Also to anybody thinking about going back to EQ1, here's a good site made by Almar.  He's a returning player who just recently went back to EQ.  He made the site to answer many newbie questions, many of which I had 3 months ago when I first went back to EQ.

www.almarsguides.com/everquest.cfm

He's got a section strictly answering some questions returning players would ask.  It's worth a look.

I was a classic enthusiast, I looked into EQ early this year when the talk of a new progression server was coming out.  I gotta say, after having played the game for 3 months now, I'm loving it.  It's in my opinion that the EQ devs have done a good job evolving the game to meet today's gamer needs.  I came back to the game after 5 years, after swearing to never play EQ again but you know how it is, gamers always talk a lot on the forums especially when they are disgruntled or bored ;)

I thought I came back to the game to play on a new server, possibly a progression server or even a classic server.  But now I'm glad I started on a regular server, because the game is very fun and worth the time & money I've spent.  There are always people that'll be disgruntled especially when we're talking about a game with a long history.  Many of these folks have good, valid complaints.  Many of them have good opinions.  But you just gotta remember, they are their opinions, nothing more.  Just like me saying I've had a blast playing EQ1 after being gone for 5 years, that's my opinion and mine only.

SOE is a gaming company with a long history.  They've done things that have made players happy, things that made them upset, and things that absolutely drove players crazy.  So this love/hate relationship displayed by the OP with SOE isn't anything new.

I thought station cash and LoN would annoy me, but it really hasn't.  Aside from the GM announcement ingame, which I've spoken up against, I'm not bothered by what they're doing with station cash.  The game is what it is, you can choose to play it or don't, that's up to you.  But a game doesn't make it to 10th year and 14+ expansions being a failure.  In my mind that's called success and they must have done something right.  So as much as you hate them, you gotta give credit where its due.

So anyways, good luck to the OP, hope you find the perfect game for you.  I'm a strong believer that you should play a game only if it's fun for you.  So if it stops being fun, then it's time to play something else.  Remember, it IS a game.  

I gave Vanguard a good run, played it from open beta for 1 full year before I gave up on it.  I watched my friends come & go, while I was the only one left playing the game, hoping for things to get better.  I then realized I stayed in Vanguard that long because I missed EQ.  So in a way, the thread is kinda valid, Vanguard does bring back that good 'ol nostalgia for a bit.  But what EQ1 has, Vanguard just can't compare.

1. Lore - I missed EQ1 lore, I wanted so bad to get to know Vanguard's lore, its Gods, and how things came about.  But VG just couldn't deliver.  Since day 1 the game felt like it was 5 different departments working on 5 separate projects put together, combined what they had, and said voila here's Vanguard.  Things were about to get better when the "lore guy" said he was working on some good lore stuff, and that he was trying to inject lore into adventuring.  Unfortunately like many good things, he got let go when they cut staff so that never came about.

2. Depth - This is hard to explain, but any seasoned MMO vet knows the difference between a game with depth and a game that's fun for awhile but just lacks *something*.   You get that feeling with Vanguard once you cap out in level, there's something missing.  There isn't enough things to keep you occupied and going.

3. Content / Slow development - It took them a year to get a new dungeon out, maybe longer.  For a long time the game lost raiders and people that capped out in level.  People have to wait a long time for content releases and patches.  The game is 2 years old and no expansion planned on the horizon.  The small dev team has really crippled the development of Vanguard, and there's no slight indication that SOE is going to boost Vanguard's resources.

4. Performance - Vanguard's engine is still a pig, it's a resource hog.  Yes the game looks great, but it still comes down to playability and gameplay.  This has been VG's Achilles' heel since day 1.

I think Vanguard is worthy of a try, it's a good game, it may last you for quite awhile depending on your playstyle.  But Vanguard is not EQ.  I do agree Vanguard is more of a successor to EQ1 than EQ2 is, because VG was developed with EQ1 in mind.  But due to the name, and the company that developed it, it can never be an Everquest.

I stopped playing back around 2004, mainly because I had played the game inside out for 5 years, and it was time to move on.  The last 2 expansions during that year and before were kind of lackluster, so it was a good time to move on.  Of course many people left the game during that year as well, some went to play EQ2, some WoW.  Personally I played both.

I hopped around various games in the past 5 years only to get that itch to play EQ again.  After some disappointments in WAR (I loved daoc, but war just didn't last long for me), I was out of games to play so said what the heck, let's fire up EQ1 and see how it goes.

Three months ago I started back up in EQ1 after 4-5 years of being gone, 3 months later I don't regret one bit.  I'm having a great time, rarely do you find an old game which you can go back to, get that good 'ol feelings back, while at the same time stare at 5+ expansions of content that you have missed.  It felt like playing a brand new game, which is really awesome because I didn't go back to play what I played before.

