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Time For This Again I Guess
RobbHood
Member Posts: 58
I see requests for this every now and then on various fan sites. I still miss SWG. Enjoy!
We were Explorers, Adventurers and Soldiers
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. [align=justify]We knew who they were and we haggled for the best price. Weapons, armor, BE clothing, [align=justify]foods, drinks, etc...
The fighting classes would hire out to protect crafters as they tended their harvesters, or [align=justify]just paid us to bring home the best meat or bone, when ever it would be located that month [align=justify]at various places across the galaxy.
The player cites became sophisticated and well thought out. We would hunt in groups to fund [align=justify]the treasury. Recruit top crafters to place their vendors so traffic in town would [align=justify]increase.
Entertainers formed troupes that would travel around and perform at events for hire. Towns [align=justify]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 [align=justify]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 [align=justify]perma-death, saber TEF and eventually visibility and the BH, showing off with a LS was a bad [align=justify]thing. Removing the BH gank squad made us Jedi more brazen and may have been the first sign [align=justify]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. [align=justify]Players just out and about were never hard to stumble across. The Master Ranger camp was a [align=justify]sight to see. If they had a dancer, it was a chance to heal up a bit and move on. Before [align=justify]leaving you could often barter for a new pet or some food or drink. Few knew I was a Jedi, [align=justify]it was much safer that way. Regular clothes, carrying a rifle or carbine, with my LS in the [align=justify]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 [/align]work more enjoyable.
New players would seek help, and many did help. Taking them under their wing, showing them [/align]the ropes, forging bonds, weaken by the tears of this dying game, and friend's lists [/align]evaporated as gamers left for greener pastures.
You really carved out your own existence, the greatest Star Wars saga ever told, yours... and [/align]if you ran the course and wanted a change, you could start over, 31 more times if it suited [/align]you.
Many of us have moved on, others stay and pray that the greatness of this game will return. [/align]Still others, like me, pay for a month here and there just to check in and see for [/align]ourselves.
For me, there is a soothing, surreal feeling when I hear the opening music. I stand above [/align]my home on Tatooine, in Storm's End, a town we forged from the sands in a place called The [/align]Valley of the Wind. I watch the twin suns set over the mountains and remember what the game [/align]was like. It truly breaks my heart to think of the friends lost and the good times we had, [/align]gone forever, like the sands in a storm. I wait a bit longer, check my empty friend's list [/align]and log off.[/align]
Yes, we were adventurers, explorers and soldiers, and it was the best of times. -RobbHood
Comments
Many will argue that it was their (SOE/LEC) game and the could do with it what they please including running into the ground like they did.
I would disagree somewhat. A good company encourges customers to take ownership somewhat in the products they patron. They made the change and publicly stated that they didn't care about the customers that they alienated and quit.
The moment they forced the customers to see themselves as nothing but a wallet to siphon and removed that sense of ownership was the moment they lost all postive market recognition. They have never recovered from that and probably will not for years to come.
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Ten Golden Rules Of Videogame Fanboyism
"SOE has probably united more gamers in hatred than Blizzard has subs"...daelnor
i remember that post from the swg forums during the first days of the nge...
swg had the richest community i have ever seen in an mmo. everyone had a part to play, wheather it was as a renowed bounty hunter, a common chef or a solitary ranger, everyone filled an important role in the game because they had skills that were sought after by other players to accomplish a meaningful and constructive task or service.
in today's mmo, players are only useful to fulfill the roles of tanks, medics or dps and if you are not there, anyone else will fill the role for you no problem. in swg, ironically, whilst players were not as "heroic" as todays mmos want players to be, everyone felt needed and important in their own way.
I don't know what's worse, SOEs disregard for their playerbase or their refusal to admit their mistake even as their game is dying. None of it really seems like sane behavior, even from a business viewpoint.
D&D Home Page - What Class Are You? - Build A Character - D&D Compendium
It makes perfect sense if SOE simply doesn't care whether it survives or not. With SWG they have to split profits with LEC via contract either by % income after expenses or flat monthly rate. With their other games they do not.
They changed the game dramatically and lied to their customers thus reducing monthly income from subs. Because of this they cut staff dramatically. Because of this no new expansions and rather small publishes still not addressing bugs that have been there since live. They add on a virtual card game via RMT that has introduced many new items that should have been introduced via the publishes that customers already pay a premium for.
