Star Wars Galaxies Chapter 2 Released

[bapenguin]

LucasArts (http://www.lucasarts.com) sends along word that the ever...popular...Star Wars: Galaxies has received the latest content/feature pack called Chapter 2. The download is free for all subscribers and will be downloaded the next time players log into SWG.
• New Profession Expertise System for the Jedi and Bounty Hunters: Beginning at level 10, players will be able to earn and allocate talent points to unlock new skills and attributes for their characters, giving them a way to completely differentiate them among the other characters of that profession.

Jedi will now be able to develop a variety of different Light and Dark abilities, and Bounty Hunters can choose from among first strike, defensive tank and sustained damage, among others. As players continue to advance in levels, they will earn additional points that can be allocated to improving existing skills and earning new skills.

Full press release Inside (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?p=365125#post365125).

Does anyone play this anymore?

[bapenguin]

Star Wars Galaxies Presents Chapter 2: The Talus Incident

LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment announced today that Chapter 2: The Talus Incident is now available for Star Wars Galaxies subscribers.

Chapter 2: The Talus Incident is the latest in a series of ongoing updates for Star Wars Galaxies that are scheduled for release every six to eight weeks as part of players’ regular subscription to the game. In Chapter 2, players will receive new content, features and enhancements including:

New Adventures:

• CorSec Agent Tarna was so grateful for players assistance in Chapter 1: The Corellian Captives, that she is turning to them again in Chapter 2. Players must unravel a web of mysteries on the planet Talus, beginning with a hunt for a crashed Starship and any surviving crew. This rescue operation soon turns into a massive hunting expedition when the Starship’s illicit cargo crawls away. But just who is being hunted; the creatures or the players?


New Features:

• New Profession Expertise System for the Jedi and Bounty Hunters: Beginning at level 10, players will be able to earn and allocate talent points to unlock new skills and attributes for their characters, giving them a way to completely differentiate them among the other characters of that profession.

Jedi will now be able to develop a variety of different Light and Dark abilities, and Bounty Hunters can choose from among first strike, defensive tank and sustained damage, among others. As players continue to advance in levels, they will earn additional points that can be allocated to improving existing skills and earning new skills.

The new Profession Expertise interface is accessible through the main game menu, under the item “Expertise.”

Learn more about the new Profession Expertise system on the official Star Wars Galaxies website at http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/players/content.vm?id=66938.


• New Galactic Civil War PvP Bases: Following the Battle of Restuss, both Imperial and Rebel forces have intensified their efforts to oppose one another. Both sides have identified what they believe are strategic locations that are important to their operations. Across the Galactic Empire, familiar places like Talus, Naboo and Corellia are now the spot of heated conflict as both sides attempt to control them. Each base has a different objective and completing them will bring fantastic rewards. Read more about the new GCW PvP bases at http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/players/content.vm?id=66909&resource=features.


• Character Appearance Enhancements: Humans, Zabrak, and Twi'leks get a visual upgrade in Chapter 2. Each of these species now sports an improved appearance to take advantage of the latest graphics technologies, including richer skin tones and more detailed bodies. As new Chapters for Star Wars Galaxies are released, other playable species will receive these visual enhancements.


Star Wars Galaxies Short Film Contest: Budding filmmakers now have an outlet to combine their love of both Star Wars Galaxies and movie making. LucasArts, Sony Online Entertainment and AtomFilms have partnered to present the Star Wars Galaxies Short Film Contest.

Through August 25th, players can submit three-minute short films using in-game footage, and members of the Star Wars Galaxies development team as well as a guest judge from AtomFilms will select the best films in five categories. The winners will not only receive prize packages, but will also be considered for inclusion on the bonus DVD of the new Star Wars Galaxies retail compilation, The Complete Online Adventures, due in stores this fall.

For more information and the official rules for the Star Wars Galaxies Short Film Contest, visit http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/players/content.vm?id=66939. More information on Star Wars Galaxies: The Complete Online Adventures can be found at http://soe.lithium.com/swg/board/message?board.id=Announcements&message.id=3133.


