MMO Design - Star Wars Galaxies

Star Wars Galaxies(SWG) is an MMORPG that is located in the Star Wars universe. It was developed by Sony Online Entertainment(SOE) and released in June 2003. SWG promised players and fans alike a world true to the title. Without centering it around this design buyers had no reason to trust the developer except for their past credentials. Upon release SOE lived up to its word and had a successful release. The worlds reflected their descriptions in books and movies. The races spoke in their own languages, which you only understood if you either learned through skills or were the race yourself. The player could also run into characters from the Star Wars canon like Han Solo and Darth Vader. It looked like Star Wars, it sounded like it, and it felt like it. Their world and character design were flawless, which can be tough when expectations are so high. They also designed their profession system realistically. As one would assume, becoming a master Jedi or Bounty Hunter isn't easy. Players would progress through tiers in each basic profession until they reached this higher level. They would also determine this by the weapon they used in battle; gaining skill as they fought with it. What makes their design so unique and grand is the depth. There were literally over 50 professions one could become in SWG. Usually in MMOs players are limited to no more than 10, but their design allowed players to not only learn one of these professions, but 2 to 3 at a time. Their design also allowed the player to drop a profession to learn a new one whenever they wanted. They gave the player the freedom to become what they want, when they wanted. The Jedi also elicited a unique design to learn as well. A player would progress through a series of quests that would span at least 3 months; because of how they designed each major event to happen. While many people may call this broken; it stays true to their design philosophy. They didn't want a Jedi to be easy to get, so they designed it in a fair but difficult way to achieve. Yet again they stayed true to the canon by being realistic within their world. SWG also allowed a level of freedom and customization that most gamers weren't used to. Their design for action outside combat and quests consisted of being able to make a house, city, and even a base for your guild. They allowed the player to place their house, which had many sizes and layouts, almost anywhere on the map they wanted. Cities and bases could be upgraded and even rated by other guilds, another design element to promote community interaction. Inside these places players could create a world of their own, or just flat out store items; the choice was theirs. An example of another great design that allowed the player to really feel like they were in the Star Wars universe.

SOE wasn't perfect, though, and made what made be the biggest mistake in the MMO industry. In 2005 they decided to do a complete 180 on their game design, though not aesthetically. Their first mistake came with the release of the Combat Upgrade(CU) in April 2005. Instead of sticking with the design to keep a high level of depth and complexity of the game, they made it simpler. Combat was pushed down to the level of other MMOs and required much less micromanagement. As a result of this choice, cancellations temporarily rose. The next and worst example of a redesign, some would say in video game history, came with the New Game Enhancement(NGE) in November 2005. Not only was there a breakdown in the design department, HR got ripped to shreds as well. A couple of days before the NGE was released an expansion called "Trials of Obi-Wan" was released, opening up a brand new planet and added content all around. Players had 2 days to enjoy this before the game was completely changed, and with only 24 hours warning. The NGE saw the deep complexity of the profession system completely scrapped and the battle system turned into a button mashing fight. The number of professions dropped to 9 and the player only allowed another sub-profession within that one. A player could choose to be a jedi, bounty hunter, or officer from the beginning, though not masters. Gone were the meaningful Jedi quests and instead came the cookie-cutter story line everyone followed. As expected subscriptions eventually plummeted and SOE heard about it. There has never been such a drastic change in game design since, at least not that the public has seen. All around the board they had designed a great MMO with even greater potential in the future, but certain choices turned that around and sent it to the ground in a smoldering heap. This is the worst example of a redesign in the MMO industry, and hopefully everyone learned from a lesson.