Massive Star Wars Galaxies Revamp

Shockeye writes "Over at f13.net we have posted an on-site report on the upcoming Star Wars Galaxies overhaul. SOE and LucasArts are changing the entire core of the game in order to make things more fun and make you feel like you really are a part of the Star Wars Universe." Indeed, F13 has the goods, and a lot of analysis in their forums. Available elsewhere is the community letter that unveiled the changes, commentary from Aggro Me, and a breakdown of what exactly is happening. From F13: "I don't know how else to explain it other than SOE has done the right thing. They've revitalized combat in an MMOG. It's a huge step in the right direction. Do I think they'll perfect it here? No. But it's by far the most interesting thing a studio has done. They've taken a gamble, and from what I've seen it's paid off. In other words, they've added the 'Wars' back to Star Wars. It's been in the works for over a year now. In fact, the expansions could probably be called smokescreens for the launch of the real game. It'll shake things up."

Comments

Good to see a publisher step up.

[flipper65]

Good for SOE, it takes a lot to swallow your pride and admit that your game is not up to snuff. Then to suck it up and put the time, effort and money into improving it shows some backbone and character. I haven't played galaxies for about six months now, but I may very well give it another shot.

Woo, Combat.

[ivan256]

There are so many forms of competition that multiple humans can engage in. Why the obscession with combat in MMORPGs? Are we all savages? I can only think of one massive game out there that breaks the mold, and is marketed as a mainstream title. With all these competing developers trying to differentiate themselves, why aren't we seeing more games where the focus is something other than combat? While they're at it, they can try to come up with something where the number of hours you've logged in the game (experience points) and how quick your reflexes are, or how big a group you can coordinate as the sole characteristics that determine victory.

I think it's time we look back into the history of multi-player online gaming and start to pull some concepts from BBS doors. Sure, some had combat... Real-time even; but many had other forms of competition as well. Trading, creative construction, logic, politics, etc...

Re:Woo, Combat.

[EngineeringMarvel]

Trading, creative construction, logic, politics

I'm not sure if you have played SWG before, but I did for about 6 months some time before the first revamp. SWG actually does have political and economical competition. More so than any other MMORPG I have played. The very fact that players in SWG can setup their own stores and market their own crafted items through those stores makes it unique. The political arena in the game is different too. Player created towns have their own mayors that are actually elected upon by the citizens who belong to that particular town. I have seen on many occassions in the town my toon lived in having a very active mayor race. I can't tell you how many times the the players in the race would chat with me about what I wanted the town to be and what they would do as mayor. You really picked a bad topic/game to make a point about how games are combat centric.

Re:Woo, Combat.

[badasscat]

there are so many forms of competition that multiple humans can engage in. Why the obscession with combat in MMORPGs?

Well, it is called Star Wars. What would you expect a MMO game based on Star Wars to be like? Have you not seen the movies? The whole point of them is the good vs. evil swashbuckling-style space combat. (Lucas himself seemed to have forgotten this for a while...)

Maybe there's room for a non-combat oriented MMORPG on the market, but Star Wars Galaxies should not be that game. It's not Star Wars without the "Wars".

By that same token, I think this sounds like a great update. If I had more free time it might be enough for me to re-activate my subscription, which I cancelled specifically because I thought the game was a) boring, and b) too much like work. MMORPG's really need to be more fun across the board, IMO, and this one specifically was in dire need of a combat revamp. But the other changes they're making - no more "buying" skills, no more item decay (never understood that in any MMORPG), more movie-focused classes, etc. all sound like good changes too. Sounds like this game is finally becoming what it should have been in the first place.

Does that mean I forgive them for releasing a beta to the public and charging both the cost of the game and the monthly fees to play it in the meantime? No. The industry should not work that way. But at least they've done the mea culpa now and can hopefully move on.

Re:Woo, Combat.

[bugbread]

Yet the video games on the shelf at your local game store focus on combat almost exclusively.

And yet you've chosen a genre (MMORPGs) known for having much more than combat as your venue for this complaint? I played and rapidly quit SWG. It wasn't, for me, much fun. But I don't hesitate to point out that it offered not only fighting, but crafting, economics, politics, dancing, music, and role playing. Not all beautifully rounded out (dancing and music weren't implemented so great), but some of it was quite full (read any forums about price gouging, merchant guilds in price collusion, and the like for insight about how important the economic sphere was to the game...and remember that it wasn't just gouging for combat related things, but decorative clothing, home furnishings, vehicles, mounts, and the like).

It's like complaining about how violence is all you see on TV in a discussion about an episode of the Golden Girls where one person slaps another.

Re:Woo, Combat.

[Xarius]

FFXI (which I play) has trading on a large level, from Auction Houses down to individual player Bazaars.

