Some questions to beta testers from a non beta tester...

[charivari]

Ok here goes. ANy opinions on whether I will enjoy VG will be appreciated after you read my questions.

1. I fell in love with the original EQ, I hated EQ2...liked DAOC, and am currently enjoying WoW but im not in love with WoW.

2. I have heard combat is a whack a mole button fest with no strategy. Like I said, I loved EQ and like WoW...how does combat compare to those games? Is it worse? better? most importantly fun?

3. How are the graphics and animations...smooth? acceptable? bad?

Most of all I am looking for a fun immersive game with some depth. If I had one gripe with WoW its the cartoonish looks, the small feeling world and the slight lack of depth. Also WoW seems a little arcadish while EQ was more like a good flight sim if you know what I mean.

With VG I dont mid if they take some of the good from WoW and other games but I am looking for more of a flight sim (more complex and detailed) rather than an arcade shooter.

Thanks everyone! I hope this game is it!

[Jacosta]

Ok here goes. ANy opinions on whether I will enjoy VG will be appreciated after you read my questions.

1. I fell in love with the original EQ, I hated EQ2...liked DAOC, and am currently enjoying WoW but im not in love with WoW.

2. I have heard combat is a whack a mole button fest with no strategy. Like I said, I loved EQ and like WoW...how does combat compare to those games? Is it worse? better? most importantly fun?

3. How are the graphics and animations...smooth? acceptable? bad?

Most of all I am looking for a fun immersive game with some depth. If I had one gripe with WoW its the cartoonish looks, the small feeling world and the slight lack of depth. Also WoW seems a little arcadish while EQ was more like a good flight sim if you know what I mean.

With VG I dont mid if they take some of the good from WoW and other games but I am looking for more of a flight sim (more complex and detailed) rather than an arcade shooter.

Thanks everyone! I hope this game is it!

Well from my experience there's plenty of strategy involved in combat. As you level up you gain special attacks that are either starters, progression, or finisher attacks. Now with you being able to see what the opponent is going do the next round of combat you'll be able to plan appropriately to counter it.

One of the mechanics they put in was Combat Awareness, Awareness, and Perception. With Combat Awareness it gives you a chance to detect the next rounds attacks so you can see what's coming. Awareness allows you to detect hidden foes. Perception allows you to detect hidden doors and objects.

The games you mentioned EQ Live and WoW are the whack a mole games in comparison to Vanguard. Vanguard takes the combat to a whole new level.

I found the animations to be nice and smooth. The graphics are pretty good on high performance and get better from there. Very high performance settings make Vanguard look like old EQ Live pre-Luclin.

[Danth]

Solo combat is basically as described. It's boring, repetative, and physically tiring due to the constant button mashing. I've never played a game with so much button mashing as soloing in Vanguard. It makes WoW seem positively slow-paced. This is a game which can potentially cause RSI issues. If you plan on soloing a lot, I *strongly* recommend getting a good programmable keyboard. I don't want to play much until I can get my wifey into beta just so I can avoid soloing. I really like the game, but my hands can't take playing it solo.

Group gameplay is less button-mashy and distinctly more strategic. It's blatantly obvious that Vanguard's combat system was designed for group play. As a tank, I don't mash so many buttons because I need to keep my endurance up for rescues or other emergency measures--I perform enough moves to hold aggro, and no more. Weaknesses also come into play in group combat (although few players currently realize what they're for), so there's added depth. You really have to pay close attention to the combat text to maximize your efficiency. I'd put the group combat's pace about on par with that of WoW, but with added depth. The length of battles depends on what type of mobs you're fighting; fighting 4- or 5-dot group mobs requires generally longer per mob than WoW, but not typically as long as EQ. I really like the group combat mechanics, and can't wait for my wifey to also have beta up and running.


Graphics: The game runs at respectable frame rates, but you'll suffer a lot of hitching when you load assets. Animations are a mixed bag--some are fine, others are obviously unfinished.

Danth

[Marissa]

Solo combat is basically as described. It's boring, repetative, and physically tiring due to the constant button mashing. I've never played a game with so much button mashing as soloing in Vanguard.

..

Group gameplay is less button-mashy and distinctly more strategic.

Funnily enough I have had some opposite experiences to this. While with some classes (and especially in the beginning, when you don't have many options yet!) it's just pressing the same button over and over again when soloing. Yet, I have gotten into playing my disciple up and really seeing a difference here already at early stage, say level 6 and even moreso at level 8. I am actually at these levels able to make strategic choices in combat - Do I want to cripple the oponent a little so they do less damage for a bit, or place that nice heal over time on myself which gives me the chance to branch off into doing a high damage attack? If I do the latter, the chances are good I can branch off further, choosing for an extra health regen for the whole group, or do a fairly good magical damage. Whatever I choose is very dependant on endurance management (do I have enough of it, and is it ok for me to drain it now?), health/toughness of the mob, if there's an add on the way, etc. etc.

When I went to a group, however, I didn't see much strategy. This was very likely also due to the fact that our group was probably a bit overpowered in contrast to the opponent. I think we were fighting mobs designed for 2 or max 3 people with a total of 6. Although I was the only healer, there were some pretty heavy damage dealers included, so mobs didn't generally last long enough for me to even get a 2nd teir heal over time off. The bard in the group kept AE pulling and so it was rather chaotic and hectic, but too fast to really apply much of a strategy. We did wipe, however. This was due to a chunk crash and us being pretty much alone in the middle of a bunch of glaring respawned mobs. So anyway, this was not really a reliable report: as I said, we were too many for the content we were facing, as far as I could see.