An Empire Divided, Episode 2

Reactions, infractions, and subtractions in this special mailbag series.

I wanted to take a moment to give you my impressions of Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided.

It's hands-down the finest MMORPG I've ever played. The scope of the game is dizzying, the visuals of the game are amazing, and the possibilities within the game for character progression and advancement are extremely cool and near endless. I've been a player since beta, and I started playing the live version on day one. I have never regretted all the time (well over a year now) I have put into this game. It's been a very rewarding experience. I have made countless friends, I've had numerous memorable adventures, and there is still so much for me to do in the game. Is it exactly what I thought it was going to be like? Not exactly, but that's a good thing. Pretty much on a daily basis I am impressed by the magnitude of what has been accomplished to date with SWG, and it's only going to get better and better as time rolls on. The devs have done an outstanding job, given the circumstances. They are dealing with a fanatical fanbase--Star Wars fans are notorious for being rabid loyalists, so this doesn't make the devs job any easier. ;) As with any game, SWG has its weak spots and strong points--that's just the nature of these games. The upcoming Jump To Lightspeed expansion is going to blow the doors off this game, I think. Many, many people have been waiting anxiously for this release, and I suspect that the active player base will nearly double when this expansion goes live. It's going to transform many aspects of the game and how folks play it and that's exciting! =) In short, I love SWG and I'll be playing it for many years to come, I'm sure.

So why have I sent this email to you, you're thinking? Simple. Recently, there has been a small grassroots effort made by a number of hotheads playing the game to deface Sony and the SWG devs and the SWG game as a whole for spiteful reasons. They have begun contacting magazines and such to try to get their anger out there. As you know full well, the vocal ones are the angry ones, and in this case they are an incredibly small minority of players in the game (I'd say much less then 1%). Your average player is too busy playing SWG and having fun to worry about taking time to send out emails like this. I just wanted to do my part to let you guys know that the vast majority of us playing SWG are having a blast, and we love it. Yes there's a number of updates we would love to see make it to live, but those will happen when they happen, and no sooner. Life goes on. The SWG devs are trying their best to appease thousands of different players with different play styles, and in a game like SWG, there are MANY different play styles, so they deserve much respect for the excellent job they've done so far.

Please keep this point of view in mind while writing anything on the SWG game. I'd hate to see the words of a few hateful players impact other potential players to the game that might be interested. That would be a real shame, considering they will almost assuredly dig the game tremendously. It's hard not to. =)

Mike Nielsen

--------------------

Just for the record on a few of Haden's comments. Well, first off, not all of us are kids :) I am married, with children of my own. My hubby and I both play SWG, along with my parents and my cousin.

Second, the majority of people do not want JTL until the CB/CGW revamp happens. I do not know if you got a chance to read the 120 pages of mostly negative comments about the revamp being pushed back (they have disappeared from the forums today). There are a few that would like to see JTL first. But I have been playing SWG religiously for a year now, and I can promise the majority has spoken. They want the revamp first. These people complaining are the ones trying to save SWG from the scrap yard. It is a wonderful game--all they need to do is fix and make it fun again. Apparently, ThunderHeart made a statement this morning...but that post is gone as well, now.

As for "getting [it] right" (with the extra time), it is not in the dev's track record that the longer it takes, the better it will turn out (i.e., less bugs). All publishes will have bugs, we want game mechanics fixed. We are not asking for the world, we just want the world fixed. Currently, as it stands, you have to be 1 of 5 professions to actually PvP effectively, Rifleman, TKA, Fencer, Combat Medic, or Jedi (as it should be). If you are any other profession, you will die repeatedly at the hands of almost any halfway-decent PvPer of these named professions. This is what we want fixed. No one wants to bust their tail getting Master Pistoleer or any of the other 32 professions when they cannot beat those four few professions anyway.

[quote from yesterday's interview] "Haden Blackman: Yeah, all the guys who are happy with everything are playing the game. They aren't spending their time sending you guys letters or posting on the forums."

This statement is just wrong and completely backstabbing. Those of us who post on the forums do so to improve the game. The people who don't post on the forums are, yes, playing the game...but they do not actively try to help fix the problems. The forums are where we communicate to the devs. If we were all just a bunch of trolls, then why place the In Development, In Concept, and In Live forums? Because that is how they get the feedback from us. I guess over this issue, the devs didn't want our feedback.

