Smuggler Archive
Thread: Smuggler delay
How can you sleep at night knowing that almost a year later, many of the professions in this game are still not worthy of being in a gold product? You devs seemed to get the point that you needed to fix what you had in the game before you added anything new to it, but with the release of JTL that philosophy has been thrown out the window.
One day, MMO developers will learn that they need to release a quality product. One day customers will stop paying for a less than beta product.
Message Edited by ResourceMan on 06-04-2004 02:06 PM
Message Edited by ResourceMan on 06-04-2004 02:08 PM
/frown
Smugglers have been let down since the beginning. Smuggling couldn't be implemented properly, so we got what we have now.. and the revamp has been delayed again and again. They should have ignored marketing and just left Smuggling out of the game, and included it as a Space Expansion profession. 
JustG wrote:
We did not want to rush out some crappy revamp for you in order to fulfil our commitment.
Blair wrote:
Smuggler
We are going to look at and probably revise the Underworld skill set.
We'll fix bugs with slicing 4.
Spices will get experimentation values (for withdrawals, etc).
Feign death causing the player to take too much damage and to be unusable when moving will be fixed.
We'll add more stuff to the master box. (Probably additional slicing features)
The bug with not being able to eat spice will be fixed.
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=Development&message.id=417746&highlight=smuggler#M417746
Q-3PO wrote:
We're dedicating a designer (Green Marine) next week to looking into fixing some of the bigger issues of the smuggler. (Yes, we are also looking at issues with the other professions, the smuggler just seems to be the one needing the most love at this moment).
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=Development&message.id=552985&highlight=smuggler#M552985
6 November 2003 - Devs tell Smugglersthat the profession willbe "augmented" "immediately"
JustG wrote:
There is a lot on our plate, and we are regularly going to provide you with as much information as we can about what is going on. Our priorities and tasks feed in from a variety of sources, and there are very many items on the design priority list. We will not be able to get to all of them with the next few pushes, but we want to take on a number of things that will make the game better, immediately. These include:
- Professions Augmentations
Droid Engineer
Smuggler
Merchant
Chef
http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/team_comments.jsp?id=59306&page=Team%20Comments[look for Gary Gattis's Letter to the Community" at the bottom of the list]
5 December 2003 - Devs state that "Smugglers are getting some attention soon."
Thunderheart wrote:
Smugglers are getting some attention soon. Everything is getting more attention now that Player Cities, Mounts and Vehicles have been added.
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=Developers&message.id=15023&highlight=smuggler#M15023
20 December 2003 - Devs state that Smugglers will be overhauled, and that the community should offer some ideas on what we want
Thunderheartwrote:
Both San and I agree that you guys need more of an answer and here it is. The smuggler isn't going to be just "fixed". Its in re-development. Smuggler is an important profession and needs more than a little attention.
Here is what I need from you folks. Since Smuggler is "In Development", I hope you folks can work together to put together some reasonable ideas togetherfor the types of directions you would like to see the Smuggler profession change/develop. . . .
. . .I will take that information to the producers so that your desires and ideas can be accounted for when the development process moves to the next stage.
The best recommendation I can make is to keep your ideas realistic. Come up with ideas using the system as you know it as opposed to inventing things from a "blue sky" approach.
I very much look forward to seeing your input.
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=smuggler&message.id=42882&highlight=smuggler#M42882
21 January 2004 - Devs promise revamp post within the week
Thunderheart wrote:
"Smuggling" really is a spacey kind of profession and doing something on the ground really needs to be thought out.
With that being said, Im working on the Smuggler and Squad Leader profession revamp posts this week. Im just taking the time to put together some really nice posts so that the answers that players put forth can be easily handled and used by the dev team.
Currently, people don't say, "hey we're going out hunting, lets make sure we have a smuggler". That shortfall is something that needs to be included in the revamp thread.
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=dev_archive&message.id=19680&highlight=smuggler#M19680
These are all 5+ months old
You can really tell how upset we are?
I believe you when you tell us we are right after JTL. I am sure that is what will happen. I mean look at your track record thus far.
