Smuggler Archive

You folks just gotta do what all other neglected professions are doing. Go out and get yourself a new driod that shoots jawas out its butt, get a holo-emote and try some of that brandy that replaced Muon.

Truely sad..and the one that simply posted they should hire more people is right on the money. Its June, the revamps of Jedi, Smuggler, DE and the GCW were mentioned early this year. ID was throw in there also, but i cant remeber that being mentioned. Also, JTL was on the plate. So with all this know work on the table, I find it hard that some personnel assesment wasnt done and folks hired late last year or early this year to manage the work-load.

I feel bad for the developers having to work late hours and overtime to compensate for the lack of foresite by their managers, and im glad they will not be punished any furthur because of it, but some good early management decisions would have insured that they would have had some help with 5 months of training under there belts at this time.

I had a good friend that I started the game with return just a few days ago. He was a Master Smuggler and returned to see what the smuggler revamp was all about. Obviously there was nothing to see and he was working off old information about the revamp date. All said, I will unfortuntly never get to play the game with this person now.

---

WookieIsshe wrote:

I am not so sure about that. We have not got the full story nor do the devs have to tell us everything. Hell there could have been personal reasons ( could have been family death or health issues and some of the dev team had to take time off ). We just don't know, but to go off half cocked and angry (folks this is just a game) is absurd.

I say that everyone needs to take something to make them relax

---

What I believe you fail to realize, is that the majority of the most livid and outraged comments have little to do with the delay, and a whole hell of a lot more to do with the constant non-commital answers, blown-smoke and double speak.

We were supposed to have our revamp this publish. They showed us their outline of the Dev's Smuggler profession, and it was worthless. We were upset, felt marginalized and disrespected. None of their ideas came close to matching what this community had developed. As a result, the devs were convinced to postpone us until Publish 11, using different phrasing to say exactly what JustG wrote this morning.

That was fine, we were happy our Revamp wouldn't be half-assed and an afterthought to the Jedi revamp.

The thing is, they had to recognize at that point just what kind of resources it would take for the Jedi revamp and GCW and Combat Rebalance. They could have said, "we want to do this right, but with so much on our plate, it won't be until after JTL." We'd have accepted it then. Instead we were told Publish 11, when they knew full well they could not meet that schedule. We were told they wanted our help and that they'd be communicating with us much more to ensure this revamp was great. TH and JustG and whoever else came, posted a few times for 2 days. And after that they've been quiet in here until today.

The fact of the matter is, the only reason JustG came in today to deliver the news was because of that SOTG letter we happened to see before it was removed. Otherwise, we'd still be going along working on our revamp doc not knowing it won't come to fruition until after JTL.

We're frustrated that our 19 Answers, information that would prove vital in helping the developers "do this revamp right" was once again ignored, that we were given the old party line about "internal discussions" and "looking into it, but can't comment."

That's why people are going off so angry in here. The feeling of deception. The desire for information that never gets met. You can tell exactly how pasionate people are for this profession, to make it live up to it's fullest potential within a game that could be beyond spectacular. People in here, (Caylin, EN, JTG, Geevo, Solo, Drev, the list goes on and on) have put hours upon hours encouraging the developers to improve the entire framework of this game, and it continually seems to fall upon deaf ears. Or worse, the ears are hearing, but they can't comprehend and refuse to ask questions. And a little bit of REAL, timely, worthwhile information would go a very long way to repairing the damage that has been wrought within this community the last few days.

A few things

1) Electronomad was right...

2) Now it's time to raise my slicing prices... again, if I cant have fun, might as well make a profitat the expense of all the Smugglers who willprobably drop the profession.

3) I figure we're all being forced to be a Jedi, seeing that it's the only profession with any kind of content.

4) So I Acquiesce, I tooshall become a Jedi

/emote makes his last batch of laser knives

---

Folks,

I totally understand how angry you are right now. I can't tell you how difficult it is for us to have to move your revamp back... but I really do feel that it is the right thing to do for all parties concerned, and for the overall state of the game. The large systems we are revamping really need our full attention. We have been absolutely killing our designers, and they need to have a life. This means not crunching them 7 days a week for months at a time.

We did not want to rush out some crappy revamp for you in order to fulfill our commitment. We also strongly feel that some aspect of smuggling should be done in space, so it makes sense to do it after JTL. I 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.

We are at the FF right now, so TH and I are going to be fairly unavailable at this time, but we will spend some time with you next week.

Again, my apologies, but we want to make your profession all it can be. We can't do that right now, but we will.

thx,

- Gary

---

This should have been posted yesterday as soon as you realized that the State of the Game was available earlier than intended. Instead of coming in here immediately and telling the community this, you waited. That's why I will say you have earnedfew points here today as far as I'm concerned.

I understand very well the different time constraints that you and the other developers are under. I can easily appreciate the hard work they do and the obvious devotion they have in order to get things done and out for the community to work with. I have seen evidence of developers working on thingstill midnight, and I have a feeling that is not out of the ordinary.Yet I can't continue to condonethe near complete lack of meaningfulcommunication with the players, dishonesty, busy work and soothing words that are used to placate the masses. Nor am I able to support a revamp to what is an extremely minority profession, when things of more vital importance like the combat balance are continually delayed.

