I’ve muttered about my discontent with Vanguard in the past, but … maybe? Maybe …

Voodoo Extreme has up a visit to the gameworld, and they have the first Vanguard screens I’ve really gotten excited about. I’ve also started to hear from some less jaded gaming friends that mebbe Vanguard isn’t all that bad.

I’ve looked again at the Vanguard FAQ, where they list the features they’re going for. Stuff like corpse runs and timesinks are still in the ‘Vision’, and that makes me really nervous.

I suppose despite my reservations it was a foregone conclusion I was going to play the game anyway, and now I’m just looking forward to it a bit more. If anyone’s reading this who has a beta account they could pass my way, I’d be more than happy to write about how awesome your game is.*

Either way, the words I’m hearing about Age of Conan and Vanguard are making me guardedly more enthusastic about the next round of MMOGs. I still don’t think anyone is going to put a chink in World of Warcraft’s groove, but perhaps there’s a chance we could have some solid niche games to play in the near future. Good times.

*note: I will be honest and may tell the internets that you have made a giant mistake.