Every SWG forum i've read, everyone is disappointed over the NGE! why cant they just make some classic servers for those who enjoyed the classic game?!
I still play occaisonally , I gave it a "fair shake" this is what i found, Charartor movement.... origonally the avatars felt realistic.... emersing yourself into your char was easy. fun, and felt natural and genuine... with a bit of experience you could feel your char taking on your personality. NGE has stripped the avators of any semilance of realistic movements. they call it "snappy" but i call it "Max Headroom on steroids" Now the charactors stand up , sit down, start to move and stop as if they were in a kestone cops silent movie played at 2X normal speed....the constant head turning following every object the cursor passes is like watching the Exorsist it may work better in combat but for all the crafters, entertainers, and ESPECIALLY role players it's a virtual nightmare...
I attended an actualy beauty contest on Valcyn server that was in its 2nd year . The scheduled event felt realistic and brought real tears of joy to many people that participated.. The community of people. the gatherings, the popular non combat events like weddings and private parties, dance productions, city and guild meetngs, even just having a special dinner in a superbly decorated cantina, you made reseverations for, that provided food , fun and entertainment... These types of events are no longer possible in NGE.
What makes matters worse is that there is no other game out there that can offer what SWG did so incredably well at providing for us. NGE did more than just abolish a couple professions , it killed the spirit of the players, i personally have watched every person i knew in this game leave it in tears... and of the few hard grinding jedi i knew, they left angry and devistated.
My only questions now are what am i supposed to do..? what is the final objective of the game? aeneA
Great editorials. They reminded me why I'm taking some time away from SWG. I tried NGE in testing and on live, and now I cringe everytime I do log on. I had three accounts and will soon be down to one.
There are two reasons I play SWG. One is the Star Wars name and my love of Star Wars. The other is the community, which added more to this game than to any others I have tried or researched. The CU was hard on my guild and the game in general, but I can't count the number of players returning from just before the CU (those that didn't give it a chance) to those that quit over a year prior due to constant bugs etc that drove them away. The majority of players that gave the CU a chance loved it, even if they didn't agree with some of the changes.
To this point no one has returned after the NGE hit and my server, Starsider, is a mere shadow of what it was. My guild of nearly 100 players has 2-4 people on at any given time instead of the almost constant 20-30 (we had people spanning the globe). It was rare to not have 2 to 3 full groups going with just my guild at most hours of the day, now I haven't seen a full group since the NGE.
While the new combat system is semi interesting, it is almost impossible to enjoy due to lag resetting your target as it runs behind you. I don't even know where to begin concerning betrayal. For those that were anywhere in the FS grind, esp those like me that were almost finished, we lost untold millions of xp that was converted at mostly 30:1 due to the grenade mess. As a bh the main loot as of late was slicing parts. When the NGE hit all of those hoarded parts for future armor and weapons were lost along with the value of them for those that just bought them. For those that had Jedi previously they became a run of the mill jedi when jedi became a starting profession. The NGE did make jedi more canon by making it starting (luke started his training without having to grind), but the old Jedi should have something just from experience that respec jedi will take a long time to achieve.
The biggest problem I see is the straight out lies to the community about changes to certain professions while the NGE was being planned. I don't know when the last time SWG looked into professions, but I'm going to guess that 1 in every 8-10 players was switching back or to Creature Handler due to the recent changes and then the new creatures on Mustafar.
I know many of these topics have been covered, but this is a more unbiased platform to present them and get some frustration off my back.
I was unfortunately never a SWG player. Although I heard great things, I just never picked it up. I almost picked it up 2 months ago, but now I am glad that I didnt.
All I can say is that I feel for those of you who had their favorite game ruined. Trust me... those of us UO players know what you mean. DAoC did this with their ToA expansion, but atleast they had the dignity of making a "Classic" server for those of us who liked the game the way it was.
All I can say is that I feel bad for SOE for making such a grave mistake, and not even consulting their public. But im not surprised they would do something so stupid.
For about a year ago, i really got my eyes up for MMORPG, and I am a star-wars fan, so SWG was the deal! i didn't get to buy it right away because my 3D-card was broken, but read a lot about it, and got more and more interested. (this was in christmas time -04.) the game looked grat! when i fixed my PC, I started playin WoW. later on, my motherboard crashed, and the Pc was out for about 1/2 year until some days ago, when i fixed it and downloaded the SWG 10-day Trial. It made me REALLY disappointed! i didn't understand those changes SoE made right before i tried it, so i got very confused, 'cause it didn't match with the stuff i've read about it. then i realized the NGE and got pissed off because in every forum about this topic, no one liked it:P, and SoE is only saying: "they just need som time to get used to it." Just reading the game lore of the "classic" verson, makes it look better than tryin' the NGE! from what I know, it was more like you developed your char. through skills, and jedi was NOT a starting profession, which sounds much better, and you became more customized in the classic verson, but in the NGE, you just follow a "proffesion program." once you have chosed a profession, you follow that program with no customization at all, and there is no "skillmeters" to upgrade like in WoW, (im not saying that it should be like wow, but those 'skills' in sword, axe, and mace mastery, and other skills is a great idea!) it is only a big, yellow XP bar at the bottom of the screen, which is also taken from WoW, and you can see what skills you get in what level. by the way, the NGE reminds me alot about WoW. it looks like they tried to make it in WoW style because it was such an success! haha
The only reason i reply to this topic, is because it is the only star-wars MMO. it is something i've dreamt about since i was a little kid, and when i knew about SWG, i got crazy in exitement! but never got to play it, only the NGE:( i write on this topic because i want those SoE dummies to realize what they've done! at least make some servers with the Classic game on it...
