Smedley Answer from reddit

opticalshadow · 2012-08-02, 10:18 PM

Thread is being updated as i go, Note i will not be posting repeat questions, if he said once ps2 is not planned for linuix, i will nto post any other questions of teh same nature unless taht question gives more information. im also cutting any fluff that smedley doesnt respond to, things like "OMG i lux ps2 this one time i had a cat and his name was creig, anyways heres my question:" all that is cut, i am only putting in the Question section the actual portion of the questions that he answers, this is to keep this easy to read and to the point. i will not however edit anythign smedley says, no matter how irreleveant it becomes.

Someone in the other thread asked for this, if its a prob just delete it, ill keep it updated with the answers from teh reddit questions so its easier to read.

Q: Do you plan on working on bases in PS2 that outfits can deploy?
A hell yes. That's in a 3 year plan we have. By the end of year 1 is my goal.
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Q: How long do you think it will take (if everything goes as planned) for everyone who has twitter/PC gamer keys to get in the beta?
A maybe as long as 2-3 weeks but it depends on how smoothly things go
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Q: How did you start out in the gaming industry? What made you think "This is what I want to do as a career"
A I literally never wanted to do anything else. I quit college after 2 years at SDSU because I got a game programming job. My Dad bought an Apple II+ when I was in 8th grade and I learned Basic, then 6502. There was never anything else I wanted to do.
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Q: Will beta really start on monday?
A:Yes
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Q: Can you finally come clean about the decisions that were made regarding SWG? Mainly the CU and NGE?
A: sure. Stupid decisions. Complete and utter fail and I am very sorry.
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Q: are caves going to be in PS2? (Already in/Planning on it)
A: No
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Q: On a scale of 1-10, how sure are you about beta Monday?
A: 9.99999
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Q: I am currently subscribed to PS1 am I pretty much guarenteed on day 1?
A: you will be in day 1
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Q: Im an aspiring game designer, im currently getting my associates in game design, whats the best way to get into the industry as a mechanical designer?
A: apply over and over till you get a break. This industry is awesome. Once you're in you're in. My own son is interested in it and that's the same advice I give him
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Q: How money much do you make?
A: Enough to buy a lot of gadgets I don't need
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Q: What are good jobs in the games industry that doesn't require tons of math. Also any tips on getting started?
A: Design (although a lot of the best designers are good at match) - Art.
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Q: What is your most memorable moment working on Planetside 2
A: Most memorable moment had to be the start of the tech test and watching players reactions and listening to them in chat. I grouped up with a bunch of people I didn't know and hung out in chat. Holy shit that was fun.
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Q: I'm in Europe and already have a bunch of Station Cash sitting on my account ready for PlanetSide2. Europe players are now having to use Pro7, what happens to all our Station Cash? can we still use it for PlanetSide2?
A: no. Pro7 cash sorry.
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Q: So, the current ps1 subs/within last year subs is a pretty small pool right? So former subs will be invited pretty quickly then?
A: reasonably so yes.
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Q: Planetside 2 and EQ Next are what I understand to be your biggest projects currently. Any new IPs in development at SOE?
A: Yup
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Q: Are you mixing beta invites at all? What I mean by this, are you doing ONLY subscribed vets for the first waves, or are you peppering in some unsubscribed vets/keys?
A: some mixing but only for technical reasons. For example we already have a bunch of PS1 vets in
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Q: Will certifications be in Monday beta?
A: some yes. not sure yet how many. Note - this may change if we aren't happy with testing but that's our plan.
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Q: What would the recommended settings be for PS2?
A: we are working on the reccomended settings and aren't quite ready to release them. It's not a dodge - we are still gathering the data. We collect frame rate data from players.
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Q: As a president of a company mainly dealing with MMOs, what is it like when you realise one of your products is starting to lose customers, and what steps do you take to try and rectify this?
A: we do our best to listen to our players and give them what they want. If it starts to lose customers we try and make the game better or add features to give the players more of what they want.
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Q: You seem to share a view with other Industry Veterans (GabeN, Blizzard, Notch) that Windows8 is not going to be a good thing for the PC Gaming World.
