Community Relations Archive
Thread: Why don't SOE just do what Mythic did with DAOC to bring back subs?
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I_Love_Wookies
Mon Oct 31, 2005 2:52 am
#1
Mythic finally gave in and did a classic server and now the games more popular than it's been since TOA!
You would think SOE would do the smart thing and merge servers together and use the old ones to make classic servers with character transfers!
1. Making money by more subs because alot of people would come back
2. Making money from Character transfers
3. Saving money because you might aswel shut all the CU servers down 
wildcat84
Mon Oct 31, 2005 7:49 am
#2
We'll see. I don't think that it's a coincidence that the Japanese servers are being shut down not long after they got the CU, it was a devastating, traumatic, RADICAL change to the combat system, and Japaneese/Asian game players are, by and large, more conservative and resistant so such things than US/European players.
I don't have hard numbers (SOE doesn't release them), but it is my perception that the smaller US/Euro servers have only gotten smaller as well since the CU, those of us who play on the larger ones see people fleeing them to ours via character transfer or building new toons.
I don't think SOE has any intention at all of ever putting up a pre-CU server (as they keep saying). IF sub numbers stay at or above the 200-250K they are now they never will, but if the sub numbers start falling off drastically, they are liable to do anything at that point to try to turn it around, and taking one of the abandoned servers and putting Publish 14 (last pre-CU publish) on it would be a very cheap (since they already have the code and equipment) way to try to retain or regain some people.
Personally, I think if they did a pre-CU server or servers, it/they would quickly become the most overloaded one (s)in the game. They know this. It'd also destroy development efforts because the expansions, etc since pub 14 would either have to be abandoned or almost completely redeveloped, something that wouldn't be very practical.
In addition, if the greatest game growth is on servers that are dead-end (ie: wont' receive expansions) then the game's development is dead-end, so even pre-CU servers, even if popular, would do more to harm the game than good, most likely.
This is WHY they don't want to do it, and I completely understand why they don't.
My suggested solution and compromise is this: What SOE needs to do is take the CU system and do their best to make it MORE like what people most liked about pre-CU. Stuff needs to be more soloable. Sologrinding needs to be made more fun and rewarding (but NOT by destroying group grinding as was attempted in pub 22). Recent publishes, especially Publish 24, have continued to take this game in the opposite direction, which is, from this player's perspective, a mistake.
I don't have hard numbers (SOE doesn't release them), but it is my perception that the smaller US/Euro servers have only gotten smaller as well since the CU, those of us who play on the larger ones see people fleeing them to ours via character transfer or building new toons.
I don't think SOE has any intention at all of ever putting up a pre-CU server (as they keep saying). IF sub numbers stay at or above the 200-250K they are now they never will, but if the sub numbers start falling off drastically, they are liable to do anything at that point to try to turn it around, and taking one of the abandoned servers and putting Publish 14 (last pre-CU publish) on it would be a very cheap (since they already have the code and equipment) way to try to retain or regain some people.
Personally, I think if they did a pre-CU server or servers, it/they would quickly become the most overloaded one (s)in the game. They know this. It'd also destroy development efforts because the expansions, etc since pub 14 would either have to be abandoned or almost completely redeveloped, something that wouldn't be very practical.
In addition, if the greatest game growth is on servers that are dead-end (ie: wont' receive expansions) then the game's development is dead-end, so even pre-CU servers, even if popular, would do more to harm the game than good, most likely.
This is WHY they don't want to do it, and I completely understand why they don't.
My suggested solution and compromise is this: What SOE needs to do is take the CU system and do their best to make it MORE like what people most liked about pre-CU. Stuff needs to be more soloable. Sologrinding needs to be made more fun and rewarding (but NOT by destroying group grinding as was attempted in pub 22). Recent publishes, especially Publish 24, have continued to take this game in the opposite direction, which is, from this player's perspective, a mistake.
Message Edited by wildcat84 on 10-31-2005 09:54 AM
ElfDruid
Mon Oct 31, 2005 8:11 am
#3
So, I have never understood why people hate the CU. Is it just becuase of the soloing element? Personally, I've been playing since the original beta and think the CU was the best thing to happen to SWG yet. I know a lot of people have 'left,' supposedly, and I assume the lack of being able to solo everything in the game is the reason?
Tante
Mon Oct 31, 2005 8:20 am
#4
ElfDruid wrote:
So, I have never understood why people hate the CU. Is it just becuase of the soloing element? Personally, I've been playing since the original beta and think the CU was the best thing to happen to SWG yet. I know a lot of people have 'left,' supposedly, and I assume the lack of being able to solo everything in the game is the reason?
Some people left because no more god mode. Some left because they saw that SOE would push the CU out it the broken state it is now. There are as many reasons as there are players.
AdmiralSeer
Tue Nov 01, 2005 5:52 am
#5
ElfDruid wrote:
So, I have never understood why people hate the CU. Is it just becuase of the soloing element? Personally, I've been playing since the original beta and think the CU was the best thing to happen to SWG yet. I know a lot of people have 'left,' supposedly, and I assume the lack of being able to solo everything in the game is the reason?
/agree
its done.....SOE won't change it, there's nothing you can do, so stop anyoing the rest of us.Peps need to stop complaining........seriously, I think i've heard every pre-cu joke know to man and I'm getting tiered of both the jokes and the complaining.
Eskie
Tue Nov 01, 2005 8:29 am
#6
ElfDruid wrote:
So, I have never understood why people hate the CU. Is it just becuase of the soloing element? Personally, I've been playing since the original beta and think the CU was the best thing to happen to SWG yet. I know a lot of people have 'left,' supposedly, and I assume the lack of being able to solo everything in the game is the reason?
A few reasons:
- some lost their god mode by losing legendary weapons
- the level system got introduced, with lots of drawbacks, especially for crafters, crafter / combat hybrids and new players trying to level up
- it was released in an unfinished state with promises to fix it later (never really happened), after promises being made after earlier desastrous publishes that never again a publish would be released prematurely
- no player testing involved. Alpha tests got cancelled, bugs from beta did not get fixed
- the CU hitting the test servers was nothing similar to the CU discussed in design documents for several months up front
RyFord
Tue Nov 01, 2005 8:52 am
#7
ElfDruid wrote:
So, I have never understood why people hate the CU. Is it just becuase of the soloing element? Personally, I've been playing since the original beta and think the CU was the best thing to happen to SWG yet. I know a lot of people have 'left,' supposedly, and I assume the lack of being able to solo everything in the game is the reason?
Pre-CU was an ORIGINAL game and there was nothing like it. It may not have been the greatest of systems but it was DIFFERENT. The game now kinda feels like many other games as they have ripped off as many elements as possible from every other game.
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