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We should ban together against SOE
kaibigan34
Member Posts: 1,508
I see some very intelligent and well thought out posts of late against SOE. Not posts like my usual rants against SWG.
I think we need to ban together and try to affect change. Wont cost us anything. Just time. And if it can fix SWG and maybe help prevent the same happening to EQ2 then why not?
If your with me on this then lets try to get something sorted out and work on a plan. I made in post in the general SWG forum about banning together. Lets think of some ways to make SOE and LA stand up and take notice.
Remember wookies got armor from banning together.
Kai
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
Frankly unless SOE plans to pay me for being a consultant I'm not interested. But feel free to use anything I've written on the forums
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
Sig image Pending
Still in: A couple Betas
BTW Elnator, would you play SWG again if they changed back the group xp system? Or have you finally had enough?
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MMOs Retired From: Earth and Beyond, Project Entropia, There, A Tale in the Desert, Star Wars Galaxies, World of Warcraft, Eve Online, City of Heroes/Villains.
MMOs Currently (worth) Playing: None.
MMO hopefuls: Age of Conan.
I haven't had time to chime in on any of these threads, but I just wanted to say that the recent XP nerf in SWG is one of the most idiotic decisions I have ever heard of a dev making in one of these games. SOE does some pretty boneheaded stuff now and again, but there has to be some sort of special psycho loony on the SWG team. I doubt SOE will pay any attention to anyhting that you do, but if you can talk some sense into the SWG team more power to you.
I don't want to write this, and you don't want to read it. But now it's too late for both of us.
Seems like whenever anything changes in SWG, everyone has to a bitch about it, everyone. Everytime a change is made I get idiots IM'ing me asking me to sign his squads petition.
Noone cares. Theres a reason they make the games and you play them.
I have an opinnion, ban me.
This is exactly why SWG is in the states in now. Either people turned a blind eye because they didnt think they could do anything about it (wookie armor proves we can) or they think its SOE's job and hence dont need to do anything.
Game companies rely on these additudes to get away with what they do. Releasing buggy garbage. All because they know we wont do anything. Well its time to stand up and say "No more!" and I cant think of a better company to set our sights on then SOE. Maybe just maybe by showing just how organized people like us can be we might send a message out to all game companies and gamers. That change can be affected.
We wont know if we dont try.
Kai
SoE doesn't care what you do, as long as you pay that monthly subscription fee.
SoE Accounting Dept. don't judge the health of the game (how much profit it makes) by counting the forum posts, they judge it by counting active subscriptions (dollars earned per month).
How many active subscriptions does SWG have ? Only SoE knows that for sure, but it's probably more than 100,000 without a doubt. How many people visit the forums, and of those, how many actually post ? Perhaps 1000 posts per day ? I doubt it's even that much.
So 100,000+ active subscribers, with 1000 angry posters (often the same posters) in the forums every day ? SoE looks at that and says: "Hey, we're doing great ! Only 1% of our playerbase is unhappy ! Let's roll out that next XP nerf, the players must love them !"
Oh yeah, the example of player action that you used in your SWG Forums post starts with "A long time ago...". Recent events suggest that player actions no longer have any effect. And nowadays, a "Sit-in" will get you banned very quickly for "negatively affecting other players' game experience".
Nevertheless, I wish you good luck, and genuinely hope that you achieve some success. I have given up all hope, my subscriptions are cancelled.
the way you vote against big companies is with your money. Their focus is not the "best game" but to make and keep as many subscribers as possible, which means a very friendly newbie experience but not much in the way of rewarding your older players.
Why on earth would I want to ban together against a company that brings so many quality games for me to play?
Seems completely counterproductive.
SWG, Bloodline Chronicles, Splitgold Saga (yes I said that), Aftershock, MxO?? Yah such wonderful quality games.
I should reword things better. The people who are unhappy with SOE should ban together.
Kai
Absolutely, there is only one way to organize and show you mean business. Mass cancellations. The only language a game company understands is active accounts vs cancelled accounts. Cancelled accounts hits them where they live, you organize a mass account cancellation, you'll get some attention, but only if you stick with it. I've been saying this for years now, vote with your dollar, leave a little note as to why (not a rant, but a short, concise message) and then stick with your decision until the company improves things.
Back in the day I used to be a rabid EQ fan, but then the gameplay started to morph into something I couldn't stand anymore, so I quit and when DAOC came out, found a new home. But I had noticed that EQ started to incorperate a lot of features their competitors had come out with. Hmmm, funny how that worked. They lost subscriptions to rivals, then brought in the elements the rivals had used to lure people away. Postitive change for the players happened because of one reason and one reason only. They took their money elsewhere. SOE literally banks on your being nothing but a disgruntled, paying voice that will be ignored until you stop paying. Enough of you stop, even the oblivious giant takes notice.
Even peace may be purchased at too high a price, and the only time you are completely safe is when you lie in the grave.
That's funny. I recall their subscription numbers continually increasing regardless of what game was released. It's amusing what fanaticism does to your perception.
LOL .... truth
Have fun
Erillion
FIRST you and everyone must understand that BOTH SOE AND LucasArts run SWG. Not just SOE. Get 1 or both of them, and you will succeed in whatever goals you are trying to do.
What ideas do you have about "banning together"?
What should everyone do?
