the virtual...

The Imperial Oasis, Tatooine (Starsider)

I'm a bad blogger. I'm sporadic and unreliable. This is because primarily I am either dog and bone on one topic and I don't feel the need to bore the world over and over with my ranting or I am busy doing other stuff and words have been tucked away for a rainy day.
Lately it's been gaming that's stolen my brain.

Star Wars Galaxies to be exact. SWG my first MMORPG and the one that has over and over again broken my gaming heart will be shut down on Dec 15th. What a shock ( not) although Lucas Arts ( who lie) stated they would not be shutting the game down ( rather they phrased it as we see no reason why the game cannot continue in parallel with TOR ) will be shutting the game down ( surprise surprise) 5 days BEFORE TOR launches for public gaming.

While not terribly surprised by this sneaky move I never the less think it's sad.  SWG is a one of a kind game that no matter what one thought did the unusual. It, for the most part, allowed players to do stuff without direction and storyline. There was true freedom in the game, a lot of leeway for being creative and a place for everyone to find a niche plus it was Star Wars.

I won't be playing TOR ( Knights of The Old Republic) For a few reasons.

1. Lucas Arts lies. They dick players around and after having my heart busted once ( NGE) I have sworn never again. I can find other places to spend my money.

2. TOR is set in the way back time period and really has nothing to do with the Star Wars I know and love. I'm not a lightsaber  waving jedi  fan-girl anyway and I don't give a rat's ass about this time period.

3. I might have considered trying it out ALONGSIDE SWG but since 5 days before TOR starts my beloved game, the one I have invested 7 years and god knows how much money into is being unceremoniously shut down to make way for the new kid on the block I won't touch TOR with a fifty foot pole.

It's pretty easy to make the conclusion that somewhere along the line Lucas Arts probably offered Bioware the deal of being the only star wars MMO with no direct competition and thus SWG has to go. It's old and not enough players play it. But really if the WOW fanbois hadn't tried to copy WOW into what was a pretty unique game maybe just maybe SWG would not be the problem child.

I remember asking Steve Sansweet at a convention a few years back( then Lucas arts fan liaison guy) about whether or not LA had plans for another MMO. His answer, aside from being rude, was that LA had NO plans for another MMO aside from SWG.

We knew in that moment that SWG was doomed. The rumour mill had already been pretty lively and his words cinched the deal. When anyone from Lucas Arts says something definitely won't happen..... you can pretty much guarantee it's a done deal. 

So my brain is currently lost in the virtual while I try to finish up projects in game, get all my amazing player houses decorated up and set up my toons ( we have 7 accts in total so 14 characters) so that when they pull the plug these virtual people have a place to live on.

Yes I am attached to this game, the virtual world it provides and the characters I've created. I will be sad when they pull the plug and I won't ever touch another Lucas Arts game again. In fact we've pretty much decided to shy away from giving George our money ( Unless it's an absolute must have )

Between Facebook's crappy changes and my game shutting down, it looks like I will have a LOT more free time on my hands. This is probably a good thing seeing as how I have a rather long list of real world projects I want to get done.