I have played SWG since 1 month after launch. At my play height, I had 5 accounts, 7 characters. I have played 3 Jedi, the last of which was my original character which I unlocked Jedi on 2 weeks before the NGE. I had, at one time, run a guild consisting of 300 characters. I have spent many months playing for 8 hours a day when I was the guild leader. I developed a complex leadership system within said guild. I basically spent $75 a month for almost 2 years to play this game with immense satisfaction. I would go so far as to say that at one point I was addicted to this game. Since the NGE went live I have played for a total of six hours. I cancelled all of my accounts last week, including my Elder Jedi! SOE has the WORST customer service I have ever seen in a company. They do not listen to their customers and fire their PR people when they voice customer's concerns. SOE tests the game in a very quick and unacceptable timeframe which leads to live bugs. I have seen bugs that make parts of the game completely unplayable that it takes SOE a year to fix. This game has gone from the best Star Wars game I have ever played, to the worst in a matter of two weeks. DO NOT BUY OR PLAY THIS GAME!!! Please let this game die in peace as it is no longer worth paying $15 a month for. If you want any specifics, let me know via e-mail. I have 2 years of my life that I apparently wasted, someone might as well learn about it.
The NGE bummed me out. I am honestly very sad to say good-bye to it. I quit playing a few weeks after the first CU andbut then returned because I craved the community. I had been a dancer/tailor since launch. Inspite of my lack of advertisement, I became a tailor because of my clothes fetish, I made good money. I thought the NGE was a joke. I was laid out on the floor shocked when I learned it was true.
I struggle at the concept of the NGE. I gave it my very best shot. I played an entertainer post NGE and slowly saw my fellow entertainers fade away. Not willing to give up my entertainer status I made a bounty hunter server. The space station was fun but when I left I grew bored very quickly. I found no purpose in their profession quests. It was a lot of running around for very little exp and money.
I guess what really chaps my hide here is that I feel as if the vets are being talked down to by hearing "this is what the focus groups said" and "this will make it feel more star warsy". What kind of idiots do they think we are? I feel very betrayed by their untimely announcement of the NGE. I have theories as to why the NGE was not announced or President Smed's letter came too late. You can email me if you want to hear them.
As for the Roleplaying aspect of the game that died completely for me when the NGE came along. As it killed my characters complete biography by restricting my profession. The game play was very frustrating the first two days as I was confused as to what was still around and what they killed. After I got the hang of things I realized that I was nothing but stupid bored. Targeting was nightmare.
Good luck to anyone who continues to play or will try it out. I hope that they create as fond as memories as I do.
I will keep my cherished memories and crazy stories close to my heart and I'm sure where ever I go now I'll create more.
Originally posted by MX13 Here's a question for anyone at LA or SOE: Fine, you change the game completely, so why won't you give me my prepaid subscription back? SOE & LA: You're a bunch of thieves. It's Deceptive Practices and I hope you enjoy the letters from the BBB. To MMORPG: What do you think about them REFUSING to offer refunds? I've asked and they said no. IMO: This is like LEasing a BMW for years, you go to trade it in, you sign a new lease, and when you go to pick up the car they give you a 3 year old Honda.
Really, it's more akin to you watching a movie and not liking a plot twist half way through.
There's not much that can be done and as far as I know, legally they have no obligation to offer refunds (although they did to those who bought Obi-Wan under the old system).
Sorry Dana, but I take offence to that statement. 3 years of my life, spending an average of 7-10 hours per day living in a virtual Star Wars World, running a large guild,attending wedding ceremonies, becoming mayor of a large city, working to build a pre-cu jedi knight and crafting wares and seeing my company's(yes, I had an in game company that was thriving) profits soar....And you relate this to a 2hr movie?/?
Many of us true hard core SWG fans are emotionally distraught by this abomination known as the NGE....the life we have known for almost 3 years is gone...never to resurface again...
As you truly do not know how we feel, or how much this "virtual world" and all it encompassed meant to most of us, please refrain from making ignorant comments.
If you read the official forums of SWG you realize that this game's end is near. unless SOE will keep it running with a player base of less than 10000 players...
That is what we call sawing the branch your sitting on.
It's a total shame for us to want the days gone by. I don't think SWG will completely die on American servers...yet. They're pushing it hard core for the Christmas season. The commercials...albiet cheaply done in my opinion...will draw certain customer base. The problem game will have is very little word of mouth. People go where their friends are and how many of the people we played with are still around?
It's all very sad. Especially since the server stability is still awful, the lag is worse for me than it has been awhile, and I just upgraded my computer. The bugs have made the game virtually unplayable and they don't seem to be doing much about it. Although Jedi's now have armor. Most of the ones I've seen still use a different weapon other than the lightsaber though, a rifle yeilding jedi, that's real star warsy....
I have so many problems with the NGE that I'm not sure which one is the worst. I went into it with a positive attitude like maybe it wouldn't be "that" bad. Then I played....and thought ok this is not fun so I'll make it fun. Well that was near impossible because people were off on Mustasfar doing whatever people did there and theycouldn't talk cuz they had to shoot...Then I got into combat and I couldn't talk...I could only aim, shoot, and agro unintended targets. I gave up before I got too frustrated.
Originally posted by chronictron What do u mean what former glory? zThat game when it was created was something different..not like other games..it was bad @$$ cause it was unique
Like I say all the time.... an improvement would be a rollback to 6 months after release.
---------------------------------- 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.
And I disagree completely with SOE and LA "Star Wars Experience" philosophy.
I played almost 2 years as a creature handler. Exploring, hunting, taming on planets around the SW universe. I felt very Star Warsy. But then, along came the CU upgrade which all but destroyed my fun doing that.
So I started over on another server, spent 6+ months leveling up a Bio-Engineer with rifleman skills. I could craft, I could sample DNA, and I could fight alongside my guildmates.
