Leaving SOE
So, by now people have seen the news. Yes, it is true I am leaving SOE.
Why? Well, I’ve been here for gosh, almost six years maybe? It’s been a good ride, and I think we’ve gotten to do some really fun and interesting work. But I am getting interested in doing some stuff that is a bit off the beaten path — really, anyone who has been reading the blog can see that! — and while SOE feels it’s really cool stuff, it’s just not where they are at right now. My contract was up, and it was the right time to poke my head up and look around, that sort of thing. It’s all quite friendly, and actually, I hope that I’ll work with SOE again in the future, because there’s a lot of wonderful talent here and a lot of cool technology, and a lot of friends.
So, sometime soon here I’ll be off on my own. Nope, no announcements about plans or anything. I don’t have a new studio in my back pocket, I don’t have a job lined up, any of that. And… we’ll see what comes. I’m thinking sleeping in next week sounds good.
Oh — the old email still works, for now. You can always post a comment or use the email addy at the bottom of this page to reach me, too.
All sort of anti-climactic, huh? 😉
How do those of us who were in contact with you get in touch again? Please e-mail me at my personal e-mail address. You know the one. 🙂
Wow… I stumbled across rumors about this yesterday, then confirmation via GameSpot today. Best of luck to you from a former SWG gamer who could see and appreciate your thumbprint on the game. I hope you keep us posted on what you wind up doing next. But for now, enjoy that rest!
/salute….
Heh, it’s about time.
Keep us posted about what you do next. Now that you’re not with SOE, I’ll gladly play a game you work on 😛
*pulls Holo’s beard for old time’s sake*
The old gennies have been watching and waiting to see if it was true. Good luck in whatever you move on to, and lots of us are cheering pretty loudly and waiting to see what you do next.
Have a good week off Raph.
You might have decided it’s time to go but it’s SOE’s loss.
I’d really like to see you have the opportunity to explore your design theories outside of the typical corporate environment. Let your cell phone battery die, unplug the wall phone, and forget about the internet for a few weeks. You deserve some peace after all this.
Then come back and show us something interesting eh?
No pressure 😀
I think it’s great you’re able to take some time off and decide what you want to do next. Whatever it is, I’m sure the rest of us will be better off for it! Best of luck to you.
Good luck!
I suspect you’ll have no problem finding work 🙂
Mr. Koster,
I congratulate you on your decision to part ways. SOE is a sinking ship, they butcher unique IP filled with potential, do not invest the resources necessary to provide top quality entertainment, and fail to encourage adequate communication regarding key issues with their player base..you may recall me as Quit420 from the official SWG forums…now that you have left I can honestly say I wish you well, I find alot of your design theories to be quite well formed and apologize for any harsh statements on my part in the “theory of fun” thread over there, the big question on my mind was always why on earth were you working for SOE.
Anyway, for what it’s worth, from the over 800,000 cancelled subscriptions of SW:G who have moved on to greener pastures, or no pasture at all…welcome to the club.
Wow, wasn’t expecting that, Raph.. But we’ve all seen that SOE hasn’t been 100% healthy the recent couple of years. And you’re a talented man with urge to do something new.. I guess? .. So I guess it wasn’t a surprise after all.
Good luck with your future job!
Best regards,
A former customer of yours.. Ex-SWG player..
Jorgen
I’d like to say something profound here……. but I can’t think of any good profanity right now.
Best wishes.
I’m not going to slag SOE… just wishing you the best of luck on the next stage of your journey!
Oh, btw, stupid me.. Forgot to say I got your book today. Got to page 30 today – and it’s a good read. 🙂
Yay! 😀 Can’t wait to see what comes next.
(I hope there’s a mac version ;))
Raph,
I wish you the best of luck and hope to hear more
thought provoking ideas from you. But might I suggest
that you turn off your computer, enjoy spring time
with your family and see us again in about two months.
Dude, hope you have a great future. 😀
Just wanted to say thank you for your original SWG design. That was my first MMORPG and I’ll never forget the enjoyment it gave me. Today was a somber day for many SWG folks because we were (finally) flat out told our non-combat, world-simulation, social game is not important now.
I plan on keeping tabs with whatever you go on to make. You can be sure there are many others doing the same thing. FWIW we paid a special respect to you in this week’s episode of “Star Wars Galaxies with Yivvits and MrBubble.” 🙂
This is interesting news to be sure. I’m curious to see what the future will lead to for you. Good luck with the future, Raph, although I’m sure you won’t have any problems finding yourself a job. I think you’ve got plenty of good experience under your belt to land a new position. 😉
You know what they say, as one door closes one billion new ones open! Please send me an e-mail to discuss some stuff that is a bit off the beaten path.
