I my self, dont care if he appologizes or not. After the past, I dont think I can believe him any way, and SWG is dead and gone, and WAS forgotten, before this. The wont bring Classic Serves, imo.....because they still wont listen to fans. Smed can say he's sorry, and "we wont do it again" but who honestly thinks "they" will listen to us again. The Classic server's wont happen, because people HAVE moved on to other games.... and invested 3 years into them....not to many people will want to give up 3 years experience on a game/games just to go back to an outdated game. Granted SWG was ahead of its time, I loved it, I played it, I quit it.
Yesterday, Warcry’s Dana Massey published an interview with Sony Online Entertainment’s CEO, John Smedley. In the interview, Smedley apologized for the New Game Experience released into Star Wars Galaxies in 2005. The move, which has been a perpetual thorn in SOE’s side ever since, was made without input from the game’s players and with little to no warning. The article quotes Smedley: "With the NGE, I'm sorry about the mistake we made," he told us. "We screwed up and didn't listen to the fans when we should have, and it's not a mistake we're going to make again." He goes on to say that the mistake was “not bringing the fans into the mix”, which he described as the “cardinal sin of not listening, but assuming....” Also in the article, Smedley discusses the future of SOE’s projects and even goes so far as to state that the company “fully intends” to make another EverQuest MMORPG.
After like, what? 2 years? All I can say is ROFLMAOPMP
This is what my friend replied to me when i showed him this article:
"So What... they punish all the SWG players and then they appologizes to us 2 years later. And now when they have made an appologie they are giving all the Everquest fans a new game? what style is that? Give us the old SWG instead, throw in some new planets, vehicles, houses, mounts and shit.."
I Agree.
Why dont they just make a new SWG mmorpg then? Now when all the movies is out and there is nothing else to really continue on following, they should really make a new SWG or fix some classic servers or anything i dunno, cause this is a time were i want to "Take of where the movies ended, live your own saga.." as it should.
If they rolled the game back past the NGE, CU-2 and CU-1 I would go back. This could be a good chance for SoE to reset the whole game. Maybe up the graphics and start all over again. That would rock
This statement from SoE makes me think a bit differently about them. I might look into their other games now.
"He went on to point out that after two years, the game is once again stable and growing. They continue to update the game with new content and those fans, old and new, who enjoy the current incarnation of the game are being listened to. The old game won't come back - to change now would be as unfair as the first time they did it - but he believes SWG still has a solid future."
thats all i needed to read....so long SWG you cats at SOE will never get anymore of my cash
Reading the interview, three things immediately came to mind:
1) Smed can't even apologize correctly. As part of his apology, he basically ADMITS to lying (re: listening to players). Meaning, he's now given himself something else to apologize for! Doh! Next time, a simple "my bad" will do.
2) Why bother now? He's the most divisive person in the entire MMO industry. Heck, he might be the most divisive person in all of PC gaming. Those that support him now did so even when he was ignoring/lying to customers. They didn't need an apology. And, those that hate him (rationally and irrationally), would never, ever just accept an apology from him. So, what's the point? There's no one to win over now. It's like the old baseball adage: Either you were a Yankee fan, or you rooted against them. There's no grey with Smed, plain and simple.
3) The next time I say I won't buy an SOE product because I don't like their business practices, I DO NOT want to hear the argument, from anyone, that LucasArts and not SOE, were responsible for the NGE. Done and done. Smed took the blame, the responsibilty now rests squarely with him and his company. Please remove any beliefs that contradict that from your arguments in the future.
Other than that, I'm continuing to speculate that some time recently, SOE decided that it's mixed - to - poor reputation among MMO gamers is a liability, and that they may finally be trying to rectify that. Only time will tell though.
Hmmm I really had alot of fun with this game in beta and when it was released for it's first 2 months. However after all the nerfs and BS SOE pulled off I doubt anyone will come back no matter what they implement.
I'm sorry but 10 to 20 people who still play this game won't keep it alive.
The ONLY thing keeping SWG going is the revenue being made off SOE's other titles like the Everquest line.
If SOE had no other big titles going for it SWG would of been done along time ago, PERIOD.
