Revitalizing Vanguard - A Serious Proposal

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So, I have an idea. It is definitely worth a read, as I've put loads of thought into it.

I'm a fairly experienced MMO player. I've played just about every MMO, beginning with Everquest in its early days. When I started playing Vanguard, it was right around its beta. My first impression of the game was that, in concept, it was incredible. The graphics, gameplay, huge amounts of lore and content, the diplomacy and crafting, and everything. It all seemed fantastic. I thought to myself, "Who wouldn't want to play this game?"

For the first few hours of my gameplay experience, I continued to be thoroughly impressed. But then, I went somewhere. That place was Khal. In Khal, there were other people.

And even with a very fast machine for the time, my FPS dropped from about 30 to about 2 or 3. There were only a few people around me too. It was then I thought to myself, "Who even COULD play this game?"

But I persisted on for a few more months, and amongst the countless bugs I ran into, horrible graphical lag, thin upper content, and somewhat 'shaky' gameplay balance, I decided stop playing, as well as many, many others it seems.

My last parting thoughts were of disappointment; not at the developers, or the game, but at the fact that it seemed unfinished, as if it were released too early. Right when I started experiencing the game's flaws during the early days, I had this feeling that Vanguard would come to some inevitable end.

All this time, though, I could not help but still see the incredible potential the game had. The ideas behind the game were brilliant.

Now, we see a bit of a population crisis. There are server merges, low player population, and too few newcomers.

Although, after reading Mr. McQuaid's blog, I decided to give Vanguard another shot. He had mentioned that the game is MUCH more refined, quick, and bug-free compared to how it used to be. And, well, I believe he was completely right. It feels like a totally new game.

The gameplay is, as was mentioned, much more refined, and the graphical lag is immeasurably better than it used to be. (I can actually play the game in a large group of people now and my FPS stays about the same). I still feel like there are a handful of bugs to work out, and I feel as if there is still a lot of unfinished content (Many of the cities feel empty, some of the lesser-known dungeons and instances seem a little lore-less, etc) but over all, I think the game is much better than before.

I can honestly say that everyone who's tried the game lately is totally hooked now, and MUCH more impressed with the gameplay than they were in the beginning, if they played it then. Vanguard feels more like the game it should have been at release.

But, despite the fact that Vanguard is now much better than it used to be, not many new players are really joining. The shaky initial release left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths, and I feel like the initial reputation that Vanguard acquired is keeping a lot of people from trying it out again.

With the way Vanguard is currently being marketed and presented, I highly doubt they will attract too many new players.

The way I have always seen it is that what makes an MMO is the community that drives it. Without the interaction of other real people, the game just seems like a big grind, a numbers game. The 'essence' of an online game has always seemed to be the players and the sense of community.

The game is clearly much more of a game than it used to be. Everyone I know who is playing it now absolutely loves it. So, what can be done about the population crisis?

Here is my proposal; please take it with an open mind, and as objectively and big-picture as possible.

What if Vanguard became Free to Play? What I mean is, no initial cost, and no monthly charge. (Keep reading, I'll support my idea)

What if, in addition to this, a good deal of new and revised content was released? Bug fixes? What if another "beta program" was started so that the community could easily provide feedback and bug reports about the new changes and content? Maybe a good world PvP/battleground system could be added?

I believe that the most likely option would be: Rather than revenue through a monthly fee, what if an item store was added, like most free games, which would allow you to buy items that are not necessarily unbalancing to the gameplay.

I personally believe that to the player base, (especially newcomers) free to play is much more appealing than pay to play, and I think this appeal, as well as a likely huge boost in popularity, far outweighs any negative appeal of an item shop or something like that. I, personally, think that paying a necessary monthly subscription regardless of how much you actually play is much less appealing in the big picture than an item shop concept, and as it was stated in the responses, a system similar to the one D&D Online has created has proven to be very successful.

Then, the most important part: They could re-market Vanguard as a free game, new, fresh, and revised, loaded with new content and a better engine. Anyone remember Dungeons & Dragons Online? They did the same thing, essentially. The population really blew up after they did that, but the big difference is: Vanguard is, in my opinion, a much better game.

I mean, who wouldn't want to play a totally re-done, free MMO with a concept as good as Vanguard's? Especially in today's economy, free-to-play seems more appealing than ever before.

These proposed changes would, without any shadow of doubt, completely revitalize the community, and therefore, revitalize the game itself.

Free-to-Play is not automatically a bad thing. Think about how many people played, and still play Guild Wars. I'm a casual Guild Wars player myself. What about FreeRealms? I've read that they have over two million subscribers already. I HIGHLY doubt that they would have anything near that number if the game was not free, and had a monthly charge.

My intention is not to start a big argument, but rather to provide this as an idea to the community and hopefully the developers and other higher-ups.

A lot of players seem to be very change-adverse. I need to mention that there aren't a lot of effective options if this game is going to be brought back to life, but I feel like this idea would be one of the best options, if not the best. Since this is posted in the Vanguard forums, most of the people who are reading this are likely current Vanguard subscribers. In this case, most of us are okay with how the game is marketed, and see no need for change. (We are still playing, aren't we?) But please, try your best to look at the idea as big-picture and objectively as possible.

Either way, Vanguard is a great game. Sure, this might not be a totally problem-free solution to a population crisis, but I figured I'd share my thoughts, in hopes that it somehow might help the game get one step closer to some sort of revival. Maybe, at very least, this post will spark some more interest in the game's resurrection.

I, personally, would just love to see Vanguard brought up to the glory that it deserves.