1) It is not WoW.
2) Dimplomacy sounds unique and I can't wait to try it.
3) It is not WoW... wait I said that already.

I can't wait to hear from beta testers after the NDA is lifted.

things i like

-- About every thing

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Originally posted by metalcore

Most important things for me:

- No Instancing (feel like a world not a game)

- No teleportation (travel has meaning)

- Roleplay (Brad is a tabletop/dice roleplayer)

- Hard (if its anything like EQ1, it will be hard, a challenge, corpse runs etc)

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I really don't quite get this "hard" line of reasoning.  The GW death penalty is hard.  Vanguard, EQ1, most MUDs before that precursed them, their death penalties are inconvient/problematic.  Both penalties give an edge to the game, a reason not to die.  They have a negative reinforcement effect.

That is fine, I won't tell people they dumb for wanting that.  I hate roller coasters, but some people love them.  Fear and such things work different for different people.  Its all good.

But there is a difference between the two systems.  In Guild Wars the death penalty, actually makes you less effective.  You get a % decrease in effectiveness.  Therefore, ipso facto, each death means you need to perfrom better to surmount the rest of that instance.  Or in other words each death makes that instance more challenging(until to work off the penalty).  In Guild Wars one death in a hard encounter may mean that mediocre players simply can't get past it without restarting the isntance or working off the death penalty and if they die again and are at -30% forget it, but a stellar player that made a mistake might still rise to the occassion and get some revenge even with the penalty.  Repeated wipes are more than just inconvient, they make an instance undoable.  This death penalty means that you will not beat something until you can do that instance and reliably not die.  There is no permanent loss, but you simply cannot do something until you are good enough.  You can try to zerg if you like, but repeated deaths will humble you no matter what.  There is a wall based solely on challenge.  Until you can manage good execution of an instance you just won't get very far into it, you will hit a wall.  

Corpse runs, do not work this way.  If you don't lose a level and you recover your gear you are back up to snuff.  If you do lose a level you are just back to where you were a day or so ago.  Its not a challenge.  It is consequential and I won't dismiss anyone for wanting consequences in there game. Certainly for some that makes it feel more weighty.  But please stop calling it challenging.  You want to be punished for a screw up, fine, there can be good reasons for such things.  But not all punishments create challenge.

The thing I like best (now) about Vanguard is how it is all things to all people before it is launched.

The only thing better than that is going to be the reaction when reality sets in after it is launched.

indeed, indeed :)