Now, with NGE, SOE/LA has completely removed both professions from the game. +2 years of work completely erased. Oh yeah, I can respect my MBE into another crafting class. But then I can do nothing but craft. No fighting, no faction, no joining guild-mates or helping friends with quests. And with the wiping out of all decay of items in the game, crafting and the global economy has ground to a halt.
Result? Canceled accounts. I will never go back to SWG as long as it is in it's current incarnation. And I personally know over 100 people who have taken the same action.
The game is dated graphically. It is over-run with l337 Jedi's. Is it going to attract more new players than they lost?
Extremely doubtful.
Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens. J. R. R. Tolkien
Don't believe the lies of soe, people are cancelling their accounts in droves. My wife and I cancelled our 3 accounts because of the nge.
One they have all but killed crafting, not that I was a crafter but I have freinds that it has affected. There is no more decay and everything you need for the game you can loot.
Second they say they wanted to make the game more star wars like. Having 90 percent of the players running around now being jedi doesn't seem like the time period between episode 4 and 5 that the game in suppose to be taking place in. Not to mention the fact that my wife who was a medic was able to stomp my jedi char....I don't remember Luke getting whooped by a doc.
Lastly announcing this "enhancement" right after squeezing money from its core members for the expansion pack. What an insult, the CU was bad enough but was workable, but the nge has turned an mmorpg into a first person shooter that seems to be in beta testing but people are being charged to play it.
The soe should be ashamed of the mindless dribble they put out in place of a great mmorpg, what nerve to calls this mess an upgrade and then an enhancement.
The NGE should not have been roll-out at all, not to mention in the manner in which it was done. The mismangment of this game is the sole reason one should not play it. The company can not fix bugs, adds little content, and rejects the suggestions made by it's veteran community on how we all can try and save the game. Below is a segment of an email I sent in to a newspaper reviewing the game.
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They have lost thousands of accounts, deleted former posting on it's board in regards to anouncments of it's roll-out, has deleted thousands of threads from DIFFERENT players complaining about said roll-out, and has basically been lieing to the press about how widly accpeted it is. These misleading press releases backed by no hard accounting figures has been infurating the former Star Wars Galaxies community. It is sending a signal that a subscription base entertainment comapny can sell a product, take subscription money for that product, decide after TWO YEARS that the users of the product is not using it properly and completely change it into a brand new product WITH OUT NOTIFYING IT'S CUSTOMERS.
If you had played Star Wars Galaxies at release, you would see and understand what they developed and pushed out was: 1 - Not ever ready to be implemented, i.e., IT'S BROKE! 2 - Dose not even resemble the original product in game play. 3 - Is basically a totally different game then the one that was purchased two years ago.
Sony Entertainment Online and Lucas Arts did not: 1 - Notify it's customer community at all until two weeks prior to launch of the New Game Enahncments that it was even in development. 2 - The customer community only had two weeks to test this new product out to shake out any problems, AND THERE WERE MANY yet SOE still pushed out the product in an Alpha state. 3 - Sony Online refuses to this day to communicate with it's customers about any future vision of the game other then meaning less drivel about how they will fix stuff int he future.
Please, browes through the game boards, read the gaming reviews. You certainly see there is not this postive receptive response that Julio Torres is speaking of and please do a follow interview after researching the product sales and customer complaints, thank you for your time.
Maybe making a fast action, EQII and WoW like SWG will make more money, because of the new peoples in MMO's like it, but for those who has played other MMO's before, enjoys more social, relaxing games with possibilities bring your to explore the world/Galaxy with relaxing backgroundmusic, without fighting all the time, only when it is extremely neccesary. A game with not only fighting classes, but a lot of creative classes as well. taking your speeder through dangerous swamps of Naboo, encountering native bases with foe's, but not kill them, try to make friends and alliances with the npc's, building up a reputaion, and become great! Star Wars is not about killing every foe you see, but try to make the galaxy a better place to be in (if you are a rebel of course)
You couldn't see 1000's jedi's and sith's walk around and fighting everywhere, and this is why they didn't make jedi a starter profession in the first place! it is ok with fast-action combat, but combat shouldn't be all the time! only sometimes. that makes the combat more special. did skywalker fall into battle absoluteley all the time? he fought a lot, but not all the time! and by the way, the "fast-action combat" isn't so fast for jedi's anyways:P you're just standing there, clicking rapidly on your foe, because running around, doing fancy tricks is just a waste of time... your foe hits you with melee even though you are 10ft. away:P if anyone has played the jedi knight series, will you see what star wars jedi action is like! a mixture of relaxing exploring and slackin in the big peaceful cities is what the NGE really should be like! if the SoE absoluteley had to make drastic changes, at least do it the right way;)
(P.S.: the fast actoin combat system sucks! what is fast action when you cant hide behind crates and wall? the foe hits you ever though you are hiding far away!:P it is like every battlesystem, exept the click'n wait, you have to pop the gun into the foe's nose and just stand there, holding your mousebutton 'til the foe dies!)
When I started this game in July 2003 it was a blast, it was a big adventure. I had many great times from the beginning up until the CU alpha. I won't go into the great times I had, that is another time, another place and a different set of people. I was once a very happy customer, I have been a helpful member of the community for a long time. I stuck with Pikeman through everything and eventually became the last Pikeman Correspondent. However, SOE's own actions turned me from a supporter to an advocate against them. And I know I'm not alone.
If asked what is wrong with the game, I won't be talking about the bugs that were there since the beginning, nor the imbalances, nor any graphical issues, nor the lack-luster stories and overall gameplay. No, I will be very specific and pointed in my focus: The production and marketing suits are by far the biggest problem with this game and this company. Simple and clean, that's what it is in my view.
The game may have started off with great intentions, but of course, in software reality always sets in after the initial designs. That's fine, I can understand that. But the incompetence of this group of suits is appalling. I won't even stoop to call it ignorance of what really goes on in the game and what players really want, because that implies just some missing information - this is pure incompetence and corruption. Suits.
