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Originally posted by eagle4x4

I played SWG from the day it started.

The game was amazing for someone who wanted to feel immersed in an online world.  The diversity available made it so each player could truly feel like they were unique in the game.  Players needed crafters, entertainers, scouts and doctors to be successful (giving those who wanted to play support roles a rewarding playing experience too).

That was then, this is now. 

Now, a 5 year old can start as a Jedi immediately and progress through the leveling system without EVER needing anything from any of the support classes.

If you are looking for a complex, diverse gaming experience, look somewhere else.

If you are after an online first person shooter with many planets to explore, then SWG is for you.

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I too played SWG from the beginning, but let's keep things in perspective.  The Pre-CU game was is SAD shape.  Have we all forgotten the Holo Grind?  Melee Stackers?  Requirement to wait for Buffs?  Composite Armor being the only viable armor, Mind Attacks being the only viable attack, Uber DoT weapons? 

How could you have all forgotten NERF WARS and Combat Medics that can toos over 100m and kill people in 4 seconds from within a building.  How quickly we all forget Grinding MAcros that allowed people to master a template in 2 days, thus creating massive waves of FoTM templates. 

Not to mention the hurendious amount of bugs and just sloppy programming (of course, that is Pre-CU, CU and NGE). 

The Pre-CU game was in sad shape and was grossley imbalanced.  While I think the basic combat system was fine, but they just needed to balance it and FIX THE BUGS.  With that, I think there are aspect of the CU that were great (No more requirments for buffs, much more balance in weapons andaArmor, Cooldown Times which removed the SPAM fests, Increased Health, and mostly the revised Stats/Mods for the professions).

I also think that the NGE brought about some good change with respect to new Quest.

Having said all that, the problem was that they did WAY to much with the NGE.  The actual combat system (while not my favorite) is not that bad.  But removing all the professions and making Jedi a starter profession and removing any sense of individuality was horrible.  Not to mention that once again SoE proved that they cannot program anything without doing a sloppy job. 

Anyway, I quit in December 2005 (started in June 2003 - Mastered Bounty Hunter in November 2003).  I have kept up with the game as I really miss playing it and the comcept of a Star Wars based MMO is just awsome, but how SoE / Lucus ever found a way to screw up a MMO based on Star Wars is beyond me.  It is almost as if they did everything they could to find way to chase off players.  Amazing.  If any game was perfectly suited for an MMO it would be Star Wars and Star Trek.  How SWG did not over take WoW is beyond me.

SWG has always been and will always be more about what it could have been and never what it is.  This game has been poorly developed since day one and they have never placed have a quality product as a priority.  People started leaving the game in droves about 6 months after it started because of the poor condition, gross imbalance, and instead of address that, SoE released Jedi. 

At that point, it was appearent that short term decision making was always going to be the priority over long term stability.  It is a little revealing when 2.5 years into a game and with Publish 27 they finally focus on fixing aspect of the game.  Of course, it is more revealing when the "fixes" didn't actually fix most of the things they were suppose to.  Typical.

Nothing has change in almost 3 years.  Very Sad!

Anyway, I created a "SWG II" idea a while back on what I would like to see.  For those interested look here:  Idea for an SWG II

LOL, I love this.  They destroyed what use to be a great game and now they are paying for it.  I can't wait to see the game finally die cause it will be the funniest thing ever.  OH! I also love the people that are sticking up for this game, they are either people that joined up when the NGE came out and know nothing of what they are talking about or they are SOE employees trying to put a good word in for the POS game.  As for the people that still play, have fun wasting your money.

Ah I love it.

GG SWG, You were fun before the CU, too bad they ruined you.

GG DD HF GL

Well what can the community do but wait for 1) SOE to come to their senses and redeliver the game that we bought, or 2) For the game to die entirely and hope for a better planned follow up developed out of SOE's hands. Between the root kits and the NGE, I have personally decided that soe is not a company I care to do business with, and I am not alone. The sense of community I used to feel in game has been replaced with the AA of SOE on SWG withdraw. This game is a sad example of how you cannot refit something 3 years old to compete with an industry phenom (wow). I personally never played wow, but it seems to me that wow's direct competition from soe should have been everquest, and not star wars. How, and why, the decided to take on blizzard in this way is completely beyond my understanding, they never had a chance. Not because swg wasn't a great game, but simply because wow is the north american exception at this point, not the rule.

