I haven't logged onto Vanguard for about 2 months but I still pay my subscription
Anyway I have some really good news for everyone that to be honest I only read now on the official forms ....they are merging the 4 servers into 1 USA server.
Vanguard doesn't need saving anymore ....now there will be ample people on the one remaining server
Now before people say " an MMO cant have one server and call itself successful" ...doesn't EVE have one server ?
This to me is good news ..and some people think SOE doesn't care ?
Why has almost no-one recognized my point ....let me say it again ?
VANGUARD DOESN'T NEED SAVING ...THEY ARE MERGING THE SERVERS
Its like the series Flash Forward where people find out they actually aren't going to die and they have a future ...its awesome .Can someone try to be at least a little happy with this ?
Umm.. perhaps because merging servers isn't "saving" the game?
Merging servers is only going to be a temporary solution to any issue and even then it doesn't fix most of the games issues. There is a reason why 3 full servers worth of people left the game and they are reducing down to one server. That is not going to increase resources to develop the game.
Mergers in the past didn't help the game avoid these mergers, so not sure what you think will be resolved from another round of mergers.
Oh by the way, eve has 1 server, but over 300,000 subscribers. Vanguard has 1 server, but I doubt it has more than 5,000 subscribers.
To give you credit, merging servers is the right thing to do for the health of the game (maybe way to late), but it isn't something to cheer about. That is like asking someone why someone who just got diagnosed with 6 months to live isn't happy they just got a slice of cake.
I hear you but if you consider that the majority of complaints are around the fact the game has no population then this go's a long way to addressing the issue ?
It needs selling to another mmo developer and re-naming!
I asked someone just an hour ago if he'd ever played vangaurd, and his response was "I heard lots of bad things about that"
So even now, years later people still are under the mistaken impression that its STILL bad. Its a word assocaiation, people now associate this word with bad. So it needs renaming!.. nothing else!
I hear you but if you consider that the majority of complaints are around the fact the game has no population then this go's a long way to addressing the issue ?
Vanguard having low population is the result of the games problems, not the cause. There was a time when the servers were full and there were so many people playing that vanguard needed 4 servers to properly host all the players.
All I am saying is that putting more people on the same server is not addressing the issues of why people are leaving. Seeing that the game is closing 75% of the server resources it is pretty safe to assume that at least 75% of the playerbase has gone too.
Unless soe initiates some sort of revival, there is not going to be one. Writing letters, petitions and viral videos didn't work for the other station pass games and it certainly isn't going to work for the red headed step child of soe. If soe stays follows suit on what they did in other mmos, the next step if for vanguard to stop getting updates (or seriously small/far apart ones), then just go for a time without any real developer at all and then shutdown. Much of this depends on when soe adds new games to the station pass.
Either way, soe didn't spend enough to make this game work when there were 4 servers worth of players paying the bills and I highly doubt they are going to pay attention to a game with less than 1 servers worth of people paying money.
I hear you but if you consider that the majority of complaints are around the fact the game has no population then this go's a long way to addressing the issue ?
Vanguard having low population is the result of the games problems, not the cause. There was a time when the servers were full and there were so many people playing that vanguard needed 4 servers to properly host all the players.
All I am saying is that putting more people on the same server is not addressing the issues of why people are leaving. Seeing that the game is closing 75% of the server resources it is pretty safe to assume that at least 75% of the playerbase has gone too.
Unless soe initiates some sort of revival, there is not going to be one. Writing letters, petitions and viral videos didn't work for the other station pass games and it certainly isn't going to work for the red headed step child of soe. If soe stays follows suit on what they did in other mmos, the next step if for vanguard to stop getting updates (or seriously small/far apart ones), then just go for a time without any real developer at all and then shutdown. Much of this depends on when soe adds new games to the station pass.
Either way, soe didn't spend enough to make this game work when there were 4 servers worth of players paying the bills and I highly doubt they are going to pay attention to a game with less than 1 servers worth of people paying money.
