Star Wars Galaxies has long been a subject of scorn in the MMO world.  It promised a lot from the initial previews, but they never seemed to get the balance right, and subsequently have been continually tweaking the game, sometimes quite drastically to the cause of much controversy in the player base.

I’ve dipped in and out of the game over the last couple of years, although previously never played it for more than a day or two.  First time I played, I kept getting slaughtered by either overly-high level monsters, or over-zealous 14 year olds.

The second time I played was a year or so later.  The intro to the game had been substantially refined to introduce you to the game world more appropriately, however by starting everyone in Mos Eisley I found the lag in the game unbearable.

However, over Christmas I decided to give the game another try.  This was my first time playing since their most major revamp of the game (which caused a lot of controversy due to them radically changing the classes for characters).   Of course, I couldn’t resist going a Jedi.

Well, despite the flack the game gets, I’m loving it.   I’m still very much a casual MMO player, dipping in now and then.  I tend to solo a lot, but its good fun.  My Jedi is now level 47 or so, and has a selection of ships at his disposal, and a house on Tatooine for my stuff.

One change I really loved, was moving the spaceship expansion (Jump to Lightspeed) into the main game.  You get a basic fighter easily, and can use it to get from planet to planet without having to pay for flights.   A nice tool for those that like sight-seeing.   Even better, due to my having had an account for a couple of years, I was awarded a Sorosuub Personal Yacht.  A non-combat craft, that you can use to travel around, but also as a handy role-playing tool.   You and your friends can all travel in the craft, which gives you a nice instanced area for a quiet natter, or arguing over who’s going to drive.

If nothing else, its made me appreciate that the full multiplayer ships from later in the game, which can have one player flying, while others man gun turrets, must be a lot of fun.

Here’s some videos from in game.  There’s a  couple of clips showcasing the Sorosuub Yacht and my Tatooine house (plus a glimpse at using a Swoop Bike to get around), and a shot of my Jedi in combat versus a giant spider (you can’t get much more Sci-Fi than that )