vanguard-saga-of-heroes
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One Shots: The Isle awaits
We couldn't have been happier when SOE recently opened up Vanguard: Saga of Heroes for a free-trial period. We'd been looking to do a First Impressions on Vanguard for a while, but were waiting on the trial to open up so others could check it out as well. When we saw this particular screenshot come in to our One Shots mailbox from Luni, we thought the timing was awesome; we're working on our own First Impressions piece now. That said, today's One Shots is all about this great screenshot from Luni, who wrote in: I recently started the psionist half-elf character named Luni in the new Vanguard newbie zone - Isle of Dawn. I have to admit that these newly-created areas are really impressive AND immersive. Do you play a game we don't often see here? Perhaps you'd like to tip us off to an awesome game that we haven't covered as yet by sending us some tasty screenshots of the game. Whatever your reason, all MMO screenshots are welcome! Just send them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name/server/guild and a quick description of what we're seeing in the image. Who knows? You might see us jumping in your favorite game to check it out.%Gallery-9798%
One Shots: Kojan moonlight
While our screenshots have taken a darker turn lately, this one isn't from the game everyone has come to associate with that word. This lovely screenshot comes to us from Rufus, who snapped this while out adventuring recently in Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. In the foreground, we can see his Raki enjoying a peaceful moment with the beauty of Kojan laid out behind him in the silvery moonlight. Of course, with the Isle of Dawn having recently come in Vanguard's update 6, we're hoping to see some free trial love open up soon ourselves. Have you snapped some screenshots in a world we don't see that often? Perhaps you'd like to show off how cool your game is so that more people will come try it out? We're here to help you! Just send in those screenshots from your favorite game along with your name and a brief description of the screens to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com. We'll post them up for everyone to look at, and give you the credit for having the good "photographic" eye. %Gallery-9798%
One Shots: Bordinar's Cleft
Sometimes, in our adventures, there are places you come to that make you stop and stare. This particular One Shot is no exception; definitely an imposing sight when viewed at a distance. Korvin sent in this lovely view taken from Vanguard: Saga of Heroes along with the following note:[This is the] last bastion of the dwarven race on Thestra. Bordinar's Cleft is a city formed in a canyon in the Widow's Veil Mountains and home to the Dwarves of Thestra. Keith Parkinson (the art director for Vanguard) said he "had envisioned that the dwarves had not so much "built" the city as much as they burrowed into the mountain and 'sculpted' the city. [He] chose the classical architectural style and loosely blended elements of Celtic decor and iconography."If you've run across a castle, fortress, town, landscape, or other portion of your favorite game that just made you stop and say "cool" we want to see a screenshot of it! One Shots is all about what players from around the world are doing in their favorite games. If you've been thinking about sending in a screen, there's no time like the present to contribute! Just mail those to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with a quick description and whatever you'd like to be called. We'll post it up and give you the credit for taking the great screenshot.%Gallery-9798%
Vanguard game update 6 coming soon!
The sixth huge game update to Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is coming soon to a server near you! We've appreciated what Vanguard has to offer for some time here at Massively, so it's great to see such a big improvement coming to the game. The developers have had these changes in the works for some time; we first got a taste of this coming down the line way back at the beginning of summer. The official website says that Game Update 6 could be coming as soon as next week! The bug fixes alone are too numerous to mention. Here are the big ticket items that are new since Game Update 5: Character Model Updates - The wonky-looking character avatars players have had since the game launched are getting a complete overhaul. Men will be 'beefier' looking, while woman have had their 'feminine features' enhanced. While that sounds kind of strange, almost anything would be better than what the players have right now. New Player Experience Upgrade - The much-vaunted Isle of Dawn will soon be added to the world of Telon! Players new and old will be able to start new characters on that special island, experiencing all-new content up through level 10. Make sure to check out the official site for all the details, and head to the test server forums to get a fresh player reaction to the new content.
