Vanguard

Ivan

Ok, it may be that I am horrendously bored of WoW, CoX, EvE, Planetside, EQ2, Lineage 2, SWG (rofl), Guilds Wars, DAoCand pretty much every other MMORPG game I would even consider playing, but myself and a friend recently purchased vanguard each and I have to say, I am really loving it.

At the moment, the class design seems so haphazardly unbalanced, the crafting system simultaneously makes you want to rip your hair out and jump for joy, there is a nifty "side-game" called Diplomacy whereby you can actually level up without killing stuff (you can also level up through the crafting system), but it all seems to work so well.

I'm liking the variety on the powers, the uniqueness, and really all I want is something to hold my attention until Age of Conan arrives to hold my attention until Warhammer arrives.

So, with that said I am playing my level 12 Sorceror, with my friends level 12 Blood mage and I cant help but think, "Blizzard, you sure could learn a thing or two from these guys".

Of course, it doesnt hurt that it is as pretty as hell on my new P.C

Any others recently joined the ranks? Intend on joining the ranks, or have left in recent weeks?

KoKane

I'm in the same boat kinda.
Bored as **** lately, and not just with MMO's but with all sorts of games. Been a while since I was immersed into an MMO. Last one was WoW. lol @ WoW. Carebearness was too much so quit that in no time.

Also waitin for Conan to pass time with for WAR.

A lad I have on msn was telling me he plays this vanguard game... might, i mean the slightest sense of the word... MIGHT, check it out.
If so I shall let you know though.
What's the pvp like if any?

zekiel

this the one: http://vgplayers.station.sony.com/index.vm

Kiith

I got this over a month ago, and i loved it. Thought it was great, and a far better/more diverse game then Warcraft. I had originally picked a Warrior, which was fun, then rerolled a sorceror, which was great fun.

The way you describe the crafting system is spot on. Theres nothing worse then getting to about 90% complete on a hard work order, and then having a complication that you dont have the right tool for. The classes are totally imbalanced, but this is the same with alot of MMO's (especially with the huge variety of them).

I didnt get too high though. Unfortunatly, the servers that i tried were totally dead, and for a game that is so group oriented, i found myself getting annoyed at the lack of players. If they merge the servers, like there is talk of them doing, i'd consider coming back, as it really is a good game.

What server did you roll on? I was on Frengrot(?) i think.

Ivan

We're on Thunderaxe atm, which is a PvE server, but I love the idea of the FFA (thats free for all folks) PvP realms, so might try rerolling on one of those at some point, once I get the hang of the game.

The crafting system is pretty tiresome, what with "I need to get 13 points to be able to craft this really nice item. In wow, that would mean spend 3 hours grinding the mats and then making the item in 2 minutes. Whereas in Vanguard, its 1.5 hours to grind the mats and then 1.5 hours to craft it".

Slight exaggerations, but I think it gets the point across. The crafting system seems like an alternate to xp'ing, rather than a companion to go with it. This is simultaneously a good thing and a bad.

I'm told though, that I should just try Everquest as that is what so much of Vanguard is based on, but I just... dont... want... to, for some reason.

Drakar

Vanguard is based on Everquest 2, but is meant to take the best features and add to them. It's quite similar with a different front and setting though ...

Dcully

Is there a trial for this guys?
I dont want to be disapointed like i was with lotro, lotro for sale btw

Kiith

I have a 10 day trial key, if you want it. Downloading it wouldnt be nice though. Its a 17gig install :eek:

Dcully

jesus! not gonna bother with any download.
Thanks for offer m8 but too big a dowmload.
Ive been reading 6 or 7 reviews and most agree it has huge potential but let down by bugs and huge system demands.
All mention class balance being off.
Also some complain about the "when you die" aspect being nasty?
They go on to say there is almost daily patches and the game just isnt finished.

Can you guys maybe give more info on these bugs and game performance please.
If a few recomend it i might pop into a game store over the weekend to buy the retail.
What are subs btw?

Kiith

There were, apparently, some major bugs on release, and really bad performance issues, but i havent seen any of them. The game runs far better on my PC (e6600, 512mb 1900xt, 2gig ram) then, for example, Lord of the Rings online ran. And i havent come across many bugs (bar one quest that didnt work).

I dont know enough about the classes to say if they are imbalanced. I think if they had merged the servers, i would have stayed. But lack of players, and lack of solo quests annoyed me. Its very much a group oriented game. Plus the pvp is pretty crap.

And the download isnt 17gigs. Its 4-6gigs i think. I meant it installed to 17gigs+

Dcully

Im very tempted,ive read some more and viewed many videos.
My only concern is low population.
Can you guys suggest a decent population server to start on?

Kiith

Its been two weeks since i played, but when i was last on, every realm had low population. One of the PvE realms (started with an E) had medium once when i logged on, but thats it.

