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Moriendor
Black Ring Leader
Joined: 19 Jul 2001
Posts: 1306
Location: Germany |
| SWG: Editorial @ HomeLan Fed |
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John [JCal] Callaham from HomeLan Fed has written up an <a href="http://www.homelanfed.com/index.php?id=15210" target="_blank">editorial</a> dealing mostly with the not too successful launch day of 'Star Wars: Galaxies' and about the major improvements that have been made since then. |
Sun Jun 29, 2003 9:25 pm |
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Utnayan
Guest
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This isn't about growing pains this time around. It's about getting word out that releasing ANYTHING this horrid in the MMOG line is UNACCEPTABLE. The buck has to stop. This isn't about faulty hardware - this isn't about poor databse coding. This is about releasing a game in where the content was broken and bugged MAJORALLY on release - and as more people play more complaints rack up.
And why are people supposed to be programmed to wait until they review the title? I don't know about you - but I write reviews over at Guru because I want people to be able to spend their money wisely. If they read and then decide to try it anyway - fine. But at least I did my part in reviewing what needed to get out. And that is, that regardless of server hardware stability problems that they have seemed to ironed out for now (Tell that to the players that just got hit with a 10 hour rollback last night), the game bugs themselves are so enormous in scope that this title in in Alpha.
If anyone needs about 700 examples of everything from Bazaar bugs, /tip bugs, crafting bugs, resource errors, horrible mission imbalance, bugged escort missions, insurance terminal bugs, cloning errors, characters being transferred to other servers for no reason, you name it - I can list it. THAT is the reason why this shouldn't even be close to bought. And for damn certain never even released.
Fix this crap before you go gold for God's sake. Instead of using subscription dollars to make the game. This is the worst case yet of this - and with SOE and LA behind it -- they knew they would still get sales banked on a name.
Hell, even Raph Koster, creative designer, said this title was a hack job in a stratics interview.
You want to talk about fair? What the hell is fair about watching thousands of people pay $49 and $79 for their games, only to find that the title is an entire gimmic to sucker you in for a monthly fee to make the game you wanted -- only to get that game possibly 6-8 months from now when they have a chance to beta test this - but on YOUR dollar.
Give me a break. This is definite;y a fanboi editorial alright. "Give the game a chance!"
Stop with the madness. Quit paying for this crap so we can get the genre to where it SHOULD have been years ago. |
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Sun Jun 29, 2003 9:36 pm |
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chrisbeddoes
Guest
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| Please fix it then release it. |
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As a customer I am sick and tired of "buy it now and we will fix it later" attitude of software companies. 
Please fix it then release it. |
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Mon Jun 30, 2003 12:16 am |
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Ally
Guest
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Thankfully, I have trained myself to no longer buy any game without first waiting for reviews.
I know the online games will add new servers if they are good, so I can always get a jumpstart on a new server after finding out if the game is good enough.
I just hope WoW and EQ2 are delayed too many times... |
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Mon Jun 30, 2003 1:01 am |
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Ally
Guest
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Um... are = aren't
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Mon Jun 30, 2003 1:02 am |
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Guest
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when they put the game on the store shelfs and start collecting there cash, it is fair game for any review.
they declared it worthy of launch not the reviewers.
as far as how good the review can be?
well... they sure didn't change a whole lot since the last night of beta till launch day now did they?
you want a in depth review? wait.
you want to know if it is worthy of your cash on day one, then listen to the first reviews.
it's realy that simple |
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Mon Jun 30, 2003 1:11 am |
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Ekim
Eagle's Shadow
Joined: 27 May 2002
Posts: 2365
Location: Montreal, Canada |
| Re: Growing pains my arse. |
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quote:
Originally posted by Utnayan
Give me a break. This is definite;y a fanboi editorial alright. "Give the game a chance!"
I didn't get that at all from the editorial  Actually he did mention that even if SoE managed to fix things up quickly, they should still have been prepared for the drove of players. In my opinion the editorial was fair, neither positive or negative.
What are you really saying Utnayan? That anyone who doesn't say negative things about SWG is a fanboi? Sheesh! There are ways to be friendlier, you know...
The game isn't THAT bad from where I stand, although I understand why so many people are disapointed. And this is, by far, not the worst launch in MMORPG history... Since you yourself said that the game would have the "worst launch in history" from a technical standpoint, would I be a fanboi if I asked that you should retract your words and do some re-writing?... 
I'm not saying the game is good or bad, but at least leave some room for other people to have their own opinions. You clearly don't do as much so far...
_________________
=Proud Father of a new gamer GIRL!=
=Member of The Nonflamers' Guild=
=Worshiper of the Written Word= |
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Mon Jun 30, 2003 5:46 am |
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methusala
Tempered Warlord
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
Posts: 281
Location: Odinwald |
Ekim,since the very beginning you have defended this absurd excuse of a mmorpg.You have ignored or be-littled the huge failures in the game and put youeself up as "the defender of poor,overworked,well-meaning,the customer is king SOE and LA"You have never been a fair reviewer in the past imo,but ,in this instance, you top yourself.You constantly refer back to"well AO had a worse launch" as a spring board to counter what negative remarks people have.Thats lame and isen't even the point here.SOE and LA promised us a great mmorpg and delivered a ,no-where near ready for prime time,same old same old,bug-ridden piece of junk.Those are the facts and I applaud Utnayan on a great unbiased review. |
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Mon Jun 30, 2003 6:54 am |
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Biff
Guest
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Hehehe.... Just go to the official forums for SWG and look at all the problems people are having with all the same bugs I (and many others) have been submitting bug reports for, months ago during beta.
