John Smedley: Exclusive Interview with the SOE CEO

John Smedley is the President and CEO of Sony Online Entertainment. We had a chance to talk to him by phone last week about his company, the games they make and where they're going. Here's a sample:

"We are very focused on taking the grind out of our next round of games," he said simply. "Our next generation is not trying to do what we did in this generation." He cited The Agency, with its more mature theme, FPS elements and cinematic-storytelling as an example.

It's been a turbulent path for Smedley and SOE. The online game division of Sony began when the company purchased Verant, the studio behind EverQuest of which Smedley was a co-founder. That blossomed into "The Station", a game hub that has since been the model for the entire industry. It included EQ and a host of smaller games, like Tanarus, an online tank-combat game, whose mechanics were a forerunner to games like Battlefield.

Read more after the jump.

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Great article, and nice to finally see SOE admit to some of the poor decisions they've made in the past. SOE, I think, gets a bad reputation that is only partly deserved. They've made as many good choices and decisions as bad ones, only their bad ones are REALLY bad and higher-profile than the good.

Again, great article - but in some serious need of proofreading. If you need help, drop me a line! :-)

Revisionist, self-serving B.S. from Smedley, shame on WarCry for publishing it.

"[The mistake was] to not just think we know the right direction without bringing the fans into the mix," he explained. "We made the cardinal sin of not listening, but assuming and we were wrong."

You could believe that ... if you weren't there. The SWG team had put up In Concept and In Development boards on their forums SPECIFICALLY because of communication failures that led to customer outcry following the 'Combat Upgrade'.

SOE deliberately bypassed the process they had already promised to follow for major game changes for one simple reason: they knew that slashing costs and designing the game for a completely different audience would be MASSIVELY unpopular with their existing customers.

Deliberately not asking somebody what they'll think about something you know they'll hate is NOT the same as "not listening", and Smedley knows it.

So should WarCry ... shame on you for publishing marketing fluff. The article was one step above a pop-up ad ... maybe.

I think that's why we call it an interview. It's Smed's chance to talk and that's what he said.

They didn't listen to their fans, that's the reason he gave in his apology.

To suggest that it was intentional sabotage is absurd. Like or dislike SOE and Smed, but they didn't sabotage a game that likely brought in $5-million a month in subscriptions before the move. There are cheaper ways to "cut costs" than, you know, rebuilding the entire game.

No, that's not what I said, please don't obfuscate.

I didn't say he deliberately sabotaged, I said they deliberately chose to NOT solicit customer input, despite loudly promising to do so because of previous design changes that provoked customer backlash, because they KNEW what the response would be. They decided to chance that backlash from existing customers in pursuit of a new audience the NGE was meant to deliver -- an audience that never came. "Not listening" was not an accident, as Smedley suggests, but a deliberate choice based on cold calculation of customer reaction, NOT ignorance of what it might be.

To not challenge Smedley on his quite deliberate (and consistent with past practices) revisionism means it's not an interview, it's an advertisement. You're just giving him a platform to re-write history and not challenging him on it. That's the difference between journalism and marketing. I have no objection to you printing advertisements, but don't try to characterize them as journalism.

lepidus:
I think that's why we call it an interview. It's Smed's chance to talk and that's what he said.

They didn't listen to their fans, that's the reason he gave in his apology.

To suggest that it was intentional sabotage is absurd. Like or dislike SOE and Smed, but they didn't sabotage a game that likely brought in $5-million a month in subscriptions before the move. There are cheaper ways to "cut costs" than, you know, rebuilding the entire game.

This is in regards to the mention of the console based game EQOA and lack of expansion in 3+yrs. The emails submitted to Mr. Smedley seems to have fallen on deaf ears, since most have not received and reply back. Alot of the people that check the forums have sent him an email asking about the future of the game, since there seems to be none. Guild mailings were sent out to those that don't have computer access to inform them of the situation. Below is my email sent to him.

Mr. Smedley,

I am a week one player from a few years ago and I still play on a daily basis when time permits.
The reason I like the game so much is that it is console based and not PC based. Since the release of the PS3 allot of us have been really eager for the release of an expansion for the game we love so much which is EQOA. There is a definite market for the console mmorpg and there was quite a following until some left due to no expansion after the release of EQOA-Frontiers. This PS3 has so much potential to make EQOA very very popular. With all the enhancements to the game from the first week I started playing it has come along way. I bolster any efforts you can make with regards to making an expansion. Daemaas (Sam Parra) has the willingness and dedication to make something like this happen. He is an asset to your team.
With the acquisition of Vanguard I realize you might have your hands full ,but again this game is PC based and does not equate to a console mmorpg. You deffinitly have a market here, I hope you choose to pursue this. It is in the best interest of Sony to do so, as they will be selling allot more PS3's due to people needing them to utilize the new mmorpg designed for it. It has so much potential, lets continue the legacy of EQOA on the PS3.

One dedicated EQOA fan,

Bakamin of Ferran's Hope

Hoopczar:
No, that's not what I said, please don't obfuscate.

I didn't say he deliberately sabotaged, I said they deliberately chose to NOT solicit customer input, despite loudly promising to do so because of previous design changes that provoked customer backlash, because they KNEW what the response would be. They decided to chance that backlash from existing customers in pursuit of a new audience the NGE was meant to deliver -- an audience that never came. "Not listening" was not an accident, as Smedley suggests, but a deliberate choice based on cold calculation of customer reaction, NOT ignorance of what it might be.

He said in the interview that they assumed they were right and didn't consider player feedback.

I don't see how that's much different than what you're upset about. He admitted it and apologized.

Greetings,

I wanted to post a reply in response to the article.

To start, it is nice to see that they are positively moving in the right direction as a company, and continuing to offer a diverse plethora of games to their customers. While the immense shadow that is Blizzard looms over all these corporations, SOE continues going strong without showing any signs of being daunted. That is something to commend.

Not only are they building new titles, they are expanding their current titles, and adding more and more content to each, focussing on what that particular breed of game has to offer, instead of making something it's not. EverQUest will always be EverQuest, as will SWG always be SWG. But that is WHY they offer that amount of diversity.

As a comment, one phrase really stood out in your article. Quoting the text, you called out both Vanguard, Saga of Heroes, and Matrix Online as being "Critical Failures". The question that pops into my head, as well as a lot of other readers whom have discussed this with me, is just what makes these games "Critical Failures". An overshot estimation in player base isn't a critical failure. As a matter of fact, he said it himself. They sold over 200,000 copies of the game (Vanguard). This is hardly a failure. People realized the hard way that the system specs were a bit ahead of its time, however, I still play it to this day, despite some of the bugs. Both games, Matrix Online, and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes might not live up to monstrousities (which shall remain nameless in this segment of my reply) that dominate the market, however, they keep a very dedicated, and happy playerbase which log in, enjoy the content, and truck on. And in that, these games are not failures.

Thank you for the insight to SOE's CEO. The man shows himself as being not just the president of a diverse company, but a gamer as well.

As one of the most vocal members of the jilted SWG vets, I am quite willing to accept Smed's apology... IF he puts action behind it.

