Basically, I underestimated their willingness and ability to change.

It's easy to guess why such fundamental rethinks have been applied to what were established titles and operational doctrine. Some, of course, immediately point to WoW and GW, two games that both achieved worldwide subscriptions that far exceed the combined total of all subscriptions SOE has reported across all of their games. The immediate implication here is that this was a "wake up call" to SOE. I'm sure this had a big impact on their thinking, but I don't think it was only this.

There's another factor here to consider. SOE was on top of the genre at a time when the genre was fairly niche. EQ1 was the king of all Western MMOGs during a time when people compared it to two, maybe three, other MMORPGs. This began to change with the launch of Dark Age of Camelot, and did so more as new titles went live. But the growth was slow enough for most to assume that the rate of growth for the genre was going to be forever a slow and steady incline with a relative trickling in of new players.

2005 proved everyone wrong. WoW and, later, GW not only appealed to existing genre veterans, but through strong brands, large global reaches, and innovative tweaks to long-standing game play concepts, attracted a very large number of gamers who had been avoiding MMORPGs altogether. Everything about these games is faster: faster game play, faster advancement, faster acquisition, faster more involved combat. And, most importantly, the games were content rich right away.

All of these elements are expected in other genres, but MMORPGs had largely stuck to the more plodding nature of combat-by-the-numbers (with some exceptions of course, particularly City of Heroes which is often overlooked because it wasn't the smash hit it I think it should have been).

Was SOE caught off guard? Yes, but only because a lot of people were caught off guard, from gamers to pundits to folks doing the actual work. With the launch of GW, there seemed to be a clear delineation between developers who were making games for veterans, and those making games for gamers.

For example, EQ2 was billed as a casual gamer's haven, a place for those who didn't like the arduous time requirements of EQ1. Yet, it took WoW to actually show what sort of time requirements the general gamer (not the nightly Raider or Battlegrounder) wanted to put up with.

In the end, I don't really blame them for not being able to make EQ2 the casual game they promised. This wasn't because of a lack of skill or talent. Rather, it was due to a misunderstanding of what "casual" really needed to be. There's two ways to deliver "casual":

• For veterans of the genre: Make a game lighter in requirements than previous games.
• For folks new to the genre: Make a game with requirements analog to other genres.

What SOE delivered was for #1. How the genre grew in 2005 is #2. Without the newer entrants into the genre, I don't imagine it would have grown by so many players in such a short period of time. The genre probably would have continued to grow at a steady, but slow, pace. But the new entrants are here, have redefined the rules, and I think the most direct result is things like the changes to SWG and EQ2.

And I say it's all good. That they have the willingness to learn from their misunderstandings and spend serious time and money to change things is a testament to their continued interest in providing these experiences to players. Other companies have cut and run long since.

I just hope they continue learning from recent events as well.

The stuff looks pretty interesting, as is the timing.

None of this is really for me specifically, but like EQ2 and SWG, they're really focused on offering a new early-game experience to new players. Of course, the changes aren't anywhere near the magnitude of the NGE for SWG or the new iconic class system for EQ2. But all of these changes coinciding as they do seem to imply a sort of shift over at SOE. I don't know what that shift is or where it will go, but it bespeaks of the interesting times we are all living in.

Hello all,  For the next few weeks we are continuing to work on the "Subscription Free" service. For those of you that have not seen the explanation of this service, I'll list it out for you here.

Subscription Free - "Fodder Program" New Players will be able to create a new account and and play for free for a period of 12 months. The new account will have limitations on the BattleRank (+ or - BR8) and the CommandRank (+ or - CR2). Essentially, new players will be able to have access to any part of the game but they will be limited on the diversity of their arsenal. Time Frame – We are shooting for February 14th for Launch.

New Player Training Simultaneously to be launched with the Subscription Free service, we will be changing the UI for all new characters. One of the complaints that we receive frequently is that when you enter the game, there isn’t an easy learning curve and transition into battle. We’re going to change that in hopes of getting new players/characters into battle within a couple minutes of entering the game at the same time teaching them how to play. You may or may have not noticed that we have implemented 2 new saved favorites just recently to equip new players with a load-out much quicker.

Blast into PlanetSide Promotion I’m sure you have all noticed the increase of population the past week. The main reason is that we opened over 300,000 closed accounts and granted 30 days of free play if they log into the account before February 28, 2006. So contact your old squad members and find out what is holding them up if they’re dragging their feet.

