Development Cycle Archive
Thread: Great Expectations, Major Schedule Changes and making SWG the finest MMORPG ever
DarthMinos
Thu Jul 15, 2004 8:55 pm
#625
I'll chime in because everyone else has:
You do realize that your all's credibility is completely shot. JustG promised us more communication. We got publish after publish pushed back for JTL, and each was heartbreaking, but it was best for the game, and yet it keeps happening.
The way I see it, JTL hits in late October. There is going to be tons of bugs that need to be addressed no matter how much Beta testing you guys do. Don't forget, the track record for SOE and Beta. It is less than stellar. So, we'll see a couple of months of publishes before JTL is playable as intended. That puts us in 2005. I'm sure you realize how late this is since we started getting promises about how things would be fixed in the almighty combat rebalance.
Why should we believe you know that changes are going to be made to our profession that will change things for the better? We've been told time and again that changes that would improve professions and make some playable just weren't possible because of the amount of programming required and the level of code involved. Therefore, the whole combat balance was needed.
So, if we are lucky, and Devs don't take too long a Christmas break, we'll get to working on the combat rebalance and galactic civil war in January. Given how huge TH has described it, we're essentially getting a whole new game that will need to be integrated with JTL. How long is that going to take to design, create, program, and debug? I'm guessing a really long time. So, maybe we'll be done with this by the end of the first quarter of 2005. Then we can get to making Smugglers what they were suppose to be. Then maybe Rangers can be fixed.
How many times were we told that there were two seperate teams working on SWG and JTL? One wasn't going to impact the other? TH, JustG, I liked to stand up for you guys, but I just can't do it anymore. It seems we get too much information without enough research or facts. We get too many time tables that have no resemblance to reality. We get publishes, such as 9 and 10, that the vast majority of players can't even use because they aren't Jedi, and the path to becoming a Jedi is being changed.
I like this game, so I haven't decided to quit. But I am willing to give other games a chance now, and if I find one I like, I won't hesitate to dump SWG for it. I think a lot of the problems that SWG is now facing are the direct result of the rapid push to live of this game from Beta. I hope SOE learned its lesson and doesn't make the same mistake in the future. At least you guys have stopped giving out timetables. I guess its hard to break a promise if you don't make one in the first place, but thats hardly the way to gain the trust of your player base.
TivoTenook
Thu Jul 15, 2004 8:57 pm
#626
i have nothing to say other than i am humiliated and disappointed. makes me sick to my stomach.
one good thing coming from this announcement: more players quitting. so much for this post you made on February 10th in response to our list of creatures not spawning babies, eh TH?
Vertexon had mentioned this to me. At this time I'm not going to assume that they are truly extinct, but I will speak work with the producers to find out if anything might be wrong. If it is simply a matter of these creatures spawning too rarely, Ill see if anything can be done.
Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl
Community Relations Manager
Newsflash: THEY STILL ARENT SPAWNING BABIES (need a compiled list? we have one waiting, along with 223 signees)
Odysius
Thu Jul 15, 2004 8:57 pm
#627
I am with every prior person tostate the same thing as i am about to state;
I WILL NOT BUY JTL UNTIL THE CURRENT GAME IS BALANCED(ie combat balance)
If the CBdoesnt happen beforeJTL comes outI will never buy the expansion,. I'm sure me and the others in this thread are not the only ones to feel stongly in this way.
Question to TH:
How about putting a link to a poll on whether or not JTL or the CB should come out first when u log into SWG?
TivoTenook
Thu Jul 15, 2004 8:59 pm
#628
almost forgot...
my opinion: Fix what you already have ingame before throwing in new problems. And by the sounds of our (the players) comments, you have a lot of listening to do 
Twentytolife
Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:03 pm
#629
Great Expectations
Yah we had great expectations.
We expected balanced combat and a reason to fight via GCW revamp was right around the corner.
Sucks to be us.
Message Edited by Twentytolife on 07-16-2004 06:18 AM
Alamen
Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:03 pm
#630
TH, I like to think of myself asa patient, open minded person. But this is too much. The combat revamp for most of the population of this game was the last best hope for galaxies. With little to no content in-game, PvP eventsare our only hope for entertainment. But with the combat system as unbalanced as it is, that really isn't an option anymore. For countless months now, we've been waiting and waiting for this fabled savior of SWG and still it hasn't come. For the last few months, the dev team has bent over backwards to make sure that Jedi was a decent working profession, what you should have done is put all that time and energy into fixing the problem that is plaguing 95% of the population...not the 5%. Basically you're telling me, you or whoever made this decision, that you want a game of nothing but Jedi's...that's not what I signed up for.
Why did it take you almost a year to finally do something about Combat Medics? Everyone knew that CM's poison is a game breaking problem, but for some reason nothing was done about it, till the Jedi characters were being killed by them. It wasn't even really a fix, the poisons don't even have a 75% PvP reduction!!
TH, you need to get your team together, and get your priorites straight. The Combat Revamp needs to come out ASAP to save SWG.
