we are going to do a livestream.

I would hope that this livestream will be longer than just 30 minutes...

Damn, sad to see that -- these have always been a lot of fun

Hopefully we'll see another one here in NY at some time in the future!

EDIT: I hadn't initially made the connection with the recent EA-sponsored Madden event where multiple people were shot and killed -- obviously it makes sense for EA to prioritize hosts' and participants' safety.

As we review safety protocols for our events going forward, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the Star Wars: The Old Republic community cantina event scheduled for October 4, 2018 in New York City.

It's pretty scary that this has to be a concern for game developers - is it because of the recent attack at an EA event? Come to Britain - the worst you'll get from us fans/players here is a rant if the cafe runs out of tea! And maybe a protest balloon

It's pretty scary that this has to be a concern for game developers - is it because of the recent attack at an EA event? Come to Britain - the worst you'll get from us fans/players here is a rant if the cafe runs out of tea! And maybe a protest balloon

And Article 11 / 13.

Can we still drink during the livestream?

Dasty

It's pretty scary that this has to be a concern for game developers - is it because of the recent attack at an EA event? Come to Britain - the worst you'll get from us fans/players here is a rant if the cafe runs out of tea! And maybe a protest balloon

Considering that devs of this studio have actually had death threats thrown at them in the past from gamers upset by studio decisions... I do not blame them one bit for being very careful about live events moving forward. The recent shooting at the Madden competition makes it clear that there is no limit to where a disgruntled gamer will take things to vent their anger.

Sadly... a few sociopaths can ruin things for everyone else by doing a nutty and forcing companies to step back in their direct interactions with players at an event venue. And while I agree with you that firearms should be less of a concern in Britain.. you do have your own security issues to deal with as well, because firearms are not the only way to spread mayhem.

It's pretty scary that this has to be a concern for game developers - is it because of the recent attack at an EA event?

Considering that devs of this studio have actually had death threats thrown at them in the past from gamers upset by studio decisions...

They did? Something actually serious? When?

Or were they the common salty people of the internet who bark threats at literally everyone. In which case everyone has.

It's a shame that one immature wacko with a gun who lost a game competition and shot up people has caused all this. There are no high-stakes winning/losing competitions at our cantina events, right?

I totally get the need to emphasize safety first, and I don't think the studio is totally over-reacting, but I'm posting this because I'm curious whether the conditions at our cantina events are any more conducive to triggering someone to shoot a bunch of people up than, say, conditions for a bunch of people standing around drinking beer in a bar while some guy plays a guitar?

If the only thinking was wacko gamer shot up some people = oh boy there will be gamers at our event then yes, that would be overreacting. Hopefully anyone's plane tickets for it are still refundable.

Considering that devs of this studio have actually had death threats thrown at them in the past from gamers upset by studio decisions... I do not blame them one bit for being very careful about live events moving forward. The recent shooting at the Madden competition makes it clear that there is no limit to where a disgruntled gamer will take things to vent their anger.

 

Sadly... a few sociopaths can ruin things for everyone else by doing a nutty and forcing companies to step back in their direct interactions with players at an event venue. And while I agree with you that firearms should be less of a concern in Britain.. you do have your own security issues to deal with as well, because firearms are not the only way to spread mayhem.

a number of years ago i let Musco know that i supported Bioware in protecting their developer from someone who was threatening to kill that dev. I will solidify that position and want to reach out to Bioware again and let them know that i support their stance completely in defense of their development teams concern,, especially surrounding that horrible madden event recently. I don't ever want to see bullies with delusions make death threats to the developers or innocent people who have to put up with someone who loses their mind and starts shooting up an event because they are in a moment of rage and not thinkingly clearly.

So Eric, Keith and Charles and everyone else in Bioware, please take care of your people and know i support this choice to cancel your event. Take all the precautions you need.

It's sad that it's come to this, but I fully understand and support the devs' decision. Safety has to come first.

Many devs and game writers have been harassed and had death threats, swatting, etc. leveled at them. It's frightening out there. Combining that with the recent shooting incident it's no wonder that something like a livestream would be much safer for them.

They did? Something actually serious? When?

Or were they the common salty people of the internet who bark threats at literally everyone. In which case everyone has.

Some devs were doxxed and their family got death threats...a little more then salty trolls I would say.

a number of years ago i let Musco know that i supported Bioware in protecting their developer from someone who was threatening to kill that dev. I will solidify that position and want to reach out to Bioware again and let them know that i support their stance completely in defense of their development teams concern,, especially surrounding that horrible madden event recently. I don't ever want to see bullies with delusions make death threats to the developers or innocent people who have to put up with someone who loses their mind and starts shooting up an event because they are in a moment of rage and not thinkingly clearly.

 

So Eric, Keith and Charles and everyone else in Bioware, please take care of your people and know i support this choice to cancel your event. Take all the precautions you need.

Very well stated, and I very much agree.

No event with fans and players is worth the risk of one nut job with a gun doing irreparable harm to someone.

They did? Something actually serious? When?

Or were they the common salty people of the internet who bark threats at literally everyone. In which case everyone has.

Fair question, I guess... However......

A suggestion: spend a few seconds on a simple google search before making dismissive assumptions about such a serious matter. This WAS a big deal back in 2015. Your forum member number clearly shows you have been in the forum from the start.. though I concede your posting history in 2015 is zero.... so you may have taken a break from the game when this happened.. but even then.. most players at least keep up on dramatic things surrounding the game.

