4.1. How long have you been working on Vanguard and how far along are you guys in development right now (September, 2005)?
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.
Source: Official FAQ
4.2. When will you start Beta Testing?
Sigil Games Online has entered Phase 1 of our Beta Program! And, as promised, our Community Members will have the first opportunity to apply for it!
We will begin sending out emails today to everyone that has registered on our forum through today with an invitation to apply for Beta 1. Follow the instructions in the email and you are on your way!
Once you have submitted your application, your name will be added to our list of potential Beta participants. Qualified applicants will be selected for the program and added gradually, as we need more and more players throughout the course of Beta.
Please remember that this is an invitation to apply for Beta. If you qualify and are selected at any stage, you will be notified.
So check your email and submit your application! I am sure I will see many of you in Beta soon! We have been looking forward to this for a long time! - mid October 2005
Source: Abigail Seashadow
4.3. How many people are already in Beta? Why haven't I received my invitation to apply?
Hey all!
First of all, thanks for all of the well wishes! It is certainly a very exciting time for us here at Sigil and within the Vanguard Community.
Let me try to answer some of the questions that have been coming my way since my post last night. I'm sorry, but there is no way I can respond to and answer all of the emails and messages I am getting. So hopefully answering some of them here will be helpful
Why haven’t I gotten my email yet?
The emails are being sent in small batches. Some went out today, more will go out next week and so on until everyone who was registered on the forum at that time has been sent one. So give it some time. I’ll let you know when they have all been sent.
What if my email is incorrect or if I just registered for the forums?
Once we have completed the process of getting the emails sent to registered forum members, we will go back and resend those for whom the email address has been updated and people who joined after the announcement.
Once I have completed the application, how soon until I am playing Vanguard?
Completing the application process is no guarantee that you will get into Beta. And if you are selected, don’t expect the process to be overnight. There will be a number of steps for you to complete and the process takes a little while. You might even be asked to participate in a phone interview. This is the same process our friends and family went through when they applied for the program.
Will everyone on the Forum eventually get into Beta?
That’s highly unlikely unless we do an open Beta at some point, but that is still being determined. We will continue to add as many people as we need throughout Beta and our first choice will always be to accept community members first.
How will you go about selecting participants?
Once you have submitted your application, your name will be added to a list of potential participants. Each week, we will add the needed number of people from that list. Sometimes, they will be chosen based on our specific needs for testing (for example, we might need more testers that play during a particular time of day) and sometimes, names will be chosen pretty much at random.
What about people that won Beta spots at Fanguard or as a contest prize? How is that any different than the rest of the people that are invited?
The difference is that the winners of these contests will be selected for participation right away. Assuming they meet all of the requirements of participating in Beta, they will be processed and into the program very soon. They will not have to wait and hope to get picked.- mid October 2005
Source: Abigail Seashadow
Yes. We'll get them out as fast as we can. It does take time to do this, to process everything, to make sure it's all working. We're not going to guessimate how long it will take and then be wrong. I'd rather just be up front with you guys as say "I don't know". We want to get all of you applied so we can go through all the applications as much as you want to make sure you're applied. We want the same thing here guys.
As I posted elsewhere, I fear there will be much greater frustration after everyone has applied and then people don't get accepted, or don't get accepted until beta 2 or 3 or 4. We cannot disclose our criteria for who gets in and when. That wouldn't be right to do. But some of you will feel like you are then left hanging and become frustrated. I can understand that and all I can say is I'm sorry in advance, but I don't see any other way to do it.
1. We can't have everyone in beta all at once. We have certain #s of people we need in at certain times.
2. We have different criteria for different phases. We are going to be picky. We are going to bring in the people we think will help us test the best, relative to what phase we're in and where we're at. No matter what, that means many of you won't be in when others are and you'll get upset/frustrated/etc. You won't think it's fair and not knowing our criteria, you'll not know if your frustration is even justified or not.
As excited as I am about beta and seeing more and more people in the game and having the game move forward towards release, I also am bummed and saddened because I know people will be frustrated and disappointed. All I can say is that I'm sorry but I don't know of a better way to do all of this. Ultimately we have to do what we feel is best for the game.
