You must have balls the size of church bells... and I personally think this is EXACTLY what the community needs from someone of your stature. Unedited, straight, non-political answers... I seriously applaud you for this.
Those of you who can't read between the lines of what Smedley is trying to say:
SOE DID NOT *edit* this game up... the changes were forced upon THEM just like us players.
Furthermore - SOE is working its asses off to get its true character back into our gameplay, and give us back what they already knew we loved. He admits the new system is not what it should be, needs improvement etc. That makes it pretty damn apparent that SOE wasn't the mastermind behind this the NGE, etc.
On the other hand, can we blame a company for trying to stretch its demographic and increase revenue? Not if we have any sort of brains...welcome to the real world, and the world of business.
Smedley is right... this game wasn't appealing to the mass audiences the way it should have, and the powers that be decided to take a calculated gamble. This sort of stuff happens all the time.
I think we should try our best to support SOE in what they are trying to do... continue to **edit** (constructively) about what we'd like to see change, and learn how to handle changes that may or may not occur.
It might be better for SOE as a company to sit back and let you all think that LucasArts forced this stuff on us. Guess what, they didn't. We all sat around a table and read the same data.
d) What are you going to do when the rumoured SWG emulator hits with none of this NGE rubbish on it and the majority of your playerbase jump ship to move there? THEN will you get rid of this virus you introduced in November? Too little, too late I'm afraid. You have it within your power to fix the game now, to admit it wasn't really in the best interest and get it sorted. I for one will think more of SOE if they do that rather than watch this runaway train smashing thru barrier after barrier.. because the end of the line is drawing ever closer.
What they're going to do is get a judge to order any such SWG emulation shut down faster than you can say "injunction". Such an open and clear-cut violation of copyright law will get the owners and operators of any such game sued and put out of business so fast they won't know what hit them.
I'd bet money that SOE and/or LucasFarts lawyers are already hard at work polishing up their legal sledgehammers for just such an eventuality.
Sorry to burst y'all's bubble on that one.
Good luck with that. The emulators are in different countries. US law does not apply.
ROFL
Ok. Without engaging in the obvious "we'll bust out our lawyers and sue people" rhetoric let me be blunt - if someone can write a SWG server emulator that's any good please apply for a job here because you have to be pretty damn good. You also better be able to know SQL pretty well and have an oracle database and a ton of other important stuff. This emulator stuff is nothing more than a hobby for some really smart people. You don't seriously think we're worried about this do you (and I mean that in a very positive way btw)? I take it as the ultimate compliment. Now, if some genius ever actually pulled it off.. well that would be another matter entirely. In EverQuest a couple of really smart guys made something called ShowEQ which basically showed off a bunch of stuff we didn't intend for players to see. I ended up hiring the key developer of that program. He's a really smart programmer named Roy Eltham. He actually broke our encryption. He's still here. Smed
So what you're saying is that "If he could be turned, he would become a powerful ally?"
................... = Rups Kcocemag = ................... =Clubbing baby Ewoks since 1985= ................... If you can read this, then you don't need glasses.
Distiler wrote: "I'm going to call you out on this - I'm going to say you are flat out incorrect on this. Our communication has been terrific. I can't say you neccessarily like what we've been saying, but I think our community people and our devs have been much more active than before. I never liked that system of correspondents before (they did a great job..don't get me wrong) but I prefer direct communication.
Smed"
Who is giving you the reports about how is community going ? cause it's really lying to you. Salute.
Got to agree on that one.
John, go look in the dev tracker, discount the posts that are there for one liner replies and 'locked as off topic' posts and see just how much genuine communication is going on.
TH is getting reamed by us forum trolls daily as he often doens't have the info we want and when he say she'll try to ind out can't come back with what he still hasn't got.
We've had a dozen devs post "Hi there" threads and then vanish after posting a couple fo "thanks, love you too"'s . Now SOME are carrying on discussion with players via PM's and that might be great for them but it gives the public impression that nothing is happening.
Others, well, they come in, ask us for feedback, we give it.... the next we hear from them "Oh I moved onto another project..."
