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Star Wars Galaxies: The Complete Online Adventures Review
User Submitted Star Wars Galaxies: The Complete Online Adventures Reviews
Date: 2008-10-16
Time to get rid of the old reviews : it's not just the NGE anymore - SWG rocks now!
Say what you want about SOE/LA, they will go down in history for executing the biggest betrayal of their customers of any online game provider, and arguably of any software provider, in the history of computer gaming. I'm sure Julio Torres and Cindy "Too Much Reading" McCintyre are quite proud. They sprung the NGE on their unsuspecting cutomer base and almost completely wiped it out in the space of just a few days. Text books will have chapters on the whole SWG/NGE experience as cautionary tales of how not to treat your customers.
Ok, that's the obligatory NGE flame. Things in SWG have changed A LOT since the NGE hit in 2005. Every profession has extensive expertise systems implemented, that, while not providing the level of character customization the game had before Julio Torres' love child nearly destroyed the game, do give each profession a unique slant on performing their roles. Creature Handler has returned, in the form of Beastmaster expertise, and this includes methods for creating your own unique creatures, including getting lucky with mutations. There are creatures available to beastmasters, such as the nerf, tiglon and chubafly, that don't appear anywhere else in the game. And the best thing, this profession is available to everyone, to use as a hybrid with their primary/base prof. Droid commander is coming, as well, building on this idea, but with droids instead of creatures.
Smugglers actually smuggle now - a whole mission-based smuggling system has been introduced to the game, with a factional ranking system and actual benefits to the character beyond those available to max level toons - increases in expertise-related abilities based on smuggler mission level.
Remember Rori? Moon of Naboo, had two major cities and a small rebel outpost. One of those cities - Restuss - is now a smoking ruin, and the entire zone around the remains of the city is a constant PVP zone, as are three other bases (on naboo, corellia and talus), that can be turned either rebel or imperial and reward those members of the same faction with limited use stims based on how long they hold the base in their possession. The entire Galactic Civil War has been revamped and made actually -relevant-, moreso than it ever was before. No longer can you grind up to colonel in a few hours on npcs - now you actually have to Earn your rank, and with rank comes priveledges. Buffs and combat bonuses are there for high ranking members of the empire or rebellion.
There are also 5 new Heroic Encounters - high level instanced themed fights with good loot and character bonus stats given for successful completion, with a 6th on the way - Hoth (the planet in Empire Strikes Back)- which will have vehicle combat and atmospheric flying. Remember the village? Well, it's back, only now it's the Township, and serves as the staging area for all heroic encounters.
Remember SEA's, and camping high level spawns in the hope of finding a good one? Well, now in the game you make your own. You can tailor your armor, clothing and weapon bonuses how you want (weapons can now get SEA's as well). Weaponsmith has recently received a massive update, including the ability to craft combat bonuses into weapons along with customizing their damage output type and amount.
A Storyteller mechanism has been added to the game, enabling folks to make their own adventures they can then invite folks to partake of. Nearly every item,creature and structure in the game is available to the aspiring story teller. This level of player-driven event customization is completely absent from any other MMO in existence. There's simply nothing else like this anywhere.
A new landable space station has been introduced, hosting space-related collection quests and other pilot-oriented content. Players can now own and fly gunboats, massive pob's with many turrets and massive offensive output.
Entertainers have been given a very important role in the game - a very comprehensive buff system including essential buffs for viable combat.
There are literally hundreds of collections available to the player to complete, rewarding everything from just some experience, to Unique and powerful items (like the most powerful jedi clothing available in the game, schematics for weapons and armor, buff items, even the schematic for a gunboat). Many quests systems have been introduced too, for folks of all levels.
This is just some of the stuff that has been crammed into this game since the NGE almost killed this game. I'm a DAY 1 vet, a pre-cu jedi, and I can honestly say that this game has NEVER BEEN BETTER. I've tried every major MMO and none can come close to this game. Own your own home, decorate it how you like, customize your character how you want, make your own city, own your own ships, fly in space and run on the ground, make your own weapons and clothing, armor and gear, customize your appearance any way you want - nothing has the level of character customizations this game has.
