a fan-driven postscript

It's easy for me to sit here and praise the wonders of SWG, being a player that's been active for just under two months. It's also easy for me to say that I signed up at the perfect time, because I haven't had to put up with the loudly proclaimed hardships that the original game's subscribers had to deal with over the past year. Despite the largely negative reactions to the game upon its release, these people stuck through it thinking that their monthly fee will at least mitigate some of the many bugs and balancing issues that plagued it.

The player community has now reached a dull roar, as Slashdot Games refer to the SWG forums simply exploding with people waving their accounts around like some kind of hostage. The players have reached a consensus over the recent updates that have not addressed core gameplay issues and SOE's increasing focus on Jedi and the Jump to Lightspeed expansion. I can't really put myself in their shoes - but in the PC gaming industry the release now, patch later mentality is sadly all too common. This practice has permeated every stage of the development process such that games will actually advertise features that aren't even in the boxed product.

While I sympathize with both sides: the developers who have unreasonably split their resources across two major projects and the players who continue to accept the developer's empty promises and slipped Patch deadlines, there comes a point where you have to cut your losses and either pack up or weather the storm. I have not encountered anything particularly broken about the basic game, and though the Smuggler class apparently needs some work this does not affect my choice to pursue it. But I do agree with the players that argue that there is too much of a short term focus on the Jedi and Force Sensitivity, instead of balancing combat and putting a damper on the "god-like" Jedi characters. In fact, those Bounty Hunter missions that I mentioned before are rarely pursued, as it has become near impossible to successfully take on a Jedi. And the Galacitc Civil War, the so-called centerpiece of the game at launch, has been crippled and essentially pushed to the side until after the release of the new expansion.

Obviously there is a demand for Jedi characters, and the developers are working to meet this demand with the next major update: The Jedi Trials. The recent focus on fine tuning Jedi and Force Sensitivity was addressed in an interview with Hayden Blackman, producer of Galaxies and the Jump to Lightspeed expansion. I don't think anyone could have predicted the negativity that would well up in the wake of the interview, though, because the players took it as some kind of an insult at their expense. I share some of those sentiments, as this interview was mainly intended as PR to keep prospective players interested, and the less vocal players content with the hope of what's to come. Still, I think most players fail to realize is that Force Sensitivity will apply to all character classes, allowing a Marksman or Teras Kasi novice to further improve their skills without having to become a Jedi.

With the impending release of Everquest II and World of Warcraft, it's pretty clear that Jump to Lightspeed needs to be something special to avoid a massive exodus of players. Some of the previews recently released for Jump to Lightspeed on the official site have made me look at it a little more closely. Will space flight be limited to the regions just outside a planet's graviational field? If I want to fly to say, Naboo from Tatooine, will I get a loading screen or will I be able to employ hyperspace? If Lucasarts/SoE expects me to suspend my disbelief while I watch another loading screen and then all of a sudden find myself in space instead of jumping into my fighter and actually flying there, that would be an incredible cop out. I should also be able to use jump gates like in Freelancer, allowing me to travel large distances in short times. Space is huge - I want it to feel that way. Otherwise, Jump to Lightspeed may very well end up as some kind of insubstantial distraction from the main game.