How Jedi Killed Star Wars Galaxies

Details of development history came from Raph Koster's website, Check out Raph's blog on the Jedi Saga for a great read: www.raphkoster.com/2015/04/16/a-jedi-saga/
saint_million
Required accreditation from the KZbin Audio Library (outro song):
Eighties Action by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100243
Artist: incompetech.com/

[@mcevan1222]

So you're telling me I could be a Sith Lord Wookie, who is also a nerf herder? Who smuggled on the side.

[@dannorseman6837]

And smuggled on the side...

[@awerges2205]

@@dannorseman6837 Using nerfs....

[@thisisntsergio1352]

Smuggle these nuts

[@stevenhewes1990]

It only works if you smuggle on the side.

[@gesmith98]

Yes, I had a huge solid white, blue eyed wookie that was a Teras Kasi Master/Master Pikeman, I could toe to toe with any Jedi, it was epic... Gitsumkikin, the Great White Wookie!! I still miss this game!!

[@lastthursday1416]

I have one weird and specific memory of the first day I played this as a child: I make a Zabrak woman, walk out to the surface of Tatooine, run into another lowbie who offers help, and then he types something like, "It's really rare to see a girl online. You're so cool!" And I say, "I'm not a girl, I just made one because I thought it'd be cool." Bro then unparties and runs off saying, "Don't ever speak to me again." Surreal.

[@YTCensorshipFindTheCure]

Still better love story than twilight 8/8

[@gonz9278]

Sounds like you dodged a creepy bullet.

[@chungushumongus6202]

The thirst was real in this boiiiii

[@danlachapelle4011]

"As a child.." goddamnit im old

[@BierBart12]

I was 6 when this game came out, holy fuck

[@toldyasodude1280]

I grinded my Jedi for almost a year. Jelothian. Then after all my hard work, they said EVERYONE could be one from day 1. At least they gave me an Elder Jedi robe for all my troubles lol. I think it gave me 10% more damage than your base Jedi. Well worth all that grinding lmao. Greatest MMO ever, killed in one day.

[@SlimPug]

I ran around bestine in my dark elder jedi robe smacking any non elder jedi i came across homie i loved having that small advantage :)

[@zerus9630]

SWG did order 66 on itself lol

[@Person-wz6iy]

Who smuggled on the side

[@mscar7609]

What professions did you you level?

[@BustaBreaks777]

That grind though. It was not easy to grind to Jedi.

[@burgy5516]

There's a permanent hole in my heart where this game used to be. There will just never be anything like it again. The OG skill tree system, Teras Kasi, the next level macro system, the group mission grinds. Rest in peace you beautiful bastard. You will be missed forever.

[@fredflux2738]

Perfectly said- I had hopes with New World but… alas.

[@nowayjosedaniel]

Everyone loves games so boring you need to afk macro in.

[@mortenbolstad9423]

You can play SWG. Check out Swg Legends. There is also many other servers.

[@angryoldcanadian3905]

My wife played this game and as soon as they changed the cu, her entire guild quit the game. She quit a month later. I've never seen a company destroy a game quicker than SOE

[@captainsternn7684]

SOE?

[@Kagotza]

@@captainsternn7684 stands for Sony Online Entertainment

[@DustyyBoi]

@@noreplieshere cute

[@SI0AX]

@@noreplieshere You could also say that SOE stands for: "Shit On Everyone", lol.

[@leonardocaicedo1273]

They're daybreak games now and they really have not gotten any better. I'd say they are way worse now

[@jaimematos6457]

Imagine a modern game with modern graphics, physics and design with the level of depth of SWG

[@KennethSee]

That would bring me back into gaming.

[@stevenhewes1990]

@@KennethSee same.

[@emjaythegreat22]

Yeah jedi fallen order combat as SWG... take my paycheck!!

[@JohnyLMS]

Archeage.

[@patchanonsoontarodom3364]

I t d o e s n ‘ t e x i s t ! ! !

[@odinheathen_]

i have told my wife many a time, if they had gone with the original idea of the jedi notoriety and kept the unlocking of jedi a secret... and didnt sell out to the WoW craze, i would still be playing SWG to this day. It was THAT good. Like you said, the community and the social system made this game more than just a game. You could literally just login and hang out with your friends if that all you wanted to do. But no... they had to go and F!@#$ it up. As others here have said, if someone remade this game as it was, with updated graphics it would be absolutely amazing. someone needs to make this happen. DISNEY... get yo sh!t together and make it happen!

[@Euruk1]

Yep. To this day everytime I hear someone mention SWG I get sad. I have a ton of fond memories that I will carry forever dont get me wrong, but man... what happened to the game was so sad.

[@oceanbytez847]

it wont. companies never invest in something that has already failed. After that its dead and gone. 6 foot under my friend.

[@NeiasaurusCreations]

@@oceanbytez847 There is also the fact most of these people wouldn't actually enjoy having it back. Modern mmo players are EXTREMELY lazy. To the extent most players don't raid, even fewer do the absolute pinnacle of content. And people get upset if a game is too grindy, or too hard, or too complicated. People's nostalgia often override judgement, but the moment they have a game like that they'll realize that they don't want to go back to those days at all, and that there was a reason modern mmos shifted from that. And that's most mmo players aren't the brightest or most dedicated bunch, and from personal experience trying to get even 20 people that aren't window licking mouth breathers that can do such complicated things as move out of a massive red aoe bubble, jump when a wave comes, or my favorite, avoid moving bubbles is rare in mmos these days. So a game with any challenge like an old-time mmo would just die of no population. It's sad to say, but the truth.

[@Person-wz6iy]

Who smuggled on the side.

[@tipigi3570]

I absolutely agree! Some days, my combat medic would be in a group of 10 or more, throwing stims and keeping everyone alive. Other days, I'd sit in the cantina and chat with everyone for hours. I ended up buying three copies of the game so I could play 3 different toons. It's still the greatest mmo that I've ever played.

[@GTOAviator]

SWG pre-everything was such an amazing experience. I still remember taking a shuttle to a strange planet, running aimlessly in one direction and constructing my first house. I built and sold rifles, the profit from passersby was enough to keep my simple way of life.

[@briandebnam6889]

Dude! I loved just exploring and running into a player like you. Need some stims? A new gun? Some random person just out in the middle of nowhere just doing his thing! I remember finding great hunting spots so far away. When the vehicles came in, it helped so much in just exploring, or getting the hell out of a nest if you were in over your head, lol.

[@saltypaladin9488]

I played SWG in the PreCU, CU and NGE.. I have very fond memories of PreCU because it was my first experience with an MMO, but by the time the CU came out the game was already dead, everyone was just hiding on some corner of some planet in secret, grinding their force sensitive character.. Since the game shut down I tried playing the SWGEMU, the game as it was PreCU, I was bored to death and was already surrounded by alpha jedi characters.. No way in hell now that I have a real life, I was going to go through another jedi grind!!! But SWG Legends, I still play that from time to time when I have the chance, a lot of content..

[@Person-wz6iy]

Who smuggled on the side.

[@nowayjosedaniel]

Curious - were you a kid or adult pre-everything? Bc most report the game was awful Pre-CU and worst Day1 NGE. Game was losing 10k players a month Pre-CU, it was so bad.

[@nowayjosedaniel]

​@@saltypaladin9488Based on more accurate reports by players and devs, SWG was dead BEFORE the CU. The reset in progression just sped up the player loss, instead of stopping it. Pre-CU, 10k players were leaving every month. Subscriber numbers were at peak only 160k.

[@oddish3022]

"And smuggled on the side"

[@KLamki1]

Odd ish Nothing wrong with smuggling little bit of wookie pelts/ scalps. Those fur coats are to die for.

