Originally posted by TUX426

Originally posted by AcmeGamer

Originally posted by superniceguy

Originally posted by TUX426

 

And you call SWTOR simplistic, while playing TF2?! Huh.

 

That is a weak comment. TF2 is 1) Free to play and 2) NOT a MMORPG

SWTOR is very simplistic for a P2P MMORPG

 

[mod edit]

[mod edit]

My reply to Obriak was sincere. I don't know anyone who cares if he liked SWG or was holding out hope that he'd come to his senses and somehow dislike it. Honestly, NOBODY CARES if he enjoyed it. I knew people myself who enjoyed SWG up until Dec 15th - there was a lot to like with SWG for some players...not so much for others. As I said, some people like beets...I'll NEVER understand that...but it doesn't mean I hope someday they come to their senses and hate beets.

And calling SWTOR "simplistic", while playing TF2 (implying it has more depth), is stupid. To compare a game with the stories, crafting, flashpoints, gear, missions, factions, OPS, characters, planets, PvE, PvP, companions etc that SWTOR has to TF2 is just silly.

 

Apparently you do care since you clicked to read the thread ;)

I never implied TF2 has more depth, nor is it a game I expect depth from.  My expectations of an FPS and an MMO are very different.  In a FPS like TF2 I just want easy access, simple fun and in TF2's case, a touch of humour.  In an MMO I want something that challenges me, gives me both short and long term "goals" and all the other stuff I've already listed in this thread.  TF2 meets the expecations I have for a game of it's genre; TOR does not.

Originally posted by eddieg50

  As soon as the op started talking about the grind I knew he just did not understand why bioware was making a game such as this.  This is a game to be savored, this is not a rush to the end game. With story, cut scenes and great voice overs bioware wants the journey to be important.  All those who do not want to go on the journey are going to be unhappy and for the rest of us - Let the Journey begin

Which implies it's not a game to stick with.  Personally, I think an MMO should stack the content at the end game rather than trickling it out through the low to midlevels - there's no reason the journey has to be associated with the tedium of getting to max level.  The main purpose of leveling in an MMO should be to learn how the game works and the various features that can be found in the game rather than drip feeding content.  I'm not a big fan of voice acting and generally find it to be more cheese than entertainment.

Originally posted by Troneas

Originally posted by Obraik

 

My main complaints:

• The lack of a community feel.  For the most part, I feel like I'm playing a single player game.  For the grind from 1-50 I pretty much feel like I'm all on my own and there's little reason to involve anyone else.  I know this is something SWG tried to do as well with the legacy quests but there were alternatives.  Being in a guild seems to be for title only as you don't seem to really need to rely on your guild for much. 
• Meaningless PvP, which kind of links with the above point.  I don't see much in the way of PvP outside of the instanced areas.  I'm on a PvP server but the only places I encounter PvP is when I queue for a Warzone or if I were to go to Ilum.  I miss the PvP based on pride in SWG which actually gave it a war like feel - I felt like I had an enemy to fight.  There's no "X guild is SF in Y city and they're holding the SP...let's gather up and kill them!"  I really want something like that again.  Fighting purely for trinkets gets boring.
• The UI. Holy crap, the UI.  I can't move any of the UI windows to where I want them, I can't resize them and I can't have more than two open at once.  On top of that, the behaviour of one UI window changes if you happen to have another specific UI window open.  It's also too in your face and chunky.
• Movement controls.  This is potentially just because I'm overly familliar with the way SWG did things, but I really do miss the ability to lock the cursor and simply use the mouse to control the direction my character moves.  Instead, to do this with the mouse I have to hold down two mouse buttons, or through using the keyboard I have to use one key to move and another to control direction.  There's also no means of remapping which two mouse buttons control movement.
• A lacking of non-combat activities.  The crafting in TOR is simply, boring.  There's nothing to it and there's really no reason for me to do it.  If people needed/wanted my crafted goods then that would make the boredom worth it but nope, everything comes from loot. 

 

funny how i think of the NGE you so vigoursly defended when i read through all your points.

