In einem Brief vom Entwickler an die Community, wird der aktuelle Status von Vanguard Saga of Heroes beschrieben. Aktuell werden die letzten Handgriff für das Update #3 getätigt. Aber nicht nur das wird erwähnt.

Let Yourself Free and Make This Game Great! These are pretty exciting times for Vanguard right now. The team is currently putting the finishing touches on Phase 2 and 3 of Update 3 after having launched an astounding performance update in Phase 1. We received a lot of great feedback from you on Phase 1, and we´re going to continue our focus in delivering consistently high quality, engaging and in-demand content in each update. I´d like to introduce myself to many of you that do not know me. My name is Thom Terrazas, Producer for Vanguard. In a few words, I´ve been with Sony Online Entertainment over 9 years (unofficially). During that time, I have and still do work, with some of the greatest people in the MMO world of whom I intend to solicit feedback from and use to my advantage. One of the best things that I have learned in this industry is to work closely with your team, while at the same time allow them to do their jobs and show off their talents – and we have some amazingly passionate and talented developers working on Vanguard. I give them a lot of credit for launching an MMO of this caliber, and you´ll continue to see their talents shining through in our future updates. The Team´s Current Focus In the past few weeks, the team has been examining all of the fundamental game mechanics and discussing what we think it is fun to play and what is not. The great thing is we are not holding anything back – everything is fair game!. So something that may have been perceived as off limits in the past, is now an open for debate and is able to be measured on the fun-factor-scale. At the end of the day, we all want to say we created a great game that is fun to play – and of course, we want you to be the measuring stick of whether or not and to what extent we meet that goal. Without you, we wouldn´t be here. One of our current priority tasks is setting the Vision for Vanguard. We´ve come up with dozens upon dozens of elements that we believe will factor into determining the future path of Vanguard but it will take a few more weeks of fine tuning within our internal departments before we distill it down to the vision and have an agreed on list of critical success factors by which to measure all new development against. I´m not able to share the details at the moment but what I can say is that the desired end result of this exercise is to ensure that we produce high-quality game content and features that first and foremost fun to play.

SOE | Brände verursachen Verzögerungen

Wegen der aktuell anhaltenden Brände in San Diego ist der Support seitens SOE nur eingeschränkt vorhanden. So kommt es bei der Beantwortung von Anfragen. Der Technische- und der Account-Support gar nicht verfügbar.

In-Game support is in limited operation due to wildfires in the San Diego area, but response time may be delayed. Account and Technical Support is unavailable. We will keep you updated with any changes in the situation and appreciate your understanding. For your convenience our Self-help knowledgebase is also available at www.station.sony.com/kb with answers to your questions. E-mail support is also available any time at www.station.sony.com/kb.

SOE | Station Launcher in der Beta Phase

Sony Online Entertainment hat den Station Launcher nun in die Beta Phase geführt. Zukünftig wird diese Software der Ersatz für alle Launch Pads sein. Ein Ort, über den der Spieler seine Freunde und News sehen kann, die Spiele verwalten und anderes mehr tätigen kann. Für die Dauer der Beta ist es jedem noch frei gestellt, ob der Station Launcher verwendet wird oder viele Launch Pads zum Einsatz kommen.

Link: Hier gehts zur Informationsseite

SOE | Büros in Carlsbad geschlossen

Eine nicht so erfreuliche Nachricht ist leider an uns vorbeigezogen. So wurden die Büros des Vanguard-Teams in Carlsbad am 15. Oktober geschlossen und einige der Mitarbeiter durften ein neues Büro im Sony Online Entertainment Gebäude in San Diego beziehen. Das nun verbleibende kleine Vanguard-Team wird sich weiterhin um das Spiel kümmern, doch sind die Ressourcen um einiges geschrumpft, da SOE nicht jeden Mitarbeiter zum Bleiben eingeladen hatte.

Link: Zur Newsmeldung auf der offiziellen Seite

Erneut stellte sich ein tapferer Spieler den Fragen von Sony Online Entertainment und stellt sich somit vor. Rede und Antwort stand hierbei Benjamin "Gashat" Gasquet.

Tell us about your most memorable experience in Vanguard: My most memorable experience in Vanguard at this time would be when I first began questing in River Valley. RV, in my opinion, is the best created are in the entire game. Me and another guild member, Zeducus, duo´d practically the whole quest line(s) of RV. We had more fun that week or so, than any other time in the game. What are some of your other hobbies or interests outside of Vanguard? I travel 365 days a year for my job living out of Hotels. Therefore, my hobbies are limited. This is why you will see me playing Vanguard most of the time. What type of work do you do, and what would be your dream job? I work in Telecommunications as a Field Tech/Installer. If you could acquire one of your character´s spells or abilities in real life, what would it be and why? My Psionicists ability to use Illusions Just because I think it would be a blast to be able to transform your appearance to look like other species/races and mess with people.

SOE | Warum letztens die große Downtime?

