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Wimson

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Maybe...

I have a for some small, for some big problem. I'm done with playing Guild Wars, so I want another game. I'm looking for it still, and I think of playing Vanguard. The big worlds, mounts, ships, houses really seam to charm me. Do you guys, who play the game, have some ups and downs to note for me?

03/14/07 03:11

lani

GameAmp Staff
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RE: Maybe...

Well lets see.
You're a Guild Wars player. Have you played any MMOG's as well?
Guild Wars is a bit different from the main-stay in several ways. The concept of missions and a fully instanced world are a bit uncommon. So is the complete freedom to reinvent your character or toon every week or so to suit the Build-of-the-week.

So Vanguard will be a bit more demanding in some ways. You also will quickly realize that this is not a game where you rush through the levels, then concentrate on end-game material. GW, and especially the latter installments are 80% end-game content. With Vanguard that's more like 20% I think. Haven't reached it yet :-)

Good points about Vanguard; really, really a lot to do. The adventure sphere, which roughly equates to GW's PvE sphere is full of things to explore, see and kill. Then there are still more things to do. Harvesting, something GW doesn't have at all. Getting raw materials in the world for the purpose of the other activity, namely Crafting. That's making armor, weapons and stuff. Up to houses, inns and even boats :-)

Finally, and this sphere is so far unique to Vanguard, there's diplomacy. At core this is a card game you play with tons of NPC's in the game. It's fun, it's more laid-back than adventuring, gets you money and eventually civil benefits. Bonuses to say crafting or something else to anyone in the area.

Vanguard combines some very classic ideas with totally new ones to create a world that feels fresh and classic at the same time.

Downs:
They did release a game that isn't 100% finished yet and a lot of people gripe about that. Despite the fact this was clearly stated by Sigil and Sony. Still, in the entire history of MMOG's there was only one smooth launch of a game, that was Guild Wars. There was also but one game that was relatively bug free (thanks to 10 times the development budget of any other MMOG) and that's WOW. WOW did suffer through about two months of having to wait 20 to 30 minutes before you could actually log in. Something people forget :-)

So, it's a fun game with still a few rough edges that are being worked on.

Well, that's about it.
Oh:
- Vanguard does ask more of your PC than Guild Wars does.
- Vanguard has a monthly fee.
- The community in VG is generally more 'mature' than in GW. - Where in GW you'd get called a noob every three minutes, here I've yet to see it in chat.

MMORPG (Roleplaying): Mostly Men Online Role-Playing Girls
MMORPG (Acheivement): Miserable Malcontents Online Rehashing Past Glories
MMORPG (PvP): Macho Men Obviously Really Prefer Griefing
MMORPG (itemization): Misers May Obfuscate Recently Purchased Gold
MMORPG (Social): Virtual Worlds with Virtual Wealth and achievements, but with Real People with Real Feelings.

03/14/07 05:44

Phedre_D

GameAmp Staff
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Joined: 05/09/2005
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RE: Maybe...

Hi Wimson, Welcome to Vanguard section of GameAmp. Of course lani managed to sum it up quite perfectly. But let me add a little bit more.

Personally I really love this game! I played quite a number of MMORPGs and I think it is the best so far. But that is of course very personal. So why do I like it so much?

+ There is an enormous world to explore. I love exploring and running around aimlessly to just watch the world and still I have only seen maybe 25%.

+ There is an seemingly endless flow of quests that all have a story behind them. They are not 'kill 20 rats for 1 silver' kind of events.

+ You can do a lot of stuff solo. But at the same time there is a lot of stuff you need a team for as well. Whatever I am in the mood for, the game provides.

+ The crafting, diplomacy and harvesting professions are each a pleasure to develop. At least to me, xp is just one of the aspects. Not necessary the most important.

+ The community is pretty good. I haven't had the need to /ignore anybody yet.

Now for a few things why you might not like:

- Your character does look as sexy as in GW. You will have to do with the armor you find.

- Compared to GW and WoW I think the character progress is slow. Crafting is even more time consuming. Don't expect to make houses, boats or anything useful anytime soon.

- It has high demands on your hardware. Check this list.

- There are goblins and wood elves.

***FEELS KINDA NAKED WITHOUT A SIGGIE***

03/14/07 06:10

lani

GameAmp Staff
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Joined: 09/08/2005
Credibility: 28 pts

RE: Maybe...