Communication has to be a two way street and it has to be worth something to both sides. (qv your comment earlier in this thread about not replying to the 'go back to teh preNGE' posts. They're not valuable to you, they don't communicate anything that is going to help. etc)
My biggest beef on the communication issue is the fact that TH seems to be in the dark most of the time. I cannot even count the number of posts I've read that say somethign to the affect of
"I'm trying to get that information right now. Your concerns are being passed on to the dev team as we speak. And I cannot and will not post any information until I know for sure, without a doubt that there is no way in hell that the information can ever be construed as incorrect."
While that's all nice and good, this process of one guy who seems to be the gopher for a pack of programmers and developers seems a little flawed. Now don't take this the wrong way.......I think TH does a excellent job, but I would prefer to see more direct interaction with the team behind the scenes.
They can't spend all day every day on the boards guys. They poke their heads up.. engage in dialouge.. put their heads down to work.. rinse.. repeat.
Smed
Then why do the things that need fixing the most ( cough cough, heal bug or any special for that matter ) not get addresed? Its like they pick and choose what THEY want to fix, maybe because its a hard fix, but none the less its needs to be addresed.
I just hit a bunch of buttons and hope everything works out.
Entertainers - I realize a lot of people don't like the idea of entertainers being in combat. To a lot of people this IS why they went into entertaining in the first place. I like where we're going with it and want to make sure it's balanced properly.
WOOT!!!! At long last we get word that they ARE working on something beyond the combat addition.
THANK YOU SMED!!!
Hmm that is what you meant right they are working on non-combat stuff ? They are Revisiting our Revamp and you like the direction they are going with it.
(btw if that is the case could you get someone to give us so info on it. So overall vision of where Entertainer is going in this game.)
Message Edited by DarkY0da on 03-24-200603:53 PM
Oh-Orb Rizo Twi'lek Just hanging out... watching with interest what changes do or don't happen.
You must have balls the size of church bells... and I personally think this is EXACTLY what the community needs from someone of your stature. Unedited, straight, non-political answers... I seriously applaud you for this.
Those of you who can't read between the lines of what Smedley is trying to say:
SOE DID NOT *edit* this game up... the changes were forced upon THEM just like us players.
Furthermore - SOE is working its asses off to get its true character back into our gameplay, and give us back what they already knew we loved. He admits the new system is not what it should be, needs improvement etc. That makes it pretty damn apparent that SOE wasn't the mastermind behind this the NGE, etc.
On the other hand, can we blame a company for trying to stretch its demographic and increase revenue? Not if we have any sort of brains...welcome to the real world, and the world of business.
Smedley is right... this game wasn't appealing to the mass audiences the way it should have, and the powers that be decided to take a calculated gamble. This sort of stuff happens all the time.
I think we should try our best to support SOE in what they are trying to do... continue to **edit** (constructively) about what we'd like to see change, and learn how to handle changes that may or may not occur.
It might be better for SOE as a company to sit back and let you all think that LucasArts forced this stuff on us. Guess what, they didn't. We all sat around a table and read the same data.
Smed
Holy smokes...
The honesty today is unreal - Go SMED!
Onildera Oodo
Elder Smuggler
Vendors at -320 -5500 Corellia. 850m outside the gates of Coronet.
d) What are you going to do when the rumoured SWG emulator hits with none of this NGE rubbish on it and the majority of your playerbase jump ship to move there? THEN will you get rid of this virus you introduced in November? Too little, too late I'm afraid. You have it within your power to fix the game now, to admit it wasn't really in the best interest and get it sorted. I for one will think more of SOE if they do that rather than watch this runaway train smashing thru barrier after barrier.. because the end of the line is drawing ever closer.
What they're going to do is get a judge to order any such SWG emulation shut down faster than you can say "injunction". Such an open and clear-cut violation of copyright law will get the owners and operators of any such game sued and put out of business so fast they won't know what hit them.
I'd bet money that SOE and/or LucasFarts lawyers are already hard at work polishing up their legal sledgehammers for just such an eventuality.