A: I absolutely strongly share that view.
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Q: Are we going to see Planetside 2 Linux at some point if M$ doesn't get their act together?
A: No you aren't going to see PS2 on Linux. You will see it on Mac though.
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Q: What is the most exciting part about the entire game development process?
A: Personally I like it when the game is playable by early testers. We get great feedback that way. I play the game 3-4 hours a day now. It's rough but fun as hell.
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Q: What first got you into the games industry?
A: My Dad got me into this industry by patiently typing in games from some Apple magazine in basic (they literally had the lines of code in the magazine). At the time I was playing a lot of D&D and just decided to try and make it on the Apple II+. I ended up writing a lot of character generators after I realized making D&D might be hard
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Q: About how many people are registered for the beta?
A: We'll announce that at some point here. A very big number though!
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Q: is there any sort of schedule/idea on how long it will take before all beta key holders are in, and when people who registered get in?
A: 2-4 weeks probably.
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Q: Is the NC soldier in the Planetside 2 CG trailer supposed to look like Higby?
A: Higby is better looking
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Q: how far from completion is PS2?
A: hmm. That's a loaded question - for once I want us to release the game when it's ready. We'll release it when we're proud of it. I will say it's rough but fun as hell.
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Q: What is your preferred whiskey. 'None' is not a valid answer.
A: Dalmore 50
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Q: I had subscribed to PS1 about 10 days before you guys announced the free 30 days is that considered an active sub?
A: Yes
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Q: How would you describe your progression from whatever beginnings you had to the point of becoming president of SOE?
A: I started in the industry as a game programmer. I had a company that did contract work and gradually got into management. I miss it though. I miss it greatly.
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Q: will the beta test starting monday still be under NDA?
A: yes although honestly we want it to be down fairly soon. Let people judge it however they will. I'll still play it
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Q: How does SOE feel about SWGEmu?
A: well officially I have to say it's bad. but that's officially.
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Q: How soon will the Twitter keys be accepted in? Around two weeks or so?
A: good guesstimate. no guarantees
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Q: For the people that dont have keys when can they play?
A: if you've applied it will be after planetside 1 players and players that already have keys. If you haven't applied you should.
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Q: if I am currently subscribed to PS1 am I pretty much guarenteed on day 1?
A: Yes
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Q: How do you guys think about other games like Firefall or Defiance which are also coming on strong in the MMOFPS scene? Do you think that they're competition or do you think that they're catering to different audiences?
A: I've played Firefall. Good game. Good company. It will do well. Defiance - hmm. there are some excellent people on that Team and Trion knows what it's doing so I have high expectations. I like SciFi (fuck the name SyFy). I saw every episode of SG1. So I'm betting it's as great as Rift.
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Q: What's it like working for SOE? Do you guys have nice desk chairs?
A: yes. We have great desk chairs and good computers. Ok my computer is great too.
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Q: What was your favorite game to work on\oversee?
A: probably Planetside 2 by far. The team is a blast and we are having a lot of fun.
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Q: Where do you keep the second key to the beta button? We know Higby has the first.
A: actually we use it for the twitter whores in the company that want more followers
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Q: Are you happy with how it's developing? Do you feel you guys are on schedule with the development of the game?
A: we are doing great and relatively on schedule.. if the schedule is longer than it should have been
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Q: What is your favorite programming language? I saw you used to be a programmer at SOE.
A: I wasn't a programmer at SOE. But my favorite language is still assembly by far. I programmed x86, 6502 and 68k
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Q: Mr Smedley, Will we be able to pre-download the game via launcher pre beta launch and release launch?
A: unlikely for day 1 beta simply because it's day 1. After that.. not sure.
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Q: [–]mattmatrix 1 point 20 minutes ago

Can you make a 100% promises right here that i can later use later as incriminating evidence that you will NOT do anything to break PS2 like you have done to game in the past (BFR's for example)

