I have just giving up my last MMORPG and I am looking to make a start somewhere else. I really miss the days of EQ1 and I am hoping that Vanguard can do it for me.  But I would like to try it before I buy it and it does not look like SoE is giving away free trials. I was hoping that someone still had a 10-day guest pass and would be kind enough to let me use it. 

Give things about a week.  Last I heard, GU (game update) 6 is due to launch next week.  One of its key features is the new Isle of Dawn, which is meant to do two things:

1. It's a whole new starting experience.
2. It's going to be released as an independent download of under 3 GB, and will be a free trial up to level 10.

So not only will you get to try the game for free, but you'll see new stuff that shows off the direction they're taking Vanguard.

They've said that it'll also be possible to stream downloading of the rest of the game client in the background while the trial is running.  So while you're playing the game to level 10, you can also be streaming the rest and jump right into the rest of the content should you choose to subscribe.

I saw footage of some of the Isle of Dawn yesterday.  It really looks like the dev team has pulled out all the stops for it!  Something else that was funny was that Sony had a big presentation yesterday where SoE's big cheese spoke.  They opened with a montage showing footage from all the different SoE games.  When you compare Vanguard to all the rest in that way, Vanguard's world completely blew the visual appearance of all the rest (including EQ2) right out of the water.  :)

Thank you for the info. I guess I will be waiting a few more days. =)

You should have a private message with a buddy key.

Thanks for the key.  All I can say is that Vanguard is amazing. I logged on and played for about 3hrs the first day. During which I call a friend of mine and told him about it. First he laughed at me and said how bad the reviews of the game were.  He re-read the more current reviews and he went out and bought it. He loves it too. This is just the game that I have been looking for.  Thanks guys

i've been interested in playing vanguard as well, but I always read that system requirements were through the roof. I have heard they have worked on that. Could someone give me an idea of what kind of system could run in reasonable well?

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Originally posted by jahar
i've been interested in playing vanguard as well, but I always read that system requirements were through the roof. I have heard they have worked on that. Could someone give me an idea of what kind of system could run in reasonable well?

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Nvidia 7800 GTS, 2gb of memory and a 1-2 year old processor would be fine.

I have two machines, one a year old with nvidia 8800 everything near max, runs beautifully in most places and an older machine nvidia 7800 (about 3 years old now) which runs well on medium.

Hope that gives you enough info.

yeah. my poor laptop can't handle it. /cry. I guess I'll just wait till i get a pc.

Is this the best pve mmo out there? Thats what I am told....would love to try it. trial should be out when?

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Originally posted by blueturtle13
Is this the best pve mmo out there? Thats what I am told....would love to try it. trial should be out when?

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Best is a matter of opinion.

IMO its the best, somewhere between EQ1 and WoW it style. I haven't been this addicted to a MMORPG since EQ1.

The Trial island is weeks away, maybe sooner.

When I played Vanguard it seemed to be choppy, but it was because of the code not my system.  does anyone know if that has been fixed yet?  I am looking to come back to Vanguard just can't stand when the screen froze every 2-3 seconds while I was running with my characters.

I was debating about giving this game a try again, but i didn't see anything about a free trial going on yet. I guess I'll continue to keep an eye out... I should be able to play it on my PC easily.

Originally posted by happilpie

When I played Vanguard it seemed to be choppy, but it was because of the code not my system.  does anyone know if that has been fixed yet?  I am looking to come back to Vanguard just can't stand when the screen froze every 2-3 seconds while I was running with my characters.

I been playing for 2 months now and the only place I see it getting choppy is Tanvu this is a lag issue and they are working on it and hope to have it fixed in the next patch, But we will have to wait and see.

Other then that the game is fun, there are still a few bugs and a few bugged quest's but they hope to have them fixed in the patch as well.

Originally posted by aurick

Give things about a week.  Last I heard, GU (game update) 6 is due to launch next week.  One of its key features is the new Isle of Dawn, which is meant to do two things:

1. It's a whole new starting experience.
2. It's going to be released as an independent download of under 3 GB, and will be a free trial up to level 10.

So not only will you get to try the game for free, but you'll see new stuff that shows off the direction they're taking Vanguard.

They've said that it'll also be possible to stream downloading of the rest of the game client in the background while the trial is running.  So while you're playing the game to level 10, you can also be streaming the rest and jump right into the rest of the content should you choose to subscribe.

