I was sorting through my old game boxes earlier today, you know..tossing out the ones I'll never play again due to boredom level or overall suck factor.  I ran across one though that made ma pause.  I stared at it for a moment and the memories came flooding back.  Good memories, fun times shared with online friends.  Challenges that I faced alone or with others in this particular MMO.  A smile began to cross my face but then was suddenly halted as I began to inevitably think of what broke my love affair with this game.  The things that were done to that game had shown an utter lack of understanding of the community and their likes and dislikes. I had never nor have I ever since seen such a mass migration of players from an MMO.  If you were a victim of this injustice then you likely know exactly the name of the game I am referring to by now but I'll not pronounce the name of it just yet.

This flashback to the game really got me wondering about these game companies.  We all know that they are all in this market to make money obviously, why else be in business if not for money.  We get that so moving on at this point.  The baffling part is that if the intent is to make money and dare I say continue making money, one would think that a company that is so heavily dependent upon the ongoing satisfaction levels of their customers to keep them paying a monthly fee would actually put more effort into market research to truly understand their customers. One would expect this for certain, but it has been painfully demonstrated by at least one of these gaming companies to not always be the case.

All of us MMO players expect our beloved MMOs to be in a constant state of flux really so change is not a problem.  But the total gutting of a game and an introduction of a new game mechanics system is quite a bit for the average consumer to tolerate.  But to do this type of blunder twice in a row? How much change can be done to a game before it is no longer the same game?  Not to mention how many of your friends and allies can you watch depart from a game before you end up saddened and walk out yourself?  I sincerely hope that not only this particular company but others have learned from their mistake.

I stare at my game box once more and I wonder if it will ever be what it once was?  Will it ever recapture the fun and excitement that made it such a great game in the past? I ended up placing that box back on the shelf halfheartedly, hoping for things to change one day and drag me back into this game perhaps?  Or simply being too nostalgic and dreaming of what can never be.. who knows.

Well fellow victims of the Various "improvements" that were shoved down our throats by SOE, the game I so sadly speak of is Star Wars Galaxies.  A salute to all of those that recall what Star Wars Galaxies was all about and an apology to any of those I offended with the Heel of my TKM's Boot.  :)

A salute to better times in a galaxy far far away.