Ten years after the cantinas shut down and the landspeeders cameto a halt, developers finally provided fans with closure about what happened to Star War
Ten years later, after the cantinas closed and the landspeeders were shut down, developers finally announced the fate of Star Wars Galaxies. This highly acclaimed MMORPG was released by LucasArts as well as maintained by Sony. It was in operation between 2003 and 2011.
Creative director Raph Koster and executive producer Richard Vogel recently discussed the demise of the game during The Game Developers Conference. As they stated in the beginning crawl, “This is the story of the game that was never meant that became a legend, and of the most notorious patch in videogame history.”
The game was popular not only for its gameplay, butalso for the way it was played by the fans. Star Wars Galaxies didn`t want Jedi to be simple to gain access todespite them being among the most beloved characters in Star Wars. Players were offered a checklist of skills and actions to unlock the Force. Howeverthey were not told exactly what. People began to play various characterssuch as entertainers doctors, traders, and spies. The game also shifted to be more focused on worldbuilding, crafting and running shopsand not completing quests. Although this might seem like negativebut it was actually one of the most beloved things about the game.
Koster and Vogel stated that marketing managers desired more of the Force and were told by marketing: `You know, in order to launch a new marketing campaign, we`ll need Jedi to play the game. We want Jedi by Christmas. `” A patch was added, which was an holocron – a prehistoric storage device used by Jedi and Sith – that told gamers how to access their Force powers. The game seemingly went downhill after that, as those who enjoyed the game were going away. A lot of players quit the game, and did not take part in it.
Vogel asserts that fans participated in many positive things after the game was shut down. Vogel says that “they have created their own stories within the Star Wars universe, and that is what made it distinctive for them.” It is not known if there will ever be another Star Galaxies game but the Force is always with youSo, there`s still be hopeful.