Star Wars Fans Flee Net Galaxy

[Evil Avatar]

Star Wars Fans Flee Net Galaxy (http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,69816,00.html?tw=wn_story_mailer), is a story on Wired online talking about fan reaction to LucasArts "New Game Enhancements" that crippled or eliminated many of the character classes in the MMORPG, Star Wars Galaxies.

"It's now a shoot'em-up game for adolescents, not at all conducive to our play style," says Carolyn Hocke, a web technician for Saint Michael's Hospital in Wisconsin, whose character A'thena was mayor of an in-game city on Tatooine and owner of a bustling shopping mall. "People who we grew to know over the last couple of years are gone. Cities are ghost towns, guilds are gone. My galaxy is gone, my game is gone."

[Cerebus]

I don't think it was wise to try to remake an MMO so long after it came out. Even quality MMOs eventually lose a large portion of their userbase, and what is left is not only the most loyal, but those who have invested the most time and money into the game. If this loyal userbase is large enough, the game can continue to exist, if it eventually dwindles to non-profitability, the game ceases to be. This change was nothing short of a betrayal to that loyal userbase. This game has been out too long to attract large new numbers. They should have produced an action-oriented sequel or stand-alone MMO if they wanted to change things this drastically.

[Morrolan]

Well... what did they expect? It's not the changes that killed the game, it's the fact that there were no concessions made. They just axed entire skills, making characters essentially useless, and didn't offer any sort of compensation for the hundereds of hours now rendered meaningless. Again, what did they expect?

[Klade]

Its sony, they expected everyone to bend over and take it. When AC was the only competitor they had this type of thing could work. But when there are alternatives *cough* WoW, DAoC, AO, PS, EQ2, Neo, MO, HZ *cough cough* sorry too long of a cough..

Well when there are alternatives people go elsewhere. Someone who has a clue should be at work in their offices, and be in a position of power.

All the same... I have to say watching their screwups is amazingly good popcorn fodder.

[WastelandDan]

this article actually made me feel a little bad because the upcoming changes actually had me interested in trying it out. I beta tested Galaxies and detested it, finding the quests repetative and pointless, the landscapes barren of any actual content, and the battle system irritating. Granted, I never played it after the beta test ended so I don't know what improvements were made, but from what I heard from friends who played it didn't really get much better. With the twitch fighter space expansion I was thinking that the new battle style would make the game feel generally better put together, but after reading that article I think I'm just not going to bother at all.

[Taco]

Well they also just started advertising it on TV. It's like they are treating it as a new release with a different targeted player base.

Guess the SOE guy who made the infamous "shit in a box" comment was wrong.

[Stooby]

The changes made me go back and give it a try, but the starting area was so buggy that I quit within 2 hours.

[IenjoyedKingsField]

You wouldn't accept radical changes from a magazine subscription, or a cable provider, or basically another other monthly service. Why would anyone expect a MMO to survive it?

If they have any sense, now is the time to build a new engine. Lure in what they can, cause the SW mythos ain't get any stronger.

[player66]

If they had their heads screwed on right, they would have released a "new" product to attract casual gamers and people who didn't like the way Galexies plays and kept the original game servers running. The two titles could have existed separately and probably been a success. It's just bannanas to think they would completely alienate their most loyal hardcore users just to pick up some new players.

[thecrazyd]

This could be expected. Do they cover how many new and returning subscribers SOE is getting?

[Fuzzy]

You wouldn't accept radical changes from a magazine subscription, or a cable provider, or basically another other monthly service. Why would anyone expect a MMO to survive it?

Because it sucked before and now it doesn't?

PS: I haven't tried the "new" version.

[Alex]

If they had their heads screwed on right, they would have released a "new" product to attract casual gamers and people who didn't like the way Galexies plays and kept the original game servers running. The two titles could have existed separately and probably been a success.

SOE would have had to hire another dev team to make the new title which is an expensive prospect any way you cut it. As it is they're having trouble holding onto the people they already have.

[Acidpoptart]

I went back to try the NGE, but canceled the next day. I actually loved the game when it first came out for its PvP and hunting, but it all got really boring after a while so I left. I thought this would get me back into it, but no. Its just a click fest now... RIP SWG

[Banacek]

What kind of numbers was SWG getting before the change? I mean, if the game wasn't doing well they had to expect something to happen.

/I know it sucks, but man the people complaining seem to have the "Drama" dial set to 11...

[endrom]

I was a big player of this game right after jump to lightspeed, i thought everyone one was whinning with the CU, but the New game experience tears it. what a waste for all veteran players. its like GUNZ with wookie juice...

[RGetz]

I've been playing SWG on and off since its launch and I loved it. I played for a year before taking a small break and then came back again. I guess after playing for so long I became immune to the bugs that are indeed all over. But what made SWG great was it's social aspect. I swear the less content quest wise the game had the better it was. JTL was an excellent expansion, but RotW was horrible, and I havn't even tried the new one, though I did resuscribe to try the NGE. Making a new character was sort of fun until I ran into a bug that stopped me completely, unlike the other bugs that I could work around it just took forever, and quit. I'm trying to defend SWG because at point it was a great time for me, but it's really just to hard anymore.

[DeadPixel]

I'm actually very suprised the game is still alive. I do plan to keep my box as a slice of history for later laughs. Nice thick original box to remind me of the swamped forums discussing the lifted NDA and EBAY beta accounts that sold for $500 a pop.

Good times.

[Dabombpizza]

If this loyal userbase is large enough, the game can continue to exist, if it eventually dwindles to non-profitability, the game ceases to be.
Good point. Look at Ultima Online.

[Mondopest]

Alot of people liked the original game system (where HAM actually were different in dmg types) and the game was very complicated. Alot of people liked the game after the rebalance and I am sure alot of people will like this game after the NGE. Instead of alienating their fanbase, they should have just branched off their latest builds of the game in each state of gameplay and create three difference servers: one for each variation of the game.

[Zeal]

Oh, it's just cause WoW owns everything.

By the way, SWG's star is about to go nova.

[midrael]

Really sad..

They really screwed the pooch with SWG in my opinion from the get go.
I was actually a part of the very first Beta 1 when they were choosing a few hundred posters on the SWG forums. All through Beta, we were offering suggestions that went unheard. Then when the release date was announced, I saw so many posts in the beta forums saying that the game wasn't ready, I easily lost count. They steamed ahead full speed though.

I had really high hopes for the game, but I never even bothered to subscribe. I really feel the veterans' pain. I can't imagine investing years in a character that is suddenly rendered completely useless by changes like this. They should have just worked on SWG 2.

[Nim]

It seems that SOE took Verant's "Screw the player as often as you can, as viciously as you can" motto to heart when they absorbed them.

And imagine that, an MMORPG that doesn't base its rewards on how much pain you can tolerate - WoW - is cleaning their clocks.

[Neon Wraith]

The current state of things really doesn't suprise me. I got on to SWG during the Phase 2 part of the beta. Even then it was like watching a trainwreck happen in slow motion as many good suggestions went ignored. I managed to play through the beta but when they said they went gold I was just shocked. The game was so boring and in a very unfinished state, it felt like the bare bones of a MMOG with SW art tacked onto it. At no time did I ever feel like I was part of or taking in part of anything SW.

So after the game went live I avoided because I expirienced the whole funcom AO fiasco a few years before and I sensed it was going to happen all over again. .. However I did come back and try it for a month after the combat upgrade was released. But then after the month was over I waslked away and never looked back. In my opinion this game was, is and has always been travesty to the SW universe(right up there with episode 1).


Well not all of it, they did do some cool things like non combat occupations and expirementation in crafting. But the list of bad things far outweighs the good.

Hopefull this will die soon and someone, somewhere will get a chance to make a proper SW MMOG.

[Verocity]

I beta tested Horizons for a few months. I know what you mean by screaming "it's not ready yet!" Alas, I gave up and now look at where that game is. I heard too many negatives about SWG so I never tried it. I can say that if any game I poured hours into suddenly removed everything I worked for, I would leave.

Who's to say they won't do it again?

[Onea]

Why the hell is everyone so enamoured with WoW? After playing it for a month, I realized that it was repetitive and not very enjoyable. I subsequently left it for a text-based MUD.

[Dafizman]

I think this is the smartest thing sony has done yet. It's just like what coke did. They release "New SWG" now, and when everyone screams, they bring back "SCG Classic", which everyone will flock to! In this way, sony shall win the cola wars.

[TRiLoGY]

I think this is the smartest thing sony has done yet. It's just like what coke did. They release "New SWG" now, and when everyone screams, they bring back "SCG Classic", which everyone will flock to! In this way, sony shall win the cola wars.

heh..

That reminds me of Fry and the Slurm Factory from Futurama..

[Roc Ingersol]

They should've backed off SWG and just released a proper ground-up SWG2 that was more twitch friendly.
Probably should've made it for the ps3.

[XenonCJ]

Well personally I commend them on having the balls to make such a radical change (good or bad) this far into the life-cycle of the product.

I played SWG for about 6 months, I just found it very boring and with, after exploring everything, there was nothing really fun to do. Also all the cities seemed DEAD! No people talking, no real events anywhere... Just droids and people standing around doing nothing AT ALL.

However Sony\Verant needs to take a hard look at thier MMO philosopy. It's not about "time x fustration"==(more bling + higher levels). With the idea that people will only stay with the game till they hit the max level.

It's about fun and content, and keeping people happy. Blizzard really seems to have figured this out. There is just so much living content in WoW now, and much more FREE content to come. Just about every other month, something huge is added to the game.

[Beelzebud]

I was playing Asheron's Call when this came out.

I'm still playing Asheron's Call now. :D

Now there is a game they improved, over time, for the better. The graphics are a little stale, but man, AC delivers in gameplay.

[Stormwatcher]

The point is that not only they won't attract any new players - who are already playing WoW or CoH or GW, don't like MMORPGs or were scared by all the bad publicity - they just managed to screw the older loyal players. Older MMOs with a core fanbase shouldn't be messed with, they hsould just let it die slowly, like UO.

[Teddeh]

Guess the SOE guy who made the infamous "shit in a box" comment was wrong.

I always thought that was Jack Sorensen when at LucasArts, about X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter. Funnily enough, another sub-standard Star Wars game.

[Taco]

Maybe it's some kind of twisted Star Wars tradition.

[Busted_Astromech]

So can anyone who's played the game for a while since the NGE came out tell us about the changes?

I played for it for 8 months or so...Aobir Baorock, best droid engineer this side of Coruscant. I remember living through the ignominy that was the first 'droid engineer fix,' and getting the real fix three months later...

So did they essentially remove the non-combat portions of the game, or what?