A: this is game development. We introduce stuff that doesn't work. What I can promise you is we listen a lot better than we ever have.
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Q: What do you think about tie day friday?
A: it's awesome. We have a handsome team.
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Q: How likely will there be new weapons / classes in expansions?
A: we don't intend to do expansions in the classic sense. Our goal (and I say it's a goal) - is not to charge for future content. We want it to be like LoL.. where new continents (maps) are free.
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Q: Are weather patterns going to be in the game?(Rain, Lightning , Fog, Snowstorms, Sandstorms, Some wierd plasma storm) Is there going to be any wildlife to play with(shoot)?
A: yes but not for launch. I hope we have wildlife. I love the idea of shooting wildlife. I'm not what you would call a classic nature lover. I hate the outdoors actually. I'm pretty pale.
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Q: What are 1) your most frustrating and 2) most rewarding memories working on PS2 so far?
A: most frustrating -not having every single thing in the game exactly how I want. Most rewarding - not having every single thing in the game exactly how I want - it means the team cares and the team owns the game.
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Q: Will we see the return of the Phantasm?
A: hmmm.. you've got me on that one. no plans.
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Q: When does the narwhal bacon?
A: at midnight. is there some other time it's supposed to? No one tells me this stuff
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Q: What do you think about the announcement SWTOR is going free-to-play? You're choosing for Planetside 2 to have a f2p model, do you think f2p is really the only way for an MMO to be successful these days?
A: it is the only way to go for new games. It was the right decision for SWTOR (which is a fantastic game). Wait till you see our next round of games after PS2
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Q: How do you intend to deal with people with high pings? and what are the minimum specs for ps2 (right now and at launch)
A: we haven't announced this yet - we have servers already deployed in multiple locations around the world.. so we are trying to make it reasonable for everyone. Tomorrow we test east coast servers.
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Q: Are you going to be working again this weekend? At the office all weekend?
A: I want to be defending my outfit's base on a Planet where we own the mining rights for a rare metal that helps to build factories that spit out autonomous robots that can be deployed around the game MOBA style, we will be working this weekend.
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Q: What's your favorite type of Iguana and why?
A: The Dancing at the Blue kind. If I have to tell you why you need to see the movie.
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Q: How do you feel about the rise of phone app gaming? Do you think it's very disruptive to your plans/profitability that a lot of popular games cost < 10% what a flagship PlayStation or PC game gets sold for?
A: I do think it's disruptive but I think a mobile game is different than a flagship PC or PS3 game. I play all of them
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Q: What lessons have you learned over the many years you've been in the industry that you've applied towards making Planetside 2 a success?
A: work super hard with super smart people who want to make great games. simple lesson.
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Q:

Although Planetside 1 still has a dedicated following, we all know that a lot of players left the game shortly following Aftershock's release. As I'm sure you know, not everybody was a fan of the addition of BFRs, turning Auraxis from several continents to planets, etc. This also happened to be around the same time that World of Warcraft launched. Would you consider a negative reaction to Aftershock, WoW's release, both, or something else altogether to be the main reason for the mass exodus?

Despite losing a large number of players, how do you explain the cult following that Planetside 1 has?

What are a some of the mistakes from the Planetside 1, as well as other SOE games, that you were able to learn from to make Planetside 2 the game that everybody is eagerly awaiting?

What are some of the things that you really wanted to be included with Planetside 2, but you know are never going to happen (i.e. something way to ambitious considering today's technology, etc.)

Finally, my current rig is going to struggle with Planetside 2. Help a brother out.

A: 1) Wow didn't help. But I think the real problem with PS1 is it wasn't the right game at the right time. 2) It's fun as hell. 3) Not to release stuff before it's ready. We're not perfect but we're better now. 4) We haven't ruled anything out just yet. 5) GL
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Q: will my gtx 560 be able to run ps2 on ultra or high settings
A: 560 works great. not on ultra. NO CARD works well on ultra. That's for cards next year or the year after.
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Q: In 2009 there was a survey that was emailed to people about the possible development of Planetside 2. What were you able to take away from that survey, and did it have an impact on what is being done now?
A: don't remember that survey honestly. So I'd have to go with no.
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Q: I like turtles, do you like turtles?
A: I'm not an outdoor guy, but I do scuba dive so yes I like Turtles.
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Q: Do you regret hiring Abashi and having him do "customer support" on the original EQ forums?
A: don't regret hiring him. Regret leaving him on the the front lines as long as we did.
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Q: Any news on EQnext? Is it on schedule? How are things coming along?
A: nothing to announce except Awesomeness is coming.
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Q: I've not played the game, yet, but it seems there's a lack of landing/repair pads for aircraft. There are 'air towers' but those seem to be spawn pads, which would cause issues when people land there. Plus there does not appear to be a way to get back to the pad if you jump off (if you, say want to land at a tower, switch your loadout, or fight off an intruder, then fly away). I'd feel kinda dirty having to land on the floor.

