|
|
 |
| |
Marks hot news |
|
|
Marks 3 to 5 days old news |
|
|
Marks older news |
|
 Pre-CU surprises |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 3:23 AM PDT | Posted By: temptabo |
| |
 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 |
|
| |
| City Status Changes are needed |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 6:33 PM PDT | Posted By: temptabo |
| |
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. |
|
| |
| Happy Birthday Star Wars! |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 4:44 PM PDT | Posted By: DasoLegend |
| |
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! |
|
| |
| Beast Master Diaries, Day 4 |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 4:38 PM PDT | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
| |
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 |
|
| |
| Zion is reporting for duty! |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 12:21 PM PDT | Posted By: ZionHalcyon |
| |
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!
|
|
| |
| Beast Master Diaries, Day 3 |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 7:35 AM PDT | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
| |
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 |
|
| |
| Beast Master Diaries, Day 2 |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 4:33 AM PDT | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
| |
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 |
|
| |
| Beast Master Diaries, Day 1 |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 7:40 AM PDT | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
| |
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 |
|
| |
| Stratics Featured Player: Sradi Re'esk |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 4:38 AM PDT | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
| |
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 |
|
| |
| The Profession Swing |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 6:37 AM PDT | Posted By: DasoLegend |
| |
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. |
|
| |
| Stratics Featured Player: Ausae Vision |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 2:20 PM PDT | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
| |
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. |
|
| |
| A Look at the GCW Point System |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 12:56 PM PDT | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
| |
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 |
|
| |
| Decay Away for Community Enhancement |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 2:52 AM PDT | Posted By: DasoLegend |
| |
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!!
|
|
| |
| Stratics Featured Player: Ownerof |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 10:39 AM PDT | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
| |
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. |
|
| |
| Beast Mastery Preview |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 9:26 AM PST | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
| |
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 pets have been confirmed, SOE has not discussed which will be rare).
After you have the DNA core, you must put it into the incubator, and the new creature will start growing. In his outline, SOE DeadMeat explained that you can “fiddle with a series of settings” while your creature incubates. You can “fiddle” with different creature properties, such as giving it more defenses, or a more powerful attack. Maybe we will get to control the color too? I imagine the various expertise skill sets will determine what exactly you can alter. There will also be various stages of development that will offer different fiddling options. The final stage creates an egg, and the player hatches the egg. For those of you who will be mastering the beasts for money, you need to know that only eggs are tradable, the hatched pets are not.
After the creature hatches, you can take it out into the world and begin fighting. It sounds as if your pet will level up much like a player does. There is a level cap of 90 for creatures too. For special abilities, it sounds like you learn them simply through fighting, and then you teach them to your pet. DeadMeat also made an interesting comment in his outline:
“Players will, however, need to ensure their pet stays happy, or it may start being disobedient or wander off. Based on the pet type, it may have a favorite toy, favorite food or a favorite planet.”
It sounds like traders will benefit much from this new system. Once your pet hits 90, you have basically completed the circle of life, and it is time for some good ol’ whoopin’. Two things worth noting are that we should be able to turn these new creatures into mounts (developers are still working on this), and the size of the creatures will be scaled down. SOE Blixtev has explained that the scale down has to do with game play. With all professions open to owning and making a creature, PvP battles could become laggy with a bunch of Kimos running around.
Beast Master should bring some fun, new content to the game that will be available to everybody. While some people would like to see a separate profession for this, I think we will be getting a fair system. Those who want to be a “professional” creature handler can invest all 45 expertise points into the skill tree, and be able to make some pretty powerful beasts. People who want to be fighters, on the other hand, do not need to invest a single point in the tree, and can rely on buying a creature. Look for Beast Master and Chapter 6 in several weeks, and look for my review of the system shortly after that.
Xyleph Yerxak |
|
| |
| The Daedalus Project |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 12:20 PM PST | Posted By: RainStar |
| |
The Daedalus Project is an ongoing online survey study of MMORPG players that has surveyed over 40,000 players. Some highlights of the current issue's findings:
Did you know that many players perform "spawn dances" in EverQuest?
Or that many players carry rabbit's feet and four-leaf clovers in their backpacks?
Come read about superstitious behaviors in the MMOs we play and why these superstitions emerge.
Who prefers to be good or evil in online games? Who prefers to play the Undead? Who prefers to heal? Find those answers here.
MMOs allow players to take on roles and perspectives that they may have little access to in their day-to-day lives. What do players learn about themselves from their MMO experiences?
All this and more at The Daedalus Project.
