Washington Post on Star Wars Galaxies Changes 95
spartan7891 writes "The Washington Post, by way of MSNBC, is running a story on how fans are outraged at the newest changes made to Star Wars Galaxies. As one player states, 'The game for me probably will be a lost love. Sort of like seeing your spouse with Alzheimer's. Outwardly, everything appears the same as it always has, but you know that beneath the surface, things will never be the same.' There's even rumors of LucasArts being so angry about the changes that they may cancel SOE's contract." Yeah ... if a major newspaper covers what you did in a patch, you probably did something wrong.
Like a spouse with alzheimers? (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Like a spouse with alzheimers? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Like a spouse with alzheimers? (Score:1)
Kierthos
Re:Like a spouse with alzheimers? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Like a spouse with alzheimers? (Score:5, Insightful)
And why shouldn't it be? A comparison between the character of one experience and the character of another does not necessitate that the scale of those experiences is being equated.
Much wailing and gnashing of teeth is wasted by individuals who feel the need to pretend that any quality characterised by analogy is necessarily a quantity equated by analogy as well. No such necessity exists.
And maybe it's not artful to use analogies which differ in the scale of perceived wrongs which they compare, because the wilfully ignorant will inevitably misinterpret their meaning. But I like to think that writing should serve the genuinely interested reader first, rather than those who actively seek to misinterpret and misunderstand in pursuit of scandal.
Re:Like a spouse with alzheimers? (Score:2)
Re:Like a spouse with alzheimers? (Score:2)
From my experience, admin on MMORPGS don't really care, for one of four reasons:
1) They have a character in the game, and want to make it more fun for them
2) General fear of havi
Re:Like a spouse with alzheimers? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Like a spouse with alzheimers? (Score:1)
1) They have a character in the game, and want to make it more fun for them
Um, would you rather they made it so that the game were boring for them to play? Like it or not devs arent empaths, they have to base a lot of their judgement of what is fun based on personal experience.
2) General fear of having their wishes proven unsound
Well, most people suffer this to some degree or another. How large a role does it play? I would say less than the average MMORPG board poster wants to lay at their feet.
3)
Re:Like a spouse with alzheimers? (Score:2)
That, my friend, is the lifeblood of internet arguements.
Re:Like a spouse with alzheimers? (Score:1)
Re:Like a spouse with alzheimers? (Score:2)
Remember free software, the GPL and by association Linux and much of what we think of as modern computing came about because one socially challenged bearded hacker guy was rather up
Ummm (Score:3, Insightful)
I'd say that if this causes "one player" to spend a little more time in reality and acquire (if only by gamer standards) a bit of perspective, they've done him a huge favor.
Re:Ummm (Score:1)
Re:Ummm (Score:1)
Life mimics Art (Score:2, Funny)
I'll do the obligatory (Score:5, Funny)
Vandalism but tis not al bad to give up a game (Score:5, Informative)
Ranger, swordsman, cook and armorsmith were all dropped as part of the dumbing down of the game. Now we ahve something that seems to be be aimed at console players. Still, its given me time to watch TV and read books - two activities I had dropped to make time for SWG.
Re:Vandalism but tis not al bad to give up a game (Score:3, Funny)
F U N N Y
TV watching is highly addictive. If you don't believe me try quitting for a year.
"I can quit any time I want, I just don't want to"
Re:Vandalism but tis not al bad to give up a game (Score:2)
I would appreciate it if you would leave my alcohol problem out of this....
Re:Vandalism but tis not al bad to give up a game (Score:2)
Re:Vandalism but tis not al bad to give up a game (Score:1)
Re:Vandalism but tis not al bad to give up a game (Score:1)
Re:Vandalism but tis not al bad to give up a game (Score:2)
Re:Vandalism but tis not al bad to give up a game (Score:1)
Been there, done that. Generally, I'd say it was a fine idea. There was one interesting effect that I noticed, though -- after going without TV for a couple years, I totally lost the ability to ignore commercials.
Re:Vandalism but tis not al bad to give up a game (Score:2)
But yea, commercials seem way over the top after you've spent some time away from them.
