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Open Letter to NGE Apologists
Tzimiscechi
Member Posts: 230
I expect this to be taken down. Things that need to be said are often considered out of bounds. That's okay, it needs to be said. I'll try to hold back on the profanity but this is a topic on which I am very passionate. So I apologize in advance. I'm not going to mention anyone by name here. The guilty know who they are.
I came to this board because I was missing the old SWG game. I spent a lot of time playing the pre CU game. Looking back on it, I had a lot of fun building guilds, building community, building my character, building my house and so on. There hasn't been a single game released so far that even starts to look like the old SWG. This is probably the biggest reason I came to this board - because I'm unsatisfied with all the online games I see out there right now.
Coming to this board has made me long for the old days. People are telling stories and I go "Oh yeah, I remember that (or something like it)..." It makes me want to go play the old game. Obviously I can't - which causes all those warm fuzzy feelings to turn to anger.
It is a crime what Sony did to SWG - in my opinion literally. There is no doubt that they're guilty of false advertising if nothing else. But I'm not a lawyer and even if I was, Sony has billions of dollars and an army of lawyers to fight it out. In the end it wouldn't be worth it.
Sony has truly pissed me off. It was bad enough that they changed the game but they out and out lied to us, their loyal customers. There is no doubt that the Sony team was trying to duplicate World of Warcraft. In doing so, they alienated their current customers and created a game that no one wanted. They failed to catch the WoW crowd with their cheap, buggy knock off. So now vets like myself are homeless and SWG is a game that no one wants.
But the part that hurt through the whole fiasco, was how Sony treated, responded and looked at their vet base. Our posts about the problems with the NGE no matter how gently phrased were taken down by the mods. Meanwhile, NGE defenders got almost free reign on the boards. Then Sony damage control raced to the independent boards to try to shut down any criticism there. Then they went to the gaming media. Then they went to the national media and on and on and on.
Sony probably spent more time and energy trying to silence their critics than getting the bugs out of their game.
The NGE changes weren't anything the SWG vets wanted or asked for. Sony didn't care. They wanted the WoW audience so badly they were willing to sacrifice us.
These things all hurt. The only crime I ever committed was liking the game and playing the game and spending time in the game. So to get trampled like this was awful.
So as much as I love the game, those feelings quickly turn to absolute hatred for the NGE, Sony and everything those things stand for. I can't think of the good old days without thinking about how Sony so happily put the screws to us. Why is Sony happier with the pitiful numbers they have now than the larger numbers they had then? We know that the numbers are pitiful because if they were good Sony would be bragging about it everywhere if for no other reason than to have an "in your face" to people like me.
Anyway - Sony has opened a "Vet Trial" and this has reopened old wounds. A few of us on this board have gone and tried it and confirmed that it's still just as crappy as it's always been. And this has brought back the NGE Apologists and their lame arguments and I'm sick of it. Here is a few statements that were leveled at me personally just recently.
"Why don't you just try it?"
If you were standing in front of me when you said this I would SMASH ALL OF YOUR FUCKING TEETH IN. I have tried it. About nine months ago a friend of mine (who still played) asked me to come back. He was trying to rebuild the community cause he missed it. I missed it too, so I gave it a go ahead. I got a new account (cause I sold my old one) and started out at level one.
It made me really sad when I saw for myself how dead it was. Places that used to be busy now had only one afk spammer. The cities I knew were all gone. The guilds I knew were all gone. I think part of the CU was an attempt to foster a community, with the community that I knew gone all I felt was sadness and no reason to stay.
"Give me a reason you don't like the NGE."
(I gave one.)
Their response: "Give me three reasons you don't like the NGE."
If you were standing in front of me when you said that my foot would INSERT THOSE TWO TINY GRAPENUTS YOU CALL "BALLS" INTO YOUR NOSTRILS.
I don't owe you an explanation. After spending 60 bucks for the original game plus 20 bucks a month for over 2 years (that's over 500 dollars) Sony doesn't feel like they me an explanation (or anything else for that matter.)