[@edcarlis6215]

became a jedi and then turned darkside and smuggled on the side

[@oddish3022]

Lord Dark Rez cade skywalker

[@abomb6046]

And.... smuggled on the side

[@webdude15]

became a medic droid technician....who smuggled on the side

[@RaphKoster1]

Wow, this video blew up. For those who don't know, I was the original creative director of the game. A lot of this story comes from my blogs doing a postmortem on the game. There is now a book collecting these articles and a lot more, called POSTMORTEMS, so if you want to read more about the history and the design of SWG, as well as of Ultima Online and other games, you can find lots of info there. It's available at all the usual places. There are a number of factual errors and confusions in the video, most notably mixing up the CU and the NGE a couple of places. But the core of the argument made is correct. Holocrons caused the game to stop growing, and for the first time it started to shrink. This doesn't mean that later on other changes (most notably the NGE) didn't have a big impact, and it also doesn't mean that WoW didn't have an impact, because it certainly did. Earlier I answered a bunch of individual posts here, but there's so many I figured I'd just put one comment in and maybe then anyone with questions or complaints can just ping me directly. :)

[@murkiom]

Why’d you do precu and ngen:( the game was perfect!

[@RaphKoster1]

I didn't! I was off the team by then. I didn't agree with several of the CU changes but did agree that combat needed reworked. I was very strongly opposed to the NGE.

[@NonsensicalSpudz]

was there smuggling on the side?

[@MCG.TheReaper]

I agree that combat needed to be updated a bit, and yes, NGE was disgusting. Macros helped, but most didn't know how to use them. A macroing system would have been a perfect upgrade to the combat system. One that would allow players to just drag and drop icons into a panel and set delays. The combat didn't need much, so that alone would have been huge to players =). (As opposed to finding out halfway through a year that macros exsisted when you made your first entertainer or gatherer, then try and find the right delay and then set a dump macro to stop the macro from killing you, as spamming a high mind cost action could cause you to lose your life in a fight that you shouldn't have lost). =) It was an amazing game. Before the update pushes to try and grab the general populous.

[@GoDokuNoDAN]

Thank you for making a great game initially. It got me through a rough time in my life.

[@buzz1ebee]

The sense of wonder in this game was amazing. I set out to be a star pilot and spent a long time levelling up my fighter craft. Then I decided I wanted to build my own buildings and contribute to player made cities so I set out to be an architect. I got an apprenticeship with a nice guild and got started on my architects journey. I was at an ok ish level but no where near master when an update hit. Instead of having multiple skill trees to level up they reduced it to one. I put my points in there and instantly became a master. My guild mates were very upset. The guild leaders wife had grinded for 6 months to become master. He had grinded for years to become a jedi. Suddenly this random kid was also a master architect and any random person could become a jedi. It was a tough time, everyone stopped playing. I wish I could go back to how that game initially felt. It was magical.

[@Person-wz6iy]

Who smuggled on the side.

[@FedralBI]

I used to love playing my Doctor (Imperial of course) and refusing to treat Rebel scum. I had so much fun just sitting in the med facility, chatting with other doctors, and various patients as they came in. It was like the worlds greatest Star Wars chat room, with a game attached to it. I miss it a lot.

[@Person-wz6iy]

Who smuggled on the side

[@PGains]

Can’t find any videos on dearth Vader hunting you as a bounty hunter and what if you kill Darth Vader? Or can you steal his ship? Like I think it would be a cool vid, showing the either darth vader and boba feet coming after you and wonder what you get if you kill them??? Anyone able to answer this??

[@focus1655]

I remember having to get in line for buffs at least 40 minutes before since the lines would be so long

[@IAmAlpharius20]

Only to realize that said rebel was infected with the Blackwing virus...

[@braize6279]

Still to this day I can remember the names of my favorite vendors. The Doctors who were always there. The Dancer teams that frequented the same bars. In SWG, you could go out on your adventure, then come back to town and relax with some good people. The game was buggy af sure, but it was real. The communities were real. And people actually gave a shit about their name. Now? I could care less about anybody I see in any game.

[@Krystalmyth]

Final Fantasy XIV still has this to a large degree. I'm not even kidding.

[@tynao2029]

lol yep, used to love coming back to the cantina after hunting rancor for music and drinks :-)

[@luie26]

yup i remeber getting killed, respawning, go to the hositpal, get healed from a player doctor and chat. then i would get a drug buff. then i run over to canteen and pay for a lap dance and chat, getting a dancer buff. then got out and do missions and questing with my friends. there was alot of socializing i loved it. when i was solo or alone i would go survey planets for resources and set up remote miners. i would buy or sell from player malls where all the vendors were on naboo. it was such a great game.

[@sargetun]

try out ps, they are exactly like this, communities are literally amazing and so friendly and helpful, not like any other mmo you play in 2020 i find and its old af, yet still stands the test of time for many players

[@Darth1Marik]

same I used to buy my weapons from a player who made a weapons company called Silly Sith Co. lol

[@Leonhart]

omg was waiting for the ....who smuggled on the side.

[@azarishere6442]

Leonhart it is a wierd feeling to be the only person to replay to a youtuber, even tho i have no idea who you are, youtube says that you are important

[@ashleya5329]

He’s a Pokémon card opener guy I love his videos

[@mordtavvis3360]

LEONHART!

[@Not_William]

Finding you here was a surprise to be sure, but a pleasant one

[@CaptWesStarwind]

I spent the first two years or so in this game just selling spice at the Mos Eisley Cantina.

[@Cheatsy1989]

I have this one, specific memory of my entertainer. I was...um...entertaining, I guess, in the cantina on tattotine, and this dude of the opposite faction walks in...so we were talking to him and such, not attacking. I forgot what exactly, but he says something to piss us off, so we're like "ok, gtfo before we kill you." He is all like "LOL yea, ok, this entire cantina couldn't kill me if they tried." So we're like "OK GET HIM!" He then proceeds to pull out a lightsaber. We all had never seen a Jedi before so we are all like "uh...holy shit...uh...GET HIM!" Then he proceeds to kick the entire cantina's ass...lol

[@judahenjoyseducation4549]

that. is exactly how jedi should be. rare. but when they show up, its a PROBLEM.

[@hoffinshnizle3670]

What color was the lightsaber?

[@Swaggerpede]

me, my bf and his cousin were sat around talking about star war last night, and the cousin got around to talking about this game. Sounded amazing, how Dynamic and real the world felt. and then he told us about how one were to become a jedi. how it took a year or so of grinding to even be given the chance to start the training. Hearing about this monster of a grind had me curious. The cousin said nobody really knew how to unlock it for sure, it sounded like one of those schoolyard mysteries you'd hear about rare pokemon as a kid. that mystery got me really curious so i had to come look it up and know more. you just wouldn't get something like that these days. As a wow player, I've been conditioned to expect rewards often, and it's a real problem. its nice to know games were like this once. anyway, the Cousin said he had been grinding this thing for a year, or was a couple weeks from getting jedi or something when they announced the change to the jedi system. he quit right there on the spot. it's a tragedy, it truly is.

[@darkninjamandelta]

LOL that sucks for the cousin, I played classic last year when it launched and got my pally to max level. It was my first real mmo experience and it was great. Then I began to play retail this year but it’s different than classic. I feel like games were way harder back then.

[@Swaggerpede]

@@darkninjamandelta For sure, Everything comes with a quest marker now so nothing is a mystery. The first elder scrolls game I ever played was Skyrim, So going back to Morrowind was really tough, but I really enjoyed myself and the accomplishments big or small feel more satisfying.

