Star Wars Galaxies
| Star Wars Galaxies | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Sony Online Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | LucasArts |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | June 26, 2003 |
| Genre(s) | MMORPG |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided (often abbreviated SWG by fans) is a Star Wars themed MMORPG for Microsoft Windows PCs, developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts. It was released on June 26, 2003. With several hundred thousand subscribers, it is one of the most popular MMORPGs in the United States.
Galaxies, like most MMORPGs has a monthly subscription service and various pricing plans depending on the length of the plan. Per month the fee for playing the game is $14.99 USD. There is also a three-month plan ($13.99 USD per month), a six-month plan ($12.99 USD per month), and a yearly plan ($11.99 USD per month). There is also a All Access plan, allowing you to play all Sony Online games ($21.95 per month).
Development and release
With a Star Wars license and veteran designer Raph Koster at the helm, expectations among gamers ran high during the development of Galaxies. Many industry professionals expected that these forces would push the subscription numbers past the one million mark, a feat accomplished only thus far in Asia by MMORPGs such as Lineage. As development wore on, the release date was pushed back, features were cut, and Sony cancelled planned ports for the Xbox and PlayStation 2, most likely due to RAM limitations.
The game was released successfully, and Sony updates it only during times when it is most needed, or seen fit. The game requires users to have 512MB RAM at a minimum, which has been changed since launch, where only 256MB RAM was required. It is recommended that users have at least 1024MB ram for best performance. The game requires that the computer supports DirectX 9. As with many MMORPGs, these specifications have been known to change over time.
Features
After release, the developers continued working on the features cut during development. In November 2003 two of those most anticipated features, creature mounts and player-created cities, were enabled. Also, on November 7, 2003 it was announced that the first player had unlocked a Force-sensitive character slot needed to become a Jedi.
The Star Wars Galaxies environment has some differences from other MMORPGs. Initially, each month Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) would produce a patch for the game that supplied the players with new content and more of the story. While the game does get usually one major patch a month, currently the story content drops are done less frequently. Star Wars Galaxies has a unique player-run economy, in that many items needed in the game (blasters, armor, landspeeders, starships) are primarily only available from other player character crafters.
In the game, players choose among a variety of professions, from bounty hunter to musician. Through the use of a "skill tree" system, players can only master a certain number of professions (or aspects of a profession). Professions are designed to be somewhat interdependent, in that the player can handle perhaps three roles to a master level or many roles to an intermediate level. For example, a commando character could have some medic skills but would not be able to heal as well as a doctor or a combat medic, and a doctor would not have the offensive abilities of a commando or bounty hunter.
Star Wars Galaxies has the most professions out of any MMORPG. For easier usage the proffessions are organized into classes or starting professions. The starting professions are: Artisan, Marksman, Brawler, Scout, and Medic. Artisans can become the elite professions: Shipwrights, Droid Engineers, Architects, Weaponsmiths, Armorsmiths, Tailors, Merchants or Chefs. Marksmen can become Pistoleers, Carbineers or Riflemen. Brawlers can become Pikemen, Teras Kasi Artists, Fencers or Swordsmen. Entertainers can become Image Designers, Musicians or Dancers. Scouts can become Rangers or Creature Handlers, and Medics can become Doctors.
Hybrid Professions are professions that require skills from more than one starting profession. Hybrid Professions are usually a little harder to achieve but worth it in the long run. The Hybrid Professions are: Bio-Engineer, Bounty Hunter, Combat Medic, Commando, Smuggler, and Squad Leader.
The profession that doesn't really fit into any category is Jedi.
Skill points prevent people from learning too many skills, each person can learn approximately two-and-a-half elite professions. Skill points help drive the player economy by making it necessary for players to contact and pay people to do things for them. It also helps what is more evident in SWG than in most other games; group dependency. SWG is designed for everyone to work together. It takes much longer for people to gain experience (or XP) when working by themselves as opposed to in a group. This seems to be the opposite of Jagex's Runescape in which everything can be done by one's self. This is called soloing.
In addition, the Galactic Civil War aspect of fighting for the Rebel Alliance or the Galactic Empire is meant to provide another aspect to the Galaxies' "end game".
Expansions
Jump to Lightspeed
Sony Online Entertainment released the first expansion Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed on October 27, 2004. The expansion allows players to explore and battle in ten new sectors of outerspace, in more than twenty types of starships from the era between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, including familiar X-wings, TIE Fighters, and YT-1300s (same type as the Millennium Falcon), as well as new and never before seen ships created by the developers. It also adds real-time space shooter elements to the game, which makes an interesting combination with the MMORPG. Jump to Lightspeed also added many space missions, four space-specific professions, and two new playable species.
A player reward ship, the Sorosuub S-3000 Luxury Yacht (made famous as Lando Calrissan's Lady Luck), is given to players that have played for over 180 days. Despite the trademark feature of Lando's ship sporting weapons, the player's Yacht is a purely non combat vehicle. These ships are invincible (because they cannot defend themselves) and are non-tradeable.
The Sorosuub is a PoB (Portalized Object, or 'Player on Board'). The player can walk around the ship, which is similar to a medium house. It boasts three floors, and vertical glass windows provide maximum view to the nearby cosmos. It initially took one lot, having been classified as a house. Due to feedback by the players (with some crafters unable to use their ship due to all their lots being occupied with factories, harvesters, or storage houses) the development crew modified the Sorosuub to take no lots.
Piloting professions work differently to ground ones, because you have to complete a whole row of boxes, or 'tier' in order to advance to the next one. You have to complete missions to be granted training in the next box.
To master a squadron you have to kill a Corellian Corvette. After you achieve mastery, starship xp is replaced by 'faction prestige' (if you are alligned) which allows you to enter deep space and fight other players.
The player can join three "Squadrons" from each of the three "Groups", depending on ground faction. Imperials can become Imperial or Freelance pilots, Rebels can become Rebel or Freelance pilots, and neutral players can only become Freelancers. The pilot groups are as follows:
Alliance Pilot
The Rebellion utilises stolen, experimental, highly advanced ships which value quality over quantity. Due to their resource disadvantage against the Empire, they stress the importance of maintaining every craft to a satisfactory level. The Rebellion cannot afford to lose their ships, let alone their pilots, in reckless combat.
The Alliance ships are very balanced, focusing on specific roles. Their trademark ship, the X-Wing, boasts 3 Lasers without sacrificing agility; whilst the Y-Wing (and Master B-Wing) boasts massive power. The A-Wing is one of the most agile ships in the galaxy, able to fly circles around some of the Empire's finest ships.
- Vortex Squadron - Taking advantage of the Empire turning a blind eye to Moenia, which they believe to be only a city for artists, this city has become a breeding ground for the Alliance. The Vortex Squadron is situated here.
- Havok Squadron - Due to the CorSec's neutrality, it does not seek such groups such as the Rebel Havok Squad, perhaps due to their ignorance to the increasing Rebel sentiment here, or because they do not seek to make another enemy and endanger Corellia. The Havok Squad is based in Tyrena, far off from Coronet, away from the eyes of the Empire.
- Crimson Phoenix Squadron - Taking the fight straight to the Empire in their own backyard. The Crimson squad directly faces the Storm Squadron. The Crimson Squadron Pilot can expect great danger in their path. This squadron's first trainer is at the back of Mos Espa cantina.
Imperial Pilot
Some may say the Empire is only so powerful because of their incredible space force. Their ships are cutting edge, which focus on agility and speed over firepower. Combined with unparalleled numbers, enemies of the Empire will find themselves rapidly surrounded by ships moving at incredible speed, facing a guaranteed death.
- Imperial Inquisition - The Empire cannot fully trust even their loyal citizens in the increasing Alliance support in the Galactic Civil War. The Imperial Inquisition effectively works as a secret police, spying and taking down suspicious members or spies for the Alliance. The Inquisition operates on the Emperor's own retreat on Naboo (but the first trainer can be found in Kaadara), and are trained to eradicate the enemy quickly, and leave no traces.
- Black Epsilon - With the increasing hit-and-run tactics utilised by the Alliance, the Black Epsilon seeks to eliminate the Alliance's greatest threats so the brunt of the Empire can come crashing down on the weakened Alliance task force. The Black Epsilon Squadron can be compared to a Spec-ops force, working behind the lines, dealing crippling blows to the enemy.
The Black Epsilon operates on the Corellian moon of Talus, on the Imperial Outpost.
- Storm Squadron - The true example of the Empire's power, the Storm Squadron Pilot simply flies in the thick of battle, straight into the Rebel ranks. The Storm Squadron pilot is in great danger, constantly flying against huge numbers of Alliance pilots. This is widely considered the most difficult pilot profession in the game.
The squadron is based in Bestine, Tatooine.
Freelancer Pilot
The Freelancer is effectively a mercenary, although some are tilted to certain causes. They utilise ships developed initially for crime syndicates such as the Black Sun and the Hutts.
The Freelancer's ships are the heaviest in the game, boasting massive firepower and mammoth ships to simply outgun the enemy. Their Master Pilot Ship, the M22T Krayt, named after the famed Krayt Dragon of Tatooine, is the dragon of the skies as well, boasting 3 Guns sported on the front, and a turret controlled by a second gunner.
- CorSec (Corellian Security) - Neutral of the Neutral. The CorSec pilot can freely engage any ship, except fellow CorSec pilots. The CorSec care only for their security, and will defend itself from Rebels, Pirates, and even the Empire. The CorSec are expanding themselves to such planets as Dantooine, the mainly Rebellion populated planet.
- Smuggler's Alliance - As the name says: An alliance of Smugglers. One can expect to backstab, switch employers, anything for the Pilot to gain the maximum reward. Smugglers often have to break the law, which involves in engaging Imperial aligned forces. This tilts them slightly to the Rebellion, although the Smuggler's can attack Rebels as well, should they impede or hinder the Pilot's path. The trainer for this squadron can be found in the back of Mos Eisley cantina.
- RSF (Royal Security Forces) - Naboo's Flight Squadron. They are strongly allied to the Imperials, and are based in Theed. More precisely, the Palace. They cannot attack Imperial forces, and occasionally attack the Rebellion, although their main enemy seems to be the crime syndicate: The Black Sun, based in Endorian space.
Rage of the Wookiees
The second expansion for Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars Galaxies: Episode III Rage of the Wookiees, was announced in March 9, 2005 and released May 5, 2005. Rage of the Wookiees was released around the same time as the final Star Wars film, Revenge of the Sith.
Features included in the expansion are new spacefighters, resource mining in space, and cybernetic limbs for player's characters. The Rage of the Wookiees expansion can be bought as a package with all the expansions for $US 29.99 (Star Wars Galaxies: The Total Experience). Players that are already playing Star Wars Galaxies can instead activate the expansion online, and are given a Varactyl (animal ridden by Obi-Wan in the Star Wars Episode III movie). Players who purchase the retail version are given a BARC speeder like the one shown in the movie.
Cybernetics are artifical arms which can be received through looting or mission rewards, while legs are a penalty given out randomly, with a 0.05% chance of getting one while uninsured. Arms restrict your ability to wear a full suit of armor (the arm area will be unarmored) but to a combatant it is often worth the penalty as you often get additional special abilites (5% chance of additional damage from melee attacks, bonuses to ranged attacks). Cybernetics have to be installed by an npc cybernetic specialist, found on the second level of larger medical centers such as in Theed or Coronet. It costs five thousand credits in-game to have the limb installed. Limbs can also decay, which will require them to be repaired or replaced by the cybernetic specialist.
Travel to Kashyyyk is unlike the other planets in SWG. You must launch a ship into space (or be a passenger on a multi-player ship), and use the hyperspace command to travel to Kashyyyk space. Similarily, players can be stranded on Kashyyyk if they arrived on planet in another player's ship as there are no Galactic Travel Authority terminals ("shuttle terminals") on planet. Kashyyyk is an adventure planet like Dathomir, Dantooine, and Endor and as such it may be dangerous for novice players to explore without a group. You cannot build player housing on Kashyyyk.
Combat Upgrade
Combat Upgrade was released April 27, 2005 and was a major revamping and rewriting of the entire Star Wars Galaxies combat, armor, and weapons system. A more "realistic" tone was set, whereas only certain characters in certain professions would use specific weapons and wear armor. In addition, the method of fighting in the game was redone with skill levels assigned to both players and game creatures. Under the new system, only a creature of similar skill level gives experience when killed and the more powerful creatures are almost undefeatable by a single player's attacks unless they are either wearing incredibly good equipment or they are jedi.
The Combat Upgrade drew tremendous criticism from gamers even before it was released. Upon its initial activiation, a number of player issues were reported not the least of which was that players logging on found most of their weapons and armors useless under the new combat upgrade system. To adapt existing characters to the new skill system, the developers implemented a "respeccing" system. Characters were allowed to trade skills gained in one profession for another in order to find a skillset-role under the new system, as their old skillset may not be as effective or their profession's roles may have changed (doctors and combat medics no longer had a crafting "branch" in their trees, smugglers gained crowd control abilities). The combat upgrade made it harder to gain experience alone, but also removed the ability for one player to defeat several powerful creatures unaided (the anecdotal player "soloing five rancors"). A large number of long-time players chose this time to leave the game.
Trials of Obi-Wan
The third expansion for Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars Galaxies: Trials of Obi-Wan was announced on August 19, 2005 was released on November 1, 2005. The expansion includes another adventure planet, Mustafar, and new quests and content. Unlike the previous expansion, Rage of the Wookies, Trials of Obi-Wan will not have a space zone above the planet, as stated by a development member.
New Game Enchancements (NGE)
In a recently released "Letter to the Community", SWG Lead Developer Julio Torres has let it be known that a series of wide-reaching changes are planned to enter testing on November 4th. These will include "faster paced, more heroic Star Wars action", more reminiscent of the 'pseudo-shooter' space combat already present in Galaxies. The profession system will be revamped to consist of 9 base professions: Force-Sensitive, Bounty Hunter, Commando, Trader, Officer, Smuggler, Spy, Medic, and Entertainer. The game will now include a new movie-rendering engine, allowing for more cinematic scenes, likely with voice-acting, that will involve famous Star Wars characters such as Han Solo, Chewbacca, Boba Fett, and more. The first 10 levels of a character's life in the game will now take place in a seperate 'New Player Experience' area, which will also be featured as a free downloadable trial for new players. Here, the basic mechanics of the game will be introduced by C-3PO, Han Solo, and Chewbacca. Also among these changes is the return of an ongoing plot to Star Wars Galaxies, that is expected to be told largely via the new cutscene engine and interactions with famous Star Wars characters. Various message boards around the web demonstrate that, so far, response to the new changes has been negative. Also the response has taken its toll. The number of veteran players that are leaving the game is high, and SOE is denying negative results, saying in the Star Wars Galaxies Offical Forum Stratics Chat that NGE is getting positive results. The changes along with the new downloadable trial, were pushed to live on November 15 and 'Star Wars Galaxies: Starter Set' retail box will be released on November 22.
The Jedi in Star Wars Galaxies
Unlike the historic chronology of Star Wars, where all Jedi are all but extinct by the time frame of A New Hope, the concept of Jedi in Star Wars Galaxies is modified to have several hundred, if not thousands of Jedi capable of playing in the game which is set in the period of time between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.
All Jedi are live players who may only become a Jedi by achieving certain tasks and goals as a regular character. Therefore, no one may start Star Wars Galaxies as a Jedi and the developers of the program have numerous safeguards in place to prevent hackers from altering the program code to allow unauthorized characters to become Jedi.
Under the first Jedi system, a player could only become a Jedi after mastering professions chosen randomly for you at character creation. When fewer Jedi entered the game than was anticipated, players were helped by finding several holocrons that would tell a player which game professions to play and master. This resulted in several "career" players spending hours on end writing program macros and mastering almost every profession in the game (hologrinding). However after complaints from a large portion of the player base (especially those that weren't hard core and thus not willing to master multiple professions), Star Wars Galaxies was altered to add a new system for creating a Jedi character called the Force Sensitive Village of Aurilia.
The majority of Jedi who unlocked their Force Sensitive Slot under the old holocron system were generally called 'force grinders' or 'prof grinders' (profession grinders), because they would spend lots of time working through different professions to unlock their slot. Many players saw this as a waste of time, and that it ruined gameplay, because people were too focused on getting the Jedi character and not on playing the game.
