Star Wars Galaxies Players File Suit Against Sony

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Apparently a petition wasn't enough, as now many Star Wars Galaxies subscribers have filed a class-action lawsuit against SOE to keep the MMORPG open.

Earlier this week, LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment said that the long-running Star Wars Galaxies MMORPG will be shut down on December 15 due to the end of the licensing agreement, declining subscriptions and competing MMORPGs. Immediately speculation arose claiming that the decision was based on the launch of a "competing" MMOG from EA and BioWare in Q4 2011 called Star Wars: The Old Republic. Admittedly there's no question that the timing of closing SWG and launching SW:TOR doesn't seem like mere coincidence.

Upset over the announcement, more than 2,500 SWG fans (and counting) launched a petition to keep the virtual world up and running. After it went live, SOE reportedly started locking forum topics and banning players related to the petition. The company later defended its actions by saying that "promoting an online petition causes disruption within the community and does not provide gameplay feedback that our development team can use." The explanation was contradictory to say the least.

The petition itself offers up several options in order to keep the MMORPG alive and kicking: (1) Making the game free to play (2) Making the game free to play, with premium content available for those wishing to purchase a subscription (3) Maintain the Trading Card Game as part of Star Wars Galaxies, and continue to charge for purchases made to the TCG (4) Continue to offer free character transfers from one "Galaxy" (server) to another, while monitoring population levels on each server, to facilitate further server closures in order to reduce operational expenditures.

But apparently the petition isn't enough. VentureBeat reports that several SWG subscribers have written in claiming that they actually filed a class-action lawsuit against SOE to prevent the company from shutting down the game. The lawsuit also centers on SOE swinging it's Ban-Hammer in the forums, and how one player was labeled as the protest "ring leader" and threatened with a permanent ban from all SOE games. Even more, SOE allegedly threatened to sue this specific "ring leader" for trying to cause "unlawful harm to the company."

Naturally the lawsuit won't stand up in court thanks to every single player agreeing to the company's end-user license agreement. Not only does the company have every right to close the MMORPG, but the right to kick troublemakers off its forums. Still, the lawsuit isn't surprising given the SWG drama that's unfolded over the past eight years. Fans have been passionate about the game from day one and will continue to act accordingly long into the launch of Star Wars The Old Republic.

Still, it will be interesting to see how this "lawsuit" unfolds, so stay tuned.... and may the schwartz be with you.

Kevin Parrish
56 Comments Comment from the forums
  • mrmike_49
    I'm getting REAL tired of seeing and hearing how companies abuse their users on the forums: censorship is rampant, almost total. Most mods are petty bureaucrats and would be tyrants (that's the kind of people who volunteer to be unpaid mods!). The postings are censored so as to "not offend" either your great grandma or your 8 year old kid. All in all, I've come to the conclusion that company owned game forums should be obsolete
    Reply
  • SOE has always been horrible at caring about it's subscribers. They just don't care.
    Reply
  • alikum
    mrmike_49I'm getting REAL tired of seeing and hearing how companies abuse their users on the forums: censorship is rampant, almost total. Most mods are petty bureaucrats and would be tyrants (that's the kind of people who volunteer to be unpaid mods!). The postings are censored so as to "not offend" either your great grandma or your 8 year old kid. All in all, I've come to the conclusion that company owned game forums should be obsoleteWholeheartedly agree
    Reply
  • theohtechguru
    can we say #ANTISEC strikes again! lulz
    Reply
  • henydiah
    very detrimental to our fans and throwing away
    Reply
  • yettyman
    Well looking at it from their point of view. The subscriber base must not be large enough to justify supporting it so a company isn't going to risk losing money for a very low chance of making it.

    Also forums on websites can do whatever they want. They run them, maintain them, and you don't have to use them. If they have rules that you don't want to follow or the mods tell you not to do something you don't really have a reason to complain.
    Reply
  • iolas
    People still want to play SWG? It hasn't been its brilliant self since the CU back in 2005. Frankly, after 2005, SWG has been trash.
    Reply
  • hostel_bant
    No lawsuit has been filed. As drafter of the petition, and a spokesperson for those trying to save Star Wars Galaxies, there has been no talk whatsoever of any lawsuit being filed.

    For those not familiar with our community, there are several irrationally negative people who are still upset at SOE and Lucas Arts over massive game changes implemented in 2005. It is my belief that a group of these like minded individuals, or as someone else suggested, an outside group, contacted various news sources in an effort to disparage the petitioning group.

    Those person's engaged in actively trying to petition Star Wars Galaxies are very disheartened over this alleged lawsuit, as they feel it paints them in a bad light. We are committed to using every legal means at our disposal to lobby SOE and LA to keep this game open. The concept of taking legal action will only be considered as a last resort measure in the face of unlawful action.

    For further comments, and to contact me for any further statements, please visit the petition website.
    http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/saveswg/blog
    Reply
  • jamesedgeuk2000
    Im sure the protests/threats will stop SOE from killing the game, it worked with The Matrix Online didnt it Oh... Wait...
    Reply
  • fellfromgrace
    Every online game that I know states they reserve the right to shut down servers and stop service anytime they want. It's doubtful there is even any lawsuits being filed but even if they are it's a waste of time and money.

    Move on people.

    The way the game sounds before Sony ruined it sounded absolutely amazing but it's never coming back.

    Best bet now is to look for public servers. Hell if all you petitioners got together you could just found your own private server.
    Reply