Vanguard: Saga of Heroes

Well tonight i returned to Vanguard. I upgraded to an 8800GT and also got me a 22inch LG widescreen so i figured i'd see how well the game played and how it has been improved.

I gotta say that although the game is playable and enjoyable i really thought SOE would have done more by now with the performance. The chunking is still noticable. I got lots of hitching around populated areas. Although let me point out that this is how the game used to act for me on High Perfomance and now i have it on high quality so it's better than it was. For some reason i was kicked back to the character select screen at one point. The gui is still a bit flakey. I press buttons and they want to move or they don't register.

I'd have to say that it's alot more stable than it was. I didn't encounter an actual bug so that in itself is a huge improvement.

In short.. this game is definately playable now. How long it will hold my attention is another matter. We'll see.

curious how far along you were when you quit?  IE what level?  were your characters still there or did you start from scratch?

what races have you tried out and have you noticed anything significant in the amount of content added for this race?  overall has anything new really reached out and grabbed your attention?

sorry to seem like im drilling you :)

im considering returning also, but it was lack of content being an orc that made me choose to stop playing.  Also, none of the classes gave me a sense of originality from one to the other.  In other words, all of the classes I tried with the exception of the rogue played the same.. the animations were the only defining factor.

oh ya.. do the Raki have tails now?  (I know..wishfull thinking)  And are we still able to re-customize our character whenever we like?

have the PvP rules changed at all, or is it the same as it was when it was first created?

You can recustomize your characterize your character whenever you like.

With gu4 next week you will have helms. Yeah! but you will loose a lot of the facial customizations.

With gu5 in two months aprox you will likely get tails, yeah, you will also potentially get more customization options to make up for some of the loss in gu4.

I was a level 20 gob necro when i quit but i was also an early beta tester. I think the most significant thing i've noticed so far is how much easier the game is.

No more waiting on boats. they have porters.

No more grinding faction to be non kos in human cities.

No more long distance running. they have wyvern stations.

Exp seems alot faster.

Yes my character that i created on release day was still there. I cancelled after my free month and no miracle patch happened. Not that i was expecting it to.

Let me say that i was strongly in favor of a hardcore game. I then realized how a good community is necessary for a hardcore game to be fun. Vanguards community was horrible at release. Alot of hardcore guilds that had been playing since early beta decided it was a race to the finish. They should have realized there was no content to race to. I'm still reserving thought on the community after asking for help with the necro FD quest in the local channel and hearing nothing but crickets. I'll join a guild here shortly and see if that changes things.

Having played this game for awhile and reached the level cap 50 with my necromancer, i am also wondering whether or not it would be worth joining Vanguard again. But i have a few concerns. Vanguard is not made for PvP, we all know that, so i don't expect it to be amazing and it wasn't at the time anyway, so lets leave that out of the question. But, as its more PvE Raiding (apparently), what does it offer that EQ2 doesn't? I can't see how this game can be successful with EQ2 dominating the type of play. And with all the releases 2008 will bring, i doubt it would be worth me signing up again.

Do any of you know what the devs are going to come up with because no doubt they will be concerned too. Is there going to be some "super patch" to make this game what it should have been? will it last through 2008? I really enjoyed it myself, reminded me a little bit of EQ1, i just don't want to waste my money re-subbing if its not going to get much better... then again, im wasting it right now playing WoW, but thats another story :)

I dislike EQ2 and like VG, mainly because the games are quite different. Players that enjoy huge NONlinear world should go for Vanguard. EQ2 is a linear, instanced small world with a few towns. VG is about exploration. EQ2's linearity is not far from Icewind Dale. Graphics is another thing.

Another aspect is crafting which is far superion in VG. EQ2 is not far from the click and watch crafting system, VG is an actual minigame. Plus the combat is undoubtedly much more interesting in VG. These four are obvious differences. I actually can't imagine someone preferring EQ2 over VG, because the rest of it is the same, but VG is better in combat/crafting/world/graphics.

thanks Cope and the rest of you.  I may try it again,  im getting some burn out in all my games and im looking for something to try out for  month or so.

You're dead on about how easy the game has gotten. It's funny that regionchat is filled with people who use the tired and lame "go back to WoW" comment on anyone who complains about pretty much anything anymore considering that VG is about the same difficulty as WoW these days. The only place to find any kind of decent challenge anymore is in APW. They did that area right.

Don't get me wrong, I love the game, I just wish they hadn't dumbed it down so much. If you decide to stay, find a good guild that runs regular groups. Grouping is where VG shines.

Hey Rayx0r

against my better judgement I just resubbed the other day. I have a soft spot for this type of world design. (the giant explorable world)

Its sorta hit and miss. If you tried it before and it still appeals to you, by all means give it another go. Things have "slightly" improved, I will try to give you best run down I can.

Originally posted by Rayx0r

curious how far along you were when you quit?  IE what level?  were your characters still there or did you start from scratch?

Your toons are still there

what races have you tried out and have you noticed anything significant in the amount of content added for this race?  overall has anything new really reached out and grabbed your attention?

I haven't noticed any real content additions but my main is only level 20 and in one area so I'm not to sure.  I know they added in some higher level stuff including an endgame raid which is a waste of time and resources IMHO.

sorry to seem like im drilling you :)

im considering returning also, but it was lack of content being an orc that made me choose to stop playing.  Also, none of the classes gave me a sense of originality from one to the other.  In other words, all of the classes I tried with the exception of the rogue played the same.. the animations were the only defining factor.

I like some of the classes in VG bro, have you tried a Psionic at all? It plays very differently from a lot of other games typical classes. Yeah, warriors and paladins and such are pretty cookie cutter but some are original. I put an Orc to 15 as a dreadknight last summer and it was pretty good. I think there are a lot of similarities to EQII classes however but I don't remember you being an EQII player, not sure on that. This game needs some way to customize your class.

oh ya.. do the Raki have tails now?  (I know..wishfull thinking)  And are we still able to re-customize our character whenever we like?

No the Raki do not have tails as of yet....you CAN still customize whenever you want.

Note though that the new patch is going to remove some of the facial customization. Some players have their panties in a bunch over it but honestly, who sees toons faces anyway? It would be nice if they added more hair styles, you can at least "see" that. They are changing it to accomidate the new helms. They are also going to be redoing avatars in the near future. They say that the way the avatars currently work is what is causing some of the performance issues.

have the PvP rules changed at all, or is it the same as it was when it was first created?

They removed the racial PvP servers, as far as I know, everything else is the same. They need to add some attackable structures or territory control if they want this game to have any sort of long term appeal. Raids are not going to cut it.

Performance is somewhat improved. I wouldn't write home about it but its more then playable depending on your system. You still need to be somewhat higher end IMHO. Which is a good portion of this games problem, it killed peoples PC's and pissed them off.

One other issue that is going to continue to cripple this game is its jaded community. I don't think you can undo that one. What is left is in shambles and lashes out at the slightest provocation. Its not like L2 where we could just kill them for getting lippy lol. They whine on and on about everything........ I'm in a guild now, they are pretty nice but theres not a whole lot to "bond or motivate" us in anyway. Everyone is just out grinding on something or another.  Its more like a shared chat channel then anything else.

I'm not real sure how the crafting is working out in this game, if its worth doing or not, this site stinks for game specific info but you know that.

Diplomacy is still fun if you liked it before.

All in all, if you liked it then but performance was your issue, it may have improved for you. IMHO, they have not come far enough in the last year, they are taking to long and the changes they are making are not what the community really wants. The game is dying. But if you are just looking to pass a few months until WAR or Conan, sure give it another go.