You probably mean attention span. Its ok I enjoyed a different era.
Nah, I'll stick with my attention span and I'm happy having enjoyed the "era" I did.
In my "era", sandbox meant actually interacting with a living world and seeing it change. It didn't mean just travelling between 10 never-changing towns and doing the same 10 never-changing quest versions of the same cliche storylines and then killing the same named that's always up on the hill. If this is what a sandbox has become, you can keep it and whatever attention span you exercise to partake in it.
Not to say anything is wrong with that type of game. I play one daily. I just don't pretend it's a sandbox or a world. Just another crappy themepark mmo.
For better or worse, my "era" is now gone and we're stuck with yours. I've actually decided to go back to SWG recently, just to play it a little more before it's shut down. one last ride...
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall Currently Playing: ESO
Sony wants Vanguard to die because it was supposed to be the real Everquest 1 successor so they sabotaged it.
Everquest 2 is like a very poor man's Everquest 1. Overinstanced, cash shop + p2p, CM's that don't care and not very challenging at all.
I'd consider wait some more months Guild Wars 2 and FF XIV are promising games.
We need a MMORPG Cataclysm asap, finish the dark age of MMORPGS now!
"Everything you're bitching about is wrong. People don't have the time to invest in corpse runs, impossible zones, or long winded quests. Sometimes, they just want to pop on and play." "Then maybe MMORPGs aren't for you."
Sony wants Vanguard to die because it was supposed to be the real Everquest 1 successor so they sabotaged it.
Everquest 2 is like a very poor man's Everquest 1. Overinstanced, cash shop + p2p, CM's that don't care and not very challenging at all.
I'd consider wait some more months Guild Wars 2 and FF XIV are promising games.
Actually it was Brad McQuaid (lead designer) that sabotaged Vanguard. SOE stepped in and rescued it when it was bankrupt and about to be shut down due to the mess Brad made. SOE had nothing to do with Vanguard's design or its failure (due to its design).
SOE is an awful company that's destroyed many a good game, but with Vanguard they did nothing but rescue a sinking ship. Perhaps they should have let it die to start with, but for whatever reason they decided not to. I am still hopeful they'll switch it to the DDO / F2P model and give it new life. There were some very nice parts to it.
I kinda hoped SOE would steal the diplomacy system and add it to EQ2 when they bought it, but sadly they did not.
on eq2 (from a 6 year vet):
The cash shop has very little to do with EQ2, most who've played the game for a while ignore it or laugh at it. It's basically cutesy stuff for home decorators and the occasional appearance item. I don't know what a CM is, but i assume it's like a GM and yeah, they're totally retarted in EQ2, if you mean something else, I don't know.
I find plenty of challenge in EQ2 at least as far as group combat is concerned. There are many cool encounters - both for groups and raids. Most of it is extremely accessible, so anyone can get into it, but still challenging enough that only 1 or 2 guilds per server are able to defeat ALL of the content. Aside from the group/raid combat the game is pretty awful. But hey, most games today don't even get that right.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall Currently Playing: ESO
Played VG and EQ2 at launch, played EQ2 steady since RoK and now playing VG. VG and EQ2 are not similar at all.
EQ2 is a theme park with micro points of interest, linear zone design and fairly repetitive mobs. Zones are distinct but low in number even 6 exp and 3 adv packs later. Combat is consistent and you'll have a load of button bars with a lot of skills that do the same thing but on separate timers. Having 50+ skills is normal in EQ2. End game is gear gates and the road to cap is solo and fast, you can cap in your first month easy.
VG is a continuous world and also a theme park but the points of interest are massive. The continents are the zones and they are unique and then within the zones are unique areas and POIs. Size wise EQ2 has ~24 zones, VG has some 140 chunks a chunk being about the size of EQ2 launch zones. Combat in VG is more specific with very few buttons repeating skills.
Travel in both games is super easy. VG wins the community contest by a mile. Performance is better in VG and looks better, so win win. VG is buggier overall and gets less content updates but is already 5x the size of EQ2 so...
Long story short after a long happy stint in EQ2 capped out and raiding where I met the gear gate, I'm happy to be in VG.
