Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided

[ProMinx]

So...who here is looking forward to Star Wars Galaxies? Obviously some of you do, considering how it is the #1 most anticipated game of 2003. Well, if you're eager to see any extra screenshots...I'd be happy to help out. I'm one of the lucky few who were selected for Beta 2 (4000 out of 400000 were selected...and I guess I won the lottery). If anyone volunteers to host some pics, I'll send them away so they can be posted here. I have some cool pics of the recently debuted planet of Naboo too.

ProMinx

[apmiller]

Very cool.

What can you tell us about the game?

Will there be a monthly fee to play?

[Grimm]

You sure it can't be traced back to you? Don't they have an NDA they can bust you for?

[LPMiller]

Originally posted by apmiller
Very cool.

What can you tell us about the game?

Will there be a monthly fee to play?

duh.

Not only that, but I think they are limiting it to one account per server, which kinda sucks.

I have no desire to join a game populated by people more geeky than I am. I can just envision the broadcast chat being flooded with arguments about how Greedo got the drop on Han, or how "I'm l33t Jedi, lamer,", or the 20 thousand different variations of the name Boba Fett.

[ProMinx]

A little bit of brotherly love there? Yeah, there will be a monthly fee, but they haven't announced what it will be (because obviously...beta testers don't have to pay to test). The servers still aren't up non-stop, unfortunately. Usually just 2 hours scheduled per day plus random unscheduled tests whenever Rogue_5 or Q-3PO enter the room and say "Bria2 is up for a load test on Tatooine" or whatever...

And yes, there is an NDA for Galaxies, probably the longest NDA with the most "check here"s and "initial here"s that I have ever seen. However, fortunately...I have a few screenshots where I disabled the HUD so that no account information was stored in the pic. Besides, I could photoshop out any other distinguishing names or features.

I do have to say that even after messing around with a bunch of features on two of the planets (they've only let us play on Tatooine and Naboo for now), I'm still eager for the game's fully enabled release in April and fully intend to purchase the game. The graphics (even only on 1280x1024 which is the highest they have currently enabled) are really amazing with awesome sandstorms, amazing wind effects for plants, beautiful sunsets, and a full host of animals from the Star Wars EU.

LPM, on a good note...the admins have a program in place that disallows using variations of star wars names in the game. As the manual says, you won't be seeing any LuukSkywalker77 running around. The naming protocol doesn't allow numbers and blocks certain names and close approximations of names. If you do see someone with a rip-off name (for example, I saw Gweedo the other day)...you can report them and their name can be changed if the GMs see fit.

Enough for now. I have to write a song about women in German...
ProMinx

[Kevster]

Originally posted by LPMiller


duh.

Not only that, but I think they are limiting it to one account per server, which kinda sucks.

I have no desire to join a game populated by people more geeky than I am. I can just envision the broadcast chat being flooded with arguments about how Greedo got the drop on Han, or how "I'm l33t Jedi, lamer,", or the 20 thousand different variations of the name Boba Fett.

I play Earth and Beyond (which is pretty cool now and rather original in my opinion) and all people there keep talking about how EQ sucks and how unbelievably cool SWG is going to be. I don't really care about either, personally.

It is my concern that SWG is going to be full of star wars fanbois who will argue about how things aren't exactly like they were in the movies/books/comic books and start quoting specifications about certain fighters or ships.

We only need to refer to Triumph the Insult Comic Dog's infamous "Star Wars Report" as proof of what we can expect.

[ProMinx]

Actually, you will be quite hard-pressed to find something in Galaxies that won't match up with the rest of the Expanded Universe. Speaking from my experience on Tatooine, any Star Wars fan will be impressed by the accuracy of the game. I have yet to hear any "doesn't match the EU" complaints in the beta chat.

ProMinx

ps - And yes, I also feared a game deserving of a return Triumph visit (god, I love that dog...), but the developers pulled through in the clinch.

[apmiller]

The game sound good and all but my bro makes a good point. Fanboys-a-plenty or sure. Too many Star Wars geeks will try to make their gaming experience as Star Wars Real as possible. You can expect to not understand most of the folks you're playing with since they will attempts to talk in the language of their characters and such...

There are many levels of geek out there and the Star Wars extreme geek is one to just plain avoid!

[ProMinx]

Hey, at least the average Star Wars geek is better than the average Star Trek geek... Star Trek geeks give me the urge to mercy kill the poor bastards.

ProMinx

[apmiller]

Originally posted by ProMinx
Hey, at least the average Star Wars geek is better than the average Star Trek geek... Star Trek geeks give me the urge to mercy kill the poor bastards.

ProMinx

Heh...LPM would be next on your list.