Today I finally decided to log on and wander over to the Christmas holiday inside of Star Wars Galaxies. Thankfully, the loading screen told me where the event was being held, or I never would’ve found it. There is not a single NPC in Mos Eisley, one of the most frequented towns in the entire game, telling you were to go for this event. Anyway, lack of direction aside, I bought a ticket to Wayfar, and waited for the loading screen.

I was quite surprised when I arrived at this town and it was covered in snow… still on Tatooine, in the middle of the fucking desert. I can actually walk a few hundred feet in any direction and be back in a giant desert again. Beyond the strange weather, the first thing that really struck me was the fact that there was no one around. I was the only player character in this entire town. You would think that a major world event like this would bring everyone out, but instead they continue to hang out in Mos Eisley, roleplaying and dueling. I started towards the obvious landmark in the area; a terribly textured giant tree that I assumed must be a “life tree”. Under the tree, there was a Santa Claus lookalike named Saun Dann waiting with a quest. He tells me that he had ordered candy from Naboo and that it had never shown up, and that I need to investigate.

I was really looking forward to visiting Naboo, as much as someone can look forward to anything in this game. I was really interested in seeing something new and different after spending the entirety of my playtime on a space station and Tatooine. When I first arrived, I was impressed by how much better the planet looked compared to Tatooine… but then I went inside a building. While the outside of the buildings were new, the insides were 100% the same. The entire city was the same thing with a new, pretty façade instead of the sand-colored exteriors of Tatooine.

Of course, though the marker was in the middle of town, the guy I needed to talk to was right next to where the ship landed. He immediately sent me back to Tatooine, where I was sent to the middle of the desert because the candy was sold to Jawas. The Jawa’s protocol droid let me know that the candy had gone to some little town somewhere else in Tatooine, where a glowing candy trail led me to a fat stormtrooper. Yes, this lengthy, totally pointless quest ended with a heart-to-heart with an overweight stormtrooper. And to top it all off, as soon as I got back to the Santa imposter, he wanted me to go back out and do it all again. Needless to say, I declined.

The second part of the event depends on what faction you are a member of. As an Imperial, I have to run around the area stomping on presents, since the imperial recruiter claims it is a guise by the Rebels to smuggle in supplies and weapons. The greatest thing about this activity was that the horrible song that replaced Yub Nub in Return of the Jedi was playing while I was stomping presents for “Imperial Propaganda Tokens”. As mind-numbingly boring as clicking on present after present is, apparently the rebel activity involves decorating trees, which sounds absolutely thrilling. I’ve embedded a video that depicts the thrilling process of stomping presents, as well as the event area. Now, as for what I’m going to do in the game from here on out… I might start questing again?