Star Wars Addiction

January 17, 2008

I find it strangely ironic that the latest chapter of the Star Wars Galaxies massively multiplayer online roleplaying game contains the word ‘crisis’ in its title. That’s an apt description for the state of the game as recently as a year ago, as the changes wrought by the universally reviled New Game Enhancements wreaked havoc among the veteran playerbase and caused a subscription hemorrhage that left the game’s future in doubt.

Amazingly, Sony Online Entertainment has managed to right the ship, and, though the company has always been tight-lipped about definitive subscription numbers, it would seem as if the game is headed in the right direction. Many veteran players put off by the NGE have returned, and many new faces are visible on the more crowded servers such as Starsider, Bria, and Chimaera.

Beginning in the summer of 2006, SOE re-branded their periodic game updates as ‘Chapters,’ and began rolling out more aggressive change initiatives including the PVP-centered Battle of Restuss, the profession expertise systems, the Beast Master class, and the collection system. For the latest chapter update, the space expansion finally gets some loving, and I think I speak for all starship freaks when I say that its about bloody time. Space combat and ship crafting has long been the best of Star Wars Galaxies’ many gameplay options, both in terms of technical implementation and authenticity with regard to the source material.

A fast-paced blend of twitch-style flying (reminiscent of the X-Wing PC games from the mid-1990s) and a bottomless pit of statistical options via the hundreds of parts available to pilots and shipwrights looking to pimp their rides, the space game (originally called Jump to Lightspeed when it debuted as an expansion pack to the base game in 2004) has long been one of the few Star Wars Galaxies systems that does almost everything right. For the Chapter 8 update, several new space-based narrative quest lines have been introduced, as well as a load of collection quests, kill quests, four new starships, and a heroic/raid instance that allows players to battle onboard an Imperial Star Destroyer. In addition to the gameplay additions, the developers have thrown a bone to roleplayers by making available a new set of command line tools allowing for object rotation along the z-axis, adding to the game’s already impressive player housing and decorating features.

Taking a cue from the ground-game collections of the previous chapter, the Nova Orion Crisis features randomly lootable parts that, when examined in the player’s inventory window, initiate a series of quests for similar items. Once looted (mainly from the smoldering wreckages of space hulks that have fallen under your guns), the additional pieces fill up your collection quest log and eventually result in a new reward item (or a craftable item schematic). There are variations on this theme, such as ‘kill quests’ which require you to off a certain type and number of enemy starships, and traditional quests that require you to take down certain enemies or escort allies, but the base objectives remain very similar: blow stuff up.

While the narrative quests are occasionally fun, and the new rewards are certainly worthwhile (both for incredible stat bonuses as well as the general cool factor), the time it takes to complete many of them is an obvious ploy to entice high level players to stick around (and thus, keep their monthly subscriptions current). Every new feature requires some sort of ‘grind’ to unlock, even the new decorating commands, and it becomes incredibly tedious after you realize that you have to slog through five tiers of ship-killing, generally requiring between 75 kills each of five or six different types of enemy starships, before you’re allowed to craft one of the new Alliance, Imperial, or Black Sun gunships.

This type of game design is an epidemic in the mmorpg industry, and is certainly not limited to SOE or Star Wars Galaxies, but you’d hope, particularly on a game that has pushed the envelope in terms of conventional design in the past, that the developers might start to think outside the box and generate content that is actually fun, rather than a retread of mechanics that were boring fifteen years ago. The rule in this industry seems to be to string players along by whatever proverbial carrot motivates them the most, hoping to hit on the perfect combination of low development cost and addictive gameplay that will keep subscribers coming back every month. O.C.D. types and stat grinders will no doubt be sucked right into the collection systems, and, while there is a place for that style of gameplay in the mmorpg space, its unfortunate that those who run the industry feel there is no alternative.

That said, the additions to the core game featured in The Nova Orion Crisis are welcome ones, even if the methods of obtaining some of the rewards are unnecessarily sadomasochistic. If you’re into Star Wars spaceships, or have been away from SWG long enough to be intrigued by all the new changes, then Chapter 8 is probably worth a look. Its also a free update with your monthly subscription, and, based on the amount of hours I’ve put in since the chapter went live, you’d be hard pressed to find a better bargain for your entertainment dollar.


	DarthDan January 17, 2008 Comment 1 Mas Ammeda: "This is a crisis. The developers must grant the players emergency content!" Bail Organa: "SOE will never approve the use of continuity before Bioware attacks." Nice way to bring us up to speed on the current state of the game and cover the chapter highlights in one tight review. Angyll January 17, 2008 Comment 2 QUOTE(DarthDan @ January 17 2008, 03:57 PM) O.C.D. types and stat grinders will no doubt be sucked right into the collection systems, and, while there is a place for that style of gameplay in the mmorpg space, its unfortunate that those who run the industry feel there is no alternative. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I have to say that is my biggest gripes with MMORPG's now. I have paid my sub longer possibly than anyone here, and used top put in 60-80 hour weeks gaming (when I could...too bad not possible now!), so why can't there still be cool ways to get content I like, without having to be a specific grinder? Don't tell me I didn't put a ton into the game--just because I don't like the combat grind doesn't mean I didn't put my time and sweat in. Someday, someone will realize that people can stay and have fun without continual, repetative, BORING grind. I want NEW!!! That said...I want the cool shinys!! Gotta have shinys...TOYS!!! wooooo Darth Emphatic January 18, 2008 Comment 3 Good review JediJef. It has me a little more interested in play SWG again.... Brindan Call January 18, 2008 Comment 4 It's been 3 Publishes since I let my account lapse and tried out LotRO, but this one's gotten my attention and is reeling me back. Time to blow up an ISD from the -inside-, then party at the space station! JediJef January 18, 2008 Comment 5 Hey Call, long time no see. I've been back pretty much full-time since June '07, and its been fun. The collection stuff is addictive, and the heroic instances are pretty fun too. Fleete is more or less retired in an in-character sense, as I don't have the heart to roleplay in there anymore, but I've been enjoying the game mechanics more than I ever have of late. DarthDan January 18, 2008 Comment 6 Admit it, Call. You can't resist the new furniture rotations. Your mind is already bubbling with giddy excitement at the design possibilities! RebelFox January 18, 2008 Comment 7 Nice review. Brindan Call January 18, 2008 Comment 8 /succumbs to the power of the dark-side and reactivates his account. DarthDan January 18, 2008 Comment 9 Shwoo! Forever January 18, 2008 Comment 10 good review Jef! Angyll January 18, 2008 Comment 11 QUOTE(Brindan Call @ January 18 2008, 08:22 PM) /succumbs to the power of the dark-side and reactivates his account. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> WHOOOOOT!!! See you soon hun!