f13.net

I know you played lots of stuff worst than Vanguard in your life.
Actually, I know you payed to play lots of stuff worst than Vanguard.

So drop that attitude. The amount of forum kudos you can gain by bashing Vanguard is capped at 20. After that, you have to buy new skills or just levelgrind a little more (with autoattack).

EDIT: Thanks a lot, Shavnir :D

Ha, schild knows the depth of my true mmo-shame.   :-P

Be prepared for a two week download.

22GB. Too bad it looks like 19...



...98.

Not sure if the catasses will be able to do it. They've been sacrificing their lives to play EQ, then WoW, for years....they may not have the cash from shit jobs to upgrade.

Be prepared for a two week download.

Nah, I am sure the download thing has been greatly improved recently.  :nda:

Man, when the :nda: is up for this game, I'm gonna have fun. Yessir.

Now that is a very telling comment.

 :nda: No, it hasn't. I know a guy who's best friend is on day 3 of just trying to get the files.

Vanguard, Archlord or Maplestory?

Am I the one hallucinating?

That's because they are a moist, warm receptacle for his cock.

Maybe not hallucinating, but obviously missing the sarcasm.  I hope.

20 Gigabytes Hard Drive Space

Why did you waste the invite on the village idiot?

That would be me?
Take it back before I'll teleport and confine you on Siege Perilous (with Sinij) and haunt your dreams with graphs for the rest of your life.

I'd take an invite.  Apparently Brad McQuaid deserves me.

To be fair, Falconeer seems to be fanboi for Test Drive too. Which is a good thing.

I just don't understand the rabid appeal for Vanguard though. It looks like crap, and plays like a gajillion games he's probably played before. Even taking his liking for diku into account, it should only appeal to him on a "normal" level at best.

Or am I missing something about it?

Dear geldonyetich,

Thanks for registering at Vanguard Forums! We are glad you have chosen to be a part of our community and we hope you enjoy your stay.

All the best,
Vanguard Forums

Is there enough interest around here for me to try and weasel some beta invites for F13 people? 

I never realized that you had that kind of power.  I continue to underestimate you!

I would have thought that this is exactly the sort of game that people around here wouldn't be interested in.

Why am I so rabidly interested in Vanguard?
So simple. Can you say Uberdiku ?

I played Dikus and EverQuest bastard sons in a form or another for the last 8 years, now I wanna see the end of the story, I wanna see the biggest one of them all.[/size]

That's because they are a moist, warm receptacle for his cock.

The amusing thing about the Vanguard NDA is that one of the sites with the most  :nda:-breaks (FoH MMOG Discussion) also has frequent visits from Brad.

Curious is it NDA legal to talk/message to another BETA tester if you know they are a BETA tester? I am not referring to this game but really any BETA really. I assume that most NDA's have more or less the same language.

www.worldofwarcraft.com
 :rimshot:

Never underestimate the poooooower of the crazy man.

what?

Whether you like it or not, WoW is the final evolution of the diku.  The biggest, the most successful, with the most people willing to say it's fun.  VG, even if it wasn't the clusterfuck we all know it's going to be, would never garner enough users to be anything but an grindy irrelevant little subspecies.

World size, like "seamless world", just aren't selling points to folks who've played enough of these games. And that's VGs core audience.

I love sifting through these brown-nosing red name "NDAs should be respected!" threads.

Pathetic.

The game blows FYI.

...But otherwise agree WoW is EQ1++ with a low barrier enough to attract millions where EQ (nor VG) ever would.

I was going by the DAoC creature level qualifier.

And I have no idea what a pre-increment operator is :)

Sounds like win-win-win to me.  Why the fuck do they even call it a 'beta' anymore...

Sorry, I thought you were making a C++ joke.  I debated long and hard before writing the next geeky bit, but hey, knowledge is A Good.  Basically, if you assign the value of ++EQ1 to a variable, it is made equal to EQ1 plus one (and EQ1 is also incremented by one).  If you assign the value of EQ1++ then your variable, then it is made equal to EQ1, then EQ1 is incremented by one.  So saying WoW is equal to EQ1++ (the way I thought you were using it) is kinda like saying it is the same as EQ1, but EQ1 is then made better.

a really fucking terrible forum is a really fucking terrible forum

FoH is a really fucking terrible forum. While I can see the appeal of NeoGAF, I can't see the appeal of that shit. I need to think of something clever to word/replace/censor the FoH acronym.