Nick Yee
Editor's Note: Nick's research has been cited in the Washington Post, CBS, TechWeek, the US Airways in-flight magazine Attaché, the Tennessean and CNET.com.
His work has also been used as course reading at academic institutions, such as Stanford (History of Computer Game Design), UC Berkeley (Research Topics in HCI), U. of Washington (Intro. To New Media), U. Mass (Social Issues in Computing), Loyola New Orleans (Interactive Media), and Haverford College (Foundations of Personality).
Learn about Nick Yee and his fascinating background here. |
|
| |
| Elder Jedi v. NGE Jedi v. the world! |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 5:44 AM PST | Posted By: DasoLegend |
| |
Not to continue the ongoing feud between players, but the need to label players with elder and NGE is only to distinguish between people
Ok, now that my disclaimer is out of the way, what is the real problem behind this ongoing hate war between the professions and within the professions?
The real problem started a long time ago, before the NGE was even a figment of someone's imagination. A long time ago, in a game far, far away, there were players holo-grinding. Now, that's not the pursuit of a player attempting to collect the entire hologram decor the game has to offer, but rather the attempt to unlock, what would become the controversy, Jedi. Back in the day, a play may have the chance to unlock the playable class of Jedi by mastering, essentially, every profession the game had to offer then. It usually required you to complete all 32 professions. Imagine the badge count!! From there one could advance along the path of the Jedi. Then the dreaded publish, now known as Chapters, came that brought us the cursed Village.
With the village, a player had to accomplish a minimum amount of work and exploration of the galaxy to get the "visit". For those that were around then, remember the message that told you that you felt a glow within you!! Remember what that felt like!! It was an incredible sense of accomplishment. Once you were allowed to enter the village, located past thousands of meters worth of death and destruction to your speeder, you began your journey through a series of "quests". Basically, You had to complete 6 trees, or 24 boxes, to get to the mission that started you to train as a Jedi. The Jedi prerequisites were known as the Force Sensitive skill boxes. It was a little challenging, considering that certain missions to unlock certain boxes were only available at certain times. Wha?!? Like the battle of Restuss, the village was set up in repeating phases. There were 4 of them, telling the story of the building, protecting and the battles of the village. During certain Phases, certain NPCs offered missions that allowed a player to unlock a particular skill, and then grind XP to fill the boxes. There was even a whole conversion chart for trading in grind-able XP into Force Sensitive XP. If I remember right, for every 3 points of a combat XP you earned, you received 1 XP of FS XP.
Sounds like a lot of work doesn't it? Well guess what? They weren't done yet! Finish the village phases, get your 6 full trees, drop skills to free the space of the FS skills, and you still have to beat one EXTREMELY hard mission. Good ol'Mell!! What a beast he was. Ok, so we beat him, but guess what? Still not done.
Finally, we can start our Jedi training. A series of random quests totaling 16. And you could only die/clone 2 or 3 times!! Failure would not allow you to be a Jedi. During the 8th mission, you finally got to craft your first lightsaber. Hooray, I've waited how many months for this!?!
16 missions, done...am I there yet? Nope. Now you can start earning your Jedi skill boxes, but don't be seen. Or else you'll end up on the terms, be hunted by Bounty Hunters until you are beaten and lose half of the XP you currently have in reserve. That meant, you could not equip/un-equip your robes or saber, or use any force powers in the presence of other players or humanoid NPCs. That meant creature grinding only...in the middle of nowhere.... alone. Don't die either; any cloning will result in half of your XP to be lost. Better call a medic, there's a 30-minute timer!
Now back to my point. That was a very lengthy and hard process the Elder Jedi of today went through for that little title we get to wear above our heads. So why the hostility then? Because many veteran players are upset because Jedi is a starting profession. They feel they got shafted because of the time and energy wasted to get a Jedi, and now anyone can be a Jedi. But we were rewarded, right? It's just a title, but it says a lot. Plus the Elders were given special robes to wear and crystals for their sabers. They were better than anything in the game. Enter NGE Jedi. We want those too!! Well, unfortunately you can't. By no means am I say either type of Jedi is better than the other. To be a good player, you need to know how to play. Either Jedi can be a great PvP’er, if they know how to use what they have in front of them. Titles do not make one great!
So really the internal feud between Jedi is nothing more than babble throwing back and forth. Jedi are here to stay, and the extra perks some get were a way to ease a pain of loss and uniqueness.
But, like the Snickers commercial says, "The World?"
