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From Instancing to Worldy Games

Brad McQuaid has written a rather good article on instancing and the tradeoffs and choices inherent in it. In it, he divides up possible game types that use instancing into these types:

A “pen and paper game, online” — essentially,a game that tries to recaptu

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VanguardSpheres is looking for people who like to write but don't really have a lot of time to dedicate on an on-going basis!

If you like to see your name in print, or if you just have something to say about gaming, MMORPGs, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, or related topics, send your article/editori

Eroding the fabric of gaming

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I've been gaming for years. From Zaxxon, on my fathers TRS-80, to Phantasy Star on my Sega Genesis. Then Ultima Online for a year, Everquest for 5 years, EQ2 for 6 months and now World of Warcraft for the past 6 months.

During my stint in MMO's, I've been a Guild Leader for the majority of th

Reflections on Spheres' Trip to Sigil

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Cobalt Katze gives his impressions and reflects on experiences from the day-long trip to Sigil HQ.

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Someone recently mentioned being fearful of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes finally starting up and, in my overly serious and realistic way, I took this to be something that many people really do need to consider. I started answering his post, but then thought that maybe some of the lurkers really didn

Tidbits on CS and stuff

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On our semi-recent trip to Sigil last month, I had an agenda: Find The Pit and the "Pit Bosses" for VSoH! There has been lots of questions in people's heads about Customer Service, and it's exciting to see new GMs being added to the staff! Enter GM Keejay and GM Daegarmo! Of course, we didn't g

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ok....So there I was... Sitting in LAX camping the United_Gate_68A while I waited for my return flight home. It wasn't much, but for the next 2.5 hours, I called it "home!" This was written during that time.

The past couple of days have been great! I got to San Diego a day ahead of the others so

Encounter Types and Sizes in the Adventuring Sphere

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The saying "two's company, three's a crowd" doesn't quite apply to MMORPGs when taken literally, but there are many ways to apply this to the situation at hand. Just how many group members are necessary for the various adventuring encounters in the world of Vanguard? There will be three ways

And you thought it was too quiet!

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Had anyone noticed that the lack of information coming from Sigil of late was....deafening?

Brad was answering posts here and there, and that is great to see! It meant the Team was still interested in what's going on and knows they need to continue the interaction with potential players! I'm su

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Oh yeah, baby! The topic that everyone loves and hates to talk about: Trivial Loot Code (TLC).

There have been some really heated discussions about the pros and cons of TLC on the official forums and, as someone who has camped for fun and profit, it has made me reexamine the issue. I know th

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Things to be Thankful For

Hopefully everyone made it through Katrina and Rita ok. I have been out of the loop lately helping out on the front lines and have not been able to follow Vanguard like I have become accustomed to in the past. When I came home, I was pleasantly surprised with some

Death Penalties and Ingame Maps

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Playing a game is a simple thing, right? Move the mouse, press a few keys, figure out what you’ve got to do and do it? Possibly, but I’m more inclined to say there’s a few other factors working behind the scenes when it comes to perhaps how we feel about the whole ordeal.

Games can

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"A storm rolls in, elements in the music start fading out, melodies first, then percussion, etc. Ambient wildlife quiets down, and the sounds of the elements intensify. As the storm rolls out, wildlife begins to fade back in, music begins to pick up layers and the clouds give way." -Todd Maste

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I’m Twinked

There has been some discussion on whether or not to allow twinking in Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. It is one of those issues, much like Trivial Loot Code (TLC), that really fires people up quickly. Passions flare, and the next thing you know, you have Jim Ross and the WWE officiating

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Advancement, desperation, adventuring, grinding. In the end, it all boils down to a simple question: What would you do for a Ding? Forget Klondike Bars, this is the motivation we all face in MMOGs, though over the years it has appeared in many ways. In this article, I’ll try to define why exact