General Discussion

2 years ago I was one of the suckers who pre-ordered the game and had to deal with it's horrible launch.  I was completely shocked and disgusted that they released the game in the condition it was in.  I hated the game and doubted I would ever return.

But after the bad launch AoC had, someone told me to retry Vanguard so I did.  I can't believe the how much they turned this game around.  I'm now having just as much fun as I did when I first played EQ 9 years ago.  If you haven't taken a second look at VG I suggest that you do. 

I have returned as well and I am very much enjoying it. Our guild is over 120 peeps now and we add 3 to 5 new people everyday the last couple of days. Had a new member last night who couldnt believe we had 20 peeps on at the same time in the guild, numbers are growing!

It all comes down to if your having fun and right now I have no complaints.

Just wanted to add the game is still not perfect (but what game is?).  There's still a few bugged quests but it doesn't bother me because it's a game with a good community and grouping in a dungeon is just as fun as solo questing. 

Anyway, good luck to all of you finding the right game even if Vanguard isn't for you.

I have been thinking about giving the game another shot.   The one thing that makes me hesitant is how slow you leveled at launch.  I remember being around level 13 and grinding for days without leveling.  It literally took hours of grinding in a two mag group to just pick up a couple of bubbles of xp. 

I keep reading about all the improvements since launch, and I now have have a computer that can run the game, but I haven't heard if they have adjusted the XP curve, or if it is still as punishing as it was at launch.

Originally posted by Salvatoris

I have been thinking about giving the game another shot.   The one thing that makes me hesitant is how slow you leveled at launch.  I remember being around level 13 and grinding for days without leveling.  It literally took hours of grinding in a two mag group to just pick up a couple of bubbles of xp. 

I keep reading about all the improvements since launch, and I now have have a computer that can run the game, but I haven't heard if they have adjusted the XP curve, or if it is still as punishing as it was at launch.

The xp/level gain is probably like 3-4 times faster than it was at the release. On the other hand, you will be skipping lots of content (that's why they added a special ability that when you trigger, you don't get any XP at all). Nevertheless it is a question of a few hours now to level up anywhere in the level 20-50 range, and in a good group you can level up each hour or two.

I played it 6 months ago and nearly cried.  Had to uninstall it after trying to get it running stable for a week.

Now it's well playable, and the gameplay really shines.  It's still got a few bugs but it runs good most of the time.  The animations are still terrible, and the character models have been temporariliy replaced by rather plasticky placeholders, with little customization, but the new character models and full customization are coming in in a couple of months.  The animations are also rather out of sync with the combat, jerky and laggy somehow, but this is ongoingly being worked on by the dev team, who I think have done a great job gradually improving the game over the past year.

If you have a modern comp (core 2 duo, 8800, lots of RAM) the game looks very good indeed, not as good as AoC but maybe slightly better than EQ2, or about the same, depending on how you look at it and what tastes you have.  The art design is rather nice, varied and inventive.  The music and sound fx are also top notch.

The gameplay is very sandboxy, quite deep and immersive.

Bottom line: when it's working this game is, as promised by the original devs (SIgil), the closest to a "spiritual successor" to EQ of any MMO out at the moment.  And now it works.

I can only give it my best recommendations.

The world of Telon is huge and there is lots to do. The community is mature and the graphics are absolutely stunning.

Build your own house, boat, guildhall etc.

Lurk into the world of diplomacy.

Try it out!

Beyond the bugs, which these devs REALLY need to be fixing, this game brings back exploration, its just huge.

Okay, I have to admit this to all the Vanguard promoters now. I am currently in a grey area on MMos, looking for a new one.  But I must say, the over-promotion of Vanguard is getting VERY annoying. We all get it; Vanguard has had an overhaul. It's a good game. But the problem is that everyone is pushing the game too hard. All you see is vanguard fans bashing AoC on their forums and promoting Vanguard. We all understand Vanguard is a good game now, but stop the overuse of promotion, because it's only turning people away from the desperateness.

Originally posted by mrguy123

Okay, I have to admit this to all the Vanguard promoters now. I am currently in a grey area on MMos, looking for a new one.  But I must say, the over-promotion of Vanguard is getting VERY annoying. We all get it; Vanguard has had an overhaul. It's a good game. But the problem is that everyone is pushing the game too hard. All you see is vanguard fans bashing AoC on their forums and promoting Vanguard. We all understand Vanguard is a good game now, but stop the overuse of promotion, because it's only turning people away from the desperateness.

Aiight Dr. Phil, will do. Since when does this sort of advice apply to online gaming? So if a group of people come running at you telling you product "A" is much much much better than product "B," you're going to call them desperate? Where can I buy your book? (sarcasm)