While there is a lot to be frustrated about (catch me on an ‘off day’ and I’ll likely fill you in on every bug I’ve encountered and reported - repeatedly - and how it somehow ruined my life etc) there is still a lot about Vanguard worth salvaging.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with many VG detractors in their argument that releasing the unfinished game with all of its issues have marked it for many gamers, which has REALLY, REALLY injured its potential.

While it may never reach the potential we’d all hoped for - I still hold on to a hope that SOE will buy Sigil soon and quickly complete VG with-out screwing it up more. I think a completed VG can re-release in Q4 and still capture quite a player base. I think the core ideas of VG are strong enough to survive the controversy and make their way into the center ring to compete with the other big offerings out there.

What can I say – I’m an optimist and a diehard Vanguard fan(atic)

P.S. Catch me on Targanor (Orc Ranger Draedus) when I die because of a laggy chunk border, or when I get a ‘Buy some Vanguard g0ld’ letter in my mail and see how optimistic I am - heh

When predecessor games have easily mastered all of the following:
-grouping without losing connection or having constant problems (still frustrating)
-raiding groups (not implemented),
-guild structure and management, alliances between guilds (not implemented),
-alternate advancement structure to show uniqueness between classes (not implemented),
-stopping hackers and gold dup’ing that ruins the economy

Lets face it… it’s difficult to be a Vanguard fan.

I personally don’t care if it’s run by Sigil or SOE, because the damage has already been done. Sure its fixable, but permanent damage has already capsized the ship. There are people who were looking forward to this game as the next major MMORPG and it has turned out to flop massively. Those people, the hardcore players, that have seen the problems and left, will never come back. The word of mouth advertising has hurt the game, and will continue to do so, regardless of what they fix. The only thing a game has is momentum, until another game steals it. This game never gained momentum, because it never really had much success.

I guess my main point is that a game should have potential, yes that is a good thing. But when a game has a weak foundation, how do you expect people to play with dreams of potential? McQuaid keeps stating the potential as though people are going to play for several years—guess what, they are already quitting in large numbers. Expectations were blown, frustration is setting in, playability is just not up to par.

Everyone I talk to is already talking about Conan and Warhammer, both on the horizon in the next year. Those are the big ones, I’m sure there are others. Unfortunately, I think the window for a successful Vanguard has come to and end. It’s just an opinion, but I think it was a piss poor attempt at success.