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Games Entertainment

Star Wars Galaxies Reviewed 299

Tark writes "Want the inside scoop of what SWG is like? Well, Warthog has written a review for all of you, entitled 'Warrior, Brawler, Hairdresser' with his insights on the game. Sort of. Let's just say you won't find a review anything like this one anywhere else."
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Star Wars Galaxies Reviewed

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  • by Hell O'World ( 88678 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:01PM (#6383727)
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  • by Rogerborg ( 306625 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:01PM (#6383728) Homepage
    Which sounds like a pretty fair summary of the SWG login process.
  • Nice parallel (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Hellbuny ( 444564 )
    Now the warcry servers are just like the SWG ones during launch.... impossible to get on.
  • Complete text (Score:4, Informative)

    by semifamous ( 231316 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:02PM (#6383735)
    Warrior, Brawler, Hairdresser
    Written by: Warthog
    This isn't our site's official review. Heck, I don't qualify for official duties of any kind. No one here at Warcry really ever even knows what my column is about, most of the time. If you wonder why that is, feel free to read my prior articles. That will make everything very clear.

    Our own Kegyen did a fine review of SWG just a few short days ago. It was Warcry's official review, to be exact. He did a great job of describing the game, and had a number of very interesting insights regarding features, etc. If you haven't read it, go over to his "Wisdom of the Jedi" column, and check it out. It's really worth a read.

    Let's consider this an "alternative" review, shall we? Writing an organized essay, evaluating the most important features of the game? No way. I can't keep on topic for more than about 3 minutes.

    You are probably saying to yourself , "Enough of this drivel, pig-man! You've played every massive online game ever made. How does Star Wars Galaxies stack up?"

    Keep your pants on, fellow game geek! You read; I'll ramble.

    ***Character Design***

    Ok, this is a big feature of SWG. You can build a character that looks any way you want. And I mean it, too. Your avatar is highly customizable, much more so than in any other game in history. You have more hairstyle choices than a teenage girl, living in Los Angeles, with liberal parents. If you see yourself as a punker, a beauty queen, or a troll that lives under a bridge, you can pretty much come up with a look that suits you. There are so many variables that I'd bet no two characters will be exactly the same.

    Want to build a Mon Calamari with purple skin and yellow markings? No problem. Want to make the shortest, fattest, little Rodian in the game? Go ahead. Want to build a giant white Wookie, and name him Abominable? Knock yourself out. Do you just need to play some sort of goth chick? Fine. Eyes, facial features, tattoo patterns, hairstyles - every bit of it is customizable. And it's all pretty fun to do, too.

    Next you have to choose a profession. You get to choose from six starting career paths. These rapidly branch out, to give you dozens of more advanced professions down the road. But more on that later.

    After customizing your look and choosing your profession, you can modify your stats. There are nine stats, and they do affect the game quite a bit. However, they are all really unconventional. If you up your strength, you do not hit one bit harder. Improve your stamina, and it does not help you run for longer or swim further. Instead, strength affects how much energy you expend when you use strength-based maneuvers. Your stamina determines how quickly you recover from fatigue or damage to your "action" pool. I'll write more about this at another time, but most players will find the use of these stats pretty confusing. However, once they are understood, adjusting your stats can be a useful way to tweak your character and his performance.

    All you regular readers of my column know me pretty well by now. You know I have to play a big, ugly tank in every MMOG I play. He has to be nasty, and be able to suck up damage like Rasputin. And he has to be named after some sort of pig.

    I went completely crazy this time. I became totally imaginative. I got highly creative. I named him Pig.

    And SWG allowed me to design him the way Pig was meant to be. He's a big, strong, ugly, nasty, brawling lizard man. He's got purple eyes, and red skin. Scales. Whatever. He's got pole arm skills, and ugly bone armor.

    Perfect.

    Overall score for character design: 98%. It's good enough to satisfy hard core role-playing geeks. Heck, it's even good enough to satisfy young tormented artist types going to design school.

    ***Graphics***

    Holy Megapixels, the graphics are good. No, they're way beyond good. They're great. They're phenomenal.

    How good? Let me put it this way. I'm on Naboo, in the city of Theed to be exact.
    • Re:Complete text (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:11PM (#6383796)
      Theme Parks

      In beta I've been to several theme parks, and in the release I've been only to Jabbas Palace.

      They exist, but their location is not on the map. The reason for this is to make you talk to other players to get you to find them.

      I've met with Jabba. Boba Fett is also in the game. Olaa (Jabba's Dancer) is also there. All of Jabba's is very well laid out.

      The Emperor's retreat on the other hand is a bit more skectchy. It was cool to meet with a Captain Thrawn and with Darth Vader himself. But all in all, most of the content there was bugged when I went to them in beta.

      Jabba's was by far a lot more cooler.

      Izzot on Corbantis
      Fopack the Guppy in Beta.
      • ooook.. this game has failed to inspire me AT ALL, I'm not a big MMORPG guy but I was excited for what this could have been.

        everything I've seen is like nerf-herding... can you do that in the game?

        I doubt it.

        having a great game with a wonderful character creation system, and an amazing crafting variety... is what I call boring.

