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Working on a new Intro to the Game
Aradune
Sigil Games CEOMember RarePosts: 294
Let us know what you think! 
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Hello Everyone!
- Been having fun in WoW or another MMOG, but looking for something new, something deeper?
- Are you an old school MMOG player looking for a game that will wrap yesterdays magic into a next-gen package?
- Might you be new to massively multiplayer gaming (or online interactive entertainment as its beginning to be called) and looking for the game that will be right for you?
If any of these descriptions sound like you, Id like to cordially invite you to check out the next big massively multiplayer game coming your way the first quarter of 2007
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
Many MMOG players may already know about Vanguard and are looking forward to launch, or the opportunity to play in beta. Many of these people, especially long time gamers, are already active in our community and avidly looking forward to the game. These folks already know what they want out of Vanguard, and they believe that we at Sigil will deliver.
But there are some people who dont realize that Vanguard may be the perfect game for them. Theyre the people who are enjoying one of the current MMOs, but are ready for something deeper and more challenging. Or theyre folks whove heard of Vanguard but are misinformed about the game due to some of the rumors floating around. If either one of those circumstances is the case, I want to take the time to introduce you to Vanguard, and provide some resources for accurate information. Weve made an effort to get the word out about Vanguard, whether through interacting with people on message boards, or releasing series of screenshots and in-game videos, or doing interviews for print and Web publications. Now Id like to invite you to check out this information. Of course we cant make a game thats all things to all players (and really, whod want to), but it might surprise you to learn that Vanguard could be the game for someone like you.
And neither do we want to make a game thats a copy or clone of a popular game thats already out there--players want choices, and meaningful ones at that. And now we want to help you make an informed choice about what massively multiplayer game youll be spending your time playing early next year, because how you spend your time is important, especially in a virtual world. Youre not just spending time, youre investing time, both in your characters and in the relationships you form in-game. Some people may not understand online interactive entertainment and still think of MMOGs as just games, but while those guys play catch-up, we know theyre really so much more: theyre online communities, and these people we game with are real whether they live across the street or in another country. And not only are they real, theyre our friends. These games, the good ones anyway, arent just games, theyre homes.
So no matter who you are, we want to reach out to you and pique your interest in Vanguard because we are confident it's going to change the face of massively multiplayer online gaming next year, and the year after that, and
well, you get the picture--were in this for the long haul. Our aim, quite simply, is to offer an alternative to an online gaming genre that is dominated by a few very large and quite excellent games right now (Final Fantasy XI and World of Warcraft come to mind). Why? Because life is about choices, and thats especially true when it comes to entertainment.
And Vanguard itself is about choices, too. Its about freedom of choice. It contains content and quests and adventures for all sorts of people: casual players, core players, and even those who spend a lot of time in these games raiding in large groups. We're all about making a world that is inclusive, not exclusive. Vanguard offers a freedom that players have never before experienced--you have a wide variety of races and classes to choose from, unparalleled capability to customize your character, and multiple ways of advancing your character, be it through traditional adventuring, or an exciting system of harvesting and crafting, or a brand new spin on gameplay called diplomacy, where you use your wits and not your sword to decide the outcome of events and make your mark on the world.
And on top of all of this, the world itself is so immersive its mind-blowing. Telon, the world in which Vanguard takes place, awaits all sorts of people who want to be part of a living, breathing, virtual environment, in which you can own your own house, ride or sail a ship anywhere as far as you can see, and even one day fly through the clouds on the back of a dragon, a winged horse, or any number of mythical creatures to the destination of your choice. There are virtually no limitations in Vanguard--you get what you put into it and so much more. The world of Telon takes the massive in MMOG and cranks it up to eleven. But it's not just big for the sake of being big; it's full of variety and laid out in a seamless environment where if you can see an interesting location miles away in the distance--a dungeon or a castle, or really anything interesting at all--you can always get there. Exploration has been missing in some games as of late, but travel in Vanguard has meaning.
But we didnt stop there either; we expanded upon the traditional high fantasy we all love and included not just one continent with familiar Western European, Tolkien-esque and Arthurian settings, but also another continent that draws from the tales of the Arabian Nights, full of pyramids, hanging gardens, and hidden jungles filled with exotic intrigue...virtually the entirety of Persian, Egyptian, and other middle eastern mythology. And then we went nuts and didn't stop there either; theres a third continent, this time with an Oriental twist, which forms a vast archipelago of islands. Picture yourself as a thief or a ninja or a merchant or pirate, sailing from one isle to the next, discovering new lands and even lost empires swallowed whole long ago by the sea.
