The circle is now complete! Sony acquires rights from Sigil to sell,market, host, etc Vanguard Saga of Heroes!

http://www.sigilgames.com/sonypressrelease.html

MS: Make VG more like WoW.
Brad: No.
MS: WTS VG PST.

OMG OMG OMG does this mean I can play everuqest 2 and Vanguard with that all acess pass??!?

That is really surprising.

How depressing...

Another Everquest 2/Everquest clone, coming right up.

It's amazing how no one seems to read the part where Sigil has full vision control of the game still, SOE isnt going to have any say how the game plays out, if the game sucks its going to be because of Sigil not SOE. SOE is just making a extra buck by DISTRIBUTING the game and maintaining the servers, jesus SIGIL is even in control of customer service for the game.

Quote:
Originally Posted by RedFeather1975
“As the development process is ongoing and constantly shifting, it became clear that MGS and Sigil had varying visions and direction for the title’s development,” said Brad McQuaid, CEO of Sigil Games Online. “In the best interest of Vanguard, it was decided that we would buy back the publishing rights from Microsoft.”

As co-publisher of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, Sigil assumes greater control of marketing and PR, while maintaining responsibility for game development, community relations, media relations, customer support, and quality assurance. Under the terms of the agreement, SOE will provide distribution, marketing, hosting and back-end support -- including billing and technical support -- for the game. Additionally, SOE is tentatively planning on adding Vanguard, upon its release,to SOE’s Station Access™ subscription plan. Station Access allows players to enjoy all of SOE’s MMO titles for one low monthly price.


So.....
Sigil retains their Vision on what Vanguard will be.
SOE is helping to distribute and market the title.

Unless you really hate SOE's distribution and marketing capabilites and despise Sigil's vision of what Vanguard should be, why the heck get upset over this?!?

I'm guessing people don't read the whole first post?


Well said:

Sigil retains their Vision on what Vanguard will be.
SOE is helping to distribute and market the title.

These are the key points:

1. We found an incredible opportunity: the opportunity to purchase the publishing rights from Microsoft and become our own publisher.

2. We now own both the IP (the intellectual property) of Vanguard and the publishing rights.

3. This gives us more control and autonomy than we have ever had before. We are no longer just a developer.

4. Microsoft was TOTALLY cool with this. They are still very happy about Vanguard and looking forward to it bolstering their Windows platform. Vanguard will be an XP game, but also a Vista game, offering both 32 bit and 64 bit clients. We will continue to work closely with them and with Vista's focus on entertainment/games/graphics, as well as online, Vanguard is key.

5. SOE was TOTALLY cool with this. They are excited to have the people who designed and worked on the original EQ and EQ expansions provide a game for them. They need a game like Vanguard next year -- it gives them a variety of games from which players can choose from, or players can just play Vanguard.

6. We continue to have total control over the game's design, how it is marketed, the community, customer service -- everything that is important to us and I think important to all of you.

7. Things like running game servers, getting ads (that we design and/or approve) into magazines, getting boxes into stores, etc., all of which SOE is great at doing, they can do while we focus on finishing up the game and on beta.

8. This also gives us more time to launch the game when it is truly ready.

9. edit: Also, Vanguard will *NOT* be part of SOE's 'buy and sell items for real world money'. Our hard line position against this for a game like Vanguard remains as strong as ever.

If there are any other concerns or questions about this -- that's what I'm here for. I know this is a big change and it takes a moment to wrap one's head around it, but bottom line is that it's the best thing for Vanguard, for Sigil, and for you, our future players.
__________________
Brad McQuaid (http://www.sigilgames.com/team/bradmcquaid.html)
CEO, Sigil Games Online, Inc. (http://www.sigilgames.com/)
Exec. Producer, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes (http://www.vanguardsoh.com/). (http://www.gucomics.com/archives/view.php?cdate=20050620)

WoW if they add this to Station Pass no wonder it went up. Not to mention the DC comics MMO coming out. Hrrmmm.

thats what Im saying Fildien.. people are bitching about 25 bucks a month, im thinking of how many games im gonna be able to play for only 25 bucks!

If SOE is now going to be handling customer support, I wonder what will happen to Brioma and other ex-EQ GMs who left to join Sigil.

Yeah, but I hardly have time to play one game, let alone a stable of them, so that $25 USD per month for me is a total waste.

I swore that SOE would never get another dollar of my money, and this just makes it all the easier to decide on Age of Conan.