Kind regards,
D
Congratulations Raph, both for what you have been able to accomplish at SOE, and for the courage (and ability) to move on in your terms. It’s a rare talent, and even rarer to see it exercised.
Not surprised here of course 🙂
Write a script to regurgitate old LegendMUD stuff so you can take a week off. Reruns! Most of us relative newbs won’t know the difference anyway 😉
First Lum, now Raph. I SMELL CONSPIRACY!
You getting fired to Psycho? 😉
Well Raph,
we only have met once at E3 2004. Good Luck on your way. And hey, you really should come to germany :-). Good bear and no really good MMOG Producers around.
Cheers,
Andhor
I think he will join Brad McQuaid on Vanguard.
(lol!)
Just adding my own best wishes.
I have to admit, the events of the past couple of weeks has made me much more hopeful for some excitement in the future…(crossing the fingers)
(Psychochild-Now THAT would be an interesting pairing…lol)
Good luck in all you do from now on Raph. Thanks for everything.
I just have one small question? Will you still goto e3 this year?
Your design for the original SWG was incredible and the MMORPG I had ever played in the matters of heart and soul. Looking forward to seeing what you have for us next. Good luck best wishes and most of all – Thanks.
Ralph –
I want to personally thank you for creating SWG and giving me over 2 years of great memories. I will always miss “your game” as in my opinion the “current” game does not qualify to be called SWG.
I am ecstatic you have left SOE as that means there may be another possible “great” game emerging at some time. We can only hope, tho I know you like to write.
Hey Raph, This isn’t another dig at SOE or what SWG has become but…
Given your vast experience in MMO’s
Given your comments about the extremely talented people at SOE…
Given the Star wars brand tag is about as big as it gets in terms of getting an instant fan base for new SW ventures.
Given MMO are the fastest growing area of gaming.
Given all that.
Why did SWG fail?
Well, I see that this publish includes the long promised Holo Revamp.
Good luck with the next challenge.
Best of luck Raph.
Best of luck. Hopefully some day your vision for a virtual world of Star Wars will last longer. Me and a ton of other people including my whole guild all wanted to play in the world you made. We all believe in you and your work. More people in the gaming world should think the way you do.
grats on quitting your job :p
Mr Koster, I wish you more than good luck. I wish you vision, skill, success in whatever you put your mind to and I wish you joy in all of it. To me, there can be no better things to wish on someone.
I hope, selfishly, that you continue to work with the virtual sandbox and that you bring us more of what you were allowed to give us in UO and in the first stages of SWG. As a female gamer, I’ve been very happy to have played in your sandboxes and look forward to becoming successfully targeted in some ambitious game producer’s demographic.
/tar Ralph Koster
/salute
Thanks, sweetie. Keep on doing what you do.
Azh
I’ll be totally honest Sundowner – I used to be down on Raph too. I also used to blame SWG’s failings on his design ideas. But after struggling with it for some time I’ve come to believe the reason SWG didn’t work out is because there was no chocolate to go with the peanut butter.
I know that sounds weird but follow the logic.
Raph’s approach to game design is very open-ended. Raph’s purpose in designing games is to give players as much freedom in-game as possible. Now, that’s NOT to say that Raph believes in open-endedness for it’s own sake. Nor does he believe that online games need to be “Pure Sandboxes” or completely devoid of structure and broad objective goals. He doesn’t believe that represents the ultimate evolution and panacea of virtual world design as one might assume.
Nevertheless that IS his specialty. Raph didn’t have a Lennon to go with his McCartney. He didn’t have a Penn to go with his Teller. He didn’t have an Abbot to go with his Costello.
There’s was no one at SOE who was talented enough in a more practical and traditional sense to put Raph’s design philosophies into context. Think of Raph as a guy with the biggest collection of screwdrivers ever assembled – you still need more than a screwdriver to build a car. At least that’s my take on what Raph does. That may be a primitive analogy but it works for me.
Add to that SOE’s fairly horrid track record of buggy publish releases and poor customer service and it’s no surpise they are where they are these days. It wouldn’t surprise me to see what market share they do have left decimated over the next 5 years or so.
All that being said, the original version of SWG was pretty revolutionary in the big picture of MMO design. The common wisdom was that it was far more successful as a virtual world than it ever was as a game – which is dead on.
How I wish you’d be able to announce a few weeks from now you’ll join ‘Project Myra’ soon … but at the moment there’s not enough I can offer, so any offer to you will have to wait until the next opening in your employment slots…
I hope that he joins Sigil as well, actually. It seems to be the place where talented, driven refugees fall into after leaving gigantic companies that do not agree with their dreams.
Cmon man, give us the inside scoop on the rumors. Tell us you quit because smedly is an asshole. Tell us you quit because soe lost the la license. Give us some details!!!!!!!!
Best of luck, Raph. I look forward to see what’s next for you.
