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O' Vanguard population Where Art thou?
chryses
Member UncommonPosts: 1,453
I know this has been covered a million times already. However I had a 2 week break from VG and went back to EVE as I needed to see some other people!! Just logged on and its worse than I thought. I travelled to 3 large cities (different continents) and 1 top grinding area and the only player that came up under my area search was.......ME!
This website has more people online than VG does right now. I so wanted this game to work and I really enjoyed playing it when the population was up.....well...existed.
I just can't see with AoC, POTBS, Tabula Rasa and War coming out soon how VG won't be slaughtered outright. I am starting to think all the fans of this game should cart this one off to the glue factory. VG RIP....... so much promise.. *sigh*
Comments
Lol,
The game IS ruined. I logged on today with a friends account who wanted to show me how the game is now, its.. terrible.
The game very much reminds me of how eq1 is now.. you know... low population.. the only difference is, is that EQ1 is dieing slowly, VG has the plague!
It is a shame, i also wanted this game to work.
R.I.P Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
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WAR is coming, are you prepared?
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The real shame is that I was in two Best Buy sores this week looking to see which one had the sale priced monitor in stock. Both stores shelves contained a new shipment of vanguard, two dozen game boxes each. Sadly, SOE is still trying to retail this dog, knowing full well that once the consumer opens the package they cannot get a refund.
Sigh.....seems a tad unethical to me to continue to push a product that you know is not in a marketable state.
Amen brother
If Sony have kept MxO alive in its vegtable/comatose state, VG will be around for awhile. Sure its a flop, McQuaid is a laughing stock, and from recent reports the servers are barren, but SoE will continue to push it for sure. I would, if It were my decision. Just look at these boards, there are a lot of people who will play this game, praise McQuaid, and never concede the game is anything but the best game ever! Meal-tickets baby!
There are probably, (though I cannot imagine it), still people who think DnL was good! SoE will keep VG on life support I think, long as it isn't losing them more money than makes sense to keep it running.
They have The Agency in development as well. Lets not forget the admittedly genius idea of the Station pass. If people can play any of their games with the pass, I can imagine a lot of people saying why not? And just buying VG, or some other covered game to try it out, since the fee is paid anyway. Cha-ching! More cash for SoE, and inflated sales numbers! Brilliant!
Although it may not be a good indication, there are only 66 people on the VG official forums right now. By comparison, there are 1000 on EQ2 and 239 on EQ1, Planetside = 152, The Matrix Online = 149. Dead? Yes, I do think so.
I was one of the VG fans about 1 month ago singing its praises and saying it could work but after today I realise it will need a miracle to come back. However I hear you on the new subscriber front. I was thinking that some poor gamer is going to run home and eagerly launch into VG (after 5 hrs of patching) expecting to find a rich world full of PvP, grouping, crafting etc. Only to find chat channels empty except for the occassional noob yelling out for help to kill ants.
Finally after 3 weeks of shouting in channels for a group I gave up. I just wrote to SOE 1 hour ago asking for a refund as I paid for 3 months of subs. What do you think my chances are?
Since going back to EVE its refreshing to see 28,000+ people online. VG's numbers are just pitiful and pretty sad to be honest. What a waste of development hours....*shaking head*
From what I've heard they took up SOEs offer and are playing EQ2 right now.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis
I don't know what server you were on, what time you were playing, what level you are, or what continent you were on, but that information should be included when you post something like this. That way you can be accurate as possible, without making a broad sweeping generalization about the game.
The reason why I say this is because I play on Florendyl, the RP preferred server and I don't see what you are seeing. I'm not saying that the population isn't low, I am just saying I see a lot of talk on the region chat for Thestra and Qalia and see a lot of groups forming for people in their teens. I'm lvl 6 right now, so I don't get to group with those people, but I am having fun chatting with my guild and people on general chat while I work my Diplomacy and do various quests.
As to the wide open areas in the game, has anyone played SWG before the NGE? Before player cities shot up, there was a bunch of wide open spaces. That's pretty much all there was. Well, soon after player cities went in, that changed. The point I'm making is that we need wide open spaces in the game for us to build our houses on and for later our cities.
If you've listened to the Vanguard community in the game, you would know that these people are dedicated and probably won't leave for those upcoming games. Vanguard, AoC, and etc are not even alike in the first place. I do agree that Vanguard probably won't see an increase in population while those games are doing open betas and first starting out, but if SOE times the free trial right with a fixed game, then we will start getting more subs for Vanguard.
