First Impression
After the darn thing finally got done updating, I got to play Vanguard for a total of about ten minutes last night, just long enough to do the very first introductory quest.
Unfortunately, it was night, so one of the big draws of the game, the good graphics, was almost completely absent even with my torch lit. (And what would you like to bet that torch makes you detectable at longer ranges or something?) I discovered that no, a first-level character can not take out a second-level NPC; I tried twice and died both times, and didn't get very close to succeeding on either attempt.
The intro quest was a familiar "Go out and collect X of Y" thing, but at least it wasn't "Kill ten rats". My character is kinda cool looking, though I didn't realize when I was creating her that she was going to come up to about the diaphragm of the (I think) elves of the starting area; she's more dwarf- than hobbit-height, but she's quite short. It depresses me slightly that, in a game in which I can choose how much of an overbite my character has (and no, I am neither kidding nor exaggerating), the smallest breasts I can give her are only slightly smaller than my real life ones, which is to say not very small at all. Plus, anthropomorphic fox! Why should she have breasts at all?
The controls seem a little less responsive than the WoW ones, but that could just be getting used to a new keyboard.
Further updates as they become available.