Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

General: Can Planetside 2 Redeem SOE?

BillMurphyBillMurphy Former Managing EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 4,565

In this week's column, Managing Editor Bill Murphy takes a look at the recent unveiling of Planetside 2 and wonders aloud whether or not the MMOFPS will be enough to bring SOE back into the good graces of the hardcore MMO gamer. 



Right off the bat, I don’t think the IP carries the same kind of hype-weight that something like a TOR or even a DC Universe might carry, but if there’s any one section of gamer that’s more critical than the MMO gamer, it’s the shooter fan.  And with recent stumbles like the account information theft on top of several recent releases to receive only mediocre attention, it might be said that SOE needs Planetside 2 to be big.  The company has to prove that they’ve still got the chops to create a solid MMO experience.  They’re the company that helped make this whole industry into something more than MUDs and it’s time people remembered that over the NGE of Star Wars Galaxies.

Read the rest of Bill Murphy's Can Planetside 2 Redeem SOE?.


Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.

My Review Manifesto
Follow me on Twitter if you dare.

«1345

Comments

  • korvasskorvass Member Posts: 616

    Nice little article, Bill. Cheers.

    This was good, too:

    "They’re the company that helped make this whole industry into something more than MUDs and it’s time people remembered that over the NGE of Star Wars Galaxies."

    Sometimes, I wish more people would remember this, and give them a little more respect. Yes, in recent years, SOE have pushed out some, what turned out to be, awful decisions, but they are one of the major companies responsible for making this industry big, so they still have my - somewhat diminished - respect.

    I actually rather liked MXO's atmosphere, and its combat system.

    I also loved PS, so I'm totally looking forward to this one.

  • alkarionlogalkarionlog Member EpicPosts: 3,584

    only way to SOE start to redeem himself is fire smedley and all suits there today and start fresh

    FOR HONOR, FOR FREEDOM.... and for some money.
  • elockeelocke Member UncommonPosts: 4,335

    I don't hate SOE the way some folks do.  I've enjoyed VG and EQ2 off an on for the last couple of years, although EQ2 has been annoying me of late with the spell graphics changes and charging me for a race, grrrr.  But otherwise...to get me to give them more respect I need to see Everquest Next.  That's going to be THE GAME that makes or breaks them, IMHO.

    So far, it's sounding good.  Open World(finally, they are realizing zones ruin immersion) and hints at more sandbox play, plus the engine looks good based on what we've seen from Planetside 2 vids.

    I'll try PS2, but I never got into PS so I'm not overly excited for it.  I'm more excited for Dust 514 from CCP for an MMOFPS.  I'm not opposed to having my mind changed though, guess we'll have to wait and see.  They better launch at a pivotal time though, with GW2 and SWTOR and a few others coming, the launch date is going to matter a lot for SOE.

  • erikk3189erikk3189 Member Posts: 306

    Originally posted by alkarionlog

    only way to SOE start to redeem himself is fire smedley and all suits there today and start fresh

     

     Without hesitation of any type, this is the first and exact thing I thought about. Well.....me, you and 99% the gaming population, anyway.

    The man is totally clueless. I'm thinking he probably married the top boss' daughter or something since they still have him around.

  • gkb3469gkb3469 Member UncommonPosts: 148

    You say SOE made mmos what they are today, too bad the people that did dont work for SOE anymore making them a different company entirely. So in essence they really arent. I doubt PS2 will have any redeeming factor but im still gonna play it.

  • PhryPhry Member LegendaryPosts: 11,004

    my first REAL mmo experience was playing Everquest, i even beta'd EQ2 and SWG.. and when SWG went live.. i stayed with it.. SOE then was my favourite MMO company.. and i even got the station pass so i could play Planetside.. SOE, literally had all the games i was interested in and played... but that was then...  .. IF they can turn Planetside 2 into a great game, and its not impossible, the first one was imo at least.. epic.. then for me that would be enough for me to forgive SOE and forget the past.. or at least.. ignore it... can they do it? i don't know.. but.. i am going to keep hoping that this is the one game they get right.. 

  • LexinLexin Member UncommonPosts: 701

    Pretty sure they will find a way to mess it up.

    image

  • dageezadageeza Member Posts: 578

    $OE is pretty much dead to me, i will watch PS2 from the sideline because i really dislike the corporate structure and decision making of this insidious publisher...

    They were once on top of their game but the scene changed and $OE failed to acknowlege it then and still fails to acknowlege it now..

    Any publisher that will let games like SWG and eventually EQ1 die instead of going with some kind of preventive F2P model to revive them does not deserve my business..