While we see niche games like eve and second life picking up subscriptions, swg seems to be struggling to stay afloat. This interview is completely defensive in response, and not informative in any way. The dev might as well have stayed home. When I compare this to recent interviews with Eve and SL staff, who are very encouraged by the future, I can't help but think that the swg staff are spinning right now. They should not be in the situation they are in, but poor decision making seems to have left them bent. SWG is a very sad story at this point, and extremely disheartening to me, because no matter what anyone's complaints about this game are, it was one of the most open (and open ended) on the market.

Hmm ... seems SOE/Lucas Arts is continuing to blow smoke up everyone's arse. I'm completely amazed they are still attempting to fix something they had horrible broken, in hopes to have the players who had left return to the game.

Let's face it, SOE/Lucas Arts nerfed it, ruined gameplay, communities, friendships, etc ... those of us who have left will never return.

To be completely honest, the ONLY way any of us would even consider returning to SWG is IF SWG is completely turned over to another company (completely unassociated with SOE and Lucas Arts) who WILL LISTEN to their client-base and provide the CUSTOMER SERVICE we all deserved. Also, the inheriting company would have to strike a da&^ good bargain for those of us who had left -- due to SOE's screw up.

SOE/Lucas Arts you're not worthy to have your previous clients return. You've nerfed it for your entire corporation structure for any and all products.

Oh and the number of your current client-base ... Funny how you will include so many accounts on Trial gameplay. How many of those who have played the "Trial" version continue on to be loyal gamers and clients? It's amazing to see how many returned game packages of SWG are in stores. SOE is so screwed, they really need to give it up.

THIS former client will not be returning to SWG or purchasing products from Sony and it's many affiliated companies. I'm sure there are plenty of people who feel and do just the same.

ROFLMAO @ SOE/Lucas Arts for the feeble attempts to regain what was once a great MMORPG.

P.S. BTW, majority of us former SWG clients have moved onto WoW or are awaiting the release of StarTrek Online Hahahahaaaaaa!!!

A comment and a short story I promise.

It really sickens but, I was also an original player SWG  pre CU, and can't help but see that the game for At least player numbers "People actually in game playing"

It's just not there, riding out of naboo and still getting lag from the battle between 2 rival guilds over 500m away, only to reaLize there was a creature called a famba towering over you towering over the trees, that just appeared out of know where, at first view as a noob it scared the shit out of you where do i go what the hell do i do now.

Just when you thought you were done, just in that moment that would alter your perception of the game and its content for ever, for part of the the rival guilds kill that famba that seemed like cake work to them, and you thanked one of them and instantly a conversation started.

That if you wanted to be technical is what is missing or lacking in the game,  SOE really never understood what it meant to the fans when the game was released, the vets as we have been called of SWG, for the most part grew up watching the original Movies when they appeared in the theaters.

And the interacting between players, that at it's core was a diversity of character professions, that has never been accomplished any one any where.

The problem for SOE actually started just after the CU but not necessarily because of the CU but because of a code they had installed it identified another exploit but this one had extreme repercussions

Th sppof of duplicating credits, won't get into it here but the results were that even if you had no knowledge of weather or not you knew the individual who gave you or paid the credits for services or materials sold, your account was terminated and suspended from the site.

Got so bad that friends and even enemies much like they did in gorath  on Corelia, they all went to the starport and starting protesting, the server at that time was more unstable you could not move from the shear amount of lag over 400 ppl all in the same location at the same time was well above what the server or the client software could handle, so the dev came in and started teleporting peps all over the place to other planets, to the log in server, they even threatened to shut down the server

And this started a wave of distrust between SOE and the SWG fan base, and then every thing else just simply added on to it.

They say no comment on the subscription numbers, why is that, its a publicly traded company, its revenues are publicly disclosed now they may have a right to disclose the personal information of there clients, but were does it violate to report how many subscr you have, only 3 reasons I can think that make any since.

1. Disclosing a low Population would disseminate the idea that the game or service was unpopular.

2. Disclosing there sub numbers would add unwanted attention to their financial reporting practices

3. Disclosing there sub numbers would only tend to justify to current player base how unpopulated there server actually is.

