Jedi Archive
Thread: Rebuttal to Smed
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wildcat84
Thu Nov 10, 2005 7:04 am
#1
Smed's statements in his interview in quotes, my responses below each quotation prefixed with a -
"We got a lot of feedback about what was wrong and what wasn't. We saw early on that people weren't satisfied with the combat, so we decided to try something pretty radical."
-You had polls and feedback telling you that we didn't like the combat DURING the CU test. And most people who didn't like the combat didn't like it for how it was different from the original system. We constantly kept telling you what we DID want, we wanted you to FIX THE BUGS AND BALANCE WHAT WE HAD, and you have continually done everything BUT that...
"It's great to have a movie like Episode III that gets people excited. We tried to time these changes with the release of the DVD," says Smedley. "There will also be a big marketing push that follows as well. The game is just a lot more fun now and I say that as a game player, not just the head of the company."
-You know, if the game changes WERE great, you wouldn't have to have a big marketing push, your 200,000 customers would themselves be excited and bringing in more people. Plus, the name "Star Wars" alone is enough marketing.
On our reaction to the changes:
"It's mixed. It's very positive [feedback] from the people who are actually playing it. And we also have the expected push back from the people who haven't actually logged in to try it," says Smedley. "Once people get in there, it's overwhelmingly positive. It's the "the sky is falling" crowd on the forums that's still going to take some converting. I understand that. These are big changes."
-For about 5 hours, I was excited. I liked the speed, the tutorial (after getting past the ramp of doom). But into the 6th hour of play I realized what was happening to my character, how I'd be IDENTICAL to any one else who chose my profession, and how sterile and generic the whole thing was. PLAYING the NGE is what turned me against it. And he can't say we aren't playing it, the TC servers (4 of them) were JAMMED to overflowing. I note now that they aren't.
"The combat [change] was really just the first part of it," explains Smedley. "The overriding [issue] was the sheer number of professions in the game."
He adds, "In a sense that was one of the strengths of the game because you could be just about anything in the world, but it also had an impact on our ability to balance these professions and make them fun and unique. The feedback told us that there wasn't enough diversity and that people's choices [with regard to their professions] should mean something.
"So we decided to shrink down the number of professions and concentrate on more prototypical Star Wars iconic elements. A bounty hunter is a very iconic thing. Everyone immediately thinks Boba Fett. So we made that mean something now."
-So they are increasing diversity by eliminating it? Even his circular logic fails to make sense here. I have never heard a SINGLE player say that they wanted FEWER professions and choices.
"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."
"The combat changes to the game went live some months ago and as with most MMOG changes, there was much public outcry on the forums. But SOE didn't experience any drop off subscriber numbers. On the contrary, Galaxies continued to grow faster than any other title run by SOE."
-This one doesn't even need a rebuttal. He is talking out of both sides of his mouth. In one part of the interview, he states that SWG has more subs than ever, and is outgrowing SOE's other titles, and in another he mentions that they needed to make these changes to keep SWG "a going concern".
If the game WERE doing well, and wasn't in danger of ceasing to be "a going concern" (business speak for no longer viable) they wouldn't be risking that success with such radical changes. And, of course the dismissal of thousands of complaints as "a small minority" again, could have been cut and pasted from the CU1. Insulting concerned customers is not a way to endear them to you.
"We got a lot of feedback about what was wrong and what wasn't. We saw early on that people weren't satisfied with the combat, so we decided to try something pretty radical."
-You had polls and feedback telling you that we didn't like the combat DURING the CU test. And most people who didn't like the combat didn't like it for how it was different from the original system. We constantly kept telling you what we DID want, we wanted you to FIX THE BUGS AND BALANCE WHAT WE HAD, and you have continually done everything BUT that...
"It's great to have a movie like Episode III that gets people excited. We tried to time these changes with the release of the DVD," says Smedley. "There will also be a big marketing push that follows as well. The game is just a lot more fun now and I say that as a game player, not just the head of the company."
-You know, if the game changes WERE great, you wouldn't have to have a big marketing push, your 200,000 customers would themselves be excited and bringing in more people. Plus, the name "Star Wars" alone is enough marketing.
On our reaction to the changes:
"It's mixed. It's very positive [feedback] from the people who are actually playing it. And we also have the expected push back from the people who haven't actually logged in to try it," says Smedley. "Once people get in there, it's overwhelmingly positive. It's the "the sky is falling" crowd on the forums that's still going to take some converting. I understand that. These are big changes."
-For about 5 hours, I was excited. I liked the speed, the tutorial (after getting past the ramp of doom). But into the 6th hour of play I realized what was happening to my character, how I'd be IDENTICAL to any one else who chose my profession, and how sterile and generic the whole thing was. PLAYING the NGE is what turned me against it. And he can't say we aren't playing it, the TC servers (4 of them) were JAMMED to overflowing. I note now that they aren't.
"The combat [change] was really just the first part of it," explains Smedley. "The overriding [issue] was the sheer number of professions in the game."
He adds, "In a sense that was one of the strengths of the game because you could be just about anything in the world, but it also had an impact on our ability to balance these professions and make them fun and unique. The feedback told us that there wasn't enough diversity and that people's choices [with regard to their professions] should mean something.
"So we decided to shrink down the number of professions and concentrate on more prototypical Star Wars iconic elements. A bounty hunter is a very iconic thing. Everyone immediately thinks Boba Fett. So we made that mean something now."
-So they are increasing diversity by eliminating it? Even his circular logic fails to make sense here. I have never heard a SINGLE player say that they wanted FEWER professions and choices.
"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."
"The combat changes to the game went live some months ago and as with most MMOG changes, there was much public outcry on the forums. But SOE didn't experience any drop off subscriber numbers. On the contrary, Galaxies continued to grow faster than any other title run by SOE."
-This one doesn't even need a rebuttal. He is talking out of both sides of his mouth. In one part of the interview, he states that SWG has more subs than ever, and is outgrowing SOE's other titles, and in another he mentions that they needed to make these changes to keep SWG "a going concern".
If the game WERE doing well, and wasn't in danger of ceasing to be "a going concern" (business speak for no longer viable) they wouldn't be risking that success with such radical changes. And, of course the dismissal of thousands of complaints as "a small minority" again, could have been cut and pasted from the CU1. Insulting concerned customers is not a way to endear them to you.
Message Edited by wildcat84 on 11-10-2005 09:06 AM
Taborzoid2
Thu Nov 10, 2005 7:17 am
#3
MBchrono wrote:
Change is good :-D
So is diversity, generally speaking, but niether are good in this case, and Smedly's comments are pure fantasy on his part.
For a guy that plays this game, he sure is completely out of touch with how most players feel about it.
Big surprise, considering he's only ever made one post on these forums.
wtg SOE. 
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