Massively^™

Or: Thoughts on the state of the game from the point of view of a returning player.

A long time ago (a few years back) in a Galaxy far, far away (not really), I played Star Wars Galaxies on a daily basis. I left shortly before the New Game Enhancements were rolled out, but after the Combat Upgrade; which means that I didn't suffer the shock of having my character's current skill set removed without warning and redesigned as a completely different class. For the record, my main character was a Master Teras Kasi Artist and Master Doctor, and was about halfway through the Aurilia Village quests to unlock my Jedi slot.

As Michael said previously in his Galaxies history lesson, what's past is past, and while I'm not the person to demand that Galaxies be rolled back to the 'good old days', I'm not going to deny that I enjoyed the game most before the Combat Upgrade. So, with the game's Fifth Anniversary having just passed, I decided to install the 14-day trial from the Galaxies website, give the game a try, and see what kind of state it's in just now.

Read on for my impressions of Galaxies, from the point of view of an ex-player, returning for the first time in years.

If you choose a combat profession in Star Wars Galaxies, the crafting system is completely bypassed in the Tutorial. While you do have the ability to craft items, you're apparently supposed to figure that out yourself. You're told how to open your Inventory and Datapad, but not given any real instruction on either. Considering that you'll be using the Datapad to store Waypoints, Pets, Vehicles, Ships and Draft Schematics (assuming you figure out the crafting), it would have been nice to have a little light shone on the subject. There is of course a New Player Guide for Galaxies on the official site, but that's beside the point really – you shouldn't have to Alt-Tab and search the Internet just to get information on the basics systems of the game.

The Legacy quest line is in place for Trader characters as well; it just doesn't really go anywhere. The first few Legacy quests for Traders explain how to use the various crafting tools in the game and introduce you to the basics of crafting, but things just fizzle out after that.

For the life of me I can't remember how Star Wars Galaxies started off, way back when, but nowadays after choosing your class, the game takes you through a Tutorial. You'll find yourself waking up onboard an unnamed Imperial space station, where you've apparently been held captive due to your being 'special' in some indefinable way. It could have something to do with the monthly fee you pay SOE in the real world, but I may just be cynical. Regardless, you'll find none other than C3P0 giving you hints and tips on basic actions – movement, dialogue, combat and equipping. Immediately after that, you're busted out by Han Solo, Chewbacca and R2-D2, whose presence goes unexplained.

After helping to kill a couple of Stormtroopers, you'll find yourself on the Millennium Falcon, gunning down TIE Fighters and being threatened by Darth Vader himself. It's an interesting way to open the game, but it somehow feels a little too much. I can see what SOE are trying to do here – hook you in straight away by ticking all the geek buttons. Big lore heroes, Storm Troopers of dubious marksmanship, Darth Vader and space combat in the Millennium Falcon, all within the first 5 minutes; it's just obviously transparent. Had you stumbled across any of these characters of your own accord and interacted with them in the main game, it might have been more realistic, but to run into them before your feet even touch solid ground tests your suspension of disbelief.

Lorin "DeadMeat" Jameson has been a big part of the new wave of communication between the players of Star Wars Galaxies and the folks at SOE who make it. It's therefore very much worth noting that Jameson is moving out of his production role on the project, to a development directorship at the Sony Online Entertainment - Austin studio. This announcement comes in Jameson's semi-regular producer's letter, which otherwise recaps the last few weeks since Chapter 10 hit the live servers.

Christopher Field is stepping into his position as Producer on the game, and generally notes his enthusiasm for the Star Wars IP in his first address to the players. Aside from his new position Jameson also notes that while Game Update 5 will be on the Test Server next week, Update 6 is going to be delayed. "The team is now pretty much focused on the Battle for Echo Base and I have to say that this is one of the most ambitious chapters we have attempted to date. The Hoth terrain and battlespace is huge and the features that are being added to support this classic Star Wars moment are incredibly exciting. In fact it is such a large undertaking that we will be delaying Update 6 until we have more of the pieces in place to ensure that we truly deliver on this encounter. Once we have broken up some of the larger development rocks for this chapter we will be able to pick up on the update tracks again."

Yesterday was the fifth anniversary of Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided. To celebrate we offered up a history lesson that began with the transition from Beta testing (a subject we discussed earlier today) and ended with the New Game Enhancements, Publish 25. Today we'll step past that roadblock, the elephant in the room, to discuss what Star Wars Galaxies has become since the playing field was rearranged.

Though Star Wars Galaxies is a highly polarizing title, it remains a singular offering in the MMO genre. No other title quite encompasses the array of features and gameplay options that Galaxies does, a testament to the game's DNA as an open-world experience. Come along as we explore some of the game's biggest changes and most noteworthy modern features.

Chapter 6 - Masters of the Wild

The addition of new content, and significant revamps to classes, continued through 2006 and into 2007. Each of the classes had their abilities tweaked and retweaked, examining components for weaknesses. Chapter updates were themed to not only new content, but to classes as well. As a result players could clearly anticipate when and how their gameplay experience would change. A lack of communication was the ultimate root cause behind the player base's NGE hatred, and drastic steps were taken to improve those avenues of discussion.

