What bugs me is that when a game is identified as failing (ie. mass migration of subs) that the developers did not take any drastic action to release updates to stop the flood. I know that it costs money to keep developers and running of servers, but if the money is invested to fix the issues and look at regaining fans must be better than ignoring the fanbase altogether?
Blizzard and CCP constantly respond to their player complaints with frequent patches, expansions and whatnot. Each Warcraft patch is a bugfix and offer of something new. The same is with CCP's Eve Online (but freely instead of a £30 addon). Most complaints such as this ship is nerfed, the game has too much grind or it is very difficult for new players are often looked at and tweaked by the developers. If the changes are major and do not agree with the majority, I have seen later patches remove the concpt changes.
I can understand why SOE are suffering - SWG plays like turd - no collision detection, walking thru vehicles & buildings, npc respawn next to you within a few seconds of dying, animation is non-existant and combat is non-responsive. I appretiate that the game is old, but so is Warcraft. The user interface, the graphics and fluid playability makes the game popular. Eve online's interface is a bitch to use, but has improved, but the graphics are truely awsome. Also, Eve is another dated game, but the maturity and continued development somehow makes you gripped by the game. Surely SOE must have thought that it needed to change tactics or enhance the game to challenge their rivals? Even challenge KOTOR?
Finally, unpopular MMO's have recently bounced back by changes to their management plans such as Free2Play (LOTRO) making the game accessible for everyone.
SOE have much to learn if it wishes to continue in the MMO market.
