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Any development at all?
OBK1
Member Posts: 637
So, after having tried FFXIV I came back to VG once again. As per usual I wonder why I ever left, it is quite simply a great PvE mmo (I also like Lotro and EQ2 but VG feels special).
But what struck me, after the latest SOE lay offs and actually all of 2010, VG staff seems to have simply vanished. I checked VGPlayers and the fourms but can't find anything about any updates at all. I mean I do understand this game is on life support, but even with Matrix online they had some new content coming out every now and then.
Have I missed something or have they finally pulled the plug development wise? OR are they maybe working on free to play for VG as well?
Comments
I wish I knew. The last update I know of was back in January. I think SOE would be stupid to not at least try making VG F2P instead of letting it die. Who knows though? This IS SOE after all.
Current: None
Played: WoW, CoX, SWG, LotRO, EVE, AoC, VG, CO, Ryzom, DF, WAR
Tried: Lineage2, Dofus, EQ2, CoS, FE, UO, Wurm, Wakfu
Future: The Repopulation, ArcheAge, Black Desert, EQN
No one really knows. It's pretty much in maintenance mode right now. I seem to remember seeing something about them sharing developers from other games if needed. They do have a couple of PR people now though so maybe they are trying to generate interest to see if they can get it to where they can add a dev later. Just a guess, I could be wrong.
Halloween quests were turned on so maybe they will have more events during the holidays.
The answer is zero. I know some ex-VG devs that worked on EQ's recently released expansion House of Thule. Now that HoT is out, they'll probably be allocated to work on EQ2 or the upcoming EQ3. I think the sooner people realize they've stopped development on Vanguard, the better off people will be.
The funniest thing is they aren't denying it, Smed even said there are no full-time Vanguard developers on staff. It's the die hard playerbase, what's left of it, that can't seem to let go. Just look on Vanguard's official forum, does it even look like they give a damn? People have posted for 3 months now to get some sort of response from developers and they've gotten nada so far. And keep in mind Naylie is a community relations rep, he's by no means a developer, coder, programmer of any sort. He just posts on the forums.
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO
Any hint of VG going F2P?
Current: None
Played: WoW, CoX, SWG, LotRO, EVE, AoC, VG, CO, Ryzom, DF, WAR
Tried: Lineage2, Dofus, EQ2, CoS, FE, UO, Wurm, Wakfu
Future: The Repopulation, ArcheAge, Black Desert, EQN
I swear I read an article a few weeks ago of a VG dev saying they are considering f2p.
Might have been this:
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/3846508#3846508
The last comment on that was made by Smed in August:
http://www.tentonhammer.com/syndcon10/interviews/john-smedley
TTH: What about Vanguard?
Smed: We’re thinking about specific next steps for Vangaurd, but we’re not shutting it down or anything like that. We want to add more stuff to it. Will we change the business model? That’s the question people keep asking me. Will it go free-to-play? I don’t know – we’ve discussed it. What we’ll decide? I’m not sure yet. We’re going to see where EverQuest II Extended goes. But certainly if we make a decision like that, it won’t be without deciding to add more content to the game.
==
Honestly it sounds like Smed's carrot dangling, much like when he said 3 years ago that they were fully committed to supporting and making Vanguard better. Don't get your hopes up or you'll be disappointed.
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO
Thats it exactly! thank you.
Hmm. It would be great if they made it F2P even without adding more content at first. I'd jump back in for sure.
Current: None
Played: WoW, CoX, SWG, LotRO, EVE, AoC, VG, CO, Ryzom, DF, WAR
Tried: Lineage2, Dofus, EQ2, CoS, FE, UO, Wurm, Wakfu
Future: The Repopulation, ArcheAge, Black Desert, EQN
Make this game f2p Smed.. VG deserves a second chance and MMO players out owe it to themselves to check it out. With no barriers to entry VG will be rightly huge and populated and will surely make more bank for SOE than it is at present.
Currently Playing: The Game
The day that they make Vanguard F2P is the day I quilt.
No offense to people with very little money.....But I can't play along side others that can't do most of the content because they are trying to play totally free. To make matters worse, you have no way of telling who has what until you begin to play with them.
" Ohh...I cant go in their, I don't have that ! "
Games that went from P2P to F2P are only gonna be short term fads. I can tell you first hand how D&D Online was successful :
When D&D Online was first released it was a mess, because of low content. ONE YEAR LATER IT WAS FIXED, however very few came back to A GREAT GAME. They have simple dungeons that were great along with very hard deep dungeons that were also great.
When D&D Online went F2P, they only give the simple dungeons for free......BUT they are great....The very hard deep dungeons are pay......So everyone thinks they are getting a lot for free. BUT the very best are pay, and most don't realize that. They are not even getting 10% OF WHAT THAT GAME HAS TO OFFER. yet the free content is still somewhat fun.
