Vanguard: Saga of Heros

I'm really enjoying the game. The only other MMORPG I ever playes was DAoC, and breifly at that, so I can't really make comparisons. It's fun so far (still at a low level though), but very demanding on hardware. It has caused me to replace my beloved 9600 Pro with a BFG 7800 GS OC, which only barely cuts the mustard. I'm now thinking about putting together a E6600/BadAxe2/8800GTS build so I can get more out of the game environment. I'm a Dark Elf on Thunderaxe.

tys90 said:
I've got a level 10 shaman on shidreth and I like it a lot. I've spent a LOT of time with the diplomacy, but not much with the crafting. I'm also tired of easy MMOs (WOW), so this is refreshing, and the graphics are spectacular. Oddly enough, on high quality I can get low in the low 20s for FPS, but with high performance, that number only goes up to the mid 30s, so I just play on high quality all the time. There is some stuttering, but there is stuttering on high performance too, and I think some of it might be just server lag.
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I'm in the same boat, more or less. Outside of cities, with top quality selected, I get good FPS, but inside cities, no matter what settings it is hard to break 30 FPS with high performance selected. Hopefully future optimizations will help with this, as I've also done a lot of diplo stuff which keeps me in the city quite a bit.

Edited to add:
Montly fee is $14.99 if I'm not mistaken.
 
Techx said:
i'd like to know what diehard wow'ers think of this, i know its much different in gameplay and graphical style, sounds really cool from all of your descriptions and the flexibilty you have with your character. also sorry if i missed it in the thread, but whats the monthly fee on it?
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Monthly is same as WoW $14.99

If you are playing WoW now, it all depends on why you are playing. If it is for PvP then you should stay there. But if you are looking for a different experience, perhaps with more challenge and no instancing, then Vanguard would be for you. Crafting is also much more fun and advanced in Vanguard than WoW. Vanguard also has player housing and cities as well as ships etc.
 
The game is just designed really well IMO. I play with a few RL friends, and whenever i outlevel them or get tired of grinding, i just sit back, watch tv and grind crafting.. and crafting actually makes you feel like you're doing something worthwhile to set your character apart from the others as crafters are making some really nice gear that competes with quest rewards.

Overall, i played SWG and loved it pre-cu/nge, played wow but got tired, and this is certainly a game of fresh air and because it's actually a challenge, immersing gameplay, beautiful graphics, depth of strategies, versatilities of classes and overall fun factor.
 
Does anyone have a 10 day friends pass they wouldn't mind letting me use? I'd love to try this game, but i'm not sure I want to drop the cash until i spent a day or two on it.

You can IM at 'hackthegame' on aol Im. Thanks
 
I tried checking out their website to see about which servers are running non-pvp, factional pvp and totally open pvp but couldn't find much info. Any players know a good link to more info about this or possibly explain the pvp a bit?
 
silentsammy said:
I tried checking out their website to see about which servers are running non-pvp, factional pvp and totally open pvp but couldn't find much info. Any players know a good link to more info about this or possibly explain the pvp a bit?
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There are two types of PvP

1. FFA which is once you hit lvl 7 you fair game to anyone. No matter what

2. Team PvP. There is a Good (Order) and Evil(shadow) once you hit Lvl 7 you're fair game to which ever side your not on.

Hope that helps
 
lets get a vanguard hardforum player list going! btw, i loved swg:jtl pre-cu, and that is why i am here.
 
I played in Beta3, but stopped at release. The game didn't seem very solid to me. Maybe I'll try it out at a later date, but at the time, it just didn't grab my attention. I've played lots of MMOs too; WoW, FFXI, GW, SWG, RFOnline, Ragnarok Online, etc. Vanguard just didn't fit my tastes though.
 
If you guys are looking for a guild to join come on over to Varking and look up SSA or myself Morbius.
 
What's the monthly fee for this game, also how do you guys think the graphics compare to guild wars which are spectacular and easy to run ;)
 
tpfaff said:
What's the monthly fee for this game, also how do you guys think the graphics compare to guild wars which are spectacular and easy to run ;)
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The graphics are easily better than Guild Wars. Think Oblivion. (Its NOT as good as Oblivion, but it is comparable.)
 
