Vanguard - Saga of Heroes (06 Feb 07)
SageClaw's Corner of the Internet
NOT the damned knife from World of Warcraft
I have been playing MMORPGs for a long time. I did MUD a bit before but I didn't get that involved. Even though there are some that will bicker on what was the first MMORPG the first one for me was The Realm. I beta tested it for a while and even enjoyed it up until Everquest came on the scene.
Everquest for me was much like childhood. You look back on it with fond memories but experiencing it was not all Oreos and sunshine.* I had a lot of fun and it had it's moments, hell I even Guided for a while. Like most things however, I grew tired of it and moved on.
From there I played most of the commercial MMORPGs at one time or another. I am not a powergamer in any way, shape or form. I am a social gamer. I liked being able to assist other players and interact with them. However since my main focus on playing these games wasn't ENDGAME content, whenever I would hit a HELL-LEVEL, I would get bored with the grind and would move onto something else.
I did enjoy my time in EQ. I forgave SOE for some of the things that they had done wrong in the past to try them out again with Star Wars Galaxies. I loved it. It was complicated, it was not elves and wizards, it was freaking Star Wars. It broke the conventions of the established role and level rules. It was awesome. Then SOE kicked me in the nuts repeatedly, stole my lunch-money and took a shit in my pillowcase. I would go into it but if you are familiar with SWG and SOE then you know what I am talking about. If not... I will go into it at another time.
So here I am looking for another MMORPG fix. Dark Age of Camelot did me in with the Hell-Levels (way too many). Asheron's Call 2 gone the way of the dodo. EQ, so not my thing anymore even though I got the Platinum Edition and tried it again for a month. Played out on World of Warcraft (my son having bogarted my account during my lull in playing) . RF Online lasted about a week. Matrix Online about two. You don't even want to get me started on EQ2.... okay the problem I have with EQ2 is that it isn't EQ. Only the names remained the same but other than that you could have called it Generic Fantasy Role Playing Online and not one person would go "Hey, this reminds me of EQ." If you were to drop me pretty much anywhere in EQ I could tell you where I was and how to get to the nearest town. Drop me in the same (named) place in EQ2 and I don't have a freaking clue. People defending EQ2 will go on saying "Oh but there was a great cataclysm and the world changed." Shut the fuck up. Even after a nuclear holocaust, Charlton Heston was still able to find and recognize New York City on the Planet of the Apes, so bite me. A sequel should be just that, different but still recognizable. EQ2 failed that big time. Hell it didn't even feel like EQ. I know that isn't something I can explain but I am sure you know what I mean. Phantasy Star Universe is the same way and I am certainly not going into that.... right now.
Then comes Vanguard.
I had heard about it but went "Meh.". That's about the extent of my interest. Followed the news every so often but couldn't seem to care one way or another. Then Fileplanet did the nasty.
Open Beta Testing.
I am a sucker for Open Beta. Don't know why, maybe it's the peek behind the curtains aspect of it. So I got the beta key and downloaded the software.
Oh man, I was hooked, right from the beginning.... well once I got my character up and in the world that is. The character creation part of it is clunky at best. In the game world, though, almost immediately I got an 'EQ Vibe' and that's a good thing. It was complicated but not frustratingly so, it had so many things to do other than kill rabbit / rat / bat / snake. Nice flow. Decent performance on my machine.
I pre-ordered the Collector's Edition that day from Amazon.com. Even got a nice bonus of a pre-order key to allow me to play the game past the beta and into release until I could get in the game box. Release day came and went and I was entrenched in the world and enjoying the hell out of it.
Life was good.
Then SOE sensing that I was enjoying my gaming life a bit too much decided to break out the 'bitchslap' stick and start swinging for the fences. Friday night, I get home from work and had been thinking about what I was going to do that night in Vanguard. Two days off and the only plan I had was seeing what was over the next hill, figuratively speaking and maybe showering... maybe. I sit down, load up the game, enter my password at login and was greeted with the following.
Everquest for me was much like childhood. You look back on it with fond memories but experiencing it was not all Oreos and sunshine.* I had a lot of fun and it had it's moments, hell I even Guided for a while. Like most things however, I grew tired of it and moved on.
From there I played most of the commercial MMORPGs at one time or another. I am not a powergamer in any way, shape or form. I am a social gamer. I liked being able to assist other players and interact with them. However since my main focus on playing these games wasn't ENDGAME content, whenever I would hit a HELL-LEVEL, I would get bored with the grind and would move onto something else.