Just so you know, Ive been a smuggler since launch (dont let my post count fool you - this is a second account) and have been supportive of this development team to a point that now makes me sick to admit. We as a community have been duped and cheated. You, as a development team, intentionally strung us along with hopes and dreams that thisskillset would one day not only work, but be a fun and content-filled profession. First we were told that we would be fixed shortly after lauch...then after San's 1st state of the profession...then in october we were told we were in need of the most love and would be fixed ASAP.... then our revamp was to take place right after the DEs....then it was pub 9....then pub 11 (to make sure things were done right, you said)....and now we have to wait until who knows when to see this profession actually do something other than slice. You dont see a problem with that? I have no doubt that you all will fix smuggler eventually, but how long do we have to pay to wait for such fixes!?
What you all have done is lied to us. You have lied right to our faces. For someone who has passionately defended this development team and their vision, it feels like Ive been stabbed in the back. Go look at that goodbye thread, where a countless number of veteran smugglers are canceling their subscriptions because the feel the same way. Go search the smuggler forums early days and see that all of the great names this community has seen (Kav, Solo, Electricnomad, Dreven, etc etc.) leave this game because of your blatant lies and disception. Go read electricnomads post which complied all of the various "promises" of love in the future from the devs...none of which have come to fruition. Go read the 40 page in development thread were we handed you an incredible volume of ideas to fix this profession...or read Caylins 100 page document...or kavs...or ENs...or the two seperate community visions you just asked us to compile. This community has gone out of their way to make sure revamping smuggler is as easy as writing some code. We have given you a plehtora of ideas and possibilities - and now it feels as if all that work has fallen on deaf ears. Do you not see why we are angry? Do you really think that this community deserves to be treated like this?
You are losing customers. Quality customers who enjoyed playing this game, but we can only slice for so long. Why are we forced to spend 63 skillpoints on a profession that basically consists of slicing for the ungrateful masses and low blowing enemies (which are now all immune it seems). Doesnt sound like we are really getting any bang for our buck...their is no return on our investment. We dont like be lied too...we dont like being misled, and what you as a development team have done, is exactly that. There needs to be action, and very soon at that. This profession should have been working on release. As the 2nd or 3rd most iconic profession in the Star Wars Universe, it should be given the attention that it so richly deserves. Instead you all push us off like we dont exist, like we will sit here and wait civily forever. That, JustG, is bull**edit**. We are paying customers who have been patient with you all for far too long. We have gone out of our way to provide you with information and proposals - and this is how you repay us, by lying to our faces. Well screw this, and screw you all. I will not be renewing my accounts when the next cycle comes up, and I will not be reccomended this game or this company to anyone ever again. Unless something drastic changes, Im out.
JustG wrote:Folks,am so sorry, but I think it is better to be straight up with you guys than to mislead you about what we can do, or put out something that we, and you, are not going to be proud of.
I'm of the opinion that you have already misled us many times in the past. You've done this every time you've give us a time to expect our changes and then failed to meet it. I see a cycle emerging here and feel a bit naive for having believed you in the past. I don't think you'll follow through with this commitment either.
I understand that you're just doing your job. Stall the mob. Minimize damage. Keep the cash rolling in. We need more than words, and five to six months is too long of a wait. You're losing us.
Karamak wrote:
The only question that i have currently that you should be able to give me a direct honest answer to is this: Will the smuggler profession see changes in their template in the combat rebalance?
Whiteness wrote:
I just want to know why Image Designers were revamped before Smugglers.
I would like to see a logical explanation for that one.
PLEASE!!! I totally agree. But think about how THIS alone was handled. A post Just before they ALL head off to Nerd-a-con, then they will Tie TH in front of his monitor and play Damage control, come Monday. Nothing screams BAD move like a drive by post. I see themforce feeding the JTL Down the throats of anyone that plays this game andthen wonder why theuser base has dropped.It's not like the other revamps were never going to happen. They knew full well that the Jedi revamp was going to suck up man/woman power and system time. Hell I just play this game and I saw that one. What it tells me is that it's not to much work as too little planning. Or Maybe they are to close to the problems to see them all. Stare at a floor full of broken glass and you will start to see all kinds of things. But they need to start picking up the glass and not just move to another room and tell the rest of us they will get back to cleaning up.
I see the JTL coming out and No matter how much testing goes down there will be BIG juicy Bugs,Exploits and well what the rest of the game has broken parts. Then they will slap together "shut them up patch" to have something to point at when we look at the lack of repair our class needs and tell us well we wanted to get something out before we started working on the problems with the JTL. Then the New Smuggler go-between will step up and request a new top 5 and the Whole Flame fest starts up again, All the while we kick out the 14.99 a month to post.
Just seems like a lot of trouble for a game that is just coming up on a full year of being live.