Originally posted by Bountytaker 3) The next time I say I won't buy an SOE product because I don't like their business practices, I DO NOT want to hear the argument, from anyone, that LucasArts and not SOE, were responsible for the NGE. Done and done. Smed took the blame, the responsibilty now rests squarely with him and his company. Please remove any beliefs that contradict that from your arguments in the future.
seems fair. but on the other hand do we really need 20 posts saying "I wont buy SOE coz of NGE" in every damn thread? I think not
This is what my friend replied to me when i showed him this article:
"So What... they punish all the SWG players and then they appologizes to us 2 years later. And now when they have made an appologie they are giving all the Everquest fans a new game? what style is that? Give us the old SWG instead, throw in some new planets, vehicles, houses, mounts and shit.." I Agree. Why dont they just make a new SWG mmorpg then? Now when all the movies is out and there is nothing else to really continue on following, they should really make a new SWG or fix some classic servers or anything i dunno, cause this is a time were i want to "Take of where the movies ended, live your own saga.." as it should.
Europe-Chimaera , M Marksman 90.
Let me just repeat what Dreamion said..."Take off where the movies ended, live your own saga..." as it should. I wholeheartedly agree.
There's a gazillioin fantasy mmorpgs, but only a few sci fi...and those sci fi games keep leaning towards FPS. I dont' want FPS. I want MMORPG and SCI-FI. We don't need three everquest mmorpg's along with their card games, board games, and every which way they want to milk Norrath. Give us an SWG2 and do it right this time.
The reason for this apology is based in one fact, SWG is dead with low subscribers and a really bad rep.
If the game was doing ok and growing there would be no apology it would be "haha we told you so losers".
Another EQ type game, way to go you admit you messed up the potential of what could have been a great sci-fi game and you opt to make ANOTHER fantasy game. Smedley may be listening but he forgot to come out of the soundproof booth he has been in for the last 2 years.
"I think we have the capability to make a game that has 10 million or 15 million subs,"
In his dreams. I doubt SOE will ever be able to make such a game. they screwed up two licences , SWG and Matrix , i played both . You know where SWG is heading now, and Matrix is slowly but surely dying. No updates, no vision to improve the gameplay or open new areas like a gate to the real world, the machine world etc.. its pathetic and so sad to see such a great licence falling apart..
"He cited The Agency, with its more mature theme, FPS elements and cinematic-storytelling as an example"
I'm not very sure they will find a large audience with this kind of game. He think like a Major corporate CEO think, how to make a lot of money with simple recipes (FPS, mature game, cinematic-storytelling). As allways something fast to play, fast and easy money, something simple, like barbie dolls. In fact these guys are so obssesed by WoW they would kill their mother to find the next big hit. Whatever it could be. Multiplying game titles wont change anything. They are bad , period.
The reason for this apology is based in one fact, SWG is dead with low subscribers and a really bad rep. If the game was doing ok and growing there would be no apology it would be "haha we told you so losers".
Another EQ type game, way to go you admit you messed up the potential of what could have been a great sci-fi game and you opt to make ANOTHER fantasy game. Smedley may be listening but he forgot to come out of the soundproof booth he has been in for the last 2 years.
You know, I was thinking the same thing.
Had the NGE gained more subs then pre-CU or CU then Smed wouldn't feel sorry for anything. I don't think he gets what many people are angry about, and that is the old game had been neglected and thrown away as well as the subscribers who were discarded with it.
We were seen as disposable, and that I'm afraid Smed just doesn't understand.
The only good thing about his apology is that it is yet another reason for other developers not to ever do anything like this with their own games. This is one more black mark for the NGE, one more precedent for avoiding such a monumentally stupid decision. Hopefully every other developer heeds this lesson.
As for Smedley, I will forgive but will not forget. I won't buy another game developed by or in associate with SOE, but at the same time, it's just a game, so I don't wish him physical harm. I wish him good health, preferably far, far away from the gaming industry.
Now we have an apology from Smedley. We didn't want an apology, just like we didn't want new game enhancements. What we wanted was a fix of some of the glaring problems with swg (dots and stacking) and some new content. So until you are ready to announce classic servers or subscription refunds for 2003-05 you get stuffed.
