Insert Star Wars Pun Here

Massive changes in SWG:

The official statement.

The official faq.

The Aggro Forums thread where I read this first (thanks Flashman).

The F13 thread and front page update.

Basically, there will be an emphasis on more twitch-based combat.

Okay, I've messed around with SWG very briefly a long time ago. So I am by no means qualified to comment on the state of the game. This is a story that's sure to get some comments from plenty of people who are more informed than me.

But I do have a few questions and comments:

* How much drastic change can you force on a game's players?

* Was the whole Combat Upgrade drama really at all necessary if this was the direction SWG was going?

* Was it fair to sell an expansion that cost $29.99 so soon before breaking this news? As far as I know, it just went live two days ago.

* Is it fair to sell a retail box that advertises one type of gameplay and then completely shift that gameplay? Sure, MMO's change all the time, but to sell a turn-based game and then make it a first person shooter? What if you bought Civ IV and then were forced to download a patch that made it a real time strategy game?

* Will SOE be able to graft on twitch based play to an existing game and make it work?

* According to the FAQ, Jedi is now a starting class. How will that go over and will we see an overabundance of Jedi players?

* How will this decision affect customer's opinions of other current or upcoming SOE games? (i.e. If they can do this in SWG what's to say they won't completely change x game?)

* Will SOE be able to effectively convert existing items and the effort put into existing characters to the new system?

* Is this decision by SOE incredibly courageous? Incredibly foolish? Either way, you have to admit they are not afraid to make changes.

* Would SWG have died a slow death without this change? Was it actually losing money? I remember reading somewhere that the server requirements for SWG are massive compared to other MMO's due to the size of the database needed.

* The market could use a few twitch-based MMO's. However, Planetside does still exist, in case anyone forgot. And it's apparently a really fun game from what I hear.

* Three of the most special things about SWG, the ability to change professions, the incredible crafting system and the diversity of the professions would appear to be gone or highly truncated.

* The SWG official forums are really hard to read due to the color scheme and the fact that massive colored fonts are apparently allowed.

Well, I'll leave the conclusions to those who have more experience with the game. I'm sure some players will leave and others (perhaps myself) will be curious enough to give it a try.

I'm still undecided on what to think about the whole thing. As a non-player it piqued my curiosity and made me think about giving it a chance. But if I try to put myself in the mindset of a veteran player who has already weathered the combat changes and does not care for twitch-based play, well, I would be pretty upset.

Will this be another blow to SOE's image amongst the gaming community? A decision that turns a troubled game into a triumphant success? As often happens, it will probably be something in the middle.

Edit: If you're coming directly to this post from a link you may also want to check out the parody I did recently.