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Star Wars Galaxies Takes Jump To Lightspeed
Thanks to 1UP for its article discussing the recent announcement of Star Wars Galaxies' space combat expansion, Jump To Lightspeed, which takes the PC MMO into the heavens, and "focuses primarily on [space-based] vehicles for both combat and transportation, promising at least 15 new modes of travel." There are screenshots and an official FAQ over at the Star Wars Galaxies site, explaining "you can expect to pilot X-wings, Y-wings, TIE fighters, TIE interceptors, and many other recognizable starfighters", and, dodging some sarcastic online reaction, an interview with producer Haden Blackman over at IGN PC argues: "In many ways, we're looking at Jump to Lightspeed as 'X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter' online - much of our focus is on that dogfighting experience."
It's been literally years since Lucasarts did a space combat sim. The last one they made was X-Wing:Alliance or something, which was a story based game running a really recent rev. of the X-Wing engine. Unfortunately the game doesn't run under Windows XP with an nVidia graphics adapter, and LucasArts haven't bothered maintaining it after all these years. Can't blame them, though.
Star Wars: Rebellion was a MOO style game that was completely underrated, it looks like there are no plans to release an updated game (possibly because of the tepid reception from the new and horribly aborted Master of Orion 3?)
Of course, now there's a new X-Wing style game, and you have to buy Galaxies and pay a monthly subscription fee just to play it. Typical.
I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me. -- G.I.R.
I'd like to see a modernized version of Rebellion and a new X-Wing game set during the Clone Wars. Make 'em fully modern graphically and apply another few years worth of advancement into the single-player game. Maybe add a dynamic campaign. I've played some pickup missions in flight sims using a dynamic multiplayer campaign - that would rock. But I'm dreaming.
I have this sneaking suspicion the the MMORPG space combat isn't built on X-Wing v Tie Fighter or anything like a space combat sim.
And all that MOO3 proved was that games that aren't fun don't sell very well. Word of mouth on this title is just a notch or two below Daikatana levels. Maybe it should be OINK3, I dunno. Maybe for $5... yes, I'll admit to bagging a game that I haven't played - I had to, it was a good line.
Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
By the time it's released, there will probably be three Jedi for every ship!
This new expansion is going to drive economic inflation to new heights, as the people with several hundred million will pay it for a starship or components and the crafters know this. Therefore, said crafters won't be selling to the people who haven't bought money or been in the game since Beta and have an established income. I think the space expansion will lead to more people entering the game, but less people actually sticking with it. This rule will generally apply untill there are enough starship products and services in the market to force the prices down to more human levels.
For those of you that are not in the game but are considering it, your average mission payout for a solo mission is about 1200 or so credits. If a starship costs you half a million, it's going to take a LOT of mission running to get there, either that or grouping on the "adventure planets". The payouts are better with missions on these planets, but unless your Guild/Player Association is out there with you, you'll likely have a group of complete fools that will get you killed more often then they will make you money.
On and upward note, Sony has removed the necessity for having a membership to read the SWG forums. If you're interested in getting in and not burning-out before you get your X-wing, I'd be patient and poke around over here [until things settle to a dull roar following release.
Given Sony's history of buggy releases and expansions, being patient but informed may prove to be a much more agreeable path.