SOE gave us another round of employee interviews, this time it's with Julie "Ellyra" Burness, VG's Community Relations Representative. You can read the full article here.
Get to Know Your Community Rep!
Recently I was interviewed by my lovely co-worker, Vanessa "Eovania" Barrera. She's one of our International Community Representatives, and lately she's been doing a series of features that highlight the people she works with. I was lucky enough to be her choice this week, and I thought I would share the interview with the Vanguard Community!
Background info
Name: Julie Burness
Forum handle: Ellyra aka JulieTheIntern
Position: Vanguard Community Relations Representative
Age:26
City:San Diego
Pets: None here just yet, though I have a cat named Simon still living in Illinois!
Vanguardspheres.com has a great interview with Nick "Glip the Gnome" Parkinson, it's a really good read, you will want to check it out! You can read the full article here.
An interview with THE Gnome, Glip!
Published by Aredhel
If you wonder why I'm barricaded behind this desk, I think the pictures will show you. I found it safer to do the interview from the opposite end of where our Glipster (Nick Parkinson), has pointed out the "enemy target." Other than that, it was a quiet day in the office.
For those who say Glip is gone, read on, my friends! He's far from it and having a ball!
***
Q: Sooo....Production Team now, eh? Little guy being a big shot? How do you like your desk now?
A: I’m actually back in the same desk I was in before I became Community Manager. Overall it’s a nice desk. It’s at a corner so I don’t get a lot of traffic and it has more space for all my rad gnomish accessories, so that’s a pretty big plus. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give it an A.
Thank you to everyone in the community who continues to submit beautiful screenshots. You can view everything submitted in our player submitted screenshot database. We will be highlighting one recently submitted image submitted by our readers every day. SUBMIT YOUR SCREENSHOTS HERE.
Today's image comes to us from Bior and is titled "Night with the Skawlra"
Thank you to everyone in the community who continues to submit beautiful screenshots. You can view everything submitted in our player submitted screenshot database. We will be highlighting one recently submitted image submitted by our readers every day. SUBMIT YOUR SCREENSHOTS HERE.
Today's image comes to us from Bior and is titled "Army of the Dead"
First off, it would be worthwhile to explain what the Topic of the Week is. Each week, we will be starting a new discussion. The discussion will be contained on the thread and will remain on topic. We will post the best response on the Vanguard Vault website and the poster will receive one week VIP status OR a title of their choice. This title never goes away and must be 50 characters or less. VIP status is subject to a review of your post history (ie no recent bans or warnings, and if you break the ToS, your status will be removed without question).
The "contest" is officially over when the new topic of the week is posted, but the discussion can continue. Feel free to have friendly arguments with the other posters. Discussion and debate is good and encouraged, but do not let it get out of hand. Feel free to explore the subject!
Winners have one week (7 days) from when the results are announced to claim their prizes. If prizes are unclaimed after a week, they will go to another eligible person (second place if they do not have the same reward, or someone who achieved an honorable mention.) In the case of no other placed or honorable mention winners, they will go to another contestant, judged by the same merits as that of the original contest.
Unless otherwise specified, VIP contest winners do not receive a customized icon.
This week's topic is: After the server merge
Here are some basic questions to facilitate the discussion. They are here to help the discussion get started.
How do you like Vanguard so far after the merge? Aside from extended downtime, did you have any problems as a result of the merge (name conflicts, lost items, etc)? Did you get a house immediately during the "land rush"? If you did get a house, where did you get it and was it one of your first 1 to 3 choices? What do you think, if anything, could have been done to improve the merge? Are you experiencing lag that now makes the game harder to play? What positive things are you seeing as a result of the merge? Overall, do you thing that the server merge was "worth it"? Do you think this will help to bring even more people back to the game? Would you be willing to recommend to a friend to play or return to Vanguard after the merge?
Open Discussion
Remember, you can talk about anything relating to the topic. You do not have to use the above questions at all if you do not want to.
Good luck and feel free to contribute to this discussion!
