Force may no longer be with SOE
by Alan Rose 
{ Mar 29th 2006 at 5:25PM }
GameSpot is reporting a disturbance in the Force at Sony Online Entertainment, and rumors have surfaced that the
troubled Star Wars
Galaxies franchise may soon have a new home. Speculation stems from a recent exodus of talent at SOE's Austin
office, including the game's chief creative officer Raph Koster. Coincidentally, new neighbor BioWare Austin
employs many SOE veterans, and is staffing up for a sci-fi MMO.A LucasArts rep denies any plans to phase out the current Galaxies, but did confirm they have been approached by other companies to develop a second Star Wars online property. How cool would a KOTOR-based MMO be?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Steven @ Mar 29th 2006 5:40PM
I'd love to see a MMO Star Wars game. Especially one that isn't done by Sony. I tried several trials for Galaxies, after and before all of the numerous updates, and disliked the game every time.
Sony bastards.
Ethan @ Mar 29th 2006 5:42PM
SOE and the license parting ways is a certainty. Back in Nov, someone at Lucasarts (or perhaps it was SOE) said that it would take six months for SWG to recoup its NGE-related losses. Six months is around the corner.
This has the smell of truth.
Jdoki @ Mar 29th 2006 5:58PM
Potentially the best news I have read about SWG in a long long time!
Brandon @ Mar 29th 2006 8:29PM
They made a good Penny Arcade about this...
guy @ Mar 29th 2006 8:55PM
A KOTOR era Star Wars MMO might be able to deal with all the problems facing the current game. Granted, you'll no longer have the possibility of running into Han Solo or Darth Vader, but instead it would actually make sense for there to be lots of people playing as Jedi and Sith.
I'd actually be excited for this if it is true as I loved the first KOTOR. Even though it was at a time far removed from any of the movies, without any of the character, I felt that the time seperation was a strength. It allows for Bioware to basically make any event occur without all of us knowing how it will end up. It allows for many of the good parts of the familiarity with the Star Wars universe without the need to worry about turning away fans of the series due to continuity.
drcolossus of Dataleak @ Mar 29th 2006 11:20PM
KOTOR was nice but IMHO it's not a good idea to use it for a SW MMORPG! I disliked the idea that everybody can be Jedi in Galaxies from the first minute on! The timeframe in that Galaxies plaus was ok and so was the idea with over 30 professions, skill-based level system, player driven economy and crafting and creature taming that cannot be found like this in any other MMOG to date. SWG wasn't a game for the masses. I'd say WoW is better suited for kids while SWG was for more grown up players.
Garold @ Mar 30th 2006 12:05AM
After Star Wars Galaxies, I'd be extremely hesitant to try a new Star Wars MMO...
Enigma @ Mar 30th 2006 12:30AM
So why were my threads deleted? It was as much speculative as what you posted!
Did Smedley send you an e-mail and cry to ask you to remove them?
What gives?
Dasutin @ Mar 30th 2006 3:17AM
They shouldn't have never touched Galaxies in the first place! They should have kept the original and worked on that to make it better. What they have now is crap and they ruined a alright game. Now they can do whatever with it because no one cares about it anymore. If Bioware does turn the game around then good for them...
http://www.dasutin.com
boneyard @ Mar 30th 2006 6:58AM
this has been floating around for some time now indeed, lets see what happens.
kaius @ Mar 30th 2006 9:54AM
I beleive Stars Wars can be one of the greatest MMO's ever. The whole universe is so immersive, but it needs to be done by the right people.
Sony aren't the right people. Why doesn't George become a bit more involved?
MMO's can potentially become Multi-Genre Multi-Award Winning. But this must take time and a lot of investment.
I reckon if you have a great MMO's then they will just naturally add to the original storylines through the players' input.
Hopefully this moment will propel this game in the right direction.
JImordeen Ronan @ Apr 3rd 2006 5:38AM
I was there the first day, among the first group of skilled aritsans that created the economy, I was one of the lucky ten on my server to drop a City hall, everyone remember the morning of lag? I was totally hooked, had three accounts helped build up a great Emperial city - UE on Naboo. It was my city that create some great controversy when the cloning facilities were first created because we surrounded the shuttle and cloning facility by three rows of mines. We would kill a rebel and he would pop up inside our mine field, it was not my idea. The ring leader of UE - Oasis... UE... Naboo --- Those were the days, the days when I could sell speeder bikes for 40k. I built thousands and thousands of houses, bikes, mineral extractors and everything you can possiblly image. The Economy of the game was so awesome and limitless. I had a little disagreement with Oasis on how to set up the city. We could have worked through it but SOE Jeffrey employee pulled up all our mines. when I told him I couldn't, he then locked my account because I refused to cooperate. SO I logged on with my other and asked why he did that and found my second account suddenly disconnected. I sent a nasty email to SOE, the online chat rooms began to fill up with hundreds of anrgy players are rebels, imperail and neutrals heard the news of what Jeffrey did to me. Within 12 hours I was back up and running and speaking on teh phone with the head of the helpdesk department at SOE. Listenig to Oasis cursing Soe in one ear and SOE appologizing in the other I finally got fed up. SOE ruined the game for me. Oasis threatened to have me voted out as mayor, So I did the only thing on in my position could, I sent a message to someone I had met that missed the opportunity of dropping their city hall, let him know I was pulling mine up and waited until he was ready to drop then boom... destroyed the city hall.. and all the parks and everything that was attached to it. I played a few more days but the thrill was gone - and not everyone was happy with my decision, though I more were understanding than angry. Now a couple years later, I bought the game, logged in and started playing. It's a new game, totally different then what I remember playing. All I can say is SOE is not making it better, they are just making a different game. I hope someone else takes over and makes it as exciting and challenging as it was when it first came out. W.O.W is fun but gets old, The Star Wars Universe doesn't get old. I wish I could work for SOE and lead them on the path that so many fans are hoping to finally be on. Including myself.
Michael @ Apr 22nd 2006 5:11PM
I have played SWG since beta and loved having all the different classes to play. I loved being able to be a doc / tkm and if I felt like it, switch to creature handler / rifleman. I eventually had 4 toons running on two galaxies (one rebel / one imperial) and I loved it. I loved having to gather the right resources to make the best product. With WoW (I do love that game too) there is no difference in product. I miss looking for that extra great resource, getting a phone call from a friend at 2:00am telling me to wake up and put some miners down for an exceptional resource, or getting a call telling me someone found a rare pet for my creature handler.
I hope to GOD that even if this is just a fantasy rumour that those in charge can realize what they had, what they lost, and how to get it back.
If they need any ideas - remember NEW coke?
How long did it take for them to get back to "classic" coke.
Thats all $0E has to do. Bring back "classic" SWG and I think they will have an influx again.