I've played a lot of games in my day, but the new interface for SWG is unpleasant and at times painful. Buyer beware.
1) Star Wars Galaxies is supposed to be an MMORPG. That is not what it is. Yes you can technically still "role-play" as it is now, but the limitations created by some of the new enhancements do not allow for true immersion in the "universe" as proclaimed by the producers. I do not believe that this game can be said to qualify as anything other than a FPS with community dialogue now.
2) THIS ONE IS IMPORTANT, SO READ: There is a good reason why, if you look around a bit, you will see that SOE is offering its customers a refund for the latest expansion, "The Trials of Obi-Wan," which retails for roughly $30. You see, they didn't tell everyone they were about to entirely change the basic fundamentals of the game and how it was played until the day AFTER this expansion hit the shelves. I've seen many a person calling for lawsuits over this item alone. In a PR move, SOE is now trying to stem the backlash that has been created from this poor judgement call by offering a refund. Taking that in mind, one has to be very cautious in handing this company their money on a monthly basis, as the item you are paying for may or may not exist after a few weeks or months. In the last year, SOE has majorly overhauled this game twice claiming the need to provide the players with a better experience, only to see a mass exodus of current customers as a result.
3) 9 Iconic Professions. This is supposed to be more true to the Star Wars universe and would be fine if there was anyway to not end up as a clone of anyone else of the same profession. Prior to the current release of the NGE, there were about 30 different professions. The advancement of each was based on gaining experience points to purchase skills. This system was considered to difficult for some, but allowed for a lot of flexability in the overall game experience. You could pick and choose how you wanted your character to develop. You could be a combat oriented character who dabbled in crafting on the side. Best of all, if you decided you were bored with your current profession, you could dump those skills for new ones without deleting your character and starting over. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case. Your "skills" are assigned to you based only on your chosen profession. You don't get change your profession after you pick it.
4) Combat is not classified as "fast-paced" to get away from the old style "turn-based" combat that the developers claim people are bored with. To facilitate the look of this new combat, they have sped up the frame rate. All combat is based on button mashing, revolving around the left and right mouse button. There are a few special attacks achieved using the right mouse button, but this style of combat can be tricky for many people. There is no way to adjust this. So, if you have any form of handicap that would prohibit you using the mouse purely for combat / item interaction and the keyboard for movemet, you are just out of luck. I'm sure SOE didn't mean for that to be the case, and hopefully they will fix that. There have already been several reports from players who have had to drop the game due to this. Also, it should be noted that damage is static other than the influence of your Combat Level. The weapon may say that it does more damage than another of the same class, but that doesn't seem to be what others are seeing in the game during combat. You will find many occasions where you will inadvertantly start combating multiple foes due to the quirky nature of the targeting system. If a potential foe wanders inbetween you and your current target during combat, you will find that you have another foe to deal with. You get new special moves roughly every 3 levels. Unfortunately, these can only be accessed using the right mouse button. To change between them, you have to load them into a quick menu and select the corresponding number along your keyboards top number row. I have encountered several periods where my wrist has just cramped up trying to switch back and forth for each special.
4) Armor is another area that I hope they are busily working on right now. As it stands, several of the armor choices are basically mismatched with their corresponding profession. During character creation, if you look at the image for the Spy, you see someone dressed in recon armor. Clicking the "preview" movie tab for spy will show you a movie with him/her wearing recon armor. However, spies are not allowed to wear anything other than Battle armor. Currently, this armor system is somewhat confusing and counter-intuitive.
5) SOE's official word on this game is that they wanted it to be more "StarWarsy." I approve of the notion, but they make me wonder if they have ever acctually paid any attention to the Star Wars universe to which the claim to be aspiring. Star Wars Galaxies is said to be set in time just after the end of Episode IV with the destruction of the Death Star. Somehow, SOE made Jedi as a starting profession despite this. As a result, you can expect to see 8 out of 10 characters running around will be Jedi. That's not the Star Wars I watched. I know everyone wants to be a jedi, but that doesn't mean you should allow it in this game. There are a plethora of other Jedi oriented SW games out there that are for that sole purpose alone. Why do that to this game?
6) Camera angle. I've played a lot of games including FPS. Any game which has an offset-over the shoulder camera angle gives me headaches and dizzy spells. It is a very disorienting angle to be placed in. I realize that this was to help with the targeting design, but many people find it hard to navigate simple hallways because of a mismatch of perspectives based on character position to center-screen.
7) SOE says that Star Wars is about fast paced action. This statement alone lends credibility to the argument that they haven't really looked over the Star Wars saga at all. Lucas himself pretty much said that the entire story is basically a character study. The action throughout the movies and stories is really less important than the interactions of the characters with each other and how their desicions affect themselves and those around them. I've seen many a person say that they like this new version of this game over how it was previously, and I can understand what they saying. With that in mind, there are several games out for Star Wars that tailor to that type of gaming experience. Why should this one just be like all the rest when it claims that you will "live in the Star Wars universe?" Constantly moving from one fight to the next does not equal living in my book. Especially since the trend for the game is to push the player through quests as their only real way to advance. Being a cookie-cutter mold of everyone else of the same profession does not leave me with a feeling of immersion. This game isn't supposed to be simply a combat oriented game, but that is where it is definitely headed.
If you feel you must try this game, then by all means do. If you are expecting to have free reign to run around in the Star Wars universe, you will be dissappointed. The is little to really do but fight.
I could keep going, but I'm hoping that this is enough information to help you make a more informed decision before commiting to a game that may be coming to an end.