Ex-Star Wars Galaxy Designer Talks NGE

[Istik]

So we were given the directive to make Galaxies better.

Not just make Galaxies better, but make it succesful. Not the 200k subs it had, but really succesful. The idea was that we had the most valuable IP in the entire world, and we fucked it up to the point of
having 200k subs.

So, when the NGE push came along, we were asked to reimagine the game.

Not just small changes, but rebuild it.

And it was needed. When we were asked, we were bleeding subscribers.

If I remember correctly, somewhere around 10k a month. LOSING 10,000
subs a month.

Note - We didn’t notify anyone about the change until 2 weeks before launch because until 2 weeks before launch we hadn’t made a decision. You basically found out when we found out.

It was still a huge fuckup.

Epoch grade fuckup.

I think it lost a lot of the Raphy goodness that makes MMOs work, and that was a profound loss.

That was a huge mistake.

But I think the control scheme changes were dead on.

The point, the fuckup, the mistake that we made, was answering an
unasked question.

“Can you change an MMO drastically after it launches?”

Categorically, NO.

If we were to do it again, and wanted to make those types of changes,
you have to make a new game.

Relaunch with a new title.

Or shut down Galaxies and relaunch for real.

You cannot change it at runtime.

Article and various links
Original Blog

[gelfling]

Frank and to the point. Now where's that /rollback we need?

[Iakimo]

Here.

(Latest restored features: "cell movement," which allows interior spaces like the insides of houses and caves to work. First fruits: Ft. Tusken, the Squill Cave, and the Tusken Bunker!)