Vanguard has begun beta

Skars · 07-01-2005, 03:55 PM

From Cindy Bowens Community Manager at Sigil:

Quote:

Well, the time has finally come! We are about to enter our first stage of Beta!

Beta 0 (also commonly known as Friends & Family Beta) is about to begin. This first phase is comprised of a very small group of players that are selected from among people we know personally and know very well.

As we progress into other phases of Beta and are ready to start selecting participants from among our community members, we will let you know right here in this forum. When we are ready to move into each phase and begin taking applications, you will hear it here first!

Just letting you guys know! The real thing probably isn't that far away.

PS Beat you Braen

Jait · 07-01-2005, 04:02 PM

So really it's "Beta imminent"

Good news, hopefully soon then.

Element · 07-01-2005, 04:06 PM

Fuck you sir I was about to go jerkoff. Besides that, thank god!

Soriak · 07-01-2005, 04:22 PM

Cool, nice to see the game is ready for beta

I just hope the devs will be as active on the beta boards as the EQ2 devs were. I've never seen such an amazing dialog between players and devs as back then, and I've been in betas for almost every recent mmorpg. (*hint* Brad *hint*

)

On a more serious note, I really hope they paid close attention to EQ2. Not just the dev/player communication, but also the frequent and well documented patches were great. Knowing exactly what changed is so much better than logging on just to discover that your favorite spell/item got hit with the nerf bat (or is it just bugged?) and knowing it takes another 3 months for the next "content patch."

Frequent, well-documented patches with some advance communication on what to expect - doesn't seem that hard to me, but it feels so much better (as a player) to be "in the loop" so to speak.

I also hope such good communication would continue after Beta (even if that's much harder with the large playerbase) and not just through a community manager. It's great to have a developer post on an issue every once in a while, which is probably the best (and easiest?) way to improve player morale. Knowing the guy responsible for something is aware of the issue, and took time to mention that to the masses. While a CM has an important job too, somehow the press secretary making an anouncement just doesn't come close to the President speaking.

Personally, I feel MMORPGs are much more distinguishable by their producer/player relations than their actual content. Would people be as pissed about WoW if Tigole & Co would post an update once a week? It's the frustration of not getting through to the person working on it that feels much worse than the actual problem itself.

Even though it seems like common-sense, it's surprising how most (all? haven't played EQ2 in a long time) MMORPG companies fail to do it.

Sorry if this doesn't have much to do with the topic of the threat, but I felt this was rather important to post~

James · 07-01-2005, 04:26 PM

Will u b my friend Aradune?

FoghornDeadhorn · 07-01-2005, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James

Will u b my friend Aradune?

I'm pretty sure he was going to PM me with Beta infos first, but you know if something comes up I'll pass them on.

The Bog · 07-01-2005, 04:41 PM

IIIIIT BEGIIIINS

Stanos · 07-01-2005, 04:47 PM

Now everyone can hype up Vanguard, then be horribly disappointed when it isn't the second coming of EQ!

Qhue · 07-01-2005, 04:50 PM

The recent things that have been said about the Vanguard magic system plus the overall sense of an OLD world with lots of history to it has me intrigued.

The hook, however, isnt sufficient, there needs to be quality gameplay too. I still want to know what the heck happened to Norrath between EQ and EQ2 but I just couldn't stomach EQ2 long enough. I am hoping that my fears about the overall appearance of Vanguard are put to rest by the Beta.

Khalikryst · 07-01-2005, 05:06 PM

Hrmm... Brad's web page says his favorite restaurant is Hudson's on the Bend here in Austin... which happens to be about 3 miles from where I live.... If only I could turn this worthless bit of trivia into a bribery mechanism...

Algrinon · 07-01-2005, 05:15 PM

OH JOYFUL DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuco · 07-01-2005, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Hrmm... Brad's web page says his favorite restaurant is Hudson's on the Bend here in Austin... which happens to be about 3 miles from where I live.... If only I could turn this worthless bit of trivia into a bribery mechanism...

I would get a beta slot then sell it on ebay and link the ebay auction to a bunch of different websites.

But yeah, it's good that they're going into beta. Have they given any definate answer as to their NDA?

masteen · 07-01-2005, 05:36 PM

I heard they are flying all beta partipants out to their studio, where the two newest members of the Sigil team, Guido and Nunzio, will give them a tour of the facilities, starting with the furnace.

Vorph · 07-01-2005, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soriak

I just hope the devs will be as active on the beta boards as the EQ2 devs were. I've never seen such an amazing dialog between players and devs as back then, and I've been in betas for almost every recent mmorpg. (*hint* Brad *hint*

)

I was more of the opinion that player to dev dialog in EQ2 beta was like talking to a brick wall. Sure, they posted a lot, but it was mostly to say 'thanks for the feedback, but we're going to do it our way' (and in many cases, in a very condescending way). It only got worse after they went from friends and family to letting in the ass-kissing retard squad (read: Legends players). I gave up shortly after that, and I guess they finally relented on some of the worst design decisions but that's still not what I'd call stellar communication.