Remember, EQ2 started out weak as well, now it is one of the best games out there. SOE will fix Vanguard, they already are making a lot of progress with each patch, and we will see our sub increase.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
I've refunded a few MMORPGs in my day, so that isn't true. At least not in Pennsylvannia, Virginia, and California which are 3 states I've refunded MMORPGs in.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
Basically SOE picked up a big stinking mess and has been trying to disguise the smell.
The Old Timers Guild
Laid back, not so serious, no drama.
All about the fun!
www.oldtimersguild.com
An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it. - Jef Mallett
I'm not the biggest SOE fan, but I give them credit for attempting to fix this bloated piece of trash. The unfortunate side is that all of the fixing will for naught, as the player base will be almost nil before long.
Basically SOE picked up a big stinking mess and has been trying to disguise the smell.
More like putting makeup on a corpse.
I've seen better games die like E&B when EA pulled the plug. One wonders why SOE even bothered.
I don't know what server you were on, what time you were playing, what level you are, or what continent you were on, but that information should be included when you post something like this. That way you can be accurate as possible, without making a broad sweeping generalization about the game.
The reason why I say this is because I play on Florendyl, the RP preferred server and I don't see what you are seeing. I'm not saying that the population isn't low, I am just saying I see a lot of talk on the region chat for Thestra and Qalia and see a lot of groups forming for people in their teens. I'm lvl 6 right now, so I don't get to group with those people, but I am having fun chatting with my guild and people on general chat while I work my Diplomacy and do various quests.
As to the wide open areas in the game, has anyone played SWG before the NGE? Before player cities shot up, there was a bunch of wide open spaces. That's pretty much all there was. Well, soon after player cities went in, that changed. The point I'm making is that we need wide open spaces in the game for us to build our houses on and for later our cities.
If you've listened to the Vanguard community in the game, you would know that these people are dedicated and probably won't leave for those upcoming games. Vanguard, AoC, and etc are not even alike in the first place. I do agree that Vanguard probably won't see an increase in population while those games are doing open betas and first starting out, but if SOE times the free trial right with a fixed game, then we will start getting more subs for Vanguard.
Remember, EQ2 started out weak as well, now it is one of the best games out there. SOE will fix Vanguard, they already are making a lot of progress with each patch, and we will see our sub increase.
JK good point I should have stated the facts you so rightly listed.
Small VG bio. I have a lvl 38 sorceror (32 carpenter), lvl 25 Cleric, lvl 14 monk on the US PvP server and a lvl 12 DK on the EU PvP server. I logged on at 3pm GMT on Saturday which is USA morning as I (used) to find most people on then. The issue I had was that I travelled to 2 of the biggest cities in Qalia and a couple of high grind areas in Thestra including Deebs which tends to have a lot of crafters. Besides seeing only 1 x level 18 player in one of the areas (who bolted when they saw me) I was the only person there. Don't get me wrong this is definitely not another VG bash thread. I have poured a lot of hours into this game and absolutely loved it when I had a decent group. Above all my best friend plays it and its the only way we catch up as he is in Australia. So I have a lot to give up when I unsubscribe. I consider myself to be a very loyal gamer when I subscribe to an mmo. I tried to stay positive for VG and even posted a lot about how it was improving but in the last 3-4 weeks I have had reality slap me in the face and this is purely an observation. What hurts is seeing some pretty amazing graghics that obviously had a lot of time and money go into it and it will be for naught. I told my mate I was leaving and he was like, "Dude they are bringing in Guild Halls!". FFS this is just more time wasted on something that very few will see. Not to mention the huge amount of resources players will need to get to pour into it and then being frustrated at how you cant get any because there are not enough crafters making the stuff needed. The only way they will save this game is by:
* Drop all development on guild halls and all the 'nice' to have options in the game and bring in some real content. e.g. RvR, NPC raids on enemy factions.
* Do something with subs. e.g. 30 day free trial (seriously), free to lvl 20, pay for 2 months and get 2 free...anything! Just get the population up and fast. (Have only 1 EU, 1 USA PVP and 1 EU, 1 USE PVE server)
* Tonnes more communication on upcoming developments. More in game GMs. Right now players are feeling like lost children dumped into a weird dream world and I get sick of seeing the cries for help in the chat channels.
But yes you are right. The players tend to be a lot better than other mmo's. I haven't come across too many kids gobbing off. So that was a really nice change. If VG proves my prediction wrong then good luck to them. I still want my money back though.
JK good point I should have stated the facts you so rightly listed.