Yes the world. The rest of the community faults the creation of Jedi as a playable profession as the downfall of SWG, and the birth of the NGE. Maybe, but that's just speculation. No printed facts can support that argument, printed from the horse’s mouth that is.
The solution? Get over it already. The village quests brought many players together and created a community within a community. The NGE, allowed everyone to be included into the community. Isn't that the point of an on-line game? Community? Without it, you don't have a game. So, however it was done, they both resulted in the same outcome. The ability to grow as a community.
Most have moved on, but a few still hold on to their grudges. It's time to cut the cords, and really, can't we all get along?!?
|
|
| |
| Introducing, Xyleph Yerxak |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 8:56 AM PST | Posted By: Xyleph_Yerxak |
| |
Greetings, Star Wars Galaxies players! I am Xyleph Yerxak, the new SWG reporter for Stratics. First, let me say that it is an honor to be here, both as a SWG player and a member of the Stratics community. Before I bring you my first real report, let me take this time to introduce myself and give you all a little background of my online gaming experiences.
The first online game I ever played was Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. That game was incredible! The best part of it was that my dad, sister, and brother played too. We are huge gaming family. I played MOH:AA for about a year until Call of Duty came out, at which time I started playing that game as well. For the next year or so I played both of these games passionately. Little did I know that my life was about to change.
In the summer of 2004, my brother bought a revolutionary game (well, to me it was) called Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided. Medal of Honor and Call of Duty became obsolete almost immediately. For months I mooched off of my brother’s account, playing in the Gorath galaxy as a small Bothan named “Yoddamon”. Ok, so I wasn’t very original. Later that year it occurred to me that this game would be thousands of times better if I could play in the same galaxy as my brother, and at the same time. I got my own account, and in the winter of 2004, a new player immerged in the Bria galaxy; Xyleph Yerxak. My brother quickly hooked me up in the guild “Vengeance reServed”, and I also became a member of the Imperial Army. For the next few months I played and played, enjoying the good ol’ Dantooine grind and eventually reaching Master Swordsman. Then, in the summer of 2005, disaster struck in the form of the Combat Upgrade. It’s not that I didn’t like it, I just never got the chance to play it. For some odd reason, my computer could never download one of the files. I was devastated. Thankfully, Battlefield 2 was there to cushion my fall from bliss. But hope, there still was.
After a couple months of BF2, I tried fiddling with SWG and was able to download a full version of the game. In the initial loading, the last patches that my Launch Pad downloaded were those of the New Game Enhancements. After playing for a bit, and enjoying it more than ever, I got the “Rage of the Wookiees” expansion and played that for a couple months. I do not remember what happened, but for whatever reason I stopped playing in the summer of 2006. When I returned, Restuss was destroyed. As a member of the Imperial Army I willingly threw myself into the raging battles of the Galactic Civil War. Hundreds of Rebel traitors have died by the power of my commando (oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I became a commando at the NGE. I have never respec’d, and never will). Throughout the fall months I continued to fight for the Emperor until I bought “Trials of Obi-Wan”. For a month or two I completed the quests on Mustafar and then returned to Restuss.
And that is my story so far. I am currently working on some personal projects, but will return to the battlefield as soon as possible. I am very excited with the direction Star Wars Galaxies is moving in, and look forward to bringing you all reports from around the SWG community. We are all anxious for the new Beast Mastery expertise tree, and I will be sure to report on it. Watch for my player interviews, content reviews, and stories from the battlefield. I will also be writing up some quest guides to keep you all busy.
For the glory of the Empire!
Sergeant Major Xyleph Yerxak
Master Commando |
|
| |
| Chapter 5 - An Entertaining Point of View |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 1:45 AM PST | Posted By: DasoLegend |
| |
We all know Chapter 5 brought us many changes; one of them was the entertainer build a buff. I went out asked a few entertainers their feelings on the new changes, here's what they had to say!!
Overall, most people are pleased with the Entertainer side of Chapter 5. People really like the feeling of importance again in the community. The new system eliminated the AFK, away from keyboard, entertainer and brought back more community interaction. The ability to customize each buff is nice perk for all to benefit from. As one player said, "The new dances and holo-toons are just the icing on top of the cake for me."
On top of all of that, many entertainers like the drama line of expertise. " To be finally able to hunt and quest again, to use my old [pre-cu and cu] gear again, to be able to go on a hunting trip or mission right from dancing, without logging on another character and breaking immersion, just feels great."
