Greetings adventurers!
As many of you know the Vanguard Development team has been working hard on delivering you new content to Vanguard! We are currently getting close to migrating this update over to the test server so that those interested in checking it out early, as well as, aiding in the testing and balance process can do so!
So what is in the first upcoming update….
· Overland Raid bosses
· New Dungeon – City of Brass
Massive progressive dungeon with thirteen bosses and new rewards for players that can survive long enough to obtain them
· Removal of Corpse recovery
This will aid in making the leveling process more enjoyable as well as remove the frustration that can be encountered from suffering a death penalty
· Experience curve decreased
Experience has been modified to make leveling a new character a bit easier
· Increase in loot drop rates
· “Golden Path”
Riftways instructing players to ideal leveling areas with new rewards for all levels
We look forward to everyone getting an opportunity to check out all that this update has to offer and seeing you in Telon soon!
Thoughts? There are 8+ pages of comments from other VG players, some of them are upset with the changes, but over all I think they’re great. Now if only the game would go free to play to get some fresh blood in there.. Are these changes enough to get you into game again or is it too little too late?
I’ll probably go back and check out the changes! While I’m not crazy about it all, I’m totally stoked that VG is getting some love!
If by “golden path” they do the same thing they did in EQ2 with an NPC meeting you in different zones every 10-15 levels to point you to the next potential leveling area, then I’m all for it. Anything that helps people transition from the little Isle of Dawn to the overwhelming wide world of Telon is good for retention.
Personally, I think the golden path idea goes against the game itself. Vanguard was never about rushing to endgame and raiding, part of the beauty of telon was how open ended the world progression is.
I’m not too happy about lowering xp curves either. That’s basically shortening the amount of content to be had with a character. Yes, you can still do all the content once you outgrow it, but many won’t.
Mind’s really all over the place now, but I just feel these simplifications completley go against the game. I’m the type of player who doesn’t play endgame really, but enjoys leveling different characters to see all the 1-50 content. I actually quit my main once it hit 50, I already did the raid-scene back in wow, ’04/’05.
There. I think all my ideas I had are strewn across my post in no logical order. Its been one of those days *sigh*
If it goes F2P then I’m there. Otherwise, no.
I made it as far as the early teens on a trial this summer, and I’m a bit puzzled because I thought there already were breadcrumb Riftways to level appropriate zones. I hope the “golden path” doesn’t mean that the rest of the game won’t start looking like the flavorless, generic isle of dawn. This game can’t compete with solo quest-based MMO’s on “golden path”, and I don’t think they should even be trying.
Free to play would greatly improve the odds of my spending some more time on this game. The chance that I would pay $15 for the standalone sub are zero. I might consider paying for the Station upgrade depending on how that interacts with the free to play models in DCUO and EQ2, but that would put one game I’m not playing up against two that I actually am for my limited gaming time.
F2P Vanguard, there’s a thought. If it did go F2P I would probably look in on it now and again, though really what keeps me from playing a second MMO (in addition to EQ2) is lack of time rather than money.
HECK YEAH!