Questions about the game.

[Copperofdusk7]

1) These are my specs. Would I be able to enjoy nice visuals/tolerable performance?

RAM: 2G

Video Card: XFX NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT 512MB DDR2 PCI Express Graphics Card

RADEON x300/x500 Series

Windows XP

2) I'm coming from WoW, seeking a more complex, group-focused game. What are the pros and cons about Vanguard?

3) How large are the cities compared to those in other games?

4) Rate the game overall?

5) Can you adventure, in addition to grinding?

6) I heard the dungeons are fantastic. What makes them different?

Any questions answered would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[Andok]

1) These are my specs. Would I be able to enjoy nice visuals/tolerable performance?

RAM: 2G

Video Card: XFX NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT 512MB DDR2 PCI Express Graphics Card

RADEON x300/x500 Series

Windows XP

You should be fine with that system set-up. I am not real familiar with the 8500, but it sounds like it will be a good card.

2) I'm coming from WoW, seeking a more complex, group-focused game. What are the pros and cons about Vanguard?

Pro's- Get in a good sized guild and you will have no problems with groups. There is literally a ton of dungeons to explore and rushing through the content is the worst thing you could do. The game is beautifully done graphically speaking, from my point of view.

Con's- Until the servers merge, the populations for pick-up groups is sparse. The world is huge and getting together takes a little time. The game is undergoing ongoing optimization and there is a lot of good stuff in the queue for being added via live updates. There are still some bugs that need fixing, and it is very PC dependent. SOme people have bugs I have never experienced.

Overall I think Vanguard has improved dramatically performance wise, and with everything in the pipeline it is only going to get better.

3) How large are the cities compared to those in other games?

They are pretty huge.

4) Rate the game overall?

On release a 1. A month ago a 5. Now a 7. By the end of the year I am guessing an 8 or 9.
5) Can you adventure, in addition to grinding?

Not sure I understand this one, but if you mean just roam and explore, then yes you can. TOns of things to do and see.
6) I heard the dungeons are fantastic. What makes them different?

You stumble across them sometimes when exploring and never heard of them before. They are varying sizes and difficulties. They usually have some really cool questlines associated with them. You could spend a week in most of them easily.

Any questions answered would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I hope that helps answer your concerns from a longtime beta and live player that thoroughly enjoys the game.

[sven72]

1) These are my specs. Would I be able to enjoy nice visuals/tolerable performance?

RAM: 2G

Video Card: XFX NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT 512MB DDR2 PCI Express Graphics Card

RADEON x300/x500 Series

Windows XP

The only change I would make to your system is bump your system RAM to 1G

2) I'm coming from WoW, seeking a more complex, group-focused game. What are the pros and cons about Vanguard?

The best things about VG are it's classes, and imho the runner-up is the group content. THis is truely a game for grouping. If you want to solo (truely solo very well) you will be confined to a couple select classes. However if you are a social bee and can stomach grouping and finding groups you will have SO MUCH FUN in VG. I don't know if VG qualifies as "complex" yet. It can be confusing and doesn't hold your hand as much as WoW, which really makes it more confusing than complex but once you get your bearing and the hang of things you will enjoy navigating Telon. It is sort of an art form finding the fastest route from point A to point B to join up with a group.

3) How large are the cities compared to those in other games?

The cities a LARGE and DEAD. This is a real weak area with the game. Due to the lack of population, most of the very large cities are completely empty. There really aren't any central hubs in VG that are also cities. We all hope they fix this in the near future, and also this might be another reason to wait for server mergers. The mergers "might" help with city population.

4) Rate the game overall?

On a scale of 1 to 10? I would give it a 6 right now. I am addicted still and the potential, well it's skies the limit. But the reality is that it is still a 6. At release it was probably a 3 so there have been improvements but can you deal with hearing "checks in the mail" for another 6 months? I can!

5) Can you adventure, in addition to grinding?

Adventuring yes, and a lot of the higher end quest content requires grinding imo. The grind can be fun (not even noticed) if you are in a good group, but it is still grinding. If you are referring to solo grinding then you will want to play Necro or Cleric or some other class who can handle soloing 3/4dot mobs higher levels then you are. 2 dot mobs aren't enough to make grinding worthwhile imo.

6) I heard the dungeons are fantastic. What makes them different?

Well what makes them different then WoW? I think the first thing you will see is the size comparison leave WoW behind in the dust. Once you learn the premier dungeons and get familiar with the quests and how to acquire the good items you will see that there is definite skill in getting all your quest items. What I like about them is spending a few hours in a place like Thel and realizing that you are not in an instance and that the only reason this place isn't flooded with people is due to the difficulty in getting your group deep into the dungeon itself (that and Thel is on 200ft stilts!).

