One day, James Currie, wrote a story on his blog, destructoid.com, about crafting and he used Star Wars: Galaxies as an example. He then realized that the old Star Wars MMO had an emulator and he had to give it a whirl right then. Depending on your age you may or may not remember that before microtransactions came to be, there was pre-NGE Star Wars Galaxies and players played roles like smugglers, bounty hunters and gunslingers. However, Sony purchased the game and then introduced Jedi with the ‘New Game Enhancements.’ Many players hated the new update and the Star Wars community was in a rage. After several years of no improvement, SWG shut down but the emulators rose up. Because NGE dropped the SWG, the emulator project grew. It was a huge hit and he has been playing it ever since. The one thing that is captivating, according to Currie, was…
star wars galaxies
Darjani SWGE Goes Open Source, Too
We’re seeing a trend here these days in the Star Wars: Galaxies community. Following the lead of SWGEmu, they are going open source. After a year of silence and the complete death of their website, Dajarni Emu has finally announced that they will be up and running this summer. This post here on their Facebook page explains: After long silence, here is a heads up.Currently there is a new situaion with SWGEmu, since they finally decided to go… Posted by Darjani SWGE Galaxy on Sunday, May 3, 2015 Now with this in mind, you can expect to see some good things coming to the community. As always, we can expect to see some shifts and growing pains as a game ages and as the community around it grows and shifts. This is just one more example of that. The top sites/servers will rise above the rest with the changes and good things will…
Following SWGEmu’s Lead, ProjectSWG Goes Open Source
There are some changes happening over at ProjectSWG and it might be good for everyone involved. Following the lead from SWGEmu, they are going open source. Here is some information from the official post that also explains what their plans are for the future. Greetings citizens of ProjectSWG, In an effort to get the community actively involved in the development of ProjectSWG, we have decided to make some major changes to how we’ll be approaching our code. Below are the various changes that we’ll be making in regards to the further development of the core. Expect to see these changes pushed through soon. Core name change: In order to not be mixed up with SWG Emu’s Core 3 code we have decided to change the name of our core to Holocore. Change of license: Inspired by the announcement of SWG Emu team to go fully open source with their engine (http://www.swgemu.co…ad.php?t=159544) we have…
Did Star Wars Galaxies Fail?
We have talked at length here before about Star Wars Galaxies. A good number of our readers were Star Wars: Galaxies fans for sure. So if you have yet to read Raph Koster’s write-ups on SWG, you are missing out. His final post in the series is Did Star Wars Galaxies Fail? and brings up some good points about the game, the community and what has become of it now. A snippet: So, was it a failure? Well yes, of course. And also, no. It depends how you ask the question. There are a lot of assumptions out there about how the game did, particularly in its original form. So, let’s start by tackling some of those: Galaxies actually had the best one-month conversion of any game at SOE, by a double-digit percentage. More new players decided to stick it out past one month. Given the one-month period, you can’t…
The amazing ‘Star Wars Galaxies’ Jedi mode that never was
Raph Koster, creative director for the 2003 MMO Star Wars Galaxies game began his discussion on the problems that the design team were up against was this: “Well, my opinion is Jedi are evil.” Many fans decided to give up on the game back then because a third major patch added a Jedi as a character. The problem is that Jedi’s are too powerful and rare to be successfully added in. Before the game ever launched, the design team went over many ways to make a Jedi playable in the game and Koster said that there was one solution, “the crazy idea I still wish we had done.” Inspired by Diablo’s Hardcore mode, the system was “that affectively gave a different way to play the game. A method that kept Jedi rare, powerful, and yet allowed everyone a shot,” Koster stated. However, this solution was not a solution after all….
Playtesting for SWGEmu – What You Should Know
Have you played SWGEmu yet? We’re looking for your thoughts on it as Star Wars and SWG fans. Late last year I wrote a post about the SWG emulator and what SWG fans could expect from it. Guest Tosche Station actually posted a comment to that original article recently that we thought deserved its own post since it was so lengthy and well thought-out. You can see the original comment here: If anyone reading has an interest in playtesting for SWGEmu, there are a few things you should keep in mind; 1). If you’re never played Star Wars Galaxies at all, you’re gonna have a bad time. The SWGEMU community is comprised of diehard SWG players who put on a good show of being friendly and helpful, until you start asking questions they don’t know the answers to. Then you’ll discover just how insular the SWGEMU community is, and the fact…
Massively Reminisces on Star Wars Galaxies’ 10th Anniversary
It’s hard to believe it’s been that long but the 10 year anniversary of Star Wars Galaxies just passed. Are you feeling old yet, because I am! If you’re reminiscing about the good times you had then join the club because Massively was doing the same thing and they were kind enough to share it with us. Has it really been 10 years? Yep, Star Wars Galaxies did indeed launch on June 26th, 2003. And yep, this is indeed an anniversary post for an MMORPG that closed down in December of 2011. Why the reminiscing about a game that we can’t — ahem — play any longer? Simply put, SWG deserves it. If you’re reading this article, you already know why it deserves it, so we’ll skip the sandbox proselytizing and get right to the part where Massively’s Starsider veterans raise a glass and share a few of their favorite launch-era memories. You can…
Which Is the Best Star Wars MMO?
