I am attending SoE Fan Faire, and was at both Vanguard panels yesterday.  I didn't have a notebook with me, so am going from memory here, but I'll try to summarize what was learned:

First off, there weren't a lot of people present.  Certainly not compared to EQ or EQ2's crowds!  It was a small room, but did get a better turnout than they expected since it was standing room only.  A couple people came from as far away as Finland and Sweden!  It's also clear that Vanguard has a very loyal following, including with brand new players who've just come to the game for the first time, or who've just returned after hating it at launch.  There were a few AoC refugees like myself there.

The main focus for the last 1 1/2 years has been on fixing the game and making it fun.  They've introduced a lot of new stuff in that time as well, but they recognized that those efforts would be wasted if nobody could actually play it.

The most recent focus has been on the trial island, which is releasing very soon.  Not only do they want it to be a way to hook new players into the game, but it's also meant to show the direction that they want to take things going forward.  They feel it's their best design work to date.

SoE is not giving them much of a budget for promoting the game, however.  Once the trial island is released, they're going to be relying on player-based viral marketing to get the word out and get new players interested.  One thing they would like to do is get the trial onto a disk and make it available for free at stores.  Whether that will happen or not is up in the air, though.  We should not expect to see new boxes being shipped to stores as the costs of that are astronomical.  SoE as a whole is really moving toward the digital delivery side of things.

The new models look really good.  Not radically different, but definitely more realistic while also being more heroic.  Most of the customization sliders that were removed in GU5 are coming back, and you'll be able to use any saved character templates to instantly get your character back to looking much like before GU5.  Then you can make tweaks to take advantage of the new models.  Tails are not coming any time soon for the animalistic races.  Nor should we expect new animations due to the fact that the team doesn't have an animator at this time.  So the jump animation still sucks.

Galleons are ready to go in, with all the art and quests complete.  They will not be released, though, until there's actual content in the world to take advantage of the existence of galleons.  Silius strongly feels that just having a galleon for the sake of having one isn't sufficient.  He wants them to have meaning.  Espcially since it'll require the full efforts of a guild to build one!  Several people did argue their disagreement, but I don't think he was sold.

The new Pantheon is going to have both solo and raid content.  It's been hugely revamped.  I get the impression that there's a major storyline coming up regarding the gods of Telon.

One person is devoted to both Crafting and Diplomacy.  That's all that he does, and the rest of the team tries to ensure that he doesn't get asked to help with other stuff.  He has a lot of stuff that he wants to do with both, including getting more content into the game.  It just takes time.

Speaking of diplomacy, they're looking at trying to create ways for all three spheres to contribute in certain raid encounters.  Sooner or later we'll see content that requires maximum level diplomats and possibly crafters to be able to complete.

Once the trial island has been released, they plan to focus heavily on adding high level content.  They don't want players to get to level 50 and feel that there's nothing left to do.

They also know that there are big sections of the world that don't have much content at this point.  They want to start fleshing those areas out, and possibly revamping them as necessary.  There are currently no plans to change the starting zones that we have right now, though.  Those areas will provide an alternative for the benefit of players who've already been through the Isle of Dawn and would like to roll up an alt with a different starting area.  (They didn't say this, but I get the impression that they're acutely aware of how AoC and EQ2 suffer by having only one starting experience.  No matter how good it might be, playing it a dozen times is just lame.)

Fishing is also on the way.  They're very proud of the system that they've put together.  Not much was given in terms of details, though.

There are no plans for expansions.  The world structure doesn't really support having content that is locked away unless you buy the expansion.  And they'd much rather flesh out the areas that are already present than leave them stagnant while creating new areas.

That's all I can remember at the moment.  In short, the game is now where it should really have been at launch, and is ready to grow.  They're going to do as much as they can to add content going forward.  The dev team is very, very devoted to the game, and they love what they do.  Unfortunately, SoE is also a business and will naturally put money where the players are.  That means that Vanguard is going to remain the bastard stepchild for as long as the game has low subscriber numbers.  It's a Catch-22.  They need money to woo in new subscribers, but they can't get a budget for it without enough subs!  That means that it ultimately comes down to us, the players to get the word out.  If we want Vanguard to succeed, it will be up to us to spread the word and cajole people into trying the game.  Once the trial island has launched, it'll then be up to us to bring enough people in so that Sony can see they really have something special after all.  :)

--I'll try to get more info today, and will update this with whatever I learn.

