Originally posted by BullseyeArc1

Originally posted by ktanner3

Originally posted by jjjk29

  I respect what you have said about the game..  But I came back and played about a month ago and it is crap.  You have to make a class to craft something?  Garbage

 

That's pretty much what my feeling was when I re-installed the game a week ago. I lasted 30 minutes before I said "This game is dead." Once TOR comes out the game this game will be history.

 

Since you both really dont like to work for anything, and thier are things you still can work for in SWG.  Some like to actually be the best in thier proffesions, some like to socialize, I can tell in 30 secs neither of you will ever be happy with a mmo.     I used to like both, thats the differnce from a real mmo player and a player that turns on thier Xbox or PS3 and expects to have the best of everything and beat the entire game in a day.     

You really came to the conclusion that the game is dead in 30mins?    You didnt try out the populated servers?   Starsider is more active than any server Pre-Cu or Cu.    The only merit anyone can get from either of the posts from Ktanner3 or jjjk28 is that some games are not for everyone, move on thiers something more your speed out thier.   

The current Starsider server population would probably have represented "Medium" in Pre-CU.  I remember when Lowca EASILY had more players than Starsider does now. 

OP:  Spell-check is your friend.

1 of their inters...  Errrrrr, developers must have forgotten to use spell-check.

Originally posted by Torak

Originally posted by Recon48

I can remember on Bria, going to Coronet starport and seeing 5 lines of Doctors selling 3-4hr duration buffs, each with like 15-20 players waiting in line at any given time, or walking into either Theed or Coronet cantina with a friend and having to /target her toon because I'd lost track of her in the crowds there.  And when I was working on mastering Doctor I would visit my factory to load my backpack to go sit in Theed Med Center and heal people's battle fatigued stats.  Within a couple hours I would be completely out of stims.  That  was when SWG was better than ever.

 

Yeah standing line to get buffs was awesome!

 

I really wish they would being back the battle fatigue also,nothing beat standing around doing nothing for 20 or 30 minutes...

 

They should bring back the hologrind or any of the Jedi grinds also, that was great fun!

 

Oh...and the hours and hours of Bol grinding....man, those were the days...

 

They should put stuff like that in all MMO's!

 

The only redeeming quality the "old SWG" had was the profession system, the rest of the game was grind-tastic crap and it wouldn't last 15 minutes if they re-launched it today.

Buff lines added to the economy and social aspect of the game, something NO other game offers. 

Holo grind sucked.

Skill trees rocked, best of any game I have ever seen.

Originally posted by BadgerSmaker

Originally posted by Suvroc

But of course the danger of using those statistics to claim a booming subscriber base is that it doesn't take into account the number of subscribers inactive in office rankings just prior to an update that would encourage people to be active again.

Secondly, how can we be sure of how small a subsection of the total playerbase they are? Is it not possible that it could be something higher -  perhaps 50%?

 

I don't believe I have ever tried to use the GCW stats as a way to gauge subscription numbers.  I use them to gauge profession trends and server population distribution and I corrolate them with player city stats.

My view that SWG is doing fine, and that it is a healthy and growing MMORPG comes from my dealings with new and returning players in game. 

Having played through periods of this game where new players were few and far between, times where hardly anyone was playing at all after the NGE I have seen what SWG looks like when it is dying and what is happening today is very far removed from that.

This game isn't thriving.  Everyone simply moved to Star, that's it and that's all.  Look at the server stats, it's obvious.

I don't think SWG will ever truly die, there is a reason that SOE has it as part of the Station Pass.  Anyone with the Station Pass can play it, and I spoke to 2 people who were playing last week because it was part of the Pass and they wanted to try it. 

It's not like anyone is running out to try SWG.  It's population hasn't grown in 4, maybe 5 years.  Regardless of how optimistically you look at the SWG situation, only the most unreasonable and illogical people could claim SWG is growing.

Originally posted by ummax

Originally posted by Obee

Originally posted by Daffid011

Originally posted by ummax 

Although I dont necessarily agree with how this is being dealt with since its happened I had a similar thought awhile back when I found out that Sony corporation's largest money maker is in fact SOE and that when I spoke to someone about it when doing my bonds stuff at the bank  they are apparently responsible for sony stocks retaining their high value at the moment.     I then came to this forum awhile later and about the same thoughs came into my head about "disguntled vets" and how upset they must be.

Oh well such is life.   

 

 

Yeah, most people are still operating under the flase belief that Sony makes money on Playstations, Bluray and Electronics like televisions and such.  Most people just don't know that SOE is the money tree that keeps the entire company floating.

