Star Wars Galaxies' new game enhancements cause player backlash
by Jennie Lees 
{ Nov 24th 2005 at 12:30PM }
World of Warcraft isn't the only MMOG to be
updated regularly. Star Wars Galaxies has undergone a
radical overhaul recently, introducing a series of changes
dubbed the
'New Game Enhancements' (NGE). These changes include the scrapping of the character profession system, replacing it
with a new system that allows players to choose the coveted Jedi profession from the very beginning. Additionally, a
combat overhaul has been introduced, replacing classic MMO combat with Diablo-style point-and-click
action.
Many players feel that these changes radically alter the style of the game, and the more vocal players have been
leaving the game in droves. Terra Nova
discusses the short-sighted introduction of the NGE from an academic standpoint, musing whether the changes are the
forerunner to a console implementation of SWG—will we see it on the PS3 or Xbox 360? If you want to see what all the
fuss is about, there's a 10-day free trial (you'll have to click
through).
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Alan @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
I was a player back during beta, the game never did it for me really back then and I never transitioned to actuatlly giving them my money.
I downloaded the "new" SWG recently and really liked how much the game has changed, along with the new battle system. So I gave them my cash and am now a subscriber.
I'm also a WoW player, and the changes appeal to me much more than the old EQ style gameplay.
Hats off to Sony, I have a feeling what they did is going to make them more money in the long run, even if it makes some of the old timers angry.
In short there is a limited audience that is willing to put up with the kind of grinding and time it takes to play a game like the old SWG. For every 1 of them there are 10 players that want something more fast paced. The days of the super-grinding MMORPG are slowing coming to an end. Thank goodness.
McAutry @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
I played this game up until about a month ago, when they decided to let everyone pay for a new expansion, and then change the game to KOTOR for idiots!! I was in a guild of 25+ people, and every single person left that Sony POS!!
Darrell @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
I was a subscriber to SWG for about a year and a half before WoW came out. After playing in the beta for WoW, I quickly became dissolusioned with the constant bugginess and grindfest gameplay of SWG.
Towards the end I spent most of my time in space playing the Jump to Lightspeed expansion. I kept thinking about how fast-paced it was, and how much it actually felt like previous Star Wars games (like the much heralded X-Wing vs Tie Fighter series).
I left SWG right after the last "revamp" known as the "combat upgrade" which only made the game slower paced and more of a grinding borefest, in my opinion. After reading alot of information both positive and negative about this new change, I decided to reactivate my account and give it a try.
I am quite impressed. I really think they got it right and the whole game now feels like Star Wars. It's not perfect, but it's a damn huge step in the right direction. There are still some hiccups. The graphics engine needs an overhaul and a little more polish, but other than that it's good.
Will it cause alot of the grind-happy die hard veteran players to leave? Sure. However, I think for all those they will lose SOE has the chance to bring in many new players who dont want to spend 12 hours of playtime to accomplish one or two tasks. SOE, with this change, took some of the best elements of the Tie Fighter series, KOTOR, and Battlegrounds and put them all into one nice package. Good job, I say.
Clint @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
I was a player before NGE, and still playing now... but not for much longer. There are lots of things that NGE has done that AREN'T being spoken of, and i'll list some here;
(1) they watered down the jedi profession, so those who fought LONG and HARD to achieve that coveted status now have a character that is nuetered;
(2) they stripped all professions that aren't directly combat-related of all combat ability and made them combat level 1- like entertainers/dancers; ultimately, since they cannot do anything now but stand in cantinas and dance now, that profession will go by the way side. Furthermore, since combat fatigue has been removed from the game, HALF the reasons that entertainers & dancers even exist as a profession is eliminated anyway.
(3) There is no more creature handling (trainers); therefore, the only creatures that will be around for riding as steeds or as combat pets will be the ones currently there. When they're killed, or the players that own them drop out, there will be no more creature handling. Period.