Lastly, I will say this, and I don't like to, because I don't like to be negative or appear threatening. But guys, do be civil towards each other. Please don't slam on someone for not posting as much, or not having been a member of the boards for as long as you or somebody else. While, like I said, we won't disclose our criteria for what type of tester gets in when, I will say that if we see somebody being a jerk to other people on this board about all of this that will affect our decision. Being a jerk on these boards makes me fairly confident that it's likely you'd be a jerk in-game, and I will disclose this: we don't want jerks in beta if we can help it.
To that vast majority of you who are being civil, I apologize for needing to say the above. - mid October 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
My guess is that actual beta 1 testers will be in-game either this next week or the week after. It's a matter of approving the first batch, getting the NDAs taken care of, them downloading the client, making sure passwords are set up, etc. Takes a bit of time, but not too much.
Then we'll continue to get as many more beta 1 testers in as quickly as we can. Right now we're at the point (hence our starting beta 1) that we need a lot more people in the game to test things, including critical mass. One issue is there aren't always enough people online for testers to find groups, which is obviously frustrating. So we will bring more and more people in until we have enough for now, enough being the critical mass needed for people to find groups and test the content that is there. I don't have that number yet. In EQ we jumped from 50 or so to a number under 500. But with Vanguard being so much larger, we will need more. Right now more than half of Thestra is turned on, and the rest of it will be ready to turn on in a few weeks. As I've mentioned so many times, the world is BIG. So we're going to need a lot of people.
One short term goal is to get all of Thestra sans the very high level areas online as quickly as possible and then turn on small parts of Qalia. - mid October 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
Point of fact #1: The email will come from [email protected]. It will have Vanguard in the subject line. It will not come from sigilgames.com.
Point of fact #2: I have almost finished sending out the applications to everyone who had registered on the forums prior to the announcement of Beta 1. That should be finished within the next few days -- certainly this week sometime.
Point of fact #3: When I finish that process, we're going to go back and update each email address that has changed. This is going to be a very labor intensive process, but one that we'll do, but it will not be a fast process.
Point of fact #4: Abi posted in the Beta 0 thread when we announced that people needed to keep their information up to date to ensure eligibility. Many people did change and update their information at that time -- I can't force people to keep their information current, though.
Point of fact #5: Once all of the updates are processed and the people who joined between the date we pulled the information and the day we pull the next batch, we will run a pull once a week or therabouts to process any new people.
Yes, we have invited people already. We gave people who have been a part of the community the longest, and kept their information current, the first opportunity to participate. There are many things that we use to determine who is chosen -- but I'll be frank, some of it is just luck. We look at a variety of things, often different things every batch, to try to give us the right mix of people that we want at this very early stage. Once I have an eligible pool of people who meet the qualifications for that batch that week, it then just becomes a lottery.
I wish we could give everyone an opportunity to test that wants to test, but Ryan's head might explode with a pile of people in newbie areas... - 31 October 2005
Source: Ozuri
4.4. Will the Beta client be mailed or downloadable?
How will beta clients be distributed: The other cool thing is that we are distributing beta via download, where way back in EQ it was on CD. This made it harder/more expensive to distribute world wide. Now that so many more people have broadband, we can have people download the beta clients regardless of where they are at. - late October 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
4.5. How will Beta Testing work?
Our preference would be to break it into phases and involve more and more people each phase.
Source: Official FAQ
4.6. Will we be asked to test particular things?
I could see some very focused testing, like, hey we need you guys to try this new psionicist ability or see if you like our adjustment to rescue, but that will likely be the exception not the rule. More often, in terms of 'focused' testing I see scenarios like a designer just finishes tuning a mid/high level dungeon and posts, planning a date and time for all interested to head to that dungeon so he best and most efficiently gets the feedback he needs.
Also, the more people that are in beta (the later the phase) the more un-directed testing makes sense and is also that much more valuable (there are so many things in MMOGs that just don't reveal themselves until thousands of people are in-game... not just the sheer numbers, but the fact that if it isn't overly focused testing we also get to see the bigger picture: how different aspects of the game work with each other. And this, IMHO, is where a lot of the magic comes from in these games, that the sum is greater than the parts).
Source: Aradune Mithara
4.7. 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.
Source: Official FAQ
4.8. Will there be multiple phases?
Beta for Vanguard will likely be 5 phases, not 4 as originally planned
Source: Aradune Mithara May 3, 2006
4.9. How many phases of beta are you planning for and any insight as to what the phases are each to accomplish... What general principles you are looking for in each phase?