        Pig is absoultly right, it needs content right now, but more then that, it needs to become star wars.

        you MET thrawn and vader? and had tea and biskets with them? you know,
        • by cnelzie ( 451984 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @03:36PM (#6384970) Homepage
          ... You would know that on Theed, Queen Amidala's AND Palpatine's homeworld, you would know that Emperor Palpatine keeps a retreat on that planet where he meets with the highest of Imperial advisors. Soooo... It makes sense that Vader and Thrawn would be located at this retreat, being that they are both known as advisors and confidents to the Emperor.

          You would also know that there are no levels perse. That a very poorly outfitted long played character could be potentially defeated by a VERY well equipped nearly beginning character in combat. (Which is more realistic and much like real life then any other MMORPG I have played beside Ultima Online.)

          Your statement condemning the game as boring paints you as a power leveling kind of person that is disinterested in personal interaction and more interested in just running around slaughtering who and what you can... Which is a valid gameplay style, just not one that SWG was really designed for...

          As for Starships. First, those are VERY expensive, which means not a single player will be able to afford one for quite some time. So, why exactly are they needed from the launch? Even with power "leveling" and working together with others to buy a ship could still take more then 6 months of time to gather up enough credits for a ship large enough for the group to all crew.

          Plus, they are still working on that aspect of the game, to make sure that it works right. I am all for having access to what works today and then access to ships, when I can afford them... Traveling the starlanes on freighters is no big deal at all, when you are unable to even hope to afford a ship for at least several months.

          Find a friend with the game, "Force" yourself to play it for an hour or so, with some assistance from your friend and then reformulate your opinion. Until then, making false negative claims about something you barely even know anything about lays little credence to your claims.

    • Re:Complete text (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Ulic ( 6715 )
      What's wrong with Kristen Dunst naked?
      • by Anonymous Coward
        Seriously. This guy thinks that a 21 year old movie star is "mediocre," but gets a hard on over a dancing alien in an online version of the cantina scene? Dude, at least upgrade your fantasy life...
      • Well, I believe the highest honor in this ranking system would be the "Natalie Portman w/Hot Grits" award, so Kirsten gets bumped down a bit.
      • Yeah, I'd never use the word mediocre to describe Kirsten Dunst. She may not be the hottest chick in the world, but I'd pay good money to see her naked.
      • What's wrong with Kristen Dunst naked?

        The guy's a pig, what do you expect?
    • by mblase ( 200735 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:58PM (#6384127)
      I''''m of the opinion that Warthog''''s review is more imaginative than anyone else''''s. However, he''''s in need of a good editor, or maybe just needing a keyboard where it''''s possible to clean the sticky punctuation keys.
    • "I found myself lusting after an in-game avatar" I sadly miss the days of game journalism written by adults.
  • by MisterFancypants ( 615129 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:06PM (#6383765)
    Galaxies LOOKS great (speaking of the graphics here), but playing it is a snorefest.

    On the other hand Planetside (another SOE game) looks pretty average (at best) for an FPS game, but it is the most fun I've had gaming in a long while. If you like FPS games but you haven't tried Planetside, find a friend who has and see if they still have their 7 day "give to a friend" code so you can try it out.

    You do need a pretty beefy computer and network connection to play it, but some of the large scale 100+ person battles with troops and vehicles (both ground and flying) have to be experienced to be believed.

    • by sterno ( 16320 )
      I've been playing Planetside since release and it's definitely more fun that the MMORPG type games. Those games basically consist of clicking the mouse to gain exp doing some repetitive task, and socializing. With PS, being an FPS, you actually do stuff, and then occasionally you socialize.

      A couple things to really like about it:

      * MASSIVE battles - Literally hundreds of people all fighting in one place.

      * Little stratification - Unlike in a MMORPG, where the noobs can't hang with the hardcore addict eli
    • I was in the Planetside beta...I haven't played SWG, but from what I've seen of it (I've read the manual and a few reviews), it looks very similar (not coincidentally, since they are both Sony Station MMORPG games). For example, it seems based on the same type of infrastructure (many servers, each a seperate "universe" such that one character can only be used on one server), and the same (or a very similar) game engine (localized battle zones, "certifications" that can be acquired or released, similar grap
  • I wonder when this one becomes the next http://www.progressquest.com/ ?
  • by Gendhil ( 686251 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:10PM (#6383788)
    This is the very same as Everquest, with the same disadvantages (repetitive actions, huge timesinks) it had at launch, the same kind of community handling (*we* decide what is in *our* game and how you should play it) -- only better graphics, and the swords are now laser enhanced. I lasted about 3 hours in the beta before uninstalling it. Those who coped with that in EQ will prolly love it though.
    • Here's my reaction as an EQ player: I'll never play SWG.

      Why? Several reasons
      • My friends play EQ, why would I want to leave them?
      • If I leave EQ it will be because of Sony's (mis!)handling of the server-side content and general customer issues. If I do that, it won't be to play another Sony game... like duh ;)
      • SWG has better graphics. Yes, this is a minus. I and most other seasoned EQ players turn graphics quality WAY down in order to speed rendering during complex encounters between dozens of mobs (player
      • I loooved UO for it's simplicity and the fact that it didn't 'lock' you into any single profession. My first, main and more or less only character started out as a plain ole swordsman.

