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	'''''Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided''''' (SWG) is a ] themed ] for ] ], developed by ] and published by ]. It was released on ], ]. With several hundred thousand subscribers, it is one of the most popular MMORPGs in the ].		'''''Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided''''' (SWG) is a ] themed ] for ] ], developed by ] and published by ]. It was released on ], ]. With several hundred thousand subscribers, it is one of the most popular MMORPGs in the ].

	''Galaxies'', like most MMORPGs has a monthly subscription service and various pricing plans depending on the length of the plan. Per month the fee for playing the game is $14.99 ]. 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). There is also a All Access plan, allowing you to play all Sony Online games ($21.95 per month).		''Galaxies'', like most MMORPGs has a monthly subscription service and various pricing plans depending on the length of the plan. Per month the fee for playing the game is $14.99 ]. 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). There is also a All Access plan, allowing you to play all Sony Online games ($21.95 per month).
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	==Features==		==Features==
	After release, the developers continued working on the features cut during development. In November 2003 two of those most anticipated features, creature mounts and player-created cities, were enabled. Also, on ], ] it was announced that the first player had unlocked a ]-sensitive character slot needed to become a ].		After release, the developers continued working on the features cut during development. In November 2003 two of those most anticipated features, creature mounts and player-created cities, were enabled. Also, on ], ] it was announced that the first player had unlocked a ]-sensitive character slot needed to become a ].

	The ''Star Wars Galaxies'' environment has some differences from other MMORPGs. Initially, each month Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) would produce a patch for the game that supplied the players with new content and more of the story. While the game does get usually one major patch a month, currently the story content drops are done less frequently. ''Star Wars Galaxies'' has a unique ], in that many items needed in the game (], armor, ], starships) are primarily only available from other player character crafters.		The ''Star Wars Galaxies'' environment has some differences from other MMORPGs. Initially, each month Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) would produce a patch for the game that supplied the players with new content and more of the story. While the game does get usually one major patch a month, currently the story content drops are done less frequently. ''Star Wars Galaxies'' has a unique ], in that many items needed in the game (], armor, ]s, starships) are primarily only available from other player character crafters.

	In the game, players choose among a variety of professions, from ] to ]. Through the use of a "skill tree" system, players can only master a certain number of professions (or aspects of a profession). Professions are designed to be somewhat interdependent, in that the player can handle perhaps three roles to a master level or many roles to an intermediate level. For example, a commando character could have some medic skills but would not be able to heal as well as a doctor or a combat medic, and a doctor would not have the offensive abilities of a commando or bounty hunter.		In the game, players choose among a variety of professions, from ] to ]. Through the use of a "skill tree" system, players can only master a certain number of professions (or aspects of a profession). Professions are designed to be somewhat interdependent, in that the player can handle perhaps three roles to a master level or many roles to an intermediate level. For example, a commando character could have some medic skills but would not be able to heal as well as a doctor or a combat medic, and a doctor would not have the offensive abilities of a commando or bounty hunter.

	In addition, the ] aspect of fighting for ] or ] is meant to provide another aspect to the ''Galaxies''' "end game".		In addition, the ] aspect of fighting for the ] or the ] is meant to provide another aspect to the ''Galaxies''' "end game".

	==Expansions==		==Expansions==
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	Sony Online Entertainment released the first expansion '''''Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed''''' on ], ]. The expansion allows players to explore and battle in ten new sectors of outerspace, in more than twenty types of starships from the era between '']'' and '']'', including familiar ]s, ]s, and ]s (same type as the '']''), as well as new and never before seen ships created by the developers. It also adds real-time space shooter elements to the game, which makes an interesting combination with the MMORPG. ''Jump to Lightspeed'' also added many space missions, four space-specific professions, and two new playable species.		Sony Online Entertainment released the first expansion '''''Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed''''' on ], ]. The expansion allows players to explore and battle in ten new sectors of outerspace, in more than twenty types of starships from the era between '']'' and '']'', including familiar ]s, ]s, and ]s (same type as the '']''), as well as new and never before seen ships created by the developers. It also adds real-time space shooter elements to the game, which makes an interesting combination with the MMORPG. ''Jump to Lightspeed'' also added many space missions, four space-specific professions, and two new playable species.

