Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is a high fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) created by Sigil Games Online, and now developed and run by Sony Online Entertainment. Originally, the game was co-published by Sony Online Entertainment (SOE), and the company producing it, Sigil Games Online. The game was released on January 30, 2007, with an early access date of January 26, 2007 for pre-order customers. On May 15, 2007, it was announced in a press release that Sony Online Entertainment had completed a transaction to purchase key assets of Sigil Games Online, including all rights to Vanguard.
The game initially sold around 242,000 copies, while the number of active subscriptions (those who play longer than the free month included when buying the game) was estimated to be around 130,000, to drop in the next months to about 40,000.
Vanguard offers three primary arenas of play: Adventuring, Crafting and Diplomacy. The maximum level in each of the three spheres is 50. These spheres are mostly independent of each other, even if that independence is now less than in the very beginning. There is also a fourth, very limited sphere, Harvesting, which knows no level, and has no quests, except for the initial one. There are no restrictions on the spheres other than adventuring due to race or adventuring class.
Each of these four spheres has its own equipment tab on the character window, which allows the player to equip the gear set appropriate to the activities they wish to perform without carrying around different sets of gear in their bags. Once a character performs an action in a sphere, he automatically switches to the corresponding equipment set, and his visual display changes likewise.
Servers
When the game was released, there were three types of servers - Player versus Environment (PvE), Team Player versus Player (Team PvP) and Free-for-All Player versus Player (FFA PvP). The game was released with 14 servers but following the poor launch and initially low player retention, the 14 were merged into just four servers:
Xeth PVE US (merged from Thunderaxe, Woefeather, Gulgrethorm, and Hilsbury) Seradon PVE US (merged from Targonor, Florendyl, Flamehammer, and Shidreth) Halgar PVE EU (merged from Gelenia and Infineum) Sartok PVP US (FFA PvP, merged from Tharridon, Varking, and Frengrot) The original servers were: Thunderaxe (US/PvE), Florendyl (US/Role-playing Preferred/PvE), Woefeather (US/PvE), Wulgrethor (US/PvE), Targonor (US/PvE) (unofficial oceanic), Hilsbury (US/PvE), Shidreth (US/PvE), Flamehammer (US/PvE) (unofficial French), Tharridon (US/FFA PvP), Varking (US/Team PvP), Gelenia (EU/PvE), Frengrot (EU/Team PvP), and Infinium (EU/PvE).
Cost
The game is packaged on PC DVDs, and though the retail price varies, it can be typically seen for approximately $10-20 at retail stores. As of June 2008, there are eBay sellers selling the collector's edition for approx $9.00 + shipping. Vanguard is also available for purchase through download from SOE or from third-party web hosts.
There were two different versions of the game released. A standard version, and a more expensive, feature-rich collector's edition. The special collector's edition contained a Guild Kit, art book, cloth map, soundtrack CD and 3-month Station Player subscription, plus a special Hero Card and in-game player item. The collector's edition also contained ten buddy keys, or free trials, that when given to a friend will allow them to test the game out for 10 days. If they decide that they wish to continue playing, they will not lose their character, and can opt to purchase the game and continue their account.
Like many large-scale MMORPGs, Vanguard has a monthly fee to pay for bandwidth, server maintenance, and new content. A one month subscription costs US $14.99 as of November 2008. Users can pay an optional premium for access to additional web-based features. Vanguard is also part of the Sony Online Entertainment Station Access package, for which users can pay a single $29.99 monthly fee for access to several SOE online games.