The expertise also brings out what players liked least about the chapter. Some would have preferred more generic combat skills. While they enjoy the combat side, they may have not preferred to be forced into melee, or as some put it as the "re-birth of Teras Kasi". Some are pleased now that SOE allowed entertainers to buff themselves, as when the chapter went live they were not able to. The entertaining community would like the lack of self heals to be addressed, but we will have to see on that! There are few minor nuisances that entertainers must deal with, like fly-by texts of duration and having to wait to apply the buff and from a combat side, the buff vanishing once you log off a character. While the number complaint was the melee combat restrictions, the number 2 least liked additions was the lack of entertainer specific content for the new combat addition. But I'll wait for future chapters before I jump on that bandwagon. Chapter 5 may have been the turning point for SWG. The future will only tell.
While players are pleased with the results, some feel they missed the boat in a few areas. Self heals seem to lead the pack and added features for the image design side of entertainer. A close third was new content for entertainers for the new combat specials, while the lack of combat choices follows close behind.
What do entertainers want in the next chapters? Well, content of course!! Most know that most classes want content. SOE missed the boat on thinking players liked and wanted PvP content more. We are finding this out now, but that could be because the PvP content was pushed out first.
Only time will tell where SOE takes SWG in the future. I said it before, and I'll say it again, this is a great game. We may have seen some bumps in the road along the way, but things are starting to turn around for the better. And I haven't even mentioned the new camps yet!!
To SOE, great job on entertainers. I am strongly for community; anything that can enhance community involvement is always a step forward. To the players, great job on making Chapter 5 a success. Many thought active entertainers would fade away as we progressed, but I can find an ATK, at the keyboard, Entertainer offering buffs at any given time. Personally I can't wait to see what is in store for SWG in the future!!
Want to add your comments? Post them here |
|
| |
| Dangerous People |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 11:45 AM PST | Posted By: RainStar |
| |
Why am I writing about dangerous people on a gaming site? Keep reading, you'll find out.
There are several types of dangerous people, but to me, the worst type is those who aren't armed. No, I'm not talking about guns here, so don't go running out to get one. I am referring to those who are unarmed with substantiated knowledge.
Why are they dangerous?
People like this often make bad decisions. Some like to share their "wisdom" and try to draw others into their circle of darkness.
If you're doing something they think is wrong, lookout! They'll cut you down on the air. Case in point, Kelly McBride, she fits perfectly into the dangerous people category.
Those of us who are informed know that there are several positives to being a gamer. Those positives can carry over into real life benefits. Sadly, even with all the studies being reported, there are still parents who don't have a clue. Kelly McBride is one of these parents.
McBride recently decided to share what she knows about virtual sports and Wii, among other things. You can listen to her uninformed rant on National Public Radio.org.
For those who are not able to listen to the commentary, Frank Caron of ARS Technica.com posted a text version along with his thoughts on it. Here's an excerpt:
The two minute commentary begins with Kelly outlining her dreams for fit children who come home sweaty and bruised after a game of pick-up baseball. She then proceeds to patronize her own children's new affinity for sports via Wii Sports. She mocks their sudden interest in these virtual sports and their so-called "exercise," despite the obvious physical benefits. She belittles their understanding of the real sports, only to widen her target to attack all the over-weight children of America and their newfound self-esteem before finally questioning whether or not these children will ever know the true sense of accomplishment that only reality can provide. As her commentary draws to a close, one can only think that her children's supposed self-esteem problems don't stem from their lack of interest in sports.
Ok, I'm not even going to comment on her parenting skills or her reference to other kids.....*bites tongue* Instead, I'll just say that Kelly McBride and others like her should do some research on the benefits of gaming. I'm sure McBride knows how to do that, she seems like such a smart person.  Hopefully she's seen the report that was on MSNBC.com just the other night. It's about a study that shows gaming to be beneficial to surgeons. A portion of the article states the following: Playing video games appears to help surgeons with skills that truly count: how well they operate using a precise technique.
It supports previous research that video games can improve “fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, visual attention, depth perception and computer competency,” the study said.
There you have it folks, gaming can improve real life skills!
For all those parents who have never played a video game, I encourage you to try them as well as mmorpgs. There are plenty of games out there that are fun and will make you laugh until your sides hurt. Oh yeah, that's another benefit of gaming, stress relief.
Get a multi-player game and play it with your kids. Not only will you be sharing quality time, you're creating some enjoyable memories. Take it from me, I'm a parent whose son got her into video games.
As for mmorpgs, you're not just buying a game in a box. Once you enter the game, you'll have people from all over the world to hang out with, go on missions with and talk with while you're playing. Hmm, that's another positive, meeting people from diverse cultures and age groups.
