Remember, this is games we're talking about - and just a genre of them.. Most of the worlds 6.78 billion population are actually doing something else, and most of the the tiny infinite portion of us playing mmo's have no time spending hours of hours in them. Playing games like going to work, grinding and raiding 24/7 is a phase some have to have. For most people gaming is just a couple of hours of fun every week.

So what can we learn when designing games from that..

Originally posted by Soupgoblin

Bottom line: MMO developers pay attention; unloading a steaming pile on your customers, and then ignoring their suggestions and input is a sure fire way to lose your investment, just because past MMOs have been released buggy and incomplete, doesn't mean that the maturing gamers will except that type of crap now days. The genre has matured, and the players have matured, it is now time for MMO developers to mature as well.

 

Very well said! Sums up everything i wanted to say.

I'm no fan of Age of Instances but on the other hand i payed and played AO for 5 years, speaking of FC
Nevertheless, it's free market and only a fool would pay and not play..

Who gives a flying **** if a game dies, it's not like we're saving the wales here - it's a frigging game.

If you like it, well hell keep on playing it boy!
If not, get another game - it's the buyers market out there when it comes to games.

Stealing this thread for a short question. Is there any way to see server population on the the european servers. I have the game and have tried it out a year ago, but stopped due to the small number of teams and players. Maybe I played on the wrong server or at the wrong time (was around x-mas)

why did they take out ingots?

Ahh the days of heckler grinding for ingots

imo the need/greed system sux and it has been in every single mmo i have played. Only time it works is when you play with close friends. There was no reason at all to put in LoTRO.

I kinda agree with the OP, you roll, you win or loose and get on with it, it's simple enough.

You win some, lose some, it's still the same to me
The pleasure is to play, it makes no difference what you say

Motorhead - The ace of spades

At first I was amused, now after i listened to it twice I actually feel sad.

New type of gaming forms brings new types of problems, whole familys have to learn and adept. I feeels sad for that kid, not getting the point, I feel sad for he's parents who suddenly has to "parent" when their kid plays a game, suddenly there's no "pause" button or "save" button.. There totally unprepared for this.

And as many others have replayed, this could never happen in my home either, my kids now what to expect and would never get themselfes in a team/raid so close to bedtime, If they did they had to abort. The reason it's not an issue in my home is not my rules are different, but my rules are communicated and agreed on before my kids even log into a game.

Sometimes I think back on my first mmo's 10 years ago, there were no prepaid cards and almost noone you meet was underage.. I don't know.. Some times I wish I was back there..

I went to wow and then to Vanguard/LoTRO Most of my friends from AO is in LoTRO

Dead, period.

Lets all read this thread in a year from now. VG is a parenthesis in the history of mmorpg.

The Vanguard forums:

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I mean really, what's the point in talking about a dead game.
Logged in yesterday, the cities once filled with people are empty really. My sub ends in 2 weeks and i have been in this game since BETA, it's really going down fast now.

Great idea, big potential but one of the worst releases in gaming history at a time where other games deliver what people want makes Vanguard a parenthesis in the mmorpg market.  To bad, could have been something really nice. Maybe they can sell out the crafting and diplomacy as a concept. The rest i just crap really, and we all know where crap hadled by SOE ends up...

Originally posted by Pjay2k

"server overpopulation"

LOL :)

propably a dev trying to make some marketing for vanguard saga of vanbois...

since lord of the rings online pre-order started last week and since its official release is in a few days there is no reason to play vanguard anymore and I highly doubt that vanguard has a overpopulation problem :)

lord of the rings is far better than vanguard and runs 10.000 times more stable, so please stop making commerical for dark and light's brother, since we are no idiots..

Hear hear!

I agree, even on the SOE forum people are asking for a server merge since the LOTR preorder came out. And to be honest it's 2007 now, customers don't have to put up with hardcore grinding and bad performance anymore to play a mmo, that type of gameplay died with the age of Anarchy Online.

The original point here beeing annoyed when lotr players says lotr is really different from wow?
It's really simple, there wrong. Lotr is aimed at taking a bite of the mainstream mmo market share and they prolly will do just that.
To be honest im suprised games like Vanguard even get's developed right now (don't get me wrong i love Vanguard as a game, beside it's performance issues and premature release it has just missed some vital points needed to get a modern mmo player intrested enough to stay).

wow has opend up the market for everyone and developing mainstream mmo's for release this and next year with a easier content and gameplay should almost garantee you a fair enough bite of the market to make a honest buck. wow is getting old fast and there's enough room for a coupple of games picking up players looking for some fresh content.

It's a great age for us old mmo gamers though, never before has there been so many nice games to choose from and the future looks so bright I gotta wear shades.

For the record; i loved wow, but it's old now. I loved the idea of Vanguard, but the forced grouping and constant time sinks is just to oldschool. I love Lotr and i will play it as i do any other game to the end and then move on to fresh content. It's the players market and the developer out there who can't see that wont be around in the next 5 years.