I think most people are not shocked that this is happening. Some might take joy in it as they are still upset about how soe did business with them and I won't deny them that point. However I think the common message is going to be (and seems to be already) that Sony keeps getting rid of the wrong people. This will be the 3rd round of layoffs in as many years. The game market is growing, especially the mmo market, but soe keeps shrinking. The problem isn't the rank and file employees.
I agree and it has been obvious for many years that SOE needs a clean sweep at the higher levels of managment. I also will celebrate the day that Smed is shown the door. Not because of the NGE but because his level of incompetence is just mind blowing. It just sucks for the people that did get laid off. Its a shit economy as wel all know.
Maybe I can help shed some light on the subject in terms of corporate thinking.
Now I'm not calling anyone stupid, but I did get a first hand look at how they handle things. I was like these poor guys that got laid off. I worked in manufacturing for eight years close to nine in pharmacuticals. The higher ups were telling their investors: "Yes, we can absolutely do it in this time frame. You have my word on it."
As an operator (technician), I looked at the higher up and went: "Wait, what? There's no way we can do it in that time frame. Not with what you gave us to work with." And other operators told the higher ups the same thing. if we rushed our projects just to meet their time frame, which always meant money in their pockets, the project would be ruined.
Regardless, they told us to get it done and in THEIR time frame.
We did. And what we warned them about happened. We lost alot of product because of the rushed and "floor chemistry" that was done. What happened? There was a blood letting where I worked. The higher ups didn't take the blame for THIER inability to tell the truth to the investor. So someone had to be punished. And it was us. I was one of those people.
This is the mindset of the corporate world. I feel very bad for those that lost their jobs. It was wrong. The best people who do the hardest work are the ones to always be let go. They are the ones blamed. You will never see those with money take the hit.
IMO the best thing that can come of this is that they friggin drop DCUO which seems like a total rush job to me, SWG since so many people are upset with past changes, Vanguard (thought I love the game.. it's just empty), Planetside, and PotBS.. maybe try salvage Vanguard, since it has great potentially I think.
It's what you get when you spread your top ideas across a douzen projects.. I can understand 4 titles.. but not as many as SOE have currently.
They should of got rid of Smeadly years ago. He has done nothing to bring SOE forward other than trying to follow anything WOW/Blizzard and doing a bad job at it.
They keep kicking the wrong people, they should kick the ones that are incharge and not the people doing their job under poor guidence.
After SOE release a new game they wait for about 1-3 months and then they fire people. Dont blame a pupil for a teachers errors.
Couldn't agree more, upper management is the biggest problem at SOE.
It’s astonishing to me that there has been no shake up of SOE upper management. Why is there no pressure from Sony or its stock holders to turning this failing part of the company around? If Kaz or any of the other Sony big-wigs really wants to fix SOE’s mess they need to dump all of those incompetent fools.
They should of got rid of Smeadly years ago. He has done nothing to bring SOE forward other than trying to follow anything WOW/Blizzard and doing a bad job at it.
That is the whole problem and always has been.
This isn't the first round of lay offs at SOE. They cut 33% two years ago already. And now again 33%.
Sony HQ should have booted John Smedly years ago already and replaced him with a more competent person.
Then the last round and this round of lay offs would have never been necessary.
But like someone else already said. It's always the hard working guy that gets laid off and the incompetent management that is allowed to stay and continue to mismanage the company!
It's a real shame, as SOE had some great talented people working there one day that were able to create incredible games.
But pretty much all those great talented people have been laid off over the years and are no longer there. Hence why pretty much all their games are currently underperforming aka doing badly!
Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security. I don't Forum PVP. If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident. When I don't understand, I ask. Such is not intended as criticism.
Even so the devs and staffs are layed off, A light at the end of the tunnel may be that, smed has amassed a fortune in MMO engines and titles. He will sell them off to cover the companys debt. I would love to see a small group of investors pick up some of the older titles and revamp them. vanguard with a new community all working to relaunch it with new devs willing to make it run great and be fresh. that game has major potential and could be a threat to all these AAA themeparks.