Chapter 2: The Talus Incident Publish Gift: Players who log in after the Chapter 2 update and before Chapter 3 goes live will receive a Military Reactive Stim Injector. This item allows the player to take advantage of the latest advances in military grade bacta technology to automatically heal some of the damage they sustain in battle. This item and others like it are currently in the process of being distributed to military facilities on the front lines of Naboo, Corellia, and Talus.

A full listing of the new features and enhancements in Chapter 2: The Talus Incident can be found on the Official Star Wars Galaxies website at http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/en_US/players/content.vm?page=Current%20Chapter. Star Wars Galaxies subscribers will receive all the content in Chapter 2 via an automatic download when logging into the game.


About Star Wars Galaxies
Star Wars Galaxies is one of the longest-running and most popular online experiences, bringing gamers of all ages and skill levels together in the ultimate Star Wars journey. Jump into exciting adventures that lead you to legendary Star Wars locations including Jabba’s Palace and the infamous Mos Eisley Cantina. Begin aboard the Millennium Falcon helping Han Solo and Chewbacca fend off the notorious Darth Vadar. Along the way, join with Star Wars characters on missions that span across the galaxy. Ally with the Rebels to fight against the Galactic Empire, or join forces with the Dark Side and crush the Rebel scum. Heroic adventurers can seek their fortune in space or on the ground as a Bounty Hunter, Smuggler, Jedi or a host of other unique Star Wars professions.

Throughout 2006 and into 2007 LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment are scheduled to add a host of new content and features to Star Wars Galaxies through a series of downloadable adventures. Featuring such high-value enhancements as PvP upgrades, a character profession expertise system, new high-level quest series, and epic, server-wide events, these downloadable adventures provide players new content to explore and new ways to influence the entire Galaxy.


As always, the latest news and information on Star Wars Galaxies can be found on our community page at: http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/en_US/players/, or by contacting Amy Stojsavljevic at astoj@lucasarts.com.

[GoblinToe]

ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Lodin]

For Christ's sake this damn game has had TV infomersials running for half a year now. Just how pathetic does this have to get before Lucasarts pulls the plug and tells Sony to go piss up a tree?

[Neosho]

Olol it's wow.

But seriously...what the hell? I thought this MMO was DEAD.

[Returner]

I played for about 2 month when the game launched. It was the biggest mistake of my life.

[fahrvergnugen]

Does anyone play this anymore?

No. Nobody plays it anymore.

[Orosco]

I swear, every post about a mmorpg thats not WoW always has the same freakin' comment.. "Does anybody play this anymore??"

[Zeal]

The sad thing is that Galaxies will ruin the image of any kind of future MMO SW game for years to come.

[AspectVoid]

I'll be honest, if I hadn't just joined in a Star Wars game with my RP group, this would be tempting. As it is, I can shrug it off and get back to rolling my dice.

[reimomo]

The sad thing is that Galaxies will ruin the image of any kind of future MMO SW game for years to come.

maybe when they get to chapter IV it will stop sucking. Hear me George? Screw you George! Episodes 1-3 were trash! Trash I say!!!!

[Ludoc]

maybe when they get to chapter IV it will stop sucking. Hear me George? Screw you George! Episodes 1-3 were trash! Trash I say!!!!NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooo...

[F3nyx]

maybe when they get to chapter IV it will stop sucking. Hear me George? Screw you George! Episodes 1-3 were trash! Trash I say!!!!He can't hear you... you're being drowned out by the clamor of a billion people saying the exact same thing.

[captainstrombosis]

I swear, every post about a mmorpg thats not WoW always has the same freakin' comment.. "Does anybody play this anymore??"

Erm, SWG has a very small fan base anymore. It died a long time ago. It's not him raggin on all but WoW, it's just that SWG blew goats and liked it.

[Grimgrock]

The sad thing is that Galaxies will ruin the image of any kind of future MMO SW game for years to come.

