Ok, this does not in any way represent what I think of Vanguard. To be honest, I haven't played it, so other than the fact that I'm not a big fan of SOE, I can't really say much. But it seems to be a major topic of discussion on a number of forums:

http://hgamer.blogspot.com/2006/05/vanguard-beta-in-trouble.html

If there's anyone that's playing beta, do you think you could shed some light on this for us without breaking your NDA? I'd be very interested in hearing what one of you say as opposed to this article. Despite it being well written, I don't know this person from a hole in the ground, though there seem to be people coming out agreeing with what's been said.

Synopsis for those who don't want to click and read:


VG beta has turned into Animal Farm, with a cadre of elitist WoW-hating testers shouting down anyone who doesn't agree with their hardcore vision of the game, including the devs. All this, to the point that the beta forums are a firing squad for anyone with a contrary pov, and the beta populace has fallen to paltry levels due to the number of people put off by forum behavior. Any easement added to the beta to make the game somewhat easier (like, say, mapping) is met with howls of protest and, "WoWerific!" from the hardcore fanbois and finger-pointing at an ancient FAQ that has, evidently, now been pulled from the site. Attempts at appeasing this vocal bunch have led to BradCo losing control of their own game development. The writer opines that VG needs to reset beta, abandon the current testers, take a little time off to implement according to the original vision, then re-open beta with new testers.

I'm not in beta, so don't know the truth of it. But having spent a fair amount of time on the boards, none of the above would surprise me.

Sounds about right.

From keeping up with the FoH boards, I would say that's about accurate. VG seemed somewhat interesting a couple years ago, but as it materializes it seems less and less appealing.

That is accurate for about 95% of the player base. "The vision" to make the game immersive, just ends up making it annoying and frustrating to play in a multitude of ways.

It's not surprising how slowly the game is progressing either, due to the fact that a vast majority of the people that actively play just smile and nod at everything Brad does. since he's afraid to implement anything that would piss people off. It's really pretty ridiculous.

I'm content with the game's progress. I don't see a shift in the 'vision' at all. Some things work well, many do not. Class balance is a big issue.

As far as the elitist dorks... so what?

Well, with regard to the elitist folks, there's always going to be the upper echelon and then the rest of us. No matter what game you play, this will be a fact of life.

That being said though, if it is at the point of being absurd and destroys a persons playing experience, then people will simply look elsewhere for their online experience.

When EQ1 first came out, it was really the only worthwhile MMO on the market. Communities could afford to be elite to the point of being obnoxious.

Times have changed, companies have looked at what worked for EQ, took the good, left what they considered "bad" behind and have started cutting out their own pieces of the MMO pie. People who are treated meanly and/or unfairly, or even percieve themselves to be treated as such (in business perception is reality unfortunately), will simply take their business elsewhere.

This is great on one side as it allows people to play the game that they want, but if the "culling" process is too strict or overdone, then you risk losing the game that you've worked so hard to tweak just the way you like. Remember, elite or not, ultimately the game lasts online as long as the bills are being paid. ;)

From keeping up with the FoH boards, I would say that's about accurate. VG seemed somewhat interesting a couple years ago, but as it materializes it seems less and less appealing.

X=elenvtybazillion

The more I follow this development the more it turns me off. Spellbound also looks to be hitting the shitter. Not sure what I will play. Oblivion was a complete blast but I am waiting on more content aside from the little booster pack quests.