SWG even though LA owns the IP could technicaly still be SWG if the tools and software could be used in the right hands.You might not be able to afford the IP but the game could be revamped updated and be mind blowing if you just changed IP and content, and updated the engine.
EQ2 I imagine will remain up but with limted devs. they may pull people off of the titles they are sunsetting to work on it and DC universe. Smed purchased to many MMOs that he could not maintain, but he also has some large assets if he sells them.
Money and promised fortune power is what Smed lives for,he will sell off matrix online and all the others like vanguard . And might strip SW IP off SWG and sell the engine.
Of course until I see a few more legit articles Just have to wait and see. sad part is swg forums noone even knows this info right now. they're all talking about new GCW fixes
So I posted the article in the tavren on eq2, a place for non game play talk.
I can say that one of the dev's himself replied the following and locked the thread. "This isn't something we can comment on at this time. We appreciate both your concern and feedback." Link http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=498316
Now to let folks know these are the studios they have per their soe web page Im not making this up You can find this info at this link http://corporate.station.sony.com/careers.vm
Now i read some of the folks above me comment various things, So instead of pulling stuff out of thin air I done the research for all of you so you would have a good idea of what were fixing to get.
SOE Austin studio is SWG
SOE Denver is Free realms and the trading card games
SOE San Diego is Vanguard, EQ, EQ2, Planet side and some free realms projects
SOE Seattle is The Agency
SOE Tucson is Pax Nora
So we know from the article that sparked this thread the following is probably going to get close studios in Seattle, Tucson, and Denver. This probably means there going to consolidate all the different studios and probably move whats left to San Diego where the servers live for all their games.
That means Free realms and all the trading card games for sure are taking a hit, Pax Nora is probably gone, The Agency is probably gone. I think SWG is done for, and so is Vanguard. I am not sure what studio did dcuo I thought that was done in Denver, but as it is not listed under current projects; so you got to go oh boy whats the deal with that. I would think that EQ1, and EQ2 devs will be sharing responsibilities. I also have to wonder about EQ Next (called eq3) I don't see that listed any more either.
I hate it for all the folks loosing there jobs, and I really hate it for those who play these games. I have to wonder how deep of an impact it will be for those of us playing eq2.
. I am not sure what studio did dcuo I thought that was done in Denver, but as it is not listed under current projects; so you got to go oh boy whats the deal with that. I would think that EQ1, and EQ2 devs will be sharing responsibilities. I also have to wonder about EQ Next (called eq3) I don't see that listed any more either.
I hate it for all the folks loosing there jobs, and I really hate it for those who play these games. I have to wonder how deep of an impact it will be for those of us playing eq2.
I'm terribly sorry for those who are going to lose their jobs especially in this tough economic time but hopefully they won't have too much downtime. I hate SOE with a passion but they've been around for along time & I would assume its a good name to put on your resume in that business.
That being said, I couldn't be happier that SOE is crumbling. They lost touch with their playerbase years ago, have completely neglected them & have flat out lied about their products, updates & service. I hope they will be the martyr for the mmo community & show the rest of these companies that hte public is tired of being treated like crap. They can't push us around anymore because of a so-called mmo addiction, we're still human beings & we work hard for our paychecks.
The only thing that makes me sad in hearing this is that we will most likely never see Planetside Next but that's not really that shocking considering we haven't seen updates on the game in months & it was hinted at by the devs that it would release in March 2011.
Goodbye SOE & good riddance, you made a mockery of the gaming industry.
I am not sure this means a whole lot. Game companys grow and downsize all the time. Worry when you hear about game cancellations. If EQ Next gets the axe then we should be worried. Or if both Planetside Next and The Agency get the boot...
Tucson does PoxNora. Also not a big deal its getting old...
Denver does the Card Games. Who cares...
Seattle is doing The Agency. I had stated to think the game had been cancalled, but supposbly late 2011. But who knows at this point. They could be reaching a point where 115+ jobs are not needed. And are scaling back to the 50 they will need for post dev work.