Originally posted by aurick
[...]

That's all I can remember at the moment.  In short, the game is now where it should really have been at launch, and is ready to grow.  They're going to do as much as they can to add content going forward.  The dev team is very, very devoted to the game, and they love what they do.  Unfortunately, SoE is also a business and will naturally put money where the players are.  That means that Vanguard is going to remain the bastard stepchild for as long as the game has low subscriber numbers.  It's a Catch-22.  They need money to woo in new subscribers, but they can't get a budget for it without enough subs!  That means that it ultimately comes down to us, the players to get the word out.  If we want Vanguard to succeed, it will be up to us to spread the word and cajole people into trying the game.  Once the trial island has launched, it'll then be up to us to bring enough people in so that Sony can see they really have something special after all.  :)

--I'll try to get more info today, and will update this with whatever I learn.

Good to know about Vanguard. ill prolly give it a try when the trial island is released.

About the text in RED. I think SOE is wrong with that. you have a product, you better throw money on it. Words of mouth is a good way of gaining customers but you can't ask your customers to gain more customers for you, unless you make them some type of discount.

Apart from that. Is good to see they are focusing on things and working on developing a game with a good potential. I hope the best for it. As I said, ill try it in the future, again.

Great write OP, and glad to see that they are really working hard to improve this game. If only they would add more content from level 20 to 50 that will be nice, the world is just too big and currently too empty.

I think this game will be a sleeper hit in years to come...

Any chance the rest of the world also gets to see the video of the new animations?

Actually any video will do.....

Originally posted by Ontblod

Any chance the rest of the world also gets to see the video of the new animations?

Actually any video will do.....

Not new animations.  There's no animator on staff at this point.  But new character models.  And the answer is:  yes!  After Fan Faire, SoE will be posting all the convention's videos on YouTube.  That includes the one showing what's coming soon in Vanguard.

Notes from Fan Faire, Part 2

I've just returned home from the final day of the event.  Live Quest was a ton of fun, and I think everyone participating had a blast.  But what you folks really want is news.  :)

The panel today went into more detail about Vanguard's high level content.  The next big thing that we're going to be seeing is the Pantheon's revamp.  This has several aspects to it.

First off, the Pantheon is being majorly revamped with a lot of brand new artwork.  The game play associated with it will consist of two phases.

For phase one, you'll be playing six man quest lines that are designed to be SERIOUSLY challenging.  These quest lines will introduce you to the gods and allow you to align yourself with a particular deity of Telon.  That will ultimately give access to all sorts of special rewards that are unique to your chosen deity, including a special buff that is very long lasting (something like eight hours) but does not persist through death.

The buffs will be given through the black riftstone.  This is going to be a new feature at the Pantheon, and will be the only way to get the really big buff.  It hasn't been determined yet if the riftstone will be linked into the riftway network so that you can instantly travel to it from other parts of the world.  Any shrine in the game can give you a smaller version of the buff, though.

Proving your loyalty to your chosen deity through the six-man quests will then unlock access to the eighteen-man raid.  That raid takes you into the destroyed portion of the Pantheon to take on whatever it was that destroyed the Ancients.  (Pantheon as a whole is aimed at giving much-needed lore to the game, more or less answering a lot of the dangling questions that have been dangled throughout the game so far.)  This raid will be seriously tough, and will require the big buffs to be able to complete.  The gear rewards from it are supposed to be phenomenal.

One big note is that you will NOT need Ancient Port Warehouse gear to be able to be effective in Pantheon.  This is why they introduced the factional armor when they did.  That armor is rated at 85% of the effectiveness of APW gear, which will give new raiders the opportunity to be effective in Pantheon without having farmed APW.

A key thing to note with all of the epic and raid content moving forward is that it's being built for strategic play.  They do NOT want simple "tank and spank" fights.  Instead, they want to reward players for paying attention, thinking fast, and reacting to the curve balls that the game will throw at you.  It's a pretty safe bet that there won't be much in the way of really predictable strategies to beat these end game bosses.  They've said that Vanguard is going back to its more hard core roots in this respect.  Smart, persistent effort will ultimately prevail as opposed to mindlessly following the "established strategy".