 

NGE was solo all the way to lvl 90. Including the long, dull and boring Legacy quest.

What was "meaningful" in the NGE PVP? Clubfighting? Destroying bases and killing the opposite faction  to accumulate an extra 20 buffs to add to the 80 already available beforehand? Oh thats right! the armor. That factional armor that no one used because Mando and RIS or whatever crafted layer armor was superior?

 

Dont even get me started on the NGE UI. YES, the one you had to configure for 2 hours to get it anywhere near to a functional level and THAT option was put in place what 2 years after the NGE hit?

 

lack of non-combat activities? LOL every single crafter but armorsmith was made reduntant in the NGE. Tailor became USELESS, so did shipwright, the cooks to an extent and everyone else. I am not even going to go into entertainers you know what i am talking about. 

 

SWTOR is exactly what you so vehemtly defended for the past 8 years. 

 

 

This is where you don't really know what you're talking about.  You haven't really read what I wrote at all but I'm not gonna argue with you point by point because it's a pointless argument.  At the end of the day we're both losers - neither of the versions of SWG that we enjoyed exist today.

Many will probably remember me saying I wasn't going to play TOR, however I have family members and friends internationally who like to aid my crazy addictions and picked it up for me late last year.  I'm sure there are many here that are hoping to read this and see that I've "seen the light" and come to realise that SWG was crap, etc etc.  If you're one of those people then you're probably not going to like this post.

I always knew TOR was never going to be anything like SWG but I figured that this is what MMO's are these days and being a fan of the MMO genre I might as well at least play one that is somewhat sci-fi.  So for the last three months I've trying to become attached to TOR like I was with SWG.

That attempt has failed.  As much as I've tried, TOR is too linear and simplistic for me.  I don't feel like I'm playing an MMO, I feel like I'm playing a single player game for the most part - there's little in the way of a community and there's nothing there to really entice a community atmosphere.

My main complaints:

• The lack of a community feel.  For the most part, I feel like I'm playing a single player game.  For the grind from 1-50 I pretty much feel like I'm all on my own and there's little reason to involve anyone else.  I know this is something SWG tried to do as well with the legacy quests but there were alternatives.  Being in a guild seems to be for title only as you don't seem to really need to rely on your guild for much. 
• Meaningless PvP, which kind of links with the above point.  I don't see much in the way of PvP outside of the instanced areas.  I'm on a PvP server but the only places I encounter PvP is when I queue for a Warzone or if I were to go to Ilum.  I miss the PvP based on pride in SWG which actually gave it a war like feel - I felt like I had an enemy to fight.  There's no "X guild is SF in Y city and they're holding the SP...let's gather up and kill them!"  I really want something like that again.  Fighting purely for trinkets gets boring.
• The UI. Holy crap, the UI.  I can't move any of the UI windows to where I want them, I can't resize them and I can't have more than two open at once.  On top of that, the behaviour of one UI window changes if you happen to have another specific UI window open.  It's also too in your face and chunky.
• Movement controls.  This is potentially just because I'm overly familliar with the way SWG did things, but I really do miss the ability to lock the cursor and simply use the mouse to control the direction my character moves.  Instead, to do this with the mouse I have to hold down two mouse buttons, or through using the keyboard I have to use one key to move and another to control direction.  There's also no means of remapping which two mouse buttons control movement.
• A lacking of non-combat activities.  The crafting in TOR is simply, boring.  There's nothing to it and there's really no reason for me to do it.  If people needed/wanted my crafted goods then that would make the boredom worth it but nope, everything comes from loot. 

Originally posted by hipiap

Originally posted by Obraik

No where until another game with open sci-fi/non-fantasy world with plenty of free choices is released.  For now I'll stick with short investment games like Team Fortress 2.

Given the design of MMO's these days, it's unlikely I'll ever have another MMO to play.

This about sum's it up for most Gamers above the age of 30.

 

SW:G was my first MMO and my first Love.

I've tried Vanguard and LoTRO and WoW and EvE and most of the others...but they are not Galaxies.

It will be my last for a long time.

