[Ysharros]

The big issue many players had with the NGE is that it was sprung on the player base with no warning. One day the game is one way, the next day it's totally different. We're not talking tweaks here, we're talking major, major changes.

Whoever was responsible for that fiasco -- LucasArts, SoE, both of them -- the fact remains that the NGE was developed quietly, not mentioned to the players, and snuck in without any sort of notice. To a lot of people that implied knowledge that this wasn't a good thing and thus secrecy was maintained to prevent the player base from complaining. Extremely shabby treatment of players who, while vocal, had tried their best to be loyal to a rather limpalong game.