Tagged News: vanguard

Visit the SOE Podcast Website today to listen to Podcast #29 and catch up on any podcasts you may have missed in the past. Every episode kicks off with news from Jason "Pex" Ryan as he tells you all about the latest and greatest news from many of the SOE titles. In this podcast, Julie "Ellyra" Burness stops in, Lesley and David from the SOE QA department drop by for a chat, we find out what people love most about their game of choice, and Brenlo and Ashlanne touch on politics. Be sure to send your feedback to Brenlo@soe.sony.com or you can head over to the Station Forums and post your feedback there.

It's hard to say that Vanguard started one year ago, but on January 30th that's exactly what the fans will be saying. With the Big One Year coming up, the Devs have some special plans to help you celebrate with.

All players will be able to choose one of three bags, representing each sphere of the game. Choose wisely, as you will only be able to claim a single bag per account.

Avarem's Messenger Bag
This is the bag of Avarem, famed messenger of Telon. His swift feet made him a legend in the realm of delivery.

Equipping this bag will increase your run speed.

Silius' Enchanted Utility Pouch
A bag used by the master crafter Silius. Said to be a sadist, Silius' insatiable hunger for crafting made him a legend in the world of Telon. Some even say this bag is made from the skin of crafters which is why it seems to enhance the base attributes of the person wearing it.

Equipping this pouch will increase your crafting attributes.

Jansan's Valise of Ages
This valise was used by the great diplomat known as Jansan. His accomplishments have been lost in the winds and nowadays are nothing more than fairy tales told to aspiring diplomats. Of these stories there is one about a valise that granted him great presence and held an endless amount of information.

Equipping this valise will grant you 40 presence.

It gets better because the Devs are working on titles for the veterans of Vanguard. Also cake will be given out to players on the 30th to celebrate this event.

Visit the Podcast Website today to listen to Podcast #28 and catch up on any podcasts you may have missed in the past. Every episode kicks off with news from Jason "Pex" Ryan as he tells you all about the latest and greatest news from many of the SOE titles. In this podcast, your hosts Brenlo and Ashlanne talk all about the holiday break and CES, chat with SOE's regular Pizza Delivery guy, interview Joy Parkes from the SOE Audio Department, and more. Be sure to send your feedback to Brenlo@soe.sony.com or you can head over to the Station Forums and post your feedback there.

Gamespy recently handed Vanguard the dubious "honor" of being the Biggest Disappointment of 2007. In response to that article, Vincent 'Teclisen' Napoli (one of the game designers) responds to Gamespy in this forum post:

The game that exists now was designed in a single year by people with 0 experience. If that sounds too vague think of it like this: about 1 year from release we had 0 quests in the DB because the tool didn't exist yet. When I decided to split the team there was over 30,000 quest object entries. Yeah, explains a lot doesn't it?

What a huge let down indeed.

Oddly enough, the whole situation was probably a bigger let down to the designers than the consumers. I accepted a position thinking I was going to work with a bunch of experts - Masters of their craft - and really learn the ropes of game design. Instead, my fellow design associates and I were unwittingly tasked with trying to fix a failed video game that had literally been canceled twice before any of us were even hired. So in retrospect, despite everything, I guess I'm still pretty proud of vanguard. Every team member should be proud in spite of a truly pitiful and pathetic waste.

There's a whole lot more to this letter and it's quite worth the effort to read if you're a Vanguard fan.

The chat's officially over. Were you there? If not, you missed a great one! Fortunately for you, however, we have the log. Here's a sample:

WarCry: AnnraThannar: When will trial island be ready and is trial island also dedicated for old buddy key owners. I hope so, because it may help reducing spam.
Phathom: Trial Island is a name that has a poor association with it at the moment. The Trial Island was started with the intention of having a stand alone client that new players can try out. Our current intention for the Trial Island is to use it as the new starting location for most of the races and new players.
Phathom: The Isle of Dawn is the actual name now "Spoiler Alert"
Phathom: We plan on restarting work on the Isle next month and expect to have it out to you near and around April
Phathom: Spam -- We are looking at issues at the moment with this but we want you to be able to get your friends back in the game to experience a much better starting experience
Phathom: and allow you to be there to share the new experience without having the content too low for you to play. We're still working out the details

You'll just have to click on "Read More" to devour the rest. A huge thank you for everyone, especially the developers, for taking the time to join us tonight. We look forward to doing it again!

Tonight, WarCry and SOE will team up and offer you a chance to quiz the developers of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes live on IRC. The chat starts at 8:00pm EST (5:00pm PST), full details are below:

When: 12/19/2007 8pm EST

Where: irc.chatspike.net 6667 in #vanguard
General chat will be available in #warcry

Who: The following SOE developers will be on hand.

• Thom "Phathom" Terrazas (Producer)
• Nick "Glip" Parkinson (Associate Producer)
• Salim "Silius" Grant (Lead Designer)
• Sharon "Moonlight" Morris (Senior Customer Service Manager)
• Ryan Elam (Director of Technology)
• Julie "Ellyra" Burness (Community Rep)

Need a way in? No problem just use our Java Client

We look forward to seeing you there!

Vanguard has now received Update 3.2, which rounds out their recent "Game Update 3". They sent out a press release with details of the changes.

Find out what they did after the jump.

WarCry is proud to announce that on Wednesday December 19th, 2007, we'll be hosting the developers of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes live on IRC for fans of the game to get their questions in, face to face. The chat will kick off at 8:00pm Eastern (5:00pm Pacific).

When: 12/19/2007 8pm EST

Where: irc.chatspike.net 6667 in #vanguard
General chat will be available in #warcry

Who: The following SOE developers will be on hand.

• Thom "Phathom" Terrazas (Producer)
• Nick "Glip" Parkinson (Associate Producer)
• Salim "Silius" Grant (Lead Designer)
• Sharon "Moonlight" Morris (Senior Customer Service Manager)
• Ryan Elam (Director of Technology)
• Julie "Ellyra" Burness (Community Rep)

Need a way in? No problem just use our Java Client

We look forward to seeing you there!

Eurogamer has posted an updated review of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. Heading back in after nine months of implementation, editors scored it a respectable 7/10.

Vanguard is now in a stable and enjoyable state, and much of the potential which was crushed by poor implementation at launch has been unlocked by months of additional development work. For the few players who have stuck with the game, their patience has been rewarded - even if they'd be justified in feeling ripped off at having paid to beta test an unfinished product for nine months.

However, the uphill struggle the game faces may simply be too steep. Conventional wisdom in the MMORPG market says that you can't recover from a bad launch, and Vanguard is already a by-word for poor quality, rushed software in MMOG circles. Even now, it's not bug-free and well-polished - it works, it's innovative and it's well-implemented, but compared to the you-can-see-your-face-in-it shine of something like WoW or LOTRO, it's still second-rate.

It's interesting to see reviews this long after launch.

SOE will be releasing the Ancient Port Warehouse, a raiding zone, for Vanguard. Along with this, they are now providing a preparation guide for players who wish to experience the new content.

Soon the gates will open to Vanguard's premier raiding zone, Ancient Port Warehouse. A flurry of excitement surrounds the community as preparations are being made for the release. Bard Class Lead, Cennyan, took the time (and an enormous amount of effort) to compile this fantastic preparation guide! Whether you're new to raiding, or a veteran, there's certainly something in here for everyone.

You can view the full article here. It has also been stated that the guide will continue to be updated over time.