Es ist doch schon einmal beruhigend zu hören, dass Vanguard auch schon für die Zukunft ein paar Planungen zugesagt wurden. So die Aussage von Todd Masten auf VTTH.

Vanguard was announced to be a 7 year (or more) game. Will the game be expanded with typical expansions, and if so can you give us a hint as to how many and how often? We plan to grow the world significantly in the future and we have a fairly solid plan in place for expansions. Ideally we would like to have large expansions released approximately once per year, with smaller content pushes throughout the development cycle. -Todd Masten, Associate Producer & Audio Designer

Nachdem nun der August Newsletter vor kurzem aufgetaucht ist, geht es nun weiter mit dem aus diesem Monat. Zumindest was davon noch übrig ist. Den interessierten Lesern wird ein wenig darüber erzählt, was demnächst in die Beta einmarschieren wird, so sind dies einige neue NPCs wie Ratten, Chaos Elefanten und vieles mehr. Desweiteren wird berichtet, das der dritte Kontinent Kojan bald schon seine Pforten komplett eröffnen wird und beispielsweise auch, dass es aber der Betaphase 4 das PvP zum Testen gibt.

As Vanguard gears up for the "home stretch" of beta, many new exciting additions will be coming fairly quickly and fairly regularly until the end from here on out. Here`s a sneak peak at what is to come:  The NEW harvesting system is almost done and should be online very soon. We`ve made several improvements to streamline and enhance the harvesting process. Stay tuned!  Several new NPCs will be in soon. Ratmen, Lizardmen, Vulturemen, Rats, Gremlins, Behemoths, Rhinoceros, Possessed Human Servants, Chaos Elves, Giant Mosquitoes, and new denizens of Trengal Keep.  Kojan is coming along and we should be ready sometime next month to open the entire Kojani Archipelago. This includes three brand new starting cities and a bunch of new and unique adventuring content for low to mid levels. We will also unlock Orcs, Goblins, Wood Elves, Half Elves, Raki, and Kojan Humans when these cities go live.  Ship creation and travel are coming along and should be ready for major testing relatively soon.  A more robust caravan system is being worked on that includes proper art support and UI elements that make caravan travel more intuitive and useful. And a little farther off we have:  Unique racial animations for walking, running, and idling should be coming along at some point.  Character Customization min/max proportions are coming, so make your ugly characters while you still can. New options for faces and hair are coming as well.  A wider variety of terrestrial and flying mounts are coming down the pipe soon. Their arrival will include a system for flying travel.  Optimizations are ongoing, but a pass to get indoor world lighting, rendering, and asset loading are high on the list.  Retooling the particle engine to offer artists a more robust system for generating spell effects and environmental effects is on the schedule and coming.  Housing variety and guild halls for each continent are being worked on along with a myriad of furnishings and housing features.  There has been some work on PvP with much more to come soon. Look to test PvP in beta 4.

Und erneut gehts es zur Fragerunde für unseren zu gewinnenden Betakey. Beantwortet einfach alle Fragen, fügt sie zu einem Lösungswort zusammen und schreibt im Forum, das ihr die Lösung kennt. Dann werden wir evtl. euch auserwählen.

1. Nennt den dritten bekannt gemachten Kontinent in Vanguard und nehmt von diesen den zweiten Buchstaben.
   
2. Welche Berufsklasse braut Tränke zusammen. nehmt von dessen Namen den ersten Buchstaben. Ein besuch in unserer Berufesektion könnte hilfreich sein.

Brad McQuaid hat im offiziellen Forum einmal mehr neue Screenshots zur Schau gebracht. Doch diese erfüllen einen ganz besonderen Zweck. Sie sollen die einzelnen Stufen der Grafikdetails präsentieren. Von geringer Qualität bis zur Hohen.

Hallo Freunde und Fans. Ich bin auch wieder im Lande und werde euch ab heute auch wieder mit News versorgen ;-)

Legen wir mal los!



