Dear SOE

**Frink**

I wanted to just post this in hopes that SOE Executives will read it, (Which I highly doubt!).

Dear SOE,

I am writing this post in hope to give you some feedback, and reality of your current situation. I deeply love the forums, and I hope you will be working hard on it over the next few days (as in overtime work). I just do not see why you couldn't simply purchase VBulletin or something like that. VBulletin has been tested for basically over 2 years or more and it is very stable and reliable and it is definitely WORTH every penny to purchase instead of trying to code from scratch some forums. The only reason why I think you didn't is because of Marketing or Human Resources. I think that something is deeply wrong with SOE when the only influence or basically anything connected to your websites/forums is because they are not SOE employees.

I just do not see your employees (Webmasters) putting any effort into the SOE websites. I think if you gathered up a bunch of paying customers who can code great websites a chance to make a website which should be the OFFICIAL website for a game, and I would guarantee it would be updated. I have not seen one update on the MxO website since Gosh I don't know how long. The only thing that EVER gets updated are announcements. But other than announcements I believe the website now is just a waste of good resources. I personally don't think paying customers get the quality of communication they should be. I don't know where to go if I want to ask SOE a question, and since your home website never gets routinely updates it is just amazing that you have the money to purchase games and yet not hire a dedicated webmaster(s).

What is the money going toward? I think if you calculate MxO of having 30,000 members currently active and times it by $15 a month/customer that is a pretty good sized cash amount per month. (Roughly $450,000 per month!) I do not know exactly what the servers cost per month, but the MxO team needs more manpower in it's grips. The current team does an excellent job with the resources they are given, but the game needs to just get better than it already is. The current team knows it needs to get better but they have their time limited with what they can and cannot do. Now if you have lets say 40 people working on MxO and each get about $60,000 a year salary. That would be $2,400,000 a year. And since MxO has about $450,000/month and times 12 that is $5,400,000 a year. I don't know how many people are on the MxO team, but if there is/were 40 people working on MxO, I would like to know where the extra $3,000,000 goes? And if the servers cost $1 Million a year that still leaves $2 Million left. I just would really like to see SOE's budget and what money is being spent on, because obviously it isn't spent on Forums/Website Updates/Or Expanding Current staff on games. (I remember when we had a Live Event Team SMILEY )

But to end it all, I still think SOE is a good company, but it just has to many flaws. I remember back in Monolith days when SOE was going to buy MxO. I was like "I love the idea that SOE bought the game, then maybe the team will get bigger since it is SONY. And I think this will be a great change for MxO to have since SOE sounds like a promising company.". So please still make this a true statement, because the road we are heading on just keeps getting bumpier and bumpier and I am just seeing a river ahead with no bridge. So to anyone who reads this please take my concern in thought, I hope that SOE will read my message which is just my own opinions.

Sincerely another Customer,

Frink

"All the statements made in this post are by a sole individual, this individual is entitled to his opinion as the 1st Amendment grants him to. This individual's statement should be represented with the up-most respect and as optimistic as possible. It is NOT this individual's motive to hurt anyone's feelings, but to rather get his feelings out. This individual in NO WAY represents any party, group, affiliation, clan, faction, crew, religion, gang, or archivist. This individual takes full responsibility in which he says. This is not a /rant but just an /opinion or /feedback to SOE about his personal feelings." ~ I hope some customers will smile because we see this way to much.

vivi44

Thats a very well thought and typed post, detailing some nice questions. I hope this gets a response.

**Frink**

Thanks, I type pretty well at 5 AM SMILEY

.

**Symmetric**

vBulletin has been around for much longer than 2 years, but that's really besides the point. We're running a beta version of the next release of vBulletin on Resource, and it's been amazingly solid with absolutely no reported issues whatsoever.

I suppose why SOE chose to go with this heap will forever remain a mystery, but we do know is that there's much better stuff out there, and I invite anyone who has become frustrated with these forums to come check out the Resource + RMC forums. They don't suck.

**452x5**

yeah ive all but given up on this game.. when i read what walrus said about us being used as guinea pigs to test stuff for the games soe actually care about it kinda put everything into perspective... this game and in particular.. this forum has become an absolute joke.. if it wasnt for the community here i woulda left mxo a long time ago.. cos lets face it.. it seems all those in soe concernced with mxo have either left or never existed

**Eidolon**

Eheh, I think using the number of Registered Users might make for a better estimate, but even then, I don't think that's an accurate representation of active subscribers.