Long before the Combat Upgrade was finally realized, there were many small to large issues that professions and players had with the game. After the initial discussion of a "combat revamp", all responses to these concerns were met with a terse "Wait for the Combat Revamp" and that was it. And the mystical revamp was delayed and delayed and pushed off for a long time. Supposedly it has been in the works for a while, only to find out the design hadn't been completed when the CU Alpha began (what a sham that was). Since that point, I have seen the true exterior of the marketing, customer service, and production departments. None of this is directed to the people who are earnest at what they do, the people just doing their jobs - the coders and others. I hope they can get out safely from this disaster.
The way you, SOE, have dealt with your customers is absolutely abysmal. The lies, the deception, the interviews where some producer will publicly deride players who have real, valid reasons for dissatisfaction. It is the producers and marketing managers, John Smedley, Dallas Dickinson etc. and so on, that are the problem and YOU are the reason the game has failed.
I do not, in any manner conceivable, believe that it was just a case of "accidental timing" that Trials of Obi-Wan was released so close to the introduction of the NGE. I see evidence and firmly believe that it was completely SOE's intention to try and draw in as much money from current players as they could before they lost them in the NGE release. It is also truly a worrying paradox that SOE would say in their interviews that 'this is what the players want' and in the same breath say they know many current players won't like it and will leave.
The advertising of Creature Handler items and pets was blatant. So soon before the announcement of the NGE that everyone knew would forever remove the profession from the game, customers were persuaded to purchase the expansion for new creatures, new CH-related items, etc. Pure deception and completely par for the course for this group of individuals. Not to mention the highly-questionable reasons given for the removal of the professions, that CH and BE comprised less than 1% of the players, when the astromech stats and GarVa's list of masteries from August clearly show that CH was listed 17/37 in professions played and 11/37 in most-mastered professions.
SOE had full knowledge that many/most current players would not like the NGE, nor the way it was handled. But it's quite clear that SOE has no care at all, no one in marketing nor production cares, about the current players. If some stay, it's a bonus. Their real and only focus is on the new crop of players they hope to win from WoW and action games. Too bad for SOE no one will ever leave WoW to play SWG, nor will people prefer SWG over Battlefront II. Why would they? In their short-sighted efforts to improve the game by dropping the veterans and drawing in new players, they fail to see that many veterans have multiple accounts that will go with them as well as the loyalty these new players will not have.
With the NGE, SOE has effectively removed crafting. There is not a response to any of the Traders' concerns at all, not even an attempt. Just a wave of the TH hand with a terse "when we have info, we'll tell you". Pitiful. Just make the announcement that you're just waiting for the numbers to drop below 1% so you can cut out all Trader classes.
I have no knowledge about what happened with Tiggs or why she was fired, but it's just another sign of the corrpution in the company. She actually did her job and at some times even tried to listen to players. How many times has TH completely misunderstood the real point of what players are complaining about, or asked for information only to disregard it or misconstrue it in passing it along? TH, you could at least try to be realistic in your responses instead of always so overly positive, it doesn't look like you're being sincere at all. The corporate-speak flows from this company in amounts that surpass the flow of the force from any group of characters in the Star Wars stories ever. The sound of it drains the life from players and darkens any prospects this game could ever have.
In the end it comes down to this: The bugs, the technical problems, the gameplay - none of it compares with the pall that the suits have cast over what could have been a great game. I don't care if the NGE makes for good "fast, actiony" gameplay. I have doubts as to it's staying power. The tutorial is great, yeah, but after level 30 it's the same old stuff, bugs and problems with a non-intuitive UI and so little diversity than before. The game is not a FPS and it's not even a MMORPG anymore. It's in the middle and that means it's not excelling at anything. There are huge pieces of this NGE that aren't even through design yet. Unique aspects of SWG have been ripped out and dull simplicity has replaced them. Even older MMOs have more variety than SWG does now. So much is lacking and yet it was pushed forward with all haste. No surprises from SOE.
I have canceled my account because of all of the above. I will never purchase anything from SOE ever again and I will firmly dissuade any family, friend, or stranger at the store from doing so as well. I see others doing the same. The cancellations from this fiasco are not like the cancellations from the CU if you look at it - people now are more resigned to it, more determined, with no turning back. This was it for many many players. SOE has completely turned them away, and the company really doesn't care at all, current players aren't the focus group they're interested in.
Honestly, I have to say I look forward to the day this game goes down in flames and the suits with it. May those employees that have been no part of the incompetence and mismanagement find your ways out safely. This is how I feel, I have my reasons and these are not the fleeting reasons of someone just irrationally upset and venting on the forums trying to incite "disquieting", these ideas have been simmering for a very long time and are very real and very grounded.
Constructive ending
This was posted by a former Corr. Who is now Banned. I think it says it all.
Now that IS a great post! good to hear things from someone who really knows the fact's instead of just complaining all the time. and by the way, i actually went from WoW to SWG, but i was a little late, and only got to try the NGE and that made me leave it. if the SoE kept it the classic way, would i've contiued playing because i've read so much about it. i dont think i am the only one who went from WoW to SWG, but SoE cant see that:P the reason WoW got the "monopoly" is not because the game is great, 'cause its not! it sucks deeply, and know many who quit it because they didn't like it. it is extremely simple made. the graphics are bad, the fighting are bad, and the levelsystem are bad (i dont like levelbased system) and you cant even battle on a horseback!:P the only reason WoW is so money makin is because of "Reputaition" the game did great in adverstisng! blizzard must be the best publishers in MMORPG! the second thing is that they were like "the beatles", if you compare it with rock'n roll. in the fifties, we had elvis, fats domino and more... they mostly got almost the same songs, but when "the beatles" came, they finally came with something new! they didn't play rockn'roll, they played something new. a mixture of all the great old songs in a new way. this is exactly what happened to wow. i dont thing any game will be as popular as wow, but at least reputaion is the next best thing, and that is what SoE should think about! you wont get a good reputation by not listening to customers. a reputation is gained by the crowd, and that is what they should work with!
