Downloaded the game, installed, the entire process was smooth, no complaints there. 1. First thing i have to say is character creation, although we have many options, the models seem very bland, no depth to their looks, from this screen i was expecting the game to look as dull. Made my character, chose my class and race and logged into the game, chose the isle starting point as i read that is really well implemented, first impression is wow, the place looks stunning, i did a bit of exploration and was impressed with the detail and the living feeling of this world. Music, sounds, rain, day night cycle, was all fantastic. 2. One of the first things i noticed is how unnatural my character feels as it moves, having played games like swtor, wow, gw2, rift to mention a few, the characters there feel very fluid as they walk and move through the world. I chose a dark elf and the running annimation is terrible, i feel like i'm floating as i'm running, the combat animations were fine, its just the running animations look and feel terrible, please do something about this, such a shame for a stunning world to have to play a character that feels so artificial. Casting while moving is great i might add, fantastic. I read people complained about lack of abilities between 1-10, i call BS on that, i was happy i was not swamped with ability bloat and took the time to understand how and when to use the few abilities i received, one of the better games i've played with regards to ability distribution at low levels so far, i strongly believe in keeping it simple early on and slowly making it tougher and tougher as you level with regards to ability choice. 3. The quest that asks you to scout the isle is very misleading, it tells you to get a pegasus from a certain npc and in the text it says he is south east of the priest's place(forgot the name of that area), when in fact its north west of it. 4. I eventually received my horse ( which i was really looking forward to) after completing a quest, the sad part is OMGWTF is all i need to say right here, but i will explain The horse feels fine as you ride it normally, as long as you dont go over obstacles, this is where it just falls apart and makes me think its the same issue as the character running(gliding) animations, but in this instance, the horse actually gets to the end of the obstacle and instead of you continuing to ride it, an animation takes control of your horse of it jumping down on a stationary spot. this is really terrible, the same thing happens as you're riding and you jump with the space bar, the take off for a jump is good, but as you coming down for a landing, yep you guessed it, the same end of jump animation takes control of your horse, you stop moving forward and you wait for a stationary jump sequence to take place. That seriously has to be fixed and fixed fast, its left a real bad taste in my mouth about continuing with this game. 5. So, i notice this game has alot of old school elements i really appreciate, the little things that made me fall in love with the genre many many years ago with Everquest, for instance you need to eat and drink to regain HP/mana after a long fight, and you sit and drink/eat as you should imo, BUT SOE ??? why do a camera reset everytime i sit and eat ??? immersion killed right there, i select the berries, and my camera jerks to a fixed position as i sit ( i can still move camera around after the camera reset, but its terrible implementation, i can't believe its been like this since 2007 ? the same thing happens when i end the eating and stand up, yep another camera reset ( what i mean by reset is ... a light jerk of the camera, feels like adjusting slight angle). Please fix this, its really a bad impression for new players and i'm sure these little things should be easy to fix. 6. Lastly, the lag spikes.... why ? i dont understand as the game runs silky smooth on max settings for me, yet at times i get a lag spike, my computer freezes for a couple seconds and then resumes, or i stop attacking at range and 2 seconds later, the mob is right on top of me. This lag i can live with as i know its work in progress, my other complaints i can't live with sadly, perhaps the character running animation i can get used to over time, but i will drive many people away that try this game. The eating/drink camera jolt is gamebreaking for me as is the horse end of jump stationary jump animation while running or obstacle crossing animation ( the end part), these i can't live with sadly, please fix them urgently. Overall, i'm really impressed with this game so far and will play it for sure if i dont have to ride a horse or eat/drink :/ 7. Almost forgot, why do some classes get form quests and some others just get given forms with no explanation, no lore ? ( bug: i received 1 extra form while levelling, but only popped on my screen after a relog) Even a simple NPC text box explaining why you receive a form and etc would be great for immersion, after all, this is what i get from Vanguard, a deep mysterious world waiting to be discovered by new players, yet you get slapped with forms ( which i think is an amazing mechanic) and yet no song and dance about them ? yet some classes have entire quest lines for them ? come on SOE..... IMO Vanguard should embrace and enhance what makes it different from other mmos, things like making the player excited about receiving an ability or forms etc etc etc. Thank you for taking the time to read this. *update* Point 4 about the horse, don't know what happened, but now my horse does not go into a stationary end of jump sequence any longer, its fluid now and continues to run forward as i jump or go over obstacles, could it be that my client was/is not completely loaded and some of the data that is being downloaded in the background is causing this to have happened ? i'm at a loss as to why it happened in the first place, will experiment some more. The eating camera jolt still happens sadly.
Remind me never to invite you over for dinner, lol. Anyway, hope you stay awhile and experience some of the features that make the game stand out.
My first thought before I even completed reading your post: You are nitpicking. Animations are not the core of the game. Personally I never noticed it. I never notice too much about my character as I am too busy with the game world and not standing in front of a mirror intently viewing myself. You do realize this game went for years without much developer time and only recently with the FTP launch have they said they are committed to developer time and improving the game now. Game breaking bugs > fluff, which is what looks/animations are in the end. They are still working on server lag issues if you took the time to read these forums. It was h-e-double hockey sticks (really SoE? Are we living in 1920 where we can't even say that word?) of an issue when FTP launched and 100 people on the IoD.
Mortim wrote: That's a result of having a temporary buff on you called Parachute. You get buffed by it automatically when your rented flying mount expires so that if you happen to be in midair you don't put a new crater in the landscape. It floats you down to the ground - but you can't move laterally. If you leave it on after you get to ground level you see exactly what you're describing.
Welcome to Vanguard! Always good to see a new players perspective. Level 1-10 Abilities - The posts I do recall were against taking some of the abilities away and then requesting that the abilities be changed back to their original state before FTP. There were just a few more abilites and depending on the class 1 or 2 of them may have been buffs only, not abilities. Personally, I did not feel overwhelmed by having all the abilities I did early on. I just wanted to try them all out and see what sequence worked best for downing mobs. You are comfortable with the current abilities setup and it works for you, thats fine. However I wouldn't call BS just because your experience differs from mine. We all have different experiences and comfort levels. Thank you for your feedback. I hope you will stay a while and enjoy all the Adventure that is Vanguard.
Welcome to Vanguard Stay a while, let the game suck you in - When you get out of that carebear Island and into the real immersion of the game, that'll be your first good step into seeing what VG is all about. All I can say about your outlook is, /bug it. There are a lot of quests out there, such as the Pegasus one you mentioned, where the dialogue and the summary contradict, or the whole thing is just plain wrong. Bug it. Help them help you. And yeah, that parachute thing is obnoxious, but fixable. Sit back and enjoy.