But that aside, if you PULL YOUR HEAD OUT OF SONY'S CRAP ENCRUSTED BUTTHOLE FOR A MINUTE you would note that I have give at least two very long critiques of the NGE. Moreover there have been others that have given critiques of it and of the ones I've read, I've for the most part agreed.
I reverse the question: Have YOU ever tried the NGE? I mean REALLY TRIED IT? Right off the bat you'll note it has one of the WORST targeting systems I've ever seen in a video game. Even Pong and Raid over Moscow (where you had to bounce your shot and hit the robot in the back) had better targeting systems.
There is NO WAY ON EARTH anyone even the slightest bit familiar with video games could look at the NGE and think it's great. Even the game it mimicks (WOW) is a supieror game: it's more interesting, more fun and less buggy. The Sony SWG team itself would agree I'm sure.
Look - this is the "Veterans Refuge." The very first thread on this forum is the "The official we hate Sony Thread" and it's stickied. For you to come here and bitch and moan about how you're tired of hearing us complain about the NGE is lame. It's like going to a porn site and complaining about the nudity. What do you expect to find here?
I don't know if other vets go to the game forums and complain or not. I don't and they shouldn't. But coming here and talking down to us. You're not helping your case at all. You're just pissing us off.
Look at it from this point of view: you apologists have won all the way across the board. Sony is NOT going to change the NGE. Sony is NOT going to roll back any servers. Sony is NOT going to listen to the "vocal minority." So go play the game you claim to love and be happy.
Meanwhile - I shall remain here, daydreaming about what could have been, missing the old days and all the fun I had. Thinking about what could have been, all the lost potential, the great community, the excitement and everything else Sony so happily $h!t on.
Comments
Well said.
I agree completely.
I played the game for about 4-6 months and left just as jump to lightspeed hit the market.
We didn't want expansions we wanted the game to be fixed...
So I am with you... Sony sucks, and they always shall...
I for one....having played from closed beta till last November.....hold no ill will towards SOE. While I do not like the direction they took, they made a decision and tried something different. While it was a fiasco on how they handled it, and we may never really know who is the person who put their finger on the buitton to go for it, I can't blame them for trying something different. It just didn't work as well as they hoped.
SOE has some great games, EQ1, EQ2, the up and coming Vanguard, planetside which is actually not too bad, they are not totally evil. They just tried something and backfired. All of you holding onto the past are just hurting yourself. Time for the healing to begin..and move on.
Pre-cu really never received an expansion , JTL was more an add on than anything else . Expansion would imply it added to the previous game , Yet it didn't it just gave you the ability to fly around outside of the game.I'd go as far as to say it was a 2nd game , Not even really an extension of the prior .
ROTW was what brought us the CU ,the first game came to an end at that point , And cu became a sequel in some ways. Had pre-cu recieved this expansion I would have welcomed it .
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Raid over Moscow .... damn i liked that game
I couldnt agree more.
M M O S S I N C E |1998|
P L A Y I N G F A L L E N E A R T H
T I M E I N V E S T E D |uo|swg|wow|fe|
B E T A T E S T E R |rz|tr|hgl|potbs|potc|gw|hz|wish|fe|wow|df|war|allods|cog|lu|
w w w . c l o w n g u i l d . o r g
Pre-cu really never received an expansion , JTL was more an add on than anything else . Expansion would imply it added to the previous game , Yet it didn't it just gave you the ability to fly around outside of the game.I'd go as far as to say it was a 2nd game , Not even really an extension of the prior .
ROTW was what brought us the CU ,the first game came to an end at that point , And cu became a sequel in some ways. Had pre-cu recieved this expansion I would have welcomed it .
Sorry to come across as picky but just go to play.com and type in jump to light speed and it shows in the title that it is an expansion. As it literaly expanded the game into space which I also agree is like a 2nd game... but its still an expansion.
http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/167787/-/Product.html?searchstring=jump+to+lightspeed&searchsource=0
clicky impaired
To the OP
however not with the amount of vehemence now 
"Obi-Wan Kenobi: We were decieved by a lie; we all were. It appears that SOE is behind everything, including the NGE! After the death of CU, the NGE became their new apprentice."
