Even if you find a large guild (which I did) the game is so massive that finding people to group with can be extremely challenging. 

When grouped... it was fun.. in 20 levels I found groups 4 times as a tank class.

I could give you an honest opinion because i'm alot older and been around an aweful lot of games as compared to most one time WOW gamers.

Alot of people join games on sheer numbers,they like to feel there is a big world with alot of players to interact with.This game is bigger than most however there is not alot of players to interact with.This is made even worse because of the sheer size of the world.

When i started the game,prices were made by player's intelectual decisions,but after a very short time the economy was driven quite high because too many players are buying gold outside of the game.This forces prices on top notch items way above what they should be.If it doesnt bother you to be middle of the road for gear then this won't be a bother to you.

Crafting is good but you need to spend about 5-1 in ratio crafting/adventuring,to keep your player equipped with same level gear.Instead of allowing players to craft everything they need,sorta become self efficient,they force you to rely on other players. Far i'm concerned i don't like that,but again if it doesnt bother you ,then your set.

There is a ton to explore in this game,but the graphics will be extremely bland if you cannot play on very high settings.You will often see people argue over the graphics on a basis that has nothing to do with graphics but more so the layout design of the world.What i am saying some people think bright purple/orange/pink/green colours make a world look nicer but that really has nothing to do with graphics.That is palette choosing.The actual graphics/textures are at the top of the heap,there is not a game i can think of that can surpass vanguard.Until a game comes out using directx 10 and there is drivers that properly support the top video cards ,then there is not likely to be a better game graphics wise.

Although the game is very wide open,non/linear,it is restricted in that you need to gain faction standing in outside areas.Without faction standing[friendly/foe]the guards and NPC will attack you and kill you.

As far as bugs go,yes there is the odd thing that crops up once in awhile,but nothing that is continuously  overriding the game.

There is a ton of quests to do,but all the good ones really rely on group play.The spells and abilities are right on par with most games,but i guess i am biased towards the over all balance and selection of FFXI's setup.I threw in FFXI because you played it ,so i figured it would give you a comparison.

Over all i would say that this game offers everything a serious gamer would want.If your like a lot of young players who just think games are to level as fast as you can then ,i can't help you.The problem of a low player base will make it hard for you to find fellow gamers to hang with,that also have the same interests as your self.This game garnered alot of hate because ,they made the mistake of telling people the game was incomplete.They coulda just sat back and said nothing to the players and no one would have thought different of it.The other big hate problem was that players wanted a high poly/hi res game that played smoothly on an average system.To this day there is NOT one properly working driver for any of the top notch SLI video cards,so nobody will have a smooth running experience in this game.Nvidia and ATI keep popping out drivers to keep the people from causing an uproar,but in reality they are crap drivers that have done nothing to help top notch hardware.So expect this game to not run like a low poly WOW game.

So you know i do not play this game anymore,as IMO FFXI is a better over all game and i don't have time to play both.If this helps you anymore,i would say that if i wasnt playing FFXI i would most likely be playing VANGUARD but only as a sideshow until something unique or better comes along.There is alot to this game and ALOT of effort was done,this i can see and i consider myself qualified to judge it.As a totally non biased reviewer of any game,i would say it is not quite EQ2 or FFXI but better than most games out there including WOW.I have not played guild wars[highly rated by many] so i can not comment on that game.It all comes down to what you expect from a game?fast levelling/challenging?community?graphics?exploring?battle system?crafting?ingenuity?this is the criteria i base every game on that i have played.

Originally posted by Wizardry

Over all i would say that this game offers everything a serious gamer would want.

 I will try my best with my poor English. :)

Compare to Wow, VG is very complicated and very group oriented.   The problem is you can't find people to grouping because too few people play this game (the world size also very big).    So, you can't do tons of quest which need grouping.   Crafting also very complicated and time consuming.   However, the character creation and tons of class is superior compare to most game.

If you want something more casual,  LOTRO is better.   It's like Wow lite+Guild Wars(for instance story line) and monster play is something like you play 2 MMO at the same time.    Though it's lag of many great feature from Wow (like flying mount, deep swimming), I still give the "fun" point to 9 equal to WoW.

VG may be a good choice if you are really hardcore and willing to spend most of your life in it.    However, I bought this game and use trial key then never use the real key :P) .    I may play it again if this game can survived for 1-2 year, improve performance, tune to more solo friendly and grab more people.   Right now, I haste to be the only one in the area like playing offline game.

Originally posted by phraden
I'm interested in buying and trying out Vanguard. My comp specs aren't top notch, but they aren't bottom of the barrel either. If I run at low specs, is this game still worth getting for the gameplay, I heard it had many bugs, is this improving. I recently quit WoW, and played EQ, FFXI, and Guild Wars before it.

In all honesty does anyone think I would enjoy this game if I'm looking for a fantasy sword/shield/magic type game. (I say sword/shield/magic becuase I'm not into space like machine games).

Please help.

Edit: One reason for my consideration of this game is the proclaimed importance of diplomacy and crafting. Is this overhyped?

The game runs spotty on anything not top notch.  People that play and are subscribers will likely try to tell you it should be fine, but beleve me, it runs like crap unless you got high powered equipment.

I suggest you try out Lord of the Rings Online.  Its in OB and free to download and play until release, at least there you dont have to buy anything to try it out and see if you like it.  I do.  www.lotro.com

I also liked this game as well, but I have become a bit sick of waiting for MMO's to patch just so I can play it like its supposed to be played.  I suggest waiting to try this out for at least 6 months.  If there is still even a player base by then.

Originally posted by phraden
Just one more question if someone wouldn't mind answering, is the player base big enough to find regular interaction. Will it be a struggle to find a group?

