Bloody hell, shadey playing a pay to play subscription game?

Yes indeed.

I was invited to try the trial out, having not played since closed beta a long time back, where i decided it ran too slow and had far too many issues for my liking at all, plus its combat was jerky.

The trial was smooth playing and very interesting. Each class felt 'real' and like it was worth something in a fight, and the combat system was brilliant for rogue.

Rogue had me thinking quite tactically, you have to jump over enemies to backstab them, stealth, sneak, etc etc, and the skill system works like oblivion's, your skills go up from use, and then theres the gambit style, special moves that appear after you get a critical hit, you choose one to use and chain up a combo, or theres rescue, where you select your ally and perform a move to help, or counter moves, where you parry their attack and stab them in the gut...

The missions i have encountered so far are extremely varied. Its not been all 'kill x kill y' yes theres been plenty of that too, but theres been 'go map this area', 'steal from this person' 'disarm this magical device', etc etc. In one quest i almost failed because there was actually 4 riddles you had to answer, and getting them wrong shot you up into the air and away. (Though, my fall skill is high enough that i can leap off mountains and not die now) I got my first epic weapons just last night with a fellow rogue, we had to go deep into a temple, fight some evil guardians and steal them from a tomb before upgrading them.

Id reccomend it for anyone. Im highly considering making an SFH guild, theres just so much fun in it :)

Oh, the fact i got all my awards for being a closed beta tester helped too

Check out this review:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ten-level-test-everquest-ii-vs-vanguard-article?page=1

It gets the 'feel' down in a nutshell.

You can see my charecters exploits, Kelriss, here :)

http://vgplayers.station.sony.com/characters.vm?characterId=476742012027

its very nicely done.

I really, raelly wish someone had told me to start on the island though. Theres items you can only get there =/

Nobody said it till after i started my rogue off and claimed my reward items.

I was a bit annoyed. Started a shaman now, its so different its quite amazing...and the fact you have different paths to follow is cool, like shaman has 3 different patron dietys, following one allows you to become their 'avatar' in the lands, you can transform into that dietys image, and your buffs/attacks/etc all change to fit. My shaman is a pheonix, because pheonix's are epic.

Hmm, i forgot i posted this old topic. Bump.

Been playing the game a lot lately, its crafting system is like a whole game in itself ! You cant craft everything either, you have to choose a profession from three main ones, and then from about 6-7 harvesting ones.

Diplomacy is like a card game and very interesting.

Theres a free 14 day trial availble for anyone that wants to give it a shot, on the main website

http://vanguard.station.sony.com/

Give it a shot. The trial is only about 1-2 gb, play on the server called Seradon which is the oceanic :)

Its graphically stunning on highest settings, not bad for a game thats out two years running.

Heres a few videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p6TrEPSr50&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuB1Yt4KUaU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g8vbOYRQ40&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJvAbIOPL8w&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywnmt8SQKHg

And for those of you interested in these types of things, one of many sites containing lore/stories:

http://www.thesafehouse.org/vanguard/

I reccomend reading Willhem's last stand.