Gamer Blog

My simple humble opinions.

Author: jeremyjodes

A open letter to the president of SOE..

I wanted to write this as fan of Starwars galaxies and a returning veteran who has put away the memories of the past and has started enjoying the game again.

It has been said that we learn from our past mistakes and we compensate to avoid such pitfalls in our futures. that is true of many things. I have never run a game company, I have never held a position of president of anything. by all accounts I I'm an average person who enjoys gaming and in particular massive multilayer Online games.

Now I was an Online game player well before Starwars galaxies came about. Thats being said, I have played enough Online games to see trends and to Gage a good thing or bad thing for me personally as a player of online games.

Online community's are just that, they should provide a sense of unity on a particular game or a subject that includes the game and it's the developers job to provide that sense to a certain degree of the direction of the games future.

As a game developer your games have supplied millions with endless hours of entertainment. Even though All previous iterations of Starwars galaxies based subjects and conversations always return to the subjects of the NGE or combat upgrade and become bitter vicious cycles. What is done is done.

A look to the future in a time when world of Warcraft is becoming less the standard in which the multi-player Online community is starting to look for in a game genre is the time to sit down and see this moment of "Genre Stagnation" by blizzard and it's various clones, as a chance at a revival of sorts.

Mr smedly the era of the theme-park MMO is coming to an end. Players who had world of Warcraft as their first MMO are growing up and proverbially jumping off the linear theme-park ship that is sinking very slowly.

The mind of these players has been gravitating toward the immersions that a sandbox can give them. it's not even the fact that the era of the casual has risen to cause developers tot try and compensate to cater to them. developers still make the opposite of what the players are craving based on theme-park MMOs or F2P frameworks.

You are sitting on a triple A MMO with it's first inclination being a fully immerse sandbox!. The genre is taking a huge hit because of theme-parks and F2P and Wow clones. Players are willing to pay the sub to be entertained still.

You currently are sitting on what so many considered the most innovative MMO to ever grace the face of earth. UO lost it, EQ/EQ2 can't even touch the social immersion aspects that Pre-Cu SWG had and to some extent still has.

I didn't want be one of those old vets who torture chickens at some black altar because of the CU and NGE. I want to talk as a old friend really. someone who may not make games like you but See's the masses cry's for the days of of yester year of SWG!.

The time to strike is now!. I know the company has taken a somewhat financial hit. I think if we were friends I would tell you to take a look at the your AAA projects and look toward focusing development at those. SWG being being number one of course :)

Not sure about at which way I could be that friend and suggest some ideas. I have some but ultimately they belong to you and how much of the old sandbox you want back from Pre-CU if any at all.

Class/loot based games are becoming a thing of the past. even though they fit the theme-park MMO genre they have no place in a sandbox. gear and loot drops are in swg right now and that needs to go the way of class based systems and looted gear/weapons to fully restore the sandbox of SWG.

Just returning to a few of these concepts like full decay and adding a few of the old professions would be a boon. maybe put all the card loot on the up for traders (even though we purchase them from card packs) would be a more positive move toward a more immersive player based economy.

Bottom line you have the ability to make the call you always did. you could focus Dev's to a project and execute the order to restore a legend of MMO gaming...SWG and it's unique sandbox feel.

It still has potential to be the most innovative sandbox MMO to ever grace the planet. The fans are waiting to see a different SOE. one that like us has been aging and growing and learning from our mistakes we have made. Us vets made many, We had forgot that behind those forums and SOE doors human beings exist and feel and are no different then us. we all lost something as strange as it sounds. but the genre has lost the most as witnessed over these years of various Warcraft clones that have stagnated the future of online massive gaming.

Please think about it and maybe just say. "lets do this!", "lets make it happen!". lets go out on a high note if we have to. lets heal this genre and restore what real innovation and a sandbox MMO should look like.

Most of these open letters end up with personal attacks aimed at forcing a person or company to do it now or i quit.

Thats not very grown-up and childish in every aspect. I hope this gets to you?.. it might get laughed at. but whatever the case as a fan of yours who has come back to build his city and enjoy their game again, I wanted to get this out. if it falls on deaf ears and is in conflict with internal development goal's that can't be changed because of my piddly words and grammar... I hope it gets read by you. at the least i wanted you to know that the genre and it's players are starving for old swg in some form.

Peace and good tiding from a fan and vet.