I took the liberty of stocking this article with tissues, as I’m sure there are a few Vanguard fans who will be shedding tears over this article. No, Vanguard is not shutting down (as I’ve talked about in previous articles). Massively has an article up about Sony Fan Faire 2011 regarding Vanguard today, where Salim Grant has confirmed that there are two updates to Vanguard planned to go into effect this fiscal year.
In addition to new content, Grant also confirmed that developers who had previously worked on the game are being brought back to fill in the empty areas of the game. The content, as stated by Grant, will be implemented in a way that it cannot be burned through quickly by veteran players, and will fill the gap for some time.
When asked about free to play, Grant confirmed that the idea has been tossed around the board room, but no consensus has been reached and such an implementation is not yet on the table. Doing so would require some form of revenue, meaning a Station Cash injection into the game in the form of a cash shop.
Oh the times they are a-changing. When John Smedley talked last year about Sony not being done with Vanguard, it looks like he wasn’t just blowing smoke up our collective-assuming that Vanguard can get a small number of developers together to introduce more content, perhaps the game could get that influx of old players necessary to really give Sony a reason to work on the free to play system. The recent price drop in Sony’s All Access Pass should also be enough of a reason for players to get involved in Vanguard who may not have tried it before.
Of course this is just well wishes from an old player. Maybe I’m just surprised that Sony is giving the game real acknowledgement other than “yes, I love my son, which is why I home school him and keep him locked in his bedroom.” Hopefully much more on Vanguard to come.
MMO Fallout 