Rating: 
Summary: Good for newbie's, great info, but.....
Review: The problem with writing strategy guides for any game as of late, is that many times the strategy guide is written prior to the final release of the game so it can be ready for sale as the game hits the shelves. What ends up happening is that some information that is printed in the guide, has been changed, deleted, altered in some way from the actual game itself. Such is the case with Star Wars Galaxies.The Strategy Guide itself is beautiful for the most part. Instead of grayscale pictures on regular stock paper, SWG Guide contains hundreds of gorgeous full color pictures on nice glossy paper. That's right, the 1st 386 out of the total 494 pages are in color. There is screenshots galore, highlighted tips, and tons of original and conceptual art. The back of the book is in black and white, but it's just the index, stat's and tables, and appendences (no reason for color here). Also included is a large pull out poster with art of the 8 beginning species a player can play. Now the meat of the guide itself: For the beginner MMORPG user or 'newbie' to Star Wars Galaxies itself, this guide really does a great job getting over the concepts of gameplay and actually does provide strategy tips and hints on how to acclimate yourself to this game. It describes in detail many aspects of the various menu's, choice's, do's and do not's a player can do much better that the 100 page manual included with the game. However, there are a few sections I noticed (though sparse) that were more or less direct copies of in-game play text from dialogue boxes just reprinted here. That's not necessarily bad, as many gamer's skip these factoids while in game play, but ends up being very useful information offline. The guide is pretty logically divided into various sections: 1) New Player Introduction: Well done, and offers a nice background to the SW Universe as well as player etiquette and online terms that you'll need to get familiar with. 2) Character creation: Very in-depth, but straightforward and self-explanatory. 3) Interaction in Star Wars Galaxies: Discussion's on groups, parties, chatting, chat channels, e-mail, character commands, etc. 4) City Life: Discussion on what to expect and what one can do and find in cities overall. 5) Combat: Discussion of PvP, Player vs. NPC's, missions, factions, guilds, joining the Imperials, joining the Rebel Alliance, etc. Choice of weapons either thrown, ranged, melee, hand to hand and concepts on what constitutes a hit versus a miss, how fighting affects your online character, etc. Well done. 6) Economy: SWG is a player driven economy and can be confusing to the new player. While this chapter is not the longest or most in depth, it does a lot of explaining concepts of why certain players will do the things they do, and how earning money id different for all players and their respective professions. 7) Crafting: Certain players (depending on their profession) actually make objects in the game. Whether it's weapons, food, clothing, tools, home's, etc...this is the chapter to read. 8) Professions: Easily the largest section in the guide well over 150 pages. An in-depth look at the paths of destiny a player can create for themselves, what goals to shoot for, and what they can do when they gain a level per-se. Can be a bit boring and all most of this information can be found in game. But there are some strategies that are worth taking note at. 9) Planets: An overview of the 1st 9 planets in the game. Background on their histories, topographies, geographies, etc. A few points of interest, and maps of main (but not all cities). 10) PvP, Appendices, other tables, reference materials. Okay, with all that said on how rich this guide is, there are a few drawbacks: 1) The game is written primarily for new users. Once you get the hang of the game, you may only use this guide for some weapon tables, maybe a few maps, and a few shortcuts on setting up your in game interface. 2) Some information is incorrect as of printing. I already noticed that the game itself has made a few command changes, whether adding new ones, or deleting some that the guide fails to mention. 3) The nature of MMORPG's is that they always change. SWG's has already announced that in the future new items will become available, new planets, new cities, etc...Because a game like this always evolves, sooner or later, many aspects of this guide may become obsolete. Hope my review help, the guide did help me!
