f13.net

Sony Online Entertainment has partnered with Live Gamer to provide Vanguard: Saga of Heroes customers with the same exchange system that our EverQuest II customers on The Bazaar and Vox servers enjoy.  Live Gamer exchange provides the security and transparency needed to trade virtual items with confidence, and with the Live Gamer system, participants will be able to both auction and purchase virtual assets (characters, coin, and items) securely and safely and without the risk of the fraudulent activities that plague 3rd party websites that are not authorized by SOE to provide these services.

Participation in Live Gamer exchange is not mandatory or required, but those wishing to participate in this new service must first register an account with www.livegamer.com.  Once registered, you can then utilize the in-game system to upload virtual assets to your Live Gamer account and auction them to others.  You can also use your Live Gamer account to bid on and purchase virtual assets and to send them to your in-game characters / accounts.

Live Gamer is offering an in-game incentive for trying the system out.  Customers that register with Live Gamer within the first two weeks will receive a jewelry box which when opened will offer a choice between one of three items, each targeted towards one of the three key professions.  For more information about this offer, please visit www.livegamer.com after the service has launched.

We will append this post with availability dates for the new service as soon as possible.

For more information on how to set up your Live Gamer account, please visit this link in our Knowledge Base.

The following thread is available for discussion of the new Vanguard Live Gamer Exchange service./quote]

Link (http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=45567)

I foresee much anger due to this.

It's one thing to have this on ghetto servers, it's quite another to run an entire game with it.

So mandatory SOEbay for all servers?

That's just really horrible and a betrayal of their customers. It's one thing to have this on ghetto servers, it's quite another to run an entire game with it.

That's all well and good, because, do you hear that silence? That's the sound of the world at large giving two shits about how SOE manages to make Vanguard profitable. Say all you want, no one cares about the Sigil vision as it was one of epic failure and hilarity.

"Say all you want"? Say what?

The former leader of a guild I played with in WoW is currently leading a large Australian-based raiding guild in Vanguard. I raised my eyebrows when I heard that, but if there are enough people in Vanguard for a niche guild to exist in a niche timezone, it can't be doing so badly. They are apparently having the time of their lives.

I would be interested to see their stories of the time they've spent in Vanguard, mainly out of curiosity.

That's all well and good, because, do you hear that silence? That's the sound of the world at large giving two shits about how SOE manages to make Vanguard profitable. Say all you want, no one cares...

And you would know.

And you would know.

I'm sure both players are overjoyed that SOE has found a way to keep the lights on.  But seriously most flash games are of more relevance at this point.

President of SOE, John Smedley, has heartily stated that the "next round" of MMOs will be made for both the PC and PS3

They better get a moveon then, because Sony's going to start talking PS4 in the next year or two. 

No, they won't. Microsoft will however probably talk about the Xbox 3 with blu-ray and almost no other updates. They might make it less ugly. Also, HDD will be standard, as will wifi. They have a lot of catch-up to play, whereas PS3 doesn't.

Simply looking at track records, PS1 released in 1995, PS2 in 2000, and PS3 in 2006.  That's roughly 5-6 years between launches.  If they stay on that track, late 2011 should be a PS4, but we'll be reading about it in 2010.  Sony touts a 10 year support/design plan for the PS2, I assume they're doing the same for the PS3. 

Of course, there's a bazillion other factors involved now.  A primary one is the launch of a new system into this economy which would likely be a bad move. 

You know more about this stuff than I do though, I'm just looking at facts and track records. 

circle-jerking

Just like the Playstation, and the Playstation 2, as time goes on, the use of its hardware will improve (By those developing on it), just as the ps2 before it crushing its competitors. All the Playstation consoles have had this ramp up. The console has not been out very long. I will dare to say, that all games released to date are using about 30% of its power (as most i bet are using brute force to overcome, instead of understand its complexities). Yes, i pulled this from my ass, but look at early PS2 games, then late PS2 games.

My guess is that it's very close to being frozen and placed in maintenance mode ala MxO

Maybe it'll work! EQ 3 could be just like SMB3!

You're just kinda talking hoping someone will agree with you right?

But seriously folks, what if the alternative is to shut the game down?  If it's not making enough money, seems there's no reason to keep it around. 

But that statement would only matter if they weren't working on DCUO, Free Realms and The Agency. Since they are in fact working on stuff that isn't just freebie web crap, the jury's still out.

If they had made the client free, ditched the sub, and went full RMT that would at least get me take a serious look at it.

They're working on a lot more than that, hombre.