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Postive signs from LucasArts
ArcAngel3
Member Posts: 2,931
Sign number 1 (imo): Parting company with Jim Ward. Wasn't he the guy that was running the show at LucasArts when SWG was gutted?
Sign number 2: Giving the StarWars IP to Bioware after SOE seemed to butcher it utterly.
Why SOE doesn't make these kinds of executive changes based on what has happened in SWG, I'll probably never understand.
Comments
Smedley managed to shift blame and kick it downstairs. Dan Rubenfield and Jeff Freeman got the axe, to be replaced by Helios. Smedley did what he is so very good at -- he protected the Smedley.
fishermage.blogspot.com
remember while soe was responsible for day-to-day management/changes at the end of the day LA could have nixed the cu/nge
as they have the final say in all things star wars. that's why i dont understand why so many are all a twitter over swtor so soon. you are still dealing with LA. oh, and a company owned by EA. two bad things that wont go great together.
I just don't see them both coexisting for any length of time.
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Ten Golden Rules Of Videogame Fanboyism
"SOE has probably united more gamers in hatred than Blizzard has subs"...daelnor
Do we even know if these people exist.... or are they just alias's for smed to blame for distraction techniques
"Obi-Wan Kenobi: We were decieved by a lie; we all were. It appears that SOE is behind everything, including the NGE! After the death of CU, the NGE became their new apprentice."
Exactly. The real reason that the NGE was never rolled back or Pre-CU servers allowed to run alongside NGE servers was that Smedley's bonuses would be endangered.
Come play LOTRO with us. SWG is almost over.
I think Sign#1 says it all, actually. Ward was the one running the show - he authorized The Force Unleashed for every platform including alarm clocks, EXCEPT for PCs. Stands to reason he'd authorize the abortion that the NGE was/is/always will be.
Now Sign #2 is interesting, especially for those who saw the E3 announcement and know the history. Bioware had a HUGE falling-out with Lucasarts after KOTOR was released (I thin kit was actually during production of KOTOR II, or maybe just before it started). It's possible Ward had something to do with that too, though I'm not sure of details. Words were thrown around like "We'll never work with them again", "they're impossible to deal with", etc. And yet, here we are, with arguably the greatest cinematic trailer for an upcoming game released to date, and also likely the most expectations of any game to date.
Remember when SOE was brought back under SCE from the Motion Picture side? Everyone thought it was The End of Smed, including me. When that didn't happen, I realized how corrupt Sony was top to bottom. That was the only reason I could think of as to why SOE doesn't make those types of executive changes.
There's a sucker born every minute. - P.T. Barnum
It has always been my contention that Smedley has, to cast the best light on it, 'massaged' the financial figures he sent up to Sony Entertainment.
Think about it.
He overpaid for EQ2 in the hope it would capture the D&D crowd - but they went to WoW and for years EQ2 underperformed. SWG was undermarketed and under-suported; when he 're-engineered' it, subscriber numbers literally collapsed. With the Matrix Online, he took one of the most powerful creative franchises in modern times and ran it into the ground. He bought Vanguard off the peg but it was an unfinished game.
How has he survived?
Because no one at Sony Online understood the figures he was sending them. As subscribers to individual games fell off, Smedley disguised this by only listing 'Station Pass' figures. As revenue from subs fell, he substituted them with expansion sales. At every turn he has tried to push RMT down the throats of the subscribers - the TCGs are the prime example of this.
In other words. Smedley understands how to generate quarterly profits but he doesn't know how to sustain and grow subscriber base revenue. Luckily for him, Sony has always been about consoles and doesn't understand PC games. So long as he keeps making financial targets he sets himself, he'll always be in place.
I stand by my theory that he is gone just before or just after the release of the Agency (I'll give a buffer of 2 months either way).
But regardless when he does go it'll be to "pursue other interests" rather then being "let go". They'll let him leave with the remnants of his personal ego in tact I'm sure.
Smed is simply the incompetent manager who somehow can't get fired. Even after taking his company from #1 to #not even worth mentioning during the greatest BOOM time in the MMO market. He leads a charmed life.
Because he's the only senior manager in Sony with experience of PCs AND MMORPG. Everyone else in Sony is all about consoles and 1 x, 2x or 4x TV play. Admittedly Smedley's experience is one of persistent and disastrous incompetence but it is experience nonetheless.
remember while soe was responsible for day-to-day management/changes at the end of the day LA could have nixed the cu/nge
as they have the final say in all things star wars. that's why i dont understand why so many are all a twitter over swtor so soon. you are still dealing with LA. oh, and a company owned by EA. two bad things that wont go great together.
Point number one: The guy calling the shots at LucasArts at NGE time is history: buh-bye. That's an important development for me.
If the Smedster was shown to the door, it would be the first sign to me that SOE might become a reputable MMO company someday.
