Vanguard free-to-play relaunch this month

With the huge number of free-to-play MMORPGs hanging around nowadays, loitering in shopping centres and being mouthy to security guards, one could play nothing but their typically-decent starting levels and still not run out of games. Add Vanguard to that list, from August 14.

25

With the huge number of free-to-play MMORPGs hanging around nowadays, loitering in shopping centres and being mouthy to security guards, one could play nothing but their typically-better starting levels and still not run out of games. If you're speeding through them, though, fear not, as SOE has dated the free-to-play relaunch of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes for Tuesday, August 14.

"Over the past couple of months, we have been working hard to improve the game in order to prepare for the influx of new and returning players," Vanguard community relations manager, ahem, 'Zatozia the Torturess' said in the announcement.

As is customary for Sony Online Entertainment's F2P offerings, there are optional subscriptions--but only one tier this time. Free players face certain restrictions which you can get past by paying the old fee of $15 per month or coughing up microtransaction money.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    August 6, 2012 10:00 AM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, Vanguard free-to-play relaunch this month.

    With the huge number of free-to-play MMORPGs hanging around nowadays, loitering in shopping centres and being mouthy to security guards, one could play nothing but their typically-decent starting levels and still not run out of games. Add Vanguard to that list, from August 14.

    • reply
      August 6, 2012 11:13 AM

      No.

    • reply
      August 6, 2012 11:26 AM

      I'm surprised this is even still going. Development was practically dead after I tried it for a few months then gave up due to total lack of content.

      The amount of empty space in that game was astonishing.

      • reply
        August 6, 2012 11:43 AM

        Yeah I thought it had been shuttered ages ago.

      • reply
        August 6, 2012 12:27 PM

        From wikipedia: Gamespy awarded Vanguard the "Biggest Disappointment" award for 2007. Vanguard also won the awards in the categories for "Least Fun", "Most Desolate" and "Lamest Launch" in the MMORPG.com MMOWTF Awards for the worst games of 2007.

        • reply
          August 6, 2012 12:54 PM

          True, but it was also *recently* voted #3 on the best MMO's on the same exact site.

          http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=57917&post_id=694434

          • reply
            August 6, 2012 2:30 PM

            I think the fact that it's still going 5 years after those dubious awards is some testament to it's playability.

            • reply
              August 6, 2012 2:44 PM

              I remember some buddies of mine going on and on about how Vanguard was going to be the best MMO ever. I listened to one of them explained how there was like seven gameplay systems involved in wiping your ass or whatever.

              Thing is, I think what these guys were getting at is that Vanguard was the ultra hardcore MMO they wanted. I can't remember, maybe it had some of the original EQ people on it. When WoW showed that there were multiple millions of people willing to pay to play an MMO, the EQ's of the world jumped on the "let's make it mainstream friendly!" bandwagon, and "dumbed down" their games to make them more palatable to the masses. Vanguard was the direct opposite of that approach.

              And so maybe what happened is that Vanguard was able to retain enough paying players to stay afloat, but it never really got much bigger. Their decision to focus on a particular niche probably both confined them to a small audience, as well as endearing themselves to that audience. I guess so long as it's profitable and there's no big impetus to expand that this might be able to continue on. But if they're hoping to expand the base with F2P then they might have some targets in mind and that might be a problem.

    • reply
      August 6, 2012 11:39 AM

      Vanguard.. lol

    • reply
      August 6, 2012 12:00 PM

      It's a great MMO for those who like the old school eq'ish type of game. I'm looking forward to it, personally.

      • reply
        August 6, 2012 12:03 PM

        Also, this "Removed Class Restrictions: We removed the class restrictions for all races. You can now create that special combination of character that you dreamed about making!"

        Hell. Yes.

      • reply
        August 6, 2012 1:48 PM

        Most of my old Quake buddies became EQ junkies back in the day, and like most EQ junkies bitched about how modern MMO's were lacking in comparison (for all their stupid EQ junkie reasons). Then Vanguard came out and even those guys thought the whole game sucked, I don't think any of them got over level 30. So based on this, I really don't believe that this is a great MMO for those who like the old school eq'ish type of game. I think that was just marketing hype.

    • reply
      August 6, 2012 12:01 PM

      I'm actually curious to try this just to see Brad McQuaid's vision for a more current gen EverQuest experience. I know the game is plagued with a lot of problems but being a huge EQ fan, it'd be neat to check this out since it's free just to roam the world a bit and give it an afternoon's worth of play.

      • reply
        August 6, 2012 12:13 PM

        I personally think EQ has aged better then vanguard has.

      • reply
        August 6, 2012 12:19 PM

        Thing is it's not current gen anymore. It feels dated :\

      • reply
        August 6, 2012 12:23 PM

        "Current generation Everquest" is WoW.

        • reply
          August 6, 2012 12:31 PM

          Uh no. WoW is the current generation of My Little Ponies.

