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My revue of Vanguard after 10 day trial
Daffid011
Member UncommonPosts: 7,945
To give a little history of myself before getting started: I've been playing MMO's since the launch of Ultima Online. I am a die hard SOE hater.
That being said here are my thoughts.
The game is actually ok. I couldn't verify most of what is posted here about the bad aspects of the game, but I only made a few characters of various races/classes to see what the world was like.
First off performance.... It was not some slide show like most people are posting. My laptop is an Intel core 2 duo 1.6ghz, 2 gigs of ram with a Geforce go 7600 256 megs of dedicated ram and Im running windows XP pro. I can run the game fine on really high graphics with most things turned up and distanced pushed to the max. I do get stutters when entering town or running past a chunk, but the few seconds my computer stalls is nothing to come ranting to the boards about. Maybe in groups or raids things bog down, but I personally think the minimum amount of ram should be upped on the game specs. My neighbor has a very similar machine to mine with a better video card and he cant even run LOTRO on anything above minimum graphics because he only has 512mb of ram.
Character models: They are rather bland, much like EQ2, but they look ok when you play the game. The animations arn't very good, but nothing game breaking for me at least. They are pretty bad though.
Color pallet: The attempt is at a more realistic looking world which looks pretty dirty. It is a MUST to fiddle with your gamma, contrast and brightness and then the world comes more to life. Some areas look so nice you feel you are actually in a living breathing world, some just don't hit the mark right. Overall I like it though.
The world: is HUGE! It is very refreshing to see a world size that isn't fully explored in 15 minutes after entering a new zone/area. Granted there are some places that are devoid of NPCs that I stumbled into and wonder what things are like a high levels? Also the lack of noticable population running around is NOT a bad thing. I couldn't put my finger on it at first, but the world felt a little more lively without swarms of people buzzing around every NPC I talked to or monster I was trying to fight. It was also nice to be able to actually EXPLORE a zone and take in the scenery instead of duck-dodge-dash past the kabillions roaming agro mobs. There is something to be said about having some elbow room. I found groups when I needed to so things weren't that hard, but maybe that changes at higher levels. Note there is not much grouping at low levels because you can solo pretty effectively.
The classes seem really well developed. I enjoyed having multiple types of spells or abilities to use in different tactics unlike most games that give each class basically 2 abilities that will get used over and over and over for the duration of your characters life. There looked to be enough overlapping abilities that you could take anyone to fulfill a group role from any of the four basic archtypes. Much like EQ2 tried to do, but not so watered down.
The quests are pretty good. Nothing ground breaking, but you get to interact with objects and mobs a few new ways. Their placement is well done also. Enough so to be compelling enough to level with if that continues into the higher levels. Quest based leveling or muder based leveling both seem viable.
Crafting looked well done if that is something you are interested in. By that I mean most MMO crafting really lacks entertainment value. SWG was beyond awesome once you figured it out, but this isn't that good. It can still be played as an entire game itself. To be honest I have not done much crafting to understand the costs involved, the spectrum of items you can make or the importance of it on the economy, but most items I bought from the auctions were player made. The crafting looks really promising and I hope it at least raises the bar for future MMOs to build off of. Repetition click combining sucks. Oh yeah, you can advance your skills it seems without needing to run all over gathering a billion materials by doing writs for NPCs. Good or bad I don't know to be honest, but at least it is taking a chance to break the mold.
Diplomancy was fun despite my expectations of what it would be like. I still can't find new 'cards' and don't really understand the importance of diplomacy in the grand scheme of things, but it is pretty cool none the less. It looks to add an element to break up the 'grind' of MMO's.
There are some really nice new aspects introduced in the game like diplomacy, offense-defense targets, waypoints, I saw a few boats piloting around and player housing looks nice (though I could care less about houses). Blah blah the game has some nice enhancements or reimplements some good elements that have been discarded by most games.
There were no noticable bugs I encountered. I didn't crash to desktop once, no missing inventory or xp loss. It does give me the feeling of running a little sluggish based on character movements and camera panning speeds, but different isn't bad.
Note these are just my experiences with the game at low levels. Things may be as bad as people say at higher levels, but there sure weren't the barren wasteland of bugs and frustrations being painted by most here. There is entertainment value to be had in the game if you enjoy exploring and more independent work. Things are harder than in most MMO's. Death is a little harder if you choose to run to your corpse or just exspensive if you choose to have the NPC summon it to you. things are not just spoon fed to you and you can't just run into a camp of mobs and expect it to be half slaughtered by the droves of other players hovering around it.
The game looks to be in much better shape the many initial launches I have seen from other gaming companies (most notably SOE.. GRR), but the game is 2-3 months after launch and seems stable to me. There is enough fun to be had from what I have seen and enough potential to be built on to look good in the future. It is not the 3rd generation MMO that was hyped, but it is a few good steps in the right direction. This isn't a good choice for the instant gratification crowd that wants everything on easymode or not to work for objectives. The game is a much slower pace than most will have experienced in the last two years.
