[Rayne]

I said as far back as 18 months ago, that a majority of Vanguard's forum members were getting way out of hand with wild speculations, and insane feature expectations. The bottom line is, this game has fallen victim to its own overhype. And its as much the fans fault as it is Brads. The fans for having some pretty wild expectations, and Brads for not getting that shit in check when it started.

When fans start "overly expecting" that certain features would be implemented, and how those features might work, its time to step in and correct it. But that opportunity came and went. Long ago. Beta testers went in believing they would experience something, then found that it didn't live up to its hype.

The outdated FAQ, and Brads "loose" description of his term "core gamer", paint a picture thats obviously worlds different than the type of game thats actually being built.

The MOST important part of ANY game is the beginning. Its the developers one shot at hooking the player in for the long haul that makes up the rest of the game. Its like they're trying to build the game in reverse. Awesome content at the end, with not much to keep the player interested in getting to it at the beginning.

Levels 1-10 should pander to the players confidence, helping to elevate it along the way. Especially if you're designing a "hardcore" game. With 50 levels to work through, theres plenty of time to "ease" the player into the hardcore aspect.

But at the early levels, the player should be introduced to the various aspects of the game. Like how dependant thier chosen class might be on certain tradeskills. And how thier chosen faction/diety determines thier place in the world, and what the consequences of thier actions are. How the questing and tradeskilling systems work. The basic story of the games world, and its various settings, and how the player came to be there.

These guys are supposed to be gamers. They should know all this already. It should have been the FIRST thing they considered when they began building this game.