There is a whole set of content planned for past Pantheon, but that's pretty nebulous still.  They know what they want to do, but the details are still too up in the air for any kind of reporting on it.  I do get the feeling, though, that at least some of it will take place where the Ulvari are from.  That ought to be really interesting.  And there are going to be some world events leading up to that.

The giant brothers will be continuing their ongoing storyline with overland raids.  Their leader is ultimately going to be unlocking the gate back to his realm, which is going to lead to a big event and the necessity to kill him.

New flying mounts are on the way as well.  Completing the Pantheon raid will let you choose a black or white pegasus.  These will also be the first mounts to have particle effects.  For example, the black pegasus is going to leave fiery hoofprints in the air or something like that.  There are also dragons on the way for flying mounts.

Over the next year, they want to continue fleshing out the world.  The big goal is for nobody to ever be left with the feeling that there's nothing to do.  How much they'll be able to realize with that in the next year is anyone's guess, but it's where they want to go.  One thing they expressly do not want to introduce is meaningless faction grinds.  This is one of the big reasons why an AA system hasn't been put in place so far.  They've also stressed that they want the end game content to be very difficult.  For example, the pegasus isn't something that everyone under the sun is going to have after a few months.  It's going to be a major badge of honor for anyone to pull it off.  But they also don't want the difficulty to be something that requires dumb luck to beat.  Instead, they want you to be able to beat encounters by really understanding your character's full potential (including sometimes some obscure abilities that you've rarely used because they didn't seem to be that practical), and also play as a solid group.

Speaking of which, the voice chat from Station Launcher is going to be integrated into Vanguard.  They don't know exactly when yet, but they're happy to let EQ 1 and 2 work out the bugs on that before it comes to VG.  :)

I also forgot to mention something in yesterday's report:  Sorcerers and Rangers are both getting love here very soon.  Sorcerers, for example, are supposed to be the premier dps class in the game.  And they will be by the time the devs are done.

That actually brings me to something that they talked about when it comes to balancing the epic six man content, and how some classes feel worthless with some of the bosses in the griffon quest line.  Silius explained that six-man content is built around the archetypes of melee, healing, tanking and ranged dps.    If a class doesn't perform well in one of these fights, it's not a failing of the boss design.  It's a failing of the class design.  All classes within an archetype should be able to do equally well against each boss.  So they've been crunching the numbers and have been identifying places where the boss encounters are showing weaknesses in specific classes.  Those classes are then getting love to balance them out so that they can perform as well as the other classes in that archetype.

And there you have it!  I came away feeling that Vanguard is in really good hands and has some great plans going forward.  Now it just needs players, and the Trial Island is going to be the opportunity to get subscribers into the game.

All videos from the show will be available on YouTube within the next several days.  The new character models are also supposed to go onto the test server on Monday.

Cheers!

Many thanks for your reports. Its a good read!

I find that crazy ...

So it is up to the players to make ads and the job of SOE advertising to get more players and then they will invest money in there game ?

Are thez crazy ?

Big thank you for your posts, Aurick!

But sadly, all I see is that the main focus of the few developers that VG has left will be on end-game raiding.  My MMORPG philosophy has always been about the journey (and having many different options for the journey) from low to high level.  When I max a character I start an alt (heck, I always have several alts going).  I have no interest at all in raiding.  Oh well.

Not just raiding, no.  Fully half of Pantheon is for groups of six, rather than raids. 

I do understand why they're taking the approach that they are, though.  There's already a HUGE amount of content for while you're leveling.  The end-game content is currently rather limited.  So it makes sense to put the majority of the emphasis on level 50 content at this time.

Originally posted by alakram

Originally posted by aurick
[...]

That's all I can remember at the moment.  In short, the game is now where it should really have been at launch, and is ready to grow.  They're going to do as much as they can to add content going forward.  The dev team is very, very devoted to the game, and they love what they do.  Unfortunately, SoE is also a business and will naturally put money where the players are.  That means that Vanguard is going to remain the bastard stepchild for as long as the game has low subscriber numbers.  It's a Catch-22.  They need money to woo in new subscribers, but they can't get a budget for it without enough subs!  That means that it ultimately comes down to us, the players to get the word out.  If we want Vanguard to succeed, it will be up to us to spread the word and cajole people into trying the game.  Once the trial island has launched, it'll then be up to us to bring enough people in so that Sony can see they really have something special after all.  :)

--I'll try to get more info today, and will update this with whatever I learn.

