Musician Archive
Thread: well more bad news
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sweatyclimber
Thu Jun 03, 2004 7:35 am
#1
from the new state of the game:
The following have moved post-Jump to Lightspeed:
Hutt Casino We are REALLY excited about this social adventure, but we are running into art and design restrictions. Space is looking amazing... and we want it to be even more so! We are very strapped for Art resources at this time and can't create everything we want for this adventure until after Space.
Hutt Asteroid Base For similar reasons, and we really want this to be something you reach by flying through space.
Smuggler revamp We want to do this right too... and proper smuggling is very much augmented by space flight!
why don't they just send each ent client and email stating "haha dumb@$$when will you learn were not going to do anything about your profession?"
glad I pay for this crappy service. Its like going to the post office at xmas or tax season only you have to pay while you wait in line.... $15/minute.
sweatyclimber
Thu Jun 03, 2004 7:49 am
#2
you know you'd think they would at least give us the new songs they've had ready for 5 months.... I don't care that it would of been cool to get on a quest... that quest isn't for a minimum of 6 months and the songs have been ready for 5! Give us the dam new songs at least!
Landlubber
Thu Jun 03, 2004 8:55 am
#3
Can't say I'm really surprised about this - actually I would have been very surprised if this had come out as announced (ignoring for a moment the fact that it wouldn't have done so anyway because it has been postponed once already prior to this).
So this means, what? A delay of very likely half a year or so? At least, but by now I'm very dubious if we'll ever see it at all. And all this waiting for something which is at best some pretty eye candy that can be played through in an afternoon or two and does nothing at all to fix the basic underlying problems of our profession.
I'm starting to be extremely disgusted at SOE by now...
Tralmek
Thu Jun 03, 2004 10:51 am
#4
I noticed a segment of the letter that said he wanted to be as open and honest as possible with us.I guess that's why they have taken the letter down for now? 
That's right, none of the links that have been posted to it work anymore...
Here it is as posted on the smuggler forums with the Jedi schedule snipped out because the main focus of the next three months is on the profession that doesn't even have a place in this timeline and is supposed to represent a small number of the player base.
Howdy folks... that time again :-)
Last month we saw Publish 8: Droids Rebuilt reach its fruition, with a ton of new utility droids being added to the mix. We also saw two mini-publishes. Mini 8.1 focused on Image Designer enhancements and included some radical new looks for characters as well as a secure transaction interface that will extend to numerous other areas of the game.
Last month we saw Publish 8: Droids Rebuilt reach its fruition, with a ton of new utility droids being added to the mix. We also saw two mini-publishes. Mini 8.1 focused on Image Designer enhancements and included some radical new looks for characters as well as a secure transaction interface that will extend to numerous other areas of the game.
Mini 8.2 saw the opening of the Death Watch Bunker, where there are some very tough hombres that are none too happy. There are rumors of awesome loot from this starting to trickle out into Live, including Mandalorian armor and Jetpacks!
This year's E3 allowed us to demo Jump to Lightspeed, which was an amazing experience! This was the first time we had shown it to the public and we fully realized just how much fun it already is!! There were countless occasions where we would find ourselves plinking at Hutt Fighters from the turret of a YT-1300, or chasing a Tie Fighter through an asteroid field, and have to tear ourselves away to realize that we were indeed in the middle of a demo. I assure you, this is going to completely transform SWG while tying in seamlessly with the ground game. It is simply incredible!!!
We will be doing a closed-invite Beta for JTL sometime between August and September. We really want to get a wide variety of players in the cockpit, so we are currently devising the numbers and groups for populating the beta. More on this from Bo'shek (Rich Vogel) in the near future...
Back on the ground, we are in the thick of Jedi Testing for Publish 9: Secrets of the Force. We are going to want to take an extra week or so to fully bake it in,
so it may be a bit more than two weeks from our last mini-publish (the Death Watch Bunker). We will keep you apprised at the progress, but we are currently targetting 6/22/04.
To test this massive system, we made a duplicate of the existing Test Server. We call it, originally enough, Test Center 2! We needed to create a large and robust test population, so we put together two groups and made them specific ranks.
- Existing Test Center players that were active within a certain period became Padawans.
- Existing Live Jedi that created characters on Test Center within a certain period became Jedi Knights.