I've given you but a taste of whats in store for you the first quarter of 2007, but I promise you there's *so* much more...far, far too much to cover here. Id have to write thousands of pages of history and lore and background and settings. Id have to design detailed game mechanics and systems that build upon every bit of our experience making these games and then goes even farther into the next generation of online gaming. Ah, but wait! Our team of over 100 people have already done just that and built all of it into this game, and theyve been pouring their hearts and souls into it for over four years (not to mention those who worked on games like EverQuest, who have been dreaming about a virtual world like this for over a decade)! In fact, weve planned so much that youre not only going to have all of this to experience soon, but after the game launches we have both live and expansion teams ready to add new content to the game; content that has, to a great degree, already been planned out so we know what Vanguard will look like and offer not just in 2007, but for more than seven years to come.
So how do you find out more? The heck with design documents and quest scripts and all of the art and data that makes an MMOG tick thats what we work with in-house at Sigil. Instead, check out our web sites and other resources, with more and more information being revealed virtually every day. Head to www.joinvanguard.com and find out more about the game as well as www.vanguardsoh.com where there are movies, screenshots, a detailed FAQ to answer your many questions about the game, and a very active message board community with well over 100,000 members. Find out what opportunities there will be to get into beta at some point. Read what people are saying about the game. Check out the screenshots and the videos. And dont just read the boards, participate and ask us questions. Yeah, we developers are really there, with many of us using one screen to work on the game and another to interact with YOU to make sure were making the game YOU want to play.
So what are you waiting for?
-Brad McQuaid
Chairman & CEO, Sigil Games Online
Executive Producer, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
Original Producer & Co-Designer, EverQuest
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Brad McQuaid
CCO, Visionary Realms, Inc.
www.pantheonmmo.com
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Comments
nice, might i suggest posting this in the general forums as well? you will probably reach alot more gamers that are not already familiar with vanguard yet.
Sounds good and it should pull in many with the exception of the most sceptical but ....
IS IT TRUE?
If it is, then you have nothing to worry about. It should draw and keep many.
I have questions, though.
Brad, can you explain a little how it is an immersive, inclusive, interactive virtual world?
I mean, I think of a virtual world as one that exist and operates it's NPC's day to day lives whether my avatar (or any PC) is there or not. Is that what you mean? Or is it just static and you mean as soon as my (or another) PC enters the area the world appears to be virtual?
I have seen the ingame housing videa and if what we can do in homes can be accomplished anywhere out of homes, then the interactive part should be pretty accurate.
From what I've read and seen, it appears to be inclusive. At least to some degree. Hard to tell from the outside but, it seems to be.
And immersive is highly subjective so I feel it can and will be to many, so that part could be accurate, as well.
Aradune/Brad, I loved the post and definately appreciate the whole 'Developers Involved With Community' idea, but I don't think it was such a wise move to name off multiple games in a....well, less-than-light viewpoint. Other than that awesome post...except for the date going from Q4 2006 to Q1 2007.
Very nice intro, looking even more forward to it now than I did before!
Especially liked the: "These games, the good ones anyway, arent just games, theyre homes." Nice touch and so very true.
Dear Brad
Thank you for this awesome post, I was reading over this and became even more excited about Vanguard, It is fantastic the amount of time the devs are spending with the community, tons of screenshots information ! it is truly great. I have already sent this page on to many friends, including my 67 year old mother, who has read all the lore and visited the Vanguard page and expressed an interest in VG. I am very impressed with the fact you and your team have planned ahead for so many expansions 7 years worth.!!!
Great work Sigil !
-Manaia
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
you think wow is "deep"? that is quite funny, yes i play wow and have since release and wow is defiantly not a in-depth mmorpg. read about all the options vanguard has compared to wow.....the crafting, boats, player housing, 3 spheres, character customization, the amount of items in the game blows wow out of the water, just to name a few.
if there is one thing i can say with full confidence that vanguard will have over wow it is "depth" and I'm not really sure what had lead you to believe that wow is an in-depth mmorpg by any stretch of the imagination.
wow is a catchy and fun game, it is easy for a new player that has never played a mmorpg to pick up and play....and it has a huge fan base....but in-depth? LOL i really have to strongly disagree with that.
To anyone wondering about the depth of Vanguard just head over to the official website and see for yourselves. Read the FAQ ((lol it will take you a while)) read the forums and watch the videos there
I think comparing Vanguard with WoW is like comparing water and beer lol. But depth yes, Vanguard certainly has that
A sales pitch is a sales pitch.
You're still the guy who, on the FOH forums, once expressed the opinion that the role of non-raiders in mmorpgs is to be the have-not peasants who stand around with nothing to do except admire the glorious raiders with worshipfull admiration. Because, said you, it's no fun for raiders to get the uber loot if there aren't any peasants to show off in front of.
Ok, those weren't your exact words but that was the general sentiment. I'm sure everyone who reads these boards knows the comments I'm refering to.
But my opinion doesn't really matter much anymore because I'm a lost cause as far as Vanguard is concerned. It would take something pretty major to turn my opinion around.