Open up classic servers with the Pre-NGE game on them. Other MMOs have done this sucessfully, including even EQ (the "progression servers"). This can be done at little cost and will do far more to heal both the wounds, SOE's reputation, and will actually make them some money considering all they need is the hardware (most SWG servers are very underutilized) and a backup tape.

That is the follow up question I wish the interviewer would have had the guts to fire back at Smed... True, it would be unfair to yank away the current game from the (tiny fraction of the pre NGE player base) that still plays it. But you can be fair to both them and those he wronged by doing classic servers. And I refuse to buy the excuse that they'd have to have LEC approval. All it takes is going to LEC, saying they want to do this, they think they will get X number of returning subs, that will make Y amount of money, and oh, by the way, this will do more to heal our reputation than ANY amount of money spent on PR...

Fact of the matter is actions speak louder than words. It's true that the current Dev team (with their now only semi-annual publish schedule) is more responsive than in the past. The problem is that players STILL are being forced to accept the premise that the NGE is the system to go with, when even now Smed admits it was a mistake. Everything needs to be on the table if he really means it.

Besides, the window of opportunity for SOE to both make money, AND heal their reputation (and cease having the NGE thrown in their face every time Platform Publishing adds a new title) by offering classic is ticking away as we speak. Sometime in the next year we will get the old game back via the emulator and community run servers whether SOE does it or not.

Once that time is reached, any SOE/LEC action involving introducing classic servers will be moot.

I believe that the chance to save SWG1 and grow it past what it once had is past. What is at stake now is saving the IP as a viable franchise for a MMO period. The sequel, even if introduced without SOE involvement is doomed before it even releases thanks to the NGE. SOE is doomed because of the NGE. They are viewed as untrustworthy, unstable, and uncaring.

Open up classic servers, Smed, if you want to prove this perception wrong, and if you TRULY want to do something to right the wrong. If you had done right, you would never have needed to apologize. You gambled your whole player base against the notion that you'd get far more by getting rid of "Uncle Owen" in favor of more casual players. You lost this gamble. Time to make good on your now admitted mistake and undo it.

Give us our game back. That is all we have ever wanted. You will never get your good name back until you do. If you truly mean what you have said, you will do this.

It is nice to see that Mr. Smedley has an ida that Everquest Online Adventures exists.

My Family and I have been playing EQOA since the beginning. I started with beta 3. We play almost everyday. Sometimes fr an hour or two, sometimes even more. We enjoy the adventures and exploration that we are able to participate in.

Though I have no problem playing a game on a computer or console, this is the only console game my Wife will play for an extended period. It has been around three years since she played another console game. She would never touch a computer game.

My Son is not allowed to be on a computer without supervision.

So, we all play EQOA. Its simple game mechanics may turn away a few people, but the world in which our adventures takes place is a vast one.

There are many dedicated players of Everquest Online Adventures. I am sure their passion for this game can equal the passion of players of Everquest and EverquestII.

So, whAt is the point of this reply? I am hoping that Mr. Smedley will have the opportunity and time to read the replies to this article. I am hoping that he will see that EQOA is not a forgotten game and that there are many dedicated players of SOEs MMORPG console game. I am hoping that with the PS3 now available, that it would make sense to bring the EQOA to the new system. Either as an expansion or a full blown sequel.

I feel that such a game, let's call it EQOA2 for the PS3, would attract new players and old ones alike. With the technology of blue-ray and the PS3, the EQOA as we know it will be given the opportunity to grow up and expand. To become even bigger and better than any other game on the PS3.

Mr. Smedley. Please talk to your developers and players of EQOA. Let us share our passion with you.

Thank you.

lepidus:

He said in the interview that they assumed they were right and didn't consider player feedback.

I don't see how that's much different than what you're upset about. He admitted it and apologized.

Sure the mistakes were not listening to the current player base and assuming the changes were the right ones to make but what that glosses over is that they didn't listen to the then current players because they knew from the start that they wouldn't like the changes and they assumed more new players would join then would quit. Not quiet the same picture that Smedley tried to paint off what went wrong and not what he apologized for.

Conrad Max:
It is nice to see that Mr. Smedley has an ida that Everquest Online Adventures exists.

My Family and I have been playing EQOA since the beginning. I started with beta 3. We play almost everyday. Sometimes fr an hour or two, sometimes even more. We enjoy the adventures and exploration that we are able to participate in.

We spoke a bit further about EQOA, but I left some of that out of the article.

To add, basically, updates are very hard because client changes have to fit on a memory stick. Thus, the company is dedicated to continued server changes (quests and such), but has its hands tied in terms of client changes. They will not be doing another retail disc because there simply are not enough players to justify it.

wildcat84:
Open up classic servers with the Pre-NGE game on them. Other MMOs have done this sucessfully, including even EQ (the "progression servers"). This can be done at little cost and will do far more to heal both the wounds, SOE's reputation, and will actually make them some money considering all they need is the hardware (most SWG servers are very underutilized) and a backup tape.

That is the follow up question I wish the interviewer would have had the guts to fire back at Smed...

I didn't go into this because we'd been over it a number of times in the past. Back in my MMORPG.com days, after the NGE, I asked exactly that question. They made it clear it cannot happen, as they cannot run and develop two divergent copies of the game.

It isn't like DAoC Classic servers, that's simply the absence of content. This is for all intents and purposes, a whole other game.

Anyway, that's the reason I got last time that issue was brought up and why I didn't bring it up again.

Apologies only mean something if there are actions taken to correct the harm done. We learn this as kids and our legal system is built on that premise.

So, Smed apologizes, but it means nothing. It has neither weight nor bearing since he takes no action to correct his "mistake".

Therefore, the failure of the NGE will haunt him at every turn and reduce his subscribers until he makes right by his apology.

Two specific cases:

1) Vanguard, admittedly a sinking ship, spawned a storm of protests when they announced that SOE was publisher. Expect this to continue with any new games that SOE publishes.
2) I am in beta for TR. Nightly, there are discussions bashing SOE for their actions with the NGE.

Smed needs to understand that this bad word-of-mouth publicity will not stop until there are Pre-CU servers and/or he is no longer with SOE.

GatheredMyst,

How long have you worked for Sony? Just curious.

Another copout, way to go Smedster. Let me make it simple for you, like you were a small, deceitful child:
1. It wasn't a communication problem, it was you knowing the answer players would give and saying to yourself: "I don't give a hoot, I'm doing it anyway!"
2. It wouldn't betray the trust of current players to release classic servers. Every MMO in the past that has destroyed a game with changes has *always* released old ruleset servers for the people who hate the new game style. Would it be bad to close down the current servers, make them all classic, leave all the items on the server as paper weights and say "too bad" to your current players? Of course, only an IDIOT would do that! You've already done it twice. Introduce Pre-CU servers along side CUNGE servers. Don't feed us this line of bunk about "It's not the same as other people who have done it!!" Give me a break, it's *exactly* the same. Here's how it works: whenever you have a new version the old code is saved in an archive and could easily be compiled if something went horribly wrong, something like...say, I don't know, NGE! You had a declining population of 200,000+ people, if you even get half of that back it would still be profitable to hire a couple developers for that server (judging from NGE, one quarter would be more than enough).

