Heya Shinto, long time no see.
Edit - fist off, there *is* no vision. Not as far as I've been able to see. There's a moribund game and a team working frantic CPR. It might even work. But vision? If there is one, it isn't the one that attracted us way back when.
I dunno what to tell you. I stuck with Vanguard on the Test server until a few weeks back, mostly because of the tiny but great community we had going over there and because with a million alts, there's usually something to do.
Now I'm back in SWG and, sad though I am to say it, I have almost no impetus to log on to Vanguard aside from saying hi to the folks I miss. SWG isn't a perfect game either, but it doesn't have a million unrewarding work orders, it doesn't have a system based on random drops and sheer luck, and most of all it's gone through fire and is still there. (And incidentally the NGE as it is now is not nearly as awful as I expected. I was very pleasantly surprised.)
I initially thought SWG was a few-week diversion and that I'd be back in VG sooner or later. Now, I'm not so sure.
All that being said there have been some fairly significant changes in VG over the last few months. Whether you like them or not is another matter, but if you're curious enough I would suggest resubbing (even if it's just for a month) and checking stuff out for yourself. There have been some very positive changes among the many that were made. I can't comment on the recipe token system because I've not played since it went in on Test but as one of the players who was consistently stiffed for recipe drops (and told I should shut up because being SOL is just the way it is), at first blush I like the sound of it. I'm just cynically amused at the volte-face from the crafting team - but that's another issue I won't go into.