Vanguard NDA dropped, here's my first impressions
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Vanguard: Saga of Heroes just went into Open Beta, but I've been playing for the last three weeks, and actually had some fun. After downloading the Beta client, I started up the game and immediately made an Orc Dread Knight, chosen simply for cool factor. Dread Knights are considered Protective Fighters. The game has four types of main groups for classes: Protective Fighter, Offensive Fighter, Healer and Caster. Not all classes are available to each race, which may disappoint some, but as a fan of Orcs, I had no complaints.
Character creation is really well detailed with a variety of options that rival Oblivion for customization level. You could easily spend 45 minutes getting the right combination. My only concern here is that they chose to put breasts on the female anthromorph races, meaning this game has a chance of garnering the third highest Furry population behind Second Life and WoW Druids. After getting the right look, I named my Orc DK, and set off for adventure!
The Kojan starting area looked really nice. Until I tried to move. This game is highly graphics intensive, so the first thing many will want to do is turn down the graphic details to Best Performance. However, for those with nVidia 8800's, you should be able to see just how good the game can look. I started out on a slave ship, and had to beat down a guard for a key, then make my way to an outpost where the first few quests are getting some payback on the slavers.
Combat is fun, and there are two things to pay attention to while attacking. The first is attack chains, meaning that certain attacks will trigger follow-on attacks with the chance for higher damage. The second is opponent afflictions, in that certain attacks may stun, confuse, or stagger your foe, and some attacks will do extra damage to mobs with those states applied. This makes for some very effective combos to be put together.
Quests are generally fun, with the exception of one called Unlikely Aid. This is one of the worst quests I have ever come across in any game. You need to deliver a tribute to an Ogre King. This Ogre King never becomes unaggressive. In order to complete the quest you will die two or three times while desperately trying to click through dialog options. This wouldn't be so bad, except the death penalty in Vanguard is hardcore: live corpse run and XP loss. The corpse run can be avoided by two means, either paying money to summon your corpse to an altar and forfeit your lost XP, or have someone drag your corpse to a safe area. Thankfully, you cannot lose a level from dying.
I didn't do much Crafting because it is almost as confusing and tedious as Auto Assault's. My playstyle means I avoid non-killing activities so I didn't have much to do with Diplomacy either.
As much as I would like to say that Vanguard is a fun and challeging experience, I can't do it without saying that the game is being rushed out the door at least six months earlier than it should be. Untested features, missing features, starting areas lacking content and non-functioning basic gameplay components are what you can expect. How many of these features and fixes will actually make it into the game by launch? That's a question that really needs to be addressed, and soon. I do think that Sigil has done really well with what is included, and some of their ideas are a refreshing break from convention, but it's sad to see them forced to compromise for the harsh reality of profit margins.
Bottom line: It's a real Catch-22. If you get the game at launch, you will be buying a largely unfinished game and will not have a rewarding experience. If you wait six months to see if things have improved, you may find a game that suffers from not meeting subscription expectations. Personally, I plan on getting a retail copy at launch and then actually installing it this summer.
Feel free to comment on what you feel I missed out on in some of the other areas, and if there is anyone who has experience with the Crafting or Diplomacy, I'd like to be convinced that it's worth my time.
Whoops, hit report instead of reply - heh.
Anyway, I was waiting for the whole "fanboi" thing to come in. It's the first and most feeble defense when being questioned on dubious facts about how poorly done any particular product is.
I could have easily smashed Vanguard explaining half a dozen ways why WoW was so much better and I'm sure the immediate and well thought out response would have been - go back to WoW.
Regardless, I think my point has been made and echoed by other posters. I personally have not experienced the problems you've described but eh - whatever.
I really only wanted to make it clear that your opinion is not being questioned, it's the supporting facts (or lack thereof) that is. You've not presented a lot of objective observations etc., but rather vague generalizations that aren't very useful. So you've run into a few bugs, meh. As for considering a cut class a missing feature, that seems a little overstated to me (is one particular class a "Feature" of the game, I don't think so but that's just me).
I know the knee jerk reaction is to get defensive over it, but hopefully you can learn something useful from it instead (or not)
I've played 4 races: Orc, Vulmane, Varanjar, and Dark Elf. I made 5 characters using them and got to around level 10-12 with each one. I really don't see how old I am becomes relevant other than you are trying to see if your mental image is correct, which I'll let you know isn't even close.
