Lots of new Vanguard info released, plus videos & screenshots

[Fammaden]

Originally Posted by Lyenae

You can also have random spawning events along travel roads. Anything from dungeons, to npcs, to monsters, all of which could provide items/consumables that can be balanced to be useful.

Yeah, I can't wait to farm the Dark Road spawn cycle for supple silk threads all day so I can make my Robe of the Dark Bandit. That sounds so original and deep. I'm sure who ever implements it will be sure that every travel path in the game has a seemingly unlimited amount and nearly infinitely engaging and challenging style of randomly spawning encounters.

[tad10]

Eh, it's better than nothing. Part of the problem is placement. Big City surrounded by newbie zones -- tougher zones beyond newbie zones -- even tougher zones beyond that -- so you end up always going through the same newbie zones, the same slightly tougher zones, etc, to reach your ultimate zone.

Why not design an MMO where the main cities are near the high-end zones that folks are going to be spending the vast majority of their time. Put newbie zones far away with small little villages.

I don't know why I care all that much -- downtime isn't all bad in MMO's -- flying in WoW always gave me time to hit el bano.

Well maybe boats will be amusing -- who knows...

[Tolanin]

downtime like gryphon rides is more tolerable cause you dont have to be there for it.. its like a 10 minute long loading screen... if you actually had to sit and fly the gryphon manually i bet it would be alot gayer.

[kedwyn]

Originally Posted by tad10

Eh, it's better than nothing. Part of the problem is placement. Big City surrounded by newbie zones -- tougher zones beyond newbie zones -- even tougher zones beyond that -- so you end up always going through the same newbie zones, the same slightly tougher zones, etc, to reach your ultimate zone.

Why not design an MMO where the main cities are near the high-end zones that folks are going to be spending the vast majority of their time. Put newbie zones far away with small little villages.

I don't know why I care all that much -- downtime isn't all bad in MMO's -- flying in WoW always gave me time to hit el bano.

Well maybe boats will be amusing -- who knows...

/clap


Maybe some developer will take note of this.

[Dintorr]

So is there an announced/expected delivery date for Vanguard?

[Arbitrary]

Originally Posted by Fammaden

Yeah, I can't wait to farm the Dark Road spawn cycle for supple silk threads all day so I can make my Robe of the Dark Bandit. That sounds so original and deep. I'm sure who ever implements it will be sure that every travel path in the game has a seemingly unlimited amount and nearly infinitely engaging and challenging style of randomly spawning encounters.

I really do want to have your babies sometimes.

[rinthea]

Originally Posted by Dintorr

So is there an announced/expected delivery date for Vanguard?

quarter 1 2007, most people seem to be betting on march

[Erie]

Originally Posted by Tolanin

downtime like gryphon rides is more tolerable cause you dont have to be there for it.. its like a 10 minute long loading screen... if you actually had to sit and fly the gryphon manually i bet it would be alot gayer.

Least you can fly theoretically in a straight line in Vanguard. The mounts probably won't be as fast, but nothing pissed me off more then the freaking birds going the wrong way.

[tad10]

Originally Posted by rinthea

quarter 1 2007, most people seem to be betting on march

If by March you mean March 27, 2006 (last tuesday in march) than I agree.

They'd be insane to release it in Jan: with TBC (not to mention bugs), they'd be only-slightly-less-insane to release it in Feb.

[Zehn - Vhex]

Originally Posted by tad10

Eh, it's better than nothing....

You mean like WoW? Nearly every major city is near/connected to a higher level zone. UC -> plaguelands, Org -> Azshara, Stormwind -> Dustwallow, Ironforge -> Wetlands. Hell, even if you start in Thunderbluff you have to travel through the lvl 20+ part of Barrens to get to the more level appropriate shit to the North.

And I'm all for the roaming ass stompers too. Sons of Arugal in Silverpine, Sea Giants in Desolace, bored lvl 60's in STV...

[tad10]

Originally Posted by Zehn - Vhex

You mean like WoW? Nearly every major city is near/connected to a higher level zone. UC -> plaguelands, Org -> Azshara, Stormwind -> Dustwallow, Ironforge -> Wetlands. Hell, even if you start in Thunderbluff you have to travel through the lvl 20+ part of Barrens to get to the more level appropriate shit to the North.

