Vanguard, yet another double exp weekend

[Kolle]

the worst thing about this is the multiple posts we'll get about this meaning the doom of VG. clearly this means the game is a day away from shutting down.

[Soygen]

Yes, the predictions from this are retarded. From my point of view(as someone who hasn't played since beta), it's more of a "We know our game is still all fucked up, so here's a bone." I don't really see this as a ploy to get new players, though I'm sure they still want that too.

[Kazgrim]

no one said its a ploy to get new players, its an attempt to keep the handful they have.

[Ravensign]

Originally Posted by Cuppycake

In addition, I have just been having more fun with EQ2 right now. A couple friends of mine picked up EoF and I just decided that EQ2 fits my playstyle and desires better.

I hear people complain about it at higher levels, but when I played EQ2 (20's monk) I really liked that you had so many buttons to mash, it made it have a sort of rhythm to your sequence, and you were engaged.

My WoW Mage casts 2-3 spells some times (and sometimes more, depends on role).

You are spot on about only so much time to play MMO's and having to pick one thing or another. I would play EQ2 perhaps, but my RL friends play WoW, and there ya go.

Completely independent of its quality, I can see the "only so many hours in a day" argument hurting any new MMO, such as VG.

[rangoth]

Wow, this is weird....possible motivations?

1.) People complained they were not around, genuine second chance?
2.) Attempting to get people to resub/other political nonsense?
3.) Continual testing of the xp curve/gains?
4.) Trying to raise the average player level now to spread out the population for another big marketing push?

I dunno. As most said it's a fun game, has it's issues and I see tons of horrid complaints on this board but I havn't encountered anything life altering yet, just a few deaths that shouldn't have happened and some issues with quests/events/zoning.

[Kolle]

It was clearly not ready for release, this is true. But, people do exaggerate for dramatic effect, especially on this board. Some people feel that in order to get attention or to be viewed as worthy reading they must blow the situation beyond what the truth is. Others are just too emotional. It's that kinda person who will get excited over nothing and laugh hysterically about something that isn't that funny.

[Cascow]

I can only hope that this is just the lead-up to a huge marketing push. The thing that would help most while playing VG (apart from the obvious bug fixes) would be 2-3x the number of players per server. The game is fun, the game has some challenges, the game is truely one of the better games I've played (even with the bugs), but there just aren't enough people around if you don't want to solo.

My suggestions:

1) Increase the over-all xp somewhere in the 25-50% range. There will still be a grind at higher levels, but nothing retains new people quite like being able to grind out the low levels quick and continue to see progress at mid-levels.

2) Introduce a 10-14 day free trial. Let people try it out. Let people enjoy it. Get more people on the freaking servers. After the trial, make it so you press a button, get upgraded to full status and keep the account you have been working on progressing.

3)Focus on developing 1-2 places per level range to try and funnel people into. I realize that this takes away the point of having a huge game world, but you need to concentrate your player base somewhat. Finding a group currently is like poking yourself in the eyes with a rusty nail.

4) Maintain the level of development. Don't slack off on getting stuff implemented and fixed. Get up on this thing and ride the shit out of it until the game is perfect.

[Guzrog]

*Begin Gushing*

I'm still playing (and loving it) since release. They have completely disemboweled my Disciple but I have confidence they'll fix it eventually. I'm going to mess around with a spoony Bard until things are smoothed out as I'm still very very in love with the game. Yes, I crash to desktop at least once a day or get a sweet random lock up, doesn't change my opinion.

In regards to the double XP, I dunno. I'm going to love it for my new Bard but I hope this doesn't become a frequent thing. Only time will tell.

[Zehn - Vhex]

Maybe this is a sign that they're ready to let me take a crack at the design table. March 14th is steak and blowjob day Brad, I think it's time to put out.

[Kolle]

I would like to see the bonus xp done differently. There should be a smaller bonus for solo. If we want the best community then we need to get those introverts to socialize a little more. Solo would be x1.5 scaling to x2 for full group.

Let's just pretend whiners have already responded with, "Way to fuck over casual solo players or this random person who only logs in for 30 minutes a week and can't find a group" complaint.

Then comes, "fuck off casual player go buy a console". etc...

[Muligan]

I think in the back of their minds they are wanting to turn over more rocks as quick as possible. If they push some people in their level ranges it's going to reveal more issues they can work on. Brad is really wanting to polish they under end of this game. I've noticed in the last few interviews that I have read, the pressure questions have been what can we expect of the game, character, dragons, whatever, in the end game.

With everything they have seen i'm sure they are wanting to get a broader scope of their issues and stomp them out now. If they don't do this it will be a slow and constant outpouring of issues for the next year. Why not size it down to 3-6 months? This is what happens when you release a game waaay too earlier. You have to make decisions that you are "damned if you do or damned if you don't" (to quote)

Who knows... I don't see this as a true indicator of their failure or lack of sales but maybe desperation or an attempt to unravel the rest of what is broken deep in this game.

[The Hiram Key]

I think it's really important to be careful with throwing the double exp weekends around. While I cannot vouch for the "completeness" of the high end content (ie: raids etc), judging by the condition of the game currently, if it's even there, it's probably in the same condition or worse.

Boosting the rate at which people get to the "end game" will only amplify this problem sooner, and I don't think VG needs a hit like that.

Besides, I was under the impression one of the selling points for the game was a long (longer then Wow anyway) leveling curve. Why undermine one of your cornerstone offerings ?

This is a puzzling move to say the least.

[The Hiram Key]

Originally Posted by Kolle

the worst thing about this is the multiple predictions of posts we'll get about this meaning the doom of VG. clearly this means the game is a day away from shutting down.

Fixed for ya !

[...]

shouldn't vanguard be having half xp weekends? or rather 'double sized xp-bar' weekends?

[Eomer]

I agree with Hiram, personally. These double exp. weekends are going to fuck up the game if they keep it up. I'd much rather see them extend people's subs, if the game's that much of a mess, because these weekends are going to totally screw with the game IMO.

But I'm on the outside looking in, so my opinion doesn't count for much.

Speaking of which, seriously SOE, why in the fuck is Vanguard not on the shelves at Future Shop? Did Vivendi sign some sort of exclusivity deal, or does your distribution just suck ass? Because Future Shop is probably the equivalent of Wal-Mart in Canada in terms of market share of video game sales, and if it's not on the shelves there, you ain't gonna be selling fuck all. I've been to three different stores in the past month on half a dozen occasions for other purchases, and would probably be playing VG right now if it had been available for an impulse purchase, but it's never been in stock. Not that I've asked a sales rep, it's just not visible on the shelves. Perhaps it's simply buried beneath the 10,000 TBC boxes.