SOE Fan Faire 2011: An update on Vanguard
With no official panels or events planned for Vanguard fans at this year's Fan Faire, you might wonder whether Sony Online Entertainment has any plans for the future of the game. But take heart, because Vanguard is definitely alive and on the minds of the SOE development team. Salim "Silius" Grant from SOE sat down to talk to Massively about future plans for Vanguard. Read on for an update on the world of Telon.
While Grant wasn't able to go into detail, he did say that there have been high-level meetings regarding future updates for Vanguard. They are definitely planning to do two updates within the fiscal year for Vanguard, although there is no exact timetable on when those updates will launch. He said that he will more than likely be overseeing whatever will be implemented, and they will also bring in other developers who had previously worked on the game.
As to what will be in the updates, he said details are still being worked on, but it will probably include adventure content such as quests and dungeons, and they'll look to make use of some of the emptier real estate currently in game.
Next, we asked whether Vanguard might go free-to-play. Grant responded that it would be a major undertaking to add it into the game, since it would require a revenue stream, most likely in the form of a Station Cash Marketplace. So while they've talked about it, it's not on the table at this time.
When asked about whether the focus would be on revamping current content or adding new content, he said that what they're looking at is what will be the best bang for the buck for Vanguard fans, and what will meet the needs of the players. He also added that they want to put in content that will last for a while, and not be burned through quickly by the playerbase.
