SW:G... Is anyone listening?

[Signe]

I'm sure this will have you all frothing at the mouth... for one reason or another...

Star Wars Galaxies:  An Empire Divided

Hey Subscribers! We've got a special deal
going on with LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment
for the first ever release of Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided
in a 14-Day trial. Join hundreds of thousands of players
in the fastest growing MMORPG in North America.
Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided allows you to create
your very own Star Wars character and immerse yourself in
the Star Wars universe like never before.

LucasArts and IGN/GameSpy invite FilePlanet and Founders' Club
subscribers to participate in a special free trial of up to
14 days of Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided.
Explore classic Star Wars worlds, such a Tatooine, Naboo, and
Endor. Customize your own Star Wars character from eight different
species ranging from Humans to Wookiees and advance through over
30 diverse professions, ranging from bounty hunter to droid engineer.
What will your role be in the unfolding drama? Choose carefully
between the dark and light side.

For details of the offer click here:
http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/starwars_galaxies/

[Krakrok]

Did they say anything about patching in Star Wars soon?

[schild]

They seemed to have patched in the light and dark side. But can you play as Ewoks yet?

[Signe]

They seemed to have patched in the light and dark side. But can you play as Ewoks yet?

You?  A furry?  Please tell me it ain't so....

[schild]

God no. But I mean, all the other races aside from human suck ass. Ewoks use little bows and arrows. Taking down a rancor or krayt with a smuggler ewok with a bow and arrow and feign death would kick ass.

[Krakrok]

If you make a wookie really short and name him Wicket you can pretend you're an Ewok.

[Venkman]

I think it's most interesting that this is such a targetted advertisement. Why not just reactivate all old accounts? Is it because they don't need to, don't want to or are making some sort of money off of offering Fileplanet yet more time in the limelight (or vice versa)?

[Numtini]

They're giving trials because they're hitting those all time unique simultaneous login records ;-)

Seriously, it's about time. The populations are dreadful. They've fixed so much, but they've lost so many people it's at the point where it affects your gaming.

Truly amusing SWG tidbit: They nerfed image designers. It's now the hardest profession in the game to master (mathematically 60 hour grind with a partner, 120 hours alone -- no macros available). Has a 2 and one half minute timer and you have to stare at an image design window that takes up your entire screen while you wait out the timer.

It's the return of the EQ Spellbook.

Why not just reactivate all old accounts?

Didn't they have a free giveaway in January just before they reactivated all the accounts for two weeks?

[HRose]

Seriously, it's about time. The populations are dreadful. They've fixed so much, but they've lost so many people it's at the point where it affects your gaming.

I don't think who canceled has any interest to come back, no matter of the bugfixes.

The last time they reactivated the accounts I logged in for half an hour to try the vehicles, then I left and disinstalled it.

I simply don't like the game.

[Signe]

It's about time they nerfed Image Designers.  They were way too powerful.

[geldonyetich]

This doesn't look like a winback program.   This looks like you can download the game and get a 14 day free trial if you have a Fileplanet subscription.    In other words, you'd have to start a new account to take advantage of this offer.

Here's the details:

Once you have activated the free trial account key, you will then be able to play at no fee for up to 14 days. You must activate your free trial account key on or before 11:59 pm (PST) on July 31, 2004 or you will not be eligible to participate in the free trial program. An internet connection is required to play this game. The game is intended for play only within North America and Europe. In order to continue playing Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, you will need to buy a copy of Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided at a retail or online store and activate the retail account key. Activating the retail account key terminates the free trial period. A valid credit card or paid game card (if available) are required to activate the retail account key and additional recurring fees are then required to play the game. Other terms and conditions must be accepted to activate the retail account key and then play the game.

At least they're not in such dire straights yet that they're no longer trying to sell the boxes.  Though they are down to $29.99.

I'm getting mixxed signals here.   My own experience (from the January winback) is population levels are so abysmal that it's hard to run across more than a dozen players in a major NPC city, and I didn't have much luck finding any real numbers of players exploring a few player cities either.     People who are still playing SWG, on the other hand, regularly inform me that population level is fine but the bulk of the players are in certain player run cities and/or PvP zones.     Raph himself will occationally take the time to inform players that population isn't as bad as those who have stopped playing think, but I don't know if he's talking active subscriptions of players actually in the game.

Ah well, assuming I have the time, I'll probably try out the game again when Jump To Lightspeed is released.

[schild]

At least they're not in such dire straights yet that they're no longer trying to sell the boxes.  Though they are down to $29.99.

What the hell is this? I could only wish that this game was doing so horribly that they had to let downloads of the game be free. The consumer should not allow such mediocrity on the market.

[Flashman]

Well I recently quit 2 accounts. It just wasn't "fun" anymore and I feel like the devs have no idea where they want to take this game. Or actually I do know where they want to take this game and I don't like it. It's becoming Everquest in space.

