2.0.1 How long have you been working on Vanguard and how far along are you guys in development right now (July, 2006)?
Brad McQuaid and Jeff Butler formed Sigil in January 2002. The Vanguard deal was put together with Microsoft in April 2002 and we started hiring the team. By July/August 2002 or so we'd begun serious coding, although the design work began in earnest in April 2002. We're also on record publicly that it takes a solid 3+ years to build one of these games right.
We purposely started the team out small and built it only as needed. Most of this time we were in the 15-20 people range but around April of 2005 we reached 70 employees and are continuing to staff up.
We're very proud of using this 'lean & mean' approach to leverage existing technology and build and enhance tools with our experienced MMOG team -- it worked with original EQ, it's working now, and it makes the most financial sense for both the developer and the publisher. Along with a strong vision, the most important part of MMOG development is getting all departments working concurrently: art, design, and programming.
Right now the world of Vanguard is being built, pathed, and populated. Core features are present, the designers are putting content into the world, and the game is playable. What that does is gives us a LOT of time to build cool and innovative features on top of this foundation and to be prepared for a serious, involved beta test with both testing and balancing the game and all of its content a focus. Note: While we worked with Microsoft for several years as our publisher, we are now co-publishing the game with Sony Online Entertainment -- see elsewhere in the FAQ re: more information about this change."
2.0.2 Are you hiring now?
Yes, and we are currently in the middle of a significant growth spurt, so get your resumes and demo reels to Sigil Games ASAP. Thanks.
2.0.3 When will you start Beta Testing?
We began Beta 0 “Friends and Family” testing with a very small group of people in August 2005.
In August 2005 we began Phase 1 of Beta, and as of October 2005 we have been in Phase 2 of beta. Phase 3 will start in July, 2006. We plan on having a total of 6 phases. Our general goals for our beta phases have been and are as follows:
Phase 0: Work out technical issues -- how do we get the code up there, testing issues, patching, etc. Basic infrastructure stuff. Then stability -- get the code at least stable enough that beta testers will not be overly frustrated. Start with a small portion of the world and slowly turn additional regions on over time.
Phase 1: Start testing gameplay. Begin with the basics, then move on to the systems that make Vanguard more unique. Also study how both world size and the world being seamless affects the game.
Phase 2: Continue testing, but with a lot more people. Focus on the mid to higher level game, as well as continue on with crafting, diplomacy, and the other more Vanguard-specific systems. End the phase by filling up the continent Thestra with testers such that critical mass in terms of population has been achieved.
Phase 3: Fill up both Thestra and Qalia. Continue to monitor how fast people are advancing, plus everything else that was in phase 1 and 2. Test even more high level areas, but probably not the highest level areas, unless with specific, hand chosen focus groups. The primary focus, however, will be on finalizing levels 1-35.
Phase 4: Determine the target number of people in a single shard, preferably arriving with a number in between over populated and too sparsely populated. Add Kojan, completing the world. Finalize itemization, character advancemet rates, tweaks to Crafting, Harvesting & Diplomacy.
Phase 5: The shortest phase. Bring in a LOT of people (I think EQ had 25,000+). Have multiple shards online and make sure there are no issues there. Test billing, login, etc. Do everything we can to make sure nothing catastrophic happens when we turn on the game for real. Perhaps open some of the high end content briefly, but still being careful to keep mystery in the game.
Launch
And then, of course, the Live Team begins work, if they haven't already. We plan expansions. We make sure Customer Service is where we want it to be. We make sure Operations is working right and we have good stability and uptime.
It is too early to announce dates or requirements for participation in future betas, or when future beta phases will start. We have internal goals we want to meet, and meeting them will determine and drive when we begin the next phase.
2.0.4 What stage of Beta are you in right now? How many people are already in Beta?
Vanguard is in Beta 2 (as of January 2006). Beta dates have not been announced; neither has Sigil revealed the process of selecting participants. Sigil has also not released any information regarding system requirements, the selection process or any other details regarding Beta.