If SOE is now going to be handling customer support, I wonder what will happen to Brioma and other ex-EQ GMs who left to join Sigil.

I'd bet thats phone and web based, not in-game.

I was thinking about this further while watching TV and eating breakfast this morning and you know what?

This is just like the WWE!

You know, those cheesy wrestling/soap opera story lines where friends become enemies, work against each other, and then, "when no one expects it", they start hugging and slapping each others asses in the ring.

Damn you Brad McQuaid, I thought you were better than this! :(

The only things that SOE is going to get there grubby hands on is distribution marketing billing and TECHNICAL Support, Technical support I mean if the game wont install on your computer or your cd is scratched. Everything else is all on Sigil's shoulders, In game GM's are 100 percent Sigil.

This is coming from S-O-N-Y-!

Sigil, for the last two years, villanized SOE, convincing people that if they wanted to get away from SOE and re-live the magic and wonder that was EQ back in the day (without all the bad crap), then Vanguard was going to be it.

Now they are working with Sony. Sure it might only be the backbone bit (I dunno about you, but this DEFINATELY had me concerned), for now anyway. EQ1 used to be Verant before they were bought out by SOE. What's to say that can't happen again? What happens then?

Even just associating with SOE, I think Vanguard just cut their subscription pre-orders in half. The VSoH forums are in turmoil over this, with Admins actually locking threads (in good ol'fashioned EQ style I might add!).

People are seriously pissed about this, and to be honest I have to agree with them.

I don't understand said people who would be upset about this.

Besides that this is an incredibly GOOD thing where instead of Microsoft having editorial input now no one does other than Sigil ... it would be far worse if Microsoft was flexing their financial muscles to pull strings and make the game they wanted instead of what Brad and Sigil wanted.

And I don't exactly see how Sigil "villianized" SOE, not to mention that even after you leave a company you probably keep very strong social ties to a large number of the employees ... it makes sense the more I think about it.

You need to go back and read through every single forum, thread and post on the Sigil boards hehe.

I'm pretty sure that Vanguard will still be a good game, BUT a lot of the people that were waiting for Vanguard were actually looking forward to another alternative to the SOE stable of games. Now that Vanguard has become a part of that stable, those people feel betrayed. Just having an association with SOE is enough to send people fleeing for the hills.

Personally, if I had been in charge of PR at Sigil, I would have released the game, gotten everyone past their 30 day free periods, THEN I would have announced that SOE was taking that aspect over, simply because you'd have people committed to it. If SOE had bucked up and improved their CS and billing, that would be the time to show it.

Too many people for far too long have experienced SOE's "Customer Service".

I still remember the shaggers billing me for 6 months on EQ.....5 months after I'd quit the game, cancelled my subscription, had my confirmation email printed, and had left the game behind. Their response? Tough! I took it up with Visa and thankfully they handled it. Now I hear that leaving EQ2 requires you to fill out a 30 question survey before they let you go.....LET YOU GO?!?! Sounds like a cult to me....

I must be the luckiest person on the planet. I have never and I mean NEVER had an issue with customer service at SoE. LOL.

And the survey thing, they have that in nearly EVERY MMO I've played, including WOW ;)

Same here with the years I've been playing SOE games I have never had a problem.

Been reading Vanguard boards and the only ones I see casting much poo at EQ are players.

I've read Brad and many of the others actually thinking fondly of EQ and even still playing it...

Fandros

In all honesty (and this comes purely from a sales point of view), perception is reality.

For example, you both have been blessed with not having to experience SOE's customer service. This is fortunate, and therefore you continue to do business with SOE. I haven't had a great experience with them. I generally give a business a couple of chances to redeem themselves, and I have to say that I wasn't pleased with SOE.

It's the same with cars. There are those that say FORD is crap, others that say FORD is great! But the reality of it is, regardless of mainstream car brand, you show me 100 cars and I'll show you one or two that are going to break.

I've been reading up on various MMO's (guess ye all kinda figured that by now, eh? ^_^). I faithfully read MMORPG, four or five times daily, trying to keep up. Ever since my experience with SOE, I try to find out as much as I can about a company and their support before I give them their money.

Funcom seems to be doing pretty good in this department, as their players seem happy with the level of support they recieve. Top that off with how Age of Conan is shaping up and how innovative it looks, and I think I know where my money is gonna go. ;)

To me it's a game, if I like it I play it simple as that....the company matters not to me lol.