Woah, woah!  I'm not over 30 :P

No where until another game with open sci-fi/non-fantasy world with plenty of free choices is released.  For now I'll stick with short investment games like Team Fortress 2.

Given the design of MMO's these days, it's unlikely I'll ever have another MMO to play.

Originally posted by TUX426

Originally posted by Obraik

Sorry to dissapoint but a decent chunk of those Xfire hours are AFK hours.  Over the years, since it really has been the only game I've really played I just left the game logged in with an AFK macro running so I could continue playing when I wasn't busy doing something else.

As for money wasted?  That's a little ignorant on your behalf.  Who are you to tell me what to spend my money on and what's a waste and what wasn't?   Everything we spend money on is a waste at some point - however, I well enjoyed my holiday to Las Vegas and New York City.

AFK? Guess that's why you enjoyed the game so much :P  Did you log on when you got home and just let it go or...I'm floored by the 6 hours per day stat. Also, did you start tracking from day 1? On your trip, did you stay logged in or take the game on a laptop? (serious questions, honestly not trying to be an ass)

And whatever you spent your money on, doesn't matter to me. Nothing is a waste if it's enjoyed...except Twilight movies.

I feel like I'm on trial, but.... it's a game, there's not an infinite amount of things to do in the game non-stop so, while I waited for Rebels to regroup or whatever, I'd leave my character in a buff house and come back later.  Many times I'd get caught up with something else I was doing IRL and leave it logged on over night then get home from work the next day and notice it's still running (I don't shut off my PC either).  Yes, I take a laptop with me on trips and yes, there were times where I logged in at a hotel.  There wasn't much time for that while I was in New York (well,really the US east coast) since I was on the road most of the time having a look at the area and visiting some of the historic places.

Anyway, it's over now...my SWG Xfire stats are forever frozen in time :)

Originally posted by Gravez

Originally posted by TUX426

Originally posted by Gravez

 

I guess when you waste over 17 thousand hours of your life in a video game you become delusional, maybe like stockholm syndrome or a battered housewife. After tomorrow his and every other SOE apologist's world comes crashing down.

HOLY **edit**!!! Never even saw that...

17 THOUSAND hours.

That's 720.5, 24-hour days of being logged ON.

Over 2-years of the 8-years spent ONLINE 24/7.

6-hours a day DAILY for 8-years.

 

Seriously...I bet half the players don't even WORK that many hours over 8 years.

I think you won the game Obraik :P

Just think of all the real life money spent on the TCG and paying for trips to fanfare, all for nothing because the game will be gone. 

Sorry to dissapoint but a decent chunk of those Xfire hours are AFK hours.  Over the years, since it really has been the only game I've really played I just left the game logged in with an AFK macro running so I could continue playing when I wasn't busy doing something else.

As for money wasted?  That's a little ignorant on your behalf.  Who are you to tell me what to spend my money on and what's a waste and what wasn't?   Everything we spend money on is a waste at some point - however, I well enjoyed my holiday to Las Vegas and New York City.

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Originally posted by TUX426

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Originally posted by Obraik

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And how does that rule out what Superniceguy theorised?  SOE's reluctance to renew could be due to the issues Superniceguy theorised with LucasArts.  If we add the rest of the quote that you've missed out by Smedley:

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Really though, there's a million things that could be speculated from the quotes posted. Everyone here has their own agenda and will find it just as easy to speculate something contradicting to your own opinion of what it all means which is quite pointless.

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First, I linked the quote in its entirety. People are welcome to read it - I snipped out the part proving my point that Smedley didn't even try to renew the license. It's not pointless - it's fact and it was stated by Smed. If you find solace in the fluff I left out, good for you - that doesn't change or negate what was said though. Smed clearly says he didn't even TRY to renew SWGs license.
 
Now, on to Superniceguy's statements:
"SOE constantly worked on the game, and kept patching it every other week with a new update."
Simply a lie. They did not patch it every other week with a new update.