[@chuckdastump]

Smuggling on the side was the sneak archer of Galaxies

[@MasterJunior93]

2:34 You can be whatever you want, so long as you smuggled on the side.

[@gerthdynn5820]

MasterJunior93 I never smuggled...

[@PolybiusArcadia]

Rear smugglers need not apply. Just side smugglers

[@jeffbryant792]

And If you did not darth Vader would hunt you down

[@PolybiusArcadia]

@@jeffbryant792 as long as Vader was doing his duty and smuggling on the side

[@Krystalmyth]

Just like in RL.

[@K8KProductions]

The greatest MMO ever created in my opinion! It is the only MMO I've ever played that had a fully functioning economy and community. I saw a Jedi once, when it was mega rare and it was one of the greatest gaming moments of my life. I don't think any game will ever top this experience for me.

[@rRefuseToSelfCensor]

Then they ruined it and let anyone become a Jedi. No challenge

[@yourtrappedinmygenjutsu]

Lol overplaying the game way to much.. multiple games have economys and fully functioning communities...

[@jonc2914]

Ultima online.... predated swg and had a player based economy

[@JW-el5cy]

SWG was just a reskin of Everquest. Everquest had so called "Epic quest" which was similar to Jedi. It was an absurdly long quest chain that was design to take about a year and required guild help to do raid content parts of the quest chain. Ultima was garbage compared to Everquest. Ultima was garbage compared to Diablo 1.

[@Person-wz6iy]

Who smuggled on the side

[@fayev9023]

I remember going so long playing this game without ever seeing a jedi and the first time I finally saw one "jedi would show up and literally murc an entire town" would be a pretty accurate description of what happened. Very rare but when you did see them they destroyed everything they touched. As a bounty hunter I only had a chance against the fresh meat Padawans if they didnt run away into a house. lol

[@KarlStankiewicz]

Never played the game, was too busy smuggling on the side...

[@ashwath5733]

"It's November 2003 and the first Jedi has finally been achieved. Everyone flips their shit and starts asking her questions" *cuts to "what's a jedi?"* I laughed for a good 5 minutes there

[@rixille]

Funny thing is too, I played on Intrepid server and I remember seeing that player at the starport, and a horde of batshit insane players surrounding the jedi and asking "how did u do it? ZOMG DO WANT!" basically like paparazzi swarming a celebrity, but of course getting far more closer than a camera man. The fame came at a terrible price.

[@flamesofchaos13]

@@rixille "She" had a Lightsaber "she" could of just well slashed them all to cooked meat. Sorry I'm a Dark Side-Leaning Man myself.

[@keLetoN]

@@rixille bruh i played on Intrepid too, the good oles days :')

[@seandawdy]

@@rixille AAAY intrepid!!

[@leestone6349]

You never know what you had until it's gone... I spent most of my time hunting bounties from planet to planet with the assistance of my probes and then settling down in a cantina to play a roulette game during my leisurely moments.

[@jaxjax2011]

My father was one of the lead developers on this game and he described the downfall of it pretty much exactly how you did. He also mentioned that on the Christmas holiday following the release of holocrons they gave a free holocron to every character because of marketing pressure from SOE. From what I understand this led to a massive surplus of holocrons and players selling them to each other which created the initial spike of force users. It really is a shame that SWG suffered the fate that it did. It definitely would've been outdated by now even if it weren't for those mistakes, but I think it could have lasted awhile longer as a competing MMO with a great sandbox atmosphere. I was too young to ever play it but I did play a lot of Archeage as a teenager and that game had a wonderful sandbox, open-world appeal to it as well. Unfortunately it was also ruined by marketing pressure and would probably still be popular if it weren't for that. Good sandbox MMOs are such a rare delicacy and it makes me sad to think that there were only a few periods where people could really experience that. I'm very glad I got that experience with Archeage though because I'm not sure when, if ever, it'll come again.

[@Person-wz6iy]

Who smuggled on the side.

[@saltypaladin9488]

SWG is still around to this day as SWG Legends.

[@roky7772]

@@saltypaladin9488 And swgemu and other stuff

[@t.castro4493]

Another sandbox MMORPG is Mabinogi, I've known it since 2007 or 2008 and I've always loved it, but sadly I never grasped the combat, and it doesn't help that I probably have super high ping. I even tried playing in private servers and it didn't work out.

[@thedangerzone9399]

@@saltypaladin9488 Prefer Restoration. Legends embraces the shitshow of NGE.

[@Idazmi7]

In short: marketing teams know nothing about game design and tend to ruin whatever they touch out of greed and fear for their (worthless) reputation.

[@Kaellunel]

yup EA are are living proof of this

[@Idazmi7]

+Luke Allen Damn right they are.

[@mikerose2504]

See SWTOR for an example :)

[@hengistcz1940]

Not only EA bethesda too. Bungee too. Everything falls to greed. Destiny 2 p2w and shitty story. Bethesda rerealeasing skyrim for a full price + making online p2w games....

[@andrewpliakis]

Bethesda p2w games? Which are these?

[@markrude9489]

This is pretty spot-on. What killed SWG for me was the rise of the Jedi and the death of the community. You could once have favorite vendors that made quality goods, favorite doctors with awesome buffs, favorite slicers to boost your gear stats (I was one), and guild towns that ran smoothly and had great people. Then the profession grind began and all of that evaporated. Shops closed, towns dried up, and reputable vendors became fighters or entertainers or, heaven help them, droid engineers. Economic collapse and idiocy followed.

[@notoriousbig3k]

well it collapsed like in lore lol

[@ErichRahm-Gaming]

After the profession grind started, the only vendors you'd find regularly where people who had alread unlocked force sensitive slots. I unlocked mine pretty much on accident and then my main character became a chef. I made lots of money as a food vendor and then pretty much just funneled that straight into buying krayt dragon pearls and stuff for my dark jedi.

[@SaltyCorpsman]

I didn't have a problem with FS or Jedi... But it should have been way way harder. Perma death was a great mechanic.

[@colesdad2000]

I was the 1st unlock on ahazi. Sold my jedi to nfl 1st round pick Mike William's of the buffalo Bill's for $2000 Sold Kashyyk painting for $1500 Sold 4-5 at-st for $250 each PER WEEK! This game was a gold mine

[@lioncelica5170]

Can you tell us more about all that?

[@colesdad2000]

@Walker G oh really? Yeah whatever.

[@KINGBLUESKI]

Ha

[@heidituffin3511]

stop telling lies. I was the first unlock on Ahazi

[@heidituffin3511]

You were not the first and you were an ebay jedi

[@amonaten13]

This game was so amazing before they ruined it. I made a cantina on Dantooine, hosted races with tamed mounts and vehicles, had a huge community of people that just hung out at the village that popped up around the cantina. It was so organic and incredible. If a modern, well thought out version was made It would crush the MMO world.

[@jacknapier9042]

A testament to this game, is years and years later, I still remember the friends I made and the silly shit I went through. I was a super nub and this bounty hunter helped me out, and let me pal around with him, gave me awesome armor, and just taught me the game. Gerard of Naritus, if you're out there, you were a badass.

[@hex8787]

Jack Napier Had a similar experience coming across my first werewolf player in ESO on launch. Dude payed over 10K gold to buy a bite for me, someone who literally just cold messaged him wondering how tf he got werewolf. MMO's can craft some wonderful interactions between players.

[@atmaknos6814]

Jack Napier hey your that pc I was helping out back then??? Ahhh the good times

[@DanielDanielsen]

When I logged on for the first time I didn't know what NPC and PC was so I stood outside Mos Eisley Port and argued with a NPC *sigh*.

