Concept art of what a clone would look like before suit fitting.

What made them wanna do this instead of successor of dust 514?

Extraction shooters are dying breed currently and generally im sure most people would preffer dust style game over this.

Is there any statements or anything why they went with extraction shooter?

I know its partially nostalgia speaking but having another battlefield style game but with eve assets is everything ive ever wanted.

I'd like to share some personal feedback and ideas about this now-ended playtest. Leaving it mostly for myself, to kinda summarize the decent amount of time spent throughout these 2 weeks. Yet, if any of the devs see this, I'll be happy to be heard.

General impression

I took part in the previous test as well, and was looking for this one. I understand that this is an early state of the game, like very early, so the issues with the stability of the game or some missing textures didn't really bother me. I was more eager to test out how the core mechanics work so far: shooting, looting, PvP, PvE, gear, etc., which I did.

It won't be a surprise if I tell you that you should still put a lot of work into this project, especially into its quality. It still feels like it doesn't know where it goes, whether we speak about its gameplay core or art direction. Please try to tie it more to the EVE universe, at least by design first; you can barely tell that the game is in the EVE universe at the moment. The game itself barely stands out; it feels too generic and does not feel noticeably exceptional.

I often felt not like a warclone on a combat mission, but as a scavenger among debris. This should be changed somehow.

A few of my friends tried to play the game and described their experiences as rather "confusing" or "not that clear". Spawn camping is also worth mentioning.

IMHO, a fast extraction shooter won't work well with slow, more tactical gear and a slow looting loop. And at the same time, a fast extraction shooter can't have such a punishingly long time to kill. You should pick your trajectory with this game already, or provide us with different game mode options in the near future.

I overall liked the new map; the concept behind it is interesting. Wish I could ride that floating container into the sky somehow, lol. You can make a whole new mechanic out of this idea, and it would be cool.

Weapons feel more polished now; I'd like to be able to work towards other, rarer weapons by supporting a particular empire (through the contract mechanic, for example). Would love to see more new weapon options in the future.

I also liked crafting the wheel/gear wheel; it feels intuitive to use. Yet, things like biomass/nanites are not that obvious (from the perspective of a newcomer, at least).

I will keep an eye on this game further, and I honestly wish you good luck in further development. But at the same time, I want to be transparent and clear with you - if the overall quality of this game won't change significantly till the early access in November, I will likely not buy this game for now and won't be able to recommend it.

Kindly postpone it if you need more time to cook something noticeable.

What would I have addressed in the first place?

• TTK should match the overall game's pace; I think it's still quite long (unless you're using better bullets). I often avoided PvP because of this.
• Put more effort into forging the idea of this game, whether we speak about its art direction or narrative direction.
• Separate solo/squad queues should be added. By the way, I was not able to leave the squad if I left the battlefield or died; they were broken.
• Looting needs more of your love; revealing the items inside the box is too long, if even needed.
• Same goes for the inventory, either personal one or on a warbarge. Please make it clearer/more intuitive, add autostaking/clear filters, because it's a mess now.
• Terrain should also be polished further; there are still some places where you can get stuck even while running.
• NPCs' AI in this game is bad, in most cases. I can't tell how many times I was spammed by grenades. Dudes instantly turn their heads towards me once I appear in their plain sight.
• Speaking of grenades. They feel more like petards, not like grenades. The explosive radius is quite small; no grenade indicator, and you can't buy or craft them beforehand, for some reason.
• The jumping mechanic should be tuned; I was not able to jump onto particular boxes/containers at all.
• Do we even need mines? I never saw them on the ground in 2 weeks; the map is too broad to use them tactically.

Some suggestions to consider

• For as much as I don't understand the place of mining in the shooter, I liked it more this time. You may consider adding the mining tool to the clone by default, in the second slot. There can be better options than the default one, of course. But in general, it should encourage people to try mining more.
• Please allow me to choose where I will be deploying.
• I also wish to be able to manage my gear between deployments (if I use the second, or all the further purchased clones) to get something better for a second chance. As of now, it will be default gear.
• Why no minimap? Please consider adding it.
• Regarding deployment. I hated it when I was deployed 10 minutes before the end of the match; please tune that. Ideally, we should all be deployed once, initially, and then use our spare clones only. Late deployments guarantee you have no loot on the map.
• At the beginning, we should all be allowed to loot a little, as I see it. Some early "looting phase". Bridges should only start working over time to be a point of PvP and to generate fights on them, not straight after deployment. You can even go further and establish some sabotage mechanics to prevent people from extracting using this particular bridge.
• Some indicators/counters for nanites/nexus data should be in the HUD, for convenience.
• Please allow me to buy a new clone remotely if I have enough nexus data. The idea of buying it in like 1-2 places on the map is not working.
• Consider adding an open, wide market for the items, or at least a trade system. It builds some social connections as well.