Sorry to burst y'all's bubble on that one.
Good luck with that. The emulators are in different countries. US law does not apply.
ROFL
Ok. Without engaging in the obvious "we'll bust out our lawyers and sue people" rhetoric let me be blunt - if someone can write a SWG server emulator that's any good please apply for a job here because you have to be pretty damn good. You also better be able to know SQL pretty well and have an oracle database and a ton of other important stuff. This emulator stuff is nothing more than a hobby for some really smart people. You don't seriously think we're worried about this do you (and I mean that in a very positive way btw)? I take it as the ultimate compliment. Now, if some genius ever actually pulled it off.. well that would be another matter entirely. In EverQuest a couple of really smart guys made something called ShowEQ which basically showed off a bunch of stuff we didn't intend for players to see. I ended up hiring the key developer of that program. He's a really smart programmer named Roy Eltham. He actually broke our encryption. He's still here. Smed
glad to know u have a sense of humor, I broke SWG encryption im 17 will you higher me? ill work for 35k dealing with community relations
And its "hire", not "higher"... Your fired.........................
i was talking about weed ....? or was I
ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg _______________________________________________________________ --------This spot for Sale-------- --------Checobacca k Ice-man' -------- ---I came back for the community--- ---Ill leave again when the EMU servers go acive--- _______________________________________________________________ gggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
d) What are you going to do when the rumoured SWG emulator hits with none of this NGE rubbish on it and the majority of your playerbase jump ship to move there? THEN will you get rid of this virus you introduced in November? Too little, too late I'm afraid. You have it within your power to fix the game now, to admit it wasn't really in the best interest and get it sorted. I for one will think more of SOE if they do that rather than watch this runaway train smashing thru barrier after barrier.. because the end of the line is drawing ever closer.
What they're going to do is get a judge to order any such SWG emulation shut down faster than you can say "injunction". Such an open and clear-cut violation of copyright law will get the owners and operators of any such game sued and put out of business so fast they won't know what hit them.
I'd bet money that SOE and/or LucasFarts lawyers are already hard at work polishing up their legal sledgehammers for just such an eventuality.
Sorry to burst y'all's bubble on that one.
Good luck with that. The emulators are in different countries. US law does not apply.
ROFL
Ok. Without engaging in the obvious "we'll bust out our lawyers and sue people" rhetoric let me be blunt - if someone can write a SWG server emulator that's any good please apply for a job here because you have to be pretty damn good. You also better be able to know SQL pretty well and have an oracle database and a ton of other important stuff. This emulator stuff is nothing more than a hobby for some really smart people. You don't seriously think we're worried about this do you (and I mean that in a very positive way btw)? I take it as the ultimate compliment. Now, if some genius ever actually pulled it off.. well that would be another matter entirely. In EverQuest a couple of really smart guys made something called ShowEQ which basically showed off a bunch of stuff we didn't intend for players to see. I ended up hiring the key developer of that program. He's a really smart programmer named Roy Eltham. He actually broke our encryption. He's still here. Smed
ROFL back at ya Smed.
I'm a developer myself. Oracle and SQL Databases are some pretty easy stuff. The only hard thing would be wading through the layers of buggy C++ code.
And honestly you ought to be worried. You are hemmoraging players daily. This game as it stands is barely on life support. Alot of the players you still have left are here to get their Star Wars fix. If another option surfaced, they would be out of here in a heartbeat.
Seriously, how can you guys think that ripping out the accomplishments and professions of people who invested up to 3 years of thier time, emotions, and energy in this game is acceptable. There are a ton of ex-players that will never come back just for this reason alone.
You must have balls the size of church bells... and I personally think this is EXACTLY what the community needs from someone of your stature. Unedited, straight, non-political answers... I seriously applaud you for this.
Those of you who can't read between the lines of what Smedley is trying to say:
SOE DID NOT *edit* this game up... the changes were forced upon THEM just like us players.