Ok so Ive had a few horrible things to say about the game  BUT if you must try it out -

I never went short on being able to find a team when I wanted, 2 bits of advice

1) Find a decently active guild who are able to help you, the Vanguard Players website allows you to bring up individual guild information, including number of members and unique account members, plus the date they last logged on.

2) Pick the right class.  My main was a cleric, and was sent regular tells asking if she wanted to team, even when she was already teamed.  I also noticed a lot of shouts in region when playing on Gelenia for Cleric/Psi to join teams.  I would also add Clerics solo brilliantly till around lvl 18 and at lvl 15+ Pallys really come into their own both teamed and solo.

Good luck....

Originally posted by dangermouse1

i highly recommend trying LOTRO. Vanguard is a bit of a disaster from start to finish. LOTRO is good fun and works

best of luck

Originally posted by Fifthred

Originally posted by Wizardry

Over all i would say that this game offers everything a serious gamer would want.

Do you have that "elitest bull crap" in a size large ?
What the hell is a "serious gamer" That is the biggest contradiction I've ever heard. 
Thought serious game mean't someone who played everything from pong to now.
I'm baffled at how people are able to twist a pile of shit to make it smell good, must be something they teach in marketing .

Originally posted by swede2

Originally posted by dangermouse1

i highly recommend trying LOTRO. Vanguard is a bit of a disaster from start to finish. LOTRO is good fun and works

best of luck

You forgot to add LoTR is linear and small and has no replay value wouldnt play it if it was free

He is saying its linear because LOTRO actually has a story, unlike other MMO's I have played.  There are scripted events where you get to see some of the greats from the novels do some pretty cool things.  Even vids that keep the story going.  So that makes players feel its linear, but honestly, an MMO with a main quest storyline is great, and its easy to understand whats going on.  In this game, they will be adding tons of quests, instead of just adding patches here and there, it apears that the LOTRO team intends to change the age of which we are playing in semi frequently. If you try out a hobbit youll find we are at the point when the black riders are still looking for baggins.  Anyways, I see a huge potential for build-up in this game.  It actuall feels polished unlike the game we are in the forums of, or any other mmo that comes out.  It also feels like it has reason to add new quests, and new events to further the story.  And just because he said its linear doesnt mean there isnt a huge amount of side quests to do.

Look, I like the game, and I did like the books, I however and not a fanboy.  I just like the game, it is good.  I am sure many that have played it will tell you that to.

And back to the originall poster:  In LOTRO they have so many setting features you would be hard pressed not to be able to run LOTRO on your computer, though by the way, "The game is georgeous on Ultra High".

Can't speak to crafting.

But I do love diplomacy.  I'm a 231 skill level and could spend all my time on diplomacy.  Deep, rich, complex and it's been patched up and received additional content since launch.  What is yet to be seen is the intersection of diplomacy with player controlled cities and opening up adventuring possibilities.  I'm either unaware of it, or they simply haven't implented it.

The only ones able to give an unbiased reply are people who has never heard the name Vanguard, and it is doubtfull their opinion would help you.

I will give it a go though, just know that personally I found the game fun at start but looking back I realise the thing is horrible, Havent played for about 7 weeks as well and thing can and probably have changed.

As to specs it seems they have little to do with it.

I have a real highend machine now and when I started I had a really aged one.

The highend could run the thing fairly well but nowhere near what I would have expected.

The 8800 cards do not seem to agree with VG and allthough the new machine could run it, it crashed a lot.

Old machine had trouble playing it, but on the upside I rarely krashed, least not due to machine errors.

So you cna be lucky and run it on a lwend, or unlucky and have terrible performance with a real monster, only way to know is to try.

I found crafting an exercise in self punishment but there is no denying if you can stomach it you will be able to make really nice items, when I left the nerf bat had started swinging towards crafted gear and I do not know how it is now but back then rare crafted armor and weapons, preferable with "imbues" was really top notch.

Diplomacy had its uses and allthough not all that fun could be very helpful, the process is long and comlicated but it was posssible to start area and city wide buffs with diplo, the +25 to a given craft skill sure was helpful, the combat buffs less so as they only lasted an hour. ( as do craft buffs but as you are in the city crafting it gets refreshed all the time )

Being pure diplo and/or crafter though I imagine is very hard in this game, you wll probably need a decent adventure level to back it up if that was your aim.

In all honesty there is no way for me, or anyone here, to say wether or not you will like it, i advice you to give it a try at least.

If you are able to run it well on your machine I am sure you will get at least some fun out of it, if it has staying power for you then all the better.

But, if you are weighing this thing against others and can only afford one I will not give you the advice to try it.

It is worth a try, it is not however worth your ONLY try.

The chances you wont like it is far higher in this thing then in most other options you have, i would take a "safer" bet in that case.

Originally posted by phraden
I'm interested in buying and trying out Vanguard. My comp specs aren't top notch, but they aren't bottom of the barrel either. If I run at low specs, is this game still worth getting for the gameplay, I heard it had many bugs, is this improving. I recently quit WoW, and played EQ, FFXI, and Guild Wars before it.

In all honesty does anyone think I would enjoy this game if I'm looking for a fantasy sword/shield/magic type game. (I say sword/shield/magic becuase I'm not into space like machine games).

Please help.

Edit: One reason for my consideration of this game is the proclaimed importance of diplomacy and crafting. Is this overhyped?

1. Im not sure about your performance issue unless you provide more info about your computer specs. Generally speaking, many people play exclusively at the higher performance settings and are happy with it. I think it looks a little weak at the highest performance setting.

2. The genre sounds like what you a looking for. Its very traditional fantasy. There isn't even a steam punk element as with WoW and FFXI. Its very much like EQ.