        In time, he morphed into what I dubbed a "Battle Bard", he would travel the dangerous regions where the undead dwelled and aggro Liches and other vile undead to attack him, in order to help others that weren't doing so well. He also knew enough magic and was skilled enough to pull a few quick spells off, if something ter
  • EQ with SW Races (Score:4, Interesting)

    by FortKnox ( 169099 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:10PM (#6383794) Homepage Journal
    Its just everyquest with star wars races. Seriously! You have an admiral ackbar race running around in bone armor with an axe.

    You want a quick idea of the game?

    No spaceships (no ties, no x-wings, nuttin), no stars (all planetside), no wars (no open PvP servers).

    So, the game doesn't have stars or wars. Its everquest with a star wars theme.

    I'd rather play an MMORPG version of X-Wing vs Tie-Fighter before playing this piece of garbage.
    • Re:EQ with SW Races (Score:3, Informative)

      by HaloZero ( 610207 )
      A space-combat sim addon will be released by LucasArts in the next 18 months.

      Source: CFR - I read it somewhere.
      • I'll believe it when I see it, plus it'll be interesting to see how it will flow with the rest of the game (which will be virtually impossible, I think).
      • by Rogerborg ( 306625 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:39PM (#6383977) Homepage
        And we'll only have to pay another $50 to get it, then wait another six months for them to fix the bugs and add some content. I can't wait!
      • A space-combat sim addon will be released by LucasArts in the next 18 months.

        That the funniest thing I've read in this whole review and thread. Star Wars: Galaxies provides you no way to fly from star to star, or around the galaxy. I can only assume they are renting some Star Trek transporter technology to allow inter-planetary travel in the interim.

        They left out one of the most crucial aspects of the whole mythos! It sounds like it is built on a very detailed, powerful engine, but without space flig
      • And how much will that cost?

        I would like to play this game, but there is no way I'm going to pay $15 per month for it. I'm the guy that had characters deleted from Diablo II on 2 separate occassions because I didn't log on in 3 months. They really need to make a pay as you play type of system for the casual gamers like myself.

    • Re:EQ with SW Races (Score:4, Informative)

      by Sulihin ( 612608 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:36PM (#6383952)

      Saying SWG is EQ with star wars races is a gross overgeneralization. As reading the review hints at, gameplay in EQ and SWG are very different, largely due to SWG's lack of hard set classes and also its lack of specific content. In addition, the lack of anything resembling an NPC economy means that there is a different aspect involved there. EQ was run out, kill things, collect loot, sell to vendors. There's no such pattern in SWG. Half the careers don't even need or want to kill things to progress.

      I didn't pick it up after beta because what they did do wasn't interesting enough for me beyond a week of play to motivate me. Maybe when they add the space expansion I'll change my mind. But it definitely wasn't just EQ with a star wars theme. In some ways it'd have been better if it was...

      • by FortKnox ( 169099 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @02:44PM (#6384494) Homepage Journal
        Think of it this way:

        I'm an average Joe. I am 31 years old and grew up enjoying Star Wars. I hear about the game, and decide to go get it. I load up the game, read the manual, and find out I can't get an X-Wing.
        I just lost 80% of my interest in the game.
        Now, when I go around and fight, I realize that the graphics are pretty, but there isn't much gameplay.
        I decide it isn't worth the monthly charge, and cancel my subscription.

        Now, take out the '30 year old growing up on star wars', and you have everquest.
        The game is about going around, enhancing your levels/skills, the end. Yeah, I can nitpick and find differences, too, but the game still only appeals to MMORPG types like everquest lovers.

        That (along with the lack of space) is why I said it is nothing more than EQ with a SW theme.

        I just want to play a SW MMOG that isn't a fp based, planet based, character interaction game. I wanted a space-sim, work on space based skills (like scounting, and lasers, engineering, and piloting, and mining, and capitalship systems), and join in massive wars, like the battle of endor. Not some, "I'm an ewok, would you like me to dance for you in exchange for a haircut and axe" game.
    • by Tackhead ( 54550 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:47PM (#6384019)
      > Its just everyquest with star wars races. Seriously! You have an admiral ackbar race running around in bone armor with an axe. [ ... ] Its everquest with a star wars theme.

      So you're saying IT'S A TRAP? :)

      • Re:EQ with SW Races (Score:5, Interesting)

        by bugnuts ( 94678 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @02:13PM (#6384260) Journal
        Hey, that's the name of my character!

        SWG has a completely player-motivated economy. This early in the game, there are no Han Solo heavy blasters.... noone can make them yet. The droid crafters are struggling to make anything bigger than a mouse droid which does nothing but hold crap and help the doctors heal.

        But this is NOT bad, it allows socializers and crafters and doctors to play a very important part in the world. All other MMORPGs are dominated solely by the hack'n'slashers, and this is not the case in SWG. This game helps to foster relationships and community. Cities and other hives of scum and villainy can be built (eventually) which will be put on the map, and so on.