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"They have nothing to lose by pulling staff from SWG to work on their other games, and doing nothing, but yet they are still tinkering with it on Atmospheric Flight, Air to Ground stuff"
Again, not true. Hjal worked on it in his spare time. The reality is, SOE had 7-1/2 years to actually add it - it wasn't until their former QA guy Hjal took it upon himself to do it in his FREE TIME (not even paid for by SOE) to get it implemented.

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"SOE wanted SWG, they just did not want to work with LA"
False. SOE is STILL working with LA. They still have a Star Wars MMO running - Clone Wars Adventures.

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"LA are way to over protective towards their IP"
False. If this were the case, how would you explain zombies, pink flying Ewoks with purple hearts, Indiana Jones gear or a slew of other ridiculous crap. LA is too LEINIENT with their IP. In fact, SOE Developers have stated how EASY LA was to deal with.

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"When SWTOR closes, they will no longer deal with Bioware"
How on earth would Superniceguy know this? He doesn't. It's simply false.

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Theories are generally based on some sort of truths Obriak. Superniceguy uses NO facts OR truths. It's fine to dislike LA. I'm not defending them. I am defending common sense and the truth though.

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Originally posted by tixylix

Originally posted by Obraik

 

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Originally posted by TUX426

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Originally posted by Obraik
Someone's a little defensive of LucasArts, it seems ;)
The quote you've posted is pretty vague.  It simply states that resigning the license wasn't in SOE's best interests.  Superniceguy's theory has just as much potential to be correct as yours.  That's the problem with vague quotes...

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Not at all. Lucas Arts should be shot for allowing zombies, pink flying Ewoks with purple hearts, and a slew of other worthless CRAP to be added to SWG. Every update SOE moved further and further away from ANYTHING canon to borderline lunacy. Whoever approved the additions at Lucas Arts is also culpable of utter neglect and should be fired.
Lucas Arts clearly didn't give a f**k about SWG, but that doesn't make them responsible for SOE's choices - SOE is ultimately responsible for THEIR actions.
 
And there's nothing "vague" about "Could we have renegotiated? Maybe." - That clearly states that he didn't even try to renegotiate, hence the word "maybe". It simply wasn't worth it to Smed to invest even an attempt into keeping SWG open.

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And how does that rule out what Superniceguy theorised?  SOE's reluctance to renew could be due to the issues Superniceguy theorised with LucasArts.  If we add the rest of the quote that you've missed out by Smedley:

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If the intellectual property of Galaxies was wholly owned by SOE, then the decision might have been moot because the game would likely continue to make money for a long time, even with TOR lurking. "That's the problem with licenses: they end," Smedley said. "We're going to continue to do some licensed work, but we're largely going to stick to original IP [going forward] because then we won't have this issue. We'll never have this problem with EverQuest."

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Really though, there's a million things that could be speculated from the quotes posted. Everyone here has their own agenda and will find it just as easy to speculate something contradicting to your own opinion of what it all means which is quite pointless.

 

SWG has ended because it sucked and lets not forget it is 8 years old....

 

SOE ruined SWG, you cannot defend them seeing as they've done the same to all their other games.

I've enjoyed the 8.5 years I've spent playing this supposed "ruined" game.  Sorry you didn't.

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Originally posted by TUX426

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Originally posted by Obraik
Someone's a little defensive of LucasArts, it seems ;)
The quote you've posted is pretty vague.  It simply states that resigning the license wasn't in SOE's best interests.  Superniceguy's theory has just as much potential to be correct as yours.  That's the problem with vague quotes...

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Not at all. Lucas Arts should be shot for allowing zombies, pink flying Ewoks with purple hearts, and a slew of other worthless CRAP to be added to SWG. Every update SOE moved further and further away from ANYTHING canon to borderline lunacy. Whoever approved the additions at Lucas Arts is also culpable of utter neglect and should be fired.
Lucas Arts clearly didn't give a f**k about SWG, but that doesn't make them responsible for SOE's choices - SOE is ultimately responsible for THEIR actions.
 
And there's nothing "vague" about "Could we have renegotiated? Maybe." - That clearly states that he didn't even try to renegotiate, hence the word "maybe". It simply wasn't worth it to Smed to invest even an attempt into keeping SWG open.