So far I like the changes they've made, like the controversial mercenaries, and I've even brought my g/f and a friend who's brand new to EQ with me.  The 3 of us are having a blast playing several characters and going through content we missed.  So new content, old nostalgia, it's a good mix and I recommend everybody who's even remotely interested to try it again to go for it.  Don't listen to forums or judge the game by the free trial, because the trial content is outdated and it's nowhere what the game is like outside of it.

Anyways, good luck :D

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 shrunken_man

I hope Vanguard can be fixed. Despite all the negativity, I still want to play it.

I'm just waiting for the polish.

Well said, sums up my feeling atm.  Despite the negativity, I had fun for quite a few months in VG and hope they can improve the game more so I can continue to play it. 

LOTR:O will definately draw players from all sorts of MMO's, including Vanguard.  But that's not the key.  The key is, how long will these players be satisfied with LOTR:O?  Yes all new games are fun & exciting, but how long people stay has to do with the staying power, reroll fun, and whether there's a reason to stay playing a game once you cap out.  We already know how easy it is to get to cap level in LOTR:O, so it will be interesting to see what all people will say about the game in 2-3 months.

LOTR:O is a nice game, I agree, and I have recommended the game to some of my friends that can't play VG due to their comp system.  But I just honestly don't know if the game will satisfy players enough for them to stay long term.  So really, while I do agree LOTR:O will make a dent on VG and some other MMO's, it'll be interesting to see how it is after 2-3 months.

Ok I'll give you that, By Night is still somewhat bugged. They appear to have been fixed for a bit but then something else broke.  And I'll also agree that they need to improve on CS.  You are right, they do catch them gold sellers fast

It does seem that there are very few quests that are bugged pre-lvl 40.  I don't agree with you saying they only mess with balance and ignore other issues.  If you read the patch notes every week, they do a bit of everything every week.  I would hate to rehash this but they have the class balance teams working on classes only, while having quest teams working on quest issues & adding new quests in, artists that work on getting upgraded graphics in such as we've seen lots of new armor/weapon graphics, as well as coders that tweak performance.  So really, reading the patch notes does not tell me that they have the wrong priorities.  It does seem that they are simply having a lot of catch up work to do, and yes, I'd say the game was released 3 months early.

There are still 2 weeks before this game hits the 3 months mark by the way, so maybe you'll change your mind in 2 weeks, maybe not   I guess I'm just wondering how you went from that girl I heard in your youtube videos, loving the game, stating how cool the game is, riding around, showing the griffons and other cool aspects of the game.....to here, totally disliking the game since they tweaked rangers.  I haven't heard one ranger say they are weak for quite awhile, there have been numerous changes that actually improved the class.  So I don't know, maybe you are simply tired of the game.  If that's the case, that's alright, we all get tired of the games we play eventually.  I'm just trying to chat it up with ya from a different perspective that's all.

I do wish Sigil would improve their communication with the playerbase, as well as customer service.

Originally posted by Teala
Back in my review I stated the game needed a minimum of another year.  We're in the 5th month of the game going live and I don't see much difference in this game now then I did then four months ago.  In some ways it is actually less fun to play due to the heavy handed nerf bat tactics on classes.   At the slow rate at which they are patching I'll stick by what I said and say this game is a waste of peoples money for now(some basic quest are still broke that have been broke since day 1).    Maybe by this time next year (April 2008) Vanguard will be really ready for launch. 

Are you honestly still ticked off about the ranger "tweaks" from over a month ago?  When was the last time you actually played the game, or did you quit right when the nerf happened?  I'm just wondering what "basic quests" you are talking about that are still broken.

I recently rerolled and I see huge improvement over the content as compared to the first time I went through them at launch.  So judging by your post, it seems like you did a knee jerk reaction and quit playing right when they changed your ranger.  Seriously, you should give your ranger a try, and the quests you find "broken" another try, because you just might be surprised at finding out how well the ranger class is doing, and how little quests you may find broken.

I don't even remember the last time I saw them doing the "nerfs" to all sorts of classes.  I guess this comes from actually playing the game, reading the patch notes, and actually experiencing it on hand.  Most classes actually have been boosted every single week.  My gosh how can you go from a loving lady, even made some youtube videos talking about how much you love the game, to someone so vicious hating the game simply due to a round of class changes that week.  *boggle* 

Edit:  I suppose to stay on topic and answer your question, yes I do believe the game was released 3 months early.  If the game was to launch next week, a lot more people would enjoy the game and possibly stay longer.  The game now is much improved over the game at launch, and you may still even like your ranger if you didn't have to experience your ranger "tweaks" first month into launch.  Yes it's Sigil's fault for making those class tweaks after launch, because people are more sensitive to changes to their classes after release.  Yes it's their fault to release the game early.  But imo the game really is much better now, and will get better next week, and the week after that.  I kinda don't understand what you mean by them patching slow.  One large patch a week and every week is called patching slow?   Yikes.