Letzte Woche am Dienstag gab es eine längere Downtime aller Sony Online Entertainment Services, Webseiten und Produkte. Viele haben sich gefragt, was nun geändert wurde eine solche lange Offlinezeit gerechtfertigen würde. Sony ergriff die Gelegenheit und stellte in einem kleinen Artikel das vor, was sie an diesem Tag bewerkstelligten. So wurde hauptsächlich an der Accountverwaltung gearbeitet. So wurden diese von allen Spielen und Services zusammengelegt um es in Zukunft für die Kunden und für Sony selbst zu erleichtern, sofern irgendwann mal wieder Aktualisierungen anstehen sollten.

Aktualisierungen des Kontoverwaltungssystems Am Dienstag haben wir alle unsere alten Kontoverwaltungssysteme in ein einheitliches System umgewandelt. Dieses einheitliche System löst viele der alten Systeme ab, die über die vergangenen Jahre bei SOE kreiert wurden, während neue Spiele hinzugefügt wurden. Mit diesem neuen Kontoverwaltungssystem haben wir endlich ein einheitliches System entwickelt, dass alle SOE-Spiele umfasst und es erlaubt, effizienter zu arbeiten und zu aktualisieren und zukünftigen Bedürfnissen gerecht zu werden.

Auf der offiziellen Community Seite von Vanguard Saga of Heroes ist ein weiteres Interview mit einem Mitlgied des Vanguard Teams zu finden. Dieses wurde mit Andrew K. einem Game Designer von Telon geführt.

What´s your official title here at SOE? My official title is ´Game Designer´, which actually says almost nothing about the specifics of what I do (for example, the last time I mentioned this to a ´normal´ I was subsequently asked if I had any samples of my artwork). Well, *do* you have samples? I think there´s a few still up on my parent´s refrigerator... So then, what DO you do?  How would you describe it? Better yet, if you could craft your own official title, what would it be? Well, in my time working on Vanguard I´ve done quite a bit that has fallen under the general description of ´game design´ - anywhere from writing quests, to populating camps and dungeons, to creating reward systems and raid encounters. And my own title? Well, I´d say game designer does work - anything more and it´s hard to fit on a business card. Where are you originally from, and how long have you lived in Southern California? I’ve lived out here in sunny South California for a little over a year now (ever since I got the gig working on Vanguard).  I’m originally from St. Louis, although I was going to university in San Antonio for the last 4 years before moving out here. Why did you choose to work in the gaming industry? I love games and I love the challenges and creativity involved with working on them. Ever since I was 6 and made my own Mario levels using sheets of paper taped together I’ve known that this is what I was going to do. So, if my snooping is correct, you´re working on Ancient Port Warehouse right now, and have been for some time? That is correct, I´m presently the team lead on the APW project and we´ve been working on the zone, for well, quite some time now - needless to say by this point we´re all very excited about seeing it finally coming to fruition.

In einem weiteren Interview rund um das Team von Vanguard Saga of Heroes stellt sich dieses mal Hannah Brown-Damron alias HannahB vor.

It´s my pleasure to introduce to you, Senior Vanguard Artist, HannahB. She´s been working on the Vanguard team for over three years now, and still loves every moment she spends creating art in this beautiful game!

SOE | Temporäre Abschaltung alles SOE Services

Sony Online Entertainment hat bekannt gegeben, dass am Dienstag den 25. September werden alle SOE Services wegen einer Server-Aktualisierung für voraussichtlich 24 Stunden nicht erreichbar sein.

All SOE games, websites, message boards, Knowledge Base, Station store, and other services will be unavailable for approximately 24 hours beginning on Tuesday, September 25th. All SOE services will be undergoing upgrades to the authentication system and as a result, all logins for SOE services will be unavailable. Technical and Account support will only be available by phone during this time. Please keep an eye on this website for more news and information about this maintenance as it becomes available. We appreciate your patience and understanding during this downtime.

Der Vollständigkeit halber wollen wir euch auch die Patchnotes des vergangenen Updates Gameupdate #2 noch nachliefern.

GENERAL * Group invites from players on your ignore list will now be automatically rejected. You will not see the group invite dialog for them. * Crouch is now mapped by default to shift-X (for new users or people that have deleted their "user.ini" file in their bin directory), but existing users will need to map it manually by going into the settings window "Controls" tab, finding "Crouch" in the list and then clicking the button next to it in order to set the key bind. Crouch is useful for getting large races, such as the Lesser Giants, through smaller races´ doorways. * Player to player trades now check to make sure the amount of money being traded won´t exceed the coin limit of the player receiving the money. If the amount being given does exceed the coin limit, both parties in the trade will receive an error stating that the coin limit would be exceeded and the players will be able to edit the amount of money being offered and try again. * Level appropriate dungeons are now shown on the map, and display the level range after the name of the dungeon. * Fixed quest tracker window so you can get tooltips by mousing over the quest names in the tracker. And the quest tracker is adjustable in layout mode again. * You can now dismount from a flying mount (even while flying) by right-clicking your flying mount item as you would to dismount any other mount type. * You can now rest and consume food while riding on a ship. * Players may now turn while rooted.

