Anyone interested in Vanguard? - Gulgrethor is the GT server -

[StitchJones]

Anyone got a quick way for me to download all the necessary files?  This thing is gonna take forever using the Sony station.

[Destructor]

Anyone got a quick way for me to download all the necessary files?  This thing is gonna take forever using the Sony station.

If it's still up there, and if you're a Fileplanet subscriber, you can find a slightly older (month ago) beta on their site. MUCH faster than Sony's Station thing.

EDIT: And if you intend to play in the Early Start (or whatever they call it for Preorder people) program, the patch server is up. It's a tiny download if you've been keeping up on the patches.

[Hetz]

Yeah, the patch to retail didn't take long at all.

[CeeKay]

well crap, that Stratics article pretty much sold me on at least trying this for a month or so.

[StitchJones]

Well I preordered from the website and have put in about7 hours so far.  I wasn't in the beta, but stability seems just fine.  I've been running at right about 30 fps on balenced settings, except the occasional slowdown for new areas.  Also I haven't been dropped from the server once.  I'm playing a dwarf paladin and really liking it so far.  The world seems HUGE, and i'll be happy to have a horse in a couple levels.  Also diplomacy seems like it could really be a lot of fun.  I can definitely see some peopl taking the time to specialize in just that.  I was suprised at how good the graphics were on my poor machine, P$ 2.8 Ghz, 1GB RAM, x800.  I think it looks better then EQ2.  Now next week, when I receive my new computer (E6400, 2 GB RAM, 8800GTS), it will be on!

[CeeKay]

I was suprised at how good the graphics were on my poor machine, P$ 2.8 Ghz, 1GB RAM, x800.  I think it looks better then EQ2.  Now next week, when I receive my new computer (E6400, 2 GB RAM, 8800GTS), it will be on!

good to hear that!  I'm currently running a slightly more powerful rig than you are (3.2 Ghz, 2 GB RAM but only a 6800) and I was worried about having issues getting stuff to look nice.  Ironically enough at the end of next month I should be upgrading my PC to just about the same specs you listed, although I'm considering splurging on a quad core....

[Hetz]

I played for a couple hours last night and this morning. I can report that it works great on Vista! 

[RobbieD]

Since I have a Station Access Pass I decided to buy the game and have been downloading at a snails pace. I guess I should have bought it from D2D instead of Sony as I've never had this slow of download from D2D. My normal download speed is a couple hundred kb/sec but i'm averaging about 14-18 kb/sec with this one.

By the time this is downloaded it will be Jan 30th.

[RobbieD]

If anyone decides to pre-order and wants to be able to just download the game using the Launchpad you can set it up using the following instructions.

Vanguard - Saga of Heroes

1. Install Launchpad if you don't have it already, http://launchpad.station.sony.com.
2. Go to your Launchpad folder, C:\Program Files\Sony\Station\Launchpad. Right click on launchpad.exe and choose send to --> desktop.
3. Next, create a folder in C:\Program Files\ called Sony.
4. Double-click the Sony folder, and create a folder named Vanguard.
5.. Go to your desktop, right click on the Launchpad icon and choose properties.
6. In the target box, enter this exactly with quotes and all: "C:\Program Files\Sony\Station\Launchpad\Launchpad.exe" /game:vanguard
7. In the Start in box, put this in, quotes and all: "C:\Program Files\Sony\Vanguard"
8. Click on Apply and the Close.
9. Double-click the icon and the game will download.

I posted to the Vanguard technical forum about my slow download and a Tech posted these instructions.

[StitchJones]

Also i would suggest downloading from Direct2Drive/Fileplanet.  A LOT faster.

[Destructor]

Also i would suggest downloading from Direct2Drive/Fileplanet.  A LOT faster.

Or from anywhere period that isn't the Launchpad, as Sony just doesn't put out the bandwith that other games like Guild Wars or City of Heroes does.

As for impressions - I like. Most of the races have their own 'starting area' (filled with only their race and as such you have quests tailored to that race) and the graphics are impressive even on lower spec machines. If you have the horses to run the game with the options turned up, the game is amazing to look at. Nothing quite like looking over the top of a mountain and seeing for miles on end in each direction.

[Jaddison]

I to have been playing since Friday.  It did take a while to download, in fact I kept cancelling and restarting when it would stall for over 20 minutes.

Overall the completely different starting areas for most races adn teh 3 distinctly different large areas are a nice change.

I am playing on balanced setting and frame rate is okay, there are the little stutters here there.  Even with a 3.2G processor and 4 gig of Ram  and 7800GS I can't effectively play above balanced and one notch down seems to be the sweet spot...still doesn't look bad though.

One odd thing is that i have a plantronics USB headset hooked and initially the game only gave me the option of sound via "generic software", unselecting Plantronics the game allowed me the option of "generic hardware" for sound.  Software mode made the game run very poorly.  Wondering if there should be an option for it to use Soundblaster XFi vice generic as sound is still a little stuttery....turned off sound completely and performance was noticeably better.

