Development Cycle Archive
Thread: Great Expectations, Major Schedule Changes and making SWG the finest MMORPG ever
Oracul
Sat Jul 17, 2004 12:01 am
#1613
Now that my accounts are cancelled(paid up thru sept 1st unfortunately)...would anyone like my nemoidian bird cage. I have a mouse droid that beeps also. Oooh and last but not least.....some black and white paintings of starships...and few colorful pictures of an ugly chick with long lips and skinny legs. Any takers?? They will look great in your luxury starship you will pay $50 bucks for. HA HA...suckers!!
Master (SOE )SUCKER.......retired
...damn my wallet is empty?
LukeBorgman
Sat Jul 17, 2004 12:02 am
#1614
I guess the bright side of this dark cloud is that by November there should be enough high level Jedi to make it clear whether there will even be enough players spending any significant time playing non-Jedi characters to need a Combat Balance. Given the lack of a clear in-game mechanism to keep Jedi from out-performing non-Jedi in every way, I think the game will be progressively less fun for non-Jedi. Having just one elite-elite profession in the game, that is supposed to be more powerful than all others, makes it inherently unbalanced. ...unless everyone aspires to Jedihood, then it's just boring.
So maybe by November, if SOE even cares about making non-Jedi professions anything but Jedi-groupies and Jedi-stepping-stone characters, it will be clear thatSWGneeds to have a system to keep Jedi functionally seperate from non-Jedi except in certain well-defined circumstances (like Jedi-on-Jedi PvP,BH-on-Jedi PvP, and instanced dungeons; see http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=csystems&message.id=30604for details). Jedi should not be about looting, so should not be able to. Jedi should not be about random acts of violence and displays of power, so should not be able to. Jedi should not be about economic advancement, so should not be able to. If Jedi areallowed to havetheir cake (Jedi super powers) and eat it too (using those powers in non-Jedi endeavors), then we won't need a Combat Balance.
This delay makes it clear to me that beating the competing MMORPGs to release is more important than fixing existing bugs and problems. I'll restrain myself from buying JTL until either SWG non-Jedi characters seem to have a future or until one of the competing MMORPGs is released. If only the fundamentals of the game could have been fixed before even the first Jedi was allowed in the game... Oh well, timing is everything.
Jibbrish
Sat Jul 17, 2004 12:03 am
#1616
Whoa, 59 pages and counting. If TH actually makes it to this post i'll be surprised but here goes anyway.
Given the reshuffle that has just occured can we get some solid answers as to what's happening with stuff that we were expecting to be coming down the pipe? At this point talk of 'surprises' is bs. We got our surprise yesterday and we really don't need anymore.
Let me preface this by saying i supported the decision to do the jedi revamp because i hated the grind and what it was doing to the game, with the understanding that other issues would be resolved in a timely fashion. That's been blown to hell and i now would like to know what IS coming between now and JTL to justify putting Jedi first.
So here is my list, from Gary's State of the Game letter and from TH's post:
Gary's letter says (implicitly 9.2):
"Social Adventure" Opens
This will mostly be a non-combat adventure, targeting Entertainers, Dancers, Musicians, Image Designers and fast-talking Smugglers... perhaps set in the Hutt Casino. Loot will be new songs, dances, etc.
While TH has what appears to be the same thing pushed to 10.2
Publish 10.2 is focused on the entertainers which features a unique new game experience where entertainers, Dancers and Musicians can perform for an NPC audience for the reward of a new song and dance.
So what is in 9.2? A droid at the start of a racetrack and 2 sets of wookiee armor that we've been waiting months for? Shame. And can you elaborate on what 10.2 will entail? Is this the Hutt casino? If no, where does this fall in your timeline?
I understand that smuggler revamp is essentially off the calendar but where did the squad leader revamp that Gary has for 10.0 go?Is that just off the calendar too?
From TH's post:
Publish 10.1 is going to bring us an exciting surprise and also a list of Correspondent requests
You can stick your surprise where the sun don't shine. We've just been given a huge shaft (sorry you had a hard time posting it, i had a hard time reading it!) and you're trying to pass off a 'surprise'?
From Gary's post (implicitly 10.2):
Star Destroyer Opens
The second of our "space-based" adventures. This time, players will be able to explore the interior of a Star Destroyer! Details are still being worked out, but the interior is already pretty far along and looks great.
Where's this at? Is this still coming and when?
And the work that has been done on these systems is where? Out the window? Time wasted? Or had nothing actually been done on these?
I've got to tell you that i'm incredibly disappointed that you've chosen to push back the GCW revamp and the combat balance. As was stated before the combat balance has to happen before the GCW revamp because PvP would play such a huge role. Fine but the GCW IS the game. Star Wars is about the GCW. To me, killing stormtroopers is about as Star Warsy (without actually being in space) as you can get. Having a non-existant war the last several months has been brutal.
From Gary's letter:
GCW Revamp
As mentioned above, this revamp is going to transform the GCW into the "elder game" for high-end players. Runesabre is working very hard to ensure that everyone - regardless of profession - has a role they can play in the GCW.
I guess we will just have to continue waiting for a role in the GCW and for our 'elder game'. You better hope for some patient people playingbecause i'm not sure how many elders will be left after this latest fiasco.
The suits at Lucas and SOE need to get thereS*H*I*T together and hire the bodies they need to fulfill the promises that have been made to this community. This continual dropping of the ball has got to stop.
