Vanguard: Saga of Heroes Previews
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After character creation, we were promptly dropped into the starting area for humans, around a huge lighthouse with plenty of quests to pursue. As you might expect, many of these involved going out into the wilderness and killing X number of a certain beast, or going out and recovering Y number of a certain material. Another quest had us collecting tiny poisonous scorpions around the human camp, releasing them in the middle of a hostile camp, then watching the bad guys run in panic. While some of the low-level foes are easy prey for a beginning character, the danger is getting caught up against multiple foes at the same time, or taking on a monster that's a couple of levels higher than your character's experience level. Thankfully, the game is very forgiving if you die and you can resurrect for free with all your stuff, at least until you get to level 7. After that, you'll have to start being a lot more careful about dying, because there will be a price to be paid.
The second is at GameSpy:
Getting "phat diplomatic loot" is one of the ways that diplomatic characters will have to interact with other players. Some diplomatic clothing can only be found as drops off monsters. If, for example, a player wants to parley with a local kobold chieftain for an "embassy mission," he may demand that the player wear the signet ring of a rival Orc warlord before he'll talk to you. The Orc warlord probably won't want to give that up, so it'll require the diplomat to call in friends with sharp swords. Other pieces of diplomatic gear may require the help of a crafter. If, for example, a local banker wants three letters of credit before he'll agree to something, the player will have to seek out a crafter to help forge the letters -- and perhaps pull in an adventurer to kill the creatures that drop the wax needed to create the special seals on the forgery.
The third is at RPG Vault:
The gameworld is huge and seamless, and with only a few exceptions, you can actually go anywhere you can see, although perhaps not immediately. There's plenty of surface area that currently appears on the map as ocean, which means lots of space where more landmasses may be placed. The three continents that will be available at launch are all fantasy-themed, but each reflects different influences. Thestra is closest to classic high fantasy, while Qalia incorporates elements of Arabia, and Kojan has Far Eastern touches.
The fourth is at Ten Ton Hammer:
We began our fly-over with Butler's character atop a griffon, sailing through the skies above the wood elf city of Youngtree Harbor; one of the starting areas in the archipelago of Kojan. The city was lush and beautiful, like a picture straight out of Oriental art. The landscape was framed by mountains (although not the sort of mountains that would have boxed players into a zone back in the EverQuest days), and decorated with buildings and temples featuring Oriental-style architecture. When we saw Kojan there were no NPCs lurking just yet. (When this is populated,) said Butler with a grin, (I'm not sure what will be here, but I'm sure it'll start killing the players.)
And the fifth is at MMORPG.com:
Each character in the game will be allowed to own one home in a designated location. While there will be "lots of options" for player housing, near the safety of the city or in the seclusion of the wilds, ultimately, it's the developers who decide what areas can be built upon. One of the nice features of housing is the fact that they are not instanced zones, but rather exist openly along with the rest of the world. There is an expectation that there will be a housing market, as players compete for and trade for the most desired locations.
