Mirroring the rest of the MMO industry, January has been another slow month for SWG rogue servers. Like last month however, we’ve been given a glimpse into what 2022 and beyond holds for a few more servers. February looks set to be a big month for MMO players with Lost Ark finally launching in the west alongside new expansions for Guild Wars 2 and The Old Republic. SWG players don’t seem all that drawn to the new shinies these days so I’m not sure it would put off any developers from releasing new updates, but we’ll see. We can always rely on the Ewok Festival of Love I guess…
SWG Restoration III (Custom CU rogue server)
Last year’s breakout SWG server gears up for its 1.0 launch later this year with a new roadmap detailing what players can look forward to in its first three major publishes. It’s an ambitious outlay, with pretty much every aspect of the sandbox getting a revamp. However, unlike many other SWG rogue servers, the folks at Restoration seem to be taking the approach of bringing the game’s systems in line with those of modern MMOs rather than trying to build upon the original design ethos. It gives the impression that the team are aiming for more of a revolution than an evolution (or indeed a simple restoration).
Developers promising a “modern” version of Star Wars Galaxies isn’t anything new, but Restoration‘s professional marketing and community management give me hope that this may indeed be the real deal. They’ve designed a progression style content unlock system for the 1.0 launch; including “a Casino, a Huttball Arena, and a Podracing Track”, as well as new playable species arriving in their 1.1 patch.
Further down the line, they’re promising a new endgame levelling system, capital ships, a new planet, and the Death Star II. If you’re interested in joining the burgeoning Restoration III community you can play today, safe in the knowledge that there won’t be a server wipe prior to the still undated 1.0 release.
SWG: Beyond (Custom NGE rogue server)
Not all servers shied away from releasing new content this month, with the Beyond server dropping their version of the Secrets of the Syren themepark. Players can receive some exciting new rewards for completing the themepark, including a personal starship terminal to install in their homes. There have also been some QoL updates including a new Space Component Analyzer function and an updated AFK policy.
SWG Awakening (SWGEmu-based server)
Meanwhile, the Awakening server released their Publish 10 update, bringing the codebase up to date with SWGEmu‘s own Publish 10.5. There’s not any original content besides, but there have been some server-specific tweaks, as well as the implementation of custom bounty hunting and house pack-up systems.
An Empire in Flames (SWGEmu-based server)
Back to the arena of future content teasers we got a look at a new ship design headed to the Empire in Flames server – the Alpha-class Xg-1 Star Wing.
SWG Expanded (Custom content for SWG Source servers)
And SWG Expanded gave us a look at a host of new weapons, a new royal guard skin for the TIE Defender, and an updated character appearance for Grand Admiral Thrawn among other previews of upcoming content.