Games certainly need to let the community drive the market/economy.

EQ early on didn't have the easy tools to make selling fast or convenient.  But player to player interaction  made it.  It took play time, allowed for socialization, and created work for reward.  Finding that new helm at a good price meant face to face haggle sessions.  I loved hanging out in the EC tunnel.

The other thing games need is a good world as the article mentions, and methods to put the social back in game.  The lack of that is one reason I've been on the longest retirement from MMO's since the way early days of the genre.  The downtime in EQ allowed for that, as well as the non button mashing play style..  Less button mashing = more time to work out strategy + pulling/ shoot the shit with your group.  Button mashing has yet to provide any real play variety/purpose.

The current world systems in most games are killing it at the moment.  Areas are set up like boxes that serve one purpose, or set path that you will follow.  I want to explore and not be told how to complete every objective in my quest journal.  Bring back old world style lore, areas with seemingly no purpose.  Games like EQ and some others really gave you the feeling that you could be in another place.  

Don't get me wrong some advancements have been great in the MMO world, but rethinking some of what seems old-school could provide the heart that a lot of games lack now.

I keep coming back and leaving - mostly due to lack of time, and once due to frustration boiling over.

I think the thing here is - lower level content is wonderful.   If you have a great guild that still spends the time to go through it the way it was meant to be it is incredibly fun.  Not rushing it - doing these multi part quests, dungeons, etc.    There is great content from day one.   Increasingly you have more pick up groups going as more people are coming to the game at the low level.   These quest lines tho are designed around having a consistent group to work them.  To date the most fun I have had is in levels 20-40.

The top level game is  a grind-fest.  Swamp, RI, Crypt Flips, then SOD/BOD and POTA.    APW is good content - then the more casual group stuff is a big grind.   Some of it is fun and some of it is not.  Some of it is fun the first 5 times then not, hehe.

To a degree it follows the eq content model that happened around Velious and PoP.  Grind grind grind faction for velious armor, grind PoP (but with more challenging content).   And eventually great content opened up.

I don't mind a grind - it's a good time to learn a class, work with a guild, socialize.  However - EQ also supported fun single group spots and had more open no grind needed raid content.   More dungeons that you could walk in and just kick some butt, the original planes, etc.   As well as plenty of single group or two group content for good items.    I almost never raided in EQ and had plenty to do up till it got ridiculous.   There was room for many years for different play styles. 

Vanguard doesn't have that as a secondary.  That said I keep trying other things and coming back.   For me right now - this is the game if and when I have time for an MMO.   I am lookign toward  The Agency for something new potentially, and the Bioware star wars game, and some others.  

Pantheon was a great chance for what I thought would be diffcult but more casual friendly content - and it turned out not to be that.  Lucky for me I have taken the top of the game at pace and still have APW to work through slowly with my casual guild - so still content to take on for us.

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Originally posted by Deathstrike2

I understand that there have been some updates to the game, but honestly, doesn't the majority of subscription based MMOs do the same?  And offer paid expansions as well?  Look at EQ, EQII, LOTRO, etc.  All give out free updates and all also develop paid expansions. 
The reason VG isn't doing a paid expansion has nothing at all to do with world design.  The reason is they have a TINY dev team and they just don't have the time or resources to get the job done.
Don't get me wrong... I really enjoyed most of my time in VG, but go look at some of the dev Q&A posts.  I'd say 2/3rds or more of all the requests made by players are answered with "we don't have the time" or "Our team is too small to get it done" or "We'd like to do it, but just don't have the resources."
Even though SOE saved the game from the chopping block, they're also slowly strangling the life out of the game by ignoring it.  SOE simply does not take VG seriously and it shows.
 

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In the last couple of months we have gotten a new FFA PvP Arena, loads of higher end content group/raid (SOD, KDQ, Bridge of Destiny, Garazumet), class race combos updated, Galleons, two good holiday events. Soon to be another high end addition with the Pantheon.

These are not little updates or minor fixes. I have played over a dozen mmo's at this point including those you mention, and I have never seen content of this size ever given for free.

They pretty much took most of my big complaints with the game and knocked them off the list over the last couple months. And again provided for free - this would have been an expansion or at least adventure packs in other games.

I think they are trying to make it right with the people that have played the game this long - which is appreciated.

I really don't see how their technology would jive with an expansion. But I'll take the near equivalent of one via free updates. It is still more content than most people are going to ever play through, including with a couple alts or so - and there is more on the way. Pantheon will be huge.

Thank you.  I totally agree on population seeming thin at first due to so many starting areas.

This was true of Everquest as well.  I remember thinking well there is like 6 people playing this game - then moving from nek forest to EC - and seeing the chat log just zip down as people tried to sell items at the tunnell.... ahh good old player run economy =)

I think it is sad this has become such a pin point issue for people - I loved having to figure things out , and travel around to find the hot spots in EQ.  I don't get what is hard for people especially now with the Isle.  After that do a google search if exploring is too hard to see where people go, shout in-game, use the rift way to get there.   And boom you have found a quest hub full of solo and groupable quests, dungeons etc.

I'm 25 and I feel like an old fart - thinking about having to draw my own maps in eq.  And then I play a game like WoW or Warhammer or Aoc, and I get a better picture why people are used to so much hand holding =)

And I also agree to whoever posted about content updates being free content.  VG wasn't really designed for expansions, this has been said a lot.  It is a big world with areas yet to be used, which eventually will have content piped in - planned for so many years duration of additions.   And that is what they are doing. 

We just got a massive update - right on the heels of several other additions.  All free.  Call it an expansion if you like =P

I don't get the Vanguard hate on this site - other than the fact mmorpg.com popped up after MMORPG's turned into linear MMO's.

Vanguard has it's issues - but I keep coming back and it keeps getting better.  My Guild hall is amazing - nothing like a shanty as someone explained about their house.  I can't imagine returning to eq2 or another game for that matter, they keep falling short.

The population may not be huge - but on and off again it has it's moments.  And I have never had much issue finding groups, guild or Pug's.   2 years in I still can find HL, URT, Trengals, Wardship, CIS, etc  for my characters and alts made in the last 6 months.   I don't know any game on the market other than Vanguard that can say newbie zones and questlines are not empty.  Maybe it is just Seradon *shrug*  But I have played all the major mmo's at one point and most couldn't say there was population for questlines like these 4 months in.

I find more often than not people in a dungeon my group wants to be in, or competition for overland mobs.  And once you hit later levels there is plenty going on.

I think Vanguard mantains this because it isn't just a level grind.  Some people trade up all spheres, some like to explore half the time with xp turned off, and some def raid every night of the week.  With that variety you see people doing content at all levels - this has been my experience within the last maybe 6 months of returning (with minor leaves for AOC, Warhammer -to return).  Yes its a huge world and yeah people are spread out, or its slow at off peak times - but what game isn't.

I think we have seen great fixes and additions.  This game is almost to the point of what was promised and is the only answer at the moment for classic MMORPG players in terms of non-linear play, as far as I'm concerned and my experience allows me to judge =P

Yup helms are visible if you want them to be.  The game has seen a lot of improvement and your system will run it well.  To be sure and honest there are bugs still - but nothing that is game breaking.  I kept trying to go to other more polished games, but couldn't trade the nonlinear environment in the end, welcome back =)