[UnchainedAcolyte]

Not to try to get back on topic, but...


My interpretation of the nerd rage against Vanguard:


High expectations due to the involvement of Brad and Jeff/Low expectations due to the involvement of Brad and Jeff... lol.

Everyone's individual interpretation of "the Vision's" implementation and it's level of success or failure according to their subjective tastes;

The many promises of depth and completeness of design and content before going to launch;

Moderate to major changes in mechanics/implementation during the last phases of beta and ongoing currently;

The amount of bugs, incomplete content and (in my opinion) incomplete design elements present at launch.



I'll be honest. I enjoy Vanguard, though I'm also not ignorant of the problems that exist in the game - some I have been spared from, some I have suffered from (FYI - I'm a rogue). I enjoy the game in its current form and look forward to what the game can be both in the short- and long-term future.


My two personal nerd rages have to do with:

lore - at least in a sense of basic completeness for those who prefer not to use diplomacy and to give people's characters a sense of orientation and place in the world;

adventuring experience - what the heck happened to having a large world to explore and various places to adventure for your level if you out level them after the first dungeon? Like I mentioned in my last post, these types of changes will come back to bite the devs since it eliminates the need for player cities, longer stays in particular regions due to content level, and makes frequent and moderate- to long-range travel more necessary and hence more frustrating. Some of us are still going to commit hari-kiri to stay in our level range to explore the content for our level if we prefer not to have two or more alts. Also, it puts those of us who practice diplomacy and crafting further and further behind if we care to adventure. You cannot heavily "tweak" one element of the game and not expect it to have serious repercussions throughout the rest of the system.

Subjectively I believe this is a concession to the adventuring-only/grinding/"casual" player who wishes to have maximum return in terms of achievement (in a game that is supposed to present a challenge) for minimal effort. To me it comes off as a rather blatant attempt to pull in more casual players to up the subscriptions, which it could be. What happened to "content is king"? Apparently, somebody abdicated their throne for the moment.

I can't find the quote, but one of the devs admitted that Vanguard was adjusting and adapting to fit the changing MMO landscape (if someone can find the quote, please post it). I can appreciate efforts to broaden and deepen the game, but certain fundamental changes, especially the multiple increases in adventuring experience, seem to be watering it down, tipping the boat in the direction of "grind fest to endgame", trivializing other elements and spheres of the game.