I'm not sure this is entirely fair. If Obsidian were to do a SW MMORPG, I think it would be given the benefit of the doubt until evidence to the contrary surfaced. Obsidian has a proven, successful track record in the SW universe. If they were to do a MMORPG that takes place (like their other games) many hundreds of years after the OT or PT, I think they would have a huge hit on their hands. This way their would be no trampling on established doctorine and there would be room for originality. Something that SWG has been guilty of since its inception.

[Neosho]

I swear, every post about a mmorpg thats not WoW always has the same freakin' comment.. "Does anybody play this anymore??"

Considering that we don't get a lot of lineage news on this side of that pond, most MMO's besides wow are dead...i mean, come on, they have 6 million concurrent subscribers. That's....a lot. Any other MMO isn't really in a place to measure up at the moment.

[The Continental]

I swear, every post about a mmorpg thats not WoW always has the same freakin' comment.. "Does anybody play this anymore??"

Keep in mind that SWG shot itself in the foot long before WoW came out.

[Steele Johnson]

Trying not to be totally off topic, but have any of you played Everquest 2 lately? I bought that game almost 2 years ago but didn't play it too much because WoW came out shortly after that and I got hooked.

Last week I decided to re-install EQ2 and give it another whirl since I'm totally burnt out on WoW, and I've got to say, this game is great!! I've got to hand it to the devs, they really balanced the shit out of that game and made it much more playable than what I can remember. And what's more, the graphics engine they used for the game is like "forward" compatible or something. This freakin' game looks amazing with a 512MB graphics card! It actually looks better than any game that has come out over the past 6 months!

You got to love installing an old game only to find out that it was like finding a gaming gold mine. ;) The gameplay seems way better, and now that I have a faster computer, it looks 100x better , too!.

If any of you guys love mmorpg's and you have an up-to-date rig, you've got to try out this game. Dual core, 3gig mem, and a 512MB vid card running at 1920x1200 and you're talking about a really nice gaming experience.

[captainstrombosis]

The problem with EQ2 is that I got an Inquisitor and Monk all the way to the top. I wanted to kill myself for a split second when I realised what a huge waste of time that had been. This was when the game first came out.

Jesus, what a waste. Atleast I found someone wanting to buy my SWG account when I quit. ;) No one wanted to touch an EQ2 one though.

[jacktion]

So does that mean that all the crap that has happened with SWG so far was just Chapter 1?

This game is so dead. The only people that play it are unconnected fools who don't know any better.

Eve-online is the way to go. Give in to the Eve! It is the future!

[captainstrombosis]

So does that mean that all the crap that has happened with SWG so far was just Chapter 1?

This game is so dead. The only people that play it are unconnected fools who don't know any better.

Eve-online is the way to go. Give in to the Eve! It is the future!

The problem with EvE is how long it takes to get to a point where your usefull. Plus you can never catch up to the people that have been there from the start...Tho I'm still training my character, they managed to secure my money every month for the past couple years.

I feel owned because I KNOW that is exactly what they intend this system to do. But damnit, I like hopping on every now and then.

[Orosco]

I didn't mean just SWG, but any mmorpg. If it was a EQ2 story, it would have had the same comment.

[PixelSamurai]

Oh, wow. This game is so far behind the curve it's not even funny. Now they're getting to talent trees and differentiating your character? This is day one shit.

[S1n1star]

Trying not to be totally off topic, but have any of you played Everquest 2 lately? I bought that game almost 2 years ago but didn't play it too much because WoW came out shortly after that and I got hooked.

Last week I decided to re-install EQ2 and give it another whirl since I'm totally burnt out on WoW, and I've got to say, this game is great!! I've got to hand it to the devs, they really balanced the shit out of that game and made it much more playable than what I can remember. And what's more, the graphics engine they used for the game is like "forward" compatible or something. This freakin' game looks amazing with a 512MB graphics card! It actually looks better than any game that has come out over the past 6 months!

