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Vanguard: Saga of Heroes: Nick Parkinson at PAX
We spoke to Nick Parkinson at PAX to find out new things.
By Dana Massey on August 26, 2006
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PAX Interview: Nick Parkinson, Sigil Community Manager  advertisement At PAX, they’re not showing the game. Instead, Parkinson made himself available for interviews. Currently in Beta 3, Vanguard has finally reached the point where the developers say they’re able to have a cohesive and fun experience. The development goal for this phase is to get all the features promised into the game in at least some form, then polish, complete and tweak them. Beta 4 will then be an open stress test before the game’s ultimate launch this winter. Vanguard recently made headlines when they and original publisher Microsoft split, landing Sigil back with the stewards of EverQuest. However, this move is purely a business decision. Sigil handles all creative aspects of the game, in-game support and their community. SOE distributes the physical product, does marketing and handles out-of-game technical support. On the feature side, Parkinson couldn’t stop raving about their sailing system. Players can purchase small “land-huggers” from NPC vendors and sail the seas. Once at sea, sailing involves more than pointing and going. Players will actually need to direct their ships and pay attention to the wind. “It will be challenging enough to make it fun, but it’s not BoatSim Online,” explained Parkinson. More interesting, Parkinson also alluded to the idea that some areas and islands in between continents may not be charted or be accessible in any way other than player boats. This could provide players with a sense of adventure and discovery as they seek new content that – perhaps – no one has seen. He made clear though that this is just a plan at this stage and not currently in the beta. Vanguard will forever be compared to EverQuest and EverQuest II. The roots of the team make comparisons inevitable. Parkinson admits, it is a spiritual successor, but he wants to avoid the perception that the game is simply EverQuest III. Sigil has carefully crafted a new universe and over the years the team has learned many new things. They believe Vanguard deserves to be judged on its own merits. With open beta coming soon, they’ll soon have a chance to jump out from behind the shadow of their resumes and let players make up their own mind. You can comment on this article here. |
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