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a new carrot ?
Mathos
Member Posts: 897
ur lengthy discussion with John Smedley yesterday focused primarily on Free Realms and the possibilities in SOE's future. We also chatted briefly about the newest surprise from the company - a collaboration between the Austin and Denver studios called Champions of the Force. Here Mr. Smedley discusses his view on the TCG, Star Wars Galaxies in general, and how reconnecting with the playerbase is really great for the company.
It seems as though the reaction impression from a lot of SWG players is that it's surprising that the company put all these new assets and resources into the game.
I think people have the wrong impression about Star Wars Galaxies. We still have a very active live team. We have a bunch of new content just out, and a bunch of new content in the pipe. Have they talked to you about what's coming? Vehicles in battles on Hoth? It's amazing. It is expansion-pack level content, and it's going to be included for free as part of the release. We could have done a straight-up expansion pack but we decided not to do it that way because of the history with the game and expansions. We want to focus on the content. I think it's a really good game now. We think the content is there, the polish is way up.
The lesson we've learned from Galaxies is, "take the time." We haven't released an MMO of our own in three years. We helped out with Pirates of the Burning Sea obviously ... looking around the room, I think you can see the level of polish we're reaching for. We've taken this up about five notches. You learn your lessons in life ... what I'm happy is that we're still making games, having a good time doing it. There has been some downsizing in our industry of late. We've been kind of on the upswing, it's a good time in the company right now. We've even got some unannounced projects that you folks haven't had the chance to hear about yet.
Any one hear anything about this ?
also don't make me take out the tin foil hat
Comments
I don't follow developers careers but I can't believe Smedley still has a job
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
First I must comment that Hoth is indeed an epic win and possibly one their best ideas to date.
The trading card game however is a fail and seems like a gimick that will only appeal to a niche audience within the already niche playerbase of SWG.
As for the "unannounced projects" I have heard nothing though as is always the case with Galaxies I will keep my ears open.
"What is it that the gamers want from these games and why is it not given to them? We were playing these games ourselves, that's why we know it was not being done. So we moved in the opposite direction. We thought about what the users wanted, what we wanted, and why it wasn't happening and how it could happen." - Tasos Flambouras
Well whatever projects he speaks of, you can be sure they'll pop it out in 2 months and let us know 2 weeks before it goes live... /sarcasm off
That guy is why I am still here... Every word that comes from his mouth is propaganda and spin. I think the board of directors at SOE just doesn't know how to fire him because he's such a company line man that he's good to blame for everything and keep the bad PR off every one else's back..../flail
Faxx(er)
lol...hoth...hmph! battles in vehicles....Hmph! A jedi craves not these things!
hoth should be a planet not some lame one time thing
another fail on the part of $OE
...what he forgot to mention was that all the new stuff would be "unlockable" done through a secret system so TRY REAL HARD....
Err no hoth is just a huge ball of ice with two maybe three creatures on the whole planet, a whole huge barron planet would be a big waste in my opinion.
I'm told that Smed doesn't answer to a board of directors in the traditional sense. I'm not sure what organizational paradigm they're using, but I have to question its efficacy. No president in the organization I work for would ever survive a performance appraisal with a track record like Smed's.
P.S. Smed's carrots are covered in b.s.. He has a history of saying things about the game's future that never materialize, and of hinting at things that are never truly considered for development (e.g. how would you like to see guild controlled star destroyers, the CU is here to stay, we're going to fast-track server mergers, etc.) He says they've learned to take their time and get things polished before release, yes just like the 5 year celebration for SWG. Does he even believe what he's saying anymore? Does he think he's telling the truth?
As I called it in my lastest Rodo Report "Chimpanezes of the Force" will only make a monkey out of the current NGE player base - all five of them. If this is a carrot for them ,they best enjoy it quickly.
Unaware of the Jestor?
http://about.me/JestorRodo/
Friends enjoy his classic Vblog - https://www.facebook.com/GoodOldReliableNathan
"expansion-pack level content"
lol love the new catch phrase. And I liked the explanation of why it's not going to actually be an expansion.
"...because of the history with the game and expansions."
lol, huh?? what??
What he means is the core game is going to change within a week of it launching so they cannot actually charge for it as a expansion because within a week everything from it will be useless.
I'm told that Smed doesn't answer to a board of directors in the traditional sense. I'm not sure what organizational paradigm they're using, but I have to question its efficacy. No president in the organization I work for would ever survive a performance appraisal with a track record like Smed's.
