A nostalgic look back on the Star Wars Galaxies beta

With Star Wars Galaxies, unbelievably, celebrating its fifth anniversary (and winner of the Spinal Tap, "Where are they now?" category, 2008) I was asked to reflect on my experiences in the beta program. Most likely, time healed a lot of wounds and I've probably got my new rose-colored glasses on, so forgive me I'm overly nostalgic. Like a lot of people, I'd applied to the beta program and would compulsively hit the refresh button on my webmail client whenever Kevin O'Hara (Q3PO) sent out the "we added more testers" e-mails. On February 18, 2003 (clearly, I keep too many e-mails to pull that one up) I got my acceptance letter and promptly ordered the CDs.

Read on for an account of my love/hate relationship with Star Wars Galaxies' Beta program.

I've long believed in the theory that there's only two good MMOs out there: the one you quit to play another game (and this is on reflection when you wise up on the current game), and the one you are so going to quit the turkey you are playing for when it launches. Five years ago, that turkey for me was EverQuest, and the promised land was Star Wars Galaxies. Looking back on it, the beta was actually one of the better MMO experiences I've had. There was a decent community there. Most of us cared about the game and we had some lively arguments spirited debates where we told the developers how to do their jobs.

Outside of games, I tend to be fairly misanthropic. In MMOs, I actually enjoy the social aspects of the game - it's probably why I end up enjoying chatting in Second Life, and I seem to recall hanging out in a bar in Anarchy Online during my brief time there. The social center for the Beta was downslope from the Imperial Outpost in the town of Bestine. When the beta server wasn't being cantankerous, you could often find a group of people sitting around chatting. The developers would often wander by and it was a blast interacting with them. That social center was the spot where early Beta testers would enter the game. An early Beta tester, Nathan Larkins, died in October 2002 and SOE erected a memorial to him in that spot.

The Beta was about the only time the game felt Star Wars-y for me. With a low population and no urban city sprawl yet, the barrens of Tatooine were actually barren. One of the first questions a new beta tester would ask when appeared was "Where's <insert name of any Tatooine-based landmark>?" Most of us would have them waypointed and would run quick tours to show them.

It was a real blast standing next to the escape capsule and the Krayt dragon skeleton and seeing nothing but sand for miles. You really felt like you were standing on the set of Star Wars. Granted, that scenic vista would rapidly disappear once launch happened as the urban sprawl spread like a plague across the land. Even hanging out in the cantinas was fun. While you can argue about whether or not the battle fatigue concept was a good idea, I appreciated having the social centers cantinas provided. Well, until no one played entertainer anymore. We won't ever talk about the lap dance from the Wookie, though.

Also adding to the Star Wars feel was the complete lack of any Jedi. Personally, I'd have been happy if that class was never introduced in the game. One of the big beefs I had with LucasArts/SOE was where they stuck the game in the timeline. If it was just after either Anakin became Darth Vader in Episode 3, or right after the fall of the Empire, you could have sold me on the idea of Jedi in the game much more easily. Instead, a bunch of Jedi sparring each other in the middle of an Imperial-controlled city was a big immersion breaker for me. About half-way into the beta, I was playing it so much, I canceled my EverQuest account. I was very unhappy with where EQ was going as it was really becoming a raiders-only game. The Planes of Power expansion really drove that home for me. Being able to customize my character the way I wanted was fantastic. While you'd still end up with some sort of cookie-cutter skill layout, most likely, I had a ton of fun working my way up to Master Ranger. I was really bummed as a Ranger I couldn't make a little tent as my permanent home.

It's funny looking back on the pre-NGE game (and if I go to my happy place and sing the LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU song, the NGE never happened), just how complicated the underlying math was. Every time you killed something, you'd get weapon xp in addition to combat xp, both of which were needed to unlock skill blocks. The less said about spamming in cities to earn Apprentice XP points, the better.

Near the end of Beta, I started thinking about what sort of guild I wanted to get into. There was a post on one of the forums by a guy named Noble, and he wanted to start a guild of casual players. Being one myself, I contacted him and our small guild, the Huwipa Alliance, was born. While the guild itself was a blast, it was around then I got the feeling that forming any community in SWG was not at all for the casuals. I'm not sure what you have to do to form a guild these days, but back then you needed a Master Architect to create a guild hall. Once you dropped the guild hall, you could form the guild. Since Master Architect was an elite profession, you had to grind a whole lotta skill boxes to get it. And since grinding was resource-heavy, any guild trying to get up and running as close to launch needed maximum contribution from all members.

That's just what every MMO needs: a Guild Leader with Project Management skills. "Look, Zephod, you're falling behind on ore mining. Can you step it up? Bibbo needs 3000 units to get to the next skill box. Are you or aren't you a team player?" Meanwhile, most of us just wanted to play the game. As much as I enjoyed hanging out with them in beta, when the choice came to acting like a worker in a RTS game, grinding out minerals for Architect, or hanging out with the people I work with, I ended up choosing the people I worked with. I just couldn't bring myself to man harvesters at launch.

I still look back with a lot of fondness on the beta. Some of it is just old-fashioned nostalgia; Galaxies was one of the last games I played just as a player. In late 2003, I started reviewing games and looking at games critically tends to give you an "inside the sausage factory" feel. Up until a recent rebuild, I actually still had a CD with all my beta screenshots on it.

The people I met, and the memories from hanging out on a hill in Bestine are amongst the best I have from any game.