It’s hard to believe eight years has passed since Sigil and Sony Online Entertainment unleashed EverQuest on the world. The MMORPG took the gaming world by storm, redefining the fantasy genre in a big way.

With multiple expansions and tons of new content added over the years, EverQuest has lived up to its name. Although considered an “old game” by gaming standards, EQ has a strong and loyal following that has stuck with the title from the beginning. It’s even managing to pull in new users as the expansions keep making the world of Norrath fresh and exciting.

While I no longer personally play this title, its expansive world, rich stories and incredible design will long serve as the measuring stick by which I judge other MMORPGs.

To celebrate the milestone anniversary, SOE has kicked off an array of anniversary promotions, including the release of an Anniversary Edition box set. Here is some of what’s going on in Norrath:

In-game events: Fabled Luclin NPCs have been brought back and there’s even a scavenger hunt going on. The promotions run through April 16.

Video contest: Players can have an item named after them if they manage to win The Fabled Adventurer Video Contest.

Festival of Time: This runs through March 26 and has NPCs traveling the world to “spread timeless tales of ancient history.”

For a full run down of the festivities, visit Sony’s site.

Related:
Child Named After EverQuest Elf
Sony Announces 2 EQ Expansions
Sony Offers Massive MMORPG Collection
Find more...
Comments >>

Labels: eq, everquest, norrath, sigil, soe, sony

As Sigil Entertainment and Sony Online Entertainment are busy touting the first big update for Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, players are wading through the muck created by the game’s premature release.

With annoying bugs in abundance and little or no help from GMs other than some fairly rude comments and strict requirements for reporting said bugs, the game would better benefit from an exterminator right now. Instead, players will be getting update that includes new weapons, adventuring areas, NPC classes and most likely new and improved bugs, too.

Don’t get me wrong, Vanguard’s shaping up to be a good game. It’s well thought out. It’s beautiful. And, there’s enough content that solo players and groups can have an equal amount of fun. But as a player, I’d sure like to see what’s broken fixed before more content is added to the title. March 6 is way too early to be talking content additions.

Some of the persistent and annoying problems with the title right now include:

Missing mail
This still appears to be a problem. The check’s in the mail excuse is actually legit in Vanguard.

Broken world/quest locations
Some mobs that are supposed to transport players to different locations in the game to speak to NPCs send them instead to locations under the world, rending the quests useless. While there is a /stuck yes command to enable players to free themselves this command comes with a rather harsh (and somewhat rude) warning that all requests will be reviewed for abuse. (And probably go on your permanent record, too!)

Group bugs
Players invited into groups are being dropped spontaneously, only to find they cannot be invited again because they are “already in a group.” The only fix for this is time or a full log out.

Harvesting
Some players are still having issues with not gaining harvesting skill updates when they should.

Once all of these and a host of other problems are fixed or at least beaten back, then new content should be added. But, right now, adding more things to go wrong just doesn’t make sense and it could backfire and turn players off.

Related:
Vanguard Bugs Sony's Servers
Vanguard Wiki Up And Running
Vanguard Bugs To Watch Out For
Find more...
Comments >>

Labels: sigil entertainment, soe, sony, vanguard, vanguard:saga of heroes

If you’re among the thousands that have already signed up for Vanguard, or you hope to be, there are a few things players of the latest entry on the MMORPG market need to watch out for.

While the game is a whole lot of fun, these particular bugs can really take the wind out of an adventurer’s sails. Some of them can be avoided, others cannot. On the upside, based on GM conversations in game, it sounds like many of them are being worked on currently.

Confirmed bugs GMs are aware of include:

Mail not working
Be very careful what you send through the mail in Vanguard right now. The system works, but not all the time. Getting this one fixed on a player-by-player basis can be a mess, too. Players need to /bug report the issue and it’s best to have both the sender and the receiver do so. I have a set of enhanced horseshoes lost in the ether somewhere, so I’m speaking from first-hand experience here.

Harvesting skills not advancing
This one is really irritating and what’s worse, some of the GMs don’t seem to be aware of it. The harvesting primary and secondary skills on some characters refuse to go up, no matter what’s done. Keep in mind, you do have to have the right tools and training to harvest, but even when all that’s in order, some players are seeing no advancements. I understand from a GM conversation today that this is being addressed.

Other irritations:

Seamless seams
Vanguard is a “seamless” game, but watch out, when you hit what would normally be a zone, it appears as if your computer has locked up. This is a very minor irritation, especially when you get used to it, but the first few times the lack of a “Loading … please wait” message is very noticeable.

Missing mobs
Some of the mobs in this game ghost during battle. To reset them, move away. Otherwise, you might not be able to get a spell off to your detriment. Oh yes, ghosting mobs can still get you!

Customer service
It seems anything that has Sony Online Entertainment attached to it has this problem. The customer service overall is pretty darn slow. It took a few days to get answers about the harvesting issue. I had messages from two GMs. One was clueless. The other, thank goodness, seemed to have a handle on the situation.

Vanguard’s a very new MMORPG and bugs are to be expected. Overall the game play is great, the world is beautiful and the quests are mostly fun.

I’ll post up a starter guide in the next few days to help newbies get their feet wet. As much as SOE drives me nuts, I’ll have to admit, they tend to back very fun games.

Related:
Vanguard Bugs Sony's Servers
Vanguard Wiki Up And Running
Vanguard Has 7-Year Plan
Find more...

Comments >>

Labels: mmorpg, sigil, soe, vanguard