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Marks hot news |
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Marks 3 to 5 days old news |
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Marks older news |
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 Pre-CU surprises |
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| SWGStraticsVoice - 3:23 AM PDT | Posted By: temptabo |
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 If you poke around the dark corners of the galaxy, every now and again you will stumble upon quests givers that still hand out pre-CU rewards. You know it's a pre-CU quest because it gives very little or no money and it's not that hard. Pre-CU it would have been very hard, but with the changes that were made to the game: vehicles, not drawing aggro, and a CL raise -- means you can zip to and from the quest giver with no trouble at all. And while the quests aren't really worth doing anymore, having them there means that those of us that played "back in the good old days" can reach out and touch a little bit of the game we all loved and hated at the same time, and we all miss very much.
I'm sure the Dev team knows they are there, but they just aren't important to them and that's fine with me. I certainly hope they leave them alone because a veteran player, at least this veteran player, finds some small measure of comfort and joy in them. So whether or not the Devs meant to leave them as a gift to us or they were oversight, I appreciate them being there.
Temptabo |
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| City Status Changes are needed |
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| SWGStraticsVoice - 6:33 PM PDT | Posted By: temptabo |
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The housing pack up was fabulous. I know some people had a hard time getting on and lag was an issue causing some upset as well, but all in all I think it went very nicely. Only, it didn't go far enough. There are still houses standing that I know are abandoned because I know the player has left and has no intention of returning. I know of several structures standing that should be considered abandoned, and other players have similar stories. So the pack-up should be more aggressive and I hope to see another round of clean up sooner rather than later.
The issue that goes hand-in-hand with housing is city status. Back when NGE hit and subscriptions were down, the number of houses needed to hold a city slot was throttled back. At the time it seemed like a good idea but now I can see the problems with this plan. There is a city on Dantooine in Bloodfin that is dead. The players don't play anymore. Their houses are still there though and no one is around to grant zoning. The city can't rank up but it's holding a slot on a planet that is popular.
I suggest the city status numbers should be pushed back to what they used to be, or even more on very populous servers. It's unfair that two accounts, one elder Jedi and another account, be able to hold a city slot. Additionally, it's time for cities to begin costing money to maintain again. If this was done, dead cities would cease being a problem even without another round of house pack ups. The break SWG gave the players during Katrina was nice but it's time to move forward.
What I see now is that players who no longer pay to play, are holding the game hostage from those of us that have paid our monthly fee for years. I can find no other business model where non-paying clients are given power over paying clients, and although all the considerations in place are nice and came from a desire to make coming back to the game easier for veterans, it's time we moved on and let the game and the community evolve naturally. |
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| Happy Birthday Star Wars! |
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| SWGStraticsVoice - 4:44 PM PDT | Posted By: DasoLegend |
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A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far awa..., or in a movie theatre near you, the scroll of yellow and the roar of a Star Destroyer lit an eternal flame that is 30 years in the making.
Here's to George Lucas, as he shared his vision with the world 30 years ago today. Cheers!! Without you we would not be here today doing what we have grown to love. Another thank you to Timothy Zahn for his novel Trilogy that resparked the Star Wars flame back in the early 1990's. I don't think I've read any book as fast as I read those three.
For those of you 30-somethings, remember seeing the films in the theatre for the first time? Who knew Star Wars would be this big back in 1983, when we thought it was all over. Well, except for that Ewok cartoon series! Then a few books were released, a few movies were re-released to quench our thirst and then the prequels. And now with Episode 3 come and gone what do you have to hope for? Well, I'm happy to let you know that Mr. Lucas plans on making 2 more films. While they will not be feature length films, they will be 60 minutes each and made for television release. Regardless, I'm sure I speak for everyone, when I say we look forward to the 2 new films.
And I couldn't forget the younger folks. It's your job to keep the torch running. You must pass on what you have learned. The future is in your hands.
Happy 30th and may we have many more! |
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| Beast Master Diaries, Day 4 |
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| SWGStraticsVoice - 4:38 PM PDT | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
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While the final experimentation session of my dewback has been finishing up, I decided to try purifying hydrolase enzymes. The centrifuge I have been using has an enzyme purity rating of .41 and a mutagen potential of .33. The processor I am using has a .7 purity rating and a .85 mutagen potential. The re-processor I will be using has a purity rating of .47 and a mutagen potential of .04.
