Development Cycle Archive
Thread: Great Expectations, Major Schedule Changes and making SWG the finest MMORPG ever
Ikrin
Thu Jul 15, 2004 11:59 pm
#781
You devs are all a bunch of liars. I can't believe I am still paying for an account with a completely broken profession, and for what? So you can push my sh## in yet again. When this game is dead because of broken promises, it will be too late. I would suggest you have the idiot in charge of scheduling look at the 36+ pages of FURY at yet another line of B.S., and seriously reconsider your plans before it is too late. 99% of the public could not care less about Jedi. What we do care about is the core game, and to delay the combat balance again is going to spell the death of SWG. At what point does Lucas step in and just say "Sorry folks. You have destroyed my vision. License pulled." When that happens, guess what the next thing a dev says to us? "Welcome to McDonald's. May I take your order?" Are we mostly negative? Yes. Is it 100% deserved? YES IT IS.
Thunderheart
Fri Jul 16, 2004 12:26 am
#782
Great Expectations
There are great expectations in the community for the upcoming Combat Balance and the Galactic Civil War revamp. These announced upcoming major features are pivotal to making the Galaxies experience more of a Star Wars experience. To deliver on these major features, we will need the full development team and re-assembling the team isn’t going to happen until after the upcoming Jump to Lightspeed expansion is shipped.
Delaying these critical features was not something we are doing for our convenience, but only to ensure they are done well. The team leadership has been discussing these changes, the future of SWG and the feedback from the community. Clearly the community wants us to do a better job at delivering the game service and this reinforced our decision to make sure we have adequate resources on each update to the game.
At the core of the discussions are our team goals. The team’s goals are to increase the quality of the service, make the game more fun and accessible and finally to make a much more intense Star Wars experience. In this, we agree with the community that our design and implementation process should continue to be improved and we want to assure our customers that it is our goal to exceed their expectations and make SWG the finest MMORPG ever.
Rather than continue to split the team’s forces and try to accomplish too many goals, we’re going to do a few things and do them right. Once the Jump To Lightspeed is complete, the team as a whole will be re-grouped. Then the combined team will accomplish the Combat Balance, the GCW and all the other improvements to the game.
What’s Ahead
To offset this very big announcement that will affect all of you, I will be immediately working with the correspondents and the community to develop a list of pre-combat balance fixes to get combat into a more enjoyable state. This will encompass many items planned for the Combat Balance, and will happen in a steady stream between now and JTL. The Combat Medic and Bounty Hunter changes that are coming in Publish 9.1 are the first of these efforts.
Between now and JTL is where I come in. Right out of the gate, I’ll be working with the community to develop plans for the Combat Balance and post them on the site; we’ll do a few features and I will continue to post updates. Later we will do the same for the GCW, the Squad Leader Revamp and all of the community issues on the table. In this, we can marry community expectations and development goals in a way that has never been done before with online games.
Our next major update, Publish 10 will bring us “The Jedi Trials”. Finishing the revamp of the Jedi profession is a big task. Being a Jedi is a big part of the Star Wars experience and it is a big game system. To become a Jedi, there needs to be a known path with mysterious quests, new NPC’s, new NPC behaviors, new places and all the little things that will make The Jedi Trials a publish to be excited about. To accomplish this, the team has expanded the scope of publish 10 so there is more design time and more testing time (hence the big changes).
Not long after The Jedi Trials, we’ll be focused on the JTL Beta and integrating Space with the ground game. Meshing the live service with JTL is a big challenge since it means it will be the first time anyone has ever integrated a complete RPG and action Space game before.
The Jump to Lightspeed is currently on track for a later October launch, which is a relatively short time away. Prior to that, we’ll be finishing up the Jedi Trials (Publish 10) and right after that, we will begin integrating the ground game with Space, start the JTL Beta Test and get on with making the game we all want to play. The good news is that the Jump to Lightspeed beta registration site is opening later this week
The Jump to Lightspeed is currently on track for a later October launch, which is a relatively short time away. Prior to that, we’ll be finishing up the Jedi Trials (Publish 10) and right after that, we will begin integrating the ground game with Space, start the JTL Beta Test and get on with making the game we all want to play. The good news is that the Jump to Lightspeed beta registration site is opening later this week
We appreciate your continued participation in the SWG community. Please continue to give us constructive feedback on our message boards as it helps us keep focused on your needs and priorities.
andy7264
Fri Jul 16, 2004 12:30 am
#783
being a jedi isn't really a big part of the star wars experience in this part of the time line, the gcw is and generally ranged combat
AllSixteenHalos
Fri Jul 16, 2004 12:33 am
#784
thanks TH, i know the team is doing a lot, but i gotta say this
i'm gone. and i'm leaving for the same reason a lot of other people are.
hope the game stays alive and maybe we'll all come back after the game isn't severely broken.
take care
Mattt
Fri Jul 16, 2004 12:34 am
#786
Ugh.
I have to avoid looking at how much money I've put into this game because it makes me very sad. 
Obviously I'll be sticking around because JTL is the man but ugh.
BlueCelt
Fri Jul 16, 2004 12:35 am
#787
So no combat balance till after JTL? What a joke. You've been promising that since January. Take care of anything but fixing the game.
Way to let us down Dev's. I was actually having some hope for you on this.
Spence_Ray
Fri Jul 16, 2004 12:36 am
#788
I am looking forward to completing the jedi Quests and would tike to thank you devs for all you do to this game.
DiscoJason
Fri Jul 16, 2004 12:37 am
#789
TH,
What you meant to say was that trying to get more subscribers by making Jedi attractive got pushed in front of fixing the broken systems in the game. And now, that isn't as important as getting the new expansion out to get even more subscribers. This announcement is very disheartening to me and I just rejoined the game after a long hiatus to get ready for the combat balance that was supposed to come. I looked at the original schedule of things and Pub 11 was supposedto come out back in March. You guys need to take some Project Management courses to learn how to more effectively utilize your time and keep projects on schedule.
Drekkenkoe
Fri Jul 16, 2004 12:37 am
#790
I'm scared at where this is going... I just hope the good intentions pan out... otherwise there will have to be a SWG summit like the EQ one
meeuki
Fri Jul 16, 2004 12:37 am
#791
the contradictions in increasing the game's star wars feel, and having jedi being a big part of the game, are enormous.
however, it is nice to know that there will be a full dev team devoted to publishes after JTL. mind telling us the # of current staff and the # of staff expected after JTL though? it's not that i don't trust you, it's just that i work in a software company too.
however, it is nice to know that there will be a full dev team devoted to publishes after JTL. mind telling us the # of current staff and the # of staff expected after JTL though? it's not that i don't trust you, it's just that i work in a software company too.
-SanGreal-
Fri Jul 16, 2004 12:37 am
#792
Let me guess...
'Smuggler after space' is now 'Smuggler after combat'?
Edit: Make that 'Smugger after squad leader, after gcw, after combat, after space'
'Smuggler after space' is now 'Smuggler after combat'?
Edit: Make that 'Smugger after squad leader, after gcw, after combat, after space'
Message Edited by -SanGreal- on 07-15-2004 03:48 PM
TheLateAnakinSolo
Fri Jul 16, 2004 12:37 am
#793
I'm looking forward to it...
Most of all I'm looking forward to JTL beta 
I hope I get into beta this time LOL.
I hope I get into beta this time LOL.