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Sony Online Entertainment issues an official response to Star Wars Galaxies petitions
The news that Star Wars Galaxies will soon be shutting down has been met with quite a bit of sadness from the players, for understandable reason: The game has just recently hit its eight-year anniversary and remains a large and unique game in many respects. Players had banded together to start a petition to save the game, one large enough to merit an official response from Sony Online Entertainment. But we're sorry to say that this isn't something to get excited about; the official response is, essentially, that the decision is made. Posted by Linda "Brasse" Carlson, the short response thanks players for their dedication and commitment to the game but notes that the agreement between SOE and LucasArts has been made after a great deal of discussion, and it's not going to be reversed. The letter closes by urging Star Wars Galaxies players to enjoy the game's twilight months by playing the game while it's still around, which is good advice but certainly sad news for those who had held out hopes for an 11th-hour reprieve.
Hyperspace Beacon: Post mortem
When a company ends a project or when a theatre production ends, the producers and directors will usually do an analysis of the project. They will give a rundown of what performed well and what performed poorly. The idea is to ensure that the next project delivers better results than the previous one. Granted, we will not be able to sit in on the official post mortem meeting for Star Wars Galaxies, but we can do our own analysis of what happened. As I said above, the idea is to take what we learned from the previous project and apply it to the next one. In the eyes of a Star Wars MMO fan, the next project will be Star Wars: The Old Republic. Now to be fair, I already have a series of articles that feature the mistakes SWG made that we don't want to see in The Old Republic, so this time around, I figured it would be best to show off the good things SWG did that should probably be repeated in SWTOR. This is by no means exhaustive, but it's a couple of the big ones in my mind.
Exclusive: Smedley on the sunsetting of Star Wars Galaxies [Updated]
When I penned this week's Soapbox about Star Wars Galaxies and the NGE, I had no idea what was in store for MMO gamers today. In fact, I was so confident that the pre-eminent MMO sandbox was going to be around forever (or at least another eight years) that I reassured commenters that there was no need to fear Star Wars: The Old Republic. The two games might both feature the Star Wars IP, but their goals are so dramatically different -- one being a dialogue-driven themepark, the other being a player-driven sandbox -- that they shouldn't conflict unduly. Surely Star Wars fans could play both indefinitely and enjoy both types of gameplay. Unfortunately, on Thursday we learned that just won't be so. Sony Online Entertainment has announced that Star Wars Galaxies will be shutting down on December 15th of this year, marking what is in my mind the most significant sunset of a major MMO to date (and a personally painful one for many on the staff at Massively, including me). I know what you're thinking, and no, the impending closure is due neither to the hackings nor to a dwindling playerbase. Past the break, an audibly regretful John Smedley, President of SOE, sits down with us to chat about SWG's sunset, explaining the reasons that led to the decision and offering a new hope for the future.
The Soapbox: The Uncle Owen paradox
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. This week, the venerable Star Wars Galaxies celebrates its eighth year of existence. I was there in the beginning -- before the beginning, in fact. I did what a lot of you early SWG players probably did: I had a guild and a guild city, multiple accounts, a booming business as a chef, and a character who could entertain and fight. Even then, we realized how different SWG was from its immediate predecessors like EverQuest and Dark Age of Camelot. We'd returned to the earlier age of Ultima Online, of persistent worlds (as the term was used back then). It was more a world than a game, and in it we could roleplay whatever we liked, to a point. Nowadays, we'd call it a sandbox. Old-school MMO gamers know well that the sandbox is under attack. Some will blame it on EverQuest, some on World of Warcraft, some on the free-to-play phenomenon. Among the Massively commenters, there's a large contingent of gamers who consider SWG's own NGE to be the beginning of the end of the classic sandbox. I can't say they're wrong when it comes to the philosophy governing new MMOs, but the sandbox isn't dead yet.
Astronomers snap black hole murder in graphic detail (video)
We tend to imagine a black hole sucking everything around it straight into oblivion. The truth, however, is even more gruesome. Astronomers have just captured an ultra hi-res image of our neighbouring galaxy, Centaurus A, and it helps to reveal what actually happens. Matter is yanked helplessly towards a black hole at the galaxy's core, but it refuses to die quietly. For some unknown reason, it erupts as it falls, spewing out vast plumes of particles -- like blood from celestial murder. These death throes emit radio waves, allowing us to witness them using radio telescopes even though we are 12 million light-years away. If only we were closer; if only we could intervene. Alas, all we can do is watch the video after the break and hit the source links for a fuller explanation -- though, admittedly, none of those sound like awful options.