Over the weekend there were in excess of a thousand simultaneous players on TC2! Much thanks to those of you logged in and helped us with testing. I would encourage you to continue doing so during the next couple of weeks, because we will be giving away starter packs, running some crazy tournaments and really trying to stress the system to its limits! Since Test Server 2 will be wiped at the end of the testing phase, it is really a free-for-all over there. Crazy. We may even try to set a bunch of Live Bounty Hunters loose at some time >:-)
One of the more controversial changes that is occurring with Publish 9 is that characters who unlock their slots Between Publish 9 and Publish 10 will not be able to immediately convert to a Padawan. There are a number of reasons why we feel the need to do this, but foremost is a transition period between Force Sensitive and Padawan that will not be done until Publish 10: The Jedi Trials. If you do unlock you will be notified, but not able to convert until P10. If you do not unlock but are along the way, partial credit will be given. This has been discussed in the past few Friday Features.
Looking forward, the three main systems that we are enhancing before Space are: Jedi, Combat Balance, and the Galactic Civil War (GCW). They are turning out to be extremely extensive (and extremely cool!). Accordingly, we want to focus as many resources as we can on them. This is challenging when doing parallel development of JTL, which in some ways is a completely new game.
We have made some adjustments to the Live schedule, based on our desire to fully realize each system.
Before I reveal our schedule, I want to shoot very straight with you. When I say things can and will change, I mean it. If we feel that we need to focus more on a particular system, we are going to adjust the schedule to allow it. My job as Senior Producer is to ensure that the overall project is successful, no matter what. This means trying to focus our resources on where they are most needed while keeping them healthy and happy. This also means adjusting the schedule and moving things out when other things are in jeopardy.
We could take 4 different approaches in our communications with you:
- Not tell you anything
- Give you the party line
- Try to get everything done and not do them well
- Do things right and tell you the truth
I want to tell you the truth. I want you to know what our priorities are, and what we are working on, and why things change. I guarantee some folks are going to scan this entire schedule, find the one line in it that refers to them, and go off about it. The truth is that we want to polish our game as much as we can, and we don't want to put out half-baked publishes. Part of the pain of hearing the truth is that it changes.
Without further ado, I present you with our current schedule:
<SNIP></SNIP>
Jedi and more Jedi...just about ONLY Jedi for the next three months...
<SNIP></SNIP>
Hutt Casino
We are REALLY excited about this social adventure, but we are running into art and design restrictions. Space is looking amazing... and we want it to be even more so! We are very strapped for Art resources at this time and can't create everything we want for this adventure until after Space.
Hutt Asteroid Base
For similar reasons, and we really want this to be something you reach by flying through space.
Smuggler revamp
We want to do this right too... and proper smuggling is very much augmented by space flight!
I know there will be some disappointment regarding the schedule shifts. Please remember that we want to open our schedules up to you as much as possible so you know what to expect. Live Service is an inexact science (to say the least!!) and will always include some shifts. Things have changed. They will continue to do so. We are giving you our best approximations. All along the way, smaller but vital enhancements are constantly being fixed and come out before and after these main publishes.
We are fully focused in making SWG the best MMOG there is out there. The game is very strong due to you, the players. The next few months have some revolutionary changes occurring, and I hope you are as psyched as I am!!
Finally, some of the team is gearing up to head out to Anaheim this week for the Fan Fest! I can't tell you how excited we are to hook up with the players, and see you folks meeting with each other. There are some great things planned, including several panels where you can grill us on all sorts of topics. Please be gentle ;-)
Best,
- Gary Gattis
SOE Senior Producer, Star Wars Galaxies
SOE Senior Producer, Star Wars Galaxies
Well there we have it. Hopefully they'll get back to their open and honest statements again soon and have this reposted. 
-Lilo
NewJedi
Thu Jun 03, 2004 3:36 pm
#5
I ranted about this in the Correspondent Forum yesterday. (They posted a draft for our comments.) I guess it didn't help. 
SinnAsyr
Fri Jun 04, 2004 4:18 am
#6
NewJedi wrote:
I ranted about this in the Correspondent Forum yesterday. (They posted a draft for our comments.) I guess it didn't help.
I really REALLY wonder if TH cares at all
Landlubber
Fri Jun 04, 2004 6:19 am
#7
SinnAsyr wrote:
NewJedi wrote:
I ranted about this in the Correspondent Forum yesterday. (They posted a draft for our comments.) I guess it didn't help.
I really REALLY wonder if TH cares at all
Well, I don't...
