Why is Vanguard worth coming back to? Why is it worth picking up for a new comer?

Anybody here play Vanguard currently, willing to detail these questions for us?

Well it's worth playing depending on the type of game you're looking for, I can only speak for myself. The seemless, massive world is probably one of it's biggest draws, the ability to look on the horizon (with a massive draw distance) and think, I'm going to go over there and spend a 20 minute journey experiencing whatever happens on the way. Some great classes to play with unique experiences, really impressive cities, good crafting, diplomacy and a lot more like housing.

But if there was ever a game that you shouldn't be sold on it's VG imo, you have try it and know it's for you or I think you'd stop in the long term, it's one of those games you have to really want to play to really get involved in it to get the most out of it.

Hows the PvP?

Originally posted by MMOExposed

Hows the PvP?

Sorry to say, but its non-existant.

Originally posted by MMOExposed

Hows the PvP?

it's not a pvp game.

There are a bazillion topics on this site regarding the pros and cons to Vanguard. Have you read any of them, I wonder? I mean, by the time you finish one or two you should have a rather decent idea of what you're getting into.

The game currently has zero support from SOE as a whole, there are no developers developing any content for it what-so-ever. It hasn't seen an update in over a year and it's not likely to see any in the near future.

However, that being said, the game in its current state is quite good. It really is just a completed game at this point. Sure there are some things that need tweaking (and it will probably never be done) but it has enough content as a whole to last you a good year or two to get through the whole thing and there are enough people playing to be able to enjoy it decently if you find yourself a nice, active, guild.

So I mean, it's really up to you. I'd say do some homework, read some of the other threads out there (as many will provide very detailed information) and then make your judgement based upon all of that. You may find that you've found yourself a gem of a game and it is something that will keep you occupied for quite some time.

Good luck in your decision. :)

Because in the sea of WoW-clones, heavily instanced, themepark, uninspired, cash-shop, horrible community, bush league production value and wholly uninteresting games out there Vanguard stands apart. A vision of what should have been. A huge, open, seamless world. A game that will challenge you. A world you feel connected to and a part of.

The reasons are different for each person. What drives you or interests you about a game? The pursuit of loot? The social factor? The lore? For me, I want immersion. Very few games out currently are able to provide that for me. I've grown tired of instancing and gear grinds. I want to participate in a persistent world. I no longer care about having the ph4test l3wt. I want to explore and see content and feel connected to the world and the people in it. 

Vanguard strikes that balance I was looking for by having the old school feeling but with modern conveniences and things I've come to expect in games, especially in terms of the UI. The graphics still look great and the controls/combat is responsive. The music and sound effects are good. I had grown so accustomed to playing with the sound off and watching TV beacause I wasn't really engaged by the games I was playing. I actually pay my full attention to Vanguard and enjoy it.

Vanguard is a truly great game with so much potential. It's biggest issue is one you've probably learned already and that is a lack of developer support. There isn't any currently and as far as anyone knows there won't be any in the future. SOE won't even talk about Vanguard. It's like the bastard child that can't carry the family name (Jon Snow). 

Vanguard needs more players to ever hope to receive future support. Players don't want to come to Vanguard because it doesn't have developer support. So who will make the first move? It won't be SOE. Player population would have to demand it. That's the only way I can see this ship being turned around -- that or going F2P. 

I do expect to see more people giving the game a look with Station Access dropping to $20. It wasn't worth $15/month for many people but if they're already playing an SOE game they can probably justify the extra $5.

SOE sucks. Their security blows, they have a history of making major game changes that are totally out of touch with their communities, their marketing is nearly non-existant and their communication is awful. But they have a gem of a game with Vanguard. It's well worth checking out (14-day trial). After that you can decide if it's worth the cost of lunch to spend more time here or not.

Misaligned has written a great piece about exactly this over on MMOAxis.  There are also discussions about this very subject over on the boards there.  A number of recent threads here have gone over the topic as well.

Short version: Many feel that the lack of development support makes Vanguard not worth playing, but others disagree.  We feel that this lack is outweiged by virtues that other, updating games lack.