I personally prefer VG, but you'll get more out of EQ2 because it has a healthy population. VG can't be played the way it is supposed to be played because it has such a low population pre-55.
@ Banne - I didn't say you called VG a sandbox, that was my own comment on-topic. Just because I replied to your post to point out your errors, doesn't mean everything I say revolves around you.
I would say get the trials, in eq2 you can explore a pretty good bit with the trials and get an idea of what the community is going to be like.
Vangaurds trial confines you to a trial island so you can't really appreciate the vastness of the game itself, but you can't experience the desolation either.
Even at launch vangaurd with over 300k people playing at once vangaurd was so big that if you were'nt at a quest hub or major city you could go over an hour without seeing a soul, it's worse now because most times you can even visit the hubs and cities without seeing anyone.
I would love to see Vangaurd get a rez ddo style but I'm not sure thats going to happen, even though SOE owns it if it were to succeed in a big way it would take away from their flagship game who vangaurd had it's sights set on from the get go...it was'nt intended to be a WoW killer, it was intended to be an EQ/EQ2 killer...thats probably why it's getting almost no support.
I would like to hear your opinions about Vanguard and EQ2. I'm considering either of those "sandbox"-ish games, as I can not afford to spend a lot on games right now. My monkey has sank way too much into games lately as it is.
What I want is a comparison between the two, and a conclusion which one YOU would pick above the other. Maybe they both have their own qualities, but I am sure you got a preference.
Thx
EQ2
Graphics: Reasonable. Character models have weird stances, however, and I found it hard to orient my character facing forward when the model is posed in some angular combat stance.
Music: Original tunes were great (in their midi days), but now are a bit too jazzed up.
Movement/Combat: Fast, reasonablly fluid
Class and Skill System: Confusing redundant mess
Instancing: Too much (due to original graphics constraints, I'd guess)
World Design: Cities are blah (too heavily instanced), however some zones are done pretty well.
Population: Top-heavy
Support: Good (lots of patches, expansions, etc...)
Vanguard
Graphics: Good
Music: Very strange and not catchy at all. Sort of like different instruments going off at random. I never could remember a Vanguard tune in my head; first time I've come across music so empty and incoherent.
Movement/Combat: Needs optimization (last time I played it)
Class and Skill System: Acceptable
Instancing: None or not much at all. Never saw any.
World Design: Good, but too large for such an empty game. Also, "zoneless" design ended up with no areas having any flavor or identity.
Population: Very low, is my guess. Few servers. Fanbois will tell you it's hopping, but I think they're confusing NPC's for other players.
Support: Waning. I'm guessing this game could close down someday, sooner than later. But, I could be wrong.
Conclusion: EQ2 runs more smoothly and has some sort of a future. I play MMORPG's to establish some sort of commitment, so it makes no sense to me to play a dying game. Still, there are some elements of Vanguard superior to EQ2.
Played both. Vanguard is a better overal game and much more immersive. But has some problems which you have to deal with (slow updates, low population, lack of info sites).
Neither VG or EQ2 is sandbox. Not even close. Both are typical theme park MMOs, VG just has more freedom
I played both games pretty hardcore at launch and I currently am playing Vanguard now. After a 2.5 year hiatus, I still find the game reminding me more and more of EQ than EQ2 does.
VG is more open, and yes, there are zonelines but they are not as apparent as in other games. VG has a ton of content, there are many questlines and dungeons to participate in while leveling up. While the population is kind of iffy, I do find that there are a good amount of players leveling up and getting a group for certain questlines (CIS, Trengal, HL <---especially) can be done decently. The problem with VG is that it definitely is not as polished as EQ2, but you can blame that on the nature of its sandbox-ish similarities. The game itself does not have a destined future, so that in itself may turn a ton of people off about it. Like I said, I currently play it now and I enjoy it just as much as any other MMO I played. I can honestly say too that VG is difficult in nature compared to many other MMOs out there.
I loved EQ2 as well, but when I played it I found it extremely easy to level up. The game mechanics are too simple, especially after launch was so tragic. They dummied down a lot of aspects of the game, and the real game starts when you get to raid (just like WOW). Much of the content in EQ2 is surpassed because the city areas, noob areas and leveling areas turn obsolete fast.
