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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MaxKaladin" data-source="post: 3337853" data-attributes="member: 1196">I started EQ about a month after it launched.  It was my first MMORPG.  I saw a lot of potential in the idea of the MMORPG and really liked what I saw of EQ at first.  The problem was that the design of the game made trying to get anywhere like repeatedly banging your head against a brick wall.  It didn't matter if you were grouping or soloing.  It was just not a fun experience.  It was an exercise in frustration and I quit after about six months.  Back then, it became pretty clear that one of the main reasons for this was Brad McQuaid and his bleeping "Vision".  I got the impression he wanted to make games for the hardcore few who could devote their entire lives to playing the game and didn't really care about anybody else.  He was very taken with the idea of the elite few at the top and didn't seem to care about anyone else except as an admiring audience for the elite.  It also seemed obvious he had some very definate ideas about exactly how the game should be played and did his best to punish anyone who didn't play the right way.  In particular, he didn't like soloing and tried to make it all but impossible to solo.  He loved grouping and wanted to force you into groups as soon as possible.  Fast forward to a couple of years ago and I first hear about this "Vanguard" game.  A few things sound nice and I see potential, but then I read a bunch of typical Brad McQuaid stuff that sounds like he's up to all his old tricks again and hasn't changed a bit.  In particular, I remember reading about how characters will have various "modes" like a combat mode and a crafting mode that can only be changed in towns and that characters in the crafting mode won't be able to fight very well.  As a result, crafters who want to gather materials outside of town will have to get a group to come along and protect them from monsters while they mine or whatever.  (Perhaps this has changed but that's what was being said back then.)  In other words, typical "I hate soloing" stuff from Brad McQuaid.  It seemed pretty clear he was right back designing for the hardcore few again and I'm not one of them so I just wrote off Vanguard right then.  In the meantime, I find WoW and love it.  Someone has finally built a game the casual player can play (except for the end-game raiding but there's plenty of rewarding play before that, unlike EQ).  So, now, fast forward a couple of years and the game is out and I'm hearing that Brad McQuaid is talking about his is game is designed to allow room for the casual player.  Frankly, I don't buy it.  Like Whizbang Dustyboots, I don't think the leopard has changed his spots.  Now, I can understand what has been said about "feeling like a world".  One of the things I liked best about EQ was that it felt like a world and I wanted to explore it.  My first EQ character was a ranger made with visions of exploring the various nooks of crannies of the EQ world with my trusty bow in hand.  Unfortunately, I couldn't explore it because nobody wanted to make groups for exploring and trying to do it solo just got you slaughtered -- plus I couldn't actually kill anything with my bow because Brad McQuaid had something against archers.  When i read the early stuff on Vanguard, it seemed like it was going to be EQ all over again.  It sounded like a great world was out there that I wouldn't be able to explore because of the gameplay elements.  No thanks.</blockquote>

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