I've recently returned to VG after having left in 2008, I came back because I've been dissapointed time and again my more recent MMORPGs and in my mind, even without updates and development VG is still far above the rest out right now in terms of content, immersion and overall exploration/adventure factor - which is why I play these games. Not to mention the graphics and music are still up to par with todays games, if not better IMO.

At first I admit that I felt a bit lonely as the world is really large and population seems thinned out, but I've joined the guild Twighlyt Song and that put all my worries to rest - everyone there is friendly, helpful and there are many people playing at all times and of all levels. So I'm really happy playing VG right now and I strongly recommend anybody to try the game or return to play again.

You can't beat Telon.

IGN: Pelaron

on the Telon Server.

Originally posted by Misaligned

Because in the sea of WoW-clones, heavily instanced, themepark, uninspired, cash-shop, horrible community, bush league production value and wholly uninteresting games out there Vanguard stands apart. A vision of what should have been. A huge, open, seamless world. A game that will challenge you. A world you feel connected to and a part of.

 

The reasons are different for each person. What drives you or interests you about a game? The pursuit of loot? The social factor? The lore? For me, I want immersion. Very few games out currently are able to provide that for me. I've grown tired of instancing and gear grinds. I want to participate in a persistent world. I no longer care about having the ph4test l3wt. I want to explore and see content and feel connected to the world and the people in it. 

 

Vanguard strikes that balance I was looking for by having the old school feeling but with modern conveniences and things I've come to expect in games, especially in terms of the UI. The graphics still look great and the controls/combat is responsive. The music and sound effects are good. I had grown so accustomed to playing with the sound off and watching TV beacause I wasn't really engaged by the games I was playing. I actually pay my full attention to Vanguard and enjoy it.

 

Vanguard is a truly great game with so much potential. It's biggest issue is one you've probably learned already and that is a lack of developer support. There isn't any currently and as far as anyone knows there won't be any in the future. SOE won't even talk about Vanguard. It's like the bastard child that can't carry the family name (Jon Snow). 

 

Vanguard needs more players to ever hope to receive future support. Players don't want to come to Vanguard because it doesn't have developer support. So who will make the first move? It won't be SOE. Player population would have to demand it. That's the only way I can see this ship being turned around -- that or going F2P. 

 

I do expect to see more people giving the game a look with Station Access dropping to $20. It wasn't worth $15/month for many people but if they're already playing an SOE game they can probably justify the extra $5.

 

SOE sucks. Their security blows, they have a history of making major game changes that are totally out of touch with their communities, their marketing is nearly non-existant and their communication is awful. But they have a gem of a game with Vanguard. It's well worth checking out (14-day trial). After that you can decide if it's worth the cost of lunch to spend more time here or not.

Amazing reply. It is exactly how I feel. I still remember hearing the song from the elven city and telling myself "wow, pretty awesome", or staring at the architecture of the wolfmen's city. Every part of the world really TRULY feels distinct.

VG is a game where you will actually roll alts, even if you normally do not, just to experience all the different starting zones. Something I think recent mmo developers overlook just to put out a quick game and milk cash from this customers.

It is the little things that matter, like knowing that everything you see in the far distance, you can get to and explore, with no imaginary borders steering you. A game where you can build great sailing ships, actually enjoy crafting, and meet some really great people.

It would be the ideal f2p game because there is enough content to keep people busy for a while, meanwhile SOE can cash-shop vanity items to generate a revenue stream to actually allocate some damn developers. Well that's my hope and dream. I hate instances, i hate games-on-rails. Too many people abuse the term "themepark" when what they really mean is games-on-rails that steer you everywhere, by not giving u an option to quest where YOU want to quest at. VG gives you options, key word is options, something modern MMOs lack.

To bad it is in my opinion hamperd by a non-existing community, stiff as cardboard animations and a very dated graphics engine. This in cmobination makes world feel, again in my mind a lot less immersive. I feel like the lone survivior when i trudg around doing my tasks.

But if you can find a good guild and disregard the animations i am sure it can be a very good game.