As for the GCW [Galactic Civil War], which he didn't mention much, there is no reason other than PvP to even choose a side. The faction pets are a joke, the benefits are even worse, and your rank means nada. All of these things you have to work real hard for, but there is no reason to bother getting them. All in all, the players, the veterans who love SWG, want the revamp. If they fix this, it will definitely boost the player morale and make the players believe in the devs once again. For Haden to say the things he did to you and to some of the other news correspondents is just sad and disheartening. No one cares about the JTL right now (no one=damn near everyone). The game is too broken to introduce and new set of problems (which will happen no matter how long they work on it). They need to fix what is wrong now and worry about what the community wants, not what their pocketbooks want. If SWG is fixed, then JTL will sell successfully. I, and many other SWGers, thank you for reporting this and contacting Haden over our issues.

Amber Jordan

----------------

Hi, I think, for the most part, what Haden said was true. Those who are complaining are those who are not posting their issues or giving feed back. Don't get me wrong, I am seriously disappointed with the push back of several of the revamps. Not just the GCW and combat revamps. I play a smuggler...think how disappointed I was to find out about the multiple push backs...and then the final push back to a Non-dated publish "sometime" after JTL. What people need to realize is [that] writing this code or any code takes time. It has bugs and may not come out the way you planned at first. The question those who are complaining should ask themselves is: "Do you want it done right or done half assed?" As I said, coding takes time. If they are so pissed [that] they need that instant gratification at any cost, then I would suggest [porn site].com, a towel, and a bottle of hand lotion. Personally I fall into the league of people that want it done right, and I'm willing to wait it out. When you think about it, even EQ had issues like this when it first came out. Anyhow, just my thoughts on the matter. Cheers.

Na'ga Sri
SWG Tarquinas Server

------------------

I read the review that you did with Haden Blackman on July 20th and I am disappointed with the way that it turned out. I feel the situation is only being explained from one side and our complaints are not reaching the rest of your readers.

For one thing, the interview talks about how the complaints come from a relative minority and from people who use the forums. I barely use the forums (you can check the amount of posts I have made in one year, I think less then fifty), and I am extremely upset about this change. I was still able to find out about the change, and I think it is the worst move SWG has taken so far.

As far as Haden mentioning that "all the guys who are happy with everything are playing the game," that may very well be true. But that statement is nothing but a truism, and is utilized as a ploy by Haden to make most people think that everyone that is playing is happy. That couldn't be further from the truth. Of course people that are happy are going to play! When you're really into something and really enjoying something, then you do that thing and you don't waste time wondering about other people's opinions of what you're doing. Nevertheless, Haden's statement should not be interpreted by your readers, as it probably has been, to preclude the possibility that there are many people who are playing and are unhappy.

I have been playing and I am unhappy! This phenomenom has happened for a number of reasons. First, I don't have time to play and search the boards. I mean, I have work, come on! Second, I generally don't like posting on the boards because there is so much hostility on them. If you don't take the time to tie up all loose ends when you post, someone is going to call you on it and make a mountain out of a mole hill simply because you may called a squid an octopus. Third, SWG (per Haden's statements) believes that the forums represent only a relative minority, and, as such, they do not appreciate, listen, or consider our voices, because the forums are a minority. This situation has been seen time and time again throughout SWG's history. Players cry out via the forums and get no attention (I don't feel like going into depth on specific situations since there are so many good posts on the forums about past SWG team lies).

In closing, I would like to propose that you do an interview with some SWG players. I'm sure this isn't feasible, but without such an effort any information you provide about SWG will continue to be one sided. Perhaps you could make a random selection of players and do phone interviews, or you could post that you are looking for in depth opinions of SWG players that could be emailed. At the very least, it would have been nice to see some quotes from the many complaint emails that were sent to you over the past weekend included in your interview with Haden. Finally, I would be willing to do an interview or a questionnaire or whatever it is you think is most convenient for you, so that the opinion of SWG players can reach the public at large. If you so desire I would give you my phone number and we could do a phone interview. As you can see, this issue means a lot to me and if it is not going to be resolved the way I prefer, I want it to! At least be said that I went down with a fight.

Thank your for your time and consideration about these matters.

- Anon