Kylrathin

Great read! I thought the fact that you needed so much just to create a guild was a great part of the game. I was a casual player like yourself, and started out along the Architect path. It took a while to do, but it was all worth it. And if you couldn't do it within your guild, some hardcore guild had them on a vendor some place if you were willing to look (and cough up the credits).

Jedi were obviously the most contentious part of the game, but I truly believe if they were implemented properly they would have been both a draw to the game and not a problem for it. Needless to say, SOE completely dropped the ball.

"...the crying vets need to get over it already." Ever wonder why the "crying vets" DON'T get over it? The fact that you make that statement tells me you really don't know.

The original SWG was the greatest MMO ever created for one simple, often overlooked reason - its potential. There is not a game on the market today that has the potential to become all things to all people the way SWG did. It was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but if they would have concentrated on the things you're supposed to after launch - fix bugs and add content - it would have pushed the Lineage games in terms of subscriber numbers, which at the time was the gold standard. Instead, they tried the balancing act with Jedi and Bounty Hunter, focused way too much on one small part of the game, and threw up their hands and gave up when for some reason, it didn't make anyone happy. As a result, we have the most sweeping changes ever to any sub-based MMO.

Those changes destroyed everyone's character, invalidated 2.5 years of individual progress, made the game impossible to play for many disabled people (and at the time almost everyone else), and yes they introduced more bugs than the game ever had. So why don't "crying vets get over it"? Two reasons. One, because of what I stated above. Everything that any player did in the game was eventually for nothing. In a game, who cares? But this wasn't a game, it was a virtual world (or galaxy if you prefer). Two, because if SWG were ever to recover from this disaster, it's a green light to every company out there - "Make whatever changes you want to your games. People are flaky and as long as you've got a decent IP, it'll eventually rebound and it won't matter who you pissed off."

Michael, even though your blog reads better than any ad I've seen for the NGE - seriously, you made the Collection system, the most "let them eat cake" game system ever designed actually sound appealing - I can't believe you were paid to do it. The game has so few players, the fact that entire servers are virtually devoid of players is enough reason to do it.

Un... you gave the last word to Rubenfield's partner-in-crime. They both submitted the prototype of the NGE for approval. His opinion is as valid as Rubenfield's, which to most vets who were jilted is to say, it's not.

Oh, and while I doubt that the lack of notice and corresponding launch of Trials of Obi Wan was the most frequent player complaint (that should probably go to "they have not yet released classic servers"), it is likely the most frequently used reason for possible litigation. Bait-and-switch is frowned upon in American courts, I'm told.

Star Wars Galaxies, pre-CU, was not a game. It was a simulation, and one with the potential to be everything that every Star Wars fan who grew up on the original trilogy could have possibly wanted. Everything done within the simulation was a mini-game, but brilliantly architected. It all fit together; everything and everyone complemented each other. Now? It's just a game, and a poor one at that. It may be better than what came out on November 15th, 2005, but that isn't hard to do.

Saying that the bugs made everyone quit SWG is like saying seasickness made everyone want to get off the Titanic. SOE and LA destroyed every character's accomplishment since the day they started playing. The only ones who left due to bugs and/or inconsistencies were some of the players who started playing during the CU.