Vanguard: Saga of Heroes

1.5 years ago I was a VG fanboi listening to Sigil's lies; I was seeing a huge world with potential. Sadly, to me the game almost hasn't improved after 1.5 years.  (performance has always been good for me, even in beta and during the first month after release, before I quit the game).

The game still lacks atmosphere due to its very poor/minimal engine and it looks like 50% of its designers are only amateurs. Some things are really good, but so many are poorly done. This is very sad as it could be one of the very best mmos out there. As it is now I don't even want to play it for free (got the free month but can't make myself login even though I tried 10 or 20 times during 3 days, the game's execution is one of the worst I have seen... I can't make myself login into this unpolished world).

VG has some very poor lightning. It doesn't even have proper shadows. Nothing apart from characters and trees has a shadow in this game - world objects, houses etc.. have no shadow. The game looks great at night, but during the day it looks fake/bland due to the lack of shadows. We are in 2008, this is a 2007 game, hellooo?

Then, there is almost no lightning. I.ex lights, fires, etc... have no light hallos. Things like fireplaces light hallos in the distance at night make for some great atmosphere. VG has nothing like this.

Then, there are almost no world particle effects. Things like birds in the skies, butterflies (I am not talking about mobs, this is about "atmosphere") etc... are almost inexistant in this game. Again, this is about world life and atmosphere, where is it?

And where are the things like water reflections, etc... , the today mmorpg game engine basic features?

Then, there is no life in this world. I see dead cities in a soulless world. NPCs don't live there. The game lacks the basic scripting that gives life to mmo worlds.

Also, characters look like plastic barbie dolls and the armor doesn't look fun. I don't want to go out there and work for hours to level and get or craft the stuff. I can't "connect" with my character. This is one of the most important mmorpg basic features - character improvement - that is lacking here.

Finally, VG has some of the poorest animations I have seen. The character running looks so bad, it seems the characters don't fit in the world, they seem out of sync. The fighting animations are so slow... And for Chists sake, WHAT is this ridiculously gay jumping animation?
 
So, the bottom line for me is that after more than 1.5 years the VG game world polish is still only 25% there at most. I see dead cities in a soulless world with no atmosphere. Compared to this some other games like Lotro or Aoc feel so much more immersive and alive.

When I play an mmorpg I am of course looking for some gameplay, but the other 50% I am looking for is a world to immerse myself into. Atmosphere. VG doesn't have this, yet.
 

Seem like no matter what vg does its not the game for you, good luck on finding a mmo that u can be happy with.
 

<3 how u mentioned AoC at the end anyway if u so much like LoTR and AoC why dont u go play it and forget about VG??instead u whine here about how U dun like the game...NEWSFLASH NO1 CARE WHAT U THINK..... to me Telon will just be better world without u....BB

Meh...VG is one of the very few worlds I have been able to immerse myself into. Its a matter of opinion i guess...

no shadows?

no particles?

missing water reflections?

no lighting?  improper night lighting?

this all adds up to something, and its almost too obvious to post.  Either you have a poor memory and havnt logged in the past year.. or you're playing on very low video settings.   

I disagree with everything you've said as far as graphic quality goes with the exception of animations and NPC life.  The rest of it must have to do with your video settings, because the shadows/lighting/reflections are all proper.  The game also has fogging and halos in fog.  Its especially noticeable at night time when viewing distant lighting.  There are also birds that fly and critters that run around on the ground.  The water reflections correct.  Not sure why you're seeing it with such poor quality?

Originally posted by TrexorJd

 for me.

^fixed

Yes I am talking about my experience, I have also used the words "to me" several times in the above post. I obviously wasn't talking about your view of the game, good to see you realized that.

This place is to talk about our opinions and views regarding mmorpgs. Welcome to the forums.

I could go around and post on every games forum that mmorpg.com has about how bad it is. Lets face it, today all mmorpgs are bad, its about finding the best of the bad.

only 3 mmos that have held my attn lately are VG, rohan, and requiem.

What kind of atmosphere are ye looking for? Carbon Dioxide?  Seriously.  The game isn't perfect, but then again what MMO is?  Have you checked out the housing plots yet? Done any travelling?  Picked a spot on the map and simply gone there because you could?  Dude, there is SO much hidden stuff in this game, it would blow your mind.  I've been playing since release and even now I still find spots in the game that I didn't even know existed.  There are dungeons that are sunken below ground, hidden high in mountains and no, they are NOT marked on the map.  This game does not lead someone around by the nose and then try to call it adventure.  You, the player, must take a risk, and even then the risk isn't that bad as you can't delevel, and you can always summon your gear back.

I would strongly suggest you give it another shot.  If you like travelling and seeing the world, start a bard.  They are PERFECT for exploration.  I've seen stuff on him that I didn't even think were supposed to be in the game hehe.    Anyhow, it could also be that this game isn't for you.  This world is VAST.  I'm still exploring it and have a long way to go.  Don't give up too early, you'll only deny yourself an online pleasure.

Originally posted by Rayx0r

no shadows?

no particles?

missing water reflections?

no lighting?  improper night lighting?

 

this all adds up to something, and its almost too obvious to post.  Either you have a poor memory and havnt logged in the past year.. or you're playing on very low video settings.   

I disagree with everything you've said as far as graphic quality goes with the exception of animations and NPC life.  The rest of it must have to do with your video settings, because the shadows/lighting/reflections are all proper.  The game also has fogging and halos in fog.  Its especially noticeable at night time when viewing distant lighting.  There are also birds that fly and critters that run around on the ground.  The water reflections correct.  Not sure why you're seeing it with such poor quality?

I have been playing with all of the settings maxed out (even maxed out more than what is available in the UI in the ini file) during beta and 1 month after realease on an ati x1900xt-512. Last week I have played it maxed out with an nvidia 8800gt.

Yes, as I said I see no shadows apart from characters and trees. Can you show me a screenshot with world object shadows (houses, fences, etc... objects have no shadows).

And yes I don't see any water reflections. Could you also post a screenshot?  I'd be glad to see these shots as I can't see this ingame and I have never seen any shots with world object shadows or water reflections. I hope it's my settings as you say.

As for the other engine features, yes some of them are there, but I still see so much is missing compared to other games. No only compared to lotro or aoc, but even free to play games like perfect world.