Star Wars Galaxies: New Game Experience Article

CBS News has published a four-page article that takes a not-so-positive look at LucasArts and Sony Online's New Game Experience rollout for Star Wars Galaxies. The article offers commentary from SOE president John Smedley and even backs up speculation that the game's population has declined drastically by linking to a "leaked" source of concurrent user numbers. An excerpt:
Despite rumors that LucasArts imposed the changes, Smedley says the "Combat Upgrade" and "New Game Enhancements" were mutually agreed on. The decision to modify Star Wars Galaxies was made by both companies.

"There's a reason that we did this. The story . is kind of getting lost here.the game was losing subscribers. We had to make this game more accessible to a wider audience or eventually we would not have a business," he told me.