	A player reward ship, the Sorosuub S-3000 Luxury Yacht (made famous as Lando Calrissan's Lady Luck), is given to players that have played for over 180 days. Despite the trademark feature of Lando's ship sporting weapons, the player's Yacht is a purely non combat vehicle. These ships are invincible (because they cannot defend themselves) and are non-tradeable.		A player reward ship, the Sorosuub S-3000 Luxury Yacht (made famous as Lando Calrissan's Lady Luck), is given to players that have played for over 180 days. Despite the trademark feature of Lando's ship sporting weapons, the player's Yacht is a purely non combat vehicle. These ships are invincible (because they cannot defend themselves) and are non-tradeable.

	The Sorosuub is a PoB (Portalized Object). The player can walk around the ship, which is similar to a medium house. It boasts three floors, and vertical glass windows provide maximum view to the nearby cosmos. It initially took one lot, having been classified as a house. Due to feedback by the players (with some crafters unable to use their ship due to all their lots being occupied with factories, harvesters, or storage houses) the development crew modified the Sorosuub to take no lots.		The Sorosuub is a PoB (Portalized Object). The player can walk around the ship, which is similar to a medium house. It boasts three floors, and vertical glass windows provide maximum view to the nearby cosmos. It initially took one lot, having been classified as a house. Due to feedback by the players (with some crafters unable to use their ship due to all their lots being occupied with factories, harvesters, or storage houses) the development crew modified the Sorosuub to take no lots.
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	''Combat Upgrade'' was released ], ] 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 similar skill level gives experience when killed and the more powerful creatures are almost undefeatable by a single player's attacks.		''Combat Upgrade'' was released ], ] 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 similar skill level gives experience when killed and the more powerful creatures are almost undefeatable by a single player's attacks.

	The Combat Upgrade drew tremendous criticism from gamers even before it was released. Upon its initial activiation, a number of player issues 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. To adapt existing characters to the new skill system, the developers implemented a "respeccing" system. Characters were allowed to trade skills gained in one profession for another in order to find a skillset-role under the new system, as their old skillset may not be as effective or their profession's roles may have changed (doctors and combat medics no longer had a crafting "branch" in their trees, smugglers gained ] abilities). The combat upgrade made it harder to gain experience alone, but also removed the ability for one player to defeat several powerful creatures unaided (the anecdotal player "soloing five ]"). A number of long-time players chose this time to leave the game.		The Combat Upgrade drew tremendous criticism from gamers even before it was released. Upon its initial activiation, a number of player issues 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. To adapt existing characters to the new skill system, the developers implemented a "respeccing" system. Characters were allowed to trade skills gained in one profession for another in order to find a skillset-role under the new system, as their old skillset may not be as effective or their profession's roles may have changed (doctors and combat medics no longer had a crafting "branch" in their trees, smugglers gained ] abilities). The combat upgrade made it harder to gain experience alone, but also removed the ability for one player to defeat several powerful creatures unaided (the anecdotal player "soloing five ]s"). A number of long-time players chose this time to leave the game.

	===''Trials of Obi-~~wan~~''===		===''Trials of Obi-Wan''===

	The third expansion for ''Star Wars Galaxies'', '''''Star Wars Galaxies: Trials of Obi-Wan''''' was announced on ], ] with an expected release date of ], ]. The expansion will include another adventure planet, ], and new quests and content.		The third expansion for ''Star Wars Galaxies'', '''''Star Wars Galaxies: Trials of Obi-Wan''''' was announced on ], ] with an expected release date of ], ]. The expansion will include another adventure planet, ], and new quests and content.
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	==The Jedi in Star Wars Galaxies==		==The Jedi in Star Wars Galaxies==

	Unlike the historic chronology of ''Star Wars'', where all Jedi are extinct by the time frame of '']'', 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~~ IV and '']''.		Unlike the historic chronology of ''Star Wars'', where all Jedi are extinct by the time frame of ''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 A New Hope and ''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 prevent ]s from altering the program code to allow unauthorized characters to become Jedi.		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 prevent ]s from altering the program code to allow unauthorized characters to become 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 ]s that would tell a player which game professions to play and master. This resulted in several "career" players spending hours on end writing program ]s and mastering almost every profession in the game (''hologrinding''). 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 add a new system for creating a Jedi character called the Force Sensitive Village of Aurilia.		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 ]s that would tell a player which game professions to play and master. This resulted in several "career" players spending hours on end writing program ]s and mastering almost every profession in the game (''hologrinding''). 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 add a new system for creating a Jedi character called the Force Sensitive Village of Aurilia.