Auf www.mmorg.com gibt es eine aktuelle Info zu den Rassen. Hier ein kleiner Einleser:

Lesser Giant Towering over all of the other races of Thestra stands the lesser giant. As the largest and strongest race on Thestra they are often viewed by others with a sense of awe and wonderment. They rarely leave their mountain home of Halgarad, which they share with the varanjar, and even less frequently wish to involve themselves in the affairs of other races.

Der Betanewsletter für den Monat August ist in aller Stille erschienen und an uns fast vorbei gegenagen. Doch cayne aus unserem Forum hat ihn dennoch gefunden. Der Newsletter spricht etwas allgemeines über die aktuelle Phase 3 der Beta aus, ruft die Community auf Screenshots aus der Beta einzuschicken und präsentiert die Klasse des Barden.

As most are now aware, Beta 3 is officially underway. New testers are being pulled from the community, guild and Computer Games Magazine pools. If you have friends who are dying to get in, make sure they are watching their inboxes as large batches of new testers are being added every day. That said, it is a gradual and ongoing process. In Beta 3, players are able to explore the world like never before. Far off the coast of Thestra the mysterious continent of Qalia has been unveiled giving old and new adventurers a unique experience as they are among the first to explore these enchanted lands. The revamped diplomacy system was also unveiled recently, so make sure you hop in and check it out. We recognize that, as we continue to add guilds en masse, it is important for you to be able to utilize communication methods on which you have relied in the past. To that end, we’d like to officially condone the use of chat programs like Ventrilo or Teamspeak provided that the NDA is still respected (i.e. private channels that non-beta participants cannot access, etc.) As always, thank you for your continued support and enjoy the game!

Erneut gibt es eine Frage zu unserem monatlichen Gewinnspiel, zu dessen Preis ein Betaplatz zählt. Wer die anderen zwei Fragerunden verpasst haben sollte, der kann sie hier und hier nach holen. Aber nun wollen wir von euch wissen, wie heißt der König von Thestra. Nehmt den ersten Buchstaben aus seinem Vornamen und verwahrt ihn auf, bis ihr letztliche alles zusammen habt, um aus den einzelnen Buchstaben das Lösungswort zu formen.

Link: Fragen, Anregungen und sonstiges hier

Im offiziellen Forum ist hinsichtlich der Beta ein wenig was los. Sigil hat Betatestern erlaubt RPG Geschichten zu verfassen, die anschließend und auch manche mit Screenshots veröffentlich werden.

Note: this is the first of hopefully many Beta 3 stories to come. The idea is that, while we are still under NDA, we let some players post their experiences in the game as sort of a preview. They ARE read by us first and approved, but they aren´t censored (e.g. if something does break the NDA, we will most likely just reject the submission). I know, not as good as if the NDA was lifted, but it´s something, and beta 5 will come soon enough. So this is approved and while the author is still under NDA in general, the story has been released from NDA.

Und wieder ein paar "neue" Videos, hehe.

