Star Wars Galaxies Players Not Taking Closure Well, Class-Action Lawsuit on the Way?
Star Wars Galaxies Players Not Taking Closure Well, Class-Action Lawsuit on the Way?
Posted 06/29/2011 at 11:43pm
| by Nathan Grayson
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Star Wars Galaxies may have caused its fair share of anger – which led to hate, which led to suffering, which led to the dark side – but the galaxy spanning MMO was far from universally despised. Case in point: a contingent of Galaxies players who absolutely refuse to let their beloved virtual haunting ground meet its natural end. SOE, meanwhile, hasn't given an inch of ground, closing down a number of irate forum posts. That, however, may have given Galaxies devotees just the ammo they needed.
The game's ragtag rebel alliance kicked off its efforts by advertising a petition (which currently has 2750 signatures) to save Galaxies on the game's forums. In a nutshell, it asked that SOE take the oh-so-popular free-to-play route and also consolidate the game's servers. SOE, however, took offense to this new hope and struck back by deleting related forum threads and banning users, preventing said Jedi from ever returning. So, that's pretty much that, right?
Nope. Incensed players have allegedly decided to file a class-action lawsuit against SOE, taking aim at the relentless rain of banhammers thumping them on the head. Now, we say “allegedly” because the initial report came from VentureBeat, and that piece has since disappeared from the Internet. As of writing, we've yet to find out exactly why. However, VG247 and GamePolitics – among others – took the story and ran with it, so here we are.
At any rate, SOE's EULA states that forum locks and bans are perfectly allowable, so lawsuit or no, these would-be MMOpocalypse-stoppers are standing on pretty shaky ground. And even if SOE wanted to keep Galaxies from going under, it'd still have quite the sizable hurdle to leap in the form of an expiring agreement with LucasArts.
So no, Star Wars Galaxies probably isn't getting a second lease on life. But its fans' frothy mouthed dedication is a prime example of MMOs' appeal. For some players, Galaxies has been a home far, far away from home for eight years. To see it blip out of existence in the blink of an eye has to be utterly devastating. Places, memories, friends, communities – all gone. We can't blame SOE for pressing Galaxies' big red “END THE UNIVERSE” button, but neither can we blame players for desperately fighting to stop it.
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handsomeboy
August 10, 2011 at 1:34am
The game seems so cool ,and I want to know more about this game ... @onmi dual saw
JohnP
June 30, 2011 at 11:11am
I have to agree that 2,700 signatures is not going to hold a lot of sway over a multi million dollar project. They can try, but I doubt you can sue a company to force them to lose money.
Ledoubleu
June 30, 2011 at 9:39am
Lovin all the Star Wars references in the article though.
"anger – which led to hate, which led to suffering, which led to the dark side"
"A New hope" etc.
lmao.
kevjohn
June 30, 2011 at 8:51am
I've always said the worst part about being a Star Wars fan is other Star Wars fans. I guess that maxim needs to be extended doubly to the MMO Star Wars dweebs.
What part of "the contract would be running out in 2012 anyway" are they not understanding?
damicatz
June 30, 2011 at 5:25am
There are no grounds for a lawsuit. I can't imagine they'd find a lawfirm willing to even bother with the case. If you read the EULA, it says they can shut down game services at any time with a 30 days notice. They gave half a year's notice which is well above the 30 day minimum. You also don't have free speech rights on Sony's forums. Free speech doesn't apply to private property. If you are a guest in my home and you start swearing or breaking my rules, I have the right to tell you to leave. This is no different.
bling581
June 30, 2011 at 9:43am
"I can't imagine they'd find a lawfirm willing to even bother with the case."
Really? When enough money is involved I'm sure they'll take on anything.
sean.h.freeman
June 30, 2011 at 9:21am
I'm with you about there being no grounds, but I'll point out that IF this turns out to be true and they have actually filed a class-action lawsuit, then they would obviously have found a firm greedy enough to take the case. Notice I said "greedy" and not "dumb." It's the states dude, lawyers these days would totally eat a cock meat sandwich with a smile if they thought there would be a chance they'd make a couple mil by sueing for food poisoning after.
LGA1156
June 30, 2011 at 4:36am
holy cow! 2750 signatures, I dont think that even covers the electrictiy on the servers...
TripsToWin
June 30, 2011 at 12:06am
Ever since SOE unceremoniously killed Galaxies with the CU and the further abomination they called the NGE, Galaxies has been living on borrowed time. Server consolidations were SOE rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The only question at this point is how John Smedley is still employable.
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