Menori

Today marks a landmark in the life of MMORPG’s. Today we see Sony Online Entertainment attempt to save a flagging online game. Today Publish 25 (yes it is that long since Publish 9 which I remember like it was yesterday) launches, despite it taking almost all day (servers don’t come back up in Europe until 11pm tonight).

I’ve tried NGE (or New Game Environment) on the SWG Test Center and althoug it is different - even more different than Everquest 2, I’m left thinking that it has been rushed. Indeed there has been much said about collision detection - or rather the lack of it. There has been much said about conversion of characters (and the fact that characters such as mine who didn’t unlock Jedi although came very close) and items and that some stuff simply ends up broken or useless. Clearly most has been said about Jedi being a starter profession and is no longer uber. My 80th level Pistoleer / Combat Medic will become somethng new. One of the 9 careers that you have to choose from all based upon well known Star Wars archetypes. I still don’t know what to become. It would be easy for me to become a Jedi, to then be ridiculed by the ‘Elder Jedi’ for not having ground out a billion professions pre-Publish 9 or ground out a trigagigazillion force sensitive experience in the Village. I’m not sure.

The best description I’ve read on the various forums I’ve scoured is that the NGE makes Star Wars Galaxies like Battlefront, but you get to own a house. Battlefront 2 is a cool game, all be it I keep getting killed too often on the PSP version, and for Galaxies to inherit some of its gameplay would surely be for the better. Perhaps.

Regardless of whether Publish 25 saves or destroys Galaxies the Chimaera server will never quite be the same. Gone are the Alium Panis’ and Qumala’s of this world, gone are the Isro’s and Omisk’s, gone are the days of being chased by paralopes when we were n00bs.

My subscription to SWG is now somewhat a by-product of my Everquest 2 ‘deluxe’ account. The NGE had better be good and EQ2 had better be exciting when I eventually get back to that. For drawing ever closer is the date when the Box arrives…. and with it…. Oblivion! [despite it being delayed a bit..]