(4) A previous post said that "hours of grinding for very few levels has been eliminated". I hate to tell you guys this, but they have actually REDUCED the # of xp points awarded for killing creatures & foes; xp points awarded for completing quests has been reduced as well; finally, level requirements for using various weapons have been abjectly raised (causing me to lose access to all but the lowest level laser rifle that I currently have). Heavy weapons have been TOTALLY disabled (kinda making a commando no longer choiseworthy; no more lightning guns!!!!)
The proof is in the pudding, however; with the number of players bailing out of the game in DROVES, SOE's bottom line will show it with reduced revenues from vast decreases in accounts. After all, it's not much of a role playing game anymore, it's becoming just another "point and click zap" game, but even harder than it was before. The entire guild I belong to is about to vanish (only 1 player out of 20 on my friends list that is in my guild even still plays).
Well done SOE. You shot yourself in the foot. What was a really awesome game was just annihilated. Generally the idea for business is to INCREASE your earnings, not do things to DECREASE them. But what do I know.
Pex @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
I really like the new changes. I picked it up a few months ago when they release the $29 pack with the two expansions because I was curious and never played it. I really wasn't impressed. I wanted to be, but I've been playing WoW since last November and my standards we just too high to support SWG.
Since the new patch came out, however, I've set aside two of my WoW days as SWG days. It brings something unique to the MMO table, and dispite the bugs keeps bringing me back for more. Once they stablize things this will be a much stronger and more compelling base to build upon in the future. I think Lucas Arts and SOE have shown a considerable amount of courage in risking the ire of the few hard core fans they had left in order to try and make the game better.
MX13 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
The Questions isn't even if the NGE is good. It's not even playable. Balance is a joke and the bugs are more numerous than an ALPHA, except this one you have to pay for. I would guess that the game now has more gamebreakers, balance issues, system inconsistancies & bugs than it has EVER had, maybe even double than it had in ALPHA.
It's a joke now, it's been dumbed down to the level of the absurd, and it is dieing fast. Out of 120+ active players I knew, only 4 are still playing. No matter what they do they can't bring in enough players to even replace those who left, especially considering it's current state.
Who will pay for 7 months of ALPHA, then 7 Months of BETA?
jed XIX @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
The NGE ruined SWG.
Star Wars Galaxies COULD have been the best game EVER.
Speaking as a day 1 veteran this game has been on a serious decline for about a year now,but the new game is the final nail in the coffin.
Rason @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
I have been playing SWG from the get-go and the original system was such a fantastic design. it allowed for PvP and Jedi were the scarce Coveted class they should be. Jump to Lightspeed was a blast but because it hasn't recieved any love. If you buy the new Start Pack you get the special X-Wing ship that allows you to travel ANYWHERE. ANYTIME. Have you ever been fighting someone, nearly beating them and then they just zip off to Tatooniee and go abotu their buisness. Its not like they didn't ask to be attack you have to go Special Force to be attacked. For all us Veterans that don't need to buy the starter kit its a waste and it ruins PvP. This new combat system was one of my first Ideas for how it should be done, But I specified that this stsyle combat system would only run in a specified Battlefield, Not everywhere. I recently spent 5 hours making a hot tub becauses you have a 50% chance to miss whatever your targeting.
ClayPidgeon @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
1, 3, and 5 read like SOE employees - be careful.
Trust the fact that serverwide, guilds and people are gone (since NGE - we stayed for the CU). the large imp/reb guilds gone if not just 5 people down from 200. Personally, I had 113 people on my friends list that I actually interacted with, last logon, only 2 were on.
Trust that this game has added bugged content that relies on bugged content, in game customer service is horrid, player based economy is all but gone, etc. I could go on and on.
If you like the "level" grind and the boxed in content to your level, then you might like this game.
It has forever been removed from the "skill"
based system and heavily relies on level system.
The beautiful UI and graphics have been removed, combat is worse than D2 from years ago.
If you want a Star Wars fix, find another game.
etc. etc. Run forrest, Run.
I started SWG Dec 03 and ending Dec 05 - it was fun before changed with NGE.
ClayPidgeon @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
1, 3, and 5 read like SOE employees - be careful.