So far I have been able to processes elements A, B, and D. They have purity/mutagen ratings of 2.84/6.39, 4.34/5.74, and 3.62/5.99 respectively. I am currently processing element C, and will start E when that is finished. My progress has been greatly hampered by the price and unavailability of the necessary processing canister. The processing itself only takes two hours, so all five elements can be completed in one day, but I have had to spend a great deal of time finding the canister. I was also forced to buy an E element because I did not receive one from the several hydrolases I broke down in the centrifuge. Hopefully, by the end of the day I will be able to re-process the five elements into one purified hydrolase enzyme.
Checking on my incubator, the moment of truth has arrived; my dewback is ready to be made into an egg! The third experimentation session increased the stats again, but provided nothing amazing. With no incubation stages reaming, I formulated the egg and removed it from the incubator unit. Once I had the egg in my inventory, I converted it to a mount and went outside to see what I have been making over the past four days. And so, making his first public appearance ever, I give you “Dewey”
I am very pleased with his color, and am happy with his running speed, which is 12.5. His walk speed is 2.95. I have already made a long trip to Bestine with him, and I am sure many adventures await us.
The past week of learning Beast Mastery has been very fun and I have gained a lot of knowledge I can use when it goes live. The developers have done a great job of making a very dynamic system, and I look forward to making more creatures, and discovering new ones through mutation.
--Xyleph Yerxak |
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| Zion is reporting for duty! |
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| SWGStraticsVoice - 12:21 PM PDT | Posted By: ZionHalcyon |
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Greetings everyone!
I would like to take the time to introduce myself! My name is ZionHalcyon, and I am a new content editor for SWG Stratics!
I'd like to give you all a bit of insight about myself, my relation to Star Wars Galaxies, and what I will be doing here as the newest member of the SWG Stratics team!
Handle: ZionHalcyon aka. Zion
Years of MMORPG Experience: 5
Number of MMORPGs played: 2 (Star Wars Galaxies, and briefly, Guild Wars)
How did you come to play SWG?
I saw a link online from www.jediknight.net for an upcoming MMO called Star Wars Galaxies. I paid a visit to the site, where they had a placeholder, telling everyone to come back in January of 2002 for the launch of the website, and the opening of the forums.
I did so, and as such, I was a part of a small but tight-knit community that conversed with the developers of SWG daily (as the developers at the time were in the forums daily). It was an amazing experience, and at the time, the mood in the community was mostly positive, and we as a community were active contributors to the shape of the game. I believe that is where my passion for shaping this game and being an active member of its community came from. Being a true 1st day veteran of the game, I have a unique perspective that many people, including those who falsely claim to be 1st day vets for bragging purposes, tend not to share. I look forward to sharing my unique look at all things SWG with the Stratics community, when I am not working on adding more useful content to the site.
What are you hoping to contribute as a member of SWG Stratics?
Well, my first project will be to work on a database that will list every animal on every planet, and tell you what resource that animal gives. My hope is that as people hunt for specific resources, they can use this database as a reference, so they know what to hunt to get their desired resource, without having to dig through forums or other websites to find the information they want.
What was your first memorable experience in SWG?
Well, the story I always like to tell is something that happened about 2 weeks after I was accepted to participate in Beta 2 of SWG. Up until that point, I had never set foot off of Tatooine. My home was right outside Bestine, and I often was in-city, learning the game, and making notes in order to give feedback to the developers.
I remember someone was organizing a group right outside the star port to go hunt Kimogilas on Lok. I had never been off-planet, and heck, I had never even seen a Krayt up until that point! I think the biggest thing I ever saw up to then was a Mountain Worrt, or a Bantha, or a Dewback.
I felt adventurous, so I told the guy I was in, and got the invite. We all waited around Bestine until the group was full, and you could cut the anticipation with a knife. I found many in the group were just like me; never set foot off of Tatooine, never seen a large creature before, etc. In a 20 man group, only 3 of the people ever hunted Kimo's before, and the other 17 never even hunted a Krayt.
All the while, the 3 "vets" at the time were giving us instructions - telling us about how massive a Kimo is, and sharing tactics, and telling us "No matter what you do, DON'T SHOOT THE GURKS."
We finally are ready to disembark, and we all load into Lok, 17 of us for our first time. And for the first time, you hear the loading music of Lok, letting you know you have just set foot on a planet of sheer evil and malice. One new guy said "Oh wow." Another said, after just hearing the music, "We're all gonna die..." It was the most I had ever seen a game's atmosphere affect multiple people in the same manner, and it was a rush.
The leaders take charge, dispensing med kits to all of us, and telling us once again, "DON'T SHOOT THE GURKS." And they proceed to lead us to where they believe a good Kimogila hunting site is, all on foot, and it should take a half hour to get there.