Originally posted by tawess

To bad it is in my opinion hamperd by a non-existing community, stiff as cardboard animations and a very dated graphics engine. This in cmobination makes world feel, again in my mind a lot less immersive. I feel like the lone survivior when i trudg around doing my tasks.

 

But if you can find a good guild and disregard the animations i am sure it can be a very good game.

 

I just started playing this game about a week ago after mmo hopping through just about every pay to play and free to play game out there (trying to find something to keep me occupied until GW2 or secret world come out) and i have had just the opposite feeling of this game.  now bear in mind i have not left the trial island yet , but every time I log on I do a quick /who just to see how many people are on and every time it has been between 20-30 (on the starter island)  I always see people running around, and i have been in 3 groups already and all of them good groups with friendly people.  every person i have seen talking in chat has been very nice and helpfull and mature.  as a matter of fact, so far this is one of the best communities of any game i have ever been in.  as far as animations and graphics, for the age of the game I think they are quite good.  I really feel they are are on par (or very close) to as good as most other pay to play mmo's out right now. 

Originally posted by tawess

To bad it is in my opinion hamperd by a non-existing community, stiff as cardboard animations and a very dated graphics engine. This in cmobination makes world feel, again in my mind a lot less immersive. I feel like the lone survivior when i trudg around doing my tasks.

 

But if you can find a good guild and disregard the animations i am sure it can be a very good game.

This post is a bit misleading.  If you have a machine that can run it, Vanguard looks better (subjectively) on high settings than pretty much any contemporary game out there, including Rift and other recent releases.  You have to appreciate the raw, realistic style though.

That said, all MMOs are unjustly judged based on graphics, which have almost nothing to do with actual game play.  Combat, Adventure, Exploration, Discovery, Grouping, Crafting, Diplomacy.... the list goes on and on with Vanguard.  Taken as a whole, the sheer depth and complexity of this game dwarfs anything else out there - even WoW. 

Originally posted by Demethir

Originally posted by tawess

To bad it is in my opinion hamperd by a non-existing community, stiff as cardboard animations and a very dated graphics engine. This in cmobination makes world feel, again in my mind a lot less immersive. I feel like the lone survivior when i trudg around doing my tasks.

 

But if you can find a good guild and disregard the animations i am sure it can be a very good game.

This post is a bit misleading.  If you have a machine that can run it, Vanguard looks better (subjectively) on high settings than pretty much any contemporary game out there, including Rift and other recent releases.  You have to appreciate the raw, realistic style though.

That said, all MMOs are unjustly judged based on graphics, which have almost nothing to do with actual game play.  Combat, Adventure, Exploration, Discovery, Grouping, Crafting, Diplomacy.... the list goes on and on with Vanguard.  Taken as a whole, the sheer depth and complexity of this game dwarfs anything else out there - even WoW. 

I highly disagree. My rig can run thi game at 100% of everything and it really looks bad. The animations are what do it for me. Not hating on the game but only stating that the animations/graphics are not that great, at all.

Originally posted by TheMinn

Originally posted by Demethir

Originally posted by tawess

To bad it is in my opinion hamperd by a non-existing community, stiff as cardboard animations and a very dated graphics engine. This in cmobination makes world feel, again in my mind a lot less immersive. I feel like the lone survivior when i trudg around doing my tasks.

 

But if you can find a good guild and disregard the animations i am sure it can be a very good game.

This post is a bit misleading.  If you have a machine that can run it, Vanguard looks better (subjectively) on high settings than pretty much any contemporary game out there, including Rift and other recent releases.  You have to appreciate the raw, realistic style though.

That said, all MMOs are unjustly judged based on graphics, which have almost nothing to do with actual game play.  Combat, Adventure, Exploration, Discovery, Grouping, Crafting, Diplomacy.... the list goes on and on with Vanguard.  Taken as a whole, the sheer depth and complexity of this game dwarfs anything else out there - even WoW. 

I highly disagree. My rig can run thi game at 100% of everything and it really looks bad. The animations are what do it for me. Not hating on the game but only stating that the animations/graphics are not that great, at all.