[@atmaknos6814]

Daniel Danielsen 😂😂😂😂😂 that comment is extra funny lol when I first heard it I was like wow they're calling characters computers now

[@elwiseguy69]

@@DanielDanielsen lmao I know this is old but I did that in RuneScape the first time I played. It was my first experience with a “mmo”

[@NoelNolNull]

"Time to make the game like WoW" "when everyone is super, no one is"

[@clayxros576]

"Let's change the game to be the new generic" "The generic is why we were here" "But....but statistics..."

[@krel3358]

thats basically what killed wow for me in wrath when they casualized the game and made raid tiers obsolete with the trial of the grand crusade patch.

[@SI0AX]

@@krel3358 Damn casuals ruin everything.

[@Spearra]

The hilarious part about all of this is how games like Old School Runescape survived purely because they didn't go the "WoW killer" route and kept to its roots. ... Well, after the disastrous Runescape 3 that DID try to be like every other MMO at least. If games just stick with their audiences it tends to not fizzle out.

[@SI0AX]

@@Spearra Yes, if companies *listen* to their customers and actually do what their customers want instead of trying to attract the casual consumer. The problem is the change. If their target market was the casual consumer from the begining, they would not have had to change anything.

[@sabersahoge2695]

so you're saying *they're too powerful to be left alive*

[@RetroGameGod]

2:27 is the start of the best gag that made my day

[@fartknockaextreme]

I was 13 when I played this game and I had 3 Girlfriends on different planets/cities who I erotic RP'd with all day and night. I also smuggled on the side.

[@Nell_Dawson]

That must have been the life.

[@fartknockaextreme]

The best days of my life.

[@legenisgaming]

Edit: You had 3 boy friends

[@Frabnoil]

I was a guy whose job was a smuggler. I also smuggled on the side :-)

[@mysillyum9836]

lmfaooo

[@nesano4735]

4:21 You mean people used to do things in video games without the expectation of getting a reward? Man, I miss those days.

[@XXcaesar5000]

I so agree . This hole play for gear you need to play with makes me go insane .the playing should be the point not gear drops

[@AbigailAccursed]

some very good days they were, miss them I do.

[@penguin790]

Nesano Everyone plays different, it's crazy to think that everyone thinks there's only one way to game. Some people like gear farming, some like getting epic rewards, some like getting titles, some like hopping into and lobby and just doing whatever. Everyone has the right to enjoy a game how they please. But with games beung $60 these days i expect something to please everyone. Were talking look farming, good mechanics, exploration, narrative.

[@nesano4735]

"Everyone plays different" No excuse. "it's crazy to think that everyone thinks there's only one way to game." Strawman. Boy we're off to a good start. "Everyone has the right to enjoy a game how they please." That doesn't mean games should be low-quality to facilitate casuals.

[@penguin790]

Nesano So more content = Low quality? And i'm supposed to look like an idiot? There are plenty of games out there with tons of content that are amazing titles anyone should play. The original Mario games? The new ones? Pretty much every zelda? The witcher? Red dead redemption? Grand Theft Auto? The list goes on, it seems like you just dont accept the fact that people enjoy playing games differently than you do.

[@zacksmith2227]

wow congratulations this is one of the few passion projects ive seen on youtube which really invokes passion for the subject well done.thanks

[@MattJRo]

The death of SWG is arguably one of the most frustrating "death by self-inflicted wound" story in the history of gaming. I can't think of any other example where a company had such a good thing going and then squandered it all away with a single bad business decision. There was something straight up magical about the social aspect of that game, and even in the NGE period a trace of that magic lingered but also served as a sobering reminder of what was and what could have been

[@TheStapleGunKid]

"From my point of view, the marketing department is evil."

[@RogueBoyScout]

"We want a Jedi before Christmas".... "Only the marketing department thinks in absolutes"....

[@clayxros576]

In my experience, when art or an organism is put in the hands of marketing, it becomes a husk soon after. Marketing is the modern poison which kills all.

[@clayxros576]

@Ricardo Santos You might be onto something...

[@howtodoge]

@Ricardo Santos ... and smuggling force-sensitivity on the side.

[@justas423]

@Ricardo Santos "I'm evil and I no sense of humor or fun." "You're way to overqualified for this job. PROMOTE THIS MAN TO MARKETING DIRECTOR!"

[@ArodoraaSFM]

The removal of Creature Handler is what completely turned me away as a kid. That was my big thing in this game. That being said though, SWG holds a very near and dear place to my heart and I'll never forget any of the memories made there.

[@gingerbill128]

yea i was a creature handler and making creatures and selling them was 90% of my game play . Was fun while it lasted , i was richer than god when they introduced mounts but i didn't care and never spent any of the money , i just liked making and selling pets , lol

[@stoneosborne9247]

Ranger/Creature Handler = GET RICH

[@Porkleaker]

Yeah CH was my favorite, CH/Commando used to go solo Krayt's - not many people were after them early on, would get nice mats and have a weaponsmith make me OP weapons and sell pets and mounts, was great fun, then but they even nerfed that, with how many pets you could have and all their stats, fuck SOE.

[@fivoasia64]

I ground a Wookie MCH for Mustafar's release. Imagine my surprise that morning. Assholes.

[@braize6279]

CHs were broken OP and should have been nerfed way before they actually were. Seriously, this guy up here talks about soloing Krayts, then gets pissed when it's nerfed. Really? Nothing was a bigger joke than CHs and there stupid pets running rampant through every town.

[@YT-zx4wr]

"the cancer got Eddie" Did you just say his name?

[@leac0071]

I somehow befriended one of the richest guys on my server who covered the cost of everything. Double sliced jawa rifles, stun batons, anti decay on all armor slots. Only regret was not pushing him harder to buy the legendary t21 rifle before adk were announced.

[@chadcollins6171]

Was that on the Tempest server?

[@emedel5772]

I was one of the richest players on my server. I had close to one billion credits in the bank and two dozens houses full of rarities and valuable collectibles. I made a million credits a day on my vendors and extractors. I used to tip dancers a million credits and they'd go bonkers. I donated millions and gave away lots of crap to anyone. When I took an in-game wife (the first one), she got half (of course lol) and became possibly the richest female player on the server. I inherited more wealth when friends quit and left me all their shit :(

[@3rdgentug]

