Lots of new Vanguard info released, plus videos & screenshots

[Dashal]

Quick thing about travel, I agree with the first time exciting, boring the 2nd or 3rd time. Kithcore Forrest however, was scary to pass through virtually every time. Even at level 50. That place freaked me out.

I think that would be tough to do in Vanguard since it's seemless, but it is something to shoot for. Does WoW have any zone like that?

[Aegorian]

Originally Posted by Dashal

Quick thing about travel, I agree with the first time exciting, boring the 2nd or 3rd time. Kithcore Forrest however, was scary to pass through virtually every time. Even at level 50. That place freaked me out.

I think that would be tough to do in Vanguard since it's seemless, but it is something to shoot for. Does WoW have any zone like that?

no.. because at it's darkest point everything in WoW is bright pink. There's no such thing as dark and/or forboding in that game.

[EmiliaEQ]

The first time you run from point A -> point B is fun and adventure. After that it's travel and travel is fucking boring

After having been raped about a dozen time in the plaguelands & silithus by
those red-armored human packs (forgot their names).

I can assure you that traveling while extremely boring can still be made interesting.

- Monster Mobs (see Silithus/Plaguelands)
- Ultra Rare RandomTimer Mobs (Lodizal / Stormfeather)
- Quests (See War 1.5 Epic in Eastern Wastes)
- Pseudo NPC Tracking PvP Patrols (Like the Silithus/Plaguelands but
that actually come looking for you) so its zone or veryhardfight die.

For me the best solution would be Teleport/Gate items with a cooldown.
Attainable only after a certain level and with reduced cooldown timers as you progress.

Example :
- Lvl20 Gate to SW/IF/DN 180 Min Refresh (For Neutral)
- Lvl40 Gate to SW/IF/DN 100 Min Refresh (Need Revered)
- Lvl50 Gate to SW/IF/DN 50 Min Refresh (Need Honored)
- Lvl60 Gate to SW/IF/DN 30 Min Refresh (need Exalted)

Traveling (just like IRL) should be tiresome exept for some priviledged classes.
(That will end up doing the Cab/Taxi, thats balancing)
As you progress in the game, you should be able to travel easier & faster.
This system starting over for every expansion.

When i was a newb in EQ i hated/loved traveling too long, too dangerous but rewarding.
And i would often ask/beg/pay for Ports.
A lot of lvl & plat later, i just used Innothule swamp potions to go to PoK.

[Draegan]

Travel is great the first time you do it, you get to see the world etc etc. But after I do the flight path from Stormwind to Ironforge to Menethil Harbor to sit at the docks to get the boat to fly to Gadgetzan to fly to CenHold the 1000th time is fucking stupid. I put up with it because atleast I'm not walking the whole way and I can go take a piss in the mean time.

If I had to walk every time, sure I would get the sense of a larger world and oh boy this game is huge, but I don't think I would like the game as much as I do now. I don't need a sense of immersion with tedium to make the game entertaining and great. I need good gameplay, balanced classes, and intriguing and challenging encounters for phat lewtz to enjoy myself. If you can do those things you get to keep my sub.

[tad10]

Originally Posted by The Hiram Key

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.

I remember a discussion sorta similiar to this on dynamic player housing-- but can't recall if it was a Vanguard, SWG or Horizons discussion -- or none of the above.

Player housing is supposed to be in at launch in vanguard and the faq suggests that they want player-cities but (like a lot of things) no guarentees at launch (which means, I would assume, not in at launch). There's an E3 video on fileplanet of vanguard housing--discussion starts about 1/4 of the way in to the end with the comments about player cities about 3/4 of the way in -- the first 1/4 is just some random in-game shots: Vanguard: Saga of Heroes Movie: Player Housing


As to dynamic player housing -- I like the idea but not sure how you would implement it without getting multiple large cities in whatever the endgame zones were -- as inevitably that's where everyone would be hanging out.

I always thought a better solution was have a few mid-level areas where player cities could develop -- but for high-level (endgame) zones severly limit player housing -- maybe 2 "forts" (think grom'gol in size) are all that could be developed in those areas -- so the first guild or two to get into an area can build a fort (and perhaps get a cut from everyone else's use of their NPCs). There should be enough high-level areas that most of the top guilds on any particular server get their own fort. Once new areas open up with expansions some of the guilds can move on, leaving their old forts for smaller/less-uber guilds. As long as these player/guild-build forts have all the necessary amenities: mail, vendors -- there's not need to go traveling half the world away on a daily basis just to sell your stuff.