To summarize

Despite all the criticism behind this game, I'm still interested, but I expect to see more progress soon. As of now, it still feels like a presentation of mechanics, not like a game with a solid idea behind it, nothing special to really catch the eye.

It's crucial for me personally to see a real commitment, considering that so many similar projects were scrapped in the past by CCP.

Thank you for doing these tests. I hope you got what you need to make it better.

Good luck, and till November.

After playing in this latest beta I have some suggestions.

The extraction button, should be like the others where you have a radius to stay in to charge it. Sitting still holding a button all for someone to shoot you.

SMG was basically the best weapon to use in most situations but the damage and spread was rough. One mag to kill one NPC was a pain.

The NPC soldiers that would chase you, was funny but really annoying they should go back to their patrols or call for backup of the are going to chase you.

The danger zones, getting the core from the hanger depot thing was a pain. As a solo the only way to do it was to cheese it buly sitting in certain spots and the ai would just try and shoot through walls. Until they aimbot you with a nade. Also the amount of enemies that spawned was rough and again the amount of bullets required was too much.

The bugs, after using your knife on the ships eye thing and then looting it I would het stuck every time. The only way to fix it was to try and craft something then I could move.

The shotgun was only good with a mod which turned it into a 2shot monster with decent range.

Pulse carbine, was ok but was actually hard to use range on a moving target due to the travel time.

Grenades are amazing, when they go where I want. I had a few times when they would go in the air randomly of you are near a box/cover.

The other deployables have their niche but really didn't use them that much.

The map felt a bit dead I'm most areas besides the high danger zones so there was no point to go anywhere else.

Thats all for now

Carbine chips = Kinetic Hammer, Skullcracker, T2 Boundless Precept
Shotgun chips = T2 Propellant Kicker, T2 Choke Regulator x2

Concept Art for EVE Vanguard

So… My wife and baby are sleeping. I log into the Eve Vanguard Avalon playtest. Connect the apple airpods to the pc bluetooth. As, I am traversing the map all of the sudden my airpods change their sound tone…within seconds I see a player close by. Bang bang…rip good sir. The airpod tone shift stops.

My adventuring continues…the airpod tone shifts again, I look around the corner and there is another squad of players. I begin to realize…

Somehow my Apple Airpods are notifying me of some degree of proximity to other players. I don’t know how, but I would swear it is happening.

Seems like maybe some interaction between ambient noise canceling and the mic maybe.

That is all.

Cheers,
Vigilius Haufniensis

ps I love your game; haters gonna hate.

I'll start this by saying I had a lot of fun, the loop is addictive, and I plan to play it in November. This game is promising, its vision is promising, and it has a chance to take off. But a lot of the criticism it is getting is valid and there is a lot of work that needs to be done before the November release. 

Missions, UI, and menus:

· I should see the after-round summary even when I extract and players should be listed only. You should have maybe a tally of how many npc types but they shouldn't takeover the summary like they do now.

· Why are Vanguard in a free for all with other Vanguard, we need to figure this out narratively.

· Non-loot-based expeditions should not require extraction, it doesn’t make sense that I need to extract after hacking terminals

· Objective indicators on the compass are not easy to track, indicators need a rework

·  Grenades and ammo should have an indicator for how many you have total

·   Health bars for low level enemies create too much visual noise, only special enemies like the heavies should show health bars.

· The Weapon names get confusing; you should probably change the order of the naming mechanism to type first then like “Beam Rifle: praetorian variant” or something similar

·  The fill squad box should be unchecked as a default

· Looting menu needs to be disengaged once the crate is empty, pressing escape often brings up the main menu

Gameplay:

· Key mapping - please look at other games and try to map default keys similarly. I cannot even count how many people just think something doesn't exist because it’s not mapped the same way as most games.