Pre-cu really never received an expansion , JTL was more an add on than anything else . Expansion would imply it added to the previous game , Yet it didn't it just gave you the ability to fly around outside of the game.I'd go as far as to say it was a 2nd game , Not even really an extension of the prior .
ROTW was what brought us the CU ,the first game came to an end at that point , And cu became a sequel in some ways. Had pre-cu recieved this expansion I would have welcomed it .
Sorry to come across as picky but just go to play.com and type in jump to light speed and it shows in the title that it is an expansion. As it literaly expanded the game into space which I also agree is like a 2nd game... but its still an expansion.
http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/167787/-/Product.html?searchstring=jump+to+lightspeed&searchsource=0
clicky impaired
To the OP
however not with the amount of vehemence now 
JtL added a new ground profession and two new playable species. It was definitely an expansion.
Pre-cu really never received an expansion , JTL was more an add on than anything else . Expansion would imply it added to the previous game , Yet it didn't it just gave you the ability to fly around outside of the game.I'd go as far as to say it was a 2nd game , Not even really an extension of the prior .
ROTW was what brought us the CU ,the first game came to an end at that point , And cu became a sequel in some ways. Had pre-cu recieved this expansion I would have welcomed it .
Sorry to come across as picky but just go to play.com and type in jump to light speed and it shows in the title that it is an expansion. As it literaly expanded the game into space which I also agree is like a 2nd game... but its still an expansion.
http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/167787/-/Product.html?searchstring=jump+to+lightspeed&searchsource=0
clicky impaired
To the OP
however not with the amount of vehemence now 
JtL added a new ground profession and two new playable species. It was definitely an expansion.
Too crafting yes , but I know I'm not alone in the thought it did little to add to the game. At least to those of my play style , I never made it out of tier 1 pilot , most I knew never had an interest in it . So in my perspective and theirs Pre-cu never received a true expansion.
They (SOE) can call it whatever they want . Hell they like to call the NGE "SWG"
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
My favorite part was the actual critique of the game.
If you actually sit down and play the game, it is complete garbage compared to anything else. I hate to say it, but Pre-cu wasn't even that great of a game. The thing that we all love about it is the sandbox feel, the community, and the freedom. The game itself was never that great though. THAT is why SWG wasn't a "huge" success (like WoW). It wasn't the underlying philosophy of the game, but the fact that they literally made it poorly (it had so many bugs and whatnot).
Imagine if SWG was made with its Sandbox philosophy, but was made with actual quality (like most of Blizzard's games).
______________________
Give a man some fun and you entertain him for a day. Teach a man to make fun and you entertain him for a lifetime.
I agree 100% with what has been said.
I loved the crafting side of the game and ive never found another game that comes close to it in pre NGE
I started playing the game from day of release and loved the game until dooms day
http://www.speedtest.net/result/502097918.png
Generally, I'd find myself writing a long essay elaborating how much I disagree or agree with you; however, I think you nailed it dead on. This is the Veteran Refuge. We, the Veterans, who know what it's like to follow a Tree to the top should be the ones that dominate the Veteran Refuge, otherwise you're probably not a Veteran to begin with.
I remember at Launch, SWG was an amazing game and it really didn't matter what level I was. The cities were populated. Guilds and player cities were sprawling. It was truly an amazing experience that I miss.
Let it be known that I hate WoW with a passion and will defend almost any MMORPG against it.
Current: FFXI (PC/360)
Want: FFXIV, Stargate Worlds, Star Trek Online
Past: AC, AoC, AO, Atlantica Online, CoH/V, DAoC, Dungeon Runners, D&DO, EVE, Everquest I+II, FlyFF, GW (all), Lineage 2, LOTRO, Mabinogi, Maplestory, PSO (DC/Xbox/PC), PSU (PC/360), PlanetSide, RO, Shadowbane, SWG (Pre-NGE), SotNW, TR, UO, Warhammer Online, WoW, WWIIO
So you hate the game now because you hate the combat targeting system (point and what you want to shoot at and click a left mouse button) and the lack of population on servers in the exact same places you want people to gather at like they did 5 years ago?
