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How the NGE Saved SWG

Lantern · 2010-02-15T13:37:58Z

How the NGE Saved SWGMassively multiplayer online games have a long and storied history of colossal errors. But of them all, the greatest epic fail to have stained the industry is the New Game Experience, or NGE, inflicted upon Star Wars Galaxies. Conceived as a means of opening a closed community, providing a game experience easy to grasp and play, the NGE was supposed to bring an influx of new players.Since Sony Online Entertainment has a policy of not discussing subscription numbers, we the gamers have no evidence that it didn't. But really, is that the point? What it did was completely rewrite the rules of game play, significantly "dumbing down" the game mechanics and diluting the experience we had all come to know as SWG. What had once been a deep and rich environment thick with hidden knowledge waiting to be explored became, in essence, "WoW in Space."I don't mean to be dismissive of World of Warcraft. It is a legitimate gaming phenomenon. But its structure is almost the polar opposite of what was Star Wars Galaxies. Where once you could mix and match skillsets from any number of skill trees, developing a truly unique character with unique abilities, the NGE distilled everything into nine cookie-cutter professions with no differentiation between one and the other. Even racial traits became merely decorative. The flavor, the essence was gone, and both SOE and Lucas Arts seemed to be telling the community, "Deal with it."But something funny happened on the way to gaming obscurity. SOE began a series of slow but meaningful advances to the SWG system. Racial differentiation, expertise skill trees, collections, the Storyteller system, loads of new buildings, props, instant transport vehicles, content... In short, SWG has become in its twilight years a damn fine game.But like many of the old guard of pre-NGE players, I had a nostalgia for how it had been in those long-lost days of yore. So I decided to go back.No, I didn't invent a time machine, and I may not be telling you anything you don't already know. A dedicated band of fans have "revived" the pre-NGE game and is testing it in a prolonged beta process. The project is called SWGEmu (for Star Wars Galaxies Emulator), and is being done on a strictly volunteer basis. As its beta status might suggest, it is a work in progress. The last time I was there there were few mobs to be found. Many of the systems are not yet functional, but some of the old ones (like slicing) were active.I confess to having savored the experience, something like that last glass of wine. It was heady, nostalgic and full of fond memories. And yet (and here I freely admit to this being solely my own opinion) I missed all of the recent improvements more than I missed the pre-NGE game.I know, I know. The moment this is posted I will be KOS to every decent human being (not to mention Twi'lek, Zabrak, Sullustan or Bothan) in the galaxy. I speak heresy, and I do it fluently.It is, however, the truth. Take away one thing -- say, the new Chronicler system -- and it dramatically reduces the experience. Chronicler allows the players to add content as in-game quests, configurable to thousands of different combinations. Not only does it unlock the richness for the author of the quests, but also the players.And that, really, is the big difference between old and new. Greater accessibility and character interactivity at the cost of some character diversity. And, let's face it, a steep learning curve. I will always be a fan of the Old Way in SWG, don't get me wrong. And those of us who went through the transition were screwed. Overnight we went from complex, three-dimensional characters with an interesting array of carefully-selected skills to stock, cut-out two-dimensional character templates. And if we assume that the game has not progressed since that day, I'd agree with the scathing dismissals offered by gamers about post-NGE SWG.But it has progressed. You could say that individually, none of the improvements are worth the price of admission. I suppose that's a matter of opinion, although I suspect there are many who would deny it merely on principle, thus justifying their view that SOE actively hates gamers and seeks to do them harm. Personally, there are quite a few I really like. The Storyteller and Chronicler systems are particular favorites of mine, if you couldn't tell. While you can find similar systems in other games, it's very unusual to see both in one. And together, these two form an immensely flexible toolbox for players to devise and add content on demand.None of this is to say that SWG is somehow without its flaws. Of course it has flaws. Since the NGE anyone and everyone can be Jedi. The SWG universe was meant to be set between Episodes 4 and 5 in the Star Wars storyline. There are Jedi canonically, but very, very, very rare. Obi-Wan is dead, Yoda not yet discovered and Luke is not yet a full Jedi himself. But of course, just drop by Theed or Mos Eisley these days and it's a virt...

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Roebar

(@roebar)

Famed Member

Maar EA host toch geen MMO's?
Sterker nog. Ze gaan nu een aantal online servers sluiten van oudere games (o.a. Lord of the Rings Conquest).b

We zullen wel zien wie uiteindelijk de hosting partij wordt.
Inderdaad zou een lifetime subscription wel erg mooi zijn.

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Posted : 18/02/2010 7:51 pm

Lantern

(@lantern)

Illustrious Member Admin

WAR is volgens mij ook van EA dacht ik

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Topic starter Posted : 18/02/2010 10:08 pm

Leto

(@leto-the-mandorine)

Illustrious Member

hmhm ok mijn fout, ik dacht dat SOE er weer mee te maken had.
Maar als LA weer een nieuwe Star Wars MMO uitbrengt, zal het denk ik niet verder willen gaan met SWG?
LA richt al zn aandacht en reclame op ToR lijkt me?
Dus dan zou ToR letterlijk en figuurlijk de SWG-killer kunnen zijn?

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Posted : 19/02/2010 8:37 pm

Lantern

(@lantern)

Illustrious Member Admin

Meer een WoW killer maar als LA net zo slim is al met SWG dan wordt de toekomst zeer onzeker voor deze game.

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Topic starter Posted : 19/02/2010 11:13 pm

Imia

(@imia)

Noble Member

Uhh zeg meer LOTRO killer.. goed? ;D

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Posted : 20/02/2010 11:42 am

Dashea

(@dashea)

Illustrious Member

Nee, WoW killer klinkt beter ;D ::)

Je zou moeten zeggen, LA heeft van zijn fouten geleerd hebben.
Maar dat ontdekken we vanzelf wel in 2011 en later

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Posted : 20/02/2010 12:35 pm

Lantern

(@lantern)

Illustrious Member Admin

ja ik hoop het ook tot die tijd ben ik zeker te vinden in SWG - de GCW update is toch wel erg leuk en het is meer toegankelijker om je GCW rank te behouden en je hebt veel meer group play 🙂

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Topic starter Posted : 20/02/2010 7:27 pm

Leto

(@leto-the-mandorine)

Illustrious Member

Geen enkele MMO nu niet en in de toekomstige 5 jaar niet zal kunnen tippen aan WoW.
Dat spel is nu eenmaal groot en zal groot blijven de komende jaren.
Zoals EQ1 groot was en nu nog zelfs bestaat richting de 10 jaar!!
En dat is lang!

Ik denk alleen dat WoW misschien de 10 jaar zal halen mits de spelers het spel inmiddels niet zat zijn, maar dan nog, Blizzard zal nog steeds genoeg verdienen met WoW als het aantal spelers gehalveerd zou zijn.
Betekend ook mensen ontslaan en enkele servers dichtgooien misschien en overbodige hardware voor andere doeleinden inzetten.

Maar ToR een WoW killer.. nahhh niet iedereen houdt van SF laat staan Star Wars.
ToR maakt wel een goede kans om veel spelers te trekken met de graphicstyle en helaas ook vanwege de mogelijkheid om direct jedi te kunnen zijn, dus in het begin zien we veel kids, hopelijk dan niet op de RPserver(s).

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Posted : 20/02/2010 10:34 pm

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