One Shots: Tursh at dusk
Today's One Shots comes to us from Ryan N, who has recently rediscovered Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. He sent along a nice long description, so we'll let Ryan take the floor: I re-activated my Vanguard account over the long weekend after I found a spare SOE timecard lying around my closet (sweet find, eh?) and forgot just how amazing the game looks. This screenshot is of my young level 8 Pally looking over the starting village of Tursh at dusk. My new PC can run the game at max settings and I've concluded that there is no other game on the market (not even Conan) that can compete with Vanguard in terms of visual design and sheer graphical technology. The recent patches have improved an already underrated gaming experience by leaps and bounds. Let's hope Sony pushes the free trial out of the door soon so more people can experience it.Free time-card finds are always sweet, but free trials are tasty too! We'll second the hope that SOE will open up Vanguard for a trial, considering how well the Living Legacy promotion seems to have gone. Even so, we're glad to see games that we don't often see. If you play a game we don't often see, why not send those in to us here at oneshots AT massively.com. All MMOs are welcome!%Gallery-9798%
One Shots: On second thought, let's not go to Camelot...
While the title has nothing at all to do with the image, we couldn't resist using it when looking at this horseman in front of a castle, as if sizing up what he'd see there. Today's One Shots comes from Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, and was sent in to us by Petter M, who said he was thrilled to see some Vanguard love here at One Shots. Petter writes:This shot is of my halfling rogue when he first arrived at New Targanor in southern Thestra during a long, quite epic and well-written diplomacy quest. Diplomacy in Vanguard really is a lot of fun and brings a whole new way of introducing strong storytelling into a MMO. It's not for everyone, but it really is worth at least giving a try. New Targanor is quite big and confusing for the first time visitor, making World of Warcraft's Orgrimmar seem like a structured and logical city. I fell in love with the place it straight away, just like I did when I took my first steps into Orgrimmar's Valley of Strength.Do you have a screenshot from your favorite land -- perhaps one we haven't seen recently? If so, bundle it up into an email and send it to us here at oneshots AT massively.com! We love seeing new places.%Gallery-9798%
One Shots: Moonset in Qalia
We're in the final stages of E3 prep, and the flights start tomorrow night. So as we'll be traveling through the night, we thought we'd share a great night shot with you all. This Vanguard screenshot was sent in to us by John P. who sent us less of a description and more of a nudge: I just happened to see this and had to take a snapshot. I'd love to see some more Vanguard love on your site... the game has come such a long way!We've been working on more Vanguard content, but one of the easiest ways for any game to get love is to send screenshots in to us here. (Come on, you had to know that was coming.) Just pop those screenshots in an email and send them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com. %Gallery-9798%
Vanguard offers 5 days free to past subscribers
The Vanguard team has deployed its own (more modest) version of EverQuest's much-publicized Living Legacy campaign. Anyone who used to have a Vanguard account may play for free up through the 31st. SOE is touting performance enhancements and "new code" intended to make the game run more smoothly. See, when the game first launched, it had performance issues about as bad as (or maybe even worse than) those of Age of Conan's open beta event. The game was virtually unplayable in major cities for all but the most beastly systems. With each major game update, though, SOE has tweaked and optimized the engine to make it run better. Apparently the team now feels that it's reached the point where it can reach out to old players and say, "Hey, we fixed it; come back and try again!
Fan-made Vanguard trailer has community talking excitedly
It's no secret that Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is a gorgeous game, we've given it very worthy spots in One Shots many times in the past few weeks. But every once in a while, someone's able to capture a game in a light that makes already amazing graphics become even better. And that is certainly the case with this Vanguard user-made trailer that's been sweeping forums.The trailer shows off the main draws to Vanguard, such as the large open world, access to many fantastic mounts, ships, and other travel methods, and the epically large dungeons with equally epic monsters to destroy. The trailer is apparently so good at what it does, Silius, the lead game designer, even congratulated the makers on a video well done.Go ahead and click on the link below to jump to the land beyond the break and watch the trailer for yourself![Thanks Ricky!]
