A Community Speaks Out

by Lady Sirse

Across the Ten Ton Hammer network today you will find interviews with community leaders or members for several games. This month, I thought we would take a different view of things in the Vanguard: Saga of Heroes community. Today we’re going to take a look at your take on a few things. So get comfy and take some time to see what others like you are saying.

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Over the past few months we have collected surveys from around the community. The first batch was filled out between wonderful events at January’s Fanguard in San Diego. The second batch was filled out here on the site. There was such a response that the survey mechanism broke! Never fear we’ll have another up and running soon enough.

I would like to take a moment to thank all of those that took the time to fill out these surveys. In the coming weeks be prepared to hear more from these fine folks as they offer their take on many topics as we send our writers out into the masses. What are we going to look at today? A bit of classes, a dash of opinion and a heap of hot topics!

One of the questions that we asked of the community was what their favorite class is and why. We got many interesting replies. One of my favorites was from Ikan Tymyshoes. The name alone lets us know of the nimble dexterity of this Rogue. When explaining why the Rogue was favored Ikan said, “I normally love the play and feel of Rogue Classes, and they are a lot of fun to RP too.” Ok, I admit it…it’s the name I loved, but the reason was intriguing. Personally, I have only ever met one Rogue that role played well. I would love to see more of this!

Mama McCann took some time not only to fill out a survey in San Diego, but sat with me for a bit during one of the breaks in the action. For those who have met her, I think her answer is easy to understand. The class that she favors is the Warrior. In her words she “likes to protect others and to draw the agro.” If ever a person held the protective-mama-bear aura, it is lovingly found in her.

Promenin and Reebdog both have expressed their interest in playing Necromancers. Both seem to take great enjoyment in the flavor of the class. Promenin mentions that there is clearly not enough information out right now to see how they will shape up in Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, but that he is “looking forward to having a ‘Frankenstein’ like monster to control.” Reebdog seems to share this enjoyment since he states, “I love the ability to bring forth minions from those I have slain!” Is it just me, or do those who play Necromancers seem to have control issues? Not that this is entirely a bad thing…

A common thread throughout the interviews was one of mounting frustration within the community. This frustration comes in many forms. Most of it is directed at the lack of information coming from the Developers. The reasons given for this lack don’t seem to matter; the yearning for even a drop of new knowledge is enough to turn normally stable and pleasant people into forum trolls of the meanest sort.

This atmosphere of open hostility and intolerance has made what was once known as the most helpful and open MMO community ever fade into the not so distant memories of those that once spent their entire day on the boards. Where are those days? Most will tell you they are gone, never to be seen again. Others will tell you that those days still exist, if only you journey to the fan sites. Still others shake their heads and accept this change and occurrence as just another step in the growth of an MMO.

I say that those who accept and, worse yet, participate in the hostility should be ashamed. If we were all to just shake our heads and say “oh well” to things we see and know shouldn’t be…where would we be as a society? Perhaps looking at society shows us more of why the internet is fast losing its rules of etiquette as well. I find the whole thing disgusting. How many of those newcomers to Vanguard: Saga of Heroes will never return because of the flames, attacks and general feel of the forums? How many will judge the game by those it attracts?

Glip and Co. do the best they can to “lock and consolidate,” remind people to use the report button instead of responding, and generally try not to smash their heads in frustration. But why should they? Isn’t this supposed to be a “game built for a community” to prosper? Haven’t we seen countless threads asking for the ability and the right to self police? I think the state of affairs on the official forums today show why this is such a scary proposition for developers and players alike. Too few are those who are ready and willing to step up to the job in my opinion.

You can see what I mean when you look at the list of hot topics that people voiced in the survey. Topics that were listed range from “Why am I not in beta” to “Why I hate X”. Not only are these clearly topics and threads full of whining, complaining, insults and other sundry antics, they are visited by every troll in the Community and round and round it goes until Glip can catch up! It has been pointed out that even the topics that are attempts to discuss things like the proposed races, classes, game difficulty, world size and more are eventually reduced to name calling idiocy.

I challenge the readers of Vanguard Ten Ton Hammer and the entire Ten Ton Hammer network itself to weigh in on this. What topics do you want to discuss? What things are really on your mind about the game, the community and the state of things at Sigil Games Online? I know our readers are intelligent and above trolling...right?