Well, since I have this week off from work and am currently looking for any excuse to delay having to clean my flat, I thought it a good idea to post a small review of the game. The good, the bad, random thoughts and ramblings, etc.
Considering we haven't seen any new posts in this forum leads me to believe people have given up on the game or are generally no longer interested, but since when has the fact that nobody is listening ever stopped me from jabbering on?
First off, let me say I enjoy the game. A lot. It might be the game I have been looking for, the one that I can play for a loooong time to come, without hopping from game to game every 3 months. The game reminds me so much of EQ it is uncanny. Of course, that is exactly what has driven some other people away. It's interesting in retrospect, some friends quit because it was too much like WoW, others because it was too much like EQ or EQ2.
I have to say, the game took a while to grow on me. I played in beta and felt it was nice, but a bit bland. It lacked some spirit. I heard a lot of people say they couldn't put their finger on it, but it lacked "something". And at the time, I agreed. 3 months later, I know what it lacked. Well, what it lacked for me, anyway. Other people will probably have their own reasons. It lacked friends playing with me. People I know, people I have adventured with before, that I get along with. That helps immensely.
The second part is that I probably had too many preconceptions regarding how the game should be. I played an SK in EQ and enjoyed him immensely. I played a Troubadour and an Assassin in EQ2 and they were huge fun, too. So the first chars I created in VG were Dark Elf DK and Half Elf Bard. I played both for a while, and while they were nice, something was missing. Again, something I couldn't even put my finger on.
So about one month after release, I am pottering around unethusiasticly with my DK, complaining about everything that's wrong with the class. And a guildmate asked me what I was looking for in a class. Since I wasn't enjoying what the DK is, what would I enjoy doing ingame? I rattled off my usual list of things, melee char, some magic, some utility, being able to tank in emergencies, being able to keep myself alive, damage would be nice but isn't a priority, etc.
He proposed I try out Paladin. That was a new one for me. Tried a Pally in EQ, it wasn't funny. Tried it out in EQ2, still nothing for me. Pfft, me a goody two shoes? Darakor Stormwind, Dark Elf SK extraordinaire, would be spinning in his lonely EQ grave if he caught me playing a Pally... I imagined Prism and Torhak laughing their asses off at the idea. And then I went ahead and tried it.
Okay, so race choice is the next big thing. If there is one thing I hate doing in MMORPG's, it is play humans. I have been a human all my life, what is the points of doing the same stuff you are doing all the time? Unfortunately, all the other races were out of the question (too ugly, too stupid, bad heirdo, the usual list of complaints), so I resigned and created a Human Pally.
Around level 4 I got my first WOW moment. And they kept coming. When reading up on the skill and spell list, I got excited. So many cool things to do. The DK had one cool skill, at level 35 or so. The Pally had a million of them, every few levels. By now, I am utterly hooked on the Pally. I cannot imagine playing anything else in VG. I have to admit I tried out 90% of the classes by now, played most till at least level 8. Nothing holds a candle to my Paladin.
I talked with a lot of old friends from EQ and EQ2 (well, the 10 or so who are playing on the same server as I) and I keep getting the same reports...
The old school Pally is playing a Ranger and cannot imagine playing anything else.
The Ranger is playing Cleric.
The Cleric is playing Warrior.
The EQ Shammy and WoW Pally is playing Druid. In EQ, he used to say he wouldn't be caught dead playing a Druid. Heh, life's little ironies.
The Warrior / Berzerker is playing Bard.
They all love the game and are playing it a lot. Most of them are in the high 30s or low 40s by now, levelwise.
I compare that to the friends of mine who tried the game and gave up on it, usually after less than a week.
The EQ and EQ2 Mage tried Necro, because he always plays pet classes, gave up on level 8. Didn't try anything else.
The EQ SK tried DK and gave up on it without trying anything else.
A couple more friends tried out the exact same class they had in another game, tried maybe another class and then got out.
They all said the same thing. "Looks like a really good game, but 'something' is missing."
In retrospect, I put a lot of that down to the preconception people had on what "their" classes should be like. As I said earlier, I had the same problems.
All the people I know who are still playing tried out different classes until they found one that "fits" them, that they enjoy playing and stuck with that. All the people I know that quit only tried out one or two classes, because that's what they enjoyed in other games.
