Wie im offiziellen Forum nun eine Unterhaltung darüber entstanden ist, was die Spieler in dem versprochenen Video sehen wollen, wollen wir dies auch einmal von euch wissen.

• a sunset
• night time
• weather
• crafting
• diplomacy
• Ahgram
• a caravan

Der Programm Manager Leon Pryor von Microsoft Game Studios hat sich zu ein paar Themen im offizillen Vanguard Forum geäußert. Neben der Zusammenarbeit spricht er auch das Thema der Abrechnung und Autentifizierung der Spieler an. Sigil wird in diesem Rahmen auf die Technologie des MS Passports zurückgreifen, die wie bereits schon erwähnt in einer späteren Phase der Beta getestet wird. Weitere Produkte werden allerdings neben Microsoft Windows XP (oder Vista) und Vanguard nicht benötigt werden, um in die Welt Telons einzutauchen.

All of the in game systems including authentication and billing will be stressed via automated systems. We will also use late beta as an opportunity to generate stress numbers from real systems. Passport is a certainty for Vanguard because it lets us take advantage of billing and authentication systems that are prebuilt and handle millions of transactions a day. As for web/client - I wouldn't expect a web based authentication solution. Although web based account management is an industry standard and you can expect that with Vanguard.

The only thing you will need to run Vanguard is Vanguard and Microsoft Windows XP.(or Vista)

In einem ersten Bericht von Cobalt Katze, wird das User Interface einiger Klassen in Vanguard : Saga of Heroes beschrieben. Der Bericht ist das Resultat der Vanguard Präsentation auf der Penny Arcade Expo in Washington, welche letztes Wochenende statt fand.

In general, I was pleased with the combat shown. Though still at a low level, it looks reactive and pleasing enough to keep someone interested. The sorcerer UI in particular looks quite interesting. In contrast to a warrior's linear stance selection, a sorcerer gets a magical elemental wheel of sorts that lets them manage their elemental stances. At level 4, only Water and Fire were filled in at the North and West positions respectively, but there were blank spots for the other 2 base elements at East and South, as well as the complex elements at NW, SE, etc. It's much more pleasing and arcane than a simple list or line of icons. I also got to see behind the scenes of a psionicist, perhaps still under revision in the UI department. Their class-specific window had a bar with various brightly-colored sections marked off to indicate what was taken up by maintained spells and whatnot. It could probably use a bit lighter of a palette and better blended with the rest of the UI as opposed to a bright solid color.

In dem neuesten Editorial von TenTonHammer diskutiert Finchal darüber ob 17 verschiedene Klassen in einem MMORPG Sinn machen oder eben nicht. Er betrachtet zwei unterschiedliche Sichtweisen:

1. Wenn alle Klassen sich bei ihren Fähigkeiten lediglich im Namen und vielleicht auch im Aussehen unterscheiden, so wird das Spiel sehr langweilig.
2. Wenn die Mechanik allerdings gut gelöst ist, so stehen mit 17 Klassen sehr viele Möglichkeiten zur Verfügung das Spiel für sehr lange Zeit interessant zu machen.

Seventeen classes allows for such a wide variety of play-styles that this game will keep the MMO community entertained for a long time -maybe even longer than Everquest? If you're sick of your class and tanking mobs getting a bit old then you still have sixteen unique classes and three completely new archetypal "jobs" to choose from! With the addition of the Crafting and Diplomacy spheres (Each with its own set of classes and roles to fill within that sphere) the replay value on this game will be near infinite. I think what Sigil has revealed of Vanguard thus far has been the catalyst needed to excite the rest of the MMO community and astound the current fist generation with a completely breakthrough second generation MMORPG. For this reason alone I am almost positive we will not see skills and abilities recycled in Vanguard.

Wieso es nun weniger Screenshots als in den vergangenen Wochen gab, hat Brad McQuaid im offiziellen Forum erklärt, dass es an der Zeit ist etwas neues zu präsentieren. Da die Screenshots nun all das zeigen was sie auch zeigen sollten wird es erst wieder neue geben, wenn auch etwas neues wie die neu implementierten Effekte (Schatten, Weltlicht etc.) oder Motion-Capturing-Aufnahmen zu zeigen sind. Aber bevor es soweit ist hat sich Sigil Games Online vorgenommen ein Video mit der neuen Animationstechnologie zu zeigen.

First, we really need to get a movie out. The new animation tech that synchronizes things a lot better is in and I really like it. Some of our recent mo-cap is in, but still not enough. A lot of the screenshots we've released recently were to show gameplay and what's been going on in beta 0. We'll continue to release these sort of shots, but probably not as often. I think overall the reaction has been positive, but they've also been criticized for not being as artistically put together as other shots, and the engine is always in a state of flux and currently could (and will) look a lot better (shadows, world light, etc. -- I addressed this in a recent post). So my inclination at this point is to wait a bit until we have some new stuff to show as well as shots that look better visually.