Faced with the insurmountable amount of negative press regarding the NGE Smedley decends from on high and bestows his lofted regrets upon us. Well he and sony and dana and the fanbois and everyone else who has facilitated this cancer on the face of the mmo genre can go ask there grandmother for an rectal exam, because that's what this fucking apology is worth to us.
SOE will not get away with this and the zillion other things they do to hold this genre back.
You know, it's funny. I've been waiting for this for years.
I played pre-cu, during the cu, and during the NGE. I've been back into the NGE on two separate occasions, and I honestly cant say I enjoyed it.
I'm glad Smedley said something about the NGE, but to be honest I'm still waiting for an apology for the CU. It was a similar game, but it still wasnt the NGE I loved.
If they set up a pre-CU server, I would be proselytizing the great name of SoE again, and loving every little thing they do. No hard feelings. The problem is that we've seen no move towards reconciliation with the "vets" who played before the combat system was revamped.
Does the game pre-CU/R/B need help? Yes, it definatly does, but not so much work as replacing the combat system does.
Bottom line: Thanks SoE, but all will not be as it once was until we see a SWG Classic server. It's either up to you, or SWGEmu. Either one is fine with me. The only difference is where my money goes.
Ok he admits what they did was wrong,so why the hell are they not reverting back to where it was just before NGE and go from there. Actions speak louder than words and all they have done so far is try to improve the NGE. They admit the NGE was wrong yet they continue to try to make it better. I went back to SWG Recently and it still SUCKS That Interface is AWFUL.
Never thought we'd hear that from old Smed tbh. Doesnt matter much what he says tho, some ppl will never get over it
Seriously. At least he admitted he screwed up. I'm also pretty happy to hear him knowing that my fave SOE game (Planetside) exists, and will get a major update.
MMO games played or tested: EQ, DAoC, Archlord, Auto Assault, CoH, CoV, EQ2, EVE, Guild Wars, Hellgate: London, Linneage II, LOTRO, MxO, Planetside, SWG, Sword of the New World, Tabula Rasa, Vanguard, WWIIOL, WOW, Age of Conan
Well at least he did apologize albiet three years later. A pre NGE server would have me curious about SWG but I'd need to hear from players first before I would ever commit another dollar to SOE MMO's.
So SOE is involved with Perpetual's Gods and Heros, does this mean they're going to be involved with Star Trek Online too?, if thats the case then wipe STO off my list of future MMO's I'd like to try
I don't see it as much of an apology, It covers very few of the actual complaints against SOE. It is a good start. Seems to me many of you are a little lost in time. 3 years??? It has not been 2 yet, the NGE went live in November 2005. Maybe some are counting the CU as the start of the fall, Even though I didn't like the mechanics of the CU it did bring back quite a few of my guildies. They all left again at the NGE. Smedley, No apology is complete without an attempt to make amends, you offer us nothing but words so you get nothing but more angry words back. I played from July 2003 till January 2006 and then played on and off till Sept. 22, 2007 It is better than it was in Nov 2005 by a long shot but it is still miles away from a game I am willing to pay for.
Never thought we'd hear that from old Smed tbh. Doesnt matter much what he says tho, some ppl will never get over it
Seriously. At least he admitted he screwed up. I'm also pretty happy to hear him knowing that my fave SOE game (Planetside) exists, and will get a major update.
tbh it's bull because they should have learnt from the CU, they made the same mistake twice.
Many of sony products have unaddressed core problems that are keeping them crippled, I am actually still interested in subscribing to many of sony games but the have deal breaking problems that keep me away.
first and formost is the grinding and all too obsessive focus on killfest.
the games for the most part cater to 18-24 crowd that thrive on the carnage and crack like kill rush
many of us adult players are looking for something with more substance.
for example in SWG they added the ship flying to the game but limited it to not much more than an arcade blaster game, I got the fancy miner ship (AKA multi player ships) but you effectivly were cripled and not much more than floating barges.
the WAR is static, neverending, never changing and casual players are prohibited from participating as the only way to relate to the WAR is by direct combat usually with elite pure PVP template players the equivelant to puting someone off the street into the ring with a professional boxes.
no public works projects that al levels can contribute in a meaningful way
a combat oriented economy (water on tatooine is/was only used for medicine on a desert world noless!!)
