by Karen Hertzberg on Sep 04, 2006
By Shayalyn
I just got home from the Bristol
Renaissance Faire. Aside from costing a bundle (those No Food or
Beverages Inside the Park! signs probably have something to do with
the fact that a glass of mostly-ice lemonade costs $3.50, huh?), the
Faire is an exciting place full of men and women in medieval costume,
all talking with accents and spouting the language of the period: A
good day to you, mlady! Mlord, thou art a strapping young lad! I
pray thee, keep your sword sheathed. Huzzah!
As we passed through the Faire we saw a little boy chatting animatedly
to his friend. The little guy, who couldnt have been more than 4 years
old, was gesturing wildly and saying, I tell ya, were back in time!
Back in TIME! And despite the fact that a bottled water cost $2.50 and
a hot beef sandwich $6.00, we were indeed back in time...just for a
little while.
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hspace="4" vspace="2">If my gaming geekness shines through in two
real life places, one of them is definitely the Ren Faire. The first
time my husband and I went I was deep in the throes of my EverQuest
days, and the place enthralled me. Instead of seeing Merry Old England
at its renaissance, I found myself tasting a bit of Norrath. Here were
people running around in armor (chain, leather, and even some half
plate) with weapons (peace tied) at their sides. The other time Id
experienced Norrath encroaching on my real life was at the movies the
first time I saw The Lord of the Rings. Not only were there elves and
hobbits, but there were fantastic chase scenes reminiscent of EQ
combat. Oh, cmon! I cant be the only one who watched the Nazgul
chasing Arwen and Frodo and shouted, Train! (Well, okay, maybe I am
the only one. But people in the theater laughed, I swear.)
Theres something about swords and sorcery that attracts people like me
to games like EverQuest. While I didnt realize that the fantasy genre
was my bent until after Id started playing EQ, I realize it now, and
thats one of the reasons Im one among the many anxiously awaiting
Vanguard. My more progressive gaming friends tease me about my
addiction to elves and orcs, but I cant help it--medieval realms trip
my trigger. Wielding a blaster and flying around space wouldnt cut it
for me. Give me a sword and shield (or magic fingers to wiggle) and a
horse to ride and Im a happy girl.
It certainly appears that theres no shortage of MMO gamers who share
my enthusiasm for the fantasy genre. The games at the top of the MMO
food chain are all fantasy-based. At the pinnacle, theres World of
Warcraft with its 6 million plus subscribers--no shortage of elves and
orcs there. Also right near the top youll find EverQuest II and
(although admittedly more popular with Asian players) Final Fantasy XI.
Yep, more fantasy.
Lets take a look at the games of origin for many Vanguard fans. Keep
in mind; these are all my own guestimates and not representative of any
real data. Still, I think theyre pretty accurate given what I know of
the Vanguard community.
EverQuest, Ultima Online, and Dark Age
of Camelot
A great many of the most vocal and devoted gamers looking forward to
the release of Vanguard hail from one of the old school classics:
EverQuest, Ultima Online, or Dark Age of Camelot. Many played the game
for years and still have high level characters hidden away on some game
server somewhere. Many also see their first MMOG as the gold
standard--the game that initiated them into MMOGs, and the one that was
the most addictive. While theyve essentially finished with their old
school game, they havent found a game like EQ (or UO, or DAoC) since
their days of yore, and theyre hoping Vanguard--created by some of the
original EverQuest team (including Brad McQuaid and Jeff Butler)--will
rescue them from their current MMO ennui. Ive got to say...I fall into
this category.
World of Warcraft and EverQuest II
The WoW and EQ2 players fall into two categories: those who played the
old school games; and those who where initiated into MMOGs with these
next gen games. Those in the first category tend to be biding their
time. Theyre playing WoW or EQ2 because it gives them something to do,
but many of them dont feel any significant attachment to their new
games. These people are looking forward to Vanguard in hopes that it
will provide more depth and challenge than theyve found in any more
recent game.
The folks in the second category, however, are new to MMOGs and broke
into online gaming
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hspace="4" vspace="2"> via WoW or EQ2. In general, I think theyre
younger than the old school crowd. Theyre also accustomed to a lot
more hand-holding from their MMOGs. (Theyve never had to hire a
necromancer or a bard to track down a lost corpse, for instance.) These
gamers are intrigued by the notion of taking their gaming to the next
level with Vanguard, but many are also worried that some of the more
old school features of the game--such as potential corpse runs and the
lack of instant travel--might be more of a hassle than a boon. Ive
found that some of the most vocal bashers of Vanguard are WoW players,
too.
The Other Games Gamers
Until now, weve been talking about fantasy games. Its true that a
vast majority of Vanguards following hail from other games in the
fantasy genre. A few, however, are coming off of sci-fi games like Star
Wars Galaxies or EVE Online. Id be willing to bet that most of these
people havent played SWG or EVE exclusively, though. Its more likely
they started out in one of the fantasy games and switched over to
sci-fi just to change things up a little. Youll also see a segment of
the Vanguard fan population coming over from City of Heroes and/or City
of Villains, NCSofts popular superhero/supervillain franchise. My
neighbor is an example of someone who got his start in CoH. Hes also
anticipating Vanguard, albeit mostly because I converted him into a
true believer.
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hspace="4" vspace="2">When you get right down to it, though, no
matter where Vanguard players are coming from, most of them are
interested in the fantasy genre, or at least willing to give a fantasy
game a try. Theyre not necessarily avid roleplayers (in fact, Id say
the majority dont roleplay at all), but theyve gotten a taste for
medieval worlds and theyre ready to don their armor, mount their
horses, and take up the quest to protect Vanguards world of Telon and
its denizens. They may not see Telon in the back-in-time villages of
renaissance fairs, and they may not shout Train! during chase scenes
at Lord of the Rings movies...but we cant all be that cool, can we?
Huzzah!