Re:Vandalism but tis not al bad to give up a game (Score:2)
sci-fi series local stations might accidentally show are
already out on DVD by the time they reach this cultural
wasteland.
Quitting is easy.
Forgive me, but I really want to know: (Score:2)
Re:Forgive me, but I really want to know: (Score:5, Informative)
One of the attractions of SWG before the changes mentioned in the article were made was the complicated crafting system. I knew (know) several disabled players who could not keep up with the fighting aspects of the game but really enjoyed crafting (weaponsmith, armorsmith, architect etc...). This allowed them to be part of a guild, have a social aspect of the game and feel a like part of a community without having to suffer the aggravation of player-killers and such. Also, the article mentioned hair-dresser, which is incorrect. That profession was actually Image Designer and actually served a purpose a long time ago other than to change the appearance of your toon. You used to have secondary stats that you could custom tailor your character with -- in order to change these stats you needed an Image Designer. The combat "upgrade" killed off those stats and one of the uses of Image Designers.
Another thing to keep in mind, in SWG there are no NPC vendors -- you cant just go buy stuff (weapons/clothes/armor/food/etc...) anywhere, you have to either loot it or buy it from other players. This was one of the draws of the game. And most of the stuff that was "made" by players was of much higher quality than the stuff that you looted. There was a time when chefs (cooks) where invaluable due to the fact that the buffs you got from their foods/drinks could not be gotten elsewhere. Also, there was huge variation in the quality of these products from vendor to vendor. This was due to the fact that the quality of the resources(harvested) and components (player made) had direct effect on teh quality of the end product. This extends itself to all the crafting aspects of the game.
I could go on and on, but I refrain
Re:Forgive me, but I really want to know: (Score:2)
-stormin
Re:Forgive me, but I really want to know: (Score:2)
Re:Forgive me, but I really want to know: (Score:2)
I understand all the concepts of user controlled economies, desire to play but not fight, etc. BUT I still don't know what any of this has to do with STAR WARS. If someone wants to roleplay being a farmer or an "image consultant" why not seek out a more appropriate venue. One of the reasons, and there are many, that I never had much interest in Galaxies, is that from all I read there was li
Superior crafting system (Score:2)
I speak as an SWG player who has easily spent 90% of my time as a crafter and merchant. There isn't "a more appropriate venue", mostly. SWG has (had) one of the most extensive crafting systems of any MMOG. When the NGE came along I looked a
Re:Forgive me, but I really want to know: (Score:1)
Re:Forgive me, but I really want to know: (Score:2)
big hit with teenage girls? Sort of like Second Life's face-
modelling system, but players can't modify their own face
beyond make-up. Hmm..smells like profit..
In other news (Score:4, Funny)
It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:4, Informative)
Now, I do NOT think this is a bad thing. The reason I play Planetside is because I can't stand the boring level-grind that is EVERY MMORPG out there. When I get online to game, I want to have to work for my victories, not dice roll for them. I say 'Bravo Sony' for having the courage to step out and do something DIFFERENT for once, and to move away form the EQ-WOW-COH-Etc. level grinders that are smothering the MMO market today.
"The MMOFPS, it's an elegant game style from a more civilized time. Not as crude and random as a dice-roller MMORPG." (with apologies to Obi-Wan)
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:3, Funny)
Don't forget to put the cover sheet on your TPS reports BEFORE they go out.
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:1, Offtopic)
The game is so cheap... $19.99... and it comes with one free month which is worth $13 or so, so you're going to pay an extra $7 over one month's subscription to try it out. After that, you can cancel or just play the free account for 12 months.
I say buy it. It's great. You'll want to get in early to get the jump
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:2)
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:2)
I thought you'd be linking to GreyFlcn's ad.
http://www.marcopolo.me.uk/PSMovies/PS_AD_LARGE.w
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:2)
No, not Radant. I'm an ex-D2A'er actually, but I'm not going to go any further than that.
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:2)
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:1)
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:1)
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:2)
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:2)
Trouble is I need to find a really organized outfit. I get tired of running around on my own never accomplishing anything.