    Playing GW2..

  • ThorqemadaThorqemada Member UncommonPosts: 1,282

    EQ Next will make or break SOE, PS2 may help move the road along a while...

    "Torquemada... do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada... do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada... do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it, you can't Torquemada anything!"

    MWO Music Video - What does the Mech say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF6HYNqCDLI
    Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0x2iwK0BKM

  • Daffid011Daffid011 Member UncommonPosts: 7,945

    Respect is something that is earned, not owed.

     

    Sorry, but I just don't think SOE has the mindset to make great games anymore.  Their entire company culture is about desining revenue streams, analyzing marketing data and littered with short term mentality.  As such their entire game making mentality and consideration for their cutomer base suffers.

    SOE has not done very well with their products when they had a full staff and large budgets.  Now that they are massively cutting costs across their entire division they are in a position where they NEED a winner.  The problem is that historically SOE has never done well when pressed for time or lacking resources.  SOE is now in a survial situation and that isn't exactly going to improve their output.

     

    It really will take more than one decent title for SOE to redeem itself and just looking at this last week further reinforces that they have no intention of redemption. 

     

    Personally all I think they care about it surviving until they can release Everquest 3 at any cost. 

  • KothosesKothoses Member UncommonPosts: 921

    No, DCU should have and could have been the game to re-invigorate SoE as a company and drag them into the 21st century.  Instead rather than developing a game with depth, they made a cash grab at the console market and failed due to the terrible UI, lack of gameplay depth and the terrible undermarketing of their games.

     

    They have an arrogance that rivals Bobby Koticks in that they believe their games will speak for them selves and attract customers based on name and hype alone.  The sad fact is the games do speak for them selves, as does sonys lack of care for its customes.  The SWG farce (please dont tell me Lucas pulled the license when Smedly has said in multiple interviews that they could have re-newed but chose not to, and also remember that they still have a starwars license for Clone Wars Adventures).  The way they handled DCU and the way they consistently keep the Vanguard community dangling from a carrot on a stick (We promise we will have a road map soon) shows that they really dont give a monkeys about the people that buy their products.

     

    In short SOE will have another game full of "potential".......

  • VesaviusVesavius Member RarePosts: 7,908

    Originally posted by Daffid011

    Respect is something that is earned, not owed.

     

     

    I am sorry but I don't subscribe to the perspective at all.

    I go into every situation with respect for the other party as a given, they can then lose it based on what they say or do. Initially though, everyone gets respect. It's a alien way of thinking to me to consider strangers who have 'not earned it' not worthy of respect.

    SOE, though, lost mine a long time ago as a company, though they accidentally get it right sometimes. If PS2 is good,and I mean GOOD, then great, SOE may well restore some of that lost respect in my eyes.

  • Loke666Loke666 Member EpicPosts: 21,441

    I have high doubts about PS2, it would have to be the next Eve to redeem SOEs reputation and that is rather unlikely.

    I think that if any game can do that it will be EQ Next but it need to be a great game with better coding than we seen so far in a SOE game. But it might happen, the gameworld is still popular and many old EQ players would like to turn back the clock, if they can get a bit of the old EQ feeling together with some new thinking mechanics they just might pull it off.

    I hope so, the EQ IP is worth preserving.

  • VesaviusVesavius Member RarePosts: 7,908

    Originally posted by Loke666

    I have high doubts about PS2, it would have to be the next Eve to redeem SOEs reputation and that is rather unlikely.

    I think that if any game can do that it will be EQ Next but it need to be a great game with better coding than we seen so far in a SOE game. But it might happen, the gameworld is still popular and many old EQ players would like to turn back the clock, if they can get a bit of the old EQ feeling together with some new thinking mechanics they just might pull it off.

    I hope so, the EQ IP is worth preserving.

     

     

    I understand that both PS2 and EQ3 will use the same new engine SOE have built, so def worth watching PS2 closely if you have any interest in the latter.

