Smuggler Archive
Thread: Here's a Great Question/Item the Dev Team Would Be Interested In
Back in the tail end of 2003, folks at Sony Online Entertainment promised big changes for Star Wars Galaxies for 2004, among them being the Great Civil War (GCW), combat revamp, and smugglers. The developers promised the changes would take place before the release of expansion Jump to Lightspeed, restoring peace in the Galaxy. None of them happened, instead further bashing the Smuggler profession further into the ground. Ignoring the hundreds of carefully crafted posts and suggestions, SOE implemented an Imperial scanning feature that leaves Smugglers susceptible to getting punished for carrying illegal "sliced" items--while giving Imperial Officer players a pat on the back for doing the same.
With longtime players deserting and turning servers into giant wastelands of empty vendors, SOE again released a statement at the end of 2004 promising Smuggler, GCW, and combat revamps--few are holding their breath. And Vader chills in a retreat while Jedis run wild in supposedly Imperial-controlled cities. Han and Chewy prefer cantinas."
SpinningCloud wrote:
Hey! I bet, with some well written letters, we could get them to expand on that and drive a few nails into SOEs upturned nose.
Make sure you send them a copy of the history of the Smugglers as written by the Devs, too.
i say we deserve #1 this year!
I can just see it.
Smugglers still used and abused in SWG. Almost two and a half years and still no revamp for the poor smugglers.
I am sure that would get them interested in helping us out.
I just sent an email to the author of that article.
Here it is:
Funkyzealot;
I'm writing you during a sad time for the Slicers on Star Wars Galaxies. Since your article "Top 20 Gaming Lows of 2004" where we were #11, things have taken a turn for the dire.
Nearly the entire online community of Slicers has patiently posted suggestion after suggestion on how to improve our beloved profession, but rather than listening to us, we are being banned from the public discussion forums - having our posts locked or deleted (in our own forums) - and have even had dozens of our comrades cancel their accounts in the last 48 hours.
Why am I writing to you? To be entirely honest, I'm not sure myself. All the letters we have sent to SOE, and Private Messages in the community forums have all gone un-noticed and un-replied. Some members of our community have even called Sony Online Entertainment directly to inquire as to the status of the changes promised, only to be berated over the telephone with vulgar language.
But the important thing throughout all this is that it’s not just the Smuggler (Slicers really, as it’s all we can do now) Community that has been tossed aside to make Jedi the most popular "profession" in the game. Commandos, Entertainers, Armor Smiths, Creature Handlers, Scouts, Rangers, and even Bounty Hunters have all been hacked at mercilessly by the Development team at SOE. Besides completely killing most of the game play for these professions based on "feedback" by players with Jedi characters, SOE has managed to take a game cherished by so many Star Wars fans and turn it into "Jedi Online" where to merely survive in the "New" Galactic Civil War; one must wield a glow-stick.
We have tried every avenue imaginable to get a statement out of Diane "Tiggs" Migliaccio, Director of Community Relations, but have been completely unsuccessful, and blatantly ignored.
I have no idea what, if anything you may be able to accomplish (or what information you can get), but as an old saying used to say... "Help me Funkyzealot, you're my only hope." ... or something to that effect.
Thank you for taking the time to read my message.
Cheers,
- Richard R.
IGN :: Saarek Carvathos
Dedicated Star Wars fan, and recent un-subscriber of SWG.
Feel free to email him also if anyone has anything to add.
Nice way to treat your customers, SOE.
Saarek wrote:
Also: Any have the addresses saved that was in the "The pen is mightier than the Lightsaber" thread?
The thread was deleted.
#5 - SWG's urban sprawl. the planets of SWG's world are quickly becoming a bunch of mini-Coruscants. as there's really no benefit of living in a Player city, and Player cities don't look very city-like anyway. Players have placed their structures where ever they see fit. also once a structure's maintenance runs out it doesn't get destroyed, it simply drains the owner's bank account. and then when your account reaches zero, it STILL doesn't disappear! the "Empire" condemns the structure, rendering it a frozen reminder of a player who got fed up and quit the game.
#4 - SOE has problems communicating. remember that Combat Upgrade we spoke about last year? well it finally made it into the game! except they told the alpha-testers (who never got to alpha-test) about a completely different CU system than the one they actually developed. then when it came time to impliment the CU system they beta-tested it for about a month and pushed it to live bugs and all!
#3 - SWG is lacking the SW. i seem to remember a few movies when i was a kid. they were about a small group of would-be heros who helped a rag-tag rebellion take on, and defeat, a huge oppressive Galactic Empire. usually when you make a video game, especially an MMORPG, and you base it on a well known fictional franchise, you want it to capture the feeling of that fictional story. but not if you're SOE! There is no Galactic Civil War, there is no evil oppressive Empire. this is no Star Wars game!
#2 - We're not in Star Wars anymore. to continue the theme of yanking the Star Wars out of SWG, SOE and Lucas Arts decided to continue their ongoing quest to make jedi easier to obtain. surely Players want to only play as Jedi right? i mean Jedi are the coolest right?... right?
#1 - Smugglers! /sigh... nevermind...