As previously mentioned,
Rage of the Wookiees is really built around story content, most of which builds on items from “Episode III”. Anyone complaining about lack of content is sure to lose some footing since Kashyyyk brings a load of new content to explore.
The only way to reach Kashyyyk is by your own ship, so if you don’t have one by now, you’re screwed. Luckily for you, Rage of the Wookiees also includes Jump to Lightspeed, so you really have no excuse for not going. Once on the planet, you’ll find that it’s much different than other areas in the game. The planet is split up into sectors which you must earn access to through completing quests. Many of the missions are interdependent of each other and flow nicely. You could start by talking to a Wookiee chieftain and soon end up helping out a Rodian trader or even taking part in the Trandosian’s wookiee slave trade. Mission variety isn’t diverse and still follows the same patterning as others already in the game, but hey – it’s better than mindlessly grinding.
On second thought, maybe it’s not because all missions are basically just another route of a larger grind for a change in scenery. The stories behind each mission are thin, and even if you skip through them, you’re not missing much. Nearly ever mission requires you to kill a big thing, or collect a bunch of little things and collecting items from their corpses. The same can be said for any MMO, but by now you’d think we were deep enough into the MMO genre that developers would provide more engaging content rather than a collection of generic missions.
While I’m on the topic of story, I should probably go ahead and say the Rage of the Wookiees does nothing to help get the game back on track as far as continuity. I had originally planned on writing a mini-thesis on the subject, but figured it would be a futile gesture that would go ignored. Besides, SOE seems pretty hell-bent on keeping their newly coined “this is your Galaxy” line, so complaining wouldn’t do much good. In lieu of a diatribe, I’ll just say that I was disappointed with a majority of the new “Episode III” content. The inclusion of Clone War relics and the Varactyl fit in within the game and work. What I had a problem with was the inclusion of the Jedi Starfighter, ARC-170 and other “Episode III” ships that would, by the time of the game’s timeline, be obsolete. I could go on, but I think I’d just be probably beating a dead bantha.
My main point is that there is so much else going on in the timeline now that would provide a rich, rewarding story experience instead of the badly written EU (expanded universe) they’re giving players.
Going into the game I was expecting something similar to Yavin or Endor, which are forested areas. A different approach is taken with Kashyyyk. Forests are densely packed and form up walls. These forest sections make up the high walls of the maze-like paths that cut across the entire planet. All roads lead to Kachiro, the planet’s main city and home of the Life Tree. Though you’ll still find pockets of “civilized” life in other areas of the planet, Kachiro is the main hub of all life on the planet.
In addition to the ground game on Kashyyyk, a new space game has been added: asteroid mining. To be honest, I really couldn’t get into this aspect of the game, but I’m certain that some players are really into it. Mining requires that you have a ship and meet with an NPC who will give you the items you need to start your new endeavor. From there, it’s just a matter of blowing up asteroids and collecting your harvest. Mining is tied into a mission structure that will eventually reward players with a brand-new multi-passenger ship designed for mining operations.