Any questions answered would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Hope that helps.

[Fingis]

2) I'm coming from WoW

Then you will be disappointed with Vanguard in almost every way.

Go ahead and try Vanguard though, it will make you appreciate WoW much more.

[Copperofdusk7]

Then you will be disappointed with Vanguard in almost every way.

Go ahead and try Vanguard though, it will make you appreciate WoW much more.

Personally, I didn't like WoW that much. The graphics were too cartoonish, and the gameplay lacked complexity.

[rabb1t]

2) I'm coming from WoW, seeking a more complex, group-focused game. What are the pros and cons about Vanguard?

Vanguard isn’t more “complex” than WoW. Basically the only difference is that it is much tougher to solo. Also, from about level 10 on, you are going to be traveling pretty long distances. So be ready to be staring at the ass of a horse a lot. (Unless you are a bard.)

Maybe it’s just me, but I’d rather get to where I’m supposed to be almost instantly (WoW gryphon style) and then spend my play time in the dungeon / working on the quest than I would be staring at the backside of a horse or running with bard speed for ~15 minutes just to get to where I’m supposed to be.

3) How large are the cities compared to those in other games?

Ironforge was bigger than any city I’ve seen in Vanguard. I think I was near 30 when I left/quit.

In size, Khal may be bigger, but in “content”, what is actually in the city, the number of vendors, the number of things going on, Ironforge is way better.

4) Rate the game overall?

6 out of 10. I’d rate it as “meh”. It really isn’t any better than other games out there, and if you ask me, if a person hasn’t played WoW or Vanguard, I’d be far far more likely to recommend WoW. In fact, just about every time such a person asked me I’d say WoW with no hesitation between the two.

Vanguard has a lot of potential, but the problem is that, due to the current execution that potential may never be realized. Technologically they overextended themselves. Some players can’t play for more than a few hours before crashing. Content / Quests are lacking, there just aren’t enough of them once you get past about level 20. Area design is poor. Seriously, who thought it would be a good idea to split the game content over 3 continents and make people spend a long time traveling to get places and look for a group. How is this fun? Social hubs simply don’t exist. While most games offer places where players naturally gather to trade goods, gather for groups, or just to hang out and be silly, Vanguard is almost completely devoid of such places. Due to the layout of the land and how population is spread this just doesn’t happen.

Anyways… you can look around for my post I did right after the NDA drop right around a year ago. I go into a lot more detail if you are really curious.

5) Can you adventure, in addition to grinding?

With Vanguard these are one in the same.

6) I heard the dungeons are fantastic. What makes them different?

I don’t know who you heard that from, but in the entire time I played I saw maybe 6 dungeons total. (This is across a dozen bodies from level 1 to ~30. I forget what level I was exactly when I left.) I far prefer the well crafted not-respawning instance style of WoW to Vanguards open ended dungeons where you just grind your way through.

and the gameplay lacked complexity

I hate to break this too you, but in my opinion Vanguard’s combat is actually less complex than WoW. In WoW I settled into a Warrior. With each special ability I used I really felt like it had an impact. The rend armor ability was noticed by those who watched damage, the shield bash was very helpful in getting critters off people, the taunt was good for control, etc. With the Vanguard warrior… I never felt like I was doing anything but playing whack-a-mole. The abilities had such little impact, or such a short duration (many were 5 to 10 seconds when I played) and people are spamming on so many different effects you really don’t feel like there is any point to ability x other than it is just another button to mash.

You may have a very different experience, but me, I just felt like Vanguard’s combat was almost totally mindless. You just set your offensive target, set your defensive if you need to, and then you mash the same 5 or 6 buttons over and over, at a faster rate than you mash the WoW buttons. And again, I never felt like any of those abilities really had any kind of impact.

As I’ve said in other threads, I highly recommend you find a friend to borrow it from before you spend the money on it.

[Copperofdusk7]

Vanguard isn’t more “complex” than WoW. Basically the only difference is that it is much tougher to solo. Also, from about level 10 on, you are going to be traveling pretty long distances. So be ready to be staring at the ass of a horse a lot. (Unless you are a bard.)

Maybe it’s just me, but I’d rather get to where I’m supposed to be almost instantly (WoW gryphon style) and then spend my play time in the dungeon / working on the quest than I would be staring at the backside of a horse or running with bard speed for ~15 minutes just to get to where I’m supposed to be.



Ironforge was bigger than any city I’ve seen in Vanguard. I think I was near 30 when I left/quit.