Rating: 
Summary: Star Wars Galaxies Official Strategy Guide Review
Review: The Star Wars Galaxies Official Strategy Guide by Prima is a somewhat useful resource for the Star Wars Galaxies player. Written by committee (there are seven listed authors), the guide offers decent coverage of the massively multiplayer online game, with a full color interior (and a large poster featuring concept artwork of the different races available in the game). Guides of this type should be useful in two ways: they should give the ability to teach thoroughly about the game and game mechanics (in other words, how to be successful), and they should be comprehensive in dealing with the game concepts. The Official Strategy Guide does very well in the latter, and only acceptable in the former. What the guide does really well is detailing the skill professions, inventory items, city layouts, and things of that nature - that is, the nitty-gritty of the game environments and player characteristics. The guide gives detailed descriptions and layouts of all of the cities, as well as trainer and specific building locations. The bulk of the guide however describes all the professions and skill paths available. Some hints for successful use of the professions are also included. The problem with information of this nature however is that, while helpful, it's not as helpful as it should be. Rebel and Imperial mission terminals should be on the maps at the very least, not to mention neutral mission terminals. Some of the information about a particular skill level seems particularly lacking in useful gameplay information, and what the skill mods/abilities actually mean is missing entirely. How does mask scent work again? The guide describes what it means, but doesn't say how it really works in-game. That kind of information is vitally important, and it is all but missing. The other big issue is that the information may not be as accurate, simply because of the evolving and ever-changing nature of massively multiplayer online games. Information regarding how to get to an elite or hybrid profession may actually change. Many of the charts are useful but exactly how accurate are they? The creature/NPC table for instance seems to be highly suspect in the health/action/mind categories. Some other things are just plain wrong or misguided: the guide describes creatures as being red dots on the radar (pg. 70) - reds are merely creatures or NPCs that will act aggressively to you when you approach. A tip says that if "you want to change your profession (that is to say, give up your previous skills) start a new character"; in the same section the guide describes surrendering skills to change professions (pg. 112). A bit misleading to say the least - creating a new character should be the last resort, not a handy tip. Other sections of the book cover the game interface and various interactive modules, which frankly either need to be expanded to be truly useful or taken out as needless filler, as the material that they give is pretty much in the game manual. While being useful in telling you the detailed specifics behind Star Wars Galaxies, the Official Strategy Guide really falls in short in telling you how to do well in the game. Given the time constraints and lead times involved, it might have been impossible to do, but the guide surely could have used a lot more.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book!
Review: The thing about this guide is that it appears that it was written from the beta testing stage of Star Wars Galaxies, so some of the information contained within it is just not correct anymore. The best use of this book is as a guide for the location of the various trainers and other locations throughout the planets. If I were looking to be trained in a healing discipline I can very easily flip to the planet that I'm on and find a city and location within the city of a medic trainer. That is very helpful. Too bad the location of mission terminals are not included...especially Rebel mission terminals because they are often hidden away somewhere. The book also does a good job of identifying the various professions and their respective skills and requirements, though it would be nice if they would give some information on what the skill actually meant. For example, by looking on page 310 that a commando learns the "flame single 1" ability once they have achieved Flamethrower Specialization I. So, uh...what is "flame single 1"? Guess I'll have to become a commando to find out. On a different note, I've noticed that in the book whenever it refers to a player's character it is always as "she". For example, it may say "A character must master both the Marksman and Brawler professions before she can become a Novice Bounty Hunter." I have yet to find a single example in the book where they use "he" instead of "she". This is hardly a problem but I just found it strange that they break from common literary protocol in this matter. Overall I'm glad I have the book. It certainly has helped me on numerous occasions but it could have been so much more. Perhaps in the future an updated book will come out with information obtained after the game went live instead of info from the beta stage.
