Star Wars Galaxies

Trials of Obi-Wan: 57% Bad
Rage of the Wookies: 64% Poor
Jump to Lightspeed: 85% Great
Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided: 82% Good


Another MMO I played, back in the day Star Wars Galaxies redefined MMORPGs before the release of World of Warcraft. Galaxies featured a 32 profession (class) advancement and many ways to develop your character. PVP was amazing; missions/quests initially were great, and for early 2003 and most of 2004 the game lacked any Galactic War content. The immersion level was real; you were part of the game's universe. The release of Jump to Lightspeed only magnified things as players could take to the stars in fighter combat.


Rage of the Wookies added a modular expansion to the game with many new items and quests. The expansion was mediocre and players were critical of it because it followed a structure similar to World of Warcraft and featured way too many invisible walls, and borrowed to many concepts and art itself from Everquest (SOE operates both Everquest and Galaxies). The New Game Enhancements "NGE" hit to conform Galaxies to World of Warcraft standards, and MMO history was made; for the first time, to my knowledge; a game company can completely ruin and piss off their entire player base, and make 95% of them leave. With Trials of Obi-Wan, the coffin became sealed with Star Wars Galaxies. 32 professions were ripped from the game overnight and were replaced with 9 professions, just like Warcraft. It became a kids game, an action shooter and could no longer be considered an MMO.


I left in early 2007 because no one was left on my server. The game, for its time was amazing, but it was not without an incredible amount of bugs, many of which SOE refused to fix. The community was immense; and many left for Vanguard or World of Warcraft.

World of Warcraft

Cataclysm: 64% Poor (I am a bit apprehensive about it, but the score isn't final)
Wrath of the Lich King: 84% Great
The Burning Crusade: 82%- Good
World of Warcraft: 91%- Superior


The old tale of Orcs vs. Humans. Many gamers know of its existence, and yet many more played the game when it was released in 2004. World of Warcraft, before its first expansion, the Burning Crusade, introduced a radically different concept in MMO structure. Blizzard ironed out the classes into nine different classes, each surprisingly balanced. Warcraft featured questing and the whole grinding bit, but it shined with end game content such as raiding. In 40 man dungeons, coordination and gear was the key: Dungeons were hard, rewards were earned after hours of dedication and the MMO world was rocked as a result. Games like Star Wars Galaxies (SOE) felt compelled to shape up to Blizzard standard, and in the process killed an entire MMORPG.


The original game had its down points, such as walking around until level 40 (of 60) for a mount and the sheer difficulty of some raids and quests. The game was bound for an expansion of lore, and Blizzard found instant success, taking 75% of the MMORPG market. The game was fun; the game was addicting; and for many gamers, this was their first MMO.

FTC, Federal Government Cracking Down on Bill Collectors

Bill Collectors; if you aren't paying your bills, they will come knocking or calling. If you have nothing to do with owing a debt at all, they will STILL come calling and knocking.


I don't own a capital one account and I don't owe them $4000 some dollars in debt. In fact my name isn't Dana Reeves or Tony Smith. This credit collector works for capital one from the following number (DO NOT CALL IT UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE HARASSED). [888 748 4956]


When a credit company has a client who does not pay the bills; they have a legitimate right to come up with some kind of way to make the client pay their bills. They choose to use collection agencies. I can understand one call from a collection agency during the day, when the agency should say "I apologize, I have the wrong number, please enjoy the rest of your day".


When a collection company calls 12-15 times in four days, at times ranging from 6am to 9pm, that is against standard business practice for one, and two it is grounds for harassment. I ordered a cease and desist from the individuals and the calls have stopped. The FTC has received over 50,000 complaints from US citizens regarding harassing calls from bill collectors. This is a statistically valid number.


In response to the some three different collectors I have received calls from the past two months, I have filed complaints with the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and FTC (federal trade commission). The FTC releases complaint information to federal agents (the FBI) and other police agencies responsible for investigating, charging, and sometimes arresting criminals wishing to gain information.


Enough is enough with the harassing phone calls. One of my practicing beliefs is that I should avoid unnecessary debts. My name is not Dana Reeves. I do not own a capital one account. I have never done business with capital one. Until the harassing calls stop (after the cease and desist order was issued, they did stop calling) I am reporting all information to federal agencies.


America- pay your bills. Collectors- get your database information right. People are always going to cheat the system, and you need more concrete evidence before accusing me of being Tony Smith or Dana Reeves.

Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday Break time already occupied

Oh I feel so bad for leaving the USS Enterprise in my garage, sitting and collecting dust. It needs a over anyways and I am going to return to the project this Fall when I am off of school. There is so much to do this model. So much to fix, so much to detail, so much to paint it is mind boggling.

Things Seem to Be Looking Up in the World: If Briefly

Things seem to be looking up in the world; if briefly. With the death of Mehsud, the Taliban leader in Pakistan, the Taliban are beginning to fight each other for supremacy. Since the pull out of Iraq by a majority of US troops, Al-Qaeda has been disabled to a point where they can no longer carry out major terrorist operations. The taliban are also suffering from a US surge in Afganistan that is relentless and unforgiving.


Terrorism will never go away, but it seems like a lull is approaching in worldwide terrorism. I have no idea if the original mission by George Bush will ever be "accomplished", but terrorist groups are beginning to feel the pinch of allied forces. I believe this news, coupled with small economic growth will lean in favor of the economic recovery.


These terrorist groups, like many others will always remain a threat, even when they are disabled to the point some of them are now. They still may carry out small attacks, but their monetary network, leadership structure and organization are beginning to crumble further. We are fully responsible for the Taliban's ability to carry out activities (because in the Cold War we gave them weapons and training to fight the Soviet Union) and it is our job to keep them crushed under the boot sole.

ABC News asks: if we got Mehsud, why can't we get Bin Laden?

There are a couple of reasons as to why we cannot get Bin Laden.


1.) Mehsud was above ground (literally) and extremely active in Pakistan as the taliban leader. Spies and networks of spies could easily learn information as to where he was. This intel reaches the Pakistani agencies, then the Pakistani government, and the intel is passed off to allies such as the United States or other UN forces.


2.) Technology has advanced. UAV pilots (of unknown nationality) are using UAVs ("drones") to launch attacks on terrorist targets. Bin laden has been caught twice by United States UAVs armed with missiles that could have killed him. [As a side note, the public is not using the terms "UAV" and "drone" correctly. A UAV is piloted by someone not directly in the vehicle. A drone is launched independently of a pilot, and contains an AI which carries out the mission assigned to it. If a drone does not know what to do, it asks the pilot what to do next as it loiters. A drone acts independently of a pilot until human intervention is required. This is NOT terminator; the machine can only perform the parameters it has been given.]


3.) Intel has gotten stronger. Movements are predictable. With solid intel and predictable behavior, Mehsud was waiting to get ambushed. Bin Laden is under stress to constantly move, underground.


4.) Bin Laden is dead. If the CIA really wanted Bin Laden dead they would have killed him by now. See the end of #2. Bin Laden is dead; it was reported years ago he was on kidney dialysis. He has to be a real superman to keep moving around hooked up to a machine AND run an offensive operation. Why isn't the media reporting and asking questions to the CIA about their dedication to hunting Bin Laden? because they (the CIA) know he is dead. I will die my hair pink if he isn't and surrenders himself.

And you thought it was all over with the NGE....

Wrong. SWG Emu has made exponential progress on their project, an ambition to restore Star Wars Galaxies to its pre-combat upgrade status. I poked in today and was stricken with a sense of nostalgia as I walked down Theed with my newbie jacket and DLT-20 rifle. The cantina was thriving. Doctors had two lines to give out buffs, PVP was occuring, and so on. They expect SWG-EMu to be released around late August 2009 (the first official server, Suncrusher) but I would give them a bit more time personally. I am very excited about EMU. Not only is the game coming back to life, it is free for anyone to join and they have zero plans to charge money.


To answer a few basic questions:

1) Head here to download the launchpad client for SWG EMU. Before hand, you must have the patches and game files installed to your hard drive to play. DO NOT use the trial client, doing so means that you are violating the law because it is piracy. Think you can get away with it? The developers can find people using said client, and they will ban you. You can purchase the original game from game stores, amazon.com or ebay.com for less than $10. Or borrow the game CDs from a pal that played the game. If you left SWG, but left the files on just in case some miracle happened, your in luck. Leave all the files (including ones after patch 14) on your computer.


2) head to SWGEMU.com and create a forum account. Remember this information; it is tied into the SWG EMU system and will allow you to log into the game. Do not share this information with anyone else. Do not create duplicate accounts.


3) Let the launchpad do its thing, and then get in the game. Enter your login information, and have fun! Currently, as of early August 2009 only the test center is up for testing. Soon, the first server Suncrusher will be released for further testing, but it will be the "real" deal- no frogs, no free stuff. You start out from the beginning on Suncrusher.