I am looking into playing a different MMO and not nececarilly a newer one, because I have played WoW, LotrO, and WAR. I just wanted to know how alive is this game still? Still see many people on, lets say even during peak hours? If I wanted to get a group for a pretty well known dungeon would that even take a long time? I appreciate any feedback.

There is a healthy population on the servers.  Sartok PvP server is lower than the rest.  Hop on and try out the Isle of Dawn.  Post your impressions.  There's plenty of group content and solo and other spheres such as crafting and diplomacy. 

Enjoy

I beleive Xeth is the highest populated server, that's where i play.  Plenty of stuff going on. 

Seradon is actually more populated than Xeth imho. However, that said the game is alive and kicking. Fun to play as well. Just make sure you have a decent computer to run it on.

Try out Isle of Dawn - as someone else mentioned. If you like that experience you will probably enjoy the rest of the game.

The game is doing very well.  The populations have been steadily increasing.  The game area is huge, so if you want to find a lot of people you may need to go to some of the more popular questing areas. These areas can be found by using the rift system.  If you want to go off an explore you can easily find a chunk where you are the only one. 

There is a very good Looking For Group tool which can be used to find people interested in a particular quest or dungeon.

As it has been said;  start with the IoD as your starting area.  This area is very crowded and you may meet people that will be on your friends list for quite some time.  You also get better gear by starting there first.

As far as population take your pick -  Xeth or Seradon are both doing well.  The Halgar server is the European server and I dont know how the population is, but I have heard it is doing well.  The PvP server Sartok is light.

I don't consider a couple hundred people online to be a healthy population.

Originally posted by RedwoodSap

I don't consider a couple hundred people online to be a healthy population.

Group size is limited to 6 people, not a couple hundred. So this isn't really a problem.

Originally posted by RedwoodSap

I don't consider a couple hundred people online to be a healthy population.

ha even the pvp server has more than that so I'm not sure what you are talking about??  Maybe you mean at the lowest point in the night?  During peaks they tend to be up around 1000 players...

In fact you are more likely to be able to find people to group with in VG at lower levels then you are on say wow...  Comparing say wow icecrown server to seradon looking for a group in 20-30 level range.  In wow good luck if you can find anyone much less a full group.  And when you do find someone they got no interesting in grouping.  VG is much better for lower level populations and for finding people that want to group vs just solo.

That being said eq2 is probably better for grouping then VG due to the mentoring feature.

Not sure how LoTR is... I played that at release then took a short break for a couple months.  When I tried to get back into it I could no longer get groups for the main story line.   My guild was higher level so I guess I lost the wave :(

Originally posted by a7fold

I am looking into playing a different MMO and not nececarilly a newer one, because I have played WoW, LotrO, and WAR. I just wanted to know how alive is this game still? Still see many people on, lets say even during peak hours? If I wanted to get a group for a pretty well known dungeon would that even take a long time? I appreciate any feedback.

Give VG a try! Chances are good you will enjoy yourself. If you are concerned with population, definitely roll on Seradon or Xeth.

I wish I had the time to be playing this game again. Over the past 6 months - year VG has turned into one of my favorite MMOs.

Population of Vanguard is 30k-40k subs at the moment.

If it stood by itself this would be an issue but since it's offered as a standalone or part of Sony's group package it's not as big of an issue.

That kind of population over 3 servers isn't too bad actually and it does appear to be increasing a little.

Originally posted by ethion

Originally posted by RedwoodSap

I don't consider a couple hundred people online to be a healthy population.

 

ha even the pvp server has more than that so I'm not sure what you are talking about??  Maybe you mean at the lowest point in the night?  During peaks they tend to be up around 1000 players...

In fact you are more likely to be able to find people to group with in VG at lower levels then you are on say wow...  Comparing say wow icecrown server to seradon looking for a group in 20-30 level range.  In wow good luck if you can find anyone much less a full group.  And when you do find someone they got no interesting in grouping.  VG is much better for lower level populations and for finding people that want to group vs just solo.

That being said eq2 is probably better for grouping then VG due to the mentoring feature.

Not sure how LoTR is... I played that at release then took a short break for a couple months.  When I tried to get back into it I could no longer get groups for the main story line.   My guild was higher level so I guess I lost the wave :(

Prove those numbers by linking some evidence and not just a server that says medium traffic which can mean anything.

Originally posted by RedwoodSap

Originally posted by ethion

Originally posted by RedwoodSap

I don't consider a couple hundred people online to be a healthy population.

 

ha even the pvp server has more than that so I'm not sure what you are talking about??  Maybe you mean at the lowest point in the night?  During peaks they tend to be up around 1000 players...

In fact you are more likely to be able to find people to group with in VG at lower levels then you are on say wow...  Comparing say wow icecrown server to seradon looking for a group in 20-30 level range.  In wow good luck if you can find anyone much less a full group.  And when you do find someone they got no interesting in grouping.  VG is much better for lower level populations and for finding people that want to group vs just solo.