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If the intellectual property of Galaxies was wholly owned by SOE, then the decision might have been moot because the game would likely continue to make money for a long time, even with TOR lurking. "That's the problem with licenses: they end," Smedley said. "We're going to continue to do some licensed work, but we're largely going to stick to original IP [going forward] because then we won't have this issue. We'll never have this problem with EverQuest."

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Really though, there's a million things that could be speculated from the quotes posted. Everyone here has their own agenda and will find it just as easy to speculate something contradicting to your own opinion of what it all means which is quite pointless.

Originally posted by TUX426

Originally posted by superniceguy

Originally posted by TUX426

Originally posted by MMOExposed

Now that SWTOR NDA dropped, do you believe SWG should return?

Sony claimed that SWTOR would be the reason for their end to SWG's plug being pulled. But maybe it was a poor decision, or a well thought out decision.

whats your opinion?

SOE never claimed that.

SWG is dead as of December 15th.

SWG was such a waste of time, Smedley didn't even TRY to renew his license with LA (links available in multiple other threads on this topic by me).

SOE doesn't want SWG.

SOE hasn't invested the time/staff into SWG over 8+ years - there are bugs in the game from when it LAUNCHED! Don't blame LA for SOE's failure.

That is not true, as SOE constantly worked on the game, and kept patching it every other week with a new update. If they did not want SWG, they would have ignored it like Vanguard, epseciallly now with it being announced to close. They have nothing to lose by pulling staff from SWG to work on their other games, and doing nothing, but yet they are still tinkering with it on Atmospheric Flight, Air to Ground stuff

SOE wanted SWG, they just did not want to work with LA. LA are way to over protective towards their IP, and is proven by their successful attempt to shut down a viewing of a free movie marathon and a failed attempt to stop a prop designer from creating stormtrooper helmets, and no doubt have that same attitude with SOE.

LA are so pompous they will now no longer out source to 3rd parties, and Bioware with SWTOR is the last. When SWTOR closes, they will no longer deal with Bioware, and there will not be a single player KOTOR game now either, unless they change their policies again.

All the restrictions and limitations of SWG seemed to be set by LA not SOE

If this is FACT, provide a LINK! I know you won't because you CAN'T provide one. Everything you're stating is your OPINION or worse, lies. You have no source, you provide nothing but blatant slander against LA for SOE's failures and your only example has absolutely NOTHING to do with SOE - it was a guy selling replica helmets, something LA already does - of course they should shut him down. He has no right to profit off Star Wars without licensing.

Your atmospheric flight has been in game since JTL - SOE never released it because THEY didn't want to clean up the code. Hajl did it in his free time - give credit where it's due.

However, I can provide a link and a quote from John Smedley stating they didn't even TRY to renegotiate a deal, but had they, they probably could have.

LINK

Quote:

"We have a contractual relationship that's ending in 2012. ... That's the problem with licenses: they end. Could we have renegotiated? Maybe, but I don't think that would be the right thing for the company."

Someone's a little defensive of LucasArts, it seems ;)

The quote you've posted is pretty vague.  It simply states that resigning the license wasn't in SOE's best interests.  Superniceguy's theory has just as much potential to be correct as yours.  That's the problem with vague quotes...

I signed it.

However, I'm coming to terms with the fact that the game won't exist from the end of the year.  It'd be nice to see that change but based on history with petitions against SOE & LA in regards to SWG, I'm not liking the chances that this will go very far.

It is nice to see that it's starting to be noticed by various news sites, though :)

Farewell, SWG.  Although it's been 8 years of ups and downs, it has been great.  It's unfortunate that there are no other MMO's out there for me to move on to - nothing has what I enjoy about SWG, so I guess December 15 will also be the end of MMO's for me.  It's been fun :)

SWG is up and running :)  Looks like the Devs were busy during the down time - some nice updates on TC too.

Although it's poor timing, I think it's unlikely that it's related.  I think it would be unlikely that the people that have the information would be using (if they've even got to that stage yet) it for anything game related.  Rather, they'd be using your information for things like applying for credit cards, loans, etc. - RL related stuff.

