie isle trial the other day. Played through it for a few solo sessions - I think I ran into only 2 other players in my few hours of gametime. Population (or lack thereof) is a real problem. But I was still interested, even as a soloist, to see how my memories of VG (good and bad) stacked up against the current version of the game.
Although my PC today is considerably better than the one I used originally for VG, I was disappointed to find that I STILL couldn't really run it reasonably on any setting other than 'balanced' or whatever that midrange setting is called. Anything above that turned the game into a sluggish slideshow, complete with almost constant disk grinding (was it just swapping out gobs of virtual memory or something? Who knows...) and for all that, the graphics weren't all that remarkable, even in slideshow mode. Even in balanced, graphics would load in as I turned toward them - hardly an 'immersive' experience. Maybe I'm jaded, or maybe I sabotaged myself by having such high expectations, but it just didn't WOW me like I thought it would.
Gameplay was pretty standard fare - quest driven storyline to gather new skills and equipment. Having been through VG a few years ago, this was mostly expected, and I actually didn't mind that game setup. Of course it got slightly annoying when the first non-soloable quest came along. Having no options for grouping, I figured I'd better grind out some levels, skills, or equipment so I could try the quest again.
So I was in a building, selling some goods, looking for equipment upgrade options when the game abruptly crashed back to WIndows. I had seen a few bugs up to that point, but hadn't run across anything resembling the show stoppers I remembered from the old days. And then, poof, I was staring at my Windows desktop, and suddenly I remembered how incredibly frustrating it had been to play VG before, with all the engine bugs. Crashing to desktop, losing items. falling through the world (to my death), getting stuck on the terrain all over the place. Did I really want to go through that all over again?
It only took me a minute to decide "Nope!". VG is once again off my hard drive. Sorry VG lovers, there may be a pretty decent game in there somewhere, but if they can't fix the engine after several years of work, it's pretty obvious that they never will.
And you know sad enough, the game has become guild orientated. From what I've heard its basically you join a guild or your gameplay experience will be shot because there isn't enough people out there to have true pugs. To me this takes away from the social aspect of mmos in general. Like back in the day of EQ if you was guilded or not you go LFG for a little bit and you'll snag a group.
But having it where you need to go through guilds like TASC/TPO/SH in order to really get into the game is just wrong. But hey its free advertisement for them
I must be missing something on Seradon then. Wife and I are level 20. Log in and need to start working HL quest on Skalra (sp?). Mind you this is a level 22 quest on a 3 year old game. Shout for a group and get like 6 immediate responses. Actually made a waiting list for a level 22 quest. Do a /who for the zone and there were 13 people in this one chunk that is low 20 content with no dungeons to my knowledge.
I loved Vanguard. Played at release, then left because I couldnt get my client to run stable enough. Returned after Isle of Dawn was released. Noticed the performance was increased immensely. But at this point the amount of updates/fixes were already going very slow.
An example was that they broke diplomacy levers on Isle on Dawn with an update, something that worked at release of Isle of Dawn. I played a few months after that update, but all that time they didnt fix that. To me this was a bad sign. Not specifically for this bug, but overall how long it took for them to fix NEW bugs. So I left again, because I didnt trust SOE for investing enough in VG.
After that I kept track of VG for about a year. Compared the bugfix/content updates with a different SOE MMO on lifesupport (SWG). The difference is immense. SWG actually gets loads of new stuff and bugfixes, while VG gets it at a pace that is a lot slower, which made me conclude that it wont be there for long.
Yeah I've NEVER had a hard time finding a group for any of the group zones unless it is way off on the other side of the world when there is a zone the same level with better quest rewards.
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I don't know what people are talking about when they say it is "empty" or mocking Vangaurd when the writer says this game is immersive. Graphically, yeah it is rather weak compared to the likes of AoC. But for me, it has pretty much everything else. I actually enjoy crafting. The diplomacy card games are a nice change of scenery after fighting mobs all day. Why am I NOT there? Because of lack of faith that SOE will stick with Van. I just don't see it happening.
Players and companies are guilty of "get rich quick" mentality. If it isn't everything they want, the give up. Sure, as a consumer that is your prerogative. But SOE bailed on Vangaurd much too quickly when it wasn't Eq2 or WoW. I'm also guessing they were the same ones pushing a horribly early deadline for launch.
Vanguard is a good game. It's solid pve with plenty of alternate activities should you feel yourself inclined. To say it's bad because "people don't play it" is insane and short sighted. People don't play games unless they are marketed in their face. How many people play half the Indies coming out without PR? No one. Vanguard had a horrible launch. But just because it isn't pulling the numbers of Lotro doesn't mean it's bad. It's just different. And it takes a lot of marketing to make people try different.
sorry for the ramble.
I honestly think SOE has stuck them with the C squad and maybe interns. I had a bug where my druid would shape shift into a larger version of himself instead of an animal. After a few days they finally responded with "try reinstalling" when that still didn't fix it, it escalated to "We're working on it. It's a known issue." and that took a few days.
Greatest game ever! If you haven't tried it, stop reading this immediately and download the trial.
