Originally posted by Sortis

Myself and 3 friends are looking for a guild to call home, one guy on here said he was starting a guild recently with 60+ people and perhaps we could jump on that or maybe someone else has an option. Anyone?

Platinum Order has been around forever and is large and newb friendly.  I believe Friends with Benefits is set up along the same lines.  I believe Platinum Order does it's recruiting via the server forum and Friends with Benefits you'll see in regionsay.

Originally posted by Die_Scream

Finally trying VG out on the trial. Any tips current players can offer? How is the teaming? Best non-PvP server (population)?

Anything else you care to share about the trial or game proper shouyld I sub after the two week trial?

Do everything the Isle of Dawn has to offer, all quests in adventuring, harvesting, crafting and diplomacy.  I think you'll be amazed at how deep and fun Vanguard is.

I wouldn't worry about Silius's post, in fact it might benefit newer players.  The uproar is from long term players, like myself, who were really looking forward to, and preparing for, the release of Halls of Shattered Souls and Alternate Advancement.  It would take many months, or even a year or two,  for a new player to get to the point where they are worried about more high-end raid and group content.

Originally posted by justtires

Best MMO out to date '

No population

more people on this vanguard forum than actually play lol

 

All we got to do is prove to sony that there are people willing to play to get this game rolling again!...

maybe post in there forums.. i dunno i just wish this game would make a comeback.

Been there done that.  This game, by many accounts, is THE best PvE-based MMO available.  But the SoE business decisions around how to manage the game and market the game have led the the declining population.

A key turning point was Pantheon of the Ancients... about the time of that release, online populations were pushing just over 1000 online for Xeth and Seradon.  Very healthy and very active.  But the decision was made to pull resources from Vanguard to the 'other mysterious SoE project' and they instituted a major grind to keep people occupied.  Every since that point, populations have fallen to where they are now.  Maybe 300-400 online on a good night for Seradon:( 

Then Silius's announcement that some of the big content releases that everyone was looking forward to (HoSS, Stirhaad, AAs) were being shelved indefinitely.  That was a kick in the face.

I've played Vanguard for almost 3 years.  Love the game, it's truly epic.  But after reading Silius's announcement I started looking prettty hard at other MMOs for our guild to consider moving to.  Nothing holds a candle to Vanguard which really puts the 'core' MMO players in a bad place right now. 

Vanguard is what EQ2 should have been.  SoE elected not to properly invest in Vanguard which makes make me doubt they'd make an Everquest 3.  I think the future of MMOs for SoE will be things like Free Realm, cash-shops etc.

Originally posted by bluemagi

Okay I just have a quick question....why can't John Smedley from Sony E. not get fired ?  Or rather, why hasn't he been fired yet?  I don't see how this guy still has his job.  I just watched a video of him talking about the Sony cash shops going to be in all of their future MMO's and I wanted to seriously strangle him........anyone care to answer my question :(  

I'm sure he hasn't been fired because he makes SoE a lot of money.  Unfortunately, the products he produces are no longer MMOs I like to play.  I love Vanguard, but he has that game on minimal support while investing a lot of money into products like Free Realms.

I think the MMO market that consists of EQ1 and Vanguard lovers like me is a small segment of the total MMO picture.

I really hope it is not controller based.  Someone here had said they thought the game would have separate clients for the two platforms.

I'm a complete newb to the FF franchise, it's nice to hear they have housing in the current verison.  Houses are nice in VG, many types, non-instanced, extremely flexible to decorate.  However, I had always hoped for more with regard to guild halls, they are massive, gorgeous and provide certain benefits to the guild, as well as a place to put trophies (and a dragon head).  But the hope was for more crafting and diplomacy utility..... even a crafting wind within the guild hall.

Hopefully FFXIV can improve on those concepts.

Ideas on if there will be housing and guild halls?  I love non-instanced housing and guild halls with Vanguard and also the crafting and harvesting efforts needed to complete such a task.

I've wondered exactly the same thing as what the OP posted.

I think it boils down to two things for why Vanguard did not not live up to its full potential.  That said, I still think it is by far and away the best PvE MMO available.  However, SoE is simply not going to invest much more in this game.

1) The game concept is brilliant on almost every level.  But the size of the world, all the races, all the classes, all the starting cities, all the abilities (passive, active, permanent, etc.), all the dungeons, etc. etc. etc.  All that is simply too much to maintain on an ongoing basis in any economical way.  You could see how the developers where completely overloaded trying to maintain the game AND add new content.  There is no game nearly as complex and in depth as Vanguard.

- Take Aion as a comparision.  Very simple, very linear, graphics on the cheap very little content.  But it is an economic masterpiece.... low investment in the game, market the hell out of it, sell a ton of boxes and just let players gank one another at the higher levels for 'end-game content'. 