Ok, got it.
Yep, totally agree with the post. Played SWG-pre-cu, played SWG-post cu, played SWG-NGE and I believe the pre-cu version was much more playable, even if you did have to run every 3 hours to a doctor to get buffed!
I still have friends that play SWG and they were all pre-cu as well. They basically play because they like the collection quests which gives them the opprotunity to collect fun stuff and be "badge hounds". I am not opposed to going back as a jedi vet and taking a peak at that collection system, but it is doubtful that I will bother.
Star Wars Galaxies had it heyday and SOE simply brought it down for no other reason than to take on WoW-like characteristics and it was a big mistake. I played WoW for a long time and now play Conan and just about every experienced MMO vet has played SWG and we all agree that it was ruined. Enough said. If anyone wants to play it and is enjoying it, thats fine, nothing wrong with how anyone spends their time and money and I wish them luck.
Why do you feel compelled to respond to posts you obviously haven't read? Remember, trolling is still against the mmorpg.com ToS even for this forum.
Pre-cu really never received an expansion , JTL was more an add on than anything else . Expansion would imply it added to the previous game , Yet it didn't it just gave you the ability to fly around outside of the game.I'd go as far as to say it was a 2nd game , Not even really an extension of the prior .
ROTW was what brought us the CU ,the first game came to an end at that point , And cu became a sequel in some ways. Had pre-cu recieved this expansion I would have welcomed it .
I'd say you're pretty spot on with that one. Frankly, it was one hell of a second game at that. Gods honest truth? They should have just made a Rouge squadron MMO. I can't really think of a way they could have screwed the pooch on that one. I'd probably still be playing it too.
Id never actually played an MMORPG before SWG. I started to play in May '05 and I became totally immersed in it.
I rarely play MMORPGs now as they dont give me the same excitement or interest. Ive tried but it just isnt there. I tried the NGE a few times but its as though SWG had an accident and has been left impaired. Poor thing.
I am currently trying to get into Vanguard but I will soon cancel as its taken me 3 weeks to reach level 15, Im just not interested. Tried WoW, but once you tried a sandbox like SWG, WoW is just too linier.
I mentioned in a post before about people who say let go of the old game but the problem is, as long as there are MMORPGs we will always be reminded of our first or our most favourite and for most usually they can log back in their old favourite and still play it every now and again. This is where the problem lies - we cant simply log in like old Everquest gamers can for example. Ours isnt there anymore, and when we try the NGE we realise that we could actually play this again properly if it wasnt for the changes so we log out, frustrated.
So, all at SOE, raise your glasses to the five year anniversary and look around at the few SWG developers you employ, the low number of subscribers you have and the broken game. Are you proud? With a imaginative team focused on great ideas and concepts it could have grown into something amazing by now. You see, what you dont realise, by focusing on these ideas rather than the $$ we would have had the greatest MMORPG to play and you would have huge profits. Great ideas for the game & fixes = happy customers = profits NOT money making ideas & sacrificing fans of SW and subscribers for a poorly thought rushed idea = fail.
Can you imagine their board room? I bet you anything they sat around trying to figure out how to bring in more subscribers than actually discussing improvements and new ideas. I can believe Im typing this, its SOE ffs, they are the professionals, but totally miss the glaringly obvious to this day!
I remember reading a post on the official SWG forum shortly after the NGE:
'It's like they discovered cake reciepe but accidently used shit instead of flour'
It is Star Wars ffs, how could they fail? They didnt even have to think too much, the movies and literature is out there to be used.
Meatlumps
"I don't know if other vets go to the game forums and complain or not. I don't and they shouldn't. But coming here and talking down to us. You're not helping your case at all. You're just pissing us off."
It is a two lane street. Some people like the game as it is and they get shot down by the "Vets" for enjoying it. The fact that people are looked down upon for enjoying something you don't is flat out lame. Not that it doesn't happen with most games, just the "Vets" here that are so quick to slam someone that plays a game really get my goat.