The Galactic Senate, a volunteer group of players chosen to represent various aspects of the game, has been one of their more successful initiatives. Senators maintain a list of 'top 5' most pressing concerns. There's a senator for each class, one for PvP, one for the Storytelling system, and each makes an effort to convey player concerns to the developers. A constant directive from the players, heard over and over again after the NGE, was that there were game elements they really missed. Beast pets, pet training, and BioEngineering were near the very top of that list, and the developers responded.

The Masters of the Wild Chapter reintroduced beast pets and pet cloning with a whole new series of gameplay components. The first expertise system was added to the game specifically for the new discipline of Beast Mastery. Beast Masters could explore entirely new avenues of character development, either training up beasts for combat in the field or developing their scientific skills to clone high quality beasts in a lab. A unique enzyme/DNA sampling mini-game wrapped the system in another layer of gameplay, and presaged other systems that would be added down the line. Other expertise systems are slated to follow Beast Mastery - Droid Commander is likely coming down the pipe before the end of the year.

Chapter 7 - A Collection of Heroes

Though Beast Mastery was a welcome addition to the game, a refreshing pre-NGE component that players deeply cared for, other systems have had a greater impact on overall gameplay. Two such systems were bundled together for the Chapter 7 release, A Collection of Heroes. That one patch, added to the game late last year, has had a revitalizing effect on player morale the 'purpose' of a player's time in Star Wars Galaxies.

Collections are one of the most popular elements of modern SWG gameplay, offering players combat-based and exploration-based objectives to keep their time in-world fulfilling. They're essentially an Achievements-style system, sending players to the far-flung reaches of the galaxy on mini-quests of infinite variety. One set of collections has you seeking out rare weapons secreted in inconspicuous places. Another asks you to kill a simply ridiculous number of Womp Rats, the fuzzy nuisances that plague the deserts of Tatooine. Completing collections earns players experience points, titles, and in some circumstances even loot. The best collections offer beautiful pieces of art or sculptures that can be featured inside a player's house.

Paired with the solo-play oriented Collections was the introduction of what SWG calls Heroic Encounters. They're instanced missions, intended for high-level group play and offering some of the most difficult challenges in the game. Each is as intensely Star-Warsy as the developers can make them, pitting players against well-known foes like IG-88, lore-based threats like a Dark Witch of Dathomir, and even bringing the hilarious character HK-47 of KOTOR fame. Additional encounters have been added in subsequent patches, adding in an encounter with a Star Destroyer gone rogue and the deadly/unpredictable Sith Lord Exar Kun. The rewards for completing these encounters are substantial, with a token currency being exchangable for the proverbial 'phat loot'.

Future additions to the game will build heavily on these two systems, with players expecting new Collections and Heroic Encounters in every Chapter push. The next announced Heroic Encounter is mind-blowing for players old and new: the Battle for Hoth. Of course, new story and lore elements are terrific, but there's still systems work to be done.

Game Update 1

That need for systems work is why, earlier this year, the SWG team began moving to a two-pronged patching approach. Game Updates are now released on regular schedule, purely addressing gameplay and bug-fixing needs. These take the pressure off of Chapter Updates, which contain new lore and quest elements. Immediate-concern bugs that need to be fixed are addressed in a prompt manner, with a Game Update quickly moving those fixes to the live servers.

Meanwhile, the hard-to-balance all-new lore and quest components can be given extensive testing and polishing before rolling out to the players. With Chapter Updates only coming every other month or so, the Star Wars Galaxies developers can ensure that when new content does arrive, it's the highest quality they possibly make it.

Fifth Anniversary

The Game Update/Chapter Update split bring us to today, with the most recent Chapter having just gone live last week. Chapter 10 added in a whole new dungeon, what the galaxies team calls a Theme Park. Theme Parks have been in the game since the beginning, but this latest addition is a far more advanced concept, based around a player-favorite group called the Meatlumps and utilizing a unique-in-the-game special purpose currency. The looking for group mechanic, an offering that was sub-par when the game launched and was archaic by todays standards, received a complete overhaul and polish.

Additions like Chapter 10, the upcoming Game Update 5, and discussion of the Battle of Hoth make this an incredibly exciting time to be a Star Wars Galaxies player. Yes, the game is substantially different than it was than when it launched. The SOE folks have openly admitted the NGE was a mistake. But here, now, there's only one Star Wars MMO on the market. The developers are talking closely with the community to understand what they want, and great things are happening in the Galaxy Far, Far Away.

What's past is past, and nothing can change that. Welcome back to Star Wars Galaxies.

