Goodbye Galaxies

In June 2003 Star Wars Galaxies was released. One of the first MMO games to be built around a popular brand; it was one of the original games that proved developers – and more importantly, licence holders – had a confidence in the genre and in the people playing. Years of experimenting and expense had come down to this, a game that let you explore some of your favourite locations from some of the most popular films in the galaxy.

While the Japanese were playing Final Fantasy XI, America had Star Wars Galaxies and, not long after, so did Europe.

Now that the Star Wars The Old Republic is out, Star Wars Galaxies has been turned off, after 8 years of success it no longer exists. No doubt there’ll be some attempts at resistance, fan servers and the like, but, for the majority of people, the game is over and they’ll never have access again. They’ll have to move with the times and join up to The Old Republic, no doubt exactly what Bioware would suggest you do. To say goodbye to what will always be seen as something of an iconic pre-World of Warcraft game, I thought we’d go through some memories, some reviews and some reactions.

Star Wars Galaxies launched incredibly quietly, not even a press release was sent out to mark the occasion. This followed months of betas and non-Sony encouraged hype from companies like CNN and CNET, as well as a multitude of gaming sites doing previews and the like. Sony Online Entertainment, however, kept very quiet, leading analyst Billy Pidgeon to suppose that it might be reaction to the dropping numbers on The Sims Online.

“The Sims Online was so heavily hyped before it launched, and the disappointment was palpable when it actually became available," Pidgeon told CNET in 2003. "I think people have learned from that. A big launch can be a real headache if you don't have the resources or the story line and other in-game elements to support it."

Galaxies will start with a substantial audience, thanks to extensive beta tests that snared many fans early, and a loyal "Star Wars" fan base eager to experience the game. Such players will keep the game going for months, while Sony adds content likely to make the game more appealing to less rabid "Star Wars" buffs.”

But the same CNET article reports problems with the game at launch. Despite no real hype built around the launch, the servers were still accessed by thousands on the first day and things started to go wrong. After paying $50 for the game, inputting their subscription code threw up an error message. Drew Weaver, a systems engineer from Ohio, took the launch day off from work and was disappointed with the result.

"Technically, this isn't even a problem with the game; it's a problem with subscribing to the game, which almost makes me more angry. You never think, 'Gee if I buy this video game, will I be able to sign up to play it?’”

And these were thoughts echoed by a lot of people trying to get into the game. Many had probably never played an MMO before and the idea of subscription fees was an alien notion to them. To pay such a large fee before even getting the game home and then to find that you can’t even play a tutorial was completely unfair – especially considering the amount of Star Wars fans who had bought this simple because it was Star Wars, not because it was an MMO.

When the game finally started working again, reviews were mixed. Below is an excerpt from the 2003 Gamespot review, written just after the game came out.

“There's a lot of breadth to Star Wars Galaxies, but there isn't a lot of depth. The novelty of the online RPG genre has worn off for many people, who are no longer content to merely get online and chat with other players (especially to the tune of $14.99 a month, in Galaxies' case--a higher monthly cost than any other online RPG to date). In terms of actual gameplay, Galaxies doesn't offer much that veterans of the genre haven't seen before, and these players will pick up on the game's relative lack of content faster than others will. Meanwhile, those hoping that Galaxies will be the game to get them into online RPGs will probably be disappointed to find that the gameplay is generally slow and uneventful, and that once the novelty of the Star Wars setting wears off--and it probably will--there isn't much of interest to be found in the game at this point.”

Despite fiddly game systems in which every move you made slightly depleted one of your bars (and a fully depleted bar made you unconscious), the game completely took off. Cities were built, friendships were forged and, a little over twelve months after the game’s initial release, expansions were released. Jump to Lightspeed added space combat, allowing players to build their very own ships and, more importantly, compete against others. This was a pretty big deal because, unlike many MMOs at the time, this added a real time element where you could fly ships with a joystick.

Two more packs were added in 2005, building upon the amount of locations you could visit and adding the dungeon-like world of Kashyyyk. The last add-on, Trials of Obi-Wan, was released a mere two weeks before the game received a massive update that completely changed the way characters progressed; the game that players had come to know and love - the game which had received so much mixed criticism at launch – had now evolved into something else and people weren’t happy and, after weeks of non-stop complaining, Sony started offering refunds for the final add-on pack to people felt strong enough to email them.

In 2005 the Japanese version of the game, after a terrible performance since its release a year earlier, was turned off with hardly a tear shed. Six years later, after eight years, Galaxies was shut off worldwide on December 15th 2011. As a game it wasn’t perfect and, despite its base in the Star Wars universe, it was never the most popular MMO, bragging only about 300,000 users after release, a number that slowly sunk as the game aged.

I can’t say I’ve ever played Galaxies – I was too young at the time of release – but I know that a lot of people swore by it. Even as servers closed and numbers dwindled, a lot of people have stuck by it and proudly stood by the developers through thick and thin. It might not have gone out with a band, but it certainly didn’t go out with a whimper. Now it’ll be interesting to see how the new Star Wars MMO fares against its older, now defunct counterpart.

by Matt Growcott

2012 DevilsMMO.com