Goblin Squad Member
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I've actually been quite torn recently, as I've been more and more active with my guild in Vanguard, and with Alpha and Early Enrollment seemingly just around the corner.
Vanguard broke my heart in a way no other MMO could have back in 2010 when I finally stopped playing after everyone else had already left due to bugs, crashes, instability, and probably-too-hardcore content. I was surprised how much I still enjoyed playing it when I went back and hooked up with a great bunch of people.
Now they're shutting down the servers July 31, 2014.
At least now I won't have to feel bad for shamelessly trying to recruit everyone to come over to PFO :)
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Goblin Squad Member
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Why can't it just be rolled back a few updates and put on autopilot?What's the significance of rolling back the updates? Obviously the cost would require them to close the servers anyway, so this is just wishful thinking. But why would they want the updates rolled back?
Because the game was actually about as stable as it had ever been, then they released the Cave of Wonders update and managed to (re-)introduce a bunch of bugs for more lag, crashes, and general instability. Honestly, if you haven't seen it first-hand, it's going to be pretty hard to comprehend how buggy Vanguard is and really has been since right before it launched. One example of a bug that got introduced (and fixed) recently was a Disciple ability called Inner Light that cost 5 Jin (max level had about 20 Jin max) and heals everyone within 10 meters whenever the Disciple hits a target - the bug was causing Inner Light to drop every time anyone in your group got further away than 10 meters.
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Goblin Squad Member
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vanguard could have been such a great game, but release was so buggy that it was just really really bad.
Its a shame because they eventually made it a good game, but they just could not get rid of the poor reputation, then when you add in the fact that they pissed of what player base they had with the above updates.....
Im honestly it survived for so long.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I have the collector's box for Vanguard sitting in my computer room. I had so high hopes for the game (and played it a heck of a lot) but the glitches and lag were so problematic at launch.
Had so much promise but they wasted it rushing it out the door, which also forced them into competition with the Burning Crusade expansion. A three month delay might have saved the game.
As a former heavy City of Heroes player, it sucks watching servers go dark. It hurts watching a game go dark. Knowing you can never play it again, despite owning the disks.
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Goblin Squad Member
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@Nihimon, did you ever try Project 1999 Classic Everquest? You might find it is sort of like Vanguard.
What I've really come to realize is that it's the people I play with more than the game. That's not to say game mechanics don't matter: I still think Vanguard really nailed the pacing of combat and the need to pay attention to a lot of different things; and specific game mechanics are what really made me latch onto PFO the way I have. Really, what I mean is that I have friends in my Vanguard guild who I hope to play with again, and I have lots of friends in this community that I'm really looking forward to playing with, and that's a lot more important to me than chasing a dream that's mostly nostalgia anyway.
Although I certainly appreciate the friendly mention.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I really liked a few elements of Vanguard, which I haven't seen done well even in more recent games. It's a shame more people didn't play as some of the ideas could really have shaped the next generation of MMOs. Instead, we're really just seeing more of the same with some technical advancements.
Such as the active combat, which really encouraged you to pay attention and not just spam a rotation. And it also encouraged you to play well with a group. That was some good stuff.
I also loved the design of bard songs for that game. Learning song elements and custom songs was one of my favourite bard designs.
And crafting was oddly fun. You didn't just throw together reagents but had to pick the right tools (often luck) and engage in what was almost a mini game. Being able to make higher quality items if lucky or skilled was fun.
But it is the community that makes the MMO. I have fond memories of several MMOs and all revolve around playing with people and not the game itself.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Smedley just did a "ask me anything" thread on Reddit and Vanguard came up a few times. He says there is no way to keep the game open without doing updates because all their games require updates to the security protocols....or something technical I don't fully understand.
He also teased that they are working on an unannounced MMO that will make SWG fans happy.