        • reply
          August 6, 2012 12:39 PM

          Please, WoW has always been and forever will be easy mode.

          • reply
            August 6, 2012 1:08 PM

            Given how hard TBC or the WotLK hard modes were? Yeah, you'd have to be a serious no-lifer on a new level if EQ was that much harder (and I'm aware that it basically was). Way overkill for me.

            • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
              reply
              August 6, 2012 1:45 PM

              No basically about it, WoW is Harry Potter to EQ's GoT.
              EQ was so brutally punishing that there's barely a valid comparison. That was amazing at the time, but I wouldn't be able to play a game like that now.

              • reply
                August 6, 2012 1:50 PM

                I remember at max level as a barbarian in EQ I had to sit on the ground real time for about 30 minutes to fully recover my health.

                • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
                  reply
                  August 6, 2012 4:28 PM

                  I played a cleric, so it was better and worse for me.

                  Every group wanted me: good
                  They all wanted me to only either Med or CHeal: booooooooring

              • reply
                August 6, 2012 2:54 PM

                WoW doesn't even have any zone based hunting. In EQ another group could accidentally wipe yours out by screwing up a pull. Danger lurked at every corner. If you died in the middle of a dungeon it was hell getting your stuff back and it was a stiff penalty if you let your corpse rot.

                I don't miss the long waits between battles, the overcrowded zones or the fact that it rewarded players who spent days at a time camping items. Made it almost impossible to get loot. I do miss the overall sense of danger the game had. Vanguard seemed to have some of that but they never got a chance to finish it.

                • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
                  reply
                  August 6, 2012 4:31 PM

                  Yea, unfortunately the parts I loved and remember so fondly are also the parts that the time-limited me of now would RAAAGE at. Trains to zone, inability to play effectively without a full group, the overall slow pace (leveling, healing, medding, killing, travel, recovery after death), the harsh death penalty (which they've largely negated even now)...great for nostalgia, horrible for fun. :(

              • reply
                August 6, 2012 6:56 PM

                [deleted]

        • reply
          August 6, 2012 1:18 PM

          I played and liked WoW too. In this case, I'm curious what many of the original EQ team has made in Vanguard, even if it's flawed.

      • reply
        August 6, 2012 12:38 PM

        This is the only MMO I got excited about since the original EQ. It had a ton of potential but the game was released in an almost Alpha state. Tons of quests available but not complete, bugs like crazy, missing areas, etc. Killed off the community in a couple of weeks.

      • reply
        August 6, 2012 12:54 PM

        Wasnt Sony going to try to redo EQ within the next few years?

        • reply
          August 6, 2012 1:17 PM

          They are working on "EQ Next," but last I heard the priority for the project has dropped and/or the game is going social casual. That could be completely wrong but I recall some posters on the Fires of Heaven message board saying as such.

    • reply
      August 6, 2012 12:56 PM

      What MMOs are still "subscription-only?"

      World of Warcraft (level 20 trial doesn't count as ftp)
      Eve Online

      ...is that all? There has to be another I'm forgetting.

      • reply
        August 6, 2012 12:59 PM

        Final Fantasy 11, 14 and Tera.

      • reply
        August 6, 2012 1:02 PM

        Tera?

        • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
          reply
          August 6, 2012 1:18 PM

          This is the one I most wish were FTP.

          • reply
            August 6, 2012 2:58 PM

            From what I understand, Tera has a system where you can use real currency to purchase a month's worth of game time as an in-game item and sell it on the auction house as a commodity. These are sold cheaply enough that a max-level player can farm up enough gold relatively quickly (requires around three hours a month) and thus never have to spend any of their own cash to maintain a subscription.

          • reply
            August 6, 2012 3:26 PM

            me too, sadly I won't touch it until it is. I've about had enough of these $15 monthly MMORPGs.

            • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
              reply
              August 6, 2012 4:27 PM

              Yea, I can't foresee a game, MMO or otherwise, that I'll pay a fixed $15 a month for ever again.

      • reply
        August 6, 2012 1:02 PM

        RIFTcc

        • reply
          August 6, 2012 1:07 PM

          Oh yeah, I forgot their "ftp" was limited too.

      • reply
        August 6, 2012 1:22 PM

        The Secret World.

        • reply
          August 6, 2012 2:32 PM

          TSW will be f2p by 1st quarter 2013 is my bet.

      • reply
        August 6, 2012 1:38 PM

        ASHERON'S CALL

      • reply
        August 6, 2012 1:40 PM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        August 6, 2012 7:48 PM

        AO has a FTP element for Rubi-Ka, but Shadowlands etc. are still subscription based last time I had heard about it.

    • reply
      August 6, 2012 1:09 PM

      I can't believe that game was still around..i thought it died a long time ago.

    • reply
      August 6, 2012 4:30 PM

      Worst MMO I've ever spent time on. So many systems that all managed to suck so bad.

Hello, Meet Lola