Update: added www.bradmcquaid.com/Movie2resize.avi I re-did the converting and it looks a bit more widescreen than me, but then it may just be me. www.bradmcquaid.com/MovieIV.mov is still there, but is going soon. Added the finale, first in uncompressed movie format, since it wasn´t quite as big (although some with limited RAM may still have issues): www.bradmcquaid.com/MovieV.mov And the compressed version (divx as usual): www.bradmcquaid.com/MovieV.avi Notes about the finale: 1. Lots of flying - all that I said about the other movies with flying apply again -- it´s choppy, animations need work, how you sit when mounted, etc. 2. It´s called Sneak Peaks (very punny, I know). It shows you a sneak peek of an area *never* shown before. This area is rough, unpopulated, etc., but I think, like I posted earlier, it gives a pretty neat glimpse into the future and how cool and exotic the world of Telon really is. So this is very much work in progress, but I hope you enjoy this finale, this sneak peek, as well. We´ll see when I do the next batch.. 1 or 2 weeks maybe. As I mentioned, I´ll show more action, maybe more UI. Definitely other very different locations. Soon after (or by then) more professionally made videos will be appearing, given to the big sites, the pubs, etc. that will be spectacular, but have a more marketing spin on them (not that that´s bad -- just different). And there´s also the one where Jeff and I narrate -- a ´Director´s Cut´, so to speak. More info on all of that later. Thanks for checking these out, taking the time to download them... special thanks to those who mirrored them and got them spread about -- please continue to do so. And most of all thanks for your faith in us and the game, and for being able to look past rough edges, unfinished content, amateur use of Premiere, etc., allowing you and giving you a taste of where the game is at now and, if you look carefully and extrapolate and imagine just a bit, where it´s going in the future -- it´s incredible potential. (And I´m really sorry -- no I´m not trying to be a tease -- but I can´t tell you where this area is or anything about it -- it *IS* a sneak peek, even for those in Beta, and while you get a quick look at it, there´s a LOT more in that region of the world that needs to be kept under wraps for a while... for various reasons... trust me. Sure, the general region might not be too hard to guess, but the details -- can´t do it. Thanks for understanding.) And if this video doesn´t back up our slogan of Set Yourself Free... well then I don´t know what will *bow*

Q: We know there are different areas of GM responsibility, according to Michelle. Is there a "main function" you do that you can talk about? I will be heading up the enforcement wing of the Customer Service Department. The “Game Marshals” (Current title, subject to change) Game Marshalls will handle most policy enforcement, and investigations, freeing up time for Game Masters so they can help and assist people more efficiently. With the Game Marshalls focusing on exploitation, harassment, and disruption as well as the enforcement of the NDA, EULA, and COC, we feel that a dedicated team will be able to insure the integrity of the game, so that it can be enjoyed by those playing it as intended by team that designed it.

Movie IV:
Zeigt einen Rundgang in einer Ortschaft.

Movie VI:
Zeigt die nähere Umgebung der Hafenstadt. Auch wird mittels einem Flying Mount die Hafenstadt überflogen und umrunden.

Movie VII:
Zeigt einen Ritt und einen Kampf.



Private Anmerkung: ...irgendwie fehlt hier doch "V", oder? Wie bei Star Wars? fehlt halt mal was? *grins*



Link: Bit-Torrent Download-Mirror
Link: MovieIV.avi Download-Mirror auf dark-blue.se
Link: MovieVI.avi Download-Mirror auf dark-blue.se
Link: MovieIVII.avi Download-Mirror auf dark-blue.se
Link: Aktuelle Linksammlung zu Videos im offiziellen Forum
Link: Diskussion im Forum

Es hat zwar ein wenig länger gedauert als erwartet, aber hier sind nun weitere Fragen, die zur Lösung unseres Rätsels zum Gewinnen des Betakeys notwendig sind.

1. Wie heißt das Mädchen, welches ihren Vater auf dem Weg zu einer Beerdigung begleitet?
Nehmt hier den ersten Buchstaben der Lösung.

2. In welchem Spiel gibt es die Kontinente Thestra, Qalia und Kojan?
Nehmt hier den 8., 14. und 16. Buchstaben.

Viel Spaß beim Rätseln!

Nachtrag: Diese Fragen sind Teil eines Gewinnspiels. Zur gesamten Ausschreibung gelangt ihr hier.

Im dritten Video reiten wir unten einem wunderschönen Nachthimmel. Dannach eine Reise auf dem Schiff. Sehr schön anzusehn.




Link: Download-Mirror auf www.bradmcquaid.com
Link: Post im offizellen Forum
Link: Diskussion im Forum

Zu sehen ist ein Ritt durch einen Canyon, in dem mehrere Caravanenlager und Camps zu sehen sind. Auch diesmal ist das Encoding des Videos gelungen. Brad macht sich echt, was das Encoding betrifft *grins*.

