Let's see...
To reply to Draegan regarding the differences in combat, I guess the basics are the same. Button-pushing quickly with certain tactics involved.
I was one of those early on before Vanguard launched who was looking forward to a RT/turn-based hybrid of a combat system that used the AES to perceive weaknesses in certain areas of the monster that could be exploited. As far as I heard, mechanics, implementation problems, and beta feedback nixed that idea and made it into the system it currently is.
To confirm: I have never played WoW, although at some point I plan on getting at least a trial subscription. I've heard a lot about it from reputable sources, mostly positive. To be honest, the aspect that kept me away were comments about the community, although my co-workers are trying to sway me into trying it. Until I do, though, I have to plead ignorance regarding the game.
To Brad: Good to see you posting here, as well as Nino, to create some dialogue.
However, one thing I do have to disagree with you strongly on is the management of expectations.
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... at the same time I also made a huge effort to manage expectations and let people know what might not make it in release, what was an expansion idea, etc. Sure, that changed as we got farther along with development. You can look up my posts and look at old copies of the FAQ and see the scaling back that took place (both what Kendrick mentioned and other stuff). And thinking back on it, while I posted a lot of these changes, the FAQ should have been kept more up to date.
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I don't think you're the one solely responsible for this; fans of the game (including me for some time) did not manage their own expectations. The other problem is that in regards to viral marketing,
you can't be selling Vanguard and at the same time "managing expectations" directly, since they work against each other. Not to mention that managing expectations is an ongoing process, and was not done during the early phases of the development of the game from what I've read and later experienced.
The other devs did try to explain a lot of details when it came to elements such as crafting (no alchemist class
) and diplomacy and how those changed over time. However, whether due to concern over the competition or a desire not to discourage players, the massive changes in mechanics such as AES remained undisclosed until open beta/launch. The problem is, silence on these issues created an even larger firestorm between fans and others because of speculation.
I'm not saying these things to roast you on a spit, like some would. I play and enjoy the game for what it currently is, and for what it could/might be. I look forward to great things for the game - if it does not water down its core concepts (Content is King?) to be marketable, which sadly I see starting. I appreciate the communication you and the devs have had with the community for some time, and want to see Vanguard realize its potential. However, when discussing possibilities and long-term ideas, you might want to say, "
Our goal is to develop RTS elements within player cities" etc. Just throwing ideas out there (while I do see the need for, and appreciate visionaries and dreamers) implies that those
will be implemented. I'm going to be playing the game for the content today. As content is added and mechanics and other elements are improved, great. But I realize as a gamer and consumer that "Vision" alone is not enough - there has to be "Actualization".
Finally, while I can appreciate the attempt to make the game more appealing to a larger casual player base by increasing adventuring experience, please stop at this point, or even back up. By increasing the adventuring experience you're trivializing the amount of content in the game, as players can quickly out-level good adventuring areas/dungeons.
Either it was listed in a dev statement or in the content of patch notes, but one of the reasons for increasing adventuring experience was that the overall player base was not advancing at the rate the devs expected them to. What about those of us who enjoy crafting and diplomacy? Or simply doing a little exploring? Was the slower progression of the multi-sphere/level-casual people taken into account? I'd like to know what information was used in coming to this conclusion.