Jetzt am Wochenende war es soweit, ein neuer Meilenstein wurde im offiziellen Forum mit 20.000 registrierten Benutzern erreicht. Zu dem neuen Ereignis hat sich Cindy Bowens, eine der Community Manager geäußert und bedankt sich für das Interesse der Community an dem Spiel.

I just wanted to say thanks to all of you. We set up the place for you to form a community. But you guys make it the fun and productive place that it is. Thanks to all of you that were here in the beginning to help define the atmosphere of this community. And thanks to all of you that have joined in as we have grown. Lots of people stop by to read and some move on. Those of you that have stuck around and become a part of the regulars have contributed much. Thank you all for your feedback, your support and your enthusiasm. We are looking forward to exploring Telon with you.

Im offiziellen Forum hat ein User die Thematik der "Dritten Generation" aufgegriffen und diese von dem Spiel Vanguard auf die monatlichen Gebühren transferiert und wollte wissen ob sich diese auch ändern werden. Jon Grande, verantwortlicher für Legal Affairs, VP und Biz hat sich zu diesem Thema geäußert und gab bekannt, dass keine Experimente mit den monatlichen Kosten durchgeführt werden und sie zumindest nicht ins unermessliche steigen werden.

Maybe a next gen MMO should have next gen topics on it's boards? Come on guys, yer all talkin' crazy! Sure - we have to wrestle with issues like costs and profit, but we also have to charge what the market will bear - and there's no realistic way that core subscription prices are going to go up. It's simple macro-economics ... if we up our price by 25%, we probably cut off 1/2 our audience - so we end down 50% in total revenue. Sure our profit per subscriber would be up significantly, but we'd be reaching a significantly smaller pool of people. We're not just in this for the money - we're in this to deliver an experience that can embrace, amaze and entertain as many people as possible. We're going to do a lot of revolutionary things and take a lot of risks - but gettin' all crazy with the subscription price isn't one of those areas.

Auf der Penny Arcade Expo in Bellevue / Washington am kommenden Wochenende werden auch einige Teammitglieder von Sigil Games Online vor Ort sein und das Spiel der Masse präsentieren. Welche neuen Informationen und Eindrücke dadurch bekannt werden ist noch unklar, dass es welche geben wird ist allerdings anzunehmen und so wollen wir dem Ende der Woche entspannt entgegen sehen. Link: Kommentare

Ein neues Editorial auf TenTonHammer.com erzählt ein Stück Geschichte aus der Sicht eines EQ Spielers. In dem Artikel geht es darum, welche Herausforderungen sich das Team gegenüber sieht, welches Vanguard : Saga of Heroes entwickelt und wie sie die große Community mit den hohen Anforderungen zufrieden stellen wollen.

Comparisons between Vanguard and EQ / EQ2 run rampant on the boards. Landscapes are hauntingly similar. Looking at some of the beach shots, it's hard not to see the Oasis. And that isn't where it ends. We ask about land size, questing, crafting. Everything is held under the microscope to what this team has done before. It's a normal progression within a community and so far so good, because “If it ain't broke don't fix it.” How do we decide what is broke or what is just right? Sigil seems to be stepping away from the "dumbed down" MMO path that many others are taking. We're seeing a progression toward a more strategy based game on their part by taking their classes in an entirely different direction. The Rogue, for instance, doesn't seem to be your typical backstabbing, pick-pocketing thief.

Havelock auf Silky Venom trumpft nun mit einem weiteren Interview von der Fanguard auf. In diesem Interview erzählt Darrin McPherson ein paar interessante Aspekte über die Charakterentwicklung. Wie bereits bekannt wird es die Möglichkeit geben die Klasse seines Helden bis Level 10 zu wechseln. Ob dabei der Charakter anschließend mit dem Level 1 startet ist noch unklar.

Darrin also talked briefly about attributes. The adventure sphere has six attributes: strength, dexterity, constitution, agility, wisdom, and intelligence. Each of these attributes will have some effect on each class, so you may see unusual attribute allocation, like warriors focusing on intelligence to enhance their perception. Other spheres have their own attributes - charisma, for example, is one of the attributes in the diplomacy sphere. The non-adventuring spheres each have 4 to 6 attributes apiece.

Im offiziellen Forum wurde nun von Michelle „Elionia“ Butler bekannt gegeben, das Sigil die ersten Game Master für Vanguard : Saga of Heroes eingestellt hat und diese schon bald ihre Arbeit aufnehmen werden. Weitere Details zu ihnen werden in den nächsten Wochen folgen.