Warryyr
Fri Jun 04, 2004 8:48 am
#8
Tired of how the Musician profession is treated? Have major concerns you feel should be examined? Disappointed about the fact that the Hutt casino won't be out until after Jumpto Lightspeed (2005, most likely)? Wondering why you're paying $15/month so that a new game can be developed (JTL), and the game you're paying for is being thoroughly ignored, with no fixes in the near future? Feel like everything we say falls on deaf ears or is completely misunderstood?
Me too.
/tell em how you feel...
Click here and post a reply to the 19 answers for this week.
I propose we send all Musician related messages to this forum, in a constructive way. Please avoid flaming, as it just makes us look bad. I know, I get riled up sometimes, but post in here with some level of respect for TH and the Devs.
I saw that, in the past, a Smuggler forum filibuster was effective at gaining some attention. I think we need to make our presence known in this universe - let the "alive" and "non-AFK" entertainers show their presence! Let's make a statement. We're not to be pushed into the shadows of some AFKbot laden cantina and forgotten about!
Mearly a suggestion. I'd just like to see what kind of presence we can have if we really tried to post on a forum where we know Devs are looking for feedback. Post early, post often. Keep it constructive and let's try to get noticed, already!
Warryyr
Fri Jun 04, 2004 8:50 am
#9
Click herebecause the copy/paste didn't work as I expected it to. Sorry about that....
Warryyr wrote:
Tired of how the Musician profession is treated? Have major concerns you feel should be examined? Disappointed about the fact that the Hutt casino won't be out until after Jumpto Lightspeed (2005, most likely)? Wondering why you're paying $15/month so that a new game can be developed (JTL), and the game you're paying for is being thoroughly ignored, with no fixes in the near future? Feel like everything we say falls on deaf ears or is completely misunderstood?
Me too.
/tell em how you feel...
Click here and post a reply to the 19 answers for this week.
I propose we send all Musician related messages to this forum, in a constructive way. Please avoid flaming, as it just makes us look bad. I know, I get riled up sometimes, but post in here with some level of respect for TH and the Devs.
I saw that, in the past, a Smuggler forum filibuster was effective at gaining some attention. I think we need to make our presence known in this universe - let the "alive" and "non-AFK" entertainers show their presence! Let's make a statement. We're not to be pushed into the shadows of some AFKbot laden cantina and forgotten about!
Mearly a suggestion. I'd just like to see what kind of presence we can have if we really tried to post on a forum where we know Devs are looking for feedback. Post early, post often. Keep it constructive and let's try to get noticed, already!
FarmerDozee
Fri Jun 04, 2004 1:12 pm
#10
/sigh
This is so depressing. JTL won't change the game that much. Basically, everyone will be going to Coronet/Theed and calling up their ships from their datapads as easily as if they were droids. That's the only thing I see different. Sure there's tons of new space, and missions and stuff, but I mean you can only do so much in Space. The "Hutt Asteroid" Shindig will just be another Corellian Corvette, where only super combat profession folks will be able to go. What about the socialites like ourselves? We *might* get the Hutt Casino themepark, which will be fun and finished once...I don't think the ticket to fixing Musicians is through the Themepark. That's a once through kind of gig by the sounds of it.
I'm going to stop with my rant, sorry if the thinking process here is a little flawed and choppy.
NewJedi
Fri Jun 04, 2004 6:09 pm
#11
I'm all in favor of Musicians posting frequently in high-visibility threads. Constructive posts are more likely to be read, but the occasional rant has its place too. I'm always telling the devs how low morale is here, but it's one thing for me to tell them; it's another for you to show them.
NewJedi
Fri Jun 04, 2004 6:15 pm
#12
FarmerDozee, I agree that one theme park won't cure our woes, but a half-dozen of them sure would help. Likewise, one song won't do much, but another 10 or 20 would make a big difference, especially if some were linked to post-Master content. We needs lots of new content, not just a little new content.
claja
Fri Jun 04, 2004 7:13 pm
#13
Given past history with big releases, it will probably be months after Jump to Lightspeed is released before they even start working on the entertainer stuff, much less release it. I'm sure they will be spending a couple of months fixing all the bugs in the expansion pack, trying to find old bugs that resurfaced, and tracking down other things they broke. Then, maybe, they will start thinking about new patches... and probably end up doing yet another combat-oriented release like the corvette.
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