I just cant see soe puting in any more money into this. I give it another 6 month max before they actually get to shutdown. But then I said that about swg. However SWG still is running 8 servers compared to the now fixing to be one server for vangaurd. I wonder what all the pvp players are thinking since that servers going away too.
It would take a change in managment thought processes, to see anything happen now. I know they are looking at the spreadsheet numbers and going, well this is dead.
So I expect this vangaurd to go the way of matrix, it is just a matter of time. Unless another studio can buy it out that being the last hope.
I just cant see soe puting in any more money into this. I give it another 6 month max before they actually get to shutdown. But then I said that about swg. However SWG still is running 8 servers compared to the now fixing to be one server for vangaurd. I wonder what all the pvp players are thinking since that servers going away too.
As I understand it, "all the pvp players" might be only as many people as you can count on your fingers and toes. I know that for PvP gaming I never considered Vanguard as a viable option, games like WAR or AoC do that so much better (flawed as they are).
Yeah who knows, Vanguard will be around as long as it is. As far as it going to another host/developer or whatever....I don't know if it'd be cheaper to take the existing world of Telon and then revitalize it, or just take the concepts of positive elements of Vanguard and make an entirely new game? I'm not familiar with all the costs of developing or advancing a game.
In either case, it's clear that SOE has no interest of doing anything with it except decreasing how much it costs them to keep it running (server merge). I only hope--for those of us still playing Vanguard--that they're content leaving it on a single-server/minimal-staff basis for longer than you say. Games can be "dead" and stay online for years (look at your example of SWG).
Currently playing: LOTRO, Guild Wars 2. Have played: EVE Online; Champions Online; Age of Conan; City of Heroes/Villains; Star Wars Galaxies (pre-CU, pre-NGE); World of Warcraft (Vanilla to Cataclysm); Hellgate: London; Warhammer Online; Lord of the Rings Online; Vanguard: Saga of Heroes; Star Wars: The Old Republic Wishlist: Mass Effect Online
After years of hardcore WoW and other stops and starts with other mmorpgs, I stumbled across Vanguard on this site due to its high hype ranking. I played the Isle to level 10 and subbed. I play it just as religiously as I have any other online game ...(everyday for at least 4 hours - minimum). There is NOTHING more wrong about Vanguard than is wrong with WoW, AION, AoC, Guild Wars, Atlantica, Runes of Magic, DD(f2p), LOTR, or ANY other MMORPG that I've plunked down my hard earned money or time to play. I was at beta and launch for AoC, AION, RoM, and you couldn't PAY me to play either one today. Bugs, spammers, botters, haters, low maturity level and lameness all play a part. What I am reading mostly in this thread is just a bunch of pissed off subbers who got shafted at launch and want the game dead. Without the same resentments, I have been really enjoying Vanguard - however, I can understand the loathing.
I can always get a group, have never crashed or experienced any other glitches except for 1 with a low level quest. Hell, I even had a GM help me retrieve my tombstone and give me a lesson in escrow and the altars...personally. No gold spam either - something AION could learn from.
Everyday I play I read chat generated by returnees who need help remembering how to play...so people are returning. I realize the servers are being consolidated and the PvP server is being deleted - but there are PLENTY of other games for the PVPers and from what I understand this deletion affects a total of 10 subbers. Based on the hate though, I suspect VG is destined for death...and if not in the cards, it will be once SWtOR releases.
Stand alone and based on my rather objective opinion - I think it's a pretty decent game.
I just DLd the trial last week (after I found the download link - tried opera, chrome, FF and IE was the only browser which loaded to webpage correctly and showed the DL link).
Then I saw the awful ping and 6 people online on the PvP server Halgardsomething. It saddens me to see one of the most fun MMORPGs in this state.
