All the signs were there. Only a week ago I posted that things looked grim for Smed’s startup studio. Sadly, they were the embodiment (even if unintentionally) of what’s wrong in the early...
https://www.keenandgraev.com/2016/12/27/lessons-learned-heros-song
As of this very moment, 39 minutes ago the Kickstarter for Hero’s Song was cancelled. Hero’s Song is Smed’s new game from his new company called Pixelmage Games. Hero’s Song – A Good Id...
https://www.keenandgraev.com/2016/01/26/pixel-mage-games-cancels-heros-song-kickstarter
So here’s a fascinating turn of events. Remember when Smed (John Smedley) was all about the F2P? The “our games will be free forever!!” mantra that was being preached from every channel. Ch...
https://www.keenandgraev.com/2015/11/19/smedley-flip-f-the-f2p-model
We all knew Smed would be starting something new after parting ways with Daybreak/SOE. So what has he been working on? Thanks to a Periscope video, Smedley accidentally showed something they w...
https://www.keenandgraev.com/2015/11/18/first-look-at-dleys-new-game
Okay, who had 170 days? Pay the man. I was thinking Smedley would last at least 6 months at Daybreak after SOE was acquired, but it turns out he lasted just shy of that coming in around 5 mont...
In a recent interview discussing mostly ‘company vision’ stuff, John Smedley made the following statement: “I firmly believe the days of the WoW-style MMO are over.” He went on to discuss...
https://www.keenandgraev.com/2015/04/30/smedley-daybreak-is-focusing-on-shorter-session-times
I wasn’t expecting this when I started my morning browsing of Twitter and Reddit. http://t.co/Ac5dvfCS3l — John Smedley (@j_smedley) February 2, 2015 My immediate reaction: Spine-chil...
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 4 days, you probably saw something about H1Z1’s early-access launch debacle. SOE clearly stated several times that guns, ammo, etc., wou...
SOE was building up to yesterday’s H1Z1 announcement with a modest level of hype. Lots of “It’s coming!” and “Soon®©™” and “Be sure to tune in for our live stream and re...
https://www.keenandgraev.com/2014/12/09/h1z1-early-access-commentary
SOE just officially revealed (sort of) H1Z1, the game John Smedley hinted at 2 months ago when he said:  “SWG PLAYERS – OUR NEXT GAME (not announced yet) IS DEDICATED TO YOU. Once...
Sony Online Entertainment deserves enormous praise for what they’ve done recently. I’m not even talking about any of their games. Let’s set the games themselves aside completely and...
SoE (or I guess Smed) took to Reddit and Twitter yesterday to test the waters with a new idea they are kicking around for the Station Pass. Â Basically, you pay $14.99 and become a “subscribe...
https://www.keenandgraev.com/2014/01/07/one-subscription-games
I was genuinely shocked yesterday when I came home to a bunch of people shouting “DID YOU GO TRAILBLAZER?!” I had absolutely no idea that SOE was planning a Founder’s Pack program. ...
https://www.keenandgraev.com/2013/11/12/eq-next-landmark-founders-pack
SOE takes a lot of crap from the MMO community. They’ve made some huge, epic, mistakes in the past. I’m not entirely convinced their emphasis on “F2P” is altogether sane, and I’...
https://www.keenandgraev.com/2012/12/18/everquest-3-next-beacon-capitalism
When I saw John Smedley’s tweet, my mind was blown. Okay, let’s break this down. Awesome Factor First, we have an incredibly awesome looking Bastion Fleet Carrier that looks like a freaki...
https://www.keenandgraev.com/2012/11/30/why-play-planetside-2-lesson-for-other-devs
The news coming out of SOE Live has my hands shaking as I write this post.  John Smedley, President of SOE, has dropped a huge announcement that will interest those of you who, like me, li...
https://www.keenandgraev.com/2012/10/19/everquest-3-largest-sandbox-designed