Community Relations Archive
Thread: John Smedley's Letter to the Community: April 7th, 2005
JackGil
Tue Apr 12, 2005 1:29 pm
#209
DancingRhodian wrote:
LordScotticus wrote:Me clickies you. Good stuff.
YoullNeverKnowWhoIAM wrote:This is Mr. Smedley:Our Community Deceptions OfficerSorry I don't know how to clickify.Well, in fact this is the emperor behind the sith cloak. Our new Community Deception Officer is Tiggs, who replaced the last Community Relations Officer, Calandryll, who quickly quit rather than be a Community Deception Officer. I'm suddenly enamoured of Calandryll, who was the only, the first, and the last person on the SOE team to show communcation, values, and ethics in dealing with SOE's customers.
But Tiggs doesn't even deceive, rather, she ignores, flies low, and keeps her head down; collecting a paycheck from the deceivers and manipulators. Maybe she can look herself in the mirror because she can tell herself, "I'm just following orders." Where have I heard that before?
First of many that we will see leave in the next months, if my pet CU theroy is correct.
My theroy: The CU is crap, it's despised, and the Devs know it. But they can't go to the boss (Smedley) and tell him that they spent a year producing crap and need to start over and walk out with thier jobs.
So they've chosen to be fired 6 months-1 year from now rather than right now. Which, to be honest, is the decision most of us would make in a similar circumstance. 6 months gives most of them enough time to hunt for greener pastures, and the ones left at SOE can always blame the ones who left for all the post-CU account cancellations...
As someone else pointed out, right after the correspondants were shown the CU, suddenly we've had a dozen or more replaced...
SOMETHING is going on behind the scenes that we don't know about. SOE can't be a very good place to work, in my opinion.
YoullNeverKnowWhoIAM
Tue Apr 12, 2005 1:47 pm
#210
LordScotticus wrote:
YoullNeverKnowWhoIAM wrote:
This is Mr. Smedley:
Our Community Deceptions Officer
Sorry I don't know how to clickify.
Me clickies you. Good stuff.
Thanks. I had a glance at his bio, and he seems pretty experienced in the gaming industry, so I guess he knows what he is doing with the CU. But this is not doing any good to us, CURRENT customers.
Message Edited by YoullNeverKnowWhoIAM on 04-12-2005 10:49 PM
YoullNeverKnowWhoIAM
Tue Apr 12, 2005 2:15 pm
#211
Here's Boss Man's bio. Enjoy. 
http://sonyonline.com/e3press/Corporate/Bios/John_Smedley.doc
LordScotticus
Tue Apr 12, 2005 2:20 pm
#212
YoullNeverKnowWhoIAM
Tue Apr 12, 2005 2:43 pm
#213
http://img168.echo.cx/img168/6385/smilenow2ev.jpg
Message Edited by YoullNeverKnowWhoIAM on 04-12-2005 11:48 PM
LordScotticus
Tue Apr 12, 2005 3:11 pm
#214
YoullNeverKnowWhoIAM wrote:Message Edited by YoullNeverKnowWhoIAM on 04-12-2005 11:48 PM
MaleusGaryn
Tue Apr 12, 2005 3:50 pm
#215
LordScotticus wrote:
MaleusGaryn wrote:
YoullNeverKnowWhoIAM wrote:
Sorry, that was an official April Fools Joke of Allakhazam. So don't cancel, fight.
Can you prove to me that the letter from Allakhazam is a joke? I really need to know the truth here. I've already cancelled my subscriptions and posted on my guilds forums. Some of the others will be following suit so I need proof that the "merger" isn't real.
Pardon me for being observant...
The very last line of that "article" is an update from April third, and I quote:
Updated 4/3/05 - Just wanted to say "April Fools"
If the original posters later update it calling it a hoax, I'd say that's pretty substantial proof.
Thank you, I didn't see that. Boy do I feel like a goat's arse, lol. But my accounts are staying cancelled until SoE can show me some improvement. My current subscriptions take me well into the CU so I can see how progress goes(or doesn't) and I will make my decision to return then. But if I don't see significant improvement in the CU as well as community relations, I will not renew.
Message Edited by MaleusGaryn on 04-12-2005 05:53 PM
LordScotticus
Tue Apr 12, 2005 5:46 pm
#217
RedDestinyCC wrote:Stay on target.