Anyone have a guest pass they can PM me? I've been looking to get into another mmorpg in my free time. Definately looks like it's worth trying out.
 
I broke down and bought the game as well. Played it in beta and didnt think much of it, but this time around it seems pretty fun. The way I think of it... its kind of the bastard child of EQ2 and WoW. Alot of similar components from both games.

Here's my character info:

Server: Shidreth
Character: Salomon Orangge
Level: 13
Race: Goblin
Class: Necromancer

Started on 2/10/07 and I dont know anyone on the server.
 
Come to Varking, it's team PVP and it really seems to be the most civilized server out there. I played to lvl 10 on FFA-PVP before coming here - what a difference! It's not the gankfest on FFA, but you still get action when you want it. There's also no crazies here.... it's high pop, but there really are no 30+ players like other servers that have dozens already. Most are playing leisurely in the 20'ish range right now.

I'm a lvl 27 PSI here... if anyone wants to bug me, the name is Sludge.
 
I am on Flamehammer. LvL 12 Gnome Necro named Pimm Mortalis.

I'm really digging this game, as an old school Evercrack player, i havent really enjoyed any MMORPG since. This one really has me hooked I think. Graphics are phenomenal, and the gameplay has been very well thought out. I like that there are no instances, they brought back camping, which i know many ppl hate, but it really brings a new element to the game.

Soloing is fairly doable so far. Like i said previously, I am digging it. They brought back some stuff that Newer games took out because people thought they were "too hard" for the average gamer to get into, but I think it makes the gameplay better.

Corpse Runs ftw.
Spawn camping ftw.
 
graphics are awful imo.... The engine is sooooooooooo inefficient! I feel like for me its not much better (possibly even worse) than EQ1 with all the new graphical updates.

(at least on my system AMD 64 @ 2600 and 850 XTPE)
 
My complaint about the GFX engine is that it's performance is shit, and the animations are poor. I really hope they do some thing about this.
 
Does anyone have a buddypass I can use? I'd love to get into it because I simply cannot enjoy WoW anymore ... just shoot me a PM on here if possible! I'm mostly interested in the team based PvP.
 
sounds pretty awesome but personally i think im gonna wait for warhammer online and age of conan to come out; let vanguard get polished a bit and see what's best...
 
There really isnt a lot of talk about the game here except it is good.

Is the level grind hard? Worse than lineage 2 if possible?
Is character movement slow?
Are the quests fun?
Can you solo if you want or always have to group?
Are the servers packed?
Is the lag horrible?
When do you think it will be less buggy?
 
Is the level grind hard? Worse than lineage 2 if possible. There much slower then WoW, but not like L2

Is character movement slow? I think so

Are the quests fun?Fun to me can mean boring to you.But yea

Can you solo if you want or always have to group? Yes, but you will be better in a group

Are the servers packed? I always see people on my PvP server

Is the lag horrible? There is a lot of optimizing that needs to be done. There is a lot of performance issues.

When do you think it will be less buggy? 3- 6 months.
 
Is the level grind hard? The level grind is much harder than WoW. (Never played L2 for more than a couple of days.) However "grind" isn't the word I'd use for it. Some people choose to grind, others choose to just play like me.

Is character movement slow? Initially, but there are many ways to increase movement speed. For one, everyone gets a horse (for a few silvers) at level 10. There are also numerous run speed buffs, bard song, etc.

Are the quests fun? Like any MMO, there are still "kill X mobs" and etc, but there are tons of unique quests. The developers also stated they will be implementing more "epic" type quests in the months to come. I enjoy them! And remember, there are 3 spheres of the game, not just adventuring, which means there are also crafting and diplomacy quests.

Can you solo if you want or always have to group? From 1-15 the game is pretty easy to solo. Beyond that, grouping is the most efficient (and fun!) way to level and explore content. For instance at level 30, if you're trying to solo to 31, good luck. But 30-31 grouped, although long, will not be nearly as bad as it would if you solo'd it.

Are the servers packed? Not packed, but not low either. In the coming months I think they'll start to be pretty highly populated as more people buy the game, and no new servers are introduced. I never have trouble finding people to play with, if that's your concern.

