So… after downloading updates for many hours, then downloading some more, I finally made it into Vanguard for a short while. There is an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) for the beta so far, so I can’t say much until the NDA is lifted. However, I will say that the first thing that struck me is that the UI is almost exactly the same as another game I’ve played (starting with a ‘W’). It’s like they copied all the color schemes and textures directly! Other than the graphics, it is hard to tell it is a different game. As you can see in screenshots, the graphics go for a more realistic look. The races available seem very similar to EQ2 (and I would guess EQ also). Character creation is pretty extensive, but I didn’t play around with it much. Not too long after I got into the game to play a little, they had to take the server down for an update. I’m going out of town until New Year’s, so I probably won’t be able to play again until then.

What an unexpected email to receive the week before Christmas! I vaguely remember signing up for the Vanguard forums and applying for the beta a while back, but I haven’t been keeping up with the MMORPG world or Vanguard. Vanguard is being developed by some of the original EverQuest devs who left Sony to create their own company (Sigil Games). More recently, SOE is now publishing Vanguard.

While I’m waiting the hours it takes to install the updates, I guess I better go get up to date on the game!

Update: I found the trailer for the game. Go to the Sony Station Site and click on the “Watch the Trailer” button in the upper right. While it may not be the highest quality, it looks like actual in game footage instead of CGI. There is a dragon in there that looks like it might be one of the flying mounts I have seen mentioned. There are also a bunch of screenshots on that page.

I played World of Warcraft for over a year. I was involved with managing WoW Vault since way before the beta, and during beta I wrote the talent calculator and lots of other content for the site (when Blizzard finally released a talent calculator, there were a lot of similarities in layout to the one I wrote, but I won’t go into that here). So I was pretty into the game. However, I stopped playing the game last year. I wanted more solo or small group content, but everything at high levels is based on large raid groups, which take a while to get together. It just wasn’t as much fun as the lower and mid levels, and I could only create so many characters before I got bored of that content.

Despite this, I still look at news of the game’s development once in a while, so I know that there is an expansion coming out soon (which has been in the works for over a year). The Burning Crusade Cinematic Trailer was recently released, and again I am amazed at Blizzard’s CGI. Although the in game graphics are nothing like it, it is still impressive. I got quite a big laugh out of a few moments in the trailer. The trailer starts out very serious and dramatic, but about 75% of the way through it has some humor. First a Human wizard dramatically casts Polymorph at an approaching Tauren, which of course turns him into a sheep. The sheep dangles in the air with his legs wiggling for a moment before falling to the ground with a baa. Next an Undead character casts a ring of fire to kill some nearing murlocs, who are complete with RlrlrlRLRLLRLGRLGRLGlglglglgl!. Those two scenes had me cracking up, and it was hard to take the rest of the video seriously.

Also on the WoW Movie Download Page is a video of the recent WoW commercial that has been airing on TV. It’s a take off on Office Space, and it’s pretty funny.

I don’t know if I will ever start playing WoW again. Maybe I’ll give it another try when the expansion comes out, but I’d almost prefer not getting sucked back into the black whole of time that is MMORPGs. A Diablo 3 would be a lot of fun though, and the time requirements are not as demanding for that sort of game. I haven’t played online games in months, and I like having more free time than I used to.

Futurama is an awesome show. Unfortunately, it was cancelled by Fox prematurely. However, just as Family Guy was brought back recently, Futurama is going to get a second chance. The writing for a new season is in progress, and animation is starting. The only bad news is that it won’t air until 2008… it seems so far away.

This news was reported in a recent interview with David X. Cohen, co-creator of the show.

How long after the last “series finale” does the new season take place? And what can we expect for the Fry and Leela relationship?

COHEN: When our story resumes, two long years have passed. As for the Fry/Leela relationship, we will be visiting that subject right away, so I refuse to tell you where it will lead on the grounds that I want you to buy the DVD.

Read the rest of the interview for more details.

In other news, the game developer Multiverse Network recently announced that it obtained the rights to turn the wonderful sci-fi/western show by Joss Whedon, Firefly, into an MMO. Firefly has some incredible writing, believable characters, and interesting plotlines. Serenity, the movie created after the first and only season of the show, was quite well done, essentially an extended episode of Firefly with better effects. However, I can’t help but to be skeptical about a Firefly MMO. It was the characters and their stories that made the show interesting, not as much the setting. I think a game would have a difficult time reproducing this appeal. Being a fan though, I will definitely be watching for future development news about the game to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Another TV show that is also being developed as an MMO is Stargate Worlds, based on the sci-fi shows Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis (which were in turn based on the Stargate movie). Stargate-SG1 has been another great show, although it lost a little of its magic when a couple of main characters left the show, most notably Jack O’Neill, played by Richard Dean Anderson (”MacGyver”). Now, in its tenth season, the show is being cancelled as of the end of the season. Stargate Atlantis, a fairly good spinoff, will continue to go on. Stargate Worlds sounds like it has a lot of potential. Stargate has an incredible universe set up, with many settings (planets, ships, home bases) and original and interesting races. The Stargate universe sounds like a great basis for a game, and I am looking forward to seeing what happens with it. As with any game, however, the enjoyment and success of a game depends upon its gameplay. Creating an enjoyable MMO is easier said than done, but I would love to see this game succeed.