Yes I have a goat...I have three to be exact.
And no, none of them are named Billy...
Personally, I don't enjoy the game and have not played since the NGE, but if someone wants to play and finds the game fun, more power to them. I am not going to come here and type up an obvious SOE bash under the guise of wanting to "warn" people about the diabolical SOE and their baby stealing SWG game.
Anyway...
That's me everyday when I see this thread posted ad nauseum.
That Guild Wars 2 login screen knocked up my wife. Must be the second coming!
While I agree with most of your rant, because that is exactly what it is. I don't agree with how you present it. If you seriously are going to "Smash someone's teeth in" over a game you got some serious psychological issues to patch up. One might say an emotional attachment to something that doesn't exist.
It's been years now, you really need to let it go. SOE knows what they did and believe me they know a large group of people hate their guts and won't play their MMOs or buy Sony at all. As a business that makes millions they don't care one way or another. All you are really doing is hurting yourself by keeping this grudge on your shoulders and wasting your life on something that is already gone.
As for the time line of SWG, CU came out after JTL and was suppose to be the only major gameplay changes for years to come. It wasn't a significant change and the players accepted it with pros and cons to the older system in place. After promising to help revamp and shape the CU system to the best overall gameplay mix of old and new, they dropped the big bomb. RotW came out and the NGE was born without a word about it until it was too late for the Vets to realize what was going on and SOE collected on it. Sneaky bastards but it is over and done with. I moved on and so should you. There are sandboxes coming out in the near future one being Earth Rise that will have a nice sci-fi feel to it. Maybe once you find that sandbox you can finally let this go and live your life.
We shall fight on the forums,
We shall fight on the O-Boards,
We shall fight in the blogs and in the live chats,
We shall fight in the FanFests;
We shall NEVER Surrender!
__________________________
"Its sad when people use religion to feel superior, its even worse to see people using a video game to do it."
--Arcken
"...when it comes to pimping EVE I have little restraints."
--Hellmar, CEO of CCP.
"It's like they took a gun, put it to their nugget sack and pulled the trigger over and over again, each time telling us how great it was that they were shooting themselves in the balls."
--Exar_Kun on SWG's NGE
Wow... hit the nail right on its head.. can I quote you? lol...
To answer the question.. what would have happened and it didnt change? Well... the game would still be kicking and have MANY more subs..
I agree fullheartedly.
"Do not fret! Your captain is about to enter Valhalla!" - General Beatrix of Alexandria
"The acquisition of knowledge is of use to the intellect, for nothing can be loved or hated without first being known." - Leo da Vinci
I totally agree with the OP. There are times I miss playing my master bounty hunter.
I am loving swg atm, i am finding it better than pre-cu.
playing eq2 and two worlds
Well, you're definitely not alone in your feelings. Inviting us to play a role in the StarWars saga really tapped into the magic of childhood for me. It was almost like a dream getting to virtually walk around in the Mos Eisley Cantina, fly a tie fighter with a group of people on teamspeak etc. It was a very powerful experience. To have that ripped away was quite painful. It also felt like it somehow violated my childhood happy place. To have it ripped away deceptively was more hurtful. To watch my friends go through the same feelings of loss and betrayal just multiplied it. Then to hear the motivation behind the actions that led to all these feelings--appeal to a different and larger audience to bring in more cash out of envy for a competitor's success--well frankly, that was deeply sickening.
I've learned a lot about people, others and myself, through the whole experience. I learned about MMO corporate politics, about EULAs and consumer rights. I've learned about pain, anger and forgiveness. I definitely didn't sign up for any of that when I clicked the "I accept button" to play SWG, and most of what I went through was definitely not explained to me in advance.
Honestly, I try hard not to let the pain of the experience turn into hatred. That always worked out badly in the StarWars stories, and I really think it's a theme that parallels reality.