**************
I just got a card wanting me to return to EQ2 touting that the level cap has been raised "again" from 70-80 nothing about fixing the problems that forced me to leave in the first place
listening to players! BAH! more sony public relations BS sorry only counts if your gonna do something to correct to problem
heres how I rate the chances I will return to a current sony product, in current form and after some effective changes
SWG 10% 70%
EQ1 0% 10%
EQ2 25% 60%
planetside 5% 40%
vanguard 0% 15%
make a world, not a game, we dont want another game.
Comments
I my self, dont care if he appologizes or not. After the past, I dont think I can believe him any way, and SWG is dead and gone, and WAS forgotten, before this. The wont bring Classic Serves, imo.....because they still wont listen to fans. Smed can say he's sorry, and "we wont do it again" but who honestly thinks "they" will listen to us again. The Classic server's wont happen, because people HAVE moved on to other games.... and invested 3 years into them....not to many people will want to give up 3 years experience on a game/games just to go back to an outdated game. Granted SWG was ahead of its time, I loved it, I played it, I quit it.
I said this on the SWG Vet thread on the Smed "apology", and I'll say it here:
The only apology I'll accept from this man is a Captain Needa apology.
CH, Jedi, Commando, Smuggler, BH, Scout, Doctor, Chef, BE...yeah, lots of SWG time invested.
Once a denizen of Ahazi
After like, what? 2 years? All I can say is ROFLMAOPMP
This is what my friend replied to me when i showed him this article:
"So What... they punish all the SWG players and then they appologizes to us 2 years later. And now when they have made an appologie they are giving all the Everquest fans a new game? what style is that? Give us the old SWG instead, throw in some new planets, vehicles, houses, mounts and shit.."
I Agree.
Why dont they just make a new SWG mmorpg then? Now when all the movies is out and there is nothing else to really continue on following, they should really make a new SWG or fix some classic servers or anything i dunno, cause this is a time were i want to "Take of where the movies ended, live your own saga.." as it should.
Europe-Chimaera , M Marksman 90.
If they rolled the game back past the NGE, CU-2 and CU-1 I would go back. This could be a good chance for SoE to reset the whole game. Maybe up the graphics and start all over again. That would rock
This statement from SoE makes me think a bit differently about them. I might look into their other games now.
"He went on to point out that after two years, the game is once again stable and growing. They continue to update the game with new content and those fans, old and new, who enjoy the current incarnation of the game are being listened to. The old game won't come back - to change now would be as unfair as the first time they did it - but he believes SWG still has a solid future."
thats all i needed to read....so long SWG you cats at SOE will never get anymore of my cash
Reading the interview, three things immediately came to mind:
1) Smed can't even apologize correctly. As part of his apology, he basically ADMITS to lying (re: listening to players). Meaning, he's now given himself something else to apologize for! Doh! Next time, a simple "my bad" will do.
2) Why bother now? He's the most divisive person in the entire MMO industry. Heck, he might be the most divisive person in all of PC gaming. Those that support him now did so even when he was ignoring/lying to customers. They didn't need an apology. And, those that hate him (rationally and irrationally), would never, ever just accept an apology from him. So, what's the point? There's no one to win over now. It's like the old baseball adage: Either you were a Yankee fan, or you rooted against them. There's no grey with Smed, plain and simple.
3) The next time I say I won't buy an SOE product because I don't like their business practices, I DO NOT want to hear the argument, from anyone, that LucasArts and not SOE, were responsible for the NGE. Done and done. Smed took the blame, the responsibilty now rests squarely with him and his company. Please remove any beliefs that contradict that from your arguments in the future.
Other than that, I'm continuing to speculate that some time recently, SOE decided that it's mixed - to - poor reputation among MMO gamers is a liability, and that they may finally be trying to rectify that. Only time will tell though.