I'm presenting the beta quest because I was told that's how it was designed by a GM. Without any other official word to go on, it then becomes a poorly designed quest.
As far as missing features, regardless of whether or not a class that had to be cut before launch is included, there are still plenty of other things that will have to wait until after launch as well. This is where the whole "missing at launch" thing comes from.
I haven't given up on the game, and I'm sure that there are probably more well written views at several other places. Anyway, thank you for taking the time to share your opinions.
... Thankfully Arrakiv has presented us a far better preview. I highly recommend it and suggest further reports on the game for Warcry come from him.
Might I ask.. how many races you've played.. what levels did you reach and how old are you in real life? Your opinion is certainly valid and I am not trying to down play it, but your "preview" seems to be written from a limited perspective and from a young mindset. I have beta tested 7 MMO's and have been a part of this genre since its inception. While Vanguard certainly is still in a beta stage and may not be as polished at release as one might hope. I find a very good base established. My map works just fine as does my ablities page, and while Im certainly not trying to say the game is bug free I do question why you present a beta quest that had a bug as 'The worst quest I've ever come across in any game'. It was a bug in a beta version of a game.
As for your determination of "missing features". I would agree with Navid that a class that Sigil has chosen not to implement at release is NOT a "missing feature". The game has several good classes that are recieving some final touches. There is no "core class" missing. Healers, Tanks, DPS, and CC.. they are all present and accounted for. You seem to be new at this writing game so I wont go on because I dont want this to seem like a rant anymore than it already does.
I ask of Warcry .. why do you present an article as a "Preview" that ignores 2/3rds of the gameplay (Diplomacy, and Crafting) and barely touches on the 1/3rd it does mention. The whole article reads as if written by an inexperienced young teen who is not use to presenting his opinions in a professional manner. I would ask that you please be more selective in you choice of articles in the future and if indeed you are that strapped for well written material then I can personally type up a review of more substance and present it to you.
The map window does not work. I hit M, the screen flashes, and there's no map. The ability window does not work. I hit P, the screen flashes, and there's a window, but it fills my screen in all its 640x480 glory for a half a second before disappearing.
I've played Beta 4 and 5, so I know the difference. In 4 you could at least still see the zone grids on the mini map so you would know when to be ready for your cursor to jump to the top left of the screen and your view to get reset to first person.
I disagree about the Inquisitors. They are not an "extra" class. They are a core class. That is not present. Another way to describe something that is not present, but should be, is missing. It's a missing feature.
I really want this game to be fun and do well. I like Sigil, and all the people I've met that work there. I don't doubt for a second that they aren't capable of doing something special with Vanguard. But I'm not giving mis-information, unintentional or not. In a rare showing, I'm trying to be fair, honest, and objective in regards to having my opinion but realizing that my opinion will probably change in a few weeks or months. At least I actually did spend almost a month playing the game, unlike some who logged out after 30 mins and wrote first impressions.
p.s. There were 16 classes, who's giving out mis-information now? :P
Haha Razor, your just like every other MMO'er out there atm, I dont blame you but just hear me out...
First off, remember it IS beta, and Item decay is being tested. Also, an extra class ( out of 12 ) is not a missing feature.
The map, works and is now an undetailed stylized map, looks like a old map (I have a strange feeling you have not played beta 5),
A BUNCH of quests were fixed a few days ago ( I think somthing like 20) and as for crafting and diplomacy, you dont have to even touch those spheres. (but I think you know that)
Agian, I agree with your point that at the moment it is not ready to ship, and it does not look like it will be "ready" by jan 2th.
but, I also think that you are giving off mis-information, perhaps not intentionally....
Here's something for the Vanbois, allow me to elaborate. With examples.
Untested feature: Item Decay
Missing feature: Inquisitor Class
Non-functioning basic gameplay components: Map, Ability and several other pop-up windows do not work, mobs still disappearing into ground becoming unattackable, yet can still cause damage.
Now, let's talk about what specifically I liked. If you noticed, it was combat. What specifically needs work? There are a lot of quests that need work. In Martok, there's an "enraging a wolf with a stick" one that has been broken for quite a while. What specifically doesn't work for me and my play style is Crafting and Diplomacy.
I'm sorry that this first impression did not meet up to your expectations. It's not a review by any means, since this isn't a shipped product. But maybe that feeling you have that this article lacks substance is because the game that it was written about didn't have much substance to write about?