All along the way, we are harassed by flits, vesps, perleks, mercenaries, and other aggressive spawns, all heightening the tension among all of us greenback newbies. And finally, we saw them.
No. Not the Kimogilas.
GURKS.
The leaders tell us no shooting, and proceed to try to lead us around the gurk party, which consisted of about 3 lairs and 12 gurks, lounging about. We wade through what seems to be a sea of them, when all hell breaks loose. A gurk, threatened by a player, runs up to him, beating his chest. That player, one of us newbs, freaks out, and doesn't get that the Gurk hasn't aggroed yet, and is only protecting his nest. The player fires.
Now, let me tell you a thing about Gurks, at least as they used to be before doctor buffs and 80% composite armor became common in the game. Gurks were TOUGH. They had a thick hide, and if you insisted on taking them on with a blaster, you would be there all day, and there likely will be 5 more on ya before you even get finished with their friend. Of course, you could switch to melee and do more damage to them that way, but that suggests you wouldn't get mobbed and beat to a bloody pulp. They hit HARD, breed like jackrabbits, and punch like a gorilla. There was a reason, a VERY GOOD reason, that no matter what you do on Lok, you DON'T SHOOT THE GURKS.
With this in mind, know that all hell had indeed broken loose. After firing on the Gurk, every single gurk in the immediate area sees our WHOLE PARTY as a threat. Blasters fire everywhere, newbs are going down left and right, and the gurks MANHANDLE us. One of the vets shouts before dying, "I TOLD YOU NOT TO SHOOT THE GURKS!!!" In the end, our party of 20 outlasts the gurks, but at a cost - only 3 of us survived (myself, a vet, and a newb who hid in the back, trying not to get his tail chewed off).
There isn't much 3 people can do against a Kimogila (or so we were told), so we cross the river into Kimogila hunting territory and set up camp. Our 17 freshly cloned compatriots are making the trek back, while those of us in camp kill time for another 30 minutes, chatting about the game, the battle we just experienced, and other random things.
Our party finally is rejoined, and one of our members has entertainer experience. We all watch in camp to have the entertainer get rid of the mind blackbar, and had medics heal us to cure us of our action and health blackbar (back then, when you got hit or died, your status bars would slowly turn black, shortening the amount of health you had, or the amount of action you could use).
All of us were buzzing over the experience, when in the distance, something spawned. And for 17 people, there was a collective "HOLY S***!!!" Literally. 17 people all typed that and said it at the same time. I wish I knew how to take a screenshot back then. We finally saw our first Kimogila.
AND IT WAS HUGE.
The buzz grew even more vibrant and was electric. I /pet the kimo from a distance, being the wiseguy that I am. Final orders were issued, and the hunt was on.
Honestly, after that point, my memory gets a little foggy, because it really was just one kimo hunt after another at that point. Lots of kiting and running like hell when the enormous beast came after you. I know that I was having so much fun, I decided to learn to take a screenshot, and I took some pics of the adventure for my own personal remembrance. All of us newbs learned a lot that day, and in the short time we had been kimo hunting, we picked it up so well that as people were finally turning in for the night (it was about 5:30am when I finally turned in, on a hunt that started at 10:30pm the previous night), we still were holding our own with fewer and fewer numbers.
In fact, it finally got down to 3 of us, who were able to hunt kimos just fine as long as we took care not to agro any others. And what happened next was the perfect memorable cap to this memorable day.
The 3 of us finally decide to turn in for the night, all the while, there is about 3 kimogila nests and 7 kimos about 75 meters from us. I, again being the smartalec, decide that to cap the night, I am going down in a blaze of glory.
I charge the nests and open fire, screaming "FREEDOM!!!" in my best, in-game William Wallace Braveheart voice. One of my companions screams "NO!!" and the other shouts "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!"
Of course, I die pretty much almost instantly, but remember the group agro from the gurks? Laying there as a corpse, the last thing I see before logging out is oh, about 7 kimos chasing my 2 group partners off into the sunset, until they are no more than a speck, and then gone.
I never laughed that hard at a game in my life.
That night, was my first memorable experience in SWG, and many more have followed, even through the game's different incarnations.
And I look forward to sharing all of that with the Stratics community.
Until then, I leave you with my original forum sig, created from the first screenshot I ever took in SWG:
Until we chat again, may the force be with you!
