<s>
Vanguard	B-Protocol
:	I-Protocol
Saga	I-Protocol
of	I-Protocol
Heroes	I-Protocol
was	O
a	O
high	O
fantasy-themed	O
massively	B-Protocol
multiplayer	I-Protocol
online	I-Protocol
role-playing	I-Protocol
game	I-Protocol
(	O
MMORPG	B-Protocol
)	O
developed	O
by	O
Sigil	O
Games	O
Online	O
and	O
published	O
by	O
Sony	O
Online	O
Entertainment	O
(	O
SOE	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
May	O
15	O
,	O
2007	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
announced	O
in	O
a	O
press	O
release	O
that	O
Sony	O
Online	O
Entertainment	O
had	O
acquired	O
key	O
assets	O
from	O
Sigil	O
Games	O
Online	O
,	O
including	O
all	O
rights	O
to	O
Vanguard	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
August	O
14	O
,	O
2012	O
,	O
Vanguard	B-Protocol
transitioned	O
to	O
a	O
free	O
to	O
play	O
model	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
typical	O
of	O
MMORPGs	B-Protocol
,	O
characters	O
in	O
Vanguard	B-Protocol
:	I-Protocol
Saga	I-Protocol
of	I-Protocol
Heroes	I-Protocol
were	O
created	O
by	O
the	O
player	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Solo	O
play	O
was	O
possible	O
,	O
but	O
,	O
as	O
in	O
many	O
MMORPGs	B-Protocol
,	O
the	O
classes	O
differed	O
in	O
their	O
solo	O
performance	O
because	O
of	O
the	O
unequal	O
distribution	O
of	O
crucial	O
abilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
classes	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Necromancer	O
,	O
had	O
more	O
soloing	O
options	O
,	O
while	O
some	O
others	O
,	O
like	O
the	O
Warrior	B-Protocol
,	O
were	O
more	O
narrowly	O
focused	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Vanguard	B-Protocol
classes	O
were	O
therefore	O
not	O
balanced	O
with	O
PvP	O
in	O
mind	O
,	O
and	O
some	O
classes	O
were	O
much	O
more	O
capable	O
in	O
this	O
regard	O
than	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
second	O
sphere	O
of	O
Vanguard	B-Protocol
was	O
Crafting	O
,	O
and	O
involved	O
creating	O
in-game	O
items	O
using	O
'	O
recipes	O
 '	O
and	O
raw	O
materials	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
'	O
Diplomacy	O
 '	O
is	O
a	O
concept	O
unique	O
to	O
,	O
or	O
at	O
least	O
first	O
introduced	O
by	O
,	O
Vanguard	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Vanguard	B-Protocol
was	O
set	O
in	O
a	O
high	O
fantasy	O
world	O
called	O
"	O
Telon	O
"	O
,	O
unusual	O
among	O
MMO	O
worlds	O
in	O
that	O
it	O
was	O
almost	O
entirely	O
persistent	O
,	O
with	O
no	O
instancing	O
or	O
load	O
screens	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Vanguard	B-Protocol
players	O
could	O
build	O
two	O
houses	O
per	O
server	O
per	O
account	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
dungeons	O
but	O
one	O
were	O
open	O
"	O
public	O
"	O
dungeons	O
;	O
there	O
was	O
no	O
instancing	O
anywhere	O
in	O
Telon	O
with	O
the	O
exception	O
of	O
the	O
Ancient	O
Port	O
Warehouse	O
(	O
APW	O
)	O
,	O
added	O
to	O
Vanguard	B-Protocol
by	O
SOE	O
in	O
late	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Vanguard	B-Protocol
also	O
featured	O
several	O
overland	O
raid	O
encounters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sigil	O
's	O
original	O
Vanguard	B-Protocol
team	O
was	O
composed	O
of	O
many	O
EverQuest	B-Protocol
developers	O
,	O
including	O
designer	O
Brad	O
McQuaid	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
's	O
title	O
was	O
announced	O
on	O
March	O
16	O
,	O
2004	O
,	O
exactly	O
five	O
years	O
after	O
EverQuest	B-Protocol
was	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sigil	O
displayed	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
first	O
screenshots	O
in	O
April	O
2004	O
and	O
announced	O
that	O
Vanguard	B-Protocol
would	O
use	O
Unreal	B-Operating_System
Engine	I-Operating_System
2.0	O
in	O
May	O
2004	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2006	O
Sigil	O
reacquired	O
the	O
marketing	O
rights	O
to	O
Vanguard	B-Protocol
:	I-Protocol
Saga	I-Protocol
of	I-Protocol
Heroes	I-Protocol
from	O
Microsoft	O
and	O
announced	O
that	O
Sony	O
Online	O
Entertainment	O
(	O
SOE	O
)	O
would	O
become	O
the	O
co-publishers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sigil	O