        The problem with crafting, though, is it's a snorefest as someone said above. I'm playing a crafter, and feel I've done enough to advance, but am not even halfway to getting the next skill. The in-game macro system won't allow me to crank out garbage to advance my skills, and 3rd-party macros are verboten. Since games are supposed to be FUN, I'm having second thoughts about crafting.... it's more like a boring job as a mailclerk.

        Combat is interesting, somewhat. Experienced characters have no more "hitpoints" than a n00b... but they have better skills to dodge and presumably better equipment (but not at this early stage of the game... wait until the crafters get cranking). A 1500 pt hit will kill anyone, no matter how experienced. Hopefully, the advanced character can wear armor to absorb most of that, though.

        The idea of playing a hairdresser definitely turns the hack'n'slash idea on its ear. I'm hoping this game will attract more women and more roleplayers than other games of its genre.
    • You want Eve [eve-online.com]
      • I'm playing Eve-Online, and although I enjoy it, it's not exactly a content-fest, either. It's a good game with great graphics, but it needs more work.

        I mean seriously, what good is a spaceship vs. spaceship fighting game where you can't actually steer or maneuver your ship? You choices are 1) Point your ship in a direction by double clicking in space and adjusting your throttle, or 2) Right-click on a target and either select Approach or Orbit - although with Orbit you do get to control the distance at
      • I beta-ed eve.

        Eve is a GORGEOUS game graphic wise, but a boring game, playability wise.

        The game is so open, that you get lost with what to do next. The tutorial gets your feet wet, and you travel through space and go to space stations, and mine, but what else is there to do?
    • Its just everyquest with star wars races. Seriously!

      Not according to the review:

      "But this isn't about EQ. How is the content of SWG? Considering that SWG is made by the same company, I'm very surprised to say that, so far, I cannot say a thing about content. I have yet to find anything similar to the great, classic, EQ zones and dungeons.

      In fact, I can't find much that you'd call "content" at all at this point. There are beautiful cities, and wide areas of wilderness where animals spawn randomly near
    • Re:EQ with SW Races (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Pengo ( 28814 )

      Basically comes down to what your expectations are. I tried the game and rolled a brawler. Got sorta bored sorta quick, until I looked into making an droid technician. I have been in love with the game since.

      I guess I didn't buy lookin for an alternative to eve or earth and beyond. The space parts will come, but I am enjoying what I have found thus far. Combat is a bit stale, but that will improve. The Dev's have shown that they are making daily progress and things are getting fixed quick.

      I see SWG l
  • Gawd daimn. (Score:4, Funny)

    by usotsuki ( 530037 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:14PM (#6383818) Homepage
    And here I thought this article was going to be about the theoretical plausibility of the layout of the Star Wars universe...how silly of me.

    -uso.
  • by Hubert Q. Gruntley ( 310405 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:20PM (#6383857)
    ...as if a million incoming HTTP requests were suddently silenced.

    "That's no moon... it's a slashdotting!"
  • Whaaaaaa?? (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    So far, I'd say the loot system in SWG is like seeing Kirsten Dunst naked: pretty mediocre

    This guy must be a Linux user...

  • by smcn ( 87571 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:23PM (#6383875)
    Regardless of whether or not it's a positive or negative review, don't buy a game based on what other people think about it. Personally, I think SWG is the best thing since sliced bread, but there are plenty of people with the exact opposite opinion. As for facts... If you don't like bugs, wait a month or two before buying.
    • Regardless of whether or not it's a positive or negative review, don't buy a game based on what other people think about it.

      .....but I read reviews to find out if I want to shell out that $50 bucks, plus the online fee of $15 a month in SWG's case. I have bought several MMORPGs lately (EVE, E&B, Shadowbane, AC2) and I really wish I'd been able to read a review of them before losing over $200 to (in my opinion) piles of crap that will serve no purpose but to take up space in my computer game collecti

    • by Anonymous Coward
      If you don't like bugs, wait a month or two before buying.

      This is the #1 reason I won't be playing any time soon.

      If you have to buy the damn game, why do pay to play every month?

      I refuse to pay money for something twice.. if they're charging for access, then the client should be free (after all, it's useless without a subscription.)

      And don't give me that "cell phone is the same" - first every cell phone company I know of has a "free" phone offering - the basic phone is "free" if you subscribe for a fix
    • by Rogerborg ( 306625 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:44PM (#6384006) Homepage
      So, you're saying that we should buy the game based on.... how good the cover art is? If we're drunk that day? What, exactly?
  • Another review (Score:5, Informative)

    by huhmz ( 216967 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:29PM (#6383910)
    I read this review over att guru3d before. The guy has a very honest take on SWG. Review here [guru3d.com]
  • Abominable? (Score:5, Funny)

    by dethl ( 626353 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:38PM (#6383967)
    Want to build a giant white Wookie, and name him Abominable? Knock yourself out.

    Are we trying to compensate for something here?
  • by WC as Kato ( 675505 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:38PM (#6383971)

    "Keep your pants on, fellow game geek!"