Bring back SWG pre NGE at least. was a far cry better then what you have given to us now

What STAGGERING arrogance. I dont know why I was even surprised by it.

That whole interview translates into :

"Look I came here to answer your stupid questions, even though everyone knows that we are so omnipotent that we do not require the validation of players opinions. So lets just get this over with so I can go back to making this perfect game even more amazingly perfect than it already is"

Marks for arrogance and smugness 99/100 (not giving 100 coz he didnt flip you the bird at the end of the interview)

Marks for giving even a tiny crap about what anyone thinks about the pile of steaming goat kaka that is SWG a BIG FAT ZERO

I had FIVE accounts.  I mastered nearly every profession.  I enjoyed the game but I agree with the criticisms expressed on this thread and eventually quit.  Twice. 

Rules for any MMO company:

1. Give good customer service
2. Listen to the customer and react to their needs, not yours
3. Fix bugs before introducing more
4. Watch for and Squash Dupers.
5. Fully disclose everything affecting the customer.  Don't hide it or disseminate.
6. Introduce new things but do not introduce a new game
7. Do not nerf.  If you feel something needs nerfing it is because people are enjoying it.  Instead of nerfing, make everything else better.
8. Hire competent programmers.  Do not keep programmers who constantly screw up.
9. Hire competent management.  Do not hire Gods.
10. Want new ideas?  Ask the players.  They know what they want.  So what if you cannot do them all, we do not care.  However, we do insist on having a voice.

That was in my top 5 if not top 2 of the all-time worst interview responses considering the thin ice that SWG is treading. Their game is failing and they give smart-a$$ responses to legitimate questions. Furthermore, they are petrified of actually giving out their subscriber numbers because that would be admitting incompetence.

Typical swg.

Like the readers above have stated, I unfortunately waste time reading their forums once a week or so to keep up with the soap opera. I am glad to know that the negativity is still as rampant as ever there. Pat yourself on the back smed! Good luck with that!

(not)

LoL! What a "critical miss" Keefe did  with that " no comment" response. It damages her credibility and strengthens my resolve never to touch SOE products ever again. I wonder how they feel at SOE HQ watching all the angry and disillusioned posts on the net. SOE has gravely injured the sci-fi mmorpg industry...

     SWG refugees of the world unite!!!

I wouldn't normally talk crap about SWG since I played it from Aug 03...but last year I had to take soem time off from the game and 6 months later I was going to reup my accounts but just could not do it...

Now they are talking about having another expansion?

WHY?

They cannot even get the current expansions to work aside from JTL...the Wookiee's expansion is broken and Obi Wan hardly ever spawns...so why another expansion?

I for one will not re up for SWG ever again...my wife wants to try out the NGE but I know her and I know she will be upset by it...but I think she just wants to be with her friends again...

well for me and my friends we will wait for PotBS and Darkfall to come out...

Keep your heads up guys!

There are many hobbyprogrammers and 3d artist out there working hard to bring the old vesions back. google for swg emulated

That they cant bring the old verison back is simply not true. They have skilled employees, and it should be posisble to do if tey closed down for a few months, and turned it back.

I am dissapointed at sony, not over the game. after all it is just  game, and i have to keep reminding myself that, even tou it felt like a second life. I quit a few months ago, after the NGE, and I still feel like I'm in a state of mourning somehow. I'm finally starting to adjust to other mmorpgs, but with all my expectations for that breathtaking feeling of freedom crumbled. I dont expect anything anymore. I play wow because it leaves me without worries or out of game frustrations, or fear they will suddenly turn it all upside down.

Sony took away my passion for a vibrant mmorpg, and my passion for starwars. But they havent mannaged to kill my craving for space adventure.. I just know it will never be in their hands again.

PS: I wouldn't even by a tv, or any other electronic appliance from sony anymore hehe....

LoL

This is just so horrible, And her phrase on how they never Posted User Sub numbers is FALSE, on EQ when you bought the game you got a timeline of the subscriptions in the manual up to the present time of 500,000 the highest mark.