maintained	O
full	O
control	O
of	O
development	O
,	O
funding	O
,	O
intellectual	O
property	O
rights	O
,	O
and	O
in-game	O
customer	O
service	O
(	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
the	O
Game	B-Device
Master	I-Device
and	O
Guide	O
programs	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
SOE	O
was	O
responsible	O
chiefly	O
for	O
marketing	O
,	O
publication	O
,	O
distribution	O
,	O
subscription	O
services	O
and	O
maintenance	O
of	O
game	O
servers	O
,	O
some	O
of	O
SOE	O
's	O
game	O
designers	O
and	O
artists	O
did	O
participate	O
directly	O
in	O
Vanguard'''s	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
an	O
interview	O
in	O
early	O
January	O
2014	O
Brad	O
McQuaid	O
revealed	O
that	O
Vanguard	B-Protocol
had	O
a	O
development	O
budget	O
of	O
$	O
30,000,000	O
.00	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
said	O
that	O
compared	O
to	O
World	B-Protocol
of	I-Protocol
Warcraft	I-Protocol
,	O
Star	B-Protocol
Wars	I-Protocol
:	I-Protocol
The	I-Protocol
Old	I-Protocol
Republic	I-Protocol
or	O
The	B-Protocol
Elder	I-Protocol
Scrolls	I-Protocol
Online	I-Protocol
Vanguard	B-Protocol
's	O
budget	O
was	O
'	O
fractional	O
 '	O
for	O
such	O
an	O
ambitious	O
game	O
,	O
which	O
put	O
a	O
lot	O
of	O
stress	O
on	O
the	O
development	O
team	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
partnership	O
represented	O
a	O
homecoming	O
of	O
sorts	O
for	O
Sigil	O
CEO	O
Brad	O
McQuaid	O
who	O
was	O
-	O
along	O
with	O
Sony	O
Online	O
Entertainment	O
CEO	O
John	O
Smedley	O
,	O
Bill	O
Trost	O
and	O
Steve	O
Clover	O
—	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
four	O
original	O
developers	O
of	O
EverQuest	B-Protocol
for	O
SISA	O
(	O
Sony	O
Interactive	O
Studios	O
America	O
renamed	O
Verant	O
Interactive	O
in	O
1999	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
May	O
15	O
,	O
2007	O
,	O
Sony	O
Online	O
Entertainment	O
announced	O
they	O
had	O
acquired	O
all	O
assets	O
of	O
Sigil	O
and	O
retained	O
over	O
half	O
the	O
developers	O
of	O
Vanguard	B-Protocol
to	O
work	O
for	O
Sony	O
and	O
to	O
continue	O
developing	O
Vanguard	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
mergers	O
left	O
Vanguard	B-Protocol
without	O
a	O
dedicated	O
role-playing	O
server	O
and	O
without	O
a	O
team-based	O
player-versus-player	O
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
12	O
,	O
2009	O
,	O
SOE	O
announced	O
that	O
it	O
would	O
add	O
its	O
LiveGamer	O
Exchange	O
RMT	O
(	O
real	O
money	O
trading	O
)	O
service	O
to	O
Vanguard	B-Protocol
,	O
which	O
allowed	O
trading	O
game	O
money	O
,	O
items	O
,	O
and	O
whole	O
characters	O
between	O
players	O
,	O
for	O
real	O
currency	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
July	O
7	O
,	O
2010	O
,	O
the	O
three	O
remaining	O
US	O
game	O
servers	O
were	O
merged	O
into	O
one	O
,	O
bringing	O
the	O
total	O
number	O
of	O
Vanguard	B-Protocol
servers	O
down	O
to	O
two	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
21	O
,	O
2012	O
,	O
SOE	O
announced	O
that	O
Vanguard	B-Protocol
would	O
become	O
free-to-play	O
in	O
summer	O
2012	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
August	O
14	O
,	O
2012	O
,	O
Vanguard	B-Protocol
became	O
free	O
to	O
play	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GameSpy	O
awarded	O
Vanguard	B-Protocol
the	O
"	O
Biggest	O
Disappointment	O
"	O
award	O
for	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Vanguard	B-Protocol
also	O
won	O
the	O
awards	O
in	O
the	O
categories	O
for	O
"	O
Least	O
Fun	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
Most	O
Desolate	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
Lamest	O
Launch	O
"	O
in	O
the	O
MMORPG.com	O
MMOWTF	O
Awards	O
for	O
the	O
worst	O
games	O
of	O
2007.MMORPG.com	O
-	O
Your	O
Headquarters	O
for	O
Massive	B-Protocol
Multiplayer	I-Protocol
Online	I-Protocol
Role-Playing	I-Protocol
Games	I-Protocol
!	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
both	O
May	O
and	O
August	O
2008	O
,	O
MMORPG.com	O
revisited	O
Vanguard''	O
and	O
gave	O
the	O
updated	O
version	O
a	O
favorable	O
response	O
.	O
</s>