If Vanguard goes F2P, everyone will be playing the simple solo content, their for I'm out......I'm in it to play multi player, after all it's an mmo.
Like what were seeing coming out today and for the last several years Sony is ignoring the players and looking at bottom line. Vanguard is and was a threat to EQII they bought it out and took away staff, The only way this game is gonna get any attention is for the folks who like it and play it is keep posting here and elsewhere. If possible send Sony email and snail mail. As far as f2p who knows but my guess is there gonna wait and see how EQII extended goes.
" Charlie Mike "
MAGA
If you care about the game at all, which it appears you do seeing your posts, you would support F2P for Vanguard. It may be the last chance VG has at surviving another year from bleeding subscriber base. Turbine took a chance and went F2P with D&D Online and LOTR Online, and it was probably the best decision they've made. It saved those games, and got a lot more players playing them.
It's time to stop being stubborn and kill Vanguard with the mindset that Vanguard is fine and does not need f2p to help boost population. Vanguard has not been fine ever since beta, the population did nothing but go downhill since launch. The servers never expanded and now it's down to 1 US 1 euro servers. The game didn't add new developers to the team, it actually moved all developers off the team. So you should be wishing for SOE to do F2P for Vanguard because it'd mean Vanguard will finally get more players.
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO
Have to agree with this.. It is kinda contradictory to say you don't want f2p because you like multi player but don't want more players because you think they will all be soloers. Fact is Vanguard as it is is doomed to fail. Without any new content eventually people will get bored and quit. Only people left will be a few diehards. F2P means SOE puts more investment into this to make new content. New content brings back old players that quit and new players that haven't tried it yet. That means more people playing, more income for SOE, and more likely that this game will stay open.
If anyone actually followed the development of vanguard you would know that when Sony bought it, the game was absolutely a wreck. Despite the fact that they probably did buy it to keep it from being that huge of a threat to EQ2 they did put devs behind the project to help get it to a playable state at release.
they failed pretty bad at getting the game up to snuff, the system requirements were ridiculous to say the least, the game was full of bugs, so on and so forth. People started to leave the game because of the poor state it was in, SOE started pulling devs after they saw they couldnt do much more but hot fixes.
Once a game has a bad start, it usually does not recover. This is the case for VG
We're now reduced (unfortunately) to hoping for an update or even communication from anyone at SOE sometime before the end of this year. Simply put, the silence speaks volumes. They cannot or will not develop Vanguard any further (at least, not this year anyway) for all of the much written about reasons on this site and other places.
It's always possible they are planning to throw a bone to the playerbase in December, or early next year. If the game is not profitable there may still be enough cash flow from the current subscribers to maintain the last remaining server. But all of that begs the question: if I'm a current player, I have to decide if I want to remain in a game that not only has no future, but runs the risk with every passing month of being shut down.
Many current players answer that with: they aren't focused on the game's future. They enjoy it as is and will keep playing till the sun goes down on Telon for the last time. And I say good for them. :-) For others, some guilds (such as TASC) appear to be looking elsewhere, not out of a desire to leave but simply because they want to adventure in a place that does have a future.
So no development this year. Next year? Might as well sign in and sail the seas of Telon before asking that question. The signs point to more of the same: nothing happens. Until those change, you're better off either enjoying the game or finding something else to do. :-)
Of course SOE released it in a buggy state so they knew exactly what they were doing. They bought the game 6 months before release so it's not like they were surprised about how it would be recieved at launch.
If Vanguard went Free to Play, I`d be back. The game was very good, and it`s a shame that it never succeeded. Until it goes F2P, I`ll stick with EQ1.
Not sure what came of it, but wasn't there supposed to be a relaunch of Vanguard? I'd consider coming back if there were more people around to play with.
Just not good enough to pay a subscription for, right.
It seems to be a running trend on the MMORPG.com forums. People praise Vanguard as this so called 'great' game, but no-one wants to touch it unless it is free to play.
You should check the game out again. Give the new island a try. Plenty of players on the island for grouping. Worth my $15/month. We started agroup a few weeks back and are about to leave the island. Seems everyone has had a pretty good time. Vanguard has come a long ways since the initial launch. Worth a second look.
Theres a rumour that Apple are looking to buy Sony, dunno what they would do with the game then?
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=271625
Thats when I quit.
F2P will make the game solo for sure, with everyone trying to squeeze everything they can for free. I can't play along side others that are limited. How do you know who has what ?........You don't !
i no rite! then you might have to actually talk to someone instead of just shooting off blind invites.
F2P is the way to go for this kind of game. They may even add a cash shop if you ask me (with fluff only items of course). If that's the only option to save this game I would go for it. There's no further development in the works so having people pay to play is a bit of a rip-off.