* Crafting is a massive part of the game, where you can learn cooking, woodworking, fishing, alchemy, goldsmithing etc.
* The politics is quite prominent, where each of the three nations (Jeuno is neutral) competes for control of territory, thus dictating prices in that area, NPC's etc. If one nation controls area foo, certain shops may stock items bar for that amount of time
* The quests are numerous, and also count towards how famous you are in each town and city. As well as being the only way to get certain equipment and items.
* The missions increase your military rank in your nation by performing lengthy quests and such.
* Also there is Ballista and Garrison "sporting" events, where you compete with a lot of other people in the same situation.

I know I am biased towards this game, but combat is not the only focus. A lot of people become intensely rich by being one of few who can manufacture a certain item, or who can teleport people to certain places. Other people go for the fame, or the highest fishing level (not easy to achieve) or for the rarest items.

Re:Woo, Combat.

[XenoRyet]

In this particular instance, combat is a main focus because the Universe the game is set in ( one that was established before the game was even thought of) is engauged in a war that touches nearly every aspect of that Universe. That may just push the argument back a level to why war makes a compelling story, but it does explain this instance.

I also belive it is inaccurate to say that practicaly every game item, skill point, and money originate from combat. I've had a Galaxies character since launch, and have played at least a little in every phase of the games evolution, and in all of them, the richest characters, in both items and money, were always the merchant/crafters. Most of the people I knew in game with the most impressive spreads never fired a shot. They amassed their wealth by using the economy, not as spoils of combat.

Re:Woo, Combat.

[bugbread]

And, again, this brings up the point: why are you then discussing it in a topic about this game? When I played SWG, I was a roleplaying dancer/musician, who also crafted on the side. Combat was a diversion to me. I gained my raw materials through mining. I gained my items by creating them using my mined resources, or the money I obtained from selling my mined resources in order to buy other materials. I gained skill points by crafting, dancing, and playing music. I gained my money by (again) selling my resources, and in tips for playing music and dancing.

Yes, what you say is true, about many other games, but not this one. And there is a lot of violence on TV, but not on the Golden Girls. I'm not refuting what you say, but I don't understand what it has to do with the topic at hand. We're discussing one of the exceptions, and yet your initial argument was phrased as if this game was part of the problem.

Well, kudos to SOE.

[sc0ttyb]

This just might get me off my addiction to WoW so I can feed another addiction.

I quit SWG several months ago because I just got bored. A couple friends hounded me to try WoW, and I since I had just gotten burned out on SWG I was reluctant to play it. Once I did, though, it snared me. I don't know what it is, but WoW just made MMORPGs fun for me again. Maybe it's because when you level up you actually FEEL more powerful and can visibly confirm it. There are no encumbrance stats to worry about, just level/class requirements. I like that. Simple where it counts, complex when needed.

Though I do miss the player structures (houses, guild halls, cantinas), huge amounts of customization, and depth of crafting/trade in SWG. Maybe Blizzard will add some of those things in the future.

Re:Here we go again

[EddieBurkett]

The first CU taught me that sometimes you have to ignore everyone bitching about the change to make a better game. Once you got past the fact that certain people were screwed by the CU, it was easy to see that combat had improved. (Of course, the best part of the first CU was that when I finally did get fed up with SOE and cancelled my subscription, I already had an understanding of how to play WoW.)

Also, since they've already been losing people, why not completely gut the system and rebuild it? It can't hurt anymore than it already is; they can only gain subscriptions at this point.

If there's anyone I feel bad for, its the people that have stuck with the game since launch. This is now the second time they've had the rug pulled out from under them. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice... we won't get fooled again" notwithstanding, Sony REALLY bit them in the ass by launching the newest expansion in the last week, and NOW revealing what is going on. How many people purchased that expansion only to find out that they won't be able to use it like they thought in the upcoming game? That's quite the low blow.

Despite all that, I was about due to resubscribe to SWG to keep my character 'alive' and check up on the state of the game. I doubt I'll play for more than a month, but this certainly sounds like an interesting month to check in.

Its a shame that a game with such promise as SWG is being run by such clueles asshats as they have at SOE (and apparently LucasArts, as well.)

This is impossible due to lag

[rbanzai]

Lag is frequently so bad in SWG (even in semi-deserted areas) that combat can be a slideshow where you're suddenly dead from an enemy that never even showed up on your radar.

There is no way... NONE... that they can make this "real time" thing work unless there is a fundamental change to the way the servers run. Collision detection? Are they crazy? Just try driving your speeder through the cities around Coronet on pretty much any server and watch the screen jump and bob and snap as objects and house pop up and vanish. And that's just driving! :)

In WoW this kind of lag usually only appeared in a heavily populated area. In a battle with more than say 15 people things could slow down. In SWG lag is an ever present, mind-numbing pox.

Re:Sounds more like an FPS now...

[GuyWithLag]

Of course you can't, you would never make it past level 1...

Re:Since anyone can be a Jedi, a Jedi is like anyo

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

You shoot purple lightning bolts out your fingertips, just like the emperor of the entire galaxy!

You damage a bounty hunter for 3 points of damage!

** A bounty hunter flamethrowers YOU for 1273 points of damage!

** You have died!