So how do you feel about SOE running this game on a skeleton crew of 18?

The original statement is flawed, therefor I feel nothing.

Originally posted by Lateris

So how do you feel about SOE running this game on a skeleton crew of 18?

2 updates and phase one of a third update in over 5 months.  In the 5 months since SOE has taken over they have done almost noithing.  Everything they have have patched in the 2.3 updates were projects being worked on by Sigil last May and likely would have been patched into the game last May if SOE had not taken over.

In 5 months SOE has given us about a weeks worth of updates.  While I have heard the development team is larger and close to 25 people I agree with your overall tone that the SOE only has nothing but a skeleton crew keeping to the game running not to develop in any signifigant form.

It is quite sad when one thinks how much better this game would be now if Sigil had remained in charge.  But even with the fumbling and procrastinating of SOE Vanguard is still quite a good game.

What in the hell are those 25 people doing!?

Originally posted by Zippy

 2 updates and phase one of a third update in over 5 months.  In the 5 months since SOE has taken over they have done almost noithing.  Everything they have have patched in the 2.3 updates were projects being worked on by Sigil last May and likely would have been patched into the game last May if SOE had not taken over.

 

In 5 months SOE has given us about a weeks worth of updates.  While I have heard the development team is larger and close to 25 people I agree with your overall tone that the SOE only has nothing but a skeleton crew keeping to the game running not to develop in any signifigant form.

 

It is quite sad when one thinks how much better this game would be now if Sigil had remained in charge.  But even with the fumbling and procrastinating of SOE Vanguard is still quite a good game.

The last update (3 phase 1) contained two months of bug-fixing, with a noticable difference for just about everyone. Phase 2 is a couple of weeks away, phase 3 another couple of weeks. Clue: http://vgplayers.station.sony.com/gameUpdatesDetails.vm?mode=ViewAll

Have to strongly disagree on this one for me SOE have been VG's saviour , massive bug squishes n performance tweaks to the point where the game is feeling polished no CTD in a month now for me.

Content will come but SOE are learning frm there past mistakes with SWG etc get your core game to a polished working level and then look at content.

i agree that the game has improved under SOE since i was in the game snce beta 2 and came into the game 3 months after its release in january. and i got another free month from a snafu with eq2 account. but the game doesnt really offer anything outstanding, the game is still buggy, and mediocre unnecessarily annoying game features, that dont complement the game but rather degrade and burden it from being a full hardcore/raid game with a balanced emphasis on group and soloing. the game still needs another 4-6 months of work easily. but despite this i dont think ill be going intot heg ame anymore.

i gave it a chance, the issues i had make it not worth my money. though I  may or may not do the station pass once i get money if and when i can change my vanguard over to to my eq2 account(thats if i remain correct bout my vsoh and eq2 being 2 different accounts) then i might pay for it just to see where it stands currently.

but by itself I wont be playing it but right now im broke as a joke anyways lol so doesnt matter. well have to see in the next few months.

i just hope that they keep those 25 people as they are doing a great job. Lets face it even if they have only been working on the things sigil started then at least with 25 people they could finish where as sigil couldnt with 3 times that :)

SOE is not trying to update the game right now, they have said this. They are trying to fix the game so it works. After all the bug squishing then they will get into updated content.

Adding content to a broken game does nothing. Fix the game first then add content.

Totaly agree with you there. Whats the use of adding more content when it will be in a bugged world! on a side note while i am getting no ctd's and not many bugs anymore i still seem to struggle along at 20 fps! ok this isn't that much of a problem but i hear people mentioning around 70fps and wander what i am doing wrong. i have a dule core 3.2 gig pc with a nvidia 7300 card and 2 gig memory.

Just a thought, how many staff does eq2 have? or whats the average for a mmorg?

I had contemplated coming back a couple times, but...I dunno.

I'm jonesing for something to play, but at the same time, I don't want to play garbage. what is there to do (adventure wise, I'm not a crafter) other than squish mobs? Are the quests any better or the same crap they had before? Are the dungeons still so retardedly set up or have they made changes to them?

Not bashing, just curious.

D.

no friend the quests are pretty much the same as any other game :) as for layouts the dungeons have not been changed at all. I enjoy the dungeons myself but if thier not your cup of tea then i wouldnt bother :)

Bleh. The dungeons were kinda fun, but for not being instanced the respawn rates seemed off. I dunno, maybe after a year of bug fixes and an xpac to put some content in that big, empty wasteland it will be a solid game.

It almost reminded me of shadowbane...lots and lots and lots and lots of....empty space sans content.

D.

A solid, small team can work wonders when programming.... sometimes more than a large one..... so no reason to panic.... give them some time and see how it goes.....

Originally posted by Zippy

 

Originally posted by Lateris

So how do you feel about SOE running this game on a skeleton crew of 18?

2 updates and phase one of a third update in over 5 months.  In the 5 months since SOE has taken over they have done almost nothing.  Everything they have have patched in the 2.3 updates were projects being worked on by Sigil last May and likely would have been patched into the game last May if SOE had not taken over.

