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Smedley getting grilled over at SWG forum, even fanbois show fangs
zipit
Member Posts: 487
its going to be hard as hell to make the game "better" if no one likes the combat system. Now only lag free computers can do well in pvp, which turned off many people. What is your take on this?
- this IS something I think that needs addressing. It also had an interesting side effect that I have to say we didn't think about (well at least not enough anyways) - this combat system got rid of a lot of multi-box players. That sucks.
Smed
This is just a short excerpt from the long list of question that a poster has compilled. Get the full review by clicking this link:
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=swggpdiscussion&message.id=636858
Comments
"Does this mean for example that the first 2 professions will have this edge over all other professions and then 2 more approx 2 months later until all are completed? If so, which 2 professions are first to be elite?
* Yes. It's either that or no profession updates for the next 6 months (or whatever the time frame is).
Jedi & Bounty Hunter are on the books for first pass.
-Helios Titan"
You know they could call the game Jedi VS Bounty Hunter and nobody would notice.
Seriously they have spent way too much time on both of these professions.
You know, I like Smed and respect his answers on the forums yesterday. Smart guy, zippy answers. I think if you read through all of his answers, and compare them with the developer answers, he understands and sides with the players on most of the issues brought forth. Why the president can't make the developers create and maintain the game players want, I don't understand.
Frankly, the developers come across as the ones responsible for what the game is now, where it is going, and they don't give a rats arse what players want or think.
So should the sheet hit the proverbial fan at any time, don't hire these guys, eh?
Athela
If this is the case, then Smed was "not" doing his job and need to go anyway.
The more I read, the more I see how clueless he is about the entire game.
The devs are tools, they do what they're told. Don't think for a second that SOE has any renegade devs that say " We've discussed this and we're doing it our way!". The CU/NGE is a high-level coporate decision, the devs just implemented what they were told. Of course devs have their own chain of command and can give SOE brass feedback, but at the end of the day, they are merely tools.
It's not an issue of Smedley not being able to control his devs. It's an issue of SOE giving orders. Do you think the average dev thinks about commercial success? ( only to the extent that it will ensure that he's on the payroll next month). No. The devs may be the bullits, but it sure as hell is SOE firing the guns!!!
Its a classic case of good cop vs. badcop - marketing versus reality. The devs know Smed is playing a show but can't exactly call his bluff, can they?
The reason behind most of the Dev's answers happens to be because of the man who is trying too play the good guy. Its easy to play the hero and mouthpiece for the masses when the people who can concretely like you to the crime are not allowed to speak. The man is modeling himself after Palpatine.
Who's on first?
From the interview with Raph Koster, CGW April issue, 1006 p. 37
CGW: Successful or not, we've seen some drastic measures taken with both of these games in the name of improvement--specifically, the polarization of Ultima Online's population when the game's anti-PVP facet was introduced, and last year's fundamentally altered Star Wars Galaxies experience. It would be (and has indeed been) argued by many that such changes cater more strongly toward incoming players rather than the exisiting population. Do these types of core changes reflect the wishes of the game designers, or those of the corporate bean-counters who only see the bottom line?
RK: Both of those changes were initiatives by the game designers on the team at the time. I know for a fact, though I wasn't involved in either one. Management usually isn't really interested in the specifics of the game systems--they're interested in results.
(RK) Different designers have different takes on things. They're still after the same goal, which is entertaining users. Even the bean counters know that's what you have to do to keep player's coming back month after month.
So...read through the developer/designer comments from yesterday, and tell me where they are working towards a game to appeal to the player base rather than what they think is right. Assassination of politicians...harmonic convergence of crafters and loot system, removal of schematics, factories, resource gathering, base all aspects of the game on the FPS playstyle...They really can remove the Star Wars "skin" from this game and make the game they want to create, no question. There isn't much skin left on the bone, to tell the truth.
Athela
SOE knows what you like... You don't!
And don't forget... I am forcing you to read this!
This does not excuse the management from this mess. Nothing is sone in a corporate environment without their consent. If this rogue team of developers went as haywire as it seems - someone should have reigned them in. If the team was that anti-SWG - who brought them in and ignored this fact. I say they were chosen because they were antiSWG and because management at LA and SOE picked them to try and grab WoW numbers. Smed had his hand in this back alley facelift and no matter how smart and player friendly he may sound - he is a Sith and cannot be excused.
