VG - Shacknews John Smedley Interview on Vanguard : Vanguard News

Shack: For the record, can you give us a sense of how the final decision to acquire Sigil came about? Is this a move that has been in the works for some time now, or something that developed rapidly?

John Smedley: The reality is we stepped in at the last second when Sigil couldn't get funding. We've been working very closely with Sigil on Vanguard. We're co-publishers of the game, and we feel positive about it. We felt like it was a good opportunity for us to bring some of our old friends back into the SOE fold, and so after Brad McQuaid was unsuccessful at getting funding, it was a good time. It was a very natural move for us.

Shack: The general public perception of Sigil seems to have been one of a talented team that was hindered by management problems. Is that a fair assessment in your eyes?

John Smedley: I would say Sigil had some challenges, but there were a lot of very talented people who rose up and sort of overcame them and put out a game with a lot of promise.

http://www.shacknews.com/extras/2007/05 ... medley_1.x

Shack: Many players are concerned that there will be major changes made to the game, especially in regards to its "hardcore" nature. How do you plan to balance the concerns of the fans with the need to move Vanguard forward at this point?

John Smedley: Let me broadly say that there's a perception out there that, oh, we're going to make this into a "carebear" game, and just change it into a [World of Warcraft] clone. I have no idea where this stuff gets started. The simple reality is the team is going to make these decisions. There's not some sort of overriding "let's make it easier" mentality. Nothing like that. The team already has a long list of things they want to do, and they're going to talk to the community about it. So ultimately it's going to be the community that decides the future of Vangard's gameplay. And if most of the players want the game to be exactly the way it is now, you know…

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I love Smedley's remark wondering where people get these ideas! DUH YOU IDIOTS DESTROYED Star Wars Galaxies making it a carebear game!!