Mailbag: Star Wars Galaxies

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

(CBS) 
Dear Mr. Lucas,

I understand that you are a very busy man and that your time is very valuable, so I will try to be brief and to the point. I am writing this letter to you to express my deepest disappointment in the Lucas Arts / Sony Online Entertainment jointly produced MMORPG game Star Wars Galaxies.

I am a lifetime fan of your Star Wars work. At 40, I still feel the same sense of wonder and awe on viewing your Star Wars movies as I did as a twelve year old girl seeing the saga for the very first time -- perhaps more now, knowing and appreciating how much work and care you put into creating this new modern mythology. It is truly something that you can take immense pride in. Through these movies, you have made an impact on not merely a small cult movie following, but society itself.

However, having said this, I must now (with great sadness) criticize the handling of the game your software company has produced in collaboration with SOE. Being a veteran massive multiplayer online roleplaying game player, I am fully aware that no MMO will be flawless and that all of these games have a tendency to start out with many flaws and problems. This is usually handled over time by the development teams to bring a game polish and quality, making it more playable and enjoyable by its subscribers. With
Star Wars Galaxies, this has not been the case.

While successful MMOs evolve over time, improving and expanding, Star Wars Galaxies has improved, expanded, then collapsed into itself over the very short period of years it has existed. The game has not been improved at all by the major changes made to its core mechanics (not once, but twice). Rather, it has been made less interesting, less exciting and drastically less engaging. Flaws and problems one can reasonably expect to be removed from a game after its first year are not only not being removed, they are being introduced into the game more than a year into its existence. The removal of many of the features that allowed and provided flexibility and most of the uniqueness of the Star Wars Galaxies game can by no means be viewed as improvement or added value.

The fact that the companies producing this game have continually lied to us (their customers) about the direction the game was taking only adds insult to the injury that all of this has done us. I have said that I know your time is valuable. I feel the need to point out that yours is not exclusively valuable. My time, and the time of others who have played this game is also valuable. I have to say that I will never be able to reclaim the time I have spent on this game. And had I known the direction this game would take, I would have invested my time differently. I spent a great deal of time playing Star Wars Galaxies having faith that the game would be improved and repaired, yet would remain essentially Star Wars. This was not the case.