--------
Austin did SWG and DCUO... Not a big deal DC is done they would downsize to save cost. Very normal after launch or right before even to downsize.. SWG has a skelton crew..
San Diego is the Headquarters. Everquest, EQ2, Vanguard, Planetside, and Free Realms. Free Realms PS3 version is completed and some jobs are no longer needed.
And to the haters I doubt SWG or Vanguard close. Skelton or no crews. And they make money....
EQ/EQ2 expansions will be farther apart in my opinion. More work will go to EQ Next and Planetside Next. dI am not sure this means a whole lot. Game companys grow and downsize all the time. Worry when you hear about game cancellations. As there new games get further into devlopment they will start to hire if they need to.
Austin did SWG and DCUO... Not a big deal DC is done they would downsize to save cost. Very normal after launch or right before even.. SWG has a skelton crew..
Tucson does PoxNora. Also not a big deal its getting old...
Denver does the Card Games. Who cares...
Seattle is doing The Agency. I had stated to think the game had been cancalled, but supposbly late 2011. But who knows at this point. They could be reaching a point where 115+ jobs are not needed. And are scaling back to the 50 they will need for post dev work.
San Diego is the Headquarters. Everquest, EQ2, Vanguard, Planetside, and Free Realms. Free Realms PS3 version is completed and I figured this would happen. Don't pay what ya dont need.
EQ/EQ2 expansions will be farther apart in my opinion. More work will go to EQ Next and Planetside Next.
--------------- Tested over a 115+ games since 1997.
I just don't get why people are happy about others losing their jobs. Do you really think it was Smed or any of the other decision makers that got the boot? Probably not. Just some people that got paid to do what they were told to do. Stupid F'n attitude towards the situation if you ask me.
I also enjoy the assumption that SWG or VG will close. Like we all havent heard that for the past 5 years. Even when SWG does shutdown it is not going to be a victory for you in any way. It has been going for 7 years. Do you really believe that they have not made money off of the game? The only people that lose will be the small yet loyal player base the game has. Those people are not the "enemy" they are just gamers that have a different taste in games than you do.
I am no $OE fan. I just find it hard to find pleasure in these peoples misfortune.
Agreed, this is not something to be happy about. If Smed got fred I would open up a bottle of Bollinger but this is some poor joes like any of us that got fired for doing what they were told.
In the end it might lead to SOE realizing that they need to change things so something positive can come out of it but that doesn't help the guys who lost thier jobs.
Yup. I feel horrible for the staff and SOE employees that will be effected by this.
BUT...this is what happens when you treat your customers as enemies and that's what I feel SOE has operated like for years. Really, I doubt this comes as a "shock" to anyone working there. SOE has been in decline for years now.
No games have been announced for closure, nor do I think any will. SOE needs them for Station Pass sales.
So again, sucks for the people being layed off, but this is a net POSITIVE thing for the gaming community IMO.
I just don't get why people are happy about others losing their jobs. Do you really think it was Smed or any of the other decision makers that got the boot? Probably not. Just some people that got paid to do what they were told to do. Stupid F'n attitude towards the situation if you ask me.
I also enjoy the assumption that SWG or VG will close. Like we all havent heard that for the past 5 years. Even when SWG does shutdown it is not going to be a victory for you in any way. It has been going for 7 years. Do you really believe that they have not made money off of the game? The only people that lose will be the small yet loyal player base the game has. Those people are not the "enemy" they are just gamers that have a different taste in games than you do.
I am no $OE fan. I just find it hard to find pleasure in these peoples misfortune.
Agreed, this is not something to be happy about. If Smed got fred I would open up a bottle of Bollinger but this is some poor joes like any of us that got fired for doing what they were told.
In the end it might lead to SOE realizing that they need to change things so something positive can come out of it but that doesn't help the guys who lost thier jobs.
Agreed. I would feel glee at certain high level employees getting the axe, but I don't doubt we'll still be hearing their drivel for years to come.
-Smedlers gets fired, and someone who CARES about the customer is put in the empty dimensional void that was there.