Is this because I've just not seen the game or is this actually the case?

A: we do have spawn pads. Need to talk to the team about making them repair craft. I think that's the plan but it's a good question.
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Q: What faction would you recommend for players with higher latency (eg. Aussies)?
A: hmm. We plan on having some lower latency options for Aussies (maybe even a server down there if there is demand).

now THAT's a ping!

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Q: Any chance we might get a Logitech Gamepanel applet for PS2? It looks like I won't be needing 3rd party VOIP, so that frees up my G510's LCD to display PS2 goodness.
A: I have one of those myself! no current plans but we do plan to open a lot of UI stuff up for extension
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Q: What's your favourite game of all time, if you can't come up with that what's your favourite game currently?
A: My favorite game of all time. - Planetside (yes really). Playing PS2, Eve Online, League of Legends right now.
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Q: What PS Faction does the majority of the dev team prefer?
A: not sure of the answer on that one.
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Q: How many PS1 veteran subs are currently active? Wondering how many you have to invite for the first waves of beta.
A: we don't give out that number.
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Q: No question. Just wanted to say that despite it's flaws, I really enjoyed my time playing Star Wars Galaxies. I've yet to see an MMO or multiplayer-heavy game foster the kind of community that game did. Thanks.
A: thank you. If you liked the sandbox gameplay in SWG you will like where we are going with PS2.
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Q: How soon can we expect to see my most <3 thresher make an appearance hovering across the battlefield at 90kmh? Also will I be able to deploy sneaky minefields as an infiltrator like you could in PS1 with combat engineering+stealth wraith loaded with full ACE's in the trunk?
A: not sure on that.
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Q: how large of a risk is it that the servers will just shit themselves once you go into open beta or release?
A: we've been doing this a while. That's the reason for the tech test. hopefully they don't shit themselves.

Continued below

opticalshadow · 2012-08-02, 10:26 PM

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Q:

Can you go into any more detail about how the PS2 servers function? I may be misremembering but I seem to remember something saying that people connecting to servers that are technically further away shouldn't have completely massive pings like they would in other games. If I'm wrong then ignore : ).

I've been curious about the population cap. So is it simply 666 of your faction on a continent and that's it or is it based on 2000 max with a mixture of any? Also, will there be anything in place for outfits to get on the same continent when player counts are high?

A: on #1 - not much to say.
2 - it's likely to be a max cap of 2,000 per continent. Still working out the final details about pop caps per empire.