Small VG bio. I have a lvl 38 sorceror (32 carpenter), lvl 25 Cleric, lvl 14 monk on the US PvP server and a lvl 12 DK on the EU PvP server. I logged on at 3pm GMT on Saturday which is USA morning as I (used) to find most people on then. The issue I had was that I travelled to 2 of the biggest cities in Qalia and a couple of high grind areas in Thestra including Deebs which tends to have a lot of crafters. Besides seeing only 1 x level 18 player in one of the areas (who bolted when they saw me) I was the only person there. Don't get me wrong this is definitely not another VG bash thread. I have poured a lot of hours into this game and absolutely loved it when I had a decent group. Above all my best friend plays it and its the only way we catch up as he is in Australia. So I have a lot to give up when I unsubscribe. I consider myself to be a very loyal gamer when I subscribe to an mmo. I tried to stay positive for VG and even posted a lot about how it was improving but in the last 3-4 weeks I have had reality slap me in the face and this is purely an observation. What hurts is seeing some pretty amazing graghics that obviously had a lot of time and money go into it and it will be for naught. I told my mate I was leaving and he was like, "Dude they are bringing in Guild Halls!". FFS this is just more time wasted on something that very few will see. Not to mention the huge amount of resources players will need to get to pour into it and then being frustrated at how you cant get any because there are not enough crafters making the stuff needed. The only way they will save this game is by:
* Drop all development on guild halls and all the 'nice' to have options in the game and bring in some real content. e.g. RvR, NPC raids on enemy factions.
* Do something with subs. e.g. 30 day free trial (seriously), free to lvl 20, pay for 2 months and get 2 free...anything! Just get the population up and fast. (Have only 1 EU, 1 USA PVP and 1 EU, 1 USE PVE server)
* Tonnes more communication on upcoming developments. More in game GMs. Right now players are feeling like lost children dumped into a weird dream world and I get sick of seeing the cries for help in the chat channels.
But yes you are right. The players tend to be a lot better than other mmo's. I haven't come across too many kids gobbing off. So that was a really nice change. If VG proves my prediction wrong then good luck to them. I still want my money back though.
You obviously have a lot more experience in the game than I do, so I can't rightfully argue your dislikes. I play on Florendyl and things are different there for me than what you describe for you. We are also two different types of players. I'm more of a sandbox player, where I can exist with player made content (RP), and you are a object oriented gamer (object being PvP or Raiding). I'm not saying I don't like content, because I do like "good" and "epic" quality content. However, I do not like story lines in a game, because that creates the linear feeling and Vanguard seems it would be better off not having a story. Vanguard offers features and will offer features that make the game already set up for people who would rather create their own story for their characters than to play out the developers story line.
I hope you find a game that you are looking for. I think DAoC is right up your alley for RvR, Darkfall for FFA PvP (which I will be playing), and WoW for your story line and Raid content.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
JK I don't dispute for one moment what you say but I feel that the gloss you are putting over is a little over the top.
You play on the RP server. This would be the server that saw a 30% drop in players in the few weeks from announcing the merger poll to when they announced the result. This is SoE's figure not something I made up.
Lots of posts suggest that the RP server is / is due to take another hit once it is wound down.
So, like I say, don't dispute your comments but feel that they should be balanced against the official state of the nation news.
You said, "...the gloss you are putting over is a little over the top." What gloss are you referring to? Everything I have mentioned has been exactly what I have experienced. I mention experiences and I don't exaggerate either. I'm having a good time and I do think that Vanguard is a good game. It does has its performance problems, but I think it is its only problem. Performance can be fixed, whereas a lack of soul to the game cannot.
Yes, I read that article too where SoE stated a loss in 30% on the RP servers. A percentage doesn't mean much without the original value, now does it? Florendyl, along with every server is on population "Low." I'm not arguing facts here and will acknowledge them, good or bad. The only problem I have is when people state their opinion like it is facts and the law. A poster should clearly mark what is opinion and what is facts, because many readers mistakenly take opinion as fact due to the passion or emotion put behind the words. There are many low pop. MMORPGs out there whose communities are quite happy. People refer others looking for a new MMORPG to old games often on this website, but they always say to find a guild asap. Well, I found a guild in my first day, plus I am a sociable person. I am proactive in the community, so I don't have some of the problems other posters are complaining about. A lot of times, the people that are complaining about population levels or not being able to group are the same people that don't take the initiative to create a group, make friends, join a guild, or aggressively seek out a position in a group. Ordinary forum readers don't think about this fact either and they take opinions like the various anti-Vanguard people as facts.