 What level have you played to and what class are you?  Most of the melee-based classes get some pretty wicked moves as they level up, each with a distinct flavor based on the fighting style of the class.  I will admit the lowbie moves are pretty bland, but as with everything in Vanguard, they get much better as you progress.  Overall, the game is incredibly rich.

I guess it's just a matter of personal preference. I think the graphics look great and like the animations.

Originally posted by TheMinn

Originally posted by Demethir

Originally posted by tawess

To bad it is in my opinion hamperd by a non-existing community, stiff as cardboard animations and a very dated graphics engine. This in cmobination makes world feel, again in my mind a lot less immersive. I feel like the lone survivior when i trudg around doing my tasks.

 

But if you can find a good guild and disregard the animations i am sure it can be a very good game.

This post is a bit misleading.  If you have a machine that can run it, Vanguard looks better (subjectively) on high settings than pretty much any contemporary game out there, including Rift and other recent releases.  You have to appreciate the raw, realistic style though.

That said, all MMOs are unjustly judged based on graphics, which have almost nothing to do with actual game play.  Combat, Adventure, Exploration, Discovery, Grouping, Crafting, Diplomacy.... the list goes on and on with Vanguard.  Taken as a whole, the sheer depth and complexity of this game dwarfs anything else out there - even WoW. 

I highly disagree. My rig can run thi game at 100% of everything and it really looks bad. The animations are what do it for me. Not hating on the game but only stating that the animations/graphics are not that great, at all.

 Tried the trial with my wife and we are signing up. The odd thing is it’s the lack of development that’s probably made it remain a great game. It hasn’t suffered from bolted on expansions and radical game updates, initially I did find the graphics odd, but to be honest I think this is more I found the graphics different and I do now find myself stopping to take in a view or two.

I played vangaurd at launch for 4 days then quited. I played also for 2 more days after 1 year  to check its state.The game had some cool features it was fun,its combat was standard wow/l2/lotr/eq2 style but it was somehow different it gave me a fewling it was more deep or tactical . I never encountered bugs apart 1 time crashed into windows at launch after playing it 4 days back then. Bugs were not the problem.

The main issue for vangaurd was the severe lack of population and the complete lack of a working pvp system. Those 2 issues connect with eachother simply cause any game that lanches nowdays if it is just evolves pve it will lack population.

Good or bad if players want pve single player rpg's are better they ll prefer them. If they want coop pve multiplayer they ll pick one of their favourite single player rpg and connect with their friends and play them. pretty much almost every rpg with hamachi and all these programs stuff that are around u can make them play .

The majority of ppl that play mmorpg's is because they want to compete on a higher lvl than the a.i. They want to compete with other human players.

My opinion about vanguard is that if at launch the game was at its present state and with a nice realm vs realm vs realm system with all these many races and classes variety it could be a hit. I really believe it could be a blow to wow.It would have the potential to get 1-2  million subs.

But now i think its too late .

A game from a bygone era in MMO history. This is why you should play it if you liked games like EQ or you're sick of the current trend of MMOs.

Yes, VG is the unloved, unwanted, bastard, red-headed stepchild and that scares people off, but it is so full of content, playability and nice little features (e.g. directional indicators in the group list so you always know where everyone is) that it should not be ignored because of it's history.

I've been MMO hopping for too long and have made my home in VG lately, and I'm loving it all over again simply because for me it's a "proper" MMO - challenging, complex, beautiful at times and a vast world with no set path to follow.

Originally posted by Vonatar

A game from a bygone era in MMO history. This is why you should play it if you liked games like EQ or you're sick of the current trend of MMOs.

Yes, VG is the unloved, unwanted, bastard, red-headed stepchild and that scares people off, but it is so full of content, playability and nice little features (e.g. directional indicators in the group list so you always know where everyone is) that it should not be ignored because of it's history.

I've been MMO hopping for too long and have made my home in VG lately, and I'm loving it all over again simply because for me it's a "proper" MMO - challenging, complex, beautiful at times and a vast world with no set path to follow.

 Couldnt agree more on all points.