Uber-loot which can only be accessed by large groups of the best players with the best equipment. Camping of areas. Artifical time barriers put in to slow the game down. And in a couple months a vast nerfing "combat rebalance" which will make the game a lot less fun for those of us who like to solo, work in small groups or dont have zillons to spend of teh phat lewt.

And soon, jedi everywhere as everyone is getting "force sensitive". Replacing hologrinding with quest camping and grinding to become a uber-dood jedi.

As far as population goes, I still think its pretty high based on my experience. Or at least stable since last fall when I noticed it really was empty everywhere.

SWG just is not "fun" anymore. Whatever that means. But I know I dont like it anymore. They took one of the best know license, had the people and money to make a great game and cocked it all up by giving up on the original ideas of no-loot, no-camping, etc. and just making the damn thing an Everquest clone.

I don't know what the answer is or what could be done to fix it but the realization for me came when I logged in and realized this game was more of a chore than a pleasant experience that I took a deep breath, stepped away from the computer and then cancelled my accounts.

I just don't understand how every MMORPG is designed to be "work" instead of "fun".  It's like instead of rising to the challenge and making a fun game with compelling, interesting content to keep us playing we are instead offered the same old horrible treadmills, artifical timesinks  and grinding and promised that if you keep doing this...it'll get better. Which it never does.

Does that make any sense?

[schild]

Does that make any sense?

Nope. No one here has ever thought any of that.

[Righ]

Let's beat it to death again anyway. I've almost forgotten who posts which lines on this subject.

[HRose]

Does that make any sense?

Nope. No one here has ever thought any of that.

Bwahahah. :D

[schild]

Hrose, did someone really not know who your avatar was that a sig line was necessary?

[HRose]

Hrose, did someone really not know who your avatar was that a sig line was necessary?

Yes, someone told me I looked like SirBruce in jail.

[Righ]

That's awesome. Name names.

[Merusk]

Truly amusing SWG tidbit: They nerfed image designers. It's now the hardest profession in the game to master (mathematically 60 hour grind with a partner, 120 hours alone -- no macros available). Has a 2 and one half minute timer and you have to stare at an image design window that takes up your entire screen while you wait out the timer.

What the fuck was the thinking behind that move?

[schild]

The Jedi Hair Stylist is the most feared of all jedi.

[Venkman]

Truly amusing SWG tidbit: They nerfed image designers. It's now the hardest profession in the game to master (mathematically 60 hour grind with a partner, 120 hours alone -- no macros available). Has a 2 and one half minute timer and you have to stare at an image design window that takes up your entire screen while you wait out the timer.

What the fuck was the thinking behind that move?

The  new Image Designer hospitals... er, Tents, I'm sure

[Venkman]

People who are still playing SWG, on the other hand, regularly inform me that population level is fine but the bulk of the players are in certain player run cities and/or PvP zones

We also don't know for how long the average play session is. Saying there's 350k+ active subscriptions is like saying a Banner Ad has been clicked X-many times. With everything that SOE tracks, I imagine they also track the average amount of time those 350k are logged in.

In every game I've played since quitting SWG, there is invariably someone logging out to stock their SWG vendor. This was just like back when people kept their houses refreshed in UO. These people are not playing SWG. They are just periodically maintaining inertia.

SWG is not going to replace everyone who leaves with brand new people forever. There simply aren't that many new MMOGers coming to the genre for SWG.

At the same time though, the Space Expansion allows gamers to exist in a facet of SWG that has nothing to do with the hallmark crafting system (not the act of crafting itself as much as the infrastructure and market). Someone who comes for the X-Wing isn't going to give a shit about being Image Designed. Whether a Musician, Dancer or a Novice Entertainer heals their battle fatigue ain't gonna mean anything to them.

So yea, this isn't a Winback program. That much we knew. But as Geld mentioned regarding the January one, people who try SWG now are going to find a good game devoid of life. The population has spread and moved to areas the Spaceport Tutorial does not drop players into.

I can think of two relatively easy ways to resolve this:
[list=1][*]Show population densities on the various planetary world maps. In the Tutorial, allow players to see this on all worlds. In the game, localize it to just the world upon which they stand.
[*]In the Tutorial, allow players to drop down into Player Cities. Even Shadowbane allows this.[/list:o]
Together, this would let players go to where other players are, and allow their first interaction with the SWG universe to not be a lonely one.

[El Gallo]

It's becoming Everquest in space.

Wow, that is the most brutal insult to EQ I have ever seen.

[Flashman]

Does that make any sense?

Nope. No one here has ever thought any of that.

I figured as much. I'm glad I took the time to write all of that and let you know then. Thanks. Glad I could help you out.

[HRose]

people who try SWG now are going to find a good game

You really believe that?

I agree about everything but that line. Despite the lot of work SWG is still VERY bad to me. The space expansion could make it worth playing again and ONLY if it's a completely different game.

In the end that expansion will just break even more the whole game. Exactly for the reason you wrote here and elsewhere.