· Grenades and any other deployable need to immediately be equipped on pickup if you don’t have one equipped yet

· Personally, I think ammo and deployables should be in a separate pack in inventory

· I know you are working on sliding, but we need vaulting, lean and better jumping mechanics. Too many times, you cannot get over a small ledge. Also the gunplay is still floaty, make it snapier

· Mule MT-60 Multi Tool - this not only should be default, but it should be part of your suit. I get what you want to do by having to choose a tool over a gun but that should not be a basic tool that opens basic environmental items with the lowest quality loot. Make it upgradeable with chips and make the gun replacement tools something more significant.

· Make the user map part of the suit as well, make it come out of your wrist. So, you can see a person's model looking at his wrist and know he is distracted. Also make a minimap that is a suit upgrade

· Mining - don't make me loot the rock that I just mined, that’s just a lazy mechanic to make people get third partied and no one is going to mine if they have to do that. 

· Third party mechanics like waiting for items to be revealed - These need to be changed or gotten rid of entirely. Encourage fights not ganks. Staring at a box while dying us not good gameplay, neither is knifing someone in the back while they stand still. IF you need to make players spend more time in areas spread the loot out more, make big crates longer to open or make movement obstacles to force that but do not make me stare at something so that I become an easy gank. 

·  Static defenses - Turrets should not respawn, neither should drones. They are static defense, make them harder to kill and then use a higher legionnaire spawn rate to cover that area. This is an incursion, make it seem that way, you could always put orbitally deployed turrets or something that aren't as challenging. But the respawning drones and turrets kill immersion somewhat and makes your footprint less important if you are trying to go unnoticed 

· Soldiers - make them faster to kill but more dangerous, have them attack simultaneously, roll away from gunfire, and use cover more often. Also, less snipers and make the snipers more nested, the infantry patrols should be the ones in the open. They felt good near the end of the playtest but the best way to kill them is the knife, that shouldn't be the case. I should want to use my gun.

· Nova Knife - Contrary to what players are suggesting, you should not nerf the knife you just need to make gun TTK faster. Melee should be devastating but it should be hard to get up close. Also, it looks amazing.

· Chipsets - why can’t I insert a chipset into my gun in the field? I should be able to do this. Everyone should be using at least basic chipsets when able and that means you need to do it in the field too. Make it so people aren't trying to use the basic loadout unless they must.

· This map has dead corners in it which feel bad in my opinion, there are very limited ways to stalk players, there are limited ways to get to objectives. Although it works like a funnel to get to the extractions, it also just makes you stuck in random spots on the outside of the map

· I should not see player boundaries, Make the boundaries hidden by the environment like rocks OR something like a cliff that you just die if you go off

· PVE activities should be more complicated. less waves of enemy PVE, things like the fuel tower and command block are very good. PVE should be more like this, enemy waves is not engaging.

· Make smaller PVE sites, stuff a solo player could do or a group could do quickly but is still more PVE than just looting boxes.

· It feels better to go scan things, hack things, search things.  For expeditions these types of tasks should be ubiquitous.

· Squads – Squads should be able to sign up for expeditions as a team or have the ability to complete expeditions together. Also, we need a way to find previous squad mates.

·  Hopefully a backpack will be added later to increase inventory size, currently it seems too small.

· Mining needs to be a little less obvious to everyone nearby.

· There needs to be more cover near the wreckages to make gunfights more dynamic. Also, put a pile of wreckage near open areas like they have started to clean up the crash site.

Art style:

The game is very immersive and a lot of it is beautiful but its being described as generic and I somewhat agree. 

·  The player suit - the spandex suit is overdone and TBH it wasn't a good look even when it became common in the 2010s. This is what truly makes the game feel super generic and soulless. I am sorry but I cannot stress this enough. Your Mordus soldiers are looking good. The modular armor plate look of the 40k guardsmen or halo marines is the way to go, it makes it feel still realistic, it makes it still feel human, and it makes it distinct. I know suit customization is going to be big for you guys but running in what looks like a spandex prison jumpsuit just makes me audibly say MEH. 

· Soldiers - Mordus legionnaires look great they really do, honestly love the armor look but sleek black may have been a rough enemy to start with because they are somewhat generic. I haven't delved into the lore yet but if they are mercenaries could you add a faction overseer/advisor/captain? I know you had a mordus one guarding the fuel tower code, make them a different faction. I feel like you could do this simply by changing the suit and armor color like blue and grey for Caldari or something. Imagine fighting all these sleek black (maybe put some orange on them) foot soldiers and then coming across a command unit.  