Raph – HUGE fan of your version of SWG, like others it was my first MMO, and the world simulation was exactly what I was hoping for. That said, I agree with Stormgaard – nobody else at SOE had the ability to make your vision what it should have been. Too bad Origin isn’t still a viable company. Hopefully you’ll get another shot at the Star Wars license – that environment really needs you.
Raph, man I respect you! I have been dyin’ to quit my job and persue my ambitions. My hat is off to you!
I have greatly njoyed the projects you have worked on so far and am looking forward to your next. Please, keep us informed!
Best wishes.
The day I’ll be able / have the guts to say that, I think sleeping won’t be much of a trouble.
May tomorrow bring you good Raph.
Best luck, Raph. Can’t wait to hear about the next Koster project.
Congratz! I guess you were pissed as we were (the SWG player base).
Raph,
I wish you and your family the best of luck! I am sure that you have something exciting going on.
Even if that exciting something is getting a boat and fishing (or fishin’ if you are from my parts), keep us up to date. Games aside, we love your open style and thoughts.
Best of Luck to you Man!
Good luck in your new endeavors. 🙂
Best of Luck Raph.
*cough* Sigil *cough* Bioware *cough*
Not to make any suggestions though. 😉
Wish I could sleep in, I miss that.
Take it easy, take a break, maybe even play a video game….
Please don’t give up on Sandbox Games. Looking forward to your next game.
Raph –
Best of luck. Enjoy your time off and come back to play / work refresshed.
Good Luck Raph, SWG was/is my first MMORPG, and I loved the open ended style of your original vision. This has spoiled me in what I look for in an MMO.
Here’s to your future, and hopeful return to an MMORPG with your vision sometime in the future.
In the meantime, enjoy your break. 🙂 Hopefully we’ll hear of an MMORPG with your stamp on it, sometime in the future.
As I mentioned on Grimmy’s site, I might be available for your backup band when you gear up for the national tour. Let’s do some blues if you don’t mind 🙂
Hey – you worked on games? No kidding!
Good luck Raph. SOE will miss you.
Ralph,
I just want to say good luck in your future adventures and thanks for the work you have done that has given me hours of untold fun.
Having played uo for several years prior to SWG I must tell you I have enjoyed both games. SWG is the best game around that I have tried and I have tried quite a few. It’s the dedication of folks like you that make the games fun.
Life is an adventure, enjoy it
Sheepdog/aka Jaxx Moon
I loved your Vision of SWG It was a great virtual world and that was what made it worth playing. Honestly it was the best thing I have ever played.
It is sad that this vision was ruined and I fear it will be a long time until something remotely compareable will be available.
Good Luck With your future Endeavours. May it be a truly great MMO :))
Hugs Schmunzel
Raph – I left you an email message last week via SOE. The purpose is to explore your interest to come to Singapore to talk about ‘what is fun?’ based on your book Theory of fun. I called your office today and was informed that you have left the company.
How can I get in touch with you. You can call me at my office(65) 62168888 or my mobile (65) 96736155.
Thanks.
Tan Soo Nan
/salute for the work you did at SOE and best of luck in whatever you do next!
Enjoy the break. If you take one, that is.
There’s a beer for you in the UK if you pass though.
Raph,
…Can you make a game fully concentrating on Creature Handling? 😉
Some advice Raph, stay out of game design. Or, at the very least, work on deflating your ego a bit.
hint, learn the import game design concept of dynamic group interaction instead of “wouldn’t it be kewl if . . .”.
I was just wondering if you knew anything about the rumors of SOE losing the license to Star Wars. Some of my friends have been saying that SOE lost it all together, others say its false. I realize you probably can’t spill for legal reasons, but even a hint would be nice. I’m just wondering whats gonna happen to the game I put 2 and half years into.
Even something about the possibility of the reintroduction of Pre-Cu.
I played UO for many years and SWG for over 2 years now. I loved your design and i am sad about the way SWG is moving. Hopefully you find another project where these designs come true.
Hello Raph,
I was not able to find the email address that you specified was
at the bottom of the page to contact you on.
Would you be able to email me please on the above address ?
Thank you,
Regards,
Omar
Hi Raph,
I also could not find the email address. Any chance of getting it?
It’s in the footer:
Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).
Problems with site can be reported to webmaster[at]raphkoster.com.
It’s not a mailto: and doesn’t have an @ symbol, but it’s there!
Hi Raph,
We met at CHurchill club’s event and tried to follow up with each other but I found out that you have left SOE. I know you are taking a great break, but I would be grateful if we talk a bit about gamer affinity and loyalty in online gaming and may be I (my company) can be of great service in the near future. My office no. is 9252771500. Please drop me a note if you can be available.
Best regards,
Mike Ghodoosian