Vanguard: Saga of Heroes Interview

MMORPG.com has kicked up the results of an interview they did with Vanguard lead designer and producer Salim Grant during the recent SOE Fan Faire.

Future plans include a universal banking system instead of regional banks, increasing bank space, a second dungeon by name of Halls of Shattersoul, 6-man dungeons, more 50+ content and then an Alternate Advancement system.

“The game shines in groups,” Salim answered, when asked to define the best of Vanguard. “We bring back the dungeon crawl; the thrill and excitement of a dangerous quests, traps and unseen monsters. The danger and challenge of an open world filled with dangerous creatures. Players have to be aware of their environment. Yes, you can be trained. Although mobs are leashed, the leashes are longer and you can’t just walk around or stand by in impunity as mobs chase a player. You’d better stand back or get out of the way of the backwash. The world of Vanguard is a dangerous place. Remember we don’t have zone lines.”

Vanguard is also a triple career game. The careers are Adventurer, Crafter and Diplomat. Players can advance their characters in any of the lines or any combination of the three, a feat that few other MMOs out there can boast of. Vanguard is challenging. The international box art for the original EverQuest had a picture of Firiona Vie and the words, “I’m sorry, I’m not easy.” and Vanguard captures this sentiment in spades. With the Camelot Isles free content update, they added NPC tricks and racial traits. So the player doesn’t only have to be aware of NPC classes, they have to be aware of racial traits. For example, not only are fire spells less effective or ineffective against fire elementals, players might find that it actually heals the mob.