    Hey, not all geeks get their jollies off on Star Wars Galaxy. I heard that some geeks use porn.

  • I can""t believe how accurate this review was of SOE""s new SWG game. I""ll be waiting for the content to improve before I""m going to buy it. If Kirsten Dunst naked is "mediocre". Then I would be satisfied with far less than I previously imagined...
  • by sprytel ( 242051 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:48PM (#6384034)
    This cracked me up...

    http://www.jeffjimmerson.com [jeffjimmerson.com]

  • My thoughts on SW:G (Score:5, Informative)

    by DoomHaven ( 70347 ) <DoomHaven@hotmail.cCOMMAom minus punct> on Monday July 07, 2003 @01:54PM (#6384086)
    I play SW:G, played it for a week, and so far, I really like the game. I play a rifleman armourcrafter, and am part of a 20 person or so guild, so I get a good feel for a lot of the different aspects of the game.

    I started on Naboo, on the Chilestra (sp?) server. Hunting with a rifle on Naboo to me feels like African safari hunting in the Star Wars galaxy. With a crew of people, the blaster fire, and the animals - the animals! - it is just incredible. Seeing some massive creature stand from laying down and running at you is just incredible. The blaster fire sounds just so bloody cool - *exactly* the way it sounds in the movies. I like the lair aspect of hunting; animals spawn from a lair, if you shoot the lair, they rush you, if you kill the lair, they don't spawn. That makes sense.

    I like the crafting aspect, as well - it is more interactive than the crafting of DAoC and people actually use your items! This was a huge problem with DAoC before spellcrafting came out - loot was better than crafts. Mind you, this is one of the problems with SW:G - no loot. People *have* to use your equipment, because if they don't, they hunt in their clothes. Luckily, SW:G has a workable in-game free market that seems to be good enough for buyers and sellers to meet. And, I get usage experience if people actually use my armour!

    Mind you, I am slanted toward crafting, so I like the system that makes my skills in demand. But, for people that like loot, this game will hurt them. I would consider loot important - to me, the loot lottery known as Diablo 2 is still being played mainly because of this reason.

    The experience system is new to me, and I really like it. I use rifle, and get rifle experience for using it. When I get enough rifle experience, I can train my rifle to the next level. That makes sense. I like how you can train people, and have other people train you - it beats paying for training, and the experience you get from training you need.

    My biggest complaints currently are the number of bugs in the game, especially with the chat and trading. Chat is so buggy that when people join the guild channel, the greeting is "test?". Some things I could perceive as problems are the rarity of money and the lack of dungeons.

    About the rarity of money - I never see any. I either find or am given the materials to craft. I never pay for training - except for purchasing the base level skill so I can start a profession - because for the most skills I need, someone will train me for free. I rarely use money for upkeep for buildings (miners) because our guild architect needs the building experience for building new miners. Our guild makes everything we need for the most part - I haven't bought a single item since I started playing. The only service I have purchased is tipping dancers in cantinas.

    So far, it is a new game, and due to that, it is all bright and shiny. But, I really like the game, and hope to play it for some time.
    • I think a major aspect is the strong communities it forms. For all the people who just want to go out and kill, they often get killed. There *are* battle tactics and not using them generally results in death. This leads to groups forming and if you cause problems, people no longer want to group with you. This is why I enjoy the game so much. I've got a group of friends whom I've been on numerous hunts and can trust them to fight to the end, if need be. Also, I *LIKE* the fact that there isn't any loot
    • The crafts aspect is what is seriously lacking in other games. It's nice that there's finally a game out there where you can "make a name for yourself." If you look at the stories in AD&D, Tolkien, Jordan, and others, you notice that very few things just spawn from thin air, those that do are usually created in super-ancient times (opposite of evolution, eh?) or created by some type of God figure.

      Since there is very little mention of God-headed religion in the SW movies, I wouldn't expect much in the

  • by Rogerborg ( 306625 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @02:10PM (#6384228) Homepage

    You can play any character you like based on the movies (the proper ones), but you just can't do anything - anything - that you saw those characters do? Dark Tailor of the Sith doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it?

    You know the Alliance grunts that got toasted at the start of Episode IV? Sounds to me like after paying this for a couple of weeks, you'll be wishing you could play one of them. Heck, you'll probably be wishing you could play the guy who maintains their blasters, rather than just making weapons for people to eradicate wildlife with.

    "Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided" looks to me like it borders on deceptive advertising. It's not Star Wars, there are no Galaxies, and no Empire to be divided.

    I note with interest the very careful wording of this advertising: "The chance to unlock the mysterious Force Sensitive character slot and attempt to master the most exhilarating and dangerous role in the galaxy...the Jedi" [sony.com]

    I'll suggest that the "chance" here isn't the chance to become a Jedi, but the chance that they might get around to implementing it at some point. Don't hold your breath.