Any chacne you play NC on Emerald (or know someone that does) and have a tight guild with teamspeak required? 'Cause I'd be interested if you do.
-stormin
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:2)
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:2)
-stormin
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:2)
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:2)
TheRabbit
TR Emerald
Black Widow Company
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:1)
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:2)
Nope, I've never had to do that. I've only had to organize and strategize OVER ONE HUNDRED players in an all-out battle for control of an entire Continent! This was just one battle in the course of a single evening's play. The scale of battle in Planetside is simply so far and away greater what you would experien
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:1)
You've obviously never played EVE [eve-online.com], have you? I've been in 100 player vs 100 player fleet fights. We were fight
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:2)
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:2)
You'd be right, if you were talking about an MMOPRG game that had one attack button. Is there such a thing?
But as an example from WoW, when playing my dwarf hunter (normal weapon: gun), when approaching a fight, I first have to make the choice of what trap to put down. Frost, if I think I might alert a mob and need to make a quick exit? Freeze, to trap a single enemy for 10 seco
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:1)
The fact that there are 100 people in a PS fight and only 40 people in a WoW raid doesn't mean that strategy isn't just as important in WoW as it i
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:2)
Ya, that'd be nice, but it seems to be very much against Sony's policy. I got charged for an auto-renewal for a year of the game (about $150) after their website told me that my subscription was going to expire and I would no longer be able to play after that. I didn't get any sort of fore-warning that the charge was going to take place, it just happened. I called when I got my next credit card bill and they basically told me 't
Re:It's not Star Wars, it's Planetside 2! (Score:2)
Treat your fanbase with respect. Make upgrades incrementally and sanely.
Here's an example of when another game tried to pull this, and failed -- I hope I've got my history right:
Nexus [nexustk.com] is a very old game, even claims to be the first MMORPG. It's 2D enough that I wouldn't be surprised. After awhile, the company decided to make a new MMO, and wanted people to start playing it -- I think that was called Shattered Galaxies, but
Sony blew it again. (Score:2, Insightful)
In their attempt to capture a wider player base they alienated the rest of us. The scope of the worlds and how you could build your character was so wide. The freedom to do what you wanted was amazing. And they took that freedom and they kicked i
dumbest business move? (Score:5, Informative)
I keep getting the feeling that in 3 or so years time this whole event will be features in one of those "top 10 dumbest business moves" articles.
Re:dumbest business move? (Score:1)
Is Sony missing on the MMORPG golden rule? (Score:5, Insightful)
Is Sony missing that the equation is money * time = revenue?
Could Sony now see effects of a shortly increased popularity, but be worse off than ever in just a year?
Some companies manage to pull this off quite well, such as Blizzard with Diablo II, but that one's fee-free, as well as an FPS action game like Counterstrike. I think SOE will have quite a large burden to carry to make people want to pay monthly for some action with a reduced depth, professions, and less varying goals to aspire to.
Re:Is Sony missing on the MMORPG golden rule? (Score:2)
Re:Is Sony missing on the MMORPG golden rule? (Score:2)
Because those 4 million players still hate the new game, because it's got horrible press, not many people playing, and because they'd never be sure if the new game would be replaced by an even newer game.
I like the idea of an MMOFPS. I look at SWG and I think I would've liked either version. But no way I'm even downloading the demo now. They've completely blown their
Wow (Score:3, Insightful)
LucasArts and the rumored anger about SWG (Score:4, Insightful)
The formatting of this in italics makes it seem like it's mentioned in the story, which it's not...so that's a bit misleading or confusing.
If you read the article, in fact, the vice president of development at SOE said, "'It was a tough decision we had to make,' he said. 'We knew we were going to sacrifice some players . . . [but] as a Star Wars license, we should do a lot better than we have been doing.'"
So, in effect, it seems that SOE was probably lambasted by LucasArts and the NGE was the result. It was likely a joint effort between the two companies to kick start the game again. If LucasArts is still unhappy with it, then it is a situation they were well aware of, and it's doubtful they would suddenly become angry and cancel SOE's contract when they were part of the effort to "save" the game.
