Like most massively multiplayer online games, Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided has been in a constant state of change since it launched in July 2003. Significant additions to the original game have included, but certainly aren't limited to: vehicles and mounts, player-created cities, new dungeons, and a series of quests for Jedi wannabes that, although lengthy and challenging, are infinitely better than the original system that required you to obtain "holocrons" and master multiple professions (from a list of 30) until you found the one that would unlock your second character. The most significant addition to Star Wars Galaxies since its launch, though, was undoubtedly the release of the Jump to Lightspeed expansion pack last year, which finally let you fight battles in space and, just as importantly, travel between planets without having to stand around waiting for shuttles.

Grouping for missions is actively encouraged in Star Wars Galaxies nowadays.

More recently, Star Wars Galaxies has benefited from not one, but three significant updates in the form of the controversial Combat Upgrade patch, the unimaginatively though accurately named Publish 17, and, of course, its second expansion pack, Episode III Rage of the Wookiees. For the record, we're of the opinion that all three of these updates have played a part in making Star Wars Galaxies a better game than it was a little more than a month ago. The Combat Upgrade, for example, made previously redundant combat professions viable again, balanced the previously overpowered classes that were able to solo just about anything in the game, encouraged group play by defining combat roles for different professions more clearly and by awarding as many experience points to grouped players as to soloists, and introduced new armor types and armor restrictions that made battlefields full of players in nothing but composite armor a thing of the past. The flip side, unfortunately, was that many players found themselves with equipment that was no longer useful or that they weren't even certified to use anymore.

Our own experience logging in for the first time after the Combat Upgrade wasn't nearly as smooth as we'd hoped it would be, for example. A message relentlessly flashed up on the screen every couple of seconds to tell us that we wouldn't be able to move our character until we reallocated our skill points. So we no longer had more skills at our disposal than we were entitled to under the new system. As we attempted to equip our trusty T-21 rifle another message flashed to tell us that we were no longer certified to use our favorite weapon. Also, an attempt to summon one of our master creature handler's many bioengineered pets resulted in yet another message flashing, stating something to the effect that we could choose to either reduce their stats to bring them in line with other animals in the game, or that we could keep their stats the same but have their "level" change to reflect their vastly superior-to-anything-in-nature attributes. The latter option appeared to be the more attractive given how much money we'd invested in our BE pets, except that the new levels given to the pets would make them impossible for us to control. We got under way eventually, but not before we noticed that our character was now subject to some pretty severe movement-speed penalties simply because he carries a ranged weapon and chooses to wear composite armor.

It's not surprising, then, that the April 27 Combat Upgrade didn't prove popular with many Galaxies veterans, and that the player populations on some servers have dwindled as a result. Ironically, though, the number of players with Jedi characters is increasing all the time, making the once unusual and secretive Force users (and to a lesser extent, their lightsabers) quite a common sight. Incredibly, when walking around with wounds that demand medical attention, you're as likely to be healed by a passing Jedi with healing skills as you are by a doctor--at least that has been our experience of late. Fortunately, Jedi players who use their powers too overtly become profitable targets for bounty hunters, which not only makes the bounty hunter profession one of the most interesting in the game at this point, but also ensures that the majority of Jedi are suitably discrete.

Multipassenger vehicles are a welcome and long-overdue addition to the game.

Much less controversial than the Combat Upgrade was the recent Publish 17, which, in addition to numerous new quests and bug fixes, introduced multipassenger vehicles to Star Wars Galaxies for the first time. Three of the seven multipassenger rides in the game are speeders that you've been able to ride solo for months previously, while four of them are new. The six two-player rides are definitely a lot of fun, but the most useful of the new speeders is undoubtedly the V-35 SoroSuub Carrier that lets you cruise the surface of your chosen planet with no fewer than six passengers. An additional passenger seat would have been welcome given that player groups are now limited to eight people, but it's highly unlikely that you'll ever find yourself in a group where more than a couple of players don't have their own ride.

The lack of vehicles or mounts in your group is even more unlikely to be an issue on the wookiee planet of Kashyyyk, incidentally. Because like much of the content that's been added to Star Wars Galaxies since its launch, Episode III Rage of the Wookiees caters primarily to experienced players. That's not a criticism, but if you're thinking of playing Star Wars Galaxies for the first time, you should know that the latest expansion's content is not designed for you, and it won't even be accessible to you until you have your own hyperdrive-enabled ship.