I can answer generally:
Phase 0 : work out issues between Sigil and Microsoft -- 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. Preferably have at least one full continent online for people to explore and play in.
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. Preferably have all or most of the world online for people to explore and play in.
Phase 3: Fill up a server. Determine the target number of people in a single shard, preferably arriving with a number in between over populated and too sparsely populated. Continue to monitor how fast people are advancing, plus everything else that was in phase 1 and 2. This probably should be the longest phase. Test even more high level areas, but probably not the highest level areas, unless with specific, hand chosen focus groups.
Phase 4: 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
Source: Aradune Mithara
Beta 1 spreads this magic around, gets more of the world up.
Beta 2 tests multiple continents, much more fully featured mechanics, clas abilities, etc.
Beta 3 we load up a full world (and it's going to take a lot) and bang on it and fix what fall's off .
Beta 4 is brief where we test multiple shards, the billing system, etc.
Then Launch!
But no, we don't rest then. 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. - late October 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
4.10.1. Do you have a staff dedicated to sort beta app's?
There is no staff who works on Beta apps. It's me.
Some very powerful software, and yours truly.
And as I said, I look through each application, filter out the ones that I'm not looking for that week, filter down to the people that I do need that week, and then look at that pool and apply a bit of random luck.
Abigaile submits her recommendations from the Community, as does Glip (although those ones get shoved in the Naughty Bin)... and those, at times, can be handled separately or part of another batch.
I mean no offense by this, but to imply that we don't look at the one source of existing data in which 2 staff people are fully vested and 3 years worth of work has gone into creating as a gating criteria for Beta access and the feedback that will be generated to craft the game into the game we believe it needs to be in order to be successful is simply naive. (holy smokes, could that sentence be any longer?)
Source: Ozuri
4.10.2. Will forum community participation increase the chances of being selected for beta?
I do want to make another point and address an issue I've seen oft repeated on these threads and hopefully put a fork in it, put it to bed, or some other equally appropriate metaphor.
That issue is this: The people who have posted in violation of their NDA as non-active members of the community and the criticism that has been levelled at them and at Sigil as a result.
Let me explain something -- not everyone who posts on these forums is a community member first. Unfortunately, some of those people have been wives & husbands of employees, external vendors and engineers who are helping to optimize the game, or friends of the company who have given of their time, expertise, or knowledge to help build Sigil and Vanguard. Sometimes they post in the wrong place -- and we're improving our processes to help prevent these things in the future.
But let's not castigate anyone who has a low post count, is newly registered, or hasn't met the arbitrary criteria of the self-appointed elitist Forum court. They may have given more to Vanguard than you realize in the form of the time of their parent or mate -- their knowledge of hardware occlusion queries, or their support in a myriad of other tangible and measurable ways. December 20, 2005 (Beta 2)
Source: Ozuri
4.10.3. Why can't your selections be based only on hardware compatability?
When we looked at peoples' system specs, we knew, at that stage of development, that we needed people who had a certain system setup. This was not the only factor at the time, but it was a factor that we used to determine who could play the game as we intended and who could not. We figured, perhaps wrongly, that people would rather know that they couldn't get the experience we wanted at the time rather than being either added in and unable to play well, or not added in at all.
For instance, at present, the installer requires Windows XP. Windows 2000 will not work. Will it always be this way? I can't say for certain. But it's the way it is now, and we didn't want to accept a bunch of people and then tell them, "Welcome to Vanguard, now go buy a new OS."
Yes, we can pull from the pool who already have a system that specs up the way we need at this phase - but we chose to open it up to as many people as possible.
We have looked at people who have a particular brand of Video card, a particular sound card, people who do or do not have a certain amount of RAM -- all these things have been criteria in the past.
