After hearing the f2p news I also decided to return to Vanguard but it is still the same grind. Don't make the mistake from experiencing the first dozen of levels to judge the rest of the game. Diplo and crafting 45+, adventuring 51+ is just repetitive pointless grind, making you feel sorry ever to have started the game. As so many other Sony games it is taking the course to mediocrity because players whine around, so classes get nerfed, one by one which is a shame. Distinctive classes were a major strongpoint of that game. Many other choices done by SOE to this game are also questionable. Sometimes I really wonder where they get their input (imo it's GMs playing favourites with certain guilds). Mob animations are still sub par. You loot many items, which are from outdated quests, taken out of the game. The User interface has the habit to change on you all the time. You need to make actually in game macros trying to cope with bugs (groupcancelrollsession!). The Quest lines are far too long. Its hard to find a group with such a low population at all, then you find actually one: oh sorry, you are at step 8 but i am still at step 6 and you are ending up doing the same steps over and over? How likely is it that in a random group of 6 people all are one the same step of a 10 step quest? The game community consists of some elite players having maxed out all of their allowed 12 toons and I've met many who started a second account for that reason and are too happy to show their uberness to you. Once a great game, like eq1, eq2 going down the drain. Too little, too late. Come on Vanboys, bring it on.

   Yes I will be coming back upon F2P also, the population should expand when that happens. I hope Sony is working on performance issues because right now the only way to have a smooth experience is by buying an ssd hd . The game is playable on a good system but the hitching comes from the hard drive.  Crafting, Diplomacy, Conbat all top notch, comon Sony get some love into this game!

Originally posted by Mahoning

After hearing the f2p news I also decided to return to Vanguard but it is still the same grind. Don't make the mistake from experiencing the first dozen of levels to judge the rest of the game. Diplo and crafting 45+, adventuring 51+ is just repetitive pointless grind, making you feel sorry ever to have started the game. As so many other Sony games it is taking the course to mediocrity because players whine around, so classes get nerfed, one by one which is a shame. Distinctive classes were a major strongpoint of that game. Many other choices done by SOE to this game are also questionable. Sometimes I really wonder where they get their input (imo it's GMs playing favourites with certain guilds). Mob animations are still sub par. You loot many items, which are from outdated quests, taken out of the game. The User interface has the habit to change on you all the time. You need to make actually in game macros trying to cope with bugs (groupcancelrollsession!). The Quest lines are far too long. Its hard to find a group with such a low population at all, then you find actually one: oh sorry, you are at step 8 but i am still at step 6 and you are ending up doing the same steps over and over? How likely is it that in a random group of 6 people all are one the same step of a 10 step quest? The game community consists of some elite players having maxed out all of their allowed 12 toons and I've met many who started a second account for that reason and are too happy to show their uberness to you. Once a great game, like eq1, eq2 going down the drain. Too little, too late. Come on Vanboys, bring it on.

 

I have been back maybe a month since release... And I find your jaded views on elite players completely wrong based on my personal experience. The best part about the game, right now, has to be its community. Never, in any game, have"elite" players been so helpful to me. A random 55, with a bunch of characters and raid gear, has spent hours this last 2weeks showing me the ropes and helping me quest. Everyone I run across seems to genuinely want me in game. Although I joined a guild this has been true for randoms I run across and talk to. The game is great, the community better.

I guess when it comes down to it, After playing pretty much every p2p MMO. Vanguard is the closest thing to the kind of MMO I've always yearned for. Guess thats why I keep coming back to it.

 

I really hope SOE dosn't screw the f2p up with this game. It's really had a much crappier history than it has deserved.

Aye could be, but that is ok. There messing with somethings know on the test server. Seems the testers and devs are working together.

Originally posted by punkrock
Aye could be, but that is ok. There messing with somethings know on the test server. Seems the testers and devs are working together.

Yeah. Everyone has been trying to give them very constructive critism without being too harsh about it. It seems the devs really do care for the game and want to make it a great place for F2P. They seem to be moderately listening to the testers, while still trying to get their own agenda's taken care of.

I mean, truth-be-told, they obviously have the higher-ups telling them what they want to see in the game and how to get it done, but they do seem to be trying to work in the opinions of those who are taking the time to post. Silius has been replying a lot, same with Wigin.

I really hope for the sake of Vanguard that they do it justice and do not dumb it down too awful much. What I hope the devs realize is that the difficulty of the game is one of the leading things that draws people to it. MMO's these days seem to hand out everything to you on a silver platter and it's a pain in the butt for those of us looking for any level of difficulty.

I'm glad I resubbed. My goal is to start crafting a bunch to make bags and such so that the people who return this summer, can load up on things for a somewhat cheap price and start off on the right foot.

I've always loved Vanguard. I really hope it brings back a fair amount of people with this F2P thing. I also hope they decide to nix Halgar altogether for now, bring the community back to just one server and add more as needed. Both servers appear to be US-based anyway, so it's not like EU players get a better ping on Halgar, at least from what I've heard.

Anyhoo, just my two cents for now. :P

I have gotten a little burned out on MMO's needed a break so I haven't been playing.  It is looking great and will be back later in the summer.   Game is looking great.

When you think about it, Devs make / upkeep / upgrades games for one reason..to make money.  Players on the other hand do everything for reasons not related to making money (fun factor).  One thing I've noticed is that Devs that listen to their players will do much better than those that don't.  Devs need to come to terms with the fact that getting a 12+M sub based simple isn't going to happen ever again as there are simply to many mmos available.  When WoW was released, I think there were no more than 10 available, now there are hundreds.  I for one love VG.  I just hope SOE doesn't turn what could be a great thing into a P2W failure. 

If they don't listen to their actual playerbase - they fail.

 

See current generation WOW for a perfect example.

 

1.) I've never said that the community is unfriendly, but that they are elite players gladly to show their uberness. To the contrary, I think the community is mostly friendly, selling bags, crafting stuff and offering help and advice to noobs. That your 'buddy' helped you for 2 hours with uber raid gear is exactly what I am talking about. Wouldnt it be so much nicer to have a group and do the quests as a team. Is it fun that a maxed char pulls you trhough the game?

2.) Many changes are questionable, the changes in the game do not reflect what players want. While I was still playing the game, eg they nerfed bard speed. Once proud bards chasing happily through the game got nerfed for whatever reason. Did that make me happy: No, did that make the other bards happy: No, did that make that community happy: No

Instead of spending time to fix the game up, it just got wasted on a nerf based on questionable input to the devs.