	Under the new system, players must attain Force Sensitive Skills by completing quests and gaining massive amount of experience in order to allow their character to become a Jedi. Even being allowed to do these quests requires achieving certain goals within the game world, such as visiting certain locations, completing theme parks, and mastering a profession. The path to Jedi-hood is long and arduous, taking more time and effort than any other profession in the game. Quests in the Village of Aurilia are artifically gated, so that a player can only complete one quest every three weeks. This helps to keep the new Jedi population in check.		Under the new system, players must attain Force Sensitive Skills by completing quests and gaining massive amount of experience in order to allow their character to become a Jedi. Even being allowed to do these quests requires achieving certain goals within the game world, such as visiting certain locations, completing theme parks, and mastering a profession. The path to Jedi-hood is long and arduous, taking more time and effort than any other profession in the game. Quests in the Village of Aurilia are artifically gated, so that a player can only complete one quest every three weeks. This helps to keep the new Jedi population in check.

	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 like 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. In addition, the uproar of non-Jedi to change the system to show less favoritism to Jedi has caused the developers to say that they are thinking of changing the current system.		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 like 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. In addition, the uproar of non-Jedi to change the system to show less favoritism to Jedi has caused the developers to say that they are thinking of changing the current system.

	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 profession to hunt Jedi and kill them. This results in an experience point drop for the Jedi slowing their progress. This system is hardly effective for lowering Jedi count, as more and more Jedi are born every week. Also, once a Jedi has become a master the experience penalty is meaningless to them, as one cannot lose previously gained skills (and they don't need to gain any further skills). The problems with the bounty hunter / Jedi interaction were further complicated with the addition of Kashyyyk, as Jedi can now go there and grind experience easily out of the reach of bounty hunters.		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 profession to hunt Jedi and kill them. This results in an experience point drop for the Jedi slowing their progress. This system is hardly effective for lowering Jedi count, as more and more Jedi are born every week. Also, once a Jedi has become a master the experience penalty is meaningless to them, as one cannot lose previously gained skills (and they don't need to gain any further skills). The problems with the bounty hunter/Jedi interaction were further complicated with the addition of Kashyyyk, as Jedi can now go there and grind experience easily out of the reach of bounty hunters.

	The Kashyyyk situation was further worsened by the removal of Jedi names from the Bounty Hunter terminals. Previously, Bounty Hunters created a network, where they would venture into the infamous "Ryyat Trail" where Jedi often grinded AFK. By noting their names, they could return to a terminal, and attack the Jedi as he was AFK.		The Kashyyyk situation was further worsened by the removal of Jedi names from the Bounty Hunter terminals. Previously, Bounty Hunters created a network, where they would venture into the infamous "Ryyat Trail" where Jedi often grinded AFK. By noting their names, they could return to a terminal, and attack the Jedi as he was AFK.
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Revision as of 00:21, 7 September 2005

2003 video game

Star Wars Galaxies
Star Wars Galaxies box art.
Developer(s)	Sony Online Entertainment
Publisher(s)	LucasArts
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release	June 26, 2003
Genre(s)	MMORPG
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided (SWG) is a Star Wars themed MMORPG for Microsoft Windows PCs, developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts. 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 fee for 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). There is also a All Access plan, allowing you to play all Sony Online games ($21.95 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 cancelled planned ports for the Xbox and PlayStation 2, most likely due to RAM limitations.

The game was released successfully, and Sony updates it often in order to address bugs or player concerns. The servers go down for maintenance every day around 7AM EST, and return to service in an hour. The game requires users to have 512MB RAM at a minimum, which has been changed since launch, where only 256MB RAM was required. It is recommended that users have at least 1024MB ram for best performance. The game requires that the computer supports DirectX 9. As with many MMORPGs, these specifications have been known to change over time.

Features

After release, the developers continued working on the features cut during development. 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 some differences from other MMORPGs. Initially, each month Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) would produce a patch for the game that supplied the players with new content and more of the story. While the game does get usually one major patch a month, currently the story content drops are done less frequently. Star Wars Galaxies has a unique player-run economy, in that many items needed in the game (blasters, armor, landspeeders, starships) are primarily only available from other player character crafters.