Now, I imagine a lot of people have quit for reasons other than what I have seen among my friends, so I don't think my experiences are a valid sample, but still.
Personally, I think VG has a lot to offer to potential players, depending on what people are looking for.
Vanguard isn't easy. If you go into a dungeon, your group needs to be good, or they will wipe. Horribly and repeatedly. Even good groups can wipe by not reacting quickly enough or making small mistakes. You can even die if the group in the next room makes a mistake.
I went down into the bowels of the Ruins of Trenton Keep (edit: Actually, it's Trengal Keep - I was close though. ). The mobs were higher level than us and a single add meant a hell of a fight at best, with a wipe more likely. Darn me, I have never been as scared in a dungeon since EQ. The Cleric died, the Necro was killed, we had no way of fighting our way back in if we wiped with our gear not being soulbound. The Druid and little old me managed to keep the group alive against 3 yellow con mobs. What a rush. Again, I haven't seen that since EQ. Without suitable risk, the rewards aren't much either. This is what was missing from SWG, Horizons, EQ2 and other games. Well, for me anyway.
You need to be on your toes, watch for trains forming and move out of the way while you still can.
Be nice and ress the group that wiped next to you, because you know you may need the goodwill if/when you wipe.
Yell at the moron that spawned a boss mob (without a group) that starts picking off half the people travelling through the area.
It brings back a lot of good memories of EQ, without most of the bad ones.
It has depth, funny quests, lots of pop culture references (I met a Dwarven Guard Trainee NPC that was nervous about his equipment. All the trainees were wearing red shirts and he kept mentioning that wearing a red shirt made him nervous for some reason. ), Diplomacy is fun when you get the hang of it, dungeons are great, etc.
My biggest complaints right now are that my computer is too old to run the game in all its glory and that the customisation options are not nearly enough for me. But then, I have had that complaint about every MMORPG except SWG, so I guess I can live with that.
If you ask what the point of my rambling was, well, I never really had one, I guess. I just felt a need to say some nice things about this game and maybe convince a few more of you people to come take a look. Since most of us met in EQ, it has a lot of EQs strength and few of EQs weaknesses. Just throw those preconceptions overboard before you log in. Try out different classes during the free month and the most important piece of advice: Play on Gelenia, not wherever the rest of CUK is playing.
Dara
Considering we haven't seen any new posts in this forum leads me to believe people have given up on the game or are generally no longer interested, but since when has the fact that nobody is listening ever stopped me from jabbering on?
First off, let me say I enjoy the game. A lot. It might be the game I have been looking for, the one that I can play for a loooong time to come, without hopping from game to game every 3 months. The game reminds me so much of EQ it is uncanny. Of course, that is exactly what has driven some other people away. It's interesting in retrospect, some friends quit because it was too much like WoW, others because it was too much like EQ or EQ2.
I have to say, the game took a while to grow on me. I played in beta and felt it was nice, but a bit bland. It lacked some spirit. I heard a lot of people say they couldn't put their finger on it, but it lacked "something". And at the time, I agreed. 3 months later, I know what it lacked. Well, what it lacked for me, anyway. Other people will probably have their own reasons. It lacked friends playing with me. People I know, people I have adventured with before, that I get along with. That helps immensely.
The second part is that I probably had too many preconceptions regarding how the game should be. I played an SK in EQ and enjoyed him immensely. I played a Troubadour and an Assassin in EQ2 and they were huge fun, too. So the first chars I created in VG were Dark Elf DK and Half Elf Bard. I played both for a while, and while they were nice, something was missing. Again, something I couldn't even put my finger on.
So about one month after release, I am pottering around unethusiasticly with my DK, complaining about everything that's wrong with the class. And a guildmate asked me what I was looking for in a class. Since I wasn't enjoying what the DK is, what would I enjoy doing ingame? I rattled off my usual list of things, melee char, some magic, some utility, being able to tank in emergencies, being able to keep myself alive, damage would be nice but isn't a priority, etc.
He proposed I try out Paladin. That was a new one for me. Tried a Pally in EQ, it wasn't funny. Tried it out in EQ2, still nothing for me. Pfft, me a goody two shoes? Darakor Stormwind, Dark Elf SK extraordinaire, would be spinning in his lonely EQ grave if he caught me playing a Pally... I imagined Prism and Torhak laughing their asses off at the idea. And then I went ahead and tried it.