Sorry to break it to some of you people, but a game at the end of beta is the same game at release. There is no magical change to it just because it is getting released. If it's still crap in beta, the crap is still there at release.
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Mon Jun 30, 2003 8:23 am |
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Biff
Guest
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AO was a disasterous launch, following a disasterous beta...
But AO was mainly plagued with zoning problems (server stability), and the rest of the bugs weren't critical.
I managed to get out of the towns (1 hour after buying the game on the first day) before all the people logged in so I didn't face as many of the zoning problems.
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Mon Jun 30, 2003 9:26 am |
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Loremaster
Village Leader
Joined: 31 Mar 2002
Posts: 88
Location: Hampshire, England |
My initial doubts about the wisdom of the points being made in the editorial (like others I share the view that if a developer wants my money on Day One then Day One is when I am entitled to see a review, even if evolving events mean revisiting that review later) were only confirmed by reading on down the page. There I saw a recommendation for any budding MMORPG developer to read a "textbook" on the subject of developing MMORPGs by no-less a co-author than the Producer of AC2  !
Says it all really. This industry is in an almighty mess because it is run by accountants and programmed by incompetents. How are the aunthentication and chat problems on AC2 these days, btw? Ah, still working on a fix I see... Better not review that game yet then, it's only been out 8 months. Time for a first impression, perhaps. |
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Mon Jun 30, 2003 2:14 pm |
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Ekim
Eagle's Shadow
Joined: 27 May 2002
Posts: 2365
Location: Montreal, Canada |
quote:
Originally posted by methusala
Ekim,since the very beginning you have defended this absurd excuse of a mmorpg.You have ignored or be-littled the huge failures in the game and put youeself up as "the defender of poor,overworked,well-meaning,the customer is king SOE and LA"You have never been a fair reviewer in the past imo,but ,in this instance, you top yourself.
Ok wait... I am not defending SWG here. I didn't even try... I just want to point out that this is not the worst launch in history and that it's not as bad as some would make us think. The proof? Well, erm... I guess thousands of people on over ten servers having a good time isn't proof enough. This was on day 2 actually. Also, forget about AO, SB's launch was probably even worse because they still haven't fixed most of the bigger bugs...
Again: I am not saying the game is good or bad. My appreciation of the game is bound to change in the next few days/weeks anyway, for better or for worse. For all that it's worth I agree so far with all the bugs listed, and all the negative comments that have been written about the game. But at least some of them give the reader the benefit of the doubt, like the editorial that this thread is dedicated to. I don't understand why some people are so "angry" at this game! I just don't get why you imply that liking this game is so bad... I never liked AO all that much, but you don't see me here saying that all the people that do are saps...
_________________
=Proud Father of a new gamer GIRL!=
=Member of The Nonflamers' Guild=
=Worshiper of the Written Word= |
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Mon Jun 30, 2003 2:47 pm |
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Raldor
Keeper of the Gates
Joined: 27 Sep 2001
Posts: 107
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Ekim for what its worth you don't sound like a fanboy to me, but if the game is in half as bad of shape as people say I do understand the anger. This game has been hyped for years as the ultimate mmorpg.
It really doesn't sound like the worst release ever, (edit: removed quotes because I wasn't really quoting anyone) but that doesn't even matter. Maybe they could list that as a selling point on the box: "Not as bad of a release as WW2 Online or even AO!" I don't think so.
I'm not saying the game is bad, because I haven't played it. I'm not going to pay $50 until I start hearing lots of people say the game is really good. That doesn't count obvious fanboys who say stuff like "Game is 90% now and 200% in a year after they work on it!". Selling points like "Its not really any worse than most of the current games were at release" just won't cut it for me especially considering the higher monthly charge.
Last edited by Raldor on Mon Jun 30, 2003 4:43 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Mon Jun 30, 2003 3:28 pm |
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Loremaster
Village Leader
Joined: 31 Mar 2002
Posts: 88
Location: Hampshire, England |
In a way I think some of the disagreement over just how bad the launch of SWG was is based on confusion over terms.
I don't think the "release" has turned out to be totally catastrophic despite server crashes, character rollbacks and "full server lockouts" plus all the usual bug and balancing problems - that has all been pretty much par for the course, sad to say.
However, I think the "launch" is actually much narrower than that, it's the process of putting the product into the market and it relates specifically to Day One. That was without doubt the worst launch ever. Even with AO most players could get into the game on Day One, they just lagged like crazy in any settlement. No game has yet come near SWG's total failure of the registration and subscription servers which meant pretty well no-one got in on Day One and no other game's developer has been so quick to issue a statement saying that the launch day would not count as part of the free month.
So, a sadly average release but the worst ever launch, I think that's a fair summary.
As for now, a few days later, well I reckon most newcomers to the game are loving it, most beta testers are saying "so did we the first few days of beta but it gets tedious soon after" and overall the jury is still out.
For me, the game lacks Star Wars atmosphere - no space!!!! - and server stability/character lockouts will also be key determining factors for many people along with whether missions, crafting, the bazaar, and combat all work out ok in the end. The gimmick of jigging about in cantinas will only last so long, people will eventually want to head out into the wilderness and actually acccomplish something and that may be where the game will be made or broken by future content and beefing up of the very weak combat system. |
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Mon Jun 30, 2003 4:08 pm |
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