I may not write about Vanguard all that often, but I still happen to play (and enjoy) the game a fair amount, and since I didn’t do all that much in EQ2 yesterday (more about that later) I decided why not. Vanguard is one of those games that I wish more people played. The population is exceptionally small (especially on servers like Sartok (pvp) or Halgar (EU) compared to Seradon (the most populated server). There IS a community there if you look for it, and it’s very close knit. I’ve been in the guild Save Haven for a number of years now, and lately there has been a surge in numbers and higher level characters in the guild which is something I haven’t seen for a very long time. Members are partaking in raids now, and on any given night there are 10-30 people around, which I think is fantastic.
My main problem in VG is that I feel so lost when I come back to the game – I don’t have the faintest idea where I should be leveling, or where I can actually handle the encounters. I look at the map to get a rough idea of what zones are where and what level it is aimed at, but that doesn’t always help.
I have a handful of quests on me, so I typically pick a “chunk” (zone) and off I go, hoping that it’s enough to gain me a little experience. Last night I was hunting bog creatures in order to find a very rare bracelet that one of the creatures seems to have eaten or stolen from a lady. I hunted for an or or so but saw no sign of the bracelet, I think it must have been digested.
I wanted to do a little crafting, but apparently there’s a pretty sever bug right now that eats up your crafting supplies without giving you anything in return, so I decided to avoid it for the night and just spent my time quietly questing, talking to guild mates and finding my way around. It was a great way to spend an evening.
I’ve been pretty pro vanguard since release, despite the bugs and issues with performance, I always felt that the good surpassed the bad, and I’ve always personally enjoyed playing. I don’t debate that the release was absolutely horrid, but for some reason something still keeps me coming back for more.
Time to go draw a name for a contest I was hosting over on the Beckett MOG forums for an umbra sword, so I’ll end this post early today. Hopefully I’ll get a little more game time in, we’ll just have to see!
Happy gaming no matter where it finds you.
I recently re-installed VG myself and have been trying out various classes. I was in the beta from early 3rd phase until launch and played a disciple pretty exclusively then, so I’ve been mucking about with others now. I have a level 14 paladin I started in Leth Nurae, but every other character I’ve made is still on the new Isle of Dawn, though the Cleric can leave any time, being both crafter and adventurer level 10. But no… I’m trying to get level 10 diplo too. . . .
Great post! I too love VG, although I don’t play anymore. My guild kind of went out with a whisper, and I found I was the only one online with any frequency. I recall spending a lot of time in the bog area myself, and I agree with that lost feeling you get when you try to go back :(