Talking to Vanguard’s Brad McQuaid: the Never-Ending MMO

Sigil Games founder/CEO Brad McQuaid tells Ten Ton Hammer that with Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, he hopes he’s creating his dream of “a never-ending MMO.” No kidding. That’s how long-term he’s pacing this new MMORPG from Sigil and Sony Online Entertainment (SOE), currently in Stage 3 beta. “We have it all mapped out for the next 7 or so years.”

The team at Sigil hopes to release new content monthly, he says, and to punch expansions out around once a year (that’s A LOT of content over a seven-year period). For that, once Vanguard launches, Sigil will organize into two teams: the live team that handles the game in real-time, and the expansion team whose focus is on punching those monthly content updates and yearly expansions out.

As Vanguard slogs through beta testing, Brad promises that they will be duly rewarded for their efforts. “WeÂ’ll definitely give them something. It wonÂ’t be imbalancing; but itÂ’ll be cool.” After all, he appreciates the beta testers who’ve given their time and effort to locate the bugs in the game. The bugs, and the loopholes. “I need the exploits so we can find them…I need the jerks.”

If there’s ever a Stage 4 beta test, we know a few jerks we could volunteer for the job.

Speaking of jerks, the Ten Ton Hammer interviewer pointed out Brad’s, well, habit of trying to extend the game’s reach beyond the existing fan base, even going as far as to talk to the Vanguard-bashers at MMORPG.com:

I think itÂ’s important. The grass roots marketing is important. And sometimes it might be controversial when I do that…but you have to get the word out on places like Fires of Heaven where they might have questions or misconceptions about the game.

Sigil Games founder/CEO Brad McQuaid tells Ten Ton Hammer that with Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, he hopes he’s creating his dream of “a never-ending MMO.” No kidding. That’s how long-term he’s pacing this new MMORPG from Sigil and Sony Online Entertainment (SOE), currently in Stage 3 beta. “We have it all mapped out for the next 7 or so years.”

The team at Sigil hopes to release new content monthly, he says, and to punch expansions out around once a year (that’s A LOT of content over a seven-year period). For that, once Vanguard launches, Sigil will organize into two teams: the live team that handles the game in real-time, and the expansion team whose focus is on punching those monthly content updates and yearly expansions out.

As Vanguard slogs through beta testing, Brad promises that they will be duly rewarded for their efforts. “WeÂ’ll definitely give them something. It wonÂ’t be imbalancing; but itÂ’ll be cool.” After all, he appreciates the beta testers who’ve given their time and effort to locate the bugs in the game. The bugs, and the loopholes. “I need the exploits so we can find them…I need the jerks.”

If there’s ever a Stage 4 beta test, we know a few jerks we could volunteer for the job.

Speaking of jerks, the Ten Ton Hammer interviewer pointed out Brad’s, well, habit of trying to extend the game’s reach beyond the existing fan base, even going as far as to talk to the Vanguard-bashers at MMORPG.com:

I think itÂ’s important. The grass roots marketing is important. And sometimes it might be controversial when I do that…but you have to get the word out on places like Fires of Heaven where they might have questions or misconceptions about the game.