Only those savy enough to be involved in "bond stuff" have access to this type of information.

 

 

 

SOE isn't even close to being Sony's 'largest moneymaker'.  SOE was moved under Sony's game division, which is still losing money due to the PS3.  Sony Pictures, where SOE was until last year, is still making a profit.  The game division is losing less money than it did in 2007, but Sony attributes it to the PS3 manufacturing costs being reduced (they lose less per unit than before), the PSP selling pretty well, and 2007's losses being mostly the result of the PS2 selling much less software and units.  As with previous years, SOE doesn't merit a mention in Sony's Annual Report (www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/ar/2008/index.html).

SOE definitely turns a profit, since they are able to reduce costs by reducing staff for all their released products (even EQ2 has a smaller dev team than it used to).  The major costs at SOE are the two games they have in development.  Hell, they were running MxO with a single developer for quite some time, and without any developers for its last few months.  They can reduce costs as low as they need to to scratch out a profit.

 

 

 

 

Well then I guess the royal bank of canada doesn't know its 8** from a hole in the ground

I buy RRSP's I went in to shuffle them as one does every few years and this is the info I was given when I wanted to dump SOE and most of sony corporation from the mix they informed me that they are actually doing quite well and advised me to hold onto it for awhile longer.

I dont claim to be a guru, but I do have an RRSP nestegg and like others I tend to follow the advice of the guru's who make the investment mixes.  When I went through the stuff trying to lower risk etc I was advised against dumping certain companies and corporations this along with a few others was in the list and it stayed and for a reason.   Turns out that SOE is right now pulling in a great deal of Sony corporations profit which amazed me.    I just found it ironic is all and stated as such.

I dont manage my RRSP's the bank does and this is what I was told when I went in like I do every year to update my bonds and stocks in my RRSP portfolio.

So I guess the bank is lying to me and wants to loose money then thanks for clearing that up :P

First of all, you can't trade SOE securities.  Sony Corporation is the traded entity.  Whoever told you Sony was doing well was misinformed.  The stock is trading at less than half of what it was at the beginning of 2008.  PS3 sales are slumping, and SOE doesn't own a highly competitive MMO market share.

I guess "The Royal Bank of Canada" isn't the end-all financial advisor when it comes to MMO publishers. 

SOE is doing so well in fact, that the branch was shuffled over a year ago in a reorganization effort.

I just don't see the need to come on here and post fabrications.  Don't you realize that there are those of us who are going to throw FACT into the discussion?

Originally posted by Tivian

U can compare SWG and WoW all u want. It doesn't matter. We all have our perceptions on how this game is going. And with some people their personal feelings are going to get in the way. WoW is a juggernaught! its widly popular and I doubt SWG ever had the numbers that WoW does. although for some reason WoW plays alot like SWG.

And I would agree that this game was miss-handled. but if SOE was not making money off this game they would have closed the doors along time ago. Like when the subposidly 200K subers cancelled and crashed the server. Or when there was the SECOND mass exodas when WoW came out(along with the multitude of other games that have come out)

Sony is making money and Uncle George is making money. as long as thats happening then the game lives on.

Wow, you really have no idea what happened to this game...

SWG plays like WoW because it was changed to be like WoW, because WoW had obtained almost total control of the market share.  SOE had a panic and came up with the NGE, which was a cheap rip-off of WoW.  They forgot the most important component to making a game like WoW -- QAULITY.  SWG:NGE had gamebreaking bugs 2 years after it went live...  It never had a chance.

"Like when *supposedly* 200K subscribers cancelled their accounts..." -- There is no supposedly to that, they did.  SWG has been a corpse since December of 2005.  Most of us were there, we witnessed the mass exodus of players, we were part of the mass exodus of players.

SWG is not making SOE a lot of money.  If it were you would see advertising, bigger development teams, etc.  SWG is on maintenance.  Tiny updates coming months apart, high turnover in the development team, and NO advertising budget.  There is no "perception" to be had.  The simple FACT is that if SWG was doing well the game would be allotted more resources.  It isn't some coverup, some major secret, it's pretty simple.

Originally posted by ummax

Originally posted by Tivian

Originally posted by Kylrathin

Originally posted by todeswulf

Originally posted by BadgerSmaker

Originally posted by Thunderous

There is turnover in WoW.  Players quit, new ones begin.  In Star Wars Galaxies players quit and very few take their place.  The game offers no staying power to retain subscriptions.  SOE and LucasArts put almost no resources or effort into this game and it shows.  There CAN'T be more than 5,000 to 8,000 active players.

