The news came out recently that Sony is, after eight long years, finally shutting down Star Wars Galaxies entirely. While I haven’t touched the game in about seven and a half years (and my recollections are a bit fuzzy now), it’s still a little sad to see it go. I will always remember it as a promising, yet flawed, attempt to really bring the Star Wars universe to life in a way no one had before.

I have been a huge Star Wars fan since as far back as I can remember, and after the, shall we say, unsettling nature of the prequels, I was looking for some solid re-affirmation of all things Star Wars. When Galaxies was announced, I took the classic gamer position of “cautiously optimistic.” On the positive side of things, the game was to be set during the time of the original trilogy, and not involve anything from the prequels. On the downside, it was going to be an MMO.

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I have had a hankering lately to play a game that does not exist.  Specifically, a Western RPG as they used to be, before Bioware and Bethesda took up the reins of Western RPGdom.  Of course, many of you will say there is nothing wrong with those two being in charge, but I’m afraid that Dragon Age and Fallout 3 just don’t scratch that itch for me.

So, why?  Why am I dissatisfied with the current crop of Western RPGs?  What are they missing, what are they doing wrong?

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