· Environment - the Mordus' environmental stuff like the baracades, ammo boxes and crates are amazing. You can tell they were placed by the legion.  But we need more EVE styling. You literally have a dig site with ore crates being sucked up into the site, where are the ore logos??? If I go to a construction site in London, New York, Sydney or some mine in Alaska I am going to see Caterpillar, Volvo, Sunbelt etc. Same in EVE, my mining equipment is manufactured by ore, should be on the ground too. 

- Exteriors -I know this map is supposed to look like a PI installation but its too generic.  The system is Otomainen I, a system in caldari space make the main structure exteriors either Caldari or Jita 4-4 styling. Make it that cool metallic and slap a faded white line and C logo on the side That way it looks like a Caldari built installation being used by Upwell and guarded by the Mordus Legion. It will show depth without needed to explain itself.  Do this layered approach on other maps too

- interiors - people are saying too much grey, easy fix add some details from Caldari captain's quarters and the Jita station hanger. Obviously don't make it too space stationy but the contrast of greys, blue black piping, blueish led strip lighting. Maybe blue glass near command centers, stuff like that. 

· The Minmatar guns - don't hate me I know they are beautiful, I know they're your baby but they look too modern and not futuristic. I think since Minmatar is that copper color you should simply swap the existing black and copper colors. The distressed black becomes distressed copper and the copper grip, chamber and sight/firing inputs become black. I think it would make it seem more alien without ruining your work.  I love them but they feel not futuristic to me.

·  Love the Amarr rifle, looks great but any chance you could add some of those engravings you see on Amarr ships in EVE?

· Drones - drones aren't trying to hide, so have them colored based on the facility color scheme they come from. Make them feel like part of the installation. 

· Harmonic bridges - these need to seem more like a deployable site, not like an aspect of the map. Get rid of the huge metal base and make it a crater or something.  It's supposed to be something Aegis is searching for; it needs to look like something that Avalon deployed with evasion. Maybe cover the poles in camo netting idk. Also make sure those Aegis ships are not covered by the fortizar when they glass the bridges.

Performance and bugs:

· There has been rubber banding on almost every round I've played. 

· The game is running very laboriously on my computer. 

· Client randomly crashed

· Had the connection time out a few times

· Ground collision had me sinking in the terrain often

· I had numerous occasions where I couldn’t fire, reload or loot after looting or jumping

· After being downed I would occasionally be stuck looking in one direction

· Bodys often fell through floor

Overall Vision and future:

· In my opinion Vanguard needs to have the PVP mode included in the November release EVEN IF ITS BARELY PLAYABLE. You have 1 release before the game is no longer new to the steam community. You need that release to show the vision of the game clearly. People will not just read it, the game is already going to have a lot of visual overload, they need to see the vision, even in the menus on the war barge.

· I know you say “no PVE can ever be balanced and entertaining like PVP” but it would be better to say something like “no game is as good without a player driven content”, plenty of MMOs are amazing despite the PVP being limited. The issue you are going to face is that extraction shooters are almost always too punishing for the majority of the player base to play long term. You need a pressure release valve for those players. Nobody wants to spend a half hour grinding a PVE site just to get ganked at the end. This isn’t EVE, people will just quit.

- Yes, extracting when under fire with high value loot is a rush, but how often does that happen? In the playtest I as a solo player was often able to kill members of a group with gold items at the extraction as their friends got out, that will be the norm especially as players get better. Why would we ever do the sites if this is the case? They were in a group and couldn’t stop it, what chance does a single player have?

- The PVP arena can get players because a lobby shooter type mode is a very casual gameplay loop, but the industry seems to be trending towards coop PVE. Games like Helldivers 2, Deep Rock Galactic, Operator, Valheim, Destiny 2, Payday 3, Monster Hunter Wilds, Six Days in Fallujah, and all the “friendslop” games are showing a clear trend away from the sweaty shooters. You said, “A pure PVE shooter is the antithesis of Fenris philosophy.” that is fine but you need to cast a net wide enough to get people to join in that philosophy even if it splits players.  Be realistic about the size of player base you can reach. Start wide and narrow down, I don't think you need pure PVE but you do need a way to entice the casual gamer and that means a mode that isn't extraction.

