Development Cycle Archive

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Skankin wrote:

/sign if you feel that JtLS should be pushed back in order to fix the game we actually pay for.

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/sign

And furthermore, I will NOT buy the expansion until the combat balance has been implemented. In fact, I might never buy it.

Message Edited by Groovymarlin on 07-17-2004 03:08 AM

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Saggis wrote:

An attempt at being somewhat constructive.

Every computer game, and especially MMORPG's have bugs. It dosen't matter if it's got 5K subscribers, or 2 million. The thing you have to realize is that gamers are extremely forgiving! It may not seem like it to this team, at this time, but it is true. Some people are going to complain no matter what, but they just want the game they love to be perfect. The vast majority realize that games will be bugged, and accept this to some extent.

The thing that has the community so upset right now is that the bugs/unbalance in SWG is at a plague level. The game is virtually unrecognizable from what is described in the manuel that comes with it. Personally, I think the game is heading in the right direction. The problem is, people don't want a massive add-on to a game that is so very broken. While it's true that an expansion will bring more people to the game, do you really want the influx of people to see the anger of the community AND the pitiful state of affairs in the game?

I, like most of the community, would really like to see you concentrate on the problems in the current game before throwing every resource into an expansion. We don't expect a perfect game, we just want something that is playable, and has a somewhat level playing field.

Thank you for your dedication.

Sagus

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Message Edited by JSpeedFreak on 07-17-2004 12:56 AM

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JSpeedFreak wrote:

See if this is a believeable scenario

Last guyleaves because he isn't a yes man and TH takes over because he is, prob got a salary bump such

Accountants tell the boss man that the two things that will make the most money at this point is:

a) JTLS

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ZidayaXhen wrote:

i seriously think if they delay combat balance they have killed SWG just like E&B or was that EVE online i don't know but i have that feeling that this game will be meeting the same fate shortly

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It was E&B that went under not EVE, EVE has an average of over 5k players on at a time seen over 9k at one time all in one server cluster and they report they broke 10k at one time (meaning 10k all in the same game/universe, not divided up amongst a ton of different worlds). Yes 10k players isnt alot of people considering how many are in games like SWG,EQ and FFXI but none of those games keep everyone thats playing in the same world.

Even though i have few post and have been only registered to the forums since last september i have owned the game since last july. With that being said on to the real issue.

I have read a ton of reviews from major magazines like EGM, Computer Caming World, GamePro, etc; gone over reviews from major internet sites on the game and even watched the X-Play (TechTV) review. The one thing I have found in common to just about every review I read was they considered the game boring. I play other mmorpgs and a mmofps and in those games SWG when ever brought up gets torn apart, Its rare for anyone to find much good to say about the game and I couldn't even give a close number to how many times I have heard people say, " I canceled my SWG account and never plan on going back". The reason I mention all this is mainly because these things are what help people to decide whether or not they are goin to pay for a game. Im sure marketing plays a role but i believe these factors have a larger influence including the simple word of mouth(players telling other players).

Its clear that SOE/LUCASARTS wants JTL to ship in October because this is the start of the holiday shopping season. But the problem i see that is more important then making the holiday sales is having a buyer base. With what has been expressed on these two threads about your announcement one your losing alot of customers that wont come back and others refuse to buy an expansion for a core game in which "The combat balance alone is the single largest player issue"-posted by TH on 1/23/04. With even non players getting negative feedback, from what was mentioned in the above paragraph, how many copies of JTL does SOE/LUCASARTS expect to sale.Yes SWG is offering a free trial period to try to lure more people into the game and I even noticed today that the price of SWG had dropped at Target (not sure if this was SOE/LUCASARTS decision or if Target just wanted them off their shelves). Is this enough for JTL to have a strong release. I am no marketting genious but im sure if the overall feel for SWG was more positive with players and reviewers that JTL would have stronger sales regardless if its released holiday season or not.

I am very concerned over the number of people claiming to cancel their accounts, with players not feeling good about a core game and with a few huge titles in the near future how many of the current community are goin to migrate to these next big things w/o looking back regardless of how well JTL does or not. I would suggest one of two things to keep this from happening:

1) Pull all the devs now from JTL and have all efforts put toward Combat Balance, then split the teams again to finish the jedi quest and JTL which may only be delayed a few months (less if its true that the CB has already been worked on).

With out the combat balance pub 10 is only goin to add a greater number of jedi's to the game, which is a huge mistake with combat being out of balanced already.Plus I personally can't understand what the logic is to adding force sensitvity skills to an imbalnce system, all this will end up doing is throwing the whole system further out of balance frustrating even more players to the point of canceling accounts.

2) Drop monthly charges and/or add SWG to SOE's All Access Pass.

I'm not saying doing this permanetly just long enough to keep the accounts active till when JTL and the Combat Balance has both been implemented. Alot of cancelled accounts is because players feel that they are paying full price for a game that feels like its in a state of beta testing where it could be going toward something else. An added benifit from the All Access Pass is that players already paying for games such as EQ or even Planetside may figure for the small additional cost to try out SWG and to do this they will have to pay for the core game(which makes money vs. free trials). Yes the idea of dropping the monthly rate or addingthe gameto the All Access pass means there will be less money coming in from SWG but arent you losing with cancelled accounts anyways. Atleast with active accounts SOE/LUCASARTS still has a chance to please the players, where as cancelled accounts your not going to always get that chance. In the long run the more accounts you can keep active now the better the chances are for SWG/JTL to be the bestMMORPGin the future.

I truly hope that this post is looked at and thought about carefully. As of right now the only thing that keeps this game going is the STAR WARS name but SOE/LUCASARTS needs to realize that not all Star Wars Fanatics are gamers and not all gamers are Star Wars Fanatics. This is all about a game,players play games to enjoy and unless they are doing that they will move on.

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AntiM767 wrote:

No, it's based on the crowds in Eisley on multiple servers. Yes I knowmost of those are trial account people.

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Well, I was responding to this post with a number of clarifying and insightful remarks, but SOE's pathetic forum lost the post, and quite frankly I don't feel like wasting my time repeating myself to someone who has clearly already made up their mind.

I have to say, however, that halfway through my response I came to the conclusion that you have nothing really significant to say on the issues at hand, as you either ignore or simplify the facts for the sake of your own (purely subjective) argument. Which is fine; everyone is entitled to an opinion. I do think that you need to look closer at the issues at hand, however. They are not as black-and-white as you make them out to be.

This is very bad news.

I'm not rushing to cancel my accounts. But if THIS is the final word on this year's schedule I wont reward SOE with a JTL license nor will I reward dem with future subscription fees until CB is implemented. I doubt I will return again next year. Not even if I'm assured all my items, abilities and credits will still be there after a six month absence.

Creating a new thread doesn't change a damn thing. I am still as upset as I was on thursday, and I think this delay is simply outrageous. You treat your current customers like dirt, all in the hope of gaining new ones through two shining "expansions": space & jedi.

Combat and GCW truly is what makes or breaks SWG, at least for the vast majority. Even carrots like the "Lady Luck" ship won't get me to keep any of my accounts running, I simply refuse to pay for the game in its current state.

Fix what you have before adding more. My two accounts stay cancelled until you do, and I am most definately not alone on this. Just take a look at your subscription numbers.