It doesn’t matter which continent my characters are created on, or what race I play, eventually they all end up being ‘bound’ to Ahgram (which means when I gate I end up just on the outskirts of the city). This is a comfort thing to me – I know the city pretty well. I know where to find the banks and broker, and the crafting areas (including the npc’s I may need) and the general merchant who will let me repair my gear.
Vanguard isn’t the only game where I’ve developed this, in EQ2 I tend to bind all of my evil characters to Big Bend – because I know the little city outpost better then any other. On the Qeynos side it’s Willow Wood, or some times Baubleshire. It carries over into other games, where in LotRo I bind my characters to Bree, in EQ it was PoK and then when that changed it was the guild lobby. In WoW it’s always undercity, though lately that has branched into Dalaran for my higher level characters. It’s not always where the largest population of players is, but they are places where I spend a lot of time and thus feel quite comfortable knowing my way around.
I think it’s quite important that players develop a ‘comfort factor’ in games. That they get to know the cities and feel like a location is ‘home’ in a manor of speaking. After a rough adventure or two it’s nice to find yourself in a familiar location.
I’ve been working on a number of alts in Vanguard all at the same time. I’m trying to get my blacksmith up in levels so that I can create sheets to use for upgrades on the artificer. After that I’d like to work my outfitter to 41+ so that I can create cloth to use for upgrades. Having one of each crafter at level 41+ is going to be incredibly handy. Then I can start working on the subclasses, eventually my long term goal (more like a dream) is to have all 6 crafters at level 41+. Whether that will pan out or not we’ll just have to see.
Adventure wise I spend my time split between all of my alts. I have a new psionicist that’s joined the alt army, and I enjoy her quite a bit (even if she is a gnome). I’ve also got my warrior, paladin, disciple, blood mage, bard, and rogue. I love all of the character classes in Vanguard which is something I can’t say for a lot of other games I play.
Happy gaming no matter where you find yourself, I’ll see you in Telon!
While I agree on the comfort level, I’ve actually just taken the time to become familiar with each of the areas I’ve started in. My first toon started in Kelethin, and spent the first half of his life there, before moving to South Qeynos purely for convenience reasons (our guild hall was in North Qeynos at the time, and eventually moved to South Qeynos, both zones that I became very familiar with), and now New Halas (purely for the beautiful housing, this is the only place I’m not familiar with yet). My next toon started in Kelethin, and is staying there, because I like the city so much. I then decided to be bad, and rolled a toon in Neriak, and must say that I love the dark-blue feel of the city. Learning Neriak wasn’t difficult, most of the important stuff is around Dockside Markets. My most recent toon started in Willow Wood, and is likely to stay there for a whijle, until I figure out what she wants to do with her life.
In all four cases, I have become comfortable with the cities they’ve lived in, and can easily go to any of those cities and know where everything is. Most of the outlying Qeynos cities I’ve come to know as well, from questing or from visiting friends’ housing. I guess my comfort zone is just a bit larger than most. I’m lost in Gorowyn and Freeport, and haven’t even tried to explore New Halas yet, but given time, I’m sure I’ll take the time to learn them and love them just the same as the others. Perhaps I just adapt quicker?
I do the same thing — all my evil characters in EQ2 are bound to Longshadow Alley, all my good ones to Castleview Hamlet. I just know where everything is, so why bother having them all spread out?
In VG I’d have to say that Khal is the city I know/knew best. I’m pretty familiar with. . . um. . .the High Elf one. Can’t remember its name, but I know where the crafters and merchants are in there too. TBH, since I’ve never gotten past level 14 though, I’ve not really visited many cities.
@Dril – As soon as you get your skill that drains hp for energy you’ll stop going out of energy, Blood Mages can fight a very long time, though disciple healers are probably a bit better since they use energy for heals and endurance for all of their attacks (which in turn triggers heals).
As far as the island itself, if the bugs are getting to you this early in the game you won’t want to stick around. Vanguard IS a buggy game, it’s a matter of seeing past those bugs to the gem that’s inside. The world of Telon is represented well on the Isle, but there’s nothing quite like the real thing of course. Most places are open world and not in tiny crowded fast spawning caves.
In WoW it was always Stormwind for me. I loved the architecture and the little stories being told everywhere, as well as the canals and just the general city feeling. Now that I’m a hordie it’s Silvermoon, I love the Belves and again, all the little stories being told and the architecture really make it a great place to be.
Vanguard side note: does the game get better after Isle of Dawn? I rolled a Blood Mage and basically I just go OOM after two mobs, and there seems to be a lot of bugs and annoyance in that Earth Den place that’s really driving me away from the game.