You got to love installing an old game only to find out that it was like finding a gaming gold mine. ;) The gameplay seems way better, and now that I have a faster computer, it looks 100x better , too!.

If any of you guys love mmorpg's and you have an up-to-date rig, you've got to try out this game. Dual core, 3gig mem, and a 512MB vid card running at 1920x1200 and you're talking about a really nice gaming experience.

Strange that you use a handle involving metal since you smell so much like a PLANT!

[captainstrombosis]

Strange that you use a handle involving metal since you smell so much like a PLANT!

Or...he could be excited about a game? It doesn't really matter. There is a trial to EQ2, people can test it out for themselves before they play.

[jacktion]

oh snap! steel johnson is a narc! get 'im!

But seriously, to Strombosis, I'd have to say that yeah, If you start Eve after someone else then they will probably be ahead of you in development but what do you want? How else could it work? This isn't WOW where everyone can get to the level 60 endgame and be equal in a month. Eve goes on forever. If you start playing trumpet would you be mad that people who have been playing for years are better than you? That is just how it works. If every one could get to an equal level easily then that wouldn't be a very fun game now would it?

[niakori]

Not that I ever was a subscriber, but SWG died when SOE isolated the biggest part of it's player base. I get my weekly dose of fanboy hate drama just reading the swg mmorpg.com boards. It's very entertaining.

And Orosco, it's only that way because very few here knows jackshit about mmorpgs. And many are treating them like a new phenomenon. Only when they start hemorrhaging onto consoles will they take notice ^^

Remember, Mmorpgs are the bastard redheaded stepsons of MUDs.

[Draknodred]

Oh, wow. This game is so far behind the curve it's not even funny. Now they're getting to talent trees and differentiating your character? This is day one shit.

No shit, if they had done these sort of improvements to the original game and fixed the classes and bugs from the original game then SWG would be so much more successful. Instead they totally sold out and changed the game complete two years after it was made, GG SOE. Stupid assholes.

[AversionFX]

Trying not to be totally off topic, but have any of you played Everquest 2 lately? I bought that game almost 2 years ago but didn't play it too much because WoW came out shortly after that and I got hooked.

Last week I decided to re-install EQ2 and give it another whirl since I'm totally burnt out on WoW, and I've got to say, this game is great!! I've got to hand it to the devs, they really balanced the shit out of that game and made it much more playable than what I can remember. And what's more, the graphics engine they used for the game is like "forward" compatible or something. This freakin' game looks amazing with a 512MB graphics card! It actually looks better than any game that has come out over the past 6 months!

You got to love installing an old game only to find out that it was like finding a gaming gold mine. ;) The gameplay seems way better, and now that I have a faster computer, it looks 100x better , too!.

If any of you guys love mmorpg's and you have an up-to-date rig, you've got to try out this game. Dual core, 3gig mem, and a 512MB vid card running at 1920x1200 and you're talking about a really nice gaming experience.

PLANT.

tooshortftl.

[captainstrombosis]

oh snap! steel johnson is a narc! get 'im!

But seriously, to Strombosis, I'd have to say that yeah, If you start Eve after someone else then they will probably be ahead of you in development but what do you want? How else could it work? This isn't WOW where everyone can get to the level 60 endgame and be equal in a month. Eve goes on forever. If you start playing trumpet would you be mad that people who have been playing for years are better than you? That is just how it works. If every one could get to an equal level easily then that wouldn't be a very fun game now would it?

I never said I wanted it to be easy. But there is literally no way for someone who starts now to ever come close to catching up with someone that started 2 years ago and kept training. That is my only problem. Even among the best Trumpet players, after a certain point I doubt you would be able to tell much difference.

Why does everyone simply assume people want to change things into WoW? I just don't see how it's beneficial for the EvE community for so many new players to give up because they know that no matter what they do, they will always be behind and will never catch up.

