Star Wars Galaxies: Reckoning or Paradox

Hello!

I just wrapped up a draft for the player correspondent program and while I sit here and farm in the Creature Handler, AT-ST, Creature Balancing and Droid Engineer questions, opinions and comments from the last few days, I'd like to rekindle some of the good stuff from the old days. Sure these are "new days", but there really is no reason to just abandoned a lot of fun.

One of the things we used to do that I think would be a lot of fun is to get back to some "open discussions". Discussing things for the sake of discussion and to enjoy each other's company.

Since the topic of the day is World Balancing (or nerfing as some prefer) I've put this together...

Last week, I made several announcements on the Creature Balancing, the change to the Creature Handler Tree, the AT-ST changes, the Droid Engineer plan and the other stuff that's in motion, there are people who understand changes that are made to MMO's and people who don't. Some say ALL changes to an MMO are bad, some just don't like the changes that effect them and some understand that changes to online worlds are inevitable. In reality, as any player base changes their playing habits, events and activities in a virtual world will always shift and change.

Think of it as the difference between an "aiming system" and a "guidance system". A one time aims get a one time shot. MMOs are ongoing and require constant attention based on player behavior because they are a "smart bomb" that needs to change direction as it travels to its target. Console games and single player games don't require that level of attention and intervention because they have a 1-3 month shelf life and then they are done. Players play in MMO's for months and years and have a constant flow of players coming in and going out. As the players change, as their habits change, adjustments have to be made.

The popular argument is "well, just don't nerf", but as it stands, everyone on GCW boards is screaming for a bunch of "nerfs" to balance the GCW, while on the discussion board, everyone is screaming because we balanced Creatures and Creature Handlers skill tree (and the other stuff from last week).

Lets look at some of the comments together...

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Make Pets All Perma-Death or All Not Perma-Death
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Get rid of the radar
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Remove Rebel Recruiters until the Empire has a chance to get back on it's feet!
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Please Nerf Rebels
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A comprehensive list of changes/fixes to improve the Galactic
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(Player requests 30 changes)

And here is the other side of the coin:

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/sigh more nerfs...
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The game is lame as it is and it is getting LAMER with every new PATCH
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The constant "balancing" that makes the game less and less interesting...
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Your continual nerfing of every fun profession...
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The local residents who initially noticed this problem have given it a name, they
call it the "nerf" syndrome.
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So my question is: What is the best way to talk about game changes to the players?

You're the players: what makes the most sense to you? How do you reconcile hundreds of players that are begging for changes while hundreds of others are pleading for no changes at all?