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| Beast Master Diaries, Day 3 |
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| SWGStraticsVoice - 7:35 AM PDT | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
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The second experimentation session of my dewback mount is over. Some of the stats have increased a bit, and some new stats are now modified. Over the course of making this creature and the snorbal, I have seen how important good enzymes are. The two incubators I am using are almost identical, but the enzymes have as much as 60% point differences, and the results are huge. After two experimentation sessions, my dewback does not have any stat bonuses that are modified by even 1% On the other hand, my snorbal is in its second session, and has an average bonus of nearly 2%, with a high of a 4.75% bonus to its health. I have not gotten too technical yet, I haven’t even purified hydrolase, but I am fairly happy with how the snorbal is turning out. Hopefully in the final experimentation session I can get it to mutate.
Switching back to my dewback, the third and final experimentation session is at hand, and I am very excited, for tomorrow I should get the egg. But in the mean time, I need to set up the enzymes. For the isomerases in slot one I am using a 19% quality, orange enzyme. The lyases in slot two is dark blue with eight random attribute points affected, and a guaranteed bonus to the strikethrough rating. In slot three, I am using a violet, 28% quality isomerases, and my hydrolase in slot four has a .04 purity rating, and a –1.0 mutagen potential. I do not expect any spectacular stats with what I am using, but they will get the job done.
Throughout my experimentation, the dewback’s color has been a bit of a problem for me. I was hoping for a black and red, but have found that only one color can be changed. I decided that black, or at least a very dark grey would be the next coolest, but even that cannot be achieved. So, playing with the temperature gauge, I decided to go with a red color.
After setting the temperature, lowering the nutrients slightly, and giving one final check of the enzymes, I started the final experimentation session.
--Xyleph Yerxak |
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| Beast Master Diaries, Day 2 |
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| SWGStraticsVoice - 4:33 AM PDT | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
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The cool down timer on my incubator is 1 day and 3 hours, so I have had some time to kill. I have decided to begin work on a second creature, a snorbal that I would like to mutate into something, anything really. I have also been collecting more and better quality enzymes. Hopefully I will have a combat creature hatched before Chapter 6 goes live.
While collecting the Snorbal DNA, I found out that Snorbals also provide some pretty good isomerases, and that moderate quality lysases can be found across Lok. I also traveled to Mustafar in search of blistmok and lava flea DNA, but found that these do not provide any. However, these creatures do provide decent hydrolase. I was consistently getting 2-3 purity or mutation ratings, depending on the type of extractor I used. All of this information will be very helpful when I begin making animals on Bria.
Back at XY Embryonic Research Facility, my first experimentation session is complete. According to my incubator, my dewback has bonuses to its DPS, Armor, Health, Parry, and Evasion ratings, but these are all very slight. I am not too concerned, however, because it is only a mount. What I am concerned about is the color, I can’t seem to get a true black color yet, only a grey. Perhaps after the second experimentation session I will be able to make him black.
After opening the incubator control panel, I inserted the proper materials. I have selected a dark blue, 12% quality, and a green, 14% quality isomerases enzyme for this session, as well as a .29 pure, -.46 mutagen hydrolase, and a purple lyases enzyme that has 7 attribute points, with a guaranteed health bonus. I decreased the heat a bit for the darkest color possible, and also increased the nutrition level. With everything in order, I began the second of three experimentation sessions.
--Xyleph Yerxak |
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| Beast Master Diaries, Day 1 |
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| SWGStraticsVoice - 7:40 AM PDT | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
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Today I decided it was time to really test out the Beast Mastery system and see what kind of creatures I could create. For whatever reason, I think a black and red dewback mount would be really sweet, if it is possible. So, I headed out and collected the DNA from a few dewbacks, I also got some cu-pa DNA for future use.
With the DNA and looted enzymes in hand, I did some foraging to come up with some more enzymes. I’m not an expert yet, but if the quality percentage needs to be high for it to be good, I got some bad stuff! Oh well, it’s only a mount.
My next stop was Karen, Theed, to respec completely to Beast Master. I stopped at a vendor on the way to pick up a house deed so I have a place to put my incubator. Speaking of incubators, I suppose I’ll need one. The best one I could find was 5 million credits, so after a trip to the blue frog for some credits and energy, I headed to the vendor and picked up my incubator.
Armed with everything I needed to make my first creature, I headed to Tatooine to place my house and set up the incubator. With the incubator activated and powered, I inserted some dewback DNA and began the first experimentation session. I inserted the necessary enzymes, and playing with the incubator heat, I made the dewback as black as possible. I also raised the nutrition level a bit to see what would happen. With everything in order, I began the first session.
Be sure to check back tomorrow for day 2.