I played vanguard at launch and i gotta say i had major major problems with it...not only would the game crash constantly and at the worst possilbe times in combat etc...but the zoning glitchs were just horrid running accross the world and having a mob trained on your for like what seemed like 30 miles of running and never giving up was just NUTZ to say the least...and glitch crash at zone boundary crossings was just to much for me....
i typically give all games a 3 month cycle to see how they shake out..but vanguard for me was so bad...after the month free sub ..i bailed....
i am willing to give it another chance...but i don't think i would pay SOE for my time invested in it so if they offered a f2p option i'd give it a shot to see if it was worth my time again but theres NO WAY IN HELL i'd give them money to try this game out again..i have burned before by SOE in the NGE and i'm not willing to part with my funds so easily anymore for them to just blow changes thru on a whim....SOE HAS TO EARN MY TRUST....and for that...vanguard would have to be f2p or at least a good decent trial to see if its woth my time to...well give it that time..first...
Indeed, I do think SoE just wishes VG would go away, its revenue limps along and there are no gaming or buisness buzz words it can be linked to. In SoE's eyes it is not the future and that means a lingering death sentance which is a real shame.
What they need is more people. If you guys start giving them your money, they can pay moe programmers to fix the bugs and to add new content.
This is an assumption, because honestly there is no proof that soe wouldn't just pocket the extra money or invest it into one of their new games that might actually have a future.
All games need revenue, but they also need a developer that is committed to the success. At some point the developer has to step up and convince players that they are willing to go the distance with their product and stand behind it. Then and only then can players have faith that their subscription dollars might be used to better the game.
Keep in mind that other soe games that received extra revenue from cash shops, cash for item sales and virtual card games have not seen an increase in development. They have actually seen a decrease in development cycles.
After years of hardcore WoW and other stops and starts with other mmorpgs, I stumbled across Vanguard on this site due to its high hype ranking. I played the Isle to level 10 and subbed. I play it just as religiously as I have any other online game ...(everyday for at least 4 hours - minimum). There is NOTHING more wrong about Vanguard than is wrong with WoW, AION, AoC, Guild Wars, Atlantica, Runes of Magic, DD(f2p), LOTR, or ANY other MMORPG that I've plunked down my hard earned money or time to play. I was at beta and launch for AoC, AION, RoM, and you couldn't PAY me to play either one today. Bugs, spammers, botters, haters, low maturity level and lameness all play a part. What I am reading mostly in this thread is just a bunch of pissed off subbers who got shafted at launch and want the game dead. Without the same resentments, I have been really enjoying Vanguard - however, I can understand the loathing.
I can always get a group, have never crashed or experienced any other glitches except for 1 with a low level quest. Hell, I even had a GM help me retrieve my tombstone and give me a lesson in escrow and the altars...personally. No gold spam either - something AION could learn from.
Everyday I play I read chat generated by returnees who need help remembering how to play...so people are returning. I realize the servers are being consolidated and the PvP server is being deleted - but there are PLENTY of other games for the PVPers and from what I understand this deletion affects a total of 10 subbers. Based on the hate though, I suspect VG is destined for death...and if not in the cards, it will be once SWtOR releases.
Stand alone and based on my rather objective opinion - I think it's a pretty decent game.
Perhaps you don't understand the feeling many people have for the game, because you are not familiar with what has happened over the last few years and how the game has progressed. Maybe your newness to the game makes it look like everything is fine, but you have not witnessed the changes, the promises, the attitudes or any number of other things that other people have witnessed.
To come to the party so late and then make blanket statements about people only hating the game because of the launch is just plain wrong.
Good to hear you are enjoying the game today though.
I purchased Vanguard at launch and was extremely displeased with the state of the game. I played for nearly 3 months and then unsubed. Over the next year and a half I subbed and unsubbed twice more until my character hit the level cap. After I did that there wasn't much else to do in the world. The craftable boats still weren't fully implemented into the game (there were currently only 2 levels), there were no high level dungeons in the game yet (APW wasn't out yet), flying mounts were still a new thing and you had to rent them. I could keep listing things but there isn't reason.
