Vanguard: Saga of Heroes

Below is what I have seen in regards to Vanguard E3 coverage.  I am sure there is a lot mroe waiting to come.  I really enjoyed the combat videos even if the were low quality as the camera showed the devs exploring a dungeon and part of the world.  I also enjoyed some of the previews with the emphasis on crafting. 

What I found interesting if not remarkable was the claim that there would be 40,000 crafted items in the game and that there already is over 8,000 craftable items that can be used inside player housing.  It sounds a bit overwhelming and I am not sure its good, bad or a bit of an overkill.  The EQ2 idea of developemnt seemed to be focused on churning out content with no care for balance or quality while WoW had the opposite philosphy with a strong on focus on quality and  balance.  I hope the 40,000 and 8,000 figures are not a sign that Vanguard devs will be more focused on just churning out numbers rather than doing the quality control work to make gameplay fun.  Either way there is some good information in the previews and reinforces my belief that Vanguard is not suffering ( at least according to the beta leaks) in beta for lack of content but more because the gameplay is just not tweaked enough yet to be fun and the games hardware requirements are just to severe to make it playable.  Regardless here are the links i have seen so far.

2006 E3

http://pc.ign.com/articles/708/708176p1.html

http://e3.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=7022842&publicUserId=5380367

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/vanguard/news.html?sid=6150596&mode=previews

http://www.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=167

http://www.actiontrip.com/features/e32006dayonepart2.phtml

Audio interview

http://www.2old2play.com/modules.php?name=Video&op=view&video_id=30

Sailing Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GvbWF3HJXc&search=vanguard

Gamespot Movie

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/vanguard/media.html?sid=6150601&autoplay=6150601

Combat and character creation videos (3 in total)

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=888450#post888450

39 new screenshots

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/vanguard/screenindex.html?sid=6150471&page=1

I've looked at alot of the E3 coverage for Vanguard. If only they weren't ruled now by the evil emperor, ah, what an awesome game.

Character creation looks like alot of fun.  I wanted to push that guy demoing away from the sliders to make a good looking character, sheesh he has no clue.

Its too bad all of the videos people took do such a bad job of reproducing what the coloring and detail look like, it all comes out looking washed out.

Didn't they say they have been developing content for 4 years or something?  I would guess that they could pull off what you cited in that paragraph.  In 4 years you could make a ton of items for people to craft.  I do like the video of the player customization, it looks pretty cool.  I was worried that the characters looked stiff in all the screenshots, but they move well in the videos.  I have a lot of hope for this one, even with the SoE involvement.

What I found interesting if not remarkable was the claim that there would be 40,000 crafted items in the game and that there already is over 8,000 craftable items that can be used inside player housing.  It sounds a bit overwhelming and I am not sure its good, bad or a bit of an overkill.  The EQ2 idea of developemnt seemed to be focused on churning out content with no care for balance or quality while WoW had the opposite philosphy with a strong on focus on quality and  balance.  I hope the 40,000 and 8,000 figures are not a sign that Vanguard devs will be more focused on just churning out numbers rather than doing the quality control work to make gameplay fun.  Either way there is some good information in the previews and reinforces my belief that Vanguard is not suffering ( at least according to the beta leaks) in beta for lack of content but more because the gameplay is just not tweaked enough yet to be fun and the games hardware requirements are just to severe to make it playable.  Regardless here are the links i have seen so far.