Good to know about Vanguard. ill prolly give it a try when the trial island is released.

About the text in RED. I think SOE is wrong with that. you have a product, you better throw money on it. Words of mouth is a good way of gaining customers but you can't ask your customers to gain more customers for you, unless you make them some type of discount.

Apart from that. Is good to see they are focusing on things and working on developing a game with a good potential. I hope the best for it. As I said, ill try it in the future, again.

I agree with you. SOE's marketing of its products is invariably catastrophic - from the absence of ad support for the launch of SWG to the ham-fisted viralling for EQ2. As soon as SOE makes or publishes a game, it should be handed over to a proper marketing agency to build up a respectable number of subs before being returned to SOE so that it can have another go destroying the game, this time with broken expansions or 'new game enhancements'.

a good read there OP and the game is sounding like it is coming right along. I will probably give the game a retry later on this winter or next spring. Still too wrapped up in other games to try it now but on my next Amazon.com order I am going to get  a copy just top have it on hand in case I get a period where I think I can devote a good 30 days to it.

Great reports... thanks!

Originally posted by Zap66

I find that crazy ...

So it is up to the players to make ads and the job of SOE advertising to get more players and then they will invest money in there game ?

Are thez crazy ?

 

 Ok I'm going to say somethings the fans won't like, so I'm sure I'll be flamed. However it sounds like SOE doesn't want to invest more money into what so far has been a money pit for them.  Sounds like with no animator, and no expansions planned that VG has gone pretty much into life support mode. ie continue to fix a few bugs, give back some sliders they removed previously. Nothing big, nothing new. Perhaps i'm missing alot of info here in which case I'll apologise now. If / when the free trail island comes out I'll give it another try, heck maybe I'll love it. but right now honestly IMO (and yes you all can flame me for it) it sounds like VG is just circling the drain, which is sad because I don't think just Fixing bugs and giving back some content while adding more lvl 50 raid content is gonna bring much new life to VG.

  Had to be said. K Flame away

Originally posted by winter

Originally posted by Zap66

I find that crazy ...

So it is up to the players to make ads and the job of SOE advertising to get more players and then they will invest money in there game ?

Are thez crazy ?

 

 

 Ok I'm going to say somethings the fans won't like, so I'm sure I'll be flamed. However it sounds like SOE doesn't want to invest more money into what so far has been a money pit for them.  Sounds like with no animator, and no expansions planned that VG has gone pretty much into life support mode. ie continue to fix a few bugs, give back some sliders they removed previously. Nothing big, nothing new. Perhaps i'm missing alot of info here in which case I'll apologise now. If / when the free trail island comes out I'll give it another try, heck maybe I'll love it. but right now honestly IMO (and yes you all can flame me for it) it sounds like VG is just circling the drain, which is sad because I don't think just Fixing bugs and giving back some content while adding more lvl 50 raid content is gonna bring much new life to VG.

  Had to be said. K Flame away

Nothing to flame... This is a valid viewpoint.  SoE is clearly taking a no risk approach to VG and leaving it to the few devs left to pull the game up.  I think putting money into it could make VG huge but obviously SoE wants to invest in other areas.

I still hope they can be successful and I'll be playing since I really don't see any other game options I feel are better at the moment...

I have a deep, deep hate against raids, sorry. My vision of a MMO is some kind of game like the old pen and paper games just on a computer, so it should be groups a bit solo and thats it. I found the choice of VG to add raids and to make their greatest prices for raids alone, thus copying the WOW concept of hooking the players, very unfortunate. So once more the WOW concept gained ground, when you dont raid you always will be second best. A shame.

Originally posted by Zap66

I find that crazy ...

So it is up to the players to make ads and the job of SOE advertising to get more players and then they will invest money in there game ?

Are thez crazy ?

 

There's one error in OP's fan faire feedback, where he mentioned SOE will not be spending any advertising money to promote the free trial island coming soon.  I'd asked a SOE community rep to clarify, she answered with the following.