Trust the fact that serverwide, guilds and people are gone (since NGE - we stayed for the CU). the large imp/reb guilds gone if not just 5 people down from 200. Personally, I had 113 people on my friends list that I actually interacted with, last logon, only 2 were on.
Trust that this game has added bugged content that relies on bugged content, in game customer service is horrid, player based economy is all but gone, etc. I could go on and on.
If you like the "level" grind and the boxed in content to your level, then you might like this game.
It has forever been removed from the "skill"
based system and heavily relies on level system.
The beautiful UI and graphics have been removed, combat is worse than D2 from years ago.
If you want a Star Wars fix, find another game.
etc. etc. Run forrest, Run.
I started SWG Dec 03 and ending Dec 05 - it was fun before changed with NGE.
Kev @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
Yeah, a significant number of the departing players are handicapped - whether it be as small an issue as astigmatism or as large as MD, this game *cannot* be played by anyone with a disability. Sony's response to our concerns was "there's nothing we can do." (Kurt Stangl)
Xriot @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
Although the combat is more fast paced and exciting, this is only the case if you enjoy shooting a blaster, firing a rifle or blasting someone with a carbine. Aside from the ranged combat and the new Level 1 - Level 30 content (which is buggy as anything you'll ever see) there is nothing left ... The NGE destroyed so many aspects of the game that there is literally nothing to do beyond that content and the few further irrelevant quests randomly placed along the way..
Just a few things the NGE destroyed
1. Crafting is no longer viable.
2. The weapons are virtually identical stats-wise, so there is nothing 'exciting' about them.
3. Entertaining and Decorating are no longer viable.
4. Melee combat including the utilization of Jedi as a viable class is stifled and very aggrevating. (especially when your group of 5 jedi gets taken down by one rifleman)
5. The enhancers, weapons, clothing attachments, unique veteran rewards such as the ADK, and many more utilities that had thousands of hours and dollars invested by fellow players have become obsolete (would you want to chance this happening again in the future and be set back to day 1?)
6. The Interface is extremely difficult to utilize.
7. The list goes on.. and on.. and on.. Just take a trip to the general discussion in the forums at www.starwarsgalaxies.com and you'll see a hundred-thousand posts detailing the crap players have been fed (named NGE).
/tiphat
Don't waste your time, or your money on this..
Rob @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
I've played SWG since Oct. 03 and I must say the positive posts I've seen here do not, in any way, reflect the feelings of the majority of the SWG player base. I was in a guild of 88 people at the time of the first combat "upgrade" and though it was by no means perfect, it was light years ahead of this heap of buggy garbage that the "NGE" is now. I laugh at those who call people "old timers" and us being bitter. The fact of the matter is, we never asked for anything like the sweeping changes they have gone through now. Please bear in mind that this game is not even 3 years old, and in the relatively short lifespan of this game they have ripped out the engine it was built on and put the proverbial lipstick on the pig. All we ever asked for was that the way things were, FROM THE BEGINNING, be fixed. Galaxies had a great, unique idea in the way they set up proffesions, and the ability to switch them, with a little work, at will. It was fun to experiment with new proffesions, build up a business in the SWG economy (which is virtually non-existent now) and then decide, if you wished, to change from an artisan proffesion to say Master Bounty Hunter. The NGE is nothing more than a really bad FPS now. 9 "professions" dumbed down and homogenized and a really really poor imitation of WoW..right down to the ripped off interface.
Selcuk @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
Despite NGE being an overhaul, complete downgrading of an MMORPG system to a shooter was unacceptable.
Many established RPG players actually has already left galaxy to far far away. Players now actually has to select 9 proffessions without a change or tree system in future.
Level system actually borked and it does not mean anything now more than Health value. Sadly, this was a game I would recommend to anyone before this upgrade, now I could only tell "Stay far far away"
Alan Bradshaw @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
Over 75% of our guild (204) left the game immediatly after the NGE went live. The Mayor of our city (a player from day 1) cancelled 4 accounts. I personally cancelled 3 accounts and requested 2 refunds of the Trials of Obi-Wan.