Is the lag horrible? If you're smart and good at optimizing/tweaking things, you'll get fine performance. Server lag is non-existant.

When do you think it will be less buggy? Honestly, I think the BIG bugs will be ironed out within 2 weeks. Until then, why not get a headstart on the game? Its really not THAT buggy. People just encounter a bug that pisses them off, then go and complain about how buggy everything is. Its so easy to remember that one bug you encountered vs those 20 hours straight you played with no prob.
 
I'm actually having a LOT of fun playing this now.

It's so reminiscent of UO/DAOC/EQ. It's like a mesh of all of the best parts.

Lots of bugs, still.. But the developers appear to be active with the community and to genuinely care.

You need to join a guild ASAP. This helped me immensely.
 
i've been interested in this game for a bit now. I play wow but I dislike it, I love DDO but the game lacks players. I would like to try this game but would like a trial before I buy. So if any of you got an trail invite hit me up hint hint ;)
 
Anybody got an extra trial key? I'd like to try vanguard before I buy it. Pm me, thx.
 
how is the crafting system compared to eq2? i heard something that is was more complicated like eq2 had theirs before they reqorked it.

also, if anyone has a 10 day trial key they wouldn't mind sending me please do ;)
 
i just bought it because i read through this whole thread and you all said it was pretty cool, plus i am getting a little bored with WoW. if it sucks you all are in big trouble.

j/k. although by the looks of it, the digital download should be done transferring to my computer in about a month - maybe enough time for them to "FIX THE GLITCH"es
 
well i installed the game tonight. character creation was fun. i played for about an hour. the game hard locked my machine twice when i tried to change into wolf form (wood elf). i had to press the reset button. then while roaming around the wood elf city (i forgot the name Caeil'Bin or something) i lost connection to the World server twice and got returned to the menu No, nothing happened to my internet connection. the gameplay is choppy and netcode seems really bad with real players popping around the screen stuck in "mid-walk" animation. the music is good while it is playing but just chops off so the next sound/music file can start playing.

oh also, the cab files i downloaded direct from sony were corrupt. there is a FAQ about this on sony's page, which is nearly impossible to navigate.

so far of the 5 minutes i was able to play, the game is pretty damn bad. my computer isn't THAT crappy and i have 8MB cable so it's not that. the game just seems unfinished.

i will give it another shot tomorrow but i am not hopeful.
 
i havnt had the issues of the above poster.. atleast not nearly as bad.

the game does have some memory leaks which will cause the game to crash usually after 5hours of gameplay.

graphics wise its way better than WoW i havnt played EQ2 is ages so i cant really compare to that.

so far its the best MMO ive played. despite the annoying bugs. which will be fixed. if you dont like annoying bugs i suggest you wait a month or 2 before getting it. but if you want to play then by all means do. its a great game.

atm i have a lvl 26 monk, lvl 13 warrior, lvl 15 sorc, lvl 11 paladin, lvl 9 ranger on Woefeather.
 
Actually the memory leaks were "fixed" with the last patch. I can play for hours and hours on end with zero issues most of the time. They're still tweaking, optimizing everything.


In outdoor areas I average between 50 to 70 fps, In cities unfortunately my fps can drop to the low 20's. I love this game. I played Everquest for 3.5 years, Dark Ages of Camelot for 2.5 years. City of Heroes for 4 months and Everquest 2 for 2 weeks and World of Warcraft for a little over 2 years. As far as MMO releases go the most stable I've experienced was a toss up between City of Heroes and World of Warcraft with Vaguard coming up a close third.


For those that say the games graphics are not good, either you don't have powerful enough Video or need your eyes examined. On my 8800 GTS with my 22 " Westy Widescreen panel the game is jaw dropping gorgeous :eek:

Vanguard just keeps getting better and better .:D
 
I can play with everything cranked up... but the game constantly forgets my AA settings.. And it can be choppy just crazy HDD thrashing at key points. I honestly think they are border areas between servers when the code is being shared between the two. It just KILLS my poor box. OTher than that fun game generally.

And yes the character animations SUCH. And they need variety. For the high end engine everything feels plastic...

