Keeping tabs on the "vocal minority"

Uberman

It would appear that the "vocal minority" that has wrought so much havoc on the Star Wars Galaxies franchise have now been busy causing problems for EI Interactive and Horizons (clicky).

Taking lessons from Sony Online Entertainment's Handbook of Online Game Management, EI has had great success in deleting and locking forum posts (even going so far as deleting a post from the company's CEO), and placing blame for all their troubles squarely upon the shoulders of the diabolical "vocal minority."

I, for one, am certainly glad that the "vocal minority" are focusing their destructive energies on something other than Galaxies.  Perhaps now the game will have a chance to gain a better reputation and attract more players. 

azhrarn

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Originally posted by Uberman
IPerhaps now the game will have a chance to gain a better reputation and attract more players. 

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Yeah... when monkeys fly out my butt.

Spathotan

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azhrarn

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Where the hell have you been?

Wildcat84

Yeah, we see how well that technique has worked for SWG.

KillerJimmy

So many game companies are run by a bunch of idiots. All they do is point the finger at paying customers saying this or that is their fault!

If I buy some shoes and the sole blows out after a week of normal use and I take them back to the store and they say it's *my* fault....they won't have my business in the future. I will also become bad advertising for the company, telling people what they have to offer. Then I will be the vocal minority who is causing all of the problems the company has. Let's back up the friggen bus and see where the problem is!

Rekrul

Wasn't Horizons right there with DnL quality-wise, and died before it even launched?

Antarious

"Wasn't Horizons right there with DnL quality-wise, and died before it even launched?"

Well I didn't really have my hype over Horizons.  My GF saw a video for it and wanted to try it.  I thought the video looked like crap.. but it talked about players building like a fort and having to defend it... being able to be a dragon blah blah

So we pre-ordered it.  If I remember right Atari (I think) was publishing it for them.  More or less funding it and it was pretty much released because they ran out of development money.

The game pretty much functioned at release.. it was just.. Basicly none of the stuff you saw in the video was in the game.  A lot of areas didn't really have mobs.

The billing system was more or less run on a website for a company that also billed for porn sites... was almost impossible to cancel (just like now.. some things never change).

You logged in through the web site.. so if the website went down you couldn't log in.. even tho the "servers" were up.

My GF played an Elemental Archer.. was probably the highest on the server.  Then those got nerfed.. so we left.

There wasn't enough postive stuff going on in the game.. to worry about nerfing classes.. even if you got very high level there was no uber loot.. or vast amount of money to be made.

Oh and if I remember right you supposedly would have to play a year of "in game" time to fly as a dragon.  I think it wasn't really all that long ago that some player dragons got to fly.

I did go back for a free (no credit info needed) trial but.. it just wasn't there.

I logged into a Anarchy Online froob account.. way more people... the "in game" ads fit the game theme.. Not that its directly relevant.. but I guess the big suprise to me is that Horizons is even still around at all.  Well.. I guess that means SWG has about another 10 years left in it *.*.

jrscott

Most businesses are run on the premise of giving the customer the least possible product for the greatest possible price, thus ensuring the maker of that product profits.  It becomes more apparent over time that entertainment companies cannot be run this way. 

When computer games were part of an immature industry and created by people who loved them, they were far better.  The product out of Hollywood was far better when it was created as a form of art, instead of this new model of special effects, sex, and zero real content.  The thing both have in common is that when they started, both industries were run more for the sake of running them and less for the "stockholders".  I know it sounds blasphemous, but stockholders are destroying our planet far quicker than lawyers, politicians, and even terrorists.

Anyhow, before I go off the deep end on another discussion, I'll try to make my point.  The Gaming industry is run like any other, when it should be handled more as an art form.  When the corporate need overrules the art form, we the players notice and resentment is generated.  And the businesspeople in charge cannot accept that it is more difficult in the Entertainment industry to shovel substandard crap down our throats than it is in other industries.  If you buy a screwdriver and it breaks, you just go get a replacement or maybe a refund, end of story.  If an entertainer wastes your time, you have no way of getting it back, and feel robbed.  Of course you complain and tell your friends not to waste their time.

And these companies also like to throw around that word "minority" to describe anyone that disagrees with them.  I don't think it means what they think it means. 

chlaos

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Originally posted by azhrarn


Yeah... when monkeys fly out my butt.

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   Ouchhhh.....