Course, it certainly was no AC2 beta. I think I could count on one hand the number of times an actual Turbine dev posted on their boards in response to player feedback. Even the most well-thought out arguments were totally ignored both in terms of a reply and in actually implementing things people suggested. I've never been happier about a game failing miserbly than I was about that one.

That's not to say I think that devs should listen to everything people say and make changes accordingly. Mythic caved in to whoever yelled loudest right after DAoC's release, and fucked up their game beyond any hope of salvage in doing so. City of Heroes had a strange combination of caving in to stupid requests and outright ignoring those which actually made sense. WoW... well, b.net killed any hope of decent communication, so that was a lost cause from the start.

However, I have to admit that despite my cynicism towards the games industry I do still have faith that Brad and co. will keep up the good communication they have so far and also deliver a game that's worth playing even if it doesn't live up to the unreasonable expectations a lot of people have (though sadly one which I may not end up playing due to my unwillingness/inability to commit vast amounts of time to such things anymore, and as far as I'm concerned if you can't be among the best in a MMOG there's no point in playing it at all). I remember Brad responding personally to emails about various issues in EQ1 where most people in his position would simply route that stuff directly to the trash bin, and I like what he has to say in his posts here lately about Vanguard. So for that, they still get the benefit of the doubt as far as I'm concerned.

The Bog · 07-01-2005, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stanos

Now everyone can hype up Vanguard, then be horribly disappointed when it isn't the second coming of EQ!

Oh, quiet Itzen-

Wait a second!

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07-01-2005, 04:02 PM	#2 (permalink)
Jait Irritable Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: :noitacoL Posts: 3,478	So really it's "Beta imminent" Good news, hopefully soon then.

07-01-2005, 04:06 PM	#3 (permalink)
Element Banned Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 1,017 +0 Internets	Fuck you sir I was about to go jerkoff. Besides that, thank god!

07-01-2005, 04:22 PM	#4 (permalink)
Soriak Registered User Join Date: May 2002 Location: Switzerland Posts: 4,691 +29 Internets	Cool, nice to see the game is ready for beta I just hope the devs will be as active on the beta boards as the EQ2 devs were. I've never seen such an amazing dialog between players and devs as back then, and I've been in betas for almost every recent mmorpg. (hint Brad hint ) On a more serious note, I really hope they paid close attention to EQ2. Not just the dev/player communication, but also the frequent and well documented patches were great. Knowing exactly what changed is so much better than logging on just to discover that your favorite spell/item got hit with the nerf bat (or is it just bugged?) and knowing it takes another 3 months for the next "content patch." Frequent, well-documented patches with some advance communication on what to expect - doesn't seem that hard to me, but it feels so much better (as a player) to be "in the loop" so to speak. I also hope such good communication would continue after Beta (even if that's much harder with the large playerbase) and not just through a community manager. It's great to have a developer post on an issue every once in a while, which is probably the best (and easiest?) way to improve player morale. Knowing the guy responsible for something is aware of the issue, and took time to mention that to the masses. While a CM has an important job too, somehow the press secretary making an anouncement just doesn't come close to the President speaking. Personally, I feel MMORPGs are much more distinguishable by their producer/player relations than their actual content. Would people be as pissed about WoW if Tigole & Co would post an update once a week? It's the frustration of not getting through to the person working on it that feels much worse than the actual problem itself. Even though it seems like common-sense, it's surprising how most (all? haven't played EQ2 in a long time) MMORPG companies fail to do it. Sorry if this doesn't have much to do with the topic of the threat, but I felt this was rather important to post~

07-01-2005, 04:41 PM	#7 (permalink)
The Bog The troll who sold the world Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: State College, PA Posts: 2,699 -1 Internets	IIIIIT BEGIIIINS

07-01-2005, 04:47 PM	#8 (permalink)
Stanos Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 374 +0 Internets	Now everyone can hype up Vanguard, then be horribly disappointed when it isn't the second coming of EQ!

07-01-2005, 04:50 PM	#9 (permalink)
Qhue Tunare's most surly gnome Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Sunny Upstate NY Posts: 941 +6 Internets	The recent things that have been said about the Vanguard magic system plus the overall sense of an OLD world with lots of history to it has me intrigued. The hook, however, isnt sufficient, there needs to be quality gameplay too. I still want to know what the heck happened to Norrath between EQ and EQ2 but I just couldn't stomach EQ2 long enough. I am hoping that my fears about the overall appearance of Vanguard are put to rest by the Beta.

07-01-2005, 05:06 PM	#10 (permalink)
Khalikryst OotS MMO plz Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 1,165 +0 Internets	Hrmm... Brad's web page says his favorite restaurant is Hudson's on the Bend here in Austin... which happens to be about 3 miles from where I live.... If only I could turn this worthless bit of trivia into a bribery mechanism...

07-01-2005, 05:15 PM	#11 (permalink)
Algrinon Banned Join Date: May 2003 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 732 +0 Internets	OH JOYFUL DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

07-01-2005, 05:36 PM	#13 (permalink)
masteen Registered User Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 1,304	I heard they are flying all beta partipants out to their studio, where the two newest members of the Sigil team, Guido and Nunzio, will give them a tour of the facilities, starting with the furnace.