Chronicles of Martuk

Beta Evolution

By Martuk

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Beta as we know is a
time of tweaking, changing, evolving...and sometimes pain and agony. I
was invited to beta just after the start of phase 2 and during that
time I have seen the game go through many changes. Systems came and
went and many more were tweaked and adjusted. Here's an inside look at
the journey from here to there.



During my time in beta I saw combat in its older form. This system,
while intuitive, was very slow. What it did offer was options on how
best to fight your battle, and enough time to make crucial decisions.
The system was not perfect however and was eventually revamped. The
combat that exists now is significantly different and the speed of the
battle flows pretty quickly. A new con system was added to allow
players to determine if a mob was fit for them. Color con is only part
of the equation. There are also dots that represent a
creature’s difficulty. One to two dots are fit for a solo
person while 2-4 can be a duo or trio, five and six…well,
let’s just say you want to be in a good group or maybe even a
raid.



href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=vtth-screenshots&id=Famous_rat&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> style="border: 2px solid ; width: 150px; height: 120px; float: left;"
alt="Sigil's placeholder rat"
title="Sigil's placeholder rat (click to enlarge)"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/vtth-screenshots/Famous_rat.thumb.jpg"
hspace="4" vspace="2">In my many adventures
through Telon I saw many dungeons and creatures. Sigil spared no
expense when it came to filling the world with a variety of mobs. There
are plenty of things in Telon to see. Some of my groups were more
interesting than others. I think this mouse (image at left) is a prime
example of it. We came to call him the Sigil mouse and he brought us
many laughs through our beta days. This was one of the more comical
placeholders Sigil put in until they could get the real mob
into the game. Some others included piranha-like fish that swam across
the land. [Editor's Note:
I'm pleased to say that the walking fish we saw in an earlier
incarnation of beta still exist--keep an eye out for them! At one time,
they were placeholders for mantises near Lomshir. We affectionately
called them Darwin fish. -Shayalyn]



Diplomacy also got a facelift. When I first tried this system I was not
impressed, but it has evolved into a really fun and interesting part of
the game. In early incarnations of this system you would hail an NPC
(non-player character) and enter into a dialog in a pop-up
chat window. Then you would use a series of skills,
much like those used in combat, to try and win the parley.
Sigil though was on top of things, though. This version was yanked and
a new one installed. The new system is much like playing a game of
Magic the Gathering. You will engage in a parley and play from your
hand of diplomacy cards to win your debate. Sometimes the conversations
are a bit comical, but overall this is one sphere to try when you're in
Telon. href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=vtth-screenshots&id=New_Targonor_Beta_2_5&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> style="border: 2px solid ; width: 150px; height: 120px; float: right;"
alt="New Targonor in Beta 2.5"
title="New Targonor in Beta 2.5 (click to enlarge)"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/vtth-screenshots/New_Targonor_Beta_2_5.thumb.jpg"
hspace="4" vspace="2">



The crafting system in my opinion is one of the best I've seen
thus far in an MMO. You have the option of specializing certain areas
of your profession, and you have a variety of ways to influence aspects
of the item. Powders that add enhancements are one example. During the
crafting process you will encounter complications, but before hand you
will have the opportunity to choose items from your tool belt to help
you counter these problems. The goal of crafting is to finish your
given item in as high a quality possible before you use all your action
points. You then, if need be assemble the item. Experience is gained
through doing work orders for town people, so don’t get the
idea that you can march in and flood the economy with newbie armor and
benefit from experience on it.



Many things have come and gone, but the one thing I was glad to see go
was Sigil's testing of the Bind on Equip system, or BoE for short. This
was tested in game a while back. All items became BoE so when you put
them on they were yours forever, becoming no-drop. This system has
since been modified to an optional bind system which allows the player,
if they so choose, to bind gear to their character and keep it on the
character even if they die.



href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=vtth-screenshots&id=Altar&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> style="border: 2px solid ; width: 150px; height: 120px; float: left;"
alt="Altar" title="Altar (click to enlarge)"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/vtth-screenshots/Altar.thumb.jpg"
hspace="4" vspace="2">One of the biggest
debates among the Vanguard beta community arose from changes to the
death penalty. I will tell you now that I am a huge supporter of making
it hurt when you die, and I was very skeptical over this new system
Sigil implemented on death. In beta 2 outposts in the
wilderness were places you could bind if you chose. If you died you
would return to that bind spot and have to try and retrieve your
corpse. This sometimes meant running 2 or more chunks away and that, my
friends, is a pretty long run. The new system puts altars in each area.
If you die now you go to one of those altars and your corpse run is a
bit shorter. I came to like this system even through my skepticism.
Death does indeed still sting. When you die you can try to get
resurrected or do a corpse run and thus gain the experience back, or
you can summon the corpse to an altar for a small fee and lose the
experience, but get your gear back. This system actually turned out
well and in all honesty I think it will work out better for everyone.



Vanguard is a game to watch and is developing nicely. Telon is massive
and beautiful and once the testing is done I have no href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=vtth-screenshots&id=Khal_from_a_distance&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> style="border: 2px solid ; width: 150px; height: 120px; float: right;"
alt="Khal from a distance"
title="Khal from a distance (click to enlarge)"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/vtth-screenshots/Khal_from_a_distance.thumb.jpg"
hspace="4" vspace="2"> doubts this will be
an incredible world for any fan of the MMO genre. Vanguard has made
improvements by leaps and bounds since beta 2 and things are
only going to get better. The world to me has more content than any
other MMO on the market at the moment and even more to come. You will
find no shortage of things to do here. With launch only a short time
away many are anticipating their first steps into this world. When your
moment comes to step into Telon, take a moment to admire what the devs
have created because one can not set foot into a city like Leth Nurae
and not experience it. See you in Telon!

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