All Posts by ethion

Originally posted by Mike1996

DK looks cool but... is he like a spell caster? I just want to be a regular warrior... so ill try em both out

 

 

The DK is a warrior who uses dark magics to enhance himself.  He can fear, and has some other dark spells.  But make no mistake he is a warrior first and formost.

Here is a link with more info.

www.vanguardspheres.com/forums/dread-knight/10977-dreadknight-guide.html

There really isn't any question.  Conan is not complete and buggy and seems to get worse with every patch.  If the choice is between aoc and vg it is simple one.  vg definely is better then aoc overall.

For me AoC was interesting cause it was a combo of pve and pvp and promissed to provide great gameplay for both.  I went to aoc at launch.  However after awhile the game became clearly incomplete, buggy, and something that wasn't enjoyable.

Warhammer while interesting because it is a new game promisses to be heavily pvp oriented which kinda leaves me cold on it.  I like pve and games that are heavily pvp tend to be lacking in pve content at best.  They frequently depend on pvp to make the game interesting.  So for me warhammer isn't really on my raidar.  I'm definitely not preordering it and I'll probably not buy it at all. 

For me the bigger draw will be the Wow expansion.  I'm still not decided on if I'll buy it but I probably will. 

So I don't think big pvp fans are the people really playing vanguard.  So I don't think warhammer will have much impact on vanguard subs.

Originally posted by AmazingAvery

Originally posted by ethion

If the trend continues it looks like AoC will be dropping below Eve in the coming week with LoTR coming up soon after that.  Looks like AoC loss in the last week has been greater then previous weeks.  Really gotta wonder where this game will stabilize.  Anyone want to make some guestimates?  I'm gonna say 4000 hours per week which will put it at the same level as SWG....

Anyone else want to guess?

 

I see 5k people now from 9k people who had xfire program for AoC. I see that people have left, and I now see those 5k people playing less hours from the 9k's and those current 5k people going on vacation lots over the next month or two. Just like the 12k dip this time last year for WoW.

you really lost me.. so how many hours per day do you think that aoc will stabilize at?  or are you suggesting thaat the numbers are down because people are going on vacation and that the numbers will go up after summer?!?

If the trend continues it looks like AoC will be dropping below Eve in the coming week with LoTR coming up soon after that.  Looks like AoC loss in the last week has been greater then previous weeks.  Really gotta wonder where this game will stabilize.  Anyone want to make some guestimates?  I'm gonna say 4000 hours per week which will put it at the same level as SWG....

Anyone else want to guess?

Originally posted by Mike1996

Hey all, i had a few questions id like to ask you guys.

1. How are the graphics? I mean do they look as good as the picture on the top.

2. I need help deciding between Three Classes, Dread Knight, Warrior, or Paladin, whats more useful in a group and what would be a good adventurer? I want to be able to have a 2h on my back?

3. Er...there is no 3...thats my only questions lol

1.  There are lots of screen shots.  general consensis is that they are good, realistic, some textures are bad, some are good, animations are also inconsistant some being good and many being bad.  Scenery type views are the best overall graphically.  You see a wide world where what you see you can go to.

2.  I think that warriors tend to be dual wielding, paladins shield and sword and dread knights two handed weapons.  So if you are mostly into 2h then the dread knight might be the best fit.  Dread Knights also solo best of the fighter classes.

Originally posted by Goldknyght

Originally posted by Orphes

Originally posted by Goldknyght 

I dont need to get my facts straight seeing as im playing my toon right now due to the free months. This is my experience. Just because yours was differant doesnt mean that mine was false.
 

 

So don't go around yourself and correct other people facts. Look at your own comments earlier.

And seeing that Seradon holds 200+ people from time to time at level 1-10 it is dubious if you didn't find people that groups in those levels. The number for Halgar would be 100+.

 

Where? I seen no such people nor heard from them. Vanboi's are always quick to say no no no they are then when in fact they arn't.