FoH is a really fucking terrible forum. While I can see the appeal of NeoGAF, I can't see the appeal of that shit. I need to think of something clever to word/replace/censor the FoH acronym.

Put your faith in Cheddar, because I don't think the staff will lift a finger for this game.

High-res textures, maybe?

I have friends who are really looking forward to this thing. One guy even did a full reserve on a copy tonight. I don't know what to do, and I need help. I don't want to see them poisoned by another fucking Diku piece of shit.

A stripped down final beta phase (Are we still a couple of month from release? Gamestop/EBGames says 1 month), with only a portion of the world, or with a level cap or even worst low res texture it's not even worth the definition of "free trial". King Clusterfuck incoming? I'll be damned...

I don't know what to do, and I need help.

[Ten Ton Hammer]: Many of us have seen the rumor recently leaked on the official Vanguard forums which suggests that open beta is expected to begin January 4, 2007. Of course, “expected” doesn’t mean for certain, but can you say with certainty that open beta will begin some time in early January?

[Nick Parkinson]: Beta 5, or “open” beta, will be starting in early January.


[TTH]: Some Vanguard fans consider moving into open beta so soon after beginning beta 4 (which started in mid-December) as rushing things. We know that much of the content on Kojan was just added and has had limited testing. What prompted this move to open beta so soon after the beginning of beta 4? Does Sigil simply feel the game is ready for open beta, or are there other motivating factors?

[NP]: It’s just the right time for beta 5 to start. I think our unusually long prior phases probably threw some folks off and they (understandably) assumed the final two phases would be equally long. Fortunately, we’re at the point where they don’t need to be now and we feel the month or so that beta 4 will have lasted when we move on to beta 5 will be sufficient.


[TTH]: An open beta in early January would likely put Vanguard on target to launch shortly after Blizzard’s first World of Warcraft expansion, The Burning Crusade, which will launch January 16. Is it Sigil’s intent to go head to head with the WoW expansion?

[NP]: There are a lot of gamers out there. We think that as long as the games are good, both titles can do just fine.

Oh good. Boats. That's a triple-A game there. Think of all the fun that could be had with boats.

Umm.....

No, seriously, boats?

I can understand housing. Crafting. Even this weird diplomacy thing. But what's the big deal with the fucking boats, other than "It's like a horse, but made of wood and travels on water"? It's nice, but I think I'd prefer to forego boats in favor of having the suck removed.

If a Horse is a worldy element, then so are SoW boots and Selos.

Nah. Horses are to get the job, as defined by the game mechanic, done faster.

Now, if these were pack horses where you could put stuff you couldn't carry on your person, or war horses you could armor up and have fight for you, then we're talking about some unique thinking. Yes those have appeared in games before. No they haven't been experienced by the vast majority of gamers.

Boats on the other hand, those are cool. At least in theory. If they do it right, it's a new way of playing the same game. And you know? That's sometimes just fine for this genre, in a WoW flying mount, or SWG: JTL sorta way.

No, seriously, boats?

As much as I'd like to rag on Vanguard, I don't think this will be anywhere near the clusterfuck that SWG was. For one, it's a diku. From Brad McQuaid of all people. There's not much to screw up there. There aren't as many expectations from a fantasy setting like this as there was with SWG either.

Straight sow/ selos is more game-y than worldly, simply because it's more artificial.  You also don't have to include anything beyond the speed increase and MAYBE some pretty flashing lights.  Horses imply a lot more thought that "hey we need some way to decrease travel time," and add another layer of realism to things, in addition to making you a bit more attached to your character.

What exactly is bard song twisting (never played EQ heh...except a short trial)? The only bards I've like so far are Shadowbane Bards....Were they anything like that?

Same as SB then. Think they had 30 sec timers though. You could pretty much run all of them -- especially with a macro. ;)

My SB bard shunned group support though. That was my solo pk'er. Awesome kiter with bows. Super speed, +haste, +damage, + regen, etc..