And I'm all for the roaming ass stompers too. Sons of Arugal in Silverpine, Sea Giants in Desolace, bored lvl 60's in STV...

Eh, after I hit 60 I spent all my time in Silithus (post AQ), or EPL and Winterspring (pre-AQ). Not withstanding the odd jaunt to the middle of nowhere... I mean blackrock mtn. None of which were anywhere near the main cities. YMMV of course.

[Zehn - Vhex]

Well it wouldn't be very inventive if every end game zone happened to be right on top of a major city either. The only real flaw in WoW's world layout is the fact that there just happens to be a mountain separating every 'zone' except elwynn and dustwallow.

I don't know what kinda crack you're smoking either. Everyone one of those zones is under 2 flighpath hops from a major city. Org -> Azshara -> WS. TB -> Felwood -> Silithus. UC -> EPL.

[The Hiram Key]

Originally Posted by Zehn - Vhex

Well it wouldn't be very inventive if every end game zone happened to be right on top of a major city either. The only real flaw in WoW's world layout is the fact that there just happens to be a mountain separating every 'zone' except elwynn and dustwallow.

I don't know what kinda crack you're smoking either. Everyone one of those zones is under 2 flighpath hops from a major city. Org -> Azshara -> WS. TB -> Felwood -> Silithus. UC -> EPL.

One of the earliest ideas that I remember throwing around on the old sigil forms (not my idea, I just chatting with others about it) was with interactive travel, say theres a nice spot near a lake, with some resources, a nice view, safe from animals etc.

You set up a camp fire, maybe pitch a tent. You leave but the remains of your camp fire stay, others come along, and see the beauty of this spot and camp there too. Over time, your camp spot becomes a minor hub or "rest stop" and becomes enhanced, perhaps NPC vendors, tents, services etc.

Fast forward even more, and it becomes a full fledged minor city, all started (the way many real towns start) because it was a convenient place to stop along a travel route.Add +1 and get some things like world changing events (hello clown-tards, this was done WAY back in AC1,) and lets say they patch in, I don't know, a huge tree falls on and decimates the village, so the travel path is adjusted around it, and the npc's make the village move (or the players do it).

Or an earthquake, or a Ony style dragon find the village to be its own personal Mcdonalds, or a meteor etc etc.

Travel, and the world, can be dynamic, hell a huge portion of that can be scripted so the devs dont have to do it all by hand. Set your safe travel lanes up with an eye to this, and it shouldnt be hard.

Edit: I believe, but could be wrong, that this particular idea was shelved.

[Lyenae]

Originally Posted by Fammaden

Yeah, I can't wait to farm the Dark Road spawn cycle for supple silk threads all day so I can make my Robe of the Dark Bandit. That sounds so original and deep. I'm sure who ever implements it will be sure that every travel path in the game has a seemingly unlimited amount and nearly infinitely engaging and challenging style of randomly spawning encounters.

Nice try fagging up a quality idea with your own in-the-box notions about MMO's.

As far as encounters, again, there are over 30 years of source material out about RPG's, tabletop or game. Reinventing the wheel is not necessary. The ideas are there.

[Arbitrary]

Originally Posted by Lyenae

Nice try fagging up a quality idea with your own in-the-box notions about MMO's.

As far as encounters, again, there are over 30 years of source material out about RPG's, tabletop or game. Reinventing the wheel is not necessary. The ideas are there.

Quality idea? Try unfeasable. How many differant instances/random encounters are you going to devote to the ubiquitious run from Qeynos to Freeport? If a player makes the run ten times will it be differant each and every time? How differant? How much programming and content should be devoted to making travel, where the destination is the goal, exciting? Would another player even be able to give you directions that ment anything?

All the time and effort used to jazz up just trying to get somewhere is time best devoted elsewhere. Dynamic quests, world events, plenty of raid encounters, class balance, whatever. When I just want to get somewhere I want to get somewhere as quick and easy as possible and I sure as shit don't want to be told where and when I have to adventure. Sorry, the travel is a mandatorily interactive appropriate challenge. Great, thanks. I just wanted to get over to my friends and have to go through a big production.

And a good number of those thirty years of source material involves going to the back of the book and rolling up random encounters. Oh look, 10-1000 orcs.

Fuck.