You are just full of crap.  I'm sorry but you are....  I've played on saradon and I've gotten probably 80% of all my xp doing groups.  I've grouped from lvl 8 to 22 and I've never had a problem getting a group.   I'm not talking about guild groups or even friends.  I got nobody in my friends list and while I'm in a guild I've never much grouped with them as most of them are different levels.  I'm sure to ask in guild if anyone wants to fill a spot when I have a group.  Sometimes i start them and it takes maybe 30 minutes to have a full group which isn't a pain cause most of the time you can start going into the dungeon when you got 3-4 people and just summon the others as you join. 

I see people constantly either looking for groups of looking to add people.  I don't ever see an evening when people aren't looking to do a KE group at low levels.  So maybe you need to actually look at your chat box or look at the lfg UI and send someone a tell.  Or hell just go to any dungeon and hang out in front there are always people forming up groups...  Last sunday I was in renton keep and joined a group doing the ant cave and there were like 3 different groups in there in the time I was there. 

VG is the most group oriented game out there and the easiest game to get a group in bar none.  I've played them all.  I spent hours in AoC trying to make a group to do the cistern.  EQ2 isn't bad but many of hte people are high lvl and without a guild it is tough to get people to group at lower levels.  Wow is a total joke for lower levels.  If you can get anyone to group they always have some high level buddy join and run through the dungeon.  I've never had a group ine wow at lower levels that wasn't just a straight run through with some high lvl person.  I've spent a lot of time trying to play wow.

So I'm sorry but I don't buy it you are full of it.  So just go move on cause you are just spewing lies.

Originally posted by Theocritus

Originally posted by Goldknyght

It doesnt matter anyways. Vanguard is a Extreme Fantasy Game and is to Complex for the simple. Only a few people enjoy games like this today and they are either playing vanguard or eq2. Not alot of gamers today even if Vanguard launch right now and not a year ago would be able to hold a population bigger then the one it already has. Like I read in a post earlier there is alot of gamers who just try new games out to see who they are then drop off the map. out of the 200+ players that this game would get on launch it would loose half by the end of the month while others take a little while to pick off. It will have releitivly the same numbers as Everquest does because they are the only gamers that like this type of genre on MMO's.

 

     LOl Come on....some of these people need to get off their high horse....neither Vanguard nor EQ2 are complex at all....Theyre both do this quest and do that quest and there isnt a heck of alot more to them....All these people that try to make these games sound like you need a PHD to play are only fooling themselves.....The reason why Vanguard doesnt have more people is that its launch was flat out awful yet there were fanbois even then that said it was perfect and the best game around......Vnaguard has been dumbed down ever since beta 2 so dont give us the "its too complex for the simple" arguments..... Like some others have said you jsut dont know who to believe with this game......The game world is too big and youd need ten times the population of most games for it to feel like there are very many people because it is so spread out.....The size of the world in Vanguard is definitely a detriment to the game.

No goldknight is right.  vanguard is too complex for most of the younger mmorpg crowd.  They would find wow much more to their liking.  VG is for a more mature gamer that is looking for more depth in an MMORPG which unfortunately excludes a fair number of people.

Course I also agree with you VG did have an aweful launch that does give it a bad taste in many peoples mouths.  It also had a reputation of being hard core since Brad the father of EQ was producing it.  And finally as you say the world is so large that many people start the game and don't see a lot of people and immediately assume the world is empty. 

But that said I think that it has improved since launch considerably.  Many of the issues with the bad launch, hard core reputation, and even overly large world have been or are being corrected.  With GU6 I'd say all these issues will have been fixed and it just remains to be seen if word of mouth will bring people back.  Most people don't remember what a disaster eve was when it launched.  That game seemed certain to go under but they kept at it and it has grown steadily.  Perhaps VG can do that as well.  Time will tell. 

There are people out there looking for more depth and interested in pve and VG is a very good fit, it just needs to overcome the issues you have listed.  Anyway thats my opinion for what it's worth :P

Originally posted by sanders01

This kinda upsets me, I was hoping on buying this game and having fun with it on the PvP server, but from what I hear, it's got 100-200 people PEAK time. :/ Thats low, very low for a P2P server.