  • MercurialGMercurialG Member UncommonPosts: 50

     

    I personally cannot wait untl this game comes out.  Like a previous poster I too had the station pass because it had every game I wanted to play.  SWG, EQ2, MXO, PS.  I still remember the very very first time I played PlanetSide.  You did the little tutorial that explained the UI basically (plus all the points to put towards certs) and the very last one was instant action where it dropped you into a hot spot.  I just stood there in complete shock in the middle of the battle field.  There was a tower behind me with people wearing the same color as me (blue) charging into a field towards a huge base with lots of people wearing red.  Tanks rolling by me, aircraft fighting over head.  Then about 20 or so people in really heavy armor (MAX suits) charging towards the base with the words MAX Crash in the comms.  Then I was promptly shot, guess I made a pretty easy target just standing there.  There is no game in the world that can match the feeling that game gives (or gave).  The first time you snipe someone, the first gal drop, first time you go cloaky and kill people in bases, the first time you are gunner in a tank and accidently shoot into your own tower killing ten of you own side...err or was that just me.  If PlanetSide 2 can capture the awe factor for even a moment I will be happy.

    Now like everyone else I am not a huge fan of Smedley.  However I read a recent article that kinda changed my view of him.  Seems he is really is out of touch with his own games cause he is too busy playing EVE Online.  Pretty interesting article.

    http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/07/13/eve-online-and-battlefield-2-listed-as-major-inspirations-for-planetside-2/


  • korvasskorvass Member Posts: 616

    Originally posted by dageeza

    $OE is pretty much dead to me, i will watch PS2 from the sideline because i really dislike the corporate structure and decision making of this insidious publisher...

    To be fair, you probably have no real idea about their corporate structure, right? And 'insidious'? They're not terrorists or the CIA, dude. :)

    They were once on top of their game but the scene changed and $OE failed to acknowlege it then and still fails to acknowlege it now..

    I almost agree with you here. I believe they have acknowledged the change in scene, I just don't think they have made the right decisions in order to fully take advantage of it. I believe their failures are more to do with incompetence than ignorance.

    Any publisher that will let games like SWG and eventually EQ1 die instead of going with some kind of preventive F2P model to revive them does not deserve my business..

    It's not about letting it die. As has been said many times; their license is up. I think I recall reading that it had already been extended once. Could it have been extended more? Probably, if they had made a better product.

  • cybertruckercybertrucker Member UncommonPosts: 1,117

    I agree with so many in this post. I have spent over 9 years of my life playing SOE games. EQ1 6 years, EQ2 on and off for a year, Vanguard 2+ years. So I am not going to sit here and bash a company who has made several of the games I have loved. I do however think they have stumbled along the way and made  a few bad decisions.

    For all the people here who believe that SOE is in it only for the money. Well for starters Profit isnt a dirty word. I am a business owner myself and if I am doing something that is not profitable I change what it is i am doing to make it profitable, when it comes down to it, regardless if I enjoy the way I am doing something it comes down to money.. However like any business venture, changes can also be risky and have consequences you may not have expected. I will not sit here however and say that SOE and its team of devs have lost their love for gaming and are only in it for the money though, because that is a load of bull. They do have to balance that love of gaming and game creation with being able to maintain profitibility. Anyone that gets mad at them for that has to be a retarded liberal that believes all big business is bad.


  • JerYnkFanJerYnkFan Member UncommonPosts: 342

    I have zero interest in PS2 since I am not a shooter fan, but I agree with others that EQ Next will be the game that redeems them or leaves SOE in the muddled mess they are in now.

  • VesaviusVesavius Member RarePosts: 7,908

    Originally posted by korvass

    To be fair, you probably have no real idea about their corporate structure, right? And 'insidious'? They're not terrorists or the CIA, dude. :)

     

    Like I said in another thread, SOE are experts at one thing... slow boiling their frogs.

    'Insidious' is a good word for them.

  • korvasskorvass Member Posts: 616

    Originally posted by cybertrucker

    I agree with so many in this post. I have spent over 9 years of my life playing SOE games. EQ1 6 years, EQ2 on and off for a year, Vanguard 2+ years. So I am not going to sit here and bash a company who has made so many of the games I have loved. I do however they have stumbled along the way and made bad decisions.

    For all the people here who believe that SOE is in it only for the money. Well for starters Profit isnt a dirty word. I am a business owner myself and if I am doing something that is not profitable I change what it is i am doing to make it profitable, regardless if I want to or not. I dont blame SOE for making changes to games that are failing. However like any business venture, changes can also be risky of changing the wrong direction. I will not sit here however and say that SOE and its team of devs have lost their love for gaming and are only in it for the money though, because that is a load of bull. They do have to balance that love of gaming and game creation with being able to maintain profitibility. Anyone that gets mad at them for that has to be a retarded liberal that believes all big business is bad.

    Agreed. Someone else who 'gets it'.

    I think you have to actually be in business to understand it.

  • VesaviusVesavius Member RarePosts: 7,908

    Originally posted by cybertrucker

    Well for starters Profit isnt a dirty word.

