My once favourite game dumbed down into a pathetic excuse for a TPS...
SWG once was a truly unique MMORPG. Unlike numerous other games of its category SWG - for example - had no level system, but a more flexible skillbox-based skill system, had no locked classes, but 34 professions that the players could combine and mix as they wished. It had a flourishing economy completely run by the players - 95% of the items were created by players.
SWG had a sort of 'hard-core' feeling. New players were very, very weak compated to the veterans and the game itself was very complex, and easy to get lost in. Personally, I loved getting lost in its depths, but some focus groups claimed it was keeping potential customers away from the game.
SWG had an a bit better than average number of subscribers for an average MMORPG, but SOE claimed that a game with the Star Wars license should have a lot more people playing it and paying for it.
Therefore, on 27th April 2005 the Combat Upgrade (CU) was introduced to Live servers. It has brought a lot of changes - some of them were good, but many of the were bad. It was a step to an easier, faster paced and less hardcore game. The most important changes were the change of combat and a level system introduced. The CU has certainly stirred up a lot of trouble, and many accounts were cancelled, and numerous people left the game - but they eventually came back. Slowly but steadily the CU was accepted...
Then, on 2nd November 2005, roughly only 6 months after the CU, ONE DAY after those that bought the newest expansion pack, Trials of Obi-Wan could no longer cancel their purchase, SOE announced the New Game Enhancements (NGE), that were pushed live in 2 weeks, despite the enormous disapproval of the community. The forums turned into public battlegrounds - thousands of players signed the petitions against the NGE and roughly 80% of the community was against the change.
The NGE has turned the game upside down, and it has nothing in common with the old game we used to love. The traditional, but pretty exciting RPG combat was turned into something like a TPS - you click on your target --> your character shots/swings at it. I think you can image what clickfest is going on in SWG these times... To win you need to harass your mouse at 1000 clicks /sec speed, and occasionally press your right mouse button as well (this is called 'tactics' by the fanboys). The 34 professions that you could mix were turned into 9 so called iconic classes that had a totally linear advancement. In the old system a level 80 bounty hunter could have chosen from hundreds of different skillsets, now all lvl 80 bounty hunters have the very same skills - there goes diversity. SOE also claims that the NGE has made the game more Star Wars like - more 'Star Warsy' to use a word loved by the Developers. Well.. simply this is a lie. For example, Jedi is now a starting profession - any player may choose to be a jedi with no previous work towards it at all, and they get a lightsaber pretty fast. Now like 75% of the players are jedi... And hundreds of players running around with glowsticks (AKA lightsabers) and getting seriously owned by the easiest critters of the game... Well that's not my idea of a Star Wars feeling. In the old system only those who invested 6 months++ of work could have become a jedi, and then you had to hunt for months each day to actually become powerful - more powerful than a non-jedi player.
Now what we have is an abysmal game, the corpse of a once great MMORPG. A huge percentage of the veterans have already cancelled their accounts and left the game, and good-bye posts on the official forums are a really common sight. Reports are saying that the servers are close to being empty...
I strongly advise you against buying this game - it is a complete waste of money.