PLEASE KEEP OUR TOPICS OF THE WEEK FREE OF PERSONAL ATTACKS! Strong opinions are welcomed. Please keep criticism limited to game mechanics, situations, etc... and NOT specific people. Thank you for your cooperation!
SOE announces the dates for 3 upcoming features to be turned on after server merges. You can read the post here.
With the Xeth merge complete, and the other servers merging by the end of the week, you can expect to see some new features in Vanguard!
-Brotherhoods will be available Friday, August 31st
-Guild Hall Plots will be available in-game Tuesday, September 4th
-The character move command will also be available Tuesday, September 4th
The Xeth server is now officially LIVE! Login, play, meet new friends, have fun! You can read the announcement here.
The Xeth Server is Live!
The very first server merge is complete, and Xeth is up and running! Log in and join the growing crowd. Meet new friends, beat your foes, and enjoy your new home on Xeth!
The rest of the server merges will continue as scheduled. Beginning Wednesday, August 29th at 12:01 AM PDT, the following servers will be brought down for approximately 7-12 hours.
-Targonor
-Florendyl
-Flamehammer
-Shidreth
At some time after 7:00 AM PDT, these servers will be removed from the game and reformed as Seradon.
As many of you know, we experienced some difficulty today with the first merge. We thank you for your patience and understanding, and I'm sure the servers that have not merged yet are thankful also.
OK, so I am NOT saying people who play Vanguard are losers. However, we can all agree people view us as crazy people playing a "losing" MMO. We hear 'em, but we keep on playing because we know some day it will grow and be the game we were dreaming of. Even now its unlike any MMO out there or even in development. So this comic is a tribute to all of us who play Vanguard: Saga of Losers!...
In preparation for the server merges, let us remember where we came from, what the game is about, and why we still play!
Adventure!
Mystery!
And Most Importantly: Community!
Thank you all for being here, and being a part of the community that is what has, and will, make this game great! So Let's all enjoy the week, and see what new friends we can make after the server merges!!!
Patch day looms closer and closer. Everyday brings a flood of hope “Just a few more days and there will be enough people to enjoy the game properly again!” I for one am extremely excited to see exactly what kind of populations we are looking at, and to see all the ‘new’ players that end up on my server when the dust finally settles.
SOE introduces to you a few Vanguard GM's, you can read the article with pictures HERE. It's a good read, worth checking out.
Get to Know Your Game Masters!
It's my duty, and pleasure, as Vanguard Community Representative to ensure that Customer Service, Development, and the Players all work together to keep the game thriving. It's true, Players can sometimes take on the role of "customer service" when assisting those new to Vanguard. And anyone who's read the forums knows that just about everyone has worthy and unique ideas that qualify them as aspiring developers! And of course, through blogs, fansites, rants and raves we all take part in shaping this growing Community.
This week I had the opportunity to pester a few Vanguard GMs as they answered petitions. I say pester, because the first thing I did was run around poking everyone for information on what classes they played and what level they were. For the most part, everyone I spoke with had a long and tangled history with MMOs, trying this game and that game, then back to this game or that game.
The Vanguard GM team consists of mostly friendly new faces, though some have been around for quite some time. Let me introduce to you the folks I had the pleasure to chat with: From left to right, Gareth, Richard, Corey, Josh, Norm, and Jesse.
Thank you to everyone in the community who continues to submit beautiful screenshots. You can view everything submitted in our player submitted screenshot database. We will be highlighting one recently submitted image submitted by our readers every day. SUBMIT YOUR SCREENSHOTS HERE.
Today's image comes to us from Tesla Coil and is titled "Kojan Picture 2"
Tentonhammer's John "Boomjack" Hoskin gave us some information that Darrin McPherson shared. Darrin is Vanguard's senior game designer. You can read the full article here.
Vanguard SoH: A New Beginning
By John "Boomjack" Hoskin
Passion isn't something that you can fake. Luckily Darrin McPherson doesn't have to. As Senior Game Designer on Vanguard: Saga of Heroes Darrin can tell you the "saga" of developing, delivering and reintroducing this game to the public.