--Xyleph Yerxak |
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| Stratics Featured Player: Sradi Re'esk |
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| SWGStraticsVoice - 4:38 AM PDT | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
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For this week’s featured player, I ventured onto the Test Center to interview Sradi Re’esk. Normally from the Kauri galaxy, Sradi has been playing Star Wars Galaxies since it came out. So far, SWG is the only MMO she has played, but she does plan on trying the World of Warcraft demo. Role Playing is what Sradi likes best, but she is hoping the player versus enemy content will improve with Chapter 6, as PvE is what she enjoyed in the beginning.
Though she isn’t a regular on the Test Center, Sradi does move there when a Chapter is on its way that will affect her. In the past it was the Spy expertise system, now it is Beast Master. As a former Creature Handler, Sradi is thoroughly testing Beast Master and offers some great insight.
While some flaws exist, Sradi is finding the Beast Master system very enjoyable. Her two biggest disappointments with the new system are that the pet leveling is bugged (which should get fixed by the time Chapter 6 goes live), and that you can only call one pet at a time. Being a Creature Handler of old, calling multiple pets at once is something she liked to do, and hopes this gets added as the system gets tweaked.
So far, Sradi has created a ro-roo and is busy leveling it up. Even though she did not experiment with it too much, it is a powerful creature. Her next project will be a vynock, and as she learns more about the creation process, she will start using the DNA of animals she really wants to make. She looks forward to having a dire cat, varactyl, and a crystal snake. As far as mutated animals and making the best pets go, she wants to know exactly how the system works, so she can make what she wants, when she wants, without loosing precious DNA.
What exactly is the creation process like? “Confusing to first figure out”, says Sradi. The developers have added things to simplify it though, and also make it more interesting. Sradi has learned to modify stats at their base and how to purify the enzymes. To purify the enzymes, you break them down into segments, enhance the separated segments, and then rebuild the enzyme. This process takes eight hours, but needs to be done to several different enzymes, so purifying takes a bit of time. In addition, Sradi has found that each experimentation session takes a day, and there are three sessions. So as you can imagine, making a really good creature will take several days.
Beast Master is not the only new feature to Chapter 6. NPC creature strength has been raised, and storyteller has been added, as well as two new quest lines. What does Sradi think of these changes? She has found the higher creature difficulty very enjoyable, and hopes it will bring some more player interaction to the game, as groups will again be needed to take down the fiercest of beasts. Sradi is also very enthusiastic for the new storyteller feature. She believes it has a lot to offer to role players, and though it is lacking a few things, it will be “extremely good” right from the start. Unfortunately, She has not tried the new quests series, but looks forward to trying them once they go live.
Overall, Sradi is a bit optimistic about the future of Star Wars Galaxies. She was disappointed with the NGE, but thinks the developers are making some good changes in Chapter 6. In her opinion, player interaction is the most urgent problem that needs to be addressed.
--Xyleph Yerxak |
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| The Profession Swing |
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| SWGStraticsVoice - 6:37 AM PDT | Posted By: DasoLegend |
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Over the last several months, the Star Wars Galaxies community has seen many shifts of balance between the seven combat orientated professions. Many players did not like the game having an alpha class, like the Jedi profession before it became a standard profession. Back then, a Jedi could single handedly take an onslaught of attacks from NPCs or Players, and survive! Some changes were made and the NGE eventually came about putting Jedi on an equal playing field with the rest. The NGE put an end to an exclusive alpha class profession, well, until the GCW was introduced; but that’s a different topic for a different day!
Then came the expertise trees. Pertaining to PvP, most people were either Jedi or Bounty Hunters, as they were the first to receive expertise skills. As we all know the profession expertise skill trees are complete since the addition of Chapter 6. As each chapter was released, a new set of professions began getting their expertise trees. Then came Commando!!
I can still here the cries, "NERF!"
The sheer power and damaging abilities this profession has is unmatched. Heavy weapons came back to being useful, expertise gave the profession heals and armor protection increases. Commandos almost became the new alpha class, but instead they became the new "Flavor of the Month". And then Spies and Medics, OH MY! Stealth abilities and 3 heals became the new flavor.
Yet, I still hear complaints that the professions need a balance pass over again. Do they really? I don't think so, but rather maybe some small tweaking. Some changes could include: reducing the heal of the Commando at the cost of give the profession a larger health base, reducing the amount of the heal for Jedi while include more special attacks, bounty hunters could use a larger heal at the cost of special durations, and smugglers could use an expertise box that reduces action costs. Medics, in my opinion, are fairly even. Granted they have 3 heals, but they do not have a lot to offer in offensive specials. I am not familiar enough with Officer or Spy to offer suggestions; because those are two professions I personally have never played.