1. Make a petition and have as many posters as possible sign it?
2. Visit the SOE headquarters over in Texas and have everyone stand outside and protest?
3. Find out where Smeadly lives and stand in front of his house and protest? (The head of SOE)
4. Find out where Heideki Idei lives and stand in front of his house and protest? (The supreame emperor of SONY!)
5. Any other ideas?
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The few times I have seen customers affect SONY:
-> Back when Lowes Theaters got taken over by SONY, they re-named it Sony Theaters. At issue was the idea of a great American icon, and company, selling out to a foreign company. Along with shoddy service. Along with a host of other stuff - (Asians, and Asian-Americans refusing American customers in America. Refusing to post English on their signs. Treating Americans ... in America... as if they were living in Asia and not in America! And more...) The service never got better. Over in New Jersey the 2nd worse ever anti-Asian riots in USA history happened. Anyone who looked Asian got their asses beaten on the sidewalks and in the streets... as police stood by and watched.
(The worse ever anti-Asian stuff in USA history was during and after WW2 when anyone who "looked Japanese" or looked Asian.... was grabbed, and put in concentration camps in... Germany? Nope! In American concentration camps located in the good ole USA! The movie "Karate Kid" has a scene that touches on it when Mr Miagi gets drunk and tells what happend to his wife inside an American concentration camp!)
People went in the streets and marched. People visited the Sony Theater over in Ridgefield Park, NJ (it was the largest theater east of the Mississippi. At present time its now either the 3rd largest, or in a 3 way tie with the 2 new mega-theaters recently opened in NYC on 42nd st near 8th Ave.). The CEO of SONY got off his lazy ass, and came in person to NJ. He pleaded, and begged for mercy. Sony Theaters changed the name back to Lowes Theaters, and improved service. Funny thing is, SONY still owns "Lowes" Theaters heheh LOL!
-> SWG customers, and SW fans, rallied against SOE and LucasArts. At issue was LucasArts and SOE trying to shut down, and sue, some major, major, loooongtime Star Wars fans, and Star Wars gamers, and a little tiny game they made. Over in the SWG forums, I (and others) rallied players against SOE, AND against LucasArts. And we WON! SOE and LucasArts tried to shut down Star Wars Combine, a player and fan created site that existed for years. Everyone succeeded!
->Over in the SWG forums I went head to head with one of the game DEVs. We exchanged email messages. At issue was me and other loooogtime fans of SWG posting screenshots, and info about SWG. It was over LucasArts going around SOE and releasing secret screenshots to a game site. I succeded LOL!
-> EQ2 customers rallied against SOE. At issue was a ton of stuff about EQ2. Its designe, and tons of other stuff. Smeadly responded by .... believe it or not... paying for round trip tickets for many EQ2 fans to FLY out to SOE headquarters, and meeting with them in person! Everyone succeeded!
-> The SWG game DEVs (lead by Holocron aka Raph Koster) AND SWG customers went against SOE and LucasArts. This happened on the old SWG forums. At issue was stopping SWG from getting released far too early. Everyone succeeded!
Basically we can do nothing.
They either want us to, "Shut up and play the game! And let me swim in other peoples money."
Or
"Get the **** out of our game! And i'll eat the money you gave me."
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I Do Whatever My Rice Krispies Tell Me To.
-> Sometime much later the players banned together to get wookies armor. Originally SWG developers were strong against. Even going so far as to say there was nothing the players could do to get wookie armor since it went against continuity. (Odd they would say that with as many jedi as there are) The players won and wookies got their armor. However the developers led everyone to believe they were planning it all along afterwords.
-> A crafting nerf was due to come down from TC. The players, after going on TC and seeing just how bad it was, rallied together. The nerf went live but was quickly rolled back 24 hours later.
-> One player, tired of no real GCW, made a call to SPE customer support. He then posted on the forums what he did. Several others followed suit. The initial reaction from the developers was calm just saying it wasnt important. But as time went on the reaction grew more frenzied and anxious. The next morning several threads were locked and deleted by developers and mods. A few days later the big vote was put on the forums for what players wanted in the GCW and later became the base system we have now. (SPecial note: Not sure if this was just good timing or really did have something to do with the calls made)
And while you say LA and SOE run it I am beginning to have my doubts. After dealing with a few other games with licenses I am beginning to wonder if maybe SOE bought the license for this area and have control based on a contract. Not saying your wrong. Just saying I dont know anymore. Seems kind of blind for LA to let SWG get this bad. It is actually hurting Star Wars at this point. I know of several people who will never watch another movie or get anything even remotely star wars thanks to SWG.
Anyway nice post.
Kai
That's funny. I recall their subscription numbers continually increasing regardless of what game was released. It's amusing what fanaticism does to your perception.
Now that is ironic for you to say, because A) at that time, SOE hid the number of active players on any given server, and
they did not disclose how many active players they had nor how they figured active accounts. Now a more objective thing to say would be that as you visited various servers at peak times, there was no noticeable drop in players that you could encounter.
Which as I watched my room-mate at the time play EQ, was clearly not the case. In fact, several of the higher population servers prior to my leaving had several guilds fall apart due to members moving on to other games. Often I would hear him cussing inside his room as yet another raid fell through due to insufficient numbers of people participating and comments from other mutual friends about how their servers had a noticeable decline of fellow players.
Is this a mass exodus? I grant you no, it's not. But quite a few features from rivals did in fact, make their way into EQ, and yet you would have me believe that SOE did this out of their kind hearts? But as you said, it's amusing what fanaticism does to your perception.
Even peace may be purchased at too high a price, and the only time you are completely safe is when you lie in the grave.