Saturday, June 25, 2011

It's Bitter Sweet.



I'm sure by now most if not all have heard of the announcement that Star Wars Galaxies will officially be shutting down come December 15th. When I read the announcement this morning before work I was hit with two emotions - sadness and relief. Everyone at some point had to know this day would come see as how a new Star Wars MMO is just around the corner, but it didn't make the announcement any less surprising. At least for myself.

The closure of SWG is bitter sweet for me. On one hand I have wanted the game to fail and go away for a very long time. But on the other I have always had a fondness and love for the game. Even though Dark Age of Camelot was my first MMO, Galaxies was the game that cemented my addiction to the genre.

Galaxies is like that friend or family member that when they were little you loved to spend time with. But as they got older they just became a major screw up, making one bad decision after another. Eventually as they get older they realize that maybe they hadn't made the best decisions in life and try to get their life back on track. Even though they have disappointed you over the years, deep down you still love them and hope the best. That's how I have viewed SWG over the years.

Almost a year ago I wrote up a post about my time with the SWG emulator and how my fond memories of my time in Pre-CU Galaxies were tainted in the color rose. The words I wrote then are still valid today. Even though the realization that SWG was a mess back in the day, nothing will replace the fond memories I have of my time in Galaxies during that period.

2 comments:

Yeebo said...

"On one hand I have wanted the game to fail and go away for a very long time."

You have to expand on this or I have no idea what you really think. That you hated the NGE is a given, but i don't know specifically what you hated. It messed with most of the core systems, from what i have read...but i don't know what systems you missed the most.

Even once the NGE went live, SWG had more sandbox elements in place than all but a handful of MMOs. EVE is the only popular MMO that was more sandboxy that I am aware of. Rizom, UO, and DF remain niche products.

I never got SWG. I think you could make a really insightful post about it. This post is me poking u in the shoulder :-)

Yeebo said...

I went and read your post from last year. Great read, I think I see where you are coming from better now.

I had a similar experience the last time I tried to play EQOA. I had a serious case of "what the hell did I see in this?"