Hello there,

I'm new to these forums and would like to ask a few questions about Vanguard. You see, I've not yet bought it but have done some research into the game and am looking for some opinions but before that a brief bit about myself.

I'm an older gamer (37 yoa) who has been playing RPG's and video games since the D&D Basic Set and the Atari 2600 entered my life back in the late '70s. I've been playing games on computers since the '80s and love what the computer has done for gaming in general.

I'm currently on an off/on basis with many different games such as Guild Wars, Titan Quest, UT2k4, Prey, NWN/NWN2 and several other titles but none of the current games or those of the past several years have really captured my interest in the way the original EQ did back in Q4, 1999.

I played EQ from December, 1999 until September, 2003 on the Innoruuk server and really liked many things about it...it was my second home...a world where I had good friends who I spent a lot of time with. I was in a guild that raided regularly, my main was top 10 for her class in many categories at EQRankings.com and she was either highly ranked or Grandmaster in most tradeskills. In short, I was a hardcore EQ player for many years and have since been unable to really find a game that grabs me like the lands of Norrath did.

The decision to quit EQ was a tough one that I do not regret. Right around the time that the GoD expansion came out it occurred to me that Sony had run out of ideas for EQ...that it was always going to be the same, repetitive carrot chase for one set of bytes or another. So I let my account lapse and moved on to other games.

So along comes Vanguard, which I've been reading about in Games for Windows (aka Computer Gaming World) off and on for a couple of years now AND it's being developed by the main folks who created EQ as Verant Interactive...needless to say I've been intrigued by this games potential. As I stated earlier I've also been researching the game and see that there is a lot of problems with it stemming from an early release that has left it acutely unadorned in many respects (or so I've read at least) BUT as a veteran gamer I know that this does not necessarily mean that it is a bad game or will never become a great game.

Anyways...when it comes right down to it I'm on the fence as to whether or not I want to invest in the game and wanted to ask a few questions that I hope some of you will be willing to answer for me.

1) Do you see Vanguard being here and adequately supported for the next few years or is there a good possibility that Sigil/SOE will throw in the towel on this one?

2) The game system in Vanguard seems much more refined than that of EQ but is it as tedious and life-devouring as many aspects of EQ were?

3) I build my own computers and the current specs on my gaming rig are:

-AMD Athlon64 3400+ at 2.2GHz
-GeForce 6800GS w/256Mb
-2Gb PC 3400 RAM
-Creative Audigy2 Platinum w/5.1 speakers
-7200rpm HDD

From what I've read this should be adequate to run Vanguard at Balanced settings for decent fps but will it really?

That's all really. I'm very interested in trying Vanguard and growing into the game as it continues to develop and be refined but can't justify wasting $50.00 if it's a bonafide flop...and I'm very unhappy about the reports of cancelled accounts that SOE continues to bill for and then make reimbursement a whole other MMORPG unto itself. So I'm hoping some of you can give me some insight into the game.

Thanks in advance,

nrdg1234

nrdg1234:

1) Do you see Vanguard being here and adequately supported for the next few years or is there a good possibility that Sigil/SOE will throw in the towel on this one?

2) The game system in Vanguard seems much more refined than that of EQ but is it as tedious and life-devouring as many aspects of EQ were?

3) I build my own computers and the current specs on my gaming rig are:

-AMD Athlon64 3400+ at 2.2GHz
-GeForce 6800GS w/256Mb
-2Gb PC 3400 RAM
-Creative Audigy2 Platinum w/5.1 speakers
-7200rpm HDD

From what I've read this should be adequate to run Vanguard at Balanced settings for decent fps but will it really?

1.) I do not foresee Vanguard going under in the near future, or at all. Despite being released early the game has way less bugs than most other MMOs that were released fully completed. It's improving with every update.