[Knightsaber]

SOE sent me a 'Desperation Mail' the other day, as I was an SWG Beta 1 tester. They do this every so often. So I took a stab at it this time. It didn't hurt that they threw in all the expansions and gave me three free months with no payment whatsoever. Like I said, desperation.

It's actually not bad. Far more entertaining than the endless raiding of WoW, but hey, to each his own. I guess I'm different than the 6 million people paying $15 to suck Blizzard's collective popsicle, but hey, say what you want, I like jumping in a TIE and blasting things. Sorry about that.

[xcalibur]

Sadly, as bad as SWG is, the Star Wars license allows them to maintain a decent # of subscribers, enough to earn ~1.4% of the market share - http://www.mmogchart.com/Chart7.html

And what's more, the graphics engine they used for the game [EQ2] is like "forward" compatible or something. This freakin' game looks amazing with a 512MB graphics card! It actually looks better than any game that has come out over the past 6 months!

While EQ2 has impressive gfx tech, the art style is very poor, making EQ2 actually look worse than WoW. I personally found the controls, combat and interface in EQ2 extremely clunky, to the point of being not fun. But, to each their own.




-X

[Steele Johnson]

Strange that you use a handle involving metal since you smell so much like a PLANT!

I'm really sorry that I posted something positive about a game. I should have known better before posting in this forum.

I was just happy that I found an mmorpg to play that's actually pretty darn good - and I didn't even have to sit through all the changes. How often does that happen?

Anyway, I don't even know why I'm responding to you. You sound like one of those fortune telling know-it-alls that people can't stand. The next time you call one of your friends and leave a message, think about why they're not picking up the phone. :D

[Chris_D]

I played SWG for 6 months and had quite a bit of fun with it. Of course this was before the combat nerf. Still, the hate for this game seems disproportionate to the actual quality, and much of it (not all) comes from those who've never played the game seriously.

Anyway, if I had the time or inclination to play a mmorpg these days, I would definitely give swg a spin to see what it's like these days, before jumping on the wow band wagon. Still, with so many cool games I want to play, I'm avoiding that time sink :).

[IndependentGMR]

I played for about 2 month when the game launched. It was the biggest mistake of my life.

Ditto. The game is an utter disaster.

[SaintArnold]

Trying not to be totally off topic, but have any of you played Everquest 2 lately? I bought that game almost 2 years ago but didn't play it too much because WoW came out shortly after that and I got hooked.

Last week I decided to re-install EQ2 and give it another whirl since I'm totally burnt out on WoW, and I've got to say, this game is great!! I've got to hand it to the devs, they really balanced the shit out of that game and made it much more playable than what I can remember. And what's more, the graphics engine they used for the game is like "forward" compatible or something. This freakin' game looks amazing with a 512MB graphics card! It actually looks better than any game that has come out over the past 6 months!

You got to love installing an old game only to find out that it was like finding a gaming gold mine. ;) The gameplay seems way better, and now that I have a faster computer, it looks 100x better , too!.

If any of you guys love mmorpg's and you have an up-to-date rig, you've got to try out this game. Dual core, 3gig mem, and a 512MB vid card running at 1920x1200 and you're talking about a really nice gaming experience.

Sure sounds like guerilla marketing, but it's actually not really subtle, and you haven't an identity yet, so it might be early to hawk your wares.

But the enthusiasm is so high... Nobody is this enthusiastic about anything in real life...

I'm torn.

[Uncle Ben]

I never said I wanted it to be easy. But there is literally no way for someone who starts now to ever come close to catching up with someone that started 2 years ago and kept training. That is my only problem. Even among the best Trumpet players, after a certain point I doubt you would be able to tell much difference.

Why does everyone simply assume people want to change things into WoW? I just don't see how it's beneficial for the EvE community for so many new players to give up because they know that no matter what they do, they will always be behind and will never catch up.

Actually, I quit Eve because I realized that no matter what I wanted to do or get or become it was going to take ages on ages and ultimately wasn't going to be worth it. Same reason I quit WoW and EQ.