Nothing would please me more than to be harsh on a title that is distributed by $OE, but in all fairness I can't. Vanguard looks to be a pretty good game, but not super awesome next step in MMO evolution, but it is a step in the right direction.
That being said here are my thoughts.
The game is actually ok. I couldn't verify most of what is posted here about the bad aspects of the game, but I only made a few characters of various races/classes to see what the world was like.
First off performance.... It was not some slide show like most people are posting. My laptop is an Intel core 2 duo 1.6ghz, 2 gigs of ram with a Geforce go 7600 256 megs of dedicated ram and Im running windows XP pro. I can run the game fine on really high graphics with most things turned up and distanced pushed to the max. I do get stutters when entering town or running past a chunk, but the few seconds my computer stalls is nothing to come ranting to the boards about. Maybe in groups or raids things bog down, but I personally think the minimum amount of ram should be upped on the game specs. My neighbor has a very similar machine to mine with a better video card and he cant even run LOTRO on anything above minimum graphics because he only has 512mb of ram.
Character models: They are rather bland, much like EQ2, but they look ok when you play the game. The animations arn't very good, but nothing game breaking for me at least. They are pretty bad though.
Color pallet: The attempt is at a more realistic looking world which looks pretty dirty. It is a MUST to fiddle with your gamma, contrast and brightness and then the world comes more to life. Some areas look so nice you feel you are actually in a living breathing world, some just don't hit the mark right. Overall I like it though.
The world: is HUGE! It is very refreshing to see a world size that isn't fully explored in 15 minutes after entering a new zone/area. Granted there are some places that are devoid of NPCs that I stumbled into and wonder what things are like a high levels? Also the lack of noticable population running around is NOT a bad thing. I couldn't put my finger on it at first, but the world felt a little more lively without swarms of people buzzing around every NPC I talked to or monster I was trying to fight. It was also nice to be able to actually EXPLORE a zone and take in the scenery instead of duck-dodge-dash past the kabillions roaming agro mobs. There is something to be said about having some elbow room. I found groups when I needed to so things weren't that hard, but maybe that changes at higher levels. Note there is not much grouping at low levels because you can solo pretty effectively.
The classes seem really well developed. I enjoyed having multiple types of spells or abilities to use in different tactics unlike most games that give each class basically 2 abilities that will get used over and over and over for the duration of your characters life. There looked to be enough overlapping abilities that you could take anyone to fulfill a group role from any of the four basic archtypes. Much like EQ2 tried to do, but not so watered down.
The quests are pretty good. Nothing ground breaking, but you get to interact with objects and mobs a few new ways. Their placement is well done also. Enough so to be compelling enough to level with if that continues into the higher levels. Quest based leveling or muder based leveling both seem viable.
Crafting looked well done if that is something you are interested in. By that I mean most MMO crafting really lacks entertainment value. SWG was beyond awesome once you figured it out, but this isn't that good. It can still be played as an entire game itself. To be honest I have not done much crafting to understand the costs involved, the spectrum of items you can make or the importance of it on the economy, but most items I bought from the auctions were player made. The crafting looks really promising and I hope it at least raises the bar for future MMOs to build off of. Repetition click combining sucks. Oh yeah, you can advance your skills it seems without needing to run all over gathering a billion materials by doing writs for NPCs. Good or bad I don't know to be honest, but at least it is taking a chance to break the mold.
Diplomancy was fun despite my expectations of what it would be like. I still can't find new 'cards' and don't really understand the importance of diplomacy in the grand scheme of things, but it is pretty cool none the less. It looks to add an element to break up the 'grind' of MMO's.
There are some really nice new aspects introduced in the game like diplomacy, offense-defense targets, waypoints, I saw a few boats piloting around and player housing looks nice (though I could care less about houses). Blah blah the game has some nice enhancements or reimplements some good elements that have been discarded by most games.
There were no noticable bugs I encountered. I didn't crash to desktop once, no missing inventory or xp loss. It does give me the feeling of running a little sluggish based on character movements and camera panning speeds, but different isn't bad.
Note these are just my experiences with the game at low levels. Things may be as bad as people say at higher levels, but there sure weren't the barren wasteland of bugs and frustrations being painted by most here. There is entertainment value to be had in the game if you enjoy exploring and more independent work. Things are harder than in most MMO's. Death is a little harder if you choose to run to your corpse or just exspensive if you choose to have the NPC summon it to you. things are not just spoon fed to you and you can't just run into a camp of mobs and expect it to be half slaughtered by the droves of other players hovering around it.