Do you love Star Wars? Have you played all the Star Wars MMOs? We say “all” like it is a lot but really it’s only 3 (2, depending on who you ask). Well if you ask Massively writer Jef Reahardm, he’ll tell you there is three. They did a recent poll on their site to see what the readers thought was the best: Star Wars has gotten the MMO treatment not once, not twice, but three times. This is assuming that you count SOE’s Clone Wars Adventures browser title, which I do since it features extensive progression, non-combat activities, and a slew of other MMO-like features in spite of its heavy use of instancing. Then there’s Star Wars Galaxies, of course, followed by Star Wars: The Old Republic. For today’s Leaderboard, help us pick the best Star Wars MMO (or at least, the most popular according to Massively commenters). Vote…
SWG Emulator- Check it Out!
Are you a Star Wars Galaxies fan who was sad to see the game go? Well, you’re not alone- which you probably know already- and there are actually many communities devoted to doing more with the game and making it live on in more than just our memories. If you want to learn more, just head on over to their website where they explain what they are all about: SWGEmu is an acronym/abbreviation for Star Wars Galaxies Emulator. Star Wars Galaxies is a massively multi-player online role playing game introduced by Sony Online Entertainment in the year 2003. It is the game this project focuses to recreate at a specific milestone referred to as Pre-CU, or Pre-Combat Upgrade. The Combat Upgrade was a set of game changes which radically changed the game-play, to the dislike of thousands of players. These changes led to the founding of this project, in an attempt to “recreate”…
How I Helped Destroy Star Wars Galaxies
Who here played Star Wars Galaxies before SWTOR? I know I am not the only one. We’ve brought you coverage here of SWG and its closing ceremonies but here’s story from a player who says he helped destroy Star Wars Galaxies. What does this mean? What is this all about? In just under 2,000 words, Patrick Desjardins shares his story. He explains: Spring 2002: The first sandbox alpha builds were being tested. Over the course of spring and summer, they got a little more advanced, and I could see the game starting to take shape. I got into the friends and family alpha tests from my involvement in the online community. I made copious suggestions, everything from combat to social aspects. I complained for a week about how the zabrak horns should look. I got involved, deep. One day, I inquired as to how the economy would be structured. The…
Jeff Woods Dev Rant
I know the below rant is old, and maby also fake, but reading through the official SWTOR forum, I can understand why developers get fed up, or just have a breakdown. Below rant is from 2004 and was all over the Star Wars galaxies forums back then. There is no evidence that a disillusioned coder working on SWG by the name of Jeff Woods actually existed, but I still laugh out loud when ever I read this jewel of a “Friday update” I think many of us can related to the tone of frustration in this article, that’s what makes it so damn good, hoax or not. Check it out below: Greetings and suck me. I’m Jeff Woods, maintenance programmer for Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided. As a maintenance programmer it is my responsibility to manage existing code, write bug fixes, integrate new code while analyzing its impact on existing functionality and be the brunt…
Star Wars Galaxies Obituary: SWG is Dead
Star Wars Galaxies MMORPG 26 June 2003 – 15 December 2011 After more than eight long years (live playtime), it’s time to say goodbye to Star Wars Galaxies. The MMORPG from a galaxy far, far away is officially dead. But it wouldn’t go out without one last big bang from Sony Online Entertainment (SOE). SWG held a series of farewell events to help say goodbye to the MMO once and for all. While it seems it is being forced into an early grave by bigger and better things (SWTOR anyone?) this does not mean that SWG will go quietly into that dark night. Let’s take a look back on SWG, according to Wikipedia: “Star Wars Galaxies (abbv. SWG) was a Star Wars themed MMORPG for Microsoft Windows developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts. Its servers shut down on December 15, 2011.” And more facts: On 27 August…
Goofy grrl is At it Again with Another Video
This time she says “TOR will suck” and she’s opting not to play. I know that some of you may be completely broken-hearted at this news but I assure you, there will be plenty of similar lonely souls looking to grace the game of SWTOR. If you don’t remember GoofyGrrl, here’s a reminder from her Goodbye SWG video. So now she’s back with a brand new video telling us how she doesn’t want to play TOR and why. She says her desire to not play SWTOR has nothing to do with the game “killing” her beloved Star Wars Galaxies but that she has her own totally unrelated, legitimate reasons for why she is not interested in SWTOR. She’s been really busy lately and she invites us to “like if we agree and if we don’t, that’s fine” because we have our opinion and she has hers (even if hers sounds…
How SWG Will Be Won
The last days of Star Wars: Galaxies are drawing near and the game plans to close off “with a gigantic PvP throwdown for dominance” that will tell us all who runs the galaxy- Empire or Rebels. Of course some fans are saying that this is not the end and that SWG will live on- even if unofficially- but for the sake of technicalities, the end is coming. So how will this official end of it all battle be scored? How will SWG be won? Winning the Galactic Civil War explains in detail: “Meanwhile, let’s say Region Two is worth 3%, and that in this same period of time three Imperials earn 50 GCW [Galactic Civil War] points in the region and no Rebels show up at all. Region Two would give the Imperials a full 3% in the galaxy score for next to no effort compared to Region One. All…
Star Wars Galaxies Saga Continues