I did enjoy my time in EQ. I forgave SOE for some of the things that they had done wrong in the past to try them out again with Star Wars Galaxies. I loved it. It was complicated, it was not elves and wizards, it was freaking Star Wars. It broke the conventions of the established role and level rules. It was awesome. Then SOE kicked me in the nuts repeatedly, stole my lunch-money and took a shit in my pillowcase. I would go into it but if you are familiar with SWG and SOE then you know what I am talking about. If not... I will go into it at another time.
So here I am looking for another MMORPG fix. Dark Age of Camelot did me in with the Hell-Levels (way too many). Asheron's Call 2 gone the way of the dodo. EQ, so not my thing anymore even though I got the Platinum Edition and tried it again for a month. Played out on World of Warcraft (my son having bogarted my account during my lull in playing) . RF Online lasted about a week. Matrix Online about two. You don't even want to get me started on EQ2.... okay the problem I have with EQ2 is that it isn't EQ. Only the names remained the same but other than that you could have called it Generic Fantasy Role Playing Online and not one person would go "Hey, this reminds me of EQ." If you were to drop me pretty much anywhere in EQ I could tell you where I was and how to get to the nearest town. Drop me in the same (named) place in EQ2 and I don't have a freaking clue. People defending EQ2 will go on saying "Oh but there was a great cataclysm and the world changed." Shut the fuck up. Even after a nuclear holocaust, Charlton Heston was still able to find and recognize New York City on the Planet of the Apes, so bite me. A sequel should be just that, different but still recognizable. EQ2 failed that big time. Hell it didn't even feel like EQ. I know that isn't something I can explain but I am sure you know what I mean. Phantasy Star Universe is the same way and I am certainly not going into that.... right now.
Then comes Vanguard.
I had heard about it but went "Meh.". That's about the extent of my interest. Followed the news every so often but couldn't seem to care one way or another. Then Fileplanet did the nasty.
Open Beta Testing.
I am a sucker for Open Beta. Don't know why, maybe it's the peek behind the curtains aspect of it. So I got the beta key and downloaded the software.
Oh man, I was hooked, right from the beginning.... well once I got my character up and in the world that is. The character creation part of it is clunky at best. In the game world, though, almost immediately I got an 'EQ Vibe' and that's a good thing. It was complicated but not frustratingly so, it had so many things to do other than kill rabbit / rat / bat / snake. Nice flow. Decent performance on my machine.
I pre-ordered the Collector's Edition that day from Amazon.com. Even got a nice bonus of a pre-order key to allow me to play the game past the beta and into release until I could get in the game box. Release day came and went and I was entrenched in the world and enjoying the hell out of it.
Life was good.
Then SOE sensing that I was enjoying my gaming life a bit too much decided to break out the 'bitchslap' stick and start swinging for the fences. Friday night, I get home from work and had been thinking about what I was going to do that night in Vanguard. Two days off and the only plan I had was seeing what was over the next hill, figuratively speaking and maybe showering... maybe. I sit down, load up the game, enter my password at login and was greeted with the following.
I figure what the hell. Maybe they needed my credit card information and all that other stuff that goes with the territory. No problem. I click the subscribe button and it asks for my Key. The only two keys I had, the beta key and the pre-order key. Tried them both and was informed that they had both already been 'consumed' (icky phrasing if you ask me) and that I would have to buy the product.
But I already had, pre-ordered for that matter. Paid for and all just waiting for delivery, which is what I assumed the pre-order key was for. To let me play while I waited for the box to show up.
I do what anyone would do in my situation. I got pissed and headed to the forums. As it happens, that afternoon they shut down access to all pre-order keys regardless if you were still waiting for the box or not. I wasn't the only one in this boat. The forums were broken down into the blame SOE and blame Amazon.com almost down the middle. I am in the blame SOE side of things, not because of being abused by them in the past but because of the way this was handled.
1. One of the promises of the pre-order (which I can count on one hand how many times I have done that... hate pre-orders for the most part) was to be able to play the game until you got... well the game. That was very cool. What was not said was how long, or short, that would last.
2. They did it on a Friday without any announcement until after the switch was thrown. Thereby being able to play the "No customer support over the weekend" card, which is so typical of SOE they should have a patent on it.
3. Come Monday the basic response was, "Yeah, we stopped the keys... so what?"
It would have been very easy for them just to see the commotion it was causing and as a sign of good faith just extended the pre-order flag for another week. This would have solved any ill feelings of the consumer base with no skin off their nose. They know we bought the game, so it's not like extending it a week would have cost them.
However, given two choices; small fix that costs them nothing and make people happy or do absolutely nothing and give your customers the finger, which do you think they will go with every single time.
