A Senior Game Designer at LucasArts is quoted in the New York Times in an article on their dumbing down of Star Wars Galaxies. In order to appeal to a broader player base, LucasArts believes that:

"We really needed to give people the experience of being Han Solo or Luke Skywalker rather than being Uncle Owen, the moisture farmer. We wanted more instant gratification: kill, get treasure, repeat."

Kill, get treasure, repeat? This is LucasArts' idea of game design?

What do you think? Will their ploy work, will it reach out and help expand the online MMOG playerbase in the US, bringing SOE's fortunes back in line? Is kill, get treasure, repeat what people really want? Or will it attract in a few hundred drooling keyboard thumpers, high on Sunny D and baying for Jedi blood...?

For Online Star Wars Game, It's Revenge Of The Fans [New York Times, thanks Joshua!]

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