I have been playing VG since i got bored with the 'new VG' AoC (free month from SoE and all) a couple weeks ago.  I have to say, SoE has fixed up the game pretty nice.  From big things like the rifts to little things like racial coins and URT missions not to mention cleaning up the stability of the game.  It is still a bit of a clunker in terms of performing on par with its graphical level (not near as bad as it was though).  All in all the game is quit worthy of a sub now, fun, and with the coming model/animation upgrades I think possibly quite good.

 

One thing though that is still a big issue, perhaps even a bigger issue than before, is the community in game.  So far I have seen allot of the same asshat community stuff that ultimately was the last straw for me back around launch.  Of course, back then it was the dumbass fanboys flaming away on anyone who mentioned the crashing or flaws that are now so obvious.  Now it is a little of that plus a bit of an elitist attitude some of the 'vets' heap on new or returning people.  I suppose that is a bit natural in a game of any age, and part of why I never go back to games like this - but in VG with the very low pops (even with the bump from the free welcome back time from SoE) it makes getting groups and such a real pain.  People regularly jump down the throats of people asking very normal questions, or simply offer little to no help.  People still flame away at others for expressing opinions on the game and such.  And it seems that. all in all, there is a very elitist and closed community in VG.

 

Based on the couple weeks I have played I would sub to the game - if for no other reason than AoC is crap, LotRO is vanilla and boring, and there is not much out there that isn't old or something I already gave up on long ago.  VG is a good game now although it still has some issues - the one redeeming aspect is that it is a deep game in a genre run amuck with shallow games.  But the real obstacle I have to the sub now is the community - it is just a gruff and somewhat unwelcoming bunch.  Yes, you can join a guild and such but aside from not being a joiner why should you have to join a guild just to get courteous or friendly treatment in a game, let alone find groups and all that.  I am not trying to flame the VG players here, or anywhere, just saying that for a game that I would think would be desperate to get some new blood they sure are less than welcoming from what I have seen.


P.S.  For the record - I am saying good job to SoE.  I think more could have been done in the year+ since launch but what they have done is fix the worst issues and get a good jump on the rest.  The list of things that make SoE suck is still long, but the list of things they deserve positive credit for just got a new entry.
 

Did they fix the issue of taking away 90% of the character customization just so you can wear a fricking helmet?

It wasnt too bad community wise until after they gave the free month away. There are quite a few good peeps out there that try to help as much as they can, but there are definately those that just want to come in the game to be asshats.

This happens in any game unfortunately, there are times I see veterans argue in chat because someone acted like an ass towards someone who asked a question so there are good ones out there, just have to weed out the garden so the flowers can bloom.

Originally posted by EbonHawk

Did they fix the issue of taking away 90% of the character customization just so you can wear a fricking helmet?

Not yet.  They are adding the customization back minus a couple options in GU6 which is gonna be out in August or something.  They are going to be showing GU6 new character models and customization features at soe faire or something that is supposed to be happening before long.

heyy,

I haven't tried grouping yet,

but whenever I ask a question in /1 , no matter what server I've been on, I've got at least 5 replies.

It's really weird, I trialed lotro the other week for a few days, on about 5 different characters, 3 different servers, numerous chat channels I asked how to show my FPS and ping,

the best I got after that was 'press ctrl + f for FPS and somwhere in options for ping'

and it wasn't a numbers issue either. I did the whole search thing to see who was in my area.  Plenty of level 1-10s, and a fair few fully leveled as well.

The first thing I did when I logged VG was ask for the ping in /1 (the default channel for main chat) and instantly I got an answer. Today I was mining, but a node was broken, I asked in chat what I could do and about 4-6 people messaged me saying 'do /e' or 'do /end' . Instantly fixed my problems, and even those who didn't 100% know what was wrong said things like 'it might be due to your level, is it working with other nodes?' etc.

To me, it's not really the numbers that are an issue, it is the attitude, and so far, help-wise, Vanguard wins my vote :)
Of course as I haven't grouped with anyone I haven't really tried talking properly to anyone, but no matter how small my problem, it seems to be answered within seconds.

Magic? I think so ;)

Hopefully I won't meet any elitists or unwelcoming folk.

(regarding pop levels, I think they are fairly low in starting areas because there are so many areas to choose from, but I saw about 5 people or so in mine, which is ok I guess!)

