New game releases of May 20-26
Killzone: Mercenary shoots onto Vita on September 10
Trion Worlds hit with more layoffs, Defiance team impacted
Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault defending Vita next week
Game & Wario was originally going to be pre-installed on Wii U
The Last of Us digital download lets you start playing sooner
Weekend PC download deals: Borderlands 2 for $11
Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection coming to PS3 in July for $50
Madden NFL 25's $99 'Anniversary Edition' includes Sunday Ticket
Final Fantasy 8 getting PC re-release (in Japan)
Star Wars Galaxies shutting down
by Andrew Yoon, Jun 24, 2011 2:45pm PDTIt seems that this universe is only big enough for one Star Wars-themed MMO. Before BioWare's The Old Republic can begin, it seems that Sony Online Entertainment's Star Wars Galaxies must come to an end. In a letter sent to community members, SOE and LucasArts details plans to shut down all services for Star Wars Galaxies, including both the MMO and trading card game. "The shutdown of SWG is a very difficult decision, but SOE and LucasArts have mutually agreed that the end of 2011 is the appropriate time to end the game," the official notice reads. Service for the game will end on December 15th.
However, it appears Galaxies will not enter the MMO graveyard quietly. In fact, SOE is planning a "galaxy-ending event" that will become available during the last week of service. The final chapter of the game will be "written in part by the dedicated and passionate SWG community," although exact details on how fans can participate haven't been revealed.
If you want to join in on the festivities, you'll need to have an active SWG account by September 15th. After that date, no new accounts can be created for the service. All billing for Galaxies will end on October 15th, effectively turning the game into a closed free-to-play MMO for its final months. (SOE assures that current subscribers will receive a pro-rated refund for any pre-paid subscription that ends after that date.)
Additionally, all active Star Wars Galaxies subscribers will receive "fully-paid subscriber status" to one of SOE's other games: Free Realms, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, EverQuest, and DC Universe Online. Obviously, SOE hopes that you'll become hopelessly addicted to one of their other online games. The free subscriptions will run from October 15th to December 31st.
"We are extremely grateful to all of the SWG fans. We have had the rare opportunity to host one of the most dedicated and passionate online gaming communities and we truly appreciate the support we've received from each and every one of you over the course of the past eight years."
Comments
It seems that this universe is only big enough for one Star Wars-themed MMO. Sony Online Entertainment and LucasArts is shutting down Star Wars Galaxies with a "galaxy-ending event."
It seems that this universe is only big enough for one Star Wars-themed MMO. Sony Online Entertainment and LucasArts is shutting down Star Wars Galaxies with a "galaxy-ending event." : Shacknews
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SWG was all about the sandbox. It had amazingly complex systems to simulate a world, an economy, intricate crafting etc. I will say one thing for SWG, the player-driven economy was amazing. Player cities were (and still are) an amazing achievement that I wish other MMOs would tackle.
The problem was you had all of these intricate systems and a wonderfully deep and varied skill progression path, but the world was empty. I mean, shockingly empty. They spend so much time building tools that let you build moisture farms to fund your Twi'lek dancer habit, that they never built the "game" part. Hell, they forgot to implement a Z-Axis (What do you mean I can't jump over a 1 foot tall crate? )
With NGE and CU, they tried to bootstrap a game to the framework, but it never panned out. Instead it crippled the few positive elements without actually adding much in the way of good gameplay.
I played the game from Beta 1 (when it was just a few dozen people standing on Tatooine where Bestine would eventually stand, and we could just walk around and emote at one another) through the CU. I was there through the horrible holocron grind and when they just gave everyone Jedi. I played Jump to Lightspeed and I went through their attempts at dungeons/instances.
The game suffered a half-done design and what was honestly a terrible engine (even on my current gen hardware, it's still not smooth or pretty). It exemplified Sony MMOs at the time: Crap engines, half-baked design. To this day, I don't think SOE's really recovered from this era/mindset.
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