Hopefully SOE will merge the realms soon, which would really help.

Kiith

Doh! Double post.

Dcully

Would you advise i hold off then Kiith?
May i ask,if servers are quiet can one solo?
Also i cant find info on subscriptions costs,can you enlighten me please ?

Hunter-FLUID

http://vgplayers.station.sony.com/newsArchive.vm?id=142&section=News

Gelenia is a good Server for PvE. But I hear they are merging the servers very soon which would bring up the pop abit. Personaly i think the game is very good. Got a dread knight myself and find him great fun. Thankfuly i havent came across to many bugs(Bar Guild Hq) But that is getting fixed hopefuly in next Milestone.:)

Kiith

You can solo, but its a much mor group oriented game, so you'll have alot of quests that you'll never get to do...unless the planned server merge goes ahead. I'd consider coming back if they did merge them (although i havent had alot of time for mmo's lately)

Kiith

So, the server merge is going ahead soon. This is copied from the official site. Looks like i might be playing again. And with only 1 pvp server, worldwide, there should be a healthy population on it.

---

The Server Merge Plan for Vanguard.

Hey Everyone,

Here are the details on the server merge. We don't have a firm date as we are still getting all the back-end details worked out. The intent is to have them done within the next three weeks. We will announce a date as soon as we have it.

Please feel free to comment as I know you will. J I will try and clear up questions as they arise. I realize that not everyone will be happy with all of the decisions, but I'm open to suggestions if someone presents a better idea and it's something that is feasible for us to implement in time.

Servers
There will be 2 US PVE, 1 EU PVE, and 1 US PVP server.
o Thunderaxe, Woefeather, and Gulgrethor would merge into server A PVE
o Targonor, Hilsbury, Flamehammer and Shidreth would merge into sever B PVE
o Tharridon, Varking, and Frengrot would merge into sever C PVP FFA
o Gelenia and Infineum would merge into server D EU PVE
o For Florendyl we will be soliciting feedback via a poll and discussion as to whether or not the players think it should be merged.

1. We are open to considering the option of leaving it up with the understanding that the population is way under what it needs to be to be healthy but we wouldn't recommend it.

All existing servers will go away and everyone will be moved to new servers.
* We will post a poll so you can vote on the new server names.
* PVP players will be able to move to PVP OR PVE servers.
* PVE players will only be able to move to PVE servers.
* PVP rule set will be FFA.
* Each character will get one free server move after the merge.

Character Naming
* Characters name priority is based on
o First created, if also played within the last 30 days
o Last Played
* Those characters that have name collisions will be marked, and upon next login will have to choose a new name before that character can log in.

Housing
* The price for the player's plot is refunded to the player in coin.
* The resources used to generate the house are refunded to the player via the housing resource escrow.
* The current upkeep balance will be refunded to the character
* Fixtures and items in the house will be placed in the escrow.

Boats
* Boats will be marked as needing to be named.

VGPlayers issues
* We are still working out the specifics on this.

Corpses left in the world
* All corpses will go away.
* Any items left on corpses will go to your escrow account.
* Exp on the corpse will be returned to you.

Mail
* Any pending mail will be returned to sender.

Friends list
* We are still working out the specifics on this.

Guild names
* We are still working out the specifics on this.

Market items

Items in the market will be returned via mail.

Dcully

Excellent
Im hearing nothing but positives about vanguard lately with very little bugs encountered,with this merge it will be great.
Some of my wow guild are raving about it.
I think ill purchase this very soon,

Kiith

I'm gonna have to find my copy again. Tidied my room (*shudder*) and i cound actually find it, or my copy of Burning Crusade (not that i'll ever play it again).

DEmeant0r

Just started playing last weekend, Bards rock I will however be rerolling Paladin, magic class or rogue/ranger on the PvP server when the merge goes ahead.

Dcully

So what are your thoughts on the game DEmeant0r?

DEmeant0r

TBH I haven't played much, been busy with other things lately, but my experiences with this game would be much better if I played on a computer with one of the newest graphics cards, am playing with the worst graphics settings.

Gameplay wise, it's an improvement from EQ2, lots of classes and races to choose from just like its cousin, but you get actual racial abilities in this unlike its cousin which only gives +stats for racial bonuses.

Can't say much about PvP as I have not had any experiences in this department.

I would think this would be a much more enjoyable game if there were actually some people around, which the server mergers will provide.

Will play some more tonight and report back

Kiith

DEmeant0r wrote:

Can't say much about PvP as I have not had any experiences in this department.

I wouldnt hold much hope for the PvP side of Vanguard. They have said a few times that this is much more focused on PvE, similar to Everquest (iirc). The one time i got in PvP, it was getting ganked by a high level orc something.

Its weird that you can talk to the opposing faction as well. I guess i'm too used to Warcraft.