I have quit and come back to VG at least six times.  Every time I came back I would leave because the world just seemed... bleh.  Did I get into a guild or even be remotely social to the players around me? Nope.  As soon as the next shiny thing came along promising "the greatest MMO experience your senses can handle!" I left for what I thought was greener pastures from a game with an epic idea that fell far too short to accept.

In my case I was wrong.  Vanguard has been everything I hoped for in '07 for at least a year.

Each of the games I chased was good for a while but the themepark linear system bored me by it's lack of real freedom.  I complained to others that I was tired of the same format and wished there was a game with a least a little wiggle room.  I'm tired of being driven through the whole story.

I've heard comments and whole posts about how MMOs are too easy or they hold your hand or are all like WoW.

Are they talking about Vanguard?

 

Yup, Vanguard has the foundation to be THE MMO for the non "mainstream" MMOer. Too bad it's unsupported and low pop.

Most games do not recover from a bad launch.

The fact that it is a SOE product made it worse.

SOE just has this arrogance towards it's customer base and most people (me included) will vote with their wallet to go play something else.

I personally refuse to give SOE any more of my money.

And quite honestly there are enough good games out there - that I don't feel like I'm missing anything by not playing one of their games.

 

Vanguard had great potential to become what so many of us have been looking for, but bad pre-launch decisions followed by even more bad decisions post launch ruined the game for most.

 

The game today is so riddled with bugs that most new players try it and walk away before even leaving the trial isle. It is good to see SOE is finally doing something to fix the game now that SWGs team is free.

I'm taking another toon through the Isle (5th I think, 6th?) and though I'm sure there are bugs I have not noticed them.

One thing SoE did do was make VG what it should have been at launch.  Was it wrong to drop development for over a year though people were still subbing it? Yes and I have not come back many times because of that dact alone.

Fact is that for all of the AAA titles out there none of them compare to what Vanguard gives you.  Archeage looks to be the closest if not more so but that's still 12-18 months away.  If someone has suggestions I'm all ears I am just tired of being led down a path.

Originally posted by Deron_Barak

I'm taking another toon through the Isle (5th I think, 6th?) and though I'm sure there are bugs I have not noticed them.

One thing SoE did do was make VG what it should have been at launch.  Was it wrong to drop development for over a year though people were still subbing it? Yes and I have not come back many times because of that dact alone.

Fact is that for all of the AAA titles out there none of them compare to what Vanguard gives you.  Archeage looks to be the closest if not more so but that's still 12-18 months away.  If someone has suggestions I'm all ears I am just tired of being led down a path.

 

QFT Above. Vanguard is certainly not bug free but I happen to belong to a guild that scoops up new players and we rarely see someone complain about a "buggy experience".

Was very true years ago, not so much now.  There are some issues that persist for sure, the good thing is there are work arounds for most and the GMs and community is super helpfull lending a hand or advice. 

VG is a pretty solid experience now. It is not for everyone and many including myself are having the best MMO times in quite a long time what with all the theme-parky short lived MMOs that have come out since say, 05.

It is funny, the games I seemed to play off and on are:

Wow pre litch king ( release - 04 )

Swg ( release - 03 )

eq2 ( release - 04 )

DDO  ( release 05 )

And the modern version of these old style games, Vanguard. ( 07 ) 

Now I am down to vanguard and DDO, looking for complexity and depth I suppose.

Also agree Archage sure seems to have something interesting, quite a while away however.

I've played VG three times now, at launch for a few months, then a year or so after, and now for about 3 months. I had gone off and tried a number of different games. Leaving for whatever looked new and shiny. Most recently I tried Rift and realized that much of what I found missing in that game was stuff in that was in VG. So, I decided to try VG again and have been loving it. I started back before the announcement of renewed dev support and I figured even with it's limitations it still was the game for me. For me the dev support was really icing. :)

I so often returned to VG because its so different although its a quest game. its not like bubble gum (like modern games), its like a decent cooked meal compared to the recently released games.

a non-existing development is poison to game motivation cause you got the feeling youre playing a game without future. and damn VG deserves that future amidst all these shallow new hype games!

VG had what was needed for it to become a great MMO.

Had.

Then SOE pulled the feeding tube but not all the plugs...

Very cruel on SOE's part.... just so they could say they didn't shut down VG... all the while hoping it would die so EQ2 would shine even more.

That's why VG will never be healthy again.

Originally posted by skeaser

Yup, Vanguard has the foundation to be THE MMO for the non "mainstream" MMOer. Too bad it's unsupported and low pop.

i agree :) can i put out the lights and go back to sleep ^_^ yawn. prepares the bed for nice confy sleep ^_^ rest well vanguard :)

The funny thing is the game is as it should be and people are loving it regardless of dev involvement. It would be nice if more people did hough lol. Sony has stated they are not closing VG down and are now going to finally update it.

Vanguard will only die when another game like it or better comes along. Until then people wanting a little freedom in a game they can really be a part of will be playing Vanguard.

Originally posted by skeaser

Yup, Vanguard has the foundation to be THE MMO for the non "mainstream" MMOer. Too bad it's unsupported and low pop.

From what I've seen, I like the look & feel, plus the feature set.  I just don't have the time to play it properly.  For those who do have the time, finding Vanguard might be a solution.

