So over on the forums of that one game I used to play where the recent update introduced group instances, a couple players commented that while they really enjoyed the game, they had concerns about the population and how long the company can stay afloat.
The response from the current fellow in charge: "I simple(sp) don't understand the furor and commentary over player numbers. How does the issue of low numbers affect your gameplay experience and what is the relevance?"
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Wow, that's a pretty ballsy and clueless sounding response. They do realize they are running a multiplayer game?
I read the whole thread and very interesting it was. Thanks for pointing to it.
Even DS seems to be beginning to lose steam, although no doubt he'd deny it. The dev, Nightvision, clearly has his heart in the thing but even he recognises the mountain there is to climb.
I just look at Vanguard. If you play it now, you'll realise it's one of the best MMOs ever made. It's beautiful, atmospheric and vast. It has as much content as any three other MMOs put together. The gameplay is complex, deep and satisfying. And it's owned and operated by one of the largest, most successful corporations on the planet.
How many players does Vanguard have? A few thousand at best. It's got four servers, two of which are almost empty. It has three or four full-time developers working on it and it has never produced a single expansion in three-and-a-half years. And alll that because it had a truly terrible launch.
If Vanguard can't recover, how can Alganon hope to?
Yeah makes you wonder if he's actually ever played an mmo. Was a really odd thing to say.
Regarding Vanguard, my only hesitation in trying it yet again is that I always hit a roadblock somewhere in the mid levels and couldn't solo anymore. Even when I duoed with the other half, mobs just got so tough we were so frustrated from dieing all the time. And then the crafting was too frustrating for me as well that I had to give up. And even after six months I couldn't afford a house. Those were the things keeping me from playing.
I realize it's more a group oriented game and the crafting is intended to be a challenge, but I wonder if that's part of what keeps the population small. But it's been probably a year or two since I played. Have they changed any of that?
Well, Mrs Bhagpuss and I played Vanguard from launch. We duoed a lot and soloed the rest. As a duo, we ddin't really find any roadblocks until the mid 40s.
We travelled an awful lot. We would regularly move from continent to continent even within the same level. Doing that we found no shortage of quests to take us all the way to 40th. For most levels we were spoiled for choice.
It did slow down in the 40s , when there was generally only one or two places we could go that gave good quest experience. Neither of us minds a bit of grind, either, especially when there is loot involved, so we were able to fill out any gaps that way.
I have two level 50s and Mrs Bhagpuss has one and a level 46, and we didn't even duplicate THAT much content getting to or near the level cap twice. In the low and mid levels there is stil stuff I haven't done, and I have a couple of level 30s as well.
Most of the content that's been added is for 50+ and it really does get extremely grindy then, even in a group. The earlier high-level content they added was uber-hard but the very latest 50+ content, Hold of the Magi, is very solo-friendly, but it is grindy.
I loved the crafting. My first level 50 adventurer is also a level 46 crafter and I still hope to get him to 50th. Crafting is a proper game in Vanguard - in my opinion, the only MMO where that is the case.
I don't know how long ago you played. At launch mobs were very tough, but they were made easier and then a LOT easier. There was a time when I was regularly soloing 4 and 5 dots and we were easily duoing even some six dots. We were playing a disciple/shaman duo though, which is close to unkillable and some of those fights lasted a LONG time :)
Unfortunately from your point of view the difficulty level has been fixed recently so that it is similar to what was originally intended. Even as a Disciple I am now having tough fights ven with three-dots. I can't argue with that, though - it was ludicrously easy for a while and the current difficulty level is probably about right.
I would say that regardless of the changes to mob difficulty, it remains eminently possible, and pleasurable to solo into the 40s. A duo should have no real trouble getting to 50, although it will take a while. Nothing happens fast in Vanguard.
I don't know if you've played EQ2 but you might consider trying the Test server there. It's a very different environment from a Live server. The community is extremely helpful, supportive and well-mannered and about as uncompetetive as MMOs get. Playing there feels like playing an AAA game on an indie server.
Thanks for that feedback. When I tire of DAOC I might try to give Vanguard another go.
Yeah I played EQ2 for four years and my husband is still running our guild there. But I left it behind five months ago. I did play on test whenever the server was down but never saw anyone there. But I've run my course with EQ2. I played all those years mainly for the fluff. I never liked the classes and just didn't like the direction the game was going.
But unless something tremendous and new pops up, Vanguard will be next on my list.
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