In the game, players choose among a variety of professions, from bounty hunter to musician. Through the use of a "skill tree" system, players can only master a certain number of professions (or aspects of a profession). Professions are designed to be somewhat interdependent, in that the player can handle perhaps three roles to a master level or many roles to an intermediate level. For example, a commando character could have some medic skills but would not be able to heal as well as a doctor or a combat medic, and a doctor would not have the offensive abilities of a commando or bounty hunter.

In addition, the Galactic Civil War aspect of fighting for the Rebel Alliance or the Galactic Empire is meant to provide another aspect to the Galaxies' "end game".

Expansions

Jump to Lightspeed

Sony Online Entertainment released the first expansion Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed on October 27, 2004. The expansion allows players to explore and battle in ten new sectors of outerspace, 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 adds real-time space shooter elements to the game, which makes an interesting combination with the MMORPG. Jump to Lightspeed also added many space missions, four space-specific professions, and two new playable species.

A player reward ship, the Sorosuub S-3000 Luxury Yacht (made famous as Lando Calrissan's Lady Luck), is given to players that have played for over 180 days. Despite the trademark feature of Lando's ship sporting weapons, the player's Yacht is a purely non combat vehicle. These ships are invincible (because they cannot defend themselves) and are non-tradeable.

The Sorosuub is a PoB (Portalized Object). The player can walk around the ship, which is similar to a medium house. It boasts three floors, and vertical glass windows provide maximum view to the nearby cosmos. It initially took one lot, having been classified as a house. Due to feedback by the players (with some crafters unable to use their ship due to all their lots being occupied with factories, harvesters, or storage houses) the development crew modified the Sorosuub to take no lots.

The player can join three "Squadrons" from each of the three "Groups", depending on ground faction. Imperials can become Imperial or Freelance pilots, Rebels can become Rebel or Freelance pilots, and neutral players can only become Freelancers. The pilot groups are as follows:

Alliance Pilot

The Rebellion utilises stolen, experimental, highly advanced ships which value quality over quantity. Due to their resource disadvantage against the Empire, they stress the importance of maintaining every craft to a satisfactory level. The Rebellion cannot afford to lose their ships, let alone their pilots, in reckless combat.

The Alliance ships are very balanced, focusing on specific roles. Their trademark ship, the X-Wing, boasts 3 Lasers without sacrificing agility; whilst the Y-Wing (and Master B-Wing) boasts massive power. The A-Wing is one of the most agile ships in the galaxy, able to fly circles around some of the Empire's finest ships.

Vortex Squadron Taking advantage of the Empire turning a blind eye to Moenia, which they believe to be only a city for artists, this city has become a breeding ground for the Alliance. The Vortex Squadron is situated here.

Havok Squadron Due to the CorSec's neutrality, it does not seek such groups such as the Rebel Havok Squad, perhaps due to their ignorance to the increasing Rebel sentiment here, or because they do not seek to make another enemy and endanger Corellia. The Havok Squad is based in Tyrena, far off from Coronet, away from the eyes of the Empire.

Crimson Squadron Taking the fight straight to the Empire in their own backyard. The Crimson squad directly faces the Storm Squadron. The Crimson Squadron Pilot can expect great danger in their path.

Imperial Pilot

Some may say the Empire is only so powerful because of their incredible space force. Their ships are cutting edge, which focus on agility and speed over firepower. Combined with unparalleled numbers, enemies of the Empire will find themselves rapidly surrounded by ships moving at incredible speed, facing a guaranteed death.

Imperial Inquisition The Empire cannot fully trust even their loyal citizens in the increasing Alliance support in the Galactic Civil War. The Imperial Inquisition effectively works as a secret police, spying and taking down suspicious members or spies for the Alliance. The Inquisition operates on the Emperor's own retreat on Naboo, and are trained to eradicate the enemy quickly, and leave no traces.

Black Epsilon With the increasing hit-and-run tactics utilised by the Alliance, the Black Epsilon seeks to eliminate the Alliance's greatest threats so the brunt of the Empire can come crashing down on the weakened Alliance task force. The Black Epsilon Squadron can be compared to a Spec-ops force, working behind the lines, dealing crippling blows to the enemy.

The Black Epsilon operates on the Corellian moon of Talus, on the Imperial Outpost.