The point is, the questions we asked map to various needs that we may have at any given point. And those needs change. December 20, 2005 (Beta 2)
Source: Ozuri
4.10.4. Do people outside the US have a chance to become beta testers?
True, we want people from all over, because of what you mention above and for a variety of other reasons, including we want feedback and perspective from as many different people from different regions of the RL world as possible too. - October 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
We may need people in Europe, or Australia to even out player counts, to test latency, or to provide localized feedback. - December 20, 2005 (Beta 2)
Source: Ozuri
4.10.5. What can I do to DECREASE my chance of being a beta tester?
Hey guys, I'd just like to remind everyone that getting banned from these forums means getting banned from beta as well.. - September 2005
Source: Glip the Gnome
Lastly, I will say this, and I don't like to, because I don't like to be negative or appear threatening. But guys, do be civil towards each other. Please don't slam on someone for not posting as much, or not having been a member of the boards for as long as you or somebody else. While, like I said, we won't disclose our criteria for what type of tester gets in when, I will say that if we see somebody being a jerk to other people on this board about all of this that will affect our decision. Being a jerk on these boards makes me fairly confident that it's likely you'd be a jerk in-game, and I will disclose this: we don't want jerks in beta if we can help it. - mid October 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
If you send Aradune Mithara an email asking to be in beta…
Doing so will actually make it less likely that you will make it into beta. Sorry to be a jerk here, but I can't have my inbox fill up everyday with emails asking to be in beta one and with all of your reasons why you should be in beta. Thanks for understanding. - mid October 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
4.10.6. Can I give someone else my beta account if I can't use it?
If you have a beta account under NDA, part of the agreement is that its non-transferable, so yeah, we'd ban you or worse. - August 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
4.11. Have I missed out on being a beta tester?
First, beta 1 and 2 are a ways away (especially 2).
We're going to need a lot of people for those phases, and even more for 3 and 4.
So we're not EVEN close to filling spots for future beta phases. So no one needs to worry about slots filling up or some such, nor assume that because we let a fanguard attender in that it means that you won't be in.
It's not the time for me to talk about how we will reward board members, frequent posters, posters who have contributed a lot, had great ideas, feedback, etc., other than to say I do intend to reward people.
All that said, I understand your frustration. But I honestly don't know how I could make everyone happy at this point. No matter what, some people aren't going to get in, or won't get into the phase they want to, or some such. No matter how hard we try to support the community, to be open, to reward contributors, etc., some people are going to feel they didn't get what they should have. Now, that doesn't mean I'm not going to try anyway, but it is true. Please try to put yourself in my shoes. -early August 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
Keep in mind. We are either done or close to inviting 20,000+ people to APPLY for beta.
Then we pull from that pull using sekret rituals and other above top sekret methods when we need more people in beta. So we have this huge pool, but only 300-400 have been actually invited in. I'm filling up beta 1 as fast as I can because we have a lot of Thestra online now and are suffering from lack of critical mass (underpopulation). But I'm stopped at times, like right now, when we reach points where we have to optimize network code, frame rate, or whatever. Right now there's a bug where if more than 50 or so people are in a chunk, and they are when we invite people in because most people start in Brennan's Stead, the newbie human area, where we are getting some bad lag. Shouldn't be too hard to fix, but lots of things going on in coding, all priority one.
As soon as this is addressed, I will be pulling in another 400 or so, and keep going until it feels right relative to the size of the world we have online (which is also growing soon to be all of Thestra). - 28 October 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
4.12.1. How is beta progressing? Any major problems? How's the game?
I will say this, and though I am naturally biased, I am being both honest and blunt:
When it comes to the grouping core game, we found the magic. We really did. Makes me in a really good mood too. When I come home from a long day at work and know I need to play Vanguard beta for 3-4 hours, it makes it easier that the game is truly fun at its core.
That said, there's a lot of work to be done. We've pretty much made the next spritual EQ, so to speak. But there's a lot more to be done. The other spheres are in, but need work. Casual content needs work. The newbie experience needs polish. The UI shows a lot of information but we somehow need to make it just show the relevant information based on who you are, what class you are, what level, where, etc.
But then we're in Beta 1. So overall, I give us a pretty good grade. I could complain to you all day long, but I could sing praises all day long just as accurately. I feel we're in a good spot but with a lot of work ahead of us, but we know what that work is, and we know the core of the game is good. To be a little crass, we are not polishing a turd.
So our goal other than to obviously get what we need to get done in terms of schedules, goals, milestones, etc. is to try to expand that magic and interleave it into this core foundation we have of fun.
No, I can't guarantee you'll react the same way. I can't guarantee we will bring the magic back for YOU personally. And arguably some of the magic related to MMOGs being new is gone for us old school guys. But we're feeling it -- I'm feeling it.