That being said eq2 is probably better for grouping then VG due to the mentoring feature.

Not sure how LoTR is... I played that at release then took a short break for a couple months.  When I tried to get back into it I could no longer get groups for the main story line.   My guild was higher level so I guess I lost the wave :(

Prove those numbers by linking some evidence and not just a server that says medium traffic which can mean anything.

Sap - why don't you provide a link to back up your numbers?  After all, you were the first one to start throwing out population numbers.

Ion

I've just started playing VG again after being very disappointed at launch.  They have done a lot of work and the game is playable and fun.  There are still some problems, but nothing that I've seen so far that is a deal breaker for me.

I'm lvl 11 and have had many opportunities to group, so it appears there are enough people in the lower levels to group with.  The crafting system is fun (to me), but the diplomacy sphere pretty much has me baffled atm.  I need to put more time into learning it.

The best thing about VG to me is that I'm in no hurry to level and I can explore to my heart's content.  Also, I've found the VG community on Seradon to be very helpful, patiently answering all of my newbie questions.  One person even went out of their way to help me locate a quest NPC that I couldn't find.

Give VG a go.  I think you will find it fun.

Ion

Originally posted by RedwoodSap

Originally posted by ethion

Originally posted by RedwoodSap

I don't consider a couple hundred people online to be a healthy population.

 

ha even the pvp server has more than that so I'm not sure what you are talking about??  Maybe you mean at the lowest point in the night?  During peaks they tend to be up around 1000 players...

In fact you are more likely to be able to find people to group with in VG at lower levels then you are on say wow...  Comparing say wow icecrown server to seradon looking for a group in 20-30 level range.  In wow good luck if you can find anyone much less a full group.  And when you do find someone they got no interesting in grouping.  VG is much better for lower level populations and for finding people that want to group vs just solo.

That being said eq2 is probably better for grouping then VG due to the mentoring feature.

Not sure how LoTR is... I played that at release then took a short break for a couple months.  When I tried to get back into it I could no longer get groups for the main story line.   My guild was higher level so I guess I lost the wave :(

Prove those numbers by linking some evidence and not just a server that says medium traffic which can mean anything.

I have numerous times in the past year or so...  I even at one time posted numbers from wow, eq2, and vg in a spreadsheet.  That was probably around a year ago.  In any event you can go through the history of my posts if you really care.

Maybe if I'm ambitious I'll do it again but again what's the point?  Since you have no clue what you are talking about and I don't think you really care what the numbers are.  Why should I spend 20-30 minutes collecting data just to prove something you don't even care about.

Seradon and Xeth are both in really good shape.  I'd say Seradon has more folks though.  Prime-time hours are now exceeding 1200 people online, and that's continuing to climb.

Halgar (EU PVE) LOW

Sartok  (FFA PVP) LOW

The 2 others (PVE US) are MEDIUM

**************************
Saw a lot of people in IOD  (trial isle: free account ) in Halgar but few people in the world in dec 2008 (I had a month free ).Nothing changed since last year for Halgar and Sartok, always LOW pop. Talked with people in IOD and they told me they had a sub (they like the game) but for them, it's more a beta than a release. I agree with them. I see nothing changing for VG in Halgar and Sartok. + found  old bugs noticed before GU2 :my necro's pet is buggy, and some mobs disappears on the ground (even in IOD).
 

This game is really nice, world is beautiful and impressive, music is great, craft and diplomacy are really interesting, but I 'm not sure i'll take another sub because of the low pop on Eu Server  (Halgar)  and the low pop of Sartok (pvp) and bugs still there, 2 years after the release. This game is playable on US PVE servers. For an European, it's a trap. You see a lot of players in Isle of Dawn (trial) so you take a sub, then you're alone in a huge world... and you cancel. I did it many times. For a group based MMO, it's a real problem. You can play solo in AOC or War but past level 25 it becomes a pain to play solo in VG. I don't pay MMOS to play solo but when you're alone in an area you have only 2 choices: cancel or play solo. In vg most of time you can't group (EU Halgar) , you can't play solo, (dungeons are hard, you need guildmates for castle or boat) then you cancel. (I'm sure fanboys are going to bash me for this but i describe facts)

If you want to play VG, try on US PVE Servers. Play on Seradon or Xeth , or forget VG (IMO)

You can try to have a guild: some players in IOD are GM looking for new guildmates .

I downloaded the trial a few days ago. I always had a feeling it would be right up my street. But for some bizarre reason I never fancied trying it out. So I finally got round to it, and I wasn't at all disappointed. In fact I was so impressed I bought the full game after only 4 days on the trial. I never do that!

As with all games it's probably not for everyone but I honestly think this one has pretty wide appeal.