Unless you have been living under a rock, you have recently learned that Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) has acquired Sigil Games Online (SGO) and its assets for Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. As a result, SOE is dissolving the established Vanguard Affiliate program and have opened official forums to centralize the community of active subscribers and developers. Their intent is to give credence to all fan sites making an effort to promote the game. As Alan Crosby (Brenlo), SOE Director of Community Relations, states in a recent post:

…We will put up a list of fan sites but it will not be "An official" list.  We are not going to recognize any one fan site over another.  This is how we treat our fan sites on all of our titles.  Now we may not offer exclusives, dev posts, or even link to sites that are filled with frothing hate or anger but neither will enforce any standards beyond that.  We realize that each community is different and each will have its own flavor and style…

What Does This Mean for the Safehouse?
In all honesty, not all that much. We are still here for the rogues to commune and debate. Our participation in the experimental Vanguard Affiliate Program was equally as experimental. On paper it was a sound prospect for all parties, but due to the build up of the distribution handoff from Microsoft to SOE and the resulting recent acquisition of the game, it quickly (and quietly) lost its teeth. We have been plugging along as usual, as the program unfortunately lost momentum. In more ideal circumstances, this unique venture may have worked as intended.

That said, we were born out of rogue-class adversity in the early days of Everquest, Verant, and SOE. We have a long-standing friendly relationship with SOE and thier staff and we look forward to continuing the tradition- rogue style.

Brenlo has also stated that in an effort to streamline the official forums, SOE will not be implementing class sub-forums:

We are doing it right.  With EQII we went too far in the number of forums offered.  I believe that we hindered much external site growth by offering everything internally. 

It is good to have official forums, very good, but it is also good to allow those external fan sites, dedicated to classes and other groups to grow as well.  We plan to do both.  Here we will be hosting official Gameplay discussion forums and the newbie and help forums.  For other forums, we fully plan to support those that already exist.

And he further elaborates:

[W]e will not be opening class forums.  We want to leave those for the fan sites that have already built up around them.  We will also not be opening Tradeskill, Roleplay or other gameplay style forums.

Again, very good news for the growth of the Safehouse rogue community. While we are not promised developer traffic, it is a safe bet that they will be lurking and keeping an eye on things. There is also the potential of them maintaining the current class lead program as it has been beneficial to the EQ class communities. Hopefully their intent plays out accordingly. If not, we will still keep on keeping on.

Moving Forward
Our Vanguard: Saga of Heroes sub site is currently being revamped. Our lore compilation, poison database, and a host of other guides and information will be shuffled over soon as we can get them implemented. We will be refocusing more on the rogue slant rather than a “global” information site.

As always, our forums are still open for business and we encourage everyone (old timers and newbies) to continue using them. Word has it that a familiar sub c()mmunity has set up shop in Telon and is seeking new rogues to expand the network.

The Safehouse has proudly served the rogue class for almost a decade now and are always looking for new ideas that will benefit our community. Feel free to make suggestions through the forums, private messaging, or email. If we can make a better experience for you, let us know.

Tip O’ the Hat
With all of the emotions, bickering, rumors and other debate going on throughout the Vanguard community at this time of “regime change,” we would like to acknowledge all of the care and dedication of the Sigil staff for bringing us the world of Telon. It has been a fun ride and a privilege to work with all of you. Rest assured, you have built another passionate MMORPG community on you blood, sweat, and tears. Thank you!

Best wishes for your new endeavors!

The Safehouse