SWG wasn't my first MMO, Everquest 1 was for 3.5 years prior, but it was and always will be one of my favorites. Like others I quit and returned regularly to play it. I know at times I hated it (or what was done to it) but I will grieve for it's passing.
It was one of the few unique games out there on the market, if it wasn't for Lucas I bet it would still run for years. Just a real shame they didn't listen to the player base back in 2005 before they wheeled out CU and then NGE. Players didn't want a flashy 1 button game, they just wanted the bugs ironed out & some new content to the one they loved. The community is what made the game, I doubt it'll be the same in SWTOR. Many die-hard SWG players are refusing to even consider playing it now
Which is a shame because it will be a great game for it's own reasons.
That said, some of the highlights for me were;
- Seeing Mos Eisley, Jabba's place, Lar's moisture farm, Old Ben's hut, the crashed escape pod (R2 & 3PO's), Theed, Yoda's hut, Jedi temple and other famous locales for the first time in person.
- Meeeting my long term friends and guildies for the first time in the tusken fort
- Meeting Vader, Emperor, Luke, Leia, Han & Chewie, Boba Fett and other film stars in game
- Some of the banter in the hairdressing salon and playing music/dancing nights away in a cantina whilest I was an entertainer
- Becoming a TK Master
- Getting Sunriders Destiny Crystal - Luke's blade colour
- Killing Malichae the night before Combat Upgrade (collecting my padawan robes from the shrine as the servers were counting down to close!) to unlock jedi
- The first day of the Combat Upgrade, the huge hate, frustration, angst, and disgust that players displayed at it beign forced on them. I'll never forget that day, it's one of the most memorable days in my entire gaming history, for all the wrong reasons.
- Crafting my first Lightsaber and using it to kill a Womp Rat
- Mastering Jedi, and being a near unstopable force
- Jump To Lightspeed (still the best space flight sim i've ever played)
- Collecting and using various space ships, my favorite being the KSE Firespray (Boba Fett's ship)
- Taking a relaxing cruise in my space yacht
- Soloing Corvette, Necrois, Krayts, Geonosian bunker, Nightsisters and Dark Jedi Masters, (Space) Corvette and most of the other big creatures bosses/Jedi's/dungeons, that many people needed a group to do.
- Getting over 190 badges, and I remember what it took to get them all.
- Going back to tusken fort the first night of collections release and getting server first badge/title for brutally murdering Sand people... then going on to collect another half dozen server firsts, and over 50 collections.
- Collecting over 2000 unique items and trying to find a place in my house to display them all (and failing).
- Ranking up to General in Galactic Civil War, & getting the purple Windu's crystal for my lightsaber.
- Getting a Greeter that looks just like Vegas (Toydarion)
- Meeting some of the most genuine, interesting and helpful people I've ever met in an MMO
- and finally - Poking my Wampa plushies tummy and it going "Wrrraaarrr!" every night before going to bed in my fully decorated guild sized house.
I will downlaod and play my free time, I may even sub until the game dies or SWTOR is released. Here's hoping another game like it comes along someday, without the trouble and strife that SWG had, but with the community and variety of creating a truly personal character that you chose what to do with.