One of the defining qualities of Star Wars Galaxies is the feeling of inhabiting a world alongside real people. Spaceports bustling with travelers, players gathering in cantinas, and combatants recovering at medical centers. These interactions are what make the Galaxy feel alive.
For much of Restoration's history, we've worked to preserve that experience by discouraging unattended gameplay. But there has always been one particularly visible exception: Doctor buff bots. After years of living with that compromise, we feel it's time to revisit the exception, address some longstanding frustrations, and restore a little more of the Doctor profession's original identity along the way.
The Active Server Vision
In 2021, we published a Developer Diary titled Redefining and Addressing Unattended Gameplay, outlining our philosophy toward an active player base at Restoration. Unattended gameplay has significant consequences beyond individual progression. Automated farming can distort the economy, undermine the value of player effort, and replace the interactions that make a shared world feel alive.Although controversial when first implemented, we believe this approach has turned out to become one of Restoration's greatest strengths and sets us apart from many other servers. But our original policy made an exception for certain player services, including Doctor buffs.
At the time, that compromise made sense. Our population was smaller, particularly during off-peak hours, and reliable Doctor buffs were essential. Doctors also played a less prominent role as group healers than they do in much of Restoration's modern content. Removing unattended Doctors without an alternative risked creating more problems than it solved.
The Doctor Bot Problem
Over time, however, that compromise revealed its shortcomings.
Buff bots increasingly occupied starports and cantinas, accompanied by repetitive advertisements and macro messages. We attempted to address this by directing Doctor services toward medical centers, hoping to give those buildings renewed purpose while reducing congestion elsewhere.
Unfortunately, we largely concentrated the problem rather than solving it. The Mos Eisley medical center became a gathering place for unattended Doctors, sometimes forming a wall of AFK characters around the entrance. New players encountered a confusing collection of buff animations, automated interactions, and characters that appeared present but weren't actually playing.
For a server built around active participation, it was hardly the first impression we wanted. There was something ironic about a medical center full of Doctors making the Galaxy feel less alive.
And so it's time to rip off the bandage.
A Better Prescription
Simply removing Doctor bots would have been easy. But not everyone plays during peak hours, and finding a Doctor when your buffs expire or after an unexpected death can be frustrating.We considered making Doctor buffs shorter-duration tactical abilities, but felt that would overlap too much with the identities of Squad Leaders and Combat Medics.
We even explored eliminating Doctor buffs altogether. But that would undermine something fundamental to Star Wars Galaxies: interdependency.
SWG was built around professions contributing to a larger, interconnected world. Combatants rely on crafters, crafters rely on gatherers, and players rely on specialized services. We wanted to preserve the Doctor's identity as an important part of combat preparation while reducing the inconvenience of always having to locate one.
And so we looked to the game's past.
Crafted Doctor Buffs
Before the Combat Upgrade, crafted medical enhancements were an important part of the Doctor profession. We're bringing back part of that identity through crafted Doctor buff packs.
Doctors will assemble these packs using specialized Bio-Engineer subcomponents that influence their charges and duration. Finished packs can be sold through the player economy, allowing anyone to purchase and apply buffs themselves whenever needed.
Importantly, crafted packs won't completely replace active Doctors. They will provide the secondary tier of Doctor buffs, which we've brought meaningfully closer in effectiveness to the primary tier. Buffs administered by active Doctors will still be the strongest, rewarding players who seek out their services without making that interaction mandatory.
This creates a practical alternative for off-peak players while restoring a valuable layer of economic interdependency. Bio-Engineers supply the components, Doctors turn them into marketable medical products, and players gain another reason to participate in a living, player-driven economy.
Doctors Worth Finding
We're also making several improvements to increase the value and convenience of receiving buffs from active Doctors.Buffs provided by active Doctors will now persist through death, eliminating the frustration of immediately searching for another Doctor after a difficult encounter. An additional tier of buff-duration extension will also become available through medical droids.
Medical centers will retain a modest advantage: receiving an active Doctor buff inside one will provide an additional hour of duration, giving both Doctors and their patients a reason to use these facilities.
With these alternatives in place, we'll finally remove the unattended macro exception for Doctors after five years.
A Living Galaxy
We want professions to be valued for what players contribute to the galaxy, not simply because their characters remain connected indefinitely. We want an economy driven by meaningful participation, cities populated by an actual community, and Doctors who feel valued for their services and contributions to the player economy.Restoration takes great pride in preserving the ideas that made Star Wars Galaxies special, even when doing so introduces a little inconvenience. At the same time, we recognize that changing longstanding conveniences can be disruptive. We'll monitor buff availability, crafting balance, and the experience of off-peak players, and we're committed to making adjustments where needed.
Ultimately, these changes are about finding a better balance between convenience, profession identity, and the player interactions that make SWG special.
It's finally time to euthanize the Doctor buff bots once and for all.
May the Force be with you,
Fuego and the SWG Restoration Team