As it is, the same guy is still at the Titanic's helm, and the passengers on the lower decks are still rioting (referring to the forum explosion over the latest TCG Friday feature posted in the SWG forums--where you are not allowed (if you're a player) to post about the TCG).
So, Ward is history, and the StarWars IP is being given to a company with an excellent track record for quality. Does this guarantee good customer service? I don't think so, but it is imo two positive signs.
technically, they have a whole fleet now, and there are 'some titanics' and some 'not'......
"We aren't going to ... Period. End of statement."
ya. ok. whatever.
but what do i know, i'm only a vanbois i'm told.
That kind of thinking is exactely why Wall Street and the Banking Industry is collapsing today.
Well here's the story from the grapevine (i.e. rumour-mill): Ward had a reputation for putting release deadlines ahead of quality. Bioware has a reputation for putting quality first and taking pride in their work. The result? Obsidian ends up doing KOTOR II, which is shortened and ridden with game breaking bugs. Compared to KOTOR number one, it's a dog. I tried to play it, but it kept crashing to desktop, and I was told that content was removed so that it could ship when Ward wanted it to ship.
With Ward out of the way, I'm hoping that Bioware now feels they have the time and resources to do the job right. Historically, if they can't do something right, they won't do it at all. Good on 'em I say.
As for Smed and SOE. Remember that line from Revenge of the Sith where Sidious says, "I am the Senate"? Well somehow, I think Smed is SOE. I don't know what kind of deal he made when his company became part of Sony, but he sure has weathered some storms.
That kind of thinking is exactely why Wall Street and the Banking Industry is collapsing today.
I think this observation deserves some kind of prize, truly.
Apparently LA holds an ironfist for what can and cant be done with there starwars franchise, for gods sake in the night of the museum2 in order to use Darth vader in the movie LA sent a Darth Vader watchman, as the director of the movie was explaining it, the darth vader part was the hardest part of the movie to do because the dictation of what Darth Vader could do in the movie was very strict, they had to recut the scene A LOT because the LA darth Vader rep kept telling them Darth Vader wouldnt do this, or do it like that, he wouldnt stand like thios or that, or darth wouldnt say it that way, or say that at all, I dont think the NGE was as much as sony's brainchild as we all first thought, but anger vents to the nearest possible finger point even if it is in the wrong direction as ones mind is filled with anger and clouds proper decision making, With LA that is fine, no skin off there ass, and you know that as a company and buisness model they sure wont take the hit of addmitting it, And that sticks SOE in the oh shit we are gonna take the fall for it situation, So SOE is doing the best they can with the situation, They woulda probably released ''classic'' servers already but remember they cant do that unless LA gives the greenlight.
playing eq2 and two worlds
Most of us are familiar with Rubenfield's detailed blog entry regarding exactly who did what regarding the NGE.
If you have information that proves Rubenfield was covering for Ward, I'd love to see it. You'd also have to prove that SOE's Brenlo and Freeman were also covering for Ward. I like to keep an open mind, but so far 3 people from SOE have publicly stated that the NGE was in fact SOE's brainchild. I see no reason to disbelieve them.
We know that LA gave approval for the NGE, of course. The guy at the top of the foodchain when that approval was given is now no longer with LucasArts. As I say, looks like a positive development.
On the SOE side we still have Smed calling the shots and players feeling shafted yet again with the latest TCG expansion, advertised in the SWG forums no less, where players themselves are not allowed to discuss the TCG. Yet another reason I see giving the StarWars IP to Bioware as a good step.
Also the very fact that Bioware is once again willing to work with LucasArts suggests that something has changed, and for the better.
P.S. Regarding the classic servers, Smed said very clearly he didn't have the resources to run two versions of the game. He said that a classic version would be unsupported and might suffer from game-breaking exploits. Is that true? Well with Smed, I never really know what to think tbh. If he's not blaming LucasArts though, I see no reason to do so.
I remember when i used to whine cry and specualte on something that was unchangeable and mattered so very little for years after the event was stale and unimportant.
Since this thread is about developments related to StarWars MMOs, and what this might mean for their future, I'm not sure what could be stale about that frankly.
I'm contrasting what I think are postive changes for LucasArts with the apparent status quo at SOE. This gives me some optimism for one StarWars MMO; not so much for the other.
remember while soe was responsible for day-to-day management/changes at the end of the day LA could have nixed the cu/nge
as they have the final say in all things star wars. that's why i dont understand why so many are all a twitter over swtor so soon. you are still dealing with LA. oh, and a company owned by EA. two bad things that wont go great together.
1) Lucasarts has sucked since 1999. That's when "The Phantom Menace" came out and the insane amount of craptastic games bearing the "LA" stamp of approval came out. Prior to that, LA in the 90s was a great source of games. LA has been lousy since TPM and barring a good title every 4 years or so, doesn't do squat with the powerful Star Wars name. Or any other franchise / subject.