Now, I haven't played Vanguard for around two years but people in my gaming community stil tell me how much they are enjoying the game. I would love to try the game out once more to see how much it has really changed, but I have already resubbed my account so many times and I am not willing to pay another $15 to SOE just to be let down. I would like to see SOE give a free month to players. I have received invites back to other games before that I had previously belonged to and some I have even resubed to after trying their new features or game fixes. Ok, maybe a month is too much free time to give to players but what about a free weekend for returning players, anything would be nice just so I can login and try.
They may not kill the game any time soon. After all SOE has station pass which lets you play their gaggle of MMO's for a flat monthly rate. They have to have SOMETHING other then EQ2 on the list. If the development team (or part time developer/janitor) is kept small and they have enough subs they may keep it just to have some games for the Station Pass pricing.
If you have played on Xeth Server you would have had a chance to participate in Player (Guild) run events. We have had lots of Newbie Nights to help out new players on the mainlands (we have players who help when they can on the Isle), Crafting/Diplo Classes in the past and Xeth Faires (6 so far).
I see alot of people posting that they won't come try out or come back to Vanguard until the population is up. So if everyone feels that way the population will always be lower as most of you who say that would have to come try or play it for awhile to get it up or lots of new players who just found it would have to come.
Some day I will try this or that means you are not willing to come try the best MMO game out there. So quit playing that other boring game and play what all the ones who decided it was worth while population low or not.
That said, I have to offer up a resounding NO. I payed for the full game when it was new, and subscriptions. I tried to help out the community but I just couldn't stand it.
SOE is the biggest failure to defile God's green Earth. I consider them my personal enemy and as such, no member of my gaming community or real life family will ever purchase another game with the SOE brand on it.
SOE, if any of your employees are reading this, you are the sorriest bunch of pathetic corporate thieves I've ever encountered. If we arrest the CEO of Enron for embezzlement, why can't we arrest the CEO and leading employees of SOE?
That said, I have to offer up a resounding NO. I payed for the full game when it was new, and subscriptions. I tried to help out the community but I just couldn't stand it.
SOE is the biggest failure to defile God's green Earth. I consider them my personal enemy and as such, no member of my gaming community or real life family will ever purchase another game with the SOE brand on it.
SOE, if any of your employees are reading this, you are the sorriest bunch of pathetic corporate thieves I've ever encountered. If we arrest the CEO of Enron for embezzlement, why can't we arrest the CEO and leading employees of SOE?
Tip: Try STO before saying that, Cryptic is a lot worse. SOE at least had a hit game once with EQ.
And the crappy state of VG was really Sigils fault.
Still, SOE should either have waited with the release until the game actually was fixed or not released it as a P2P game at all. It would have done better as a F2P game if they wanted to release it in the bad shape it was.
That said, I have to offer up a resounding NO. I payed for the full game when it was new, and subscriptions. I tried to help out the community but I just couldn't stand it.
SOE is the biggest failure to defile God's green Earth. I consider them my personal enemy and as such, no member of my gaming community or real life family will ever purchase another game with the SOE brand on it.
SOE, if any of your employees are reading this, you are the sorriest bunch of pathetic corporate thieves I've ever encountered. If we arrest the CEO of Enron for embezzlement, why can't we arrest the CEO and leading employees of SOE?
Tip: Try STO before saying that, Cryptic is a lot worse. SOE at least had a hit game once with EQ.
And the crappy state of VG was really Sigils fault.
Still, SOE should either have waited with the release until the game actually was fixed or not released it as a P2P game at all. It would have done better as a F2P game if they wanted to release it in the bad shape it was.
Funny thing is that SOE was only formed after and as a result of the success of EQ. SOE was formed to exploit the possibilities of the online mmo market and shortly after bought/chased off all the original talent that made the cornerstone of their business.
