Just ran across this GameTrailers.com interview with David Gilbertson on pending updates for Vanguard. Some great action clips tossed in here (typical GameTrailers style) but some interesting news as well.

It breaks down to…

… things to expect immediately:
More performance fixes
Fellowships (in test - release next patch?)
Better LFG functionality
More solo content
More small group content

…and things to expect in the near future (few months..?)
Raid content

…and things to come (an expansion - the next expansion..?)
Player cities

Judging by the recent spikes in Vanguard related prices at the secondary market sites (IE g0ld s3llers and p0wer l3veling etc) it appears that recent fixes to code removed some of the bugs and loopholes that had allowed the secondary markets to gorge their coffers with their dubiously obtained funds.

Now that fixes are in place, farmers are having to actually work to get their money and secondary ,arket prices are soaring.

This crack-down has prompted the (dirty, rotton, filthy, low down, good for nothing) /tell spammers to increase their efforts in order to keep traffic returning to the secondary market sites and buying the virtual goods.

While I’m getting sick and tired of Arghysx, Goifytfds and Sxcdfyudii sending me tells every five minutes I continue to patiently and trustingly /report Arghysx, /report Goifytfds and /report Sxcdfyudii.

…and Despite the frustration of rushing to the mailbox hoping the recently recieved mail is money pouring in from items posted at the Exchange Brokers only to discover that some (dirty, rotton, filthy, low down, good for nothing) mail spammer will “…do all the work for you…” - sitll, I faithfully and dutifully /petition the offender who is promptly (sorta) dealt with.

I encourage other players to do the same  - don’t just ignore these guys, take a few seconds and and /report & /petition them.

[RANT]
Why the heck would anyone want someone ELSE to PLAY for them…?! What is the point of playing a game that you pay someone else to play it for you…!? Oh..and DON’T buy g0ld, it hurts the player driven economy and it’s just plain weak - if you can’t enjoy the game with-out spending real $$ on virtual g0ld or having someone else play the game for you the you belong back at WoW. - Gah!!
[/ENDRANT]

 Feel free to discuss this in the forums >>

Vanguard SOH changes:

Well..if you live under a rock this may come as a surprise, but SOE has aquired Sigil Online Games - the development company led by Brad McQuaid that created Vanguard : SOH. If you’re already a fan of SOE games (such as EQ, EQII, SWG etc) then you’ll be glad to hear it. If you’re one of the many SOE detractors out there, I’m sure you have plenty to say about it. Either way join the SOE Buys Sigil/Vanguard discussion in the forum.

Vanguard Patches:
See the Latest Game Update & Patch Notes section of the forum for details, but we’ve seen several patches over the past few weeks. Lots of improvement to performance, albeit not to the level that many had hoped for. Individual classes continue to recieve adjustements to their abilities. Weapon/Armor/Items have had a bit of an overhaul including changes to the way accuracy/spell power etc is displayed - raw numbers rather than %’s as before - and more effective weapons at higher levels.

VanguardMMORPG.com changes:

Vanguard Class & Race Overviews:
Find a low level class overviews for Rogues, Shaman, Druids, Psionicists in the Class forums. Take few minutes and write your own - help newcomers to Vanguard understand each classes strengths, weaknesses, solo ability and group role.

Vanguard Combat Exploits & Weaknesses:
Vanguard designers have included a unique element with-in group combat where attacks by players of one class can ’set up’ the target for fellow group members to do more than their normal damage. Through creating and exploiting these weaknesses a group can dish out incementally more damage - making synergistic group combat possible for the first time in an MMORPG. Check out the post regarding Vanguard Combat Exploits & Weaknesses and then download the Vanguard Combat Exploits & Weaknesses Chart for quick reference!

Vanguard Fans - Stay informed!
Sign up for our free update service and reciee email notification whenever we post news - don’t miss a thing! (Subscribe to Vanguard MMORPG email updates)

We want to hear from you!
Drop us an email (admin–at–vanguardmmorpg.com) or post in the Vanguard SOH Fan Forums - your input is what makes VanguardMMORPG.com helpful to your fellow fans!

In a much anticipated and expected move, SOE has officially announced it’s aquisition of Sigil. While I’m certain there are SOE detractors who see this as the beginning of the end for Vanguard : Saga of Heroes, I am more hopeful.

I’m a big fan of many of the elements of gameplay with-in Vanguard and I’m looking forward to the result of getting the unique creative ideas of the Sigil team connected to the much needed resources - hoping that this will get the games development on track and allow VG to fulfill its massive potential.

The coming months will tell the tale. We will be watching closely to see if SOE will empower the Sigil team to continue developing the VG they had envisioned, or if SOE will try to heavily to put their own fingerprints on the game. SOE detractors complain that SOE makes significant and often disliked changes to games they become involved in.

Again, I choose to be hopeful.

