Whoa, just whoa. I mean, W H O A. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun for 16 and a half straight hours.

I lost *maybe* 10 minutes to crashing. I logged in (finally) at around 12:30 Central. Vanguard had a few problems getting the servers up exactly at the time they said, but I wasn't too surprised. Once I was in though, I had almost no problems at all. Maybe 4 crashes the entire time, and it was just an individual thing. I think Vanguard might not have great support for widescreen yet? Idk.

My monk is already lvl 14, duo'ing with a disciple is almost the same as duo'ing with a shaman back in EQ1. The combat doesn't seem as amazing as all the "plan a" messages Brad McQuaid posted about, but it's a lot more engaging that EQ's. I can't speculate about any other game, because I haven't touched another MMORPG since EQ.

The world is huge. You know that already. It's got a ton of mobs. I knew my race/class starting quests pretty well, so I was out of the newbie zone quick.

They have some fun thing where if you're the first on the server to discover something it tells you. I already pissed a lot of my guild off announcing each discovery

I'm enjoying the hell out of this game, in a way that makes me think this is going to be better than EQ once everything is working the way they want it to be perfect.

Yes it has some flaws, but I challenge anyone to point out an MMORPG that was absolutely perfect on its release date (and Vanguard still has 4 days, well, 3 now until its "official" release date).

I play on the Woefeather server. It's what this guild I found that caters to the "Casual Hardcore" as we call ourselves chose. We're the ones who LOVE to play, but don't have the time to play all the time. I think about half to 3/4 of our guild is active duty military of some sort. We're not going to be the first of our server to do most if anything, but we're going to have fun.

I'm on the same name, "Lansydyr" so if you're on the server, shoot me a tell, just to say hi, especially if you knew me back in EQ. I'm going to bed. I'm so fucking tired after almost 17 hours straight playing

Lansydyr
Level 14 Kojani Human Monk
Woefeather Server
Member of the Order of Twilight

You're crazy, 17 hours straight? I'm really trying to debate whether to buy now or wait a couple weeks for the rush to settle down.

Ya its been an awesome experience so far.

Its 8am and im tired but may or may not push foward.

Currently about 1/4th into lvl 15 with my sorc and have a lvl 13 clericbot.

Right now we have about 8 lvl 14+ and are the only group above 14.

2 peeps about to ding 16, highest on server that i know. We got some awesome yellow rare loot in KG.


So fun so fun. Best release of any MMo yet.....they really suprised me

Noticed the hitching was pretty much not happening so much anymore. Maybe a tiny bit, but for the most part the game just runs better than beta.

i thought there was supposed to be a steep levelling curve in vanguard. lvl 16 on day 1 does not really seem to be that steep imho...

not saying it is ezmode like wowarcraft is, but does not seem like the hell levels that i thought it would be...

-cc

Well, after lvl 10, theres already a sharp drop in xp gained from mobs. It took a few hours for lvl 10, then about hour and a half each per level. It's probably going to get a lot worse after lvl 20 from all I've heard.

When I played it wasn't that bad either post-lv20, but I didn't get a chance to play once they 'curved' the exp at end of beta since I was upgrading my system.

I did the beta buff to lvl 25 at the end of beta, but there is such a difference in levels. I think my regular character was level 16, and jumping a new character like I did to 25, I had almost no clue as to all the new abilities. I did a monk just so I'd get a glimpse of higher levels.

I didn't do much with that character simply because I didn't care too much, and the buff armor they were giving out was crappy. I just can't wait to play some more, but sadly today is devoted to IRL activities so I don't lose faction with my non-geek friends

This was 23+ hrs straight playing and I know my way around for the most part of where to go and what is best to do. Also had good constant guild groups. We are basically the only high lvl people on the server.

I did get abit slown down as i was 2boxing them until both were 13 but still not much.


So yes....16 seems fast but again that is 23+ hrs of lvl'n pretty effectively without fucking around too much. (Its changed alot since beta (exp curve) so comparing it to the past doesnt help). The curve definietly ramps up, and if you aren't in a good group or dick around its going to be extrmeely slow.

Currently we have to guildies half way or closer to 17, then me and a few others at 16. I don't think a non guildie is over 14 yet.

Hey Lansydyr.

Game is about to patch...I'm currently lvl 12 on Flamehammer, and over half of that exp is probably from the quests...mobs are a bit of a grind(as they should be), but just look at it as raising skills like block, hth, etc.