As for the always being behind problem, I think you're right. The way you increase your skills in Eve means you'll almost always be six months behind anyone that isn't an alt.

I used to think Eve's train-while-you're-logged-out thing was the greatest thing ever until I realized that it made leveling up even less involved and basically totally removed the player from the equation. No amount of skill could make you gain SP faster, only ISK.

[Heretic Machine]

This MMO has sucked since it got revamped for the second or third time (I can't even remember anymore). At one time, it had a lot of potential as a non-combat MMO, and had a wonderful RP community. That community had abandoned ship, and having given it another try after their newest revamp, I can safely say that this game has no redeeming qualities. Stay away from it at all costs.

[AversionFX]

I'm really sorry that I posted something positive about a game. I should have known better before posting in this forum.

I was just happy that I found an mmorpg to play that's actually pretty darn good - and I didn't even have to sit through all the changes. How often does that happen?

Anyway, I don't even know why I'm responding to you. You sound like one of those fortune telling know-it-alls that people can't stand. The next time you call one of your friends and leave a message, think about why they're not picking up the phone. :D

Common sense leads me to believe you're a plant. There's a pretty wide line between "enthusiastic," and "being a plant." A regular fan would've said, "Yeah, I'm really enjoying it. It's got something that just kind of clicks with me that I don't see too often."

You were like 'This game is so awesome! It's so awesome that I had to call my ex-girlfriend and be like 'OHMYGAWD THIS GAME IS AWESOME!' But she hanged up on me so I just wrote a letter to my congressman! have you guys played this shit!? It's like drinking a chalice full of hopes and dreams and chasing them with a side of Complacency!"

You smell a lot like plant.

[Lizard Dude]

At "level 10" you can allocate "talent points" to differentiate your character? What game is this?

[Steele Johnson]

Common sense leads me to believe you're a plant. There's a pretty wide line between "enthusiastic," and "being a plant." A regular fan would've said, "Yeah, I'm really enjoying it. It's got something that just kind of clicks with me that I don't see too often."

You were like 'This game is so awesome! It's so awesome that I had to call my ex-girlfriend and be like 'OHMYGAWD THIS GAME IS AWESOME!' But she hanged up on me so I just wrote a letter to my congressman! have you guys played this shit!? It's like drinking a chalice full of hopes and dreams and chasing them with a side of Complacency!"

You smell a lot like plant.

Yeah, I said all that. You live in your own world with your own made up friends. lol

[Steele Johnson]

Sure sounds like guerilla marketing, but it's actually not really subtle, and you haven't an identity yet, so it might be early to hawk your wares.

But the enthusiasm is so high... Nobody is this enthusiastic about anything in real life...

I'm torn.

Wow, it almost seems like you're right about me. Are you tempted to go buy it or something? lol You're probably the type that can get easily hypnotized and run around clucking like a chicken.

[Lodin]

And you're a fucking PLAAAAAAAANT! Now go piss up a tree.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Steele Johnson is not a fucking plant. Christ you guys are assholes.

[DeadPixel]

What's with Steele Johnson hate? Most people who went back to EQ2 told me the same thing, the game got a ton better. This is coming from many WoW players as well. I just refuse to go back to EQ2 because of the time restrictions.

Now back to the topic, I almost tried SWG about 6 months ago. I originally puchased at release and gave up after 2 weeks, but I keep hearing how many changes they've made since.

The game must have enough subscribers to stay supported like this, otherwise SOE would pull the plug. So my questions is, are the people playing just die hard Star Wars fans or is there a decent RP scene that does not focus on power gaming?

[HeisinDC]

man i remember shooting little animals in the field outside some desert town...not very great memories.

what weirded me out even more were the 40yr old bald dudes who played 'entertainers' and danced in cantinas and stuff...i avoided those even though they heal you, etc.

game could have been so awesome. imagine starting as a rebel soldier or a recruit to the empire. first couple missions are training anyway, then out into battles...could defect and go bounty hunter etc.

i dont even want to know how many jedi's there are in the game universe...