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Weather and a sunset and stars ............
MMOdad72
Member Posts: 93
Good god , last night after for some reason neither Rift nor TSW really grabbing me again these past couple weeks , and SWTOR , lets just say bleh , I downloaded and fired up Vanguard.
Wasn't even on my radar to go back to it but saw a post on here mentioning it.
Logged in , and there were far off clouds of a weather system , and actual stars and a sunrise to soon come.
I've played so many on rails , "modern" mmo's that can't manage time changing in game even , I forgot what it was like to log into an actual virtual world that felt like world.
It's gots its bugs and issues of course , but it was the first time in a long time it felt like old EQ again , and think its going to be well worth it to explore and run around leveling a few months in it at least. Hopefully more.
Just was amusing how things I took for granted in 1999 in EQ , (night/day cycle and gasp , rain/snow etc weather of some sort) have become something massive budget new mmo's cant even manage , but VG has.
Comments
Honestly from the research I've done on the forums so far you can solo to 55 , some classes they say easier than others , but apparently they've added solo content/abillity to go along with the group heavy bit.
You can solo to the cap.
The game is however group based and almost all of the good stuff comes from group play. Early on it is almost all solo but in the mid teens group based content becomes more common. There is a good solo line in the 20's but afer that you are basically hitting content areas, clearing the solo quests then moving onto the next content area without ever really getting into the deeper aspects of each content area.
On the other hand the Diplo and Crafting systems can keep you busy for quite some time. I have not gotten really far in Diplo but crafting becomes a bit of a grind in the 40's due to a lack of quests but is it still the best crafting system in any game I have played.
<div><span style="width:120px; height:120px;float:left;overflow: hidden;"><a href="http://www.zowned.com/Opef"><img src="http://www.zowned.com/file/pic/user/Opef_120.jpg"; style="border: 0pt none ; margin: 10px 10px 10px 10px; width: 120px; height: 120px;"></a></span></div>
Sure you can , i did plenty of soloing with my Ranger and hes 53 , of course i grouped when ever i could but always found ample content to fill in with , that was fun and rewarding ,, The folks who cry they cant solo are just lazy players who expect everything just handed to them like Wow , ToR ,GW2 ...etc ...
Soloing to 55 will take you months, soloing in Vanguard is not like soloing in GW2, Rift or WOW. Vanguard is a vast game and you will miss alot of prime content, infact you will come unstuck very quickly.
When I last played (before it was converted to free), I got a Bear Shaman to level 55 in adventuring.
Didn't miss much to be honest, lots of solo content. Bear Shamans are the 2nd best solo class (Disciples are first), and was able to take on a lot (not all, but a lot) group content and even some dungeons.
If Bear Shamans can do that...and Disciples are far better...well...
My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul
No , I wont you see , I want a game it would take months to solo to cap. Thats the point , I think borderline forced grouping is great for a community overall.
My point was it is completely possible ,as others have stated in this thread , and many on the official forums say that any class can solo to cap , so its an option when needed.
Sure grouping is faster , and thats a GOOD thing for a mmorpg.
I dont want WoW or GW2 crap anymore , I want something like Vanguard.
Awesome MMOdad you have fun , it really is a great game with soem really great classes and crafting , Diplo and exploration are top notch.. sounds like what you are looking for .. Take your time.. and look over the map well, on all the continents it shows options to explore.. And pick up quests .. Some great people in that community also so chat it up a bit and you will find a good guild with folks runnin alts also.... Have Fun,.... dang i made myself wanna resub
I'm also giving Vanguard another try. I bought the CE version at launch but the bugs and hitching was just too much for me. I returned every now and then but the population was so low it was difficult to group.
I started over and there are a good number of players on the newbie isle which is a good sign. I'm enjoying it again. VG has some rough spots but like the OP said, the sky and the immersion is top notch. I've spent the last few days on the isle even though I could port to a continent just so I can finish all the key quests and hit level 10 on all my spheres.
I've also decided to sub, most likely when I hit 20. The 500 station cash is a nice touch for subscribers.
I'm still trying a few different characters , and loving it.
Also , shockingly , there's an actual mmorpg where people chat in general chat in a friendly tone again. There's been zero , and I mean zero trolling , Chuck Norris crap , 8th grade lockerroom humor , spamming constantly etc. And if someone did it seems the community overall would put an end to it immediately.
It's quite refreshing to have both a virtual world and friendly crowd in the same game again.
/agree but no /jinx !!!
I say go for it. I've soloed two characters to upper twenties and enjoyed every minute of it. I still explore Telon with them and fully intend to "eventually" get them up to cap.
