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Reader Comments (5)

Posted: Oct 9th 2009 11:09AM chuckasucka said

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I just resubbed yesterday after a hiatus beginning in January of this year. I started playing in 06, a better part of a year after the game released, and have taken 3 breaks, but I keep coming back. This time it's with my best friend, just like when I started the game. :)

I urge everyone to experience Vanguard. Grab the free trial, but don't start in the Isle of Dawn, start in one of the racial starter zones. You get much more of a feel for the lore and for the world-building. Log in, reach out to the community, and see all of the features that this game has to offer. It's far from perfect, but it has a certain essence that I haven't been able to get from any other mmo, and I've tried tons of others. If you give it a chance, it will sink into you and you will be happy that you have tried the game.

The mentoring system has been something players have asked for for a long time, and a welcome addition. The Vanguard community likes to reach out and seems to understand that with such a small playerbase, they are all in it together. That's why this mentoring system is such a perfect idea for the community.
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Posted: Oct 9th 2009 11:51AM Wisdomandlore said

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I checked out the trial. The classes are certainly interesting (especially the healing classes), but I stumbled on the aged graphics, rigid animations, and awful character creation options. What really got to me, though, was the sheer complexity of the game. The crafting and diplomacy are essentially their own alternate advancement paths alongside the PvE. I just don't see myself being able to invest that much time in the game. Plus, the game seems to be dying, and I have a thing about not investing time and money in dying MMOs.
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Posted: Oct 9th 2009 12:18PM chuckasucka said

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The way I look at it is that there is such a small population that you aren't in any hurry to keep up with anyone. There are those who raid hardcore in the game, but really, it's much more of a putz around and have fun with a small group casually kind of game. Diplomacy can be really fun, and the crafting is the best that I have seen in any game (being able to pick exactly which stats and bonuses you want on any piece of gear). I have learned about Vanguard, that if you focus on the bad, it's a painfully disappointing game, but if you focus on the good, it is a really special game.

I totally understand what you are saying though :)
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Posted: Oct 9th 2009 3:20PM ultimateq said

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It's obvious that SoE wants to try to rescue this game, they are putting a lot of time and money into updates and maintenance. So I don't think they are going to close it down any time soon. I say, invest, invest, invest! Get your friends to invest. Get the game popular.

The only reason it's dying is because people are afraid that it is and are then fearful of investing their time and money in it. If all of the people who are actually interested in the game started to play it, it would be a huge boost to it's player base. After that it would just snowball.

The game certainly needs some graphical love. But I would rather play a game with good mechanics and crappy graphics over a game with good graphics and crappy mechanics.

I don't have time to really play any more games, between school and work all of my time is pretty much taken up, but if I were to casually play an MMO, Vanguard is at the top of my list.
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Posted: Oct 10th 2009 3:17AM Xii said

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I disagree with not starting on the Isle of Dawn. The quests there offer good rewards, and that's where almost all other new players will be.

One thing you could do is start on the Isle, then move to your racial starting area and disable XP while doing the storyline quests. That way you get the best of both worlds.
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