There is no such thing as a "rogue team of developers". SOE is a privately owned business. If someone goes "renegade", they simply get fired.
This is just Smedley trying to play the "I'm nice" and "I'm on your side" card. If you read between the lines, all he's saying is: "We will have this mess fixed up, eventually! Please stay tuned and continue to pay for your monthly fees!"
And to quote my friend azhran: "It's a mighty pole to carry such a tiny carrot"
SOE knows what you like... You don't!
And don't forget... I am forcing you to read this!
"I've asked the devs to jump in - Rogue 5 - go ahead and bust out your current target live date (I will now wait as the dev team sends someone to beat me up). Last I heard mid-April with it going to test in early April."
An interesting quote from big boss.
Imagine Bush saying the following: "As far as I heard, we're currently engaged in two wars. I don't really know where they are going on, but I was told over 100,000 of our best soldiers are fighting somewhere. I'll ask the general commanding those troops what they are doing right now, and why."
It is managers sole responsibility to know what is going on and make it happen. If it doesn't, it's his fault.
If the man himself doesn't know what his people are doing, when they will be done, or why they are doing what they are doing then one of the following needs to be done:
- Fire the boss (is he running the company or what?)
- Fire the managers (they have no clue how to acomplish goals)
- Fire the dev team (they are incompetent and cannot fulfil their goals)
Making a statement like this is an insult to any and all corporate management. If the boss doesn't know, what is going on in his company, then nobody does. When I get a contract, i negotiate payment, and delivery date. If I'm late, I'm screwed. And they know to the minute, when this date is due. They also want to have complete test, delivery and deployment plan fixed before contract is signed, and they'll have my ass if i miss it by a day. Nobody ever asked me "are you going to be finished this year, it would help me a lot if i knew what's going on."
No wonder SOE is a mess it is, at least now its clear why.
Lol he's so stupid it's not funny.
After years of not giving a crap about their playerbase, admiting they released the CU knowing they would lose players is just disgusting.
Only NOW are they doing something, I wonder why? maybe because everyone's leaving?..
No need to state the obvious, they had their chance and it's over.
-
Do not hate it, but instead embrace the diversity.
Whannnnn Whannnnn dat is the sound of 20 year old babies
Oh... so that's why they ruined the game.
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I just dont see how they can sit there and say the game was failing to deliver the "Star-Warsy" adventure of being a part of the movies.
The game was fine. Where they failed is where they neglected to fix bugs and add content to allow the "Star-Warsy" experience. They didnt need to make it an fps or cut down on professions to do it. They simply figured to revamp the entire game instead. Freaking morons.
The Legacy quests are great. They should have indeed been in from the start. Its like Morrowind(old one....havent played the new one yet). There was a storyline you could follow to enjoy and be a part of the adventure. If you didint want to start it just then you didnt have to. You could go adventuring, leveling or joining guilds.
SOE failed in adding content to the game. They thought they could fix it with a combat change. Totally wrong.
"Making a statement like this is an insult to any and all corporate management."
Sony Corp. current CEO is Howard Stringer. But I found a quote from the previous CEO that I think you may enjoy.
Its at this link
http://icmr.icfai.org/casestudies/catalogue/Business%20Strategy/BSTR192.htm
But the part I think you'll like is:
Nobuyuki Idei was the prevous CEO and took the Job in June of 1999. He had the following to say when he stepped down:
"While stepping down, Idei said, Its funny, 100% of the people around here agree we need to change, but 90% of them dont really want to change themselves, so I finally concluded that we needed our top management to quite literally speak another language. "
He stepped down in March of 2005 and named Stringer as his replacement.
There was another quote back in November I can't find... where maybe even the same guy (Idei) said that Sony's biggest problem was:
"They grew out of touch with their customers and what they wanted"
Seems to be company Policy through a lot of Sony Corp. including SOE.
I also saw another interesting thing about Sony Corp while surfing today.
"The Wall Street Journal reported that a federal judge rejected an attempt by units of Sony Corporation to overturn a $90.7 million jury verdict in a patent case. At issue is what game makers call haptic technology, which is used to make game controllers vibrate in response to action on a TV screen. Immersion Corporation filed a suit in 2002 against Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. and its U.S. arm, alleging that Sony's PlayStation products infringe Immersion patents on the technology."
That was on Reuters in the stocks/key developments section and was from:
March 13th 2006.
Guess when it rains it pours... and I just tossed that last part in because it was interesting.