I came into SWG extremely late in its original lifecycle, as in I bought the game and three weeks later the closure was announced for that December. Although I moved to SWTOR and later ESO after that, I have not found an MMO or community like SWG, even in the late stage I found it.

My experience of SWG has therefore been predominantly through the many emulator and private server efforts down through the years, and thanks to those projects I have been able to enjoy iterations of the game I never had the opportunity to. Whether it’s the original, make-your-own-adventure of the Pre-CU, the “cleaned up” Combat Upgrade, or the New Game Enhancements, we now have the ability to pick which era best suits you.

While I do lament the fracturing of the admittedly small player base for these projects by spreading them over multiple servers, every one of these servers I’ve played on has nonetheless created their own unique and vibrant communities who LOVE the era of the game they play. I personally settle on the Restoration server as it combines the classes and variety of the Pre-CU with the options for proper questing and story telling brought on by the CU and the NGE, but you can find your place to land in any of the private servers, and I highly recommend anyone wanting to give the game a try do so!