Art Projects in the works. Many of the art projects stem from new deployable items and weapon variants. I mentioned in the past that we received a ton of good suggestions and illustrations from many. Most notably from Idealab’s documentation. We started out with the idea of implementing many of the ideas and when it came down to selecting which ones to work on, our team decided to use those ideas, other suggestions from individuals on the boards as well as mixing in their own ideas. So I hope you will find these projects exciting for the near future.

Tank Traps The best picture that comes to mind when we discuss Tank Traps is the scene from Saving Private Ryan when they are storming the beach at the beginning of the movie. And to make things worse for them getting to shore are those huge metal objects impeding the boat’s progress. Tank Traps – Place them around your towers and entry ways. Stop those vehicles from sitting in front of your tower door while they just unload and annihilate anything that comes out. If they try to ram them, they’ll take damage.

Cloaking Bubble Ok, we’ve got to come up with a better name but for the mean time, that’s what we’ll call it. This will allow you to deploy a cloaking bubble very much similar to the shield used for the AMS. However, without the AMS in the way there will be more room for placing other support objects or troops inside.

Supply Depots You’ll be able to deploy Ammo or Equipment Terminals out in the battlefield. You won’t have to rely on an AMS always being around if you pop one of these in your Cloaking Bubble. Also, drop a Med Terminal or station and you’ve got the makings of an excellent support depot that is hidden to other empires… at least for a few minutes.

Galaxy Gunship There isn’t much more to say about this other than LOOK OUT! At it’s current design, I believe your looking at 7 gunner positions that might be helpful by doing a mission requiring you to clear a path. Remember to use the New Squad Definitions when forming a squad with specific goals in mind.

Air to Air Mosquito Ok Pilots, you’ve now got some rockets you can use for air to air combat. Take down those Reavers that are camping out in front of my tower again. I can’t get out!!!!

One-Man Turrets That’s right – Deploy a one-manned turret out in the field. These are different than our current Ronco turrets (Set it and forget it turrets). You can deploy the turret out on the battlefield and wreak havoc… but you better watch out for those snipers because the turret is predominantly open.

Re-configurable Wall Turrets Take your average wall turret and equip it with AA weaponry to clear the skies over Cyssor. OR… Change it out to a combo AV / standard turret to beat back the land crawlers knocking on your front door.

Radiation Sniper Slugs Technology is getting better each day. The scientists have developed a slug that can be used in long ranged sniper rifles. If hit by these radiation slugs, your health will slowly reduce over time.

Electromagnetic Force Field Need a temporary reprieve? Throw up a force field that will give you some cover while you get your wits about you. But don’t take too long because these force fields will take damage and be destroyed. If you’re working with a good team, keep adding more sections to your force field to keep the enemy wondering which section you’ll be jumping out at.

Katana Special Ok, that isn’t the real name but we’re creating a new knife that you can be gained through your merits and awards.

Weapon Variants Ok, this is the larger project that we will be working on. We will be creating new weapon variants for most, if not all, of the weapons that you have access to. We’re working out the design but the art work doesn’t need to be held up to allow you to pick an augmentation of the gun that you love to use. It might shoot faster with less accuracy or slower with better accuracy. Heck, you might be able to zoom in with it further. All of these augmentations are based on the hundreds to thousands of suggestions we receive on how to make each weapon better than it already is now. All of these things are being worked out right now and your access to them may have something to do with your merits and awards.

Well, these are the core items we are working on currently. Thank you for your patience and I look forward to seeing your comments and feedback.

Enrico Pallazzo

Our Customer Service department has reactivated your former account for 30 consecutive days of FREE service! 

• Log in to your old account; it will be automatically reactivated for 30 days FREE.
• The 30-day Free service period begins whenever you log in, but you must take advantage of this special offer on or before 11:59 P.M. (PST) February 28, 2006.
• Remember, when your 30-day Free service period ends, your account will not remain active without entering payment information to re-activate billing.
• Launch PlanetSide on your PC, log in to your Station account and click on !
• If you can't remember your username or password just click on the link below the login box to refresh your information. 

Not sure who would get this offer or why. I will certainly find time to check it out though. I love PS when I need a good fight, even more so than CoH.