-DCO is closed down, apparently it cost them more to develope than they've gotten back so far. It'll take them another 2years to make their money back & make a tiny profit.
-Our poor poor abused SWG gets shot in the head, and then SWGemu will take over in it's place by the STRONG epic communities.
-EQ:Next's developers step back, and see that copying WoW's graphics =/= what they should be doing. Maybe just MAYBE, catering to what the FANS of EverQuest want?
-Planetside:Next is NOT affected whatsoever. From what I've seen & read, they're catering TO the fans of Planetside. Something EQ:Next's developers could take a hint from.
-Faded
The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity: Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.
i can see how much SOE rather keep going this way until they go bankrupt before making their games wonderfully better for players..... i wanted to play vanguard but right now i would be too dumb if i pay for it....
Did they put all their eggs into the basket marked DCUO? Have many left since launch then? Do SOE have anything left half decent to flog? Why do I keep asking questions? Help.
Sad. Companies that are poorly managed always end up punishing the employees.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
Did they put all their eggs into the basket marked DCUO? Have many left since launch then? Do SOE have anything left half decent to flog? Why do I keep asking questions? Help.
DCUO's woes are really the only change that hasn't already been in effect for months/years. SWG was already dead... EQII f2p has been around for months...
As was said and bashed a million times over, DCUO cannot keeps subs with its current amount of content, even after the updates. Tack onto that all the other issues it has, and their income on this game all but ends with the box.
-Smedlers gets fired, and someone who CARES about the customer is put in the empty dimensional void that was there
Screw the customers! I would rather see him replaced with someone whose focus is to build quality games, not to churn out shit in the hopes of making some quick cash.
Did they put all their eggs into the basket marked DCUO? Have many left since launch then? Do SOE have anything left half decent to flog? Why do I keep asking questions? Help.
DCUO's woes are really the only change that hasn't already been in effect for months/years. SWG was already dead... EQII f2p has been around for months...
As was said and bashed a million times over, DCUO cannot keeps subs with its current amount of content, even after the updates. Tack onto that all the other issues it has, and their income on this game all but ends with the box.
Wonder why didn't they offer lifetime for the DCUO at the release, could squeeze a little more from the blockheads.
Did they put all their eggs into the basket marked DCUO? Have many left since launch then? Do SOE have anything left half decent to flog? Why do I keep asking questions? Help.
DCUO's woes are really the only change that hasn't already been in effect for months/years. SWG was already dead... EQII f2p has been around for months...
As was said and bashed a million times over, DCUO cannot keeps subs with its current amount of content, even after the updates. Tack onto that all the other issues it has, and their income on this game all but ends with the box.
Wonder why didn't they offer lifetime for the DCUO at the release, could squeeze a little more from the blockheads.
Good question. This does however seem to discredit my theory that F2P was always planned for this game; that they thought they'd make money off the boxes, then once the pop started imploding, they'd go F2P mt's.
If that were the case, they'd have prepared for it, financially, instead of wiping out a huge chunk of their workforce.
Well it's a shame for the devs no doubt,but SOE and Smedley pretty much killed their golden goose,when they decided to rip the heart out of SWG and of course destroy the game with NGE.
But apart from their flagrant disregard for the customers and the devs,the only real solace anybody can take from this is Smedley and his suits commited buisness suicide just like the guy who said the Beatles where not good enough,and we all know how that turned out !!
So how does Smedley feel knowing that he destroyed in many minds the best Mmorpg ever concieved with a bit of love and the weight of the franchise and subsequent re-launch of the Star Wars mythos,higher management could now in a different dimension be considered pioneers and elated to godhood.
But nope here we are watching the demise of a once great company but like many businesses it seems no matter how badly you screw up destroy lives and careers the incompetant always seem to survive the chopping block,maybe he has incriminating evidence or member of a secret society other wise it's a bloody mystery how he and others survive in these hard economic times,and no doubt he will be rewarded with a golden handshake when he finally sods off.
Comments
Maybe I can help shed some light on the subject in terms of corporate thinking.