Like Star Wars? This is the best Star Wars game available right now - long after TFU is in the bargain-basement discard bin, this game will be rocking. There's a free trial available - give it a shot. It's gonna blow your mind.
Date: 2008-09-27
Truly the real experience
This game is the real deal in about ten years this game will be as good as World Of Warcraft.When you make you character you get almost every single detail there is when you pick the classes it lets you see what the class is about.Still the end is a long way from your grasp until you go into space and fly you ship and when you get the money you can customize your ship.You can even get the ship Hon Solos and Chewbaccas ship.Overall this game is worth buying.
Date: 2008-05-23
Great initial appeal - Fades when you start to learn the game.
If you're like me, you enjoy a great MMO, and when it's based on something you're familiar with (be it via literature or media), it makes the appeal and the overall experience that much better. Unfortunately, that's all this MMO has going for itself.
The people at SOE (Sony Online Entertainment) did a swell job with the creation of the battle system and character creation/evolution system. It is unseen in any other MMO as it is seen in Star Wars: Galaxies. There are combat professions and non-combat professions. Those non-combat professions being Trader and Entertainer. These professions are the bread and butter of the economy in SWG. Traders flood the marketplace with anything from ship components to animal DNA, while Entertainers flood the cantinas offering wayward travelers uplifting melodies. Your combative choices are Smuggler, Spy, Bounty Hunter, Officer, Commando, and of course, Jedi.
If you're a big Star Wars fan, this may sound like the ideal MMO for you, and that may be fact. However, if you're a casual Star Wars fan, chances are that just because you like Star Wars and MMO's, doesn't mean you'll enjoy SWG. There are many beefs with SWG that many people share.
First, SOE's customer support is moot, at best. When speaking with a GM (an in-game support representative), you're lucky if you're able to read thru their elementary usage of the English language. "u r havnig difucultis with beign stcuk in mid/air? hwo may i hlep?" That is a true, non-exaggerated example of a response I got from a GM the first time I used the system. You are not treated with concern - more of a nuisance.
Second, SWG is old. Plain and simple. With age, comes glitches. With glitches, come repairs. Not in this case. SOE has yet to fix many glitches that have been present since pre-beta.
Third, the battle system. Yes, I said they did a great job with it, but only because it is unique and easy to use. However, it is also boring and unappealing to the eyes. Bounty Hunters have about the most animated combative style, and it still looks like a NERF gun shooting squishy balls.
Fourth, animation. Horrible. Like I said, the game is old. And also like I said, SOE has failed to repair glitches in the game, or simply disregard them as glitches. For example - in combat, NPCs will run toward or away from you and stop, with their feet/legs still moving, or their feet/legs will be moving faster than they are actually going. Also, if you attack an NPC from behind, they will pull an exorcist-esque move and twist around at the waist to retaliate. Also, the landscaping and cityscaping are horrible. Blocky, sometimes pixellated, and often boring. Nothing like the movies. Nothing like they should be.
The initial appeal of being a saber-wielding Jedi or a strapped Bounty Hunter flying around on a jet pack, soon wears off when you begin to discover the complexities of the gaming system.
Star Wars: Galaxies is a very fouled up version of Star Wars. It is almost along the lines of the amateur films and the third party literature that are still in production.
As far as MMOs, this is an absolute failure. It may have been good a few years ago, but not any longer. With the likes of World of Warcraft, the upcoming Age of Conan, and (my personal favourite) Lord of the Rings Online, Star Wars: Galaxies is well on its way to the archives of long-lived, long-despised MMOs.
Date: 2008-03-23
Lucasarts and SOE have outdone themselves! All you bad reviews are outdated!!!!