In the end, if you want a long term game, EQ2 would be your better bet. You can expect more expansions, patches and fixes than Vanguard. Vanguard, however, I find more entertaining, challenging and it fulfills that aspect of me that EQ did in the past. You should try both and see what you like. I will say though that the trial of VG is bad representation of the game. EQ2's trial is nicely done though.
Music: Very strange and not catchy at all. Sort of like different instruments going off at random. I never could remember a Vanguard tune in my head; first time I've come across music so empty and incoherent.
Oh, I like vanguard's music. It might not be catchy if you aren't used to that type of music but I wouldn't say it's souless at all!
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Music: Very strange and not catchy at all. Sort of like different instruments going off at random. I never could remember a Vanguard tune in my head; first time I've come across music so empty and incoherent.
Oh, I like vanguard's music. It might not be catchy if you aren't used to that type of music but I wouldn't say it's souless at all!
Although there are a lot of really cool features of VG the music is def not one of them for me Of course being able to hop on a rented mount and fly 20,000 in the air is actually really cool.
Okay guys, sorry for taking up your time as I've seen quite a few giving me very helpful and contructive suggestions. Pff, off for a day and poof, 4 pages? Took some time to go through all of that, but it was well worth it.
Anyways, like people have said, I see a dead end future for vanguard that may not be that far ahead, sadly. The population as it is now seem is indeed very low, and although I am not really a peoples person, I prefer to see players hangin n slashin around. Vanguard community seemed more mature than that of EQ2, latter consisted of the usual gamers strangely talking about pumpin girls and an unusual bonus of how bisexuality is so common. I learned it is cool to kiss guys.
Not only population wise did I prefer EQ2, even gameplay wise. I found the quests to be more appealing and well designed, but as I am typing now I'm still going through the tutorial isle. When I get out, I'll see some real rolling.
Vanguard is actually a really good game, only if it had a bigger player base I would maybe even have considered to play that along with EQ2. Again, SOE fails marketing. When I used to play SWG, I had no idea how bad of a company it was, but after quiting and hearing about the NGE bullcrap I finally understood. But oh well, I will appreciate that they at least supply updates and keep the game EQ2 alive that might have got me hooked.
This is the best signature ever. Well, it is really up to you to decide. :x
Music: Very strange and not catchy at all. Sort of like different instruments going off at random. I never could remember a Vanguard tune in my head; first time I've come across music so empty and incoherent.
Oh, I like vanguard's music. It might not be catchy if you aren't used to that type of music but I wouldn't say it's souless at all!
I agree, I really liked Vanguard's music. It was probably the best thing in the game. I still remember getting close to the elven city and hearing this ancient-sounding semi-operatic melody, very sad and beautiful. Most definitely soulful. Probably not "catchy".
After AO and AoC, vanguard's music is probably my favourite of multitude of MMOs i've tried. I hate EQ2's music, it's most often random and inappropriate.
But music, like graphics is a matter of taste more than anything.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall Currently Playing: ESO
Vanguard has the gameplay that EQ2 should have had. Side by side Vanguards concepts and mechanics are superior to EQ2.
EQ2 gets the support that Vanguard should be getting.
It is a strange situaiton that most ends up with an experience that leaves you wanting more or what the other has. If the two could somehow be combined it would make for a serious mmo.
It is a strange situaiton that most ends up with an experience that leaves you wanting more or what the other has. If the two could somehow be combined it would make for a serious mmo.
While i disagree with the rest of your post, this part I totally agree with. Each game seems to have what the other is missing.
Vanguard is missing EQ2's amazing instances.
EQ2 is missing Vanguard's large shared dungeons and overland zones.
Vanguard is missing the sheer massive amount of pre-written content EQ2 has.
EQ2 is missing the diversity of Diplomacy (if it were full-fledged) and good Crafting.
Vanguard is missing the awesome character animations that EQ2 has.
EQ2 is missing awe-inspiring archetectural structures that VG has.
Vanguard's missing diversity in itemization and encounters (or at least was)
EQ2 is missing cool classes that Vanguard has.
I've met people on both sides of the combat system debate. I rather liked both combat systems. I didn't see any complex encounters in Vanguard ( i was never high enough level) to see how robust the system was though.