As you know, we have been conducting interviews for GM positions for the past few months. We posted this opening here on the forums so that our community members could apply and be considered first. I have gone through hundreds of resumes and have had the opportunity to speak with many of you that applied, both on the phone and in person. We also took advantage of the Fanguard in Las Vegas to interview many of you. I was not disappointed with the number or quality of the applicants I have met! As a result, we have hired the first round of GM’s and they will be starting work in the next couple of weeks. They were interviewed at Fanguard and we will be introducing them to you as soon as they get here and get settled! These individuals will be helping to build the foundation for the Customer Support Department and GMs. As I have said before, the first round we hired would be people that already have some experience in the game industry, particularly people with CS experience. We were fortunate enough to find individuals that already have some background in MMOG Customer Service. This is just the beginning. Over the next months (and even years), we will be hiring all the GMs we need to make this the Customer Support Department it needs to be. So if you have submitted a resume or been interviewed, don’t give up just yet. There will be several more rounds of hiring and then once Vanguard has been launched, there will always be a need for qualified people to fill the role of the GM. Right now, we could only hire a few out of a very large pool of qualified people that we would love to hire. But we will be hiring a lot more of you soon™! We will tell you more about our new GMs and introduce them to you in a couple of weeks. Watch for the announcement here!

Neuer Tag, neue Woche, neue Screenshots. Auf den Affiliated Fansites von Vanguard Stratics, Silky Venom und Vanguardcrafters gibt es zu Beginn der Woche eine ganze Menge von neuen Screenshots aus der Beta 0.

Erneut wartet Fricka von The Safehouse mit einem Interview zu Vanguard : Saga of Heroes auf. Zusammen mit Darrin McPherson erfahren wir ein paar Neuigkeiten zu den Rogues.

Safehouse: Will rogues get to pickpocket? Darrin McPherson: It’s not something we’re focusing on. SH: Will rogues get to climb? DM: Climbing is on hold for the game. SH: So there won’t be something like a “rogue’s highway”, a network of travel paths over rooftops? DM: Now that’s an interesting idea. [Props to Safehouse Moderator, Ruccus for the question]. SH: Are there any plans for a “passive bonus” to having a rogue in your group? Such as increasing the amount of loot a group receives? DM: No SH: Will rogues get a utility skill like disarming traps which will be rogue class only? DM: Anybody will be able to open traps and locks but the rogue will get a bonus. A Large bonus.

Lady Sirse von Silky Venom führte im Rahmen der Fanguard ein Interview mit dem Chefprogrammierer von Vanguard : Saga of Heroes, der ein paar generelle Informationen zu den Hardwareanforderungen zu dem Spiel bekannt gab.

• In den letzten 12 bis 13 Monaten gekauften Computer werden den Anforderungen von Vanguard genüge tun.
• Das Spiel wird ATI und NVIDIA Grafikkarten gleich gut unterstützen.
• Sigil arbeitet daran alles notwendige in dem Client unterzubringen und somit den durch das Spiel verursachten Traffic so gering wie möglich zu halten.

Neben einer Zusammenfassung der letzten Berichte von der Fanguard in Las Vegas gibt es auf den offiziellen Seiten zu Vanguard auch noch Informationen zur Planung der nächsten Fanguard, die im Oktober statt finden wird. Bis das Spiel letztendlich released wurde, werden diese Event alle in der nähe von San Diego abgehalten werden. So besteht keine Vernachlässigung für die Betaphasen des Spiels. Ist das Spiel erst einmal auf dem Markt, so stehen auch Veranstalltungen in Europa in Betracht.

We plan to host events all around the country and possibly in Europe, as long as the events are successful. But we most likely will host these events close to home until after Vanguard is released. During Beta, we need most of our time and attention to stay here in the office.

• Eelyen @ Anthology
  
• Fricka @ The Safehouse
  
• Havelock @ Silky Venom
  
• jtoast @ The Druid Grove
  
• LadySirse @ Silky Venom
  
• Laurel @ Vanguard Crafters
  
• Melchizedek @ Vanguard Spheres
  
• Natalia @ Vanguard Casters
  
• sigswat @ The Safehouse
  
• Wolfshead @ Gamergod

Nicht nur Lastfanboy hat Screenshots bekommen. Insgesamt haben weitere vier Seiten das Glück auf ihrer Seite gehabt. Zu den Seiten gehören Onlinewelten, Epic Vanguard, Warchest und Mondes Persistant.

Auf euch warten insgesamt noch weitere 33 komplett neue Bilder direkt aus Vanguard : Saga of Heroes!