All Posts by DailyBuzz

Originally posted by truenorthbg

 

 

I really should tell you that the forums are not representative of the community.  MMORPG is not representative of the gaming community, either. 

 

 

People who post tend to be passionate (hate, love, dislike, like, etc).  The mainstream, critical mass, of the gaming community do not post regularly.  I would also say, as a matter of course, people tend to post when they are mad about something.

 

I, however, do not post when I'm mad. I do sometimes post when I'm baffled. Like when I've just read you're utterly astounding and perpetually escalating propoganda. Weren't you "watching VG from the sidelines" a month ago? I cannot comment on why you are mad so often (unless you are the exception to your broad generalization), but I think I have a clue.

More observations from the VG community:

http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?&topic_id=23895

Fun is compromised by the obstacles of bugs and stability issues. Worker bees cannot afford to be  objective when it comes to the hive. I can testify that there are several fun aspects of VG. Can you testify that there are several atrocious bugs and stability issues? Repetition works I suppose. Doesn't matter whether your talking points contain merit or not, just keep repeating them.

I will act as a servant to the MMORPG community and provide links that display the progress the VG community sees.

http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=23918

 EDIT: Wish spellcheck could catch my grammatical errors as well.

GU3 went live yesterday. VG is no different than any other game regarding bugs and stability issues being introduced with a patch. VG has a small dev team and lower QA measures than larger, more successful games. It will take them more time to sort out these issues than it would in most others as well.

Is VG ready for a relaunch? NO, plain and simple. If VG were ready, SOE certainly would not pass up the potential revenue that a holiday re-release could generate. Although many worker bees here will continue to make honey and sing SOE's praises, know that this game is still not ready in SOEs eyes.

I would recommend waiting for the trial release and test it for free. Ignore the propoganda and make SOE show you what they have accomplished.

Originally posted by sepher

 

 

Boy, if Vanguard really improved the 50-500% some enthusiasts claim it does every single patch, I should go in expecting 200 FPS with instant chunking and hitching non-existent. But because I've heard that a few times before, and re-subscribed due to being misled a few times before, I believe I'll be a bit skeptical.

 

'specially with the inclusion of a "few more months". All Vanguard has ever needed was a "few more months". You sure it'll be after these "few more months"? Promise?

Unfortunately you have threads like these that detract from any legitimate improvements SOE makes to the game, in attempts to lure resubscribers back with too large of expections. It's detrimental to the game and has wasted a lot of resubscribers second, third, fourth, fifth impressions.

SOE themselves are holding back on a free trial and promotional campaign for a reason, they know Vanguard isn't in any shape to "Win Back" resubscribers yet, because the issues they quit over haven't been fully rectified. Sadly SOE has to deal with folk who build false momentum that naturally crashes upon itself.

But sure. Yes, Vanguard is fixed now. Since Vanguard being fixed means its the greatest MMO ever by default; lets bring those other nine or so servers back up, then triple that server total to accomodate the million or so players that'll now come!

Or! Let's hold off on a pitch like that until there's at least a chance of tricking more than a handful of resubscribers who're already skeptical of when to experience their sixth impression of Vanguard. Try it again when free trials are released, truth.

Less than 24 hours after a major patch and already the reports of "VG is FIXED!!!" are in? Seems a bit early and highly speculative to me.

http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=23803

On a side note, it seems they FINALLY made non-work order crafting recipes yield XP. So, perhaps pure adventurers can find gear at reasonable prices now.

Originally posted by Orphes

 

 

 

Maybe it is just a notch over renaming betatorch 1 and 2 in the to do list.

/Agree

Perhaps we should add that as the 5th option to the poll.

No worries.

I guess I can concede that i do a fair amount of bashing after all. But, I only bash the aspects I feel are worthy of it.

I still maintain that VG has the absolute best classes and combat of any game I've ever played.

The "LFG" social tab used to be terrible, although I hear it has changed quite a bit over the past few months, and may prove more useful now than it did back then. I always preferred creating a group myself. Creating your own group ensures you have all your bases covered and limits unpredictable obstacles.

If you were in Khegor's End, the agro there used to be horrid. I would advise you take someone skilled in pulling the dungeon or taking a class that can handle the adds. Also, at lower levels dungeons are a good bit tougher, since you just don't have as many skills at your disposal.

Originally posted by IXBreaker

 

Originally posted by DailyBuzz

 

 

What I mean is, this entire thread is based on broken logic. The OP states that people refer to missing helms as a "defining issue", when I haven't seen that to be the case. People mention it as an indicator of progress or the lack thereof. Furthermore, he plans to "validate" this with a poll that includes the lack of tails?!

 

I think everyone would like the option of having their helms show, although for most players it's not a game-breaking issue. I think the fact that players don't have the option of visible helms is a sign that the focus is on game-breaking issues, and that is why some people won't play a game with no helms.

 

But the very point you're making is the one you're missing.  I may be giving too much credit to the OP, but if I see what he's saying correctly, he's making the case that too many people are fallaciously using "missing helmets" as a false indicator for the progress the game has made.  Indeed, if improvement always had a linear progression, starting with the implementation of helmet graphics, then Vanguard would be in deep trouble.  However, that's clearly not the case - performance issues, character remodeling, gameplay balance, raid implementation, etc. should trump helmet graphics.