/unsubscribe
Bloodfin_Architect
Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:06 pm
#631
With the many responses concerning this thread, mostly negative, I almost said why bother. But TH really, this decision sounds driven by the Executives and Marketing people at SOE rather than the development and community teams. Mabye there is a game mantrasomewhere thatpreachesan expansion rules mindset. But I'd suggest most expansionsare successful because they add new content to static games. SWG is not a static game and is undergoing constant, almost weekly changes.
So why are we being asked to wait forfixes so SOE can line its pockets with an expansion set? How does this really enhancegame playwhere a monthly subscription is required? Actually, why is it an expansion when it should be a new feature set? The fixes to BH that were so highly touted are hardly being met with an outporing of exhurbance from long time or aspiring bounty hunters. They wanted the profession fixed, not redirected. No one I know in game is a bit thrilled with the weapon switch delay or the Jedi running amok in the games best loot locatons , not to mention the lightsaber shows in the starports.
I can't help but be disheartened. PvP is generally an exercise in frustration. Ranged professions are all FUBAR. Most GCW content is simply missing (No walkers or y-wings, mobile cannons, or a droid army). If we are now being told, not asked, to wait for true combat balance until after JTL, I just don't see it happening. There will be a slight boost to subscriptions after JTL, but from the many post, SWG will have to rely on those new customers to re-populate the servers. Sorry TH, this is a disaster in the making. I agree with my many fellow game players:
FIX THE DAMNED GAME FIRST
My apologies for screaming,
TivoTenook
Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:07 pm
#632
Odysius wrote:
Question to TH:
How about putting a link to a poll on whether or not JTL or the CB should come out first when u log into SWG?
GREAT idea. i second it. all in favor.....?
/raisehand
RodFlanders
Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:10 pm
#633
I am ashamed at myself for not cancelling my account sooner.
Shiorisoujaboy
Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:14 pm
#634
TH, all I can say is I'm not gonna kill the messenger. I'm just asupset about this new timeline as most of the other people posting are. Most of us know you dont set the timelines or anything like that, you still do what you're told even with your promotion ( great way to start of the new job huh? ) I apologize for any of the flamers that directed thier discontent directly towards you, most of us know how long you've been pulling for this game to get better before your name was in red on the forums. But it would really be appreciated if you really expressed to the other devs and your superiorshow much the community as a whole detests this new timeline that has been shoved down our throats.
When an announcement like this comes up everyone feels violated and lied to, what I think you should spend your time doing at least part of next week is just gathering numbers on just how many people do really dislike the new timeline and how many accounts have been affected. I personally have been waiting for the combatrevamp since it was announced, same with the GCW revamp. Much more than I was anticipating the JTL, to me JTL is just another twitch game where i would be happy just playing x-wing vs. tie fighter with some friends online. But the ground game is supposed to be where the magic is. I'm not gonna threaten with cancelling my account like other people have, I told myself I would stick it out at leasttill the combat and GCW revamp, but I am trying to express my frustration along with alot of the playerbase.
TivoTenook
Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:16 pm
#635
GotBlueMilk wrote:
Okay, I'm sorry, but -- bull. "Worked very hard to put in a system that fits within the context of the timeline??" Are you kidding me? What we had before Publish 9 could arguably be called that. Jedi were in hiding. Now they're everywhere with no fear of repercussion? This is what was "worked very hard" on? Really?
a wild dune boar (a horrible CL 50 pet) is harder to find than the infamous jedi or krayt dragon...
/ponder
yep. doesnt make sense to me (hint: if you're going to make it so ridiculously rare, make it WORTHY of taming! bah...thats just one example, coming from the CH profession)
Adalie
Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:16 pm
#636
Hiya guys!
Its real simple why they're pushing the combat balance back.
They know that
- The game will always be unbalanced. They will not be able to truely balance the game because there will always be one profession that has an edge over another.
- When the customers realize this game will always be unbalanced, they will all quit in hoards.
They also know that
- By pushing it back, they'll keep more customers in the shortrun because the customers will be "waiting" for the fix. Aka, they'll stay subscribed hoping it gets better.
- By releasing the expansion first, they'll sugarcoat the nerfage (they do this in their patches all the time). People will be so wowed with the cool factor of space, they wont be as focused on the ground game when the rediculous combat "balance" hits.
Thats how a business thinks. Maximize revenue as long as possible. And yes, it sucks for us the consumers :/
Personally, i would LOVE it if they spent a patch on fixing BUGS with the game that have been in since release instead of focusing on something stupid like entertainer missions that 4% of a server population can enjoy.
Parsifal_Nightstalker
Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:16 pm
#637
Thunderheart:
I'm certain SOE personnel have long since stopped reading this thread, but I've got to comment nonetheless.
The pseudo-apologetic tone, and the dangling of yet more vaporware, does not make everything better...
Please stop this recurring habit of promising things and then backing away.
Five thousand jedis on each server will not save this game. Five thousand satisfied subscribers on each server just might. Enough with the jedi fixation - you've got some priorities to straighten out.
And sorry, when it comes to all of your posts - actions speak louder than words.
What a way to celebrate the game's anniversary 