Agreed.
So, the topic at hand:
1. Of players expressing their opinions, the far and away majority are saying that they don't like the CU.
2. Despite the expression of this opinion, SOE brass is saying it's getting very positive feedback. There's an obvious discrepancy here -- this thread alone provides plenty of example of how the community's opinion is widely anti-CU. What we don't have from Mr. Smedley is any indication as to the source of *his* claim.
3. Since this thread has opened, players expressing opinions strongly against Mr. Smedley's apparently intentional ploy to mislead the community have been deleted without explanation. I myself have had three posts deleted because someone on SOE payroll doesn't like what's being said here, with many other posters reporting the same.
So in summary, the situation as it currently sits is that we have plenty of evidence to the contrary of Mr. Smedley's assertion of "positive feedback," while neither he nor his staff is providing the basis of this claim in the first place. That sort of behavior and disrespect of the customer gives the feeling of being a sort of psychological trick to generate hype -- it's as though they're trying to generate "positive feedback" by reporting that there already is plenty, which, thus far, seems to be false.
I'm eager to read whatever datasources were used to substantiate this claim. If it can be justified, I think we'll all be very surprised. If it cannot, then SOE brass are liars by definition: intentional reporters of mistruth.
We challenge them to proove what they say, they answer in silence and censorship. Why?
TheBlacknight15
Tue Apr 12, 2005 6:33 pm
#218
I am going to point to my own personal ingame polls, which have the CU winning by a vote of 33/24. So the "positive feedback" might not be as big a stretch as you assume it is, but then again, several people also have reservations about the new system.
This is from another players view of the changes in the CU.
This is from another players view of the changes in the CU.
- Game was released with a lot of bugs, but it was fun
- PvP was born.. mass PvP was fun, new, and interesting
- Over time, disbalanced were found, like Fencer/Pistoleer, Commando, Pistoleer/Smuggler, CM/Rifleman
- Some stuff was changed, some stuff wasn't. Defense stacking was bad
- Devs anounce the beginning of work on a Combat Upgrade that will address disbalances
- Defense stacking was nerfed, people were happy, DoTs were getting worse.. PvP not so good.
- Jedi came in, screwed everything up.. DoTs get worse, defense stacking still existant, mind pool hard to control
- Still no CU.. PvP outlook is grim.
- Food gets buffs, most are happy, mind pool no longer a problem, only melee/doc/defense/dot templates can truly prevail in PvP. People still complain that it isn't fair to most professions.
- People still waiting for Combat Upgrade to balance professions
- PvP evolves.. ganking and large groups win.. TEFing is really bad on Jedi/BHs
- Still no CU.. but it's in the works atleast
- GCW Revamped.. still a lot of complaints about profession disbalances.. PvP sucks for most.
And finally..
- CU hits TC5.. but.. wait.. what.. no known PvP disbalance changes? New system which has not undergone a year and a half of solid play-testing by hundreds of thousands?
Plenty of PvE changes.. though.. W.T.F?
wildcat84
Tue Apr 12, 2005 8:54 pm
#219
If Smedley is right, those of us who dislike the CU are a minority who are irrelevant.
If he's wrong, the game is dead by the end of the year.
There is no third possibility, is there?
If he's wrong, the game is dead by the end of the year.
There is no third possibility, is there?
Tango88
Tue Apr 12, 2005 9:06 pm
#220
there seems to be alot of negative comments on the CU..... I'm gonna give it 1 month after it's gone live... It's gonna make or break SWG for me.
Kataar
Tue Apr 12, 2005 9:23 pm
#221
Oye, when this was first posted on the site, I wanted to reach across the internet and smack both Smedley as well as the jerks who have been feeding him lies. And asked for Episode III content? Episode III content has no place in Galaxies! Galaxies takes place more than 20 years after Episode III, everything is more or less outdated by this time (except for module-based starships, such as the Corellian Corvette, but it was designed to be easily upgraded...hence the 'modular' design 
) And why in the name of the Sith and Jedi would Palpatine allow any Jedi starfighter to survive, and why would we want to pilot such an outdated piece of flossom?
