General Discussion

Originally posted by Dreneth

 

Originally posted by Deathstrike2

There's a difference between being smart and being stubborn.  If SOE can put out a good game, I'll play it regardless of their past games.  Games are about having fun and being entertained.  If they can do that, I couldn't care less about the company's history.  When / if their games stop being fun or entertaining, I'll simply move on to a new game. 

The fact that you don't care about the company's history is an example of why companies can get away with horrible business practices.  People are too complacent, and will overlook the bad so they can get self gratification.  It's sad, really... not that you care.

 

Originally posted by Deathstrike2

Getting obsessively upset and holding a grudge against a company because they changed a game in a way that you didn't like is just childish.  MMOs change.  That's what they do, and that's why they're so popular.  Roll with it or move on.

 

Actually... my grudges are less about changes to a game and more about horrible business practices, dishonesty, and their business model being harmful to the industry.  The issues with changes to the game would have been enough for me to cancel, not rant the way I do.

Actually your misinformed. You say business model being harmful to the industry. Then by your comparision or logic you should be a MONK right now living in TIBET, having nothing to do with any company. Everywhere you look a company is out to do 1 thing, and thats make money. Being misinformed that SOE is so bad for you and other people then why hasn't the Government stoped SOE from selling games in USA?? Do you smoke crack? Do you even know what your talking about?

So don't buy fast food, don't buy a car, don't do anything because the companies have similar backgrounds, making money. So you had a bad experience with SOE, I doubt that has stoped you from playing their games. HMMMMM yeah check that list of SOE games you played, and the hipocricy reigns supreme! Go do us a favor and take a critical thinking class and try to understand points and CONS and PROS. Also SOE gets the blame for things like Lucas Arts doing in SWG and what happened with Vanguard. Who sold who to who and didn't SOE help Sigil? Also isn't EQ2 pretty big now with more and more subs each month. Also Blizzard had major setbacks, in the community at Blizzard when servers crashed daily and lag issues with WOW first few months wasn't resolved the people blamed Blizzard hard, and said the same stuff about never buying another blizzard product. But LOTR is out and all the haters forgot about that and either bought it or continue playing WOW. If blizzard announced a Diablo 2 online coming up then all the haters would run to it like gold in the hills during the gold rush.

On point, the article explains allot that is very interesting. I like how they are using SOE for distribution etc. Thats a smart move cause SOE rocks for publishing. I can't wait to try POTBS sword fighting.

Originally posted by Dreneth

 

Originally posted by johntynes

We planned to be on this forum and many others so we can explain this stuff. That's what we always do -- engage and inform as best we can. If you visit our site, you'll see that our devs are on our forums all the time talking to the community, not just when there's news. And yeah, it really is better than I expected. For example, a lot more people clearly understand SOE's role in regards to Matrix Online and Vanguard than I thought.

 

Your forums are filled with locked threads, it seems discussion is taking place... only if you like what is being said.

 

 

Originally posted by johntynes
SOE means our game will be in retail stores across the country and that we can launch simultaneously in North America and Europe. SOE means a very large marketing budget to reach gamers who think playing pirates sounds fun. SOE means we don't have to learn how to do secure credit card processing. SOE means we don't have to sign away ownership of the game and that we keep most of the revenues. That's what they're bringing to the table. Neither going it alone nor any other publisher we talked to could give us all of that.

 

So, you are going with a company with a horrible track record for billing and distribution (check the BBB listings, they are worse than walmart.com) as a solution to billing & distribution?

 

 

Originally posted by johntynes

We've been talking to publishers for three years now. I've gone to meeting after meeting with these folks, flying all over the country. Hands down, SOE had the best offer and has the expertise in distribution and marketing that we needed.

 

They've botched the distribution of their own expansions for EQ2, what makes you think they will do a better job with a competitor's product?

 

 

Originally posted by johntynes


I don't expect to convince you that we made the right decision. We've lost you as a customer and that's the way it goes. But I am here explaining this stuff for the benefit of others reading these forums who are interested in our game and want to know what we're up to.

 

 

Yep... that is the way it goes.  Every bad decision will cost you clients.  Unfortunately, you are so star-struck with SOE's big name that you are forgetting something here.  You need every sub you can get.  SOE's own games are hemoraging players, and there is a growing number of people like me who are so fed up with them that we will never play another SOE title, or title associated with SOE.

If this ends up tanking, and you have to lay people off, remember what you said here...  "That's the way it goes."

 

Some interesting points in this post, and whilst i think most of us understand the point of view you have, and for the most part a point of view we all have. Most of us having played every mmo ever released and been sorely disappointed by them for the most part.

Originally posted by lordtwisted

Why is nobody addressing the real problem with this game???

 

 NINJA > pirate

 

<waiting for a Ninja MMO>

That would be cool.. everyone sneakin about assassinating each other...like rogue wars in wow...only problem tho, is ninjas make poor sailors..