I can almost 100% agree with this video. My brother, myself, and 6 of my close friends at the time all pre ordered SWG. I still have my original box/game it was that cherished to me! We all got on the servers pre game release and all had basically chosen different paths, but we all wanted to be rebels. So we all decided to join the same server and join the same guild.We all had fun together and separately. I myself was comando/creature handler/ combat medic for the majority of my time in game and I could not have been happier ( I had 2 rancors both named Chopper , attack command was " Chopper sic balls" and everyone knew me and both my Choppers). I tended to play a lot of solo , doing guild missions to try to buy the guild buildings for our city. This was hard because we were on a vastly over populated Imperial server. Showing Rebel was almost an immediate death sentence. ATSTs where OPAF, where if I was lucky enough to have a few junk henchmen , they were never more than something to use while I ran away. All this , I was having the time of my life. I rarely left planet, just grinded out missions for my guild and I was happy. We would organize huge base assaults once we found out an Imperial base was vulnerable ( yeah remember that BS ). The Imperials having such huge numbers never seemed to be able to organize like the few of us could/ well had to is actually a more accurate word to use. Everything was great, the game was laggy , but we all basically had our things we did and we had fun. Everyone was aware their could be Jedi - but iirc most of us thought it was just gonna be a random game purchased that got jedi - not some mystery unlock combo at first. Then... Someone revealed skill tree unlocks - none of us knew for sure , there was just speculation. I personally, and dont think anybody really changed their playstyles at that point. Then - holocrons - the entire game changed overnight. I was almost finished with enough points to buy a big guild base ,Id been working on it for literally months at this point and closure was near. I would play for days without seeing my friends or any other guild member in our town. I even build a house closer to town just to have some interactions with other players sporadically. Once i had finished my base and was so proud, and the guild at this point didnt even need it. Everyone was so obsessed with Jedi grinding. Macros became everyones characters , left on all day for xp. The game for me was slowly losing its luster. Comradery was dying, chat was nothing more than Jedi focused or Jedi spotted here go now! ( I would also like to point out something not mentioned - around this time was the dreaded armor nerf. I had worked hard for a set I could wear, and it was literally broken almost immediately. I couldnt keep it repaired all the time to the point wearing armor was useless and too costly even though my combat medic stuff I sold was top notch ). Two of my 6 friends that played ditched 1 whole account to concentrate on getting Jedi on 1 account and their sacrifice paid off. They were the first people in our guild , and one of the few on the server at that point to be Jedi. Yay - great -hoorah! - yeah not so much. They were in constant fear of playing and being killed, they never had crystals for the sabers. Their new grind had just begun. They had to run both characters again to keep the Jedi alive. We now had the new mission of always trying to keep our friend alive and in the resources he needed - our jedi questing at this point was on hold to keep him progressing. This was ok for a bit , but slowly and sure the others got rebit by the Jedi bug. It was during this time my brother account got frozen for a mission terminal glitch he, and hundreds of other used to get free in game credits. My 2 friends that had gotten jedi where always bitching about the game and now how they couldnt do what they wanted to do and be Jedi. My other friends went on to get Jedi as well. I had lost interest at this point. I had done 1 holocron and had to drop combat medic for it. My game had become of no purpose. The base Id worked so hard on was destroyed and no one even seemed to notice. The game at that point was so jedi focused nobody seemed to care anymore. PVP raids were few and far between. ATSts could still be put in backpacks and not destroyed, oh and my commando skill no longer set them on fire making them even harder to kill and the fact my armor was now show only. When my subscription came up to be renewed I didnt bother. The best game Id ever played had been killed by 1 word : holocron. I am 40 years old, this was was best mmorpg I have ever played , until it wasn't. My brother and I still bring this game up from time to time with heavy hearts. If anyone reading that diary there rememebers us: I was Hatebreed human - and he was Antzinthepanz - Zabrak smuggler/teras kasi Bringers of the Dawn guild from release Based on Moenia ( sorry its been awhile I cannot for the life of me remember the server name )

[@calendarfactory8566]

3rdgentug that’s a long comment 🙄

[@magicalfartdust5956]

Wow I wish I could have this kind of experience today playing a rpg

[@peoul1]

wow good story there read more oooooof nvm meybe nextime

[@tatakainokaizen7140]

that was probably my favorite part about this game. How many ppl were excited to play it upon hearing about it. Where i was working at the time we would always discuss whatever game we were playing (it was either EQ or Planetside 1 at the time i think) but when this came out, even the guys who would normally scoff at our nerdy conversations were excited to all play it together.

[@LoudPackorDeaf]

Sounds like familiar names to me you weren't on Kauri were you?

[@flowerface9011]

This game was so far ahead of its time. RIP

[@clayxros576]

It's ahead of our time too. No one cares about a healthy community anymore, and a game is unlikely to foster something similar unless the marketing department is gutted out or relegated to a small department for advertising. Wall street knows nothing but money, and that focus destroys everything.

[@HeyyItsNick]

"Who smuggled on the side" that had me laugh lol

[@CaptWesStarwind]

Spent many many years in this game. Pretty much from beginning to end. It was honestly one of the best mmorpg's I have ever played and had it not been for their shortsighted dev team this game would still be going today. Shout out to any of the members of the Dark Side Praetorians from the Corbantis server.

[@OldDudeGamer]

When talking about games, I often TRY to tell people about the experience I had with SWG. How the Crafting system worked, how the resource collecting worked... how you HAD to make friends to get ahead or you would just stagnate with only what you could afford. It was very special to me.

[@ArchangelRafa]

I remember I found an imperial base in Naboo that dropped holocrons at a 10-20% chance rate. It was a small base and hard to find, but finding that out made me so much money. I really loved the whole explore and finding treasures in a open world game. Hopefully one day we can get a open world star wars game.

[@TheNovawatt]

The one filled with droidekas? pretty sure thats where i farmed

[@billytheta1807]

@UFO Jim Google SWGLegends, SWGEmu

[@BobbyZoppelt]

Great video! I was pretty pumped to see my video of the CU protest on Intrepid. I absolutely agree that back when no one knew how to get Jedi it was at it best. There was talk of a hard limit of 2 per server along with the perma death as well. That would have been a much better idea but here we are 20 years later. My only regret was not recording at a higher resolution in fraps lol.

[@Lithillia]

Just finished watching this and felt myself go through the horror of losing SWG all over again. This was the worst thing. I was so angry with WOW for many years.. many years. but I knew deep down it wasn't the real reason for it going shit. You are right, it started with the Jedi.

[@Wombatmetal]

I have played a number of MMO since SWG, and none had the community that game had. I think that having character classes that were not combat related brought in whole different sets of people than you generally see. Like those who played image designers? They were different But then going down to a den of IDs to change your hair or whatever was always a memorable experience. I miss the game. And yes those flash raids were fantastic.

[@Grype]

I remember when SWG came out, myself, my friend at work and our supervisor (his stepdad) were all playing and talking SWG nonstop, and the dispatcher was a hardcore EQ player. I think this was right after playing my first MMO that I played like a lunatic, AC2. The glory days of MMOs (where most of them were pvp-based sandbox games) sadly gone but not forgotten

[@sethleoric2598]

It sounds like an Open World Space Station 13, sounds awesome

[@rivaled]

Definitely swg was awesome.

[@bhull302]

Pre-holocron SWG was the most fun I ever had in an MMO. I've played a lot of games since, but there was just something magical about that short lived era where everyone was content just 'living' in a SW sandbox. I'd say when holocrons dropped, it didn't have much of an affect on player population. Without a doubt though, it was the beginning of the end. People went from playing how they wanted to play and making their own fun, to hologrinding. That dancer you chatted many times to heal your wounds? She's over there grinding medic. How about that pistoleer you always dueled outside your favorite cantina? Oh, he's inside the cantina dancing. Wanna have a chat with him? Sorry, he's AFK macroing because he never wanted to be a dancer. The second blow was the CU. Prior to that, I think there was some hope that there'd be a post hologrind era where everything settled back in. It wasn't going to happen. After the CU patched in, people logged into find a lot of their hard earned gear was now obsolete and needed to be scrapped. My friends list took a hit. The NGE was the final blow. I logged in to find my 30 profession hologrind jedi was now a starting class. SOE gave me a robe and a glowie effect for all my work. My wife logged in to find her creature handler - gone....gone. I logged off in complete disgust never to return. We had stuck with SOE through the difficult launch, a difficult CU and now they just crapped on the community they had in pursuit of people already playing WoW. Their reasoning? Hey, we're Star Wars! If we do what they are doing, our pop will skyrocket because we have lightsabers! The forums were a sea of pure rage the likes of which I have never seen again. Even mainstream media ran a few articles after getting tons of letters from outraged players. It limped along for some years after that. I think it was in part due to contractual obligations. It was the only game I ever played where I made friends that I still have contact with to this day.

