Out of the forest, a stranger approaches

agh50

Greetings all,

I tried Vanguard at launch, and leveled a character up to the high 30s, and then left the game.  The reason I left was well,  pretty much the same reason most people left at that time.

I have read that they have made a lot of improvements in preformance, and have added new content, and as I am burned out after 5 years in EQ2, I thought I might give Vanguard a second look.

There are three main concerns I have however, and I am hoping I can get some feedback on them here:

First:

Although I am a HUGE fan of large seemless worlds,  the fact that player housing in Vanguard is non-instanced, bothers me.  When I played, I played on the northernmost continent, (I forget what it was called now).  I love to explore and would do so extensively, even into areas deep red to me. 

Perhaps I got a distorted view of the world, but it seemed as though about 20% of the playing area, (perhaps more), was reserved for player housing.  Lots laid out like a subdivision waiting for construction to begin.  I have visions of Britannia again, where the entire world is paved over with towers and houses, so that it resembles a huge expanse of urban sprawl (like the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area), rather than a fantasy wilderness.

Why make a huge world to play in, if you turn around and take 20% of it away from the beginning?

Second:

When leveling up, it seemed to me as if there were only a single area to hunt at for each tier.  I can't remember now, but I think in my 20s everyone headed to the same village area (by a river with a bridge over it if I recall correctly).  I would like to feel that this type of restricted leveling area has been eased a bit.

I understand that it is the same as a zone-based world where different  zones cater to different experience tiers, but it seemed as if there were very few alternative hunting areas for each tier.

Third:

The way that skills progressed irked me.  I would spend a great deal of effort trying to raise, (strength I think it was), to get a bonus, and then when I reached the next tier, the bonus disappeared, and I had to re-concentrate on strength again for that tier, to get the bonus back.  It seemed as if I were not progressing at all.

Thank-you for taking the time to read this , and I welcome any input you may care to provide.

boojiboy

I'll try to shed some light on your questions....

1) Player housing and guild hall plots might make up 5% or less of the land mass.  Problem is most if not all lots are purchased.  You may need to check on a regular basis to find one.  I built a house on the river, I've never seen a lot open up there since after the mergers.

2) Depending on how long ago you left the game, you might be pleasantly surprised at all the new adventuring areas and quest lines.  The different adventuring areas are like a pyramid.  From level 1-10 there's got to be at least 40 some areas.  From level 11-20 there are 30 or so, and so on until you get to level 50 where I'd say there are 10 level appropriate areas.  I've played many alts, and have leveled them to varying levels and I STILL find new places to this day.  If you are an altoholic nothing better than leveling characters to 50 and never going through the same area twice.

3) I actually liked skill building the way it was when you left the game.  It's too easy now in my opinion.