Star Wars Galaxies

Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided (SWG) is a Star Wars themed MMORPG for Windows PCs, developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts Entertainment. It was released on June 26, 2003. With several hundred thousand subscribers, it is one of the most popular MMORPGs in the United States.

Galaxies, like most MMORPGs has a monthly subscription service and various pricing plans depending on the length of the plan. Per month the privilege of playing the game is $14.99 USD. There is also a three-month plan ($13.99 USD per month), a six-month plan ($12.99 USD per month), and a yearly plan ($11.99 USD per month).

Development and release
With a Star Wars license and veteran designer Raph Koster at the helm, expectations among gamers ran high during the development of Galaxies. Many industry professionals expected that these forces would push the subscription numbers past the one million mark, a feat accomplished only thus far in Asia by MMORPGs such as Lineage. As development wore on, the release date was pushed back, features were cut, and Sony canceled planned ports for the Xbox and PlayStation 2.

The game was released to mixed reviews. Galaxies was most criticized for numerous bugs and broken features that plagued the game. 

Features
After release, the developers continued working on the features cut during the delay. In November 2003, two of those most anticipated features, creature mounts and player-created cities, were enabled. Also, on November 7, 2003 it was announced that the first player had unlocked a Force-sensitive character slot needed to become a Jedi.

The Star Wars Galaxies environment has many differences from other MMORPGs. Roughly each month Sony Online Entertainment produces a patch for the game that supplies the players with new content and more of the story. Star Wars Galaxies has a unique player-run economy. Sony has announced that it is releasing a "Combat Revamp" which will address many issues the gamer community has wanted changed within the Galaxies community.

In the game, players choose among a variety of professions, from bounty hunter to musician. Through the use of a "skill point" system, players can only master a certain number of professions. Professions are designed to be interdependent, where, for example, a commando can kill things quickly but might need a doctor's aid, should a combat medic enter the scene. In addition, the Galactic Civil War aspect of fighting for the Rebels or Galactic Empire is meant to be Galaxies' "end game", which is considered to be not very hard to reach compared to other MMORPGs.

Jump to Lightspeed
(Boxed Expansion Pack)

Sony Online Entertainment released the first expansion Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed on October 27, 2004. This expansion finally allowed players to explore and battle in ten sectors of outer space, in more than twenty types of starships from the era between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, including familiar X-wings, TIE Fighters, and YT-1300s (same type as the Millennium Falcon), as well as new and never before seen ships created by the developers. It also added real-time space shooter elements to the game, which allowed for an interesting combination with the turn-based mode already featured in the ground-based. Jump to Lightspeed also added many space missions, four space-specific professions, and two new playable species.

Customers who pre-ordered the expansion received a limited-edition Flash Speeder as an untradeable player mount.

Episode III Rage of the Wookiees
(Digital Download Expansion) The second expansion for Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars Galaxies: Episode III Rage of the Wookiees, was announced in March 2005 and released to coincide with final Star Wars film, Revenge of the Sith. Major features included some Episode III content such as the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk.

Other features included new starfighters, resource mining in space, and cybernetic limbs for player characters. Customers who purchased the expansion also received a limited-edition Varactyl pet as a player mount.

Rage of the Wookiees was also part of The Total Experience pack.

Trials of Obi-Wan
(Digital Download Expansion) LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment Inc. announced the release of Star Wars Galaxies: Trials of Obi-Wan on August 19, 2005. The new digital download expansion is scheduled for release on November 1st 2005, to coincide with the release of the Revenge of the Sith DVD.

The expansion will introduce the new planet of Mustafar, where players will be able to take missions delivered directly from the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi. High-level quest rewards will include the ability to find a fiery red crystal found only on the volcanic planet that creates a lava-like lightsaber. Trials of Obi-Wan will include more than 50 new quests, from rescue missions to the exploration of a crashed Republic cruiser. Many quests will also revolve around the return of a non-corporeal figure from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided Collectors Edition
The Collectors Edition was released in a nicer Collectors box, an aditional illustrated booklet, and exclusive in-game eye-wear not available with the standard version of the game.

