MMORPG.com released the results of their polling regarding MMORPG’s, in particular these results indicate the marets level of anticipation for the various MMORPG titles slated to enter the market this year.

‘Warhammer: Age of Reckoning’ and ‘Vanguard: Saga of Heroes’ lead the pack with a bit over half of the market jittering with anticipation, eagerly awaiting the release of these two titles.

The question we ponder now is ‘How does Warhammer manage to make the top of this list - over Vanguard?’ The answer is simple -marketing. Warhammer has done it, Vanguard has not.

Warhammer Online:
Age of Reckoning
27.3%
Vanguard:
Saga of Heroes
22.8%
Star Trek Online
15.5%
Age of Conan
14.2%
Pirates of the Burning Sea
10.5%
Lord of the Rings Online
9.7%

Warhammer has done a great job promoting their title using visual tactics, not the least of which is that flashy cinematic trailer. This excessive attention to out of game promotional imagery leads me to wonder…why not promote the games play-ability, depth, and uniqueness..? Simply put, its not unlike WOW where visual style is the bulk of what you get.

It is with great joy that I announce that VanguardMMORPG.com has entered into beta!

We’re a little behind many of you out there already enjoying the fulfillment of your eager anticipation, but as they say ‘better late than never’.

I’ll be reviewing the NDA closely to determine what (if anything) can be shared with the general public, but I’m guessing we’ll have to keep it all to ourselves for the time being in order to honor Sigils non-disclosure agreement. However, I’ll begin compiling information & game play time immediately. Once Vanguard : Saga of Heroes pushes live VanguardMMORPG.com should have a bit more comprehensive guides, tutorials, walkthroughs and more.

Another great video for those eagerly awaiting the Q1 release of Vanguard Saga of Heroes. Video quality is spotty for a good portion of the video, but we get to see what looks like real in-game action. It’s getting close folks !!

Here you can see some Flying Mounts, Gameplay and Character Creation from the comming MMORPG Vanguard: Saga of Hereos (Beta, Games Convention 2006, Germany).

This video simply shows a few things that you can do with your house as well as a couple suits of armor for your horse in Vanguard Saga of Heroes. The video quality is rather poor, but the content is good. The game is due to be released Q1 2007.

A decent mix of Vanguard video clips set to a moody sound track. Some great shots of running mounts, scenery and combat.

Recently, MMOsite had a talk with Darrin McPherson,Senior Game Designer of Sigil Games…

MMOSite writes …

“Vanguard: Saga of Heroes will be the premier third generation massively multiplayer RPG. A vast, seamless, immersive virtual world filled with elements of familiar High Fantasy, including traditional themes and more, all depicted using cutting-edge graphics technology. Sigil s expertise and experience in the field will bring groundbreaking static and dynamic content to the genre. Vanguard will build upon the successes and strengths of earlier MMOGs to improve popular game mechanics and features, but also address these pioneering games mistakes and deficiencies. Vanguard will focus heavily on interdependence, challenge, and reward, while simultaneously addressing tedious and annoying issues, including camping, excessive downtime and more.”

The interview covers several unique questions, and exposes a few unique points. I’ve highlighted a few, but you can read the whole article at MMOSite.com.

MMOsite.com: How do you come up with so many abilities/spells? Have any other games or works influenced your work?

Darrin McPherson: Good question.  We have a lot of influences.  Games we have played, books we have read, movies we have seen.  It is not any one source, but more a collection of them.  It is not easy and we often feel pretty thinly stretched.  It is not because we run out of ideas, it is much more that we run out of new things to do within our limits.  A good example of what I am talking about can be had by comparing a video game to a pen and paper game.  Pen and Paper designers are not constrained by things like Interface, Animations, NPC assets, Sound and Particle Effects.  Our limitations are very real and it can be tough to do something new time and time again using the same building blocks.  The challenge is fun though!

(read more…)

This was the first Vanguard video I ever watched, I just realized it wasn’t in our archive so I’ve added it. Flying mounts, a flying city, never-before-seen zones, combat and player-owned boats are just some of the things you’ll find in this video.

A compilation of footage from E3 2005 - Not the best quality, but some great scenery, and some early shots of character movement animation.

Sony Online Entertainment and Sigil Games Online today released a narrated video tour of “Vanguard: Saga of Heroes” complete with in-depth commentary by creators Brad McQuaid and Jeff Butler. The demo showcases the freedom available to players in Vanguard and highlights features such as deep character customization, player-created housing and ships, massive adventure areas, and visually spectacular combat.

Currently in closed beta, “Vanguard: Saga of Heroes” is scheduled to ship Q1 of 2007.