Yeah if you are oriented on pvp then VG isn't the best game for sure.  If you want pve oriented game however VG is probably the best one on the market today.

Originally posted by Drakenora

So I just coulnt control myself, being a fan of this game and all, and this post might just as well be barried in the masses here

In short, YES AoC has alot of bugs and shortcommings, and feels a bit too much like a single player game before reaching lvl 40 (join a guild is a must to have fun later on everyone(.

HOWEVER, remember when WoW launched, when Eq2 launched, when SWG launched....and guess what: THY WERE ALL extremely BUGGED FOR SEVERAL MONTHS.

And if you take in account the complexity of the new combat system and graphics with no equal on the mmo market (exept Eq2 maxed out), I say give them a break.

 

Now as for the missing content...true that pisses me off 

And you know what I did? I became a social person and play with friends and guildmates

 

Ok promise this is the last thing on my chest:

for all those comparing the AoC launch to LoTRO, just remember its only because the programmers in LoTRO used old and stable design techniques much simpler and faster to create. And the graphics may seem nice to you, but I had single player RPGs looking as good or better then that years ago.

ATM the only thing that makes LoTRO look a bit better then some free mmorpgs (now not even in all fields) is because of dx10, but even that cant hide the fact that they used way to much shortcuts that looks like good graphics but actually isnt.

(what is the difference: good graphics hold their ground in close-ups and objective criteria, shortcuts dont)

 

I had to laugh when I read this.  Not because what you said was funny but because of what you said and looking at your signature.  Your sig classes you as alone and antisocial yet your post is a contradiction saying that the game is too solo early on and that what you need to do is to be more social in the game.  Ha maybe I'm loopy but I thought it was funny.

Originally posted by Dkevlar

don't worry. We are kind of acostumed with amazing avery. Even if funcom said "AOC sucks", avery will still say "no, it does not"...

Don't bash the guy he is a great source of information.  Just because someone is pasionate about a game doesn't make them stupid.  He is looking at the positives and having faith that the problems will get resolved and is generally working around them.  Nothing wrong with that and I'm sure he is enjoying the game.  It is a good balance cause like someone else said the truth is somewhere in between and without people pointing out both the good and the bad you wouldn't have a balanced view.

As to web sites slinging names around that bash companies, what else is new... Anyone can add a name and it is good fun but means nothing.

I'm playing on seradon and I am not having any population problems.  I play during the evenings and weekends PST times.  I started a new character when I came back.  A bard who is now lvl 22.  I'd say that 70% of all my experience has come from pick up groups doing instances.  I have found the game fantastic for getting groups so far.  Far better then my experiences in AoC, EQ2 or Wow in the past 6 months playing as a new player in those games.  AoC was my most recent experience and after spending two evenings trying to make a group to do the cistern dungeon and both times being frustrated at not being able to get a decent group I decided to quit the game.

I've done the rift dungeon by tursh, the spider dungeon in veskal, the atlantan dungeon by veskel, the dungeon in vault of heros, the bear cave in vault of heros, KE, and on sunday I did the ant dungeon near Renton keep and got an amazing tunic from finishing the quest where you kill the queen ant.  Thats a LOT of grouping and all of it pickup groups without me knowing a soul.  The ant dungeon I did on sunday was at times actually almost crowded.  There were at least 3 groups I saw in there over the time I played in there on sunday.

So maybe you are finding the servers a wasteland but seradon is not leaving me wanting for more players.  When I created a character last night seradon was showing a population of medium.  I've checked the pop on it once kinda late in the evening and found something like 1300 players online.  I'm sure during peak times it is probably even more.

So I'm sorry you had a bad time and didn't see enough people to make you comfortable.  You might check out wow, ironforge had tons of people.  Unfortunately unless you are max level getting anyone to group with you will be a major pain, or they will just bring a lvl 70 alt and you can power lvl through the dungeon.  Have fun!!