I think you are giving too much credit to the OP. I offered him some insight as to why some people were mentioning helm graphics. If he had thought of that aspect beforehand, this poll wouldn't exist.

My point is not whether helm graphics is a valid indicator of progress or not. My point is that some people use it as an indicator. You're statement of helm graphics not being a valid indicator might be threadworthy. However, I find a poll referencing it as a "defining issue" to be nothing more than a jab at those who think it should be a priority.

Kinda funny how some statements are 2 dimensional and others aren't huh? Having read my post you projected it onto the OP, whose post was so whimsical it included tails.

Frankly, I'm surprised how many viral responses there are to this game and how adverse people still are.  Yes the game was bad upon release - very bad, even.  However, condemning it forever seems pretty unreasonable.  There's no reason to hold a vendetta against a *videogame* - yeah, it's okay to be upset and disappointed, but to swear upon hearing its name is a little sad.  I played the game on release and my experience was not so bad; I'll openly admit that I was probably one of the few lucky ones.  But, I also didn't have any huge expectations for the game.  I only remember being interested and excited about the character classes and the notion of a huge open world, both of which the game managed to deliver (but not without faults).

With that being said, I don't think that anyone owes Vanguard *anything*.  If you don't want to play the game, that's perfectly fine - to be honest, there are plenty of games in the future that look very promising, such as WAR, AoC, Aion and so on.  However, to continue to relive the past on forums to the discredit of a game that hardly resembles the sorry state it was released in is strange.  If you argue that you're simply exercising your right to vent off your frustrations caused by the game - well, that's fine.  However, I'm SURE you've already done so in the past - many, many times.

But there's a point where people should just forgive and forget.  The game is already on its last leg, and to continue to hurt it by speculating in excess that the game will never amount to anything is just spiteful.  As people have made this point before, the game already has the foundational aspects which can make it great.  With enough support the game has the capacity to turn into a fun and engaging experience.  EQII managed just fine and now it's critically acclaimed by many of its players.  So why can't Vanguard do the same?

I don't bash the game. I give the game exactly what it deserves. My experiences in VG were both good and bad. Be it good or bad reflections, it's reflections nonetheless.

Originally posted by Orphes

 

Originally posted by DailyBuzz

Are you serious? What good does this do? I think nearly all the people that frequent this forum could tell you how this poll will turn out, which negates any need for this poll. Are you trying to prove something to the people who think helms should be a priority? I doubt they care what the majority thinks and just want their damn helms.

You're skill in stating the obvious has increased!

 

What do you mean?

I think everyone would like the option of having their helms show, although for most players it's not a game-breaking issue. I think the fact that players don't have the option of visible helms is a sign that the focus is on game-breaking issues, and that is why some people won't play a game with no helms.

http://mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/1689355#1689355

Are you serious? What good does this do? I think nearly all the people that frequent this forum could tell you how this poll will turn out, which negates any need for this poll. Are you trying to prove something to the people who think helms should be a priority? I doubt they care what the majority thinks and just want their damn helms.

You're skill in stating the obvious has increased!

Originally posted by GetitShawty

Last night i had sooo much fun grouping with three others, it was pure awesomness, it reminded me of EQ1 all over again, after playing beta and a month after of vanguard i was really turned off by it, it sucked so hard, i actually hated it first mmorpg i can say i actually HATED. Since i upgraded my computer, and all the fixes and additions that SOE did i can currently say i love this game. The diciple is my favorite class. I have encountered 1 -2 bugs after a week of playing. my FPS is high next patch is going to be sooo awesome with the addition of dynamic weather.

So for those not knowing what MMO to choose or are bored with your current one, come back to vanguard and play on saradon server, you will not be sorry.

I understand this a lot of questions. If you do not have the answers, you can send me a $15 money order and I will test them for you.

Back before they merged the servers, SOE took a poll of the RP server and asked if they wanted to be merged in with the non-RPers. Once the votes were tallied the RPers had decided not to be merged. SOE merged them anyway. I would offer a guess that most of them left at that point. I don't recall which server absorbed the RP community, but you may be able to find it on the official boards.

Thanks everyone for the input. I am downloading now and will probably try all race/class combinations over the next week. It's nice to see several opinions, and I'm glad there wasn't 5 identical answers.

Any other tips are greatly appreciated. It seems like a lot of information to absorb in only a week, so if you could let me know which things to ignore during trial, that'd be great. I hope to get a good grip on the adventuring side and definately plan to try the crafting.

Any thoughts on crafting professions for a Captain or Champion? Would hope to be self-reliant early on, either crafting armor or weapons.

Thanks again, DB

Originally posted by Shari

Thnx for you reply's both Can you give me an idea at what ratio to spread those points between Int, wis and vit?