[Venkman]

As with every MMOG, there are going to be people who like SWG and those that don't. I don't like AC2. They could have 25 expansions and pay me to play the hack and I still wouldn't like it. But there are going to be folks who will like it. That's why it's a genre and not everyone playing EQ.

SWG is a good game now because the original premise has been finally near-fully realized. Almost every tool someone needs to live a virtual lifestyle is there, from playing a Slitherhorn to collecting plans to being the Mayor of a 100+ service-complete city. It's a social roleplayer's paradise, if that person can get passed the mis-application of the Star Wars license (it's not needed in to make it playable. It's just needed to make it marketable).

SWG is not fundamentally broken at some obvious level that results in a few hundred thousand people one step outside of Jonestown. It's got most of the most glaring unplayable bugs resolved, and every system except combat (and therefore PvP) actually has some good merit to it for folks who want to play SimBeru or Enron.

I just happen to want meaningful and fun combat that matters for more than running an organics business.

It'll be a measure of community burnout with the topic if the above doesn't ignite of old skool hate :)

[Numtini]

Actually I tend to agree with Darniaq. As long as you're looking for a virtual world and not a PVE game or PVP game, SWG is pretty good right now. Most of the bugs are fixed. There are some interesting systems.

The biggest problem is the number of players and the pace of changes.

300k+ subs doesn't sound too hard to believe. But 100k or fewer active players also isn't too hard to believe either. Multiple accounts are standard in SWG, maybe worse than buffbotted DAOC. And there are a lot of crafters and second accounts who are non-entities in the game. On the other hand, all those zombies add items to their database problems.

The perception of population is even worse. I know a lot of people who left 3 or 4 months of maintenance on their houses and left. Many of those people have empty registered on the map vendors. The result is if you're shopping, maybe 1 vendor in 10 has anything on them. And you frequently run into houses named "quit for FFXI until the space expansion" or "see you in COH" That gives a horrible impression. A big field with 5 houses beats a small town of 50 houses 45 of which are abandoned.

They're about to implement server moves and when they do, I think a lot of people will be moving to the more populated servers. I suspect they will have to cope with the idea of server consolidation unless space brings vastly more people into the game. They may have the accounts for 26 servers, but they don't have the in game critical mass.

[schild]

I left the game and picked up my houses and kept enough money on my character to buy just about ANYTHING when the space expansion comes out. Though, I probably won't go back because I don't expect the space expansion to be fun. They'll have one month after release to patch that in.

[heck]

SWG is a good game now because the original premise has been finally near-fully realized

Maybe so, but this leaves a gamer two choices:  

1. Ride a wave of disfunction, i.e., do all the new stuff when it's new i.e. when it's broken.

2. Do all the fixed stuff, i.e. old stuff, i.e. stuff you'll be doing all by yourself.

[Venkman]

Not really much a choice really. SWG is like every other MMOG, and in fact like operating systems: do not expect it to be perfect the second it releases.

The Space Expansion is the first bit of content that will allow gamers to not play what SWG currently is. But until then, nothing there now nor being developed will change what some people like about it. And what others don't.

[Numtini]

do not expect it to be perfect the second it releases

Well even by the already low industry standards, SWG was about as incomplete as any game I can think of and among the worst for bugs.

[Venkman]

You didn't play AO then, or was that part of the "among"?

[geldonyetich]

SWG's use of the license is indeed way off.   Taking Star Wars and turning into this kind of MMORPG is like taking the Shadowrun licence and screwing the shadowruns so bad that the only remaining players are the ones that run the night clubs and weapon stores.   So one has to wonder why the developers haven't been busy fixxing the more swashbuckling aspects of the game rather than improving the sim-beru all this time?

It's like they're saying, "Yeah.   We know combat sucks... but, we're not going to fix it.   Sorry, it's just a lost cause."  

It's not something a Star Wars fan wants to hear.

Jump to Lightspeed is the first bit of good news I've heard about SWG in a long time.   They're adding massively multiplayer space travel and combat.   The combat is entirely different, heavily resembling X-Wing Vrs Tie Fighter with a cone of fire based off character skill.   Joystick sales should pick up prompty.  

This is something Raph told us was coming waaay back before SWG was released, but I don't think anyone knew at the time just how badly the game would need it.

[schild]

Jump to Lightspeed is the first bit of good news I've heard about SWG in a long time.   They're adding massively multiplayer space travel.   There's going to be combat in space, entirely different (mostly twitch-based), and it's entirely real time and gameplay will heavily resemble X-Wing Vrs Tie Fighter with a cone of fire based off character skill.  Joystick sales should pick up prompty.

And go down just as quickly. Factor 5 isn't making the fucking thing. The SOE team who made SWG is. And after seeing that combat, why the hell should we trust this will be good expansion?

This is something Raph told us was coming waaay back before SWG was released, but I don't think anyone knew at the time just how badly the game would need it.

...or how little we'd trust the SOE team to make a good game.