The Best MMORPG You're Not Playing

In January of 2007 Sigil and Sony Online Entertainment switched on the servers for their much anticipated MMORPG, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. Hailed as the sequel to Everquest that fans never really received (EQII was quite a departure from the original), Vanguard was the child of famed EQ creator Brad McQuaid and promised a world rich with adventure, fewer limitations, and a more hardcore approach to the increasingly formulaic MMO genre.

It didn't work.

Due to mismanagement of funds, wasted time, and a graphics engine that simply was not ready from prime time, Vanguard quickly lost any momentum that word-of-mouth and Internet hype gifted it. Quests were bugged and and unable to be completed, the engine was horribly inefficient and the constant cause for crashes to the desktop and mysterious deaths (i.e. falling through the ground for no reason), and the overall tone of the game became marred by the notion that it was dead on arrival.

Still though, even with all of it's many, MANY flaws, Vanguard showed much promise. For all of the difficulties in it's graphics engine the world of Vanguard looked extremely lush and detailed. The wide open spaces of the sprawling fields felt alive and palpable, the dungeons held a look and feel that made them seem like the actual ruins of civilizations past, and the overall geography boasted the most fantasy-like visuals I've seen in a game since... well, Everquest.

Shortly after it's release the server farm for Vanguard was cut down to a mere 4, of which 1 was strictly PvP while the remaining 3 were PvE. The dedicated role playing server disappeared, forcing it's refugees to find each other on the merged server to form guilds and small communities to continue their fantasy ways. SOE, meanwhile, bought Sigil and began taking over full time development of Vanguard.

Slowly but surely the hand of SOE began re sculpting this broken game. The endless war with the graphics engine was turning around and slowly being conquered. Patches and Game Updates began steadily coming through, correcting issues with quests, crashing, and overall playability. The travel system was updated with the controversial Riftway system, which allowed players to instantly travel to different parts of the vast game world for a small fee, thus eliminating the rather daunting task of spending potential hours to reach a far off destination.

The game was closer than ever to seeing it's potential realized. One problem though: no one was playing.

Consolidating to 4 servers was a clear testament to just how low the subscription levels for Vanguard actually were. Actually playing, however, reveals just how bad the problem truly is. It is not unheard of to log in to Vanguard, play for a few hours and log off having not encountered another player character. The chat channels are more often than not rather quiet. This makes group questing and dungeon crawls near impossible most days (exception is usually the weekend). Oh, and the sole PvP server... desolate. Think Matrix Online desolate and you've got the idea.

So what is the solution? Well, late last year SOE finally released a trial client for Vanguard called Isle of Dawn. IoD is an isolated area of the game that allows new players and new characters of existing players to level from 1-10 in all three spheres of play (Adventure, Crafting, and Diplomacy). The isle servers as both a glimpse at Vanguard's world and a tutorial on how things go down in each sphere. The main questline of the isle will take you through all of the available adventure levels as well as provide the character with excellent armor and a charm that will serve you well after you leave the Isle (another controversial move that draws resentment from long time players).

Vanguard has come a very long way since it's initial release. Some on the official forums have gone as far as saying that those who were with Vanguard at launch were paying for the beta, an opinion which I agree with. Comparing what I saw when I first enter the world of Telon to what I see today is like comparing apples to pizza.

So what does Vanguard need to become more popular? Simple: exposure. Understandably, SOE has been very careful with the amount of money they invest into Vanguard. As solid a game as it has become it is still a gamble given the sheer volume of games in the genre that carry a better stigma. As a result of this advertising is low on the SOE priority list for Vanguard. In point of fact I wouldn't at all be surprised if you read through this entire piece and have never heard of Vanguard.

If you've not heard of it or if you've never played it I highly recommend giving Vanguard a try. Point your browsers to http://vanguard.station.sony.com/isleofdawn/ and give it a shot. You'll be happy that you did.