Ton of work, but achievable (though we are pushing the team hard -- thank you Sigil team!). It's not the 9 months of straight crunch time that it took to ship EQ, but it's getting there. Going to be hard on the team, and the testers, especially the early ones. It's fun, but it's rough. Yeah, you crash. In the middle of a dungeon. And you log back in and the NPCs kill you before you can flee. Stuff like that. I'm up front with you guys. But it's the same problems (arguably not as bad over all, but we have some new problems too with all of the new tech, learning to work with MSFT, etc.) that happen when you make an MMOG. Experience helps, but unless you are cloning your previous game and/or aren't very ambitious (and we are, to say the least, ambitious), there are new challenges every time.
Anyway, 'nuff said. I believe the magic is there at the core and now we just need to spread it around the full depth and breadth of the game. Specifically I am having more fun in a 6-8 man group in a level 30 or so dungeon than I ever had since I played Sojourn/TorilMUD, and that was a long time ago, so I probably have more favorable and positive memories than are truly accurate. – 27 October 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
4.13. Will there be an NDA?
Most likely, yes, at least during the initial phases.
Source: Official FAQ
I expect the NDA to be lifted around phase 3 or 4. But we'll make that decision as we are closer to the point of needing to make that decision. - late October 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
4.14. Will I be able to keep my beta character after release?
Pretty certain that we won't let people carry their characters forward from Beta, but we will likely come up with some way to "acknowledge" people's participation in the beta ... might be an item, or a title, etc ...
Source: Taranis
4.15. 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.
Source: Official FAQ
January update...
We recently began beta 2. As others have posted we will have at minimum 4 beta phases. Other than to say we will release in 2006, it would be premature for me to be more specific. We are lucky enough to have the lattitude to take the time we need during beta to polish things up, tweak things, re-visit areas that need it, etc.
Although an MMOG is never truly released 'finished' and there is always a lot of work for the Live team to do right away, post-launch, I do want us to try our hardest to launch the game smoothly and to release a quality product. So while there isn't a massive sense of urgency pushing us to rush, at the same time we do need to get the game out the door this year and then move on to live team additions, major expansions, and some other cool post-launch ideas we have.
These games are so huge, and the way we've designed Vanguard, we could work on it another 2 years, but then that's the beauty of an MMOG -- they can constantly be patched, added to, tweaked, expansions can be made, new nifty features planned for since the beginning architecturally (say, mounted flying combat) realized post-launch, etc. I'm really excited about the way we planned, scheduled, and built the foundation that we have -- not only will we release with really exciting features, but we will also be in a position from a code and tools standpoint to keep on going and keep the game updated and exciting as it matures post-launch.
...
You'll know when we're close enough that you might want to run out and buy your Vanguard-PC. Right now I'd say it's too early to do so, unless you want to upgrade for other games already out or soon to be out or if you're a freak like me and like to have an uber-machine. - January 9, 2006
Source: Aradune Mithara
4.16.1. What about DVD key code security?
What about DVD key security?
We won't print the CD key on the outside of the box. Otherwise all you would need to get another copy would be a camera phone.... - January 2006
Source: Taranis
4.17. Where will it be released?
The game will be released internationally.
Source: Official FAQ
4.18. Is there any chance that you'll release the game as a download rather than a retail release, or is it too big to distribute that way?
Folks - it's not really a matter of Internet capacity - as we're proving by having people download the beta client (which is several gigs already).
The real issue is that we need retail distribution to reach beyond the core base of existing MMO players ... and to maintain retail distribution you have to move volume and maintain momentum in the retail channel. Digital distribution will eventually be a major distribution force, but for the foreseeable future, the sale of packaged product (through either retailers or e-tailors) will remain the primary distribution method (at least for MMOs in the launch phase).
Source: Taranis
Correct Talon - you'll see the main sales and marketing push for Vanguard driving people to retail, but you'll likely see us experimenting with several distribution methods (through our partnership with Microsoft, as well as through their relationships with e-tailers and brick & mortar players that're increasingly pushing their business online).– 31 October 2005
Source: Taranis
4.19. 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
Source: Official FAQ
We have no plans to restrict people to a particular server subset based on geography. We may restrict people's access to a French language server if they have purchased the French language version of the game, if they wish to see French. But it is exceedingly unlikely that we will impose geopolitical boundaries.
