SWG: New Game Experience Q&A, Part Two

GameSpot has published the second installment to their Q&A with Sony Online’s John Smedley about the recent “New Game Experience” rollout for Star Wars Galaxies. The final question:

Q: Last question, John. What’s the one lesson from your two years of seeing Star Wars Galaxies being played, that you wish you knew sooner?

A: That straight sandbox games don’t work. And that we needed to focus much more on the Star Wars experience. I think in the past, what we probably made was the Uncle Owen experience as opposed to the Luke experience. We needed to deliver more of the Star Wars heroic and epic feeling to the game. I think we missed there. That’s what I think we really brought to the game [with the update].

One thing that I love about our company is that there is no “quit” in this company. It’s about making sure that we have pride in what we do. People within the company feel so much pride in this game that they want it to beat the crap out of World of Warcraft. That’s something we feel very passionate about. We know we are capable of making the best stuff out there, and I’m proud to say that with the changes we’re making in Galaxies, I think we’re headed in the right direction.