In size, Khal may be bigger, but in “content”, what is actually in the city, the number of vendors, the number of things going on, Ironforge is way better.



6 out of 10. I’d rate it as “meh”. It really isn’t any better than other games out there, and if you ask me, if a person hasn’t played WoW or Vanguard, I’d be far far more likely to recommend WoW. In fact, just about every time such a person asked me I’d say WoW with no hesitation between the two.

Vanguard has a lot of potential, but the problem is that, due to the current execution that potential may never be realized. Technologically they overextended themselves. Some players can’t play for more than a few hours before crashing. Content / Quests are lacking, there just aren’t enough of them once you get past about level 20. Area design is poor. Seriously, who thought it would be a good idea to split the game content over 3 continents and make people spend a long time traveling to get places and look for a group. How is this fun? Social hubs simply don’t exist. While most games offer places where players naturally gather to trade goods, gather for groups, or just to hang out and be silly, Vanguard is almost completely devoid of such places. Due to the layout of the land and how population is spread this just doesn’t happen.

Anyways… you can look around for my post I did right after the NDA drop right around a year ago. I go into a lot more detail if you are really curious.



With Vanguard these are one in the same.



I don’t know who you heard that from, but in the entire time I played I saw maybe 6 dungeons total. (This is across a dozen bodies from level 1 to ~30. I forget what level I was exactly when I left.) I far prefer the well crafted not-respawning instance style of WoW to Vanguards open ended dungeons where you just grind your way through.



I hate to break this too you, but in my opinion Vanguard’s combat is actually less complex than WoW. In WoW I settled into a Warrior. With each special ability I used I really felt like it had an impact. The rend armor ability was noticed by those who watched damage, the shield bash was very helpful in getting critters off people, the taunt was good for control, etc. With the Vanguard warrior… I never felt like I was doing anything but playing whack-a-mole. The abilities had such little impact, or such a short duration (many were 5 to 10 seconds when I played) and people are spamming on so many different effects you really don’t feel like there is any point to ability x other than it is just another button to mash.

You may have a very different experience, but me, I just felt like Vanguard’s combat was almost totally mindless. You just set your offensive target, set your defensive if you need to, and then you mash the same 5 or 6 buttons over and over, at a faster rate than you mash the WoW buttons. And again, I never felt like any of those abilities really had any kind of impact.

As I’ve said in other threads, I highly recommend you find a friend to borrow it from before you spend the money on it.

I don't have a friend who I could "borrow" it from, unfortunately. I did update my technical thread, though, with more information that will most likely help you understand my computer.

[Copperofdusk7]

Also, I already have a 70 on WoW. I'm tired of it, and, despite reviews, would like to try this game. Upgrading will help me with offline PC games that I've purchased but cannot properly play, as well, so it's not completely for VG.

[rhagz]

Also, I already have a 70 on WoW. I'm tired of it, and, despite reviews, would like to try this game. Upgrading will help me with offline PC games that I've purchased but cannot properly play, as well, so it's not completely for VG.

Get a buddy code or wait for the 10day trial. Hell, shop in bargain bins and play for the free month if you have to. You can already find out as much about the game as you possibly can without playing it by reading forums.. try the official ones too if you think these are too 'negative' (though you will find the official ones just as bad).

[Copperofdusk7]

Get a buddy code or wait for the 10day trial. Hell, shop in bargain bins and play for the free month if you have to. You can already find out as much about the game as you possibly can without playing it by reading forums.. try the official ones too if you think these are too 'negative' (though you will find the official ones just as bad).

I didn't say that this particular forum was negative. I was mentioning reviews posted by sites.

[rhagz]

I didn't say that this particular forum was negative. I was mentioning reviews posted by sites.

Well, you should consider that almost every review of the game has been bad. I doubt that all of them just 'don't understand a game of Vanguard's depth and complexity'. Honestly you should just wait for AoC, or stick with WoW.. or hell, do what SOE reccomends, play EQ2. They are trying to get every VG player to do that anyway.

[Copperofdusk7]

Well, you should consider that almost every review of the game has been bad. I doubt that all of them just 'don't understand a game of Vanguard's depth and complexity'. Honestly you should just wait for AoC, or stick with WoW.. or hell, do what SOE reccomends, play EQ2. They are trying to get every VG player to do that anyway.

Thanks, but no thanks. I'm certain that I want to play VG, I don't want to return to WoW, and I have no plans to play Age of Conan. Actually, I already uninstalled WoW and unsubscribed.

I have played EQ2, and did not enjoy it.

