At Level 23 I find the rate of XP to be fine.  The problem is not the XP you get per kill but the time taken to form a group and get to the content.  The game is already way past the "preserve the vision" stage and well into the "save the day stage".  So far, the effort to reward ratio is way off, but changing the XP does not in my opinion reflect an understanding of the problem.  In any 3 hour play session you're likely to spend no more than an hour of that actually deriving any benefit.  Frustration levels during play seem exceedingly high and are driven by:

• difficiulty forming groups even in larger guilds
• very long times taken to form groups, linked to the above and
• in particular very slow travel times
• bugs impeding enjoyment of the game especially the group related bugs
• leading to generally high difficulty in quickly accessing group content

Regardless of that I am very happy with anything they do at the moment to help with retention.  I have to apologise for taking a contrary position to your view but right now, at this point in time, I would say that insta-travel (group summoning), minimal xp-debt, and no item repair are all very good ideas.  I loved EQ1, it was a golden experience, but I think given the progression to date in this genre, and my experience in Vanguard, trying to recreate that experience is a flawed concept.

I would say that from a commercial position the game is at a pivotal point when the focus needs to be on getting players to the content and ensure they are have fun doing it.  The vision thing might have succeeded, but the game bugs, design flaws, and lack of robsutness mean that the vision per se if no longer commercially viable (putting aside discussion as to whether it might have been flawed fromt he outstart).

From what I have seen of a statisically sound sample we are getting around 60-75% attrition so far, some of those people may return but these numbers are not healthy.  For the sake of Vanguard I hope they make some good commercial decisions focuses on player retention and inately acknowleging that a MMORPGs success is driven by the fun factor which right now is surely absent.

I am keen for the game to succeed, I just think it requires a pragmatic attitude at this point.

I think that is about as short and to the point summation as you could make.

Our DPS feels too low for a DPS class, but it is difficult to know exactly what is going on DPS wise as I don't have a parser for Vanguard.  In particular, I find DPS is quite inconsistent for a monk, with significant disparities due to finishers having a random element to them.

Yes.... Feign Death.

Hello to my fellow jamafists.

Dark Elf on Targonor.  I come pre-gimped!