Human would be 5 int, 5 wis, 4 vit

Non-Human would be 4 int, 4 wis, 2 vit

This is purely for min/maxing on a PvE server of course. I would definately increase Vitality instead of Constitution since you are a kiting class in solo mode and a group may need spot heals. Vitality will help in both situations.

I am currently in MMO limbo and seriously considering the trial download. Anyone have tips or pointers on a good intro class for beginners? Which servers are US and moderately populated?

Thanks, DB

Originally posted by Mitara

I remember Vanguard, I kind of ordered it by mistake, but was pleasently surprised by the quality of the graphics that I saw, it was without a doubt the best so far. While it graphics didnt really focus on the atmosphere in the game, like Wow does, the quality was so good it didnt matter, it was just better.

Agreed.

Character generation was a joke. I tried create diffierent types of characters, different starting points and setups, but most if not all classes were so like each other that playing more than 2 classes was just impossible, if I wanted something new. Same type of spells, same way to play them, same challenges, and no variation at all. This is one point Vangaurd loses heavily to Wow.

Totally disagree. The class diversity and group role dynamic are what sets VG apart from other MMOs. I agree that there needs to be more diversity within each class, but healing strategies are completely different with all 4 healing classes. The same can be said of the damage casters and light fighters. Never played a heavy fighter, so......

One class surprise me positively, the psychic class. This was different, fun and worthwhile trying out.

When it comes to contents, Sigil did a good job mostly. I kind of went stop at level 15-16 because of lack of contents that I could solo, this happened on almost all my characters. When I got past that, I came to a complete stop at 25. None of my character were able to go further, simply no missions or dungeons or anything worthwhile I could hunt down.

Here inlies your "soloability" problem. Psionicists are quite hard to solo at low levels (you do say almost all of your characters, so I'd be curious as to which ones you were able to find content with). Of course there should be balance at low levels to make soloing viable for all classes (especially since there's few newcomers to the game), but that is an entirely different debate. As you mentioned, the solo content in the mid teens is sparse. Most classes are powerful enough at the low end to run "small group" quests solo. The Psionicist however is not.

As far as 25+ content, there is more level 25-40 content than anything else in the game. With the Ant Hill, Hunter's League, Trengal Keep, Coterie Infineum, Southwatch, Wardship, Falgorholm, Cragwind, Vol Tuniel, River Palace, Thelaseen, Dragon's Backbone, Beranaid Hills, Dargun's Tomb, Greystone and many others I didn't mention. Yes, these are mostly group dungeons and not soloable. If you plan to solo all the way to 50, you are robbing yourself of the bulk of the content in VG, and should get used to grinding out missives.

Missions are not better or worse than that of other MMOs. There are very little new inventions.

Agreed.

On the static dungeon part however, Vanguard stands out as the absolute best MMO yet. There are a lot of them, they are fun, different and a good challenge.

Agreed.

As with most of the current MMO game design, this game will last you 2-3 months before you have been there done that and all you are staying around for is your online friends.

Agreed. Though it takes a main and 2 alts to see all the content, it can be done in a relatively  small amount of time.

My conclusion: This business needs new game designers, someone with just a little vision, a little ingenuity.

Couldn't agree more. The framework is there and could be built into something fantastic. Unfortunately, SOE seems to be preparing to pour a new foundation.

Originally posted by truenorthbg

 [I enjoy a following --albeit a small one--  that watches every post I write, including this one; I bet they are reading this right now.  Believe me, if I make a single mistake, they will respond by either calling me: a 1) fanboy; 2) raising frivolous questions; or 3) accuse me of undermining freedom of expression.  

You're not undermining freedom of expression, but you certainly are being liberal with it.

Originally posted by Morgaur

Did you even notice the weaknesses system in combat? If you talk about Heroic Opportunities and not about weaknesses system.

Actually I wasnt aware of the weakness system so I admitt that this is a mistake on my behalf. My mistake there. Ok lets say the combat system is equal to EQ2 then. Strange that I didnt know about it.. When do you use it in combat? Do you guess? Or read the combat chat spam? If its not noticable to players, then its pretty bad. Imagine I have played VG on and off without even noticing this system, and no group I have been in have used it. Thats weird if you ask me.

I heard this a lot when I played, and is the reason I mentioned it to begin with. The system as it is, is non-intrusive to an escalating battle. You could certainly argue that a system as powerful as the weakness system needs to be intrusive, and make you very aware that a weakness could be exploited. The subtlety has it's pros and cons obviously.

It is a great system and one that takes motivation to master. However, many (and I mean MANY) players are in your boat and never knew it existed. There are tweaks you can make to your chat log and UI to help you better take advantage of weaknesses while at the same time not having it be a distraction if your focus lies elsewhere.

Personally, I liked the system as it is. I prefer not to have my UI look like I just beat the high score on a pinball machine. I am afraid that SOE will have to change the system a bit to make it viable for all players though.

EDIT: traded an "of" for an "if"

Originally posted by Sevenwind

See I want to know where these gear quest lines are? I know TK is about all and it had its good and bad days in that place. But I made a dark elf DK and I hear in chat about CIS quests which I know nothing about.

Is there a good website that you can look up quests for gear and such?

 

 

http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=769