  • ...i thought it said "Star Wars Galaxies Reviled"
  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 07, 2003 @02:28PM (#6384371)
    I don't understand, where are the pictures? I was doing a goggle search for "Kirsten Dunst naked" and I get this?
  • Anyone that says this is just Everquest in space has probably never played either of these games. Of course NO game will have universal appeal but as a long time player of EQ AND AO and now SWG I can tell you quite simply: this is not EQ. If you want to be a part of the Star Wars world you will love this game. If you want to craft you will love this game. If you want to explore you will love the graphics but hunger for deeper content.

    People who toss of those dismissals are just an annoyance.
  • by JavaLord ( 680960 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @02:33PM (#6384409) Journal

    ***Character Design***
    Amazing, the amount of options you have is insane. You could walk around and never see the same looking person twice. Of course 90% of the people are either wookies or humans though.

    ***Graphics***
    Very good for a MMO. Not the best ever, but for having so many people running around at the same time they are damn good.

    ***Interface***
    It tooks me about 6 hours to get used to the interface. I still find new things every day, and yes I did read the manual. Think Ultima IV's interface only with holding down control and control shift sometimes, and the function keys sometimes, etc.

    ***Missions***
    They are really, REALLY boring. Basically you do delieveries which means run from NPC to NPC... You can also do destroy missions which are equally boring.

    ***Combat***
    Combat is aweful. NPC's can shoot you through mountains and trees. When you fight melee it doesn't even look like you are hitting each other sometimes. Melee fighters almost always lose duels to ranged weapons because melee was nerfed before beta was released. The ranged weapon character can just run circles around the melee'er and shoot him/her/it.

    ***Player Vs Player***
    Aweful, there is no point since faction points are so hard to get. You have no hope of taking over another factions town, let alone planet. You mean nothing in the galactic civil war, and you have to run 20 of those boring delievery missions just to get into it.

    ***Theme Parks***
    I've only seen one, Jabba's palace which was nice but I couldn't even come close to doing the missions with my brawler character.

    ***Crafting***
    Awesome, the crafting system is insanly deep. The economy is totally player driven so the crafters have some real power. Not to mention, with the built in macroing system, crafters can get their materials easily when they are at work, or sleeping

    ***Content***
    Doesn't seem like there is much. If you run into a criminal giving you a mission on Naboo in theed, you will run into a criminal giving you the same mission in Mos Eisley in tattoone. Go to watto's junkyard and you can laugh at how they blocked off anakin's old hut. God forbid you should have a cool chance at seeing what was left in there.

    ***Goodies/Loot***
    There are none, you get everything from the crafters who have formed guilds and gouge prices. They charge insane prices for high level items.

    ***Classes***
    The Classes are ok, but unbalanced. A marksmen has a big advantage over a Melee fighter, and a Artisan (crafter) has a big advantage over a scout. Basically the Artisans and Entertainers have very big advantages since their professions are easly macro-able allowing 24 hr play. Well, 20 hour play since the servers are down 4 hours a day (no, I'm not kidding)

    ***Immersion***
    Other than being in Jabba's Palace and the Cantina in Mos Eisley, SWG is really lacking here. Most of the guys look like they fell out of a midevil game with swords, axes, stone knives and bone armor.

    ***Downtime***
    Your character purposly walks slow, and you have three bars to recover, which makes it take longer to do anything, which means you sick around longer. Thanks Luca$.

    ***Jedi***
    The biggest money making scheme in the game is to make Jedi an Unlockable slot that you can get randomly. They say it's because they wanted to make Jedi "rare" and they didn't want a bunch of them running around because of the time frame they didn't want to break story line. Give me a break, like there were guys running around in bone armor with stone knives everywhere in the star wars galaxy. Yeah, I'm sure you always saw wookies named "50 cent", "Smokebacca", and "Tu-Pac". The Jedi scam is just a money making machine for this game to keep fanboi's interested. Ooh, there is a secret way to unlock them that is different for everyone! Maybe just maybe if you keep playing for that extra month you will unlock that force sensative slot! Imagine the money you will make on EBAY!

    • by Anonymous Coward

      ***Missions*** They are really, REALLY boring. Basically you do delieveries which means run from NPC to NPC... You can also do destroy missions which are equally boring.

      There's static missions at the Theme Parks which you can do. The ones you're doing are ones the devs labelled as "for newbies" and to make easy money to start off with... and yeah, the Theme parks were meant to be a little challenging. You said you have a brawler... not even a master brawler or anything, which means that right now you're

    • by Kintanon ( 65528 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @05:38PM (#6386239) Homepage Journal
      ***Combat***
      Combat is aweful. NPC's can shoot you through mountains and trees. When you fight melee it doesn't even look like you are hitting each other sometimes. Melee fighters almost always lose duels to ranged weapons because melee was nerfed before beta was released. The ranged weapon character can just run circles around the melee'er and shoot him/her/it.


      Hence the old addage, "Never bring a knife to a gunfight".

      Kintanon
  • by LordSkippy ( 140884 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @02:52PM (#6384568)
    There are more mission types, *MUCH* more. Even at the mission terminals you can do delivery mission. Which are basic pick this up here and drop it off there. But they are a good way for non-combat classes to get money. NPC also give out lots of missions with different goals. Some require you to look for certain materials, or craft different items.

