John Smedley on Station Cash: "We aren't going free to play"

B. de la Durantaye · 12-10-2008, 05:41 AM

The word that SOE was suddenly offering in-game items for real cash was pretty big news yesterday. This particular business model has scarcely been done. Venturing new ground by offering micro-transactions to a subscription based game poses a lot of questions. We caught up to John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment to try to get a few answers.

Quote:

SOE is known for its dedicated and loyal fanbase. How are you expecting the community to react?

"Our fanbase is always very vocal in telling us how they feel about our games. I would expect there to be some positive and some negative. I think mostly people are just going to play the games. Some will try it, and others won't."

Read the full interview here.

Reavi · 12-10-2008, 05:44 AM

I would not say it has never been done, I know NCsoft with CoH offers various things you can buy seperate from your subscription, like costume packs, char slots, power packs. Nothing game breaking or that you could not do completly without, but its there.

kitsunegirl · 12-10-2008, 10:30 AM

Smedley is so out of touch with his playerbase... they asked for opinions on the forums about this new baseball bat to the head of EQ2, and several people said they were quitting. Others said it was a bad idea and didnt like it. A few said they saw nothing wrong with it.

"Were going to turn the entire game brown! And replace in-game money with RMT! Our players will love it!"

Derf · 12-10-2008, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kitsunegirl

Smedley is so out of touch with his playerbase... they asked for opinions on the forums about this new baseball bat to the head of EQ2, and several people said they were quitting. Others said it was a bad idea and didnt like it. A few said they saw nothing wrong with it.

"Were going to turn the entire game brown! And replace in-game money with RMT! Our players will love it!"

But that's not what this is. It's giving players the option of buying non-essential items, most people are reacting and not giving a lot of thought to what is actually there. They did the same thing with the TCG; the loot cards are nice, but by no means are they essential. I have no problem with games adding a layer of fluff that can be bought outside of the subscription, I will only have a problem if they start selling masters, legendary/fabled armor and weapons through the same mechanism. I just don't see them doing that.

kesugeo · 12-10-2008, 02:28 PM

If the player base doesn't see this as a very slippery slope for SOE to be heading down they are running around with some of those nice Station Cash purchased blinders on.
Honestly how long before SOE feels that this is not dragging in enough revenue and they offer up for 2500 station cash heres your fabled epic ... 5000 your mythical.
Due to this being instituted I have cancelled 3 accounts and my girlfriend 2 more.
I think that Mr. Smedley and others at SOE should listen to their player base and rethink this and many other issues.
Biggest issue ....
ummm ....

Shelf space???

Advertising???????

Honestly what a waste of man hours and cash developing this and scrapping things like the graphics engine that is sorely lacking, revamping the skeletal system which was scrapped, or pouring much needed $$$ into advertising.

I did enough research to know that TSO was beaten in opening week sales by an expansion for Sims 2.

The Dawsonator · 12-10-2008, 02:49 PM

I cannot believe the heated reactions to some changes and additions that SOE adds to EQ and EQ2, in fact I find it laughable.
Variety is the spice of life folks ... I think it's great that things such as LoN and StationCash are able to be offered to folks 'IF' they want to use it. Personally, I probably won't use it, for no other reason then I have better things to spend my money on, however there is the opportunity for me to use it if I want to.
Large player bases are made up of alot of peeps with just as many different play styles, wants and needs. The more bit's and pieces that are added to game, such as LoN and Station Cash, I am sure pleases just as many people as it doesn't. Smart business decision I am thinkin'.

oh and as an aside'
Kesugeo, Take a pill for crying out loud. What a drama queen. "I am taking my bat and ball and I'm going home, I don't wanna play anymore" /sniff

Cheers and Beers folks
Daws

Spare · 12-10-2008, 03:06 PM

Now I will catch crap for this but I will say this about Smedley.

After the NGE Smedley joined my "Punch in the face when I meet them list"

I got to sit next to him at a conference and when I got the chance I spoke to Smedley at length about how bad the NGE screwed up SWG. However while talking with him I realized he was not really a bad person and genuinely cared about the players experiences in the game.

So after talking with him at length in early 2006 I saw HUGE sweeping changes in SWG in the next year. So watching others talk with Smedley I realized that he does care about his playerbase and does care about his games.

I will admit that Smedley can be more focused on the business than the game play but he is a gamer and deep down a nice guy who does care. I will also agree that he might be out of touch with the players but I highly doubt that man goes home and plays EQ for hours.

While I know everyone loves to hate SOE and Smedley and my opinions are not going to change that I am just saying I would drink with John anyday of the week because he is a pretty cool gamer.

os008 · 12-10-2008, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Dawsonator

I cannot believe the heated reactions to some changes and additions that SOE adds to EQ and EQ2, in fact I find it laughable.
Variety is the spice of life folks ... I think it's great that things such as LoN and StationCash are able to be offered to folks 'IF' they want to use it. Personally, I probably won't use it, for no other reason then I have better things to spend my money on, however there is the opportunity for me to use it if I want to.
Large player bases are made up of alot of peeps with just as many different play styles, wants and needs. The more bit's and pieces that are added to game, such as LoN and Station Cash, I am sure pleases just as many people as it doesn't. Smart business decision I am thinkin'.

oh and as an aside'
Kesugeo, Take a pill for crying out loud. What a drama queen. "I am taking my bat and ball and I'm going home, I don't wanna play anymore" /sniff

Cheers and Beers folks
Daws

For the first couple of bold texts ... do you play EQ2?

As for the 3 after ... man, you HAVE to buy Station Cash if you want to survive in EQ2. Correct me if i'm wrong, but from what i understood, you can buy 'equipment' using SC? If not, then forgive my ignorance!

I played EQ2 since KoS, and LOVED it, up until they released RoK, then i hated the game. EoF was the best expansion released in my opinion for that game. My sub was cancelled a couple of months ago after playing the game for 2.5 years dedicated!

Ralsu · 12-10-2008, 04:45 PM

I haven't seen gear yet. But all I have seen is here. I have played EQ2, and I don't think this negatively affects anyone who does not desire to participate.

os008 · 12-10-2008, 05:49 PM

Thanks for pointing that out Ralsu. The point is ... a LOT of my friends, whom i met in-game when i started and few months after, quit the game a few months ago, some a year ago.

The game's population isn't the same, and still, the devs aren't listening to anything the community say. But whatever, i won't whine, i quit and it's over. Time to move on!