In an even stranger relationship, Cryptic is run a hand maiden of John Smedleys. John Needham was a long time SOE VP and just looking at his areas of oversite at SOE it is easy to see why Crypitc is turning into the 3rd rate mmo developer it is.
Comments
I hear you but if you consider that the majority of complaints are around the fact the game has no population then this go's a long way to addressing the issue ?
"after the time of dice came the day of mice "
It needs selling to another mmo developer and re-naming!
I asked someone just an hour ago if he'd ever played vangaurd, and his response was "I heard lots of bad things about that"
So even now, years later people still are under the mistaken impression that its STILL bad. Its a word assocaiation, people now associate this word with bad. So it needs renaming!.. nothing else!
Vanguard having low population is the result of the games problems, not the cause. There was a time when the servers were full and there were so many people playing that vanguard needed 4 servers to properly host all the players.
All I am saying is that putting more people on the same server is not addressing the issues of why people are leaving. Seeing that the game is closing 75% of the server resources it is pretty safe to assume that at least 75% of the playerbase has gone too.
Unless soe initiates some sort of revival, there is not going to be one. Writing letters, petitions and viral videos didn't work for the other station pass games and it certainly isn't going to work for the red headed step child of soe. If soe stays follows suit on what they did in other mmos, the next step if for vanguard to stop getting updates (or seriously small/far apart ones), then just go for a time without any real developer at all and then shutdown. Much of this depends on when soe adds new games to the station pass.
Either way, soe didn't spend enough to make this game work when there were 4 servers worth of players paying the bills and I highly doubt they are going to pay attention to a game with less than 1 servers worth of people paying money.
I just cant see soe puting in any more money into this. I give it another 6 month max before they actually get to shutdown. But then I said that about swg. However SWG still is running 8 servers compared to the now fixing to be one server for vangaurd. I wonder what all the pvp players are thinking since that servers going away too.
It would take a change in managment thought processes, to see anything happen now. I know they are looking at the spreadsheet numbers and going, well this is dead.
So I expect this vangaurd to go the way of matrix, it is just a matter of time. Unless another studio can buy it out that being the last hope.
As I understand it, "all the pvp players" might be only as many people as you can count on your fingers and toes. I know that for PvP gaming I never considered Vanguard as a viable option, games like WAR or AoC do that so much better (flawed as they are).
Yeah who knows, Vanguard will be around as long as it is. As far as it going to another host/developer or whatever....I don't know if it'd be cheaper to take the existing world of Telon and then revitalize it, or just take the concepts of positive elements of Vanguard and make an entirely new game? I'm not familiar with all the costs of developing or advancing a game.
In either case, it's clear that SOE has no interest of doing anything with it except decreasing how much it costs them to keep it running (server merge). I only hope--for those of us still playing Vanguard--that they're content leaving it on a single-server/minimal-staff basis for longer than you say. Games can be "dead" and stay online for years (look at your example of SWG).
Currently playing: LOTRO, Guild Wars 2.
Have played: EVE Online; Champions Online; Age of Conan; City of Heroes/Villains; Star Wars Galaxies (pre-CU, pre-NGE); World of Warcraft (Vanilla to Cataclysm); Hellgate: London; Warhammer Online; Lord of the Rings Online; Vanguard: Saga of Heroes; Star Wars: The Old Republic
Wishlist: Mass Effect Online
I was join this game, I think this game is like as the Everquest, so I like it. Because they have freedom rule, and not easy to play.
What they need is more people. If you guys start giving them your money, they can pay moe programmers to fix the bugs and to add new content.
free to play all the way, they could incorprate an item shop, BUT nothing like korean mmos where you could just buy your way to greatness.
The best game when you can find a group, the worst when you"re alone.
VG is now one of the worst mmo in the market because it's a nightmare to play alone.