For real, they should re-release Vanguard as an EQ2 expac.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall Currently Playing: ESO
Vanguard has the gameplay that EQ2 should have had. Side by side Vanguards concepts and mechanics are superior to EQ2.
EQ2 gets the support that Vanguard should be getting.
It is a strange situaiton that most ends up with an experience that leaves you wanting more or what the other has. If the two could somehow be combined it would make for a serious mmo.
Agreed.
If I was the OP I would go with Vanguard though. It was very fun for me but very broken when I played it.
If PVP matters at all than Vanguard is not an option (why I no longer play it . ..).
NEWS FLASH!"A bank was robbed the other day and a man opened fire on the customers being held hostage. One customer zig-zag sprinted until he found cover. When questioned later he explained that he was a hardcore gamer and knew just what to do!" Download my music for free! I release several albums per month as part of project "Thee Untitled" . .. some video game music remixes and cover songs done with instruments in there as well! http://theeuntitled.bandcamp.com/Check out my roleplaying blog, collection of fictional short stories, and fantasy series... updated on a blog for now until I am finished!https://childrenfromtheheavensbelow.blogspot.com/Watch me game on occasion or make music... https://www.twitch.tv/spoontheeuntitled and subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUvqULn678VrF3OasgnbsyA
Which server are you on? antonia bayle is the most heavily populated and there's almost always enough people to get a group up to do something.
Also after leveling a bruiser and berzerker I have to tell you to stay away from them, nobody will ever want you in a group, bruisers can be solo gods though if thats what you like.
Vanguard has the gameplay that EQ2 should have had. Side by side Vanguards concepts and mechanics are superior to EQ2.
EQ2 gets the support that Vanguard should be getting.
It is a strange situaiton that most ends up with an experience that leaves you wanting more or what the other has. If the two could somehow be combined it would make for a serious mmo.
Agreed.
If I was the OP I would go with Vanguard though. It was very fun for me but very broken when I played it.
If PVP matters at all than Vanguard is not an option (why I no longer play it . ..).
Read my post at the end of the previous page.
Well, anyway, I said that the population is way too low for such a big game for me to feel like I'm playing a MMORPG. Besides, SOE don't seem to be investing much money on that game and tbh I see no future for it. Otherwise, yes, Vanguard may have been the option due to its more open ended nature although I did not like the card game. It was an unnecessary extra to achieve gear, as I did not like it. If I want to play a card game, I play them, not Vanguard.
PvP does not matter much at all and in fact, I am dead tired of them. Too many MMORPGs nowdays try to be a PvP hit.
I'm from Sweden so obviously I play on the EU servers, so no, I don't play in antonia bayle, neither do I roleplay. It's not my way to forget about reality and merge into a imaginary fantasy world. My imagination division of the brain is like a trashcan, full of junk that follows no certain pattern. Full of pervies working on their desk all day.
This is the best signature ever. Well, it is really up to you to decide. :x
Oh ok, you realize that hardly anyone roleplays though, except for maybe in guild chat. I've never once in four years ran across anyone trying to roleplay with me, same in most games I've played, I just play on the rp servers because they tend to me the heaviest populated and have the most helpfull people.
Comments
Nah, I'll stick with my attention span and I'm happy having enjoyed the "era" I did.
In my "era", sandbox meant actually interacting with a living world and seeing it change. It didn't mean just travelling between 10 never-changing towns and doing the same 10 never-changing quest versions of the same cliche storylines and then killing the same named that's always up on the hill. If this is what a sandbox has become, you can keep it and whatever attention span you exercise to partake in it.
Not to say anything is wrong with that type of game. I play one daily. I just don't pretend it's a sandbox or a world. Just another crappy themepark mmo.
For better or worse, my "era" is now gone and we're stuck with yours. I've actually decided to go back to SWG recently, just to play it a little more before it's shut down. one last ride...
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
Sony wants Vanguard to die because it was supposed to be the real Everquest 1 successor so they sabotaged it.
Everquest 2 is like a very poor man's Everquest 1. Overinstanced, cash shop + p2p, CM's that don't care and not very challenging at all.