Combat upgrade
(major upgrade) The combat upgrade was released at the end of April 2005 and was a major revamping and rewriting of the entire Star Wars Galaxies combat, armor, and weapons system. A more "realistic" tone was set, whereas only certain characters in certain professions would use specific weapons and wear armor. In addition, the method of fighting in the game was redone with skill levels assigned to both players and game creatures. Under the new system, only a creature of equal skill could be attacked by a player, with lesser creatures rendering no experience if killed and the more powerful creatures deemed almost invincible to single player attacks. Sadly, the Combat Upgrade did nothing to solve the already large problem of the Jedi. They still dominate Player vs. Player combat (PvP), and erase almost entirely the usefulness of other combat professions. Although such strength is due to a Jedi, it simply does not sit well in a game where literal skill has no place in deciding the victor of a battle. Additionally, with the implementation of patches, the pathway to becoming a Jedi was made very obvious and very easy. It has been described by some as "the REAL KOTOR II," as the Jedi population was already massive before Knights of the Old Republic's sequel was released, and they made all the other combat professions obsolete, boring, and undesirable (unless you are a true-blue, hard-core roleplayer). For many, the only thing keeping their accounts active is their addiction to the game and false promises for future improvements.

The combat upgrade drew tremendous criticism from gamers even before it was released. Upon its initial activation, a number of bugs were reported not the least of which was that players logging on found most of their weapons and armors useless under the new combat upgrade system. The game designers at once begin design patches and game corrections, due to be released throughout the summer of 2005.

The Total Experience
(Boxed Compilation Pack)

Star Wars Galaxies: The Total Experience released three weeks after Rage of the Wookiees collected the three major components of the game - An Empire Divided, Jump to Lightspeed and Rage of the Wookiees - into one convenient package. Customers who purchased this package received a limited-edition BARC Speeder as a player mount.

New game enhancements
(major upgrade) Some major changes scheduled for November/December 2005 include a total restructure of the professions, implementation of "new fast-action combat", better loot and player loyalty rewards, a revamp of the XP system, eliminating item decay, and more.

Planets
A player may explore any of the following planets:
 * Corellia
 * Dantooine
 * Dathomir
 * Forest moon of Endor
 * Kashyyyk (requires Rage of the Wookiees expansion)
 * Lok
 * Mustafar (requires Trials of Obi-Wan expansion)
 * Naboo
 * Rori
 * Talus
 * Tatooine
 * Yavin IV

Playable Species
A player may create a male or female character of the following species:
 * Bothan
 * Human
 * Ithorian (requires Jump to Lightspeed expansion)
 * Mon Calamari
 * Rodian
 * Sullustan (requires Jump to Lightspeed expansion)
 * Trandoshan
 * Twi'lek
 * Wookiee
 * Zabrak

There is also a number of other species that appear throughout the game as NPCs (non-player characters).

Professions

 * Jedi
 * Officer
 * Smuggler
 * Bounty Hunter
 * Commando
 * Trader
 * Medic
 * Entertainer
 * Spy

Pre-New Game Enhancements Professions
Basic Professions
 * Artisan
 * Brawler
 * Entertainer
 * Marksman
 * Medic
 * Politician
 * Scout

Elite / Hybrid Professions
 * Architect
 * Armorsmith
 * Bio-Engineer
 * Bounty Hunter
 * Combat Medic
 * Carbineer
 * Chef
 * Creature Handler
 * Commando
 * Dancer
 * Doctor
 * Droid Engineer
 * Fencer
 * Image Designer
 * Merchant
 * Musician
 * Pikeman
 * Pistoleer
 * Ranger
 * Rifleman
 * Shipwright
 * Smuggler
 * Squad Leader
 * Swordsman
 * Tailor
 * Teras Kasi Artist
 * Weaponsmith

