Star Wars Galaxies was one of the first massively multiplayer online experiences for fans and is still fondly reminisced about to this day, but the thing that may have led to its downfall was ironically one of the things that made the setting stand out since perfecting the summer blockbuster in the late 1970s – the Jedi.
A new retrospective video from /noclip, a YouTube channel that supports crowdfunded video essays on video games, delves into the rise and fall of LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment’s Star Wars Galaxies, featuring interviews with lead designer Raph Koster, who unexpectedly took over development of the MMO with a team to redevelop an existing prototype. Despite many ups and downs, Koster and team managed to get the game running and developed a base game (later given the subtitle of An Empire Divided) and three expansions (Jump to Lightspeed, Rage of the Wookiees, and Trials of Obi-Wan).
One of the key problems with the game was that its time period was set in stone: the game’s story would be set entirely between the events of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, which came with its positives, like familiar iconography, and negatives such as the fact it meant that players would not have story reasons to actively be able to play as a Jedi from the outset. The team then created an inventive solution to make it possible to play as a Jedi, but it would be exceedingly difficult for players to unlock the right path — by exploring all of the game’s career pathways and getting various skills — as a trade-off for the Jedi class having special advantages over all others. However, the challenge of implementing this system ultimately led to a series of events that culminated in the game’s long-term downfall.
You can watch the full documentary below:
Star Wars Galaxies has been offline since the closure of the game’s official servers in 2011, though fan servers running the game still exist. Meanwhile, Star Wars: The Old Republic serves as a spiritual successor to both Galaxies and the Knights of the Old Republic games and is still actively being supported.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.