[@ibarzabal]

I remember at the time, walking around and only seeing people grinding professions they didnt want to play. You looked for a medic or dancer for buffs, and the person didnt knew how to use their skills, or they were semi-afk grinding And the amount of jedi running around with sabers, breaking imersion. It was the beginning of the end, but the nail in the coffin of course was NGE

[@0CalAgricola]

I remember being in guilds and how if your guild had a jedi, it was like having a nuclear bomb at your disposal. We'd raid other cities and go and trash dungeons, or do whatever. The fun of the game wasn't the mechanics, but the social aspect. I was a TK/doctor which I enjoyed being able to heal but also solo for credits. When the force sensitive grind came out, that was it for me. Seeing how long it would take and how much a pain it was, the guild began falling apart, and many moved onto WoW, me included.

[@LordProteus]

Jedi causing societies to die. Just like in canon.

[@thedarksalmon9893]

Guys... what if that's it? What if that was the whole plan and it was just so masterfully executed that it looked like a bad flop?

[@Mr.Mosquito89]

It's like poetry, sort of. They rhyme.

[@onelividguardsman5681]

@@Mr.Mosquito89 jar jar is the key to all of this

[@Verithiell]

They don't design games like this anymore. Man that idea for temporary jedis was crazy good.

[@jessiebuffy]

It was good but people would have complained. They also did have perma-death for a little while. I think if you died 3 times you lost your Jedi.

[@matthewperaza2015]

check out chronicles of elryria. It's still in development, but it has some similar ideas: limited world resources, different languages, 1% of the pop gets 'magic' (set in a fantasy medieval time), and your character ages and dies over the course of 1 year

[@navilluscire2567]

@@matthewperaza2015 That is an interesting concept, a game that's centered on the cycles of life, death and rebirth!

[@CWFromDetroit]

My first Jedi, a Bothan, was put into perma-death within a week of me unlocking. I was much more careful with my second jedi. I grinded for a month and a half, in secret on Endor. When I tried to finish my guardian box, it simply could not be trained. I ran around like a maniac after that and literally plagued the entire server with my unkillableness. Multiple well-known bounty hunters would group up and try to kill me. I was never killed. It was horribly game-breaking. I had no fear.

[@wiegraffolles9822]

Similar system is actually being implemented for a game called Chronicles of Elyria.

[@danielsides2450]

Seriously great video! Love the writing and editing

[@chilledspartan1174]

I've watched this countless times. Never gets old, a youtube gold video.

[@nesano4735]

6:13 I miss when games still had mystery. Mystery really does make the game better.

[@alessimc]

Check out Pantheon, if you like the old EQ/SWG "mystery". Almost a copy of EQ with better graphics.

[@nesano4735]

Looks like it's not out yet. "Enter a world where the environment itself tells the story and where content is always king!" That's an absolute contradiction. "The environment itself tells the story" implies the game acts as a platform for the player to tell their own story while "content is always king" implies they're going to be putting tons of stuff in to keep people addicted. "At Visionary Realms, we believe that the best of MMORPG design is yet to come. We understand how healthy challenge in a game promotes teamwork, often blooming into profound relationships and enduring memories. We focus on these poignant elements of design and aim to provide our players with environments conducive to building reputations, friendships and alliances-as well as rivalries and notoriety. Visionary Realms resumes where past MMORPGs left off with these elements, and is excited to see the genre re-emerge." That sounds promising though. Hopefully they're not just blowing smoke.

[@alessimc]

Nesano it’s not out yet, right. Just alpha now I think. But it might be cool.

[@nesano4735]

I looked at some gameplay and the mobs look waaaaaaay too powerful. Vanilla WoW was great in part because the mob difficulty promoted partying up, but this looks way excessive. It looks like solo play is completely impossible.

[@mrtoxicwasteland]

gta mysteries. zelda triforce locations. dark souls stories. I can definitely back up this statement. games with mysteries are GREAT

[@Big_Fishin]

You can be a war criminal who smuggled on the side

[@Nighthawk1066_]

Flapps Just following orders, I was.

[@rocketguardian2001]

If Gipie the Ithorian, Outcast Jawa, or Sowisp Blush ring a bell, please send them my regards. I played Ch'p M'unk the Sullustan musician on the Starstrider server. We had some amazing RP storylines. I never saw such dedication to rp and storytelling in an MMO and I have not seen it since. I miss those times when all I had to do was hang out at the cantina and kibbitz with the dancers and musicians, and avoid the occasional Imperial raid.

[@evanlight671]

I’ve never played this but the Temporary Jedi Hunt sounds really cool. It sounds almost like a Ewok Hunt type of game mode. I’m so glad I didn’t get it cuz... well, OP Jedi running around everywhere just sounds dumb

[@nesano4735]

If they had stuck with what they were originally planning to do with the Bartle personality chart the game might still be around today. Building a system like that around the idea of getting immersed int he game world is exactly the type of thing a sandbox MMO needs.

[@walmartian]

no the combat was trash this game could never stand in the face of todays games, even in then standards the combat was a joke to other games rivaling it, they had no idea WTF they were doing back then as devs they ran one failed experiment after another, followed no template of game design whatsoever, and basically knee jerk reacted to every forum post.

[@bahlin11]

this was my very first MMO ever at age 14, i remember making my zabrak and loading into mos esley. my mind was blown that this was an actual game back then. i almost imediatly joined a recruiting grp and waited with them in the market square.after 30 minutes these guys recruited about 5 of us. they took us to the cantina for a drink (and some buffs). it was there i noticed that the actual dancers and musicians where actual real people to. we soon took off to the spaceport and departed to another planet where they said there "guild town" was. after we landed on that planet they gave all 5 of us our own speeder because it was "a long ride". we took off about 7 people in total all on swoop bikes, just going trough small cities and over mountains, deep valleys. i think it was about 15 minutes of driving but that felt like one epic trip. all the while wondering how their "guild city" looked like or what they even ment. when we got there it was an actual player made city of about 30-40 houses in the middel of nowhere. they gave all of us a house and got us geared and luckily they where very devoted to helping new players because they showed us the in and outs of the game for the next few months. all of that on my first ever day in SWG as a 14 year old was so amasing back in those days. it gave SWG a special place in my hearth and started my love for MMOs. now im 30 and i still think about that game and the people i met there. it had some really interesting mechanics to for those days and if they would make a modern version of this game i would no doubt play it. but yeah then "the misterious stranger" came around and set everione on the path to force sencitive toons and that grind/mind set burned me out so hard from the game. i then played the WoW beta and changed to that. by then SWG was sadly a dead shell... you will never be forgotten tho! Isoan Alaeve Farstar-Europe

[@Stallzyx]

definitely need to try SWG Legends, I've given it a bit more time the last few weeks and I'm hooked. Usually at least 1000+ people on server at most times

[@StitchingSword]

That's a great story, sounds amazing - it's a game so lost to time aswell! So many people will never realise how good this game was.

[@_Potaro]

What a great story. Thats the essence of this games.

[@Person-wz6iy]

Who smuggled on the side.

[@CrudeConduct666]

I wanted to play when I was kid, my dad bought me the game but when he found out it was a pay to play he took it back to the store. I was so bummed out. He ended up getting me Knights of the Old Republic instead, which ended up being maybe my favorite videogame ever, so that was neat. But I've always wished I had been able to play Galaxies. I would have loved it at that age. Now that I can pay for things like this, it's dead as hell. So sad.

[@jackm2293]

wow what an amazing story. i had not idea about all this. it sounds amazing. i realy like to sound of the open world sand box mmo. and the first idea the 'temporary jedi class' with the bounty hunters going after jedi with high notoriety would have been relay cool. Great video !

