Vanguard had the minimap specifically because the WoW-kiddos wouldn't stop crying about not having one. There wasn't one in beta. I think Vanguard--even beyond its many problems--was the wrong game at the wrong time. It was something of an anti-WoW trying to launch during the height of Warcraft's success. Even if it was fully functional and not a bug-ridden unfinished mess I don't think it would have done particularly well.
Pantheon, if it can manage a release at all, seems to have better timing in the sense that there's no 800 pound gorilla in the room waiting to smash all comers, but it also seems like a vastly less ambitious game than VG was with a much smaller scope. I keep track of its progress to a limited degree but I haven't seen anything that really stands out yet. With its drawn-out development it's hard to put much faith even in what's been shown--with potentially years to a release most anything is still subject to change. Can't do much more, right now, than continue keeping an eye on it as a potential option down the road.
Danth
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