Star Wars Galaxies is in its last days. The sun is setting on this saga and SOE hopes it will go out with a bang! The dev team is working on the final few months of the MMO and they are issuing a challenge to the Imperials or Rebels. The fate of the galaxy, once and for all. It’s all about an exciting Galactic Civil War in the game with new events and new chances to win points for your side. It’s even bigger thanks to the recent GU20 update. Before the end date of December 15th when SWG will shut down forever, the score will be tallied and there will be a winning side announced and etched into the record books for all of eternity. The ending of the game itself can be affected by which side wins so if you’re still into SWG, now is your chance to…
Star Wars Galaxies closure blamed on SWTOR
Would anyone really be surprised to hear that SWTOR shut down Star Wars Galaxies? I mean it’s been the obvious choice for why SWG announced its December shutdown recently. It doesn’t make sense to have two Star Wars MMOs competing with one another. But SWG fans proposed the idea could work and requested SWG be kept alive. Their requests were denied. Now, the reason for the closure of SWG has been officially explained. CEO of Sony Online Entertainment John Smedley spilled the beans with The Escapist on why they are closing the game. “That’s the problem with licenses: they end,” Smedley said. When the game was first launched in 2001, the license was secured for five years, and had to be renegotiated multiple times over the years. “It was time to turn it off. We have a contractual relationship that’s ending in 2012,” Smedley added. He goes on to discuss…
SWG Shutdown Recap Video
FTW Broadcasting compiled a pretty cool recap video about the SWG shutdown and several of our articles are featured in the lineup. It’s a full 10 minutes recapping the issue of Star Wars closing down from the initial date the news was released through the petition, Sony shutting down the petitions and the eventual class action suit along with some comedy and parody and of course, the Goofygirl video that we brought you ourselves. The video is a great way to catch yourself up on the full story about Star Wars Galaxies that has the community in an uproar. When it comes to the gaming community a as a whole, the population seems pretty split. Some people agree with the reactions regarding the shutdown and feel like SWG players are entitled to something more for a game they purchased and have invested so much into. On the other side of…
Star Wars Galaxies Players to Sue Sony
SWG fans will not back down when it comes to their favorite game. It seems the big fat “no” they received in response to their petitions was not enough and they are now filing a class-action lawsuit against Sony Online Entertainment in an effort to keep the Star Wars themed MMORPG live and running. Lucas Arts and SOE announced earlier this month that the game would be shutting down on December 15th of this year. They blamed the closure on declining subscriptions and competition MMORPGs, one of which being the highly anticipated Star Wars: The Old Republic. But many SWG fans are saying “Screw TOR!” and they demand to keep their game. Just yesterday we wrote about how Sony shot down the petitions and reportedly, they also locked forum threads and banned players related to the petitions, citing that “promoting an online petition causes disruption within the community and does…
SOE Shoots Down Star Wars Galaxies Petitions
If you were a Star Wars Galaxies fan signing the petitions to keep SWG and make it free-to-play, Sony Online Entertainment has offered an official reply to your demands: “Regarding the Star Wars Galaxies petitions, we first want to thank everyone for taking the time to organize such an effort. As always, we appreciate your feedback, and I can assure you with 100% confidence that your feelings have been heard. No one is more disappointed than we are to cancel Star Wars Galaxies; however, we are confident that this was the only decision possible. This was not an easy decision to make; Sony Online Entertainment and Lucas Arts spent months deliberating, and in the end we had to make the hard choice. We are extremely proud of the ground we broke with the launch of SWG, its growth and evolution since launch, and most especially, the community. We would…
Petition Started to Make Star Wars Galaxies Free to Play
It has not been a surprise that many devoted Star Wars Galaxies fans are upset over the announcement that the game will be closing its doors in December. So many have decided to stop complaining and do something about it and have started a petition to make SWG free-to-play. The petition has almost 2200 signatures at the time of this write up so it’s clear that many gamers are serious about their SWG. The petition offers a solution to shutting down the game- making it free to play and supporting it through the sale of virtual goods. It also asks Sony to consolidate players into a fewer number of servers and allow character transfers to help reduce the costs of keeping the game running. It’s not a completely far-fetched idea as many other games have found success from switching to a free-to-play format. Lord of the Rings Online is a…
Goodbye, SWG…
Fresh from bringing you the news that LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment have decided to pull the plug on Star Wars Galaxies (and rightly so in my opinion), we can now follow up with this slightly unhinged response to the news from Youtube user GoofyGrrl. GoofyGrrl, a long-time player and fan of the MMO game, is clearly upset at the news, having dedicated six years of her life to playing, and obviously felt compelled to air her grievances to the world. So, with her webcam switched on, and her skimpiest vest-top sought out, she had what psychotherapists might call a full-on breakdown. Way to go. And even better she blames the death of Galaxies on the appearance of the clearly vastly superior SWTOR for this Doomsday announcement – entirely missing the point that the new game would have rendered its predecessor redundant anyway. Two points spring up at this point:…