Hyperspace Beacon: Star Wars Galaxies 2
It happens all the time: When a new game is coming out we attempt to compare it to something familiar. "Jumpgate Evolution is like EVE combined with Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed." "Guild Wars 2's battles are scalable like Warhammer's." Even Rich Vogel, the Executive Producer for Star Wars: The Old Republic, couldn't get away from comparing his crafting system to an existing MMO when we interviewed him at E3. "It will be very similar to what WoW has," is what he said. Granted, Blaine Christine later set our minds at ease at PAX: "I think it's a different take on crafting than what people will be expecting. It's not the standard implementation." Unfortunately, the stigma of comparison was already there. One of my favorite features of MMO creation is the fact that there are no real rules regarding gameplay style. Granted, in the early days of MMO design, a creator had to consider the heavy latency of dial-up connections, so most games were designed to be turn-based. However, now there really is no limit to gameplay style, so there are no rules regarding what makes a game an MMO besides its having a persistent online world. There are no rules that say a game must have similar gameplay to other games that came before, even a prequel. Guild Wars 2 is a great example of this, yet people, inevitably, are going to attempt to compare Guild Wars and its sequel -- sometimes to the point of being unfair about it. Current Star Wars fans cannot help but compare SWTOR to Star Wars Galaxies. Follow me after the break as I make an attempt to debunk this stigma.
Behind the Curtain: The guilt of an MMO gamer
I haven't been playing World of Warcraft as much as I should have this week, and I feel bad about it. Last week, my Warrior hit the Defence cap, I got my first 25 Emblems of Heroism, and I tanked Archavon on 10-man. This week though, I've hardly even logged on. I have instead spent most of the week playing Mario Kart Wii, honing my skills so that I can crush my 7-year old nephew utterly when next we meet. There are lessons we all need to learn early in life. Chief among them being never, ever, horse your Uncle Craig at Mario Kart. He'll thank me for it in time. I also had some problems with my internet connection, thanks to the UK's seeming inability to cope with heavy snow. Then again, it is January, so I can see why we were taken by surprise. That was sarcasm, by the way. I have felt guilty about my lack of WoW time though. I've been neglecting my characters in favour of other games, and I feel bad about it. I've felt this way before, on the occasion that I've taken a break from WoW, for example, to spend some time with EVE Online or Star Wars Galaxies.
Behind the Curtain: What keeps you going?
This week, I have been mostly killing Baron Rivendare. I'm now sitting with 65 kills under my belt, with no Deathcharger to show for it. We are not amused, and are now convinced that Blizzard hates us. Precious. Sss. I have the run down to a science now – dodge one pack of mobs, step aside from that pat, kill this group, spank the boss, rinse and repeat. Then repeat it again, and again, and again, and again, and again. I'm sure you get the idea.I was talking with one of my colleagues at my 'real' job just the other day, when he asked me if I had anything planned for the evening. I started to plan my response in my head, trying to come up with an easy way to translate, in non-gamer terms, what I'd been doing with my time of late. I ended up going with, "Not much" because I just couldn't figure out how to explain it without taking half an hour.
Meet the Team: Craig Withers
Once a week our writers will give you a glimpse into their lives, to let you get to know them and the characters they play a little better. Click here to read more Meet the Team.What do you do for Massively.com? I contribute the weekly column, Behind the Curtain. Instead of having a real job on the site posting up actual news, I'm lucky enough to just hang around and ramble on for a few hundred words every seven days, in a general opinion-based format. What's your favorite MMO? World of Warcraft, easily. Like the T, I feel like a bit of a sell-out choosing WoW, but this is my time in the spotlight, and I'll pick whatever game I want to, and there's not a thing you can do to stop me! Sorry. My entry into the MMO world started with Star Wars Galaxies, which I still dabble in occasionally. I've also spent a fair bit of time in EVE Online, but haven't had an active account in either for quite some time.%Gallery-33889%
Behind the Curtain: Multiple MMOs pt. 2
When I started thinking about this subject, I remembered reading something on the subject a while back on the Daedalus Project. Going by the figures Nick Yee collected back in 2006, less than a quarter of the players he spoke with had more than one account. I can't help but wonder if that number will have increased or decreased with time. Without getting too much in the state of the world-economy, as we all have to tighten our belts that little bit more, we'll end up looking for cheaper ways of relaxing and blowing of some steam. I wouldn't be the first person to point out that the average cost of a monthly MMO subscription is less than you'll spend on one night at the cinema. While it's absolutely not my place to fault Dr. Yee's work, and I certainly don't intend to, I would have liked to see him also ask about how many players had more than one account active for the same game, and the reasons why. The reasons given for having subscriptions to more than one game aren't surprising. Players maintain several subscriptions due to having friends and family still active in the game; or they feel that the time spent