I'd consider wait some more months Guild Wars 2 and FF XIV are promising games.
We need a MMORPG Cataclysm asap, finish the dark age of MMORPGS now!
"Everything you're bitching about is wrong. People don't have the time to invest in corpse runs, impossible zones, or long winded quests. Sometimes, they just want to pop on and play."
"Then maybe MMORPGs aren't for you."
Actually it was Brad McQuaid (lead designer) that sabotaged Vanguard. SOE stepped in and rescued it when it was bankrupt and about to be shut down due to the mess Brad made. SOE had nothing to do with Vanguard's design or its failure (due to its design).
SOE is an awful company that's destroyed many a good game, but with Vanguard they did nothing but rescue a sinking ship. Perhaps they should have let it die to start with, but for whatever reason they decided not to. I am still hopeful they'll switch it to the DDO / F2P model and give it new life. There were some very nice parts to it.
I kinda hoped SOE would steal the diplomacy system and add it to EQ2 when they bought it, but sadly they did not.
on eq2 (from a 6 year vet):
The cash shop has very little to do with EQ2, most who've played the game for a while ignore it or laugh at it. It's basically cutesy stuff for home decorators and the occasional appearance item. I don't know what a CM is, but i assume it's like a GM and yeah, they're totally retarted in EQ2, if you mean something else, I don't know.
I find plenty of challenge in EQ2 at least as far as group combat is concerned. There are many cool encounters - both for groups and raids. Most of it is extremely accessible, so anyone can get into it, but still challenging enough that only 1 or 2 guilds per server are able to defeat ALL of the content. Aside from the group/raid combat the game is pretty awful. But hey, most games today don't even get that right.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
Played VG and EQ2 at launch, played EQ2 steady since RoK and now playing VG. VG and EQ2 are not similar at all.
EQ2 is a theme park with micro points of interest, linear zone design and fairly repetitive mobs. Zones are distinct but low in number even 6 exp and 3 adv packs later. Combat is consistent and you'll have a load of button bars with a lot of skills that do the same thing but on separate timers. Having 50+ skills is normal in EQ2. End game is gear gates and the road to cap is solo and fast, you can cap in your first month easy.
VG is a continuous world and also a theme park but the points of interest are massive. The continents are the zones and they are unique and then within the zones are unique areas and POIs. Size wise EQ2 has ~24 zones, VG has some 140 chunks a chunk being about the size of EQ2 launch zones. Combat in VG is more specific with very few buttons repeating skills.
Travel in both games is super easy. VG wins the community contest by a mile. Performance is better in VG and looks better, so win win. VG is buggier overall and gets less content updates but is already 5x the size of EQ2 so...
Long story short after a long happy stint in EQ2 capped out and raiding where I met the gear gate, I'm happy to be in VG.
My advice,
I personally prefer VG, but you'll get more out of EQ2 because it has a healthy population. VG can't be played the way it is supposed to be played because it has such a low population pre-55.
@ Banne - I didn't say you called VG a sandbox, that was my own comment on-topic. Just because I replied to your post to point out your errors, doesn't mean everything I say revolves around you.
I would say get the trials, in eq2 you can explore a pretty good bit with the trials and get an idea of what the community is going to be like.
Vangaurds trial confines you to a trial island so you can't really appreciate the vastness of the game itself, but you can't experience the desolation either.
Even at launch vangaurd with over 300k people playing at once vangaurd was so big that if you were'nt at a quest hub or major city you could go over an hour without seeing a soul, it's worse now because most times you can even visit the hubs and cities without seeing anyone.
I would love to see Vangaurd get a rez ddo style but I'm not sure thats going to happen, even though SOE owns it if it were to succeed in a big way it would take away from their flagship game who vangaurd had it's sights set on from the get go...it was'nt intended to be a WoW killer, it was intended to be an EQ/EQ2 killer...thats probably why it's getting almost no support.
EQ2
Graphics: Reasonable. Character models have weird stances, however, and I found it hard to orient my character facing forward when the model is posed in some angular combat stance.
Music: Original tunes were great (in their midi days), but now are a bit too jazzed up.