Furthermore - SOE is working its asses off to get its true character back into our gameplay, and give us back what they already knew we loved. He admits the new system is not what it should be, needs improvement etc. That makes it pretty damn apparent that SOE wasn't the mastermind behind this the NGE, etc.
On the other hand, can we blame a company for trying to stretch its demographic and increase revenue? Not if we have any sort of brains...welcome to the real world, and the world of business.
Smedley is right... this game wasn't appealing to the mass audiences the way it should have, and the powers that be decided to take a calculated gamble. This sort of stuff happens all the time.
I think we should try our best to support SOE in what they are trying to do... continue to **edit** (constructively) about what we'd like to see change, and learn how to handle changes that may or may not occur.
It might be better for SOE as a company to sit back and let you all think that LucasArts forced this stuff on us. Guess what, they didn't. We all sat around a table and read the same data.
Smed
Why didnt you ask the people that really mattered? (THE CUSTOMERS)
ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg _______________________________________________________________ --------This spot for Sale-------- --------Checobacca k Ice-man' -------- ---I came back for the community--- ---Ill leave again when the EMU servers go acive--- _______________________________________________________________ gggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
d) What are you going to do when the rumoured SWG emulator hits with none of this NGE rubbish on it and the majority of your playerbase jump ship to move there? THEN will you get rid of this virus you introduced in November? Too little, too late I'm afraid. You have it within your power to fix the game now, to admit it wasn't really in the best interest and get it sorted. I for one will think more of SOE if they do that rather than watch this runaway train smashing thru barrier after barrier.. because the end of the line is drawing ever closer.
What they're going to do is get a judge to order any such SWG emulation shut down faster than you can say "injunction". Such an open and clear-cut violation of copyright law will get the owners and operators of any such game sued and put out of business so fast they won't know what hit them.
I'd bet money that SOE and/or LucasFarts lawyers are already hard at work polishing up their legal sledgehammers for just such an eventuality.
Sorry to burst y'all's bubble on that one.
Good luck with that. The emulators are in different countries. US law does not apply.
Umm...actually intellectual and physical copyright laws DO apply in other countires (not ALL of them). Most EU countries honor international copyrights. Look at Microsoft and all of its Anti-Trust lawsuits across the glob. Granted, they are not being suid based on copyrights but it is still the same principle. If a company has a game they hold the rights to, and someone in France tries to start an emulator of that game...they are in trouble.
a EUCLID b Loot Dealer v Elder Whatever Dantooine -663 -6069
Any chance you could put in a "good" word for me, in the Galatic Senate Program?
Message Edited by Altyrell on 03-24-200609:57 AM
Secret Poject? Where do people come up with this stuff. ALL developers on SWG are focused on the publish plan you saw. We were in the preliminary planning/design stages of a design for an expansion pack a few months back. When we saw how much work the live game needed and the reaction from both the community and the focus groups we dropped those plans. We can worry about that later.
Smed
Thank you to those who has reply saying that the whole thing with the "Secret Project" was from Swede... hopefully Smed will comment on the fact that Light has SHINED on the "Secret Project" subject...
(oh & Pres. Smed.... what about 2 - 6... any comments???)
Well Pres. Smed... any comment about #1 - 6... ok, maybe just 1 - 4... and maybe 5....
d Lord Vincent Takaab Blackbird (Altyrell) ~MEOW~.
Just want to say thanks for the engagement Smed...
_____________________________________________________ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of NGE, I shall fear no Publish, for my memories of Pre-CU comfort me...
LangaNor wrote: Uhh... Well Mr. Smedley, it's fairly obvious what the bottom line is here (and I give you kudos for setting your opinion, and holding to it). It seems the talking point for yourself and SOE is "this is our direction, and you have the choice to accept it, or not". I like it when I'm given clear indications. The NGE will stay, a rollback is not an option, bringing back turn style combat is not an option, and bringing back skills instead of profs is also not an option. And as nobody from your end will commit to a Pub Plan with any kind of timeline, even a rough and vague one, I'm left with 2 options:
Either I accept the way the game will be proceeding, or I don't. I never thought I'd hit that cancel button, but until changes come that make SWG my home again, I guess this is "so long". I'll miss this game for sure.
