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| Behind the Online: War of the (Online) Worlds by Dave Bonnewell,MMORPG.COM  Weekly Column by Dave BonnewellEditors Note: This is the first edition of a new weekly column by Staff Writer Dave Bonnewell. The column is called Behind the Online and will look at different events from around the world of MMOs. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of MMORPG.com, its staff or management. Greetings fellow gamers and welcome to whats on my mind lately." title="Behind the Online: War of the (Online) Worlds">Weekly Column by Dave Bonnewell Editor's Note: This is the first edition of a new weekly column by Staff Writer Dave Bonnewell. The column is called "Behind the Online" and will look at different events from around the world of MMOs. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of MMORPG.com, its staff or management. Greetings fellow gamers and welcome to what's on my mind lately. As inexplicably as second-rate comedian Dane Cook's meteoric rise to fame, the juggernaut of an MMORPG that is World of Warcraft has managed to literally dominate the highly competitive and already flooded online gaming industry. Hell, I myself will even own up to once being the proud papa of a level 60 Tauren Hunter surrogate persona To many dedicated fans in communities which span the breadth and width of the intraweb, World of Warcraft is essentially the end all, beat all of MMORPGs and the prideful proclamation of over seven million subscribers to World of Warcraft worldwide at last month's Austin Game Conference in Texas goes a long way to proving this. Imagine if you will, however, an alternate reality. One in which the Alliance and the Horde have a grueling fight on their hands greater even than the open-ended one with themselves. One in which a far-reaching battleground beyond some simple valley, basin, or gulch truly exists. Soon this alternate reality may become our own. Soon, very soon, World of Warcraft's eternal flame may just ebb a little dimmer and Blizzard could well feel the frostbite sting of serious opposition. This winter could prove a bitterly blustering one for Blizzard indeed. It has been quite some time since genre-defining and MMORPG were used in the same sentence. Not since the original virtual online drug of choice, EverQuest (or EverCrack if you like) burst jubilantly onto the MMO scene over seven years ago, in fact. Let's face it folks, if World of Warcraft is the "mutha" of all MMORPGs, then EverQuest is the mutha pimpin' godfather. And, irony of ironies, Brad McQuaid and Jeff Butler, creators of the aforementioned genre-defining EverQuest, aspire to take on the world once again by (winter) storm and stand a fair chance of delivering a swift kick to World of Warcraft's coin purse. with Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. That's right dear readers, come December a new MMORPG behemoth will be coming in from the cold and on a dura-steel mechanostrider it will not ride. While it takes two to tango, it takes considerably more talent to dance in the same MMP ballroom as World of Warcraft. That's precisely why Brad McQuaid and Jeff Butler sought and procured the very best talent to help build their Vanguard: Saga of Heroes dream. These accomplished alumni from some of the biggest names in the MMO multiverse (EverQuest, EverQuest 2, The Matrix Online and Star Wars Galaxies) development teams banded together under one roof in the Carlsbad, California-based offices of Sigil Entertainment, forming what you could call a Justice League of Vanguard. Even the late, great fantasy painter Keith Parkinson (best known in gaming circles for his EverQuest and Magic: The Gathering cover and game artwork), who sadly died of leukemia about this time last year, contributed to the project's impressive visuals. The potential of Vanguard to roll out new earth-shattering artillery onto the vast MMO battlefield and a little healthy competition to World of Warcraft is not to say that the Vanguard development team hate the champ by any means. In fact, they love World of Warcraft as a whole, with Jeff Butler admitting to having three level 60 characters and to playing regularly every week himself. The team was even asked to play World of Warcraft during their lunch time and after work hours. Now, you may be thinking, "Oh great. All that playing must mean we have a knock-off wannabe World of Warcraft clone to look forward to." That couldn't be further from the truth. There is a far more blissfully reputable purpose to all that extra playtime. By studying what makes the world's most successful MMORPG ever tick, the crew behind Vanguard have their mouse cursors pointed directly at the largely untapped market of MMORPGrs who's interest in World of Warcraft has waned. This strategy could prove a bit of a paradox seeing as how the number of World of Warcraft subscribers continues to grow by leaps and bounds, but time will tell if Sigil's strategy will ultimately substantiate itself Vanguard promises to offer up several innovations central to which is a strong community The game will be geared primarily towards grouping while still bestowing diverse styles of play such as a unique diplomacy system as an alternative to always fighting Emphasizing the importance of keeping groups together while gaming, Sigil has come up with what they term "meaningful travel". In Vanguard, you will be able to fulfill your bodily function needs sans the need to play catch up with your eagerly questing brethren. Simply select the "caravan" option and be whisked away near your group. As far as getting around in Vanguard, you can sail from the start or purchase your first mount as early as level 10 and even upgrade to a flying mount later on. And what about Vanguard's looks? Based on what I've seen of the game (including the official in-game screenshots in this article), all I can say is Vanguard appears to have beautiful effects and stunningly detailed realism. Omitted is the cartoony look and feel which is the hallmark of World of Warcraft. Now, I'm not knocking cartoony by any means. It's fine for some MMOGrs, but I'm old school and find online gaming much more immersive when the MMOG I'm playing has a distinguishable air of reality to it. You can expect to see an added depth of reality in Vanguard's combat as well Players can work off of each other's moves and build up devastating combo attacks. Flanking maneuvers are also possible, with success yielding extra bonuses for striking a target's vulnerable spots. Even Vanguard's advanced AI will realistically take advantage of all surface areas, so spiders will scuttle up walls and attack from overhead and giant flying lizards will descend from the heavens to strike. Such prevailing MMO issues as kill-stealing and camping will be resisted with an "Advanced Encounter System" which instinctively spawns spare critters once new players enter the area. The one very distinctive facet of Vanguard which may most effectively distance it from World of Warcraft, however, is the lack of instancing. Why emerge victorious from a desperate battle only to see that no one is around to witness it and then leaving the instanced area only to experience that all too familiar feeling of emptiness? And how about missing out on being able to see other's amazing clashes? Speaking of amazing clashes, whatever the outcome of Sigil's clash with Blizzard, Vanguard is bound to have an amazing impact on the MMO genre. Thank you for your time valued readers. Feel free to shoot me a PM with any comments you may have. Or, if you scorn my very existence, just shoot me. I'm Dave "Kawika" Bonnewell and that's the way I see it. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Game News :: home page |