If you want to talk about the game bugs aside, then I think this is the best game made to this date yet.  But this is only my opinion, so take it for whatever it's worth.  I've played EQ1, DAOC, AC1, EQ2, FFXI, WoW, Lineage 2, and DDO.  If you brush the bugs aside and the obvious performance issues at the moment, this game is very very feature packed, and it's fun with a bright future.

IMO the biggest issues right now that Sigil/SOE have to address within the first 30 days are:

1. Registration issues. Login servers are fine, no queues, no waiting, but some people's registrations keep getting messed up.  Get with it SOE.

2. Bugs, yes there are bugs, I've experienced them myself.  Some people can stomach it, some can't.  I'm having a great time so I mostly ignore the bugs.  I realize bugs get fixed eventually, so I try to look beyond the bugs.  There aren't as many bugs as some people put it, although different people may experience the game differently due to how large the game is.

3. Performance, I'm actually very happy with performance, BUT...the but here is they gotta fix the memory leak issue.  Every few hours I gotta relog or I know the memory leak is gonna cause me to crash.  This doesn't happen to everybody, doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen from time to time.  Again, I tie this together with the "bugs" because I know issues like these get eventually fixed.  I get plenty of solid, uninterrupted playtime in the game so it doesn't bother me that much.

The rest imo can be tweaked and patched in, things like class tweaks and contents.  But the above 3 things are the biggest things they should fix.  Once they are fixed, this will be a solid MMO, a solid choice for anybody looking for an alternative to the existing MMORPG's on the market.  It'll also be a solid choice months down the road as other upcoming MMO's get released, because the upcoming MMO's also cater to their own audiences, with their own choice of graphics that I'm not really interested in.

The game will be fine.  I can see the game losing subscribers if the devs sit on their asses and stop developing the game.  But seeing that they release daily large patches, I have no reason to believe they'll stop working all of a sudden.  Heck as is right now, Vanguard has more features than some of the other MMO's after an expansion or two.

Yes there are some issues, such as bugs, and unpolished higher end content.  But it's nothing I haven't seen before with any new MMO release.  Higher system requirement may slow down Vanguard's growth a bit, but it's not to say as people upgrade (yes you all will soon be using duo core and direct x 10 video cards as prices come down), that more and more people may be interested in playing Vanguard.  Like I said, it's not like they aren't going to develop the game further, release more features, and work on a new expansion that'll expand this already large & feature-packed game.

Is the game for everybody? Nope, but no game is.  Is the game a niche game?  Well interesting word "niche", but do people realize that all MMO's besides WoW are being called niche these days?  Yeah I thought that was funny.  I'm not sure why some people feel the need to put a game down so much sometimes, I've seen the same happen with other new MMO releases, so it's alright.  People just should realize that choices are good, and having alternatives to the usual MMO's out on the market today is a good thing.  People liking different MMO's is normal, because that's why they got so many flavors of ice cream, so many ways to cook a chicken.  Having the samo all the time gets old, so people should be happy there is something else out there, like Vanguard for an example ;)

Anyways, I'd support less population after a year IF the devs all of a sudden stops working.  But until then, I don't think this game will fail as some of you hoped it to.  And for that I'm happy to disappoint you.

This game will be fine, it's really fun and addicting right now, it has its own flavor plus more.  You enjoy your game, great I'm happy for you.  I'll enjoy mine.  Vanguard won't be for everybody, but I do honestly believe it'll find its own crowd and be quite successful at running the game for years to come.

lol people talking trash on the forums, what's new.  Same people will be doing the same to other MMO's releasing in the future :)

lol I have to agree, it takes more care and much more thinking & management to figure out how to solo certain mobs.  You may even have to do it the old fashioned way of "trial and error".  But imo that's the fun of it, figuring things out rather than roll through everything.

I saw someone die soloing something, so just as a test I went and tried it myself, and I was able to do it.  Wasn't trying to make anybody feel bad, he wasn't around to see it.  But I just wanted to see if I could come out with a different outcome.  Was fun.

They've really improved the game performance since open beta.   FPS never was my issue before, since I always get over 50 fps.  But it was more about studdering, and how it was really bad every step during open beta.  Now, whatever they did, I don't feel the studdering at all.  If I come upon a large city, I get that second lag that I feel when entering Ironforge or other large cities in other MMO's.  So it's nothing new and I'm very very happy with the improvement they've made.  I don't care what they did to the game really, I'm just glad they really improved it like they said they would.