Source: Ozuri
Not totally decided as of yet, nor entirely something that Sigil has complete control over. My personal preference is that all severs are accessible by anyone. That said, depending on how far we get and to what degree with internationalization and localization, there may be some restrictions. - January 2006
Source: Aradune Mithara
4.20. What about the international (non-USA) release and related timing issues?
It is too early to speculate, and this will be more up to Microsoft and its distribution infrastructure than Sigil.
Source: Official FAQ
4.21. How will you handle the various real world languages and language barriers?
The Vanguard client will employ Unicode and various alphabets and character sets.
Source: Official FAQ
4.22. Will there be translation of in-game content?
It is too early to announce anything in this area.
Source: Official FAQ
4.23. 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.
Source: Official FAQ
4.24. 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?
Microsoft is the distributor 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.
Source: Official FAQ
4.25. Do you plan on having expansions? Why?
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.
Source: Official FAQ
MMOG players want expansions. They want new content. New stuff to do.
You simply can't do big stuff with only a live team. First, they should be focussing on enhancing the existing world and keeping it fresh. Secondly, from a financial standpoint, you just can't use the revenue from the existing game's sales and subscription fees to fund entire expansion teams. You really can't. No, we're not being greedy bastards, though it is good if we make a little money.
So you set up deals to make expansions by funding the expansion team based on revenue you figure it will generate when it comes out. This is just the way it works if you want the expansions I think most of you want. It costs a lot of money to fund the expansion team after launch.
It's also very beneficial to get another SKU into the channel. Having an expansion box sitting at EB next to the regular game helps sales. It just does. Eventually you do what EQ and others have done and release a new core box with the original game and the older expansions. But you still want a shiny new box sitting next to it.
When an expansion comes out, not only does it sell, but the core game sales go up too. It gets more people's attention. It works.
So I see this model continuing for some time. From my perspective I need to know I can put a new box out every 9-12 months to revive sales and to generate revenue from the expansion selling itself. Doing that get's us the advances we need to make these expansions, so you can see why I would feel pretty strongly about it, both as a gamer and as CEO of Sigil.
Our responsibility, of course, is to make sure the buying the expansion was worth it. That it was enough in it to justify its own SKU. Assuming we do that, I think the current method is good for publishers, developers, and gamers. - 28 October 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
4.26. 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.
Source: Official FAQ
4.27. Would expansions be store-bought or episodic (patched), or both?
Hopefully both. More on this later.
Source: Official FAQ
4.28. Will there be downloadable free content as well?
Yes, there will be a Vanguard Live Team in charge of refreshing and revamping existing areas.
Source: Official FAQ
4.29. How will you manage expansions trivialising current content?
This is a huge focus of the design for Vanguard (and echoes a similar problem that we saw with AC2 - where areas became ghost towns as people levelled through them). The plan/goal with Vanguard is that there will be incentives for players to move between and through areas repeatedly throughout the lifecycle of their characters - to experience content in different spheres, to establish trade routes for in-game goods, etc. Solving the population/flow challenges are a huge part of the focus for Vanguard.
Source: Taranis
So, with Vanguard we're definitely doing that. We have many expansions planned out to some degree, what the sequence should probably be, and then what sort of mobs one should face at these different levels. Our hope is that this advanced planning will help in a lot of ways, including running through traditionally very powerful creatures and entities at hopefully the right time and not too early.
Source: Aradune Mithara
I'm not going to tell you that we won't make errors and that some regions of the world won't be at times more popular. I will say that we will do our best to avoid this, however, and that we've learned from the past. With EQ in particular, the Old World was almost totally ignored. With Vanguard we will have a live team dedicated to keeping the Old World up to date, revamped, etc. A separate team will work on the longer term expansions.
With some games, though they've been around a while and technically have a TON of zones/areas, from my perspective they really don't. If you allow new expansions to invalidate or make obsolete your pre-existing content you're in one sense not really adding, you're replacing.
I really don't want to see that happen in Vanguard, we've given various solutions and plans a LOT of thought, and like I mentioned, budgeted for two distinct groups of developers.
