Development Cycle Archive
Thread: I'm out of my cave!
I am not perticularly offended bythat statement in the interviewbecause it is true people that are upset do get very vocal, it is a common side affect of anger. However I would like to point out that many people who do post a lot aren't alt tabing out of the game to do so. Many have computers at work or school and during their lunch or coffee breaks read these boards and make posts. So the vocal minority are simply those that have some free time in their normal day to make a few posts. About the only forum I would go through is my galaxies trade forum during game time or maybe a profession forum if I need help on something. The other difference between the vocal minority and the silent majority is that some people are use to forums, others aren't. Those that aren't may not feel comfrontable to use these, but they do read them.
Also do not assume that the 'vocal minority' isn't speaking for the 'silent majority'. This is not american politics and this game is no where near as complicated. The problems that this game has are clear to all and everyone is affected by them, vocal or not. Those in the game that I know that do not post regular do feel pretty much the same way as those that do. This strong echo in the feelings of the silent majority of the vocal minority needs to be taken seriously. Of course since that many people are in the game it does say people are happy enough with the game to play it, at least until a better game comes along.There are some very nice ones coming that are not chained down by a movie license and have full freedom of creativity and more to the point finances to get things fixed that need to be fixed. Their customer is the guy paying $15 a month, not some wash out that used to make great movies long ago, in a galaxy far far away. Something to keep in mind. You need to spend money to make money, and too many problems are too persistant in this game to be anything other than lack of staff to get the job done.
Sewoo wrote:
Thanks for the response.
Here is the meat of the nut for many, many people:
It doesnt seem as though you have enough programers writing code. The discontent is that we are not waiting for enhancements to the game - we are waiting for working systems.
There are many things that are flat out broken and need attention. Asking customers to continue to pay for a game, where many aspects don't work as intended/don't work at all is really, really frustrating.
I don't mean to sound cruel, but I don't care what the problems are. I am paying for a service that I have certain expectations for. Fix the game - now. If that means you have to hire 35 more programers, then do so.
i'd like to add that the majority of us wonder if the Devs even play the same game we do. with such glaring mistakes, such as the delayed (again) combat revamp, it's not hard to imagine that the company as a whole is only interested in the bottom line. releasing an expansion before the combat revamp only reaffirms my suspicions that greed is the motivating factor behind the decision, and not for the betterment of the player community.
my prediction:
the expansion will be released unfinished with many bugs, but that's alright. because when the space expansion comes out, it will take months to fix the many things wrong with it. and that just means the combat revamp will be pushed back even further because the majority of your player base will be insisting on JTL fixes instead of the core ground game.
Ditto.
Tyrst wrote:
You need to have a working product before you decide to try and sell another one. I can tell you that the friends I have that have asked me about SWG I have told them to NOT buy it right now because it is broken and we don't know when it will be fixed. I have told them that it has great potential and when SOE gets around to fixing it it will be the best game on the market. I have also told them that you would rather us buy an add on game before you fix the current one. In case you guys don't know every unhappy customer will tell 9 people on average about your service. That is 9 potential customers possibly being turned away because you have not fixed your current customers issues.
Tyrst wrote:
Why don't you guys put up a poll and find out what the majority of the community really wants?
Let me use the automobile industry as an analogy for how alot of us feel right now.
You go out and lease the brand new car SWG that is the hot car on the street right now. While driving your newly leased car you start to find things wrong with it. The tires on the car are all different sizes, your seats don't adjust the way you were told they would, it doesn't seem to accelerate as fast as you would like, etc. You decide to take it into the shop and have a mechanic look it over. While you are waiting they mechanic comes in and tells you you have a 4 cylinder car when you are supposed to have a 6 cylinder car, among other things. So off you go back to the dealership where you leased it and tell you that they will look into it. They tell you they have some performance upgrades they will install free of charge as soon as they have time. Well after following up for months they tell you that they could install the performance upgrades but because the rest of the car wasn't made to handle it right now they are going to have to install a whole new engine along with all the needed subcomponents to make sure it will operate properly so it will be a few more months. 6 months after you this started this fiasco with the dealership you get a letter in the mail. You open the letter and to your dismay they are telling you that they are delaying thedelivery scheduleon the engine and subcomponents because they havea new car coming out that they want you to buy and you get to keep your current lease. They go into great detail about how industry polls state how popular this car will be and they are excited to bring you this new car. Even better once they deliver this new car to you they will be able to actually fix the one you already have.
Now tell me if the above scenario were true would you really buy the new car? How would you honestly feel after spending all that money on the lease only to be told that they want to to buy an additional car? Common sense says that if your current product is broke so will your future one.
When do you guys want to get the next expansion out because I am sure it will push back revamps in at least 1 game if not both. You need to have a working product before you decide to try and sell another one. I can tell you that the friends I have that have asked me about SWG I have told them to NOT buy it right now because it is broken and we don't know when it will be fixed. I have told them that it has great potential and when SOE gets around to fixing it it will be the best game on the market. I have also told them that you would rather us buy an add on game before you fix the current one. In case you guys don't know every unhappy customer will tell 9 people on average about your service. That is 9 potential customers possibly being turned away because you have not fixed your current customers issues.
The wheels are (is)JTL
RougeSmuggler wrote:
You're analogy isn't really proper for SWG. If you wanted to make it correct, you'd have to say that you bought the car without the wheels. But you bought it with full knowledge that the wheels will come a year later.
Now how would you feel, if the manufacturer, said you couldn't have the wheels, because they wanted to fix the radio?
(And, no the Wheels are not the Combat Balance)
-red
Message Edited by Janson on 08-02-2004 02:54 PM
WesBelden wrote:
Thanks for posting Shug, appreciate it.
I'll back Indy up though and point you to a thread on the Smuggler forum. You don't have to read it all, just know that it's quotes of various posts dating back to the 26th of August 2003 of Devs posting saying Smuggler needs fixing, some 'love', or should be expecting a revamp. It starts off witha quote of what you said in the interview with IGN.
I think the smuggler community really just wants to feel like it can trust the guys with the red names. At least for the older members of the community (and anyone who reads up on their community history) I don't think that's going to happen until Smuggler finally getsits long over due revamp.
Thanks for your time.
GJ Wes, you got to it before I could
Shug_Ninx wrote:
Hey everyone -
Sorry it's taken me so long to respond to all the forum posts regarding the combat revamp and my recent interviews. I was in San Diego for Comic Con and then plowing through literally thousands of e-mails, PMs, and forum posts since my return to make sure I understand all the concerns and questions. I certainly didn't mean for the interviews I gave right before leaving town to cause such a stir or upset any of you, and I regret that I couldn't have been more active on the forums over the past few weeks.
First off, I want to tell those of you who are upset over the timing of the Combat Revamp and Galactic Civil War revamp that I feel your pain. I've been working on Star Wars Galaxies (in one form or another) for over five years (half a decade!). During that time I have grown to truly love this game and the community, not just as a developer, but also as a player. As a player, I've been excited about all the new additions to the game, concerned about any changes, and anxiously awaiting each update. Like many of you, I don't want to wait for the Combat Revamp either. I wish it could be in the game tomorrow. As a developer, I'm disappointed that we couldn't find a way to get it to you sooner.
...aaand can we get any information on why TH continually said for about 4 months straight that the Combat "Revamp" was coming "soon" and his claim in a response to a question that it would not take more than a year post-launch for it to happen?
People can understand waiting for something in eager anticipation.
What they cant understand, is being told that it will arrive in a certain time-frame by a CR manager several times, then later down the road being told that ithas beenput on the back burner.