Some of the more paranoid of my new family, within the Vanguard Community, thinks this was done in the hope that players would just go out and buy a second copy so they could play over the weekend, instead of waiting for the pre-order delivery (which an alarming number said they did). It wouldn't surprise me that this wasn't discussed somewhere in the SOE offices as a collateral bonus for the timing of the shutdown.
Mistake on SOE's part, other than pissing me off, is giving me a weekend away from my new found addiction. I had time to play other things, take a couple of showers, clean up the closet that I had been meaning to get to, work on this website. My box isn't going to show up until maybe the 12th (yeah, I cheaped out on the shipping... sue me) so I have time to think with a clear head if I am going to open myself up to SOE's abuse, yet once again and subscribe or if I will take this little incident to heart and kick them to the curb... once again.
****Update 07 Feb 07****
I figured that I would continue to read the forums over at Vanguard and see if anything has come of this. Nothing has. Except for the mysterious vanishing of threads I was reading concerning the pre-order keys.
Gone. Poof. Like they never existed. And since they didn't exist, no problem. Yet another SOE maneuver, bravo.
I did find this stickied at the top of the Tech Support Forum from an official member of the CS staff;
-------------
2. Subscription set to Rental Expired (as of 2 February 2007 at 3:00 PM PST)
This status is caused by one of three things:
If the game was purchased from a retail location (including online retailers, such as Amazon.com or similar), then there is a second account code which will be provided by that retailer that must be consumed onto the same account in order to continue playing successfully. Speak with the retailer if you have not received this code, yet. Once the second code has been placed on your account, you will be asked to subscribe immediately afterwards. Merely sign up with a credit card, game card, or with Global Collect and the account will be granted the free 30 days of time immediately.
-------------(Yellow and underline added by me for obvious reasons.)
I figured what the hell and wrote Amazon.com this little note.
---------------
02/06/07 21:15:53
Your Name:Richard ******
Order Id: ****************
ITEMS:
Vanguard Collector's Edition [CD]
Comments:Recently I had issues with the pre-order key sent to me for the item mentioned. When I checked with Sony online about it, this is what was said via their forums and their customer service reps:
*********
* Cut out the repeat of what I posted with the yellow highlights just above.
*********
I never received the second code. Can you help me with this?
Thank you for your time,
Richard *****
---------------
Pretty short and sweet. Well guess what? I get an email from Amazon.com Customer service.
-------------
Thanks for contacting us at Amazon.com.
I am sorry to hear about that you did not receive the code for the item.
Please note that I am not able to provide a new code for the item which you received.
However, I have placed a new order for the item. There is no charge for this replacement.
Please rest assured taht you will receive a new code for the item with the new order.
Here are the details of the new order:
Order Number: ******************
Shipping Speed: Two-Day Shipping
Estimated Delivery Date: February 9, 2007
-------------
Yeah, you read right, they are sending me a second copy of the Vanguard Collectors Edition.... with Two-Day Shipping.... at no charge to me.... to fix an issue I have with SOE. 89.95 (not counting the shipping and handling)out of their accountability to take care of me. Sure it doesn't fix my problem. I am still not able to play the game, so nothing has changed. I am still where I was before contacting them.
But that isn't the point. It's the fact that they acknowledged my existence, that I had an issue and tried to fix it the best way they knew how.
It's the thought counts.
So while my disdain for SOE grows a bit darker and the prospects of dealing with them ever again is slim, my intentions to use Amazon.com more in the future is looking pretty damn good.
*Before you start psychoanalyzing that line, if anyone here can say they had a flawless childhood I am guessing you are either suppressing a lot of stuff as an adult or you are a very boring person in real life.
ENDGAME - Finishing up the games highest level content/quest. Seen it, killed it, got the t-shirt.
HELL-LEVEL - Usually caused by a lack of content for a certain level making it seem impossible to get out of. Play content for a lower level and grow old while watching the exp bar barely twitch. Play content for a higher level and die repeatedly, losing exp every time.
But I already had, pre-ordered for that matter. Paid for and all just waiting for delivery, which is what I assumed the pre-order key was for. To let me play while I waited for the box to show up.
I do what anyone would do in my situation. I got pissed and headed to the forums. As it happens, that afternoon they shut down access to all pre-order keys regardless if you were still waiting for the box or not. I wasn't the only one in this boat. The forums were broken down into the blame SOE and blame Amazon.com almost down the middle. I am in the blame SOE side of things, not because of being abused by them in the past but because of the way this was handled.
1. One of the promises of the pre-order (which I can count on one hand how many times I have done that... hate pre-orders for the most part) was to be able to play the game until you got... well the game. That was very cool. What was not said was how long, or short, that would last.