Originally posted by bezado

 

 

 

Actually your misinformed. You say business model being harmful to the industry. Then by your comparision or logic you should be a MONK right now living in TIBET, having nothing to do with any company. Everywhere you look a company is out to do 1 thing, and thats make money. Being misinformed that SOE is so bad for you and other people then why hasn't the Government stoped SOE from selling games in USA?? Do you smoke crack? Do you even know what your talking about?

...snip....

Uh, wait that wasn't the question, right?

Okay, back to the real problems...one I am not in beta, this is a games first downfall, not one MMO has succeded with out my beta input. <this doesn't mean those that collected my beta input actually read it, but they still got it.> 

 Second true problem, again there are no Ninjas in your game. I can fix this too. give me a beta key and a little time in the game.

 Third problem, well the collectors edition needs to come with a keg tap.

 What you guys are discussing is all illegit crapola.  Yes, every game SOE has taken on eventually ..what was the term? Suxxors? but is that all the fault of SOE? Ultima Online kicked butt for a few years...did SOE have a hand in it? no, and it still went ...suxxor?  DAoC...did SOE kill it? nope, Anarchy? Lineage? WOW? M59? The Realm?

    Point is, while there have been a lot of MMOs that have come and gone, they all eventually sucked, or we would still be playing them right? So is it really SOE that kills them, or is it Time? A game becomes boring eventually. Can you imagine trying to keep a game interesting for 10 years? No damn way! EQ went strong for well over 6 years, I know because that's when I quit playing. Did a particular exspansion ruin it, like so many claim? No..the last few exspansions did, they were all the same thing with a few new loot items, and new skins on some old mobs. Woopity fricking doo!

  Same goes for every game, how long can one team make a single game go on for?  Most of us are bored with life and that is why we play these games, for change, well eventually it gets to be the same old daily routine too. So what does a team do? write a whole new game every couple of years? hire new blood? then you change the whole dynamics of the game to some degree and tick off a certain class/race.

  SOE has ahad it's problems, it's actually done more good then bad in my opinion. If I still had time to play like I used to, I would so pay for the all access pass from SOE, and get to play whatever I feel like that day.

  Here is the real problem for games today. : you can't stop. Your wife/husband/daughter/son/aunt/uncle whatever gets sick, and you need to help take care of them...you are off the game for three days. In that three days, your usual group of friends has gaind 5 to 20 levels over you <depending on the game> now you are useless to them, they can either take the time to help level you up <again depending on the game> or they can keep going and hope you catch up.

   Well unless everyone else takes a break..you aren't going to catch up.

  Another problem is skills/equipment/spells/etc... the whole reason for your leveling frenzy....hmmmm level 6 ahhh look at this cool spell! I can't wait untill level 8 to see what I get next.

  Well crapola, now every game is pretty much the same, so you hit level 6 and go oh cool I loved this spell when I got it in <insert game name here> oh wait this version sucks! 

  You want to win me over for awhile, give me a game with all new races, no high elves/wood elves/ dark elves/ humans/ dwarves/ barbarians/ gnomes/ etc...   Give me 30 races to choose from, and 80 new classes to choose from, sure it's a lot to ask, but you figure rogues a lone you can do cutpurse/assasin/informant/cutthroat/backstabber/trickster/rogue/pickpocket/scout/cat burgular....got the idea? sure most seem like they would be the same thing, but give each one a set of skills or spells that are thiers alone. I can asure you, pick and 6 geeks from these forums and ask them to brainstorm a class build up/ skill set, spell set for 80 classes and we could do it in a weekend...some of them in a day.   Give me a story setting, not FF12 type story, but tell me what has happend thus far in my life and why I am who I am, or give me a really creative outlet to tell my own story.  not just a paper doll that I can write a bio in, but something that other people will notice and ask about.           Last that I will go into for now....equipment, look at the D&D mmo and how they did equipment, and go even more individual I think armor, shields, weapons should be very personal, I want someone to ask me the story of where I got my +8 kite shield of life, but  not have him be able to go out and get it the next day.

Another game handled by SOE?

Won't these people ever learn anything SOE touches turns to shit. Look at every game in SOE's stable including Vanguard and that will tell you all you need to know about this new game coming out.  It will either be unfinished, unpolished, bugged to the hilt or any number of negative things wrong with it.

Yes, it's a new game and many people will go check it out but don't be surprised if it turns out to be another Vanguard.  Players know enough by now to know SoE's grubby dirty hands are all over this one and judging by their track record this one is sure to bomb too.

Originally posted by sololoco

Another game handled by SOE?

Won't these people ever learn anything SOE touches turns to shit. Look at every game in SOE's stable including Vanguard and that will tell you all you need to know about this new game coming out.  It will either be unfinished, unpolished, bugged to the hilt or any number of negative things wrong with it.

Yes, it's a new game and many people will go check it out but don't be surprised if it turns out to be another Vanguard.  Players know enough by now to know SoE's grubby dirty hands are all over this one and judging by their track record this one is sure to bomb too.

i meanr seriously if SOE was a reputable company..then guess what.. there would not be such a huge stigma on them and any company that: "oh they doing our billing servers etc" type deals, which lead to vanguardesque situations.