Will there be monthly content, like a story arc, that will continually progress? *
Perhaps -- it's something we are considering. More on this later.
From the Official Vanguard FAQ (original entry).
Will there be a faction system? *
Yes. More on this later.
From the Official Vanguard FAQ (original entry).
Will there be an alignment system? *
Yes and no. There will not be a traditional system where you decide the initial alignment of your character. Alignments will be implicit, not explicit, and more related to what your character does and how he or she interacts with various factions and other entities in-game.
From the Official Vanguard FAQ (original entry).
Can we be good, evil, or neutral? *
You are free to role-play different alignments, but you won't explicitly select an alignment at character creation.
From the Official Vanguard FAQ (original entry).
Will this affect how we play the game and how the game reacts to us? *
Your characters actions and the decisions you make will affect various outcomes, including those of factions, quests, etc.
From the Official Vanguard FAQ (original entry).
Is the gameplay more ‘Twitch’ or more ‘Strategic’ or a balance between the two? *
Definitely a balance between the two. MMOGs are not twitch games, but they also don't need to involve boring encounters where you turn on auto-attack and sit back and watch. We plan on adding quite a bit of excitement and decision making to combat and other gameplay areas.
From the Official Vanguard FAQ (original entry).
What kind of focus and priority do you place on the newbie experience? Will there be a tutorial? *
The newbie experience and not intimidating new players with information overload is very important. The depth and detail behind the game will be unveiled gradually for the new player.
There will definitely be a tutorial.
From the Official Vanguard FAQ (original entry).
Will Vanguard: Saga of Heroes support voice communication? *
Yes. More details to follow.
From the Official Vanguard FAQ (original entry).
What about in-game mapping and navigation? Will it be present and how will it work? *
We have some pretty cool ideas on how to integrate mapping and navigation without spoiling the fun of exploration and earning the privilege to experience higher level areas.
From the Official Vanguard FAQ (original entry).
Will I be able to alt-tab and/or run the client in a window? *
We made the decision to try to keep EverQuest non-switchable back in the day, and it was a tough call. It's one of those instances where you are penalizing the many for the problems caused by the few That said, EverQuest's been one of the least macro-able, hackable games. We took a tough stance on cheating and we think that turned out to be one of the reasons the game has remained as compelling as it has, aging pretty well.
All that said, Vanguard will be switchable/windowable/minimizable because of the way newer operating systems and graphics APIs work. And, honestly, we’re glad. The additional challenges to keep the game as 'cheat-free' as possible are more than worth the effort, and we'll also do our best to impact the average, honest gamer as little as possible.
From the Official Vanguard FAQ (original entry).
Is the game first person, third person, or what? How does camera control work? *
Our philosophy is to pretty much allow the player to put the camera where he or she wants. Third person, first person, whatever -- it's a matter of preference (for example, some people are almost always in first person unless in a complicated battle, and then switch to 3rd and pan the camera around as necessary). Pretty much as long as one can't put the camera through a wall or a mile down the road, it's all good.
We also really like the use of the mouse wheel to switch between 1st and 3rd. We think this is another area where it should be totally user-configurable. Do you like first person view? Go for it. Third person? Great.
Keyboard only movement? Quake-style keyboard and mouse? Point and click where you want to go? Have some whacky blindness & nausea inducing bleeding-edge VR helmet? Go to the 'movement options screen' and choose.
From the Official Vanguard FAQ (original entry).
How will the User Interface work? Will it use XML skins? Will it be customizable? *
The UI will come with several different configurations and also be configurable by the user. Tom King, who is well known for his contributions to MMOG UIs, is responsible at Sigil for taking customizability and UI design to the next level.
From the Official Vanguard FAQ (original entry).