SOE Strengthens Portfolio with State-of-the-Art Development Studio & its Marquee Game Vanguard: Saga of Heroes

Source: http://www.soepress.com/release.asp?i=111

May 15, 2007 San Diego, CA – Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE), a global leader in the online games industry, today announced that it has completed a transaction to purchase key assets of Sigil Games Online, Inc. Through the deal, SOE now owns Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, Sigil’s tentpole property, a highly-successful massively multiplayer online game. The Sigil acquisition also builds on SOE’s successful strategy of cultivating game development studios around the world to further boost the company’s capabilities. The announcement was made by John Smedley, President, Sony Online Entertainment.

As part of the acquisition, a majority of the Sigil team will join SOE, integrating into SOE’s worldwide group of studios which includes offices in San Diego, Seattle, Austin, Denver, Los Angeles and Taiwan. The acquisition will strengthen SOE’s position as a leader in the online gaming space by expanding the company’s portfolio of gaming offerings.

“With an unparalleled team and exceptional product, Sigil has been a creative force in the online games space. We look forward to continuing the vision for Vanguard and to continue to deliver some groundbreaking game play,” said Smedley.

In May 2006, SOE acquired the title’s rights and the two companies agreed to co-publish Vanguard. The MMO launched in late January of this year and has sold nearly 200,000 retail and digital units worldwide. Sigil CEO and Vanguard creator, Brad McQuaid will become a consultant with SOE as Vanguard Creative Advisor.

Vanguard: Saga of Heroes takes place in the fantasy setting of Telon, a vast and ancient world of magic, intrigue and adventure where thousands of players from around the world have formed a steadfast community exploring the grandeur of a world crafted by the seminal fantasy artist Keith Parkinson. The game introduced many groundbreaking new features and an art direction second to none.

Brad McQuaid dropped a few lines in the Sony VG Station forum to let all the diehard Vanguard fans in on the latest. Like most of Brad’s posts this one is quite verbose but can be summed up in a few sentances.

You can read his whole post here but it can be summed up (as can most of Brad’s verbose posts) in a few sentences.

• SOE may or may not buy out Sigil
• Sigil needs more time and more money to make the game work right
• Brad admits the game requires a top rate system (not just video upgrades), but by end of 2007 people should be buying new PCs anyways (huh…?)
• the game needs a “re-launch once its finished (a soft admittance that it is incomplete in its current state…still)
• Brad has lots of ideas about what could possibly one day, maybe eventually be in the game (definately take those with a grain of salt)
  (this next one is my favorite)
• “…both Sigil and SOE see the potential of a mind blowing game by the end of the year”
  [summary of http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=8569]

This comes as longtime fans are becoming more and more vocal about their concerns and dissappointments. From what I hear from friends and fellow fans it sounds like more and more VG players are starting to speak with their $$ by suspending or not renewing their subscriptions. Many of these players are diehard VG fans and aren’t necesarrily leaving the game for good - but I hear a lot of ‘I’m taking a break while they finish the game’. 

At any rate over the next 6 months expect…

• SOE to aquire Sigil and/or Vanguard
• patches and bug fixes to continue to trickle into the game, although perhaps more significant progress on performance & bug fixes
• to buy a new PC (or upgrade your current system…alot)
• a re-launch of the game [first launch of the completed game] (probably in time for the 2007 Holiday season - thats just a guess)

Discuss Vanguard’s Rogue class and this review in the forum

In my ongoing effort to try out each of the classes post release/patch changes I rolled Halfling Rogue and was not disappointed. As always I played the toon to level 10, played a bit solo, and some grouped to check out the classes strengths, weaknesses and overall group role.

Rogues are a lot of fun and I am incredibly impressed with the Vanguards version including their DPS and game play. Soloing Rogues can do some fantastic damage - togather wityh a tank to hold the mob in place, rogues destroy mobs. Dual wield from the start (another thing I like about Vanguard) blads are whirring and blood is flying from the opening attack to the satifying thud of the mobs carcass falling dead at your feet.

Stalking/In-Combat Stealth
The stalking element is a fantastic idea that has been well implemented. Essentially, you approach an enemy cloaked, and begin your attacks, if the mob is focused on another attacker (IE a tank) you continue to remain cloaked and build up higher damage attacks - on the other hand if you are ‘percieved’ you break stealth and continue to attack normally.

Backstab/Ravage
As one would expect when playing a Rogue, they do a lot more damage in surprise open attacks and in-combat attacks on mob flanks. As a level 8-9 Rogue I was often able to stealth behind same-level (or higher) 2 dot mobs and one shot them (using the Keen Eye buff and Ravage attack) - Tremendous!

The Rogue & Solo Combat
Through-out my 1-9 leveling last night if the mood struck me, I was able to rush headlong into combat and take out same-level mobs (or even 2-3 levels higher) pretty quickly with no real problems. Preferably using Stealth > Stalk > Ravage > Attack tactics made battles almost instantaniuous with mobs of the same level and still really quick for mobs 2-3 levels higher. I was able to solo same-level or 1-2 levels lower 3 dots mobs, with some difficulty and it took a bit long (as it should).

The Rogue & Small Group Combat
With a Paladin tank as my comrade I was able to  annihilate same-level range mobs (+1-3 levels) as quickly as we could pull them in. Against same-level (and even 1-2 levels higher) 3 dot mobs staying in the in-combat stealth/Stalking mode augmented my damage -  the longer we battled, the higher my damage output, and being able to fit in multiple backstabs brought down the normally problematic 3 dots fairly quickly.