 

I'm afriad that no matter how much you want this to be true due to your obvious hatred of all thing SoE, more and more new and returning players are filling out the ranks of SWG players every day.

I get the chance to speak to many of them in game and there is a recurring trend of SWG seeing an influx of WoW burnouts looking for a more engaging game world to play in, and SWG delivers that.

There is also plenty of sandbox gameplay in SWG, a number of my friends have put together awesome creations via the story teller system and run fun events.

 

Yep one of my very good friends works for SOE...she told me that SWG is every bit as profitable as their other games more so in some cases and all of their games are currently turning a profit....I undertsntd that the Vets will howl and deny this, she has no reason to lie. SOE is laughing at the "Vets" all the way to the bank.  The only thing these screwballs have managed to do is get a  negitive reputation in the MMO community, so much so that Bioware dosen't  wnat them on thei forums and will perma ban them the moment they start their shit. One mabye they will get the therapy or closure the need.

SOE can laugh all they want.  For my part, I've done most of what I've intended - given SOE and SWG as bad a reputation as they've earned, limiting the number of people who would ever take this game seriously, and doing my best to spread the news that SOE does not like/respect its customers.  SWG's subscription numbers were supposed to eventually go through the roof with the NGE, surpassing previous highs and hitting at least Lineage levels.  The most optimistic guesses I've heard put subscriptions at just under 100,000, which is a third of SWG's previous high, but that's still a very biased guess based on wishful thinking, much like the other extreme of 5000-10000 subs at the most.  The truth lies in the middle somewhere, which means the actions of vets such as myself were a moderate success.  After almost 4 years of NGE, it succeeded in getting rid of the people they were trying to get rid of - myself and 200,000 others like me - but did not attract the mythical audience it was designed to attract.

So you go ahead and enjoy SWG.  Sounds like you have enough friends to play with, meaning you're on one of the populated servers (they used to ALL be populated).  You may or may not have your own issues with the gameplay (doesn't sound like it, you seem willing to swallow whatever SOE deigns to give you).  So you'll have fun and play in your own vacuum.  Good for you!  But there is nothing "screwball" about demanding accountability when you are a paying customer.  The only vets who may fit that description are the ones who still pay SOE in the hopes that they'll see the error of their ways and revert to pre-CU, or open a separate server.  The fact is, SOE used to piss on us and tell us it was raining.  We figured it out, and left.  SWG is down to the players that SOE doesn't have to lie to anymore - they will flat-out tell you they are pissing on you, and they know you won't leave no matter what.

 

What? what are you saying? cause all I hear from Badger's post all the way down to yours is:

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! MY DIAPER NEEDS CHANGING!!!!
 

 

Although I dont necessarily agree with how this is being dealt with since its happened I had a similar thought awhile back when I found out that Sony corporation's largest money maker is in fact SOE and that when I spoke to someone about it when doing my bonds stuff at the bank  they are apparently responsible for sony stocks retaining their high value at the moment.     I then came to this forum awhile later and about the same thoughs came into my head about "disguntled vets" and how upset they must be.

Oh well such is life.   

 

LoL...  So you were at your bank, in England, doing stuff with your "bonds" and you happened to be speaking to someone at said bank about SOE and John Smedley (LoL), and they informed you that SOE is the reason the Sony stock has remained high...

LoL...  Whatever.

Common stock, which I ASSUME you are referring to for Sony Japan is down 48% on the 1-year return rate...  There is nothing good about that. 

Sony USA, is trading for $24.  On the 1st of January, 2008, it was trading for $54.  There is nothing good about that either...

So, once again, tell us how you were discussing the intricacies of the Sony financials with a banker in England, while taking care of your "bond" stuff...  Shall we question credibility?  Afterall, us "disgruntled vets" sure like to make stuff up...  RIGHT???

Originally posted by SmurfMagic

Im coming back for a veteran re-trail. Which server is good these days?

I used to play on Ahazi.

Kauri is booming...

Originally posted by Vrazule

I didn't like SWG before CU or NGE and it was because thousands of people like me were leaving the game that they even came up with the changes in the first place.  Your holy grail didn't and doesn't appeal to most of the player base.  Not sure why you people keep toting it around and shoving it in our faces every chance you get.

Just returning the favor since you fanatics can't seem to leave SWTOR forums alone with your constant vileness.  Going back to the forums of a game that actually appeals to me.

So the original SWG was too difficult for you...  I guss that is why the eliminated all the "reading" from the game and dumbed it down to the degree they did.  The problem is that for every 1 of you there were 100 who liked the more difficult version.

