In other MMO news… if you have a dormant Star Wars Galaxies account that hasn’t been active since last July, it should be re-activated from now until February 15th.
The bad news is that your house is about to be demolished.
Full text of the email that went out follows:
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House/Structure Pack-Up Notification for Inactive Accounts:
Effective March 3, 2009, at 4:00 AM PST your in-game player owned properties including Houses, Guild Halls, Theaters, Hospitals, Cloning Facilities, Merchant Tents and Factories may be packed-up, removed from the game server(s) and placed in your inventory!
Dear Former Star Wars™ Galaxies Citizens,
On March 3rd, we may pack up and remove items attached to Star Wars Galaxies accounts that have been inactive (an account that has not been logged into and had an active, paying, and valid subscription) since July 1, 2008. If your service has been inactive since July 1, 2008, and you do not validly re-subscribe prior to February 15, 2009, your houses, structures and associated assets may be packed up into your inventory and removed from the game servers at 4:00 AM PST on March 3, 2009. Should you decide to return to Star Wars Galaxies after that date, you will have to place these items back into the game world.
Return To The Galaxy and Reclaim Your House… Come Back to Star Wars Galaxies Between January 13, 2009 and February 15, 2009 at No Charge*!
Before you relinquish your valuable real estate and game assets to the House Pack-Up program, take this opportunity to log in and see how much has changed since you left. Here are some of the things you missed since you’ve been gone:
- Hoth: The Battle of Echo Base Heroic Encounter
- The Nova Orion Crisis Heroic Encounter
- The Fury of Exar Kun Heroic Encounter
- Profession Updates
- The Search for the Meatlump King Theme Park
- The online only Star Wars Galaxies™ Trading Card Game
We are offering you an opportunity to come back for free between January 13, 2009 at 12:01 AM PST and February 15, 2009 at 11:59 PM PST. Your account has been automatically re-activated; simply log in to take advantage of this offer!
Return and Get Rewarded!
If you return and decide to re-subscribe to Star Wars Galaxies with a valid, paid subscription before the free period ends on February 15, 2009, at 11:59 PM PST, you will be eligible to receive a special Sarlacc Trash Can** in-game item, perfect for that structure you just saved from being removed from the servers!
Coming Back is Easy!
- Simply log in to your account; it will be reactivated automatically for FREE between January 13, 2009, at 12:01 PM PST and February 15, 2009, at 11:59 PM PST.
- Don’t have Star Wars Galaxies installed? No problem! Download the Station Launcher installer HERE to get access to the latest version of Star Wars Galaxies.
- You must log back in to your former account and re-subscribe before February 15, 2009, at 11:59 PM PST to receive the Sarlacc Trash Can in-game item. So don’t delay, log-in today and rejoin your friends!
Hoth, The Meatlump King, Exar Kun and Darth Vader are all waiting for you…
May the Force Be With You!
The Star Wars Galaxies Team
For More Information please visit: www.starwarsgalaxies.com/packup
Please be aware that if you do not reactivate your Star Wars Galaxies account by providing SOE with valid billing information on or before February 15, 2009, at 11:59 PM PST, your house, guild halls, factories, merchant tents, theaters and all associated assets will be packed up into your inventory and removed from the game.
*This offer, and the period of free game-play described in this offer, expires on February 15, 2009 at 11:59PM PST. This offer is only available for former Star Wars Galaxies accounts that have been closed and inactive since July 1, 2008 and is not available for current Star Wars Galaxies or Station Access accounts or for accounts that were banned or were not in good standing when its Star Wars Galaxies or Station Access subscription previously expired or was terminated.
Taking advantage of this free play period will not result in your account being considered an “active” account so that if you do not reactivate your Star Wars Galaxies account by providing SOE with valid billing information prior to February 15, 2009 at 11:59 PM PST, your house, guild halls, factories, merchant tents, theaters and associated assets may be packed up into your inventory effective March 3, 2009.
Entering billing information before February 15, 2009 at 11:59PM will terminate the free service and you will lose the balance of any unused free play period game time. In addition, if you re-subscribe to Star Wars Galaxies, you will not be entitled to any game time that may be included with the purchase of certain versions of, or other offers related to, Star Wars Galaxies. Sony Online Entertainment and LucasArts do not ensure continuous or error-free access, use or availability of any game content, feature, game-play or server and may change, modify, disable, suspend or remove any such content, feature, game-play or server at their sole discretion.
To add billing information to your account, simply visit www.station.sony.com and log in to your account and select “Subscriptions Info” and click “Add Another Plan”. Select “YES!” to subscribe to the Station Access multi-game subscription offer (game software sold separately) or “No” to only subscribe to Star Wars Galaxies. Choose a Subscription Plan or Pre-Paid Game Card and click “Continue”. Enter the required billing information or Game Card Code (if available) and click “Continue”. Additional recurring costs apply as part of the Star Wars Galaxies account subscription.
**To receive the “Sarlacc Trash Can” in-game item for former subscribers, former account holders must re-activate billing on your Star Wars Galaxies account before February 15, 2009 at 11:59PM PST. The conversion reward is available through the /claim interface beginning on March 5, 2009. The Sarlacc Trash Can is offered on a one per account, non-tradeable basis.
It’s actually not as bad as it sounds — the house and everything in it just gets neatly placed in the owner’s datapad and it just sits there. If the char has money, maintenance gets paid directly from their bank. If the char is broke, the structure is “condemned” (almost exactly like in EQ2) — nothing’s hurt, you just can’t go in until the maintenance is paid.
I don’t think this works for vendors, but I’m not certain since they can now be packed up as well. Problem is the time-limit on items on vendors, so in that sense stuff can poof. Then again, if you haven’t visited a structure in a year or more, chances are all the vendor stuff poofed long ago anyway.
I was pretty impressed when I came back to SWG after several years away and found all my houses in various datapads when I’d actually expected to find nothing at all.
Yeah I was kind of using poetic license with the “demolished” comment, just to make the post vaguely interesting in some way. 🙂 Thanks for explaining how it actually works. My SWG house is long gone, I imagine.
I’ll re-try SWG but that last time I did (after a few years away), I couldn’t get past the animations, of all things. I’m getting more and more picky in my old age!
The Sarlacc Trash Can amuses me. Not on the level of wanting to play SWG, but someone has a good sense of humor.
I don’t ever plan on playing SWG again, ever, but I didn’t have the heart to delete my characters. But in some off chance I am admitted to the loony ward and all they have there to play is Galaxies, I better pack up my stuff just in case!!
SWG has some great ideas and systems still. It just lacks something to make it a full time game.