2) As far as handing the SW MMO reins to BioWare, I'm adopting a wait and see attitude. I've been burned repeatedly with new MMOs that have been touted as "GROUNDBREAKING, EXCITING!" or "WOWKILLER." Whatever. Also, because of my experience with Warhammer Online and Age of Failure (Conan), I'm adopting a "Wait for several months and see" attitude. I'm a fan of many of BioWare's past efforts, but the MMO thing is a completely different beast. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt because of that and the fact that Blizzard had no MMO experience (at all) before WoW. But I'm past the days of blind loyalty.
"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." (First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, US Marine Corps, Soissons, 19 July 1918)
remember while soe was responsible for day-to-day management/changes at the end of the day LA could have nixed the cu/nge
as they have the final say in all things star wars. that's why i dont understand why so many are all a twitter over swtor so soon. you are still dealing with LA. oh, and a company owned by EA. two bad things that wont go great together.
1) Lucasarts has sucked since 1999. That's when "The Phantom Menace" came out and the insane amount of craptastic games bearing the "LA" stamp of approval came out. Prior to that, LA in the 90s was a great source of games. LA has been lousy since TPM and barring a good title every 4 years or so, doesn't do squat with the powerful Star Wars name. Or any other franchise / subject.
2) As far as handing the SW MMO reins to BioWare, I'm adopting a wait and see attitude. I've been burned repeatedly with new MMOs that have been touted as "GROUNDBREAKING, EXCITING!" or "WOWKILLER." Whatever. Also, because of my experience with Warhammer Online and Age of Failure (Conan), I'm adopting a "Wait for several months and see" attitude. I'm a fan of many of BioWare's past efforts, but the MMO thing is a completely different beast. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt because of that and the fact that Blizzard had no MMO experience (at all) before WoW. But I'm past the days of blind loyalty.
Good point about blind loyalty. I saw the Sony name on SWG and expected the game would be high quality with excellent customer service... Sony has taken on new meaning for me, that's one thing for sure.
As for LucasArts and Bioware, I'm also past blind-loyalty. That's why I'm looking for indicators. I think I've seen at least two positives. One negative was when they started floating ideas about RMT, especially in light of how negatively that is received (and implemented imo) in SWG.
I saw that whole thing about RMT + SW:TOR. Hilarious bit of news to watch as an outsider. Wonder if they're actually going to do it. Cash shops and all.
Having trouble beating a boss? Literally throw (real life) money at him to beat him by visiting your friendly, local cash shop for awesome gear and buffs.
"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." (First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, US Marine Corps, Soissons, 19 July 1918)
That is the problem. Smed is indeed SOE. The bastard can't get fired. Otherwise he would have been canned at the end of the first year of EverQuest 2 release (when there was a mass drop in subscriptions).
Fact is, that looking at the overal MMORPG picture.... both EverQuest 1 and EverQuest 2 are still doing okay. Especially EverQuest 2.
Like it or not... they still bring in enough revenue. More then various other MMO's like LOTRO, WAR, AOC, CoX, etc.
Add to that that Free Realms is a HUGE success. Making his RMT wet dream come true!
...The Smed isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Most of us are familiar with Rubenfield's detailed blog entry regarding exactly who did what regarding the NGE.
If you have information that proves Rubenfield was covering for Ward, I'd love to see it. You'd also have to prove that SOE's Brenlo and Freeman were also covering for Ward. I like to keep an open mind, but so far 3 people from SOE have publicly stated that the NGE was in fact SOE's brainchild. I see no reason to disbelieve them.
We know that LA gave approval for the NGE, of course. The guy at the top of the foodchain when that approval was given is now no longer with LucasArts. As I say, looks like a positive development.
On the SOE side we still have Smed calling the shots and players feeling shafted yet again with the latest TCG expansion, advertised in the SWG forums no less, where players themselves are not allowed to discuss the TCG. Yet another reason I see giving the StarWars IP to Bioware as a good step.
Also the very fact that Bioware is once again willing to work with LucasArts suggests that something has changed, and for the better.
P.S. Regarding the classic servers, Smed said very clearly he didn't have the resources to run two versions of the game. He said that a classic version would be unsupported and might suffer from game-breaking exploits. Is that true? Well with Smed, I never really know what to think tbh. If he's not blaming LucasArts though, I see no reason to do so.
at this point it is obvious what happened. a couple of months before the nge announcement went onto the station launchpad news star wars:battlefields 2 became the best selling star wars game of all time. LA probably made some rather pissed calls to smed bitching wanting to know why a game they had invested so much more into couldnt sell millions. threats were made. like going with another company if soe didnt turn swg around quick.
smed orders his dev team to shoot themselves in the foot by hurredly shoestringing the nge code together in an attempt to keep the franchise. it fails horridly. freeman takes the fall. yeah i know some people will say they worked on the nge for months but i dont buy it. anyone who played the nge right when it hit knows better. it had maybe one month of work behind it. tops.