QforQ-MxO

Eidolon wrote:

Eheh, I think using the number of Registered Users might make for a better estimate, but even then, I don't think that's an accurate representation of active subscribers.

That and not everyone that plays the game is registered on the forums.

**Frink**

QforQ-MxO wrote:

Eidolon wrote:
Eheh, I think using the number of Registered Users might make for a better estimate, but even then, I don't think that's an accurate representation of active subscribers.
That and not everyone that plays the game is registered on the forums.

That's true, I just would like to know how many MxO players there truly is.

**Dagonet**

Frink wrote:

QforQ-MxO wrote:
Eidolon wrote:
Eheh, I think using the number of Registered Users might make for a better estimate, but even then, I don't think that's an accurate representation of active subscribers.
That and not everyone that plays the game is registered on the forums.

That's true, I just would like to know how many MxO players there truly is.

I would guess the original estimate of 30k is a good one. What I want to know is who do we send letters like this to at SOE to actually make it happen. For example, is it Walrus' boss? His boss? His boss? Smedley?

WHO!?

**Frink**

Good question Dragonet, I have tried looking on SOE's website and submitting stuff to who ever. And I didn't get any help from SOE. They just said for me to submit it to the Knowledge base, but that doesn't help because people who don't even have any authority over SOE looks over those. I want to know who I can contact, like a supervisor. Because it is against the law I think to not have a supervisor have direct communication to the consumer. And we are the consumers, it is like SOE just shuts us out and does what ever they feel like.

Chuui

The problem here isn't so much that are coding forums from scratch (which incidentally, they aren't. They are just heavily modifying pre-existing, largely unknown ones), it's the fact that they simply didn't bother to test them.

In many cases, if you have the man power and the knowledge, coding forums from scratch is a far better solution than relying on an outside "out of the box" solution. Security-wise, if you know what you are doing, your own custom made boards are going to be far better than a widely available set of boards where pretty much anyone can get their hands on the sorce code.

It really is just down to having people who actually know what they are doing, doing the work that needs doing. Sadly, this is not how it appears to be here.

noVus

Just have to say to OP:

1) Well written
2) Your sig freakin rocks and I'll bet dollars to donut holes we haven't seen the last of Michael and Walt

Sorry, continue. . .

**Frink**

noVus wrote:

Just have to say to OP:

1) Well written
2) Your sig freakin rocks and I'll bet dollars to donut holes we haven't seen the last of Michael and Walt

Sorry, continue. . .

Ok to noVus.

1) Thank you for the nice comment.

2) LOL!!! You freaking rock for making a comment that only LOST viewers would get!!!

LilKim

Frink wrote:

I wanted to just post this in hopes that SOE Executives will read it, (Which I highly doubt!).
Dear SOE,
I am writing...
What is the money going toward? I think if you calculate MxO of having 30,000 members currently active and times it by $15 a month/customer that is a pretty good sized cash amount per month. (Roughly $450,000 per month!) I do not know exactly what the servers cost per month, but the MxO team needs more manpower in it's grips. The current team does an excellent job with the resources they are given, but the game needs to just get better than it already is. The current team knows it needs to get better but they have their time limited with what they can and cannot do. Now if you have lets say 40 people working on MxO and each get about $60,000 a year salary. That would be $2,400,000 a year. And since MxO has about $450,000/month and times 12 that is $5,400,000 a year. I don't know how many people are on the MxO team, but if there is/were 40 people working on MxO, I would like to know where the extra $3,000,000 goes? And if the servers cost $1 Million a year that still leaves $2 Million left. I just would really like to see SOE's budget and what money is being spent on, because obviously it isn't spent on Forums/Website Updates/Or Expanding Current staff on games. (I remember when we had a Live Event Team ) ...

Having a look at SONY`s financial report (First quarter consolidated results, FY2006), which can easily be looked up here: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/fin...l/fr/index.html

the following number might give you an idea where your calculated $2 Mio MxO budget already went:

Operating loss (Sony game segment) -26,8 (bin yen), a -29,1% change (-5,9 bin yen Q1, FY2005)

greetings

GeoThermal

SOE=/=Sony. SOE is a private company. No investors, no financial reports that have to be published, etc.

I believe SOE is owned by Sony Pictures. You may be able to find out info about SOE through that information, but I highly doubt you'll find anything relating to SOE in the general Sony filings you linked to.