Plan and simple answer, NO. Along with the apology, he said nothing about fixing the problem and reversing what they did to break it to begin with.
Hmmm I really had alot of fun with this game in beta and when it was released for it's first 2 months. However after all the nerfs and BS SOE pulled off I doubt anyone will come back no matter what they implement.
I'm sorry but 10 to 20 people who still play this game won't keep it alive.
The ONLY thing keeping SWG going is the revenue being made off SOE's other titles like the Everquest line.
If SOE had no other big titles going for it SWG would of been done along time ago, PERIOD.
seems fair. but on the other hand do we really need 20 posts saying "I wont buy SOE coz of NGE" in every damn thread? I think not
I find it strangely redeeming that this is actually news worthy on MMORPG.
I'm not sure why but I do.
I guess it's because today I feel like less of the "vocal minority" and more of the angry majority.
There's a gazillioin fantasy mmorpgs, but only a few sci fi...and those sci fi games keep leaning towards FPS. I dont' want FPS. I want MMORPG and SCI-FI. We don't need three everquest mmorpg's along with their card games, board games, and every which way they want to milk Norrath. Give us an SWG2 and do it right this time.
The reason for this apology is based in one fact, SWG is dead with low subscribers and a really bad rep.
If the game was doing ok and growing there would be no apology it would be "haha we told you so losers".
Another EQ type game, way to go you admit you messed up the potential of what could have been a great sci-fi game and you opt to make ANOTHER fantasy game. Smedley may be listening but he forgot to come out of the soundproof booth he has been in for the last 2 years.
"I think we have the capability to make a game that has 10 million or 15 million subs,"
In his dreams. I doubt SOE will ever be able to make such a game. they screwed up two licences , SWG and Matrix , i played both . You know where SWG is heading now, and Matrix is slowly but surely dying. No updates, no vision to improve the gameplay or open new areas like a gate to the real world, the machine world etc.. its pathetic and so sad to see such a great licence falling apart..
"He cited The Agency, with its more mature theme, FPS elements and cinematic-storytelling as an example"
I'm not very sure they will find a large audience with this kind of game. He think like a Major corporate CEO think, how to make a lot of money with simple recipes (FPS, mature game, cinematic-storytelling). As allways something fast to play, fast and easy money, something simple, like barbie dolls. In fact these guys are so obssesed by WoW they would kill their mother to find the next big hit. Whatever it could be. Multiplying game titles wont change anything. They are bad , period.
Had the NGE gained more subs then pre-CU or CU then Smed wouldn't feel sorry for anything. I don't think he gets what many people are angry about, and that is the old game had been neglected and thrown away as well as the subscribers who were discarded with it.
We were seen as disposable, and that I'm afraid Smed just doesn't understand.
The only good thing about his apology is that it is yet another reason for other developers not to ever do anything like this with their own games. This is one more black mark for the NGE, one more precedent for avoiding such a monumentally stupid decision. Hopefully every other developer heeds this lesson.
As for Smedley, I will forgive but will not forget. I won't buy another game developed by or in associate with SOE, but at the same time, it's just a game, so I don't wish him physical harm. I wish him good health, preferably far, far away from the gaming industry.
Now we have an apology from Smedley. We didn't want an apology, just like we didn't want new game enhancements. What we wanted was a fix of some of the glaring problems with swg (dots and stacking) and some new content. So until you are ready to announce classic servers or subscription refunds for 2003-05 you get stuffed.
Faced with the insurmountable amount of negative press regarding the NGE Smedley decends from on high and bestows his lofted regrets upon us. Well he and sony and dana and the fanbois and everyone else who has facilitated this cancer on the face of the mmo genre can go ask there grandmother for an rectal exam, because that's what this fucking apology is worth to us.
SOE will not get away with this and the zillion other things they do to hold this genre back.
They just need to make SWG 2 (updated graphics..etc) and give old subscribers a jump start on the game.
---
Xen of Onslaught
You know, it's funny. I've been waiting for this for years.
I played pre-cu, during the cu, and during the NGE. I've been back into the NGE on two separate occasions, and I honestly cant say I enjoyed it.