By the way, congratulations on destroying SWG, MxO and Vanguard. Isn't it funny how it's always somebody elses fault, there Shmed? "Well, yes, uh, errrrrr.....Sigil did such and such bad!" "The players, errrm, we didn't communicate with them effectively and they gave us a bad name! Anyway, the population was in heavy decline we had to do something!" Never mind the population was leaving because you took 90% of the developers off of SWG in the last beta (with *all* the beta testers saying "don't release yet, it's not ready!") and moved them all to EQ2 and ceased to improve the game. Never mind your "customer service" told people to go screw themselves when they had issues (thousands upon thousands of times!), instead of trying to help. If I did my job even half as wonderful as you do yours, I'd be fired the next day.

The blacklist remains for $OE. At this point you'd have to turn out a game with the freedom of SWG Pre-CU, the polish of WoW and the content of...well, you'd have to be the first to produce some freaking amazing content, for me to even consider looking at something under the $OE banner.

lepidus:

I didn't go into this because we'd been over it a number of times in the past. Back in my MMORPG.com days, after the NGE, I asked exactly that question. They made it clear it cannot happen, as they cannot run and develop two divergent copies of the game.

It isn't like DAoC Classic servers, that's simply the absence of content. This is for all intents and purposes, a whole other game.

Anyway, that's the reason I got last time that issue was brought up and why I didn't bring it up again.

Look, we all know why Smed issued this meaningless and empty apology, empty because he doesn't plan to do a DARN thing to make right the mistake he is now admitting to, two years too late. He's making it because the NGE is dogging EVERYTHING SOE touches. Every company that partners with them undergoes a FIRESTORM of criticism for it. Every company that partners with them has to RUSH to reassure their prospective customers that SOE will have NOTHING to do with game development.

When you are a MMO game developer, one that plans to release new games in the next year, this is a HUGE problem. It's like being set up for failure before even coding one line.

Fact of the matter is, only NOW is Smed and SOE seeing that the NGE firestorm was NOT just a "vocal minority" and was not something that they could just wait out. It's still out there and it's still costing them money and reputation every day.

The NGE fiasco wasn't the result of not listening and assuming they knew what was best. It was the result of DELIBERATELY not listening. Nothing of what he says passes even the most cursory "smell" test. If Smed and his people didn't know after all the direct feedback, all the press coverage , etc that they'd made a mistake and needed to undo the NGE BEFORE they released it or at most a month afterwords, he is admitting that he and his management is incompetent and unqualified.

A hollow apology 2 years later (and still not made directly to us, on the SWG site) accompanied by promises to listen to us NOW as they release a publish every 6 months rearranging the deckchairs of the NGE "Titanic" while STILL ignoring what we want (our game back) is an insult.

If Smed wants to begin to get back his reputation, and his company's reputation, an apology is only the bare beginning. He HAS to give us our game back, in the form of classic servers.

He won't do this.

If he doesn't do this, his apology is meaningless and should be taken as such. Words are cheap, John Smedley. Actions aren't. I, and others of the thousands you wronged are NOT going to forgive and forget until we see something tangible from you. Your company will continue to suffer unless you do.

Offering classic SWG is the ONLY way out. It's the only way you will EVER be able to answer critics of your company like me. If you give us our game back, you will give critics nowhere to go, because you will be able to say "we apologized and we made it right".

Doing the NGE cost you SWG as a viable first rate, Top 5 subscriber MMO. Not "making this right" by giving us our game back will cost you SOE as a viable concern. Mark my words. They are true. You are already seeing this manifest itself in the criticism, in the reluctance in your PARTNERS to claim that they are partnering with you. You need to do this now, BEFORE the next releases on the SOE/Platform publishing label fail and further cement into conventional wisdom that "Sony", "SOE" and "Platform Publishing" are cyanide poison.

Might I point out that you run games on your All Access Pass, such as Planetside and MXO that have their own Devs, admins, support, etc, that have fewer subscribers than 5 Pre-CU SWG servers would get you...

So it's not like we are asking you for charity.

wildcat84:

lepidus:

I didn't go into this because we'd been over it a number of times in the past. Back in my MMORPG.com days, after the NGE, I asked exactly that question. They made it clear it cannot happen, as they cannot run and develop two divergent copies of the game.

It isn't like DAoC Classic servers, that's simply the absence of content. This is for all intents and purposes, a whole other game.

Anyway, that's the reason I got last time that issue was brought up and why I didn't bring it up again.

Look, we all know why Smed issued this meaningless and empty apology, empty because he doesn't plan to do a DARN thing to make right the mistake he is now admitting to, two years too late. He's making it because the NGE is dogging EVERYTHING SOE touches. Every company that partners with them undergoes a FIRESTORM of criticism for it. Every company that partners with them has to RUSH to reassure their prospective customers that SOE will have NOTHING to do with game development.

When you are a MMO game developer, one that plans to release new games in the next year, this is a HUGE problem. It's like being set up for failure before even coding one line.

Fact of the matter is, only NOW is Smed and SOE seeing that the NGE firestorm was NOT just a "vocal minority" and was not something that they could just wait out. It's still out there and it's still costing them money and reputation every day.

The NGE fiasco wasn't the result of not listening and assuming they knew what was best. It was the result of DELIBERATELY not listening. Nothing of what he says passes even the most cursory "smell" test. If Smed and his people didn't know after all the direct feedback, all the press coverage , etc that they'd made a mistake and needed to undo the NGE BEFORE they released it or at most a month afterwords, he is admitting that he and his management is incompetent and unqualified.

A hollow apology 2 years later (and still not made directly to us, on the SWG site) accompanied by promises to listen to us NOW as they release a publish every 6 months rearranging the deckchairs of the NGE "Titanic" while STILL ignoring what we want (our game back) is an insult.

If Smed wants to begin to get back his reputation, and his company's reputation, an apology is only the bare beginning. He HAS to give us our game back, in the form of classic servers.

He won't do this.

And I am addressing the rest of this post to Smed himself, assuming he ever sees this. He likely won't, but this is what he NEEDS to hear because it's reality:

If he doesn't do this, his apology is meaningless and should be taken as such. Words are cheap, John Smedley. Actions aren't. I, and others of the thousands you wronged are NOT going to forgive and forget until we see something tangible from you. Your company will continue to suffer unless you do.

Offering classic SWG is the ONLY way out. It's the only way you will EVER be able to answer critics of your company like me. If you give us our game back, you will give critics nowhere to go, because you will be able to say "we apologized and we made it right".

Doing the NGE cost you SWG as a viable first rate, Top 5 subscriber MMO. Not "making this right" by giving us our game back will cost you SOE as a viable concern. Mark my words. They are true. You are already seeing this manifest itself in the criticism, in the reluctance in your PARTNERS to claim that they are partnering with you. You need to do this now, BEFORE the next releases on the SOE/Platform publishing label fail and further cement into conventional wisdom that "Sony", "SOE" and "Platform Publishing" are cyanide poison.

Might I point out that you run games on your All Access Pass, such as Planetside and MXO that have their own Devs, admins, support, etc, that have fewer subscribers than 5 Pre-CU SWG servers would get you...

So it's not like we are asking you for charity.

lepidus:
I think that's why we call it an interview. It's Smed's chance to talk and that's what he said.

They didn't listen to their fans, that's the reason he gave in his apology.