That wraps it up for this article, I have a game to go play! |
|
| |
| Coming Soon...Chapter 5 |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 5:05 PM PST | Posted By: DasoLegend |
| |
Chapter 5 is currently in Test Center. Areas of interest include Entertainer and Trader expertise. Armorsmiths, weaponsmiths and tailors will be able to engineer SEA, self-enhancing attachments, and weapon power-ups. Shipwrights, architects and droid engineers will be getting some new schematics.
Camps are back!! And better than ever. Modules can be added to enhance the camps. Specific crafting stations and shutting access to name a couple. In the old days, camps were used to heal wounds by entertainers and medics and for xp to level in scout and ranger professions. Now they can be used to assemble groups quickly and get those needed buffs before the attack begins.
Entertainers will have the build-a-buff system. Where they can customize the specific buff you are looking for. One buff will include an increase to your kinetic and energy armor stats!! Final numbers still being tweaked.
I expect the chapter to live within the next two weeks. Although, I will not personally respec to an entertainer, I will try to get some notes and give a take on it soon!! Good things ahead!! |
|
| |
| S.A.W-T: Stratics Against Wrongful Trades; Increase your awareness |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 4:40 AM PST | Posted By: DasoLegend |
| |
Have you ever been a victim of a deal gone bad? Unfortunately it is all but a common occurrence. During the Chapter 4, many people began partaking in cross server trades. Although, it is against SOE’s policy, many players still tested the waters. DISCLAIMER: SOE does not endorse or protect cross server trades. Let that be said. Many people were on the wrong side of those trades and lost valuable items when attempting to acquire valuable items on their preferred server.
But, it’s not just crosser trades that go wrong. Many in-server trades can go bad. First and foremost, know the person you are trading. While it may be physically impossible to know them, here are a few keys to learning some facts about the other party. Examine the character and look at the tabs. A long list of badges will let you assume that character has been playing for a while. Also, looking into the characters Galactic Civil War points will also help determine the extent at which they play. A frequent long playing character is a good bet you can find them online if something goes wrong. It is also a safe bet that many others will know of this character. Also note the guild tag associated on the character. This will help you search out a character is something goes wrong. Guild names are more know throughout any galaxy by more players than actual character names. So, if a character has been established as a long time, returning player chances are they will not put their reputation on the line to take a chance at a quick steal.
Secondly, know what you are trading. All too often people, many long standing players, try to take advantage of a new comer by offering an insufficient trade. Prime example is the newer AT-RT that is available for those that purchased the Complete Online Adventures starter kit. While the community price has come down a bit since it was first released, they can still sell for nearly 40 million credits. But that is just one example. Recently, we have seen a resurgence of the comeback. Many players that canceled over a year ago are making their way back to see the new changes. You may not know what you have!! With the economy highly inflated, many items that once sold for a few hundred credits may have reached a few million.
How do I know what I have and what it is worth? Well, I’m glad you asked. Post, post, post, post!! Ask around the community. Start a thread in New Players , and ask away. Not a new player, then feel free to start a thread here, Coronet Starport .
That’s the easy way though. Another way to get your questions answered is by using your in-game friends. Don’t have any you say, well, it may be a good idea to search around for a nice guild in your galaxy. Search these forums, or ask questions with new threads. You may like to role play, PvP or like to group for quests and rewards. There are usually guilds out there that meet your criteria. On any server you can find Rebel only or Imperial/Neutral guilds. Each guild can surround themselves with people of similar interests or playing styles, you just have to find the one that agrees with you.
Don’t be so quick to jump at the chance to make a quick buck. The economy is currently on the inflated side and a couple hundred thousand credits won’t take you too far. Finally, remember that if something feels not quite right, stop and research it. It may take a few minutes to get the right answer, but in the long run it will be worth the wait!! |
|
| |
| You've Got To See This! |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 10:19 AM PST | Posted By: RainStar |
| |
The role-playing guild Holowood Galactic Studios (HGS) on Sunrunner released its first annual 2007 calendar for both “Gals” & “Guys” last night.
The wall calendars, which feature members of HGS, were designed by one of their guild leaders, LonaValamari. The screenshots in the monthly spreads were taken and submitted by members of the guild. Everyone that submitted a photo this year is featured in the calendar. The final selection was chosen by an outside source. Their guildie, Sakkra, will host the PDF calendars on her server.
A role-playing “Calendar Premier” Party was thrown to celebrate its release. Static & interactive support was provided by the SOE Events Manager, Pex. He came to visit as the NPC Watto. The story was that the infamous junk dealer had a huge affinity for calendars and had to be among the first ones to have an HGS calendar in his collection.
