Get Over It

There are no doubt many images that I could use to memorialize Star Wars Galaxies with more dignity. That’s kind of why I picked this one instead.

First of all, I want to state for the record that I am unexpectedly sad about the fact that Star Wars Galaxies is closing down.  In every respect, I can understand why the players of the game would be sad and unhappy with this turn of events.  I have nothing but sympathy for the feelings of those affected by this shutdown, because really, there’s no way to frame this as anything less than sucking.

That having been said?  It’s done.

Sony has told you guys that you are not going to win this.  There’s no question, there’s no last-ditch rally to save the beach from Evil Mr. Shutdownington or whatever.  Sony stepped up and said “guys, the petition thing, it’s sweet, but it is also totally pointless.”  And yet the desperate requests to spread the word continue, as if somehow if you just got enough signatures it would somehow alter the space-time continuum and the companies would change their minds.

Seriously, this response should not have been necessary.  I feel for you, guys, really I do – I understand that this is a sad event, and I’m sad to see the game go even though I never played it.  It’s not your passion I’m questioning, it’s your methods.

Smedley made it clear that there was no problem with player population, with the Sony hacking issues, with anything beyond the simple fact that these two companies had an agreement that wound up being terminated.  The companies both knew that a bunch of people played and enjoyed the game.  This was all well-known.  What, exactly, is petitioning SOE supposed to do about that?  How exactly is this going to result in a last-minute stay of execution?  This was the reason why there was a desire to avoid shutting down the game if at all possible.  As it turned out, it wasn’t possible, and the game is going to die this year.

It’s sad, yeah.  Heartbreaking, even.  But your volume is not helping your case.  It’s not hurting your case either, but that’s largely due to your complete lack of a case.  You’re essentially trying to shout down a corporate decision.  It’s a noble effort, to be sure, but it’s a Sisyphean ordeal at best.

Sometimes, you don’t get a chance to change things.  Sometimes, your one chance is gone before you realize you’ve got it.

Look, I’ve been falling in love with things for nearly thirty years now, and I’ve watched a lot of good ongoing things end.  Lost.  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.  Transmetropolitan.  The first two seasons of Sliders.  Generation X by the original creators.  Persons Unknown.  Transformers Animated.  Firefly.  Some of these things ran their allotted course, some of them were followed by superior works, some were followed by inferior ones, and some just ended.  I was sad when every single one ended… but I moved on and I looked toward the next thing.  I could still love what had come before without trying to anchor myself in the past.

The ardent save-our-game fans are complaining that Sony won’t explain why the game can’t go free-to-play, and they don’t realize that the question has already been answered – it’s not shutting down for lack of players, it’s shutting down because the license was being pulled and there was no agreement that the two companies could come to regarding the game’s continued operation. Starting petitions and whining online doesn’t make you a crusader for the last chance of the game, it makes you unwilling to accept facts.

It’s done.  Get over it, and enjoy what you’ve got left.  It seems like a better option than pissing the remaining time away via Facebook protests.