SOE + SGO = Vanbois Going Apeshit
Rabid hatred of SOE has always been part of the Vanguard fan community identity. Apparently, Brad McQuaid is seen by some as an impeccable knight in shining armor whose strong sense of integrity prompted him to leave that den of nefarious money grubbing that is SOE and set out to build a better company that would redeem his Vision and restore balance to the Force, or some gay shit like that. SGO became some sort of Anti-SOE in the minds of many Vanguard fanboys. Until now.
If there is one thing you can always rely on it’s the self-aggravating nature of internet community drama. Once the negativity bandwagon starts rolling, everyone wants on. Things that are barely relevant are inflated to epic proportions. A couple of years ago, one of the writers of IGN’s Xbox sub-site made a humorous remark in one of his articles that likened the exuberant Nintendo fanboyism at E3 to “skinheads cheering at a Nazi rally”. Granted, as a metaphor for “ridiculous fanaticism without substance” this statement was probably a bit ill-concieved but what’s the big deal? It’s not like anyone had implied that Nintendo fanboys actually were Nazis.
The Nintentards at the IGN web forums went completely bonkers over this. Hundreds of postings demanded the blood of Brandon Justice. Nintentards were acting like they were incredibly insulted. Internet community drama was taking its course, everyone suddenly turned into an oversensitive pussy so they could pretend to have a reason to join the lynch mob. There was even a poll in which 2/3 of the respondents demanded the guy to be fired. Eventually, Brendon Justice was forced to quit his job. Yup, fucking web forum drama forced a guy out of his job. This was one of the archetypical showcases for how trivial things can develope into retarded mass-outbursts of exaggerated emotions, as the members of an internet community whip each other up into some sort of pathetic simian frenzy.
I think the extreme expressions of hatred towards Smed and SOE are the result of a similar process of internet group dynamics. Every time someone brings up anything even remotely SOE-related, someone else feels compelled to chime in with a burst of vitriolic anti-SOE rhetoric and others are soon to follow. The discussion degenerates into a repetitive SOE hatefest. Smed is the focal point of all anti-SOE sentiment. It seems that the guy, who may very well be a complete jackass for all I know, is personally responsible for every shitty business decision, every misguided gameplay change and the personal frustrations some people may have developed about SOE games over the years. Smed, so it appears, is the Satan of MMORPGs, a fiendish creature who made it his personal agenda to ruin everyone’s fun and cheat gamers out of their money. Um, okay.
Sure, SOE is known for rather questionable business practices and Smed is likely responsible for some of them. It’s perfectly understandable that some people may not want to buy a SOE product again and are distrustful of everything related to SOE. But why the intense hatred? I mean, most people shrug it off when they hear news of yet another terrorist attack in Iraq or a hundred people getting killed in a plane crash. Yet, if SOE cheats them out of a few bucks by releasing an unfinished expansion they go completely apeshit. I find that fairly ridiculous and it’s sure as fuck not rational. Under normal circumstances, no reasonable person would react so strongly.
The sheer amount of hysteria over the SOE/SGO co-publishing deal at the official Vanguard forums is astounding. People seem to be more worried about a SOE logo on Vanguard’s retail box than about the reason why MGS and SGO ended their business relationship in the first place. The details of the SOE/SGO deal are sketchy but shouldn’t people worry about the current state of the game rather than the hypothetical possibility that Smed himself waltzes into SGO’s office and personally makes sure that the game will suck and the subscribers are milked for all they’re worth? That seems to be the common sentiment: SOE will make the game suck, somehow.
I can’t help but feel a certain degree of Schadenfreude towards the relentless SOE-bashers that make up a large share of Vanguard’s fan community. I found reading through the discussion threads at the official forums rather entertaining. Exaggerated pessimism, desperate optimism, outright hysteria, anger, resentment, pretend rationality and oodles of SOE-hatred. And on top if it, McQuaid desperately trying to do some damage control. Good stuff.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO No NO!!!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!!
I will never EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EEVERRRRR play another game where John Smedley and the ************EVIL************** SoE
people are involved in ANY FORM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Vangaurd can crash and burn for all I care if SoE and John Smedley is involved.
There is evil, then there is SoE and John Smedley! They are a whole new form of evil.
Oh but it’s just business… NO! These are the same people that PRE-SOLD copies of the Obi-Wan expansion for StarWars Galaxies to SWG fans telling them that there would be big upgrades in the expansion for the Beast Handler class. Then they announced ON THE SAME DAY THAT THE OBI-WAN EXPANSION SHIPPED THAT THEY HAD REDONE THE WHOLE GAME AND THAT IN TWO WEEKS THE BEAST HANDLER CLASS WOULD BE REMOVED FROM THE GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did they offer refunds to all the hundreds of thousands of pre-orders? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
They were working on the “NGE” release for many months before it’s release. They KNEW the beast handler class would not exist when the “NGE” came out. Yet, they advertised the new Beast Handler class upgrades TO SELL PRE-ORDERS OF the OBI-WAN EXPANSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!That’s technically a scam and as such John Smedley and his crew of evil people should be in jail right now!
Do not associate yourselves with criminals!
Sigil + SoE = BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5-23-2006 @ 22:54
Some beta tester went ape-shit over at Heartless’s site. Check it out here, http://hgamer.blogspot.com/2006/05/vanguard-beta-in-trouble.html
That’ll put a new spin on things, eh?
7-12-2006 @ 06:18
I too, abhore the treatment that SOE’s customers, particularly SWG customers recieved/recieve still. Smedley may not be solely responsible for the attrocities committed on the SWG customers, but his own personal posting on the forums is full of lies, deciet and contradiction.
SWG’s Creature Handler’s are amongst the most shafted of MMO characters in history.
I cannot stand the “New Game Enhancements”!! Never has a game gone from such great heights to such terrible lows overnight.
I’ll also be avoiding SOE’s and indeed, Sony’s products because of SWG’s handling. I run an IT company and a lot of Sony product USED to pass through our hands.
However, as much as I hate the NGE, hate the non-existant ethics by which SOE operate, and feel sick to the gut when I see how our beloved game was ripped apart, let us not be spreading more lies just because they concur with our point of view.
As someone who pre-ordered Trials of Obi-Wan, I can tell you that I did indeed get a refund, as did anyone who bothered to read the forums and follow the appropriate links to do so. Repeat : A refund WAS offered to those who pre-ordered Trials of Obi-Wan, albeit after a lot of community pressure to do so.
8-23-2006 @ 10:10
I was playing SWG when the NGE update was applied. I had just purchased the Obi-wan expansion a month before, and it was all wiped out in one night of NGE conversion.
Clearly, this had to have been worked on for at least a year, you don’t do a whole new combat and character advancement system in a few weeks.
I consider that unethical at the very least. I canceled my account. After I traded all my SWG credits to IGE for something else. :p
I lived with SoE’s stupid decisions in Everquest forever, since beta 2, so since SoE was involved in it. I know from experience I don’t want them in charge of any future game I might play.
Which will NOT be Vanguard.
10-31-2006 @ 06:26
http://johnsmedleysucks.usgameroom.com/
john smedley truely does suck