Unlike many on my Twitter feed, I am not surprised and far from upset at the announced personnel changes at the newly acquired and renamed Daybreak Games. I’m not so heartless that I don’t feel for the people who went into work this morning employed and left work today without a job. I wish them all the best and hope they find positions they excel in and love sooner rather than later. I’ve been laid-off, I know how unexpected and scary it is. I’ve been through a corporate acquisition where the new bosses seem to be blindly making decisions for no regard for people loved and cared about by many.
That being said, I think shaking things up over at the former SOE is a good thing and will result in positive changes for the community and the games. New ideas and change needs to be blown through the catalog of titles over at Daybreak. Some games need to go, others need resourced poured into them to make them more than the niche game they currently have become.
There is no fathomable reason that truly solid games like Everquest and Everquest II did not succeed far more wildly than they did. SOE failed, repeatedly and often, over the years to spend time, money, and resources on their continued development. Bugs that have existed since launch should have been squashed by now. A graphics update for a game that is over fifteen years old, and still supported with an active community, is unforgiveable.
Instead, SOE felt free to spend time and resources flitting from game to game, developing half-finished crap and expecting gamers to be satisfied. SOE repeatedly, under the leadership of Dave Georgeson and Linda Carlson (among others), said one thing publically and did the exact opposite later. SOE and now Daybreak have too many games in their catalog, too few resources, and no true vision or commitment.
Look I like who Linda Carlson is on Twitter but she wasn’t the best Community Manager I’ve ever encountered. At events, she was far more accessible to drinkers and those willing to buy a round in a bar. I’m no teetotaler but I as a gamer shouldn’t have to buy the public CM of your gaming division a round to get a chance to speak with you. And while that may not have been your experience, it was definitely the experience I walked away from SOELive with. Dave Georgeson has devoted much of his career to the Everquest franchise but completely ignored long time Everquest fans and players who objected to the cartoon graphics of Everquest Next. John Smedley is still at Daybreak but he too ignores Everquest players and concerns for the new “hotness” game in development.
We pay for two yearly All Access subscriptions to Daybreak which is a terrific value. That being said, as Everquest II players we are tired of having long standing bugs not being squashed, outrageous prices for digital only expansions every year, cash shop changes that make no sense or contradict public statement made earlier, and those are just a few examples.
I am hoping that Daybreak gets the financial house in order and speaks to players with a consistent and honest voice at events, on social media, in game, and on the forums.
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