Star Wars Galaxies

[Moritz]

http://www.starwarsgalaxiesonline.com/

I've been looking at this just today going, "This game sure is purty."

Does anyone here play it, or have played it - what did you think?

[Inquisitor Tremayne]

Very pretty indeed!

If I owned a PC I would more than likely play this game. The rumor I think I heard going around was that it was fairly problematic and quickly lost player support. So I am not sure how many others out there still play.

That and everyone wanted to be either a bounty hunter or a Jedi.

[Farcaster]

I played it for the first couple months it was out and then my interest waned. The graphics were very nice. My biggest complaint was the skill tree system they used, but from what I've heard they have fixed this. With HBO running Star Trek 24x7 these days, I've had that twinge of giving it another try, but it all comes down to having too little time to play MMPOGs these days. I keep thinking about picking one up, but then I remember that I have work, family, this site, and a bunch of freelance projects to take care of. *sigh*

[Skunkape]

I played it in beta and it looked good at the time. But I was already involved in another game, so I didn't join it when it came out. I was impressed by the game, but am kind of glad I didn't join. Bet you're asking why?

Well, some of the guys who work at the local gaming store I visit were playing the game from the start. I don't remember how long it's been, but they did a major overhaul on the characters about a year ago. This change was so bad that you had lots of players who had been playing since the beginning leave.

I don't know the gritty details, but from what I understand the way characters were built was completely re-written. They also made it so that everyone could be a Jedi, instead of the major time investment it used to be. While this is nice for someone who is just joining the game, I would be majorly pissed if I had been playing from the start.

I don't know the impact to game play, since I wasn't playing, but I've played in enough games to know what it's like when they change the way the game system works, most of which I've experienced have been minor, but even minor changes can really kill game play.

Since you're just joining the game, you shouldn't notice any issues, but as much as I like Star Wars, I'm really gun shy about signing up and investing time and money for Galaxies because of what happened in the not to distant past.

[Holocron]

I played Star Wars Galaxies for quite a while, for about two years starting around the time it was first released. It was awesome, at first. I met a lot of online gaming friends there that I've been playing different games with, and there were a lot of great memories from that game. The problem though was that whenever the developers would make a patch for the game, they usually ended up making things worse somehow. Gradually over time it got worse and worse.
The thing I didn't like about it was that there was over emphasis on equipment. I guess you can't get away from that in an MMO, but it somehow seemed very un-star wars in that way. For example, there were a lot of factors in the design of a weapon that would indirectly determine how quickly your skill would increase.

The final breaking point was when they overhauled the primary combat and skill system. Basically they took away the thing that made SWG unique, and replaced it with what other MMOs like World of Warcraft and Everquest 2 were doing. Thats the point when people started leaving the game en mass.

Ah yeah, there was also the Jedi issue that Skunkape mentions. I don't know what the best answer was to that problem, but basically nobody could be happy because, everyone wants to be a jedi, but you want it to be special so you don't want everyone else in the game to be a jedi too. So how do you solve this? The other problem was that Jedi weren't particularly special. You could spend months trying to improve your jedi, and come across any other combat character who spent a few days using power leveling tricks to max out their skills and the jedi would get the snots beat out of them. Even a fully trained jedi against a fully trained any other fighter type was at best evenly matched. So at least half of everyone in the game was a jedi eventually, but being a jedi actually made your character weaker, and added a whole lot of frustration.

Heheh, sorry to go on ranting... it's still a bitter spot for me.

[Moritz]

Thanks for the input.

After reading other forums (and seeing a whole lot of negative feedback), as well as trying and failing to download the 14 day free trial thingy, I've given up on this game. I'll just stick to WoW and wait for Marvel Universe Online before I think about playing another game.

[Sevryn Blakk]

I played Star Wars Galaxies for quite a while, for about two years starting around the time it was first released. It was awesome, at first.
(snip)
Gradually over time it got worse and worse.
(snip)
The final breaking point was when they overhauled the primary combat and skill system.
(snip)
there was also the Jedi issue that Skunkape mentions.
(snip)
Heheh, sorry to go on ranting... it's still a bitter spot for me.

Rant away, Holo. I am right there with ya, mate.
Former SWG vet, turned away by NGE (that's the new cobat system change Holo mentioned), as were most of us.
Sony Online Entertainment has the worst record of customer service and developer-customer interests in the MMO industry.
My position, folks, do not waste your money. Do a bit of research on the net and read the thousands upon thousands of negative comments and reviews on this game.
Many people from the SWG community are currently in a holding pattern, waiting for the following MMORPGs (massive multiplayer online roleplaying game) - Pirates of the Burning Sea (due out in October 2007), StarGate Worlds (due out early to mid-2008), and Star Trek Online (due end of 2008 to early 2009).
MMORPG.com is a good site to info on this style of VR gaming. I highly recommend it. Think of it like an online magazine that covers online gaming of this nature.

*bow*

Sevryn Blakk,
Colonel, Imperial Ground Forces
Teras Kasi Master/Master Swordsman/Scout/Force Senstive/Jedi Master/Master Smuggler/Elder Bounty Hunter/Ace Privateer Pilot/Imperial Ace Pilot
Stationed on Rori
StarSider server
Drowning in nostalgia