Play Motivation

jamesd129

I'm thinking about resubbing to VG after having played the first month it was out a had a couple questions. First off population. Is there a sufficient lower level population that I would be able to find groups somewhat easily?

Another issue I would like to resolved is play motiviation. The problem for me with PvE games is that whenever I get to about 1/2 of max level I start wondering why I'm going to finish the second half. I would like for there to be some sort of competition. In MMOs there are always those who play for huge amounts of time and thus any competition for straight up level or items is always futile. I generally like some sort of PvP but don't want it to interfere with the pve content. When I played originally I was on the team based PvP server to hopefully be able to separate the two experiences, a server which I believe has been eliminated. So, is there something in VG other than just acquisition of levels/items, like a goal in which I would need to use those levels/items?

ethion

Originally posted by jamesd129


I'm thinking about resubbing to VG after having played the first month it was out a had a couple questions. First off population. Is there a sufficient lower level population that I would be able to find groups somewhat easily?
Another issue I would like to resolved is play motiviation. The problem for me with PvE games is that whenever I get to about 1/2 of max level I start wondering why I'm going to finish the second half. I would like for there to be some sort of competition. In MMOs there are always those who play for huge amounts of time and thus any competition for straight up level or items is always futile. I generally like some sort of PvP but don't want it to interfere with the pve content. When I played originally I was on the team based PvP server to hopefully be able to separate the two experiences, a server which I believe has been eliminated. So, is there something in VG other than just acquisition of levels/items, like a goal in which I would need to use those levels/items?

 

Well I can understand where you are coming from on the pve getting bored half way through.  This was one of the things about wow that always killed me and to some extent most of the modern games.  They do PvE where it is all about solo quests.  You log on you go kill 20 clams for 10 clam meat or lions for fur, or maybe they change it up and you collect 5 apples or whatever.  But the point is you are mindless running around doing these endless tasks.  While it is fun early on when you advance pretty fast getting new abilities and finding loot inevitably you get higher lvl and it gets painfully slow, you get no new abilities just upgrades and the equipment that drops is kinda pointless because you got enough money to buy stuff on the broker that is far better then anything you find.

So we toss in pvp which adds a little spice or sometimes a huge ration or grief.  I'm not really a big fan of it.  RvR in war is a nice change but having played DaoC killing keeps and doing pvp gets really boring also.

So what is the solution?  Cooperation, teamwork, and comradary.  This is where VG kinda follows in the EQ model.  It encourages you to reach out and contact other players to see parts of the game or gain things that you can't do solo.  Unlike EQ though it doesn't leave you high and dry stuck with only that model it does have solo activities like questing, harvesting, crafting and diplomacy.  But the key thing is grouping.

This is what makes the game interesting for me.   I played eq for years because of it and no other game has ever kept me as well.  VG is similar in that reguard.  Unfortunately much as I'd love to I don't have the time I had once upon a time to play games.  So I get to play for an hour or two and I'm on call 7x24 so I always gotta be ready to drop out.  But that said I've had some wonderful group experiences in VG and that is in my mind the best thing in any game.

I'm playing Tabula Rasa now which in many ways is like wow with endless questing.  I'd not be playing it at all if it wasn't for grouping with some buddies.  Once they tire of Tabula Rasa I'll be back to VG or maybe EQ2.  Again I keep getting drawn into EQ2 cause of my wife :P  But hey if she wants to give me cool stuff and get me in groups to have me play I'm all for it :P

Anyway back to your point.  In addition to competition another strong factor you might consider is breaking the wow mold and looking into collaborartion   Make a group, join a group, Join a guild and setup a 2 times a week guild group run through some of the great dungeon and quest strings in VG.  Don't judge the game based on the first 10-15 levels, you won't find a lot of people being spread out all over the world.  But at 15 many people start coming together for dungeons.  Hit Qalia and Thestra for the best experiences.  Do some reseach and pick an out of the way dungeon/quest line and start a group doing it.  People in VG tend to love the new unusual things many people don't do.

 

 

xmoleculex

There are a lot of people playing on the Isle of Dawn newbie island right now. It's a great place to play and make some friends, maybe get in a guild and prepare yourself for the larger world after level 10.

I highly recommend that you try Vanguard. The game has gotten so much better! It has a great nostalgic feel to it... and honestly is much more of an EQ2 than the actual EQ2 is.

They have added a lot of modern MMO amenities, so if the "hardcore" EQ style doesn't fit your play, you can still use Riftways to teleport around the world, etc.

Leveling is almost too fast in the beginning. If you are doing a questline that you are interested in, I would suggest using the No XP buff so that you don't outgrow the quest or the equipment prematurely.

As far as motivation to finish leveling, it's pretty much raid content at the end. I'm not there yet, but from what I hear some of the bosses are very challenging and the APW gear is awesome. They just added 4 more overland group-raid bosses a couple of days ago, so development is ongoing!