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Vanguard: Saga of Heroes: Our E3 2005 Preview
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While at the E3 Expo convention, we made sure to drop by the Sigil Games booth to check out Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. What we saw was quite impressive and we have put together a mini-preview:
A crew from Sigil Games Online was on hand to show off the companys first big game. Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is in the early stages, but already it looks impressive. Programmers David Forrest and Ben Tarr spent some time describing the game and the unusual approaches they are taking to the genre. Not all races or classes are yet revealed. In fact, not all will be available at launch. The players are encouraged to explore and discover for themselves. At E3, the announced classes are Warrior, Sorcerer, Ranger, Pscionisist, and Cleric. Each character class will be different, even extending to the UI presented to the various players. The interface will customizable, so players will have the freedom to do what they wish. A couple of races, including goblins, orcs, kurashasa (cat people), and three types of elves were discussed, but there will be several more. Group play is very important within Vanguard. Forrest explained that a level 25 Warrior will not be able to solo a level 25 dungeon. There are going to be solo options, but combat is only fully realized in a group within the game. As such, warriors, for example, can select an offensive target and a defensive target. While fighting a group of monsters, an attack on a cleric may cause the warrior to break off and jump in front of the melee. This is part of reactions, which help a player inside combat. Other reactions include the ability to fend off or even offensively counter attacks from opponents. |
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Comments
Finally, a new hard mode game instead of an anti-social solo fest. There are plenty of games out there that can be easily soloed, I am glad someone is trying to bring back the challenge and community aspect of the game.
Seems to me it is the ones who can't get a group who don't have any friends. Sorry, but to me those games where you can solo everything are just like playing a game in God mode. It is fun at first, but it gets old fast. Give me a challenging game where death is something to fear. If I wanted an easy solo game I would just play something on x-box that doesnt' require a monthly payment.
Every game does not have to appeal to every player. I think there are and will be plenty of options for people who want broad soloing ability. I'm rather looking forward to another grouping-oriented game.
...
This is where I draw the line: __________________.
Felt the same way. I just don't get why people think that those that want to solo are anti-social. I love trading with people, talking with other players in chat, in towns, etc.... Just times when I don't want to depend on others when I adventure. Either due to lack of time, constantly off and on the computer doing other things in real life, just might not be in the mood, might just wnat to partner up with a person or do things slowly and a laid back fashion due to my mood. Soloing has nothing to do with being anti-social. If a person was anti-social they wouldn't play a MMORPG. MM means you are playing with thousands of other players, it doesn't mean you have to group with people in order to interact with them.
Though I knew this would be a insanely group heavy game when I heard it was being down by some of the original creators of Everquest and I hated that version of Everquest due to it's forced grouping. More power to them but I know I'm not interested. Grouping is fun but not when it's forced. I like choice.
You can go and play EQ2, it s like Vanguard except has been ruined by people asking SOE to make it more solo friendly.
Well...............unless you want to ruin Vanguard too, of course.............
05.05.22
...the mag-tank, diabloish solo and mmo game will not be Saga. From a D&D pov specialization requires depending on others to maxamize diverse skills beyond the point a single person could reasonably expect. So Saga uses the group mantra to enhance the capabilities one will find with others, vs a single person/class being able to achieve similar firepower/ results. From the Vanguard site they do insist Saga will support solo play, but one should not expect the same rewards that a functional group could achieve.
How much time would a brute-weapon mele class expect to spend in psionic intelectual study? Wouldn't it be easier to just acquire elemential type weapons and 0 weight containers to sort all the prized weapons looted in the many adventures ? In a different vein, an intelectual using summoned pets or skills or a buff enhancement would mean a single class doing all those skills means none of the skills would be elevated to the performance callabre needed to combat a diverse and interesting monster hunting list. You can only kill so many rats and bats before one needs varity to maintain intertest.
Saga will be a difficult game where it actually takes skills and strategy to be victorious. You can utalize the skills of fellow members, or just hunt monsters you have a chance to defeat. If you want simplicity pre-defined gameplay you have EQ2, if you want cartoons you have L2 or wow. Most of the people playing mmo want fantasy. Most of the kiddies want short term consoul solo fps/sports gaming.
In the next 5 yrs with 200GB rwdvd, hdtv plasma vs 3D hemaspheric monitors and 50GB/s bandwidth with physics chipset gpu, games of today will seem like pong and tetris (that were so hot just 10 yrs ago.)