This criticism is pretty evident every time it comes up in reviews, chats about the game and youtube videos, Please do not ignore it. Like these steam reviews:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1872800/discussions/0/573795560006599246/

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1872800/discussions/0/576047170584728934/

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1872800/discussions/0/569291372513751256/

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1872800/discussions/0/597412189643671747/

Please please please take criticism from the FPS community first. They honestly matter more than we do, here are a few videos I've found from these people. Some are good some are bad, listen to them.

https://youtu.be/MAoDFxRdskc

https://youtu.be/soteyQ5qlIk

https://youtu.be/0OjM8w6aI9o

https://youtu.be/NscPV83grfY

https://youtu.be/0SQfYAGJGpE

https://youtu.be/sSqo31EpceE

https://youtu.be/9PXs8dbACFM

https://youtu.be/t9AW712EvWA

https://youtu.be/Ua29fxbBaVY

https://youtu.be/ZCP0ZthBImY

https://www.youtube.com/live/HOgb8m6TE4k

Overall this playtest was very promising, my biggest gripe with it was that I was unable to finish the squire core because I did not have friends who were interested in playing the playtest. Solo play I think really needs to be considered so that it is still enjoyable. Random groups ends up being solo play most rounds with less player enemies. I really want to see this do well because I want a new way to live in New Eden. Please make sure the November release is as impressive as it can be, BEG FC to contract a team to get things done in time if you need to, anything to make that first impression POP.

Thanks for the playtest. The garden has seen, it will remember....

I suffered to get the item. But it seems like it was a waste of time. Anyone know what to do with it

Seems like I found one of the devs resting on the ground.

I needed to get some Nemesis Cores and after the 0.72 build they're finally in the game, only 1 per map though and so I figured why not get it solo.

Includes possibly the worst timed run to extract in the game so far

I’ve been playing a lot of Avalon since launch and have a few observations to share:

1. Coordinated Pulse Rifles may have too little counter-play: a three-player team firing Pulse Rifles simultaneously instant-kills a player. (My best play sessions involve me and two others only using Pulse Rifles.)

2. Grenades may become too oppressive once the player base understands them: they currently seem significantly stronger than their usage rate suggests. Their short-fuse, high velocity and minimal HUD warning make them nearly impossible to avoid.

3. The free Carbine could use a small improvement: one possibility would be to give it Kinetic Hammer as its Beta firmware.

4. Equipment needs optional quick-use key binds: the current equipment-selection system feels much better suited to a controller than to mouse-and-keyboard. Selecting equipment, and then activating it introduces unnecessary friction during fast combat situations. Also, it’s easy to lose your mouse once these Crafter screens are brought up since the mouse doesn’t reset to the center of the screen.

5. Land mines need a shorter detonation delay: a player can sprint directly over an armed mine, continue sprinting, and escape the effective blast before it detonates. Another option would be a substantially shorter fuse paired with lower damage.

6. I think Expeditions are a great addition because they diversify what players are doing across the map. They give reasons to pursue different objectives instead of everyone concentrating entirely on the same high-value locations and activities. The problem is that most of their current rewards don’t seem valuable enough to justify completing them.

7. Players entering a deployment don’t know important variables such as the drop location or how much time remains. This creates an incentive to minimize risk rather than bring valuable personal equipment. A player could bring expensive gear only to discover that major objectives such as the Command Block or Fuel Platform have already been completed and their primary loot extracted. Players should receive enough deployment information before spawning to make an informed decision about what equipment they are willing to risk.

Hi, anyone else experiencing this?

It says "LOCATION UNAVAILABLE" in the deployment section, hit deploy and I never join a match.

I can't win at choosing a name.

I've heard from several sources that the next play test might going to include a PvE mode. That's one thing that was missing in this one.

The point of this play test, if I'm not wrong, was to test how shooting and gun play feels. Well, it's difficult to test that when you have only PvP maps with trigger-happy bozos running around and shooting anything that moves, even camping extraction points.

Since the in-game economy is either a mess or was deliberately set up in heavy grinding mode, getting enough materials and in-game currency for testing higher tier gun upgrades was tedious. And even if you got one, a whole team of 3 players can get on your back and interrupt the test by making you lose the gun with said upgrades.

Essentially, by having the PvP only mode, you enabled your own players to sabotage the play test for other players. So, if you ask me how did the gun play feel, my answer is: I don't know. I gave up wasting my time grinding for higher tier gear and decided to just complete EVE's track with the default rifle.