When we deal with SOE, we know that the only given is that they will NEVER do anything that is customer friendly unless they are forced to. We know they will never meet any implied contract or do anything that anyone else in the business world recognizes as customer service. It's been that way for seven years now. It is obvious that only the truly excellent game content keeps anyone playing because the people we are buying the product from are very bad.
So their lying about rationale should always be taken as a given, even as the creativity of the game content should also be so taken.
Comments
Every SWG forum i've read, everyone is disappointed over the NGE! why cant they just make some classic servers for those who enjoyed the classic game?!
I still play occaisonally , I gave it a "fair shake" this is what i found,
Charartor movement.... origonally the avatars felt realistic.... emersing yourself into your char was easy. fun, and felt natural and genuine... with a bit of experience you could feel your char taking on your personality. NGE has stripped the avators of any semilance of realistic movements. they call it "snappy" but i call it "Max Headroom on steroids" Now the charactors stand up , sit down, start to move and stop as if they were in a kestone cops silent movie played at 2X normal speed....the constant head turning following every object the cursor passes is like watching the Exorsist it may work better in combat but for all the crafters, entertainers, and ESPECIALLY role players it's a virtual nightmare...
I attended an actualy beauty contest on Valcyn server that was in its 2nd year . The scheduled event felt realistic and brought real tears of joy to many people that participated.. The community of people. the gatherings, the popular non combat events like weddings and private parties, dance productions, city and guild meetngs, even just having a special dinner in a superbly decorated cantina, you made reseverations for, that provided food , fun and entertainment... These types of events are no longer possible in NGE.
What makes matters worse is that there is no other game out there that can offer what SWG did so incredably well at providing for us. NGE did more than just abolish a couple professions , it killed the spirit of the players, i personally have watched every person i knew in this game leave it in tears... and of the few hard grinding jedi i knew, they left angry and devistated.
My only questions now are what am i supposed to do..? what is the final objective of the game?
aeneA
Love Conquers All
This game must be called AN EMPIRE ENDED and not AN EMPIRE DIVIDED...
BE/CHEF canceled ( infinity server)
20 M ( credits) of ressources deleted
17M ( credits) dying in my Tatooine BANK!
thanks darth Torres!
Will NEVER buy another product of SONY and Lucas. No electronics, no games, no nothing.
Hey you soe employees, quit and I 'll hire you in my company.
Hey you Lucas, maybe you should get married again, lone life makes you kind of strange...
DIE S.O.E.
Great editorials. They reminded me why I'm taking some time away from SWG. I tried NGE in testing and on live, and now I cringe everytime I do log on. I had three accounts and will soon be down to one.
There are two reasons I play SWG. One is the Star Wars name and my love of Star Wars. The other is the community, which added more to this game than to any others I have tried or researched. The CU was hard on my guild and the game in general, but I can't count the number of players returning from just before the CU (those that didn't give it a chance) to those that quit over a year prior due to constant bugs etc that drove them away. The majority of players that gave the CU a chance loved it, even if they didn't agree with some of the changes.
To this point no one has returned after the NGE hit and my server, Starsider, is a mere shadow of what it was. My guild of nearly 100 players has 2-4 people on at any given time instead of the almost constant 20-30 (we had people spanning the globe). It was rare to not have 2 to 3 full groups going with just my guild at most hours of the day, now I haven't seen a full group since the NGE.
While the new combat system is semi interesting, it is almost impossible to enjoy due to lag resetting your target as it runs behind you. I don't even know where to begin concerning betrayal. For those that were anywhere in the FS grind, esp those like me that were almost finished, we lost untold millions of xp that was converted at mostly 30:1 due to the grenade mess. As a bh the main loot as of late was slicing parts. When the NGE hit all of those hoarded parts for future armor and weapons were lost along with the value of them for those that just bought them. For those that had Jedi previously they became a run of the mill jedi when jedi became a starting profession. The NGE did make jedi more canon by making it starting (luke started his training without having to grind), but the old Jedi should have something just from experience that respec jedi will take a long time to achieve.
The biggest problem I see is the straight out lies to the community about changes to certain professions while the NGE was being planned. I don't know when the last time SWG looked into professions, but I'm going to guess that 1 in every 8-10 players was switching back or to Creature Handler due to the recent changes and then the new creatures on Mustafar.
I know many of these topics have been covered, but this is a more unbiased platform to present them and get some frustration off my back.
SWG RIP
I was unfortunately never a SWG player. Although I heard great things, I just never picked it up. I almost picked it up 2 months ago, but now I am glad that I didnt.
All I can say is that I feel for those of you who had their favorite game ruined. Trust me... those of us UO players know what you mean. DAoC did this with their ToA expansion, but atleast they had the dignity of making a "Classic" server for those of us who liked the game the way it was.
All I can say is that I feel bad for SOE for making such a grave mistake, and not even consulting their public. But im not surprised they would do something so stupid.