Movement/Combat: Fast, reasonablly fluid
Class and Skill System: Confusing redundant mess
Instancing: Too much (due to original graphics constraints, I'd guess)
World Design: Cities are blah (too heavily instanced), however some zones are done pretty well.
Population: Top-heavy
Support: Good (lots of patches, expansions, etc...)
Vanguard
Graphics: Good
Music: Very strange and not catchy at all. Sort of like different instruments going off at random. I never could remember a Vanguard tune in my head; first time I've come across music so empty and incoherent.
Movement/Combat: Needs optimization (last time I played it)
Class and Skill System: Acceptable
Instancing: None or not much at all. Never saw any.
World Design: Good, but too large for such an empty game. Also, "zoneless" design ended up with no areas having any flavor or identity.
Population: Very low, is my guess. Few servers. Fanbois will tell you it's hopping, but I think they're confusing NPC's for other players.
Support: Waning. I'm guessing this game could close down someday, sooner than later. But, I could be wrong.
Conclusion: EQ2 runs more smoothly and has some sort of a future. I play MMORPG's to establish some sort of commitment, so it makes no sense to me to play a dying game. Still, there are some elements of Vanguard superior to EQ2.
Trivia : in pre alpha EQ2 was zoneless then they changed it.
/pizza
I'm all for major zones, but in the cities it got kind of ridiculous. You'd go on some menial quest and have to zone five times.
Played both. Vanguard is a better overal game and much more immersive. But has some problems which you have to deal with (slow updates, low population, lack of info sites).
Neither VG or EQ2 is sandbox. Not even close. Both are typical theme park MMOs, VG just has more freedom
I played both games pretty hardcore at launch and I currently am playing Vanguard now. After a 2.5 year hiatus, I still find the game reminding me more and more of EQ than EQ2 does.
VG is more open, and yes, there are zonelines but they are not as apparent as in other games. VG has a ton of content, there are many questlines and dungeons to participate in while leveling up. While the population is kind of iffy, I do find that there are a good amount of players leveling up and getting a group for certain questlines (CIS, Trengal, HL <---especially) can be done decently. The problem with VG is that it definitely is not as polished as EQ2, but you can blame that on the nature of its sandbox-ish similarities. The game itself does not have a destined future, so that in itself may turn a ton of people off about it. Like I said, I currently play it now and I enjoy it just as much as any other MMO I played. I can honestly say too that VG is difficult in nature compared to many other MMOs out there.
I loved EQ2 as well, but when I played it I found it extremely easy to level up. The game mechanics are too simple, especially after launch was so tragic. They dummied down a lot of aspects of the game, and the real game starts when you get to raid (just like WOW). Much of the content in EQ2 is surpassed because the city areas, noob areas and leveling areas turn obsolete fast.
In the end, if you want a long term game, EQ2 would be your better bet. You can expect more expansions, patches and fixes than Vanguard. Vanguard, however, I find more entertaining, challenging and it fulfills that aspect of me that EQ did in the past. You should try both and see what you like. I will say though that the trial of VG is bad representation of the game. EQ2's trial is nicely done though.
Oh, I like vanguard's music. It might not be catchy if you aren't used to that type of music but I wouldn't say it's souless at all!
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
Although there are a lot of really cool features of VG the music is def not one of them for me
Of course being able to hop on a rented mount and fly 20,000 in the air is actually really cool.
Okay guys, sorry for taking up your time as I've seen quite a few giving me very helpful and contructive suggestions. Pff, off for a day and poof, 4 pages? Took some time to go through all of that, but it was well worth it.
Anyways, like people have said, I see a dead end future for vanguard that may not be that far ahead, sadly. The population as it is now seem is indeed very low, and although I am not really a peoples person, I prefer to see players hangin n slashin around. Vanguard community seemed more mature than that of EQ2, latter consisted of the usual gamers strangely talking about pumpin girls and an unusual bonus of how bisexuality is so common. I learned it is cool to kiss guys.
Not only population wise did I prefer EQ2, even gameplay wise. I found the quests to be more appealing and well designed, but as I am typing now I'm still going through the tutorial isle. When I get out, I'll see some real rolling.