Rather, it's likely to just be a typical phishing attempt.  When I clean out my spam folder I notice a bunch related to WoW and recently, Rift.  Replying to the emails just lets them know they have a real person on the other end - just delete them instead :)

Originally posted by Daffid011

Originally posted by Obraik

 1.  Firstly, it wasn't February, it was April.  At the time when they came up, they said based on investigations at that time, the attack only appeared to have been on the PSN.  This would have been concluded by the secutiry team that were looking into the PSN attack.  SOE was only taken at that time by Sony as a precautionary measure.  There was no announcement that I can remember that mentioned anything about changing their security defenses after that initial downtime on the 21st, but it's hard to confirm this when the forums are down, where the response announcement was made.

It wasn't until the secutiry teams working on the PSN progressed through their investigations did they find that SOE had also been accessed.  This isn't a failing specific to SOE but SCEI as a whole as their investigators are the ones that likely assumed based on prelimery investigations that SOE was fine.  Either way, it's pointless argument - SOE wasn't brought down a second time due to a second attack after the intial April 21 downtime but due to evidence being discovered that showed that SOE had also been compromised in the initial attack that also took down  the PSN on April 21.  There was no second attack, it's all part of the original attack.

2.  You're incorrect.  It's been shown how you can use Google's search results to show that Sony's web servers were using the latest version of Apache.  This doesn't mean that every other web server running that software is vulnerable, it just means that the way in which Sony has setup their websites was vulnerable.  At a guess, I would expect they were using custom built add-ons for the webserver to intergrate their login services and this is what likely had the vulnerability.

It's certainly easy to beat up on Sony for this and to an extent, they do deserve some of it.  However, this situation is not unique to Sony and nor will they be the last, it's just a case of "being in the wrong place at the wrong time".  Secutiry vulnerabilities exist in all peices of software that connect to the Internet, leaving a constant game of tag between developers and hackers to find these before the other side does.  In most cases, the developers win but from time to time, the hackers get there first and this is what we're left with. 

[1]

SOE runs SOE servers and if they cannot figure out that someone hacked into their system that is a failure on their part.   SOE was brought down a second time, because their network security was still insecure after SOE reviewed it on April 21st.  SOE gave the servers the green light and pronounced everything safe.  That is a second failure.

Anyway you spin it the buck for SOE server security stops at SOE and they failed several times. 

 

[2]

I'm not incorrect.  The google seach show only Sony WEB servers, but there are a lot more servers than what google is going to crawl isn't there?  Also google doesn't probe how firewalls are configured or if they are not at critical junctions of a network. 

This could theoritically happen to any company, but it didn't.  It gets old hearing that excuse used for a company that seems to keep finding its way into the headlines.  

To go one step further Sony continued and continues to have server vulnerabilities running live and exploited.  Their network still fails basic security probes. 

LINK

Look how many problems there still are.  Sony is rebuilding the network from the ground up, because it was garbage.  If their network was up to date and properly firewalled, then all they would have to do fix one exploit, but that isn't what needs to be done to resolve the problem is it? 

If this intrusion was the result of a small problem in an otherwise well designed and secure network, it would have been fixed a long time ago and services restored. 

 

Read this article and see that Sony is still running servers with exploits in them and they were hacked as recently as last week.  Honestly, Sony just put in a security device and left the login page exposed to the internet with the login ID field populated.  That is just a sample of how poorly Sony is running their networks. 

 1.  From what I remember of the initial annoucement after the 21st, there was no mention of changes.  I'm assuming the initial investigations of SOE looked clean and whatever differences there are between SOE and the PSN were seen as enough to keep the same hackers out of SOE's systems.  They were only down with other Sony sites intiially as a precaution as they knew the PSN had been hacked.  It wasn't until more indepth investigations were carried out that it was discovered that they had also been breached.  The investigations are being carried out by third parties, not Sony itself - I imagine this is due to the hackers covering up most of what they did.

