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Return to Star Wars Galaxies
Or: Thoughts on the state of the game from the point of view of a returning player. A long time ago (a few years back) in a Galaxy far, far away (not really), I played Star Wars Galaxies on a daily basis. I left shortly before the New Game Enhancements were rolled out, but after the Combat Upgrade; which means that I didn't suffer the shock of having my character's current skill set removed without warning and redesigned as a completely different class. For the record, my main character was a Master Teras Kasi Artist and Master Doctor, and was about halfway through the Aurilia Village quests to unlock my Jedi slot. As Michael said previously in his Galaxies history lesson, what's past is past, and while I'm not the person to demand that Galaxies be rolled back to the 'good old days', I'm not going to deny that I enjoyed the game most before the Combat Upgrade. So, with the game's Fifth Anniversary having just passed, I decided to install the 14-day trial from the Galaxies website, give the game a try, and see what kind of state it's in just now. Read on for my impressions of Galaxies, from the point of view of an ex-player, returning for the first time in years.
Return to Star Wars Galaxies - Part Three
If you choose a combat profession in Star Wars Galaxies, the crafting system is completely bypassed in the Tutorial. While you do have the ability to craft items, you're apparently supposed to figure that out yourself. You're told how to open your Inventory and Datapad, but not given any real instruction on either. Considering that you'll be using the Datapad to store Waypoints, Pets, Vehicles, Ships and Draft Schematics (assuming you figure out the crafting), it would have been nice to have a little light shone on the subject. There is of course a New Player Guide for Galaxies on the official site, but that's beside the point really – you shouldn't have to Alt-Tab and search the Internet just to get information on the basics systems of the game. The Legacy quest line is in place for Trader characters as well; it just doesn't really go anywhere. The first few Legacy quests for Traders explain how to use the various crafting tools in the game and introduce you to the basics of crafting, but things just fizzle out after that.
Return to Star Wars Galaxies - Part Two
For the life of me I can't remember how Star Wars Galaxies started off, way back when, but nowadays after choosing your class, the game takes you through a Tutorial. You'll find yourself waking up onboard an unnamed Imperial space station, where you've apparently been held captive due to your being 'special' in some indefinable way. It could have something to do with the monthly fee you pay SOE in the real world, but I may just be cynical. Regardless, you'll find none other than C3P0 giving you hints and tips on basic actions – movement, dialogue, combat and equipping. Immediately after that, you're busted out by Han Solo, Chewbacca and R2-D2, whose presence goes unexplained. After helping to kill a couple of Stormtroopers, you'll find yourself on the Millennium Falcon, gunning down TIE Fighters and being threatened by Darth Vader himself. It's an interesting way to open the game, but it somehow feels a little too much. I can see what SOE are trying to do here – hook you in straight away by ticking all the geek buttons. Big lore heroes, Storm Troopers of dubious marksmanship, Darth Vader and space combat in the Millennium Falcon, all within the first 5 minutes; it's just obviously transparent. Had you stumbled across any of these characters of your own accord and interacted with them in the main game, it might have been more realistic, but to run into them before your feet even touch solid ground tests your suspension of disbelief.
