Post-Anniversary, Star Wars Galaxies Analyzed 58
Darniaq writes "Sony Online's PC MMO Star Wars Galaxies has been out a year, as of late last month, when the official anniversary celebration occurred. But what's new? What's different? Grimwell Online has a in-depth analysis charting what's changed, what's good, and what's not, in SWG. They argue that, for folks who played it early on and left in despair or disgust, a lot has changed. However, it's still very much a game for roleplayers and those with dreams of moisture farming." Interestingly, the author explicitly suggests: "If [you] previously got burned out or annoyed enough to quit, now's a good time to re-subscribe."
Return? (Score:5, Informative)
Now there's a strong statement if I've ever heard one.
In all seriousness, I actually RTFA and have to admit, I'm even more depressed about the possibility of returning than I was before I read it (which is to say it hadn't even crossed my mind):
"Combat still broken"
"Macroing is alive and well"
"Role-playing is still...rare."
And SOE, the king of "fuck you" at the helm? Let me be the first to say, no fucking thank you.
Comments from a droid engineer (Score:5, Informative)
The recently-added droid stuff really improved things. Droids are more complex and there is a greater variety. I was concerned that when I mastered the DE profession I'd lose interest, but I find myself making more droids than ever. Sales are good, people seem to find the droids useful finally.
As the analysis pointed out, most droid changes are for utility functions. This has been great, players find more use for droids than just fighting. There is a sizable population of players who aren't interested in running combat missions, and they are the ones who seem to add the most depth to the game (not to knock the fighters).
The analysis did get wrong, however, the point that droids can't be healed by players. Droid engineers can make repair kits that anyone can use, and droids can be equipped with an auto-repair module that actually repairs all droids (including itself) within a radius. This greatly improves the survivability of droids in combat. And with the changes to droid combat, more types of droids can fight, with different models doing different types of damage.
The Jedi effect isn't really noticeable if you don't engage in PvP. It will be interesting to see how things change after the Jedi update is finished. Apparently the next update will create a two-tier Jedi system, with a limited number of Jedi players being able to engage in PvP and the other Jedi players only going after mobs. And after that comes a reworking of the Galactic Civil War, which should help the Star Wars-iness.
Finally, the space expansion sounds like it will essentially be a second game on the server, which could be cool. The current combat system is turn-based but the space expansion is supposed to be FPS-style combat, which will appeal to many. And it is very cool that the players are the ones who will make and sell the spaceships.
Free Trial (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.fileplanet.com/files/140000/1409
I recently came back with the announced JTL (Score:2, Informative)