After loosing over 75 million in credids and items, having my level 80 toon nerfed to a level 53 abd the poor (non-existant) customer service from SOE. I will be taking my money elsewhere. I will NOT give SOE another dollar of my money.
Kyle @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
The New Game Enhancements make the game totally unplayable, I played before the combat update when it was actually good, I played a bit after the CU but it wasn't as good. Then I see NGE, so i'm like okay maybe they fixed it... WRONG they screwed it up even more, its ridiculous.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY on this.
Sarah @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
I don't know the players that posted the positive comments here but they must be playing a different game. I started playing SWG on day 2. I cancelled my three accounts last week. NGE has turned what was a pretty decent, although buggy, game into a piece of unplayable junk.
Jason @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
Yes, the NGE is a complete joke. Servers are dead and the game has been destroyed. Crafting gone, the superb UI gone, the great diversity of the game and it professions gone- just to name a few. The Jedi are now the weakest and most played class, as well.
Also as has been noted, Galaxies isn't even accurately defined as an MMORPH now- it is a classic FPS and even a poor one at that.
josh @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
RIP SWG /cry/wookieeroar...
Killed by the so-called "NGE" and the way SOE/LA swindled all the players by releasing the Trials of Obi Wan expansion on Nov. 1st, and then telling us about the "NGE" changes on Nov. 2nd, 2 weeks later the "NGE" went live on Nov. 15th, with so many bugs its unplayable. Classic bait and switch, followed by corporate propaganda babble about how "this is what all the players were asking for". Well if this is what we all wanted then why is every city in SWG a ghost town now? Why are the forums having to be patroled by SOE gestapo handing out lifetime bans to any vocal dissenters? If you want to PAY $14.95/month to alpha & beta test a FPS game for SOE/LA, and enjoy filling out endless bug reports and CSR tickets, and enjoy being misled and lied to regularly, then I highly recommend SWG's "NGE".
Winston @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
The NGE is the single worst online gaming experience of my life. They have replaced truely unique social, economic and profession systems with a third-rate knock-off of Planetside.
Worse, it's a cheap knock-off that's still deep in the beta-test phase. Nothing is ready for primetime -- except the billing system. That's well-oiled and ready to gobble up your $15 per month right now. All for the priviledge of beta testing it.
SOE openly admits that this game won't be ready for another 6 months. But remember, SOE has a well-documented history of being less than truthful with it's player base. So plan on 9 months, 12 months, or more.
Whatever you decide, I leave you with these certainties which are more than familiar to the vast majority of SWG Vets:
-You will see a $30 game expansion (or two) before you see the NGE get fixed.
-None of these expansions will offer anything the player base has asked for.
-All of the expansions will create a slew of new game-crippling bugs. Even for those who don't buy and play it.
-These expansions will be preceeded by a general nerf of your weapons and abilities.
-Cool new weapons will be offered as replacements ... but only if you buy the new $30 expansion.
-The quests to get these new weapons will be bugged. It will take them weeks to fix the quests.
-After the fix you still won't get the new weapon because the system will think you've already done the quest.
-You will spend another week or two trying to get help from Customer Service. They will ignore you for a while and finally tell you there is "nothing they can do".
-After a few more weeks SOE will finally get the quest reset for most everyone who got cheated.
-The weapon won't be as good as you had hoped though. In the NGE all weapons are the same (except for lightsabers ... which are worse)
-But don't worry. After a few more weeks SOE will offer new weapons via the next new $30 expansion they've been secretly working on (instead of fixing bugs).
If you survive all this and still find a game you love to play -- and a community you love to play the game with -- more power to you.
Just remember: SOE will drop it all in the dumpster without warning or regret if they smell the CHANCE of a few more dollars.
Whatever you think of the NGE, we can all agree on that last bit, right?
CasaB @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
Playing little over a year now... Since the NGE the Servers are pretty much empty, my friends all left, my guild has been disbanded, entire playertowns are complete ghosttowns. SWG lost all its special features which made this game one of the best online.
