Vanguard

It's that time again -- time to look back on a year of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes and see what changed and what stayed exactly the same. The game is now five years old, and the last year has been relatively exciting for the community. Vanguard is just one of those titles that seems to want to last forever. The playerbase is loyal, mature, and truly dedicated to this aging title. Will the players' efforts pay off?

We took a look back on the last year to see what the larger announcements were. There were some surprises and even updates (yes, actual updates to the game), something that is still affecting the community. While other games might publish monthly or even weekly updates, the Vanguard players are the camels of the greater MMO community and have learned to live off very little development fuel.

Bear in mind that as I type this, an update is being played through on the test server.

Continue Reading

In the midst of the cold winds of January, it's the warmth of the Winter Solstice that keeps Vanguard players alive and happy. With Vanguard's fifth anniversary here at last, SOE is blowing on the coals of this simmering MMO in the hopes of raising the flames of community interest.

First up is the Winter Solstice in-game event, which started on January 21st. Players can participate by locating the event NPC in New Targonor. On next Sunday, the 29th, the Vanguard CMs will be throwing an anniversary bash and handing out gifts on the Telon server starting at 1:00 p.m. EST.

SOE's also throwing a Facebook contest to give away one of five in-game items. Interested parties are encouraged to head over to Vanguard's Facebook page for more information on how to enter.

Massively will also be on the scene for Vanguard's fifth celebration this weekend with two special livestreams on Massively TV, so stay tuned!

If you are perusing this column, chances are you are a fan of virtual worlds and the sandbox genre. Join the club! (Dues will be due on the third Tuesday.) The aspect that compels many aficionados to delve into a game is the ability to make an impact on the world in some small respect instead of making them into Hive Member 1593072 running a static, predetermined gauntlet. How that impact is accomplished, however, varies; there are multiple features that can facilitate it, and which ones are considered most important depends on the player.

With the loss of one of the best sandbox games just last month, some players may be feeling a void. Others still are looking/hoping for the "ultimate" sandbox that contains nearly every virtual world feature. Certainly, there are some upcoming games that make some drool-worthy promises, but what about playing something now? There are actually games out on the market that have at least one aspect of the genre, if not more.

To start off the new year, Some Assembly Required looks at some of the top features of virtual worlds and lists games that incorporate these features. While this list isn't exhaustive (considering the sheer number of games when you include all of the smaller free-to-play titles, I'd run out of column space!), it is a comprehensive enough overview to point you toward some games worth playing that perhaps you hadn't considered before.

Continue Reading

Holy smokes, it's a Vanguard content update! No, really. Sony Online Entertainment has just delighted fans of its long-neglected fantasy themepark with a post on the official boards that outlines some nifty changes coming in the near future.

In addition to a new thirteen-boss dungeon called the City of Brass, the devs are also cranking out overland raid bosses, removing the game's corpse recovery mechanics, and easing the leveling experience. There's also a blurb about increased drop rates and a "golden path" via the game's riftways that will guide players to the ideal adventuring areas for their level.

There's no date on all the goodies as of yet, but the post says that SOE is "getting close" to migrating the patch to Vanguard's test server. Head to the official forums to see for yourself.

Vanguard: Saga of Heroes offers its players a wide variety of mounts, including several with the ability to take flight. Massively reader Korvin took advantage of this to add to our One Shots lineup:

This is the Kojan archipelago, and the place is Jalen's crossing, not so far from Caia'l Brael, the starting place for Wood Elf and Raki races. Here you can hire a flying pegasus to get yourself to Arks of Harmony (the group of floating islands in the screenshot). Jalen's Crossing is a gigantic bridge that connects Youthgreen island with the eastern islands and was built and protected by Raki. Raki are a foxlike race whose members fled their homeland after it was destroyed by the Ulvari. The Arks of Harmony became their safe haven and a place to store important information on how to protect themselves from future threats.

