Star Wars Galaxies MMO is back!

[TurboX]

Well, not really. Some may have heard about SWGEMU (SWG Emulator) before, may have even tried it years ago and walked quickly away because most people will agree - it was not yet ready to really be enjoyed by the masses back then... That was then, this is now - read on if you're interested. By the way, this thing is totally free (provided you have or can get a hold of the original client). I'm just posting the info because I'm always finding out that most people have never heard of this before. Sorry if the context of the entire post doesn't flow too well, I'm a fighter not a writer.

LucasArts struck out with the newer SWTOR MMO and meanwhile some years ago a group of very smart people came out with something called 'SWGEMU' which is basically a re-do of the original Star Wars Galaxies MMO. They are allowed to put up a server per agreement with Sony Online Ent. as long as the clients use official installs of the original game. Everyone refers to the original SWGEMU server as 'Basilisk' and it is still the busiest EMU server out there, typically 1200-1500 people on all the time.

Before this gets too complicated - the client has basically became 'abandonware' because SOE no longer sells it anywhere. You can only pick up the client by getting the used copies on ebay/amazon. About 90% of the players use torrented ISO images of the game - the only deal is they are not allowed to mention anything abot what client is being used while in-game or on either EMU's forums.

With regards to the original Star Wars Galaxies - most SWG veterans like the first phase of the game called "Pre-CU (combat upgrade), then CU came some years later and pissed a lot of people off - they ended up quitting, then Sony came out with 'NGE' New Game Experience which was when the axe fell - almost everyone quit. The only cool thing about NGE is they added so many cool buildings and vehicles, some cool new weapons.

Then a couple years ago, a developer aka "Heat" and his wife, Rose, started "Bloodfin EMU" which is a customized version of Basilisk. It's Pre-CU playability with NGE buildings, vehicles, and weapons added in. This guy is really onto something special and this version of the game has really taken off this year. It's not uncommon to see 900+ people in their server which can host about 3000 people at a time. Bloodfin is working on implementing JTL (Jump to Lightspeed) right now - when that gets implemented, space combat will make a return to SWG - Heat plans to also implement atmospheric entry and flight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCXxH56kNVE


Anyway, before I keeping blabbing forever about it, better to just post the links.

(1) Read this page first -
http://swgemu-bloodfin.wikia.com/wiki/Bloodfin_Launcher
*Also check out youtube (Also this guy has a big head but he explains the game very well talking with various screenshots):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtDxzKHY8Mc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFFHw7ayrkg

(2) Getting the game client. Once you've read the page this next part is really up to you. You can buy the CDs off Ebay/Amazon. It has been labeled as abandonware - and one can also get ISO image off torrent, just search "SWG An Empire Divided torrent" and the links will come right up. The SWGEMU and Bloodinf EMU servers still maintain that everyone should be using the CDs - I think just to keep things in the right light with Sony.

If you were lucky enough to originally buy it off Steam back when it was offered - then Steam will still let you download it:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=216601244&insideModal=1

SWGEMU and Bloodfin EMU will always be free. I don't have unlimited time anymore so I mainly just RP a bounty hunter character on Bloodfin EMU. Coronet, Correllia is the center of the universe on Bloodfin, would recommend starting there first to get the feet wet.

SWG is 100% sandbox, they have people in there that never do the combat grind - some may collect rare art, some just craft, some just survey and build buildings/cities, some dance for tips, the list goes on and on

I've also been looking at possibly getting this game:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/322300/
It's been said that it resembles the original SWG in almost every design mechanic and feature plus has today's graphics and an option to the combat to make it more like a FPS or traditional RPG style... Just a one time purchase off steam, no subscriptions - great reviews so far...

Hit me up if you do end up checking Bloodfin out. I'm not a heavy weight on there since I barely spend enough time on it, but find that it's a nice (and free) draw away from the normal shoot/kill/die/kill/die... the pace is good for my athritis too - the pain is strong in this one! ok, I'll stop now....


Cheers,

Turbo

[Doge]

Cool find man. I had no idea this even existed.

[TurboX]

It's fun stuff. Great way to meet chicks too