I'm glad Smedley said something about the NGE, but to be honest I'm still waiting for an apology for the CU. It was a similar game, but it still wasnt the NGE I loved.
If they set up a pre-CU server, I would be proselytizing the great name of SoE again, and loving every little thing they do. No hard feelings. The problem is that we've seen no move towards reconciliation with the "vets" who played before the combat system was revamped.
Does the game pre-CU/R/B need help? Yes, it definatly does, but not so much work as replacing the combat system does.
Bottom line: Thanks SoE, but all will not be as it once was until we see a SWG Classic server. It's either up to you, or SWGEmu. Either one is fine with me. The only difference is where my money goes.
Ok he admits what they did was wrong,so why the hell are they not reverting back to where it was just before NGE and go from there. Actions speak louder than words and all they have done so far is try to improve the NGE. They admit the NGE was wrong yet they continue to try to make it better. I went back to SWG Recently and it still SUCKS That Interface is AWFUL.
Seriously. At least he admitted he screwed up. I'm also pretty happy to hear him knowing that my fave SOE game (Planetside) exists, and will get a major update.
MMO games played or tested: EQ, DAoC, Archlord, Auto Assault, CoH, CoV, EQ2, EVE, Guild Wars, Hellgate: London, Linneage II, LOTRO, MxO, Planetside, SWG, Sword of the New World, Tabula Rasa, Vanguard, WWIIOL, WOW, Age of Conan
Well at least he did apologize albiet three years later. A pre NGE server would have me curious about SWG but I'd need to hear from players first before I would ever commit another dollar to SOE MMO's.
So SOE is involved with Perpetual's Gods and Heros, does this mean they're going to be involved with Star Trek Online too?, if thats the case then wipe STO off my list of future MMO's I'd like to try
I don't see it as much of an apology, It covers very few of the actual complaints against SOE. It is a good start. Seems to me many of you are a little lost in time. 3 years??? It has not been 2 yet, the NGE went live in November 2005. Maybe some are counting the CU as the start of the fall, Even though I didn't like the mechanics of the CU it did bring back quite a few of my guildies. They all left again at the NGE. Smedley, No apology is complete without an attempt to make amends, you offer us nothing but words so you get nothing but more angry words back. I played from July 2003 till January 2006 and then played on and off till Sept. 22, 2007 It is better than it was in Nov 2005 by a long shot but it is still miles away from a game I am willing to pay for.
<---Yoda = Smed
<---Sheep = Current Players
Seriously. At least he admitted he screwed up. I'm also pretty happy to hear him knowing that my fave SOE game (Planetside) exists, and will get a major update.
tbh it's bull because they should have learnt from the CU, they made the same mistake twice.
STARWARS = EDSIL
Many of sony products have unaddressed core problems that are keeping them crippled, I am actually still interested in subscribing to many of sony games but the have deal breaking problems that keep me away.
first and formost is the grinding and all too obsessive focus on killfest.
the games for the most part cater to 18-24 crowd that thrive on the carnage and crack like kill rush
many of us adult players are looking for something with more substance.
for example in SWG they added the ship flying to the game but limited it to not much more than an arcade blaster game, I got the fancy miner ship (AKA multi player ships) but you effectivly were cripled and not much more than floating barges.
the WAR is static, neverending, never changing and casual players are prohibited from participating as the only way to relate to the WAR is by direct combat usually with elite pure PVP template players the equivelant to puting someone off the street into the ring with a professional boxes.
no public works projects that al levels can contribute in a meaningful way
a combat oriented economy (water on tatooine is/was only used for medicine on a desert world noless!!)
**************
I just got a card wanting me to return to EQ2 touting that the level cap has been raised "again" from 70-80 nothing about fixing the problems that forced me to leave in the first place
listening to players! BAH! more sony public relations BS sorry only counts if your gonna do something to correct to problem
heres how I rate the chances I will return to a current sony product, in current form and after some effective changes
SWG 10% 70%
EQ1 0% 10%
EQ2 25% 60%
planetside 5% 40%
vanguard 0% 15%
make a world, not a game, we dont want another game.