2.  The issue of excessive info being available on the internet aside (it'd be interesting to see the same processes done against other large companies, actually), none of that really mattered as the guy in the link also says that it wasn't a case of the hackers cracking the security and getting through but rather a likely case of using social engineering to get the info they needed to be able to get in.  While humans are involved, all the security software/hardware in the world can't always combat a social engineering attack.

Originally posted by TUX426

Originally posted by Obraik

Originally posted by TUX426

Originally posted by Obraik

A "pick a loot item" TCG card would be nice for SWG...

Did you read the OP? It's a mini Slave 1 ship model.

Giving you a TCG loot would cut into their profits.

 Naturally, you didn't read mine ;)  I posted a wish...

Since you never indicated it was a "wish", I had no way of knowing. This wasn't a "What I wish we would get" thread, it was a "Here's what you WILL get" thread.

 I figured the "would be nice" line gave it a way.  If I had said "is nice" then you would be correct. 

Originally posted by Daffid011

Originally posted by Akaronia

  [1] Sony will be up when everything is fixed and secure=fact.

 

[2]  It has already been proven that Sony had the latest up-to-date security and it was patched. 

[1]

That is what SOE said on Feb 21st when they put their servers back online and on Feb 28th when they said no data was stolen.  What happened on May 2nd?  Servers came down, because there are still problems.  It wasn't until May 2nd that SOE decided to get outside help.

The only fact is that SOE did put the servers back online when they were not secure.  You can HOPE they fix everything, but who knows what will happen.

[2]

Sonys chief information officer said their network had known vulnerabilities and there was more work they should have done to keep the network secure.  That dismisses any claims that Sonys network was up to date.  If sony was running the most current security features then that would mean this exploit existed on every network and hackers would waltz to all of them at will. 

 

I know you really want to go to bat for SOE, but it really isn't your place to tell people to be quiet on a discussion forum. 

 1.  Firstly, it wasn't February, it was April.  At the time when they came up, they said based on investigations at that time, the attack only appeared to have been on the PSN.  This would have been concluded by the secutiry team that were looking into the PSN attack.  SOE was only taken at that time by Sony as a precautionary measure.  There was no announcement that I can remember that mentioned anything about changing their security defenses after that initial downtime on the 21st, but it's hard to confirm this when the forums are down, where the response announcement was made.

It wasn't until the secutiry teams working on the PSN progressed through their investigations did they find that SOE had also been accessed.  This isn't a failing specific to SOE but SCEI as a whole as their investigators are the ones that likely assumed based on prelimery investigations that SOE was fine.  Either way, it's pointless argument - SOE wasn't brought down a second time due to a second attack after the intial April 21 downtime but due to evidence being discovered that showed that SOE had also been compromised in the initial attack that also took down  the PSN on April 21.  There was no second attack, it's all part of the original attack.

2.  You're incorrect.  It's been shown how you can use Google's search results to show that Sony's web servers were using the latest version of Apache.  This doesn't mean that every other web server running that software is vulnerable, it just means that the way in which Sony has setup their websites was vulnerable.  At a guess, I would expect they were using custom built add-ons for the webserver to intergrate their login services and this is what likely had the vulnerability.

It's certainly easy to beat up on Sony for this and to an extent, they do deserve some of it.  However, this situation is not unique to Sony and nor will they be the last, it's just a case of "being in the wrong place at the wrong time".  Secutiry vulnerabilities exist in all peices of software that connect to the Internet, leaving a constant game of tag between developers and hackers to find these before the other side does.  In most cases, the developers win but from time to time, the hackers get there first and this is what we're left with. 

Star Wars Galaxies has mult passenger ships.  Unlike EVE, you're actually in control of the ship so it's a bit like a flight simulator.  You can have varying sizes of multi-passenger ships starting with what is essentially a starfighter with a gunner seat (like a Y-Wing) right up to the big gunships that can have 6 people controling turrets, a pilot, someone controlling the astromech and who ever is left repairing parts as they fail from damage. 

What's more, the space part of the game is about to recieve some more content with the addition of Space blockades and improvements to planetary control through space systems.

Unfortunately, right now you can't try the game due to the Sony drama, but it's worth considering once the game is back online.