Pilot Professions
 * Alliance Starfighter Pilot
 * Imperial Navy Pilot
 * Freelance Pilot

Force-sensitive Professions
 * Combat Prowess
 * Crafting Mastery
 * Enhanced Reflexes
 * Heightened Senses

Force Discipline Professions
 * Force Defense
 * Force Enhancement
 * Force Healing
 * Force Powers
 * Lightsaber

Opening Crawl
STAR WARS GALAXIES An Empire Divided It is the height of the Galactic Civil War. Although the Rebel Alliance has destroyed the dreaded Death Star, the Emperor still holds thousands of systems in his grip.

Throughout the galaxy, brave adventurers struggle to restore peace, while smugglers, bounty hunters and crime lords prosper amid the chaos.

Meanwhile, in the Outer Rim of the galaxy, one of Darth Vader's Imperial Star Destroyers has captured a passenger freighter on suspicion of harboring criminals...

Story arcs

 * Cries of Alderaan
 * The Village
 * Secrets of the Syren

Inconsistencies With Star Wars continuity
The developers of this game draw on as many aspects of the films and expanded universe as possible. This is good in many ways, however in some cases they just don't fit into the era.

Keeping in mind that the time frame of this game is meant to be shortly after the Battle of Yavin (0 ABY - 1 ABY), there are some elements of the game that arguably should not be there. Also, other elements of the game are just not true to Star Wars.

Many players are not concerned by such issues, however some players find it difficult to be immersed in the Star Wars universe while playing this game.


 * The opportunity to play as transcended blue glowing Jedi character. (December 2005 upgrade)
 * Jedi can be seen in large numbers in many major cities, equipped with Jedi robes and ignited lightsabers. Also, Jedi are dominant combatants in the Galactic Civil War (see below).
 * The appearance of Obi-Wan Kenobi's spirit on Mustafar.
 * The ability of players to craft and pilot ships such as the YT-1300, the Firespray, and the Eta-2 interceptor which were supposedly ceased in production years earlier.
 * The ability of players to craft and pilot ships such as the B-Wing, which supposedly have not been designed yet.
 * The ability of players to craft and equip Mandalorian armor, though this is hardly seen. The armor is still rare.
 * The existence of a non-player character called N-K "Necrosis", who looks like General Grievous.
 * The existence of a non-player character called Durge, wearing different armor.
 * Major characters always staying in the same spot. Eg. According to this game, Emperor Palpatine rules the Empire from his Naboo Retreat. This is due to the necessity to keep quest giving NPC's in one position.

In some of the above cases, the developers provide a reasonable in-universe explanation as to how these elements exist, however it is unknown if other sources will accept them as canon.

Still, there is no explanation as to the existence of so many Jedi in 1 ABY. It is a case of canon being totally disregarded in favor of game mechanics and marketing.

The Jedi in Star Wars Galaxies
Unlike the historic chronology of Star Wars, where all Jedi are extinct by the time frame of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the concept of Jedi in Star Wars Galaxies is modified to have several hundred, if not thousands of Jedi capable of playing in the game which is set in the period of time between Episode 4 and Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.

All Jedi are live players who may only become a Jedi by achieving certain tasks and goals as a regular character. Therefore, no one may start Star Wars Galaxies as a Jedi and the developers of the program have numerous safeguards in place to prevents hackers from altering the program code and allowing unauthorized characters from becoming a Jedi.

Under the first Jedi system, a player could only become a Jedi after mastering professions chosen randomly for you at character creation. When less Jedi entered the game than was anticipated, players were helped by finding several Holocrons which would tell a player which game professions to play and master. This resulted in several "career" players spending hours on end writing program macros and mastering almost every profession in the game. However after complaints from a large portion of the player base (especially those that weren't hard core and thus willing to master multiple professions), Star Wars Galaxies was altered to a new Jedi system called the Jedi Trials.