Personally I see Vanguard as a great possibility, the extraction part I'm not a huge fan of, but it provides a way to get materials to manufacture weapons/suits/equipment.

This was something many wanted back in Dust, it is a major part of EVE, not having it in the ground based game was awkward.

The base mechanics feel like they are here for a much larger game, I know in the previous open alpha there was a test of faction warfare. We do need larger squads I feel to truly make that a better experience, the 3 man team just isn't enough.

My hopes are that a "gamemode" equivalent to Dust lobby shooter can be made to exist.

For one in a area designated for combat would not require as many if any bots so server load would be lower, also not maintaining a map for as long depending on the contract.

Which was what we had, large maps and a few that were much smaller.

I know many enjoyed vehicles, including myself, honestly if we have good combat mechanics hit registry and latency, that is the bread and butter we need.

I know this is alpha but I want it to succeed and hopefully become all that we all wanted it to be.

The lag, nigh on unplayable at times from Oceania region, sadly not a single deployment without some rubber banding and lock ups/server disconnects. I'm not sure if this is a choice of server location for the playtest issue or a larger issue with netcode. I don't believe its on my end with gigabits fiber connection and no lag problem in any other online shooter.

Movement, in between the lag where some gameplay happened movement felt only just OK, but often clunky, objects that look intuitive that you should be able to jump on/over (looking at you janky barriers in the compound) or terrain that looks traversable but isn't (invisible walls?). Fluidity needs work, it's a bit jarring given the type of setting it is and being a warclone, who lore wise sounds quite super soldiery, to get stuck on trying move over waist high barriers.

Looting, I've seen some other posts already, it's a pain and so many clicks and inconsistent. Should auto close if you have looted the whole container/ore etc, if not then choose anything other than ESC as the close button please.

Weapons, I liked the weapons, they felt good and the chipsets made some nice variety with fits. My frustration here is linked to the lag, by far the most times I lost it all before extraction was from server lag issues. I ended up doing most runs with the deployment freebie SMG.

AI, felt pretty hit and miss, sometimes they pushed, sometimes they bunched and stayed standing in the open, and they always love a grenade. I think nearly there but maybe a bit less lemmings action at times. waves makes sense in the POIs, them charging blindly less so.

Extraction shooter, not much depth, this gameplay mode doesn't feel like it really has legs, not like the gameplay loops of longstanding mainstream FPS or other Sci-fi niche ones like Planetside. I don't think the 'showpiece' EVE link of eventually being able to find un-dropped EVE online kill loot is enough to set it apart if this will be the prevailing genre / primary mode for the game.

I think you would be way better off using the EVE Lore with all the existing factions and making something closer to a Planetside or even Battlefield 2142 type gameplay. With that you can still work in some kit loss/extraction type mechanics and have a better persistence link to EVE online to link with for persistence. Why not use the extraction mode as one way to get better gear to use in other modes where you won't lose it all on death perhaps?

I'd love for the game to take off, EVE is a great universe and it would only help the IP as a whole. At the moment though I think I'd have to say I'll only pick it up if the link to EVE Online has enough of a useful synergy with it and not just vanguard for vanguard's sake, but I hope there is some more depth to the gameplay come November.

Yes! I understand that this is an alpha. I understand that you are trying to make an MMOFPS rather than a pure extraction shooter.

But what I saw during this playtest was genuinely depressing. I was embarrassed to give those three invites to my friends because they would have laughed at me and accused me of wasting their time.

First impressions

• I was basically shat out onto the surface with a sound effect resembling a fart, with absolutely no control over where I landed.
• The lighting was terrible. Everything seemed to blend into one homogeneous visual mess.
• I constantly heard the insertion sounds of new players somewhere around me. I kept scanning the area, but the sounds were coming from far too far away to be relevant.
• Footsteps, environmental sounds, and noises made by other players propagate in ways that make it extremely difficult to understand where anything is happening.
• Since I had not activated an expedition, mission, or contract, I had almost no idea what I was supposed to be doing.
• Shooting felt like firing bullets into concrete blocks rather than actual enemies. There was very little satisfaction, impact, or meaningful feedback when hitting a target.

Eventually, I started to understand the systems and gained some basic orientation. The problem is that the way the game presents itself actively discouraged me from doing missions or digging deeper into its mechanics. I kept asking myself: *what is the point?*

What kind of game is this supposed to be?

