How the NGE Saved SWG

Massively multiplayer online games have a long and storied history of colossal errors. But of them all, the greatest epic fail to have stained the industry is the New Game Experience, or NGE, inflicted upon Star Wars Galaxies. Conceived as a means of opening a closed community, providing a game experience easy to grasp and play, the NGE was supposed to bring an influx of new players.

Since Sony Online Entertainment has a policy of not discussing subscription numbers, we the gamers have no evidence that it didn't. But really, is that the point? What it did was completely rewrite the rules of game play, significantly "dumbing down" the game mechanics and diluting the experience we had all come to know as SWG. What had once been a deep and rich environment thick with hidden knowledge waiting to be explored became, in essence, "WoW in Space."

I don't mean to be dismissive of World of Warcraft. It is a legitimate gaming phenomenon. But its structure is almost the polar opposite of what was Star Wars Galaxies. Where once you could mix and match skillsets from any number of skill trees, developing a truly unique character with unique abilities, the NGE distilled everything into nine cookie-cutter professions with no differentiation between one and the other. Even racial traits became merely decorative. The flavor, the essence was gone, and both SOE and Lucas Arts seemed to be telling the community, "Deal with it."

But something funny happened on the way to gaming obscurity. SOE began a series of slow but meaningful advances to the SWG system. Racial differentiation, expertise skill trees, collections, the Storyteller system, loads of new buildings, props, instant transport vehicles, content... In short, SWG has become in its twilight years a damn fine game.

But like many of the old guard of pre-NGE players, I had a nostalgia for how it had been in those long-lost days of yore. So I decided to go back.

No, I didn't invent a time machine, and I may not be telling you anything you don't already know. A dedicated band of fans have "revived" the pre-NGE game and is testing it in a prolonged beta process. The project is called SWGEmu (for Star Wars Galaxies Emulator), and is being done on a strictly volunteer basis. As its beta status might suggest, it is a work in progress. The last time I was there there were few mobs to be found. Many of the systems are not yet functional, but some of the old ones (like slicing) were active.

I confess to having savored the experience, something like that last glass of wine. It was heady, nostalgic and full of fond memories. And yet (and here I freely admit to this being solely my own opinion) I missed all of the recent improvements more than I missed the pre-NGE game.

I know, I know. The moment this is posted I will be KOS to every decent human being (not to mention Twi'lek, Zabrak, Sullustan or Bothan) in the galaxy. I speak heresy, and I do it fluently.

It is, however, the truth. Take away one thing -- say, the new Chronicler system -- and it dramatically reduces the experience. Chronicler allows the players to add content as in-game quests, configurable to thousands of different combinations. Not only does it unlock the richness for the author of the quests, but also the players.

And that, really, is the big difference between old and new. Greater accessibility and character interactivity at the cost of some character diversity. And, let's face it, a steep learning curve. I will always be a fan of the Old Way in SWG, don't get me wrong. And those of us who went through the transition were screwed. Overnight we went from complex, three-dimensional characters with an interesting array of carefully-selected skills to stock, cut-out two-dimensional character templates. And if we assume that the game has not progressed since that day, I'd agree with the scathing dismissals offered by gamers about post-NGE SWG.

But it has progressed. You could say that individually, none of the improvements are worth the price of admission. I suppose that's a matter of opinion, although I suspect there are many who would deny it merely on principle, thus justifying their view that SOE actively hates gamers and seeks to do them harm. Personally, there are quite a few I really like. The Storyteller and Chronicler systems are particular favorites of mine, if you couldn't tell. While you can find similar systems in other games, it's very unusual to see both in one. And together, these two form an immensely flexible toolbox for players to devise and add content on demand.

None of this is to say that SWG is somehow without its flaws. Of course it has flaws. Since the NGE anyone and everyone can be Jedi. The SWG universe was meant to be set between Episodes 4 and 5 in the Star Wars storyline. There are Jedi canonically, but very, very, very rare. Obi-Wan is dead, Yoda not yet discovered and Luke is not yet a full Jedi himself. But of course, just drop by Theed or Mos Eisley these days and it's a virtual lightsaber-fest. Yep, out there in full daylight, flaunting their cool Jedi robes in front of the strangely impassive NPC or PC Stormtroopers.

Weirdness.

Still, no game is perfect, and we play them not because we are there to honor the devotion of the art department for all the "accuracy", nor because we are devotees of the art of game balance. We are there to have fun.

And that is what Star Wars Galaxies is to me.

Thanks for reading.