Under the Jedi Trials, only after obtaining several various goals as a regular character was a character considered "glowing with the force" and deemed worthy to train to become a Jedi. Several new tasks then became available to the player which were revealed through various NPCs (Non-Player Characters). Such tasks included obtaining various skills, destroying certain creatures, and visiting several Jedi related locations.

Even with the Jedi revamp in place, many in the Star Wars Galaxies community have expressed feelings that eventually the game will become an "Army of Generals" where the number of Jedi playing in the game will be extremely high, thus making the game less interesting for those who playing regular non-Jedi characters. It has not yet been announced by game programmers if yet another Jedi system will be enacted, although the method of obtaining Jedi skills was changed considerably under the "Combat Upgrade" system released in April 2005.

It is important to note that a limiting factor on the number of Jedi in the game is the bounty hunter system allowing characters who acquire the requisite skill in the Bounty Hunter class to hunt Jedi and kill them. This results in an experience point drop for the Jedi slowing their progress. This form of Jedi population control has proven worthless and ineffective, as Jedi frequently exploit private houses, "log-off" tactics, large bodies of water, and crafting macros to hide from Bounty Hunters when they are weak enough to be killed (that is, when they are not at their maximum character level). Additionally, this "weak period" is quite short, and leveling up is quite easy, with or without a crafting macros, resulting in very little experience point loss by Jedi characters. This does, however, cause a somewhat large degree of frustration by the exponentially less intelligent Jedi characters, who don't know to take cautious measures to prevent their demise. However, they soon reach higher character levels and become nearly invincible to even the best of Bounty Hunters. Many believe that the game will continue to go on like this, and that there is no solution to the problem that the developers at Sony Online Entertainment would be willing to implement, due to the fact that it would put a significant gash in their pocket books.

A few words from Leland Chee
When Leland Chee was asked on the StarWars.com Message Boards if Star Wars Galaxies is generally ignored when it comes to canon, he replied with:


 * As far as the Holocron is concerned, I don't ignore anything. Licensing checks continuity in Galaxies like we would for any other game, book, or toy. As I do my continuity checks, the information gets entered into the database. I also incorporate anything from the Galaxies website and strategy guides.

Spin-offs

 * Star Wars Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine was was a spin-off novel to the game, written by Voronica Whitney-Robinson. It was the first in what may become a series of spin-off novels to the game. The book is introduced at the official Star Wars site here, and the site takes a closer look at it here. The following is the plot summary from the book's inside front cover:


 * Enter the explosive universe of the exciting online game


 * STAR WARS GALAXIES:
 * AN EMPIRE DIVIDED!


 * It is a time of great turmoil. The oppressive Empire is close to seizing complete control of the galaxy. The ragtag guerrilla army of the Rebel Alliance fights on, striking wherever it can, but now something has come to light that could spell certain doom. Hidden in the Jedi ruins of Dantooine is a Holocron containing a list of high-level Rebel sympathizers. If that list were to fall into the hands of Darth Vader, the Rebel Alliance would lose its most valued support?and possibly the war itself.


 * As an Imperial bio-engineer who frequently visits other worlds, Dusque Mistflier is the perfect cover for a Rebel who needs to travel far and wide without arousing suspicion. And so she agrees to help Rebel spy Finn Darktrin in his quest to recover the crucial Holocron. Despite help from Han, Luke, and Leia, the mission is fraught with peril. And as their journey takes them into the fiery belly of the beast that is galactic civil war, Dusque and Finn will learn that the hardest part of all is figuring out whose side you?re on?and how far you?re willing to go to win. . . .

Fan sites

 * Star Wars Galaxies Center
 * Star Wars Galaxies Crafting
 * Star Wars Galaxies on Allakhazam.com
 * Star Wars Galaxies Online
 * Star Wars Galaxies Stratics
 * Star Wars Galaxies Warcry
 * Star Wars Galaxies Wiki
 * Star Wars Galaxies OGaming