"I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened." - Obi-Wan Kenobi

Sony Online Entertainment just announced that Star Wars Galaxies and the trading card game will be shutting down on December 15, 2011. Here's a list of important dates:

• June 24, 2011: 12, 6 and 3-month subscription packs turned off. TCG store closes.
• September 15, 2011: SWG MMO and Trading Card Game no longer available for sale or subscription. No new or reactivated accounts accepted after this date.
• October 15, 2011: Billing turned off. Free game trials begin.
• December 15, 2011: Star Wars Galaxies service ends.
• December 31, 2011: Free game trials end.

During the last week that Star Wars Galaxies is available, SOE will be inviting the community to participate in a galaxy-ending event. If you're a Star Wars Galaxies subscriber in good standing, you'll be able to play the following games for free from October 15 to December 31: Free Realms, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, EverQuest, EverQuest II and DC Universe Online.

Massively sat down with SOE President John Smedley, and he said "the decision to shut down SWG is first and foremost a business decision mutually agreed upon between SOE and LucasArts. LucasArts has a new game coming out, and the contract would be running out in 2012 anyway, so we feel like it's the right time for the game to end."

Smedley also said the recent hackings and layoffs had nothing to do with it, and no staff members will be losing their jobs because they're being transferred to an "undisclosed new project in Austin."

Now that Sony Online Entertainment's games have been up and running for a few days following a hacker attack, it's time once again for the latest episode of the Official SOE Podcast. In this installment, Linda “Brasse” Carlson and Aimee “Ashlanne” Rekoske discuss Star Wars Galaxies' bounty hunter update, as well as Fan Faire 2011. They even have an interview with a real Norrathian Orc.

You can click this link to download an mp3 of SOE Podcast episode 109.

Sony Online Entertainment has extended the Bonus Everything Weekend in Star Wars Galaxies. The event will now end on Tuesday, May 31, which means U.S. players will be able to enjoy the perks through Memorial Day weekend. Here's a description of the event:

"During the Bonus Everything Weekend, everyone logged in will earn Double XP, Double GCW Points, Double Heroic Tokens, Double GCW Tokens from Battlefields and City Invasions, Double Pet XP and Loyalty, Double Duty Mission Tokens, Double Chronicles XP, Double Chronicles Silver Tokens, increased chance to earn Gold Chronicles Tokens, increased RLS chance, increased chance to catch real fish (instead of junk loot and collection fish), and bonus Restuss Commendations!"

SOE's Super Fan Spring Fever weekend is now in effect! Many participating games have some cool sales or new spring-themed items available this weekend only in the Station Cash Marketplace.

EverQuest: Sealed Stomple Basket, Sealed Stomple Package, Sealed Decorative Egg Package

EverQuest II: Spring Surprise Basket (a randomly colored bunny hat and spring cloak in each)

Free Realms: Spring Chicken Bundle

Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures: Spring Fever Weapon

Star Wars Galaxies Sale Items: Jawa Sandcrawler House, Anakin's Radon-Ulzer Podracer, Jabba's Sail Barge, Snow Speeder ITV, The Meatlump King: The cardboardening, Nightsister Hut, Singing Mountain Clan Hut, AT-XT Familiar, AT-ST Familiar, Pulse Cannon, TC-22 Blaster Rifle Replica, Gand Shockprod Staff, DH-18A Blaster Pistol Prototype, Nova Industries Prototype Engine, Nova Industries Prototype Ion Cannon, Orion Industries Prototype Engine, Orion Industries Prototype Disrupter, Crafted Armor Color Kit, Stardock Coordination Terminal, USV-5 Modified Landspeeder, CR-1 Blast Cannon, Westar-M5 Blaster Rifle, MagnaGuard Staff, Westar-34 Blaster Pistol, Buzz-Knuck, N'Gant-Zarvel 9118 Carbine, Vibrosword, Sith Sword

Source: EQII Forums

Sony Online Entertainment just announced that character transfers in Star Wars Galaxies will be free starting April 26. Here are the details:

• To be eligible for free transfer, characters must be at least 90 days old and must be on your active Star Wars Galaxies account in good standing.
• After a character transfers for free, that character must wait at least 90 days before it can be transferred to another qualifying server for free again.
• Characters will not be able to transfer to the Starsider galaxy, but characters from Starsider will be able to transfer off of that server to another galaxy.

For more information, check out SOE's step-by-step guide to transferring characters.

Between April 22 and April 25, get Double Station Cash when you redeem an SOE Game Card or buy SC (excluding SMS purchases)! Plus, check participating games for special Spring-themed or sale items. See eligible Game Cards here. (Excludes original 30-Day Game Card which doesn't redeem for Station Cash.)

Participating games include EverQuest, EverQuest II, EverQuest II Extended, Free Realms, Star Wars Galaxies, Magic: The Gathering - Tactics, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, and PoxNora. Check back later in the week for more details on game-specific Spring items and sales!

source: EQ2Players.com

Following the sad news of Sony Online Entertainment's recent studio closures and layoffs, many producers have been writing letters to players discussing the future of their respective games, such as EverQuest, EverQuest II and DC Universe Online. Star Wars Galaxies Producer Tony “Teesquared” Tyson is no different, and he has written a letter that looks back at the game's past and gives a glimpse of what's to come in 2011. Most of the concrete details focus on the Galactic Civil War:

"To build off of the game systems developed for the GCW, we’ll be doing a series of updates that will expand the war in many areas. Galactic Civil War 2 will be broken up into parts so we can release the content to our players faster. For part 1, we’re planning to add three new fighter class ships and more GCW activities and scenarios in space. In part 2, we’re bringing the war to player cities and guilds. Finally, in part 3 we will balance and improve the new and existing systems to make the playing field more fair and rewarding for everyone."

He goes on to say that the team plans to "continue to improve different aspects of the game with our ongoing game play and profession updates." He also mentions that the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game is also going strong. You can read his complete letter after the jump.

The Official SOE Podcast episode 106 is called the "Hodgepodge Cast" since it covers such a wide variety of topics. Host Aimee “Ashlanne” Rekoske is joined by co-hosts Benito “Shingo” Martinez and Robyn “Naylie” Vallee to discuss the latest Star Wars Galaxies updates, Free Realms on the PlayStation 3, and EverQuest's 12th anniversary.

The podcast also features an interview with Don Vercelli, the senior vice president of sales, and Jason “Pex” Ryan brings us the latest updates on many SOE titles. Head over to the official site to give it a listen!

Tony "Teesquared" Tyson has published his March Producer's Note for Star Wars Galaxies, and this one sheds some light on the Galactic Civil War 2 update. Here are some details:

"First, we will be releasing this update in multiple parts. Part 1 will focus on space. Part 2 will focus on player cities. Part 3 will be a balance pass on the different GCW systems including planetary control. We want to break it up into parts so we can get the finished stuff out sooner. Second, what would a space update be without new ships? Well we are planning to add some new ships."

Tyson also discusses the Entertainer update, guild changes, bounty hunting in space, SOE Fan Faire and more. Check out the letter on the official site for more information.

Today's Star Wars Galaxies hotfix brings with it a major update to the Entertainer Profession. The changes include a revamp of the expertise trees, new combat buffs, new hairstyles for their image design abilities, new breakdance moves, a new flourish, improvements to grouping, and a several new commands.

For more details on the Entertainer changes and some other updates, check out the patch notes after the jump.