September 4th, 2007

Weekly Hot
Topics

Collected by Dalmarus

Due to the mass amounts of "hubbub" being generated with the server
mergers this past week, this issue of the Weekly Hot Topics will be
comprised entirely of threads from the href="http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/forums/list.m">official
Vanguard forums. Some of the issues being discussed are
certainly nothing we haven't seen in game before the mergers, but with
the amount of people on each server at any given time now, they have
become more volatile. While this week's topics focus on various
problems people are voicing, the overall feel on both forums is that
the server merge has been a positive experience. Don't let the topics
below make you think everything is doom and gloom around here!



Since I've also been away from any internet access for the last week
(can you say "withdrawals"?) due to a vacation, it's entirely possible
I haven't listed a topic you think is important for the community to be
aware of! If you've found a
thread you'd like to see featured, href="mailto:[email protected]">send it off
(with a subject of "Weekly Hot Topics"). Or if style="font-weight: bold;">you want to be
featured, start an engaging thread on href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=38">our
forums here.

Official Vanguard Forums

href="http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=17968"> class="maintitle">Mob Camping Etiquette - By Porcelina



Mob camping etiquette - should it exist, or should the servers be a
constant competition? This thread is currently a hot debate, and I
don't see it slowing down any time soon. If it's not against the rules,
some feel they should be able to do whatever it takes to get a spawn.
Others prefer the generally understood rules of older MMO's that were
ruled by a sense of respect and courtesy. So which do you prefer? Hop
into the thread and voice your opinions.



href="http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=17985"> class="maintitle">What lands people on YOUR "Ignore" list? -
By Brashendeavors



With the recent merge, current server populations are far higher at any
given time than all of us are used to. While this means that players
can have an easier time getting groups, meeting new friends, and
feeling like there is a general feeling of activity in the world, it
does have one disadvantage. Yep, you guessed it - more asshats. Are you
the type of player that doesn't let too much get under your skin, or
are you easily irritated and will put someone on your ignore list at
the drop of a hat? If someone makes your list, do they stay there
forever, or do you periodically clear it out?



href="http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=17935"> class="maintitle">Proposed: Take Back Our Region Chat
program - by Iraal



Continuing with the thought of respect and courtesy, I wanted to bring
this thread to the attention of our readers. Again, with the influx of
people, you end up with a higher than normal number of individuals that
seem to make it a point to annoy everyone around them. What's a person
to do? Let them run rampant and "rule the roost" or is there something
that can be done about the offenders? The general consensus has been to
suggest using the /ignore feature as often as possible to save yourself
the hassle of listening to them. Along with putting them on ignore
though, they say you should also refuse to group with anyone on your
list to drive the point home. The hope with this method is that
eventually, the individual will essentially be blacklisted by the fact
that no one can hear them, thus no grouping. Others have suggested
getting a large group to speak completely in roleplay to irritate the
general offenders. While I find this suggestion as funny, who knows how
effective it would be. What are your thoughts?



href="http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=17703">Devs
prepared for land rush part 2? And other guild hall issues. - by
DuckOfDeath



Recently, there have been quite a few questions surrounding Guild Hall
plots. They range from the typical, "Will more spaces be available once
the current plots are all sold?" to the worried, "Have plans to prevent
plot squatting been finalized?". This thread is a good centralized
place to get most of them answered. If you any you'd like to add or
want to see what the latest information on it is, hop in.



href="http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=17043">Crashing
more since Update #2? - by PhAtHoM

While I can't stand the how Phathom decided to type his name (that's
soooo out of style, haha), it's nice to see the devs are taking reports
of this seriously. There are quite a few threads scattered over
multiple forums stating players have been experiencing even more CTD's
since the latest update. Do your part to help out and post the
requested information if you've been having this problem as well. The
more information they can get in one official location, the better!



href="http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=18001">Sure-fire
economy fix - by Tyre

There are times when drastic problems require drastic measures to
correct. Do you think this is a good idea, or has someone's last
hamster finally hopped off the exercise wheel? By the way - the idea is
to wipe all the gold from the game to get rid of the massive amounts of
duped gold currently floating around. It's an interesting theory with
some interesting responses, so get over there and let the community
know how you feel about the idea.

href="http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=17426">

Rifts, banker, broker - added to other Housing Areas?? - By Zyekad

The official word has finally been given! For some time now, rumors
have abounded that various land plots would be given a bit of an
upgrade, to include riftways, brokers, or other niceties to make them
more attractive. Silius, senior game designer, posted a list of 26
locations that will be updated "the next time we patch data".
Those listed in the post with an asterisk will also have access to
temporary flying mount vendors. Check out the list style="font-weight: bold;"
href="http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?start=15&topic_id=17426#182767">here!

Conclusion

There you go folks! I go trudging through the flames of the forums so
you don't have to. As I stated above though, the overall feel from the
community is generally positive. Most agree that the mergers were a
good thing that was overdue if anything. They also went relatively
smoothly (after the first day), which was a bit of a surprise to most.
The question now becomes this - is the current high everyone is on due
to things really being as good as they seem, or is it just the shock
of seeing another person after being stranded on a deserted
island for the last 8 months?