Out with the old, in with the NGE
A long time ago in a galaxy not so far away, came the game that put us in the Star Wars Galaxy. Or at least, thats what we were told. Almost 2 years on, the galaxy is still there but the game we know and loved has changed.
Turning to the darkside
One of the biggest complaints about Galaxies was the fact it just didnt appeal to new players. A huge learning curve and unless you knew someone or found someone who would help you, it was all but impossible.
Grinding has been made easier now - replaced by a simple skill bar - which means that you can, at a glance, check your progress as you look to improve your combat level. The changes continue...... new players can now do new quest based missions that now actually give real rewards in terms of money and experience points, in addition to loot. Much better than before, where all you received was a handful of credits and a broken datapad!
Combat itself are where the biggest changes have been made. However, the darkside of the force has fallen here. Although an incredible brave step by the developers to do a FPS style combat system, it is still flawed. Unless you are ranged, melee will find it difficult to run after and catch their enemy who speeds off into the sunset, as one such enemy did against me.
This does need urgent tweaking and once fixed, it will certainly improve the game in the combat area. Another issue is the lag. Since NGE, the delay has been awful. Vendors who have to wait ages just to place an item, and of course packet loss.
Launching this new system was bad enough but to launch it with servers in this condition really is yet another blow to the long suffering community. They are still investigating the server issues but still launched NGE anyway. Thanks!
The Jedi Mind trick
Everyone wanted to be a jedi - so the developers have made it easier! Gone are hours of grinding killing Bols by the thousands to claim experience - gone is the Force Village that enabled you to do quests to gain Force experience and work your way to becoming a Jedi.
You can select Jedi as one of the new 9 professions which have all been plucked from the Star Wars universe. Fancy being as cool as Boba Fett, you pick Bounty Hunter, fancing being as dashing as Han Solo, you select Smuggler. Being a Jedi is still hard work. You wont get your lightsaber until level 30, which you have to craft yourself - lets hope the prices of the resources needed to make one, come down by then.
All this has been done in an attempt to make the game more 'Star Warsy'. The marketing of the new website, the flash intro and new Star Wars footage as you run around the space station certainly give you that feel. If you were a new player, it would most certainly suck you in.
Thankfully, I am not that new player. I'm a veteran and suddenly have that feeling its out with the old and in with the new as veterans seem to be the ones being slapped in the face and forced to take the changes...like it or lump it.
I respec to Jedi from being a Master Bounty Hunter/MRifle to see what it would be like and really left in no mans land. The official new manual isnt live, I didnt know where to go to start my quests and in traditional SOE fashion, I didnt get any of my rewards - including my robes. This is to be fixed in a 'soon to be released' hotfix. Outrageous!!!
Just to help gain extra XP, I had to take on these nOOb quests and it was embrassing for me to be killing quest mob with level 10s! I went back to killing Bols - level 74s ( I am level 70) and the weirdest thing happened. Killing Bols was easy but because the NGE combat system is so flawed, I could kill some Bols, but then I would come across one or two that would flatten me in two hits!
Galaxies certainly did need changing but despite failed attempts by SOE to bring in the Combat Upgrade followed by the changes to the group hunting XP (which they have brought in,despite the protests before) but to be honest, the old combat system was fine. After all, Galaxies was an RPG, not a FPS!
I've a bad feeling about this...
The common factor with the problems is SOE. The moment they decided they could improve things, it all went wrong. Did we have too many professions? Maybe, but this was Galaxies unique selling point. Players could be anything that they wanted to be in Galaxies and it also gave a sense of community.
SOE have failed on all counts to deliver that Star Wars experience becausing yet again they are releasing an untested and untried product onto its dwindling player base - especially after the flawed Rage Of The Wookiees.
The game lacked any Star Wars content. All these new players are being sucked into a game that actually has NO Galactic war. Its kind of on hold. Amazing!
Another kick in the teeth was the Trials Of Obi Wan. If you are a veteran player, this expansion becomes essential so you can spend even longer grinding to reach level 90. Without it, probably triples the time it will take to level up.
The route Lucasarts and SOE have taken with the player fees is not a good one. New players can download the trial for free, which allows you to reach level 10 before having to make that subscription purchase. If you make that payment, you can grind to your hearts content, and if you are a Jedi, you have to wait until level 30 just to get your Lightsaber - but if you bought the new Starter Kit, means that your fun will end here, unless you pay for the subscription to progress and grind even further until you reach level 80 - meaning you need Trials Of Obi Wan to reach level 90.
Both Lucasarts and SOE have been forced to issue refunds to anyone requesting them who downloaded Trials Of Obi Wan because the changes to NGE has created yet another community backlash.
They claim that NGE tested well in focus groups - but it seems that no one from the actual player base was present. Its my belief that Lucasarts and SOE see the current veteran player base as a thorn in their side and this is a daring attempt to make them all leave but yet, by pushing the Star Warsy feel to the game will attract enough new players to replace them.
After spending a few days playing the new Star Wars Galaxies, I come away thinking, how can one of the poorest MMORPGs online get worse, because, despite the changes being a good idea in principle, yet again they have been executed in a mindless fashion on a community who, if they dont like it, can leave attitude