Jedi Archive

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Grexor wrote:
Sometimes complaining to the CEO gets better results than complaining to the operations/programming staff of a company. The letter below is being mailed to George Lucas. Chances are, it will not make its way to him, however not trying to get an opinion heard is far worse than trying and failing. So, in an effort to have my voice heard, the following is being mailed:

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January 29, 2004

Mr. George Lucas
PO Box 2459, San Rafael 94912

Dear Mr. Lucas:

I am writing you today regarding a recent change that has been announced in the Star Wars Galaxies Online game regarding the method utilized by a player to open his/her force sensitive slot (aka Jedi character) that were vaguely announced in the 1/23/04 Friday feature by the SWG development staff.

In this Friday feature the development staff indicated that two changes will be occurring over the next two publishes. They are:

1. Removal of Jedi-Permadeath – no longer will Jedi be reset to beginning Jedi after three deaths.

2. Removal of the current Force Sensitive Slot Unlocking Method – Users will no longer be required to master 4+N professions, N being a random profession that the user must guess correctly. Instead, a quest based system will be put into place that does not require anyone to change their profession.

My concern, and the concern held by many of those who have invested significant amounts of time, in game resources pursuing the current system of unlocking. The FSS slot change stunned the community, and was met with a mixture of confusion and fear by those who have been working hard to open their FSS, as well as joy by those who have done nothing to date.
I am not writing to say that the proposed new system should not be implemented, I am writing you today to say that it us categorically unfair to force those who have invested time trying to unlock their slot under the current system. People have made sacrifices, and most importantly, many people have been thwarted by the silent profession and have mastered 25 professions or more trying to unlock their force sensitive character.

What I am requesting is a solution that will appease both the current members working under the current system, and those discontented with it/who have not started, or who refuse to work under the current system:

1. Grandfather the Current System – allow characters currently in existence to open their slot under the current system if they so choose. You cannot look at a system that has people mastering 15, 20, 25 professions as not being difficult. Allow us this choice.

2. Transfer Current Status into New System – some people working on their silent holocron profession are highly dissatisfied with the current system and want to do the quest based one, allow these people to switch to the new system if they so choose (optional).

3. New FSS for any new character after Publish 7 – New players to the game can be put into the new system from the start. I can certainly understand that the development staff does not want to maintain two systems, which is fine – for new players. Existing players should be able to continue under the old system.

The fear that many people have is that our efforts will be wasted. We did not make the current system what it is, but we have faithfully walked its road in hopes of opening our force sensitive slot, to force a change like this, this late in the game is both unfair and ungrounded. I have yet to see any reason from a developer why people who want to continue on the current system should not be allowed to do so.

Many people came to SWG from other online MMORPG games such as Everquest, or Dark Ages of Camelot and have seen how Quest based systems make things rare – through the use of random rare spawns. Everyone should have an equal and fair opportunity to open their Jedi slot. Quest based systems do not offer the same level of fairness that the current system offers for people with limited play opportunities.

If these changes are news to you, I urge you to please read some of the user commentary on the forums. This change could have a seriously negative impact on Star Wars, LucasArts, and Sony. Bad press is something that should try to be avoided if possible. If the people who have been faithful to SWG get the proverbial shaft, bad press will not be a possibility, it will be a reality.

Sincerely,
Real Life Name

SWG Server: Radiant
SWG Character Name: Archonius Rexx
Pre-Holo Profession: 2-4-4-4 BH

Holo Professions:
Master TKA – Completed
Master Smuggler – Complete
Master Rifleman – Completed
Master Bounty Hunter – In Progress (2-0-3-4)

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This is one of many requests to Lucas. You wanted it, YOU GOT IT!