Galaxies set to launch this month

[Chryse]

File this in the "Gee, What's the Rush?" category:
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LucasArts reveals that its Star Wars online RPG will ship on June 26.

Since LucasArts delayed Star Wars Galaxies in March, the publisher hasn't publicly discussed a release schedule for the game. The company has today revealed that the game is set to launch sooner than anyone might have expected--next week.

Galaxies' pricing and subscription plans were also announced today, and the game's standard monthly fee will start a notch higher than what's charged for other online games. The month-to-month fee is $14.99, and there are three longer-term subscription plans that reduce this base rate: the three-month plan is $14 per month, the six-month plan is $13 per month, and the 12-month plan is $12 per month.

"The current subscription plan for Star Wars Galaxies is reflective of the game's high quality and competitive with the current marketplace," said Simon Jeffery, president of LucasArts. "No matter which subscription option players choose, they'll be able to look forward to a constant stream of dynamic content and features, first-rate customer service, and much, much more."

Star Wars Galaxies has a suggested retail price of $49.95, which includes a 30-day subscription. LucasArts will also release a $79.95 special collector's edition that comes with a book of game-related art, in-game wearable items for character customization, a pewter figurine, a lapel pin and patch, and a signed manual. For more details on Star Wars Galaxies, check out our previous coverage of the game.

By Sam Parker, GameSpot

[Prowler]

Very Interesting.

[Trol]

Any word on if SOE is going to add Galaxies to their MMO package deal?

[TekDragon]

Ill definately be getting it. That will be a game that will actually be WORTH the monthly fee. The content I see going into that game is unbelievable. Just hope they put up some good euro servers be4 i get shipped out.

[TekDragon]

Originally posted by Trol
Any word on if SOE is going to add Galaxies to their MMO package deal?

They said at the first announcment of the package deal that SWG will not be included in it. They made some BS excuse about different developers/marketers. Fact is they know EVERYONE is going to want to play SWG and they dont need to package the subscription up to attract people. I concur. PS was a poorly developed game (considering its potential) and it needs all the help it can get. SWG does not.

[EineBeBoP]

Originally posted by TekDragon
Ill definately be getting it. That will be a game that will actually be WORTH the monthly fee. The content I see going into that game is unbelievable. Just hope they put up some good euro servers be4 i get shipped out.

**COUGH** im in beta and it sucks (IMHO) **cough**

**Cough** /me thinks PS is MUCH more worth the fee **cough**

[Prowler]

Originally posted by EineBeBoP
**COUGH** im in beta and it sucks (IMHO) **cough**

**Cough** /me thinks PS is MUCH more worth the fee **cough**

need a cough drop bro?

[EineBeBoP]

hehe **clears throat**

Nah, Im good

[TekDragon]

Your welcome to your opinion.

I played and loved UO (before the "new" team took over). The old UO team, including Designer Dragon, is part of the team working on SWG. They actually working hard to make it so that the economy is ran and controlled by players. Furthermore, the old UO team has the experience to do it.

Skill based system rocks! Im sure everyone who played EQ would hate SWG.

In EQ the way the logic works is this: someone who has used a sword for their entire existance and is level 10 will get their ass HANDED to them by someone who has NEVER used a sword but who is level 50. In my mind it makes 0 sence.

In SWG they doing skill based system. If you use a blaster, your blaster skill increases. If you dodge a shot, your dodge skill increases. If you heal somene with a med kit, your med skill increases. A charachter who has played for 3 years and never touched a blaster will be just as good at shooting a blaster as a charachter who has played for 3 days and never touched a blaster.

Player run economy + huge world + skill based system + large scale faction system + vital PvP roles (covert vs overt) + player run towns + player located resources (not NPC provided) + futuristic theme = BEST MMORPG EVER!!

Added to that ive got 2 friends from college who got into beta pretty early and both of them agree the game has so much potential its frigging insane and the dev team is asking the right questions and implementing the right stuff to take full advantage of that potential.

Finally, unlike PS, SWG will actually be a game worthy of spending $50 on at release. It will actually have something more than an engine and a handful of content that looks like it took someone 3 days to think up *cough* ( base designs, 5 machine gun variants, 2 empire specific tanks, 0 empire specific planes) *cough*.

And instead of waiting an entire month and then saying "oooh, heres 2 gay ass pictures of 2 vehicles we'll EVENTUALLY be adding in but have no ETA for at the moment despite the fact that your payed $50 plus $13 in a few days", the SWG team already has HUGE plans for the upcoming weeks and months after release inlcuding craftable vehicles, politician skill tree, smuggler skill tree, and other cool shit.

[Robot]

Originally posted by TekDragon
I am just like the poor, dilusioned soul that Robot was 2 months ago.

[TekDragon]

[xuur]

I know "someone" in the SWG beta and in "that persons" opinion, it doesnt suck. while hardly finished, its got a few nice features there that 1) surely arent for everyone but 2) break the oh so boring traditional MMORPG lines set by the likes of EQ (et al).

graphically intense (if you've the horsepower for it) and vastly larger than you can easily imagine (let alone run across quickly), even if you've played games like EQ and even the multi continent PS.

the interface and such are pretty different but allows total and complete customization to suit yourself and become intuitive pretty quickly once you get set the way you like. (that last part being the operative)

beyond that, like in most MMORPG's, it will be what you make it.
Unlike some others however, theres no "one focus" in there. that being the case, more than a few feel like "their end of the game is suffering due to trying to supply something that appeals to everyone". this may in fact be true. some things are missing, some things are wanting, some things are just..."not for me".

so...you will hear alot in the coming days that "it sux" "it rox" "its still beta" "its done enough, lets play"...blah blah blah. I'd take any one part of it with a grain of salt...a small one at that.

if you keep in mind that everyone has/had different expectations and desires for that kind of game..not to mention what they expect from something labeled 'Star Wars', you might just find something in SWG that appeals to you, even if alot of the other parts dont.

or so "that beta person" tells me

peace

[Robot]

Originally posted by xuur

or so "that beta person" tells me

knowing my track record for believing people from beta, i would say he is either a) a fanboy, or b) drunk

[Warborn]

Is the NDA for SWG still in effect? If it is, I seriously doubt the game is nearly as good as it is being hyped as. It is extremely unusual for a MMORPG to be in NDA till its release date, and unheard of for the NDA to exist till release if the game is actually good, because the good stories that will be heard from testers will improve sales. Disregarding all opinions and supposed Beta stories, the fact that SWG is still in NDA is enough reason for you to be concerned.

[Airlift]

The fact that it is based on character skill instead of player skill gives me enough reason to be concerned.