2. They did it on a Friday without any announcement until after the switch was thrown. Thereby being able to play the "No customer support over the weekend" card, which is so typical of SOE they should have a patent on it.
3. Come Monday the basic response was, "Yeah, we stopped the keys... so what?"
It would have been very easy for them just to see the commotion it was causing and as a sign of good faith just extended the pre-order flag for another week. This would have solved any ill feelings of the consumer base with no skin off their nose. They know we bought the game, so it's not like extending it a week would have cost them.
However, given two choices; small fix that costs them nothing and make people happy or do absolutely nothing and give your customers the finger, which do you think they will go with every single time.
Some of the more paranoid of my new family, within the Vanguard Community, thinks this was done in the hope that players would just go out and buy a second copy so they could play over the weekend, instead of waiting for the pre-order delivery (which an alarming number said they did). It wouldn't surprise me that this wasn't discussed somewhere in the SOE offices as a collateral bonus for the timing of the shutdown.
Mistake on SOE's part, other than pissing me off, is giving me a weekend away from my new found addiction. I had time to play other things, take a couple of showers, clean up the closet that I had been meaning to get to, work on this website. My box isn't going to show up until maybe the 12th (yeah, I cheaped out on the shipping... sue me) so I have time to think with a clear head if I am going to open myself up to SOE's abuse, yet once again and subscribe or if I will take this little incident to heart and kick them to the curb... once again.
****Update 07 Feb 07****
I figured that I would continue to read the forums over at Vanguard and see if anything has come of this. Nothing has. Except for the mysterious vanishing of threads I was reading concerning the pre-order keys.
Gone. Poof. Like they never existed. And since they didn't exist, no problem. Yet another SOE maneuver, bravo.
I did find this stickied at the top of the Tech Support Forum from an official member of the CS staff;
-------------
2. Subscription set to Rental Expired (as of 2 February 2007 at 3:00 PM PST)
This status is caused by one of three things:
If the game was purchased from a retail location (including online retailers, such as Amazon.com or similar), then there is a second account code which will be provided by that retailer that must be consumed onto the same account in order to continue playing successfully. Speak with the retailer if you have not received this code, yet. Once the second code has been placed on your account, you will be asked to subscribe immediately afterwards. Merely sign up with a credit card, game card, or with Global Collect and the account will be granted the free 30 days of time immediately.
-------------(Yellow and underline added by me for obvious reasons.)
I figured what the hell and wrote Amazon.com this little note.
---------------
02/06/07 21:15:53
Your Name:Richard ******
Order Id: ****************
ITEMS:
Vanguard Collector's Edition [CD]
Comments:Recently I had issues with the pre-order key sent to me for the item mentioned. When I checked with Sony online about it, this is what was said via their forums and their customer service reps:
*********
* Cut out the repeat of what I posted with the yellow highlights just above.
*********
I never received the second code. Can you help me with this?
Thank you for your time,
Richard *****
---------------
Pretty short and sweet. Well guess what? I get an email from Amazon.com Customer service.
-------------
Thanks for contacting us at Amazon.com.
I am sorry to hear about that you did not receive the code for the item.
Please note that I am not able to provide a new code for the item which you received.
However, I have placed a new order for the item. There is no charge for this replacement.
Please rest assured taht you will receive a new code for the item with the new order.
Here are the details of the new order:
Order Number: ******************
Shipping Speed: Two-Day Shipping
Estimated Delivery Date: February 9, 2007
-------------
Yeah, you read right, they are sending me a second copy of the Vanguard Collectors Edition.... with Two-Day Shipping.... at no charge to me.... to fix an issue I have with SOE. 89.95 (not counting the shipping and handling)out of their accountability to take care of me. Sure it doesn't fix my problem. I am still not able to play the game, so nothing has changed. I am still where I was before contacting them.
But that isn't the point. It's the fact that they acknowledged my existence, that I had an issue and tried to fix it the best way they knew how.
It's the thought counts.
So while my disdain for SOE grows a bit darker and the prospects of dealing with them ever again is slim, my intentions to use Amazon.com more in the future is looking pretty damn good.
*Before you start psychoanalyzing that line, if anyone here can say they had a flawless childhood I am guessing you are either suppressing a lot of stuff as an adult or you are a very boring person in real life.
ENDGAME - Finishing up the games highest level content/quest. Seen it, killed it, got the t-shirt.
HELL-LEVEL - Usually caused by a lack of content for a certain level making it seem impossible to get out of. Play content for a lower level and grow old while watching the exp bar barely twitch. Play content for a higher level and die repeatedly, losing exp every time.