Mailbag: Star Wars Galaxies

We Can't Ignore The Continuous Spill Of E-mails From Galaxies Players

(CBS) 
Dear Mr. Lucas

I am contacting you to voice my concern over the recent changes to the online game Star Wars Galaxies (SWG), how they were communicated and implemented, and how the Lucas Arts and Star Wars names have been tarnished in the past few weeks. I am also copying this letter to several media outlets, and the people responsible for SWG within SOE and Lucas Arts.

First off let me introduce myself. My name is Charles Brownell, and I am 37-year-old MIS Analyst for a globally recognized financial institution. I was 9 years old in 1977 when I sat in the Cine Capri movie theater in Phoenix, AZ. and was mesmerized by your magnificent creation. The movie was a life-changing event even at 9. At the time my parents were going through a bitter divorce and my mother had moved us away from the only home I had ever known and all of my friends. This was truly a tragic period in my life for I felt alone and unsure of my future. Star Wars gave me away to escape from the terrible realities of my real life and also a way to connect with new friends. For this I thank you.

Throughout the next few years, things were fairly rocky, moving a lot, changing schools, trying to find new friends, abusive stepfather etc. One of the things that gave me hope was the anticipation of the next Star Wars movie, the comic books and novels that started to get published, and collecting memorabilia. Return of the Jedi came out as I was starting high school and, although it would be the last Star Wars movie released of the first trilogy; the magic of the universe you created lived on in my heart and my imagination as I grew older. Athlete heroes, girlfriends, and other interests came and went, but Star Wars always remained an important part of my life.

I have played most if not all of the Star Wars based games that have been released on consol. However I had never played a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG), and I eagerly awaited the release of SWG and closely followed its development. I read and posted on the forums months before its release. I can honestly say the one hesitation I had about the game initially was the combat system. Being a consol gamer, I never could conceptualize the turn based combat system that was being implemented in SWG. But the fact that I was going to be able to create a version of myself and let loose in the Star Wars universe, explore and interact with other fans, made me feel like that 9 year old kid again.

Under advice of a friend who was an avid online gamer I waited a few months after the release to purchase the game. He said it was best to wait and let the game stabilize first. When I started the game player housing and vehicles were just being introduced. I had tears of joy when I first logged on; it was like someone had taken pictures of my dreams and made a game from them. The detail, the graphics, and the sounds were unbelievable. And quickly, with help from new friends I had made, I figured out how to play. Some have said, and still say today, the learning curve was too steep for SWG. For me, learning the game was part of the fun.