Tried to play VG many and many times because "it's my game" but had to stop and cancel account many and many times: unplayable alone.
I'm sad to see great games dying (VG, DAOC) and games for kids everywhere (wow, swtor aion etc)
MMOS are no more for adults now (or we' ll have to play Eve, one of the last real mmos )
After years of hardcore WoW and other stops and starts with other mmorpgs, I stumbled across Vanguard on this site due to its high hype ranking. I played the Isle to level 10 and subbed. I play it just as religiously as I have any other online game ...(everyday for at least 4 hours - minimum). There is NOTHING more wrong about Vanguard than is wrong with WoW, AION, AoC, Guild Wars, Atlantica, Runes of Magic, DD(f2p), LOTR, or ANY other MMORPG that I've plunked down my hard earned money or time to play. I was at beta and launch for AoC, AION, RoM, and you couldn't PAY me to play either one today. Bugs, spammers, botters, haters, low maturity level and lameness all play a part. What I am reading mostly in this thread is just a bunch of pissed off subbers who got shafted at launch and want the game dead. Without the same resentments, I have been really enjoying Vanguard - however, I can understand the loathing.
I can always get a group, have never crashed or experienced any other glitches except for 1 with a low level quest. Hell, I even had a GM help me retrieve my tombstone and give me a lesson in escrow and the altars...personally. No gold spam either - something AION could learn from.
Everyday I play I read chat generated by returnees who need help remembering how to play...so people are returning. I realize the servers are being consolidated and the PvP server is being deleted - but there are PLENTY of other games for the PVPers and from what I understand this deletion affects a total of 10 subbers. Based on the hate though, I suspect VG is destined for death...and if not in the cards, it will be once SWtOR releases.
Stand alone and based on my rather objective opinion - I think it's a pretty decent game.
If I have to explain it, you wouldn't understand.
I just DLd the trial last week (after I found the download link - tried opera, chrome, FF and IE was the only browser which loaded to webpage correctly and showed the DL link).
Then I saw the awful ping and 6 people online on the PvP server Halgardsomething. It saddens me to see one of the most fun MMORPGs in this state.
I played vanguard at launch and i gotta say i had major major problems with it...not only would the game crash constantly and at the worst possilbe times in combat etc...but the zoning glitchs were just horrid running accross the world and having a mob trained on your for like what seemed like 30 miles of running and never giving up was just NUTZ to say the least...and glitch crash at zone boundary crossings was just to much for me....
i typically give all games a 3 month cycle to see how they shake out..but vanguard for me was so bad...after the month free sub ..i bailed....
i am willing to give it another chance...but i don't think i would pay SOE for my time invested in it so if they offered a f2p option i'd give it a shot to see if it was worth my time again but theres NO WAY IN HELL i'd give them money to try this game out again..i have burned before by SOE in the NGE and i'm not willing to part with my funds so easily anymore for them to just blow changes thru on a whim....SOE HAS TO EARN MY TRUST....and for that...vanguard would have to be f2p or at least a good decent trial to see if its woth my time to...well give it that time..first...
http://www.forceofarms.com/index.php
They do offer a free trial atm.
SOE doesn't want to save this game, so this whole post is a mute point.
Indeed, I do think SoE just wishes VG would go away, its revenue limps along and there are no gaming or buisness buzz words it can be linked to. In SoE's eyes it is not the future and that means a lingering death sentance which is a real shame.
I've always wanted to try Vanguard and if they ever go f2p, I certainly will. Otherwise, they will not be recieving my dollar, or fifteen as it were.
This is an assumption, because honestly there is no proof that soe wouldn't just pocket the extra money or invest it into one of their new games that might actually have a future.
All games need revenue, but they also need a developer that is committed to the success. At some point the developer has to step up and convince players that they are willing to go the distance with their product and stand behind it. Then and only then can players have faith that their subscription dollars might be used to better the game.