To suggest that it was intentional sabotage is absurd. Like or dislike SOE and Smed, but they didn't sabotage a game that likely brought in $5-million a month in subscriptions before the move. There are cheaper ways to "cut costs" than, you know, rebuilding the entire game.

I signed up for this site solely to reply to this, in hopes that someone over at SOE reads what I wrote in regards to this "appology".this will be more likely then not incredibly long winded as I am a tad but frustrated from the screw up that was the NGE.

1) appology accepted, allbeit too little too late, I still accept your appology.but bear in mind I forgive but never forget.

you commented that they would never knowingly screw up a game bringing in 5 million dollars a month on purpose is well thought out but completely and utterly wrong that is EXACTLLY what they did, my responce to that is quite simple, YES they would if they had a chance to rival the upwards of 120 mill that WOW ( a game that the majority of the dev team plays themselves) brings in monthly, a chance to increase profits with an audience you believe to be around for the most marketable franchise in the world is enough to make any company salivate.which is why you have SWG almost trying to duplicate the simplicity of WOW. just like you have every gamming franchise and console attempting to duplicate what the 2 most successful games to date have done, those games being GTA (for the consoles) and WOW (for the PC). BOTH of these games have been often immitated and never ever duplicated, why they would continue to try is beyond comprehension.

now with that said, let me give you the senior editor a small look at the history of why most if not all of us "Vet" players of SWG are completely angry with the way we were treated, 2003 SWG "classic aka pre CU" was released incrediblly buggy, broken, and ahead of schedule, but still we LOVED it. however months go by, people everywhere agree the game is sheer heaven, just completely unballanced and bugged to high heaven, for once SOE listens to us, sort of, what should have been a "balance" turns into an upgrade around nov/dec of 2004, some run to WOW, alot stay for this new "upgrade".

take 2, the upgrade is released, done quite well I might add, and MY personal favorite of all 3 combat systems, several things are improved upon, most if not ALL classes are balanced in both pvp/pve, the need for buffs are nullified, armor is reduced so you do not have someone that is resistant to 95% of damage, the go to unhealable health pool of the mind is no longer attackable, the ONE thing that anyone and everyone hates about this version of the game hates is the complete silence we are recieving from the dev team on any number of issues, from the FRS (force ranking system) being removed and when it would be readded, to when are you going to fix the major problems with broken profession templates and bugs, we are finally told around februrary that there will be no new additions to the game, as in exspansions, but that SOE's main focus is on providing us with content, and FIXING WHATS BROKEN. most if not all are AWED and shocked that finally our little prayers are answered.to our utter amazement they do just that, the begin fixing what's broken, still no word on the FRS and a few other things like capitol ships that can be captured and flown, but we all assume it will be right around the corner.

fast foward a few months to say june/july the announcement of TOO (trials of obi-wan) is released and will be available to us for digital dl, 2+ weeks early for all who pre order it, ok but we all thought no new exspansions whats going on? why did they lie? little did we know what was to come, so late october very early november is here and everyone whom pre ordered TOO is on mustard fart(mustafar) and loving it, amazing exspansion, extremely challanging and well done, takes some real brains to get past most if not all of the quests, it is literally a planet of nothing but amazingly well done quests as well as kick butt rewards. amidst the release of the pre ordered version of TOO a weird email circulates both in game and on the forums, the forums version is quickly deleted , but you can't stop the one in game, what this email reads is simple, it details every aspect of the secret project that was the NGE, down to the minute details. everyone who reads it thinks it's writer is some loser liar consiracy theorist,fast foward november 4th, everything in that email is revealed to be true.

SOE/LA was working on a secret project and wether or not what we feel they do not give a rats arse, come november 15th the NGE which is more "star warsy and iconic" is released, it was the most pathetic, underhanded dirty thing i've ever seen in my life, what was assumed was that the once thriving player base would simply take it on the chin, what was assumed was that we the player base were a bunch of children playing a videogame with mommy and daddy's credit card what they did not expect was for us to be so pissed off about what they did that most of us who had more then one account would simultaneously shut down our accounts and move on, what they assumed is that if they rushed out a completely broken game by black friday that the massive ammount of players who play WOW the 8 million plus would flock to this game.

what they didn't assume was that more then 2 years later people like me would still be saying:

REMEMBER REMEMBER THE 15TH OF NOVEMBER.

Are you kidding Me? EQOA doesnt have the fan base to warrant a new retail disc. sounds like SWG all over again. No one is listening to the fans. I know of several people who play who quad box. This is equal to 4acct's at 14.99 a peice $59.96.....I know several people that grind for hours to acheive 1 cm Drinking several energy drinks to acheive this $2.49 x5 $13.95 New retail disc.....priceless.

I mean come on They are using resources for Vanguard in hopes people's computer's catch up. And I can guarandamtee you if you put out an expansion for EQOA it would fly off the Shelves. Yes iu uses a memory stick but the old version ps2 (big Box) was set up for a hard drive it just never really needed to be used. But I am sure they could design a USB memory card that holds a lot more space.

I know my whole family plays the game and we love it. My wife is not a Die hard gamer and she will still play for Hours. She Farms greens in moradhim all day long and likes it LOL.
And I know there are many more players with the same addiction. If there was a expansion released for EQOA hopefully works on ps2 since I cannot afford 3 ps3's at this point and time. It would blow up and make Smedley millions. Eqoa Has a large fan base sure they are not present now but that is due to SoE not answering the question of "what Next"

There was a fan base return with the new zone Zp opening but it was a bust due to the long grind times and pain for entry. But there was an increase. I would love to see a re-release of Frontiers in Walmart or Best Buy with a little PR behind. I seen the commerical on the EQOA site. I think only reason for low population atm is the fact Station is only place to get disc.

So please lepidus pass this along to Smedley and I mean this in the Nicest Way
"Are you Freaking CRAZY take another look at EQOA"

Follow your gut like you should have on SWG.

EQOA has a loyal Fan base we have stuck it out thru all the rough times EQOA has had to offer and we still come back for more. I think your guys in Marketing and Research are not letting you in on What happens in Norrath. I am not sure if you play EQOA but if you do please come and visit us in FP on the CLW server I invite you to come meet the fans see what they say.....But be forwarned some are rude and out of control. But I extend this to you to Come see us and Talk on 10-14-07 at 6pm pst. Time to Walk The Walk see you Talked the Talk in your interview. I have never once seen a CEO do this and would be Greatly impressed if you showed up. Heck you can even use one of my toons.

See you in FP

Kereck of Castle Lightwolf
60 Warrior
Guild "God's of War"

I signed up for this sight for 1 reason. EQOA. Whats the deal with this beloved game? Its been said that there will not be an expansion for this game because of lack of player base. Well, thats SOE's fault. Almost no advertising what so ever. Can't buy the game in stores anymore. Only the station store, and not many people know about that site.
SOE planted a seed when they put out EQOA. Then watered it a little with the 1 and only expansion we had, Frontiers. The left the game to die. Why? There are still alot of players here, and more would come with the release of an expansion. Alot of old players, and alot of new players.
But, instead of working on an expansion for this game, they go and release some digital trading card game?! wth is that crap? C'mon SOE. open your dam eyes. Theres money in EQOA for the taking, and all you're doing is letting it go to another company (WoW for example).
Smed, get off your high horse, stop with the half assed apologies and log onto this game. Come and see all the loyal paying customers. All begging to spend more money on an expansion...