For about a year ago, i really got my eyes up for MMORPG, and I am a star-wars fan, so SWG was the deal! i didn't get to buy it right away because my 3D-card was broken, but read a lot about it, and got more and more interested. (this was in christmas time -04.) the game looked grat! when i fixed my PC, I started playin WoW. later on, my motherboard crashed, and the Pc was out for about 1/2 year until some days ago, when i fixed it and downloaded the SWG 10-day Trial. It made me REALLY disappointed! i didn't understand those changes SoE made right before i tried it, so i got very confused, 'cause it didn't match with the stuff i've read about it. then i realized the NGE and got pissed off because in every forum about this topic, no one liked it:P, and SoE is only saying: "they just need som time to get used to it." Just reading the game lore of the "classic" verson, makes it look better than tryin' the NGE! from what I know, it was more like you developed your char. through skills, and jedi was NOT a starting profession, which sounds much better, and you became more customized in the classic verson, but in the NGE, you just follow a "proffesion program." once you have chosed a profession, you follow that program with no customization at all, and there is no "skillmeters" to upgrade like in WoW, (im not saying that it should be like wow, but those 'skills' in sword, axe, and mace mastery, and other skills is a great idea!) it is only a big, yellow XP bar at the bottom of the screen, which is also taken from WoW, and you can see what skills you get in what level. by the way, the NGE reminds me alot about WoW. it looks like they tried to make it in WoW style because it was such an success! haha
The only reason i reply to this topic, is because it is the only star-wars MMO. it is something i've dreamt about since i was a little kid, and when i knew about SWG, i got crazy in exitement! but never got to play it, only the NGE:( i write on this topic because i want those SoE dummies to realize what they've done!
at least make some servers with the Classic game on it...
The NGE bummed me out. I am honestly very sad to say good-bye to it. I quit playing a few weeks after the first CU andbut then returned because I craved the community. I had been a dancer/tailor since launch. Inspite of my lack of advertisement, I became a tailor because of my clothes fetish, I made good money. I thought the NGE was a joke. I was laid out on the floor shocked when I learned it was true.
I struggle at the concept of the NGE. I gave it my very best shot. I played an entertainer post NGE and slowly saw my fellow entertainers fade away. Not willing to give up my entertainer status I made a bounty hunter server. The space station was fun but when I left I grew bored very quickly. I found no purpose in their profession quests. It was a lot of running around for very little exp and money.
I guess what really chaps my hide here is that I feel as if the vets are being talked down to by hearing "this is what the focus groups said" and "this will make it feel more star warsy". What kind of idiots do they think we are? I feel very betrayed by their untimely announcement of the NGE. I have theories as to why the NGE was not announced or President Smed's letter came too late. You can email me if you want to hear them.
As for the Roleplaying aspect of the game that died completely for me when the NGE came along. As it killed my characters complete biography by restricting my profession. The game play was very frustrating the first two days as I was confused as to what was still around and what they killed. After I got the hang of things I realized that I was nothing but stupid bored. Targeting was nightmare.
Good luck to anyone who continues to play or will try it out. I hope that they create as fond as memories as I do.
I will keep my cherished memories and crazy stories close to my heart and I'm sure where ever I go now I'll create more.
Really, it's more akin to you watching a movie and not liking a plot twist half way through.
There's not much that can be done and as far as I know, legally they have no obligation to offer refunds (although they did to those who bought Obi-Wan under the old system).
Sorry Dana, but I take offence to that statement. 3 years of my life, spending an average of 7-10 hours per day living in a virtual Star Wars World, running a large guild,attending wedding ceremonies, becoming mayor of a large city, working to build a pre-cu jedi knight and crafting wares and seeing my company's(yes, I had an in game company that was thriving) profits soar....And you relate this to a 2hr movie?/?
Many of us true hard core SWG fans are emotionally distraught by this abomination known as the NGE....the life we have known for almost 3 years is gone...never to resurface again...
As you truly do not know how we feel, or how much this "virtual world" and all it encompassed meant to most of us, please refrain from making ignorant comments.
If you read the official forums of SWG you realize that this game's end is near. unless SOE will keep it running with a player base of less than 10000 players...
That is what we call sawing the branch your sitting on.
The sad thing is we loved it so much
It's a total shame for us to want the days gone by. I don't think SWG will completely die on American servers...yet. They're pushing it hard core for the Christmas season. The commercials...albiet cheaply done in my opinion...will draw certain customer base. The problem game will have is very little word of mouth. People go where their friends are and how many of the people we played with are still around?
It's all very sad. Especially since the server stability is still awful, the lag is worse for me than it has been awhile, and I just upgraded my computer. The bugs have made the game virtually unplayable and they don't seem to be doing much about it. Although Jedi's now have armor. Most of the ones I've seen still use a different weapon other than the lightsaber though, a rifle yeilding jedi, that's real star warsy....
I have so many problems with the NGE that I'm not sure which one is the worst. I went into it with a positive attitude like maybe it wouldn't be "that" bad. Then I played....and thought ok this is not fun so I'll make it fun. Well that was near impossible because people were off on Mustasfar doing whatever people did there and theycouldn't talk cuz they had to shoot...Then I got into combat and I couldn't talk...I could only aim, shoot, and agro unintended targets. I gave up before I got too frustrated.
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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.
Wow, incase you all haven't seen it, SWG got a beating from Yahoo Games!
http://videogames.yahoo.com/ongoingfeature?eid=423726&page=0
Sorry for the link off-site
I agree completely with the editorial.
And I disagree completely with SOE and LA "Star Wars Experience" philosophy.
I played almost 2 years as a creature handler. Exploring, hunting, taming on planets around the SW universe. I felt very Star Warsy. But then, along came the CU upgrade which all but destroyed my fun doing that.
So I started over on another server, spent 6+ months leveling up a Bio-Engineer with rifleman skills. I could craft, I could sample DNA, and I could fight alongside my guildmates.
Now, with NGE, SOE/LA has completely removed both professions from the game. +2 years of work completely erased. Oh yeah, I can respect my MBE into another crafting class. But then I can do nothing but craft. No fighting, no faction, no joining guild-mates or helping friends with quests. And with the wiping out of all decay of items in the game, crafting and the global economy has ground to a halt.
Result? Canceled accounts. I will never go back to SWG as long as it is in it's current incarnation. And I personally know over 100 people who have taken the same action.
The game is dated graphically. It is over-run with l337 Jedi's. Is it going to attract more new players than they lost?