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Q: Have you guys considered adding a feature whereby the color/look of your character changes the higher in BR you get, or the more certs you have, kind of like PS1.
A:we have cooler stuff planned for higher BR.
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Q: What are your thoughts the future of the PC/MMO industry, given the swift decline of SWTOR?
A: I fucking hate it when people talk about the decline of the PC industry. It's idiotic garbage spouted by morons that can't count where the players are playing. It's not like League of Legends reports numbers to NPD. The players are playing F2P games on the PC not going to retail.
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Q: is there any word on how Australian's have handled playing on the us servers? just interested I think a lot of Australian's would like to know Thanks in advance
A: pretty well so far.
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Q: On the subject of people wishing to create Planetside 2 content: when are you looking to do away with the NDA, some time during the beta, or at release like the registration email suggests?
A: simple truth - the game needs some polish and love before we're ready to have people talk about it. To us it's a beautiful baby though...
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Q: How long do you plan for the beta phase to last? And is there going to be an open beta?
A: not sure yet. Till the game is ready to launch.
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Q: Why do you think this level of communication is such a rarity? What sort of benefits have you found from being so close and open with your audience? Has it bit you in the ass ever or has it mostly been positive experience?
A: not sure. Talking to people is the fun part of the job!
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Q: What games do you see as being PS2's competition?
A: hmm. BF3 and MW3. Probably Black Ops 2. PS2 is a world class shooter that is an MMO.
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Q: But aside from features where do you see things going next for a truly new generation of MMO? VR (Oculus Rift)? User generated content? (minecraft)
A: Emergent gameplay is where this whole thing is going. People chew through content faster than any company can make it.
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Q: Any plans to perhaps open an office in Florida? EA is here, but they it's their sports division, yech :P
A: no plans sorry.
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Q: Out of curiosity, what were the numbers for SWG subscriptions like right after the NGE and/or around the time when it was shut down?
A: can't say.. we have an NDA on this sorry.
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Q: What chance do those that obtained codes through the April PC Gamer have of getting in on Monday (if it starts then)?
A: pretty much zero. PS1 subs first.
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Q: Any thoughts on being able to holster weapons?
A: not sure. No immediate plans but that would be cool.
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Q: Do you feel there is a disconnect between the overall business/marketing strategies and the design side of gaming?
A: I think to make games you have to be a gamer. It doesn't matter what you learned in school.. any discipline including marketing can help you make games. But if you don't play games you will be a shitty game marketer.
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Q: Assuming SOE could get the rights and jump through all the hoops and such, would you guys ever consider doing a redo of SWG? Maybe call it SWG2 or something?
A: As much as we love the game, no. we are making our own stuff from now on.
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Q: What about honest to god space combat in PS2 and not the indirect fly-like-RTS combat of EVE? You're not going to let that slip through your/our fingers are you?

Also, what about EQ Next?

A: who knows. I love Eve. no plans right now but it could happen in the future.

EQ Next - nothing to say right now.

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Q: 1: How's your day been?
2: How do you feel about the fact that when PS2 gets popular, there will be an inordinate amount of people complaining because they expected too much?
3: How long has PS2 been in development/concept?
4: Are they dragging "How I Met Your Mother" on a bit now?
5: Do you think the opposition is under-represented in the Czech Republic's Parliament?
6: Jeff and Annie; will they or won't they?
7: Do you think PS2 will have the most success out of all of SOE's games?
8: How much time do you get to play? And which games do you like playing?
9: Steak; rare, medium or ruined?
10: If a train was on the tracks to run over 5 people, would you intentionally change its course to run over 4 people?
A: 1) Awesome 2) People will complain. more people will be happy. So I'll be happy. 3) Multiple years. 4) yes - I want to know who the hell she is. My whole family watches that show. 5) No clue. 6) wow. you've got me there. 7) Yes. So far anyways. 8) I play games every night and all weekend most weekends. at least 3-4 hours a night. 9) medium 10) yes.
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Q: Since you're making a free-to-play game, how do you feel about popular free-to-play games right now, both MMOs and competitive multiplayer? Do you feel like free-to-play is where all multiplayer-only experiences are headed, in one way or another? Does it bother you that these free-to-play games require a server connection and will therefore die one day with no way to dust off an old copy of League of Legends, for instance, and be able to play with a bunch of friends long after it's had its run? I personally like that most of these multiplayer games are moving to free-to-play, but I have to admit there are problems with both preservation and the way the creators are monetizing them.
A: I think F2P is the ultimate destination of all games. Yes. I said all games.

It doesn't bother me that someday games turn off. Try and run your games you bought 13 years ago on your PC. Yes you can if you use some weird emulator. but mostly you can't.

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Q: Will you be wiping characters before beta? Will you be wiping characters after beta?
A: both likely.
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Q: Have you considered making a steam-workshop-like feature where the community can model and submit cosmetic items for the developers to review and add to the cash shop?
A: stay tuned very soon. very soon indeed.
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Q: As President of SOE how much are you actually invovled in the developement of Planetside 2 ? When i hear president i think about a guy in a suite singing business documents or whatever, but you seem really invovled with the communty and replying to us on twitter regularly (appreciate it !!).