So, what have I done with all of these emotions? Well, just thinking out loud, I learned what it was about the StarWars story that was so important to me. It really is a story of love conquering evil and leading to both redemption and family reconciliation. That touches some important chords for me. It's also about living for something bigger than ourselves, some kind of higher power or purpose. It's about faith, and hope, and the notion that we're really not alone in the universe.
I've rediscovered a lot of this by watching my children play. They love the StarWars stories, they play action figures together, and re-enact love, heroism and sacrifice over and over again. It's like magic. This helped me get in touch with the childhood magic once again. In fact I've been able to see SOE, LEC and their corporate decision makers as very small players in "the universe" so to speak. Their petty schemes and short-sighted priorities have somehow become very small, and thankfully separated from the childhood joy I found, and have now rediscovered, in the StarWars story. I don't mean to mimimize the hurt mind you, it was very real and for quite some time very intense. I still have an ache when I think about my SWG experience. Somehow though, I feel like I've gotten back in touch with the magic behind the story, and this has been healing.
I also recognize that through the joys and adversities of the SWG experience, I've met some truly wonderful people, who also connect with a lot of the themes associated with StarWars. I have no doubt that we'll be lifelong friends in fact, and that really is a good thing. I'm deeply greatful.
I've learned about consumer rights, and avenues to have grievances heard and hopefully addressed in some way. When I speak up for myself now, I do so not out of malice, but out of a desire to prevent similar hurtful experiences for others in the future. I'd like to see the MMO industry be a win-win scenario for companies and consumers alike. I think SOE and LEC lost sight of this when they were willing to hurt their consumers to improve their revenues. These two things simple cannot go together. You cannot hurt your consumers and at the same time hope to be more successful in a service industry. SOE and LEC truly lost their way in this regard I think. Which brings me to another thing that's helped.
Forgiveness. Some green dude with a lot of wisdom once told a farmboy to let go of his anger; and that anger, hate and vengeance really turn you into something you don't want to be. Well I'm not a farmboy, and I don't have any little green friends, but I think that's pretty good advice nonetheless. I happen to believe in God, and that inevitably there is a reckoning for injustice, if people don't turn away from it and seek forgivess. I also believe in doing my part to promote justice in our society. I believe in speaking up for my rights and appealing to authorities when my rights have been violated. I believe in confrontation and dialogue, but I don't believe in hate or personal vengeance. Well, I believe I'm capable of these things, and that they exist, but that they don't lead to favourable outcomes generally. So, I've forgiven SOE, LEC and the people who told the lies and made the hurtful decisions. I've forgiven so that I don't become something I don't want to be, but at the same time, I speak out for consumer rights and plan to continue to do so.
That's quite a lot of thinking out loud isn't it lol. My apologies for those that don't enjoy long-winded posts. I've shared all this though in the hope that something that's been useful to me, might also help others to heal. Peace and best wishes to all my StarWars friends
Honestly Gutboy, I don't think you do get it. If you read my earlier post, you may catch of glimpse of "it", but if you don't, well I'm really okay with that at this point. Sometimes people really don't "get" others' experiences. It seems part of being human I suppose.
There's a post that I think is written much better than mine kicking around these forums, it's a heart-felt story of what it meant to someone to play the original game, and then lose that experience. It's quite poetic actually, Starts out, we were adventurers or something like that. I'll try to find you a clicky. You may get it then, but again you may not. Your receiver might not be set to the same frequency as our transmitter so to speak.
Sorry I couldn't find you a clicky, but I saved a copy of the post to my PC because I found it really captured my own experience. Here it is if you'd care to read it. This is a description of what people experienced and lost. It may help you understand something from a different point of view:
"The game was just out of beta and 40 of my guild started playing. I was one of my group’s “Planet Side” testers/players, having beta tested it. We are 200 strong spread out now over 8-10 different games.
I would tune in the SWG channel on TS and listen, it was amazing to here the accounts of things across the galaxy as seen through the eyes of noobs. Everyone was a noob. I had to be a part of this.