Originally posted by daylight01

This game has came on alot since the release there is no arguing that,gameplay wise that is,but social wise the number's just arent there and alot will MAYBE rest on the trial,me for one I love to speak with friends and meet new one's in mmo's and although VG has a nice community I cant help but notice that alot of ppl it seems log on 5 mins before a raid and log off 5 mins after,at least that is what I am finding and when they are in the raid it is hard to squeeze a word out of them and so you turn to general chat which can get very quiet at time's.

I remember a poll on this forum asking what you enjoyed about mmo's the most and they listed answer's like

1.crafting 2.questing 3.meeting new ppl 4.chatting with friends  etc etc

What they never had was 1.chatting with friends while crafting 2.chatting with friends while questing.

There is a decent game in VG but I cant help but feel it missed the boat and although I am 35 cant help but feel maybe having a community which I would guage average around the 25-35 year's old bracket isnt always the best as we all have live's outside of games and families and logging on 5 mins before a raid and logging out 5 mins after really does destroy the social aspect.

Anyway I will see how it pans out after the trial is offered but with other AAA title's on the way maybe VG needs a couple of AoC release's to have a good chance.

Hmm I started a new character like 2-3 weeks ago and I gotta say on saradon there is plenty of community and chat.  I love chatting online.  I also like meeting new people and setting up pickup groups.  I've been playing till 22 on my bard and have pretty much exclusively grouped when adventuring.

As to what you say about the raid scene I really have no idea as I haven't really done anything with that or even looked into it.  I know that the people in my guild that are lvl 50 seem to be doing a number of things, crafting, diplomacy, and doing groups in high lvl dungeons and occasionally doing a pickup raid.

So I'm not sure what server you are playing on but I'm seeing a very different experience on my server.

As to VG needing a couple of AoC release's I should hope not AoC updates have been a step backwards each time and I found AoC positively disappointing.  It was good at the start but on the whole I'd say it is even worse then VG was at launch and much worse then VG is now.  I think that VG needs a pop of like 1000-1500 on a server to be pretty good.  If you are on the PvP server I can see what you mean since i doubt they have more then 200 online at any time.

Nothing beats races down the rapids in kaon's rush!!

Originally posted by taus01

Even if this is a sample group or not many use XFire or whatever other argument you bring forward to defend the obvious decline in game hours, here is some interesting fact i want you to explain.

Every weekend the numbers of hours played shot up at least 7k-10k. Last weekend however the peak was 2k, that is definately showing that the players are not playing anymore even on weekends.

 

 

Or it could be that a large number of people left the game just before the weekend started depressing the peak?  Didn't the second month renewal come due around now?  Maybe people just stoped playing because they didn't renew?

That or maybe there were server problems over the weekend?

Originally posted by Goldknyght

Well people keep saying there is a warrior, ahh people no He is talking about the Berserker which is on http://vgplayers.station.sony.com as a class but no one can be one. As is the Inquisitor which personally need to bee added to this game.

This has been discussed.  The last words on the subject are the berserker and inquisitor are not even in the planning stages to be added.  So effectively they are not part of the game and while they might be added at somepoint there is no eta or even a plan to add them.

So while they might appear in the UI they are not valid classes today.  They were dropped from planning months before release and were never implemented in any form.

Looks like the trend is continuing downward another week.  WTH happen to the weekend spike that we normally see?

A shot of my lvl 22 bard in VG.  Settings are generally maxed by the shot is cropped.

Ethion lvl 46 rogue

Beta Ethion lvl 34 rogue (something like that)

Originally posted by Da1e

Heyyyy,

 

you may want to try doing the setfog command?

 

/setfog 200000, 400000, 120, 120, 240

 

or easier

 

/setfog 999999

 

i recommend the first one.