P.S. Smed's carrots are covered in b.s.. He has a history of saying things about the game's future that never materialize, and of hinting at things that are never truly considered for development (e.g. how would you like to see guild controlled star destroyers, the CU is here to stay, we're going to fast-track server mergers, etc.) He says they've learned to take their time and get things polished before release, yes just like the 5 year celebration for SWG. Does he even believe what he's saying anymore? Does he think he's telling the truth?
I could not agree with you more.
Anyone know where I can find a master list of Smed's B.S. lies??
Same shit different day from the $medster.
I think that guy has had some serious brain damage caused by over indulgence in Kool aid and bullshit baths.
All his latest BS could be caused by lack of sleep due to seeing the Jester when he closes his eyes at night and hearing his laugh in every corner of his dark room. I don't think he loves that Jestor.
Hoth was an idea pushed by the forum community for 5 years! SOE had their 'best idea to date' gift wrapped, documented, and sitting on their front porch for 5 years before getting around to implementing it.
Hoth was an idea pushed by the forum community for 5 years! SOE had their 'best idea to date' gift wrapped, documented, and sitting on their front porch for 5 years before getting around to implementing it.
This is true but for 5 years the community pleaded with them to add it as a pvp themed battleground, after almost 3 years of SOE bleating on about listening to the community they decide to add it as yet another dull pve "heroic" encounter. Only recently have they started speaking about possible pvp implications.
...The spread of secondary and latterly of tertiary education has created a large population of people, often with well developed literary and scholarly tastes, who have been educated far beyond their capacity to undertake analytical thought.
What industry downsizing is Smed talking about? The MMO industry I see has been booming for years with growth of new subscribers counted in the millions each year. Perhaps his antics have completely fucked up the subscriber base of SOE, but that isn't an industry problem. That is Smed trying to spin his failures as if it is something everyone is experiencing.
As for his SWG card game, it was a no brainer. Smed commented that since the card game went live in EQ they have seen some people paying on average well above $100 a month in transactions that go directly to SOE. That is all they have left for the poor stable of games they currently offer. There is no "relaunching" them to grab the masses of people who are actually desperate for a non-WoW game to play so they are maximizing profits from their current playerbase.
Hoth sounds kind of cool though. I can't wait to see how they screw the pooch on what they are promising.
Hoth was an idea pushed by the forum community for 5 years! SOE had their 'best idea to date' gift wrapped, documented, and sitting on their front porch for 5 years before getting around to implementing it.
I dont normally QFE but here goes.
This is exactly right. They are 5 years too late. If smedley is pulling all the strings, he has made some monumental screw-ups, and the lucky bugger has managed to keep his job this whole time.
The lying, scheming, good for nothing, waste of oxygen, I'd rather he just keeled over and died.
Remember folks, its only slander if its not true!
I could not agree with you more.
Anyone know where I can find a master list of Smed's B.S. lies??
I found this. Not necessarily Smeds lies but general SOE lies.
http://www.soesucks.net/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=10
"...because of the history with the game and expansions."
careful smed. you almost told the truth there...........
Supposedly the Hoth quest is going to be built with the JtL engine. Considering the developers have already admitted that most of the JtL stuff is a mystery to them, Hoth will be a buggy mess. Since LEC has given the go-ahead for content that doesn't fit the game's timeline (which is the stated intention with Hoth, as the developers have said the game';s timline isn't advancing), I could also see the Death Star trench run eventually being made, if the developers didn't dislike the space game so much.
I'm told that Smed doesn't answer to a board of directors in the traditional sense. I'm not sure what organizational paradigm they're using, but I have to question its efficacy. No president in the organization I work for would ever survive a performance appraisal with a track record like Smed's.
P.S. Smed's carrots are covered in b.s.. He has a history of saying things about the game's future that never materialize, and of hinting at things that are never truly considered for development (e.g. how would you like to see guild controlled star destroyers, the CU is here to stay, we're going to fast-track server mergers, etc.) He says they've learned to take their time and get things polished before release, yes just like the 5 year celebration for SWG. Does he even believe what he's saying anymore? Does he think he's telling the truth?
I could not agree with you more.
Anyone know where I can find a master list of Smed's B.S. lies??
there must be a library full of the volumes of his lies some place ..... lol
LOL