A sad almost-jedi-near-veteran.
Inlay @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
ive only ben playing for 3 months and ever since i started i have had noting but good experinces with complete strangers who soon became frends
then nge came and now that just dosent hapen any more primarly because as of the nge crafters are no longer battle worthy but there is the fact that as of the nge most the people playing are too bizy doing pvp to do anything else in the game (since they took away death penalty)
they basicly took the game we all payd for and replaced it with packman
hear let me explain in the way a chiled can understand
swg is a subscription right ? yes it is
so is cable
lets say you have 200+ chanels and your paying $150 a month for it
and they start promising you an extra 20 chanels free of charge (exciting right )
and a week later they bring it down to 9 "Iconic chanels" using the excuse that focus groups sayd these are the chanels they watch
then you are forced to chuse one and get locked into that one and still pay $150 a month for it
and then to top it all off they tell the people who paid for a year in advance that no longer like the new service that there will be no refunds
would that not get you a little ticked off ?????
well thats the same exact fealing 75% of the playing comunity of swg is fealing right now
and to the people that dont linke the negative feed back this game is curently geting i say this . the people of the game have every right to be outraged and the people that dont like the ones that are outraged have the right to ignore us.
Kaiden @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
Well Here Is my little Story about SWG.
About four months ago I bought a copy of "The Total Experience" I logged in and started playing for first month I was pretty much solo on everything because the community at large was still pretty bitter About the combat upgrade which took place in May. After my first month I started making some great friends with the vet players who had finally settled down from the first game change. The crafting grind was aweful however the combat grind was actually fun. Many people spent hours online teaching me how to play the game and be good at it. They were doing this so that I could help new players as well (we were trying to build back up the community). Even with the game flaws and bugs the game was still a lot of fun because of the people, many late night excursions hunting critters and joking around with each other. What I think a lot of people at SOE don't realize is that the veteran community rebuilt the customer base after the first Combat Upgrade. For some reason they think that all us noobs just stuck around because the game was "ALL THAT". Well as a noob to mmorpg's I'm here to testify that all of the above mentioned flaws and bugs are very real.
Im not very knowledgable about all the stats and details of the game but ya know none of that mattered when I had good buddies online laughing and joking about some glitch in the system. Or reminding me in my frustration that it's "It's just a game lighten up!!".
None of my friends EVER expected to wake up one day and hear that SOE was going to do the same junk all over again. "It was a total BOMBSHELL"
All of my friends are gone from the game now and they all have legitimate reasons for leaving. This morning I I cancelled my SOE account but I didn't cancel it because of the bugs or the NGE I cancelled it because EVERYONE is GONE!!! This is the only post I have written about this and I don't know if any of those people I gamed with will ever read it. But I just want to say THANK YOU to every Vet SWG player who took the time to stop and help us newbie players there are a lot of you out there:o) Those people MADE SWG fun and when SOE loses sight of that completely they won't have an online gaming company at all.
Thank You For your Time
Kaiden Sati
Valcyn Server
Andre' L. Evans @ Dec 24th 2005 8:50PM
SWG-NGE (NEGATIVE GAME ENHANCEMENTS)
I've been a SWG Fan/player for over one year so I guess thats makes me an oldtimer and I'm proud of it. Being a VET-player was what being in SWG was all about. ie-"Live out your lagacy in SWG" I bought into it full on. So I started growing my charecter forming realationships of all kinds ranging from enemy to buesiness partners to good game friends. The thing I can't believe is people from S.O.E. will not say to the public they screwed up in a very bad way and been doing so since before the first CU of the game. So I say the following things in all caps to the S.O.E. devs,csrs and the big dude man sitting at the top of S.O.E.'s food chain. I do this to put a stop to S.O.E. hideing behind the focus groups they spent lots of time with collecting data about the game and game play. Which produce the makeing of what we have today... So before I begin please everybody at S.O.E. have a seat and grab a pen and paper. You gonna want to write this down. No let me make it simple for u just cut and past the following!!!!