2) Brilliance game concept, but really poor initial coding and design.  SoE made massive improvements to this game in terms of bug fixing and performance.  But by then, VG had lost many players.  And even though SoE saved the game, I don't think they could completely fix everything because of the code and the graphic engine.  They basically got it as good as they could, but for many players, it wasn't good eough.  If the game doesn't run smoothly in all areas, then some people will simply quit. 

- Aion as an example again.  Logging into that game for the first time is a snap.  Nice intro sequence, nice character creation screen, runs smooth, I found very few bugs.   Even though I did not find one second of enjoyment in the game, it was polished and smooth.  If a players logs into Isle of Dawn for the first time, shaders are loading initially, game is hitchy for awhile, they need to spend time configuring the UI and it'll probabaly take 10-15 levels to start to grasp your own class.

Part of me fears that Vanguard will be the last great MMO and everything to follow will be the cookie-cutter generic crap we say throughout 2009.

Originally posted by Mors-Subita

I'm at work, so I don't have the link with me... I'm sure you can search it out if you try...

 

But its been stated that there will be separate clients with separate graphics and requirements for the PC and the consoles.

I've played mutli-platform games before and I've always found the PC version to be dumbed down to meet the requirements of the console version.  So I sure hope the above statement is true, that there will be separate clietns and requirements for the different platforms.

The reason I like raiding so much in Vanguard is that it provides a common goal for the guild to work together towards. A good MMO for me is about community first and foremost.  I played EQ for 4 years with the same guild and am almost at 3 years in Vanguard with the same guild.

If FFXIV provided something similar to a raid, even if it wasn't a traditional raid, I think that would provide the sense of a common goal for a guild.  I'm hoping this game and a good mix of solo, group and call it 'large group' content.  I love to solo, I love dungeon crawls with a group and I love working as a large group to figure out how to take down a dragon, even if it takes months of prep and effort.

I derived no enjoyment whatsoever from Aion.  It was very apparent to me that the game was made on the cheap.  Low investment, a lot of marketing, sell a lot of boxes from the hype and reap the profits.  I didn't like any aspect of the game and thought the graphics were very poor.  And that is not just a style preference, models and landscapes were poorly done, with very little detial.  I think people confuse lots and lots and lots and lots of intense color with beauty.

I love to raid in Vanguard and I'll probably be on the look out for a new MMO in 2010.  I've got my eye on Final Fantasy XIV and haven't found any info on raiding.

How do the account keys work that can be given out?  I can't find one from any current players.

Originally posted by almalexius

Ask Sony i would say. It is the best PVE in the market. Come play with us.

The best PvE game on the market is Vanguard.  Hands down.

Between Aion and EQ2... I'd say EQ2 is better.

I understand some of the drawbacks, but if the game company thinks Aion is a product that would hook people with a little taste, then I think the benefits of a free demo would out-weight the downsides.

I just can't bring myself to buy a box when I have no idea if I'd like the game or not.  It's like paying $50 for a demo.

Why is there no free demo?  It makes it look like they are pushing people to box sales before trying the game for a week or two.

I've played Vanguard since launch and I played EQ2 for about 6 months.  I prefer Vanguard.

I think Vanguard has much more interesting classes.

I think Vanguard looks better.

I love the open world of Vanguard compared to EQ2's closed off linear approach.

I like Vanguard's crafting better.  It's more complex, which can turn people off.

It's hard to imagine any MMO without Vanguard's 3rd sphere, diplomacy.  Very integrated into the game at high levels.

I like Vanguard's combat system much better. 

I hate instancing, so that is a big downer for EQ2 and a big plus for Vanguard (my house is always there by the river).

The flying mounts in Vanguard add a whole new dimension.

I don't like SoE's decision to back off high-end raid content and to invest more in group content.  From a raiders perspective, there is nothing good in that decision.  I was looking forward to HoSS, Stirhaad and AAs.  On the flip-side, I can see some logic in the decision because the barrier to entry problem with Vanguard is huge.

A new player coming into the game is faced with a huge challenge if they want to get leveled up and geared up to become a raider.  The first problem is that the game is very top heavy in terms of population.  Lower level players have a hard time finding groups to complete various quest-lines as they level up.  The world is also huge and very spread-out... a more defined path (including some of the group content announced) would provide a clearer path for new players to follow.

It's a catch 22 with the limited resources of the team.  If they continue to focus on the high level raid content, then Vanguard will not grow as new players simply can't, or aren't willing, to overcome the barriers to entry.  If they focus on group content throughout all the levels they alienate all the high-end players that have been working hard to become ready for HoSS.

I simply don't think VG has been able to keep new players in the game.  While my friends list has been pretty stable with folks that I've know over the past 3-years it's been very apparent that new player applicants to our guild, and other guilds, simply don't stick around much.  When I leveled up, I leveled up with the bulk of Vanguards population.  When a new player levels up, they are often leveling alone.

Any information yet on raiding?  Looks like I'll be looking for a Vanguard replacement at some point in the future.