Rating:
Summary: Not horrible, but could be better
Review: The thing about this guide is that it appears that it was written from the beta testing stage of Star Wars Galaxies, so some of the information contained within it is just not correct anymore. The best use of this book is as a guide for the location of the various trainers and other locations throughout the planets. If I were looking to be trained in a healing discipline I can very easily flip to the planet that I'm on and find a city and location within the city of a medic trainer. That is very helpful. Too bad the location of mission terminals are not included...especially Rebel mission terminals because they are often hidden away somewhere. The book also does a good job of identifying the various professions and their respective skills and requirements, though it would be nice if they would give some information on what the skill actually meant. For example, by looking on page 310 that a commando learns the "flame single 1" ability once they have achieved Flamethrower Specialization I. So, uh...what is "flame single 1"? Guess I'll have to become a commando to find out. On a different note, I've noticed that in the book whenever it refers to a player's character it is always as "she". For example, it may say "A character must master both the Marksman and Brawler professions before she can become a Novice Bounty Hunter." I have yet to find a single example in the book where they use "he" instead of "she". This is hardly a problem but I just found it strange that they break from common literary protocol in this matter. Overall I'm glad I have the book. It certainly has helped me on numerous occasions but it could have been so much more. Perhaps in the future an updated book will come out with information obtained after the game went live instead of info from the beta stage.
Rating: 
Summary: Beyond Terrible
Review: There is just nothing here, not even what you would normally expect from this type of guide. For example, you might expect to find out what a new skill gives you and the guide has this information, but not really. Image design skills give you new and different hair styles, tatoos, and the ability to customize your character in different ways. But what does each skill say? Exactly that without any specifics. Gee, that was helpful. Maybe I'd like to know which skill does hair and which one lets you work on someone's face and which one lets you change colors and spots. Nope. You might expect to find out what new clothes each level of tailoring gives you. Nope. You might expect to find out what different droid modules do. Nope. It has no detail, just generalities. Even the included manual is more helpful. I'm usually a defender of MMP Prime guides. This one doesn't even have the basic reference information. It is completely and utterly useless.
Rating:
Summary: This is the best BOOK
Review: This bok is the best for teaching strategy and gameplay. I have never read this book but, I know prima temp and they know what they're talking about. thx
Rating:
Summary: This book is worthless.
Review: This book contains no useful information not already in the manual provided with the game.
Rating: 
Summary: Was good when game launched (perspective of a gamer)
Review: This book was wrote when Star Wars Galaxies was in Beta still and even after Beta some things were changed. Profession's have changed such as the Bounty Hunter Profession as in terms of requisites. New items have been added (Especially in the terms of Chef) along with other new schematics (Speeders, Droids, Poison and Disease Resist Packs etc) and then there is the Jedi that are not even mentioned due to the fact that in Beta not one person unlocked the Jedi Profession and the fact the game's in a stage where a slew of revamps are about to be introduced.
If you need a source that can be at your fingertips it may be better now to find a website instead of the book or seek advice from those that have previously tried that profession and made there way through the ranks. My recomendation for the beginner is to NOT buy this book due to the book being dated.
Rating:
Summary: Alright for some aspects, wrong for others.
Review: This book, like many of Prima's guides that cover a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) is a mixed bag. On one hand, the descriptions of some of the professions in the game are handy, but some of them are already wrong, due to changes already in place. The maps are handy to have in front of you, but the in-game map system does the same job. The descriptions of the various weapons and armor are nice, but omit higher-level items, which has become somewhat of a trademark of Prima's authorized guides. All in all, the layout is nice, and this is one of Prima's few full color guides. But the information contained within should be verified with a more up to date source before you rely on it. And, if anyone from Prima is reading this, please, PLEASE hire a more effective proofreader. Some of the grammatical and written errors in this book are almost comical. Almost. All in all, it's a handy book to have around, but I won't be relying on it as a guide. It's more effective as a supplement to the game manual, if you remember to check the information with more current sources.
Rating:
Summary: Must-have, although it can't cover everything...
Review: This is an excellent book. It does a very good job explaining the machanics of a very complex game. It is also a very well done book. Almost the entire book is in full color. Note that this book describes a huge game world that is evolving. No doubt some of it will become outdated, and some of it might already be. But the fundamentals described here are very good and will help every player. Also, the book can not describe everything, despite the fact that it is already thicker than any other strategy guide I own. I still think that this is an excellent book that every serious player should get.
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