All in all I was extremely impressed with the Rogue class and look forward to playing this alt more than my others…what can I say - I’m addicted now 

Discuss Vanguard’s Rogue class and this review in the forum

Discuss Vanguard’s Psionicist class and this review in the forum

In my ongoing effort to review each of the classes post release/patch changes I took a stab at the Psionicist class. As I haven’t had a Mordebi character since Beta I thought it was time to give one a run - besides I thought the racial ability would come in handy (8sec mex + 100% deaggro)

The Psionicist turned out to be a lot of fun - as always I played him up to level 10, soloed and grouped for a bit to get a better idea of the classes strengths, weaknesses and overall group role. Although the Psi can punch out some decent DOT and direct damage, I’d say his best trait is some great CC. looking ahead to the spells available a few levels higher it becomes even more appearant.

Psionicist DPS
Soloing - You start out with a weak, but effective mental lance - its a quick cast that does direct damage and can be spammed on enemies as they close in on you - it has a suffecient range to make kiting a good idea, you’re definately not built for a fist fight. Grouping - Soon you’re equipped with a nice DOT which is quite effective once you have something/someone to hold the mob in place

Psionicist CC
Soloing - you’re never solo as long as you’re a Psi - your enemy becomes your best friend since you can replicate any mob and create a copy capable of holding aggro for a time - pleanty of time for you to take out the first of most 2 pulls. As you level up you can hold enough aggro in this mirror to get off a DOT with-out pulling aggro to you.
Group - the Psi is a must have in dungeons and heavy mob fighting - controlling the flow of mobs is the difference between a tough pull and a complete wipe. Even at lower levels the Psi seem perfectly adept at CCing one mob and delivering decent DPS to the others - at higher levels you can begin to control even more mobs through mind control (suggestion), mirrors, mezzes, timeshifts etc.

Psionicist Buffs & Debuffs
As a Psi you share a connection with other Psi’s around the world increasing yourmana/energy regen mana/energy rate, additionally you expand your mind and the minds of your companions adding a decent amount of intel & wisdom increasing the casters damage output and manapool.

As a Psi you should be able to solo fairly well, and be a great add to any dungeon bound group. As alwasy this is just a review of my expierience (short) with the Psi class, share your experiences with us - strengths, weaknesses, likes dislikes etc.

Discuss Vanguard’s Psionicist class and this review in the forum

Discuss Vanguard’s Shaman class and this review in the forum

In an ongoing effort to check out all the classes (again post release/patch changes) I rolled myself a Lesser Giant Shaman and I’ve had myself a blast so far. For the record I know a Vulmane has better racial stats for a shaman, but my wife was trying out new races/classes and wanted to start in a new starting area so we hit up Halgarad and made a pair of Lesser Giants, complete with matching last names 

As with all my class reviews, I played my Lesser Giant Shaman up to level 10 to get an idea of the classes strengths, weaknesses and central group role.

I’ve started a number of class/race combos and first impressions of the Shaman class were a bit mixed. I was trying to wrap my mind around what the shaman’s central purpose/strength might be in a group, but it seemed rather vague. My shammy did decent (but not overly impressive) in all areas - melee dmg, DOT & direct spell dmg, CC, buffs and healing- and has a resurrect. I came to realize they are purposefully versitile - jack of all trades, master of none it seems - which makes them a decent add to any group or guild.

Shaman Healing
The first heal you get is a realitivly short cast (1.5 secs) heal that ‘does the job’ in self healing or when healing your newb Dread Knight tank/wife   
Soloing - multi-pull mobs can become challenging since the bigger heals take a bit of time to cast and can be interupted multiple times (3.0 secs). (thankfully one of your early buffs is a 20% reduction in casting time)
Grouping - if called on to do so shaman can be decent main-healer in grinding groups (not certain about dungeons/instances), but energy consumption seems to be less effecient than other healing classes, so you’ll want to give them plenty of time to regen after each altercation.

Shaman Melee
Although at early levels it’s nothing to write home about, shaman can deliver a bit of melee damage - in fact one of your level 4 spells is an insta-cast melee attack. 
Soloing - never being one to like being hit, I prefer to get close enough to use my melee only as a finisher, or a low-on-mana option
Grouping - you wear leather armor so you don’t have to worry about casting from the outfield, with a tank holding aggro you can get in the middle of it all and drop some melee damage while you watch your group for healing needs.

Shaman CC
Soloing - the 2 roots and one ’slow’ you get by level 10 are suffecient to keep many single pulls at bay long enough to destroy them with-out getting a scratch and with-out needing to kite too much.
Grouping - Shaman won’t take the place of a Psi but can help mitigate the chaos of adds, healers getting aggro, or ‘oopsie’ 4-5 pulls.

Again, as always, this is just a look at Shaman up to level 10 - most classes really start to shine post level 10, so I’d love to hear about your Shaman, or shaman that you’ve grouped with.

Discuss Vanguard’s Shaman class and this review in the forum