Now I'm not calling anyone stupid, but I did get a first hand look at how they handle things. I was like these poor guys that got laid off. I worked in manufacturing for eight years close to nine in pharmacuticals. The higher ups were telling their investors: "Yes, we can absolutely do it in this time frame. You have my word on it."
As an operator (technician), I looked at the higher up and went: "Wait, what? There's no way we can do it in that time frame. Not with what you gave us to work with." And other operators told the higher ups the same thing. if we rushed our projects just to meet their time frame, which always meant money in their pockets, the project would be ruined.
Regardless, they told us to get it done and in THEIR time frame.
We did. And what we warned them about happened. We lost alot of product because of the rushed and "floor chemistry" that was done. What happened? There was a blood letting where I worked. The higher ups didn't take the blame for THIER inability to tell the truth to the investor. So someone had to be punished. And it was us. I was one of those people.
This is the mindset of the corporate world. I feel very bad for those that lost their jobs. It was wrong. The best people who do the hardest work are the ones to always be let go. They are the ones blamed. You will never see those with money take the hit.
IMO the best thing that can come of this is that they friggin drop DCUO which seems like a total rush job to me, SWG since so many people are upset with past changes, Vanguard (thought I love the game.. it's just empty), Planetside, and PotBS.. maybe try salvage Vanguard, since it has great potentially I think.
It's what you get when you spread your top ideas across a douzen projects.. I can understand 4 titles.. but not as many as SOE have currently.
Autofire
They should of got rid of Smeadly years ago. He has done nothing to bring SOE forward other than trying to follow anything WOW/Blizzard and doing a bad job at it.
Couldn't agree more, upper management is the biggest problem at SOE.
It’s astonishing to me that there has been no shake up of SOE upper management. Why is there no pressure from Sony or its stock holders to turning this failing part of the company around? If Kaz or any of the other Sony big-wigs really wants to fix SOE’s mess they need to dump all of those incompetent fools.
That is the whole problem and always has been.
This isn't the first round of lay offs at SOE. They cut 33% two years ago already. And now again 33%.
Sony HQ should have booted John Smedly years ago already and replaced him with a more competent person.
Then the last round and this round of lay offs would have never been necessary.
But like someone else already said. It's always the hard working guy that gets laid off and the incompetent management that is allowed to stay and continue to mismanage the company!
It's a real shame, as SOE had some great talented people working there one day that were able to create incredible games.
But pretty much all those great talented people have been laid off over the years and are no longer there. Hence why pretty much all their games are currently underperforming aka doing badly!
Sad sad sad.
Quake, Japan's economy, subsidiary losing money, budget cuts... seems likely to me.
Even so the devs and staffs are layed off, A light at the end of the tunnel may be that, smed has amassed a fortune in MMO engines and titles. He will sell them off to cover the companys debt. I would love to see a small group of investors pick up some of the older titles and revamp them. vanguard with a new community all working to relaunch it with new devs willing to make it run great and be fresh. that game has major potential and could be a threat to all these AAA themeparks.
SWG even though LA owns the IP could technicaly still be SWG if the tools and software could be used in the right hands.You might not be able to afford the IP but the game could be revamped updated and be mind blowing if you just changed IP and content, and updated the engine.
EQ2 I imagine will remain up but with limted devs. they may pull people off of the titles they are sunsetting to work on it and DC universe. Smed purchased to many MMOs that he could not maintain, but he also has some large assets if he sells them.
Money and promised fortune power is what Smed lives for,he will sell off matrix online and all the others like vanguard . And might strip SW IP off SWG and sell the engine.
Of course until I see a few more legit articles Just have to wait and see. sad part is swg forums noone even knows this info right now. they're all talking about new GCW fixes
I wish the Devs great luck if it's true.
So I posted the article in the tavren on eq2, a place for non game play talk.
I can say that one of the dev's himself replied the following and locked the thread. "This isn't something we can comment on at this time. We appreciate both your concern and feedback." Link http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=498316
Now to let folks know these are the studios they have per their soe web page Im not making this up You can find this info at this link http://corporate.station.sony.com/careers.vm
Now i read some of the folks above me comment various things, So instead of pulling stuff out of thin air I done the research for all of you so you would have a good idea of what were fixing to get.
