Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed

Jump to Lightspeed brings to Star Wars Galaxies the essential element that it's been lacking since launch: the ability to travel to space. In retrospect, it seems absurd that a Star Wars MMO launched without these elements, but regardless, the game's player base grew large (and not to mention vocal). With Jump to Lightspeed, Galaxies finally feels complete, at least in terms of features. I'm sure many would argue that the game's scheduled combat revamp has to happen before it can claim any semblance of completeness, but there's no denying the sense of wholeness and cohesion that Jump to Lightspeed brings. The fact that it's fairly seamlessly integrated with what was there before helps this significantly; if you've been playing Galaxies since before the expansion, the ways in which you progress through the new content will immediately make sense. You'll also be quite accustomed to how long it takes to advance. But that's a whole other topic.

Since taking up one of the pilot professions is free in regards to skill points, pursuing the bulk of the space content is fairly non-intrusive for established players. It's simply a matter of locating the nearest trainer aligned with your faction (or a neutral one, if you prefer), and acquiring your first space mission. The starting ship is also free, and even though it's relatively underpowered, the first few missions you embark upon are easy enough so that you won't notice. The biggest pain is actually the starting ships' slow engines; it often takes minutes at a time to travel between waypoints in the game's starting space zones. But even this you won't really notice till you upgrade, and find your travel times drastically decreased.