Interview with SWG Producer Grant McDaniel

Robert Cox from SWG.WarCry.com interviews SOE producer Grant McDaniel on the three-year anniversary of Star Wars Galaxies. From the article:
"'There was certainly a concern over how [the NGE] was going to be pursued by the players, but we knew that to make the kind of game that us and LucasArts expected for a Star Wars online game, we needed to make the changes,' said McDaniel. 'And to actually be able to continue to support the game that we've got, we needed to make those type of changes, to make it something that we could really feel good about, that we could really make sure was a high-quality game that provided the action experience that you'd expect from a Star Wars game.'"

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You You You

[eldavojohn]

"There was certainly a concern over how [the NGE] was going to be pursued by the players, but we knew that to make the kind of game that us and LucasArts expected for a Star Wars online game, we needed to make the changes," said McDaniel. "And to actually be able to continue to support the game that we've got, we needed to make those type of changes, to make it something that we could really feel good about, that we could really make sure was a high-quality game that provided the action experience that you'd expect from a Star Wars game."

(Emphasis mine)

You can try to say the NGE was for the fans. You can try to tell me that the fans wanted it and welcomed it. But I was a fan and I remember the day that the test servers got the combat upgrade patch. I remember people running through coronet screaming that the world was ending. I remember telling them to can it and that everything was going to be ok. I was wrong.

So tell me, Mr. Cox & Mr. Smedley, when are you going to listen to the fans? What really brought about the CU because it wasn't complaints from the fans. Was it LucasArts twisting your arm? Was it because you had a crazy idea and it got out of control so you couldn't stop because you had already dumped too much money into it? Were you worried about the ROI on all that work? Was it because some corporate yes-man said, "There's more money this way!" and since you're just a producer looking for profit, you followed blindly? What really was it? And why the hell didn't you listen to your fans after/while you made the decision?

Why do you turn a blind eye to everyone in favor of classic servers? Why don't you let people vote with server selection? I'm sick of softball questions pitched to SOE people who were in charge of destroying something I once loved. Have you ever admitted to making a mistake in your entire life?

"I try to read the forums on a daily basis and I try and get out there and respond at least every week or two to let the people know, 'Yes, we are still actively listening,' " McDaniel said. "I strongly encourage my teams to get out there on the forums on a daily basis. A lot of the design team are out there actively responding or gathering feedback on some of the systems we're working on.

If I may comment on those forums, you have to play the game to post on them. They are tightly moderated by non-SOE representatives. Never have I had so many posts locked/removed or trashed because the mods didn't approve. There is no room for vocal dissent in your community and that's why it will or has already fallen apart.