SOE Austin studio is SWG
SOE Denver is Free realms and the trading card games
SOE San Diego is Vanguard, EQ, EQ2, Planet side and some free realms projects
SOE Seattle is The Agency
SOE Tucson is Pax Nora
So we know from the article that sparked this thread the following is probably going to get close studios in Seattle, Tucson, and Denver. This probably means there going to consolidate all the different studios and probably move whats left to San Diego where the servers live for all their games.
That means Free realms and all the trading card games for sure are taking a hit, Pax Nora is probably gone, The Agency is probably gone. I think SWG is done for, and so is Vanguard. I am not sure what studio did dcuo I thought that was done in Denver, but as it is not listed under current projects; so you got to go oh boy whats the deal with that. I would think that EQ1, and EQ2 devs will be sharing responsibilities. I also have to wonder about EQ Next (called eq3) I don't see that listed any more either.
I hate it for all the folks loosing there jobs, and I really hate it for those who play these games. I have to wonder how deep of an impact it will be for those of us playing eq2.
Austin did DCUO
I'm terribly sorry for those who are going to lose their jobs especially in this tough economic time but hopefully they won't have too much downtime. I hate SOE with a passion but they've been around for along time & I would assume its a good name to put on your resume in that business.
That being said, I couldn't be happier that SOE is crumbling. They lost touch with their playerbase years ago, have completely neglected them & have flat out lied about their products, updates & service. I hope they will be the martyr for the mmo community & show the rest of these companies that hte public is tired of being treated like crap. They can't push us around anymore because of a so-called mmo addiction, we're still human beings & we work hard for our paychecks.
The only thing that makes me sad in hearing this is that we will most likely never see Planetside Next but that's not really that shocking considering we haven't seen updates on the game in months & it was hinted at by the devs that it would release in March 2011.
Goodbye SOE & good riddance, you made a mockery of the gaming industry.
I am not sure this means a whole lot. Game companys grow and downsize all the time. Worry when you hear about game cancellations. If EQ Next gets the axe then we should be worried. Or if both Planetside Next and The Agency get the boot...
Tucson does PoxNora. Also not a big deal its getting old...
Denver does the Card Games. Who cares...
Seattle is doing The Agency. I had stated to think the game had been cancalled, but supposbly late 2011. But who knows at this point. They could be reaching a point where 115+ jobs are not needed. And are scaling back to the 50 they will need for post dev work.
--------
Austin did SWG and DCUO... Not a big deal DC is done they would downsize to save cost. Very normal after launch or right before even to downsize.. SWG has a skelton crew..
San Diego is the Headquarters. Everquest, EQ2, Vanguard, Planetside, and Free Realms. Free Realms PS3 version is completed and some jobs are no longer needed.
And to the haters I doubt SWG or Vanguard close. Skelton or no crews. And they make money....
EQ/EQ2 expansions will be farther apart in my opinion. More work will go to EQ Next and Planetside Next. dI am not sure this means a whole lot. Game companys grow and downsize all the time. Worry when you hear about game cancellations. As there new games get further into devlopment they will start to hire if they need to.
Austin did SWG and DCUO... Not a big deal DC is done they would downsize to save cost. Very normal after launch or right before even.. SWG has a skelton crew..
Tucson does PoxNora. Also not a big deal its getting old...
Denver does the Card Games. Who cares...
Seattle is doing The Agency. I had stated to think the game had been cancalled, but supposbly late 2011. But who knows at this point. They could be reaching a point where 115+ jobs are not needed. And are scaling back to the 50 they will need for post dev work.
San Diego is the Headquarters. Everquest, EQ2, Vanguard, Planetside, and Free Realms. Free Realms PS3 version is completed and I figured this would happen. Don't pay what ya dont need.
EQ/EQ2 expansions will be farther apart in my opinion. More work will go to EQ Next and Planetside Next.
---------------
Tested over a 115+ games since 1997.