[@PhilipZeplinDK]

The second I heard the old clicking sounds, man that brought me back. I never even played that much - the game kind of confused me. But the atmosphere was there, 100%, something that almost all modern MMOs lack. It didn't "feel like a game", so to speak, it "felt like a world". I really miss the old days of MMOs :(

[@tardwrangler]

Permadeath class? That sounds incredible!

[@clayxros576]

It would certainly feel in character for the time period and justify the righteous power they possessed. As long as the devs communicated that, it shouldn't have been an issue and folks could get used to it.

[@emperoroftheinternet1448]

What it resulted in was people with the Jedi class camping next to houses and hiding inside them so nobody could actually kill them without cheating or exploiting to counter their cheating or exploiting.

[@alexgulewich9670]

@@emperoroftheinternet1448 If they wanna waste time with their OP character in a house, then that's fine, they'd just have great difficulty with accumulating power. But then again, when you get to a stage where your OP than why hide? Why not go for world conquest?

[@Stormgeald]

What happened was you got 3 deaths and then done and those awesome internet connections of the early 2000s, disconnect womp rat kills you, come back dead... there is one death!

[@alexgulewich9670]

@@Stormgeald lol. that sucks, but that's better than everybody becoming a Jedi.

[@stetsonsouder9512]

as an EverQuest 1 and 2 player, this really speaks to me. The fact that unlocking the Jedi has always been in the game but nobody knew how to unlock it is exactly how EQ2 was when everyone was trying to figure out how to unlock Prismatic weapons. Nobody knew exactly how to get it and even when finally got them they were accused of getting dev help

[@goshnodo]

Amazing good video. I played the game since Beta and I remember everything you're talking about. Such great memories, the game was years ahead of itself.

[@Skreezilla]

Ah i remember the early days with Jedi, and i remember one of the first Jedi's pulled out a Light saber in Mos Espa and then about 50 bounty hunters fucked him up. SWG was well ahead of it's time, and it was one of the best mmo's for Role play ever MERPC what a community, We had bars running 24/7 with real staff, Empire and Rebellion squadrons about 30 strong each. A fully staffed hospital, stores, police, drug empire. it was some of the best years. i tested this game, i played this game, i logged in on the last day and said goodbye. No MMO has come close to the freedom in that game

[@varidian694]

Skreezilla I hate you because I never got to play it 😆

[@stoneosborne9247]

RIP MINDFIRE LANCE

[@pubcle]

Imperial bounty hunter is the best character class.

[@rcmunro22]

Amen. I remember. I was a Bounty Hunter who simply farmed the rarest alien Skins in the Galaxy & ran a few Mining Operations. Had a nice home, plenty of Achievements, fun really. Then Jedi came in Hordes out of no where.

[@pubcle]

@@rcmunro22 just a simple man trying to make his way in the universe?

[@GenkiGanbare]

That initial idea for how to implement jedi is so fascinating, sounds like so much fun, and best of all, it's extremely accurate to the lore of force-sensitive people living during the Galactic Civil War. It would have spawned an endurance race to see how long someone can go as a jedi; how long they could stay alive, how deep into the profession tree they could get, how much of a body count they could rack up before getting cut down. It would be like Grand Theft Auto.

[@nilix6993]

it would also be an interesting social experiment, think about this: a Jedi appears, and sees some struggling newer players, takes them under their wing and teaches them more about the game citing they rolled a non-combat class and dont fight so they dont draw attention to themselves, they stay like this, leveling the group and working with them until the inevitable happens, someone massively better comes to cause trouble. what follows is a repeat of the usual secret jedi reveal and word spreads, other experienced players learn there's a jedi working with a small group of players, the jedi wont leave those players cause they cant protect themselves from far stronger opponents, so now much like a new hope they try to help them hide from both Jedi Hunters and other opportunistic groups

[@Nobody-dc8dp]

Thank you for this video. Helped me let go of the wonder of what it would of been like to play or what I didn't really miss out on.

[@Aquamelli]

SWG was the first MMO I ever played... I quit at the height of the Holocron grind (so time consuming), so I never experienced CU, but you can tell the writing was on the wall. Great video... thanks for the memories

[@clairemadeinheaven]

I had the old man visit me, and that's how my Twi'lek over on Chilastra character got Jedi

[@starnick3979]

Chilastra was the best server

[@RetrocadePodcast]

I was on Chilastra in 2004, I had friends on Bloodfin

[@billharvey9959]

Chilli for life

[@bleedzacid]

Chilastra #1 smuggler here!

[@Lancellor]

No way, I was Chilastra too!

[@EnigmaticPenguin]

Without watching the video yet, I already agree with your thesis point based on the title. ~ Day 1 until final shutdown veteran.

[@michaeld8280]

Jedi really was such a mixed bag.

[@geodad2642]

What server?

[@EnigmaticPenguin]

Starsider

[@daininsurance]

sadly I was to young to really do anything in SWG but i've got to play EMU and I love it!

[@captscarlet2654]

Bria for me. I was co-mayor of a city on Talus. SWG's combat was a miss for me, but the social side of it...its like Die-cast construction...a lost art.

[@dbolzle]

Played from launch until right after Jedi were discovered. Was SO fun at the start, huge world to explore with your friends and you really could customize your experience based on how you played and not based on some specific meta. Was so sad when the devs killed this game.

[@hemangchauhan2864]

Love your style Like a mix of old YT, RLM and my favorite YTer MrBTongue

[@atomicgamers376]

you could be a youtuber, that smuggled on the side

[@emjaythegreat22]

I'm a smuggler and I youtube on the side!

[@TeahM]

After months of grinding every profession I only had less then two hours remaining to finish out my final profession for Jedi ( I did all of them) Tailoring was the last one. Then the servers went down for the update. And they changed the system again lol... Yah I remember that lol

[@Krystalmyth]

Life is cruel. Did you get to become a poserpopstar eventually??

[@TeahM]

@@Krystalmyth hehe I did not. I couldn't make myself create one NGE lol.

[@TheEsdaniel]

F

[@Outerparadox]

God I love this. The humor and learning the history of this star wars mmo is entertaining.

[@zacharylewis417]

Man I remember as a kid playing SWG with my dad. I was 10 at the time. Was still an awesome game to play. My dad was a bounty hunter and of course I had to be a jedi. Good times. We played the EMU off and on to bring back the memories. Just not the same without the massive community.

[@t.castro4493]

There's SWG Legends, it has 1000-2000 players online, maybe check it out

[@peterbanderas8184]

I still have my collector's edition. *sigh*

[@BB-wj8dv]

I still have a sealed collector's edition.

[@LimerickWarrior1]

Same , with the crappy Glasses..........

[@Manae.L]

At least you have that pewter figure! Surely that was worth it.

[@SantaClaus-kk8zr]

I mean, You could do one of the emulators. I believe some of them haven't updated to NGE.

[@TechTehScience]

Not really enough population.

[@HeckaLives]

Man what a time it was when this game was release. Disney wasn't financially solvent, George Lucas was still medicated, and WoW wasn't a tired formula yet. My oh my, what a time it was.

[@PhilipZeplinDK]

It bums me the fuck out to see where MMOs ended up going :( What we have these days, is not at all what I wanted back then, nor what I want now. MMOs, at least for me, were all about immersion. You felt like you lived that world. People chose random shit as professions that they just liked, because the main point was just "living" in it. Even WoW felt like that back in the day - it was much more "tough" than it became in later expansions. It felt like a world where you were just a tiny person living in it, in a way. There was heavy lore, and quests didn't feel like Michael Bay movies. Lord of the Rings managed to get that feeling as well (but since I like PvP, I didn't stay long there). Age of Conan got close, but had massive content issues when it originally released. Just... such a bummer where it all ended up going :(

[@Solaxe]

the internet "ruined" mmos. Back then everything was slower and fresh. Also many players grew up and don't have time to "immerse" themselves

[@pineapplepizza4016]

Man, SWG was hardcore, especially in the Pre-CU days. MMOs today are child's play in comparison.

