There's a strange buzz coming from Galaxies not so far away as the entire Star Wars Galaxies online community is in turmoil regarding the effect that a game update, by Sony Online Entertainment (SOE), will have on gameplay. May 5th will now not only be known as the day of the U.K. election but as the day the combat upgrade (CU) was unleashed on Star Wars Galaxies.
Gamers involved in the Star Wars Galaxies MMO game are keeping their fingers firmly pointed at SOE claiming that the company has rushed the upgrade and that it will turn their favorite game into a cheap Everquest and World of Warcraft knock-off.
The proposed combat upgrade, known as CU to gamers, will not only address combat issues but will serve as a general overhaul for the game which, players are the first to admit, does have a long list of issues. According to long time players of the game the its main shortcomings are:
- Professions are unbalanced in comparison
- Most armor types is useless due to Composite being too overpowered
- The game suffers from technical difficulties, which Sony has ignored for far too long. - Heavy lag, client crashes, lock-ups and lack of support for GeForce cards.
The proposed upgrade will address those issues but gamers claim that CU will not only fail to resolve them but may destroy their ability to enjoy their favorite pass-time. There have also been doubts expressed regarding the cooperation between SOE and LucasArts on the forthcoming update.
Many players that have had a taste of the upgrade, through testing, have already cancelled their accounts while a more organized response, has been the creation of an online petition which has already garnered over 16,000 signatures. The people organizing the petition have also included the full list of changes that CU will bring about.
If you are a SWG gamer that was not aware of the upgrade and want to find out more you can do so by visiting the online petition.
There are some people who claim that the changes will eventually benefit the game and that it would be hard to please everyone that does play the game; so the petition could become a vital gauge of gamer reaction.
SOE has yet to react to the insistent requests for a stay of execution of the upgrade and since May 5th is very close it will be interesting to see if the company will react and try to address gamer concerns.