Source: Aradune Mithara
I very much agree. We cannot just let the old world die. Too many players had great experiences there. There are memories. Tales. And from a developer perspective, you have virtual environments that real people poured their hearts and souls into to create. We can't let them be discarded if we have any choice at all. I've heard stories about other games where a player sees a dungeon once or twice, and then outlevels it, never to see it again. Huge, detailed, interesting, artistically pleasing dungeons. Only run through once or twice. This goes far beyond TLC, and by no means do I think TLC is a magic bullet that suddenly preserves the old world. Hopefully a component, a part of that effort -- we shall see.
It really gets down to, and I know I'm getting off topic, sorry... but it gets down to preservation of content. One of the challenges in creating art, including commercial art (which computer games could be considered -- they are most definitely an art form, but also created to make money), is when it's linked to technology..
An author can come back and write the fourth book to his series of novels 10 years after he finsihed the third. The book, the medium which he used to share his world and story, doesn't become obsolete. TSR can likewise continue to add to the paper & pencil world of, say, Forgotten Realms, over a period of more than a decade, with all sorts of people contributing to this fantasy world, without fear that the details, the stories, the art will be lost. Not so with computer and video games. Technology moves so quickly we have to throw out much of what we create when the next rev comes around. MMOGs have been more resiliant here, because they can patch, engines are updated, more polys are added, or some new tech that doesn't invalidate existing art assets..
But it still happens. How can we build virtual worlds that last? I don't know that we can, but I would like to see them extended. The lifespan of EQ has blown me away. But not in every way. It's lasted, but a lot of the world hasn't. The economy has deteriorated. Technology changes. MUDflation is arguably inescapable. .
I don't have the all encompassing solution (nor would I probably share it with you if I did), but I think we can extend the life of these worlds by keeping them fresh with live teams. Areas can be repopulated, reitemized. They can be adjusted in difficulty due to MUDflation if necessary. With more modular and better planned technology, display engines, and tools, these games can stay relatively modern looking longer. And the older regions can be updated to a significant extent without having to just throw out the old and then replicate the new, exactly or in spririt, using better tools and tech. .
Pie in the sky? You bet. Not going to happen over night either. But it's on my mind and I'm sure it's on the mind of many MMOG developers. MMOGs make money more from long term retention subscription fees than by box sales. Extending the life of these games and worlds makes good business sense then too. But the gamer benefits big time too. He gets to, eventually, enjoy a world with more detail, depth, quantity, quality, etc. One that has been added to, tweaked, enhanced over years. And he can still enjoy or re-experience that older part of the world... perhaps it was kept the same for nostalgia, or revamped, repopulated, etc. Maybe it looks a bit different because of engine upgrades and new tech. But it's still there. And then if the content is kept fresh and there is a reason to go to these places whether the game just launched or has 4 expansions already, all the better. .
I ramble, but it's something on my mind and many others when they think long term. We've built a lot of these ideas into Vanguard, and more will be manifested later. Mechanics like TLC will be tried out in beta to see if might help keep areas attractive to players. We have lots of other ideas too. And as much of a techie that I am, I'm also not going to be held subject to it if I don't have to. If it makes the world more immersive, great. If it allows us to create a deeper or more detailed experience, great. If it encourages us to throw away works of art and worlds where people and communities have flourished, then we should at least attempt to slow that more negative aspect of advancing technology. -Late October 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
4.30. Will there be monthly content, like a story arc, that will continually progress?
Perhaps -- it's something we are considering. More on this later.
Source: Official FAQ
4.31. Will expansions draw staff away from the current game?
We are committed to having the expansion and live teams seperate, with the latter dedicated to keeping the existing world fresh, tuned, etc. - 27 October 2005
Source: Official FAQ
4.32. What rating are you aiming toward for Vanguard?
What we'll be allowed to have in our attempt to keep a teen rating, however, is as of yet undetermined.
Yes, a teen rating. That is the best rating for our total target audience and so I can sleep at night.
No, that doesn't mean there won't be nasty, scary, evil stuff in the game.
Yes, one can create suspense, fear, trepadation, etc. without having blood spurting everywhere.
Plus, we may not be able to obtain the rating anyway. We shall see. Too early to say/know. - September 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
We will shoot for a teen rating and you won't see anything more 'gory' than you did in EQ -- I don't think that's necessary. - October 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara