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Role Playing (Games) Entertainment Games

Star Wars Galaxies - Release Date Announced 106

Posted by simoniker from the fanboy-riot-destroys-denver dept.
DCookie writes "It's official! The highly-anticipated PC MMORPG, Star Wars Galaxies, is set to hit the shelves on June 26th. The NDA for the Beta will most likely be lifted in the next few days as well, so be prepared for more info about the game soon!" The press release also has info on the subscription plans, which range from $12.00 to $14.99 monthly, depending on how many months you buy at once - the game will retail for $49.95 and include one free month's play.
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Star Wars Galaxies - Release Date Announced More

Star Wars Galaxies - Release Date Announced

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  • I really hope this doesn't turn out like the Sims online but here's for the best. I didnt follow the massive disapointment but does anyone know blow by blow why the Sims were such a disapointment?

    • Re:I hope its not the Sims (Score:4, Interesting)

      by raygundan ( 16760 ) on Tuesday June 17, 2003 @02:54PM (#6225641) Homepage
      Because the fun in the Sims was being a control freak, and doing whatever you wanted with your Sims. In the online game, you can't really do that-- everybody else does what they want. And you have to work (do really boring repetitive tasks) to get money.

      Sims: Make fake people do what you want.

      Sims Online: The worst repetitive parts of an RPG, minus the plotline, plus all the fun of lamers yelling at eachother in a poorly-designed chatroom with no scrollback. And no control over anybody else, since they're all real too.

      In short, it simply can't be the same game online.
      You have to wonder why nobody pointed this out.
      • You have to wonder why nobody pointed this out.

        Because it was so obvious. Either they already knew it or were clinically deranged beyond the point of help.

        This game was a corporate bread heads dream game. What are the big cash cows on the PC at the momement? The Sims, Everquest..
    • I bought Sims Online and I can tell you why it sucked horribly.

      The user interface is great, but the way it connects to the world is horrible. There is no immersion. They didn't even TRY to facilitate immersion.

      Honestly, for the 25+ million dollars they spent on this game, it doesnt look like it. There is no free form movement. "Zones" like you see in other MMO's are a single city block. You can't even walk from block to block without zoning.

      If you work your way past that you have to spend time tryin

  • Game without a purpose (Score:4, Interesting)

    by stefanlasiewski ( 63134 ) * <slashdot AT stefanco DOT com> on Tuesday June 17, 2003 @02:39PM (#6225496) Homepage Journal
    Hmm, last article was Robots without a Cause [slashdot.org] (products without a real purpose), and this article is about a game without a real purpose, that after spending $15 a month and wasting countless hours playing the game, you still feel unfufilled.

    Hey, there's nothing wrong with playing games now and then, but I'm sure that plenty of game addicts (myself included) can talk about what a life sucker these games can be.

  • Don't buy! not for the first few months anyways (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 17, 2003 @02:42PM (#6225532)
    I'm in beta, and the game is really unfinished. There needs to be a lot of tweaking done before it is ready. Give it a few months and it'll get there and be enjoyable. But right now it's only slightly better than AO was at launch.

    • Re:Don't buy! not for the first few months anyways (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      No amount of tweaking will make this game fun. If you've played any other MMORPG, this will feel like the same thing.

    • Re:Don't buy! not for the first few months anyways (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 17, 2003 @02:54PM (#6225652)
      I'm also in the beta and agree. The game performs very well, but is way to complicated and requires too much time to get anywhere.

      I really tried hard to like the game, but it's just too tedious.
      • Sounds like the early days of Anarchy Online ... actually, sounds like the later days of AO, too.

        I gave on on AO after making repeated bug reports only to have the bug forums wiped not once but twice. After reposting I folded and retired. It was a real shame ... I enjoyed the game enough to work on hacks like skinning the interface and making a better in-game map. But the bugs that were in the final beta never got fixed and it made travel and such a royal pain.

        I got a free month awhile back and logged in
    • It's the most beautiful online world with almost nothing to do. Well, ok, Corellia would be a wonderful spot to have a picnic and watch the friggen butterflys all day long. ooooohhhh.
    • Don't believe this guy. I'm not in the beta, but have played EQ. If you don't get in early with MMORPGs you might as well not play. Otherwise by the time you actually get in the economy is ruined and all the uber folks are camping a level 20 mob with their level 50 character cause they can sell for cash.

      I dunno. This guy might be right. But that is one of my major disappointments of EQ was economy trashing and uber folks camping low level mobs with high level characters.
      • You should probably pay a lot more attention to what the parent poster says. While those that get into a game early do have some advantages, they become pointless if the game is no fun later. It should also be pointed out that he is suggesting the game launch will be like Anarchy Online. I was a part of the AO beta and launch and it was so painfull I still have nightmares. So far I believe that AO has the record for worst MMORG launch. If Galaxies is only as finished as AO then the game won't even be playab
      • I'm not in the beta, but have played EQ.

        ha ha. you have no idea how funny that sounds...just wait till you see for yourself...

        If you don't get in early with MMORPGs you might as well not play. Otherwise by the time you actually get in the economy is ruined and all the uber folks are camping a level 20 mob with their level 50 character cause they can sell for cash.

        as someone who IS in the beta, let me tell you:
        the economy will be just fine.
        maybe you have read this in other previews or whatever, b
        • ha ha. you have no idea how funny that sounds...

          Intended effect accomplished: I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV...

          Nah, I haven't been following the SWG stuff at all. My wife and I played EQ for about a year and half fairly regularly and quit around January. We really liked the game, even when we left. We found that in the high end game we needed to dedicate more than 8+ hours at a time to really get anyting done though. Alas, a flaw in the genre of game I think.

          Verrant seemed to only cater to t
          • I guess I am skeptical that Verrent (SOE, whoever they are now) just simpley wouldn't make a game about combat.

            I probably shouldn't touch on this one too much as the NDA is still in effect for a bit longer...but I'll tell you this: you can become extremely successful, respected and well-known across your galaxy WITHOUT engaging in any combat....ever (if you choose).
            just wait and see.....the people planning on "power-gaming" in SWG are in for a change of world-view, and I'll be enjoying every minute of i
            • I'm not in the beta, but a close friend is, and I've watched him play Releasing it this soon, there is no way in hell that I, and likely he, will buy this game. It's buggy and laggy well beyond what either of us are willing to accept.

              That, and if you thought EQ required you to sell your soul to the game for success, Galaxies will be even worse. I already spend far too much time playing games. Unless I withdraw completely from the world at large and work a shit job in a pizza place and live in a shit ap
            • If crafting is your thing, give 'A tale in the desert' a try.
              Far better crafting, and social based activities.
    • You'll be hearing from my lawyers soon.

      -George Lucas, Inc.
    • I have watched hours of several beta testers and I have to agree. There is some potential there but it will not be ready by release. I also want to say, the Jedi stuff BLOWS...perma death for playing a Jedi ??!?! While the skill trees seems deep the exp system is rather sad, personally I won't be joining, I'll just wait for EQ2, but I also know that just the NAME star wars ensures at least initial profitability, though give the mediocre quality of the last movie releases, the Star Wars franchise is getting
    • This guy apparently broke his NDA and posted a pretty hard and comprehensive critique [playnet.com] of the game that's getting nods from lots of other testers.
  • There are already 7 asshats named Skywalker, and 58 variants of the name.
    "Do you want to pet my wookie" is not an appropriate question, it was worn out well before the first day was over.
    One last thing: If someone asks you if you are a god, you say YES!

  • Does anyone realize just how AWFUL this will be? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by DarkFencer ( 260473 ) on Tuesday June 17, 2003 @02:58PM (#6225698)
    Does anyone realize just how AWFUL this will be? Take Verant's atrocious customer service record, add in tons of StarWars fanboys, and add the highest monthly fee around for a MMORPG (Everquest Legends excluded) and you get the train wreck that will be Star Wars Galaxies!

    I'll be avoiding this like the plague thank you very much, though I will keep up on it to watch the train wreck develop. This could be a worse launch then Anarchy Online!
  • I'm looking foward to playing Star Wars Online. Im just hoping there is plenty I can KILL and it's not a boring point/click/get experence like everquest.
    • It's different from EQ. Run around for hours in a zoneless world. Find some random mob that happens to spawn. Point to it, double click, watch the pretty lasers. kill, loot. Bang head on keyboard/repeat. Though I do like the close to but not as good as UO style classless system, where you can get skill in anything you want as long as you use the item enough.
    • Remember - this is between ANH and ESB. To paraphrase Han Solo: You ain't gonna be a Jedi here, boy. There's only one of them at this point: Yoda.

      The game should have taken place in the Expanded Universe...

  • Right after launch, probably.. but then again, i haven't seen anything launch that wasn't buggy at first. Besides, this is Sony and LucasArts that we're talking about, so more than likely they'll have a patch or two out within a week of the launch to fix most of the bugs. As far as whether the launch will be a wreck like AO? Nah, there is way to many diehard geeks who want nothing more than to run around with a lightsaber or two and hack people up.. Myself Included, of Course.

    • Re:Will it be Buggy? (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Get this though. You won't be able to run around and hack things up with a light saber. Not unless you're willing to put in the time and dedication (read: money) into opening up the jedi slot. The devs claim this will take about 6 months to accomplish.

      • Jedi (Score:1)

        by Poofat ( 675020 )
        So, what your saying is, 3 months into the game, there will be bout 500 jedi. After that, the dev team will get mad and make it impossible to everyone else, while Jedi P0w3rd00d goes off and "ownz stuff lol."
        • SWG FAQ regarding playing a Jedi. [sony.com]

          They've already considered this. Whether their solution is sufficient remains to be seen.

        • After that, the dev team will get mad and make it impossible to everyone else, while Jedi P0w3rd00d goes off and "ownz stuff lol."

          you know how the dev team says they're sticking with the storyline, and that it is set shortly after the events of ANH? And that roleplaying is going to mean something? Well, they meant it.
          Know what happens to a jedi with a big mouth when a very large and determined force is out HUNTING THEM TO EXTINCTION?
          Oh, and there is plenty reason to fear death as a jedi. And out of fea
      • im willing to do that. ive put several times that into some of my pen and paper d&d characters. like take a lvl 1 character to lvl 60
  • Rainz, for all us non-Ultima Online folks, is the guy that killed Lord British at the closing of the Ultima Online Beta.

    Story here [aschulze.net].

    Dunno about you guys, but I'd like to off Lucas for two so massively crappy Star Wars. Mr. FBI Lurker-man: I am joking, I will not and would not even try to kill Mr. George Lucas.

  • Just Say No! (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Itâ(TM)s a trap [lucasarts.com]!

  • Error in headline (Score:5, Funny)

    by Snowspinner ( 627098 ) <philsand@3.14ufl.edu minus pi> on Tuesday June 17, 2003 @03:52PM (#6226181) Homepage
    It should properly read "Star Wars: Galaxies to begin charging for beta June 26th."

    But, then, I'm cynical, jaded, and broken.

  • Why the retail price? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by afabbro ( 33948 ) on Tuesday June 17, 2003 @04:11PM (#6226389) Homepage
    I really hate the MMORG model: $XX at the retail store + monthly fee. Why can't they just let people download the game (or buy it for $10)? $50 is a lot to gamble on a game you might not like after a month.

    Yeah, I know - it's to squeeze more money out of Joe Consumer. But I still hate it. I suppose with any game you're taking the risk that you won't like it or will get tired of it quickly.

    I think of Diablo II - great game that's fun even without the online experience. And they don't charge for that. So if a game company is going to sell a game that has *only* an online experience, why charge for the $50 shiny box?

    I'll pass.

    • I've asked this before (and still hold the opinion) and some fanboy always runs along and says 'it's to pay for development and distribution costs' to which I say 'bullshit'.

      There is no reason to pay for distribution. With a game like this, Sony and/or Lucas could EASILY distribute the game online or directly. If the game has any hope of success, they'll have to be making enough money to reimburse the development costs.

      If they insist on charging for the box, they should provide at least a number of months

      • Re:Why the retail price? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by sweetooth ( 21075 ) on Tuesday June 17, 2003 @04:41PM (#6226620) Homepage
        There is no reason to pay for distribution. With a game like this, Sony and/or Lucas could EASILY distribute the game online or directly. If the game has any hope of success, they'll have to be making enough money to reimburse the development costs.

        That's right because bandwidth is free.... oh wait.. it isn't. Even if they set up a bunch of servers on high speed connections and add bit torrent links there is the problem of distribution, and it's expenses. It may not be as expensive to provide the game in a downloadable format, or it may be just as expensive, I haven't seen any formal statistics on the subject. It is obvious however that there is a cost associated with both the traditional method of distribution and internet distribution. It also completly ignores those people that cannot download the images due to a lack of adequate bandwidth. Of course you could distribute in both mediums, but that will probably increase the cost of traditional distribution due to decreased volume. I have a hard time believing that those increased costs will be offset by any reduction in cost due to internet based distribution.

        I've said this a dozen times already, but I guess I'll say it again. There are plenty of people willing to pay the full retail box price and still pay the monthly fee for these games. If nothing else, why should these companies change the model if they don't feel they are losing a significant number of customers. The fact that a few people bitch about the price of the boxed copy and don't buy the game is probably not the biggest concern of the bean counters when it comes to the bottom line as that group of people is clearly in the minority. If they weren't I'm fairly certain we would start seeing alternative distribution methods. If you don't think that these companies are willing to change thier distribution methods go take a look at the box sizes of older games and then compare them to the newer smaller boxes you see on all the store shelves. It may have taken a long time for that to happen, but it is progressing rapidly at this point. If enough people decide that they aren't going to play the games because of the initial cost the distributors may reduce the initial cost. Until then don't expect anything to change.

        If you want to know for you sure you might want to contact Funcom as they had downloadable versions of AO though at the full retail price. Though I doubt they will give that information out.
        • It also completly ignores those people that cannot download the images due to a lack of adequate bandwidth.

          No, actually, it doesn't. I mentioned direct sales by Sony and/or Lucas. I'm also pretty certain that most (not all) users of these games have broadband of some sort.

          A few months (year+ ?) ago one of the PC Game magazines had a breakdown of costs. The 'development costs' were only about 25% of a game's cost. The remainder went to wholesaler markup, dealer markup, and, the bulk, to advertising. Why
          • No, actually, it doesn't. I mentioned direct sales by Sony and/or Lucas. I'm also pretty certain that most (not all) users of these games have broadband of some sort.

            A few months (year+ ?) ago one of the PC Game magazines had a breakdown of costs. The 'development costs' were only about 25% of a game's cost. The remainder went to wholesaler markup, dealer markup, and, the bulk, to advertising. Why does SWG need advertising? (Actually, marketing, which includes advertising) All of the online and print mags
            • On the broader subject, I'll concede that the issue is a little bit (not a great amount, but a little bit) more complex. I'll also concede that without marketing and sales data, it's hardly worth discussing a great deal more. But, I thought of another problem with free dl's: leaches. All of the sudden, EVERYONE dl's a copy of the new game, but only a small percent pay to play monthly, skewing the bandwidth costs, accounting, etc. At which point, I'd say sell, but cut the amount of profit the publisher takes
              • The leach issue is why I mentioned bit torrent. You still have leaches, but it puts some of the distribution cost back on the consumers which could offset a portion of the bandwidth costs. I don't think most people would mind this being that you are paying for the bandwidth anyway and you wouldn't have to pay the cost of the shiny box. Of course they could also come up with an advertisment based download system as well so that the bandwidth was payed for by other peoples advertising dollars. Write a custom
            • The second gripe is the release of expansion packs. Why do I have to go out and buy an expansion pack for the game I'm already paying a significant monthly fee for. Also, considering that most of the expansion packs I've purchased haven't been worth more than one or two monthly updates, why are they almost as much as the original retail release. This in my opinion is a better example of squeezing the consumer for every penny they have.

              The one advantage expansion packs have from a marketing/publisher stan

              • This may or may not be true. As was hashed out in another part of the thread we are all just making our points with conjecture. Without hard sales data we can't really know how well expansion packs work at bringing in new customers. I do know that many of the people I played AC with left when the expansion came out because they didn't want to spend another $30 on an expansion that didn't appear to offer much. These people mostly had more than one account and also didn't want to buy the expansion multiple ti
                • I found this: An Analysis of MMOG Subscription Growth [netcom.com]

                  There's a section in the analysis on expansions, where he comes to the conclusion that expansions aren't a significant impact on subscriber growth, although he also notes at many points that a particular MMOG experiences growth of small or significant value in the subscriber base due to the release of an expansion. I'd be interested in seeing more analysis on this really.

                  To continue with conjecture, I somewhat feel that the release of expansions is ben

                  • Interesting chart, I hadn't seen that before.

                    I can see why expansions are beneficial for marketing as it gets a shiny new box in front of people that may not have played. I can see it as even a source of additional revenue to fund further development as the expansions seem to be priced similarily to original retail releases. I would even be willing to pay for expansions more often if they contained "substantial new features" as you pointed out. The problem is that when you are already getting updates on a
            • Just a couple of quick notes because I don't have a whole lot to say on this whole thing, but had a couple of thoughts while reading this post:

              Again cutting out the middle man is only a portion. Distribution costs are shifted under your model but may actually be increased due to shipping units to individuals rather than to wholesalers etc.

              Many people that buy products online don't even consider the shipping costs until they're right in front of them, and by that point a large percentage of them have alr
              • You have good points, but there is one thing I think I should touch on.

                I realize that part of what you're saying, though, is that they still have to pay for the bandwidth to allow downloads, too, but then they should already be paying for massive amounts of bandwidth to host their game in the first place.

                While it takes large amounts of bandwidth to host a MMORG with a lot of clients I would be willing to bet it is significantly smaller than we all think. For the most part all the clients are sending is
                • While it takes large amounts of bandwidth to host a MMORG with a lot of clients I would be willing to bet it is significantly smaller than we all think.

                  Perhaps it is. I find many people that believe a given FPS game uses XXK/sec bandwidth on the client side (and the server side would normally be XX times the number of clients), but overall they are thinking it's about 3-4 times what a well-coded game will use. The sad part is that with most fps games the data is available in-game, if you know the console
                  • All good points and nothing I really disagree with. As with anything you get in "bulk" the price is useallly reduced, sometimes significantly. I certainly should have recognized that initially.

                    In any case, the current model uses the initial $50 price point to pay the setup costs from the first X number of sales. The long time that it takes for that price to come down reflects the company's unwillingness to take less of a profit on a successful game, even though in the long term the majority of their profi
        • I've said this a dozen times already, but I guess I'll say it again. There are plenty of people willing to pay the full retail box price and still pay the monthly fee for these games.


          Dumbasses!!!!
          Now I must go back and monitor my stocks.

    • I'm still undecided on the model, but one of the benefits of charging both an up front fee and a recurring fee is that the up front fee for account activation makes it less feasable for those with the intent to simply make an account to make other players unhappy to continue to do such indefinitely even when their actions cause their account to be revoked. Whether this is actually of any value I'll leave as a judgement for the reader. I know that as a MUD admin I've frequently wished a particular griefer w
    • Well in many ways you are getting a lot more value from a MMO game. Give me a list of any non-MMO games that you are still playing a month after you buy them?

      Most (if not all) MMORPGs come with a months free subscription, which buys you more time that you would enjoy from a standard game. The monthly fee then justifies (well more than covers) the required upkeep, bandwidth costs etc... if you think about it most multiplayer games require the gamers to set up their own servers and pay the related costs.

      Fin
      • Nice, maybe you need to spend your $$$ on some ritalin, or get a new hobby if your attention span for gaming is that weak.

        I paid the price for Half-life, Quake3, NWN and so on, and still play them all the time, with great fever.