Same as SB then. Think they had 30 sec timers though. You could pretty much run all of them -- especially with a macro. ;)

praising the 5 FPS they get in the middle of nowhere as a brilliant cockblock designed to make sure ONLY people running 6k rigs 

Drop that attitude. The amount of forum kudos you can gain by bashing Vanguard is capped at 20. After that, you have to buy new skills or just levelgrind a little more (with autoattack).

This has come up before, most recently in the Tabula Rasa thread. The point isn't the 5fps. It's that it's 5fps for an MMOG. You want to cast as wide a net possible there or risk losing people (http://everquest2.station.sony.com) to those games that do  (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com). Yes, some folks will upgrade their rigs for an MMOG. No, it's not nearly the same percentage of players as it is in FPS games. It's a question of motivation: what matters in an MMOG is fairly different than an FPS.

Vanguard scores higher than 5fps on anything better than a 1980s Casio pocket calculator. I am sure there are lots of 2007 releases that will really run at 5fps on your computer but I don't see you bitching about every single one of them.
Finally, assuming you actually managed to see the game, you are talking about a beta client that's not even in its final stage.

There's nothing much I can do for you than quote myself from post #6 of this very topic:

Question: where is Brad McQuaid? He's been totally silent for weeks on the Vanguard public boards at least. That's out of character for Aradune.

Edit: here's his dev tracker in the VG forums: http://www.vanguardsoh.com/forums/search.php?searchid=4763625

Below is the last topic from Aradune in the Vanguard Forums.  For anyone who missed the funny, I just had to share that Brad's beta is bigger and longer.  Guess we will see very soon if those qualities make Brad's Vanguard any better.  My guess is Vanguard will initially sell up to 225K boxes and after 3 months have less than 125K subs, falling some, and then holding under 100K subs.

That's pretty generous. "The buzz" I've heard in various places would indicate that it might sell in six-digits initially, but I'd be goddamn stunned if it didn't pull an Auto Assault and tank into the four-digits in terms of long-term subs. There's just nothing being offered here that can't be found elsewhere.

That's pretty generous. "The buzz" I've heard in various places would indicate that it might sell in six-digits initially, but I'd be goddamn stunned if it didn't pull an Auto Assault and tank into the four-digits in terms of long-term subs. There's just nothing being offered here that can't be found elsewhere.

My bet is 60k after three/four month.

The interesting part is that EQ2 will be a much better game. And that SOE is just trading its own subscribers between games without getting any new ones.

But but but, what about the card game of Diplomacy!?

Are they, though? I had forgotten about the All-Access Pass.

Still, given the state of the client, this won't be a financial success.

EDIT: I am not foreseeing a bright future for Vanguard. Actually, the opposite it's true (much like everyone else). But I doubt it will be able to score under any expectation, given that expectations are the lowest I ever heard for any "major" mmorpg.

Falconeer. Now is the time to stop talking (unless at some point you change your mind about Vanguard).

I have no mind to change, other than the idea that the expectations are exaggeratedly low.

Perhaps we need a MMO success betting forum?

Or an MMO dead pool.

MMO's don't die, they just get sold to other companies.

(The list)

I'd say our little in house game could use this whole month of January to gather more bets and allow some fixing for the earlier gamblers.

Just 2 months ago, in this topic (http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=8501.0) a prediction/betting game came up. It got average to low popularity, and confusion ruled so some predicted about December 2007 while some other about December 2008.

I'd recap the whole thing here for your loins pleasure, and maybe we could start it for true. I'd say both categories should apply at this point, meaning December 2007 AND December 2008. No need to say spot on predictions on Dec 2008 are worth way more kudos than those of 2007.
<words>
I'd say our little in house game could use this whole month of January to gather more bets and allow some fixing for the earlier gamblers.

MMO's don't die, they just get sold to other companies.

Didn't Earth & Beyond just up and die?

Asheron's Call 2 became the graphic engine for DDO and LOTRO.  :evil:

Earth & Beyond died a righteous death as it should. But really, both it and MCO were suicides, owed to being developed by EA or one of its studios.

Tomorrow?
So I'll start my write-up and ready my fireproof suit right now.

I liked the diving animations.

Tomorrow?
So I'll start my write-up and ready my fireproof suit right now.

I'm genuinely interested, particularly in how much they have backed off from The Vision in favour of The Money.