Didn't do the stronghold quests as my system can't seem to get more than 4fps in there...dc4200+, 2gig, 300hd, IceQx1950pro....sad.

Early levels..quests like Garsu, Beasts, Martok Elites, all u really need is a duo(depending on class)..maybe 3 for the Elites/Flames, etc...

Couple of chunk 'lines' need tweaking(crashed in one area twice while 'zoning'), but overall, this game delivers(early stages at least)...if u have the system to handle it.

I pretty much knew what to expect, but they really surprised me with the framerate improvement. I gained about 25 percent from the last day of beta. Having a blast also.

Game is awesome but im starting over on an US server. EU server maintainance seems to be some sort of strange joke. > Goyko on Hilsbury

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My stuff on facebook.

I don't think they will ever fix Stronghold, that Tanvu part has been unbearable since day 1 of being opened in beta. The quests are fun though, especially the last one (one you have to kill the Master/Grandmaster). Just need to go slowly once you get to the stairs =P.

Yeah, did the stronghold quests in beta with a mage in group...which came in handy for all the times someone fell off/sailed over roofs from lag. Stand and die/summon/repeat.

Too bad most of the early monk loot is in there.

Still get a kick outta watching people trying to high-tail it to town/guards...health dropping rapidly...spells flying...with a master in hot pursuit.

Finally went to relog fast and accidently gave in to a random passing out on the couch folding clothes. Had dinged 17 and was FINALLY making good exp (we had a rough run). Only missed 3 hrs of lvl'n though so least no one is 18 yet.

For those thats said they where on the fence....take it from some one who first loved the game in beta then was very pissed off about it alot changes.....this damn game delivers on alot of levels I didnt think it would. My only big complaint right now is

A) Roamer mobs ALL the fuck over....as a castor even with sow/horse with all the trimmings running long distances in some zones is just a mother fucker. Running in ToD is particular a shit fest train of 15-20 lil dragons following you.
But this definitely adds some challenge to travel even though i could have lived with out. Then again we bitched when it was such a huge world without as much population....

B) Gear itemization is still very melee oriented (no suprise here). We killed 13+ rare named clearing out mass areas in KG and i think 2 castor items dropped. The benifits from the stats doesnt seem to go near as far as they do with melee PLUS they lowered spell damage focus to retarded levels. I would say i am above average geared for the server due to having groups to take rare named deeper in areas but my overall damage is probably minimal compared to a not nearly geared sorc.

Other then those minor gripes which arent much to begin with this baby is running smooth, no lag, just one random patch with a 25 min warning and then now a non ETA server taking down for a major bug causing peeps to lose some exp.

It seems 14-18 are the suck lvl's, cant wait for 18-25 as they seemed alot more fun for me due to some good new spells (single mez, my new nuke that ramps up and creates huge ass nukes while damaging me etc).

Anywhose I would definitely give it a try if you were scared of the neg press it was getting...sigil took it to heart and some how beyond my belief put out a game that has 500% improvement over mere weeks ago.

How is KS'ing handled for regular mobs? Are you "locked" into combat or can anyone jump in and take it from you? If they can jump in, do you have to get the most/last hit or just the first hit?

If you are the first to hit it, it's you/your groups mpb and cant be KS'd.

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"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." -Henry Louis Mencken
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VEGETARIAN -Noun (vej-i-tair-ee-uhn): Ancient tribal slang for the village idiot who can't hunt, fish or ride.

KS'n is abit werid, doesnt always seem to be the first who hit, think its top 5% or something err first 5%.

Just dinged 20 today and got chaos volley....so happy. First person to 20 on server, i think 21.5 is the highest server wide from what we hear.

2 more levels and you catch up to your beta level =P better slow down! hehe.

Ding 21 bitches. I missed the first 12 hour of reelase and the next day 8 hours because i was working yay... oh well i'm still within 3 levels of highest on server and only because they were exploiting are they that high... gay? Yes. Anyway VG is awesome i was burnt out in beta at the end but now... damn i Worked 13 hours thursday 10am-12:45AM. I worked 12 hours friday 10am-10pm, then opened from 10am-5pm. In between i played VG non stop up intil saturday night i got 4 hours of sleep then i stayed up all last night and finally passed out from 6am to 3pm today... now gonna get some more sleep bc they are patching release.. im hooked again... and it's great. Gameplay/quests are good... grind IS HARD.. but like i said if you know where/what to do you can level fast... I missed out on the pre-release for awhile and i caught almost everyone and had 1/4-1/2 less thep lay time of the top levels... like i said you can do 1-20 in about 20-30 hours i did it in 24 hours with some dickin around. later~

Hhug.

