The word knockoff came to mind when I was thinking of how to explain to anyone who might not understand why I personally consider Vanguard, a bad game. My opinion isn't based on whether or not the game has any value. I'm sure there is value there and the people who've elected to play the game are enjoying it. No, that has nothing to do with my issue.
My problem with Vanguard is that it didn't deliver to the expectations set by Sigil in promoting the game or its officers when speaking of the game. What I received for my pre-order dollars and subscription fee was more like an MMO knockoff versus a present day Class A title. And no, I'm not going to compare Vanguard's quality at release to what EQ1, EQ2 or AC1 may have released as years ago and what we accepted as reasonable back then. This is NOW not then. I didn't pick this game up out of the $9.99 bin at Best Buy where I expect lesser quality, "get what you get" gaming experience. If I had, we wouldn't be having this conversation. ::Smile::
Curious about the general definition for "knockoff", I used Google to search for definitions. Here is one of the more comprehensive definitions returned...
A counterfeit is an imitation that is made usually with the intent to deceptively represent its content or origins. The word counterfeit most frequently describes forged currency or documents, but can also describe clothing, software, electronic stock shares or certificates, pharmaceuticals, watches, or more recently, cars and motorcycles, especially when this results in patent infringement or trademark infringement.
By contrast, a knockoff item may imitate a well-known one, be sold for a lower price, and be of inferior quality, but there is usually no attempt to deceive the buyer, or infringe upon brand names, patents, trademarks or copyrights. An example of a knockoff item is Dynacell batteries.
After reading this definition, I was actually more inclined to suggest that as an MMO, Vanguard more closely fit the definition for counterfeit. However, I realize that would be a very inflammatory statement, even though I feel I could prove my case. I'm willing to stick with my original contention of knockoff because I was lead to believe I'd be receiving one thing, paid a price equivalent to what I was expecting to receive, yet in the end, received something of far lesser quality. For me, this can be equated to having purchased a knockoff - albeit without my consent or pre-informed opportunity to make a different choice.
Does this game have value? Sure. Will Vanguard get better? Sure. Does it have players that enjoy it enough in its current incarnation who consider it fun? Obviously. Does any of the afore mentioned change the BETA-like state in which they released the game while charging Class A game purchase price - some acquired through unsuspecting pre-orders? HELL NO! Knockoff MMO, thy name is Vanguard.
You know, I actually DID get Vanguard for US$9 (which included shipping to Europe) about a month ago, and it STILL completely disappointed me. I cannot imagine how much it would have left a bad taste in my mouth if I had forked over the US$50+ for the game when it came out new.
I wanted to like Vanguard -- I really, really did. I even read every positive thread about the game that I could find in various forums, which talked about how the game had changed, how things had gotten way better, how cool the crafting is, etc etc. After waiting for two weeks for the game to be delivered, installing it, and patching it, I was given a character creation screen that looked like some kind of pre-beta build. Sliders to change the various options? And bad sliders at that, where I could barely get the option I wanted because I had to move my mouse a microscopic millimeter to the left or right? It gave me pause. Plus, the fact that the environments and character designs look quite similar to EQ2 was a bit of a downer.
I made a wood elf druid, and ... got very disillusioned with the game, as even the starter quests seemed like a knockoff of WoW's. Where was the great storylines and all that stuff that Vanguard fans were raving about in the newbie areas? By the time I got to the next town over, I was left feeling like I ought to have just resubscribed to WoW. At least the world would look prettier, I would have a beautiful UI (I love tinkering with addons), and I wouldn't feel like I was punched in the gut. And this game cost me only 9 freaking dollars (which included shipping to another continent!).
And the crafting system I was so anticipating, and kept reading forum posts and faqs about? Total letdown.
I didn't last two days in Vanguard. I guess it just didn't click with me. I mean, I fell in love with WoW by the time my first character got to level 3 (which would have taken me, what, 20 minutes?) -- and this when I was adamantly against it at first, because I still was in love with my beloved MUD (online text game) and was feeling smirky because I thought that there was no way a graphical MMO game could give me the same breadth and depth of feeling I had. I fell in love with EQ2 after about an hour (and experiencing crafting!), I liked EVE after playing it for about four hours in.
Vanguard was different. And no, I wasn't going in with any hugely hyped expectations. I actually went in WANTING to like the game, hoping that I would love it, that it would replace WoW/EQ2. But no.
Now I'm back to playing WoW with my husband. :P We rerolled on a different server and are having so much fun leveling our little lowbie characters.
Posted by: Mallika | January 24, 2008 at 03:35 PM
Yikes, sorry for the essay! I guess I needed to let it out, hehe.
Posted by: Mallika | January 24, 2008 at 03:35 PM
No need to apologize, I love long posts. It means that whatever I wrote triggered a passionate response - for or against my opinion. Either way, it's all good and what blogs are about!
Later-tater
Posted by: Saylah | January 24, 2008 at 05:11 PM