Hi guys,

Wanted to apologize for not being on the boards for a while. With the holidays and now with us entering the final stretch, things have been hectic. Also, there has been a huge influx of posts on both the beta and general boards -- we upgraded our message and web server system significantly and the boards are still slow do the increased traffic. A problem, but a good problem to have in one sense

I will monitor this thread and try to answer any questions you have, but I simply don't have the time right now to jump all over the message boards. Please keep your questions concise and try not to ask the same question if someone else has.

thanks all,

***

I can't announce the launch date yet, but the dates that are floating around are pretty close.

Yes, I know we could use more time. Any MMORPG could But at some point you have to launch. Keep in mind that we will be keeping a solid Live Team on board and keep working on the game post-launch. And this team is seperate from the expansion team, and the expansion team will be helping the live team at *least* 2 months after launch.

***

 Originally Posted by foxninja
"Could you explain why it was recently announced none of the animal races will have tails? Many people had been under the impression they were coming eventually, and the animal races feel incomplete without them. It's like a Dwarf without a beard or an Elf with round ears."

I'd like to see tails, but they will be post-launch.

***

 Originally Posted by Jessup
"When can we expect to see the rest of the closed chunks opened up for testing?"

Inquisitor still slated for post-release patch or will we get a glimpse of them before Beta ends?
Inquistor is still post launch. The remaining chunks will open first with up to level 35 on Thestra hopefully some time next week and then the 35+ chunks slowly but surely after that, with as many ready as we can by launch, and then us continuing to work our butts off after launch.

***

 Originally Posted by Huntir
"The game looks extraordinary! The world is massive and breathtaking, great job with that aspect. The game play however is subpar and the armor is boring, especially on casters. The lore/background is visually there and some of the early quest give minimal history, but overall the game is lacking here to.


3 Questions

I heard we lost the "Vision" somewhere in Vegas? Has anyone found it? If so, do we get a reward?, like maybe the game you sold us on a while back?


Will we get more then the 3-4 hair, face, color selctions from the slider bars we have atm on the creation page before launch?


Will we still get Beserkers after launch?or are they now set for an expansion class?

Huntir"
The vision is safe here in Carlsbad

We will have more character customization in by launch and you'll see them appear in Beta 5.

Berserkers are still post-launch, like the Inquisitor.

***

 Originally Posted by ebric  View Post
"Why live corpse runs?

As much as I do not like WoW for feeling like the bunnyhill all the way to lvl 50, ghost corpse runs IMO would open up a much larger market to VG. I just do not see any way someone that is a fan of WoW would jump to a game with live corpse runs.

I do not understand why you would want to go live so close to the WoW expantion also. Again I think that will hurt popularity in the long run."
We've gone through a lot of corpse run variations and are pretty happy with what we have now. The game *is* supposed to be a more challenging one.

As for launching, yes it may be fairly close to the WoW expansion, but that's not something we can control. SOE has given us financing that has gotten us a lot further than our previous publisher, but at some point you have to launch a game. If we could have a couple more months of development, sure, that would be great. If we could have another year, we could do a lot more too. But again, the game has to launch at some point and we know when that is. I'm pretty proud of how much funding, marketing, etc. we've received to-date. We have over 100 people workiing on this game. That said, we're not Blizzard either (yet). So the polish, time, and budet they had isn't what we've had, although we probably come in second. The game is also different -- Vanguard is more about freedom, attracting people who want a more challenging long term home, providing a game for old school EQ players and also WoW players looking for either/both something new and/or something more free and immersive. That means Vanguard is going to offer features and an evironment that is different and better IMHO than WoW, but also be a very different game than WoW, where we are focussed on different things and have different priorities.

***

Inquisitor still slated for post-release patch or will we get a glimpse of them before Beta ends?
Inquistor is still post launch. The remaining chunks will open first with up to level 35 on Thestra hopefully some time next week and then the 35+ chunks slowly but surely after that, with as many ready as we can by launch, and then us continuing to work our butts off after launch.

Berserkers are still post-launch, like the Inquisitor.

Sadly, it's VERY unpolished.

I'm genuinely interested, particularly in how much they have backed off from The Vision in favour of The Money.

Inquistor is still post launch. The remaining chunks will open first with up to level 35 on Thestra hopefully some time next week and then the 35+ chunks slowly but surely after that, with as many ready as we can by launch, and then us continuing to work our butts off after launch.