Hope to see ya soon...

Lepidus as a mostly lurker and freeloader of most of these sites, I rarely post an opinion. This whole interview is nothing more than another opportunity for Smedley to apply damage control in a setting that he can somewhat control. If you truly believe that this was an honest interview, then welcome to the club. Another person has been duped by $OE. All the PC games mentioned in this article have had their share of problems but one stands out to me as the shining example of Sony's business practices towards the consumer.

SWG's problems can be attributed to just as much fault LucasArts as Sony, and Julio Torres is more of a snake than Smedley. I believe that $OE/LA had all the right in the world to change the game to what they wanted. As much as previous posters have lamented, they also agreed to an EULA that said the game can change online. What they didn't mention and every interviewer to date seems to forget, come question time for Smedley, is what most people consider to be fraud. As a former Creature Handler, I dealt with the ups and downs of my profession, but I was excited for the Trials Of Obi-Wan, when it was advertised that CH specific items would be added to the game. I know other classes had similar promises. So I buy the expansion and then my class is removed from the game. "Here you go, repec and play a Jedi like everyone else." I am sorry but if Sony new about this well in advance, which they did, they had a DUTY to their consumer, to inform them of what they were intending, before they sold the expansion. They did not.

I have played EQ, SWG, Matrix online, EQ2 and Vanguard. I had been eagerly awaiting Pirates of the Burning Sea. To this day I still believe Vanguard has the best potential of any MMO released to date. I also believe that it will never come close to that potential, now that it is an $OE product. Quite frankly Sony's policy appears to be "The dollar is the bottom line". Instead of reinvesting into their products, taking some personal pride in their products, they cut their losses and milk the customer as long as they can. This to me is highly apparent in both SWG and Vanguard. Smedley even partially confirms it in the interview, concerning SWG.

Lup, I don't fault Warcry for writing the article and shame on those who are trying to sell a belief that this is anything more than it is. It is a Q&A session with one of the most controversial people in the MMO world. If Warcry didn't write it, someone else would and you would be fools to pass up the opportunity. But don't be so quick to defend a man, who IMHO makes a living from spoon feeding BS to consumers in the hopes of making a buck. This article has actually finalized my decision to cancel my Station Pass account. Along with another $OE get rich scheme, Legends of Norrath, this interview has helped me make up my mind. Since LON I have actually been teetering, but good Old Smed has pushed me over to the sane side of the fence.

After reading up on some other articles, about SOE, starting to realize, after years of game play with them, that i have wasted my time and money. I started to check out the 360. and i tell ya this, god dam their customer service owns. And their advertising for their products is insane. Its almost every other commercial where i live. I dont remember the last commercial for any SOE product. Be it a console (PS2, PS3) game or PC game. Really starting to think, more and more every day, that SOE stands for Shitty Online Entertainment....

KotchaYankinov:
Lepidus as a mostly lurker and freeloader of most of these sites, I rarely post an opinion. This whole interview is nothing more than another opportunity for Smedley to apply damage control in a setting that he can somewhat control. If you truly believe that this was an honest interview, then welcome to the club. Another person has been duped by $OE. All the PC games mentioned in this article have had their share of problems but one stands out to me as the shining example of Sony's business practices towards the consumer.

SWG's problems can be attributed to just as much fault LucasArts as Sony, and Julio Torres is more of a snake than Smedley. I believe that $OE/LA had all the right in the world to change the game to what they wanted. As much as previous posters have lamented, they also agreed to an EULA that said the game can change online. What they didn't mention and every interviewer to date seems to forget, come question time for Smedley, is what most people consider to be fraud. As a former Creature Handler, I dealt with the ups and downs of my profession, but I was excited for the Trials Of Obi-Wan, when it was advertised that CH specific items would be added to the game. I know other classes had similar promises. So I buy the expansion and then my class is removed from the game. "Here you go, repec and play a Jedi like everyone else." I am sorry but if Sony new about this well in advance, which they did, they had a DUTY to their consumer, to inform them of what they were intending, before they sold the expansion. They did not.

I have played EQ, SWG, Matrix online, EQ2 and Vanguard. I had been eagerly awaiting Pirates of the Burning Sea. To this day I still believe Vanguard has the best potential of any MMO released to date. I also believe that it will never come close to that potential, now that it is an $OE product. Quite frankly Sony's policy appears to be "The dollar is the bottom line". Instead of reinvesting into their products, taking some personal pride in their products, they cut their losses and milk the customer as long as they can. This to me is highly apparent in both SWG and Vanguard. Smedley even partially confirms it in the interview, concerning SWG.

Lup, I don't fault Warcry for writing the article and shame on those who are trying to sell a belief that this is anything more than it is. It is a Q&A session with one of the most controversial people in the MMO world. If Warcry didn't write it, someone else would and you would be fools to pass up the opportunity. But don't be so quick to defend a man, who IMHO makes a living from spoon feeding BS to consumers in the hopes of making a buck. This article has actually finalized my decision to cancel my Station Pass account. Along with another $OE get rich scheme, Legends of Norrath, this interview has helped me make up my mind. Since LON I have actually been teetering, but good Old Smed has pushed me over to the sane side of the fence.

Hey there... I think this is an honest interview in that it honestly relates what Smedley said, which is all one can ask for from an interview. It's up to you guys to decide what you think of his words, obviously.

lepidus:

KotchaYankinov:
Lepidus as a mostly lurker and freeloader of most of these sites, I rarely post an opinion. This whole interview is nothing more than another opportunity for Smedley to apply damage control in a setting that he can somewhat control. If you truly believe that this was an honest interview, then welcome to the club. Another person has been duped by $OE. All the PC games mentioned in this article have had their share of problems but one stands out to me as the shining example of Sony's business practices towards the consumer.

SWG's problems can be attributed to just as much fault LucasArts as Sony, and Julio Torres is more of a snake than Smedley. I believe that $OE/LA had all the right in the world to change the game to what they wanted. As much as previous posters have lamented, they also agreed to an EULA that said the game can change online. What they didn't mention and every interviewer to date seems to forget, come question time for Smedley, is what most people consider to be fraud. As a former Creature Handler, I dealt with the ups and downs of my profession, but I was excited for the Trials Of Obi-Wan, when it was advertised that CH specific items would be added to the game. I know other classes had similar promises. So I buy the expansion and then my class is removed from the game. "Here you go, repec and play a Jedi like everyone else." I am sorry but if Sony new about this well in advance, which they did, they had a DUTY to their consumer, to inform them of what they were intending, before they sold the expansion. They did not.

I have played EQ, SWG, Matrix online, EQ2 and Vanguard. I had been eagerly awaiting Pirates of the Burning Sea. To this day I still believe Vanguard has the best potential of any MMO released to date. I also believe that it will never come close to that potential, now that it is an $OE product. Quite frankly Sony's policy appears to be "The dollar is the bottom line". Instead of reinvesting into their products, taking some personal pride in their products, they cut their losses and milk the customer as long as they can. This to me is highly apparent in both SWG and Vanguard. Smedley even partially confirms it in the interview, concerning SWG.