2.) I am a very competitive woman. But I find myself able to log out of VG just fine when rl beckons. So while I am having a wonderful time in Telon and progressing well, it is not as life devouring as some other MMOs. I do not have to log in and sit there for 10 hours doing a raid for a 2% chance of getting the item I need to be on par. I can get into a single group, do my quests, kill what I need to get what I want and logout all in under 4 hours. Also, crafters can make what I need. I don't have to camp uber drops. ;)

3.) I think you may get away with it on balanced, but you may need to drop to high performance sometimes. While the gameplay is enjoyable on balanced, you won't be able to appreciate the absolute beauty of this game unless you are able to run in high/highest quality. That's no surprise though, that can be said about any "next gen" MMO coming out, or even any "next gen" game being released at all. You'll be able to run the game, but I would recommend saving up a few bucks a month for an upgrade. The way I see it, every game coming out this year is graphically intense -- upgrading now at VG's release means I won't have to later for other games.

Thanks for the reply! :)

I'm glad to hear that you can break away from the game at will and attend to real life matters. This is important to me since I have a family, home, job, etc. to deal with but would also like to be able to make progress in a quality MMORPG in the amount of time that I do have to game in (which is not a small amount of time really but definitely not as copious as it used to be when I played EQ).

The more I read about the game the more I'm leaning towards trying it out...the crafting system seems pretty cool and different; the class and race configurations seem very min/max oriented (which is right up my alley); the patches have been frequent and the addition/fixing of content is very encouraging.

I'm not too worried about graphics atm. Sometime in the next several months I will do a complete overhaul of my system but if my current rig will run the game well in high performance mode then I can deal with lackluster graphics until I invest in new components.

If a game is good at its core then eye-candy is just icing on the cake imho...if the game system sucks then no amount of flashy pixels will endear it to me. I'm hoping that the game system is stellar and that I will be pleasantly surprised when I do invest in my next machine.

I'm a 50/50 Action/RP type of player. I like PvP in very small doses and in designated areas (the dueling system and PvP arenas in EQ were very much to my liking...consent from both parties required, etc.). Any suggestions as to a good server to start out on?

Sincerely,

nrdg1234

Glad to hear you're thinking of giving it a try. No matter what anyone says here, you would never know for certain unless you try it yourself. :)

Florendyl is the official Roleplay server. If you are looking for roleplaying, this is where you'll want to go. As far as I am aware the only PVP which takes place here is consensual.

Varking is the faction-based team PVP server, only members of the opposing faction can attack you. Faction is divided by race not continent. It's basically Goblins, Orcs, Dark Elves, Vulmane, Kurashasa, Varanjar and Varanthari as the "evil" races versus everyone else.

Tharridon is the free-for-all PVP server where anyone can attack you at any time so long as they aren't in your group.

There are also a plethora of regular servers similar to the RP server minus the RP.

For my RP fix I spend time on Florendyl and to get my craving for merciless slaughter I have a character on Tharridon. I'm sure you'll find a server to your liking.

BTW, this IS the game! :)

I've been playing for over a month now and have a lvl 38 Necro on Florendyl. I'm in a great guild and having a lot of fun Adventuring as well as playing Diplomat and Artificer. SOE's recent acquisition of Sigil and VG is a huge vote of confidence for the games future and I'm looking forward to many months of enjoyment out of this title.

My machine deals with the game fairly well in High Performance mode with certain, other settings toned down a bit. I've spec'd out a new machine and hope to build it by the end of June so as I can enjoy VG in all it's glory...especially after SOE starts in with the performance optimizations, bug fixes and content additions.

Thanks for the solid advice,

NRDG
aka. Taelinaa >> Florendyl >> Fated

I think you will find that the game will continue to perform alot better over the next few months, which is a huge positive for me, since I could barely run it before.

I am actually feeling really positive about the future of the game. The next few months are going to be interesting, to say the least :)

I think everyone pretty much summed it up... However, yep, the game won't go down hill, I don't believe. Also, while it was released in a buggy state, it has received a fair amount of attention, and after the merger between Sigil and SOE, I believe the game will continue to improve quite a bit into the future.

you can wait until the game is better like now, or you can stop with playing this game and choose another one... i dont play vanguard, i like games with pvp ;)