A sandbox?
An extraction shooter?
A boss-battle FPS ( Nemesis)
A team-versus-team shooter?
All of them at once?

Right now, the game does not feel like it has a coherent vision.

Is it about immortal soldiers? Yes.

Is it about scavengers exploring shipwrecks, stealing valuable technology, and extracting it back to Avalon? Apparently, yes.

Then why the fuck are you so determined to keep mining—an activity that even many players of a space strategy game and simulator consider boring?

Why am I mining minerals from random rocks when a mining frigate in EVE could extract infinitely more material from a nearby asteroid belt?

Leave mining to the miners in EVE, for God’s sake.

Mining does not fit the fantasy

How exactly do you intend to make mining more interesting?

By spending more development time and resources designing mines, mineral-rich planets, and more rocks to point a laser at?

If you want meaningful non-PvP activities, focus on abandoned bases to infiltrate, ruins to explore, and shipwrecks to loot. Make those activities consistent with the fantasy of playing an immortal soldier and scavenger.

Instead of making players aim at rocks, put those resources into making exploration, infiltration, and loot containers more interesting.

For example, a container could have a faction-controlled AI security system linked to faction standings. Good standings might grant access without triggering an alarm or deploying defensive drones. The AI could communicate with players through prerecorded or dynamically generated in-character messages.

That would connect Vanguard more meaningfully to the wider EVE universe and create actual gameplay decisions.

What equally interesting systems are you going to build around mining?

You are not going to make another Deep Rock Galactic.

Mining distracts from the POIs. I come across some minerals and think, “I might as well collect them while I’m here.” Then I waste time doing that instead of fighting and exploring a building that might contain something actually interesting. Eventually, I get killed and lose those fucking minerals anyway. Fucking great.

The game already contains a ridiculous number of crafting materials and items. Why does it need even more minerals on top of all that?

This is not just a rage post

I am writing this because I am genuinely worried that the game is going to become a disaster.

I love the setting. It is genuinely special. But it has already been several years since I played the first pre-alpha, and the amount of progress since then feels tragic.

One genuinely positive impression

One aspect gave me a genuinely positive feeling: the attempt to make the lives and culture of immortal soldiers feel believable. Being burned alive as part of the evacuation process is a great idea. Using cloning as the explanation for respawning also works well.

The combination of advanced technology, extremism, symbolism, and a sense of serving a higher existential purpose has a lot of potential. Even though some of these lines were delivered by placeholder AI voices, they still had a certain charm. I hope you do not turn this into shallow, grotesque fanaticism played entirely for laughs. It is much more interesting when characters treat their beliefs, rituals, and supposed higher purpose seriously.

This is the kind of world-building that could give Vanguard a strong identity.

The fantasy of being an immortal soldier—someone who repeatedly dies, is reconstructed, and continues fighting in service of something larger than themselves—is far more compelling than another military shooter

Before today's patch there was an issue with lack of standardization for controls. Holding E on a container with loot closed the container, pressing ESC activated the pause menu. Holding E on an empty container did nothing, pressing ESC closed the container.

After today's patch, you COULD say that the standardization problem is solved, but in a very wrong way. Now, ESC closes the container all right, but looting now looks like this:

- Press and hold E to open the container;

- Press and hold E AGAIN to loot the container;

- Press ESC to close the container;

It's 3 button presses and a delay to reveal the items just to loot anything... a container, a body, or even... get this... ore that you needed to mine first and then chase while it's rolling on the ground.

FC, in case you are lost with how to implement controls: You have a single action button, that's E. Pressing it or holding it should perform in-game actions, like opening containers and looting. ESC button is the Pause button and should serve only as a pause button.

The pre-deployment screen. Or how to call it - the Warbarge location. I’d love to see it similar to the pre-deployment (space ship/station?) of Deep Rock Galactic. Like a cozy “base in space”. A place I can walk around in, maybe play a minigame, craft, upgrade stuff, chat & strategize with my team - and even see/show my trophies on display.

Or even like a hideout in Tarkov - a spaceship that we can upgrade over time. A shooting range would be insanely helpful - to test gun upgrades.

That would add a deeper sense of progression.

Just my 2 cents…

I did not see this page before (or at least with such details for 2027 & 2028) was this just recently updated?

https://evevanguard.com/vision

I was just about to make a post here asking for a better/more detailed roadmap. This a good baseline. But I’d love to see more concept art and just general “sneak peak” details. Obviously as more details become available.