One Shots: Galloping into Jalen's Crossing
We've been really glad to see a few screens coming in from Vanguard lately. With such a rough launch we wondered if this pretty MMO would be given a chance to shine here. Wookers, one of our regular One Shots contributors has been vacationing from Middle-earth in the lands of Vanguard and has sent back some screenshots. He writes: Thought this was just a beautiful view of Jalen's Crossing as I was riding in with my character, Wookori, to pick up more quests. It is indeed a lovely sky and the way the light shines from behind the building ahead looks pretty cool.Have you taken a nifty screenshot from your travels in a world we haven't often been able to feature here? All MMOGs are welcome, from the small to the large, from old to new! Just pop them into the mail to us here at oneshots AT massively.com along with a quick description. Yours could be one of the upcoming screens featured here! %Gallery-9798%
Player vs. Everything: Singing the praises of Vanguard
I have a confession to make: While I was waiting for the Age of Conan launch, I decided to dip my toes back into Vanguard for a bit. It wasn't as crazy of a proposition as you might think. I've always liked Vanguard. It was never the design that was flawed -- it was the execution. Vanguard failed not because it was a bad game, but because when it launched it was a horrible, buggy, crashing, slow, unplayable mess. I know this because I was in late-stage beta, and that experience made me pass over the game when the launch date finally rolled around. However, a crack SOE development team picked up the pieces of the broken dream of "the Vision," as McQuaid called it, and they've been working feverishly to stitch them together into something both exciting and stable over the last year. Last week, spurred by a desire to just have some fun, I dusted off the copy of the game I bought this fall and rolled up a Necromancer. I didn't expect much. I was just killing time until the Age of Conan launch started. Surprisingly, Vanguard grabbed me. Without really intending to, I was having more fun in an MMOG than I had had in a long time -- so much fun that when the AoC servers finally came up, I was still playing Vanguard. All this week, while logged into AoC, I've been thinking about Vanguard. I'm seriously contemplating putting Age of Conan on ice for a while to go play Vanguard some more. I was enjoying myself that much. What's so great about this allegedly terrible game that I'm willing to play it over the brand new blockbuster flavor-of-the-month?
Vanguard producer discusses the state of the game
In an interview with Allakhazam, Vanguard producer Thom Terrazas talked about how his game is going right now, how it is currently being improved, and improvements that can be expected for the future. Allakhazam wasn't afraid to ask the tough questions, bringing up the game's less-than-stellar launch, and asking Terrazas to pinpoint the areas that have held back Vanguard until now.Terrazas admits that the performance and system requirements of the game during the launch period lost them a lot of players, but promises that these issues are well behind them now, with a lot of optimization to the client. His advice is to get in the game and join a guild, and promises that his team listen do the community and make updates accordingly. But with the next generation of MMOs already upon us, is it too late for Vanguard to recover?
Vanguard's dead horses and phoenix ashes
A lot of hot topics come up again and again on the Vanguard forums. Will the rumored Vanguard free trial replace the existing racial homelands? Will Age of Conan and other upcoming games kill Vanguard? Is SOE going to make a "hardcore" server for the trufans, and what will that do to normal servers if they do? Ten Ton Hammer's Dalmarus says, enough with these dead horses. The free trial won't avoid the traditional starting areas. Players don't seem to be flocking to Age of Conan. There is no hardcore server in the works. All dead horses who have been beaten long enough, and deserve a rest.But there's better news, a sort of bright light coming from that heap of ashes over there. New players are coming to Vanguard; old players are returning. Server populations are increasing, and the game is finding its place in the world. Why focus on dead horses when there's live ones standing all around? Dalmarus makes excellent points. Vanguard has had troubles, but it's far from dead.
Vanguard offers another chance to swap servers
Early this week we brought you some great-looking previews of the next content drop coming to Vanguard, Game Update 5. Today, SOE is hinting that the advances the game has made over the last year are making a difference. Claiming that players are returning to play with old friends, they're offering new chances to hop servers and reconnect with their fellow players.Next Tuesday everyone will have the chance to complete a server transfer simply by using the /petition command. Avatars can be moved to any of the Vanguard shards, with the exception of the PvP realm Sartok. Players who don't take advantage of this next week's opportunity will have another one during the week of the 19th to the 23rd. All that's required to make the move is a packup of all broker items, collection of all tombstones, and the acquisition of all items inside your house. No need to tear down your house.