We're all about looking up this week on One Shots! Show us your favorite aerial image -- whether it be taken from the ground looking up or from atop a high-flying mount or tall perch, we want to see!

Next week we're throwing the ball back to you. There's no theme and no requirement; just send us your favorite screenshots and tell us why you love them. Add your name and a little bit about the image, send it in to oneshots@massively.com, and we'll feature it in this week's One Shots!

A massive power outage that is affecting southern California this evening has severely hampered Sony Online Entertainment's services. The outage, which began during the late afternoon, has cut power to millions in San Diego, southern Orange County, and Palm Springs, as well as sections of Mexico across the border.

Because of this interruption, some of SOE's MMOs and websites have gone offline, as SOE's servers are located in San Diego. The company sent a brief note over Twitter and Facebook saying that players might not want to hold their breath at regaining these services tonight: "The San Diego power outage could persist throughout the night affecting login servers, forums, and websites. We appreciate everyone's patience as the City attempts to restore power."

According to authorities, power is expected to be restored by Friday.

[Update: Some of SOE's services, such as EverQuest II, Pirates of the Burning Sea, and Clone Wars Adventures, appear to be back up and running.]

Update #2: SOE tweeted the following on Friday morning: "We appreciate everyone's patience during the recent power outage. Power has been restored and all services should be back online."]

[Source: Twitter]

I've always thought that rulesets are a golden opportunity for MMO developers to get creative with their products and try something fresh and exciting. Unfortunately, most every MMO these days, new and old, adheres to the four "vanilla" rulesets that have been in place since Pong. You have your default PvE, your same-as-PvE-except-we-have-a-naming-policy PvE-RP, and the two player vs. player variants: PvP and PvP-RP.

Those are all well and good, but... y'know... couldn't rulesets be used to create fascinating variations on these games? It turns out that yes, yes they can.

While the vanilla rulesets are the vast majority, there does exist a group of fringe rulesets that dared to walk the different patch, er, path and made versions of MMOs that are a bold and refreshing flavor. Like blue! Sometimes these new rulesets were whipped up to inject new life into an aging title, giving players a valid reason to come back and see the game from a different perspective.

In this week's Perfect Ten, we're going to check out just how wild 'n' wacky server rulesets can get!

Continue Reading

If you're rubbing your eyes in disbelief, fret not, you're hardly alone. After a sea of silence from the Vanguard team, the struggling MMO is getting its first update in a very long time -- since January 2010, as a matter of fact.

This "bug bash" update is precisely what it says: a patch dedicated to fixing a number of troublesome errors in the game. These changes will impact the UI, repeatable events, items, abilities, and quests.

While the patch itself would be seen as a routine update in any other game, the fact that Vanguard players are seeing something after all this time is cause to celebrate. A month ago Sony Online Entertainment promised the community that it hadn't forgotten about Vanguard, so hopefully this patch is an indicator that the company plans to make good on its promise to support and expand the game.

Before I ask you to jump past the cut to read the rest of my article, I thought it would be cool to explain my interpretation of the "furry" culture. I want to do this so that you, fair reader, aren't icked out simply by the title of my article. I decided to divide the furries into three levels all of this based on my observations and Google-searching.

• At level one are the fans of anthropomorphic critters. Essentially, these are the fans of playing the animal races in different games, reading about them in books, and who think that there is something cool about an animal walking and talking like a human. At the very least, this level has no problems playing the pigman in the latest MMO.
• Level two are the people who are fans of animal and human crossings, but take it a step further by feeling slightly connected to the creatures. They might have some spiritual connection to them, or simply think they are the best thing yet. They might also enjoy dressing up as a furry critter.
• At level three we have the fans who take it even further. Yes, these are the furries you hear so much about. These are the ones who are not only into anthropomorphic creatures, but are into them (if you get my meaning.) They often feel an attraction to bipedal cats or human-like goats. Their dress-up is often accompanied by sessions of roleplaying as animals or hybrids.