Here is where you can find the calendars.
Calendar Details:
Trim size is 8.5 x 11.417. Wall calendar folds down to 8.5 x 5.7085
2007 Calendar, Gals & 2007 Calendar, Guys © 2006, LonaValamari, Holowood Galactic Studios.
All rights reserved. All text, content, graphic design, logotypes & art work are registered trademarks, copyrights and property of their respective owners. LonaValamari, the Models and the HGS Guild do not make any profit off this design. This calendar is not endorsed by LucasArts or Sony Online Entertainment and is intended for entertainment purposes only.
Lona Valamari/Nallu Koras
Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement. |
|
| |
| Guy Around the Galaxy: Smug Smuggler |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 5:46 AM PST | Posted By: Tiveria |
| |
RCet from Naritus brings us this week's comic strip exclusive to SWG Stratics! Guy may have switched to smuggler, but was it the right choice for him?
|
|
| |
| Guy Around the Galaxy |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 5:27 AM PST | Posted By: Tiveria |
| |
RCet from Naritus brings us a new comic strip exclusive to SWG Stratics! Guy Tharak is just another SWG Bounty Hunter who is trying to find his way in the galaxy. This first comic touches the heart of every player who has respec'd to try out one of the new profession expertise systems.
|
|
| |
| Interesting Quotes & Posts |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 7:16 AM PDT | Posted By: RainStar |
| |
We'll start off with quotes from the Austin Game Conference that were found on Gamasutra.com
Gordon Walton of Bioware Austin::
... You're all a bunch of whiny little b----es. We're all victims of the guys with the money! No. Guess who signs up to make the game. Guess who along the way decides to change things. ... Guess who won't stand up and lose their job rather than ship s--t. I put myself in there. I've done that. I've made bad decisions ... many more times than most people here in this room ... I think the challenge here is, are we agents of our lives, or are we victims? We're talking about, oh, it's going to come from the top down. Well guess what, if nobody will work for those schmucks, it'll come from the bottom up. ... What are they going to do? They don't know how to put it on a disc. ...
The other thing is, we're not holding up our end. Somewhere along the way we caved and promised something we couldn't deliver. So you can't say it's the other guy, it's some other motherf---er. No, it's not. Everybody in this thing is responsible for what happens. Every single person on the team had a opportunity to do better. And I'd like to see more people think about how they're going to make it happen rather than sit up and rant and b---- about it.
Rich Vogel of Bioware Austin:
Looking out at E3 this year, there is nothing innovative coming out in the next three years, and that's pretty sad.
Scott Jennings, senior designer at NCSoft:
Players are like "ravenous locusts," and while Blizzard releases patches with updates to the game regularly, they're not as accessible as they ought to be. The system "is best described as, 'Let's make something so frustrating, people will just post the damned patches for me,'adding that he had a FilePlanet account just to download new WoW patches.
Part of our primary service of an MMO provider is providing the damned MMO. The second part is just being there – letting customers play when they want, as expected, instead of waiting in line – something else WoW doesn't always provide. Further, MMO services should provide respect in the form of competent relations with its players, treating them as people rather than piggy banks.
Raph Koster, formerly of SOE/SWG:
Content isn't worth a damn. What is of value is the relationship between the consumer and the producer. Being good is no longer an exclusive. In a hit-driven business, the epitome of success is to be the Beatles or Elton John, which means having a consistent record of making blockbusters, or almost never screwing up, of always earning out reliably and of doing this over the course of decades. Those people are so rare they are the dodo, and their share of the audience as a percentage of the population is shrinking.
The goal instead should be to be the Grateful Dead. You don't want to be the number one hit, you want a relationship so that you can ding them over and over and over again. The band's t-shirts may make more than their recordings.
SOE's John Blakely and Todd Fiala: Don't make our mistakes.
John Blakely: .....But what I would have done differently was be more sensitive to the target audience. The audience you launch with is the one you've got.
Chris Kramer, Director of Corporate Communications at SOE
In late winter through early spring, SWG was one of SOE's biggest gainers in terms of new players to a live game, coming through both the trials and through new software purchases.
Jason Ryan, the Events Manager for SWG:
We’ve had great responses from the players. The last two patches were player initiated bug fixes and lingering issues. The Expertise system is going in and has been well received.
Alan Crosby, Director of Community Relations at SOE:
Players have been very upbeat on the forums and the questions are mostly about the future and what the game is about moving forward.
