They're Headed for the Medical Center

Aside from the disastrous addition and/or tweaking of the bleeding mechanism, the need to make frequent visits to the Medical Center was ever-present.

Located in all major cities, and even some smaller ones, the Medical Center once stood as a beacon of hope to adventurers who were limping back to town with their Health, Action or Mind (HAM) bars suffering.

Newcomers to the game might think that the Medical Center is a useless facility, used only to house a cybernetic vendor for equipping robotic parts. But it was once a popular haunt for the wounded, and a place of business for those working on medical skills.

Even if there was not a doctor or medic on duty, the nature of the medical center itself offered healing properties. Adventuers were advised to first take care of their battle fatigue at a cantina first, which made the task of the center or doctor easier. I always thought that was a little "cart before the horse" in terms of logic, but hey, it worked and it encouraged socialization.

Taking a seat in the hospital was a good way to socialize, just like hanging out at the cantina or waiting for a shuttle. It offered another way to distribute the population and to make the galaxy feel more "alive".

It was the proper ratio of action to downtime, exploring to socializing. All of it together allowed players to find their toon's persona: whether it was as an on-duty medic, a musician or dancer at the cantina, or the injury-prone adventure who needed them all to get back on their feet again.

Or maybe all three in different parts.

By now, the power of SWG was becoming very apparent to those of us in beta. Unlike betas I've been in since, there just simply was not any discussions about whether or not everyone would subscribe. It was a foregone conclusion that we would all be on the other side of launch. We began making our preparations.