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[General Article] Vanguard: Saga of Heroes: Celebrating Six Big Years

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129

Vanguard: Saga of Heroes recently went with a hybrid subscription-free to play revenue model. Since then, the team has been working hard to give players lots to experience and look forward to in the future. We had the opportunity to check out Vanguard's new look in a couple of areas and to talk with Producer Harvey Burgess and Game Designer Corey LeFever. See what we discovered and then relate your experiences in the comments.

Vanguard has the distinct honor of being the final Sony Online game to go free to play, a move that frankly surprised many fans of the game who waited for a long while to finally see it head that way. Since the August conversion to F2P, the player population has increased and continued to see ‘bumps’ at specific times including the launch on Steam and after significant updates to the game. In fact, after the Vanguard release on Steam, the population grew so precipitously that instancing had to be introduced into the game! During my tour, it was also abundantly clear from the number of players running about that the population is good-sized.

Read more of Suzie Ford's Vanguard: Celebrating Six Big Years.

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Comments

  • bobfishbobfish Member UncommonPosts: 1,679
    IoD goes to 20 now?
  • Joseph_KerrJoseph_Kerr Member RarePosts: 1,113
    They should of done this 5 years ago, now the game is just terribly dated in terms of looks and mechanics but it really doesnt matter because of the duppers and hackers.
  • FelixMajorFelixMajor Member RarePosts: 865
    Big years? Lol

    Originally posted by Arskaaa
    "when players learned tacticks in dungeon/raids, its bread".

  • ChuChuTrickChuChuTrick Member UncommonPosts: 27
    They're still restricting items F2P players can use, that enough for me to say no.
  • FangrimFangrim Member UncommonPosts: 616
    Originally posted by ChuChuTrick
    They're still restricting items F2P players can use, that enough for me to say no.

    I suppose you want everything someone pays a sub for for free? F2P is exactly what it says it is,you can play the game for free.


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  • itchmonitchmon Member RarePosts: 1,999
    Originally posted by ChuChuTrick
    They're still restricting items F2P players can use, that enough for me to say no.

    what are you gonna do? take your money elsewhere?  it seems you weren't going to spend any in the first place?

    RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.

    Currently Playing EVE, ESO

    Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.

    Dwight D Eisenhower

    My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud.

    Henry Rollins

  • DoogiehowserDoogiehowser Member Posts: 1,873
    Originally posted by Darth-Batman
    They should of done this 5 years ago, now the game is just terribly dated in terms of looks and mechanics but it really doesnt matter because of the duppers and hackers.

    Game is hardly dated in terms of looks....and still looks amazing for a 6 year old game.  Post some screenshots of any 6 year old game and i will post Vanguard screens to show how wrong you are.

     

    Originally posted by ChuChuTrick
    They're still restricting items F2P players can use, that enough for me to say no.

    I really really hate freeloaders. You guys want everything for free. 

    "The problem is that the hardcore folks always want the same thing: 'We want exactly what you gave us before, but it has to be completely different.'
    -Jesse Schell

    "Online gamers are the most ludicrously entitled beings since Caligula made his horse a senator, and at least the horse never said anything stupid."
    -Luke McKinney

    image

  • mymmomymmo Member UncommonPosts: 311
    Originally posted by ChuChuTrick
    They're still restricting items F2P players can use, that enough for me to say no.

    Everything for free. the world works like that for sure. 

    And the game looks really nice for a 6 older. To bad the animation is quite nasty atm

    Eve online and +1500 steam games in the back cataloge makes me a stressed out gamer.
  • kevjardskevjards Member UncommonPosts: 1,452
    congratulation..i played this on release and i never would have thought it would see 6 yrs nevermind have an increase in popularity.the game has eveything from boat building,house building,diplomacy,an extensive crafting system,and then you get to the adventuring after that.has for the f2p i think it was a great move for the game.and i for 1 am glad to see it getting stronger population wise.
  • exile01exile01 Member RarePosts: 1,089
    this game has like 1k active players. I played it when it went f2p, had a nice feeling like Lord of the rings mmo. i doubt many still play, after gw2 was released.
  • Joseph_KerrJoseph_Kerr Member RarePosts: 1,113
    Originally posted by Doogiehowser
    Originally posted by Darth-Batman
    They should of done this 5 years ago, now the game is just terribly dated in terms of looks and mechanics but it really doesnt matter because of the duppers and hackers.

    Game is hardly dated in terms of looks....and still looks amazing for a 6 year old game.  Post some screenshots of any 6 year old game and i will post Vanguard screens to show how wrong you are.

     

    Originally posted by ChuChuTrick
    They're still restricting items F2P players can use, that enough for me to say no.

    I really really hate freeloaders. You guys want everything for free. 

    Well, debating over better graphics is personal taste so theres no point in that. If it works for you and you like it, thats cool im not going to try tell you otherwise. Just because I say something doesnt mean I expect you to feel the same way, that would be boring. Im just saying its my personal opinion. I watch my brother play it ALL THE TIME (unfortunately) 6 years later even and everything in the game looks plastic and the animations look like cardboard cut-outs or something to me (he plays it maxed). I actually wanted VG to do well and have given it multiple tries, it just seems like SOE doesnt care about it and never really did which is a shame.

