When an mmo gets released right out of the gate as a buggy mess and has horrendous lag, it's not easy to rebuild the subscriber base when the game finally gets patched up. And an mmo without other players is not very fun no matter how solid the game gets. You can only solo in a PvE mmo for so long. After a while, you really need other players to make it fun.

These companies really need to spend the extra time and resources to make their mmo solid and fun if they expect to make money. If you're pressured to release the game, you might as well try to sell it rather than release it prematurely and struggle to support it while maintaining a player base. It's just not worth it.

More like the worlds best life support. SOE picks up your MMO and even with a crap subscriber base (Matrix Online, VG, that Pirate ship game) it wont get cancelled.

True.

Though I do wish they threw Auto Assault a lifeline .... though I suspect I'm the only one.

but what you've just described is a game on the verge of being released - not a game that's a year and half old. I would hope the game has improved since launch, it had no where else to go. And it may indeed be quite playable now, but there is still one prominent fact - they still haven't offered a free trial. That says to me that they still don't think it's worth fronting potential customers the cost of the rather sizable client download. I'll be more than happy to give the game a whirl when they have the confidence to let me try it out first.

This comment was edited on Sep 9, 14:31.

Sony - hospice to MMOs.

More like the worlds best life support. SOE picks up your MMO and even with a crap subscriber base (Matrix Online, VG, that Pirate ship game) it wont get cancelled.

I've been playing VG for about 3 months now, and it's honestly a very decent game. I'm sure anyone who has followed the game knows what a disaster the game was at launch, but it is well worth another shot at this point. Just keep in mind, it is primarily a PvE game.

I normally get around 60 fps on my 9600GT/2GB RAM/E2160 OC'd at 3.6GHz. There is still a bit of hitching, and load times when you cross "chunk" lines, but overall the performance is quite acceptable.

There are still quests that are bugged, that you will need to petition a GM to fix, but GM's are really on top of things in this game. In fact, its about the best GM staff I have ever dealt with in an MMO.

There are still a some annoyances with the game world, mobs stuck in rocks, some places where you can clip through the environment, and some spots that seem to dismount you for no reason.

And a few other quibbles here and there but nothing game breaking that I have seen. They even have a rudimentary UI modding community with a few decent mods to download.

VG is a really decent game. The classes/races are diverse and interesting. The dungeons are top notch. There are more quests than you will know what to do with. Plenty of different starting areas so re-rolling is always a new experience. I see no reason to hold on to any old impressions that one may have of the game, as they are now moot.

If you are looking for a good PvE focused MMO, you'll be doing yourself a disservice if you don't give VG a shot.

P.S. No, I don't work for SOE or anything like that. This is my honest opinion.

I'll give it a whirl. It won't cost anything to try except some time and hard drive space. *shrug*

Sony - hospice to MMOs.

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http://theslip.nin.com/
"The Bellic boys! Taking over your town, assholes!"

We're introducing a brand new starting area which will showcase all the best that Vanguard has to offer. New players will be able to experience the world of Telon on a trial basis while exploring the Isle of Dawn. Existing players can choose to start their new characters in their selected Race's standard starting area, or begin their adventures on the Isle of Dawn and enjoy new content up to level 10!

Too late. This would have sparked my interest in Vanguard a few months ago, but too late now.