Maybe you should ask Sigil and SOE why they aren't investing a little more time in it and provide their players with something of substance?
With all due respect, 3/4ths of a hastily written piece does not an "exclusive preview" make. What specifically did you like, what specifically needs work, what specifically doesn't work for you and your particular playstyle (which omits a good part of the game, and that's fine for you).
You've included basically nothing of substance in your review. For example, this statement:
Untested features, missing features, starting areas lacking content and non-functioning basic gameplay components are what you can expect.
...those are pretty strong opinions yet you couldn't be bothered to, you know, elaborate on them a little. Provide maybe oh... one example?
I'm impressed that Warcry got all the class skills/spells out so quickly after the NDA kudos on that. But this "article" could have been written without even playing the game. Why not invest a little more time in it and provide your readers with something of substance?
I agree this game is not yet ready, however, do not underestimate this dev team, if you saw the changes that happend to this game from beta 4, you would agree.
I think that there will be many changes and fixes come launch, however what you said wil still hold true, just not as much. (Do I make sense?)
I guess to sum it up, this game will change a lot in the next few weeks, and should be solid come 1-2 months after launch, and even better (many additions already planned) the longer it goes.
In 6 months I see them adding ship to ship combat and player cities.
Vanguard NDA dropped, here's my first impressions
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes just went into Open Beta, but I've been playing for the last three weeks, and actually had some fun. After downloading the Beta client, I started up the game and immediately made an Orc Dread Knight, chosen simply for cool factor. Dread Knights are considered Protective Fighters. The game has four types of main groups for classes: Protective Fighter, Offensive Fighter, Healer and Caster. Not all classes are available to each race, which may disappoint some, but as a fan of Orcs, I had no complaints.
Character creation is really well detailed with a variety of options that rival Oblivion for customization level. You could easily spend 45 minutes getting the right combination. My only concern here is that they chose to put breasts on the female anthromorph races, meaning this game has a chance of garnering the third highest Furry population behind Second Life and WoW Druids. After getting the right look, I named my Orc DK, and set off for adventure!
The Kojan starting area looked really nice. Until I tried to move. This game is highly graphics intensive, so the first thing many will want to do is turn down the graphic details to Best Performance. However, for those with nVidia 8800's, you should be able to see just how good the game can look. I started out on a slave ship, and had to beat down a guard for a key, then make my way to an outpost where the first few quests are getting some payback on the slavers.
Combat is fun, and there are two things to pay attention to while attacking. The first is attack chains, meaning that certain attacks will trigger follow-on attacks with the chance for higher damage. The second is opponent afflictions, in that certain attacks may stun, confuse, or stagger your foe, and some attacks will do extra damage to mobs with those states applied. This makes for some very effective combos to be put together.
Quests are generally fun, with the exception of one called Unlikely Aid. This is one of the worst quests I have ever come across in any game. You need to deliver a tribute to an Ogre King. This Ogre King never becomes unaggressive. In order to complete the quest you will die two or three times while desperately trying to click through dialog options. This wouldn't be so bad, except the death penalty in Vanguard is hardcore: live corpse run and XP loss. The corpse run can be avoided by two means, either paying money to summon your corpse to an altar and forfeit your lost XP, or have someone drag your corpse to a safe area. Thankfully, you cannot lose a level from dying.
I didn't do much Crafting because it is almost as confusing and tedious as Auto Assault's. My playstyle means I avoid non-killing activities so I didn't have much to do with Diplomacy either.
As much as I would like to say that Vanguard is a fun and challeging experience, I can't do it without saying that the game is being rushed out the door at least six months earlier than it should be. Untested features, missing features, starting areas lacking content and non-functioning basic gameplay components are what you can expect. How many of these features and fixes will actually make it into the game by launch? That's a question that really needs to be addressed, and soon. I do think that Sigil has done really well with what is included, and some of their ideas are a refreshing break from convention, but it's sad to see them forced to compromise for the harsh reality of profit margins.
Bottom line: It's a real Catch-22. If you get the game at launch, you will be buying a largely unfinished game and will not have a rewarding experience. If you wait six months to see if things have improved, you may find a game that suffers from not meeting subscription expectations. Personally, I plan on getting a retail copy at launch and then actually installing it this summer.
Feel free to comment on what you feel I missed out on in some of the other areas, and if there is anyone who has experience with the Crafting or Diplomacy, I'd like to be convinced that it's worth my time.
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