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Originally posted by Lvcifer

hi guys,
i used to play SWG when it first come out!

can you guys tell me what are CU and NGE stands for? and when did it comes out?

when i played, we used to grind the xp from Tusken Raiders Castle (on tatooine)
and the holocron came in, and i did my share to get the force sensitive (i mastered 16 professions, still no Jedi)

anyone.. thats when i left SWG~

anyone willing to fill in the time gap from then to now?

thanks~

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CU is combat upgrade, it was the nail in the coffin for the hologrind.  They made a village on dathomir you had to go to, to become jedi.  They also made some big changes that effected quite a few professions negatively.  A some of the people left due to the changes, but a lot of toons were unaffected and they stayed.  The major change being animals were now not distict by their type, but by their level.  Suddenly it really didnt' matter what they were as much as what level.  Every mob was considered an "angry bag" with a level.

NGE is the New Game Experience, it stripped out everything you knew about SWG and made it a WoW clone.  They trimmed down the professions to the "iconic" 8 and all cross dependency was gone.  All loot, weapons, resources became useless immediately after the change.  All guns are pretty much identical, it was a disaster.  After this, you had all your old bugs that had been there forever, plus tons of the missions were broken.  Everyone was expected to just stick around and keep paying for no useful game.  XP was broken so bad, you couldn't progress during this period.  All jedi were do overs with a robe as their only perk.  They'd let you respec a bunch of times without losing your combat level WITH the marked exclusion of Entertainer or Crafter.  If you ever respeced away from those, you'd go to zero.  It was their nice way of trying to keep entertainers and crafters as is, because they were being screwed over and didn't want to lose them.  Probably to demonstrate that "see we have entertainers and crafters".

The remark that it was impossible to change is wrong.  It had already been admited by one of the other higher ups (Smedley or Torres) that they could do it, but it was financially unattractive. (ie they don't want to because they "think" they can get more money just maintaining a broken messed up piece of software.

The simple fact is that the SWG devs were making the wrong game.  They ended up with a game that went where no one had gone before.  The sad part is no one else wanted to and no one wants to join them.  I for one had 7 accounts active with the NGA was released.  I have a severe vision problem and can not track some objects very well.  The new point and shoot system is just plane lame and in my case completely unplayable.

Horizons has a better rating than SWG and it went bankrupt. The truth is Horizons deserves a better score.  I invested hundreds if not thousands in SWG and withstood the constand bumbling and inferiour game quality only to be designed out of the game.

In the SWG interview it was asked How the problems in the NGA were released into the live game.  May I remind anyone who doesn't remember that the game was released with almost all content broken at some point.  There were massive numbers of quests sequences that could not be completed and rewards were so lame someone should have been fired, maybe lots of people.

Jump to Lightspeed, there was content that didn't work for months, some was never fixed.

The next two expansions were the same.  It took me 7 months to finish one quest because I had to wait for the Devs to fix it.  I was never able to complete some of the expansion content because the Devs FAILED to properly Quality control the product before they released it.  You ask how it was released broken?  They've never released any expansion or game changes that were fully functional and error free, even 75% working is almost certainly something that can not be said for any expansion or content code they've yet released.

The Devs simply don't see to be able to do any better a job with Interviews than their game. 

Casey Keefe says SOE has never and will never give numbers for SWG.  Is that to us or stock holders or is it pretty much everyone?  If the numbers were not embarassing why not show them? Blizzard doesn't mind.  But it is of course a lie of sorts.  There have been a few times in the past, in the beginning when players didn't realise how poor the Quality and Development process at SOE / LA was when they were telling us when the population broke certain watermarks.

We do of course know the people at SOE are telling us the population has continued to climb.  They said it is doing better than any of their other games.  SWG or Matrix Online, hmmmm close call as to which I think will fold first.

The Quality at SOE in SWG has been terrible from day one.  The desire to listen to players has been laughable, the desire to make changes that players want has simply not exsisted.  If I were to hope for a single brightspot in the SWG experience I would hope it is that the people resoncible for managing this game since Developement to now simply go find jobs in some other industry. 

Ah, sigh. comments from SOE like this, makes me not want to return to the game.
After quitting a few months back, and having followed the developement in different forums, I do believe it has gotten better, and I miss it, but as so many others, the reason for not returning is, that I have moved on. Atm it is WOW. And when I am tired of that, most likely something entirely different.
Sigh.

lol

I love those "Community and Press Relations Manager". They have the most useless job one can imagine...

SWG really became the most laughable mmorpg out there.

Oh... sorry...

SWG really became the most laughable fps out there...

NGE -> Not Good Enough

Wish I could have come out with something funnier