The only thing worthwhile in the Episode III update is the addition of Kashyyk, although with how the Ewok villages look (probably the only planet I was disappointed with in Star Wars Galaxies Classic Edition) I don't have high hopes for Kashyyk. But even still, Kashyyk would have made a good addition to the Empire Strikes Back, which, by the way Devs, should be a soon-to-come addition and change to Galaxies. It does take place 2 to 3 years after ANH, and there's a lot of potential for content from and related to ESB. Special mining speeders would have been handy to add so that you could make Bespin and various floating cities (some with lower levels of crime
) Hoth would have made a nice elite planet. And because the Mon Calamari really started to help the Rebellion around this time (as we see when Mon Cal cruisers are in RotJ but not quite there yet for ESB) it would have made a good additional 'noob' planet with a new playable species based there (my Star Wars memory fails me now, who are the species that co-exist on the planet with the Mon Cals?)
Ok, that was off topic...but yeah. They should have saved expansion work for ESB and made it huge, as it should be in that it would represent a fundamental shift in the game (for instance, Leia, Luke, Han and Chewie would have to move to Hoth.) I think it would have been a much better Expansion than Episode III. You're going backwards, like Wars (though I'm glad for that,) Trek, Superman (Smallville, though I like the show), Batman and many others are making the mistake of doing. Is the human species really losing its ability to think creatively and now must recycle all of its old ideas?
Polls and forums don't lie, Mr Smedley. Though apparently who ever reports to you about Galaxies does. We don't want CU. And though I've mostly stuck to TC forums, I'm fairly certain not a lot of people were asking for Episode III content. But I'm asking for Episode V content now, so does that mean you'll do it? No? Oh that's right, you don't listen to us. Sorry. Don't know how I forgot that.
*grumble grumble* This letter is a prime example of why I'm beginning to dislike Corporate America again. It started going for TQM, but SOE has indicated that the TQM theory is being thrown out the window again and customers are no longer those who determine what Quality is. (who'd ever think my business management and leadership course in college would give me a legitimate argument on these forums, of all places? lol.)
~Captain Talir Kataar, Rebel Master Doctor and Rifleman in Training, Bloodfin
) And why in the name of the Sith and Jedi would Palpatine allow any Jedi starfighter to survive, and why would we want to pilot such an outdated piece of flossom?The only thing worthwhile in the Episode III update is the addition of Kashyyk, although with how the Ewok villages look (probably the only planet I was disappointed with in Star Wars Galaxies Classic Edition) I don't have high hopes for Kashyyk. But even still, Kashyyk would have made a good addition to the Empire Strikes Back, which, by the way Devs, should be a soon-to-come addition and change to Galaxies. It does take place 2 to 3 years after ANH, and there's a lot of potential for content from and related to ESB. Special mining speeders would have been handy to add so that you could make Bespin and various floating cities (some with lower levels of crime
) Hoth would have made a nice elite planet. And because the Mon Calamari really started to help the Rebellion around this time (as we see when Mon Cal cruisers are in RotJ but not quite there yet for ESB) it would have made a good additional 'noob' planet with a new playable species based there (my Star Wars memory fails me now, who are the species that co-exist on the planet with the Mon Cals?)Ok, that was off topic...but yeah. They should have saved expansion work for ESB and made it huge, as it should be in that it would represent a fundamental shift in the game (for instance, Leia, Luke, Han and Chewie would have to move to Hoth.) I think it would have been a much better Expansion than Episode III. You're going backwards, like Wars (though I'm glad for that,) Trek, Superman (Smallville, though I like the show), Batman and many others are making the mistake of doing. Is the human species really losing its ability to think creatively and now must recycle all of its old ideas?
Polls and forums don't lie, Mr Smedley. Though apparently who ever reports to you about Galaxies does. We don't want CU. And though I've mostly stuck to TC forums, I'm fairly certain not a lot of people were asking for Episode III content. But I'm asking for Episode V content now, so does that mean you'll do it? No? Oh that's right, you don't listen to us. Sorry. Don't know how I forgot that.
*grumble grumble* This letter is a prime example of why I'm beginning to dislike Corporate America again. It started going for TQM, but SOE has indicated that the TQM theory is being thrown out the window again and customers are no longer those who determine what Quality is. (who'd ever think my business management and leadership course in college would give me a legitimate argument on these forums, of all places? lol.)
~Captain Talir Kataar, Rebel Master Doctor and Rifleman in Training, Bloodfin