Force Sensitive Archive
Thread: This is what Smedley thinks of us???
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PhatDhad
Thu Nov 10, 2005 1:06 pm
#14
Smedley says that these changes will keep Star Wars: Galaxies as a going concern. "We wanted to breath new life into the game and make it the Star Wars experience that people always wanted it to be.
"Despite some of the rhetoric coming from the existing player base, we've not noticed any rise in people canceling their subscriptions. It's just a very small, very vocal minority."
"Despite some of the rhetoric coming from the existing player base, we've not noticed any rise in people canceling their subscriptions. It's just a very small, very vocal minority."
What do you think??
????
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1557&Itemid=2&limit=1&limitstart=0
Clicky Please?
KaylBreinhar
Thu Nov 10, 2005 1:49 pm
#15
Taken from something I wrote for my home server forum:
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The future of MMOs is sleaziness and nickel-and-diming, and Smedley is resolving to be at the head of that pack. Read on and get the true reason behind why we're getting screwed.
From the most recent Computer Gaming World regarding the "future" of MMO gaming:
In the meantime, Sony Online, is trying something more radical. "We believe very strongly that the future of MMO gaming is not just subscription based. In fact," says SOE president John Smedley, "we're going to put our money where our mouth is when we release our next big game in the fall of 2006." The idea behind the new mystery title is this: The game is free - no level restrictions, no retail release, no BS (I laughed heartily here). Download it and you're good to go.
"However," says Smedley, "there will be a velvet rope area. We're toying with the idea of charging 4.99 a month for a few extra bank slots or places to hold things." [Paragraph goes on to detail Station Exchange plus Station Pass users getting into this "Velvet Rope" area].
And the reason for this drastic change? Focus groups? Massive corporate think tanks? Any sort of logic whatsoever? Read on:
As an example, Smedley kept pointing to a game that you've probably never heard of: Runescape. It's one of the fastest-growing MMOs. It's primitive-looking, but you can play the game right now without so much as a credit card number. Of course, the catch is that there are extras to buy - $5 a month gets you all sorts of bonuses, like extra missions, more monsters, even bonus minigames. Smedley's kid can't stop playing it.
Paying a little bit here and a little bit there is where a lot of companies are going. "Microtransactions" is the buzzword. What it means: your first taste is free. You want more? You've gotta pay for it.
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So there you have it. The larger picture behind our ordeal. SOE is willing to bayonet every running game they have (in addition to bleeding their customers dry of every cent they can) to build up their war chest to undertake this bold new experiment (which in fact will just be a bite of someone else's idea done on a larger scale - typical). It's why they didn't tell people before launching ToOW, because every dollar is going to count.
And they're going to win either way. If SWG folds, they'll gut the staff and save money that way, reallocating the servers to existing or future titles, losing no solid assets. In fact, merely not having to pay for the Star Wars license should save a couple million a year. Also, Tiggs might be the first of many staff cuts to come. Who knows.
Either way, the way Smedley is talking, their money is on this 2006 "mystery game" - all of us are the blocking horses. Not even EQ is safe if you read this in a broad way. Neigh. Whinny.
-----
The future of MMOs is sleaziness and nickel-and-diming, and Smedley is resolving to be at the head of that pack. Read on and get the true reason behind why we're getting screwed.
From the most recent Computer Gaming World regarding the "future" of MMO gaming:
In the meantime, Sony Online, is trying something more radical. "We believe very strongly that the future of MMO gaming is not just subscription based. In fact," says SOE president John Smedley, "we're going to put our money where our mouth is when we release our next big game in the fall of 2006." The idea behind the new mystery title is this: The game is free - no level restrictions, no retail release, no BS (I laughed heartily here). Download it and you're good to go.
"However," says Smedley, "there will be a velvet rope area. We're toying with the idea of charging 4.99 a month for a few extra bank slots or places to hold things." [Paragraph goes on to detail Station Exchange plus Station Pass users getting into this "Velvet Rope" area].
And the reason for this drastic change? Focus groups? Massive corporate think tanks? Any sort of logic whatsoever? Read on:
As an example, Smedley kept pointing to a game that you've probably never heard of: Runescape. It's one of the fastest-growing MMOs. It's primitive-looking, but you can play the game right now without so much as a credit card number. Of course, the catch is that there are extras to buy - $5 a month gets you all sorts of bonuses, like extra missions, more monsters, even bonus minigames. Smedley's kid can't stop playing it.
Paying a little bit here and a little bit there is where a lot of companies are going. "Microtransactions" is the buzzword. What it means: your first taste is free. You want more? You've gotta pay for it.
-----
So there you have it. The larger picture behind our ordeal. SOE is willing to bayonet every running game they have (in addition to bleeding their customers dry of every cent they can) to build up their war chest to undertake this bold new experiment (which in fact will just be a bite of someone else's idea done on a larger scale - typical). It's why they didn't tell people before launching ToOW, because every dollar is going to count.
And they're going to win either way. If SWG folds, they'll gut the staff and save money that way, reallocating the servers to existing or future titles, losing no solid assets. In fact, merely not having to pay for the Star Wars license should save a couple million a year. Also, Tiggs might be the first of many staff cuts to come. Who knows.
Either way, the way Smedley is talking, their money is on this 2006 "mystery game" - all of us are the blocking horses. Not even EQ is safe if you read this in a broad way. Neigh. Whinny.
CuchulainnDarklight
Thu Nov 10, 2005 3:02 pm
#17
Halyn wrote:
One of the problems with the pre-CU combat system was competitiveness. In PvP, it wasn't a big deal. However, by the time you got to high-end PvE content, a lot of classes were excluded. Why?
Armor levels.
I was a pistoleer/CH, so I know exactly how painful it was.I was worthless for high-end PvE, simply because, as a pistoleer/CH, I could do no damage output to speak of against something with, say, an armor rating of heavy. Sure, someone with rifles is fine because they had AP3 weapons.
Don't pretend everything was just fine pre-CU, and only a few minor adjustments were needed.
Everything wasnt fine before the CU, however the CU didnt address any of the problems that people had before the CU. There were still stackers and uber templates, its just everything was dumbed down. It just required the tuning of the different professions, not to make them equal, but to make none overpowered. The CU was not required to do this, however it was required as it made the NGE easier to implement as we had already stepped along that road thanks to the CU.
And yup pistoleer was a bit weak against heavy armoured opponents, however with a certain pistol with blast damage you could do serious damage to certain heavy armoured opponents, plus the DE10 was a great heavy pistol. However, i was never one of those uber power gamer types, so the appeal of pistoleer was it was FUN. i couldnt really care less about taking on some things. But with ranger, i could solo any critter pretty much in game with my trusty trap droid, no buffs, no armour and a good shooter.
Anyway I digress, any statements on how the CU gave us what we wanted or didnt dont matter anymore. Only a fool cant see that it was primarily designed to be the first step in a process that led us to the NGE. It was the bridge between a varied and, consequently, interesting game (despite its major faults in the PvP arena and between professions) and the NGE, which from what ive played is a stale cookie cutter pale impression (yes it still is good fun, but the complexity and uniquenessthat keeps people interested in the best MMORPGs doesnt exist) of what the game once was.
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