I feel compeled to respond to this even though I was not one of the "bad" review's in question. I would like to start by saying that most, if not all mmo's are pretty much a grinding treadmill in my opinion, so something has to set them apart, making one better or more appealing in one form or another from one player to another. I personally have quit playing SWG after 6 months. I mastered roughly 20 professions on 3 different characters, 15 of which were on my main character. Quite simply put, I got tired of the treadmill where there was no community. My longest gaming experience from an MMO standpoint was EQ at just over 3 years played, but I believe that game held my interest as long as it did due to the friends I developed there. SWG is however quite a solid game and to not recognize the game for what it has to offer is just ignorant. I am not a fan of SOE by any means after 3 years on EQ, but I reluctantly tried SWG and I was intrigued by the game.
The crafting system and economy, though troubled as they may be are workable and can even be fun. Greed is supported by supply and demand, if you refuse to pay overpriced amounts, then the person will inevitably lower their prices. If you over pay for an item because you "must" have the item now, then you have only supported the overpricing.
There are classes which do not have to fight to progress, which opens up a social aspect not present in most other games. My personal favorite profession was Image Design. I enjoyed quite a few professions, but I didn't have nearly as much fun as I did giving some character a full makeover.
The graphics and animations are done quite well. All you need to do is play 2-3 other games to see this. Besides, there's TON's of single player games out there with graphics 10 times better, but we play MMO's due to their community mainly and graphics in a large community can be a burden. Therefore, graphics is a secondary consideration to combat, grouping and game play effectiveness in my opinion. Fire up DAoC on full graphical qualities and you'll see my point during your first 60+ person PvP encounter.
The interface, once mastered (and yes it's a pain to get used to at first), is quite easy and intuitive to use. Player e-mailing is a nice addition to the game system.
The professional system and the ability to change your profession at will is a great feature in itself as it allows the player to experience things they would not be able to try if that character was locked into a profession from birth.
And then there's SOE. As much as I dislike and distrust them, they ARE working on the game. They DO fix the game and they DO improve the game. Slow as the fixes may be, they are happening. The thing I've learned about SOE is that no matter how much I dislike them, they put out solid game after solid game and they are there IN game to fix/help you with the game. I've had my fill of CSR's from SOE, but I can't say they've never helped me positively and courtesly. I also can't say that i've never had bad customer service either.
Does the game have faults? My answer is absolutely. Are there things I don't like? I answer the same. The fact of the matter is that this game is well thought out, well developed and being constantly maintained. That is not a formula for failure, it is a formula for an evolving game world which holds the interested party's attention quite well. Simply, the game is not for everyone....which can be applied to any MMO. The trick is to pick your poison and enjoy it.
The last thing I want to discuss is content. This is the part where I get lost on the forums as I don't really understand what is classified as content. Are we talking quests that if done exactly the same way yielding exactly the same results in exactly the same time and manner? Content is such a subjective thing. The true content of any online game is it's player base. Argue all you want, it won't change the fact that the rebel theme park is the same for everyone just as the cleric epic in EQ is the same for everyone. There is an attempt at a story in every MMO I've played, and some have had more of what I consider "content" than others. However, in the end, I logged into that game and played for the enjoyment of friends and family, not for the "content" it had to offer. This is where I feel SWG may fall a little short in the end though. With all the holo grinding and solo hunting, there isn't much to boost the community which hinders the gaming experience in my opinion.
My conclusion is SWG is one of the best online games I have played. It has a great set of features, great graphics and a great crafting system. The economy can be troublesome, but is realistic (economies shift all the time, and so it is with SWG). Combat is a bit point and shoot, but still requires some strategic planning to defeat more difficult mobs. The community is where the game falls short, not for a lack of social roles in the game (since it actually has more social roles than any other game I know of), but for a lack of social interdependence in combat and quests.