Keep in mind that other soe games that received extra revenue from cash shops, cash for item sales and virtual card games have not seen an increase in development. They have actually seen a decrease in development cycles.
Perhaps you don't understand the feeling many people have for the game, because you are not familiar with what has happened over the last few years and how the game has progressed. Maybe your newness to the game makes it look like everything is fine, but you have not witnessed the changes, the promises, the attitudes or any number of other things that other people have witnessed.
To come to the party so late and then make blanket statements about people only hating the game because of the launch is just plain wrong.
Good to hear you are enjoying the game today though.
I purchased Vanguard at launch and was extremely displeased with the state of the game. I played for nearly 3 months and then unsubed. Over the next year and a half I subbed and unsubbed twice more until my character hit the level cap. After I did that there wasn't much else to do in the world. The craftable boats still weren't fully implemented into the game (there were currently only 2 levels), there were no high level dungeons in the game yet (APW wasn't out yet), flying mounts were still a new thing and you had to rent them. I could keep listing things but there isn't reason.
Now, I haven't played Vanguard for around two years but people in my gaming community stil tell me how much they are enjoying the game. I would love to try the game out once more to see how much it has really changed, but I have already resubbed my account so many times and I am not willing to pay another $15 to SOE just to be let down. I would like to see SOE give a free month to players. I have received invites back to other games before that I had previously belonged to and some I have even resubed to after trying their new features or game fixes. Ok, maybe a month is too much free time to give to players but what about a free weekend for returning players, anything would be nice just so I can login and try.
They may not kill the game any time soon. After all SOE has station pass which lets you play their gaggle of MMO's for a flat monthly rate. They have to have SOMETHING other then EQ2 on the list. If the development team (or part time developer/janitor) is kept small and they have enough subs they may keep it just to have some games for the Station Pass pricing.
If you have played on Xeth Server you would have had a chance to participate in Player (Guild) run events. We have had lots of Newbie Nights to help out new players on the mainlands (we have players who help when they can on the Isle), Crafting/Diplo Classes in the past and Xeth Faires (6 so far).
I see alot of people posting that they won't come try out or come back to Vanguard until the population is up. So if everyone feels that way the population will always be lower as most of you who say that would have to come try or play it for awhile to get it up or lots of new players who just found it would have to come.
Some day I will try this or that means you are not willing to come try the best MMO game out there. So quit playing that other boring game and play what all the ones who decided it was worth while population low or not.
I like your article, it's well-written.
That said, I have to offer up a resounding NO. I payed for the full game when it was new, and subscriptions. I tried to help out the community but I just couldn't stand it.
SOE is the biggest failure to defile God's green Earth. I consider them my personal enemy and as such, no member of my gaming community or real life family will ever purchase another game with the SOE brand on it.
SOE, if any of your employees are reading this, you are the sorriest bunch of pathetic corporate thieves I've ever encountered. If we arrest the CEO of Enron for embezzlement, why can't we arrest the CEO and leading employees of SOE?
Tip: Try STO before saying that, Cryptic is a lot worse. SOE at least had a hit game once with EQ.
And the crappy state of VG was really Sigils fault.
Still, SOE should either have waited with the release until the game actually was fixed or not released it as a P2P game at all. It would have done better as a F2P game if they wanted to release it in the bad shape it was.
Vanguard could be purchased by another company, much like Horizons (Istaria) was. That might save it.
Other than that, maybe Vanguard's original devs could return and try to spread publicity and hold game conventions, Vanguard Game conventions.
Funny thing is that SOE was only formed after and as a result of the success of EQ. SOE was formed to exploit the possibilities of the online mmo market and shortly after bought/chased off all the original talent that made the cornerstone of their business.
In an even stranger relationship, Cryptic is run a hand maiden of John Smedleys. John Needham was a long time SOE VP and just looking at his areas of oversite at SOE it is easy to see why Crypitc is turning into the 3rd rate mmo developer it is.