Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
Preview
Re-inventing the MMO
by Rook
previewed on PC
Fear not the grind
The ?Grind? is the black cloud that hovers over all MMOs in the genre. Anything that requires x experience to achieve z goal, is a Grind. Vanguard will fall victim to the same black cloud, however, much of the experience rewards will be quest based. It will not eliminate the Grind completely, but it will at least make it more enjoyable. Crafting will also have a quest system in place in efforts to reduce the crafting Grind. Work orders will allow the crafter to not only advance his skill, but get paid for it as well.
Combat is an essential part of the Grind, for obvious reasons. The combat mechanic of Vanguard is going to be tactically based combat allowing party members to take advantage of not only what they can do against a target, but also to take advantage of his positioning in relation to his target, companions and special situational attacks that will offer up a dynamic battlefield. In addition to positional combat, the combat skill of 'Perception' allows the player to anticipate a targets attack before it happens. With this ability, you will be able to prepare and possibly counter an incoming attack. Another very helpful addition to combat is the ability to take and hold two targets, one offensive which is being attacked, and one defensive, which is for healing and assistance purposes.
Around the world in 80 days...
... Ok, well not quite. Thankfully one of the finer points of Vanguard will be rapid transportation at a relatively low level. Finally, a world in which horses are not saved for epic characters! At the tender age of level 10, you will be able to obtain your first mount allowing better ground transportation. It doesn?t stop there however. If you are given a mount at level 10, what does that leave for higher levels? The answer is: Flying mounts. There are 10 different ones and these aren?t the 'set flight path can only go from point A to B' type of mounts either. Once you have obtained a flying mount, the sky is your highway. Free roaming flight in a seamless world, it can?t get better then that. Or can it? How about your own ship then? Ships can be crafted, bought and operated by players. This introduces a whole new degree of travel and gameplay. I wouldn?t dig out your cutlass and eye patch though. Don?t count on any sort of ship to ship combat.
In addition to these private modes of transportation, you also have the option to join a caravan. Caravans allow offline players to move with their steady adventuring group, allowing minimum time lost in travel if your group got well ahead of you while you were at work or school.
In closing...
One subject must be touched upon however, and it is one that has already stirred mixed feelings throughout the MMO community. Sigil Online's original plan to co-publish with Microsoft Game Studios has been called off. As of a May 5th press release at E3 2006, Sigil Online Games has signed on with Sony Online Entertainment to co-publish Vanguard: Saga of Heroes.
'It became clear that MGS and Sigil had varying visions and direction for the title's development', said Brad McQuaid, CEO of Sigil Games Online to explain the sudden change in co-publisher. He further continued, 'In the best interests of Vanguard, it was decided that we would buy back the publishing rights from Microsoft.'
The news of signing with SOE is unsettling news for many players throughout the MMO community due to SOEs well known reputation to 'destroy everything they touch' as well as a list of other questionable allegations. In the same press release and later in an interview with Hooked Gamers, it had been confirmed that Sigil Online Games will maintain 100% of Vanguards development through written contract with SOE. Sigil Online maintains all creative development, marketing, community relations, customer support and quality assurance. This news comes as a deep sigh of relief to those who harbor ill feelings toward SOE, in fear of SOE taking Vanguard and changing the direction of development away from the core values the Sigil Team have built the title around.
Sigil Online has a vision of re-inventing the MMO, and it may just happen given the innovations that are going into Vanguard. The rich lore and history of Vanguard and the world of Telon, it can be an article all in itself. The Sigil team has made the commitment to return MMO gaming to its roots without taking a step backwards in developing new techniques and ideas which keep the genre fresh.
