Very interesting article on the all new Star Wars Galaxies

cHodAX

I am a FH squatter
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Was browsing IGN earlier and found this article.

http://pc.ign.com/articles/664/664704p1.html

I can't believe that they have taken an almost 3 year old game and completly re-wrote it scratch, although it sounds like a very postive move for what was probably the most boring MMORPG ever I can't but help feel sorry for those people who have spent the last 3 years grinding away. If Mythic pulled a similar stunt I know that pretty much everyone would be seriously pissed. What I can't understand is why didn't they just stop developing for SWG and use all the new content, game engine and combat engine for a new game called SWG 2. At least that way all the exisiting players wouldn't be feeling alienated and abused by having 3 years of work/play flushed down the shitter.

Your thoughts?
 

Jeros

Part of the furniture
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Der DERRRRRRRR der DERRRRR der DERRRRR derderder derrrrrrrrrr

imo
 

Dukat

Resident Freddy
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Jan 10, 2004
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Holy shit, big changes!

Sounds like there are going to be one hell of a lot of unhappy people out there - unfortunately not enough people compared to how many may like this new version.

I mean thats why they're doing this - they're upset with how many subscriptions they're getting and want more. the answer? simple! throw old game in the bin, make it into diablo2 meets jedi knight 2 and hope no one notices!! :)

woah, GOA could learn alot from these guys, throw daoc in the bin, make it into "daoc without warlocks" and hope no one notices!! we'll play along if you do!! :D
 

Raven

Happy Shopper Ray Mears
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swg is/was shit, or at least it was when i played it, i think its the case of either binning it or starting afresh. A lot of unhappy Jedis inc :)
 

Skaven

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I got invited into the beta, and whilst it was fun at first, there was nothing there to want me to keep playing it beyond a few months. I stopped playing it just after beta came out so ive no idea what the expansions bought to the table.
But yeah, it sounded as if these are well needed changes, but theres going to be one hell of a uproar from the exsisting playerbase who's been there ages.
 

Dakkath

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Not sure what to think about this one...

Yes, the game can be damn boring and some of the classes in the game really didn't fit with whole Star wars universe...

I played it for a while (was in the beta) , and while I liked it initially and there were some very good ideas, there wasn't enough to hold my interest.

The new version will probably make the game more fun but I'd be hugely ticked off if I was still an active player. Unless they find a good way to compensate active players for their time they're in for a world of trouble...
 

old.Tohtori

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Dakkath said:
The new version will probably make the game more fun but I'd be hugely ticked off if I was still an active player. Unless they find a good way to compensate active players for their time they're in for a world of trouble...

*gives Dakkath special uber cool looking hotpants for gaming time*
 

Kari

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Copy & paste the article imo, cant read ign at work :)
 

Chronictank

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sounds like a good change tbh
heres the stuff from web page, used spoiler tags to stop it taking up whole thread etc
Star Wars Galaxies
And the galaxy was changed for all time...
by Dan Adams

November 4, 2005 - What is it about Star Wars that makes people crazy? We've been hearing for years about Star Wars Galaxies now. Before the release, during the release, after the release, through the expansions…. Let's be serious about it. The game didn't really turn out to be the best thing on the planet. There are a lot of problems, the biggest of which is that it just isn't very exciting for most people. I know there are a lot of Galaxies players out there that are very protective over their game. Because it is their game. Most people, as Lucas and SOE are like to admit, have to make their own fun in a game that's fundamentally flawed and has been collapsing under it's own mammoth weight since the game's release. The expansions that released helped a bit. The combat upgrade was received well by some and not so well by others but regardless of the changes some viewed as positive, it just wasn't enough for the majority of players new or veteran. The answer from SOE and LucasArts is a sweeping change to the core gameplay elements of Star Wars Galaxies that is sure to cause one hell of an uproar in the community. The developers came by the office today and made their case about the changes, why they're doing them, and what's in store for the future. Once you stop cursing at your screen, continue down the page and read what you'll find in Galaxies starting the 15th.
star-wars-galaxies-an-empire-divided-20051104074517390-000.jpg


I'll be blunt. These are going to be huge changes. People that love the way the game works right now might either hate it or have a really hard time adjusting to the new Galaxies. Then again, they may decide that this is exactly what they've always wanted. Instead of a slow role-playing experience SOE is implementing a slimmed down interface with a Diablo-style action RPG at the core. Gameplay will now be directed by story elements and quest cut together with cinematic scenes allowing players a closer attachment to their characters. In one of the other big moves, the game is moving from the 34 class mosh pit of skills down to a focused 9 iconic classes. There will be some concessions to players that have been around for a long time, but it'll be up to the players to decide whether these concessions are enough to keep them interested.

It's hard to know what exactly to think about the whole situation. It's been an ugly one for quite some time now with developers and players having very weak lines of communication. After a while, they decided to simply put their noses to the grindstone (probably grinding some of them straight off) and come up with something new that might bring more players in and alleviate some of the problems they've had for so long. At first glance, the changes really look to be for the better. The Star Wars feel is there along with some of the icons of the fiction. They may have finally done the players right with this upgrade. We're not saying everyone is going to be happy, but there's a chance that many will. Read on and then tell us what you think. Those of you that play the game will have to judge for yourselves. While the changes do seem good, the way the situation has been dealt with in general has been pretty damn sketchy.