Lup, I don't fault Warcry for writing the article and shame on those who are trying to sell a belief that this is anything more than it is. It is a Q&A session with one of the most controversial people in the MMO world. If Warcry didn't write it, someone else would and you would be fools to pass up the opportunity. But don't be so quick to defend a man, who IMHO makes a living from spoon feeding BS to consumers in the hopes of making a buck. This article has actually finalized my decision to cancel my Station Pass account. Along with another $OE get rich scheme, Legends of Norrath, this interview has helped me make up my mind. Since LON I have actually been teetering, but good Old Smed has pushed me over to the sane side of the fence.

Hey there... I think this is an honest interview in that it honestly relates what Smedley said, which is all one can ask for from an interview. It's up to you guys to decide what you think of his words, obviously.

i'd simply like to know WHO wrote the questions to ask him? also, why don't didn't the person go with a no holds barred interview.why not let some of the customers of SOE write the questions for the next interview?

wether or not you thought it was or is a good interview is your opinion, but you cannot expect US the customers of these games to accept it as it is or was. we want more, we want real questions asked, we want real answers not the fluff that he got.

LiamLightsungorath:

lepidus:

KotchaYankinov:
Lepidus as a mostly lurker and freeloader of most of these sites, I rarely post an opinion. This whole interview is nothing more than another opportunity for Smedley to apply damage control in a setting that he can somewhat control. If you truly believe that this was an honest interview, then welcome to the club. Another person has been duped by $OE. All the PC games mentioned in this article have had their share of problems but one stands out to me as the shining example of Sony's business practices towards the consumer.

SWG's problems can be attributed to just as much fault LucasArts as Sony, and Julio Torres is more of a snake than Smedley. I believe that $OE/LA had all the right in the world to change the game to what they wanted. As much as previous posters have lamented, they also agreed to an EULA that said the game can change online. What they didn't mention and every interviewer to date seems to forget, come question time for Smedley, is what most people consider to be fraud. As a former Creature Handler, I dealt with the ups and downs of my profession, but I was excited for the Trials Of Obi-Wan, when it was advertised that CH specific items would be added to the game. I know other classes had similar promises. So I buy the expansion and then my class is removed from the game. "Here you go, repec and play a Jedi like everyone else." I am sorry but if Sony new about this well in advance, which they did, they had a DUTY to their consumer, to inform them of what they were intending, before they sold the expansion. They did not.

I have played EQ, SWG, Matrix online, EQ2 and Vanguard. I had been eagerly awaiting Pirates of the Burning Sea. To this day I still believe Vanguard has the best potential of any MMO released to date. I also believe that it will never come close to that potential, now that it is an $OE product. Quite frankly Sony's policy appears to be "The dollar is the bottom line". Instead of reinvesting into their products, taking some personal pride in their products, they cut their losses and milk the customer as long as they can. This to me is highly apparent in both SWG and Vanguard. Smedley even partially confirms it in the interview, concerning SWG.

Lup, I don't fault Warcry for writing the article and shame on those who are trying to sell a belief that this is anything more than it is. It is a Q&A session with one of the most controversial people in the MMO world. If Warcry didn't write it, someone else would and you would be fools to pass up the opportunity. But don't be so quick to defend a man, who IMHO makes a living from spoon feeding BS to consumers in the hopes of making a buck. This article has actually finalized my decision to cancel my Station Pass account. Along with another $OE get rich scheme, Legends of Norrath, this interview has helped me make up my mind. Since LON I have actually been teetering, but good Old Smed has pushed me over to the sane side of the fence.

Hey there... I think this is an honest interview in that it honestly relates what Smedley said, which is all one can ask for from an interview. It's up to you guys to decide what you think of his words, obviously.

i'd simply like to know WHO wrote the questions to ask him? also, why don't didn't the person go with a no holds barred interview.why not let some of the customers of SOE write the questions for the next interview?

wether or not you thought it was or is a good interview is your opinion, but you cannot expect US the customers of these games to accept it as it is or was. we want more, we want real questions asked, we want real answers not the fluff that he got.

exactly. let the customers right up some questions. not some wimpy "should i ask this question? or will i get in trouble" wimpy reporter. we do have the right to question everything. in fact, if it wasnt for us, there would be no SOE, XBOX Live, or anything else. no happy customers = no business and a long line up at the unemployment office...

His apology is useless without action to back it up. Give the SWG vets a classic pre-nge server and I will accept his apology. Actions speak louder than words!

$OE made the cardinal sin of ditching its actual thousands of customers for phantom millions of customers it thought it could attract. Im glad to see they are still reminded of their mistakes by the embarassingly low SWG subscription numbers even this long after the joke of the NGE was launched.

If you ever get to advertise for $OE again please also ask how they feel about the emu and whether they will take any action when the numbers on the emu are more than the official SWG:NGE.

LiamLightsungorath:
i'd simply like to know WHO wrote the questions to ask him? also, why don't didn't the person go with a no holds barred interview.why not let some of the customers of SOE write the questions for the next interview?

wether or not you thought it was or is a good interview is your opinion, but you cannot expect US the customers of these games to accept it as it is or was. we want more, we want real questions asked, we want real answers not the fluff that he got.

Well obviously, given the format, you cannot really see what questions I did or did not ask. So it seems unfair to call them fluff. Nonetheless, I am curious though what exactly you would have asked, given the chance.

Let's take the "pre-NGE" server thing for example. I didn't ask because I've interviewed them before when the story was still fresh and asked that exact question. The answer is no and given their reason, I saw no reason to bring it up again. Unlike DAoC, where the non-TOA servers are simply an absence of code, the NGE servers would require them to manage the development of two entirely different games. Thus, it's not realistic.

Frankly, the NGE part has been covered and covered and covered to death, while it still generates reads (see this thread), there isn't much new to be said on the topic. Given how passionate you guys are this far after the fact, I am sure you've read the pieces I've done previously (at the last site I edited). To be blunt though, that was nigh on two years ago. Honestly, I think many of you are so upset (not unjustly) that you want every interview about every topic to be railroading them. I'm sorry, but that's a waste of time. It's done, it was wrong, but it's done. There is more to talk about than that one incident and accusing anyone of bias who does not dedicate every article on the topic to this two year old incident, as regrettable as it is, is unfair.

Conspiracy theories aside, game companies don't actually (with a few isolated exceptions from particularly arrogant companies) blackball reporters who ask them real questions. I've done this a long time and never run into the problem in any significant way. In fact, quite the opposite, usually a reporter who is justly tough on a company gets more from them, as they're eager to turn around that opinion. As long as the reporter is fair and honest, there is never a problem and I've never held back a question I thought worth asking out of a fear of reprisal.