I played all weekend long, and yes while the servers got taken down for looong patch saturday night, I was glad because I played all Saturday and needed a break lol :p   Anyways, the game is really addicting, and it's fun on all 3 spheres (adventure, crafting, and diplomacy).  So far it's everything I've asked for, big kudos to Sigil for pulling this off.  I was skeptical during open beta because we all knew they ran out of time and had to rush.  But within 3 weeks of daily patches they've done amazing things to the game.  It's not perfect, yes there are launch bugs & issues, but I've enjoyed every minute of it since I started playing last Friday.

A good place to learn about classes, crafting, combat, and other things is here:

http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/

Retail launch is tomorrow 30th, you can get them in stores, or order online from D2Drive or SOE.

1.  It's a PvE game at core, but has a FFA PvP server, and a team vs team PvP server.  Both PvE & PvP imo are fun, I've been alternating between two server rulesets.  It's one of the few MMO's released lately that actually gives player the FFA option.

2.  Not sure how long it takes to level to cap, but it goes fairly quickly and easy from lvl 1-12.  Then you'll find having a good group will really help you boost the exp from then on.  I haven't heard much complaints on the leveling, it seems to be enjoyable for most people thus far.  I've been duoing with my g/f and we're having a great time.

3.  Hard to get?  Not really sure, we got some cool items at lower levels, there aren't anybody high level enough to know what it's like up there.  But Vanguard is created with 60% of the content geared towards groups, and around 20% towards raiding.  So for people that dislike raiding, you'll find plenty to do.  I've played around with crafting, it's fairly complex, and you can make some nice items out of it.   Devs have said you are supposed to be able to obtain good equipment through crafting, grouping, and raiding.  So you aren't forced to do just 1 thing or another.

4.  Nobody knows yet.  One thing to keep in mind is that, for most average MMO's out there, you advance your character by leveling to cap level, then raid, and perhaps you grab a crafting skill on the way.  In Vanguard, you'll want to level as usual, but keep in mind Crafting plays a big part in the game, so does Diplomacy.  You'll also want to get a house I imagine, perhaps get a ship built, and work on getting that flying mount around lvl 45.  So in terms of things to do at "endgame", well there will be plenty of things for people to work on to maximize your character in Vanguard.

5.  You may find Diplomacy to be fun, it really has turned out to be a great change of pace when you get tired of leveling and want a break.   There are some interesting crafting options, as well as combat reactionary abilities, etc..  What draws me personally to Vanguard isn't really what's new, but what it contains.  You see, when I want certain features, I have to look at one MMO, and say, well this MMO has this I like, but doesn't have this other thing I like.  This other MMO has this I like, but doesn't have that other thing.  Vanguard for me has everything I'm personally looking for.  I guess to list some of the things that interest me..

-no instances, large worlds to explore, on land, air, and sea.
-diplomacy.
-crafting, and I love lumberjack harvesting skill. chop a tree, you watch it fall, nice touch.
-get your first mount at lvl 10.
-flying mounts that you can fly anywhere is really cool.
-can craft your own boats and sail your own boats, with ship vs ship combat coming later.
-can build your own house on real world plots, not instanced housing like other games have it.
-caravan and fellowship features are both cool features, useful to many of my friends.
-large amounts of races and classes to pick from, with lots of different starting cities.
-can move while casting, reactionary skills, etc.. are cool combat things I like.
-you have different racial abilities to pick from to start, then you get to put points into your attributes as you level, and soon after launch they'll have an alternate advancement system. in other words, plenty of ways to customize your own character.
-the good 'ol EQ1, AC1, and DAOC feeling.  the only game thus far that have been able to give me those good 'ol feelings back.
-awesome awesome environmental graphics, very artistic style.

If you ask me, the only con I'd give this game right now is the heavy system requirement.  I built a new comp to play it since my old comp kinda sucks.  But imo it was money well spent, the game runs beautifully on my new comp.

Hope this helps.

Originally posted by Coldmeat

I'd like to add one point.

Don't sign up for the beta because you want to play the game. Sign up for beta because you want to hunt for bugs, put up with lag, and disconnects, and glitches. Sign up for beta because you want to make it a better game.

Best, post, ever.  This applies to all MMORPG's out there.  I think this is the biggest reason why there are beta leaks and disgruntled people.  The real sad part is some of the people who signed up for beta really aren't interested in helping the company make a better game, they are only interested in playing the game.  The ultimate sad part is, many of those individuals get in.

Beta testing during NDA stages prior to game release are not a "play before you try" thing.  Leave the "play before you try" to open betas and free trials.  If you sign up for beta testing, please know what you are doing and give the company a fair chance at making it a better game.