Good luck in future endeavours Mr. Smedley, I wish you well.
I'm only trying to be blunt in saying "this is our direction". I do still think engaging in the community and being a part of the change for the better is a good thing too.. obviously my message isn't "accept the NGE or quit.. we don't care". We absolutely care. Do you think it's fun for our devs to read these boards? Don't you think they want to make this game the best that they can? We all take pride in what we do. I would like nothing more than to be reading stories about how amazing the NGE is and how we've turned the game around. I expect to read those stories someday. Until we're there though, it's nothing but hard work and long hours with everybody examining every decision we make with a microscope. Fair enough.
If we asked you all to rank Combat vs. the loss of professions, I'm betting the loss of professions will "win" every time... I don't think the new combat style is the main thing that people are bothered by.
Smed
if you ask it in the correct way, i beg to differ. what i mean by correct is, dont hide a choice or answer cause 'you dont think' its the way most ppl would go. i agree both are important, however i think you are backwards. plus, if you DID bring back a more enjoyable, laidback RPG combat ( and laid back dosent mean not exciting. it means you dont have to creep on your keyboard and moniter as you do with FPS games), ppl may give you guys some constructive feedback about the gcw. i myself see no reason to help you guys do your jobs by answering these new 'what do you want' polls. isnt what the community wants obvious?
maybe im a rare case, i dont care about free jedi (even tho i spent close to a year to get one, and 8months grinding it. always thought they should be givein out so ppl stop grinding and start playing), i dont care as muh about the proffs as i do about the combat.
give me a target lock, and auto attack and i will enjoy the game again. when i want to take aim (and i aim for BOOM HEADSHOTS) i play swbfII or cs, you know... A FPS GAME!!!.
so, i dare you to start a new poll with 2 options: combat or professions. ie:
"would you preferr a target lock/auto attack combat system BEFORE OR AFTER a profession revamp?"
if you leave out the before or after, you are setting up the poll to fail. you may think this game dont need the target lock/auto attack (oh and something to slow it down by... 50%?) but your players disagree.
to me (and maybe i am a rare case) it would seem to make sense that you make sure you have an enjoyable system (combat) before you start making things within this system (gcw). if you do it gcw then combat, we could be looking at a FOURTH system because, a gcw in a crappy combat system still has that crappy combat system.
i'd think you would have learnd this by now. the swg combat 'can' be fun, but not in a MMO thats to be playd for hours at a time.
and i'd also like to see how you justify admitting the game is in a 'building state" (read: beta) and yet you are chargeing me to play it.
im one of the idiots who prePaid a nice chunk of change for a years block of time. i was under the false impression that "changes may happen during online play" meant small things that didnt take away from the reason i prePaid. if it was even a remote idea in my head, that the game could take such a drastic change, i may not have bought so much time.
in the end, if i want my 'monies worth' im forced to play a game i truly find frustrating. that makes no sense.
offer me a refund and im out. i wouldnt ever in my right mind pay to play this beta. yet.... im not asked. you guys decided for me that not only will i be paying for this NGE crap, if i dont like it, my only other option is to let my money go to waste cause i aint gettin a refund.
thanks man, i didnt know you guys cared.....
/donkeyKickToTheStomache
Message Edited by BoFa-ST on 03-24-200612:08 PM
.......NBoFa DeezN....... guild first; faction second; truth third ..............Upia..............
Are there any QA positions open on the SWG team itself or would I end up working for other SOE projects if hired? I'm asking because I have been in QA too long and am thinking of teaching History. However, if you were to offer me a position on the SWG team this SW fan might just be willing to reconsider his plans.
Take care and keep up the good work. I know this community can be a handful!
Malvae - Starsider
Malvae Tun Mayor of Edessa, Talus Owner and operator ofTUNTrading Inc. Buying 2cpu resources! Offer all organic resources to vendor Durna at -1372, 13, -5831 on Talus Offer all inorganic resources to vendor Gramkan at -1361, 13, -5839 on Talus