Under the new system, players must attain Force Sensitive Skills by completing quests and gaining massive amount of experience in order to allow their character to become a Jedi. Even being allowed to do these quests requires achieving certain goals within the game world, such as visiting certain locations, completing theme parks, and mastering a profession. The path to Jedi-hood is long and arduous, taking more time and effort than any other profession in the game. Quests in the Village of Aurilia are artificially gated, so that a player can only complete one quest every three weeks. This helps to keep the new Jedi population in check.
Even with the Jedi revamp in place, many in the Star Wars Galaxies community have expressed feelings that eventually the game will become an "Army of Generals" where the number of Jedi playing in the game will be extremely high, thus making the game less interesting for those who like playing regular, non-Jedi characters. It has not yet been announced by game programmers if yet another Jedi system will be enacted, although the method of obtaining Jedi skills was changed considerably under the "Combat Upgrade" system released in April 2005. In addition, the uproar of non-Jedi to change the system to show less favoritism to Jedi has caused the developers to say that they are thinking of changing the current system.
It is important to note that a limiting factor on the number of Jedi in the game is the bounty hunter system allowing characters who acquire the requisite skill in the Bounty Hunter profession to hunt Jedi and kill them. This results in an experience point drop for the Jedi slowing their progress. This system is hardly effective for lowering Jedi count, as more and more Jedi are born every week. Also, once a Jedi has become a master the experience penalty is meaningless to them, as one cannot lose previously gained skills (and they don't need to gain any further skills). The problems with the bounty hunter/Jedi interaction were further complicated with the addition of Kashyyyk, as Jedi can now go there and grind experience easily out of the reach all but the most skilled bounty hunters. This is because Bounty Hunters use tools in the form of droids, which provide an exact waypoint to the Jedi they are hunting. On the planet Kashyyyk these droids do not function. As a result Bounty Hunters must rely on skill, cunning, and wit to locate their quarry on Kashyyyk.
The Kashyyyk situation was further worsened by the removal of Jedi names from the Bounty Hunter terminals. Previously, Bounty Hunters created a network, where they would venture into the infamous "Rryyat Trail" where Jedi often grinded AFK. By noting their names, they could return to a terminal, and attack the Jedi as he was AFK.
A notable example was on the Bria server - the server with the largest population, and therefore, logically, the largest Jedi and Bounty Hunter population. Bounty Hunters made a constantly updated list of the names of all the Jedi in each "instance", so Bounty Hunters could track them down and attack the Jedi frequently in order to attempt to discourage and/or hinder Jedi progress in the region.
The removal of the Jedi names has made this tactic impractical, and the BH/Jedi relations grow ever tense with frequent changes to each side, which seem to fix one problem, and bring about another. Bounty Hunter mission terminals also now only display jedi who are currently online, to reduce time wasted and increase time spent hunting jedi.
Update: A new Star Wars Galaxies update released on November 15th, known as the "NGE Update" and commonly reffered to as the CU2 or second Combat Upgrade, revised all proffesions, and has also significantly affected the path to becoming a jedi, as well as the jedi proffesion. Becoming a jedi is now much easier, as the Village Quests are removed, though the jedi have become weaker, in order to have a combat effectiveness similar to the other proffesions.
The wars of SWG
There have been several fan-named wars inside SWG.
The Composite Clone Wars The Developers of SWG created an armor called "Composite" which could be crafted with a high resistance to most attacks, including stuns. This armor alone made all other types in the game useless and undesired. Over time it became felt in-game that if you were wearing any other type of armor you were wrong (or a newbie). This armor often required buffs to wear, so the developers changed the buffs to last for hours instead of minutes as originally designed. This then became a problem when the developers increased the Health/Action/Mind (HAM) on creatures to account for the increased health of players that the buffs granted. Even players not wearing Composite then needed to be buffed to be effective in combat.
During the Composite Clone Wars players began to "stack defence skills" through a combination of professions so that they would be almost invulnerable to ranged attacks. This began the "Melee Dominance" where if you wanted to participate in Player vs. Player combat (PvP) you had to use melee weapons, taking some of the Star Wars feel out of the game.