As far as sales pitches go I'd say this latest was pretty standard. Talk a lot without saying much. Hype it up with lots of positive sounding adjectives but don't give any real details.
Sorry Brad, I'm sure you're a decent enough guy in real life but from what I've read you seem to have a blind spot when it comes to all but one type of gamers. Despite my rather caustic paraphrasing I think that you genuinly believe that non-raiders are inspired by the activities of the big raiding guilds. I think you genuinly believe that we all secretly harbor the goal of getting into the raiding game and if you build your game around that premise it will all work out for the best.
The thing you seem to miss is that at this point most of us have been there already. And (I think but can't prove) the majority of us didn't enjoy it and don't want to go through it again.
The fact is Vanguard has the substance to back it up
Shame you feel that way, you should give Vanguard a chance or at least try it when it is released
I am glad you have amused yourself misquoting me.
I don't think any of these mmos are "deep." Quantum physics is deep. Aristotle is deep. The human genome is deep. Killing cartoon monsters with a cartoon sword is not, and never will be, "deep."
Brad was talking minute gradiations within a limited context, I assume, but I still challenge the contention that Vanguard is any "deeper" than WoW. I believe people are confusing the time it takes to advance, the speed with which items are obtained, and the quality of those items based on playstyles, with complexity. They are not the same thing. If they are, Lineage II is "deeper" than Vanguard simply because it is a bigger grind (with the added "deepness" of having other players kick your arse while you try to advance lol).
Sorry. I'm just not buying into the "play Vanguard if you are smarter" spin.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
Brad, if your purpose is to preach to the converted then its a job well done.
If its target is noobs from world of warcraft then it is simply too long. You cant expect to hook people with an essay. A list of features with brief descriptions and links to more info would be more appropriate. But thats based on my assumption that your trying reaching out to the unconverted.
How aobut this opener Lone Wolf McQuaid......
Are you looking for a new and exciting MMORPG that will eventually be taken over by SOE and ruined? Have we got an game for you!
and pull numbers even remotely close to WoW, you're going to need to
toss in a bunch of pictures, and lists. Most of them are so impatient
that a paragraph of more than 3 sentences is usually skipped over.
Wonderful introduction though, I honestly can't wait for the release,
and I'm very glad to see that you're out here in the community asking
opinions on things and not being some unreachable figure. Hopefully
your staff does the same as you once the game actually comes out, and
we'll end up with quite a few GM run events.
Cheers.
Then why use a class based system?
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"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
I don't think any of these mmos are "deep." Quantum physics is deep. Aristotle is deep. The human genome is deep. Killing cartoon monsters with a cartoon sword is not, and never will be, "deep."
Brad was talking minute gradiations within a limited context, I assume, but I still challenge the contention that Vanguard is any "deeper" than WoW. I believe people are confusing the time it takes to advance, the speed with which items are obtained, and the quality of those items based on playstyles, with complexity. They are not the same thing. If they are, Lineage II is "deeper" than Vanguard simply because it is a bigger grind (with the added "deepness" of having other players kick your arse while you try to advance lol).
Sorry. I'm just not buying into the "play Vanguard if you are smarter" spin.
haha nice recovery
well your right, i was assuming that you meant wow was more in depth because you questioned him saying that vanguard will be deeper. but i trust you now know the context when he said it was "deeper", sure you can argue that no mmog is "deep" like how philosophy is deep for example.
but i think you knew exactly what he was talking about, he was talking about vanguard being "in-depth".
i already explained in my original reply to you why vanguard and most other games are more in-depth than wow, i don't know how to explain it any better than what i already did.
if you disagree with me, fine...by all means give me some examples to back up your opinion....i am all ears.
EIther way I am looking forward to a great game, and thank you Brad for taking the time out to write out post this here.
As for Amathe saying about "Depth" He/she had some relevant points there,very interesting, even if he/she did know what the other poster meant lol :P. I appreciate the fact that Quantum Physics are deep, hrm something I barely can handle reading, I fear my walnut size brain may not cope. But regardless Vanguard will have more depth to it than WoW, no question about it
Amathe just curious, are you going to play Vanguard?
I might have missed it, but I didn't see ROLEPLAY mentioned at all.
why is that?
Not until a few years after launch. After Brad sells it (which he will), and after the market reaction has caused significant changes (which it will), then I might consider it. That is, unless SOE puts in the SOE exchange. Then I will never, ever touch it.
Recall that D&D Online harped on group play and pretty much forced everyone to group. They have less than 70,000 subscribers. Now you can see their ads on this site and in print touting "now with lots more solo play!" Turbine is BEGGING the soloers to come back after taking a big crap on them. The same thing happened in EQ2. For over a year after launch they were scrambling to put in more solo content and begging the soloers to come back. Their subscription numbers suck too. Whoever ends up owning Vanguard will regret dissing the soloers and casuals. Mark my words.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests