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SWG past and present, a case for empathy
ArcAngel3
Member Posts: 2,931
I was watching a news item today on the demise of the Avro Arrow. For those of you that don't know, it was a revolutionary fighter jet (cutting edge technology at the time) that was designed and built in Canada. It was the first of its kind and the Canadians that designed and built the prototype were absolutely thrilled. They invested a lot of time, energy, creativity and emotion into it. Those that worked on it together formed a very close knit community as well.
Well that community was shocked and horrified when a Canadian politician sought votes by promising to cancel the Arrow program and destroy any and all of the planes that had been made. Design schematics, everything had to go. That politician won the election, and practically overnight, all the work and dreams of this community of engineers etc. were dismantled and disguarded.
Why would I mention this on an SWG forum? Well what struck me was that these people who lost what they designed and built together still regard the dismantling of their work as "an open wound" according to the news commentator. Some employees defied instructions and kept design blueprints of the jet, or other bits and pieces of the incredible project they developed. Those bits and pieces now sell for incredible amounts of money. Why? Because they are all that's left of a dream--a dream that many feel was unjustly dismantled by a man who was looking for a quick way to get more votes.
Some people, particularly those affiliated with the government that came to power, might say, "get over it, it was just a plane for goodness sake." They might also say, "that happened decades ago (literally), stop crying about it." Honestly, the people that say that are truly missing something significant. They are completely oblivious to the meaning this project had to those involved. They don't understand the investment, the pride, the sense of accomplishment and team work that was involved; and they don't recognize that it was all ended in a manner that felt simply unjust, by a man that appeared to be seeking his own political gain.
I'm not saying that a virtual world like SWG is the same as a technological masterpiece that would have changed a nation's place on the world stage. No, I'm not saying that at all. But, what I am saying is that many people fail to put themselves in the shoes of others who invest in something and then grieve when that something is lost, especially if the loss feels arbitary or unjust.
Food for thought: If you feel inclinced to criticize or belittle someone else's experience of loss at some point, take a moment to consider that you may be missing something important. You may not understand the investment someone has made in something, or the meaning that something had to them. If you take the time to reflect on that, you may avoid saying something insensitive, and you may find yourself better able to consider things from more than one point of view.
Comments
SWG is over. Not even classic would do anything at this point. Time for them to PAY. SOE is failing as SWG is failing, and when the MMO industry bubble bursts ala dot com 2001-2002...
I don't see many who are involved with SOE or SWG having a job in the industry 2 years from now.
Note the names, note the projects they end up on. They are warning labels.
I had a dream once. Smed was living under the Ironton-Russell Bridge. He didn't even have a Van down by the Ohio River.
Smed's future address
Well said, ArcAngel.
I think, to punctuate one of your points, part of the problem is the sheer capriciousness of the changes that were made. It was casual, with not the slightest thought as to what impact it would have.
One thing that struck me in particular was the change of the UI by the NGE that made the game impossible to play with one hand. That has since been corrected. But at the time, it was the thoughtlessness of the change that struck me so very hard, even harder than the thoughtlessness of other aspects of the NGE. They were basically telling a lot of disabled players that not only did they not care, they could not be bothered to care about those players.
CH, Jedi, Commando, Smuggler, BH, Scout, Doctor, Chef, BE...yeah, lots of SWG time invested.
Once a denizen of Ahazi
They should be out there getting themselves UNdisabled!
They have nothing to do in a MMO!
I can't say I've seen any patient yet playing an MMO, but it sure would make their lives a lot more meaningful if they had the option to play.
They should be out there getting themselves UNdisabled!
They have nothing to do in a MMO!
Some disabled people have nothing to do but play games online. I work in a nursing home, and theres one girl whos somewhere around my age (and Im by no means old). She doesnt play online, mainly because the nursing home is too cheap to get good cable service for the residents. But she does play games. Ones that can be done with one hand.
Ahh, SWG, past and present you say? Just some amusing look to the past. Enter mmorpg.com's review of the NGE, dated Nov 23, 2005. The killer part is this portion towards the end:
"Whatever the case, the following is probably true: Whether you hate the NGE or love it, it will do either one of two things:
It will grow SWG back to its formal glory or it will destroy the game.
Only time will tell."
I guess we know how it ended up, right?
Good game SOE!
*high-5*
"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)
It's all good wolfmann, everyone makes a bad joke now and then.
Sadnebula .... disabled vet .. yea, it was worth it.
I can't say I've seen any patient yet playing an MMO, but it sure would make their lives a lot more meaningful if they had the option to play.
Tbh when I was recovering from surgery, the whole MMO deal was really good--took my mind off what I was feeling and gave me something to do until I regained my mobility. That kind of goes with my first message I think. You never really know at a glance what something means to someone or what function it is serving in his or her life. To someone who just logs in once in a while for kicks, losing progress etc. in a MMO might not be such a big deal. To someone who is immobilized, and who makes most of his or her community connections online, it can be an whole different story. Just being aware that other people's experience can be different and still valid, and making an effort to be respectful can make online co-existence much more enjoyable I think.I can't say I've seen any patient yet playing an MMO, but it sure would make their lives a lot more meaningful if they had the option to play.
Tbh when I was recovering from surgery, the whole MMO deal was really good--took my mind off what I was feeling and gave me something to do until I regained my mobility. That kind of goes with my first message I think. You never really know at a glance what something means to someone or what function it is serving in his or her life. To someone who just logs in once in a while for kicks, losing progress etc. in a MMO might not be such a big deal. To someone who is immobilized, and who makes most of his or her community connections online, it can be an whole different story. Just being aware that other people's experience can be different and still valid, and making an effort to be respectful can make online co-existence much more enjoyable I think.
I had SWG guildmates and personally knew people on Bloodfin who were disabled (some permanently), and whose only outlet was MMOs. Losing SWG was beyond bad for them. It's one of the reasons I'll never forgive the callous way they treated their existing customers.Linna
I can't say I've seen any patient yet playing an MMO, but it sure would make their lives a lot more meaningful if they had the option to play.
Tbh when I was recovering from surgery, the whole MMO deal was really good--took my mind off what I was feeling and gave me something to do until I regained my mobility. That kind of goes with my first message I think. You never really know at a glance what something means to someone or what function it is serving in his or her life. To someone who just logs in once in a while for kicks, losing progress etc. in a MMO might not be such a big deal. To someone who is immobilized, and who makes most of his or her community connections online, it can be an whole different story. Just being aware that other people's experience can be different and still valid, and making an effort to be respectful can make online co-existence much more enjoyable I think.
I had SWG guildmates and personally knew people on Bloodfin who were disabled (some permanently), and whose only outlet was MMOs. Losing SWG was beyond bad for them. It's one of the reasons I'll never forgive the callous way they treated their existing customers.Linna
Well hell, if I was disabled in some way I know I'd certainly be playing MMO's to pass the time. As a matter of fact in 2003 I was off work for a few months with a knee injury. I went back to work 2 weeks after the release of SWG, and god I wish I had that for duration of my time off. I was going out of my mind having almost nothing to do and being quite immobile.
It's a shame really, as so many have said before me. This could really have been a great game if only someone else would have gotten their hands on it first..
thank you so much for posting this arc!
it just feels good to read something like that and it prooves that the person who posted the above has something in his head, brain and intelligence to understand what happend to swg veterans... it prooved that you know what astethics, diversity and beautiness is...
its feels good to be understood, thank you...
"You must be either retarded or a fanboi..."
dude I feel so sorry for you... I just dont know what to say and you cant imagine how angry I get when I think about it..
"You must be either retarded or a fanboi..."
Thats why i say the law has to change about MMO.
Whatever Customer built is in the game like char progress, items should be property of the Customer. Any change to the underlying software should not change the value in the negative or compensate for the lost value.
If this would have been applied law back 2005 , there would have be $OE no more now and all were happy.
Normally no customer should agree to an EULA lacking some similar paragraph.
-----MY-TERMS-OF-USE--------------------------------------------------
$OE - eternal enemy of online gaming
-We finally WON !!!! 2011 $OE accepted that they have been fired 2005 by the playerbase and closed down ridiculous NGE !!
"There was suppression of speech and all kinds of things between disturbing and fascistic." Raph Koster (parted $OE)
its just funny, because now after 2 - 3 years, people are still yelling for pre-cu and SOE has not even the sense of decency to at least explain the vets of why there won't be a rollback or try to let them know that they feel really sorry of what happend...
instead they act like "we wont say sorry because else it would be a proof of what a great failure the NGE was, we stay pride..."
its just such a shame..
I really would like to talk with John Smedley eye to eye and try to explain him that this is not a way of treating customers..
"You must be either retarded or a fanboi..."
It could have been a great game had the developers listened to the folks who quit and added content. Instead they took a sledgehammer to the game mechanic. Somehow, the folks at SOE interpreted "add content" to mean "revamp the game".
The mian problem was that it was easier to get LEC to okay game mechanics changes than quest content. The primary reason was that the quest ideas the folks at SOe came up with would have ignored most of the Star Wars lore. Look at what has been added, and how far away from Star Wars it is. Think about how bad the stuff LEC rejected must have been.
dude I feel so sorry for you... I just dont know what to say and you cant imagine how angry I get when I think about it..
Don't feel sorry for me. Feel sorry for one of my guildies who lost the use of one of his hands in a traffic accident, who had both combat and crafting toons on Ahazi, was an avid and skilled PvP player and a kickass armorsmith who had his game taken from him.
Now he's pwning all sorts of people in WoW who don't just make changes that screw over the disabled without a thought.
Feel sorry for SOE who basically told him "we don't want your money go away."
CH, Jedi, Commando, Smuggler, BH, Scout, Doctor, Chef, BE...yeah, lots of SWG time invested.
Once a denizen of Ahazi
Maybe a bad joke, but exactly the reply I've gotten in other fora where this came up as one of the blunders of the NGE.
It's just what the "new audience" would think about it.
And yes, I have been disabled myself, both due to work injuries and army injuries. For a few months of my time in SWG, I had to play with one arm, as I had injured some nerves in one of my arms..Still love the army tho