Interview With Chris Kramer About Changes at SOE

[fernsho]

GamerGod (http://www.gamergod.com/) has published their Interview With Chris Kramer About Changes at SOE (http://www.gamergod.com/article.php?article_id=3538). From the interview:

"The key factor for our company is continued growth. . . For our company to continue to grow and be successful, we are breaking out of our North American-centric development focus and embracing genres and design ideas that appeal to players on a global perspective."

[Commissar Rob]

So in other words, we've pissed off everybody in the states and have to try again elsewhere? Maybe the Russians don't know how much we've screwed our customer base?

[Taco]

The MMRPG market was theirs to lose, even Blizzard should of been considered an underdog going against the EQ monster. oops. They should fire every manager and every decision maker at SOE.

Now, I happened to like EQ2 when I played it and never tried WOW, but that's irrelevant.

[bean19]

That's an odd sentiment. . . as MMOs elsewhere tend to be grindy and not as fun.

Plus, WoW proved that American MMOs done right can do a lot better worldwide than Korean RPGs done wrong.

[StGeorge]

But you can’t beat the thrill of walking into a store like EB or Best Buy, picking up a new box and taking it home.

Uh, yes I can.

[S1n1star]

The short answer is that SOE America has no idea how to compete in a global gaming market or even what players want anymore. Following the misguided concepts of Brad "ePeen" Mcqaid and Raph "empty sandboxes are fun!" Koster has left them in a position of indecision and panic.

SWG: Alienating your core customers is suicide in an MMO. Grass roots fandom is what made EQ the juggernaut it was and now that same mechanic is going to make SWG fade faster than Obi Wan under a certain red lightsaber.

EQ2: No matter how you spin it, consolidating servers means that your game is performing below expectations in a VERY big way.

PS: Giving away target slots for your leftover players to shoot at is clever, but its like putting a band aid on a sucking chest wound.

MXO: Terry Shaivo was healthier on life support than this thing.

EQ: The old gal could support a whole company 5 years ago, but in the immortal words of Lilly Von Schtupp: "Let's face it I'm pooped".

Sovreign: Proof positive that Smed has no idea what he is doing.

DC online: The way that this and Marvel online are going to be abused by their divorced and estranged parents SOE and Sigil is going to be worse than Micheal Jackson becoming a catholic priest.

Did I miss anything?

[Taco]

McQuaid more or less created SOE through the success of EQ, I'd hardly call them misguided, he never stuck around long enough to take the blame.

[Steele Johnson]

SOE really screwed up, now they're looking elsewhere to do the same thing.

Blizzard showed them how to do it right, and now they're walking away scratching their heads.

They've screwed their customers over so many times, I hope they really start feeling the backlash form it.