        Fact: The one and only reason a company charges full price is cause they CAN, cause people will pay it. after a year the price goes down, or the original game is included in expansion packs that sell for much less. Like in AO and UO, all their expansions let you start a new account
  • I'm more excited about Star Trek Galaxies.
  • It's been my experience that when deciding to pick up a MMORPG and play it it's usually a good idea to wait a few months so that some of the major launch bugs and standard gameplay can be ironed out. Do any of the beta testers commenting in this forum believe this would be a good idea or should I run out and buy a copy the day it comes out?

    I've rushed out to play both The Sims Online and Anarchy Online upon launch and was horribly dissapointed/disgusted at the outcome. The only impulse behind buying the
  • Don't cross over to the dork side. Do not play this game. Once you start down the dork path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will! You will live in your mother's basement. You will never meet a real girl. Handling your own light saber while looking at prOn will be your only taste of love. Beware the dork side!
  • Sony Excutive: Hey Bill, hows that Star Wars Galaxies game coming along?

    LucasArts Guy: Well Jim, its a little behind schedule but we think the kids will still play it. In fact, we have over 100,000 pre-orders for it and we just announced we're charging 15.00 a month for a subscription.

    Sony Executive: You mean people still want to play the game after the 15.00 price announcement?

    LucasArts Guy: Yeah, people will pay anything to be a pathetic loser posing as a Jedi in a video game.

    Sony Executive: True, but
  • ... my national 12th grade math exam. Should make for a great present to ask my parents if I pass :)

  • A soon as there is no tredmill (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Shihar ( 153932 ) on Tuesday June 17, 2003 @10:14PM (#6229181)
    I'll play the first game with no leveling tred mill. I have a life, pure and simple. I can't afford to keep up. I might be able to fit a marathon 6 hour run during the weekends, but when it comes to the weekdays 1 hour is being optimistic. Simply put, I can't keep up with a 16 year old kid with no job, no girlfriend, and nothing better to do who can play over 40 hours a week. So I have simply stopped trying. As soon as a MMORPG comes out that appeals to me even though I will never be able to pump 40 hours a week into it, I'll buy it. Until that day, screw MMORPGs. I want a game to play in my spare time, not a game that replaces my social life.
  • who's on bacca?
    hey what are you gonna do with that bacca?
    man that's the shizbacca!

    lather, rinse, rebacca.
  • 1) Is Jar-Jar's race in this game?
    2) Is xenocide allowed?

    If so, $50 + $14.95/mo is a bargain!

    I can see it now: Gungan_Killah

    • 1) Is Jar-Jar's race in this game?
      2) Is xenocide allowed?

      If so, $50 + $14.95/mo is a bargain!

      Alternatively:
      if (1 && 2 == true){bargain;}
      if (1 == true && 2 == false) { $14.95 + $0/month > bargain;}
      if (1 == false && 2 == true) {WeShallSee();}

      and yes, I know there's a more efficient way to code that ;p
  • This is the Ump-teenth time the release date for this game has been changed because of consistent problems during the Beta test pierods (there were three I beleive).

    Lucas can only 'Cry Wolf' with the release date so many times before people will not get excited about this game.

    I don't know about everyone else but I'll just wait until the game is actually on the store shelves THEN I'll get jazzed about this game.

    Dolemite
    ______________________
  • At first, the game was really geared towards a casual gamer . Monday they patched and did a char wipe that fucked everything. No other patches are scheduled before release. Mondays patch introduced more bugs than they had pre-patch and killed all the fun in gameplay. Now there is no place for someone who wants to play 2 hours a day. It is all about the grind. The testers are seriously upset about this latest patch. EQ in space is all i can say. Look to play 6 months for 6 hours a day to become a master in a

  • SWG (Score:1)

    by ferr0x ( 656918 )
    This June 26th release is a horrible idea. I have been beta testing SWG for over 2 months, the moment they gave the release date for the game I deleted the SWG folder from my hard drive.. realizing that I can no longer say 'this is just beta, this stuff will be fixed sooner or later,' but that this is actually the final game.. this is what people will be paying $50+ for.. I cannot just say that the game is buggy, I can say that it is, for the most part, completely unplayable. Over the past 2-3 patches, it s

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