Lets just say for instance there is 1000 people logged on a server at anyone time. This number is probably low since games as old as DAoC see population lvls near that or more 24/7 on the majority of their clusters. Now if a person is in an active guild on that server of say 100+ people, chances are their opinion of the games population and community will be different than a person who is in no guild, a small guild active or inactive, or a person that doesn't try to get a group other than spamming the general chat channel with LFG messages. Keep in mind that a lot of people turn that channel off due to the idle chit chat going on. So you see, just because SOE reports a population hit, doesn't mean every player sees or experiences the differences. That is an objective opinion there and I hope you can see where I am coming from.
So maybe I am in the minority here that is having a good time, but maybe I am not. Maybe the people enjoying the game a lot aren't posting on MMORPG.COM or on any other forum for that matter. You need to realize that posibility too. Anyways, my post is getting long and I know people don't like to read a lot on this forum, so I better cut it off here.
Thank you.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
Can only speak for Shiderth, but while the overall pop remains low, there has definitely been a noticeable increase in players in the last 1-2 weeks. My friends list is showing twice as many as in previous weeks, the economy has picked up a lot, our active guild log-ins has picked up, fricking camp checks in Rahz because it is packed. Hell, even 17 people in Leth Nurae yesterday.
Sad, clueless outdated thread....
Ack! The past came back to haunt us!
The really sad part is that I left Vanguard for a while looking for a better game. I'm back in Vanguard now, because, though it has little support, development, or population, I seriously can't find a better game out there (for me, at least).
LOL and your the one who rebrought this up from 2yrs ago. must have taken you a while to troll this one out.
Anyways, i bought it, i left it, i read that there was a comeback trial for a month to see what they SoE had done to teh game (think this was 8-10mths after release), it failed. Of course i didnt play for a month, i just played for about 7hrs in total, over 2 or 3 sittings (it was at xmas) and the snow they had in game was enough to send anyone's eyes boggled. Even if you went inside a buildign you had the snow and there was no way to turn it off.
There has been 2 or 3 more free months (i believe) but again, no e-mails were sent out (well me nor any of the other 5 people got one) all from europe (UK, denmark and sweden). Only found out 1st time because someone posted about it here 1 week in. Rest were unknown, or too late to bother with. LOL and thats ment to bring old players back, what they expect, telepathy and log into accounts every 5 mins to check LOL
Game probably died anyways, dont here that much about it, probably no community left in there anyways (much like age of conan), that game has improved but is very lacking in community. Feels more like a solo player game, and instance's you can forget them, i just finished a full month and out of everyone i met at my level, they all quit or went to play their higher level char (if they had 1). Only reason i am not going back.
Trying Lotro right now on its 14 day free trial. 1 friend bought it to check and me and 1 other are checking it out on teh 14 day trial (with possibly, i am hoping 1 other friend later on), to come join us. Can buy the game+expansion for 14.99, so ye if the game is good enough i will get that. Wont be a main game, just a filler for filling in breaks between games, or taking those rest periods from others etc etc etc.
But the point is both AoC and VG failed, AoC has and is being worked on and is not as bad as people made out, but still requires some improvement and a community, wereas VG has no community and is/was bad, also has the SoE tag to it so that gives warnings left right and center anyways. Lotro seems to be the pick of the 3.
Sigh, of all the failed games only VG I really miss. The vast open world, the interesting classes... I really like that, but when nobody plays it, what good is it for.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
I don't think people want that anymore. Now they want quick to figure out classes, fast thoughtless quests, and a world that just has a lot of bright colors.
At times I can't blame them. I mean, when I get home from work I only have 2 hours to play or so. But then, there are times like on the weekends and holidays that I want to sit down and really try to achieve something.
I guess once people got a taste of streamlined gameplay it just sort of stuck. The thing I've noticed though is that I have no personal connection to my characters in games like WoW. They're just this character I have that runs around so I can collect pelts and do a few quick quests. But in games like Vanguard I get the feeling that I know the character. Like he's more real.
I got that same feeling in games like EQ and DAoC. Oh well.
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WTF, who in their right mind Necro's a 2 year old thread.
That is the fastest way to get a thread locked down by the Mods.
Necroing this old thread just shows how bad this game is, was, and always will be. SOE is just milking the $1.95 a month it can out of this turd. This whole idea of returning to an EQ1 is early days type playing made me LOL. This is the result, we hated EQ1 gaiming and melee especially sucked and I wasn't putting up with another Casterquest farce.