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Living with Darth Vader
rppp01 writes "The BBC is reporting that Lucas Arts is putting the Star Wars universe online this December. Go here to read all about it. I know lots of people who are now starting to leave Everquest. Is this the next everquest? Will we have massive Star War fans calling in sick everyday in attempts to become a jedi? Will Jar Jar be friend or foe?"
I would say they're not limited, as there's scads of books written in the universe, a whole Role-Playing system, etc. Of course, you could have just been kidding.
--- "Remember, there's a difference between bowing down and bending over." -Frank Zappa
Star Wars: Galaxies is really old news. For anyone even remotely aware of the MMORPG scene or games in-general knows, it's been in development for quite some time now.
They're kind of limited by the movies, aren't they?
No, they are not - take a look at the zillion books written about the Star Wars universe. Some of which have even been pretty good - like Timothy Zahn's first trilogy. The whole point of it being set in a universe is that it is limitless, and this limitlessness gives immense scope for expansion. Too many players? Lets just announce the discovery of a new planet!
So no, I don't believe that they are limited by the movies - the movies just give them a firm pseudo-reality to start from.
http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/
The game is currently in its second beta phase, and progressing well. There is a third beta phase before release.
If you think about that, this means the game cannot possibly make a december release.
Expect to see it early next year.
If you want to know more about the game, go visit
http://starwarsgalaxies.com/ and peruse the forums.
--
ekhben
It is coming out for PS2, XBOX, and PC.
People have been waiting on this for ages: it will bear a strong resemblance to Everquest thanks to having the same development team from Sony/Verant. Here's the Star Wars Galaxies Official FAQ and, the answer to the all-important question from page three of the FAQ:
3.03 Will I be able to kill Darth Vader?
At this point, you will probably not be able to kill Darth Vader, but some players may have the opportunity to interact with him. We would like to adhere to the continuity as much as possible; Vader is key to the trilogy, so you probably won't be able to kill him (like you would really stand a chance against the Lord of the Sith anyway...)
ancarett, historian and zombie gamer
Actually, there are a great number of rare items. They may not be "magical", but they can be "rumored" or "legendary". Like, imagine the hubbub if someone could get their grubby hands on Yoda's tiny lightsaber, or a couple of Spaarti cloning cylanders. I'm sure Ysalmri will be quite popular among outlaws, too, and you really can't get them in too many places.
If I was a Jedi, I'd want a purple Mace Windu lightsaber, but I'm going to get the game and probably be a smuggler. I'd rather be a Han Solo (and get some ass) than be Luke Skywalker (and get nothing).
Only in slashdot are posts of solidarity modded at -1 Redundant, while posts of antagonism are modded as -1 Flamebait.
Don't worry though, if the game takes of, they will probably release another game set after ROTJ.
If you have a Palm, this would be cheaper than what's likely to become the next Evercrack...
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
On the contrary, Star Wars Galaxies is set during the classic movies era, and according to the devs it isn't going to go beyond that time-frame (although they may include locations and such from the novels and prequels). You're thinking of Knights of the Old Republic, which is being developed by Bioware and will not be out for some time.
SWG is being developed by the makers of everquest (LucasArts is only publishing) so it will very likely be similar in many respects... including its widespread popularity. They are planning to be adding new quests, content, etc. and advancing the storyline as the game goes on, and as the name GalaxIES sauggests, there will be many different servers to play on, each indepentent of all the others, so that even if there are very many players, there will still be plenty of content to go around.
They're doing a pretty good job of making it difficult to become Jedi. Only a small percentage of players will become force sensitive. Of those who do, only a few will be come Jedi. Those who DO manage to become Jedi must be secretive. Jedi are actively hunted by Imperials. If they draw too much attention to themselves, Vader himself will pay them a visit. That's bad. It's shaping up to be a great game. The only thing I think they're making a mistake with is a very soft death penalty.
It's probably in the FAQ, but as I remember it they are designing the game to be accessible for casual and hardcore players both... that was one of the reasons they are using a skills based system instead of levels, so a casual player can get a skill point here or there from a quest without having to spend assloads of time on the game leveling.