Ellrya posted:  http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?start=320&topic_id=37554&#446949

Our plans for a "relaunch" have not changed.  We never had plans to do a full "new boxes on shelves" relaunch of Vanguard, but money and time have definitely been spent preparing to help promote the game when Isle of Dawn is ready for release.

Marketing has bought (and is still buying) ad space on a variety of websites, and we also have a ton of keys (which include a digital download of the game) to hand out via fansites for those who don't want to wait for the free trial.

While viral marketing is fantastic (and we most certainly have talented players who are willing and capable of creating good buzz for the game)   we are not solely relying on that strategy to get new players - that's just an added bonus of having such a dedicated community.
======

---

Originally posted by winter

---

Originally posted by Zap66

I find that crazy ...
So it is up to the players to make ads and the job of SOE advertising to get more players and then they will invest money in there game ?
Are thez crazy ?
 

---

 
 Ok I'm going to say somethings the fans won't like, so I'm sure I'll be flamed. However it sounds like SOE doesn't want to invest more money into what so far has been a money pit for them.  Sounds like with no animator, and no expansions planned that VG has gone pretty much into life support mode. ie continue to fix a few bugs, give back some sliders they removed previously. Nothing big, nothing new. Perhaps i'm missing alot of info here in which case I'll apologise now. If / when the free trail island comes out I'll give it another try, heck maybe I'll love it. but right now honestly IMO (and yes you all can flame me for it) it sounds like VG is just circling the drain, which is sad because I don't think just Fixing bugs and giving back some content while adding more lvl 50 raid content is gonna bring much new life to VG.
  Had to be said. K Flame away

---

Its not just bug fixing/fine tuning...

One massive raid dungeon already added, another coming very soon (GU6). New character models, a ton of racial mounts, Guild Halls, Galleons, revamped areas and dungeons, new starting area. Thats a lot.

There is a video off www.vgplayers.com which has a presentation at first then two videos of VG, one shows what has been done since last year, one shows what is coming. Both videos are contained in the presentation.

More solo, group and raid content coming. What else can you do to a released game???

Originally posted by winter

Originally posted by Zap66

I find that crazy ...

So it is up to the players to make ads and the job of SOE advertising to get more players and then they will invest money in there game ?

Are thez crazy ?

 

 

 Ok I'm going to say somethings the fans won't like, so I'm sure I'll be flamed. However it sounds like SOE doesn't want to invest more money into what so far has been a money pit for them.  Sounds like with no animator, and no expansions planned that VG has gone pretty much into life support mode. ie continue to fix a few bugs, give back some sliders they removed previously. Nothing big, nothing new. Perhaps i'm missing alot of info here in which case I'll apologise now. If / when the free trail island comes out I'll give it another try, heck maybe I'll love it. but right now honestly IMO (and yes you all can flame me for it) it sounds like VG is just circling the drain, which is sad because I don't think just Fixing bugs and giving back some content while adding more lvl 50 raid content is gonna bring much new life to VG.

  Had to be said. K Flame away

As I stressed earlier, the world of Telon is not conducive to expansions.  It's not like WoW where they can just add Northrend to the map and only let players who buy the expansion zone there.  Even if Silius and company came up with a storyline reason for adding a new continent to the world, there's still the matter that the world is open with no zoning.  How do you restrict access to the people who bought the expansion?  Basically, an expansion would have to take the Burning Crusade route and go to another realm.  But even then, they may not be able to accomplish that.  After all, the engine's code might require a major overhaul to allow something like that to be done.

What's more, Silius made it clear that they want to continue fleshing out what already exists.  That means adding life to parts of the world that don't have anything now.  How about that big volcano at the lower left corner of Qalia?  It turns out that's the ancestral home of the dark elves, and plans are in place for it to be used as such.  Or they might decide to take an area that currently exists and revamp it in major ways to make it more playable, more fun, and more content-rich.  Remember Khal at launch?  Big difference from what it is now.

Expansions simply don't make sense for Vanguard.  But the lack of them doesn't mean that the game is dying.  In truth, the game is seeing a renaissance with tons of new players coming into the fold.  If those players stick around, we very likely will see a better budget for Vanguard and faster progress in moving the game forward.

Originally posted by aurick

Originally posted by winter

Originally posted by Zap66

I find that crazy ...