    Also, must of the economy is player driven, so when the characters start to get up in level and explore more of the world, the economy will get better and more impressive 'loot' will be had.
    • >There are more mission types, *MUCH* more. Even at the mission terminals you can do delivery mission. Which are basic pick this up here and drop it off there

      Wow, you're saying that there are two mission types! That reviewer was an asshat, for not mentioning them!

      Of course, the reviewers that have mentioned them say they are interminably boring, pointless, and buggy. Like, you hit autorun, go and eat lunch, come back 45 minutes later, and find contact you were supposed to meet stuck in a wall and u

  • by CrazyJim0 ( 324487 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @03:12PM (#6384754)
    I'm one of the biggest fans of MMORPGS...

    But the funnest thing I did in galaxies was create a:
    Fat man with a mullet
    Strip him to his wife beater and skivvies
    Teach him dancing
    Take him to the cantina
    And give everyone who came in lapdances and grinds

    "Its my fueltank for love."
    "I'm dead sexy."
    "Buisness in the front, party in the back"
    And random in your face comebacks.
  • ...I'm still waiting for my chance to win the golden challace from the "Swordquest" RPG series on the Atari 2600... Atari promised that back in, what, 1983? Maybe there'll be an update in the next edition of Atari Age Magazine...
  • You want original reviews? Go check out some of the articles Jade has written on Ars Technica. Now those are uniqe. This is just a mildly humorous review of a video game.
  • Seems to be the finiest online multiplayer Womprat hunting simulator in history. Seriously folks, after all the jokes I'd cracked about rat hunting in EQ I laughted my ass off when I found out the first dozen hours is spent hunting the Star Wars equivalent.

    This game was obviously thrown on the market to make money from fan boys. I saw a story on CNN the other night that said as much (thier wording was the launch was "low key" for the "hard-core fans", and what's a story about SWG doing on CNN anyways?).
  • by Lord_Dweomer ( 648696 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @04:14PM (#6385343) Homepage
    "One other wierd thing though. I never, and I mean never, see any healer player characters in the field. They all stay at the hospitals, and tend to the wounded who come inside. I have yet to see a healer that went hunting with anyone. I have no idea what to make of this, exactly. As a tank, this is pretty scary to me."

    Thats not that strange a concept to me. You see, I played this great game by Simutronics for years, it was called Dragonrealms. They also made Gemstone III btw. Anyways, there was an empath guild in town, which was the hospital. People would go out, fight, and come back to get patched up unless they could find an empath somewhere else in town. The empaths could not fight, they'd lose their abilities if they hurt a creature. Only rarely did you see an empath in the wilderness, and only then they were in a very high level party, and VERY well guarded. Think about it.....if all you had was a bag of bandages and a needle, would YOU want to be out fighting monsters?

    This system works fine in practice, and it just means that instead of staying out till you level, you need to come back to town every now and then. It gives a much more normal flow to the game.

  • by rufusdufus ( 450462 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @04:18PM (#6385398)
    Even as the reviewer points out, he is still a complete newbie. He hasnt see anything in the game. I think he forgest what the first month of EQ was like. You killed the same stupid snake over and over and over. The graphics were bad even for those days. A mage would spend 75% of his time watching his mana bar on a blank screen.

    The first couple of days of SWG is a better experence than any other MMPORG ever made. Fewer bugs. Less confusion. No gimping. You get into the game and are doing interesting stuff with interesting graphics right away.

    As for more varied interesting stuff, it is there, he just hasnt seen it yet. The Tusken lair for example is quite a thrill to conquer.

  • by xyleen ( 30293 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @04:28PM (#6385507)
    There are theme parks...Jabbas palace is -6000, -6000. Emperors retreat on Naboo, and dozens of other random NPC's who give out these type of missions ranging from criminal to heroic.
    There are plenty of static spawns to be found.
    Again on tatooine, there is the jawa-city, tusken raider outpost, krayt dragon graveyard...all of which have those types of creatures spawning there for you to hunt. Heck, you can even get faction points for tuskens and jawas and do missions for them!

    The developers are working on the issues of no vehicles, creature mounts, and player cities, which will be released in a decent amount of time. True this game might have benefitted from waiting to get some of these features in first, but investment doesnt last forever and Lucas is the emperor himself. Space expansion is also in the works so you can be that scoundrel.
    There is a smuggler profession, though it is severly lacking, you can get the ability to pick locks, and hack terminals to give you more money per mission, as well has hack your weapons and armor to boost its features.

    The missions from the terminals do get a bit blase as the article said. Go here kill this, or go here and deliver this. But there are some decent missions in game you get from NPC's(Non player characters) that are a bit more complicated. Some missions require you to escort an NPC and hope they dont get killed. I have also seen multi-part quests back in beta where finishing a mission would spawn part2 of that mission...for instance kill some bandits for a mission and he might drop a disc with the location of some hidden loot. You get to the spot and it spawns some guardians you need to kill before you can claim your finders keepers.

    True there are no mages per se...but there are for some lucky people who figure it out, jedis. And who would not want to be a jedi, although their live expectancy is short in this game. Basically you unlock another character slot, and that character is a jedi. But unlike your normal character, they can be permanently killed after 4-5 deaths, meaning you have to start them all over again.