I don't think unsupported will change, at least not much.  Low population could.  Even if max world capacity is 10,000 people adding even a thousand would spark it up.

i bet that vanguard has the most potential, is probably the game that alot of people are looking for and can one day make a great return

alas after the way SOE has treated me (with 3 of their games, EQ, SWGx2 and PoTBS) after venting and trying to start world war 3 against them, we have been told to vote with our wallets. the typical answer i get on these forums is to vote with my wallet... 

so i will have to pass and vote with my wallet, SOE is not getting my support nor money for anything. (i dont even own a PS3)

even if they make the miracle game that will kill/beat/own/ (wtv the kids are calling it these days) World of Warcraft they are not getting a cent from me.

 

(i dont own a console or a TV but that's beside the point)

 

Interesting that many say the game as a low population,but the Trial isle is buzzing so there is a lot of interest and as far as i can tell no real negativety,infact many are going to resub as may i,the differerence from when i played is staggering i put my cat  settings on full whack and so far it's the smoothest Mo i've ever played that includeds Rift.

The general community is helpful and seems to consist of the older and wiser gamer so far no kiddies,bugwise there are a few longterm issues that need to be addressed mainly no rain u hear it but u don't see it,and small things like a buggy chat box nothing to spoil the game but it does tarnish it.

SOE are hopefully realiseing they may have a real gem here and will set about correcting bugs as they have last patch,or they could go F2P if so and if they do it right this could be a real phoenix ariseing from the ashes,and i still say the crafting is the best ever in any game full stop.

Of course i have not yet subbed to leave the mainland so not sure what the actual population is like but it does seem that the vast majority actually like what they are now seeing me included.

 

Originally posted by darker70

Interesting that many say the game as a low population,but the Trial isle is buzzing so there is a lot of interest and as far as i can tell no real negativety,infact many are going to resub as may i,the differerence from when i played is staggering i put my cat  settings on full whack and so far it's the smoothest Mo i've ever played that includeds Rift.

The general community is helpful and seems to consist of the older and wiser gamer so far no kiddies,bugwise there are a few longterm issues that need to be addressed mainly no rain u hear it but u don't see it,and small things like a buggy chat box nothing to spoil the game but it does tarnish it.

SOE are hopefully realiseing they may have a real gem here and will set about correcting bugs as they have last patch,or they could go F2P if so and if they do it right this could be a real phoenix ariseing from the ashes,and i still say the crafting is the best ever in any game full stop.

Of course i have not yet subbed to leave the mainland so not sure what the actual population is like but it does seem that the vast majority actually like what they are now seeing me included.

 

As a suggestion: agree with your new found friends where you'll play when you get off the island. There are so many old-starting areas where you'll end up that it feels like there's nobody else there. It's a huge world out there :D

I used to play VG and loved it, but when the selling/buying feature was added in, I stopped. That game is meant to be played from ground up, experience the journey, not to buy a ready toon. I don't mind if the players do that but I don't like that SOE thought that would save the game. They don't seem to know what the game needs. No cheap solutions, but love and polish.

[Mod Edit]

If the game is as u say crap,then why is there so much positivety on the trial and why is it when crafting i could not get near a bench as there was actual players enjoying the game.I'm no fanboi i left for many reasons but there is a genuine effort here to make the game the embodiment of Sigil's original vision.

One reason the game had a low populace was the technical difficulties but many have been sorted,i was bloody amazed at how  it's developed and hopefully will be developed in the future,Also SOE do not have the best reputation and personally i would not trust Smedly as far as i could throw him !!,but maybe they can regain some respect as a company once again.

(Err,think the original post i quoted from thread got deleted hence the edit if a mod wants me to remove this plz PM me)

My main issue with Vanguard is still its low pop.

But there really is no alternative.

I will try out Bioware's MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, though. I have too many issues with that MMO already to believe it will be much fun for me, but anyway it will have a lot of new stories.

 

Trial island is nice for player pop although i like the old starting areas close to the peoples capitals much more. the atmosphere there is just great.

one of the best features of vanguard (the size of the world that invites every explorer) is its curse: you get lost. from starter island the players get thrown into all directions of the world. mybe would be good to create some welcome camps for every continent, so there are three steps: starter island - continental camp - homelands

You're right Talcott, Vanguard's blessing and curse is that the world is so vast and open that even if there was 5-6k on you wouldn't know It. I think it was supposed to feel that way and is one of the things that makes VG great.

Being able to find groups is important as well which is why those that do play the trail and want to sub get plugged into a guild or form your own with newcomers. One great thing that Vanguards negative situation is done is make the community really great.

Note about the trial island: it's designed as a linear questline to get you familiar with the gameplay. It shows you the textures and swaying trees and crafting/diplo aspects. When you get into the real game it's not as linear and you can get lost in any direction which is pretty awesome IMO.

Originally posted by Deron_Barak
You're right Talcott, Vanguard's blessing and curse is that the world is so vast and open that even if there was 5-6k on you wouldn't know It. I think it was supposed to feel that way and is one of the things that makes VG great.

Being able to find groups is important as well which is why those that do play the trail and want to sub get plugged into a guild or form your own with newcomers. One great thing that Vanguards negative situation is done is make the community really great.

Note about the trial island: it's designed as a linear questline to get you familiar with the gameplay. It shows you the textures and swaying trees and crafting/diplo aspects. When you get into the real game it's not as linear and you can get lost in any direction which is pretty awesome IMO.

to the highlighted in red

i don't really think that's a good thing, and if it was intended to be that way... its not a great feature in my opinion...

im all for vast worlds without instant travel, lots of exploration but if ITS MADE TO FEEL LONELY... i dont see the appeal

the right balance would be to have POPULATED cities and HUBS to make the game feel crowded and populated and then  vast empty GIANT  forests or DESERTS or SWAPS to explore  filled with wild life, and dangerous NPC forts/dungeons/camps etc... 

but to feel lonely and say working as intended? something is off