Should I get back in SWG?

I quit about a year ago, due to RL workload and a general sense of that my
character had no more goals (Master Architect), and millions of credits in
the bank. I also previously mastered Medic, Doctor, Artisan, and Merchant on
the Sunrunner server. I created a new character and tried BH, but too much
xp grinding for me. That and it was getting really difficult to get
apprentice points for training people. Hanging out at spaceports and
cantinas at Theed and Coronet didn't help. So my wookiee architect Snorvo
gave away all of his possessions and credits (including /tipping 250,000
credits to a new player - he cried on the spot he was so thankful! lol) and
cancelled my SOE account.

JTL didn't make me jump back in, although I was intrigued at the thought of
building and selling starships. But the add-on only received so-so reviews,
and Rome: Total War was holding my attention for the time being. I don't
know much about Rage of the Wookiees.

Yes, Episode III has rekindled my interest in SWG and getting back into the
game. I do have a few questions and appreciate and feedback and opinions
from the SWG community:

1. Is the game better or worse than it was in June 2004? I hear a lot of
complaints about the so-called Combat Upgrade, but combat was never a big
part of the game for me. Unless I had to kill some critters/mobs near one
of my harvesters or factories - usually nothing my trusty Bowcaster couldn't
handle, or I could avoid the fight by zooming by on my Swoop.

2. Does JTL add a lot to your gaming experience? Is it worth getting? Can
you only use the ships to fight, or can you use it for a happy jaunt from
Naboo to Tatooine?

3. Same as question 2 for Rage of the Wookiees.

4. Grinding was a big negative in the game for me. Nothing killed my
desire to be a BH faster than realizing I would have to camp non-stop for a
week straight just to get the requisite xp. Not fun to log on and have to
camp for a couple of hours. Have the developers increased or decreased the
typical grind one has to go through?

5. (Sunrunner especially) How have Player Cities developed? I lived in
Virtutis Civitas on Naboo, run by the good folks of AOD. Very cool place,
very well run, loved to contribute gardens to the city to make it prettier,
add to the experience. Also made a bunch of paintings and plants for
everyone's houses. Loved the big ol' elaborate rebel base too.

6. (Sunrunner especially) Any further developments with Rebel v. Empire
PvP? Most of the PvP quests were too dangerous for my architect. Has SOE
fleshed this out with additional "theme parks," Vader strolling into
Coronet, etc., anything like that?

7. (Sunrunner especially) The hot spots were the Theed cantina and Coronet
spaceport. (Theed spaceport and Mos Espa Spaceport to a lesser extent.) Can
you still go to these spots and find the usual 30-40 players just chatting
and doing things?

8. One of the other negatives for me was I recalled that during one Publish
harvester and factory maintenance (and/or energy requirements) doubled,
which many thought was a bug. This wasn't corrected by the time of my
departure from the game, though. Any updates?

9. Does resource quality still matter? It was kind of neat to get a batch
of 1000 OQ resource, which my doctor could make into killer buff packs.
Resource quality wasn't that pivotal to the architect, though - a wall's a
wall, and a guild's a guild. Quantity was the name of the game for the
architect.

Any thoughts or insights any of you may have would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Snorvo

"The Devil You Know" <msboo@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:zVbme.2924$MI4.1904@newsread2.news.pas.earthl ink.net...
>I quit about a year ago, due to RL workload and a general sense of that my
> character had no more goals (Master Architect), and millions of credits in
> the bank. I also previously mastered Medic, Doctor, Artisan, and Merchant
> on
> the Sunrunner server. I created a new character and tried BH, but too much
> xp grinding for me. That and it was getting really difficult to get
> apprentice points for training people. Hanging out at spaceports and
> cantinas at Theed and Coronet didn't help. So my wookiee architect Snorvo
> gave away all of his possessions and credits (including /tipping 250,000
> credits to a new player - he cried on the spot he was so thankful! lol)
> and
> cancelled my SOE account.
>
> JTL didn't make me jump back in, although I was intrigued at the thought
> of
> building and selling starships. But the add-on only received so-so
> reviews,
> and Rome: Total War was holding my attention for the time being. I don't
> know much about Rage of the Wookiees.
>
> Yes, Episode III has rekindled my interest in SWG and getting back into
> the
> game. I do have a few questions and appreciate and feedback and opinions
> from the SWG community:
>
> 1. Is the game better or worse than it was in June 2004? I hear a lot of
> complaints about the so-called Combat Upgrade, but combat was never a big
> part of the game for me. Unless I had to kill some critters/mobs near one
> of my harvesters or factories - usually nothing my trusty Bowcaster
> couldn't
> handle, or I could avoid the fight by zooming by on my Swoop.

If you have no combat skills, you can't wear amour or use a weapon and will
get killed by every thing

> 2. Does JTL add a lot to your gaming experience? Is it worth getting?
> Can
> you only use the ships to fight, or can you use it for a happy jaunt from
> Naboo to Tatooine?

JTL is good for planet hoping (from any Planet to any Planet)

> 3. Same as question 2 for Rage of the Wookiees.

Haven't played on this planet at all, but its good from Jedi cos BH driods
cant track you on this planet

> 4. Grinding was a big negative in the game for me. Nothing killed my
> desire to be a BH faster than realizing I would have to camp non-stop for
> a
> week straight just to get the requisite xp. Not fun to log on and have to
> camp for a couple of hours. Have the developers increased or decreased
> the
> typical grind one has to go through?

The grind is still there, but it has changed. Rather than getting a
percenage of the the xp depending on how much damage you do, you get all the
xp for your level with one hit. (if you are lvl 80 and hit a lvl 80 bol one
you get 5-6k of weapon xp)

> 5. (Sunrunner especially) How have Player Cities developed? I lived in
> Virtutis Civitas on Naboo, run by the good folks of AOD. Very cool
> place,
> very well run, loved to contribute gardens to the city to make it
> prettier,
> add to the experience. Also made a bunch of paintings and plants for
> everyone's houses. Loved the big ol' elaborate rebel base too.

> 6. (Sunrunner especially) Any further developments with Rebel v. Empire
> PvP? Most of the PvP quests were too dangerous for my architect. Has SOE
> fleshed this out with additional "theme parks," Vader strolling into
> Coronet, etc., anything like that?


> 7. (Sunrunner especially) The hot spots were the Theed cantina and
> Coronet
> spaceport. (Theed spaceport and Mos Espa Spaceport to a lesser extent.)
> Can
> you still go to these spots and find the usual 30-40 players just chatting
> and doing things?
>
> 8. One of the other negatives for me was I recalled that during one
> Publish
> harvester and factory maintenance (and/or energy requirements) doubled,
> which many thought was a bug. This wasn't corrected by the time of my
> departure from the game, though. Any updates?
>
> 9. Does resource quality still matter? It was kind of neat to get a
> batch
> of 1000 OQ resource, which my doctor could make into killer buff packs.
> Resource quality wasn't that pivotal to the architect, though - a wall's a
> wall, and a guild's a guild. Quantity was the name of the game for the
> architect.

> Any thoughts or insights any of you may have would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Snorvo
>
>
>
>