  • NildenNilden Member EpicPosts: 3,916
    Vanguard has some good points but it only has 2 servers even after being on Steam. What really gets my goat is City of Heroes was shutdown while doing much better than Vanguard.

    "You CAN'T buy ships for RL money." - MaxBacon

    "classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon

    Love Minecraft. And check out my Youtube channel OhCanadaGamer

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  • TokkenTokken Member EpicPosts: 3,547

    When is this all suppose to happen?in a year?

     


    Proud MMORPG.com member since March 2004!  Make PvE GREAT Again!

  • InktomiInktomi Member UncommonPosts: 663
    Originally posted by nilden
    Vanguard has some good points but it only has 2 servers even after being on Steam. What really gets my goat is City of Heroes was shutdown while doing much better than Vanguard.

    So true. Even though the CoX community stepped up to support, NCsoft closed it down in their face. SOE is a hard company to part money with as well. At this stage of my gaming career, I gauge my games more on the companies developing and publishing them rather than graphics and even gameplay. 

    If you want another single serving high-fantasy mmo, there are more exciting ones out there than Vanguard. Tried it twice and bored me to tears.

    Apologies to all Vanguard fans. It is what it is.

  • rojoArcueidrojoArcueid Member EpicPosts: 10,722
    Originally posted by Fangrim
    Originally posted by ChuChuTrick
    They're still restricting items F2P players can use, that enough for me to say no.

    I suppose you want everything someone pays a sub for for free? F2P is exactly what it says it is,you can play the game for free.

    i think people tend to generalize too much when we talk about what is limited or not for Free players. If i am going to play without paying a sub, i expect they sell in the cash shop an item unlock so i can gear up and be competitive. If i decide to support the game through cash shop instead of subscription they should lift progresison limits to whoever pays for that unlock. Otherwise its just waste of money and not worth it. I dont like subs and i prefer to support game companies using cash shop, as long as i can lift at least progression and competitive limitations like the ability to wear better gear. If i cannot do that, im not wasting my money to still stay behind the rest.





  • umcorianumcorian Member UncommonPosts: 519
    Originally posted by Doogiehowser
    Originally posted by Darth-Batman
    They should of done this 5 years ago, now the game is just terribly dated in terms of looks and mechanics but it really doesnt matter because of the duppers and hackers.

    Game is hardly dated in terms of looks....and still looks amazing for a 6 year old game.  Post some screenshots of any 6 year old game and i will post Vanguard screens to show how wrong you are.

     

    Originally posted by ChuChuTrick
    They're still restricting items F2P players can use, that enough for me to say no.

    I really really hate freeloaders. You guys want everything for free. 

    I really really hate sheep. They just let themselves be sheered. It's because of a sheep's willingness to be sheered that allows designers to get away with requiring so much wool to unlock basic functionality in a game, like item equipping.

     

    The game wasn't good enough to pay $15 a month, and I wouldn't even care for more than a few seconds if I accidently wiped my ass with a $20 and flushed it down the toilet. Why would I pay what usually amounts to more than $15 a month to play the same shitty game that wasn't worth $15 a month to begin with?

     

    F2P economics are somewhat baffling to me. 

     
     
     
  • AlberelAlberel Member Posts: 1,121
    Originally posted by Doogiehowser
    Originally posted by ChuChuTrick
    They're still restricting items F2P players can use, that enough for me to say no.

    I really really hate freeloaders. You guys want everything for free. 

    There's a difference between disliking the way an MMO artificially restricts players to force them into the cash shop and wanting everything for free. If an MMO made it impossible to use any skills unless you paid for them in the cash shop (essentially meaning you can log-in and run around for free and that's it) I imagine you'd be joining the so called 'freeloaders' in complaining.

    The fact is the dev teams behind these cash shops are getting more and more bold about restricting basic game functionality in order to charge for it. The reason they're getting so bold? Because there are so many sheep like yourself just lapping it up and insulting anyone that (rightfully) complains.

  • birkenbirken Member Posts: 122
    Originally posted by Alberel
    Originally posted by Doogiehowser
    Originally posted by ChuChuTrick
    They're still restricting items F2P players can use, that enough for me to say no.

    I really really hate freeloaders. You guys want everything for free. 

    There's a difference between disliking the way an MMO artificially restricts players to force them into the cash shop and wanting everything for free. If an MMO made it impossible to use any skills unless you paid for them in the cash shop (essentially meaning you can log-in and run around for free and that's it) I imagine you'd be joining the so called 'freeloaders' in complaining.

    The fact is the dev teams behind these cash shops are getting more and more bold about restricting basic game functionality in order to charge for it. The reason they're getting so bold? Because there are so many sheep like yourself just lapping it up and insulting anyone that (rightfully) complains.