Okay, so race choice is the next big thing. If there is one thing I hate doing in MMORPG's, it is play humans. I have been a human all my life, what is the points of doing the same stuff you are doing all the time? Unfortunately, all the other races were out of the question (too ugly, too stupid, bad heirdo, the usual list of complaints), so I resigned and created a Human Pally.
Around level 4 I got my first WOW moment. And they kept coming. When reading up on the skill and spell list, I got excited. So many cool things to do. The DK had one cool skill, at level 35 or so. The Pally had a million of them, every few levels. By now, I am utterly hooked on the Pally. I cannot imagine playing anything else in VG. I have to admit I tried out 90% of the classes by now, played most till at least level 8. Nothing holds a candle to my Paladin.
I talked with a lot of old friends from EQ and EQ2 (well, the 10 or so who are playing on the same server as I) and I keep getting the same reports...
The old school Pally is playing a Ranger and cannot imagine playing anything else.
The Ranger is playing Cleric.
The Cleric is playing Warrior.
The EQ Shammy and WoW Pally is playing Druid. In EQ, he used to say he wouldn't be caught dead playing a Druid. Heh, life's little ironies.
The Warrior / Berzerker is playing Bard.
They all love the game and are playing it a lot. Most of them are in the high 30s or low 40s by now, levelwise.
I compare that to the friends of mine who tried the game and gave up on it, usually after less than a week.
The EQ and EQ2 Mage tried Necro, because he always plays pet classes, gave up on level 8. Didn't try anything else.
The EQ SK tried DK and gave up on it without trying anything else.
A couple more friends tried out the exact same class they had in another game, tried maybe another class and then got out.
They all said the same thing. "Looks like a really good game, but 'something' is missing."
In retrospect, I put a lot of that down to the preconception people had on what "their" classes should be like. As I said earlier, I had the same problems.
All the people I know who are still playing tried out different classes until they found one that "fits" them, that they enjoy playing and stuck with that. All the people I know that quit only tried out one or two classes, because that's what they enjoyed in other games.
Now, I imagine a lot of people have quit for reasons other than what I have seen among my friends, so I don't think my experiences are a valid sample, but still.
Personally, I think VG has a lot to offer to potential players, depending on what people are looking for.
Vanguard isn't easy. If you go into a dungeon, your group needs to be good, or they will wipe. Horribly and repeatedly. Even good groups can wipe by not reacting quickly enough or making small mistakes. You can even die if the group in the next room makes a mistake.
I went down into the bowels of the Ruins of Trenton Keep (edit: Actually, it's Trengal Keep - I was close though.
). The mobs were higher level than us and a single add meant a hell of a fight at best, with a wipe more likely. Darn me, I have never been as scared in a dungeon since EQ. The Cleric died, the Necro was killed, we had no way of fighting our way back in if we wiped with our gear not being soulbound. The Druid and little old me managed to keep the group alive against 3 yellow con mobs. What a rush. Again, I haven't seen that since EQ. Without suitable risk, the rewards aren't much either. This is what was missing from SWG, Horizons, EQ2 and other games. Well, for me anyway.You need to be on your toes, watch for trains forming and move out of the way while you still can.
Be nice and ress the group that wiped next to you, because you know you may need the goodwill if/when you wipe.
Yell at the moron that spawned a boss mob (without a group) that starts picking off half the people travelling through the area.
It brings back a lot of good memories of EQ, without most of the bad ones.
It has depth, funny quests, lots of pop culture references (I met a Dwarven Guard Trainee NPC that was nervous about his equipment. All the trainees were wearing red shirts and he kept mentioning that wearing a red shirt made him nervous for some reason.
), Diplomacy is fun when you get the hang of it, dungeons are great, etc.My biggest complaints right now are that my computer is too old to run the game in all its glory and that the customisation options are not nearly enough for me. But then, I have had that complaint about every MMORPG except SWG, so I guess I can live with that.
If you ask what the point of my rambling was, well, I never really had one, I guess.
I just felt a need to say some nice things about this game and maybe convince a few more of you people to come take a look. Since most of us met in EQ, it has a lot of EQs strength and few of EQs weaknesses. Just throw those preconceptions overboard before you log in. Try out different classes during the free month and the most important piece of advice: Play on Gelenia, not wherever the rest of CUK is playing. Dara
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