Originally posted by Stellos

Actually after reading that it makes me really miss the orginal idea of SWG.  That sounds like a freakin blast!  A jedi just can't run around without a bit of fear.  It truley held the ideals of the Jedi by making them have to remain humble and not as flashy as they became in the SWG we have now.  It would make bounty hunting a freaking blast, and for those who leveled their jedi up high enough, well, they would be a tough character to take down.

What a great idea that ended up going soar!

Pre-CU (original version of SWG) was fun from the second you started the game.  You could do anything.  100% skill-based, almost NO restrictions on what you could do.  No game since the original UO could offer so much freedom.  It was very unique.

I actually think Jedi is what killed SWG.  I had more fun walking around with my dueler (pistoleer/fencer hybrid) and fighting Teras Kasi's and Bounty Hunters than I ever did trying to roll a Jedi toon...

SWG was a much better game before everyone decided to try to unlock their Jedi.  No game has even come close to matching the SWG economy as it was back then. 

Now SWG is a joke, arguably the worst MMO on the market.  The original version was buggy and incomplete, but it was a very cool game.

Originally posted by Tivian

Originally posted by OldAgeJunkie

Weird that you say its better then ever, I just went back for the free 30 days and guess what not a soul in sight. This game is dead, let it die and get over yourself.

 

It helps if you open your eyes when you play. you would see other players! I think your the one that needs to "get over" your self. and get over the fact that this game is not going anywhere

You're joking, right?  You do know that Bioware is making a Star Wars MMO as we speak...?  You do know that compared to most other MMO games the SWG servers are considered dead...?

I'll give SOE credit for the TCG, they found a way to milk money off of a dead game.  It was a pretty smart idea and a good model to make money off of a game that few people play.

Originally posted by BadgerSmaker

Originally posted by Trubaduren

www.rlmmo.com/viewtopic.php  I took these screenshots in january, and starstrider was the most populated server at that time, still it wasn't much. And all other planets than tatooine was DEAD. I'm feraing since the server merge all but 4 servers are empty, beacuse everyone moved to those i guess, or whatever happend.

 

That was six months ago, and before the Free CTS.  Starsider had a population explosion since.  Take another look.

Players report that the server is as busy, if not busier than Pre-CU.

Who?  What players?  Names?  I'm going to have to go with the old..  "screenshots or it didn't happen" : )

Originally posted by BadgerSmaker

Originally posted by Thunderous

There is turnover in WoW.  Players quit, new ones begin.  In Star Wars Galaxies players quit and very few take their place.  The game offers no staying power to retain subscriptions.  SOE and LucasArts put almost no resources or effort into this game and it shows.  There CAN'T be more than 5,000 to 8,000 active players.

 

I'm afriad that no matter how much you want this to be true due to your obvious hatred of all thing SoE, more and more new and returning players are filling out the ranks of SWG players every day.

I get the chance to speak to many of them in game and there is a recurring trend of SWG seeing an influx of WoW burnouts looking for a more engaging game world to play in, and SWG delivers that.

There is also plenty of sandbox gameplay in SWG, a number of my friends have put together awesome creations via the story teller system and run fun events.

First of all, how is it possible to "hate" a video game?  Anyone who feels emotion towards an online game strong enough to love or hate has some issues controlling themselves.

Secondly, you come on here and post NOTHING but positive spins towards a game that is 6 years old, most likely has less subscriptions than almost any other major MMO on the market, and goes through more development turnover than probably any other game on the market.

I could care less how much money SWG is making.  I can tell you just out of logic that it isn't making much.  If it were a profitable venture you would see advertising, larger development allocations, and a lot more work going into fixing the mechanical problems that plague this game.

Pre-CU was a decent game, it offered freedom, but it had a LOT of holes in it.  The current version of SWG has a lot of holes and offers far less freedom.  SWG has been mismanaged from the start and has only gotten worse over time.

You keep coming here and posting your spin-control, that's fine.  But don't tell me I am wrong or that I "hate" a game simply because I use logic to make my evaluations.  The servers are a fraction of what they used to be.  That tells me that FAR fewer people play this game than used to.  That also tells me that the game isn't a highly profitable cash-cow for either SOE or LEC.  NO game is 100% positive, especially this one.  This game is so poorly coded and maintained that it can't compete with games like WoW, WAR, or EVE. 

I'm not sure if you get compensated by SOE for your internet viral efforts nor do I care, but some of the things you claim on these boards are just non-sense.  It's a shame there aren't laws to prevent people from false advertising on message boards.