Extremely doubtful.
Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.
J. R. R. Tolkien
Don't believe the lies of soe, people are cancelling their accounts in droves. My wife and I cancelled our 3 accounts because of the nge.
One they have all but killed crafting, not that I was a crafter but I have freinds that it has affected. There is no more decay and everything you need for the game you can loot.
Second they say they wanted to make the game more star wars like. Having 90 percent of the players running around now being jedi doesn't seem like the time period between episode 4 and 5 that the game in suppose to be taking place in. Not to mention the fact that my wife who was a medic was able to stomp my jedi char....I don't remember Luke getting whooped by a doc.
Lastly announcing this "enhancement" right after squeezing money from its core members for the expansion pack. What an insult, the CU was bad enough but was workable, but the nge has turned an mmorpg into a first person shooter that seems to be in beta testing but people are being charged to play it.
The soe should be ashamed of the mindless dribble they put out in place of a great mmorpg, what nerve to calls this mess an upgrade and then an enhancement.
The NGE should not have been roll-out at all, not to mention in the manner in which it was done. The mismangment of this game is the sole reason one should not play it. The company can not fix bugs, adds little content, and rejects the suggestions made by it's veteran community on how we all can try and save the game. Below is a segment of an email I sent in to a newspaper reviewing the game.
----------
They have lost thousands of accounts, deleted former posting on it's board in
regards to anouncments of it's roll-out, has deleted thousands of threads from
DIFFERENT players complaining about said roll-out, and has basically been lieing
to the press about how widly accpeted it is. These misleading press releases
backed by no hard accounting figures has been infurating the former Star Wars
Galaxies community. It is sending a signal that a subscription base
entertainment comapny can sell a product, take subscription money for that
product, decide after TWO YEARS that the users of the product is not using it
properly and completely change it into a brand new product WITH OUT NOTIFYING
IT'S CUSTOMERS.
If you had played Star Wars Galaxies at release, you would see and understand
what they developed and pushed out was:
1 - Not ever ready to be implemented, i.e., IT'S BROKE!
2 - Dose not even resemble the original product in game play.
3 - Is basically a totally different game then the one that was purchased two
years ago.
Sony Entertainment Online and Lucas Arts did not:
1 - Notify it's customer community at all until two weeks prior to launch of the
New Game Enahncments that it was even in development.
2 - The customer community only had two weeks to test this new product out to
shake out any problems, AND THERE WERE MANY yet SOE still pushed out the product
in an Alpha state.
3 - Sony Online refuses to this day to communicate with it's customers about any
future vision of the game other then meaning less drivel about how they will fix
stuff int he future.
Please, browes through the game boards, read the gaming reviews. You certainly
see there is not this postive receptive response that Julio Torres is speaking
of and please do a follow interview after researching the product sales and
customer complaints, thank you for your time.
Maybe making a fast action, EQII and WoW like SWG will make more money, because of the new peoples in MMO's like it, but for those who has played other MMO's before, enjoys more social, relaxing games with possibilities bring your to explore the world/Galaxy with relaxing backgroundmusic, without fighting all the time, only when it is extremely neccesary. A game with not only fighting classes, but a lot of creative classes as well. taking your speeder through dangerous swamps of Naboo, encountering native bases with foe's, but not kill them, try to make friends and alliances with the npc's, building up a reputaion, and become great! Star Wars is not about killing every foe you see, but try to make the galaxy a better place to be in (if you are a rebel of course)
You couldn't see 1000's jedi's and sith's walk around and fighting everywhere, and this is why they didn't make jedi a starter profession in the first place! it is ok with fast-action combat, but combat shouldn't be all the time! only sometimes. that makes the combat more special. did skywalker fall into battle absoluteley all the time? he fought a lot, but not all the time! and by the way, the "fast-action combat" isn't so fast for jedi's anyways:P you're just standing there, clicking rapidly on your foe, because running around, doing fancy tricks is just a waste of time... your foe hits you with melee even though you are 10ft. away:P if anyone has played the jedi knight series, will you see what star wars jedi action is like! a mixture of relaxing exploring and slackin in the big peaceful cities is what the NGE really should be like! if the SoE absoluteley had to make drastic changes, at least do it the right way;)
(P.S.: the fast actoin combat system sucks! what is fast action when you cant hide behind crates and wall? the foe hits you ever though you are hiding far away!:P it is like every battlesystem, exept the click'n wait, you have to pop the gun into the foe's nose and just stand there, holding your mousebutton 'til the foe dies!)
like EQII, and WoW will make SWG make money**
When I started this game in July 2003 it was a blast, it was a big adventure. I had many great times from the beginning up until the CU alpha. I won't go into the great times I had, that is another time, another place and a different set of people. I was once a very happy customer, I have been a helpful member of the community for a long time. I stuck with Pikeman through everything and eventually became the last Pikeman Correspondent. However, SOE's own actions turned me from a supporter to an advocate against them. And I know I'm not alone.
If asked what is wrong with the game, I won't be talking about the bugs that were there since the beginning, nor the imbalances, nor any graphical issues, nor the lack-luster stories and overall gameplay. No, I will be very specific and pointed in my focus: The production and marketing suits are by far the biggest problem with this game and this company. Simple and clean, that's what it is in my view.
The game may have started off with great intentions, but of course, in software reality always sets in after the initial designs. That's fine, I can understand that. But the incompetence of this group of suits is appalling. I won't even stoop to call it ignorance of what really goes on in the game and what players really want, because that implies just some missing information - this is pure incompetence and corruption. Suits.