     

    You can play the whole game use all the skills and most all the items if u buy  stuff of auction house so really u can play the WHOLE game for free and not pay a dime and still have all the best stuff....

  • DoogiehowserDoogiehowser Member Posts: 1,873
    Originally posted by umcorian
    Originally posted by Doogiehowser
    Originally posted by Darth-Batman
    They should of done this 5 years ago, now the game is just terribly dated in terms of looks and mechanics but it really doesnt matter because of the duppers and hackers.

    Game is hardly dated in terms of looks....and still looks amazing for a 6 year old game.  Post some screenshots of any 6 year old game and i will post Vanguard screens to show how wrong you are.

     

    Originally posted by ChuChuTrick
    They're still restricting items F2P players can use, that enough for me to say no.

    I really really hate freeloaders. You guys want everything for free. 

    I really really hate sheep. They just let themselves be sheered. It's because of a sheep's willingness to be sheered that allows designers to get away with requiring so much wool to unlock basic functionality in a game, like item equipping.

     

    The game wasn't good enough to pay $15 a month, and I wouldn't even care for more than a few seconds if I accidently wiped my ass with a $20 and flushed it down the toilet. Why would I pay what usually amounts to more than $15 a month to play the same shitty game that wasn't worth $15 a month to begin with?

     

    F2P economics are somewhat baffling to me. 

     
     
     

    So let me guess a game is shit and not worth 15 bucks but you would still play it if it is for free? and you have the audacity to call others a sheep?

    All games which go F2P are nothing more than an extended free trial. I thought people would know that by now. Try the game and if you like it sub to it, crying over things like 'high end armor' restrictions is pointless. I don't know since when gaming turned in to charity where they should hand everything to you for free. The game already has a very good F2P model and you won't even need high end armor till lvl 50+. 

    "The problem is that the hardcore folks always want the same thing: 'We want exactly what you gave us before, but it has to be completely different.'
    -Jesse Schell

    "Online gamers are the most ludicrously entitled beings since Caligula made his horse a senator, and at least the horse never said anything stupid."
    -Luke McKinney

    image

  • DoogiehowserDoogiehowser Member Posts: 1,873
    Originally posted by Darth-Batman
     

    Well, debating over better graphics is personal taste so theres no point in that. If it works for you and you like it, thats cool im not going to try tell you otherwise. Just because I say something doesnt mean I expect you to feel the same way, that would be boring. Im just saying its my personal opinion. I watch my brother play it ALL THE TIME (unfortunately) 6 years later even and everything in the game looks plastic and the animations look like cardboard cut-outs or something to me (he plays it maxed). I actually wanted VG to do well and have given it multiple tries, it just seems like SOE doesnt care about it and never really did which is a shame.

    People get away with a lot here in name of tastes and personal opinion. But there is a thin line between opinion and un necessary exaggeration. Saying game is 'terribly' outdated is not same as  expression your taste.  Is game dated? obviously it is 6 years old but it is not as bad as you were trying to make it look.

    "The problem is that the hardcore folks always want the same thing: 'We want exactly what you gave us before, but it has to be completely different.'
    -Jesse Schell

    "Online gamers are the most ludicrously entitled beings since Caligula made his horse a senator, and at least the horse never said anything stupid."
    -Luke McKinney

    image

  • MeridionMeridion Member UncommonPosts: 1,495
    ida played this game since release if they had more people in it
  • VesaviusVesavius Member RarePosts: 7,908
    Originally posted by Meridion
    ida played this game since release if they had more people in it

     

    That's what everyone said... and why no one played it.

    ...and, like someone else said before, 'big years'? Hardly.

    What has been done to VG over the years is a disgrace, even down to the final carpetbagging of it through F2P that we are seeing now when a free client/ trial + expack + sub 4 years ago would have served it so much better (and gained it a ton of new players).

  • KroxMalonKroxMalon Member UncommonPosts: 608
    How's it a celebration when the game flopped due to SOE not giving a damn untill its to late.
  • NC-JohnNC-John Member Posts: 113

    If half of these new MMO's dedicated as much time working on game features fun play instead of flashy cinematics and hi-poly armor and useless roped off zones dedicated to PVP, we would have some fun games that might just last longer then 4 months before they start circling the drain on the way to F2P

    This game is 6 years old amazing. I do wish they would put more effort into reviving it, been a long time might go back to check it out.

    "Not even a cray super computer can make this game run well. Thats what happens when you code an MMO in pascal. " - miglor

  • exile01exile01 Member RarePosts: 1,089
    Originally posted by NC-John

    If half of these new MMO's dedicated as much time working on game features fun play instead of flashy cinematics and hi-poly armor and useless roped off zones dedicated to PVP, we would have some fun games that might just last longer then 4 months before they start circling the drain on the way to F2P

    This game is 6 years old amazing. I do wish they would put more effort into reviving it, been a long time might go back to check it out.

    Because time is now more valuable then back in the days. Its all about jump in , have fun and go. Wich i think is the right decision. MMorpg should always play a secondary role in real life. What you want is to trade your lief for a virtual game. NO TY SIR.

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