so far with the game will be wasted if they cancelled the account; or for financial reasons like waiting for the subscription plan to expire, or simply forgetting the subscription was there. If people were asked why they play more than one game, I'd expect to see similar answers, but I'd hope to see some others, too. Game mechanics, for one. When I went back and looked at Star Wars Galaxies a while back, I didn't feel like it was a game I'd really want to play on a regular basis. That said, the crafting in the game was still as interesting as I remembered. A crafting system that isn't a simple pass/fail mechanic, rewarding time spent hunting for high-quality raw materials, and classes whose sole purpose is to craft rather than quest ticked a lot of boxes for me. And while the ground game left a lot to be desired, there was still a lot of fun to be had in space, hunting Rebels or Imperials, depending on which side your bread was buttered on. My point is that it's a rare game that provides you with everything you want. Maybe you play one game because the combat system is second to none, but another one because the RP tools in it haven't been bettered yet. Graphics are a big thing for a lot of people, and the cartoonish graphics of WoW have put off more than one person in the past, without a doubt. Realistic graphics and presentation, on the other hand, won't stop your game from being slated if it deserves it – see Age of Conan for proof. Your turn now. Do you run more than one MMO at a time? Which ones are they, and why? Hit the comments, and let the world know.
Behind the Curtain: Multiple MMOs
Is one MMO ever enough? Lots of people play more than one MMO. Among the staff here at Massively, you would be hard pressed to find a writer with only one active subscription. Ever the exception however, I am a one-game kind of guy. "Is that through choice, or necessity though, Craig?" I hear you cry. The answer is that it's a little of both. It's easy to say that I don't have enough time to play a couple of MMOs, but if I was really honest with myself, I'd admit to that being a lie. If I'm able to free up a couple of hours every couple of nights to play World of Warcraft, then why can't I alternate those nights, for example, between WoW and another game?
Behind the Curtain: Why bother?
What is it that keeps us playing, months and years after our first trip through the character generation screen?The obvious answer is that we're still having fun. Maybe you've been playing World of Warcraft since release or earlier, you've got an alt of every class, epics to make a GM weep with envy, but you still get that little tingle of excitement every time you log on, that keeps you coming back for more.What kind of enjoyment do you get from your MMO? Hopefully you are actually having fun with it. If not, I suggest you seek help, or go play Vanguard. Just kidding, maybe.That being said, how do you quantify 'fun'? Exactly what is it about WoW or EVE Online or any other MMO that keeps you coming back for more? The steep climb to yet another epic flying mount in WoW has pushed me perilously close to burn out over the past few weeks (the impending release of the new 40K rulebook may also be a factor) so I've been thinking, more than usual, about what keeps us going in situations like this.
Behind the Curtain: Something Unexpected
More often than not, we tend to get stuck in a rut in our gaming careers. I've been quite guilty of it in the past – all of my characters in World of Warcraft have levelled their way up solo. I've decided to take steps to rectify this, by rolling up a new character, a Warrior this time, and I plan on making a concerted effort to get her into as many instances as I can. Even if it means jumping into the PUG from Hell, I'm going to force myself to step out of the rut I've gotten into in my games. My big lottery win hasn't came round yet, so I'm not yet able to play WoW all day long in my boxer shorts. Since I have to work for a living, my time online is pretty restricted, so I like to know that I'm spending it wisely, which means that I tend to end up falling into the same routine – maybe a couple of daily quests, a quick check of the Auction House, maybe clear the odd solo quest out of my log. It doesn't sound very exciting, and sometimes it occurs to me that it isn't.
Behind the Curtain: What's in a name?
How much attention do you pay to the names behind the MMOs we're playing just now? Do you dig up as much information as you can on the developers, producer and designers involved in up and coming games? Do you even pay any attention at all?I'll be honest – I picked up Star Wars Galaxies based on the licence alone. While I've been a gamer since my Uncle gave me a ZX Spectrum as a child, I didn't know anything about the people behind Galaxies. I had heard about Everquest of course – I wasn't stupid after all – but Galaxies was my first MMO, and I was a noob in every sense of the word. I didn't know anything about the designers, the developers, and I didn't even think to check up on them.I was a little more aware when I came round to World of Warcraft. I was, and still am, a big Diablo 2, fan, so I knew who Blizzard were. I hadn't picked up Warcraft 3 when it came out, due to the PC I had t the time not being to run it, but I knew that it'd been a huge commercial and critical success for Blizzard, so I knew that it was a safe bet. Plus, it was taking the world by storm already, so it was a bit of a no-brainer. Maybe I'm just older and wiser now, or maybe the information is just easier to get a hold of, but I pay more attention to the people actually making the game that I'm interested in – I thought this week, we could have a look at some of the names you should be aware of.