The game looks to be in much better shape the many initial launches I have seen from other gaming companies (most notably SOE.. GRR), but the game is 2-3 months after launch and seems stable to me. There is enough fun to be had from what I have seen and enough potential to be built on to look good in the future. It is not the 3rd generation MMO that was hyped, but it is a few good steps in the right direction. This isn't a good choice for the instant gratification crowd that wants everything on easymode or not to work for objectives. The game is a much slower pace than most will have experienced in the last two years.
Nothing would please me more than to be harsh on a title that is distributed by $OE, but in all fairness I can't. Vanguard looks to be a pretty good game, but not super awesome next step in MMO evolution, but it is a step in the right direction.
Comments
Second, sure SOE pushed out the game. But if they did not push out the game, they would be losing MASSIVE money. They needed to start making money to keep making the game. SOE, personally, is a smart company when it comes to distributing games. Sigil even stated that it was time to get the game on the road. Sure they would have liked more time, but they needed money bad. So don't blame SOE for anything about vanguard.
Total time played: 9125 Days, 21 Hours, 29 Minutes, 27 Seconds
Time played this level: 39 Days, 1 Hour, 24 Minutes, 5 Seconds
Nice review. Well written and basically accurate.
The game has improved a great deal since launch. I think at this point most new players will be pleased with it. My understanding is that there is a problem with content at Max level. But I'm not close to being there yet and am enjoying the ride up to 50.
At least you were honest. Definately play longer if you enjoyed the game. If you only get a month out of it, thats more than you may get out of a lot of single-player games. Personally i moved on.
Well i am glad you are enjoying the game
I have played since launch and have noticed the improvments made, and cant wait to try the new patch tonight
its all down to personal taste, and im loving it
but that doesnt mean i am not gonna try Conan or another game when they come out
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ab/Norsefire-logo.png
Second, sure SOE pushed out the game. But if they did not push out the game, they would be losing MASSIVE money. They needed to start making money to keep making the game. SOE, personally, is a smart company when it comes to distributing games. Sigil even stated that it was time to get the game on the road. Sure they would have liked more time, but they needed money bad. So don't blame SOE for anything about vanguard.
I think you are wrong. SoE didnt buy the rights for VG or Sigil, or brad, or whatever is related to vanguard. They made a contract with Sigil to publish the game and run the servers.
Not publishing VG wouldn't have made SoE loose money - in the worst case, Brad would never touch MMORPG design again (good thing).
they published VG because running a MMO doesn't cost much compared to developping it, they saw an opportunity to make more money.
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To the OP: nice review, i like it. Doens't change the fact that one of the flaw of VG doesn't lie with the game itself: the problem is being another generic "grinding-fantasy-PvE-MMOG", at least for me, regardless of performance or High lvl content.
My addiction History:
>> EQ1 2000-2004 - Shaman/Bard/Wizard/Monk - nolife raid-whore
>> WoW 2004-2009 + Cataclysm for 2 months - hardcore casual
>> Current status : done with MMO, too old for that crap.
A nice fair review.
Bottom line is Vanguard isn't for everyone. Some enjoy it, some don't.
Second, sure SOE pushed out the game. But if they did not push out the game, they would be losing MASSIVE money. They needed to start making money to keep making the game. SOE, personally, is a smart company when it comes to distributing games. Sigil even stated that it was time to get the game on the road. Sure they would have liked more time, but they needed money bad. So don't blame SOE for anything about vanguard.
I think he only wanted to show he's not as narrowminded some of the SOE "haters" are that because something is labeled with the name SOE some will not touch it. And he told he "hates" SOE but still is open-mined to play a game published by SOE. Better to read something before judging someone motive to state why they "hate" SOE. But like you already have said you probebly did not read past the "I am a die hard SOE hater"
Other then that nice review, hope you continue enjoying Vanguard.
Glad you like it.
Ultimately, 10-day free trials will give folks some indication of the game, but the game really starts to grow on you around level 20. I'm at lvl 30 now and am having a lot of fun. The world, skills, diplomacy open up a lot lvl 20-30.
But its great to hear that you didn't experience any bugs or issues. That was a huge deal breaker for me (along with fact my video card in my laptop just isn't adequate, nor will it ever be) so its great that they are getting a firm handle on things.
Do give the crafting and diplomacy a try, VG is a triad type game, and you really should plan on mastering all three prongs (Adventuring, Crafting, and Diplomacy) to get the full experience.
Its a shame really, the game might have been OK, but due to the release circumstances the window of opportunity for many players has been missed. In my case I'm playing LotRO until either AOC or WAR comes out....
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
No offense mate, but my title clearly says 10 day trial revue. If you didn't want to read a revue about someones experiences in a ten day trial then skip my post? Anyhow, I tried pretty hard to acknowledge that things may be different at higher levels. I can only write about what I have experienced and don't try to challenge anything anyone said about the higher level game play.
