Star Wars, perhaps more than any other franchise, is perfectly suited for the MMO genre. Its world is a vast galaxy populated with hundreds of different races and factions, an online game set in that universe would allow a huge diversity in characters and customisation. Sony Online Entertainment decided to take advantage of the Star Wars name and released Galaxies. It allowed gamers to play a variety of different classes, including Jedi, across a number of gigantic worlds. Mixing traditional questing with space travel and the ability to build cities in a Star Wars setting, a number of important places and people from the movies could be visited or spoken to, giving a sense of actually being part of the universe. Galaxies was critically acclaimed being specifically praised for a number of aspects, in particular the way it encouraged the entire player base to be diverse by having an important social aspect that led to elections and a division of labour where everyone had a specific role. It was incredibly fun to play and a faithful imagining of the franchise in a MMO setting, rather than a game where everybody simply chooses to be a Jedi. The title went through a number of changes and upgrades that upset players and led to a fall in subscriber numbers, yet it continued to be largely successful. In fact it was shut down for reasons other than revenue or the number of customers, officially ending in 2011 in order to make room for EAs upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic. The Old Republic hasnt turned out too well either. This begs the question why didn't they just stick with Galaxies?