SOE | Neue Community Managerin

Michelle "Elionia" Butler hat sich in einer Verkündung nun offiziell von Vanguard zurückgezogen, um an einem neuen Projekt zu arbeiten. In ihre Fußstapfen tritt Ellyra alias Julie.

I´ve been gaming for quite some time. My first taste came back in 1994 or so when I found myself addicted to a text game called ´Legends.´ The BBS I played on supported a dozen players, and wiped itself once a week. I was hooked from day one. From there I went on to play Doom on a BBS called H2H. As for MMO´s, I´ve played a lot of what´s currently out there, some more than others; EQ, EQII, WoW, LoTRo, and of course, Vanguard, to name a few.

SOE | SOE kündigt neues MMO an: Ramayan 3392 A.D.

Sony Online Entertainment hat ein neues MMO angekündigt: Ramayan 3392 A.D.. Dieses wird auf einem recht bekannten, aus Indien stammenden Comicbuch basieren. Ein Ziel dieses Spiels soll es sein, eine der ältesten Kulturen dieser Welt den Spielern nahe zu bringen, da die Gegebenheiten in diesem Online Game die Geschichten Indiens erzählen werden. Zur Realisierung dieses Vorhabend hat sich Sony Online Entertainment mit Virgin Comics zusammengeschlossen.
    
Link: Näheres könnt ihr dieser Meldung entnehmen

Auch die Gilde Shadowfire auf dem Server Thunderaxe stellt sich in einem Interview der Community vor. Was sie so von sich zu berichten habt, das lest ihr in ihren Antworten nach:

Our guild was formed officially a few days after Vanguard´s launch, although we had the website up and running and had been discussing the details of it for a month or so before Vanguard launched. Shadowfire didn´t exist prior to Vanguard, although a good number of our members knew each other from previous games. About half of our original members came from EQ2, where we had been part of a guild called the Dioscuri, and the other half of us came from SWG, where we had been part of the Kor Spera Fellowship (KSF). There were a few people who played both games who helped bring everyone together. Since then, of course, we´ve met a lot of new friends who have come from many different worlds.

Vor einiger Zeit gab es bei SOE wieder die alljährliche Fan Faire, dieses mal in Las Vegas. Wir möchten euch noch einen kleienn Ausblick dessen geben, was es an neuen Informationen von dort zu berichten gab, da wir dies leider versäumt haben.

Bei Silky Venom gibt es eine Auflistung dessen, was SOE für die nahe Zukunft geplant hat.

* Diplomacy will soon have “Saved Decks”. * Spam/Gold selling filters are being worked on. * No plans as yet for more bank space or space in houses for items, but are reviewing the subject. * Hacks/Wall exploiting fixes are being addressed. * Quests that are far below your level will soon appear as gray shields instead of gold. * Pathing issues are being addressed (npc´s walking over rocks/barrels, “Can´t See Target&rdquo

Nicht nur bei EverQuest 2 werden die Gilden weiterhin vorgestellt, sondern auch hier bei Vanguard : Saga of Heroes werden immer wieder Gilden interviewt und stehen Rede und Antwort. Dieses mal traf es die Gilde Dwarvenholt auf dem Server Seradon.

The current Thanes of the Guild are Garth Bluntaxe, Faegan Warghammer , and unoffically BainSamryn Hammerspirit . Our officer structure is that Uzbad are Highest officers and each Uzbad is allowed 2 Izbad’s[junior officers] .Initiates became members after 30 days or a month of play which is also based on player activity as well and our decision in our monthly guild meetings .Dwarvnholt is located on the Seradon Server.

SOE | SOE´s Second Annual Block Party

Am Samstag den 28. Juli findet die zweite Party von SOE für ihre Fans statt. Sie wird zur gleichen Zeit wie die Comic-Con sein und bietet den Besuchern vieles, was für einen Besuch spricht. Seit ihr zufällig in der Nähe könnt ihr ja vorbei schauen.

Thought last year´s block party was a ton of fun? Get ready to be shocked, because this one is going to put last year´s to shame! The party will feature raffles, food and drink, and other assorted goodies accompanied by music, we have fun planned for kids as well. There will be SOE game demos, as well as a sneak peak at The Agency! Meet with dev team members and staff, socialize with employees and friends, and have a great time. Who knows, maybe you will get the chance to dunk one of the devs or staff members in the dunk tank. This event will be held during Comic-Con on Saturday, July 28th. Even if you are not attending Comic-Con, stop by the block party anyway! All are welcome! Attendance is FREE! When: July 28th, 2007 Saturday 4:00pm-8:00pm Where: SOE Headquarters 8928 Terman Court San Diego, CA 92121 Buses: Comic-Con to SOE - 4:00pm-6:00pm