Now that you guys are in the 20s for coterie, did they really nerf the armor?

Genuinely curious here, what makes the grind hard?

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Kuwen Furyblades
Hunter of Memento Reejeryn
Champion of Faydark

Nothing. Like all grinds it's all about time. =)

Well honestly in this game especially higher on, areas can be unforgiving. Its not neccassarily the grind that is tough, its more knowing where to go and keeping good groups together with the various needed classes (no holy trinity though, there is so much versitility that you can pull about anything off if you try hard enough. I was tanking lvl 24+ 4 dot mobs as a sorc and chain dps'n them with a ramp up spell. Funnest group ive had yet.

The world is so huge and over whelming, the people that are lvl'n up fast are the ones that don't dick around and either just solo non stop without breaks and trying new places or groups that are static (or guild) groups that really keep things rolling.

The only sad thing is there is alot of awesome hidden dung's that probably 5% of the player base if that will ever see because people tend to follow the general flow. After we had about 10+ lvl 20's and had out distanced all but 1-2 players on the server by a far amount some of us took a day off and explored and damn it was fun. Unfornatuely in todays gamers mindset its a race to the top (myself included) so alot of the hard work put into these MASSIVE dung's are lost.

And post 20 it really does start hitting a wall abit so people that aren't careful die alot and dont go anywere because making exp is a bitch. The game does have A FUCK TON of roaming mobs EVERYWHERE which makes travel annoying and time consuming (45 mins+ to go from 1 of the prime areas for 20-24 to the other just on one of the continents). Plus avoiding mass mobs.


And when your a sorc....you truly are a paper tank, they might have got the class right this time. I die so damn easy and with new resists my ability to survive an unprepared attack even by a completely trival mob is not very good. But with a healer primarly dedicated to me fighting hard 4-5 dot mobs I can put out some of the sickest dps. AE'n is also interesting....exp just doesnt seem that grand solo, and me and hhug did some 10-15 mob pulls today on lvl 22 mobs and got crazy because if he gets stunned he has 15 mobs hitting him and i have about .5 secs to get them off.

So anyway....the grind,....not hard, what is hard is staying dicsiplined and not trying to rush things.

And hhug forgot to mention he was brought into a pretty well oiled exp grinding group that was 17/18's at the best exp spot ive seen in the game yet. Without a set of static group or friends or dedicated solo'n you aren't just going to knock out 1-20 in a day or 2. First 8-10 lvls fly fast though.

What do they have in place to encourage folks to go to these dungeons or even off the beaten path?

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Kuwen Furyblades
Hunter of Memento Reejeryn
Champion of Faydark

The fact that solo experience takes forever in the higher levels.

For example, from level 1-15 or so you can typically solo pretty easily by doing the quests that you get, going to where they point you getting more quests etc. Then around 15 you start getting group quests that nudge you in the direction of a dungeon with "group" mobs. I had around 10 at 15 I think for the dungeon in my starting area. These quests yield great benefits experience wise above and beyond the normal grinding that you would do in a dungeon.

It's like that for most dungeons I think typically. You grab a bunch of quests, get a couple levels doing them, then you could theoretically move to the next dungeon in your level range and do it again for a few levels.

So doing that versus, say grinding solo mobs for hours upon hours makes it a pretty simple choice imo (tho I guess that's subjective).

I also found a pretty neat thing last night. A solo dungeon. I was running around grabbing quests when I came upon a quest for the Stonesmashers enclave. In beta this had been a group dungeon, so I had dismissed it. But for whatever reason I decided to check it out later, and they were all solo mobs but in a dungeon type setup. I have to say it was pretty intense. I was actually scared of screwing up. It was just me down there, no one else. If I screwed up and pulled wrong, there was no where to go, I was going to die. So I was pretty impressed with the way they set that up.

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-Rileigh (aka Golliwog)

I don't think forcing folks to group past the teen levels is such a bad thing. I'm guilty of wanting solo play for those odd hours of game time, but forcing people to interact even if it means long LFG's will get closer to EQ1 than any other game.

in the end though play what ya like

The great thing about this tho is that it is still possible to solo while being lfg.

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-Rileigh (aka Golliwog)

DUngeons man... gear in dungeons/named are so much better, and items... more so AC is king in this game. It helps so much. Good block shields/armor. Bigger mana pools, gear really helps.