Smuggler Archive

As I sat down to go ahead and order ROTW today I thought about a couple of things. For the first time since I heard about this game, I haven't been chomping at the bit to get ahold of the game or it's expansion(s). I've had a running list of reasons to buy and not to buy this release. For me, the list of cons has been a lot longer than the pros. The only clincher, until cleared up this afternoon by Tiggs, was whether or not the extra shop slots would be available if we didn't pre order.

I made up my mind though, I went ahead and pre ordered, but that's when I had a couple of thoughts. I went back and reread statements made by John Smedley. This did not inspire much confidence for me in the future of the game. I went on to read some of the other statements by Devs in recent days. Those that are made seem to still totally miss the content of the constructive even though negative feedback (this has always been a pet pieve of mine since these are the truly loyal players, they are the ones who want to stick around and see things improve even though they are not happy with the current product).

One final thing I did was go to google. I saw someone mention it on the forums so I gave it a shot. Looking up Star Wars Galaxies in the news section I began to see some of the things we saw back when we were told players on the forums are kooks and liars (that is another thing that will always rub me the wrong way). The articles about negative feedback and players leaving SWG are starting to pop up, and the worst part about it is that there is still no word from LA and the only thing with any substance being said by SOE is by Mr. Smedley, and I'm not a big fan of what he has to say.

SoI now start to think about how players are starting to set up web sites in opposition to SWG. Fan sites are dieing out (to an extent), and now we see the birth of anti-fan sites for the game.

Now the clincher. Who is gone? We have seen Smugglers leave the game for one reason or another. I have had friends in game tell me it just wasn't for them or real life was getting to be a bit much to continue playing. I've seen friends stop loggin in entirely without a word as to why. This is the first time I've seen multiple game friends leave for the same reason. The count is at 3 right now, with a couple still teetering, and two staying right now because I've asked them to stick around long enough to make a better judgement about the state of the game right now.

So that leaves me with what I just did. I cancelled my order for ROTW. I can't see spending another $25 on something I may not be around very long to use.

We all have our benchmarks regarding when we will cancel our subscription. I know what mine are. I have content requirements, whether or not certain friends continue to play requirements, and a date requirement. All 3 are fast approaching their mark.

The players of this game are somewhat fanatical. SOE and LA have misused and abused the this in their handling of the game, and as we saw huge fanfair surround this game, we are starting to see this fanfair transition into a hatred of the controlling powers that is spreading like a plague. Worst of all is the response of those controlling powers either totally missing the mark of what the still loyal players are saying, or an entire lack of response.

Believe it or not, I do not hate the CU. I do not hate the dev team (although I am less and less of a fan of SOE and LA everyday). I hate the fact that many of my friends are leaving and I hate the fact they are either clueless as to why or just refuse to acknowledge it.

"Jedi claims of being "broken" are like saying "But my TV isn't widescreen! It's broken! My TV can't show high-def pictures in 1080i, it can only do 720i! It's broken!" Meanwhile, crafters are saying "We'd really like to have a TV that's larger than 12" and gets more than 4 channels and doesn't constantly lose vertical control", and entertainers are saying "Can we get some color instead of this B&W piece of junk?" And smugglers? We're listening to radio programs of "The Shadow" and "The Abbot and Costello Comedy Hour" and hearing FDR's Fireside Chats. We don't even HAVE a damn TV, much less a broken one or a "broken" one by Jedi standards. I'd LOVE to be as "broken" as they are." - The Legendary Solo4114