Star Wars Galaxies Combat Upgrade Editorial

MMORPG.com has released an editorial entitled “Combat Upgrade or Combat Downgrade?”, in which they detail Sony’s recent changes to Star Wars Galaxies’ combat system. A snippet:

And now I introduce the most hated feature of the Combat Upgrade. Enter the level system. (But wait,) you exclaim! (SWG has ALWAYS had levels!) This of course, is not entirely true. While levels originally functioned as an index, calculated from the stats of a creature, the new level system DETERMINES the stats of the creature, and more importantly how much damage is given and received.

Essentially what happens behind the screen is that two Jawas take your number and match it up with the number of the creature you are fighting. Who ever has the highest number wins, and if the numbers are the same or VERY similar, the fight is determined by little factors, like specials, buffs, armor and weapons. If you catch the feeling of the previous statement, you’ll understand that level is the bantha burger and everything else is the condiments that go on top. Perhaps the old system let you and I get away with too much, but the new system has a VERY restrictive feel to it.