Kind of not sure how to express this so I’ll stick to some gameplay options which may make it clearer than measuring it
Content-Has changed, kind of hard to explain this especially as SWG was described as a MMOLRPG this new NGE plays more like a first person shooter (FPS) in fact, not only is that an indication of the combat but also of the rest of the game. Loot is better than crafted and there is no need what so every to even visit a crafter. Mobs and NPC drop just about everything you need, quest provide the rest. When you do visit a crafter its only for a one time item. (explain later)
The game is a leveling game more based on quests than grind though be warned the quest experience fades out around level 30 and there is no current questing experience content until level 80 which is insufficient to get you to the top level of 90 and is part of ToOW which is an expansion for which you will have to pay extra. There is another expansion ROTW and am not even going to go there no room at this time. Grinding does not provide XP sufficient to level at a reasonable rate. So after level 30 your kind of left in a limbo until quests and grinding XP is dealt with in future patches. This will be addressed probably in the near future wither its raised enough we will need to wait and see. It will take months of coding time to introduce quests to level 90 so I expect an appeasement on XP in grinding of mobs.
There are only 9 iconic professions which lack in scope or excitement, though this doesn’t really matter as every second character is a Jedi. I am actually disappointed in this aspect but I take it Jedi sell accounts. This turns the game completely no longer are Jedi personas hard to get but are so easy every new player will be one, probably for their first character. Which is kind of short sited as after they experience the content with leveling the first time, second or third time becomes repetitive. At present the content to level a Jedi is the same as for any other combat profession.
Star Wars is a different prospective it comes with a large following people of all different generation and with their own concepts of what Star Wars environments should be, is , was or could be 90% of those see Jedi as an alpha class. Lets face it I can remember more than 50 scenes in the films alone that portray’s an alpha class character. Computer games are all about character balance so I find some of the SWG concepts to be hard to take in every reshuffle Jedi are made week then patched alpha
Each individual combat character has a set of their own skills which are basically 5 or 7 different skills that get better as your level rises. Combat skills are pretty striate forward even medic skills are predictable. We are told that future patches will add additional skills to give more depth in each profession.
Crafters are in a kind of limbo to be honest, first of there is no decay on any items therefore at this point once you buy an item it will last you forever. Also at this point all weapons do the same damage yip and I tested this myself a level 64 weapon did the same damage as level 72 or a level 80, 1 14 it would seem this has more to do with your player level than the weapons level. Also nothing stacks so if you want to use food for instance you can only use one type. Cloths have no in game benefit other than looking good or bad depending on your taste. Weapon upgrades, tapes clothing or armour upgrades are all turned off at present and so are Commando weapons. Wither we see these return or not is probably into next year or beyond. This all makes the crafting profession pointless at this time especially with mobs/NPC dropping better gear.
With the removal of creature handlers pets that had the level ten with level ten states can still be called however no other creature can be called or re-leveled (bug) and with no one to train creatures they will be no more till this is sorted. Probably in a future patch or upgrade.
SWG, The galactic civil war (GCW) is none existent so gameplay orbits around questing. I found most of the servers to be low in actual activity at present only one serve at present had heavy consumption some go to medium at peak time and on occasion hit the heavy for short periods of the day. When in game I found most people running the starter quests even with level 80-90 characters or you find a couple of Jedi flashing there lightsabers at noob starports. I looked in the usual places for group activity and in most cases found none. Not to say there was none at all I just didn’t find the usual numbers or usual players in their usual places.
Support, In-game support is pretty none existent I found most of the CRS replies to be cut and past responses which only infuriates players even more. Most of the time they can’t help you anyway as your problems are due to the game code. SWG forums well all I can say about them is they have the fastest moving front page I have ever seen in 20 years of gaming. When I started playing over 18 months ago I found a worm interactive community in constantly extremely heavy servers, you got a lot of banter at the cantinas and there where always grouping going own. There where problems with the older versions of Star Wars however I think what didn’t need fixed was fixed and what did need fixed is still not working. The whole time context is out of sink with the in game dynamics for one. The GCW is static you can go overt but there is little challenge or XP to keep your interest. PVP, there is no penalty on death so what’s the point to be honest. What once felt 3D no feels 2D liner there seems to be a stripping down of the complexities of the game for a more consul type game.
I tried to make this as constructive as I can it’s probably not as even as I hoped. I am an older gamer been around the bloke when it comes to games. Another point is Star Wars Galaxies is two and half years old why do I feel like am beta testing a game when I play. Why also do I fell this sounds more like a beta review than a two year old game review. I really don’t think anyone can say at this point what Star Wars Galaxies is; there are a lot of people who could tell you what it was. The rest can tell you what they want the Devs well I think only they know what they are doing. Nobody else does.