The other point of contention is how I glossed over EQ:OA, those critiques, I fully understand and acknowledge. I honestly didn't expect it to be such a popular area, I have requested a separate interview with that team to go more in depth on that specific game. However, given the fires in San Diego, that's all of a secondary concern right now.

lepidus:
[quote=LiamLightsungorath]
The other point of contention is how I glossed over EQ:OA, those critiques, I fully understand and acknowledge. I honestly didn't expect it to be such a popular area, I have requested a separate interview with that team to go more in depth on that specific game. However, given the fires in San Diego, that's all of a secondary concern right now.

thank you. finding out if there will be an expansion to be,would be great!! but, if no expansion, even to the ps3, what is up with all the mods, gm's and dev's jumping ship (in the last 9 months, there has been 3 devs, and a few gm's quit or get fired. no sure on getting fired tho)?
we have all asked very simple questions, and not once have we ever gotten an answer. just topic changes and bs updates. personally, my 2 questions i would ask right off the get go:
1, will there be an expansion soon for EQOA for the ps2/3?
2, if no expansion, with all the people quitting lately, devs, and gm's leaving, what is the life expectancy of the game before the plug is pulled?
sorry if i rambled on. its late (or early, depends on how one looks at it. 2am est) and im beat.
thanks...

To all the EQ:OA fans:

I just did an interview with Clint Worley and asked some of the questions from this thread. We should have an article up in the next week or so.

First I want to say I'm looking forward to this interview with Clint Worley.

I, like a few others made this account to talk about EQOA. I might talk about other games if I play them later, but for now, EQOA.

I still check the EQOA forums every now and then to see if they announced an expansion yet and came across someone talking about these interviews, so I came to read them.

I played that game since about 3 months after it came out (didn't hear about it until then) up until sometime last year. I quit because there seemed to be no future for the game besides revamps, revamps, and more revamps, with the occasional quest.

I know that's all they can really do with it being on the PS2, but people have been asking and begging for an expansion on their forums, probably since a year after the Frontiers expansion came out. With the PS3 being out now, they could do it on there and wouldn't have to worry about the memory issue they always bring up as an excuse.

I think if they made an expansion, it would have to be made for PS3. Because they would have to fit everything from EQOA / EQOA:F on the disk along with all the new stuff and who knows if it would all fit on one DVD. Blu-ray could fit all of it plus tons more, then they would have the HDD for bigger and better updates, they could also give it better graphics and not have to worry about that "memory issue" they always bring up.

After years of players asking for an expansion, now they finally say

They will not be doing another retail disc because there simply are not enough players to justify it.

The first game came out in February of 2003, the one and only expansion came out nine months later in November 2003. It's been 4 years with no word of an expansion, of course people are going to quit playing after that long with nothing in the future to look forward to besides revamps and some quests here and there.

Every time someone would ask about an expansion they would always say there was nothing planed, so I just quit along with most of my guild, and I'm sure a lot of other people have quit for that same reason.

If they announced an expansion for the PS3, I would probably pick up a PS3 just to play this game... and I deleted/gave away all of my stuff when I quit so I would have to start from scratch again, as I'm sure a lot of others would have to also.

Smedley talking about SWG

We screwed up and didn't listen to the fans when we should have, and it's not a mistake we're going to make again.

Well your EQOA fans have been asking for an expansion for three to four years now. Don't you think it's time you listen?

lepidus:
To all the EQ:OA fans:

I just did an interview with Clint Worley and asked some of the questions from this thread. We should have an article up in the next week or so.

its the next week or so. wheres this article? i am very anxious and curious as to what SOE had to say regarding EQ:OA

lepidus:

LiamLightsungorath:
i'd simply like to know WHO wrote the questions to ask him? also, why don't didn't the person go with a no holds barred interview.why not let some of the customers of SOE write the questions for the next interview?

wether or not you thought it was or is a good interview is your opinion, but you cannot expect US the customers of these games to accept it as it is or was. we want more, we want real questions asked, we want real answers not the fluff that he got.

Well obviously, given the format, you cannot really see what questions I did or did not ask. So it seems unfair to call them fluff. Nonetheless, I am curious though what exactly you would have asked, given the chance.

Let's take the "pre-NGE" server thing for example. I didn't ask because I've interviewed them before when the story was still fresh and asked that exact question. The answer is no and given their reason, I saw no reason to bring it up again. Unlike DAoC, where the non-TOA servers are simply an absence of code, the NGE servers would require them to manage the development of two entirely different games. Thus, it's not realistic.

Frankly, the NGE part has been covered and covered and covered to death, while it still generates reads (see this thread), there isn't much new to be said on the topic. Given how passionate you guys are this far after the fact, I am sure you've read the pieces I've done previously (at the last site I edited). To be blunt though, that was nigh on two years ago. Honestly, I think many of you are so upset (not unjustly) that you want every interview about every topic to be railroading them. I'm sorry, but that's a waste of time. It's done, it was wrong, but it's done. There is more to talk about than that one incident and accusing anyone of bias who does not dedicate every article on the topic to this two year old incident, as regrettable as it is, is unfair.

Conspiracy theories aside, game companies don't actually (with a few isolated exceptions from particularly arrogant companies) blackball reporters who ask them real questions. I've done this a long time and never run into the problem in any significant way. In fact, quite the opposite, usually a reporter who is justly tough on a company gets more from them, as they're eager to turn around that opinion. As long as the reporter is fair and honest, there is never a problem and I've never held back a question I thought worth asking out of a fear of reprisal.

The other point of contention is how I glossed over EQ:OA, those critiques, I fully understand and acknowledge. I honestly didn't expect it to be such a popular area, I have requested a separate interview with that team to go more in depth on that specific game. However, given the fires in San Diego, that's all of a secondary concern right now.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ok here is the reply with the questions I would have asked, sorry it took so long ALSO note that I tried to keep my still anger over the release of the NGE out of it, and instead attempted to keep it at a more up to date set of questions, I did refer to a few of the NGE 1.0 things but that was solely to build upon the question at hand and not to slam him.also please note that yes while it was 2 years ago that we got rammed in the rectum, there are still alot of pissed off people out there over what happened, so be it 2 years 5 years or 10 there will ALWAYS be someone who is bitter about what was done, if you played the game you'd feel the same way we did, so with that said here it goes....

1)in the past there was mention of FREE server mergers/transfers when, how, and what will be done about the ever decreasing of the population of the 25+ servers you have in SWG, people are growing bored of the inactivity on certain servers, which increases cancelations of subscriptions, lack of logging in ect, WHAT is being done about this to help remedy it, a very large majority of players are crying and calling for a merger or free transfers?

2) chapter 6 was released in may of 2007 with chapter 7 being released nearly 6 months later, why did it take so long for it to be released?

3) why when we asked why it was taking/took so long for it to be released were we shunned, given snide remarks or plain shut down whenever we asked why it was taking so long?what happened to the constant up to date communication we were promised by YOU of all people?

4) what happened to the rest of the legacy quest? it was susposed to take you from 1-90 and have been finnished nearly 2 years ago instead it was put on hiatus when it got you to level 45, where is the rest of it and whatever happened to it?why are we being forced to buy the exspansions just to level from 46-84 and then have the new quests azura kabul take us from 85-90 also why are there no rewards for doing these? there is just exp?

5) whatever happened to all the exciting features we were promised going on 3 years now at the fan fest conventions, examples include the third faction, as well as the bordable ships, why does it seem the development team loses interest in probividing us with the things we were promised?

6)what went wrong with the distribution of the 51 month veteran rewards? why were they not released on time?why did you take the time it could have taken to provide us your most loyal players with the reward we justly deserved to develop a skin for a retail packaged reward that being the naboo ITV? did you feel that selling something new was much more importain then providing us your most loyal customers with a simple reward? why was there no appology for this insult? personally I find/found it insulting to see these things happen, this alone almost led to my cancelation of the game.