I saw footage of some of the Isle of Dawn yesterday.  It really looks like the dev team has pulled out all the stops for it!  Something else that was funny was that Sony had a big presentation yesterday where SoE's big cheese spoke.  They opened with a montage showing footage from all the different SoE games.  When you compare Vanguard to all the rest in that way, Vanguard's world completely blew the visual appearance of all the rest (including EQ2) right out of the water.  :)

Don't expect GU6 before mid-september at the earliest, i would guess more like early October. they have a long long way to go before it is ready.
 

As far as wanting to recapture the EQ1 experience, i frankly think you will be disappointed. The current development trend is towards more WoWesque play not more immersion in the game world like eq1 had.

     To the OP.  I myself have been playing mmorpgs on and off for the last 8 or so years.  I can say with confidence that this is most certainly one of if not the best game I have played in that time.  I was a WoWhead at the time of this games original release and heard all of the bad hype it got thru the grapevine via online guildies and friends.  WoW is an incredible game and definitely has something to offer almost everyone out there but after almost 3 years of playing it lost its luster for me.  I myself am a AoC refugee that was hoping it would be the next best thing since sliced bread, however, that was not the case.  After that experience I researched all the games out there hoping to find myself a new home.   I was "on the fence" prior to my purchase of this game because of the terrible press the game received post launch.  Reviews and player opinions are at least 50% of what I base my decisions upon entering a game.  Vanguard was definitely not at the top of my list but after reading what its players had to say about the game changes over the last year post reIease I decided to give it a shot.  I was not disappointed. 

Things I look for in my ideal mmorpg that Vanguard delivers -

- Open ended zones - the world is VAST. (you can see miles away it gives a real sense of depth of how small you really are and a feel that you are a part of the world as a whole.  IF you see it you can GO there which is excellent (never seen that before in this type of genere).

- Good crafting system (similar to EQ/EQ2 but less tedious which makes for a great experience).

- PvP servers or PvE ( I like pvp servers but most of the rescent games dont have em). Atm the pvp server is very low population however its growing and will continue to grow.

- IF you have a computer that can run AoC well this game WILL look amazing! The graphics are TOP NOTCH and the player patch comming out soon will be the icing on the cake.  Argueably better graphics with high settings then Conan or LotRO imho.

- A wonderful and helpful community that is more than happy to assist you.

- Player housing (cool to have in any game imo - just a personal preference but not game breaking).

- TONS of classes and races with which to tinker.

- Virtually bug free - Only been playing for 3 weeks so far but I have Frozen up only once and  been on 2 bugged quests out of hundereds completed so far.

- A solid combat system.

IMO this is the best pve mmo out. And for those that are wondering shoud they try it out...just wait for the trial Isle. Swing on over the the vanguard forums and read the notes on GU6 should answer alot of your questions....there will be new char. models as well as a ton of bug fixes...so if you are concerned about it being buggy or choppy just hang tight it will deliever.

i have to respectfully disagree with the previous 2 posters. vanguard has had a lot of issues, many of the bugs and performance issues have been fixed, yes. however, the total lack of resources available to continue to push this game means little new content, and when problems do ariuse they take forever to fix. they are so strapped there isnt even an animator on staff, and being almost 2 years old already there is no expansion in the works, well at least at a point where it will be released before 2010. that's right 2010.

also, they are currently undergoing a "revamp" of the dps classes in the game, where they are nerfing the bejesus out of several classes, and re-evaluating the mob hp of every mob in the game. the "new" dungeon, pantheon, is uninstanced and sounds a lot like the old PoJ from EQ... the problem being of course that the high end guilds will cockblock finishing group content for anyone so they can have the raid mobs to themselves.

add in bright big sparklies on all quest collection items and chests, massive amounts of riftways to kill exploration out of the chosen quest chains areas, and the poor development choices which are driven by the top few raid guilds and vanguard is just going down the wrong path.

i have always said this game has a ton of potential, unfortunately the limited development budget, lack of support from the SOE bigwigs, and quite frankly untalented development staff that is currently running the game kills that potential.

the vanguard team did a great job debuging someone else's good iea... their own ideas fall well short of the mark.

i love this game

the best game pve

I was in VG from the closed beta until just before the server merge.  I never really understood why everybody hated it then.  I had few performance problems though, which is why I probably liked it better than most.  I logged in again for the vet trial and it seemed like not much had changed, but I was only on for maybe an hour.  I think the only way I would get back into this game is if I were plugged into a really great guild.

I might just try it after they make the characters look better and see what happens. 

Does anybody want to give me a heads up on what exactly has changed besides fixing bugs?

Also, are any guilds interested in a returning vet if I decide to come back?

This game is THE BEST PVE mmo out without a doubt!! They are not making anything less challenging but are making things much more practical such as riftway, which, without, this game would suffer big time.