Smuggler Archive

To the SWG fans.

Today I received this letter from a member of the SWG smuggler community:

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Hi GreenMarine.

Don't mean to intrude on your privacy, but this is TomoRainer from the
forums, pilot correspondent and long-time smuggler. You always felt like
something of a standard-bearer for us smugglers, like the one guy out of all
the staff who actually cared, so I'm sad to see you go--but doubly so that
your last interaction with us was on the "Plan B" slicing thread, one which
contained a lot of negativity. Negativity's nothing new for us smugglers,
of course, but some of the words directed your way, to the one developer we
ever saw trying to follow through on his promises to us--well, they're not
the kind of terms I'd prefer to part on.

Can't guess what you think of us rowdy bunch, but if you're interested in a
clearer picture of what you really meant to the smuggler community, I'd
recommend this thread:

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=smuggler&message.id=214024

Anyway, thanks for all the effort you put in on our behalf. Goodbye, and
good luck wherever you're headed next.

- Ed

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This is the response I sent him, which is also appropriate for the SWG community at large who were looking to me for certain changes to the game.


Wow, thanks for the email, I greatly appreciate it. I never felt
anything but warmth for the SWG community, the smugglers in
particular. The community-at-large was always very good at talking
about ideas with developers in (generally) a constructive and fun way.
My leaving SOE has nothing to do with the community and a lot to do
with the state of SOE. A new opportunity came up at the right time and
I felt I would be remiss not to pursue it.

I'm now at Fastlane Games, a brand new start up in Austin. In fact,
I'm the 12th employee. We have a contract with NC Soft to produce a
prototype for a new MMO. If that prototype is approved, we'll receive
full funding to ramp up for full time production. I'm still doing
design, but my job title is now Client Engineer. I'm focused on
gameplay implementation at the native code, instead of script, level.
I'll probably still get a chance to write content, etc, but I think my
heart has always been more with the code.

If our prototype process is successful, maybe we'll see Fastlane
develop a good community relationship based on the kind of open
communication principles we tried to develop at SOE.

Again, thanks for your email and the link to the thread. I'm sorry I
couldn't carry through on my work on SWG,

Brandon

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Additionally, I have to say that all of the work I was assigned at SOE will be carried on. David White and Thomas Blair, in particular, are very intelligent designers with strong work ethics and a good since of community. I think you can expect them to bring a lot of good to the smuggler profession. Don't hinge expectations on a single designer. SOE has plenty of good designers to carry on the torch.

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Oh yeah, just to clarify: "My leaving SOE has nothing to do with the community and a lot to do with the state of SOE." is not meant to be negative in regards to SOE, but more that I didn't really fit the company environment anymore. SOE Austin has grown quite a bit from the old days of SWG and I think I fit better in a smaller company.

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One other thing! The poker bot programming project is a personal spare time thing. Not the project Fastlane is doing, of course. ^_^

V E E L A "her royal hawtness"
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge. I am Jack's Ignored Profession.
Theed was a bustling commerce city...people hawked their wares, danced, laughed, dueled, and had a rollicking good time. Cantinas packed with Entertainers of every race, shape and size...along with scoundrels, Stormtroopers, and drunks. People grouped up and stuck together in the wilderness, and you ALWAYS took a Scout or a Ranger with you. We lived our own Star Wars saga. We created our own personas, our own histories, and it all blended into this wonderful, magical experience that I will always remember...

That magic is gone now, but I'd pay 50 bucks a month to have it back.

Editor's Note: The author of the above post has quit giving SOE her money. She suggests you do the same, because this game will never be what you want it to be.

NC Soft. The company that makes CoH. Co-incidence? I don't think so. Like it's been stated in other threads, their customer service kicks SOE/SWG's into the gutter to beg for pennies, so bankrupt are they of professionalism.

Hey, Angus! I'm getting good at this rant lark! LOL

I dunno. I think you could have done better, bud.

never mind the bumps what about the fixes?