Storm Squadron The true example of the Empire's power, the Storm Squadron Pilot simply flies in the thick of battle, straight into the Rebel ranks. The Storm Squadron pilot is in great danger, constantly flying against huge numbers of Alliance pilots.

The squadron is based in Bestine, Tatooine.

Freelancer Pilot

The Freelancer is effectively a mercenary, although some are tilted to certain causes. They utilise ships developed initially for crime syndicates such as the Black Sun and the Hutts.

The Freelancer's ships are the heaviest in the game, boasting massive firepower and mammoth ships to simply outgun the enemy. Their Master Pilot Ship, the M22T Krayt, named after the famed Krayt Dragon of Tatooine, is the dragon of the skies as well, boasting 3 Guns sported on the front, and a turret controlled by a second gunner.

CorSec (Corellian Security) Neutral of the Neutral. The CorSec pilot can freely engage any ship, except fellow CorSec pilots. The CorSec care only for their security, and will defend itself from Rebels, Pirates, and even the Empire. The CorSec are expanding themselves to such planets as Dantooine, the mainly Rebellion populated planet.

Smuggler's Alliance As the name says: An alliance of Smugglers. One can expect to backstab, switch employers, anything for the Pilot to gain the maximum reward. Smugglers often have to break the law, which involves in engaging Imperial aligned forces. This tilts them slightly to the Rebellion, although the Smuggler's can attack Rebels as well, should they impede or hinder the Pilot's path.

RSF (Royal Security Forces) Naboo's Flight Squadron. They are strongly allied to the Imperials, and are based in Theed. More precisely, the Palace. They cannot attack Imperial forces, and occasionally attack the Rebellion, although their main enemy seems to be the crime syndicate: The Black Sun, based in Endorian space.

Rage of the Wookiees

The second expansion for Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars Galaxies: Episode III Rage of the Wookiees, was announced in March 9, 2005 and released May 5, 2005. Rage of the Wookiees was released around the same time as the final Star Wars film, Revenge of the Sith, and includes some Episode III content such as the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk.

Other features included in the expansion are new spacefighters, resource mining in space, and cybernetic limbs for player's characters. The Rage of the Wookiees expansion can be bought as a package with all the expansions for $US 29.99 (Star Wars Galaxies: The Total Experience). Players that are already playing Star Wars Galaxies can instead activate the expansion online, and are given a Varactyl (animal ridden by Obi-Wan in the Star Wars Episode III movie). Players who purchase the retail version are given a BARC speeder like the one shown in the movie.

Cybernetics are artifical arms which can be received through looting or mission rewards, while legs are a penalty given out randomly, with a 0.05% chance of getting one while uninsured. Arms restrict your ability to wear a full suit of armor (the arm area will be unarmored) but to a combatant it is often worth the penalty as you often get additional special abilites (5% chance of additional damage from melee attacks, bonuses to ranged attacks). Cybernetics have to be installed by an npc cybernetic specialist, found on the second level of larger medical centers such as in Theed or Coronet. It costs five thousand credits in-game to have the limb installed. Limbs can also decay, which will require them to be repaired or replaced by the cybernetic specialist.

Travel to Kashyyyk is unlike the other planets in SWG. You must launch a ship into space (or be a passenger on a multi-player ship), and use the hyperspace command to travel to Kashyyyk space. Similarily, players can be stranded on Kashyyyk if they arrived on planet in another player's ship as there are no Galactic Travel Authority terminals ("shuttle terminals") on planet. Kashyyyk is an adventure planet like Dathomir, Dantooine, and Endor and as such it may be dangerous for novice players to explore without a group. You cannot build player housing on Kashyyyk.

Combat Upgrade

Combat Upgrade was released April 27, 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 similar skill level gives experience when killed and the more powerful creatures are almost undefeatable by a single player's attacks.

The Combat Upgrade drew tremendous criticism from gamers even before it was released. Upon its initial activiation, a number of player issues 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. To adapt existing characters to the new skill system, the developers implemented a "respeccing" system. Characters were allowed to trade skills gained in one profession for another in order to find a skillset-role under the new system, as their old skillset may not be as effective or their profession's roles may have changed (doctors and combat medics no longer had a crafting "branch" in their trees, smugglers gained crowd control abilities). The combat upgrade made it harder to gain experience alone, but also removed the ability for one player to defeat several powerful creatures unaided (the anecdotal player "soloing five rancors"). A number of long-time players chose this time to leave the game.