The official line on these changes is that both SOE and LucasArts think that the new Galaxies is how the original game should have been released. Sony Online producer Dallas Dickinson was in town to show the game off and told us that they'd gotten tons of feedback from all kinds of sources "telling us essentially that Star Wars Galaxies did not deliver on the Star Wars fantasy. It didn't make you feel like you were part of the Star Wars universe." No action? No Star Wars. But why change things so drastically this time when you could simply continue down the story telling path of the last two expansions? "The existing game is in a bad place and it has been. We try to give it as much attention as we can, but we're allowing entire systems and professions to atrophy and that's just going to continue going down in that direction so it felt like a better idea for us to break with the past and develop the game it should have been to begin with."

Yeah, it's a big problem with the game when developers don't know where you'll be or if you'll be having fun 30 minutes into your gaming experience. "That was a huge turn off to people that tried the game and quit or people that got told not to play the game. The only people left were hardcore MMO players that understood the genre and were willing to accept its failings." The answer? To do what they've found to be successful during their last two expansion packs. The story directed questing has been great for players looking for things to do. I suppose some do like to wander the desert and sit on their moisture farms, but SOE feels that most players are looking for more active gameplay.
star-wars-galaxies-an-empire-divided-20051104074521094-000.jpg


When you think of active, you think of combat. Those that play the game know that it underwent a gigantic combat upgrade this spring. That's nothing compared to this switch. "We took a really hard look at the existing game and found it lacking," said Dickinson. "We've been told this umpteen times by all kinds of people so we stripped out our combat system and put in this enhanced action combat system." What does that mean to players? An over the shoulder 3rd person view like you've seen in Resident Evil 4 on the consoles that at first glance acts like any skill based action game. It means instant understanding of how the system works, which to SOE and Lucas mean more people likely to stay and pay… er, play. "It's based on getting your reticule on the character and shooting. It's like a first-person shooter, but Diablo is a lot better parallel because there are no real dice rolls for hitting, only slight dice rolls for how much damage you do. If you click on it you hit it."

Actually getting to use this easy combat interface for fun things is another focus. In order to do that, they're creating content for everyone starting with the introduction, which they showed us in action and that will constitute the new 10-day trial period coming up. Players begin as a character being broken out of an Imperial station after being "recruited" to fight. "We chose to place players in a position of importance in this world. From the beginning, players are made to feel like they're important to the galaxy," says Dickinson, "It's not fun sitting out alone and kind of sad in a moisture farm, it's fun being someone like Luke or Han." In that regard they'll be giving player plenty to fight right off the bat after being rescued and landing on the Tensari Point Space Station.

Players will also have the chance to get out in space very early in the game. "We got a whole lot of feedback from Jump to Lightspeed that the gameplay up there was really fun it just didn't have enough content to keep people happy. The ground game had neither content nor was the actual combat gameplay fun." They want to take existing planets and flesh them out with new content that will lead players towards the impending war and even help them choose a side to take. The space station gave a glimpse of what's to come, but they have a long way to go admitting that most of the planets haven't been retrofitted quite yet.

When players land on the first station, they'll be given quests almost immediately, this time focused on their class. Apparently it was difficult creating special content for 34 different classes, which I'm guessing anyone can see is a ridiculous balancing and content creation task that never should have come about in the first place. "We looked at the professions and said we have 34 widely disparate professions in the game. None of which get all of the attention that a profession deserves in a game this type and many of which don't resonate to the Star Wars universe. I mean, what is a pikeman and why is it something in the game?" So with that thought in mind, they've folded all of the 34 professions down into nine professions including Jedi, bounty hunters, spies, officers, smugglers, commandos, entertainers, traders, and medics. "We ended up with these nine very iconic character types. We have a whole lot of data on the what people play in the servers and these were the ones that most people were playing. The only other profession we didn't absorb into one of these iconic templates is the creature handler and only 1% of our players play that character type."
star-wars-galaxies-an-empire-divided-20051104074518719-000.jpg


The question on most players minds is probably, "What the hell happens to our characters?" The answer is both simple and not. You'll keep your powerful characters, but have to move them into one of the new templates. Existing players will get 10 chances to try out new characters. They'll receive an item that will allow them to change their class nine times after they originally come into the new experience. That's a chance to try out every class and then pick the one they want. There's no time limit on that, but that might not be much consolation to someone that's spent their entire career building up factories or farms that finds them gone.

Jedi players will also receive a small boon for countless hours in search of the power with a couple of trinkets. The first will be a crystal for your saber that'll make sure yours is always better than others. The second will be special Jedi robes. The last will be that they can turn into ascendant form and get that nice blue glow like the one I've attained by simply sitting in front of a computer screen for the last six years. These are more of a status thing than anything else so I have absolutely no idea whether these things will be worth it or not considering the time needed to become a Jedi.

It's inevitable that we'll be receiving plenty of emails about this in the coming days, weeks, and probably months. It's hard to argue with developers that really do seem to be trying to fix things, but it's equally as hard to argue with angry gamers who have been paying a monthly fee for years that feel like they're being jerked around. It's put up or shut up time for both parties. The game is changing whether players like it or not as the big wheel is already turning quickly. Only time will tell if these changes are for the good and whether veteran players will decide to stay and play or not. Stay tuned for more developments as they become available.
 

Kari

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Thanks chap, interesting to read that they are essentially re-writing the entire game. It seems to be shutting down the game & replacing it with a mmorpg-lite from the posted discussion.

It will also be interesting to see the result :)
 

haarewin

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guess everyone will be 'force sensitive' as it is apparently a choice for all.
will prolly try it when they make these changes, cuz when i played the game before i found it severly lacking.
 

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