I don't know how the game used to be, but i'm guessing it wasn't as good as it is now. I started playing this game 10 months ago. Starting out in the game is a little confusing and a little annoying (making something new on any game is a pain!). Once i learned about the game's enviroment, i was able to progress vastly. I was able to play the game to the fullest and it as so much fun. As i played game updates were made that made the game shine!
Everything in the game is fun: combat, trading, entertainment, marriage, owning a house (personally i have a 4 story mansion, while my alternate character has a vendor), piloting, Galactic Civil War, pvp, and role-playing!
There were great updates recently, including new powers, collections, and the ability to own a gunship! (Not to mension more repairs on the minor bugs in the game.)
To finish off, don't listen to the other negative reviews. I checked all of the to find out most if not all were outdated. Since then they have done great things to the game!......
Great things !!!!
Date: 2008-02-17
Haters and trolls will be haters, but this game is for life...
dont ever let this game die.... It went from being awesome, to being mediocre, and then now its back to awesome.
Truth be told, it had its low point when the Combat Upgrade (CU) and New Game Experience (NGE) 2 years after its inital release.
Alot of long-term veterans griped, as they way the game performed changed too much for them (or so they say). Personally, It needed the change. While the game was awesome from the get-go, it was becoming quite quaint, and the old Pre-CU "skills" based process was just flat out irritating at certain points. It literally took you forever to get anywhere. There was alot of beating around the bush. From day 1, the game had its bugs, and over time, they were worked out.
The bugs are no were near as bad as people made them out to be, and vitrually unnoticeable in the game today.
While the CU and NGE may have created a few more bugs (as any new update to any game would, keep that in mind), I never noticed them. And according to many who still play, they've long sinced been fixed if they were ever noticeable to you.
The current state of the game, as of Feb 2008, is simply amazing. Fact being, more players are returning, and you can even notice this in forums, talking to people in game who are returning for the frist time in a year or so, and the overall population is growing.
Main reason being? The CU and NGE has been balanced with the Pre-CU. Don't listen to the clowns who say Sony doesn't listen. They've spent alot of time over the years taking what the folks like about the CU and NGE, and what folks liked about the Pre-CU, and blended them back to together. Now you have fully functional galaxy, with the best of Pre-CU, and the best of the CU and NGE, and you can virtually go throughout the game in a true "skills and expertise" fashion, or for those who want to get straight to the point, a very lengthy "level up" fashion, but dont think for a minute either one is easier than the other.
You might start under the Jedi profession right away (unlike Pre-CU), but trust me, your no where near being a master jedi with force powers and the ability to do much of anything... yep, just like Pre-CU, your gonna have to earn your way through a long hard way up the ladder and throughout the galaxy. You just get more relevant tools and quests to do it, unline Pre-CU hierachry, which was sometimes repulsive and just way too lengthy.
I just created a new account as a new bounty hunter profession... and though it has the word "bounty hunter" in it, I'm no where close to being anything of the sort, outside of having just the entry level bounty hunter items and being able to use a bounty hunter mission terminal for entry-levle missions. I still have to do quests, and many, many weeks of work before every truly becoming the "Bounty Hunter" that pre-cu veterans though had stole their hard earned work with the CU.
The actual combat is well balanced... no more auto shooting... you get more "feel" of action, as you have more interaction during combat situations.
And the graphics, still remarkably well for todays standards... surpassing even some of todays games for the large outdoor and space enviornments.
The expansions add so much more to it... Jump to lightspeed, for example, has been untouched by the CU and NGE, and remains just as cool as it was the day it was released... and adds that much more to the game.
This game is definteley far larger than other MMORPGS, with much more to do and to see. I think it was best said that while you may "play WoW", you "live Star Wars Galaxies".
Do yourself a favor, ignore the WoW fanboys, the trolls, and those who want to gripe about a update that to them made the game something else, and return or pickup a copy of galaxies, with the expansions, and see for yourself just what you've been missing.
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