Originally Posted by Caswydian

1. NGE was LucasArts, not SOE. Nothing Smed could do about that.

2. LU13 was a necessary update. That it was unpopular with some doesn't mean it was the wrong move.

3. Buying up properties like Vanguard makes sense, as SOE can get them cheap, and with it comes the IP that can be used for other games. Further, they provide a bit of revenue for SOE even if they aren't big hits. The alternative is these games get shut down or never get published.

4. SOE simply handled the publishing for PotBS, not development. It was a niche game to begin with, and SOE took a bit of a risk, but so what?

5. LiveGamer is a collaborative effort involving many companies, not just SOE. FunCom, for example, is also involved. SOE is not involved in the development of the LiveGamer service, either. Nonetheless, creating a viable, cross-game, RMT service would be a major improvement for the North American gaming market, and would greatly help pave the way for micro-transactions, and even more visionary ideas like creating a common MMO framework which different worlds could plug into, similar to how different web pages all share the same framework of the internet.

Further, the 3 big projects SOE has in the works - The Agency, FreeRealms and DC Superheros are all very different from what other companies are currently working on. There seems to be far more vision there than at other companies. SOE seems far more willing to embrace uncertainty and risk than other companies.