Love the quest log link to the compass for easy directional assistance in finding quests and quest giver....very nice touch.

I have played 4 characters to 5 so far to get a feel for different races and archtypes and so far not seeing many people at all...hopefully the real launch will bring a bit more population.

[Zimix]

...hopefully the real launch will bring a bit more population.

I don't think it was a wise choice to release it right after WoW's expansion.  They should have released it a few months ago.  People would have still been bored from the level 60 characters and looking to try something new.

If the reviews are good, I imagine you will see a population increase after people hit lvl 70 and are bored again with WoW.

[CeeKay]

I grabbed a copy today at EB.  I was all ready to play and found out that I didn't get a pre-order copy so I have to wait until tomorrow to play.

[Knightshade Dragon]

I grabbed a copy today at EB.  I was all ready to play and found out that I didn't get a pre-order copy so I have to wait until tomorrow to play.

Same here. 

My plan is to play on the Shidreth server.  Those who want to be part of my review of the game should follow me. 

[Jaddison]

I could start over I guess.  Not sure if it will change, but looks like you can only have 6 characters total servers combined.  Got a bard to 9 but i could start over if it meant grouping with people I culd trust...i could trust you all right   ?

The music so far has been amazing in almost every area.  The one character i actually got diplomacy training for and diplomacy quests was quite fun.

[CeeKay]

I grabbed a copy today at EB.  I was all ready to play and found out that I didn't get a pre-order copy so I have to wait until tomorrow to play.

Same here. 

My plan is to play on the Shidreth server.  Those who want to be part of my review of the game should follow me. 

Looks like a bunch of GT/OO'ers are setting up on Gulgrethor if you're not dead set on a server yet.

[Destructor]

I thought the cap on players was 8. Or at least it was 8 when the preorder thing started up on Friday.

[Pharaoh]

I say we get as many people as we can on one server... so far its OO, GT, Wanderers, and some people from QT3. With a big enough presence, hopefully we'll last longer than two weeks and maybe form a solid home for people who get interested in Vanguard.

Gulgrethor? Come on peeps!

[Knightshade Dragon]

I say we get as many people as we can on one server... so far its OO, GT, Wanderers, and some people from QT3. With a big enough presence, hopefully we'll last longer than two weeks and maybe form a solid home for people who get interested in Vanguard.

Gulgrethor? Come on peeps!

I'm fine with whatever server - you just gotta get Tim to move too.

[CeeKay]

I say we get as many people as we can on one server... so far its OO, GT, Wanderers, and some people from QT3. With a big enough presence, hopefully we'll last longer than two weeks and maybe form a solid home for people who get interested in Vanguard.

Gulgrethor? Come on peeps!

I'm fine with whatever server - you just gotta get Tim to move too.

come to the Dark Side Tim....

[CeeKay]

According to a techie on the Vanguard forums the official launch for everyone else who didn't pre-order is 10am PST today.

[Destructor]

I say we get as many people as we can on one server... so far its OO, GT, Wanderers, and some people from QT3. With a big enough presence, hopefully we'll last longer than two weeks and maybe form a solid home for people who get interested in Vanguard.

Gulgrethor? Come on peeps!

I'm fine with whatever server - you just gotta get Tim to move too.

come to the Dark Side Tim....

Terrible. Just terrible.

Ron, you're welcome to go wherever you want. Infact, it might make life a bit more entertaining if you join with the crew over there. You'd have a few more people to group with for starters.

Now, if Sigil would only get the 'tells across servers and/or chat rooms across servers' working, then we'd all have fun no matter which server we're on.

[Jaddison]

It would appear the CE is delayed as no store has it and my pre-order from Amazon went from being here today to being here Feb 8th.  Yes the old GG effect, now GT/OO effect had me going from on the fence to buying the CE.

I rolled a Dark Elf Dread Knight on Gulgrethor today, performance was way worse than the last 3 days.  While yesterday i was capped at 6 characters today it appears i can have more than 6.  Interesting that as a DE the first thin I had to do was slaughter innocent and feeble Dark Elves...certainly different from the other races i tried.

[Lockdown]

So the masses will begin appearing in-realm today?

Now things should get interesting...

Please keep us posted.

[Knightshade Dragon]

Gulgrethor it is.  Time to make an Alt Tim.    Edited the post title to reflect the official server.

[Knightshade Dragon]

Anyone feel like starting a list and such like the one we have for WoW?  I'd like to know where everyone is in the world and what classes they are playing. 

[Farscry]

If I try it out (and I'm certainly curious) I'll join in on the Gulgrethor crowd.

[Destructor]

It would appear the CE is delayed as no store has it and my pre-order from Amazon went from being here today to being here Feb 8th.  Yes the old GG effect, now GT/OO effect had me going from on the fence to buying the CE.

I rolled a Dark Elf Dread Knight on Gulgrethor today, performance was way worse than the last 3 days.  While yesterday i was capped at 6 characters today it appears i can have more than 6.  Interesting that as a DE the first thin I had to do was slaughter innocent and feeble Dark Elves...certainly different from the other races i tried.