 

In 5 months SOE has given us about a weeks worth of updates.  While I have heard the development team is larger and close to 25 people I agree with your overall tone that the SOE only has nothing but a skeleton crew keeping to the game running not to develop in any significant form.

 

It is quite sad when one thinks how much better this game would be now if Sigil had remained in charge.  But even with the fumbling and procrastinating of SOE Vanguard is still quite a good game.

18-25 people is plenty to keep steady development, but it means they must have both passion and motivation to achieve much of anything. Sigil had passion and not motivation and SOE is just the opposite. I think it would still be a mess if Sigil were at the wheel, and SOE has added fixes that would still be under the microscope otherwise.

The recent patches were large (2 months worth). My question is, why save 2 months worth of bug fixes for 1 patch? Wouldn't it be a better confidence booster for players, as well as non-players to patch them in every couple of weeks to show constant progress? What am I missing here?

SOE is probably the worst I've encountered where customer service is concerned. They offer no free flow of information to the player base and leave a myriad of valid questions unanswered.

As far as I know, SOE is just trying to tidy up performance and stability issues so they can focus on the trial island. Trial island will definitely be the hinge pin that determines the future of VG. IF trial island can draw in new subs, then I'm sure you will see the dev team grow accordingly. 

Personally, I can't see why trial island wasn't the focus before APW. If SOE had been able to get the trial ready for mid Nov there's no telling how it would have impacted holiday sales.

I agree that SOE has fixed a ton of bugs but was it with SOE staff or Sigil staff? And it does concern me when and if there will be new content when the game is still in repair mode say 2 years from now.  So I am a little concerned and weary of SOE's record only because I feel this game has major sonic potential yet SOE seems to squander potential.

Originally posted by shukes33

Totaly agree with you there. Whats the use of adding more content when it will be in a bugged world! on a side note while i am getting no ctd's and not many bugs anymore i still seem to struggle along at 20 fps! ok this isn't that much of a problem but i hear people mentioning around 70fps and wander what i am doing wrong. i have a dule core 3.2 gig pc with a nvidia 7300 card and 2 gig memory.

Just a thought, how many staff does eq2 have? or whats the average for a mmorg?

i also run a dual core 3.2,  2gb ram but on a ATI X1950 Pro 512mb the card cost £75 and took me from 15fps on a old nvidia 6500 on highest performance to 70+ balanced 40+ highest quality nowadays

Originally posted by Lateris

I agree that SOE has fixed a ton of bugs but was it with SOE staff or Sigil staff? And it does concern me when and if there will be new content when the game is still in repair mode say 2 years from now.  So I am a little concerned and weary of SOE's record only because I feel this game has major sonic potential yet SOE seems to squander potential.

 

 

With the current subs and the team appropriated to VG, any content additions will be few and far between. That may be enough to appease the current players, it's hard to say, MMOers are a fickle crowd indeed. VG will not be in repair mode in 2 years however (I'm pretty sure you were just exaggerating anyway). It will have either flourished or floundered by then.

I say push it out. We've established that the remaining players are gluttons for punishment and willing to accept almost anything. No need for overkill at this point. The general consensus is the game runs really smooth with few bugs. Release APW and trial island ASAP, and give the players what they want.

Originally posted by thamighty213

 

Originally posted by shukes33

Totaly agree with you there. Whats the use of adding more content when it will be in a bugged world! on a side note while i am getting no ctd's and not many bugs anymore i still seem to struggle along at 20 fps! ok this isn't that much of a problem but i hear people mentioning around 70fps and wander what i am doing wrong. i have a dule core 3.2 gig pc with a nvidia 7300 card and 2 gig memory.

Just a thought, how many staff does eq2 have? or whats the average for a mmorg?

Id say your graphics card is quite seriousley letting you down, the 7300 for a game like vanguard isnt the best

 

 

i also run a dual core 3.2,  2gb ram but on a ATI X1950 Pro 512mb the card cost £75 and took me from 15fps on a old nvidia 6500 on highest performance to 70+ balanced 40+ highest quality nowadays

Thanks friend i think i am going to look into a upgrade for it this weekend to see if that makes a difference. Thanks for the advice mate!

I think the soe could have added the huge patches to show a significant leap in progress rather than the steady one because most people dont take notice of slow steady progress, they seem to want a fix that adds 10fps a time and takes out thousands of bugs. Myself i am with you in that if i see steady progress i am happy and will be patient. Will be interesting to see whats planned after the whole GU3 thing.

Vanguard now seems polished?

SOE has done good since taking over?

Thngs will get better because SOE says so?

Wishful thinking and then some.  I see some things never change. You go ahead and keep believing this game is "polished" and or will do better. If you care to convince yourselves of ridiculous statements like this do so but the majority of smart gamers who have been around know better.

Don't forget server mergers happen to dying games not "polished" ones.