You should see an improvement in your performance.  Xeth and Seradon are solid US based PvE servers to enjoy. 

Come back and post your impressions in a week.

Welcome back.

Play the cleric.  Crafting level cap has increased to 55.  POTA has new recipes and depth for you to explore.

If you want the Free 14-Day Trial go here....  http://vanguard.station.sony.com/isleofdawn/

Originally posted by Lence

is it only 2 GB or do you need to download additional files?

Allow me to clarify.  The 14 day Free Trial is 2Gigs.  Afterwhich if you subscribe, you will down load 18Gigs more to be able to play the Full Version of Vanguard.  You don't buy anything, you just pay a monthly subscription fee.

Free Isle of Dawn = 2Gigs

To leave the Isle of Dawn = 20Gigs + Monthly Subscription

Originally posted by merv808

Question. Is there an adventure quest string on the island? if so, where do I go to start it?

When you first start the Isle of Dawn there is an NPC facing you.  Talk to him for quests.  There are adventure quests on NPCs that have a shield with a sword through it floating above their head.

Enjoy

Levels 1-15 are solo designed.  Afterwhich the game transitions to a group focus and then lastly a raid and after POTA group focus as well.

The biggest difference from launch to now is performance.  They have made serious progress and technology improvements have helped as well.  You still get hitching when you first load major scenery but it's greatly improved from launch.

Your system will performy quite nicely.  The game is initially slanted towards solo play and then it shifts to group play once you hit the mid teens.  But there is tons of stuff to do solo and group.  The world is just massive and lots to explore.  Just make sure you have the correct video driver VG recommends and you'll be fine.

http://help.station.sony.com/cgi-bin/soe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=16732

Enjoy and welcome to the Xeth server ;)

Regarding RAM....if you are using Windows XP then get 2Gigs.   If you're using Windows Vista then get 4Gigs RAM.

Windows XP doesn't utilize more than 2gigs.  You just need 0.5 Gigs more.

As mentioned above, your weakest link is your single core processor.  Then your video card.  You can get a massive upgrade to your video card for under 200 bucks.  The 8800GT is nice and the new GTX which may be more than 200 bucks but the latest in tech.

Lasty, for free you can check your video driver and see if it matches the VG recommended video driver.  http://help.station.sony.com/cgi-bin/soe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=16732 

Your card needs Nvidia driver 182.08.  Also try turning off your sound to see if that improves your FPS.

Good luck.

In order to get the Full Game after you start the Free Trial, you just need to pay a monthly subscription plan and it will start to download the whole game.  No other costs.  The Free Trial is 2Gigs and the whole game is 19Gigs.

Enjoy.

Thanks for the clarification.  Ok Garazumet is almost on the Live Servers and here are more specific reasons why a retired 50 raider with max gear should return for POTA.  Seeing as I'm a maxed out tank, I"m looking forward to POTA. 

1. New levels and new abilites.

2. All three spheres levels will increase from 50 to 55.

3. The deeper you go in POTA the better the gear which will be higher level as you go in.  They are introducing Enhancements and focusing more on resists.

4. Finishing POTA unlocks Raid Content.

5. New challenging group content.

http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/forums/list.m

This goes out to all the people that have maxed out there toons to lvl 50 and felt VG didn't offer any more content for them and left to other pursuits. 

Currently on test is the dungeon Revamp of Pantheon of the Ancients (POTA).  It is tuned for people with non-raid gear to enjoy challenging group content. Think of it as APW content for groups.

As you may know, POTA was was announced at Fan Faire and unfortunately they had to postpone development till after the Free Trial - Isle of Dawn.  As of today, POTA has been underdevelopment for 3.5 months.  They are tuning the encounters on test as I post.  This is the last stage before they go live with the content.

As a teaser, POTA is based on choosing an alignment to a god and then doing trials to gain favor.  There are 12 trials requiring you and your band of comrades to skillfully learn, plan and implement a viable strategy to please your god.

Having said that, historically it takes the SOE team 2 weeks to iron out the major oversights after new content goes live.  If this stage frustrates you and enflames your senses, then wait till 2 weeks after it launches.  When should you return, I would plan on Early May.

To give you more forward looking news....the SOE team is formally focusing on two things: fixing bugs and new content.  Here is a list of Short Term Plans

Appearance Slots - On Live Servers

Garazumet Encounter - On Live Servers

Pantheon of the Ancients (POTA) 6-man dungeon - On Test

Level Cap increase to 55 - On Test

Halls of Blood Raid Dungeon - No News

Alternate Advancement - No News

Your poor video performance sounds unusual.  Could you check your video driver and see if it's different than the VG recommended video driver.  Here is the link of the VG Recommended Video Drivers.   Good luck.

http://help.station.sony.com/cgi-bin/soe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=16732

There is a healthy population on the servers.  Sartok PvP server is lower than the rest.  Hop on and try out the Isle of Dawn.  Post your impressions.  There's plenty of group content and solo and other spheres such as crafting and diplomacy. 

Enjoy

Yes, to see the Main Land you need to subscribe to VG.  However, the Island has content up to lvl 10 in all 3 spheres: adventuring, diplomacy and crafting.  Additionally, if you roll another character you have the option of starting on the Island or the Mainland, granted of course you are a subscriber.

Today's patch fixed the server lag caused by fishing.

They meant Xeth.  See you there.

Originally posted by Raav

The Game is FREE but the monthly subscription is not.  This is how you get it free.  You download the free trail via this link http://vanguard.station.sony.com/isleofdawn/ .  Try it out for 14 days and then subscribe.  You will then download the whole game which is 19Gigs about.  You then start paying a monthly fee.

Free

This is absolutely correct.  Obtaining Vanguard using the steps I mentioned above will get you the game free but you still need to pay the monthly fee of $14.99.

I remember in EQ, you're number one choice for a healer was a cleric.  This is not the case in VG.  I'm a tank and I will take any of the four healers (Disciple, Shaman, Cleric, Blood Mage).  They're all very different and all solid healers.  VG manages to mix healing with dps.  So expect to be involves in killing too.