Jedi/CU War After the release of the CU many things changed for the better. Aside from minor differences, no armor was better than another, ranged once again was effective, and defence stacking was stopped. However for the good the CU did it caused some problems. Some fans disliked the CU because it dumbed down the game, made some weapons useless (DoT-Damage over Time-were taken out), and changed the skill points needed to master some professions. The CU also added changes in the Jedi, who once again became the dominant class in PvP. As more players came ingame to be Jedi it left the players that didn't want Jedi but wanted to PvP in extreme occasions on the sidelines.
Composite in Space With the release of the Rage of the Wookies expansion, new starfighters were added to the game. Most notably among them are the ETA-2 Actis Starfighter, and the Belbullab-22, which are virtually identical in performance characteristics and mass-allowance. The problem with these new ships is, for the most part, they are incredibly unbalanced with a large mass (allowing heavier weapons or other equipment to be installed) and excellent flight characteristics. In effect, these fighters are far superior to anything that came before them. This has created a situation where, in Player versus Player combat, the fighters that are most often seen are the ETA-2 Actis and the Bellbullab-22. 'Older' fighters from the current time period are outmatched and outgunned, such as the A-Wing and the TIE-Advanced. The issue has yet to be resolved or adressed, with development team members stating that the fighters are 'working as intended'.
Criticisms
Bugs and exploits
The game has had numerous problems with bugs and exploits throughout its life, with many of them going unresolved for long periods. This tends to be the norm for MMORPGs though, and not the exception.
Customer voice
Many of their customers do not feel that SOE listens to them about issues surrounding the game. SOE does provide an online message forum for their customers to discuss issues. However, a lack of Development Team response to messages and their habit of ignoring the 'CSR's (Customer Service Representatives)' has angered many forum goers. In addition, many professions are disadvantaged and need improving, and even after constant complaints action has still not been taken to remedy most of these professions.
There have also been several incidents of people being permenantly banned for reporting SOE to the Better Business Bureau for lack of customer service and failing to respond to serious game stopping issues [ie: wookiee armor incidents, and the FreeGenesis campaign, etc].
Spin-offs
- Star Wars Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine was a spin-off novel to the game, written by Voronica Whitney-Robinson. The following is the plot summary from the book's inside front cover:
- Enter the explosive universe of the exciting online game
- STAR WARS GALAXIES:
- AN EMPIRE DIVIDED!
- It is a time of great turmoil. The oppressive Empire is close to seizing complete control of the galaxy. The ragtag guerrilla army of the Rebel Alliance fights on, striking wherever it can, but now something has come to light that could spell certain doom. Hidden in the Jedi ruins of Dantooine is a Holocron containing a list of high-level Rebel sympathizers. If that list were to fall into the hands of Darth Vader, the Rebel Alliance would lose its most valued support?and possibly the war itself.
- As an Imperial bio-engineer who frequently visits other worlds, Dusque Mistflier is the perfect cover for a Rebel who needs to travel far and wide without arousing suspicion. And so she agrees to help Rebel spy Finn Darktrin in his quest to recover the crucial Holocron. Despite help from Han, Luke, and Leia, the mission is fraught with peril. And as their journey takes them into the fiery belly of the beast that is galactic civil war, Dusque and Finn will learn that the hardest part of all is figuring out whose side you?re on?and how far you?re willing to go to win. . . .
Trivia
- The game references and features elements from The Star Wars Holiday Special, such as Lumpy's stuffed bantha, and the customs of Life Day, when the viewer visits Kashyyyk. Wookiees on Kashyyyk can even be seen in red robes, as they were in the special.
- The game also references the other two Star Wars spin-off films, in that the player may encounter the Gorax species (from Caravan of Courage), and can encounter the base of the Sanyassan Marauders (as seen in The Battle for Endor).
External links
Official sites
Fan sites
- Star Wars Galaxies Wiki
- Star Wars Galaxies Crafting
- Star Wars Galaxies Creatures
- Star Wars Galaxies on Allakhazam.com
- Star Wars Galaxies Online
- Star Wars Galaxies Stratics
- Star Wars Galaxies Warcry
- Star Wars Galaxies Center
- Star Wars Galaxies OGaming
- Second Star Wars Galaxies Revamp - Gamespot Article