    The review also didnt touch on the PVP aspect of the game which is important. You can chose to be Rebel or Imperial. If you are openly factioned, you are fair game to be killed by anyone of the opposite faction. Likewise you are free to blast anyone on the other side as well. In addition, the game also supports PA's(Guilds/clans) who can declare war on each other as well. There are battle fields where you can build and fortify a base, and there are no innocent bystanders. You have to chose a side before entering a battlefield. You can place mines, throw grenades, place gun turrents,and wipe out the other side.
    You can also chose to be a covert rebel or imperial, meaning you are kind of like a sympathiser. Normal overt imperials or rebels do not know you are on the opposite side unless you do something to give your self away, in which case you are temporarily attackable by the other side. Add on the fact that you can command squads of stormtroopers, and wear the armor, and its pretty darn cool.
  • by Rogerborg ( 306625 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @04:52PM (#6385829) Homepage

    Imperial Star Destroyers are closing in on the Millenium Falcon. We join our heroes as the hyperdrive has once again failed.

    Leia: Well, flyboy?
    Han: It's not my fault!
    Chewie: Neuuurgl
    C-3PO: Sirs! R2 says that there is a malfunction in the alluvial dampers and... oh dear...
    Han: Spit it out, goldenrod.
    C-3PO: And... the telephone is... unsanitary.
    Chewie: Rrroaaargh!
    C-3PO: We're doomed!
    f4t_c0k69: I SATNIZE FHONE! I MASTR PHONE SANTISER!!!!!!!!
    Leia: Uh... hello. OK. Can you, uh, sanitize our phone?
    f4t_c0k69: 2 WOMPRAT SKINZ!!! TR4DE 4 2 WOMRAT SKINZ!!!!
    Han: What the...? Chewie, do we have any womp rat skins?
    Chewie: Nuhhhrr!
    f4t_c0k69: U GAYS = TEH LAMERZ!!!! N E 1 WANTTRADE 4 WAMPRAT SKINZ??!!!
    Han: Chewie? What's that pus in your ear? Did you use an unsanitized phone? Chewie, old buddy, what's wrong? Speak to me!
    Chewie: ASL? ASL? ASL? ASL?
    f4t_c0k69: 15/m/NY!!
    Chewie: NO WAY, I = 15/m/NY 2!!!
    f4t_c0k69: NO WAY!!!!
    Chewie: NO WAY!!!!
    Han: Right, that's it, I'm aiming for that Star Destroyer.
    C-3PO: Sir, the odds of surviving a frontal assault on an Imperial Star Destroyer are...
    Han: I'm not planning to survive.
    Leia: Um, you do realize we're just sitting in a bar and pretending to be in a spaceship? They haven't been implemented yet.
    Han: Who wants to play UT2003?
    C-3PO: Yeah, this place blows.

    My childhood dreams are about to come true! Oh, how I have waited.

  • by Snake_Plisken ( 666881 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @04:56PM (#6385866)
    I read another review over on UO Stratics (http://boards.stratics.com/php-bin/uo/showflat.ph p?Cat=3&Board=uochesapeake&Number=4094063&page=0&v iew=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&what2=postlist&fpar t=) (Warning, Stratics ain't stable on the best days, let alone a slashdot barrage). Basically it said that the game was lacking depth, like many of the other MMORPGS out there. In terms of visual appeal, most other games of this genre beats the pants off of UO, but UO is the oldest one, and most people who quit UO eventually come back to it for the depth. I quit myself recently after three years of suffering many changes that older players were not happy with. Many reports from older players say that they try other MMORPGS and then come back to UO. Problem is that UO is losing its older fan base due to its changes. I keep looking around looking for the next great game, but haven't found it yet. It's sure to come due to advances in technology and lots of information on what players want in a persistent world. Part of the problem seems to be that companies rush to bring out the next big thing and suffer a devestating cash (Sims Online comes to mind). For my money, the best hope that online role players have is the D&D online game coming out in 2005. They are taking their time to develop it (http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/press/press.5593. html) has some info on it - its an Atari/Turbine production. I don't care if I am swinging an axe, a lightsaber, or a chicken at enemies. What I want to see is a game that will hold my interest for years (like UO did) and listen to its player base (which UO didn't). One of these days that game will come, and that will be the next great online game.
  • PA Review (Score:3, Informative)

    by sbszine ( 633428 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @08:21PM (#6387416) Journal
    There's a scathing review at Penny Arcade [penny-arcade.com] (scroll down to the middle of the page).

    Tycho had talked me into playing my first MMORPG and I told him that if he ever did that again I'd kick him right in his cream and crackers. After an hour or so of hitting spiders with a bat I was ready to write off the entire genre. He said "What about Star Wars Galaxies?" At the time I told him that Galaxies would be different because it was Star Wars. "It's not like they're gonna make you spend hours hitting Wamprats with a stick." Oh irony, thou art a harsh mistress.

Never test for an error condition you don't know how to handle. -- Steinbach

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