Message Edited by Jibbrish on 07-16-2004 03:04 PM
Message Edited by Jibbrish on 07-16-2004 03:08 PM
Trobon18
Sat Jul 17, 2004 12:04 am
#1617
Ok but for all you who are quiting on Eclipse... PLEASE send all of your money to Character name: Trobon Saffire. I am very poor (132 credits)and if your giving up any way... well just send it over. =)
MisterWizard
Sat Jul 17, 2004 12:06 am
#1618
Am I surprised? Not at all.
Am I disppointed? I shouldn't be because I expected this all along, but I can't help but think, "Here we go again."
Do I feel sorry for Thunderheart being the whipping boy for all of this? Yes; I hope they pay you well for this.
Is this making SWG the finest MMORPG ever? No.
What's one phrase the project managers and planners on the SWG project should learn? "Underpromise and overperform."
Am I leaving the game? If I could convince the many people I have become very friendly with in the game to leave, I would be gone in a heartbeat.
Ironic song phrase fitting to this moment: "Fool me once, shame on you / Fool me twice, shame on me" -- BB King
All in all here's the problem I have with this whole situation, and the Combat Balance is at the heart of it.
We've been hearing about the CB since November 2003. There have been tentative schedulessince that point. There have been endless discussions on fixes, and "teasers" from the development community. There were supposed to be "three phases" of the CB this year, one after the other. The fact that, after all this time, NOTHING HAS CHANGED, shows me that no one ever really took the CB seriously. Oh, you were seriously wanting to do it, and I'm sure you seriously wish it was done. But, you never seriously began designing, documenting, or planning... Proof of this is the fact that you STILL, many months later, are soliciting people's comments -- comments you have been getting for many months.
I could be wrong, but I don't feel it. After a year we've figured out how things go...
wussynip
Sat Jul 17, 2004 12:07 am
#1619
It is only Lucas Arts Jibbrish not Lucasfilms Ltd. ILM has there *edit* together it is Lucas Arts which never has had their *edit* together. Skywalker Sound also has there *edit* together. Lucas Arts, once again is the inbreeded dumb *edit* of Lucasfilms Ltd.
Message Edited by wussynip on 07-16-2004 03:09 PM
SeaRaptor
Sat Jul 17, 2004 12:07 am
#1620
How long do you think you'll be flying solo, TH? In other words, when do you think you'll start talking to potential candidates for your old job? =)
Thunderheart wrote:
I have to complete the hiring process, finish the transition and then I'll get to work with the community.
GotBlueMilk
Sat Jul 17, 2004 12:09 am
#1621
D_Hoffran wrote:
Aracon wrote:
In fact, they're more responsible for the crap of this game than this Development team was. In fact, it's the company that made the Devs push this game out before it was ready and it is still the company that's making the Devs push JTL out before they fix this game.
I'm sorry, but I think that's simply not true.
This game was in development for almost four years before launch - FOUR YEARS!
We can talk about how complex coding is, blah blah.
Four years.
Let's see, four years is :
* A Presidential Term
* The length of time the entirety of "World War II" - you know, real life? - was fought and won in that time
* Twice as long as it takes Disney to build a new themepark, from ground-breaking to opening day
* Enough time to shoot roughly 16 feature-length films, or for at least a half-dozen films to go from green-light to final cut
* Long enough for a toddler who was born on the first day to have learned to walk, talk, and go potty all by themselves by the end of the four years
We could go on...I am so tired of hearing how hard it is to code a game. The gaming industry, in particular MMO's, are notorious for this - but in this case I think it was everything simply left to the last minute while the Devs do things like spend the afternoon of their workday playing in the "sandbox" pitting krayts against kimos to settle an office bet as to which one was better.
Really...YOU COULD HAVE GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE in less time than it took them to cobble this game together.
You'd really think we could expect better than that, but it seems like it's just gotten much, much worse.
D.
D, the difference is "the will to do it right." You're right, plenty of things can be done in the amount of time they've had, but only if they're given the money and personnel to do it. When Disney wants to build a new theme park, they don't give six guys shovels and say "Go for it," they get behind it with money and talent and they get it done. SOE isn't doing this, which is why they're the bad guys here and not the Devs. I don't agree with everything the Devs have done by any means (especially the Jedi situation 
), but this announcement is just corporate meddling.
), but this announcement is just corporate meddling.The Devs can fix this stuff, but only if they're allowed to. They're getting orders to put the pedal to the metal on JTL and instead of hiring new staff to fix the current issues while they're doing that,SOE isjust pulling everyone off the current game and putting them on what they see as the new money-maker. That's not the Devs fault -- they're just six guys being handed slingshots and being told to invade Normandy.
supa187
Sat Jul 17, 2004 12:09 am
#1622
Dear Thunderheart,
Awesome posts!!! We are sending over a bottle of champagne to congradulate you on your promotion and on your excellent post. Please make plenty more of these posts in the future as we gear up for our release.
Sincerely,
The Blizzard Staff
acekc135
Sat Jul 17, 2004 12:12 am
#1623
Well i already paid a year might as well pay one more and see what happens , thx for the update hope GCW gets fixed before maybe my last year
Rhysati
Sat Jul 17, 2004 12:13 am
#1624
supa187 wrote:
Dear Thunderheart,
Awesome posts!!! We are sending over a bottle of champagne to congradulate you on your promotion and on your excellent post. Please make plenty more of these posts in the future as we gear up for our release.
Sincerely,
The Blizzard Staff
LOL So, so true...
trabickle
Sat Jul 17, 2004 12:15 am
#1625
George Lucas is rolling over in his grave as I type this!!!