Vanguard - John Smedley Interview @ Shacknews

Shacknews talks to SOE President John Smedley about the acquisition of Sigil Games and the future of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes.

Shack: Many players are concerned that there will be major changes made to the game, especially in regards to its "hardcore" nature. How do you plan to balance the concerns of the fans with the need to move Vanguard forward at this point?
John Smedley: Let me broadly say that there's a perception out there that, oh, we're going to make this into a "carebear" game, and just change it into a [World of Warcraft] clone. I have no idea where this stuff gets started. The simple reality is the team is going to make these decisions. There's not some sort of overriding "let's make it easier" mentality. Nothing like that. The team already has a long list of things they want to do, and they're going to talk to the community about it. So ultimately it's going to be the community that decides the future of Vangard's gameplay. And if most of the players want the game to be exactly the way it is now, you know…

More information.

Let me broadly say that there's a perception out there that, oh, we're going to make this into a "carebear" game, and just change it into a [World of Warcraft] clone. I have no idea where this stuff gets started.

Well, as soon as SOE had acquired Everquest 1 from Verant they began to drastically change it - especially in terms of its hardcore nature. That's probably where this stuff gets started…