So it is up to the players to make ads and the job of SOE advertising to get more players and then they will invest money in there game ?

Are thez crazy ?

 

 

 Ok I'm going to say somethings the fans won't like, so I'm sure I'll be flamed. However it sounds like SOE doesn't want to invest more money into what so far has been a money pit for them.  Sounds like with no animator, and no expansions planned that VG has gone pretty much into life support mode. ie continue to fix a few bugs, give back some sliders they removed previously. Nothing big, nothing new. Perhaps i'm missing alot of info here in which case I'll apologise now. If / when the free trail island comes out I'll give it another try, heck maybe I'll love it. but right now honestly IMO (and yes you all can flame me for it) it sounds like VG is just circling the drain, which is sad because I don't think just Fixing bugs and giving back some content while adding more lvl 50 raid content is gonna bring much new life to VG.

  Had to be said. K Flame away

 

As I stressed earlier, the world of Telon is not conducive to expansions.  It's not like WoW where they can just add Northrend to the map and only let players who buy the expansion zone there.  Even if Silius and company came up with a storyline reason for adding a new continent to the world, there's still the matter that the world is open with no zoning.  How do you restrict access to the people who bought the expansion?  Basically, an expansion would have to take the Burning Crusade route and go to another realm.  But even then, they may not be able to accomplish that.  After all, the engine's code might require a major overhaul to allow something like that to be done.

What's more, Silius made it clear that they want to continue fleshing out what already exists.  That means adding life to parts of the world that don't have anything now.  How about that big volcano at the lower left corner of Qalia?  It turns out that's the ancestral home of the dark elves, and plans are in place for it to be used as such.  Or they might decide to take an area that currently exists and revamp it in major ways to make it more playable, more fun, and more content-rich.  Remember Khal at launch?  Big difference from what it is now.

Expansions simply don't make sense for Vanguard.  But the lack of them doesn't mean that the game is dying.  In truth, the game is seeing a renaissance with tons of new players coming into the fold.  If those players stick around, we very likely will see a better budget for Vanguard and faster progress in moving the game forward.

To play devils advocate and I'm not saying I don't agree that there is a lot to be done with the existing world and content before doing an expansion.  I can see the argument that they are not ready for an expansion.

However the reasons you give for why it isn't feasable to do an expansion in VG are bogus.  There are many ways to add expansion content.  Their is in fact another continent that is extremely large that has been talked about in VG since beta that was intended to be for an expansion.  This island would have access restricted by the ocean.  But beyond that there are dozens of ways to restrict it.  Have a force field or cloud that prevents crossing be part of the lore.  Horrible currents in the waters that prevent ships from traveling there.    Maybe the continent is just lost in the ocean and only accessable via a certain mystical pathway.

There was also talk about an underdark expansion.  A world beneith the world so to speak.  Unlike the new island I mention this was discussed but I don't think work on it was done, unlike the island.  The artwork for the island was supposedly largely finished in beta.

Finally there was talk of islands in the sky. 

So there is a wealth of opportunity for expansions in VG without resording to the dimensional shift approach.  And these are the ones I know.  BTW on the dimensional shift thing that also makes a lot of sense with the VG lore.  VG has a strong alien/and even scifi element.  There are some zones that are very scifi and one of the races actually comes from another demension of something.  The cat people...

Now I can remember wrong but I got the impression that there was no support for restricting content based on if you have bougth the expansion or not.

But I don't think they have said that they was not able to add content that is not as a regular expansion.

Originally posted by Orphes

Now I can remember wrong but I got the impression that there was no support for restricting content based on if you have bougth the expansion or not.

But I don't think they have said that they was not able to add content that is not as a regular expansion.

Simple example from within the game mechanics.  You buy the expansion your account if flagged with a new expansion passive ability.  You can now pass through the cloud of certain death that surround the isle of mystery. 

The trial isle will prevent you from coming to the main world if you don't have an account.

This can work just like the CIS quest where you become impervious to the radiation in certain zones. 

I mean there are lots of ways to hide expansion content in the lore...  Maybe you need to talk to someone in game to get a quest you can only get if you have the expansion.  This quest gives you access to the land of the giants or something ;)

Ye, that's true. I probably got it wrong.