Well, that's part of the argument that people are putting across.

Sometimes things happen in game that need fixing. Sometimes it's support that's needed outside of the game. Both are equally important. A lack of service in either can effect the overall enjoyment of the product. The fact that Sony is only going to be handling part of this is enough for people to not want to play this game anymore.

I'd be the first to admit I have some very fond memories in EQ and SWG, and for those I'm thankful, but you can only burn someone so many times before they say enough is enough. Even now, I still have the urge to go out and pick up the game to start playing, not because of the company, but because of the people I met and played with. But it's because of the company and how they run thier business that keeps me away.

Honestly anyone who outright refuses to play Vanguard simply because SOE is handling distribution is only screwing themselves if its an awesome game.

Kelraz is right, I cannot stand SOE in any way. It makes me sad to see SOE have anything to do with Vanguard.

But the bottom line is, if I cut out that emotion of hatred for SOE, Vanguard is still the best possible solution out there. Sigil will have complete control over Vanguard, SOE will just publish it. Verant had control over eq back in the day when 989 Studios published it (989=SOE) It was only when SOE Took complete control that changes started to happen that made the game not so great IMO.

I will not boycott VG just because they are using SOE's resources. But damnit I was also hoping to never send another dollar bill in SOE's direction.

Khondor.

From the people I know in beta, I hear it's almost exactly like EQ1 anyway :) LOL

Smed speaks.

http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=Non-Gameplay&message.id=340217#M340217




Tasazar wrote:

Vanguard is a game that I actually had a lot of interest in seeing, and truth be told, I'm worried about this announcement.

Vanguard was rumored to be quite a competitor of EQ2 and I'm wondering whether this game will be buried now so that it won't compete with EQ2. I'm not saying they won't release it, but they could hold on to it a very long time until putting it out. I remember another little game called Halo that was close to release on the PC until another unamed company purchased the rights to it and sat on it until they could release it exclusively on their console and keep it for several years from the PC market so it wouldn't compete.

I would hate to see this happen.

It's not that I think SOE is a bad publisher, but I find this acquistion very interesting on the business side of things. I just don't see them putting out a competing product to EQ2 so soon.



Well, we are also publishing Gods and Heroes with Perpetual. We love working with extremely talented creative people. We are a Publisher as well as a developer of games.. there's nothing odd at all about working with very talented companies like Sigil and Perpetual to help them bring their great games to market. In the case of Vanguard, it's also planned to be a part of our Station Access plan when it's released...which lets people play any game they want. We're happy if they are playing any SOE related product. That's better than the alternative IMO http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/i/smilies/16x16_smiley-happy.gif Smed

Well, got to play a bit of Vanguard, hoping that it would hold something new. (Had a gentleman bring in his system for service and I was like "WTF!??! You're on Vanguard Beta?)

He wasn't impressed with it, though he's hoping that it will get fixed as time goes on.

I only got to play around with it. It looks GREAT! Has a nice feel to it atmosphere wise, but the controls just seem....I dunno....awkward? Too early to tell /shrug

I would never make a decision on a game in any beta other then Open otherwise theres just to many bugs.

I will admit that there have been plenty of major screw-ups with EQ, and times I have given thought to quitting because of paying for new expansions that were not fully developed (read broken).

But, I still have found no comparison to logging in with 5-50 friends and companions and setting out to accomplish something new, or even farming something old. The new expansions bring some great new content, altho the added disciplines and AA's and what-not does get cumbersome, and I don't even keep track of all of it anymore.

Bottom line is I am still having fun after all these years playing EQ1, and while I will check out Vanguard as I did EQ2 and WoW, it will be the fun factor that will keep me involved (which EQ2 had none of) and not the company behind it.

Again, stick with what makes ye happy :) It's a game afterall, it's supposed to be what it's about.

Personally, the only thing I miss with regard to EQ was the people. Damn I met some great people in that game. Guess that's why I still post here. But it was the way the game played + the "support" I recieved that drove me to a competitor.

As far as keeping in touch with what mattered in EQ, these boards are here :) I never need go back to that game again hehe.

Here's (http://www.vanguardsoh.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51405) a FAQ about the acquisition.

LMAO! Gotta love the guys at Penny Arcade!

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic

LOL funny especially coming from P.A. I guess they liked their donuts Smed sent them :)