Massively

There are some nice SWG mods such as a full DX10 update that SOE will never do that fans pulled off over at swgmods. They really bring the game alive by adding a flavor of star wars and graphic updates made by fans for the fans. That engine is so toned down with all the graphics turned up compared to when it was in development. The lag comes from the fact that the engine was never meant for the NGE combat system as it is coded.

To the OP you really need to upgrade your PC. This game is seven years old- no offense. My second PC handled it fine with a nvidia 7800. Before that I cant remember what I had back in SWG beta. You can get a good deal for older hardware that will work fine.

The game as it stands now is better then it was when the "NGE" was released. It is a million years better. I still miss the skill system and a lot of time was wasted having to repair the damage that LUCAS ARTS and SOE did with the way they launched the NGE when WoW started to kick their ass. But I still love the player house system and crafting.

You gotta learn not to live in the past. For people like you SWG can't ever recover from its past reputation by moving forward, it has to move backward to improve. If you go backwards, you aren't progressing. Judge SWG for what it is now, not what made it what it is today. Sure it did a big change that served as a warning to all MMO developers, but the game has outlived Matrix Online and Tabula Rasa and others, which is something at least.

I resubbed recently, and it ain't that horrible. It's like new nostalgia. It's both old and new. 90% of the good stuff I enjoyed(housing and using the wide range of clothing and armor and appearance customization to look exactly how I want) are still in there. That alone makes it still a fun game for me.

@RogueJedi86

To say that longing for the PreCU is to look back, is actually a rather subjective statement. - For those of us who felt betrayed by the catastrofuck that was the NGE, or even the CU, it wouldn't be a regression to return to that. It WOULD be a progression.

The CU/NGE is where the game took a huge step backwards, and by undoing those changes they will be taking a big step forward. THAT would be progression. From a simplified capitalistic marketing choice, to the original creative sandbox game with artistic integrity that was SWG.

Zaniaz, like I said later in this same topic, SWG is still a sandbox in all regards. All the NGE did was add a few quests and change the combat system and classes, none of which a sandbox game destroy. SWG was/is a sandbox game because of the huge planets where players could place structures anywhere, not to mention the wide range of clothing and character customization options You want a game more sandboxy than that, try Second Life, I'm sure they'll accept you with open arms.

to roguejedi:
To many, NGE was a gigantic Regression of swg. A nearly endless range of character combinations via different skill trees, and the most intricate and detailed crafting system I have ever seen exist in any MMO, was dumbed down to pick a class and level up. At the time the classes did not even have specialization trees.

One thing I found interesting about it was it the way it all worked out, my character kind of created itself, I was Trandoshan so I decided to use unarmed, I found myself killing many creatures, so I picked up the skinning (from scouting) and I liked being able to heal myself so I picked up medic abilities, then since I had medic and scouting I became a creature handler. All very organically, I was gaining that XP so I figured, why not get what I had extra xp for anyways. I still miss my Mountain Dewback named Fluffy.

The game had numerous flaws, but also had a huge amount of potential, however rather than refining, they decided to scrap it and go with the lowest common denominator approach to games, which I guess works, just not really for me.

It's almost ironic that you left with the CU, since it was nothing next to the big changes of the NGE. All it did was divide armor into types and give people levels.

Still plenty of sandbox. Just because they added some quests and made the combat more shootery doesn't mean it's not sandbox anymore. Maybe you're thinking of something else(or else mangling the definition of sandbox).

I know about SWG-Emu, but what's SWG-ANH?

SWG still has "what worked in SWG (player housing, player towns, Star Wars lore)", so I don't see what you're complaining about. It's still a sandbox too, and people still play. I resubbed last month and Starsider is just filled to the brim with players.

Here is what killed SWG for me.

1. The introduction of the Jedi so that every Tom, Dick and Harry could have one. The idea of Jedi permadeath was one of the greatest video game ideas ever because it matched the lore and timeline. "The Jedi are all but extinct". It also allowed immersion into the universe because everyone wasn't a F-ing Jedi running around with their lightsaber hanging out. I know this hasn't changed.

2. The run their forums like the 3rd Reich. I never met a bunch of forum Nazis like SOE. Has that changed? Will I be able to post a link to an older post in making an argument and not get an immediate ban? SOE gave the impression that they put more money in forum managment than they did game development. I'm dead on serious that the forum managment of SWG was the worst of any MMORPG that I have ever played. The impression that they constantly gave is that their company focus was to S&*t on their player base.

there were numerous other problems that perhaps they have fixed (space combat being one of them - I've moved on to EVE). If they fixed 1 and 2 - I'll give it a shot.

My recommendations is that they:

1. Go F2P
2. Do a graphics revamp like EVE did. They game looks its age.