So I hear that Vanguard is offering up free time, and that no one seems to have known about it. I know I had no idea, and I’ve been logged into my SOE account quite recently for PotBS (which I spent most of the weekend playing, sorry EVE fans!). So I check my email – nothing there, and nothing in the spam folder. My email is connected to my account and verified, but I still got nothing. I check the Vanguard forums…nothing. I check the update notes. No, nothing there either but some rather interesting changes.
So I figure this is failure on a high level for SOE, which is not all that unusual. But then I think some more. Maybe the goal, with the ripples from the closure of Matrix Online, is to get a clear measure of players who really want to be in Vanguard. Should they close it? If they offer free time under the table, who is watching? And who will come back? And what will they say about the level cap being raised, the changes to combat and the class and racial skills?
In other words, what kind of buzz can Vanguard generate as a baseline, grassroots movement. So far, given the number of blogs suddenly talking Vanguard again, I’m guessing that if that was the goal, it was success.
Whether or not that was the intention though…whew, I’m doubting it. But maybe that’s just because I’m jaded at this point.