I didn't see inflation as a major problem with the original system.

Once they removed decay, the economy became pointless.

There should be a taxation system in place, especially for games with player cities.  Every player pays a flat tax rate on their earnings, whether it be from loot or selling items.  That money goes into city coffers.  Keep decay intact, give players a reason to use crafters on a repeated basis.

As long as there are an abundance of players, and new ones starting on a consistent basis, inflation will control itself.  There will ALWAYS be a crafter willing to sell for less to make money. 

Originally posted by grandpagamer

Originally posted by Karahandras

oh, come on

I only ever played nge and the game is no longer as good as when i started, it's badly bugged, ill treated and almost no community left(after a 7 month break i logged back in and my 40+friend list had 5 ppl left playing)

there is a reason swg has sub numbers a f2p grindfest would be ashamed of and it has nothing to do with the vets, it is purely down to soe

Having never played the game i cant comment on bugs etc but i can make a comment on your friends list. I logged back into WOW after several months of playing other games and found the same thing as you. Off a huge friendls list i found, after a few days, that 4 still log on and play now and then. This in no way means WOW isnt populated it just means some have moved on and others have come to play. Is this the case with SWG, i dont know.

This is not the case of Star Wars Galaxies.  All my friends quit the same day, back in Novemeber 2005, when the NGE was forced on the community.  Hundreds gone in a day that have never returned.  That month, this game lost probably 200,000 active players. 

It has never recovered since and the servers have only become more desolate each passing month.

There is turnover in WoW.  Players quit, new ones begin.  In Star Wars Galaxies players quit and very few take their place.  The game offers no staying power to retain subscriptions.  SOE and LucasArts put almost no resources or effort into this game and it shows.  There CAN'T be more than 5,000 to 8,000 active players.

Can't go wrong with Zombies.  The more this game resembles Fallout the better.  I don't remember which Star Wars movie had Zombies though...  Maybe "The Empire Strikes Back"...  Oh wait... 

It's been obvious for years that SOE can do little to nothing to actually FIX the game, so 7 years later it's all still window-dressing.

Will Zombies increase the population of SWG?  Absolutely not.  Will they give the current players something to do for a week or so?  Probably...

This game is a debacle, an absolute debacle, but as long as suckers will pay to play it you gotta give SOE props for packaging a turd and selling it to them.

It is amazing how people like BadgerSmaker can possibly claim that ANY of the current servers have more populations than ever.  I checked it out 2 days ago for kicks and despite appearing to be populated Star had a minimal amount of players, and they were concentrated in 2 areas.  In Pre-CU, Lowca had twice as many players than what I saw on Star, and Lowca was a "light to medium" server.

Bloodfin is a shell of what it was, Bria the same, and Flurry was nearly 100% empty.

It's ok to say that servers like Star and Bloodfin have SOME players on them, more than most of the empty servers, but to make claims like the "population of Star is higher than ever" is just lunacy.

It's one thing to be a fanboy of a game but it's another to mislead potential players and returning vets as to how many people still play this game.  Another year, same old stuff though.  Some of the players of this game are so lonely on the servers they will say anything to get people to log on...

OP, the problem is that a lot of us "vets" have tried this game, over and over again.  Every time they give us free time we likely log on to check it out.

The real issue is that the game isn't very good.  Combat is lame, the community is tiny, and our freedom has been taken away.  This game is no different than any other themepark/restrictive MMO out there, aside from subtle freedoms remaining from Pre-CU.

I can't possibly fathom how someone can have fun playing SWG for more than a day.  It boggles my mind.  The grind is horrible, the bugs are annoying, the combat is beyond repair, and the game BARELY resembles something Star Wars.

It's easy to blame the "vets" of this game for the lack of population.  However, it's far more accurate to blame the poor mechanics and systems of the game for the lack of players on the servers.  If the majority of people thought Star Wars Galaxies was any fun at all, they would play.  Even with the Station Pass SOE can't get anyone to play this game.

Originally posted by BadgerSmaker

Originally posted by Lord_Ixigan

If this was the case then SWG would have been steadily growing over the years, not declining.

 

It is.  Log in to one of SWGs top eight servers and see.

If players hadn't skewed themselves across the top eight servers with the Free CTS, we'd have a healthy population on all 24 servers, just a bit larger than Shadowfire currently. 

But try Starsider, it's rockin'.

LOL!  Wow, thanks for the laugh.  SWG hasn't seen a decent population since 2005.  There aren't enough subscriptions in this game to fill a star-cruiser.