Link: Original Post im offiziellen Forum
Link: Download-Mirror auf www.bradmcquaid.com
Link: BitTorrent-Mirror auf VGTact
Link: Diskussion im Forum

Ein neues Video ist draussen. Themen wie Schiffahrt, Interaktion mit NPC werden gezeigt. diesmal sogar wunderschön in der Qualität des Videos :-)

Daumen hoch!

The response was very positive to the previous movies by those already interested in Vanguard and wanting a glimpse of Beta 3. To that end, I´m preparing another set of mini-videos for the fans and fansites -- again, they are not to be confused with the videos Sigil & SOE are putting together for the big sites, magazines, etc. that are to come. I think the quality is better and these are from a beta build that is several patches newer. There are still flaws and imperfections. So let me know if you guys want to see stuff like this in the interim. Lastly they won´t be up on my site for very long -- please mirror, etc. ASAP. And get ready for a quick series of views into the world of Telon! Video #1

Durch unser Staffmitglied mailhunter wurde ein brand aktuelles Interview mit April Jones mitgeschnitten, welches von siradio.fm veranstalltet wurde und von uns veröffentlicht werden darf. Das Interview ist 17 Minuten lang und deckt das gesamte aktuelle Fragespektrum ab. Playerhousing, Schiffbauten, PvP, Vergleich mit EQ(2) und anderen Spielen, alles ist dabei.

Ladet euch die Datei herunter und lauscht dem englisch sprachigen Interview.

Link: Hier gehts zum Radiosender siradio
Link: Hier gehts zum Download des Interviews
Link: Und hier könnt ihr Kommentare verfassen

Frisch auf der Hauptseite von V:SoH wird heute das Interview mit "Mike Wyatt" presentiert.

Schaut rein, den es werden wieder wichtige Fragen gestellt und genauso wichtig sind auch die Antworten ;-)

Hier ein kleiner Vorschmecker:

What is one thing people might be surprised to learn about working at Sigil? Everyone is involved, regardless of your job title or position in the company. Most of my previous employment has been a strict corporate environment… so it’s a great breath of fresh air to be working for a company with the professionalism of a corporate environment with the good ol’ feeling of being a part of a family.

Not true at all. We have from day one said that the majority of our content is geared for the core gamer and grouping. The minority for casual and raid. So I think Vanguard most certainly offers the more ´hard core´ player a game that he will really enjoy, especially if he or she has found more modern MMOGs too easy, or too quick to advance through, etc. One key difference, though, is that we´ve learned from EQ 1 and other earlier games. We´ve learned how to bring back challenge without having it be tedious. We´ve learned how to bring back the importance of travel without having to make it boring and repetitive. We realize that a lot of people can´t raid for hours on end any more -- they´ve grown up -- their lives have changed. Vanguard is for those people who yearn for the old days, but don´t have the patience for a lot of the needless tedium that existed in those old days. You have massive dungeons, for example, but they are broken up so you can do part of them one night, and then the next part the next night. We have the caravan system in place to keep groups together. We have the fellowship system to help people stick together when one of their friends can´t play as much as the other. We have figured out a lot of ways to slow down MUDflation and not obsolete the ´old world´ when we add new areas. We´ve figured out different ways to address the issues instancing addresses but without the downside. We are working on an LFG system that is a matchmaking system that will not only help with pick up groups, but will also help people find other people with similar interests, play times, etc. We´ve included the Veteran system to reward replayability. So I think Vangaurd is not losing it, but *getting* it. There are a lot of people who want the good part of the old days, but not the bad. That´s the game we´ve made. And then we also are confident that a lot of new MMOG players (for whom, say, WoW or FFXI was their first MMOG) are looking for a deeper game, a longer term game, a home... and a game with a lot more options, things to do -- a game with freedom.