THIS GAME IS NOT WHAT THE MAJORITY OF YOUR PLAYERS WANTS!! THE CU IS NOT WHAT THE MAJORITY OF YOUR PLAYERS WANTED!! WEAKER JEDI AND OTHER PROFESSIONS IS NOT WHAT THE MAJORITY OF YOUR PLAYERS WANTS!! TO BE A CARBIN COPY OF THE OTHER PLAYER IS NOT WHAT THE MAJORITY OF YOUR PLAYERS WANTS!! TO ONLY HUNT NPCs AS A BOUNTY HUNTER IS NOT WHAT THE MAJORITY OF YOUR PLAYERS WANTS!! THE UI IS NOT WHAT THE MAJORITY OF YOUR PLAYERS WANTS!! WEAKER WEAPONS IS NOT WHAT THE MAJORITY OF YOUR PLAYERS WANTS!! CRAPY BUFFS IS NOT WHAT THE MAJORITY OF YOUR PLAYERS WANTS!! POOR ARMOR IS NOT WHAT THE MAJORITY OF YOUR PLAYERS WANTS!! POOR DEFENSES AS A JEDI IS NOT THE MAJORITY OF YOUR PLAYERS WANT!! POOR ANIMATION WHEN FIGHTING (keep in mind u guys just fixed this maybe 4 or 5 months ago) IS NOT WHAT THE MAJORITY OF YOUR PLAYERS WANTS!! HOUSE FULL OF USELESS ITEMS INCLUDING FOOD AND DRINK THAT PLAYERS SPENT HUNDREDS OF HOURS COLLECTING IS NOT WHAT THE MAJORITY OF YOUR PLAYERS WANTS!! 4.5 GIGS (MINUS TEST CENTER FOLDERS)OF USELESS CODE ON OUR HARD DRIVES IS NOT WHAT THE MAJORITY OF YOUR PLAYERS WANTS!! TO DIE IN UNDER 5 SECONDS IN PVP AS A JEDI IS NOT WHAT THE MAJORITY OF YOUR PLAYERS WANTS!! THE CRAZY BUTTON TAPING DURING COMBAT IS NOT WHAT THE MAJORITY OF YOUR PLAYERS WANTS!! THE STUPID VISUAL EFFECTS WHEN IN COMBAT IS NO WHAT THE MAJORITY OF YOUR PLAYERS WANTS!! So incloseing I say I'm sure the data from the focused groups never indicated to put any of the above things we have in our game today. S.O.E. you have failed and driven many many long term players away never to return.
Felix @ Dec 26th 2005 4:38PM
Im a vet from day 1 and to be honost i think they had a great product in their hands, pvp and people were everywhere, jedi were scarce, macros worked great and the grind wasnt bad at all. I worked my way up made a pretty good master melee duelist. I bought the expansion (rage) (jump) still was decently happy with it, then the combat upgrade hit..i wasnt happy about it, they changed the macro system so i had to go back and rewrite all of my combat macros, i got over it, dubbed down melee made a melee/combat medic, worked out great once i got the kinks out. Once again they messed up the game but after a couple days i got over it.
Another change, NGE, the crusher of players. My beautiful melee duelist who was hard to beat not the best but defiantly would give you the fight you want. CL80 charactor became level 23, yes...a 2 year old veteran well known gets treated as a level 23 noob. Sony was less than helpful about it, i contacted everyone i could through their support and ultimately they said their converting system was perfect, i was wrong and they would not help me get my charactor atleast to a half way point of the level chart.
In all actuality the NGE really wasnt that bad, sure people yelled about it for a couple weeks, but you know i sat back down, and i played it, i grinded..again..but some of the fundamentals of the original pre-cu will never return. Some of the basic functions of the game should have not been removed, such as the targeting of ITEMS. They can keep the point and shoot stuff but when it comes to selecting targets you should be able to lock on a target and move it wherever you want.
In the end, there are more jedi than ever, population is down by about 75%, pvp is almost dead, and im regrinding a 2 year old charactor. I will watch this game crash and burn. Please recommend other games! :)