Do you think your work ethics are different to other people with your rank in the industry ? (not a native speaker so i hope my question is clear)

A: I'm pretty involved with PS2. I have strong opinions. My work ethics? Hmm. not sure how to answer that ones. I believe in hard work.
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Q: When can we expect to see a creative use of the LucasArts license? Star Wars + Planetside = It Prints Money
A: that would be an awesome game wouldn't it!
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Q: Do you know if Elder Scrolls Online is going to be supported by the PS3, or is it a secret?
A: no idea but the game looks awesome!
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Q: Does faction bias play into development? (ex. a 3d modeller on the PS2 team who loves Vanu makes cooler art for Vanu infantry)
A: of course it does
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Q: Can we buy weapon sound packs in the PS2 item shop? I'd like to customize the PEW PEW PEW of my VS weaponry for real $$$$$.
A: not at launch but that's a good idea.
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Q: Do you think SOE will ever venture into a sandbox style MMO? Personally my favorite gaming memories we getting a group of friends and just doing whatever we felt (I know this is somewhat achieved in PS2).
A: hell yes we will.
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Q: Where do you see PS2 in 5 years?

Why isn't there 1S1K melee in PS2? NC get a 1S1K sniper, but a cloaker that does work getting in the right spot can't backstab a guy?

How can a CS grad get hired? What skills would be looked for? I did see a hiring position for a scaleform developer....

With Sony's declining status in the worlds markets, how protected is SOE(And PS2) from being taken down with it?

A: hmm. not sure on the 1S1K stuff

getting hired starts with applying and making it clear by all possible means that you want a job

Sony is still very dominant in the world and we have some bright stuff coming in the future. I really think we are doing cool stuff that will make a difference in the near term future.
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Q: So John, did you get involved in the Payday/Left 4 Dead crossover deal, or did the boys bring that to you to approve after they'd already gotten started with it?
A: that was all them and we love those guys. love them
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Q: Have you given any thoughts about space/naval combat? Is it part of your 3-year plan that you guys are employing?
A: it is part of the plan. Seamless continents. not saying it's technically feasible yet but it's part of the plan
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Q: Do you ever think MMOs will return to their UO/EQ/AO style roots of heavy exploration and emergent gameplay rather than the Skinner Box style gameplay the genre has moved towards?
A: That's where the whole thing is going. That's where we're going. Emergent.
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Q: Is the server code for SWG Pre-CU and Pre-NGE really gone or was that just the line to get people to stop asking about it?
A: is it gone? No. Is it ever coming out again? no.
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Q: Will there be locks on team vehicles preventing a random player from taking your vehicle? (if they are certified to use it)
A:yes. actually going in right now.
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Q: I still miss the gratuitous spell effects from early EQ1. They made me feel powerful, even at a lower level. I loved playing with the third-person camera and watching the effects go off.

Can medics get giant, insane, and impractical EQ1-style sparkle effects for revives and healing in PS2? I'd pay a stupid amount for that.

A: we are doing some cool stuff with PS2.
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Q: Any plans to provide an API for third party applications to hit, similar to EVE Online?
A: yes. big big plans on this. Stay tuned soon.
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Q: So, when are we going to have a sequel to Tanarus?
A: Planetside WAS the sequel to Tanarus. I know. I designed Tanarus
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Q: I was curious to know why doors were not put on the bases and the hacking was removed. From the footage I've seen it is very easy to get inside a base. My guess would be to keep the battle more fluid.

Second question has to do with the large tanks. Why was control of the main gun given to the driver? Seems to take away from the teamwork aspect of the game.

Last question is about the sniper having the ability to cloak? I see that as a terrible thing.
A: 1) dunno, but i expect it has to do with the emphasis on Faster Gameplay. 2) because the driver is the one spending the resources and cert points 3) they can't fire while cloaked.

All these things have been mentioned in various interviews hither and yon, mostly Higby interviews.

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Q: how do you feel about the swgemu project?
A: I answered this somewhere but overall I can't endorse it but I have no comment. It's technically not cool.
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Q:

Are you guys being super careful to balance out the cash shop in PS2? Now, I know these seems like it should be obvious but I would hate to see this game take a turn like Tribes:Ascend did. They didn't test the content thoroughly and had to make knee-jerk patches to try and fix new weapons that were much too powerful.