Fanswag: Get the ultimate Geometry Wars: Galaxies package
Like our brothers and sisters at DS Fanboy, we're providing you, dear reader, with the chance at getting your very own copy of Geometry Wars: Galaxies on both the Wii and DS. In order to unlock a special galaxy available in both versions of the game, you have to have both titles. So, we're making sure that one of you lucky readers receive both! To make things better, there's a sweet piece of swag up for grabs in the form of a branded neck pillow.Simple enough, right? Well, we wish it could be that simple. First, you'll need to read the official rules. Then, you're going to have to check your birth certificate and make sure you are at least 18 years of age. Finally, you're going to have to check your mail and make sure you're a legal resident of the United States. If none of this disqualifies you, then you can go ahead and leave a comment telling us what your favorite shape is. Only enter once, though, as multiple entries will get you disqualified.Get your comment in before 11:59PM EST, December 11th. We'll announce the winner that will get Geometry Wars: Galaxies DS (valued at $29.99), Geometry Wars: Galaxies Wii (valued at $39.99) and the neck pillow on the following day. Good luck and thanks for reading Wii Fanboy!%Gallery-4778%
Google Earth goes skyward
Our sister blog Download Squad pointed to the updated Google Earth today dubbed 'Google Earth Sky', because in the newest version you can look up. Not content to cover everyone on the ground, our Google overlords have turned their eye to the sky, and you can now search through galaxies, nebulas, and stars to your heart's content.And you can do it all on the Mac from day one, which is pretty nice (you couldn't say the same about the original Google Earth). In terms of functionality, the program seems really similar to Celestia, also available on the Mac, just in case your astronomical needs aren't met by "Google Sky." And don't forget-- if your mapping needs run a little closer to home than, you know, light years away, moon.google.com is still open for business in the browser of your choice. Wonder why they didn't add that to the iPhone as well...
E307: Geometry Wars Galaxies gets new screens and very busy boxart
Geometry Wars Galaxies, besides being a baffling display of brightly-colored sparks, is also a pretty neat shooting game. It's somewhat easier to tell what's going on in screenshots than to be dropped right in the middle of gameplay like in the video. If, like us, you couldn't really figure it out, we recommend the screens. That boxart is just a swirly mess of sparks, though. It's like someone superimposed five Rez boxarts together. Galaxies has some exciting features in store, like co-op play and online leaderboards. We checked with Sierra to inquire about online co-op, and learned that, unfortunately, the online aspect was limited to leaderboards. But the bottom line is that this third-party Wii game uses the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for something, and that is very promising news. Owners of both the DS and Wii versions can connect the two and unlock mysterious bonus content. Connecting the games also allows access to the Elite Leaderboard for people who are really good at playing the same game on two systems! %Gallery-4795%
Geometry Wars video hurts
We think we've underestimated Xbox 360 gamers. Not that we didn't hold them in high regard, but we just assumed that they were all humans. We don't know how anyone can play Geometry Wars and see what's going on through all the sparks and particle effects. It must require a feat of concentration just to track your own ship on the screen. We could barely play Bangai-O on the Dreamcast, and this is like Bangai-O with everything made of sparks. Wii gamers are going to get extra complexity in Geometry Wars: Galaxies, since we'll have to track not only our ship but also the Wiimote-controlled aiming reticle. It's like training your brain! Also, oooooh pretty. [Via Joystiq]
LucasArts joining forces with Free Radical
LucasArts, longtime custodians of secrets pertaining to primate islands, have announced their intention to work with the timesplitting folks at Free Radical on a brand new game. Slated for next-generation consoles, the as yet undisclosed title will benefit from the combined efforts of two experienced studios. Peter Hirschmann of LucasArts labels the agreement as a good idea, since Free Radical "has always been about titles with great gameplay and innovative design." [Opposites attract quip here.] With Raven Software spending most of their time reading comic books these days, it might not seem outlandish to suggest that the mystery game here could be a new entry in the Jedi Knight franchise -- to be more precise, Dark Forces 5: Jedi Knight 4: Jedi Outcast 3: Jedi Academy 2: Jedi Colon. Then again, it could be an entirely new IP. Just as well, since the only other idea we can muster is a first-person shooter starring a despondent Bobbin "Are you my mother?" Threadbare.
