Back in June of 2011, Sony Online Entertainment announced that Star Wars: Galaxies would be shutting down on December 15, 2011. Now we are days away from the servers shutting down, and SOE has stated that they will be hosting an event of epic proportions, and anyone who was an active member of the game as of September 15, 2011 will have the privilege of taking part in this final event.
The game was first launched on June 26, 2003. The game takes place just after the destruction of the first Deathstar and before the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back. The game launched with 10 planets: Tatooine, Naboo, Corellia, Talus, Rori, Dantooine, Lok, Yavin IV, Dathomir, and the forest moon of Endor and had adventures that spanned all of these worlds. There were also 3 expansions with the game: Jump to Lightspeed, Rage of the Wookies, and Trials of Obi-Wan. Rage of the Wookies added the planet of Kashyyyk, while Trials of Obi-Wan added the planet Mustafar. Jump to Lightspeed added sector space to each of the worlds and allowed the player to pilot iconic starships and defeat their enemies in combat.
The profession system was dynamic and allowed a player to change their class without having to recreate their characters. Players could build cities and run for mayor of cities. Crafters could open up stores and market their goods to other players. The economy was run by the players. Bounty Hunters could stalk their prey across multiple star systems, and could even hunt player Jedi. Dancers danced in cantinas and were social gatherings were common. The rebels fought against the Empire and war was rampant.
Jedi was not a starter profession. To become Jedi, you had to fulfill certain requirements. However, no one really knew what those requirements were. Hence it was very hard to become a Jedi, and it was something you really had to work at. Eventually that revamped the Jedi system and made it quest based, but it still took a lot of work. And rightfully so, this was a time period after the great Jedi purge and Jedi were being hunted by the Sith lord Darth Vader. So to be a Jedi meant being hunted by the Empire and being hunted by Bounty Hunters.
However, SOE decided to revamp the combat and the profession system and greatly simplified both. The combat upgrade basically turned the game into a third person shooter, while the New Game Enhancement revamped the profession system. This allowed for Jedi to be a starter profession. This upset a lot of the long time players that had worked so long and hard to unlock their force sensitivity. In response, the game found a lot of its loyal players leaving the game with sad disappointment.
It is unknown if the game shutting down is in response to a low player base or due to the new Bioware Star Wars MMORPG that will release on December 20, 2011. All that can be said is that Galaxies had a great 8 year and will surely be missed by a lot of its fan base.
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