Along the same line, how are you planning to work in buying things for resources compared to buying for cash (mostly talking about weapons here). Since they are supposedly available for both currencies then are you going to make the weapons incredibly expensive like Hi-Rez does or are you going to try and strike a nice balance? This is probably one of my biggest worries because many times (in Tribes: Ascend most definitely) I feel like I can't play properly unless I buy something for cash because you don't anywhere near enough XP to buy things. Will it be reasonable to expect someone who uses only resources to buy a weapon whenever they feel they need or will they see themselves having to save up through months of gameplay?

A: 1) It's the most important balance consideration we have. That's why we aren't selling power. only gameplay styles (i.e. same gun sidegrades that differentiate but not give more raw power).

2) The things that are available for both currencies will be carefully balanced. We want to let players purchase things using in-game resources (not everything will be purchaseable this way but weapons will for example). Roughly speaking we're going for LoL champions level of time investment. maybe a bit less. This is something we need to get a feel for during beta so it could change.

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Q: is it certain that everyone who registed will get in beta?
A: it is likely but not certain. It all depends on how things go. I would say 95% likely.
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Q: I played PS1 since beta and thought it was an epic game way ahead of its time. Why do you think it never really took off as a major FPS? What lessons do you think you learned and will apply towards PS2?
A: I think MMOs in general were pretty new. I also think FPS games hadn't hit the serious mainstream yet. Plus we did a lot of things right and made mistakes. The time is ripe now though.
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Q: Is there ever going to be a solution to the Voice Over issue of most games? Generally the initial game and sometimes first expansion has voice overs for the game giving you a great immersive experience but then later on (no doubt due to players chewing through content and the cost) the npcs start to drop to text only narrative

Will there ever be a way around this? Perhaps community voice over packs or something?

A: it's a good point and a tough one to deal with. We do our best but it's hard..
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Q: You said you play League. Who's your favorite champ?
A: Morgana
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Q: How important is industry experience when considering a new IP/game design document? I'm assuming very, but you know what they say about assumptions.
A:it's the idea that matters. Honestly the truth is we have more ideas then time to develop them.
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Q: in your experience how hard is it to get the necessary support for new IP's?
A: it's not hard. It's more like we have a whole lot more great ideas and don't need other IP. Star Wars and DC are about as good as you can get.
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Q: If you could have any semi-super power (Mystery Men not Marvel), what would it be?
A: Invisible boy of course.
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Q: Why are your products so hard to uninstall?
A: a fair question - honestly we've had issues with people moving the install around but it's something we need to get better at. It's not intentional but the product of patches after the original install.
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Q: Will there be a way of transferring my station cash to my Pro7 account?
A: if it's for the same game yes.
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Q: In your opinion, what will it take for MMO's to be successful on consoles?
A: they already are. DCUO is doing amazing on PS3. Dust 514 will be great too.
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Q: What do you think of the recent rise of the MOBA genre and the free to play market?
A: I think the MOBA market is the result of DOTA being awesome and LoL being awesome and easy to get into (DOTA was a bit of a pain to install).
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Q: Do you ever get irritated by the whole playstation(psp/ps2/ps3) hacking scene, with all the custom firmwares and piracy?
A: I'm against piracy of any kind. We work hard to make games. Pirates suck. well maybe not all pirates but the kinds that steal other people's work suck.
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Q: I'm a business analyst for an MMO. Nerd out with me for a moment: what are the biggest metrics you plan to have your eyes glued to during this beta? How will you know it's a hit and not hype?
A: Unique users and concurrent users. Most important by far. It tells you if people like your game.
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Q: Expansion for space combat? Capturable guild owned capital ships/orbital bases?
A: no plans but who knows. I love space!
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Q: Is TrackIR support planned at all? How polished is Joystick support, especially supporting more than one stick, for people with things like rudder pedals.
A: joystick support will be solid. It's weak sauce atm because it hasn't gotten any love but it will be great.
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Q: Is it possible for a light assault to jetpack vertically and stick C4 onto an aircraft? If so, that will be my specialization.
A: yes you can jetpack vertically and mess with aircraft. not sure on the c4 specifcally but I hope so.
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Q: Please, please, please do not make EQ Next a WoW clone, point and click, crap game.
A: EQ Next is about as far from a WoW clone, EQ Clone or any current MMO as you can get period. It's nothing like them at all. It's the new hotness. Or it will be
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Q: do you ever plan on making another eqoa?
A: another console based EQ? yes.
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Q: I'd really like to do a Planetside 2 live stream during the beta. Is that going to be possible or will there be an NDA against it? Is it possible to get special permission to do some Planetside 2 streaming or video content?