On top of this they only market to former players and that is only via email. They alrleady have done defacto server merges with the free transfer service for March.
Hardly a resume of success.
Take away the Star Wars from this and this title would have been sunset a long time ago.
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Ten Golden Rules Of Videogame Fanboyism
"SOE has probably united more gamers in hatred than Blizzard has subs"...daelnor
When I read that now, it reminds me of good times with good people. It gives me a good feeling. When I reflected on that right after the NGE, it was just really sad, but still captured a very meaningful experience quite well. It put words to the feelings that thousands of us had, and that was nice.
I've learned a lot since then too I think about this industry. I've learned that all MMOs are not created equal. Some are highly polished; others barely function. Some give you good entertainment value for your money. Others take a lot of your money and give you very little in return. I've learned that some companies tell you honestly, up front, what they're planning for the game, and then they stick to the plan. Others seem to tell you whatever they think will hook you, and then do whatever they think will generate more money for that quarter.
So, I still have lots of good feelings now, and good friendships from SWG. I'll always appreciate that too. My thanks to the original developers for their vision and hard work. I've also learned a lot about this business, and my gaming has been a lot more enjoyable and hassle free as a result.
That one does bring back the memories....for all the flaws, it was briefly the best and most immersive MMO out there...
Imagine people actually paying and playing a game just to design clothes and run a mall....
Being excited to log in, not for some raid or or duel, but because you were going to a massive party that night to celebrate a new store opening...
Knowing the top crafters of everything from guns to armor and pharmacueticals on the server and striving to maintain business relations with them....
Having a network of "friends" among the dancers, merchants and nightclub owners who were actually real people you had to chat up, stay friendly with, protect and pay off to get those "juicy" tips on rebel activity..
A game where only the chumps just tipped in cash...anyone with class brought back exotic jewelry and hot off the designers table dresses back for their favorite dancers and musicians...
The wonderous solitude of being able to go *exploring* the wilds of a huge planet for hours on end, often seeing no one while gathering odd resources or looking for that new lucrative resource field...and the relief of coming back to "civilization" and just chilling at your favorite bar...
A game where a group of players could make an income staging *fireworks shows* for parties....
Just astounding really.....
RobbHood , your post really made me remember old good times and that special feeling I had when everybody at home went to bed and I travelled to a galaxy far far away called FarStar.
I will always miss all the incredible people I met in SWG;
You Know , it really frustates me the fact that in year 2009 you can play any version of software or game and I cant play real PRE-NGE SWG not even paying. it is sad.
The Force be with you.
Beach parties, weddings. Going to your favourite tailor to pick out the right clothes for special events. Massive "Star Wars" with rebels versus imperials on voice chat, on the ground and in space. Priceless moments. Ah, if only the original team was given what they needed to complete their grand vision. Ah well, at least I got a taste of something really special
I hate to break it to you, but thats how capitalism works, money is the common interest. The only difference is that SOE made a catastrophic mistake that overtly showed the didnt care; no large company cares about it's customers in any way, they only care that they appear to care. It was entirely SOE's/LEC's rite to do with the game as they pleased; just a shame they did what they did to it.
I hate to break it to you, but thats how capitalism works, money is the common interest. The only difference is that SOE made a catastrophic mistake that overtly showed the didnt care; no large company cares about it's customers in any way, they only care that they appear to care. It was entirely SOE's/LEC's rite to do with the game as they pleased; just a shame they did what they did to it.
What SOE did wasn't capitalism. Hell they didn't even try to appear to care. A capitalist would have seen the change failed and reverted back to what was working and bringing in cash flow. What SOE did was pure stupidity. As I stated...they have never recovered from that decision.
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Ten Golden Rules Of Videogame Fanboyism
"SOE has probably united more gamers in hatred than Blizzard has subs"...daelnor
when are people going to wake up and see that all these companys want is $. And your point is valid; one thing SOE does not understand. And it is that the Customer is always right. SOE is a piss poor company with no vision past trying to get your dollar. They have never done anything original. EQ is not a SOE creation, SWG is not a SOE creation. And to tell you the truth SOE has never created anything orginal ever.
SOE is a second hand second place company that wishes they where Blizzard. Thier biggest flaw is being run by a hack call John Smedly. I take that back SOE doesnt even place in the top ten anymore. Its a never was hasbeen, run by a flee market manager.