Hey folks,

 

I feel the need to make this post after some things happened yesterday. Yesterday, John made some posts communicating our views, and looking for feedback, around the state of Sentinels and Marauders. We knew going in that some of what we were going to say might not be what players wanted to hear, but the Combat team felt it was very important that you understood how we view things from our side. We may disagree on some things, but if all opinions are on the table we can have a better and more informed dialog about it.

 

However, following the posts John made yesterday, a few players formed a witch-hunt against John. These players tracked him down on some of his personal accounts and in some extreme cases, even those of his family members with the sole purpose of harassing, insulting, and threatening him based on those forum posts. The purpose of our forums, of our subreddit, and other official channels is to have a dialog. We know that sometimes we may disagree, and that’s ok. We want to have those hard conversations, we want to talk about what we can do to improve, and to pass on our thoughts on how we see things from the Development side. But taking that conversation off of official channels to make personal attacks against Developers is completely unacceptable.

 

Please understand John didn’t need to communicate his perspective about the class. John and the Combat team knew giving their views on Sentinels and Marauders, in some cases, would not be received well, but he did it anyway. The alternative, is that we stay silent. If the reaction of this community is to go out of your way to personally harass someone we will stop having a dialog. How can we, as a Community team, ask the Combat team to put their opinions out here if some of you are going to react this way?

 

We know there is unhappiness in the Sent/Mara community and we genuinely want to continue having an open discussion with all of you. But, it’ll require regular dialog, respecting each other’s opinions, and very importantly, not harassing anyone who is participating in the conversation. That means, we all need to hold ourselves to a higher standard and be accountable for our actions.

 

Thank you.

 

-eric

source: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=8183242#edit8183242

a number of years ago i let Musco know that i supported Bioware in protecting their developer from someone who was threatening to kill that dev. I will solidify that position and want to reach out to Bioware again and let them know that i support their stance completely in defense of their development teams concern,, especially surrounding that horrible madden event recently. I don't ever want to see bullies with delusions make death threats to the developers or innocent people who have to put up with someone who loses their mind and starts shooting up an event because they are in a moment of rage and not thinkingly clearly.

 

So Eric, Keith and Charles and everyone else in Bioware, please take care of your people and know i support this choice to cancel your event. Take all the precautions you need.

I completely agree and echo your words! Safety comes first!

Fair question, I guess... However......

A suggestion: spend a few seconds on a simple google search before making dismissive assumptions about such a serious matter. This WAS a big deal back in 2015. Your forum member number clearly shows you have been in the forum from the start.. though I concede your posting history in 2015 is zero.... so you may have taken a break from the game when this happened.. but even then.. most players at least keep up on dramatic things surrounding the game.

I did. And search for "EA" or "swtor dev attacked" didn't bring up anything. Another user before you gave me the keyword to search for, "doxxed" brought up an article.

Suggestion: Don't be so salty next time and believe not everything is so easy to find when you don't know what to search for.

I may be a long time player but I am by no means an infinity subscriber. Stop trying to get personal on this.

I did. And search for "EA" or "swtor dev attacked" didn't bring up anything. Another user before you gave me the keyword to search for, "doxxed" brought up an article.

Suggestion: Don't be so salty next time and believe not everything is so easy to find when you don't know what to search for.

 

I may be a long time player but I am by no mean an infinity subscriber. Stop trying to get personal on this.

Geezus...no kidding. And to go through your 2015 forum posting history?! That's a bit creepy...

I was here for that and even I had no idea what the hell to search for or I would have as well...without the added snark.

Fair question, I guess... However......

A suggestion: spend a few seconds on a simple google search before making dismissive assumptions about such a serious matter. This WAS a big deal back in 2015. Your forum member number clearly shows you have been in the forum from the start.. though I concede your posting history in 2015 is zero.... so you may have taken a break from the game when this happened.. but even then.. most players at least keep up on dramatic things surrounding the game.

 

 

source: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=8183242#edit8183242

No one should have to know the details of incidents that happened 3 years ago and do not have to do with the game directly, but rather with a personal issue of one of Bioware's employees. The fact that you actually searched for someone else's post history just to scold them because they did not have this knowledge is a little worrisome, and quite frankly very intrusive.

Btw I was playing this game very actively in 2015 and it was NOT a big deal if you did not spend time in the forums. Which I didn't. And I shouldn't be expected to.

On topic, these news make me very sad. I think that there is definitely a way to prevent any kind of incident at community events. NYC events have an impressive amount of security even if there is no high risk involved. I have been to 4 consecutive NYC cantina events, and it has been great and a lot of fun every single time. I guess this year I might have missed it anyway, seeing we are not getting a new expansion.

I was making a Brontes cosplay for this

Not sure where I'm gonna wear it now because I'm not really a con goer

My luck with these cantinas is terrible. Last year, the band I'm in was playing our biggest show to date on exactly the same day, so attending was out of question. So, I was chomping at the bit to get overdressed to sit in a tiny, crowded bar all year(I'm a goth chick, so I'm used to it). Now Musco won't have any stories about that crazy Brontes that kept going on and on how her Jedi needs to romance Lord Scourge.

Aw damn, I already requested time off for the Cantina. Well, hopefully you're able to do another one in the future.

Same, was looking forward to asking Eric about Lekku physics and other enlightening things.