SWG

Gaming

MMO’s are time consuming, frustrating, fascinating and ultimately one of the best things on the web.

I was first drawn in by Star Wars Galaxies. I felt out of place at the start as I wasn’t one of the die hard Star wars fans but soon found out that many there were like me. At the beginning, that game was awe inspiring. I could be a hunter and explorer, hang out in cantinas, and be a doctor or a crafter. The possibilities were endless and each had its place. You could switch, combine professions, and pick your hybrid version that was best for you. People used the cantinas as social gathering spots and conversations and fun could always be found. Need a group? There were groups waiting for you there. Cities were bustling, the wild was wild, quests and adventures abounded.

Perfection? So it seemed…but things changed. Some was inevitable-mounts and then vehicles arrived-as they should have to fit with Star Wars, but now the wild was no longer wild. What had been a 15 minute perilous trek was now a minute away. Content was lost as we just skated past it. Housing became an eyesore. It’s hard too feel you are out in the wild when there is a house on every hill. Idyllic scenic spots became resorts. Worse, with houses and player cities, the main cities were empty. The game lost its sense of a global community and splintered into sub groups. As people moved on, cities became ghost towns and it became harder and harder to find anywhere with open space to recapture the feel of the beginning.

And then there were Jedi. Yes, there had to be Jedi but the way it was done…. If you were there, little more needs to be said. What could have been done differently? I wish that it had been random by cd key-perma death after 3-new cd chosen at random on the previous death and capped by server. It wasn’t though and it almost killed the game. SWG changed but in doing so they gave up much of what had made them special. No more mix and match, no more 30 professions, back to the tried and true system --. Perhaps it was for the best at that point but they lost their uniqueness.

I no longer play but reactivate about every 6 months just to see( and to walk through my house filled with the relics from the games heyday). It was such a great game and it is sad to see what happened and to think of what could have been.