I am reminded of playing with my GI joes with these characters.

The characters in WOW feel far more alive. They have real character to them.

To date the characters in Vanguard feel... like toys and I feel much more disconnected from them.

I will try another marathon session tonight to see if it is better. If not I may cancel it as well as my wow account. I just don't have the inspiration to dig in that much.

Wow so far has held me for the longest of any MMO.
 
Grimlaking said:
I can play with everything cranked up... but the game constantly forgets my AA settings.. And it can be choppy just crazy HDD thrashing at key points. I honestly think they are border areas between servers when the code is being shared between the two. It just KILLS my poor box. OTher than that fun game generally.

And yes the character animations SUCH. And they need variety. For the high end engine everything feels plastic...

I am reminded of playing with my GI joes with these characters.

The characters in WOW feel far more alive. They have real character to them.

To date the characters in Vanguard feel... like toys and I feel much more disconnected from them.

I will try another marathon session tonight to see if it is better. If not I may cancel it as well as my wow account. I just don't have the inspiration to dig in that much.

Wow so far has held me for the longest of any MMO.
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Some people prefer the cartoony characters over the more realistic characters. :) It's no insult or anything, just true. I have friends who play WoW and they swear the Vanguard models are just look EQ2 models - plastic barbies. I, however see them as being very fluid and miles above other character models from other MMOs. I can't think of an MMO with character models this realistic. Again, it's just down to personal opinion.

Also, anti-aliasing hasn't been put in yet. At the end of beta, they said it would be in after release, but wouldn't exactly be the highest on the list. Obviously things like memory leaks come first.

I wouldn't recommend "marathon" sessions either. Why not pace yourself, create some alts, explore the world, that kind of thing?

----

Vanguard isn't for the average MMOer (read: WoW). Brad McQuaid, CEO of Sigil said that Vanguard was created for a niche group of gamers. The kind of gamers who are masochistic in a sense.. who love corpse runs, large worlds with insane travel times, and elements that aren't handed to you on a silver platter like other games. Also, I wouldn't recommend trying to solo: this is not a solo game, it is a community game - a game best to group in.
 
I just started a Rouge on Varking. Got to level 6 and decided to take a break. I really like what I see so far. Seems to be a mix of SWG and WoW. I LOVED playing SWG back in the day so that is very welcome. I'm really interested in seeing how the rest of the game is played past the newbie levels.
 
The game isn't horrible, but it also doesn't really bring anything new to the table from what I could see.

The interface is nothing special, the graphics are nothing spectacular, and the gameplay got tedious pretty fast.

Upsides:
1) Diplomacy is rather well done, but there is no PVP diplomacy from what I understand?
2) The group harvesting is also a nice touch, it puts a reason behind harvesting with other people.
3) The characters move quickly, and mounts are available early in the game, making the travel distances not a major issue.

Downsides:
1) The game is in an early-beta state. The client is awful. It runs poorly, and is highly unstable. The developers have been blaming memory leaks on the user's hardware.
2) The servers currently take forever to start. Often after a "restart" it takes upwards of 30 minutes to actually be able to log back in.
3) Diplomacy: Every conversation I had in Martok was the exact same set of 3-4, despite the fact that I spoke with a half-dozen NPCs over a week's time. Does this change at higher levels or is diplomacy really just a card game with 5 cards?
4) Leveling Curve: More of a personal preference, but I like the WoW-style leveling curve where all the progression takes place at level 60, everything before that is your training in your class.
5) Crafting: Don't get me wrong, the crafting is really well done in some ways. BUT. When I have to spend 60 seconds clicking a series of buttons (~20 clicks) to smelt an ore, and I need to smelt upwards of 50, it's an issue. I know you get 3/5 ore options after a while, but it was still tedious as hell.


The overall problem with Vanguard as I see it is that the developers are trying to live out their Everquest nostalgia while passing the game off as a "third generation" MMO, which it definitely is not. They seem to ignore the fact that realism is often not enjoyable in gameplay. If we wanted realism we have... well... real life.

If you enjoyed Everquest you very well may enjoy Vanguard. If you're more of a fan of the WoW style, Vanguard will likely be about as much fun as being kicked in the teeth.
 
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