I sent an email to one of the SOE PR reps about this but never heard back.

Thanks.

A: at some point soon we will allow it.

We might even be working on a secret twitch.tv and youtube streaming thing I can't talk about that might or might not be going in as I'm writing this.

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Q:
A:
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SmokinJacakal · 2012-08-02, 10:28 PM

[–]SineWav3 8 points 23 minutes ago
Will beta really start on monday?

[–]j_smedley[S] 7 points 20 minutes ago
yup

Better than the usual maybes and most likelys we been getting

Galzus · 2012-08-02, 10:30 PM

No caves?

What garbage. It's like they are 100% against interior combat.

golfmasta34 · 2012-08-02, 10:30 PM

Originally Posted by opticalshadow

hamma told us he was doing this, someone wanted it posted here because of distatste for reddit, im simply coping all the questions and answers to be put here, and then possibly put in an order (such as Beta questions, Misc etc)

if hamma thinks this is a bad idea, close the thread.

edit, it also lets me weed out the reposts, so you dont have 17 diffrent question about if beta starts monday.

Thanks for doing this. Reading reddit can sometimes be difficult (if you aren't a regular visitor to it anyway).

ArmedZealot · 2012-08-02, 10:31 PM

Originally Posted by opticalshadow

Q: Can you finally come clean about the decisions that were made regarding SWG? Mainly the CU and NGE?
A: sure. Stupid decisions. Complete and utter fail and I am very sorry.

Finally. Closure.

opticalshadow · 2012-08-02, 10:32 PM

Originally Posted by golfmasta34

Thanks for doing this. Reading reddit can sometimes be difficult (if you aren't a regular visitor to it anyway).

i hate reddit myself, and only go there for rare things like this, so i understand your anguish, just hope this helps. besides hamma can use it to attract visitors later

culkid · 2012-08-02, 10:32 PM

you forgot the best question...... the one about star wars galaxies

SmokinJacakal · 2012-08-02, 10:33 PM

Originally Posted by culkid

you forgot the best question...... the one about star wars galaxies

That one was funny and honest!

opticalshadow · 2012-08-02, 10:37 PM

Originally Posted by SmokinJacakal

That one was funny and honest!

i havent forgot it, ima cticily editing the post, and saving after every so often, if you dont see it i just havent gotten to it yet

DirtyBird · 2012-08-02, 10:58 PM

Thanks opticalshadow

opticalshadow · 2012-08-02, 11:06 PM

Originally Posted by Dogbolta

Thanks opticalshadow

just hope it helps keep the flow of information easy to find for thsoe not activily reading this as its going on. we needed some new info to mull over i hope this is it.

releatedly, my question on the phantasm brings be glee and sorrow, i stumped smedley which is awesome...but my favorite vehicle isnt planned to return

Hamma · 2012-08-02, 11:10 PM

Nice work!

Tatwi · 2012-08-02, 11:19 PM

Q: Can you finally come clean about the decisions that were made regarding SWG? Mainly the CU and NGE?
A: sure. Stupid decisions. Complete and utter fail and I am very sorry.

See, Smed rocks.

Thanks for taking the time to do interact with us, Smed. And thanks for putting this together opticalshadow.

EDIT:

I got a good chuckle out this quote, "We might even be working on a secret twitch.tv and youtube streaming thing I can't talk about that might or might not be going in as I'm writing this." lol...

ArmedZealot · 2012-08-02, 11:20 PM

as much as he has answered he still hasn't gotten to my questions. Still nice to see him doing this. Shows you how much MMO's have changed over the years to get that much feedback from someone this high up.

Where do you see PS2 in 5 years?

Why isn't there 1S1K melee in PS2? NC get a 1S1K sniper, but a cloaker that does work getting in the right spot can't backstab a guy?

How can a CS grad get hired? What skills would be looked for? I did see a hiring position for a scaleform developer....

With Sony's declining status in the worlds markets, how protected is SOE(And PS2) from being taken down with it?