[@munithekid3496]

Man i was looking for this video for the whole day, glad i found it

[@noneyabuisness5766]

This game was really amazing, I remember trying to incubate the ultimate rancor pet! And the Cantinas were very social.

[@Ogata123]

I find myself missing this game in our current black desert of MMOs

[@sarblader]

It's completely playable

[@bleedzacid]

Damn they need to make SWG 2 I will never forget day one learning languages.

[@rixille]

Nah, Disney will murder the hell out of it.

[@ufukcangencoglu2279]

@@rixille Honestly,I've never actually seen Disney "ruin" something. (Sure things like The Last Jedi are shitty but my argument still stands.) Also they would never actually make a new Project unless they are relatively sure that they can make a decent amount of profit. And I doubt a "SWG 2" would generate enough profits to be made.

[@plantthug9253]

@@ufukcangencoglu2279 they ruined club penguin

[@ValdarVentureCo]

I was on Starsider server. I loved this game so much. NGE wasn't asked for or wanted. No one wanted everyone to have a jedi like they changed it. This video hits the nail on the head. I still play on the SWG Emu server once in awhile.

[@Tall_Order]

Years ago SWGEmu used to have a thriving community but they all split off into multiple smaller servers which kinda kills it for me. If they all got their butts onto the same server maybe we could relive the past again.

[@PogUk111]

To this day, it still upsets me :(

[@augie683]

You didnt even mention the rollout of the NGE. How the Obi Wan expansion came out and pre-orders had 2 weeks of early access. only to announce right after the expansion was sold that the NGE was coming. All that extra money we spent only to have the game fundamentally change. As a crafter that killed everything i worked for since release.

[@DriftNick]

I got a refund on the Obi Wan xpac when they announced the NGE, so did pretty much everybody I knew.

[@Mr1FTW]

Truly a trip down memory lane. I agree on many of the things mentioned - especially the thing about the community and when it became "common knowledge" on how to become a jedi. I never pursued the path of force sensitive - I was quite happy to be my guilds Master Doctor/Field medic and achiving as high stats on my healing-buffs as possible (and looking for resources to be able to do it). But... as stated in the movie - this truly broke our guild and our town once the inflation of force-sensitives players went up... and the system crumbled. One of the things was that it WAS hard to achieve things... You had to do boring stuff to get greater prices... Like it was a struggle to a) learn and get a mount. Oh, how long we had to run sometimes - in groups - to get where we wanted to go. Think there was a tuskan fort that my guild often raided... took half an hour to run there... until some started to get mounts... and b) later even speeders. But eventually c) everyone got the skill and a transport from the start. And more and more fast-travel ports started to arrive. But that first mount... a dewback I caught and named "Sascha" - was epic... once it had grown big enough to ride on that is. ;) Eventually - my guild actually placed our town not far from that Tuskan fort... and I had my medical facility there. (oh the coding to get the coloration on the "sign"). There were some truly epic guild-play - and everyone helped if asked for. But eventually... it started to crumble just about when Wookies started to be playable. Eventually, many (including myself) started playing the WoW betas... and left. But I´ve actually played it not long ago - on a server that had a backup-copy of the original server... and for some reason - my signs from my medical-facility is still there... but not the structures. As stated - best MMO times ever - will probably not see something like it again. And even if some game was launched with it - I think that the "art of trolling" and just ruining for other players are to much part of MMO today - so not sure I would go back anyway. So, yep - those were the days. ;)

[@orangekitty377]

Great nostalgia here. SWG was one of my favourite games growing up, countless hours with friends and my guild grinding loot doing the theme parks. And the starship assaults. Cest la vie

[@S54VR6]

Pre CU galaxies was what got me into the Star Wars lore. Becoming force sensitive and going through the long path to become a Jedi was so epic.

[@neoduke007]

I miss my home from original SWG :( I didn't even make it, I sucked at the interior crafting and such, so someone in the community made my house for me. He asked what I liked and I said I liked force crystals and such so he decorated the wall with crystals spelling out my character name haha. But yeah SWG is a sad boat of lost potential. Sony just really is bad at making MMO's and seeing it through.

[@tynao2029]

SCEA just sucks at everything :-)

[@neoduke007]

@@tynao2029 can't argue with that, don't think they have a single successful game they have released :P

[@tynao2029]

@@neoduke007 not only that, but SCEA Sony Computer Entertainment America also has the worst servers and support, and yes worst games and graphics. Me and my friends used to ROFL at how bad the graphics were in 989 Studios games. But even now I remember the whole period (millenial period 1998-2002) with great nostalgia and joy

[@und3ni3d]

They are actually great at making wonderfull MMO's but they are atleast as profound in destroying them also :D

[@CrialCrial]

I loved decorating my homes and ships in this game.

[@xpacerx]

Great video! I mastered 29 professions before I found what I needed to become a jedi and by that time I was done with the game. Coincidentally around thatsame time I got in the WoW closed beta from a friend. After I started playing the WoW beta I handed my SWG account to a friend and never looked back.

[@5starview]

I don't like star wars and have never played this game but over the last 2 years i have came back to this video over 10 times because of how funny it is.

[@HibHab69]

Say what you will about TOR, it handled Jedi RIGHT! The lore reason why there were so many, "Uh, it's the great Jedi vs. Sith war, so there are a lot of Siths and Jedis around." The lore reason people with blasters could easily kill them, "Uh, they didn't have as much quality control in this time unlike in the movies, they just needed more Jedi/Sith for the war!"

[@BMAD_Christoph27]

@@kaitanaroyr Sith were a race long before either kotor, swtor or swg ever came out.

[@theheartsstory]

I agree it chose a much more appropriate time period for having jedi and sith. Other than that though the game is pretty boring to me. It's far too boxed in, and the space portions are extremely disappointing.

[@Cringekeen]

@@kaitanaroyr Being smug and stupid is a bad combo

[@Christian-rn1ur]

@@theheartsstory It's a fun game in short bursts. I could usually just about manage to finish a class story before getting bored of it, never made it much past level 50 content really.

[@foxmulder8955]

The blaster classes in Swtor represent elite and experienced killers, not the average soldier. those guys are the trash mobs you kill by millions while grinding xp.

[@pineapplepizza4016]

I was thinking how Disney Star Wars is like the NGE for me. Unfortunately, very few people get my reference now.

[@SpammerRapist]

I think most will. The reference is pretty obvious if you have watched the video.

[@rixille]

Oh I certainly get it. Disney can go to hell.

[@justinblackwood4241]

I get your reference. The new movies leave a lot to be desired. They're clearly watered down, marketed for the widest audience.

[@ufukcangencoglu2279]

@@justinblackwood4241 And somehow marketing to be a wider audience is supposed to be bad? (Sure you can say,like,dislike whatever you want but still be realistic at least)

[@Kalianos88]

I remember a friend of mine talking about this game. He prided on being the first person who could make the slave leia outfit for people. Think he was also a dancer.

[@LostHeadStudios]

But did he smuggle on the side?

[@journeymandemonslayer7812]

I agree with this video 100% It was amazing at the beginning when force sensative slots were only unlocked for certain people. When people did use their force abilities they would be tagged and people could kill them.