I'm not trying to be a fanboy etc here, but I honestly haven't seen anything bad community-wise, only performance / graphics.

hope you enjoy :)

Which server are you on AgtSmith? I couldn't see in your post.

It's a real shame that that's your experience. My own server, Halgar, has an excellent , friendly, guild-based community. The free month has inevitably brought in some of your average MMO dicks, hopefully you can find a good guild and not have to deal with them.

Let me clarify a bit - I am not saying all people are jerks - just that it seems a bit inaccessible overall with a few real asshats mixed in.  A bit elitist is the term I think applies.  Pops are still lowish making it harder to find groups on what you are on (always an issue with the chain questing anyways).  I am enjoying the game but as I get up in levels, the guy I started with the free time is now to 20, doing stuff myself or just with whomever I run across in the area is becoming harder.


I am on Sardona (sp?) - have the Ranger I left off with back from launch at mid level (deleted an 20ish alt that got name screwed on merge) and then the guy I made starting with this free time who is a 20 Bloodmage.  As someone else said - I see the people jumping down people's throat on stuff and sometimes people coming to their defense even telling the flamer 'hey, we need subs so be nice'.  I didn't mean to say all the community is bad just more that it is a bit standoffish at times and somewhat elitist.  It does seem to be an issue in VG coming back and being 'behind the 8 ball' so to speak.  I suppose I find it most annoying because I would think people who stuck with the game would get how much they need new subs to keep the improvements coming.

I'm sorry your experience with the community was a bad one. I don't pay attention very much to the chat channels other than giving help to someone who needs it. Personally, I think this game has a great community. There's always @sshat, but that's to be expected, I don't let people like that bother me, I guess I know how to diffuse those kind of situations.

I've been playing Vg for over a year now and would have to say it's a mostly friendly and helpful bunch on there. Now while I don't claim to know everyone in OOC I certainly must say lots of them are familiar to me and I have noticed that most of the bs I hear in chat comes from folks I don't know at all.

Maybe next time you hear some, do a /who all <name> and see if it is a lvl 50 talking or a lvl 20. Might just not be a vet after all, who knows?

At the moment my 46 DK is doing stuff for the mount quest and I cannot tell you how many free quest items I have been given by other folks who do a /shout to ask who needs then a /giverplayer loot item to give it away. Lot of hassle to go thru just to give stuff away but commonplace in Vg.  Alway impressed me.

The community isn't the best, but I find it really good still.

Maybe one of the reasons is I tried the AoC PvP server...and the community was the WORST community I have ever had the misfurtune to be in. In fact, I would rather play a game with the worst of RS/Tibia and WoW communtiy combined than be part of AoC's community again. I'm not talking about being ganked or anything like that, but what was said in chat...well...I'm just glad to never be a part of that again.

So coming from AoC's community, VG's community is extremely good. There does seem to be a lot "elitism" though (like you said), and a lot of "Go play WoW if you want to solo" or "if you don't play my way, then get out"...but besides that, I find it pretty good. And not everyone is like that either, Overall, I find the community pretty good...besides the elitism.

Vanguards community has improved by leaps and bounds since launch, but it still lags a bit behind LotROs. I think a big part of the problem is that a lot of people got beat down by all the BS on forums, in game chat, etc. And have become a bit jaded and have adopted the infamous "Go back to WoW" mentality.

Originally posted by Vendayn

So coming from AoC's community, VG's community is extremely good. There does seem to be a lot "elitism" though (like you said), and a lot of "Go play WoW if you want to solo" or "if you don't play my way, then get out"...but besides that, I find it pretty good. And not everyone is like that either, Overall, I find the community pretty good...besides the elitism.

I suppose I can agree with that.  A few bad apples can make the whole seem tainted - perhaps it is the stand offishness/elitism couple with a few asshats I am seeing more than anything.

Originally posted by Rebn77

I think a big part of the problem is that a lot of people got beat down by all the BS on forums, in game chat, etc. And have become a bit jaded and have adopted the infamous "Go back to WoW" mentality.

I can see that being the case I bit, I suppose I was just surprised they would not be more pleased to see people giving it another look.  All in all if any community has to be more 'open' to comments you would think it would be VG.  I mean VG is the poster child for epic fail games, even if it is not now that same epic fail of a game.  I will give it a second look taking into account some of what people have said here and see how it goes the next week or so.