Until the space expansion is released, you will visit one of the space ports, buy your ticket, socialize while waiting for your ship, board ship, zone into destination planet. After the space expansion is released you can buy your own ship and fly to other planets or hitch a ride with someone else (for a small fee of course). As far as on-planet travel, SWG will have swoop bikes and speeders at release. One person per vehicle only for now.
For example, we all know that in EQ no matter how many 1st level characters attack a 20th level character, he's not even going to feel it, and it would only last as long as it would take him to attack each noob once. In SW:G, a noob certainly can hit and harm a high-level character, he's just less likely to; he'd loose the fight pretty much every time. But if a bunch of noobs gang up on a high-level guy, the big guy's going down, and hard.
Just an example of how the game play will be different. Plus, you can own your own house that you get to place yourself, perhaps with static defenses (like a gun turret); you can own a shop and have an NPC sell product even while you're off-line; 'spawn points' are implimented as 'nests', which tend to spring up in places where there are no players, and then spawn herds/groups of baddies.
Basically, a very dynamic world. I'm very excited to play in it.
Doug
Actually, some of the design seems to draw on the unique design of DAOC in some respects. DAOC was the first to introduce Realm vs Realm combat (where players belong to one culture permanently at war with 2 other cultures (Vikings, King Arthur's English, and the Celts of Ireland), and SWG evedently has a similar 3-sided conflict (Empire, Rebels and the Underworld) updated to suit a science-fiction universe. Player-vs-Player combat is hardly a new thing (UO had it) but DAOCs version of it is remarkably effective
Dark Age of Camelot (See http://www.darkageofcamelot.com for some information on the game and http://www.camelotherald.com if you want the game scores for each server and individual) was a very clever development in the world of MMORPGs and while its got its problems, its a very enjoyable game overall. A new expansion called Shrouded Isles will be out in in December. I have been playing DAOC since the day it came out and I haven't lost interest yet.
I hope that Verant/Sony learns from their experience with Everquest and develops a more rounded game. The Star Wars intellectual property is very well developed and deserves a good game. Sadlly, Verant has not been the most responsive of companies in the past.
I am looking forward to SWG immensely. It may be the game to pull me out of DAOC, but its gonna have to be a lot more than just eye-candy to do so.
"The first time I got drunk, I got married. The second time I bought a chimpanzee, after that I stayed sober" Arian Seid
You can be a normal person that has a stronger sense of the force but isn't a Jedi, they're called Force Adepts. Their's no real faction/alignment choice to be one, and it requires no training..you just are aware..you can do some small force tricks, nothing majoir. Anyone can be one, of any trade or temperament. But of course, a real Jedi would eat them for lunch.
As for Sith, you can't be one. Their are only 2 given Sith at any time; a master and an apprentice. You can, however, be a Dark Jedi, but only by first becoming a real Jedi and then falling out of grace.
As for EQ, if you think that's a balanced game I have some swamp land in Florida to sell you. I can divide that game by class in a ton of ways..those that solo, those that are forced to group for experience...those that suck in the beginning, those that suck in the end game. Their is not one class that is as good solo as they are grouped. Not ONE.
Finally, math books without any of that base 6 crap in them.
Or, if you'd rather not shell out a monthly fee in addition to the initial cost to play a Star Wars RPG, there are a couple free alternatives - The Star Wars Combine or Star Wars Unleashed, which is based on SWC. Neither are entirely complete yet, but then, the programmers and admins aren't getting any money out of it and both games run on personal funds and donations.
Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF
Just to add to your points (which in my observation, are absolutely correct):
Most Slashdotters won't remember this, but back in 1977-78, when the first StarWars fanfic hit the streets, Lucas went absolutely ballistic and tried quite seriously to stamp it out.
Naturally it just went underground, and after a few rounds of legal whack-a-mole, Lucas grudgingly allowed as how maybe fanfic and his copyrights could peacefully coexist**, mainly because he was smart enough to recognise fanfic as free advertising. But if he could control it, he would still stamp it out. Even so, LucasArts HAS nixed "unauthorized" fan clubs.
** So long as there's no sex. To quote Lucas, "There is no sex in the Star Wars universe." That's why SW slash fanfic is still underground.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?