I first met Darrin two years ago in Los Angeles. The event was E3 2005 and the venue was a room so small that 10 folding chairs barely fit side by side. Darrin sat almost in our laps demoing the game to a group of press who were literally famished for information. Vanguard was hot. Everyone wanted a nugget of gold to hand to their readers. "The Vision" dictated the design. The team was called Sigil Online Games.
Thank you to everyone in the community who continues to submit beautiful screenshots. You can view everything submitted in our player submitted screenshot database. We will be highlighting one recently submitted image submitted by our readers every day. SUBMIT YOUR SCREENSHOTS HERE.
Today's image comes to us from Gragnik and is titled "Deep in the Vi'rak Lair"
Ellrya posted today that they've successfully merged Flamehammer, Shidreth, Florendyl, and Hilsbury onto the test server. Those of you interested and capable, please login to the test server and report any issues you may find regarding the merged characters. You can find the post here.
Greetings,
As you all know, the server merges are beginning early next week. To ensure that everything goes as smoothly as possible, the folks in QA have copied and merged a few servers on Test.
If you play on Flamehammer, Shidreth, Florendyl, or Hilsbury, we encourage you to log in to Test anytime within the next week. This trial run will help ensure that the upcoming merges are a complete success!
--Important Notes on the Test Merger
--Character must have been adventuring level 6 or higher
--Character must have been accessed in the last 60 days
--The characters were taken from a back up from the 22nd so anything you may have done past that point will not be on the copied character.
Player corpses have been removed and all items from the corpse will be found on the Altars.
Thank you to everyone in the community who continues to submit beautiful screenshots. You can view everything submitted in our player submitted screenshot database. We will be highlighting one recently submitted image submitted by our readers every day. SUBMIT YOUR SCREENSHOTS HERE.
Today's image comes to us from Tesla Coil and is titled "Qalia 4"
SOE just released the server merge dates! You can read the announcement here.
Server Merges to Begin Tuesday, August 28th 12:01 AM PDT
The much anticipated server merges will begin on Tuesday, August 28th at approximately 12:01 AM PDT. The process will take a few days and require a bit of downtime. The schedule for the merges is as follows:
Xeth PVE US 12:01 AM PDT August 28, 2007
-Thunderaxe
-Woefeather
-Gulgrethor
-Hilsbury
Servers will be brought down at 12:01am (pst) August 28, 2007
The expected down time is anywhere between 7 and 12 hours, with the new merged server being brought back up sometime after 7:00 AM PDT.
Seradon PVE US 12:01 AM PDT August 29, 2007
-Targonor
-Florendyl
-Flamehammer
-Shidreth
Servers will be brought down at 12:01am (pst) August 29, 2007
The expected down time is anywhere between 7 and 12 hours, with the new merged server being brought back up sometime after 7:00 AM PDT.
Sartok PVP US FFA 12:01AM PDT August 30, 2007
-Tharridon
-Varking
-Fengrot
Servers will be brought down at 12:01am (pst) August 30, 2007
The expected down time is anywhere between 7 and 12 hours, with the new merged server being brought back up sometime after 7:00 AM PDT.
Halgar PVE EU 5:00 PM PDT August 30, 2007
-Gelenia
-Infineum
Servers will be brought down at 5:00pm (pst) August 30, 2007
The expected down time is anywhere between 7 and 12 hours, with the new merged server being brought back up sometime after 12:01 AM PDT.
Well I am back from my vacation and my how things have changed. Update number two is here (I guess my predictions of fan site themed content are out the window) With it comes rest exp. See, now who said lazy people could never get anything done?...
(P.S. You may also view the "About Vanguard" Comic List and check out all past comics @ www.aboutvanguard.com In addition, if you have a comic idea you would like seen in "About Vanguard", you can e-mail: ideas@aboutvanguard.com )
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