That said, I played this game for 2 years with multiple accounts. It used to be fun, and with the new way of things it just wasn't. Animations before the first overhaul of the game (Combat Upgrade) were fluid and fun to watch, especially the Darth Maul-esque double bladed lightsaber moves. The Combat Upgrade filled the game with flashy particle effects and magical auras everywhere - VERY unlike any Star Wars movie I've seen. That was lame. With the New Game Enhancements they just recently did, now they sped up everything so that characters run around like they're on crystal meth. It looks ridiculous. It was plagued with bugs and only had quests through level 30 out of the 90 levels in combat - that was just a stupid decision. The game needs more content and always has.
The game also needs a development team that can actually handle the workload required of the game - it's more than apparent that no matter what the configuration of the game, the Dev team isn't up to the task. Even as "cut down" as the game currently is, which it really isn't - many professions just got rolled up into "classes" so no significant work was really saved - the Devs still don't seem to have any significant effort being put toward finally getting this game polished and functioning.
In the end, the NGE basically achieved the purging of the veteran playerbase who were pissed that nothing good had come out of the potential the game had, and instead it overhauled everything to bring in a new crop of players willing to fork over cash and wait for the potential of the game to be realized. In other words, they have a whole new population of willing subscribers who will take another 2 years to really get mad that they've wasted their time to get nothing significant in return. The question is - will the new players have the staying power of the previous veteran players? Doubtful, in my opinion. They are flash in the pan Episode III-hyped players. The fans who were in it for the long haul have by and far given up by now.
Eventually this game will be abandoned in droves and it will fall apart. Too bad, because all I wanted was to actually be a musician in the Star Wars universe and entertain folks - and the Devs have no interest apparently in developing that "iconic class" as they call it. In addition, I got sick of playing a Jedi (which launched with the NGE with no armor - frickin' brilliant) which is a melee class in a ranged shoot-em-up game. If they can't get the game to work right with Jedi, what the hell kind of Star Wars game is it, anyways? And who the hell calls themselves a Dev for a Star Wars game when they can't even make Jedi fit into the game properly?
Re:LucasArts and the rumored anger about SWG (Score:2)
Re:LucasArts and the rumored anger about SWG (Score:1)
Correct. From my source at LucasArts and SOE, LucasArts has been behind almost every change since shortly befo
Re:LucasArts and the rumored anger about SWG (Score:1)
Change for the better? (Score:1)
In my estimation, simplifing and speeding up the action made it more true to the Star Wars universe.
EVE-Online Doesn't Suck (Score:4, Informative)
Much (but not all) of the economy is player controlled, and there are a nearly infinte amount of ways to play the game.
My favorite part though is that leveling is not a grind. Each skill takes a certain amout of time to train, and keeps training even when you log out. So as long as you can log in for a few minutes a week, you can keep advancing your character, just as fast as anyone else.
I've also noticed that the people I play with and against don't seem to act like the WOW-Tards I've seen on other MMORPGs
Re:EVE-Online Doesn't Suck (Score:2, Interesting)
SOE and LA screwed up (Score:1)
Why not add a second game? (Score:2)
WoW (Score:1)
WoW got an interview about its latest patch covered in the NYT, but that was positive. I believe it was a slashdot article.
O RLY? (Score:1)
The quality and significance of NYT articles is constantly on the decline, as they try to keep up with the information age, and so its natural for them to increase coverage of all things electronic. World of Warcraft has a higher population than 99% of the worlds cities, and regularily has higher 'viewers' than most TV shows, so that too makes it reasonable that they report on any (sic)world changing events in these t
SWG Refugees (Score:1)
Come on over to visit Imperial Crackdown [imperialcrackdown.com]
We don't just whine & moan about our lost professions and how Evil Sony is (although you'd be welcome to).
We are largely about what is fun to do now.
I've returned to Guild Wars, which I enjoyed so much in Beta, using the handle I'm using here. You are also invited to my Guild's Homepage [guildwizard.com]