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"MMOs, for people that like think chatting is like a skill or something, rotflol"
http://purepwnage.com
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"Far away across the field, the tolling of the iron bell, calls the faithful to their knees. To hear the softly spoken magic spell" Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon
You can go and play EQ2, it s like Vanguard except has been ruined by people asking SOE to make it more solo friendly.
Well...............unless you want to ruin Vanguard too, of course.............
EQ2 is about grouping, more then Vanguard prolly since Vanguard will prolly be around raiding.
''Solo friendly'' dont mean ''WoWification'' (Noobification) of the game, it only mean solo need it own, distinct, high end.
However, if Vanguard could stick to that claim and kill solo and raiding and PvP and tradeskill, I would stick with a purely, 100% centered, grouping game. However having 5 differents ''high end'' that are completely independants of each other would be MUCH better. Or maybe a game where grouping crush every other aspect of the game, including raiding, better rewards to groups could work with me, but to raiders? No thanks, I pass.
Dummification of any aspect of the game at the profit of another dont benefit anyone, not even the ''winning'' side. If solo would give the best everything, then everyone would only solo, and nobody will care for the others aspect of the game, and many will leave, and eventually soloers would be alone and without friends and they do, would leave. Same happen with raiding been on top of the system, in fact, it is prolly worser with raiding now that peoples know what raiding is. At EQ time, raiding got the doubt benefit.
Solo only need to give solo uberness, nothing more, nothing less...and as long as the spoiled kids who raid will cry for solo uberness, the game will lack soloers, then every other gamers group will dwindle.
Zzzz...
Group play is important. But group play at the expense of solo is a mistake and wont bring any good to the game.
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
Erh..........whatever.....................yawn...............
There will be solo friendly areas in Vanguard. You can solo your heart out in the game. There will likely be a number of classes that can solo to max level (just like there were in EQ), and most classes can probably level up being part of a duo or trio. BUT, the rewards for soloing will NOT be as high as those gained from grouping, and why should they be? Vanguard will be a PvE game. There will not be a PvP or RvR centric game, and in games like that, why should soloers be able to do anything a group can do and get the same rewards? Anyone who thinks a game can be a success when you can solo everything in the game is kidding themselves. That is why SWG did a revamp, anything in the game could be soloed. And no matter how you break it down, a solo game is easier in the end than one that takes a group or groups to beat the end game mobs.
Hey Reed?
Want a tip on how to improve your MOG news reporting skills?
"Next time at E3 when you visit a game developer booth to speak the lead programmer for review of a new MOG with the intention of writing a story on it ... ask him when the intended release date is and/or include it in your story. Might be of interest to your readers don't you think?"
Been doing this long son?
Apparently you haven't been following the genre very long. For the record of course we ask such questions, but most developers don't like to give dates, specially this early in development because as ANYONE who has been following the MMORPG industry for any length of time knows, release dates change, release dates put out in early development even moreso. So as a developer why put out something that is likely to change, then you're just asking for trouble from the flamers who get all pissy cause a game gets back up a couple months.
Which leads me to answer your question with your own question... Been doing this long son?
Richard J. Cox
"There were much of the beautiful, much of the wanton, much of the bizarre, something of the terrible, and not a little of that which might have excited disgust."
Yes Kenou .. in fact I have been following Vanguard .. for what? Two years? Longer? I lost track. So when you say "This early in development." I toss the same question back at you bud.
"Vaporware" .. an old term you may have heard, comes to my mind when someone mentions Vanguard. Maybe "VaporMOG" or "SMOG" for Speculative Multiplayer Online Game, these days I suppose
Never the less, I'd of put the developer on the spot for it as well if I'd of interviewed him. Please consider that in your capacity as an industry reporter.. you are not his friend. If he is "upset" because you ask the release date, pat yourself on the back. You just did your job.
As for the other reasons you mention .. all and every one is true. But collectively they do not excuse you the MOG expert from asking anyway and publishing his response. Not to worry Kenou .. us who have "been in the business long" we won't believe it anyway.
Cheers
Soloing will be a viable way to level in Vanguard. However, I'm glad grouping will be the primary way to level in VG. It builds community which games like WoW completely lack. That is what makes a mmorpg truly great. It's what made the original EQ a great game. The game isn't even in beta though, and people are already making decisions to bash it. I'm sure conan and D&D online will be good games, but they'll cater to the crowd that can only play an hour or two a day, and that is fine. But it isn't the mmo for me.
Just because Vanguard won't be easy and carebearized like the rest of the mmo's today, doesn't mean it will be a bad game.