Well this is what I'm asking did you put up with all the workarounds BECAUSE it was Star Wars or BECAUSE it was some game you enjoyed? I know people like Obriak (who I think is of a younger generation and I dont agree with) were fans of the game before they were Star Wars Fans. I just want to know for an open discussions why the PRE-CU was so good when I and obviously many others saw it different.
First off, thank you for posting with civility and an open mind. I think I can answer the question of why I played and liked it so much.
It was my first real MMORPG. I did the UO thing years ago but it wasn't interesting enough to me. I am a Sci-Fi fan. I don't care much for fantasy stuff.
Was SWG what I expected? No. In fact, it offered a lot more but in a different way then I expected. When I first logged in I was expecting it to be more like what NGE is to be honest. I started in July of '03 so you can probably already tell where I am going with this.
What I got instead was a vibrant world with so many options it was overwhelming at first. The fun was in figuring out how to play to be honest about it. There was no set path to follow, and not a lot of tutorial on how to take a path, it was all up to you. It was for all intents and purposes a "virtual world". Which, after thinking about it that first week, was a pleasant surprise and a perfect fit for a Star Wars game. I didn't HAVE to be Luke, or Han, or Bobba, I could be Dookseid, and do what I wanted! It was a great vision!
Are my rose colored glasses tinted a bit heavy? Not at all, in fact I turned in many bug reports and had to ask for CSR help on many different occasions. I saw more potential than actual game just like most here. But I also saw a vibrant community that wasn't just about Star Wars anymore, I saw a group of fine people working together to have fun in a virtual world, Star Wars name or not.
Do I think that Classic servers will bring that community back? Maybe to a small extent, I have no delusions of getting back that spark. What I do have is knowledge that had they just fixed what was wrong with the old game instead of overlaying the new games on top of it, the playerbase right now would be larger than what it is with NGE. Since the sub numbers for Galaxies never meshed with original estimates, it was doomed from the start. I can be happy that I had my virtual world for a few years. What you call "Sims" is fun for many folks. Perhaps that is why the "Sims" franchise is the best selling PC game ever.
Certainly SWG was never perfect. But before the removal of TEFs, SWG did a darn good job of recreating the world of the Star Wars movies we saw as kids and allowed players to be a part of that world. And sometimes institutes mechanics that were differnet than is the norm or is convenient. For example, jedi as a rare alpha class. TEF to ensure that there was a war going on between the factions, not Imperials and Rebels living in harmony. Relatistic animations, not magically looking particle effects, etc. I could live with bugs and imbalances, if the real Star Wars experience was there.
The TEF changes was the first major blow to the Star War immersion, which is what the orignal SWG was all about. At that point SOE decided that making the game "fun" in their limited vision, was more important than faithfully recreating the world of the movies. But even after the removal of TEFs and and to a lesser extent after the CU, there was still some authentic Star Wars fun to be had in the game. You had to look harder for it, but it was still there.
The NGE stripped the game of what was left of the granduer of the movies. I became more Space Balls than Star Wars.
That's when I left. The worst part is that SOE and Lucas arts have ruined Star Wars for me. Now whenever I hear the music from the movies or the sound of light sabre igniting, I am reminded of how they tricked me and ripped me off.
Comments
First off, thank you for posting with civility and an open mind. I think I can answer the question of why I played and liked it so much.
It was my first real MMORPG. I did the UO thing years ago but it wasn't interesting enough to me. I am a Sci-Fi fan. I don't care much for fantasy stuff.
Was SWG what I expected? No. In fact, it offered a lot more but in a different way then I expected. When I first logged in I was expecting it to be more like what NGE is to be honest. I started in July of '03 so you can probably already tell where I am going with this.
What I got instead was a vibrant world with so many options it was overwhelming at first. The fun was in figuring out how to play to be honest about it. There was no set path to follow, and not a lot of tutorial on how to take a path, it was all up to you. It was for all intents and purposes a "virtual world". Which, after thinking about it that first week, was a pleasant surprise and a perfect fit for a Star Wars game. I didn't HAVE to be Luke, or Han, or Bobba, I could be Dookseid, and do what I wanted! It was a great vision!
Are my rose colored glasses tinted a bit heavy? Not at all, in fact I turned in many bug reports and had to ask for CSR help on many different occasions. I saw more potential than actual game just like most here. But I also saw a vibrant community that wasn't just about Star Wars anymore, I saw a group of fine people working together to have fun in a virtual world, Star Wars name or not.
Do I think that Classic servers will bring that community back? Maybe to a small extent, I have no delusions of getting back that spark. What I do have is knowledge that had they just fixed what was wrong with the old game instead of overlaying the new games on top of it, the playerbase right now would be larger than what it is with NGE. Since the sub numbers for Galaxies never meshed with original estimates, it was doomed from the start. I can be happy that I had my virtual world for a few years. What you call "Sims" is fun for many folks. Perhaps that is why the "Sims" franchise is the best selling PC game ever.
Certainly SWG was never perfect. But before the removal of TEFs, SWG did a darn good job of recreating the world of the Star Wars movies we saw as kids and allowed players to be a part of that world. And sometimes institutes mechanics that were differnet than is the norm or is convenient. For example, jedi as a rare alpha class. TEF to ensure that there was a war going on between the factions, not Imperials and Rebels living in harmony. Relatistic animations, not magically looking particle effects, etc. I could live with bugs and imbalances, if the real Star Wars experience was there.
The TEF changes was the first major blow to the Star War immersion, which is what the orignal SWG was all about. At that point SOE decided that making the game "fun" in their limited vision, was more important than faithfully recreating the world of the movies. But even after the removal of TEFs and and to a lesser extent after the CU, there was still some authentic Star Wars fun to be had in the game. You had to look harder for it, but it was still there.
The NGE stripped the game of what was left of the granduer of the movies. I became more Space Balls than Star Wars.
That's when I left. The worst part is that SOE and Lucas arts have ruined Star Wars for me. Now whenever I hear the music from the movies or the sound of light sabre igniting, I am reminded of how they tricked me and ripped me off.
I've never met such a person. Please go back under your bridge.