Of course player housing isn't make or break for me (or apparantly most people as WoW doesn't have it) -- but if it provides a solution to the traveling problem -- then I'm all for it.

[Keluven]

Originally Posted by Arden

Heh, actually, that's BS too. Wow man, you are zero for 2. At this point I would reconsider further posting until you reassess your information

Wow, ok.

[holymight]

Originally Posted by Keluven

Wow, ok. Care to explain then how they invite 5000+ people a week (over the timescale of months) into beta...yet somehow theres never more than 800-1000 people on at any given time?

Care to provide a source on this 5000+ number your throwing out?

[Seths]

Originally Posted by Keluven

Wow, ok. Care to explain then how they invite 5000+ people a week (over the timescale of months) into beta...yet somehow theres never more than 800-1000 people on at any given time?

I'd love to hear where you think all those players are going, cause they arent staying in Banguard.

Protip: try using the phrase 'bleeding to death by attrition' in your reply.

I would bet money that the majority of missing testers are running the game on GeForce 5xxx-series cards or equivalent, and end up not being able to play the game on such antiquated technology.

[Kaxmax]

No idea where the 5000+ per week is coming from. As of 8/11/06 there were 12000 people in beta, straight from Brad's mouth here. I'd say it's probably safe to assume they're in the 15-20k range now, but I highly doubt 5,000 per week at this point. I've seen Brad say 500 per week a few times, maybe you just read it wrong.

[Fury]

Originally Posted by Seths

I would bet money that the majority of missing testers are running the game on GeForce 5xxx-series cards or equivalent, and end up not being able to play the game on such antiquated technology.

I'll take that bet.

And I'll be willing to counter that the majority of testers are no longer playing due to poor FPS, boring gameplay, and long ass travel, just to name a few. Quite simply, VG doesn't bring anything new or interesting to the table.

[Dashal]

Originally Posted by holymight

Care to provide a source on this 5000+ number your throwing out?

I'm guessing it's his ass.

Beta Invites -- Updates - Vanguard Forums

# 10/12/06 -- 1000 invites went out from the message board pool.
# 10/18/06 -- If you registered CGM Codes before 10/16/06 go here.
# 10/19/06 -- 1000 invites went out from the message board pool.
# 10/20/06 -- 1000 invites went out from the message board pool.
# 10/23/06 -- 1000 invites went out from the message board pool.
# 10/24/06 -- 1000 invites went out from the message board pool.
# 10/26/06 -- 1000 invites went out from the message board pool.
# 11/07/06 -- All invites on hold until we re-open Thestra and open the rest of Kojan and figure out some infrastructure issues. Sorry all

That's 6k over a 6 week period roughly. Not sure if any more since Thestra reopened.

[Aegorian]

Originally Posted by Dashal

I'm guessing it's his ass.

Beta Invites -- Updates - Vanguard Forums



That's 6k over a 6 week period roughly. Not sure if any more since Thestra reopened.

Right before they stopped when Thestra closed, they had 11k as quoted by Brad. Now, i would venture a guess upwards of 13-14k. I dont believe they've been aggressively inviting lately... just letting people trickle in

[Bongk]

Originally Posted by Fury

I'll take that bet.

And I'll be willing to counter that the majority of testers are no longer playing due to poor FPS, boring gameplay, and long ass travel, just to name a few. Quite simply, VG doesn't bring anything new or interesting to the table.

Those would be the reasons I am not playing. I got *decent* framerates but the gameplay just sucked. I was bored stiff after 2 hours of playing. I got 3 characters to lvl 15ish and can't stomache playing anymore.

[Marauder]

# 10/19/06 -- 1000 invites went out from the message board pool.
# 10/20/06 -- 1000 invites went out from the message board pool.
# 10/23/06 -- 1000 invites went out from the message board pool.
# 10/24/06 -- 1000 invites went out from the message board pool.
# 10/26/06 -- 1000 invites went out from the message board pool.

Thats not 5k in a week? I must be failing math I guess - I guess each side here is picking and choosing.

Most of the birdies I know left the game due to poor framerate compounding in-game frustrations. Its one thing to deal with 3 minute skinning lag when you're enjoying the game, but when its frustrating you on other levels, you're going to log off and play your other games instead.

[holymight]

Originally Posted by Marauder

Thats not 5k in a week? I must be failing math I guess - I guess each side here is picking and choosing.

Your not failing math, your failing English. He said 5k a week, not 5k in a week. The lack of the "in" means more than just one week. Hence him adding "(over the timescale of months)" to the sentence.