Vanguard: Saga of Heroes

Is I can never get a group or make any friends in the game which I think is due to the server population just being low.

I made a necro and got him to 18 and haven't been in one single group.  The LFG function is useless which can be seen with the general chat filled only with LFG this and LFG that....

I joined a guild, which I thought would be active, as they seemed to have alot of members but....they are a core of 10 lvl 50's in the guild and that's it. So to begin grouping with them I would have to hit 50.

So, in the end , I think only thing preventing me from the game is the lack of community. I can only speak from my personal experience and seeing how my guild plays the game. They are one of those multi game guilds, so I just think they are moonlighting until AoC or War. 

I like this game, the expansiveness, the class choices etc, but why pay a subscription to solo the whole time?

This game reminds of DAOC in the old days, which I love, I just wish there was an active exciting community to go with the game. Unfortunately, it is probably due to the bad initial launch.

I know once I get to my mid 20's there are more grouping options but I like to play many classes and the thought of having to level each to my mid 20's just to see how they function in a group is not my cup of tea.

I just think the expansiveness of the game was designed to have A LOT more players running around.  There have been many times I have run across a player and have been like Oh Crap!, its like seeing a rare upright walking ape man or something. I find myself frantically hitting the print-screen button to capture the rarity of the moment.

Yep was 1 of the main reason's I also left,I had 3 guys on there,the highest being level 20 shammy but I was never in a group and very very rarely seen someone.The last point for me was while asking in chat for help and seeing some other guy doing the same and no 1 was replying to us,I asked why this was and someone whispered me to say "alot of the higher levels have general chat etc switched off and only chat in guilds and group chat" very strange for a mmo I thought.

Anyway I also agree that the vast space of the game sort of demands higher numbers,though this late in the day I cant see VG getting and keeping to many more than they have now.

Welcome to 90% of all western made, subscription based games.

Leveling an alt to 20 to start grouping really becomes nothing after a while.  Yeah it's a bitch that it's hard to find a group before that but it's basically because there are so many newbie areas and people outlevel them so fast that a lot don't bother with groups until CIS or TK.  I wouldn't give up until you've actually tried grouping, because it's the funnest part of the game.

Originally posted by Torak

Welcome to 90% of all western made, subscription based games.

...Awwwwwww no he didn't! Snap! <and other tired cliche>!

Originally posted by Die_Scream

Originally posted by Torak

Welcome to 90% of all western made, subscription based games.

...Awwwwwww no he didn't! Snap! <and other tired cliche>!

lol

I also really liked the game myself despite people bitching about the poor performance, that didn't bother me. I looked past the flaws and gave it as long a chance as I could. I had a lvl twenty-something necro as my main and I gotta say, what killed it for me was the fact that there were so many quests that were just not soloable and no-one would take me into their group. Felt like people don't like necromancers even though they're a pretty good class. Getting a group was very hard, then people started leaving in herds and it'd be just me and a few friends trying to get through stuff and failing miserably...after starting to go backwards levelwise for a week or so my friends ditched Vanguard as well...I still tried as I really wanted it to work but eventually had to give up because I couldn't get anything done, no-one RP'd and the server was just..empty. Sad as I think the world was great and I liked the races and classes.

I hope Vanguard makes it one day, but I doubt I'll return as I'm enjoying myself immensely in LOTRO on the Euro RP server.  

yah i was looking for another big group game like EQ/FFXI wich i used to play, and i bought this a couple months ago (case just sits on my desk now) and the game overall isnt that bad, but the sevear lack of a community makes it feel like a diffcult solo game. if they had just waited a few months and patched it up and came out of the gate strong this would be my next crack, but sadly it didnt, and its far far to big of a world to have such a small pop. whats a decent size in most games is much less is here. the game had amazing potential and it flopped. guess il be sticking to EQ2 until somthing intresting pops or WAR comes out.

Leveled a 25 Sorcerer and was having a very difficult time grouping. I just killed the sub. I had a great time in the month that I played the game. Awesome game BTW! Just not worth all the begging for help.

Honestly, I believe the best course of action Sony could take is to do two things:

1) Make a commitment in-house to dedicate the resources and manpower to VG necessary to make it a viable, *stable* (also includes performance increase) competitor in todays market, and upcoming competition.

2) Market the patch, (described above), as a re-launch. Build some hype, keep many secrets and offer the community a re-vamped "as it was meant to be" Vanguard. I would even add incentive to loyal customers, like free playtime, or in-game items / no effect pets.

*Obviously, this is a huge gamble, as the added attention, hype, and expectations would be raised. A failer to deliver on Sony's part would spell certain doom for the game, and maybe more importantly, another blow to Sony's reputation. Hence #1 has to mean real commitment.

The other option is sporatic patches with limited success, coupled with decline and eventual server shutdown as the new big boys show up on the block. Yeah, yeah...I know Doom!1!, hehe.