QUOTE

+ There is an seemingly endless flow of quests that all have a story behind them. They are not 'kill 20 rats for 1 silver' kind of events.

I have to disagree on this score. While there are an incredible amount of story-driven Quests, for a game htat was touted not to have the "Kill x amount of critter , then return for me" type of quest i seem to be running into those a lot. :-)
The good thing is, you don't have to do these if you don't want to, just as you don't have to read the story behind most quests if you don't want to.

QUOTE

- Your character does not look as sexy as in GW. You will have to do with the armor you find.

I concur. Where GW went for "anatomically pleasing" and WOW went for "anatomically cartoonish", Vanguard aims for more realistic shape and form, kinda like Elder Scrolls Oblivion in that regard. I do believe that more customization options of both anatomy and dress are pending :-)

QUOTE

- There are goblins and wood elves.

And don't forget, scary fox-demon girls as well. :-)

Final note on the community. It's ok, not great.
Meaning, I've seen more helpful ones in games like CoX and EQ-II. It is a step up from both GW and WOW in my opinion though.

03/14/07 07:40

blackphoenix

Posts: 123
Joined: 09/23/2005
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RE: Maybe...

I agree with most everything. It's a great game and well worth playing.

*uses Jedi mind trick*

This is the game you are looking for. You will go out and buy it now. Move along.

03/14/07 08:10

Rzariz

Posts: 1
Joined: 04/01/2008
Credibility: 0 pts

RE: Maybe...

QUOTE

There is an seemingly endless flow of quests that all have a story behind them. They are not 'kill 20 rats for 1 silver' kind of events.

Lol. Have you been to Bernaid Hills lately?

04/02/08 15:31

Rzariz

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Joined: 04/01/2008
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RE: Maybe...

Hi all. I am new here so take it easy on me.

I must agree with the responders to this post on several levels.
The community is EONS more mature than WoW could ever imagine. Albeit the pop is a bit smaller, you have the luxury of not having thousands, dare I say MILLIONS, of snotty teenager Night Elves running around naked screaming noob, noob, noob. Ahh, VG is so peaceful. You can literally play for hours in some areas and not see a single person.

I play on Xeth and guilded in TASC. I met these guys as soon as I started playing VG and have been good friends since. There is not a day that goes by that I do not grow more and more fond of my guildies and how they help EVERYONE not just the guild. This tends to span the entire gameing community for the most part.

cons.
The game can be very taxing to computer resources. However, you can check out places like Tweaks for Vanguard
and ini fixing
to name a couple for tips and help on modifying your vgclient.ini file that is a wonderland of nerve wracking settings in an ugle text file. Always be sure to create a backup of this.

UI mods are not quite as simple to use as in WoW. But, they are more stable.

And more:
In WoW, i leveled to 70 in weeks.
In VB, I am not even 50 (max level) after 2 months. Even with double xp potions (vet rewards) and 90k xp a kill solo kills with my Dread Knight (demi-godlike-orc named Rzariz. Look me up sometime. :)) I have a long way to go, even at 46! But, I like it.

Sooo many classes and races to choose from.

Not PVP oriented. PVP gamers should stay away from VG. Atleast until they make it balanced. This is NOT a PVP game.

I could go on and on, but I'm at work and got a little more to do here.

Hope this helps.

04/02/08 15:43

Phedre_D

GameAmp Staff
Posts: 433
Joined: 05/09/2005
Credibility: 26 pts

RE: Maybe...

Welcome to GameAmp, Rzariz! Great to hear from another enthusiastic Vanguard player. I really enjoyed my time in Telon. Unfortunately for me our guild started off great as a buzzing light RP guild, but slowly disintegrated into a l33t and drama choir. So I had to leave the wide open world for a while for life in the City (of Villains). But my urges to return are growing stronger and stronger.

***FEELS KINDA NAKED WITHOUT A SIGGIE***

04/03/08 03:36

Rzariz

Posts: 1
Joined: 04/01/2008
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RE: Maybe...

QUOTE

Thank you.

well, post GU4 patch, the game really is getting better and better. I am almsot 50 now and found a great guild and a great community that I can't stay away from.
If anyone makes it to Xeth. Look up TASC or myself. Rzariz.

Hope to see someone there.

04/04/08 00:30

Rzariz

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Joined: 04/01/2008
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RE: Maybe...

QUOTE

04/04/08 00:30

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