     

    No, but profteering is.

    I personally believe SOE fall into the latter in their approach to their games.

  • korvasskorvass Member Posts: 616

    Originally posted by vesavius

    Originally posted by korvass

    To be fair, you probably have no real idea about their corporate structure, right? And 'insidious'? They're not terrorists or the CIA, dude. :)

     

    Like I said in another thread, SOE are experts at one thing... slow boiling their frogs.

    'Insidious' is a good word for them.

    Depends on the way you look at the word, 'insidious', I guess.

  • Harbinger1975Harbinger1975 Member UncommonPosts: 244

    Redemption does not come in the form of a good game, Bill.  I usually agree with a good deal of what your write.  This one though, I'm going to disagree with you on.

    Redemption has to come from the CEO and his cronies.  He has to acknowledge his horrible business decisions (and no, I don't consider his double talk about the NGE an acknowledgement) with DCUO, SWG, and Vanguard.  He and his little money grubbers should step forward, be attached to lie detectors, and openly apologize to the entire customer base of SOE for what they did.  And then each and every one of them be fired right there.

    Will this happen?  Of course not.  And I know it won't.  Of course what I just wrote was a bit far fetched.  At least the lie detector part.  I know John Smedley will not step forward and apologize for a damned thing.  Why?  He doesn't care.  He's a scheming, kiniving, self-centered corporate fat cat that thinks we as customers are far too stupid to know what we like.  Now why won't they fire him?  I can give you a VERY GOOD estimated guess why they won't fire him.  His severence package will be triple or quadruple what he makes now.  And I'm talking like 20-75 million dollars (it could be even more or less) and probably a few million each year, or a few hundred thousand.  Basically he will live off the interest.  That kind of severance package will badly hurt Sony.  And they don't want to pay that much to him.

     It's really a catch-22.  He's costing SoE money by staying, and he'll cost them alot of money if he's fired.  It's a no win situation.  It hurts both customers and the parent company.

    image
    image

  • korvasskorvass Member Posts: 616

    Originally posted by vesavius

    Originally posted by cybertrucker

    Well for starters Profit isnt a dirty word.

     

    No, but profteering is.

    I personally believe SOE fall into the latter in their approach to their games.

    You're naturally entitled to that belief, of course, but consider this:

    Isn't every individual or company guilty of profiteering, considering the definition of profiteering is making money using methods that could be deemed to be unethical? There will always be someone who disagrees with your ethics.

    I don't believe SoE are unethical in their business practises. I just don't think they're doing a particularly good job at what they made they were set up for, and what they made their name from.

  • korvasskorvass Member Posts: 616

    Originally posted by misles

    Redemption does not come in the form of a good game, Bill.  I usually agree with a good deal of what your write.  This one though, I'm going to disagree with you on.

    Redemption has to come from the CEO and his cronies.  He has to acknowledge his horrible business decisions (and no, I don't consider his double talk about the NGE an acknowledgement) with DCUO, SWG, and Vanguard.  He and his little money grubbers should step forward, be attached to lie detectors, and openly apologize to the entire customer base of SOE for what they did.  And then each and every one of them be fired right there.

    Will this happen?  Of course not.  And I know it won't.  Of course what I just wrote was a bit far fetched.  At least the lie detector part.  I know John Smedley will not step forward and apologize for a damned thing.  Why?  He doesn't care.  He's a scheming, kiniving, self-centered corporate fat cat that thinks we as customers are far too stupid to know what we like.  Now why won't they fire him?  I can give you a VERY GOOD estimated guess why they won't fire him.  His severence package will be triple or quadruple what he makes now.  And I'm talking like 20-75 million dollars (it could be even more or less) and probably a few million each year, or a few hundred thousand.  Basically he will live off the interest.  That kind of severance package will badly hurt Sony.  And they don't want to pay that much to him.

     It's really a catch-22.  He's costing SoE money by staying, and he'll cost them alot of money if he's fired.  It's a no win situation.  It hurts both customers and the parent company.

    Yeah, but this is the nature of all modern corporations. Upper management never gets fired, it just gets moved sideways.

    Take, for example, the big stink regarding the News of the World newspaper, and it's sudden shutdown after near a couple hundred years. According to known information, there was one person who was out of that entire team that was around when the hacking incidents allegedly occurred. Guess what? She's still the boss. Everyone else got fired.

    So that makes SoE exactly the same as any other corporation, or corporate division.

    SoE really isn't the Devil, kids, they just kinda suck. ;)

Sign In or Register to comment.