I got the game and away I went. There were people everywhere. Cantinas were jammed, star ports as well. People running across Dath, no speeders yet. Fighting rancors and nightsisters. Squills and Tuskin Raiders were things to avoid on our home planet. The Corellian plains and the swamps of Talus, filled with big cats and their babies was a great place for the CH, but a dangerous one as well.
The crafting was amazing as well, folks dedicated themselves to mining, harvesting or buying the best resources, looting or buying skill tapes, and the items they made were top shelf. We knew who they were and we haggled for the best price. Weapons, armor, BE clothing, foods, drinks, etc…
The fighting classes would hire out to protect crafters as they tended their harvesters, or just paid us to bring home the best meat or bone, when ever it would be located that month at various places across the galaxy.
The player cites became sophisticated and well thought out. We would hunt in groups to fund the treasury. Recruit top crafters to place their vendors so traffic in town would increase.
Entertainers formed troupes that would travel around and perform at events for hire. Towns would have celebrations, music, fireworks, dancing. The socialization was at its peak.
Bases became focal points for the GCW, defending and attacking, when one went “hot” hundreds of players would be on hand. Theed was a kill zone as was the Bestine-Anchorhead corridor.
Jedi were rare and as the game progressed, more found their way to the Force. But through perma-death, saber TEF and eventually visibility and the BH, showing off with a LS was a bad thing. Removing the BH gank squad made us Jedi more brazen and may have been the first sign of the down hill slide. Jedi should have remained in the shadows.
I remember traveling across many planets and stopping off in camps on a regular basis. Players just out and about were never hard to stumble across. The Master Ranger camp was a sight to see. If they had a dancer, it was a chance to heal up a bit and move on. Before leaving you could often barter for a new pet or some food or drink. Few knew I was a Jedi, it was much safer that way. Regular clothes, carrying a rifle or carbine, with my LS in the tool bar just in case I was not as careful as I thought I was.
Back to a big city, get your speeder, armor and weapon repaired. It was always nice to find a smuggler and get those new items sliced. Stop by the local cantina and enjoy some music and get a mind buff, hit a star port and have a doctor buff you up. Then back out to the open spaces, never far from action.
Player run night clubs sprang up, rented juke boxes, exotic dancers, beauty pageants and just a place to hang out, waiting for the next assault on the enemy or hunting party. At one pageant, with about two hundred in attendance, a beautiful young Jedi was competing, when a BH attacked, the fight spilled out into the street and raged on for 20 minutes before she managed to escape. I cannot imagine a more “Star Warsy” scene then a fight breaking out in a Star Wars bar.
You didn’t have to run around to find PvP, it would always find you if you were not alert. NPC’s could unmask you as well, and many times you would have to fight your way out of town. For a Jedi, that meant visibility for sure. Time to be extra careful. But if laying low was your thing for the moment, there were 100 places to go and things to do. Tend to your factors, restock, shop, socialize, hunt, the Vette, Theme Parks, The Warren, Black Sun Bunker, etc… The server forums served as After Action Reports that made the slow times at work more enjoyable.
New players would seek help, and many did help. Taking them under their wing, showing them the ropes, forging bonds, weaken by the tears of this dying game, and friend’s lists evaporated as gamers left for greener pastures.
You really carved out your own existence, the greatest Star Wars saga ever told, yours… and if you ran the course and wanted a change, you could start over, 31 more times if it suited you.
Many of us have moved on, others stay and pray that the greatness of this game will return. Still others, like me, pay for a month here and there just to check in and see for ourselves.
For me, there is a soothing, surreal feeling when I hear the opening music. I stand above my home on Tatooine, in Storm’s End, a town we forged from the sands in a place called The Valley of the Wind. I watch the twin suns set over the mountains and remember what the game was like. It truly breaks my heart to think of the friends lost and the good times we had, gone forever, like the sands in a storm. I wait a bit longer, check my empty friend’s list and log off.
Yes, we were adventurers, explorers and soldiers, and it was the best of times."
Actually that kind of reads like a eulogy to me these days. Once again, many thanks to my StarWars friends for sharing with me the magic of childhood. I hope you can rediscover it and heal.
OP wite on with that post