Now, which level am I? While I think you can guess, click past the cut and I'll explain.

Continue Reading

Good mornin'/day/evenin' everyone and welcome to the second edition of Some Assembly Required. It is my pleasure to be your host this time as we delve into the realms of player creativity and ingenuity. And let me tell you, I am quite excited to take on this challenge; in fact, it is this very aspect of gaming that I love most! Hopefully, you won't mind my skulking around your houses and events as I seek out all that is player-created. On many occasions, Jef and I might very well tag-team as we crash -- I mean attend -- your various functions (although I don't think he is much of a skulker).

For my inaugural SAR column I chose to focus on one of my favorite canvasses of creativity: player housing. Both housing and decorating are things I am quite passionate about; there are few aspects in games that let you express your creativity like housing. Of course this is certainly a broad topic, so to avoid a 30-thousand-word column with enough pictures to bog the site down, I narrowed this showcase to the world of Telon (and the continent of Kojan in particular) in Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. Luckily, no packs of wild dogs nipped at my heels as I ventured about for this first exhibition of player decorating.

Open the door and enter past the cut for a tour of housing in Kojan.

Continue Reading

With no official panels or events planned for Vanguard fans at this year's Fan Faire, you might wonder whether Sony Online Entertainment has any plans for the future of the game. But take heart, because Vanguard is definitely alive and on the minds of the SOE development team. Salim "Silius" Grant from SOE sat down to talk to Massively about future plans for Vanguard. Read on for an update on the world of Telon.

Continue Reading

We're finishing off pet week on a fun and silly note thanks to Massively reader Leonatus:

Hi there, my name is Leonatus, and the featured screenshots is about one of the coolest pets ever created: Slappy the Cool from Vanguard's Isle of Dawn!

Adventuring in Telon can be undoubtedly stressful: Always on the brink of death, killing hordes of mobs only to see their spots replaced by their amazingly similar cousins some five minutes later.

Hobgoblins life is no better though, but they sure know how to party! And if you're patient enough, with just a little diplomacy they will let you attend to the shows of their funkiest star. As the old orcish saying goes: "if James Brown was an hobgoblin, his name would be Slappy the Cool".

Are you ready for next week's One Shots theme? We've seen your gear, your mounts, and your pets; now it's time to see you! Snap a screenshot of your favorite character in your favorite MMO. Let us know about him or her by sending the screenshot, your name, and some information about the character to oneshots@massively.com, and we'll feature the character here on One Shots!

Sony Online Entertainment has finally lowered its monthly all-you-can-eat MMORPG subscription plan. All Access (formerly known as the Station Pass) grants you unlimited time with all of SOE's titles for a single monthly fee of $19.99.

Games include DC Universe (sorry PS3 users, this is for the PC version only), EverQuest, EverQuest II, Vanguard, and Star Wars Galaxies. You also get premium access to free-to-play titles like EQ2X, Free Realms, and Pirates of the Burning Sea. The All Access service, which previously set you back $29.99 per month, returns to the price point enjoyed by SOE customers prior to the April 2007 rate hike.

The reduction follows the announcement that SWG will terminate services on December 15th and will be freely playable to recent subscribers beginning in the fall.

Let's face it: If you are frequenting this site and specifically this column, you probably have a soft spot in your heart for gizmos, gadgets, and gear. I know I do. But all that cool stuff costs a lot of money. When I spent the first half of my life as a drummer, I was known as the "duct tape drummer" because I used it for everything from bandages to kick drum holders. I could achieve what I wanted at a fraction of the price mainly because I wasn't worried about how my drum kit looked or how new my gear was.

I bring that same mentality to my gaming. This column was born out of the need for gaming-on-the-cheap and more mobility, and today I wanted to give you two examples of how this mentality works in my life. Remember, the ultimate goal here is to have fun, and I have had more fun since I started this column than I have had in a long, long time.

Click past the cut and let me show you some new ways to game!

Continue Reading