[rhagz]

Thanks, but no thanks. I'm certain that I want to play VG

Then go buy it and play it! No need to make 3 threads asking if it's good if you are already resolved to playing it. :confused:

[Copperofdusk7]

Then go buy it and play it! No need to make 3 threads asking if it's good if you are already resolved to playing it. :confused:

I'm still finding the needed upgrades for my computer, as it's not powerful enough to handle the game at the moment. I'm awaiting some responses with advice on what I should seek on newegg.com, as I'm clueless about finding the right replacements that will fit, and, most importantly, work properly.

[rabb1t]

I didn't say that this particular forum was negative. I was mentioning reviews posted by sites.

Thing is, of all of the official reviews I've seen, from launch till the time I left, I would not have disagreed with any of them.

as I'm clueless about finding the right replacements that will fit, and, most importantly, work properly

Here is the thing with Vanguard though - even though you may have a system that "works perfectly" from a 'does it have enough power standpoint' that doesn't mean it will work with Vanguard. People have amazing systems that simply can't play for more than about an hour due to all of the crashing to desktops, and other problems like constant hitching, which occur in Vanguard.

I really hope I don't wind up saying "I told you so", but even with hardware that is capable of running the game, that isn't any guarantee that the game will run and remain stable. Some people have no end of problems, while others are just fine.

With Vanguard it isn't just about having proper hardware that can run it decently, but part of it is the luck of the draw in terms of not having any problems actually running it due to the design of the code.

[rhagz]

Some people claim that they run VG on a 6600GT with an old AMD64 or P4 and 1GB of ram and love it. Of course they play on the lowest settings and the game looks like ass, but they will tell you it doesn't matter. It's going to be subjective. Some people will excuse anything just to defend the game and then again some people genuinely don't care.

[Copperofdusk7]

Unfortunately, I can't be discouraged from getting this game. Once I upgrade, I'm going to try it.

[mamamccann]

Unfortunately, I can't be discouraged from getting this game. Once I upgrade, I'm going to try it.

My husband and I have been WoW players since it went live…this a bit of past mmo history and still play.

We have been in VG since beta 2…I was one of the of 10 player that won beta at the first Fanguard live event in San Diego. The changes from then to now are great. Whole areas revamped or have been removed. Just to see the evolution of a game has been an education. I am very glad to have been a part of it.

In 10/21/05 we ordered 2 gaming pcs from the guys that had built Sigil’s boxes. I am about to do an upgrade to accommodate better use of Maya 8.5 and heavy rendering…still not on Vista yet.

Sorry for the copy and paste …but these were our first Pcs and I do not speak advanced techie. We have used Macs for years…and still love them.

Intel Pentium IV 650 3.4GHz 800MHz FSB Hyper-Threading EM64T processor
Intel D945GTPLKR PCI local bus MicroATX main board with Intel 945G 1066MHz PCIe core logic chipset
2MB pipeline burst mode static RAM cache
2GB synchronous 667MHz DDR2 DRAM
Integrated PCI local bus Serial-ATA and Ultra DMA/100 IDE interface with floppy disk controller
Western Digital Caviar 250GB 7200 RPM (8MB buffer) Serial ATA-150 fixed disk drive
Pioneer DVR-110 sixteen speed enhanced IDE DVD±RW drive
ATi Technologies Radeon x1800 XL PCI Express SuperVGA coprocessor with 256MB RAM
Integrated Intel Pro/1000 PCI local bus ethernet adapter for 10/100/1000Base-T
Integrated Intel High Definition six channel audio adapter
Integrated parallel printer port, RS-232 serial port and eight USB v2.0 ports (two front mounted)
Endeavour S564 ATX enhanced medium tower chassis with ATX v2.03 480-watt power supply

We run on the Balance settings. Runs well except for hitching still in major cities. And as of now …no CTD since last patch for us (it had been once a hour). I run an average of 35fps and 20fps in the large cities.
Yes, this is a more complex game than WoW. Love the crafting…it has a “real” feel when making an item. Diplomacy is very different for me. It is a card game within a game.
The bone of contention in our family is the loss with experience death debt…. my husbands absolutely hates it…. he will not group with strangers because of worries that some fool will run his debt up when they get us a wipe. Plus he does not like beta testing. Me, I look as a challenge to get my tombstone back.
Game rates for me an 8…but it has so much potential. It is a beautiful place ,wonderful textures and lighting. There is a time at sunset that has a certain slant of light that is exquisite...I hope that artist was kept on after the take over.
I love to explore new places. And do solo much the time on my shammy with her wolf pal. It is a huge world of adventure…VG is still a diamond that needs polish…but too me well worth it if you are a patient person.:p