Trials of Obi-Wan

The third expansion for Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars Galaxies: Trials of Obi-Wan was announced on August 19, 2005 with an expected release date of November 1, 2005. The expansion will include another adventure planet, Mustafar, and new quests and content.

The Jedi in Star Wars Galaxies

Unlike the historic chronology of Star Wars, where all Jedi are extinct by the time frame of 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 A New Hope and 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 prevent hackers from altering the program code to allow unauthorized characters to become 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 that 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 (hologrinding). 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 add a new system for creating a Jedi character called the Force Sensitive Village of Aurilia.

Under the new system, players must attain Force Sensitive Skills by completing quests and gaining massive amount of experience in order to allow their character to become a Jedi. Even being allowed to do these quests requires achieving certain goals within the game world, such as visiting certain locations, completing theme parks, and mastering a profession. The path to Jedi-hood is long and arduous, taking more time and effort than any other profession in the game. Quests in the Village of Aurilia are artifically gated, so that a player can only complete one quest every three weeks. This helps to keep the new Jedi population in check.

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 like 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. In addition, the uproar of non-Jedi to change the system to show less favoritism to Jedi has caused the developers to say that they are thinking of changing the current system.

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 profession to hunt Jedi and kill them. This results in an experience point drop for the Jedi slowing their progress. This system is hardly effective for lowering Jedi count, as more and more Jedi are born every week. Also, once a Jedi has become a master the experience penalty is meaningless to them, as one cannot lose previously gained skills (and they don't need to gain any further skills). The problems with the bounty hunter/Jedi interaction were further complicated with the addition of Kashyyyk, as Jedi can now go there and grind experience easily out of the reach of bounty hunters.

The Kashyyyk situation was further worsened by the removal of Jedi names from the Bounty Hunter terminals. Previously, Bounty Hunters created a network, where they would venture into the infamous "Ryyat Trail" where Jedi often grinded AFK. By noting their names, they could return to a terminal, and attack the Jedi as he was AFK.

A notable example was on the Bria server - the server with the largest population, and therefore, logically, the largest Jedi and Bounty Hunter population. Bounty Hunters made a constantly updated list of the names of all the Jedi in each "instance", so Bounty Hunters could track them down and attack the Jedi frequently in order to attempt to discourage and/or hinder Jedi progress in the region.

The removal of the Jedi names has made this tactic impractical, and the BH/Jedi relations grow ever tense with frequent changes to each side, which seem to fix one problem, and bring about another.

The Wars of SWG

There have been several fan-named wars inside SWG.

The Composite Clone Wars The Developers of SWG created an armor called "Composite" which could be crafted with a high resistance to most attacks, including stuns. This armor alone made all other types in the game useless and undesired. Over time it became felt in-game that if you were wearing any other type of armor you were wrong (or a newbie). This armor often required buffs to wear, so the developers changed the buffs to last for hours instead of minutes as originally designed. This then became a problem when the developers increased the Health/Action/Mind (HAM) on creatures to account for the increased health of players that the buffs granted. Even players not wearing Composite then needed to be buffed to be effective in combat.

During the Composite Clone Wars players began to "stack defence skills" through a combination of professions so that they would be almost invulnerable to ranged attacks. This began the "Melee Dominance" where if you wanted to participate in Player vs. Player combat (PvP) you had to use melee weapons, taking some of the Star Wars feel out of the game.

Jedi/CU War After the release of the CU many things changed for the better. Aside from minor differences, no armor was better than another, ranged once again was effective, and defence stacking was stopped. However for the good the CU did it caused some problems. Some fans disliked the CU because it dumbed down the game, made some weapons useless (DoT-Damage over Time-were taken out), and changed the skill points needed to master some professions. The CU also added changes in the Jedi, who once again became the dominant class in PvP. As more players came ingame to be Jedi it left the players that didn't want Jedi but wanted to PvP in extreme occasions on the sidelines.

Criticisms

Bugs and exploits

The game has had numerous problems with bugs and exploits throughout its life, with many of them going unaddressed for long periods. This tends to be the standard for MMORPG customer service though, and not the exception.

Customer voice

Many of their customers do not feel that SOE listens to them about issues surrounding the game.

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