Currently Playing:
Played(Retired): AOL NWN(91-95), UO, EQ1/2, DAoC, CoX, Lineage1/2, SWG(Pre CU/NGE), Planetside, Anarchy Online, FFXI, AC, Vanguard, D&D, AoC, DCUO, Rift, Eve, others
Yup. I feel horrible for the staff and SOE employees that will be effected by this.
BUT...this is what happens when you treat your customers as enemies and that's what I feel SOE has operated like for years. Really, I doubt this comes as a "shock" to anyone working there. SOE has been in decline for years now.
No games have been announced for closure, nor do I think any will. SOE needs them for Station Pass sales.
So again, sucks for the people being layed off, but this is a net POSITIVE thing for the gaming community IMO.
The studio closures and the massive employees lay-offs have been confirmed.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/296198/news/sony-online-entertainment-closes-three-studios/
This will not affect Vanguard, at least not directly, as there was exactly 0 employees deployed for Vanguard.
REALITY CHECK
I guess SOE's boat has become rather unstable.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
Agreed. I would feel glee at certain high level employees getting the axe, but I don't doubt we'll still be hearing their drivel for years to come.
Hopefully a couple things happen here:
-Smedlers gets fired, and someone who CARES about the customer is put in the empty dimensional void that was there.
-DCO is closed down, apparently it cost them more to develope than they've gotten back so far. It'll take them another 2years to make their money back & make a tiny profit.
-Our poor poor abused SWG gets shot in the head, and then SWGemu will take over in it's place by the STRONG epic communities.
-EQ:Next's developers step back, and see that copying WoW's graphics =/= what they should be doing. Maybe just MAYBE, catering to what the FANS of EverQuest want?
-Planetside:Next is NOT affected whatsoever. From what I've seen & read, they're catering TO the fans of Planetside. Something EQ:Next's developers could take a hint from.
-Faded
The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity:
Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.
i can see how much SOE rather keep going this way until they go bankrupt before making their games wonderfully better for players..... i wanted to play vanguard but right now i would be too dumb if i pay for it....
Did they put all their eggs into the basket marked DCUO? Have many left since launch then? Do SOE have anything left half decent to flog? Why do I keep asking questions? Help.
Sad. Companies that are poorly managed always end up punishing the employees.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
WTF? No subscription fee?
DCUO's woes are really the only change that hasn't already been in effect for months/years. SWG was already dead... EQII f2p has been around for months...
As was said and bashed a million times over, DCUO cannot keeps subs with its current amount of content, even after the updates. Tack onto that all the other issues it has, and their income on this game all but ends with the box.
Screw the customers! I would rather see him replaced with someone whose focus is to build quality games, not to churn out shit in the hopes of making some quick cash.
Wonder why didn't they offer lifetime for the DCUO at the release, could squeeze a little more from the blockheads.
REALITY CHECK
Good question. This does however seem to discredit my theory that F2P was always planned for this game; that they thought they'd make money off the boxes, then once the pop started imploding, they'd go F2P mt's.
If that were the case, they'd have prepared for it, financially, instead of wiping out a huge chunk of their workforce.
Well it's a shame for the devs no doubt,but SOE and Smedley pretty much killed their golden goose,when they decided to rip the heart out of SWG and of course destroy the game with NGE.
But apart from their flagrant disregard for the customers and the devs,the only real solace anybody can take from this is Smedley and his suits commited buisness suicide just like the guy who said the Beatles where not good enough,and we all know how that turned out !!
So how does Smedley feel knowing that he destroyed in many minds the best Mmorpg ever concieved with a bit of love and the weight of the franchise and subsequent re-launch of the Star Wars mythos,higher management could now in a different dimension be considered pioneers and elated to godhood.
But nope here we are watching the demise of a once great company but like many businesses it seems no matter how badly you screw up destroy lives and careers the incompetant always seem to survive the chopping block,maybe he has incriminating evidence or member of a secret society other wise it's a bloody mystery how he and others survive in these hard economic times,and no doubt he will be rewarded with a golden handshake when he finally sods off.