This really is one of the best games on the market.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
No, don't have lag. I do sometimes have the "crossing the line of a zone and waiting for it to load" issue.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
My guild is getting back together for Vanguard and I logged in for the first time in a long time. I was on the riverbank in south central Qalia where my house used to be. It was dark, gloomy and raining. I still had my fishing pole in my bags so I just started fishing while watching the rain come down and hit the river.
It made me remember how much more immersive Vanguard is than any other game I've ever played. Even though there are a lot more players on the server than when I left, the game definitely runs better... it seems the server side improvements are making a difference. With the renewed interest of many players and new content to go after, I think I'll be getting back into it.
Below is a picture I took of storm clouds rolling in over Renton Keep.
You can solo all the way to 55. However, soloing 51-55 slows down quite a bit. The entire journey can take a few months.
My first character grouped almost all the way to 55.
My next couple of characters soloed all the way. I did this because the quest lines are completely different for the different races and was a ton of fun.
The new development team and lead developer really look like they've got their stuff together and are working on a new area that will have raid, group and more solo content. They are also looking at uncapping the skills which would effectively allow 55s to progress more.
I haven't had any lag issues yet. But it's onl been a couple days of playing.
What some new players, or returning players need to remember, is that this game was the first 'seamless world'. But that technology is now old and you will pause when passing through 'chunk lines'. Compared to new games I think this surprises some new players and they think it's lag.
I played Rift and GW2. Very seamless, but much, much smaller with a ton of instancing to help. Vanguard is much bigger and you can truly go any where you can see. You can swim to the bottom of an ocean or climb a mountain with no invisible barriers to stop you. There is also no instancing except for APW shards. Even housing and guild halls are non-instanced.
I'm glad they did the F2P, there are a lot more people around now. There's even some competition for common quest mobs, like the Hunter's League armor questline.
I never played WoW, so I am not burned out on the "quest giver with a ! over their heads" type of play. I did play a lot of DAOC, and so "WoW clone" to me means "DAOC/EQ clone".
Excellent crafting, interesting Diplomacy, wide open virtual world, TONS of content (you could level 3 characters to 50 and almost never repeat anything), flying mounts, no instancing. It's a great game.
And, no gold spammers, great community, no l33t kiddies (at least not many), and the game is NOT in easy mode.
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2024: 47 years on the Net.
I have a bear shamam and 3 other 55s, been playing since beta, six years. Yeah you can level to 55 but you will miss prime content and some great dungeons.
I also have a disciple as well, in fact that was was first character and hardly anyone played them. You can do certain little dungeons but their are many dungeons that no class can solo if they are within your level range.
I think Vanguard is best played Duo if you don't want to group, i two boxed most of my time if i wasn't doing any major dungeons.
Okay let me puy it another way, yes you can solo to 55 and yes i like soling but Vanguard has some great dungeons. If you are intending to not group then you will miss some great content.
Vanguard has over 90 dungeons, some are small and solo friendly but some will need to be done with a group or even three of you.
Their is not a mmo on the market where you can't solo to top level.
If you really wont to take months to level then turn your xp bar off.
As for weather, i always thought this vid sums Vanguard weather up nicely.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV8WRqTaEe8
If you want to progress more slowly, then do it right: do Diplomacy, Harvesting, and Crafting as you level up.
If you kill something, skin it. Use the skins to make leather armor.
When you visit a new area, talk to the guards and NPC's for Diplomacy. Go to major cities and help contribute to the global buffs that Diplomacy gives.
Spend some time fishing, exploring. You can spend a lot of time just "living" in Telon. That is why I like it so much.
Plus, for those of us with "altitis", there are a lot of nice classes. And, as befitting an older, fully-fleshed out game, many classes have sub-lines. For example, the Shaman is a great healer, and debuffer, who also gets a pet.
But, there are 3 pets to choose from, and each one brings with it different abilities, different powers for the owner, and different playstyles.
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2024: 47 years on the Net.
Well, that's an interesting last sentence but I think that's more about your own distaste of soloing than anything else? That's just a little dig there isnt' it?
So what if he keeps his xp bar on? A slow xp crawl is still a gain?
And though I don't have a complete Vanguard experience in that I don't know how every dungeon works, I have gone through dungeons when I was much higher than the dungeon just to see it. In some cases some of those 4 dot mobs still took me to task even though I didn't get much experience (or any) in many cases.
Of course, at level cap your point will stand as some of those dungeons might just require a group and one will obviously not be able to barrel through on superior stats and levels alone.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
As a Monk or Disciple try doing the staff quest Shrine Of The Wind in Craywind Ridge solo. That staff is the staff you can get at that level but unless you group your never going to get it.
Are you telling me that you can solo that quest withing the level range?
See my point?