My Gamestop had 3 copies (non-reserved) of the CE in yesterday. Strange that yours didn't.

And for the love of GOD don't use your Dark Elf racial special (the one that summons a pet to your side for a bit). It's a long standing (since the preorder beta at least) bug that there's a chance you'll spawn a high level (15-20ish) mob that is KOS to EVERYBODY around it, including you. They might have patched it this morning, but as of last night, the bug was still around.

And if you want, start a new character with all the races. While I think I've seen one overlap (the Wood Elves and the Raki), everybody else has their own exclusive starting area with quests that just seem to fit with their race. Does a fantastic job drawing you in, IMHO.

[CeeKay]

And for the love of GOD don't use your Dark Elf racial special (the one that summons a pet to your side for a bit). It's a long standing (since the preorder beta at least) bug that there's a chance you'll spawn a high level (15-20ish) mob that is KOS to EVERYBODY around it, including you. They might have patched it this morning, but as of last night, the bug was still around.

oh really?

* CeeKay runs off to try something

   just kidding guys 

[Jaddison]

So far I have Socogi a bard who is in Tanvu and Duskwalker a DE Dread Knight in Hathor Zhi.  Definitely need a blood mage as I tried one and ME LIKEY!  The music creation part of the Bard is a very pleasant surprise

It's Amazon that has no CE's but nor do any Gamestop or EB in my area, i checked online

You are veyr right about the different starting areas...love the music in Tanvu

[Knightshade Dragon]

So far I have Socogi a bard who is in Tanvu and Duskwalker a DE Dread Knight in Hathor Zhi.  Definitely need a blood mage as I tried one and ME LIKEY!  The music creation part of the Bard is a very pleasant surprise

It's Amazon that has no CE's but nor do any Gamestop or EB in my area, i checked online

You are veyr right about the different starting areas...love the music in Tanvu

http://www.gamingtrend.com/forums/index.php/topic,17889.0.html

Drop your character names and classes in there.

[Destructor]

And the first 'major' bug has hit the game - not only has SoE's registration site blown up (you can't access your account info at all anymore), but even though I put in my CD key earlier, I can no longer log into the game ("you don't currently have a subscription").

So...if you're currently logged into the game, don't log out. You won't be able to get back in until this is fixed.

EDIT: Well, apparently you have to now put in your CC info just to get back into the game. The problem being that Sony's servers have completely fallen apart at this point and as such you can't subscribe to the game.

I love launch day. 

[Arkon]

For everyone interested, a bunch of folks from OO started Corsairs of Konarthi (Konarthi Point is the barbarian port on Thestra) on Gulgrethor.  Feel free to shoot me a tell in game, character name is Gralik as arkon was already taken.  We have quite a few people, last night we had 15 or so people logged in.  The guild has some forums up at http://www.twilightcovenant.net/index.php

[CeeKay]

I love launch day. 

You think they'd have everything down pat by now after how many launches?  4?  5?

[Jaddison]

One thing i have noticed is tha tperformance has taken a hit today.  It would seem FPS is down about 25% sometimes more and there jsut aren't that many people where i am.  Using the /flush command gives me some temporary relief.  Switching praghics from balanced to High perf or even lower only gave me 2 to 3 more FPS...if i hadn't been playing at 30 FPs all weekend I might think it was my machine even though it is a medium to lwer high end spec wise.

[Destructor]

And I just now got my account info inserted into Sony's system, which means I can go play again.

*runs off*

[Lockdown]

I certainly plan on joining in the fun as soon as the shenanigans of launch day/week/month type snafu's die down.

I'll be waiting patiently for the PM from people like Arkon, Yellowking, and Destructor to give the "All's Clear.  You may enter safely now."

I'm guessing about 3 to 4 weeks yet. 

I am excited though.   

[Jaddison]

I can certainly see the potential.  The diplomacy part is a blast, at elast the little I have done in it.  The bard song composing is also a nice touch.  How all this plays out deeper in game will tell the tale.  Other very good parts:
- Music is fantastic
- Many different starting areas with unique story lines
- Even on balanced graphic settings the world is very pretty and conveys vastness
-The different classes so far a different enough to interesting.  Druids seem to be very over powered in my small sample of alts, they can root at level 2 and call down a very neat lightning spell

So far problems i have encountered:
Game performance is incredibly uneven and there don't seem to be many players around to be causing this.  Early launch i am at 30 FPS in balanced, yesterday in some areas 7 FPS in balanced and only 15 FPS on the higheste performance setting for graphics.

Every once and a while a monster i am figthing disappears....I continue fighting it but it is invisible and cannot be looted on death

My quest log blanked once

Swimming underwater sometimes causes the whole monitor to go black but with NPC anmes still present.  Only way i have reset is to go to game options and change resolution.

The "locations" part of the quests in the quest log (which is a very nice touch btw, you click on a location there and your compass HUD shows a directional line for you) blanks for all quests...have to log out and back in to fix.

[Lockdown]

Ok... maybe 3 to 4 months then.

But who's counting?