With Star Wars Galaxies, unbelievably, celebrating its fifth anniversary (and winner of the Spinal Tap, "Where are they now?" category, 2008) I was asked to reflect on my experiences in the beta program. Most likely, time healed a lot of wounds and I've probably got my new rose-colored glasses on, so forgive me I'm overly nostalgic. Like a lot of people, I'd applied to the beta program and would compulsively hit the refresh button on my webmail client whenever Kevin O'Hara (Q3PO) sent out the "we added more testers" e-mails. On February 18, 2003 (clearly, I keep too many e-mails to pull that one up) I got my acceptance letter and promptly ordered the CDs.

Read on for an account of my love/hate relationship with Star Wars Galaxies' Beta program.

Planning to celebrate Empire Day and Star Wars Galaxies' Fifth Anniversary this weekend? Make sure you know what you need to!

Today marks the fifth anniversary of Star Wars Galaxies' launch. This day in 2003, thousands of people crowded the login and registration servers, all eager to carve out their own piece of the world Lucas had wrought. The reality today is very different, and despite celebrations over the new Empire Day event and recent chapter publishes, something lingers in the air - a sort of dark cloud on the SWG player's horizon.

Today and tomorrow we're going to chart the path that has lead from there to here. We'll reflect on the game's early days, some of the early patches that added groundbreaking content and systems to the game, and even mull over the biggest change to hit the MMO scene, ever - the NGE. Tomorrow we'll discuss how the game has changed since the New Game Enhancements went in, and look to the future of the title. Join us for a galactic history lesson that begins "A long time ago ... "

Jump to Lightspeed (Publish 11)

Publish 11, the first expansion to Star Wars Galaxies, brought the launch game to a 'feature-complete' state. The addition of the space game, along with Mounts, Vehicles, and Player Cities in publishes 4 and 5, made Star Wars Galaxies the title LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment had hyped up prior to the game's initial launch. The space game was extremely well received, effectively incorporating an X-Wing/TIE Fighter style game into an MMO for the first time in the genre's history.

The simple addition of transportation to the game can't be understated either. At launch, the only methods for moving around were either walking (it could take the better part of an hour to cross a planet) or the ubiquitous shuttle stops. With a five-minute timer between each shuttle pickup, travel was slow and irregular. You had to really want to get where you were going, and you were likely to spend time talking to people on the way. The speed of mounts and vehicles (and later the fast travel of an interplanetary ship jaunt) made the Star Wars galaxy a much smaller place.

Cities were (and still are) a fan-favorite element of the game. From the earliest days Architects had been creating homes for use with the game's unique housing system. Buildings are place-able almost anywhere on a planet outside of NPC cities, and within those houses player-made furniture is endlessly tweakable and arrangeable. The addition of the city concept allowed clusters of player homes to organize into municipalities. The larger the city, the more perks it received. Mayors were elected, a sense of community and organization developed. It was a really unique moment in MMO gaming history.

The Jedi Grinding days

For months after the game was released, player speculation ran high on how Jedi would be introduced into the game. There was an entire Jedi Speculation forum on the official SWG boards, which regularly ran through a dozen threads a day on the subject. Each was more arcane than the last, offering some strange and lore-appropriate way for players to unlock their 'force sensitive slots'. Prior to the game's launch these slots were said to be filled with permadeath Jedis - a handful of deaths would be allowed for each Jedi character before their death was assured. In this way, the Jedi population would be kept low.

That was not, of course, how the Jedi system was introduced to the game. Players fully understood the whys and the wherefors when the first Jedi went public with her path to glory. Devices called Holocrons were the key; in Star Wars lore, holocrons are ancient devices that allowed characters to hone their Jedi knowledge. In Star Wars Galaxies, holocrons were hints at the class unlocks you needed to complete in order to unlock your Jedi slot. Players accessing holocrons would be told - quite directly - a class. In order to 'complete' that holocron, you needed to master that class. Once done, accessing another holocron would inform you of another class.

The CU (Publish 15)

Because Star Wars Galaxies was so unpolished when it launched, many elements - even major game elements - were partially implemented or poorly tested. The BioEngineer class, for example, was added just a week or two before the title hit store shelves. As a result the cloning expert in the game was a barely functional mess. The main combat system was fully implemented but, despite the lengthy Beta test, was also highly idiosyncratic. In an effort to answer player concerns and streamline the game's playability, the designers undertook a massive overhaul of the combat system. Where, previously, every character was allowed to use every item (more or less) there would now be restrictions on who could use what. There would be clearly marked bonuses and penalties for using certain times of armor and weapons, and how weapons and combat worked would be clarified as well.

It was easily one of the largest changeovers attempted in a post-launch MMO, and the hope was that clarified combat would attract new players. The current players were vocally opposed to a number of elements in the CU, with entertainers and crafters the most vehement. Those classes - once able to sally forth into combat alongside their big-game hunting friends - would now be restricted to pea-shooters and cardboard robes. The catch - the thing that few people recall these years later - is that the Combat Update worked. Afterward players found engaging in combat a far more rewarding experience, and (the rumour goes) subscriptions actually rose back to at-launch levels. Perhaps even beyond.