From SOE:

On Thursday, August 23rd at 4:00 AM PDT all U.S. and European galaxies will be taken down for server maintenance and a live update. When the update is complete, all galaxies will be live but unavailable while we complete final testing. All galaxies will be made available after that time.

It looks like Lucasarts and SOE are hurting a bit in the Star Wars Galaxies membership department. They are now running a player-come-back style event, like so many other MMOs.

Have you been longing to return to a galaxy far, far away? Now is the perfect time! Former citizens of the galaxy can return for 21 days if they have been inactive for 90 days or more. Log back in to your former account now and check out the new Beast Master expertise system firsthand. Hurry, this offer is only available until 11:59PM PST September 30, 2007!

From SOE:

It all started when I was on MSNGamingZone.com and saw a whole bunch of players online playing one game. This was back in '96 when I first started online play. I'm a traditional FPS gamer who's played Rainbow Six, Counter Strike, Battlefield 1942, 2, 2142... you get the idea. The thing that got me into MMOs was when my brother applied for the SWG beta and he got in and I didn't. They gave him a buddy key and he gave it to me and here I am today.

From SOE:

There's no better resource for new or returning Star Wars Galaxies players than the knowledge of their fellow players. Experienced fighters, traders, pilots, and others know the 'tricks of the trade' and are always graciously willing to share their tips with others.

The latest Star Wars Galaxies dev diary is posted over at the official website.

Thomas "Hanse" Eidson is back for the next installment in his dev diary series! Thomas is a System Designer on Star Wars Galaxies. In this diary, Thomas shows us the process behind the creation of the beast mastery system in Chapter 6.

The second annual SOE MMO block party event is on! Prizes, raffles, and more are in store -- it promises to be bigger and better than last year's outing. Check the link for details.

The latest Star Wars Galaxies dev diary has been posted over at the official website. This installment deals with several PvE features of the game, check it out.

From SOE

The Galactic Vacant Building Demolitions Crew is trying a few practice runs before unleashing their explosives on the live servers, and they need your help! Log into the Test Center for some structure demolition fun.