[PC] I Think The Death Star Went Online And Blew Galaxies Out Of The Water

Sony Online Entertainment and LucasArts are going to shut down Star Wars Galaxies MMORPG and Trading Card Game, this will be on December 15, 2011. It's possibly one of the biggest blows to the MMORPG genre in sometime.

Pew Pew! 

Why? Well, maybe because its started to age considerably despite the upgrades to the game and its graphical engine or because there's a new thing around called Star Wars: Old Republic. Whatever it was the cause, SOE and LucasArts already made the decision:

"We write to you today to inform you that on December 15, 2011, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) and LucasArts will end all services (MMO and Trading Card Game) for Star Wars Galaxies (SWG). The shutdown of SWG is a very difficult decision, but SOE and LucasArts have mutually agreed that the end of 2011 is the appropriate time to end the game. (...)"

Source: Star Wars: Galaxies

We know that Star Wars Galaxies made some mistakes in it's lifetime, most of which made much of the community change to greener pastures at that time, but still with these problems the game resisted and grew stronger with the community got more solid. Although I can't vouch for the community today, but at the time they were solid group of people. 

According to Kotaku, one of the former developers talked about what he would change in the game so its longevity and status would've been higher:

"Here's what I would have done differently," Koster writes. "I would have made sure the ground and space games were launched all at once. I would have given the game another year to develop and really polish it quite a bit. I think we created one of the most unique and amazing games ever created in the MMO space. It is the sandbox game. Nothing else even comes close to what we did there. I would have really taken our time and polished combat right so we never had to do the [New Game Enhancements, an overhaul of the game in 2005]."

Source: Kotaku

Anyway, there are important dates you need to take care if you are a SW:Galaxies player and you want to make it worth the rest of the time available:

IMPORTANT DATES
June 24, 2011	12, 6 and 3-month subscription packs turned off TCG store closes
Sept. 15, 2011	SWG MMO and Trading Card Game no longer available for sale or subscription No new or reactivated accounts accepted after this date
Oct. 15, 2011	Billing turned off Free game trials begin
Dec. 15, 2011	Star Wars Galaxies service ends
Dec. 31, 2011	Free game trials end

Source: Star Wars: Galaxies

There will also be a Galaxy-Ending Event which will happen in the last week SWG is available, so be part of the fun of the end.