Last month the future of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes was in up in the air. Brad McQuaid, then CEO of Vanguard developer Sigil Online Games, was quoted on a message board as saying, "SOE is in discussions with Sigil regarding the future of Vanguard and Sigil Games in Carlsbad. ... What does that mean? It means that right now Vanguard is doing decently but not as well as we hoped."

Following Tuesday's announcement that Sigil had been acquired by Sony Online Entertainment, I had a short conversation with SOE president John Smedley. We discuss the motivating factors behind the acquisition, the community's response, and what this move means for the future of Vanguard.

Shack: For the record, can you give us a sense of how the final decision to acquire Sigil came about? Is this a move that has been in the works for some time now, or something that developed rapidly?

John Smedley: The reality is we stepped in at the last second when Sigil couldn't get funding. We've been working very closely with Sigil on Vanguard. We're co-publishers of the game, and we feel positive about it. We felt like it was a good opportunity for us to bring some of our old friends back into the SOE fold, and so after Brad McQuaid was unsuccessful at getting funding, it was a good time. It was a very natural move for us.

Shack: The general public perception of Sigil seems to have been one of a talented team that was hindered by management problems. Is that a fair assessment in your eyes?

John Smedley: I would say Sigil had some challenges, but there were a lot of very talented people who rose up and sort of overcame them and put out a game with a lot of promise.

Shack: Would you say then that this acquisition is a direct response to those management issues? In other words, do you see Sony Online as providing a missing element for Vanguard's growth?

John Smedley: Yeah, I think we are. I think we're providing stability for the development team, and we're providing the ability for the team to focus, rather than on internal issues, solely on making this the great game that we know is in there.

Shack: F13.net recently posted an interview with an ex-Sigil employee. In the interview he praises Sony Online for its support after your prior merger, but also recounts feeling confused at the time as to why Sony would want to buy a game that is essentially a direct competitor to EverQuest II. Did that apparent conflict of interest ever weigh on your original decision to become involved with Vanguard?

John Smedley: Not even slightly. To be honest with you, the way we look at it, we thought Vanguard was a very strong game all along, and we knew that it was a game that was kind of core to the audience that we have. We thought it would be a good fit. That's why we decided to add it to the Station Access plan. We figured we'd give our player base an opportunity to play something that's a little different than what we already have, and let them check it out. It just seemed like a natural fit for us.

Shack: I noticed that the new official forums are already open, and I would say that the community seems generally optimistic about the acquisition. How much do you see Vanguard benefiting from community feedback as things move forward?

John Smedley: Brad had decided that it was not right to have general forums. That was a decision that we changed pretty much immediately because we felt very strongly that our customers needed a place to give us feedback. Good, bad, ugly; whatever it is, they've got to be able to voice their opinions.

Shack: I read a post by one community member who commented that what he wants from Sony are, "actions, not words." Is that your mentality going into this, or do you see the development process becoming more transparent?

John Smedley: I'd have to say that while I understand that people want actions, not words, I actually think that they want both. They want us to listen first and foremost, and they want us to tell them what our plans are, and then they want us to execute them. It's going to be a very rapid process, so that they feel like we're listening.

Shack: Many players are concerned that there will be major changes made to the game, especially in regards to its "hardcore" nature. How do you plan to balance the concerns of the fans with the need to move Vanguard forward at this point?

John Smedley: Let me broadly say that there's a perception out there that, oh, we're going to make this into a "carebear" game, and just change it into a [World of Warcraft] clone. I have no idea where this stuff gets started. The simple reality is the team is going to make these decisions. There's not some sort of overriding "let's make it easier" mentality. Nothing like that. The team already has a long list of things they want to do, and they're going to talk to the community about it. So ultimately it's going to be the community that decides the future of Vangard's gameplay. And if most of the players want the game to be exactly the way it is now, you knowÂ…

Shack: Yeah, it seems as if many players are mostly happy with the gameplay as it is. Performance issues and bugs seem to top the list of desired improvements. Do you know if those areas are going to be an immediate focus of the team?

John Smedley: Absolutely, you know, performance improvements, bugs, definitely at the top of our list. We're not going to go in and make some broad-sweeping changes. We tried that with Star Wars Galaxies, we screwed it up, and we're not going to do it again. [laughs] It really is as simple as that. We try to learn from our mistakes. Maybe we're not always perfect, but in this particular case let's fix the things that are broken, not the things that aren't.

Shack: Do you have a rough idea of where Vanguard is headed in the future as far as content expansion?

John Smedley: In the near future, performance, bugs, and issues that the community wants us to address. Longer term, we have a content plan which we're going to be outlining. In the next couple of weeks we will be putting up a plan on what we're going to be doing and when. So people can expect lots of free updates with their subscription. And then we'll be planning an expansion pack of course. As to what the features in that expansion pack will be, who knows. We're not even really discussing that part yet. Even though you're seeing comments from some people like Brad and others talking about specific features, the simple fact is, nothing is decided yet. There's a list of features a mile long that people would love to get into the expansion, and we just don't know what's going to make it.

Shack: So you're not really prepared to talk about specific mechanical changes?

John Smedley: Only because everything is on the table. We're just going to go through this stuff with the community. This will be a completely transparent process for the community.

Shack: Thank you for taking the time to talk with us.