My suggestions do not provide a balance between professions, but a balance within each profession. I think each profession should be unique and compliment each other. This would make PvP far more interesting, and give each profession a role in the community. Remember the days of searching to hire a Master Ranger to go on Krayt hunts? In the days of 32 professions, by no means were each profession balanced with each other. Each had a use, and made grouping a necessity. Corvette runs are the best example of this. Whether it was a group of 20 or 8, each group needed a mix of certain professions to succeed. The best present day example would be HK.
I am, and will always, be for the community and what is best for it. Providing a means to make each profession even with the others does not make for fun community involvement. Instead what you get is an entire army of one or two professions always looking for a little bit more. They could have more if the playing professions were more diverse. Not every profession needs a self heal, a snare, a root, an area attack, or a DOT attack. A mix and match between players and professions would be best suited for an enhanced gaming experience. |
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| Stratics Featured Player: Ausae Vision |
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| SWGStraticsVoice - 2:20 PM PDT | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
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This week’s featured player is Ausae Vision, of the Ahazi galaxy. Ausae has been playing Star Wars Galaxies for two years, and it is the only MMO he plays. His friends are what keep him around the game, and I can see why; he has 153 and counting. Many of those friends come from his guild, Omega. He joined Omega a month or so after starting the game, and has been with them ever since. And, although not as many members log on nightly like they used to, it is still a great group of people. They even organize a yearly get-together.
On the battlefield, Ausae is a Commando sporting an AK-Prime Rifle, his favorite gun, and is a Lieutenant in the Rebel army. He was also a spy before the profession expertise system, and may respec back to one in order to give it a try. He spends most of his time in Restuss, doing everything he can to earn GCW points. When Restuss slows down, he heads to Naboo to take on some NPCs and earn some more points. That sounds familiar! I think we can all relate to the GCW grind. Ausae also enjoys helping out other players, “I am always looking for a new guy to help.” For that, I /salute you, Ausea. I wish more players had as much class as that.
When he is not fighting for the Rebellion or helping out a new player, Ausae is piloting his M-22 Krayt Gunship. He is an ace pilot, and his alt is very close, something I can’t achieve even once. Though he hasn’t tried space PvP yet (well, besides that one incident in Kessel), he does use his Krayt to grind some more GCW points.
Although Ausae doesn’t keep up with the development side of the game too much, he is eager for Chapter 6. He was a creature handler before the NGE, and plans on trying out the Beast Mastery system. He hopes to be able to use some of the older pets he still has, but if can’t use them, he will gladly go out and catch some new ones, since that is half the fun for him. Ausae is also looking forward to the new, high-level quests. He thinks SWG is in dire need of group oriented, and less faction dependant quests. Chapter 6 should definitely help. Beyond Chapter 6, the future is bright for Ausae. While he doesn’t agree with all of the changes made, such as the faction rank system, the ones he likes out weight the negative ones. So, he is confident he and Omega will be around for a long, long time.
--Xyleph Yerxak
If you are interested in being a featured player, send a private message to Xyleph_Yerxak on the Stratics forums. Include a brief introduction of yourself, and I’ll take a look. |
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| A Look at the GCW Point System |
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| SWGStraticsVoice - 12:56 PM PDT | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
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Last June, SOE intensified the Galactic Civil War with the Battle of Restuss. A revamp of the faction rank system was implemented a few months later, and the game has never been the same since. Player versus player combat is now the focus of many players, with most of them dedicated to becoming a general in their faction’s army. However, some people feel that there is a major flaw in the system, rank decay.
The first six ranks in the current system are enlisted ranks, and decay free. However, the final six ranks are officer ranks, and subject to decay. This means that over the course of each week, your rank will decay 40%. For example, a Captain that is 90% of the way to Major will decay to 50%, if he does not get a single point that week. This makes it very hard to advance in the officer ranks, which it should be because they have some pretty good rewards. So what is wrong with something being difficult to achieve?
A lot of people feel that decay makes it almost impossible for casual players to become General, and very difficult to maintain even Lieutenant. I am partially sympathetic to this crowd because I am a casual player. However, I also understand that the rank of general is not really for a person who only plays an hour or two a day. It is for players who are willing to dedicate a lot of time and effort to the game and to the Galactic Civil War in particular. While now there are many generals in the game, if you are one, you have truly earned it.
