The thing about massively multiplayer online (MMO) games is that you're either with the concept or overwhelmed by it. As a result, in general terms, this is still a fairly untapped market in gaming, one in which Sigil and Sony Online Entertainment are staking an early claim.

Those who have indulged in hours (or more likely, days) of gameplay on the likes of Everquest (known affectionately by aficionados as "Evercrack" for its addictive nature) would be familiar with the kind of work developer Sigil puts together, since the core group at the Carlsbad, California-based development studio actually cut their teeth working on that massively-multiplayer online (MMO) classic.

Enter Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, the upcoming MMO title from Sigil and Sony Online Entertainment, which has been billed as "a real MMO experience," by the game's creator, Brad McQuaid.

Getting a chance to sit down with Vanguard and discuss a few of its aspects with the developers preview event in San Diego, I immersed myself in a world that seemed like it had no limit.

"Exploration is a huge part of this game," McQuaid said, as he walked us through some of the different maps. "There pretty much is no place you can't go to in Vanguard, because we wanted to have a massive world in which the different areas wouldn't be zoned (an in-game loading interruption when players move into a new zone)."

This kind of freedom was illustrated by the world of Kojan, an Asian-influenced archipelago of islands that is home to the elves in the main story. Aside from small islands surrounding the central one, floating islands are also in the mix - all of which can be explored at any given time without zone-load pauses.

However, to get to these floating islands, the most scenic route is via an acquired "flying mount," which is essentially a creature with wings that can carry you to any island or mountaintop with ease. Though that's technically demonstrative of the games' uninterrupted vastness, it can be a time-consuming affair nonetheless, since the mounts aren't terribly fast. Besides which, you can't acquire one of these ghoulish flymounts until you reach level 40 in experience, which will take time to achieve.

Fortunately, there are other ways to get around in the meantime, not to mention different ways to level up, depending on what character you choose to be.

"We designed the characters to really play to their strengths, so a warrior will have a different path than the diplomat would, obviously," McQuaid says. "But diplomacy is a big part of this game, and will loom larger with the city politics features we've included."

Whether you're an explorer, diplomat, warrior or any other type of character, you will only be able to own a house in Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, but only one house, albeit customized and personalized with items that you pick up from fallen enemies or grateful contacts.

You can also own a boat or ship if you choose. Small boats are ideal for single players, with large battleship-type crafts meant for guilds (multiple players in a group) who can work together to maintain them. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to try out either one, so there isn't much to report aside from the general aesthetics. To wit: There be purdy boats.

Using a warrior as my character, I was soon embroiled in to-the-death battles with lions, a strange species of flies and pesky hyenas that just seemed to multiply. But all this was interlaced with interaction between me and different characters, and such interaction is ultimately how you gain experience.

You'll be tasked with odd jobs at first. Eventually, your status will rise to the point where you need to assassinate key figures in the world, for example, and fight in battles that will have a larger impact in the whole Vanguard scheme of things. All of this is only possible, of course, through the acquisition of more potent and deadly weapons. You get the usual swordsman gear, naturally, but also potions and other supernatural powers are in the offing to sweeten the pot.

"The fighting is definitely a constant for a warrior in this game because it also ties in to what the other types of characters are up to," says one of the development team members (a few of them stood over my shoulder, piping in with real-time relevance as needed).

Whether this means that a deal struck by a diplomat will have consequences for the warrior on the battlefield is hard to say at this point; I saw no evidence of it, but it was mentioned, so maybe...

Anyway, those who prefer to play MMOs without joining guilds will be in luck. McQuaid said that solo gamers will have more than enough to do on their own, and that their experience levels won't really be affected by going solo. Traditionally, MMO games reward group play with faster accumulations of individual experience points.

That said, there are advantages to being part of a team. Teammates can aid each other when fighting an enemy by deflecting damage sustained to each other. For instance, you can help teammate with low health by moving in and taking the damage intended for him or her. It's a neat idea that could save a teammate from losing a lot of material earnings and keep the team strong. In short, Vanguard is Altruism-enabled.

Despite playing all my demo time on Qalia, an Arabic-themed locale bristling with sand dunes and wild animals, it comes across just as exotic as the aforementioned Kojan archipelago. The sprawling skylines were a visual treat with appreciable depth.

With an early 2007 release still on schedule, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes will be an interesting one to watch, especially to see if the "bigger is better" MMO-uninterruptis approach works as well in final form as the preview suggested it might.