The only thing that spoiled this game for me was that you really need to be in a US time zone to see enough players online. My niggling concern was that the game seemed to have become frivolous since its original conception. Being able to do a quest at level 11 that gives you a Ruddy(?) the Reindeer mount was so against all the great lore that sets the game apart. The theme of humour that seems to have been added onto the game after its launch looks out of place. This is still a MMO with a epic fantasy feel, but they should have stuck with that, not added patchy humour quests.
The diplomacy system is the most innovative achievement system I have seen in a MMO. The crafting system is one of the best I have seen and equally innovative. The races and classes are a perfect fit, if you live in an American time zone give it a go.
I realllyyy liked this game when it first came out. I didn't notice or care about the bugs, I hate how people get all upset about them, especially if they arent game breaking. I only noticed a couple, like a few times a mob disappeared while I was fighting it or walked backwards, etc.
But I stopped playing right away because I was worried it would consume my life too much.
I cant believe they don't merge the servers. They are total idiots, they really should do it. I would play again now if they merged them and I think a lot of others would too.
And like the other poster here, I hate SoE still because of what they did to SWG, and anyone who makes fun of that probably wasn't there, because it was ridiculous.
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There is a lot of new high end content that is very fun. Supposedly a server merge is on the way no exact details yet. Mentoring is also in game, someone can mentor from 55 down to as low as 11 and help groups whe need classes at lower level and even the person mentoring will get xp. Combat is great and probably the best targeting system out there. There is no crappy class, they all play very well and some very unique. There is a lot of stuff now in place in Vanguard that people who want to get to high end and have even more fun have tools to help them fit in with guilds doing the new content. Log in meet new people and form a guild. There are some guilds that play active all levels and almost everyone in the game has alts that they love to play cause the classes are that fun.
If you have questions, in game people are more then happy to aid people toget in the swing of things and you'll be enjoying yourself in no time. Some guilds even pride themselves of having people off all levels and help with things like crafting and diplomacy. Though you can't speak for everyone, this is a game where there are mature people, a lot of players actually range 25+ so you don't feel like you are back in grammer school with e-peens the size of the Debai tower.
All in all it is nice to see a great progress report for a game that really is the underated gem of MMO's at the moment. If this game had the right marketing it would fill up in no time.
Now that's a tone I haven't seen before...interesting
I had some good flashbacks after reading this article, thank you.
I have been wanting to resubscribe but then I remember all my characters were merged on that god forsaken Sartok server. I played at launch on the server Varking(Team PVP), with I think was the greatest guild that ever existed until the server merge. I was absent for a while during the merges so I didn't seem to have a choice but to be merged in with Sartok. After the merge I really didn't feel like playing the game anymore, I never liked the "FFA" aspect. I'm more of a "Light vs. Dark" "Human vs Orc" type of player. During my time on Varking was my greatest MMO experiences except for SWG of course. Yes, it had its frustrating bugs and constant crashing but it didn't stop me from loving the game. I miss cruising on my small swoop around in the ocean and through the little rivers taking in all the beauty that was Telon. I was becoming a high level artificer remembering wanting to break my keyboard when i got a bunch of failures in a row, ah how I miss those times.
Do they offer transfer services for free or for a low fee? I might be interested in trying this game again.
Thats why I've not gone back. Its one of the best PvE games around, but the player population is so small, and most are at max level now. Games like this are a long term project, and from the recent developments, its not certain that it will even be around in 9 months to a year. At some point the plug is likely to be pulled. Its too damn bad, as these days its a MUCH better game than it was at launch(or for months and months after). It would take a major marketing push to turn things around now, and I really don't see that happening.
I would give it a try again if they offered me a free months play to make up for the one I found virtually unplayable when I brought the game on release . If I liked it after that month I might even stay . Other than that my experiance of Vanguard was so poor I would'nt ever look at it again .
Yeah, I too wonder where the OP got the idea that VG has any kind of bright future whatsoever. SoE removes staff from this game at an alarming rate, and yes....financing over all. It wasn't long ago that the announcement was made that they would not be doing some (some MORE, I should say) of the things they had been recently promising....yet AGAIN.
As I said before....I do not believe that SoE has even one SHRED of desire to put any money or effort into VG. It was and always HAS been (imo) a purchase made as a form of protection for EQ2. When VG first came out....a lot of players left EQ2 for it. Some of them returned after the disastrous launch, and others, like my friends Atreus and his wife, Moondancer (sorry....no idea their real names) ended up playing EVE, actually, rather than returning to EQ2.
That exodus of people to VG from EQ2 on release....I think....was a bit of a wake up call for SoE, and when they were in a position to buy VG to "save" it....they certainly did. They "saved" it from ever being a threat to them again, and they have no intentions of advertising it, pouring an money into it, or creating for it much at all beyond just keeping the players it has...grumbling a little, but still playing.
SoE did nothing "nice" when they "saved" Vanguard. I do not trust them enough with VANGUARD....to play Vanguard. Let's just put it that way.
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only with a tank/heal class
They are merging the servers,it's one of the main topics oin the forums right now.
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