Maeyve,
I only mention that I am an SOE hater to show that I am attempting to be open minded despite my bias, even though this isn't an SOE title. Most of us haters won't touch anything with the words SOE on it, but I liked the chances taken with creating a new genre like EQ1 so I thought this deserved at least a try. Anyhow, Sigil is pretty much responsible for the state of their finances, the game and launch date. As far as I know Sigil is still in charge of the game and building it. SOE just runs the hardware and distribution/marketing. Trust me I love to point and laugh at SOE's mistakes, but I think Sigil earns whatever reviews go here. There is a chance that
Anyhow, thanks for your comments. Each and every one of you.
Where did you get a 10 day free trial ?
You can obtain a 10 day free trial from someone who has already purchased the game. They are included with the retail game.
After reading the MANY posts about how bad the game is I was pretty skeptical myself, I am into about day 4 of my 10 day trial and Havnt Crashed once, my Perfermance is pretty smooth and have encounter only 1 bug.
My PC is not close to being a high perfermance Game machine. the best thing I have is a Video card that I got on sale, Radion x1650 Pro I think it is. I cant remember details because im at work. but thats the best I have in my PC and it runs quite well on high graphics
The ONLY thing that I find bad about this game is lack of players, right now its almost impossible to get a group at any level.
I went through crafting system quite a bit. You can twink out your character from the get go from level 1 with crafting your own gear, Crafting tutorials give you everything you need to start crafting. One thing though, if you dont craft than your going to be visiting the Broker to buy your gear quite a bit because quest rewards are pretty bad.
This is my experience at low levels. I have noticed however that in the recent patch notes higher level content is being added frequently.
The class-system is for ME the best I have seen in every MMORPG I have played. I was really excited about trying the Inquisitor (and my brother wanted to play a Berserker) and ironically both were not implemented.
I am thinking of trying it again. My EQ sub runs out at the end of April --no point in buying an anniversary edition if there is no new server for ME at least-- and I am a man without a MMORPG. I am also losing my LotR activation in a few days.
Thanks for the info.
Furthermore, your post is an exact echo of every fanboi talking point released by SOE and Sigil -- points which have been refuted and debunked time and time again.
It's nice to know that the stealth marketing industry is as strong as ever.
This is a funny post, seen it atleast 20 times. Im going to have to defend to OP, I would of given it an almost idetical review.
This is a funny post, seen it atleast 20 times. Im going to have to defend to OP, I would of given it an almost idetical review.
You've seen it 20 times because it's true.Thanks for playing.
This is a funny post, seen it atleast 20 times. Im going to have to defend to OP, I would of given it an almost idetical review.
You've seen it 20 times because it's true.Thanks for playing.
20 vs 20 times.
Which one has the truth?
I'm so broke. I can't even pay attention.
"You have the right not to be killed"
This is a funny post, seen it atleast 20 times. Im going to have to defend to OP, I would of given it an almost idetical review.
You've seen it 20 times because it's true.Thanks for playing.
20 vs 20 times.
Which one has the truth?
I havnt seen 20 good reviews... and because people say the same thing over and over doesnt make it true. At any rate the big word here is Opinion. Ill leave it at that
I specifically didn't mention WoW (my current game) as it tends to cause people to derail threads into WoW rulez vs. WoW Suxs! Threads. I have also played many other games, but didn't find referencing them in any way relevant as my experience is pretty outdated or just doesn't relate to what I was writing about. I mention Ulitma and LOTRO, but I skipped listing every single game I played as I don't think one needs to post a resume to show an opinion. If you think I am a SOE fanboi, just read my history here.
In fact here is a link to me bashing vanguard and SOE just last month on this very forum. There are plenty more examples of me spitting venom at SOE if you would have bothered to do a little searching before spewing some assumptions of me.
http://www.mpog.com/discussion2.cfm?thread=121640&page=1&bhcp=1
So please keep the baseless attacks out of the thread?
Nicely done
But yeah. Decent review, agree with a few points. The game is bad, though. Not even performance is my excuse, either. I think end game content is lacking. This is the bane of most MMOs when they launch, bad end game content. Most go the route of Everquest and do end game raids that require 25 - 40 people, which is a bad idea but attracts the people with no jobs and no life. I know because I was there once.
Anyways. Here's to hoping Vanguard becomes an okay game sometime before Star Trek Online or Tabula Rasa comes out.
It was a decent review up until I read this
Vanguard looks to be a pretty good game, but not super awesome next step in MMO evolution, but it is a step in the right direction.
Vanguard? A step in the right direction?
Now that is funny.
Currently Playing: Everything but MMORPGs
Cancelled: L2, FFXI, VSoH, LotRO, WAR, WoW
Looking Forward To: SW:TOR