Exclusive Vanguard Game Update 5 mounts video
SOE's Vanguard: Saga of Heroes keeps marching forward with its upcoming Game Update 5. GU5 features a bevy of new features, including new "anti-hitching" code which will cut down on the number of times the game needs to read from disk, smoothing out the gameplay substantially. Not content with just boosting performance, the developers decided to go whole hog (and turtle, and spider, and beetle, and wolf) and introduce new racial mounts for every race in the game. Click on through to see the mounts Vanguard has in store for their dedicated players! Then, stop by later for a look at the new, improved spell graphics coming in GU5, and an exclusive interview with esteemed Vanguard game designer Lenny "Tiraslee" Gullo.%Gallery-20844%
Vanguard may be against the death penalty
Ten Ton Hammer is reporting on a recent uproar on the Vanguard: Saga of Heroes forums surrounding many MMO players' least favorite subject: death. Few like to contemplate their own demise, and even those who do would agree that penalties for dying in an online game are annoying. The current controversy surrounds a certain Producer's Letter written by game producer Thom Terrazas wherein he mentioned the possibility of reducing the severity of the death penalties in Vanguard. Now Dalmarus makes a valid point about all of this. Removing the loss of experience mechanic from death means removing the excitement. Essentially, the developers would be eliminating that extra thrill you get from tackling dangers and taking on challenges that might be a bit much for you; the thrill you get knowing you survived and saved your precious experience points. I would agree that a death penalty gives players a consequence, albeit a small one, for reckless actions in-game, and removing that penalty means changing the game experience for better or worse. My feeling is that the Vanguard team might be looking at their competition, titles like WoW, and noticing that the loss of experience might deter the casual player from sticking with the game. But then again, it doesn't deter Dalmarus, so should they really be worried?
Vanguard bonus xp week on now!
Still playing Vanguard? Good for you! Now go get leveling, because starting today and until next Tuesday's server reset, you'll be earning a 50% experience bonus on all your adventuring and crafting.The bonus xp kicked in this morning around 7, and should last for all a week and through the weekend.
Vanguard Producer's letter to the community details what's in store for Vanguard
It's been about a month since the Vanguard development crew made the big move from Carlsbad, and they must be settling into their new lofty digs at SOE HQ in San Diego, California, as work on Phase II and III continues as scheduled. Other than that, what's Vanguard's plan? Well, cleaning up one of the worst MMOG launches in the history of the genre isn't an easy feat, and SOE has delegated Thom Terrazas to command Vanguard's development team to some sort of victory. In Vanguard's defense the game has drastically improved since launch but much more still needs to be done. Terrazas has already shown frequent communication with the playerbase on the official Vanguard forums since taking the assignment. In his recent letter to the community Terrazas details Vanguard's long term development focus and proposes a few controversial changes that some consider "WoW-ifying" the game. The two biggest changes causing a forum uproar are: implementing a faster leveling curve and removing the experience loss component from the death penalty. (More after the jump.)
Where Vanguard's Vision is headed
There's that infamous word again. Thinking about all the different "Visions" for Vanguard: Saga of Heroes cleaves my skull with a splitting headache. Thankfully, Thom Terrazas, recent inductee to the Vanguard helm, lays out some specifics on what the newly cut chopped, diced and spliced Vanguard development team has in store for the different phases in Update 3. Some highlights with my commentary include: Update 3 Phases Phase 1 had its up and downs: Performance gains are noticeable in many different game areas. Chat server hiccups fix took awhile, water wasn't working. It happens. Not enough polish and that's something the team will work on. (Dev_01 "It's not shiny enough, shine harder!" "Dev_02 "Man, that's the third lens flare I used on that tree!") Phase II what's coming: Overland raid encounters and Khal optimizations. Lots of new art is getting added to make it easy-on-the-eyes and help to keep your computer from melting. Phase III is in the not so distant future: Ancient Port Warehouse is being combed over, battered, and prodded to iron out all the bugs and to make it suitable for playing. Expect this to go live one or two weeks after Phase II. Check your local patch listing for Revenge of the Vanguard Phases show times. Fine, I'm putting the popcorn away. Vanguard isn't dead, it's there, it's alive, it's still being updated and played. This is great news considering the troubling layoffs (a rumored 18 devs) it remains to be seen if they can get the rest of these updates out so soon but at least the man in charge is communicating with the players, and that's always a good thing. Phase II is planned to go live in less than two weeks.