Decay is not a completely terrible thing, then, it helps maintain a uniqueness of the officer ranks. But it does have some drawbacks. The biggest one is that it has caused base busting. A lot of people depend on base busting to avoid decay or to grind GCW points. One strike team going out and blowing up a base or two can be fun, but the mass gatherings of 20 or more people at a group of bases just to make some quick GCW hurts the game, in my opinion. Players who would not be able to maintain an officer rank can if all they do is base bust. This is not necessarily bad, but it does detract from the uniqueness of being an officer. Restuss is also left empty at times because everyone is out at base busting events. Player versus player combat is supposed to be about, well, PvP, not base busting so you can be a general.
Is there a way around rank decay or base busting? I think there are a couple ways to keep the officer ranks difficult to get, but that also improve on the PvP content by diminishing base busting. First, ranks could decay less, perhaps 20% rather than 40%. This way people could more easily avoid decay by PvPing, and not rely on base busting as much. Another alternative is to restrict the GCW points from bases that get blown up to those players who are in the strike team that starts the timer. This completely eliminates mass base busting, but still provides a way to get a lot of GCW points quickly. I also think limiting how close bases can be placed to each other would work pretty well. If bases had to be placed 1,500 meters or more apart, I think people would be somewhat discouraged from base busting in huge groups. Lastly, decay can be completely done away with and the amount of points needed to advance increased dramatically.
Overall, I think rank decay is a pretty good system and would like to see it kept in game. But perhaps the factional base system could be changed a bit to discourage base busting. The best bet, I think, is to have points only go to the people who start the timer. Things may also change when Chapters 6 and 7 go live; these Chapters will revamp the factional theme parks to included higher-level quests and GCW points as rewards for completing them. With the right changes made to the game, the player versus player content of Star Wars Galaxies could be the best in the MMO industry.
Xyleph Yerxak |
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| Decay Away for Community Enhancement |
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| SWGStraticsVoice - 2:52 AM PDT | Posted By: DasoLegend |
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Decay has been a very hot topic for many months. There are groups that oppose it and wish for its return. I am one of those people that wish for its return.
I support decay and what it ultimately stands for. Community interaction. With the introduction of looted and rewarded weapons, armor and clothing, the system of decay as it once was does not fit well with players. That is because of the vast difference in the strengths of these items and the amount of time one must spend obtaining these items. That is why I feel the reliance of these items should be reduced. Most of the good loot is re-obtainable. Yes, you must spend some time getting them again, but isn't that good? Nothing should last forever.
The introduction of Chapter 5 was good for traders. The ability to craft SEAs, skill-enhancing attachments, was a step in the right direction to bring back items of the past and reinvent them into the current game system. If we can get the crafters to play an important role in outfitting the community again, the need and value of crafters will grow immensely. Besides the fact that crafters will be a viable source of above quality crafted goods, they will also be needed to do what they initially loved to do in the first place, which is craft full time. Server best would truly mean something again, as you have to search out the best armor smith to replace your beloved RIS armor.
Decay would generate a circular flow of community and active involvement. Currently there are no consequences for rushing into battle to only die first, and rinse, lather, repeat. People may think twice if there best gear had consequences. Groups would have plan and organize better to gain the upper hand. Combat would greatly improve too because of the need of strategic attacks. The down side, your favorite V.5 Lava Canon may crumble into dust, but then you can always make another one yourself. Mustafar would be an active planet again, besides the occasional CL 80 player grinding to CL90. The concept of decay is full circle; buy crafted or looted weapons, use them, repair them until they break, search out a crafter, buy or loot new, use and so on.
Even the Elder robe is re-obtainable. A small quest from Dathomir will allow a Jedi to trade in their current robe for a new one. All lightsabers are available to craft as many times as you wish. The only items in the game that I would consider to not have decay are the elder and special saber crystals. While the Banes Heart is available to loot many times over, there are the 2 elder crystals, the Sunrider's Destiny, and the GCW general crystal that are not available to get again. I think if you find something from each profession that is of equal importance and put a decay-free sticker on it, that would solve the unbalance cries. Maybe all armor that a Bounty Hunter wears is free from decay, so they can save their precious mando armor. Or the clothing a Spy needs to wear to use their stealth abilities is saved. The hard part is finding that one thing, or group of items, that other professions may rely on to function as their profession is meant to. If there is nothing that is crucial to a specific profession, then perhaps allow them to pick and choose, maybe 3 items, that can resist decay.