Vanguard is actually a really good game, only if it had a bigger player base I would maybe even have considered to play that along with EQ2. Again, SOE fails marketing. When I used to play SWG, I had no idea how bad of a company it was, but after quiting and hearing about the NGE bullcrap I finally understood. But oh well, I will appreciate that they at least supply updates and keep the game EQ2 alive that might have got me hooked.
This is the best signature ever. Well, it is really up to you to decide. :x
I agree, I really liked Vanguard's music. It was probably the best thing in the game. I still remember getting close to the elven city and hearing this ancient-sounding semi-operatic melody, very sad and beautiful. Most definitely soulful. Probably not "catchy".
After AO and AoC, vanguard's music is probably my favourite of multitude of MMOs i've tried. I hate EQ2's music, it's most often random and inappropriate.
But music, like graphics is a matter of taste more than anything.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
Vanguard has the gameplay that EQ2 should have had. Side by side Vanguards concepts and mechanics are superior to EQ2.
EQ2 gets the support that Vanguard should be getting.
It is a strange situaiton that most ends up with an experience that leaves you wanting more or what the other has. If the two could somehow be combined it would make for a serious mmo.
While i disagree with the rest of your post, this part I totally agree with. Each game seems to have what the other is missing.
Vanguard is missing EQ2's amazing instances.
EQ2 is missing Vanguard's large shared dungeons and overland zones.
Vanguard is missing the sheer massive amount of pre-written content EQ2 has.
EQ2 is missing the diversity of Diplomacy (if it were full-fledged) and good Crafting.
Vanguard is missing the awesome character animations that EQ2 has.
EQ2 is missing awe-inspiring archetectural structures that VG has.
Vanguard's missing diversity in itemization and encounters (or at least was)
EQ2 is missing cool classes that Vanguard has.
I've met people on both sides of the combat system debate. I rather liked both combat systems. I didn't see any complex encounters in Vanguard ( i was never high enough level) to see how robust the system was though.
For real, they should re-release Vanguard as an EQ2 expac.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
Agreed.
If I was the OP I would go with Vanguard though. It was very fun for me but very broken when I played it.
If PVP matters at all than Vanguard is not an option (why I no longer play it . ..).
NEWS FLASH! "A bank was robbed the other day and a man opened fire on the customers being held hostage. One customer zig-zag sprinted until he found cover. When questioned later he explained that he was a hardcore gamer and knew just what to do!" Download my music for free! I release several albums per month as part of project "Thee Untitled" . .. some video game music remixes and cover songs done with instruments in there as well! http://theeuntitled.bandcamp.com/ Check out my roleplaying blog, collection of fictional short stories, and fantasy series... updated on a blog for now until I am finished! https://childrenfromtheheavensbelow.blogspot.com/ Watch me game on occasion or make music... https://www.twitch.tv/spoontheeuntitled and subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUvqULn678VrF3OasgnbsyA
Which server are you on? antonia bayle is the most heavily populated and there's almost always enough people to get a group up to do something.
Also after leveling a bruiser and berzerker I have to tell you to stay away from them, nobody will ever want you in a group, bruisers can be solo gods though if thats what you like.
Read my post at the end of the previous page.
Well, anyway, I said that the population is way too low for such a big game for me to feel like I'm playing a MMORPG. Besides, SOE don't seem to be investing much money on that game and tbh I see no future for it. Otherwise, yes, Vanguard may have been the option due to its more open ended nature although I did not like the card game. It was an unnecessary extra to achieve gear, as I did not like it. If I want to play a card game, I play them, not Vanguard.
PvP does not matter much at all and in fact, I am dead tired of them. Too many MMORPGs nowdays try to be a PvP hit.
I'm from Sweden so obviously I play on the EU servers, so no, I don't play in antonia bayle, neither do I roleplay. It's not my way to forget about reality and merge into a imaginary fantasy world. My imagination division of the brain is like a trashcan, full of junk that follows no certain pattern. Full of pervies working on their desk all day.
This is the best signature ever. Well, it is really up to you to decide. :x
Oh ok, you realize that hardly anyone roleplays though, except for maybe in guild chat. I've never once in four years ran across anyone trying to roleplay with me, same in most games I've played, I just play on the rp servers because they tend to me the heaviest populated and have the most helpfull people.