Currently, as of January 2006, there are over 4,000 people involved beta testing Vanguard.
2.0.5 How will Beta Testing work?
Our preference would be to break it into phases and involve more and more people each phase.
2.0.6 How long will Beta Testing last?
Ideally, a beta test would last forever, but at the same time these are commercial endeavors. Looking at all of the MMOGs to-date, we think it's pretty clear that those with longer beta periods have clearly benefited. So while it's too early to commit to any sort of timeframe, sufficient time to test and balance before release is certainly very important to us.
2.0.7 Will there be multiple phases?
Yes
2.0.8 How will you choose beta testers?
We will bring people in from our message boards and through some promotional methods. Additionally, starting in Beta 3, we will allow testers to bring in friends and even entire guilds in order to build community.
2.0.9 How do I find out more about Beta?
The best place to find out about Beta is on the message boards. Sigil will announce all the details about future Beta Program in the Forums and on the official Vanguard website. As stated before, our first open Beta applications will go out to the members of the Forum first.
Take a moment and make sure the email address in your profile is up to date. If you are interested in Beta, that’s an email you won’t want to miss.
2.0.10 Will there be an NDA?
For phases 0 thru 2, for sure. For beta phase 3, likely. The NDA will probably be removed in beta phase 4 (assuming phase 4 is indeed our last phase as described in section 2.2)
2.0.11 When will Vanguard: Saga of Heroes be released?
While we have internal target dates for all of our milestones, including launching the game, it's far too early to announce or publicly commit to a release date at this time. We are, however, anticipating release sometime in 2006.
2.0.12 Where will it be released?
The game will be released internationally, although it is too early to say whether this release will be simultaneous.
2.0.13 What about the international (non-USA) release and related timing issues?
It is too early to speculate, and this will be more up to SOE and its distribution infrastructure than Sigil.
2.0.14 How do you plan on dealing with Internationalization?
We do plan to release Vanguard internationally -- it is not a US or North American only product
2.0.15 How will you handle the various real world languages and language barriers?
The Vanguard client will employ Unicode and various alphabets and character sets.
2.0.16 Will there be translation of in-game content?
It is too early to announce anything in this area.
2.0.17 Will there real-time chat translation?
We are interested in exploring real-time translation, but it is too early to commit to how and when it might be implemented.
2.0.18 Sometimes we European players feel 'second class' in terms of support, release dates, etc. What does Sigil plan on doing to address this concern and issue?
SOE is the distributer for VSoH. They are a very 'global company'. Ultimately be their decision as they are the publisher and distributor. Sigil is very much in favor of doing this globally but also realizes there are a lot of factors involved, most of which are outside of our control.
2.0.19 Do you plan on having expansions?
Absolutely. One of the most powerful aspects of MMOGs is their ability to be both patched and expanded. In that sense, they are never truly 'done'... new content can always be added both to the existing world as well as to new areas, opening up all sorts of exotic and exciting places to explore.
Of note is that internally we are planning ahead for expansions and the “big picture”. We intend to address many of the negative expansion issues from the past by preparing now for making transitions to new content and dealing with level limits, item power and inflation.
2.0.20 How often do you plan to release expansions?
We think that will become clearer during beta and as the massively multiplayer market matures. We are also interested in exploring monthly, episodic content, and would need to make sure this was coordinated with the expansions.
What's most important to us is that, whatever the frequency, expansions are not rushed and contain realistic goals in terms of content and features relative to that frequency.
2.0.21 Would expansions be store-bought or episodic (patched), or both?
Hopefully both. More on this later.
2.0.22 Will there be downloadable free content as well?
Yes, there will be a Vanguard Live Team in charge of refreshing and revamping existing areas.
2.0.23 Will there be monthly content, like a story arc, that will continually progress?
Perhaps -- it's something we are considering. More on this later.