 

makes it look nicer, looks like you aren't using it :)

Personally I always felt this defeated the atmosphere that a particular place is trying to set.  Some area's in qalia you can see a long ways, where some places in thestra are kinda hazy and you can see a short distance.  

Yeah you can turn the fogging off and see forever and it is quite amazing but it isn't realistic either.

Originally posted by page

To start with I'm not a major fan of  World of Warcraft, but in the past few years I find myself referring back to it after giving other MMO's a good shot. I've played most all the popular ones and found D&D Online believe it or not to be my next choice as I love dungeon crawling and it's the most fun aspect of any mmo.

Last year I played EQ2 for just one month, it was ok but my server was dead and soloing was hard so this game found it's way on my shelf of other bad games.  With Sony giving two months of free play for June and July I decided to give the game another shot, this time I went in with a positive and very social attitude and this worked for most all of the free two months. but then I had to go out of town for a few days and just can't seem to log back in for the last few days.

So anyway I'll give my reasons why EQ2 is not as user friendly as WoW.

Population on all servers is much lower on all servers in EQ2, I live on the east coast and  most all players begin to log on around 8 or 9 PM.  My large guild schedules all their events for 9 pm thats just too late to start for me. I sometimes like to play in the morning but the game has a very low population and servers go down every morning for maintenance, some would say this is better than all day on Tuesday but for morning players you can kiss grouping goodbye. WoW I can rally a party at any time from 5 am to midnight at all levels.

WoW has way more dungeons, at any level I would have a choice of at least 3 at any given time, EQ2 has for the most part 1, and for me I get tired of doing the same one for 5 or 6 levels.  I could give facts on this issue but it would make this post even longer.

Maps in EQ2........ Like come on !  I have to use 3 or 4 web sites to put together a half decent map, and same with dungeons. I have the Echoes of Faydwer pack, and it only comes with a topo map of this area alone, YES that's all I got with this game !, also not even a game manual, I had to go to the web site to get that. WoW is BY FAR BETTER FOR MAPS and it's hard to explain why. It just is, and if you played both you would have to agree. 

Solo and leveling....If you sometimes play by your self, your for the most part screwed.  I played a templar ( healer ) and only lasted 10 levels and everyone in game told me it's way to hard to solo. Maybe if you had alts. and a lot of starter gold it could be better. 

My Level 36 Bruiser was much much better, I was able to make some good money in Dungeons and I was packing with good armor and weapons, but soloing was still hard, here is an example:   Level 30 you can do Enchanted lands but from 30 to 35 you can't get very far from the beach as you get randomly attacked by 6 or 7 mobs and you just can't do anything about it.  To me this is not about fun or skill.  Zek is no better, and it's the same for every zone this is only an example. WoW lets you have a large area to quest at  a single level. WoW gives you  3 or more choices than just 2 for each level.

Graphics........WoW better world without zoning. EQ2 better characters and mobs but more zoning and loading, I would take world graphics over characters any day as i don't care what I look like. so I would put my money on WoW. 

Chat ....... I like WoW's point and click method over EQ2's typing full name method. It's just easier.

PvP..... EQ2 only has one server and it's dead so forget PvP.  WoW is well designed for both open world and battle grounds, I just love WoW's battle grounds !

WoW I'll have to give it a 9

EQ2 gets a 5

I've played wow and eq2 both quite extensively.  Generally I find eq2 more fun to play.  I'm not big on the pvp scene so that doesn't matter to me much.  eq2 has more areas, more dungeons and more to do then wow and with the ability to mentor the game is kinda level independent for grouping.  As opposed to wow where every dungeon is done by a high lvl person that just powers you through it.  The quests in eq2 are generally better as well.  Especially in some of the newer starting zones.

I'd say that I prefer eq2 to wow pretty much across the board.  In looking through the points above I'd also disagree with just about every point you made.  So it seems to me like maybe you went into it biased by I can't see why someone would lvl to 36 if they weren't interested in the game.  Seems like you missed the whole feydark area also since you don't mention it.

I don't know, I just gotta say I disagree....