Long before the Combat Upgrade was finally realized, there were many small to large issues that professions and players had with the game. After the initial discussion of a "combat revamp", all responses to these concerns were met with a terse "Wait for the Combat Revamp" and that was it. And the mystical revamp was delayed and delayed and pushed off for a long time. Supposedly it has been in the works for a while, only to find out the design hadn't been completed when the CU Alpha began (what a sham that was). Since that point, I have seen the true exterior of the marketing, customer service, and production departments. None of this is directed to the people who are earnest at what they do, the people just doing their jobs - the coders and others. I hope they can get out safely from this disaster.
The way you, SOE, have dealt with your customers is absolutely abysmal. The lies, the deception, the interviews where some producer will publicly deride players who have real, valid reasons for dissatisfaction. It is the producers and marketing managers, John Smedley, Dallas Dickinson etc. and so on, that are the problem and YOU are the reason the game has failed.
I do not, in any manner conceivable, believe that it was just a case of "accidental timing" that Trials of Obi-Wan was released so close to the introduction of the NGE. I see evidence and firmly believe that it was completely SOE's intention to try and draw in as much money from current players as they could before they lost them in the NGE release. It is also truly a worrying paradox that SOE would say in their interviews that 'this is what the players want' and in the same breath say they know many current players won't like it and will leave.
The advertising of Creature Handler items and pets was blatant. So soon before the announcement of the NGE that everyone knew would forever remove the profession from the game, customers were persuaded to purchase the expansion for new creatures, new CH-related items, etc. Pure deception and completely par for the course for this group of individuals. Not to mention the highly-questionable reasons given for the removal of the professions, that CH and BE comprised less than 1% of the players, when the astromech stats and GarVa's list of masteries from August clearly show that CH was listed 17/37 in professions played and 11/37 in most-mastered professions.
SOE had full knowledge that many/most current players would not like the NGE, nor the way it was handled. But it's quite clear that SOE has no care at all, no one in marketing nor production cares, about the current players. If some stay, it's a bonus. Their real and only focus is on the new crop of players they hope to win from WoW and action games. Too bad for SOE no one will ever leave WoW to play SWG, nor will people prefer SWG over Battlefront II. Why would they? In their short-sighted efforts to improve the game by dropping the veterans and drawing in new players, they fail to see that many veterans have multiple accounts that will go with them as well as the loyalty these new players will not have.
With the NGE, SOE has effectively removed crafting. There is not a response to any of the Traders' concerns at all, not even an attempt. Just a wave of the TH hand with a terse "when we have info, we'll tell you". Pitiful. Just make the announcement that you're just waiting for the numbers to drop below 1% so you can cut out all Trader classes.
I have no knowledge about what happened with Tiggs or why she was fired, but it's just another sign of the corrpution in the company. She actually did her job and at some times even tried to listen to players. How many times has TH completely misunderstood the real point of what players are complaining about, or asked for information only to disregard it or misconstrue it in passing it along? TH, you could at least try to be realistic in your responses instead of always so overly positive, it doesn't look like you're being sincere at all. The corporate-speak flows from this company in amounts that surpass the flow of the force from any group of characters in the Star Wars stories ever. The sound of it drains the life from players and darkens any prospects this game could ever have.
In the end it comes down to this: The bugs, the technical problems, the gameplay - none of it compares with the pall that the suits have cast over what could have been a great game. I don't care if the NGE makes for good "fast, actiony" gameplay. I have doubts as to it's staying power. The tutorial is great, yeah, but after level 30 it's the same old stuff, bugs and problems with a non-intuitive UI and so little diversity than before. The game is not a FPS and it's not even a MMORPG anymore. It's in the middle and that means it's not excelling at anything. There are huge pieces of this NGE that aren't even through design yet. Unique aspects of SWG have been ripped out and dull simplicity has replaced them. Even older MMOs have more variety than SWG does now. So much is lacking and yet it was pushed forward with all haste. No surprises from SOE.
I have canceled my account because of all of the above. I will never purchase anything from SOE ever again and I will firmly dissuade any family, friend, or stranger at the store from doing so as well. I see others doing the same. The cancellations from this fiasco are not like the cancellations from the CU if you look at it - people now are more resigned to it, more determined, with no turning back. This was it for many many players. SOE has completely turned them away, and the company really doesn't care at all, current players aren't the focus group they're interested in.
Honestly, I have to say I look forward to the day this game goes down in flames and the suits with it. May those employees that have been no part of the incompetence and mismanagement find your ways out safely. This is how I feel, I have my reasons and these are not the fleeting reasons of someone just irrationally upset and venting on the forums trying to incite "disquieting", these ideas have been simmering for a very long time and are very real and very grounded.
Constructive ending
Now that IS a great post! good to hear things from someone who really knows the fact's instead of just complaining all the time. and by the way, i actually went from WoW to SWG, but i was a little late, and only got to try the NGE and that made me leave it. if the SoE kept it the classic way, would i've contiued playing because i've read so much about it. i dont think i am the only one who went from WoW to SWG, but SoE cant see that:P the reason WoW got the "monopoly" is not because the game is great, 'cause its not! it sucks deeply, and know many who quit it because they didn't like it. it is extremely simple made. the graphics are bad, the fighting are bad, and the levelsystem are bad (i dont like levelbased system) and you cant even battle on a horseback!:P the only reason WoW is so money makin is because of "Reputaition" the game did great in adverstisng! blizzard must be the best publishers in MMORPG! the second thing is that they were like "the beatles", if you compare it with rock'n roll. in the fifties, we had elvis, fats domino and more... they mostly got almost the same songs, but when "the beatles" came, they finally came with something new! they didn't play rockn'roll, they played something new. a mixture of all the great old songs in a new way. this is exactly what happened to wow. i dont thing any game will be as popular as wow, but at least reputaion is the next best thing, and that is what SoE should think about! you wont get a good reputation by not listening to customers. a reputation is gained by the crowd, and that is what they should work with!
So their lying about rationale should always be taken as a given, even as the creativity of the game content should also be so taken.