Decay is not a bad thing when you look at it in the perspective of benefiting the community. It may be a nuisance to a player now and then, but the long-term effects of decay outweigh the perks of everlasting goods. Many ask for balance in the game, but no one really considers the balance a crafter lacks when it comes to being an active role in our community. But then, balance is a different topic for a new day!!
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| Stratics Featured Player: Ownerof |
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| SWGStraticsVoice - 10:39 AM PDT | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
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Today, I am pleased to have Ownerof as the Stratics Featured Player. Ownerof is a respectable armor smith and an honest businessman on the Bria server.
Ownerof has been playing MMOs for three years now, and has been playing Star Wars Galaxies in particular for 730 days. That is exactly 2 years, so happy anniversary, Ownerof! He has also tried Final Fantasy 11 and Vanguard. He says the combat of FFXI was a bit slow and hard to get used to, especially when compared to SWG. He left SWG when Vanguard first came out, and found the game play improved on quite a bit of things Galaxies had wrong, but he didn’t like the difficulty of leveling up. One of the reasons Ownerof has stuck around SWG for so long is because he doesn’t want to take the time to learn a new system, which I know can be fairly difficult to do. The main reason for sticking around, however, is that he enjoys making credits and buying things to decorate his bunker with, and SWG has a pretty good system for that. Personally, I am good at spending credits, but terrible at making them, so I envy Ownerof a little bit. In order to make those credits, Ownerof spends most of his time playing as his armor smith, selling cores and making armor. The trader expertise system hasn’t affected him very much yet, but he is still relearning the crafting mechanics after his brief journey through Vanguard.
Currently, Ownerof is not very involved in the Galactic Civil War; the Restuss quests got really boring, really quick for him. He also doesn’t support a side from behind the scenes by offering discounts to either faction; it is strictly business when he sells his wares. He does plan on getting involved, however, as soon as some more content gets implemented. Help is on the way! Chapter 6 will bring the Rebellion new quests, and Ownerof is very excited for these additions. He is also very excited for the Beast Mastery system. He never got the opportunity to try Creature Handler out before the NGE, so he looks forward to playing around and having some fun with the new creature system. He also thinks the Azure Cabal quests should make getting through the higher levels more enjoyable.
Ownerof sees a bright future for SWG. He thought it was going down hill, which is what caused him to quit for a month or two, but he thinks Beast Master and the new content coming in should help revive the game a bit, maybe even bringing back some players who had left. And, although we won’t see any expansions this year, he hopes we will get one next year.
--Xyleph Yerxak
By the way, if you are interested in being a featured player, send a private message to Xyleph_Yerxak on the Stratics forums. Include a brief introduction of yourself, and I’ll take a look. |
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| Beast Mastery Preview |
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| SWGStraticsVoice - 9:26 AM PST | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
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With the release of Chapter 5, the last of the professions have been updated to include an expertise system. Since expertise has been the main focus of the last couple chapters, it is not unfair to ask what Chapter 6 will bring. Perhaps we will see more content in the form of new quests or a wider spread Galactic Civil War. Or just maybe the old Creature Handler profession will be brought back.
I am very excited to say that we will be getting our beloved creature handlers back in Chapter 6, though not as a new profession. Through an entirely new expertise tree available to all professions, players will be able to harvest the DNA of wild creatures, turn that DNA into an egg, and hatch that egg into a pet. Once your new bouncing baby creature has hatched, you can take it out into the world, and it will start leveling up. Your player will also acquire abilities it can train the pet to do.
The developers have been pretty quite since posting the Chapter 6 outline that unveiled Beast Mastery, but there is information out that we can pull together and try to make a framework with it for the system. I think the first place to start at is the expertise points. Will we get more, or will we have to use the 45 we have? According to SWG-Swede, players will not be given more expertise. This means players are going to have to decide between a combat template, a hybrid template, or a solely Beast Master template. I imagine that this will change the PvP environment quite a bit, as some players will remain strong lone warriors with no pet; others will still pack a punch, but also have a pet with them; and some will be weaker at combat, but have a ferocious beast doing the dirty work. Obviously, there will be some in-between spots, and only time and testing will tell what template is the best.
Once you start down the Beast Master tree, the first skill you get is the ability to place an incubator in your player structure. I hope this incubator looks something like the Jurassic Park ones. Could you imagine a guildhall full of those? That would be awesome! Anyway, after you place an incubator, you can go out into the wild and harvest a DNA core. How this will be done has not been discussed. I speculate you will either have to sneak up on the creature and get a blood sample while it is still alive, or kill the animal first. Either way will be very difficult for the higher-level animals, resulting in rare pets (though rare | | | | | |
