Star Wars Galaxies: Press Releases: Smedley responds to CBS Mailbag letters.

CBS, heh, sorry getting a little CBS happy. CBS News has posted the follow up article to their Mailbag, and SOE President John Smedley gets his chance to tell their version of events. From the article: ""There's a reason that we did this. The story ... is kind of getting lost here...the game was losing subscribers. We had to make this game more accessible to a wider audience or eventually we would not have a business," [Smedley] told me."

I understand, the game had reached a certain point of slow decline. Which is what makes this next statement attain a certain level of irony: "Smedley is more candid when he speaks generally, saying, "Have the numbers in Star Wars Galaxies gone down? I will tell you that the concurrent numbers have gone down. Are they as low as what was shown there? Absolutely not." "This was in reference to the hacked client incident, where it was determined that around 10,400 people were online on a Friday night. Which is like seeing 10 other cars during your morning commute.

Did SOE break SWG badly with the NGE? Yes, it was like putting a tourniquet on someone's neck to stop the bleeding from a head wound.

Have they realized that what is needed to fix that problem nothing short of 100% total dedication and commitment to excellence? Yes, I think that if SWG ultimately fails it will not be for lack of effort on the part of the Development Team.

Have we heard the last of the debates and diatribes? Not by a long shot, but taking a more active defense is certainly getting SOE more press, and that is more opportunity to relate their side of the story.

Will I ever re-activate my account and play? No comment. All I will say is that I look forward to Pub 28. And Pub 29. (I learned that one from LA and SOE, so that if I do, I can't be seen as contradicting myself.)

[Original Post: JR "Razor" Sutich - WarCry.com]