Now we go to the SOE/SWG site where Chris Cao made the boards light up.....
The Game vs. the Boards by Dev Chris Cao
Roughly 80% of the people who play SWG never read these boards. We know this from our own internal metrics and it poses an interesting question. Are we talking to people who play the game or posters who play the boards?
I don't mean to imply that the people who post here don't play the game. Far from it. There are thousands of well-constructed, thoughtful, and insightful posts from people who obviously know the game very well. Just read a few lines of these gems and you'll realize that, first and foremost, these people care about the game. Their focus is the game. I think the lion's share of the profession feedback in the last couple publishes is a fantastic example of these players who post.
But, at the same time, these boards are constantly cluttered by the reverse. Posters who play. They use these forums to lash out at others, criticize wantonly, and generally feed their own egos. They regularly attack devs and moderators, clinging to past wrongs and imagined slights. They focus on themselves instead of the game. To them, the boards are the real game.
As devs, we aren’t here to play the board game. We’re here to play, and to make, SWG.
The upcoming chapters will see the remainder of the profession expertise systems implemented. We have a lot of work to do and the feedback from players who post is going to be invaluable. You aren’t going to like every decision we make and we understand that. We have a limited resources and time to accomplish all that needs to be done. But, as I’ve said before, we will be here (on the boards) and we will be listening. If you’re up for a focused discussion of ideas, we welcome you and you can bet you’ll have our attention.
If, however, you feel the need to throw another stone, indulge a rant, whine, pick apart another poster, argue a dead point, rules lawyer, quote ancient history, or engage in any of the other classic board game moves, don’t expect us to pay attention. We have better things to do.
We have some SWG to make. Chris Cao
Editor's Note: To say The game vs the boards thread got a lot of responses from the community would be an understatement.
Raph Koster's post on his his personal website, part of which says this:
Tide’s Horizon and Lum are both talking about this, but I am frankly a little loath to. I don’t want to come across as criticizing, since that’s not really my intent. But lately there’s been a spate of discussion about what community relations is, whether forums should be run, etc.
As you may know, I have fairly firm opinions on this. But that’s not what I want to talk about just now… and really, what I am saying has little connection to the actual original thread that kickstarted the topic yet again.
Edit: since the preceding sentence was apparently not clear enough: this post isn’t about SWG or Chris Cao’s statements. It could just as equally apply to Linden Labs switching to a blog mechanism for communicating to their users, or really any company that sees forums as an adjunct to to the world. Please don’t hijack the discussion to debate a given game’s management.
Here is the rest of what Raph had to say on that matter.
That's it for this edition of interesting quotes and posts.
|
|
| |
| [FICTION]The Dark Clone (Cont'd) |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 5:15 AM PDT | Posted By: Tiveria |
| |
TivII blinked against the sun's bright rays. "Why in the galaxy did they pick this back-water planet?" she thinks to herself. She kicked the dust off her boot as she walked out of the Mos Eisley starport. Looking around, she saw beggers, street merchants, and associations hawking passer-byes for small cred chips. Sighing deeply, she heads towards her contacts. As a test, she is required to start her training working for the Hutt of Tattooine - Jabba.
Heading off to the Mayor, she is instructed to survey some creatures, and to gather some of their resources. Rolling her eyes, she hits the dirt, and destroys more than asked for. She knew she was a clone. Her genes were taken from a Jedi that lived somewhere on Talus, but the scientist that "created" her, had added a strong thirst for violence. She loved to destroy things.
Coughing from the dust her speeder raised, she walked back into the office and was asked to get rid of some local criminals, and then some Tuskan raiders. Her intelligence had given her information about the fierce clans of the planet. She was happy to see they didn't put up much of a fight. Biting her lip, she aimed for the warriors and grinned when the blood flowed from his wounds. Mmm victory is always sweet.
She wondered what Jabba had in store for her at his Palace, where she knew she was headed for soon. First, she had to do somethign with a Thranta complex...hm...this could be fun. Virus planting, payroll stealing...maybe she should have chosen the life of a smuggler. Oh, that's right it wasn't her choice. She smiled darkly, she had taken care of that doctor as soon as she was strong enough...anyone thinking they could control her, would soon find themselves bleeding over their earth.
The earthen dome stretched over the bright sky. "This is a palace" she thought to herself. "Some palace. More like a dust ladden eye-sore."
Her training was improving her sense of aim, her direction, even her speed. She walked into the door of the palace, as it groaned in trying to move over her head. She walked towards the entrance into the main facility, but she was stopped by a strange looking alien.