7)the collection system is a great new addition, a complete and total breath of fresh air to the game, i commend your dev team on it, with that being said do you plan on keeping up with your word in providing a constant update and additon to the system, or can we plan on you forgetting it exists for something new and shiny like you did with the legacy quests?

8 ) meet and greets take place primarily on the west coast, why has there not been one on the north east coast?

9) YOU promised more communication from the development team to us the player base yet there seems to have once again been a HUGE lack of it, why not be more honest when there are delays in things like the 6 month gap from publish 6 to 7, do you not feel the player base would be hapier not being lied to?

10) the producers letter is posted on the forums perhaps to provide EVERYONE with the correct form of communication it can be added to the log in so that the rest of the players get a chance to read it and not just those who frequent the forums.

11) what is being done about the ever increasing ammount of new bugs as well as the returning bugs such as heal dodging, ITV's not being able to be called due to it "already picking you up" and the horrible rubber banding we are experiencing now?

12)annimations, what is being done to help to return the combat animations?

13) why are you constantly removing features to the game like aksva min, target locking, tusken kind, professions customization (the 32 profs) only later to have them reintroduced months to years later as "new" "star warsy and iconic"? is this not kind of decietful?

14)with the upcomming releases of the alleged continuation of the heroic instance quests will there be NEW and not reintroduced quests/instances?

15) what mmo's do you play game wise?

16) why is there a constant WOW-ification of SWG, as in why are you taking features from WOW and making them "star warsy" and "iconic", have you never heard the statement "often immitated but never duplicated?" which is proven with the platform power houses GTA, and the PC power house WOW, that although it is coppied the games whom copy is ususally flop.

17)what is being done to gain, earn back the trust of the vets who left the game november 15 2005?

18) was your appology sincere or manufactured, to simply sell more units of your DD bundle?

19) you promised new content without having to spend extra money on it, so how about a new planet, but one that is livable as in we can drop houses create cities ect on it? and one that is NOT rail road based like mustafar and kashyyk, that has a HUGE area of the planet dedicated to PVP with the allowance of the ability to drop houses and cities within the PVP zones?

20) what is your favorite aspect of SWG, be it the professions the community ect what is it YOU like best about the game?

lepidus:

Frankly, the NGE part has been covered and covered and covered to death, while it still generates reads (see this thread), there isn't much new to be said on the topic. Given how passionate you guys are this far after the fact, I am sure you've read the pieces I've done previously (at the last site I edited). To be blunt though, that was nigh on two years ago. Honestly, I think many of you are so upset (not unjustly) that you want every interview about every topic to be railroading them. I'm sorry, but that's a waste of time. It's done, it was wrong, but it's done. There is more to talk about than that one incident and accusing anyone of bias who does not dedicate every article on the topic to this two year old incident, as regrettable as it is, is unfair.

Frankly, i think your opinion holds no water. I understand your need for fresh material, but a good journalist would have held SOE and SMED's feet to the fire, especially in light of the fact that they did all they could to silence the people voicing their concerns about everything he did concerning SWG, durring the beta and post NGE. To let him off the hook simply because it's old news is frankly, poor journalism. This guy is literally the periah of the mmo world and you portray him as a victim of circumstance. You should be railroading him if only for the fact that he was responsible for ruining a MMO based on one of the most sucessfull franchises of all time. HE should be railroaded because he took a garunteed winner and flushed it down the toilet, cause he thought he "knew better then the fans"

You let him off way too easily. If Bill Gates had made as bad a business decision as smed, you bet people would be talking about it 2 years later, especially if the effects were still being felt, which in this case, they are.

Dorfofdoom:

lepidus:
To all the EQ:OA fans:

I just did an interview with Clint Worley and asked some of the questions from this thread. We should have an article up in the next week or so.

its the next week or so. wheres this article? i am very anxious and curious as to what SOE had to say regarding EQ:OA

Sorry, been traveling. The interview is done and the article is still in the queue. I am shooting for this week.

CRUNK:
Frankly, i think your opinion holds no water. I understand your need for fresh material, but a good journalist would have held SOE and SMED's feet to the fire, especially in light of the fact that they did all they could to silence the people voicing their concerns about everything he did concerning SWG, durring the beta and post NGE. To let him off the hook simply because it's old news is frankly, poor journalism. This guy is literally the periah of the mmo world and you portray him as a victim of circumstance. You should be railroading him if only for the fact that he was responsible for ruining a MMO based on one of the most sucessfull franchises of all time. HE should be railroaded because he took a garunteed winner and flushed it down the toilet, cause he thought he "knew better then the fans"

You let him off way too easily. If Bill Gates had made as bad a business decision as smed, you bet people would be talking about it 2 years later, especially if the effects were still being felt, which in this case, they are.

You miss the point of journalism if you think it's to railroad people. Fact is, we are still talking about it two years later and that article was no exception. However, Smedley is responsible for far more than just SWG and to refuse to talk about anything else in such a large portfolio is unfair to fans of those other games. We addressed it and we moved on, he even apologized for exactly what you're accusing him of. I am not sure what more you want from an article save a head on ax-grinding assault.

lepidus:

Dorfofdoom:

lepidus:
To all the EQ:OA fans:

I just did an interview with Clint Worley and asked some of the questions from this thread. We should have an article up in the next week or so.

its the next week or so. wheres this article? i am very anxious and curious as to what SOE had to say regarding EQ:OA

Sorry, been traveling. The interview is done and the article is still in the queue. I am shooting for this week.

CRUNK:
Frankly, i think your opinion holds no water. I understand your need for fresh material, but a good journalist would have held SOE and SMED's feet to the fire, especially in light of the fact that they did all they could to silence the people voicing their concerns about everything he did concerning SWG, durring the beta and post NGE. To let him off the hook simply because it's old news is frankly, poor journalism. This guy is literally the periah of the mmo world and you portray him as a victim of circumstance. You should be railroading him if only for the fact that he was responsible for ruining a MMO based on one of the most sucessfull franchises of all time. HE should be railroaded because he took a garunteed winner and flushed it down the toilet, cause he thought he "knew better then the fans"

You let him off way too easily. If Bill Gates had made as bad a business decision as smed, you bet people would be talking about it 2 years later, especially if the effects were still being felt, which in this case, they are.

You miss the point of journalism if you think it's to railroad people. Fact is, we are still talking about it two years later and that article was no exception. However, Smedley is responsible for far more than just SWG and to refuse to talk about anything else in such a large portfolio is unfair to fans of those other games. We addressed it and we moved on, he even apologized for exactly what you're accusing him of. I am not sure what more you want from an article save a head on ax-grinding assault.

Once again you seem to glance over the fact that event of 2 years ago still dogs smedly AND SOE to the point that other companies have to make clear that SOE is not invovled in the development in any way what so ever whenever they partner up with SOE. It's not just an ax grinding mission. Lets put it this way, if you paid for a brand new car.... brought it itno the shop one day, get it back and it's a differnt cheaper car, and the mechanic said it was more "caddilacy and iconic" you'd sue his ass. Thats exactly what happened to us, but apologists like you say, "deal with it and move on" Sorry, but im not gonna give him a pass like you. Stop writing fluff.