We've been promised so much, and the developers have yet to deliver. Unless Thunderheart's plans have changed, you and I both know the truth about thechances of having Thunderheart comment in here next week are next to nil.Thunderheart does as well as he can I'm sure, but I think he also has too much to do, to get things done well. Too much is rushed and showing little thought or understanding before making comments due to time constraints. He should have the time and resources to thoroughly research a topic himself, which the correspondents would assist with. I should not have had to write all I have myself, especially as this is not a paying position. God knows how many documentshave been written and postedwhen things have yet to change for smugglers since Beta.Thunderheart should have had the time to do this himself while interacting with the forum he needs to work with. Make sure he has the resources so he can bestaccomplish his job.

I've spent some time playing City of Heroes. Now, when I read TH's answer to the Smuggler question this issue of the 19 answers, I can't help but notice some very big differences in how interactive the developers from Cryptic are, against those from SOE. For instance a change in City of Heroes skillwas proposed (For those who read the COH forums, check out how Geko interacted with the scrappers in regards to Instant Healing changes)to the community it would effect. Not only did that developer talk to the community, he proposed solutions. The community talked to him, went over the pros and cons, and in less than a day a great solution was reached that everyone would be happy with. With SOE, we get 'This is being discussed internally' and we may receive some tidbit of information months later.I know the type of service I want to pay for, and the service I'm getting from SOE isn't cutting it. I've had too many friends leave to poor customer service and too many half-truths and delaying tactics from the developers themselves to believe much of anything that you say anymore. I no longer feel the developers of SWG have any more credibility with this profession, or this game.

The majority of the time, most of what I've seen coming from the developers that gets real attention are thechanges withobvious marketing value in the existing game. The latest two-publish effort involving Jedi only furthers the feeling I have that you are sorely in need of the novelty presented by playingJedi in order to sell subscriptions. It's probably worked well for a time too. Personally I feel you would have better luck at keeping subscriptions byfocusing on the mechanics of the game that make it fun first, as opposed to figuring out new particle effects.In the end, pretty graphics will not keep people playing this game and that iscurrently your most appealing aspect aside from the fact that there is the Star Wars label here. This is a beautiful game, but while it looks terrific the gameplay does not presently make me feel as if I'm part of the Star Wars universe and is without a doubt lacking in content that does so.Jedi is only fun to a select few, and you are spending a great deal of resource time and effort on it, while the mechanics of making the game fun are pushed backtime and time again.

Once I get these now pointless documents finished and get the Smugglers everything I can, I will make my farewells. I might return when JTL is released, but only if I see drastic improvement in the communication from the developers. Fifteen dollars a month for this level of service and communication, in a game Icanrarely find any fun in, isfifteen dollars too much.I have grown too tired of the empty words, poor allocation of resources andhow much this game makes me have to work... in order to still not have anyfun. I don't see this changing anytime soon at this rate, so I hope the experience you are gaining from reading these forums about how we feel, will help you make the right decisions in the future to actually make Star Wars Galaxies a fun and involving MMORPG, where players can experience the environment they have seen in the movies and imagined in the novels over the years.

Bravo, Caylin. Bravo. Very well said. It will be a sad day when you have all the ducks in a row and you leave. I, for one, will miss your posts and the commentary. This profession gets diminished each day due to people like you leaving for greener pastures. I understand your feelings and wish you the very best life has to offer.

I really hope this is a wakeup call to the people in charge, but I fear that they don't care. Thank you for all your hard work and your devotion to this profession. You have done your level best, bud, and that was more than we could have hoped to have. You're the best.

/gives Caylin the secret smuggler handshake

I can Understand the feelings here, however this is not going to change when the full revamp will take place. The best that can be done now, is to try and get some small fixes in over the next publishes and mini-publishes.

First, with the JEDI revamp we should push to have the new spices added in. If NOT in pub 9 then by 9.1 or 9.2. The ability to slice transport tickets to other planets NOT on the normal route should be added in PUB 10. Let us strive to get something in.

Caylin, once again you summed up the feelings of this community in a superb manner. If the developers dont take heed, and we lose yet another great member of the community like you, then Im afraid that the one thing still great about this game is dying.

The only reason people keep on playing this game is because of the community, and because of the belief that eventually this game will change for the better. Its sad that this products real potential will never be realized, and that a great community will disintegrate as its most vocal members leave.

It truly is a sad sight....

---

JustG wrote:

Folks,

I totally understand how angry you are right now. I can't tell you how difficult it is for us to have to move your revamp back... but I really do feel that it is the right thing to do for all parties concerned, and for the overall state of the game. The large systems we are revamping really need our full attention. We have been absolutely killing our designers, and they need to have a life. This means not crunching them 7 days a week for months at a time.

We did not want to rush out some crappy revamp for you in order to fulfil our commitment. We also strongly feel that some aspect of smuggling should be done in space, so it makes sense to do it after JTL. I 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.

We are at the FF right now, so TH and I are going to be fairly unavailable at this time, but we will spend some time with you next week.

Again, my apologies, but we want to make your profession all it can be. We can't do that right now, but we will.

thx,

- Gary

---

I'd totally believe you, if I wasn't here since day 1!!! Our Revamp is no suprise, and has been pushed back yet again.

You say its cause we don't have the time, and your stressing out the DEV's.

Well here is an idea to solve this issue that I haven't heard b4

STOP PUSHING OTHER REVAMPS IN FRONT OUR OURS!!!!!!

---

WookieIsshe wrote:
Okay, whoever is one starring me without at least making a comment is a coward, I stated my opinion and if you don't like it, then at least comment about it.

---

I know you suspect me since I just posted but...look elsewhere. I half way hinted around it but I actually RESPECT people opinions...so I reserve my 1-stars for the truely ignorant posts. I still have my one-stars, if I wish, for your posts.

/slaute Caylin

Man do you have a way with words....