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I was fortunate enough to sit down a number of gaming industry legends at the Game Developers Conference this year, but none were more engaging than Jeff Butler of Sigil Games Online, the development team that brought you Vanguard: Saga of Heroes.

Jeff Butler,President and Exec. Producer; April Jones, Senior Manager for marketing and PR; and Ryan Elam, Director of Technology sat down with our team in San Francisco to chat about Vanguard, the industry in general and even real money transactions.

Here's a snippet referencing how World of Warcraft may have helped create Vanguard players;

"When they implemented raids and more group-based dungeons at the end they transitioned X million solo/casual gameplayers to our type of game. One that strongly encourages grouping and those players found it is near impossible to get the good items when you’re a high-level player unless you’re in a group. They knew for a fact, from their numbers, what size everything needed to be to achieve optimum usage for their players. They literally settled the game into the market that they knew they had. That’s what we’re in the business of doing."

Our good man Cody tells it more eloquently than I ever could in his three-part article, "An Interview with the Sigil Team"

The game has polarized the community that loves/hates it. Have you tried it? If so, what did you think of it?

[Vote, rank, share, comment!]

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Guild Management has never been easier! Not sure what GuildPortal is, or what it can do for your Guild? Click here to read about what GuildPortal is, why it's the most imitated, and why people have been using GP since October of 2001 to host their Guild web sites!

Exclusive TenTonHammer.com Content!

03.22.2007

• Analyzing The Western MMO Marketplace
  "A recent MMO market report raised some interesting questions regarding the current state of gaming affairs in North America and Europe. Cody "Micajah" Bye takes a moment to analyze these facts, disagree with some of the reports predictions, and alleviate fears the report may engender."
• Blog: Ralsu - My Favourite Bugs
  "In his latest blog, Ralsu examines a few different meaning of the word "bug" and shares his favorites from Vanguard."
• Blog: Xerin - Twitter Scares Me
  "Xerin's blog has been updated with a new post all about the hit new social networking service, Twitter. Why exactly does Twitter scare Xerin? Is it the web 2.0 spreading further and further after five years or is it something else? Find out in the latest blog entry in "heal plz"!"
• Dungeons and Dragons Online: Vault of Night 1: The Tharask Arena
  "No, that really is the password. Find out this and much more with the first quest guide leading to an epic battle with Velah the red dragon in Khalas's quest guide, Vault of Night One, The Tharask Arena!"
• EverQuest 2: Status Loot Guide
  "EQ2's Status Loot Guide has now been updated to include tier 8 status items! We also updated some of previous information to include changes that had been made to status rewards."
• EverQuest 2: Brell Day - A Keg Of Your Very Own
  "Brell Day is here and if you missed last years event, here is your second chance to grab up a reward for your inn room, not to mention some experience. We've got your walkthrough for this quest so don't disappoint Brell, and get started!"
• Pirates of the Burning Sea: Video Preview
  "Flying Lab Software's Jess Lebow introduces us to some never before-seen aspects of the swashbuckling, cannonball-lobbing Age of Sail MMORPG Pirates of the Burning Sea. New to the game: avatar combat, the supernatural (completely optional, for you straight-laced Patrick O'Brien types), and a look at some of the recent improvements to the at-sea interface."
• Vanguard: Saga of Heroes - UI Database
  "Nadger has updated his very popular Core UI to revision 5.5 Check it out and download it from our UI database today with no need to log in or register!"
• Vanguard: Saga of Heroes - Harvested Resources Chart
  "As harvesters are finding more and more resources in Telon, we're bringing the information directly to you. Our harvested resources chart now provides information on resources through tier 6. We still have some blanks to fill in, so be sure to contribute if you've harvested some ultra-rare goodies."
• Vanguard: Saga of Heroes - Interview With Jeff Butler
  "In all the hustle and bustle of GDC, it's easy to lose track of the games that aren't "upcoming" or "on the horizon". The Ten Ton Hammer team was careful to cover all the bases, and our latest interview focuses on Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, a game that was released earlier this year. We sat down with several members of the Sigil team - Jeff Butler, April Jones, and Ryan Elam - to find out what the future holds for Vanguard and MMOs in general."

Hot Content

• Vanguard: Saga of Heroes - Interview With Jeff Butler
• Pirates of the Burning Sea: Video Preview
• Analyzing The Western MMO Marketplace
• Huxley: GDC Screenshots
• Dungeons and Dragons Online: Interview With James Jones
• GDC: Gods and Heroes: Exclusive Gameplay Footage
• GDC: Hero's Journey: Exclusive In-Game Video
• GDC: Vivox: Interview With Monty Sharma And Rob Seaver
• GDC: Hero's Journey: Interview With Eric Slick
• GDC: Fury: Hands-On
• GDC: EVE Online: Interview With Magnus Bergsson

Real World News - You Can't Make This Up

• Woman Is Allergic To Technology
  And she isn't over the age of 65
• Slobs Are More Productive [Thanks Matt]
  Your boss owes you a raise.
• Paper Viagra Burnt For Afterlife Sex In China [Thanks Matt]
  Origami orgasms?

Vin Diesel Fact: The movie telling the story of Vin Diesel's single-handed victory over the Persian nations at Thermopylae will be called "1".

Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com

- John "Boomjack" Hoskin

You can read previously enjoyed editions of Loading... in the blog archive.