Also, DOLBY.... you left out, we have a guild presence on Vanguard...
There are currently 6 active players with about 4 alts each... We form guild groups and level each other as well as supply each other with gear.
The structure is:
Theramor = Guild Leader (inactive)
Elodarian (Elodarian/Zhenshou) =Guild Leader (active)
Horic (Felken/Hawck) = Officer
Xtike (Fizban)
For more info use this link:
http://vgplayers.station.sony.com/g...dId=73014444232
In essence Dolby is correct... The game has been live about one month now so all the WOW kiddies pretty much have left. /Cheer /Clap
Those who have stayed are primarily mature EQ1, SWG, FFXI, UO, & Matrix players who can't stand dealing with idiots... Don't get me wrong, there are still the socially retarded players (I have to thank this guild for beating that aspect out of me!)...
{Below is my opinion and experiences, so please take this into account}
Worlds of Warcraft === An excellent game for hack & slash... Almost all the quests I have seen require you to either kill something or carry __X__ to __Y__... The game attracts the worst of the EBAY punks. I personally hate playing against the best that daddy's credit card could buy! While there are many good players in WOW the kiddies outnumber them by at least 2:1... Good luck getting a group if you don't have __X__ gear or are specced in __Y__ pathing for your class... IMHO the game lacks depth and you can level to 70 inside of one month of evenings and weekends!
Everquest 2 === Fantastic game... I love it and I had a real hard time leaving it. I still have an active Station Access Pass so I do log into EQ2 occasionally... Luckily SOE doesn't use the same server array for VG-SOH as for EQ2... So is VG-SOH is down I can play EQ2. My only real complaint about EQ2 is my fault... I don't play it enough so I don't have a lvl 70 to group with others... I leveled a Fae Fury to 39 (or am I 40 yet?) in under 3 weeks...
The crafting system in EQ2 is great, and much simplified... I love that but it lacks some of the depth of VG-SOH...
Vanguard-Saga of Heroes === Very much like EQ1 in many ways... Go figure since Brad McQuaid, one of the leading developers in EQ1. From what I have read about the game's delevopment, Brad has been working on VG for aobut 5 years...
In many aspects, I see VG as the true evolution of EQ1... Newer graphics engine and better quest paths... EQ2 always seemed to be a Square peg forced into the EQ1 hole... their lore seemed too contrived.
Since VG doesn't suffer from sequel-itis, it doesn't have to follow any set lore.
This game is a totally new game...
There are three main areas of the game:
Adventuring === Follow the hack & slash quests. You will level very quickly from 1 to 10 this way but GRINDING doesn't work... there just isn't enough experience rewards for killing __X__ monster 4 billion times...
Crafting / Harvesting === You can progress to level limit as a crafter/harvester without ever leveling past 3 adventuring (you have to kill a certain number of things to trigger the crafting/harvesting quests).
Please Note: While you can be ANY level adventuring to harvest you will not be safe to harvest in higher agro zones as a noob... you'll pull mobs like Heiken doing that!
Crafting is VERY difficult to learn and the manual doesn't really help. If you wish to learn this path PLEASE use the forums! Otherwise you will get pissed and quit... I am still learning tricks there...
Another aspect of the crafting I love is you can deconstruct items and obtain their components to create NEW items with totally different stats... The crafting database is still evolving and from what I have read in forums is approaching 13GB in size so far... As people discover new recipes they can modify that recipe to create somehting new... give that item to another crafter and he'll deconstruct it to learn the recipe and modify it himself... since no two crafters have the exact same stats the object will develop differences... Think of the crafting system of SWG... they took alot from that!
Diplomacy === As DOLBY mentioned... this game is much like CCGs like Magic the Gathering... the cards range from mana generators with no cost, mana givers (your opponent) with scoring, scoring cards that use mana and others I haven't discovered yet... This portion of the game is VERY annoying... but critical if you want faction in a city.
A couple of the rewards are: 50% off a mount... 14slot saddle bags, 10% bonus move horseshoes, 10% Bonus move Bridle (Yes they stack!) ... 50% reduction for the guild hall land site or 50% reduction to support costs... access to faction based gear & Merchants... Triggering city-wide diplomacy boons like +25% __X __ damage to all in zone, or +50 skill to __X__ Crafting skills... there can be MULTIPLE boons triggered and they last 1hr out of zone and 1 game day in zone... you see some CRAZY gear generated when this happens...
All in all, diplomacy sucks but you need to develop it... think of it as Gems while you're LFG
In the final analysis,
VG is a great game but they need to hire a competent tech writer.. the quest often leave info out... Once this is rectified the game will shine for mature gamers...
EQ2 is easily a better game than VG for the casual gamer who wants the choice of group vs solo... It has a background that EQ1 players will understand. Since VG & EQ2 are on the station access pass they aren't mutually exclusive...
WOW is another good game but its full of punk kids (If you don't believe me play the game and listen to the chat in the barrens)... There are many nice people there but unfortunately they're squelched out by the noise... But hey, 8 million players can't be wrong, correct?
Oh and by the way, I hope they have fixed the 5min average login waits... I have seen queues as long as 35 min...