"You can't just walk into Jabba's palace without a test of trust." The funny looking creature told her.
"And why not. Jabba summoned me. It's his request that made me come here." Her voice was strained from the annoyance she felt. She knew she needed to hide her feelings better, but it was difficult to do.
"No one just walks in. Besides, we need some....assistance. Jabba would be most greatful if you would lend a simple hand..."
For a moment she imaged blowing a hole through the smirk on his face. No....that wouldn't do. Patience would bring her to greatness. Not killing everyone she felt like...ooooh just this once? no no no...
Nodding, she took the holo-disk with the information. Valerians. She had heard of the clash of wills between the two criminal organization before. Well, at least she'd be able to get her hands dirty....
The Sennex Compound looked like a small building sitting on the sand-dunes of Tattoine. Looks could be deceiving. She parked her swoop, and walked inside the building. Aggressives. Mmm....just her style.
She handles her newest weapon with more care than she would take to a child, and thrills at the feeling of the laser fire expending through the chamber of the pistol. TivII stands over the body of the Sennex gang member and smiles. "There's a message from Jabba, you won't forget."
More carnage. Dark and bloody. The smell of death is compounded due to the cramped space inside the small building. She pulls her hair back into her tight bun; a few strands had set themselves free. Calmly she jumps on her bike, and drives back towards the palace.
"I had better get that droid soon...or maybe i'll just deal with Jabba...in a different way..." |
|
| |
| [FICTION] The Dark Clone |
|
| SWGStraticsVoice - 6:39 AM PDT | Posted By: Tiveria |
| |
In a dark corner on Yavin IV
"I...I don't know sir. Do you think this time it will succeed?" Trinis was young, and he was almost afraid of the Imperial scientist in front of him. Dr. Sanchez was renowned for being the most successful gene scientist in the known galaxy; he was also known for being impossibly stubborn and slightly insane.
"Hush. I need to finish these calculations before we start..."
Trinis obeyed quietly. He had received an order to guard this little scientific station, and not to ask questions. He could usually handle that, but some of the things he was seeing the scientist do...they were inscrupable!
"Okay. There. Now I need you to get me something." A gleeful smile filled his face. Trinis knew he was in trouble.
"Er...yes sir?" he almost gulped out.
"I need...a skin sample. A hair, a fingernail. Anything - something! Even her clone data sitting in New Korriban. I don't care!" Dr. Sanchez was known for his lunacy.
"Her? I apologize sir, who?"
Dr. Sanchez cackled so crazily, it gave Trinis goosebumps. "Tiveria...Tiveria Sekanis!"
Trinis raised an eyebrow underneath his Stormtrooper armor. He had heard of the woman. She was a quiet sort who was living on Talus. The only reason he had heard of her name, was a local lunatic (maybe him and Sanchez were friends?) was sending communiques that Tiveria was a Jedi. Trinis almost snorted out loud. Jedi. To think. They didn't exist anymore! Well...at least not the real Jedi.
"What do you want with her?"
Dr. Sanchez scowled at Trinis. "Never mind you. Just go and get something with her DNA on it!"
Trinis saluted and walked out of the room. He really wondered what he had gotten into this time.
Tiveria walked out of her home in Valos City, and squinted at the bright sunshine. It was rare to have a day like this, and she intended to enjoy it. Too many nights of death had been following her around lately. She smiled. It was worth getting that robe to see the look on young -Rayen's face. Her guild was at peace for the moment. Draconious had gone to gather his forces, but had been quiet lately. She knew trouble was just around the corner.
She flew into Dearic on her lithe little jetpack. Without voren and bonnie, she never would be able to make the trip so quickly. One day, Valos would get a shuttle...
She walked into the spaceport and before she knew what was happening, was lying on the ground. When she sat up after the shock of hitting the permacrete, she saw a man in a stormtrooper's uniform. Sighing, she knew this could be trouble.
Trinis walked right into her. He knew her face from the holo-images from Draconious. Brown hair framing her slight face. Long robes often worn tightly around her. trinis thought he may have glimpsed a light saber, but realized he must be mistaken.
"Excuse me m'am. Imperial Inspection." Trinis intoned, intimidating his superior officer.
"Oh. I'm sorry sir. Somethign amiss?" Tiv quirked an eyebrow at the officer. It was rare to get stopped these days.
"No m'am. Just need to verify you don't have any contriband on your person." Trinis leaned over, and while inspecting her bags, snipped a small discreet few hairs. "Everything appears to be all set."
Tiveria walked onward, off to go assist Hasen on Mustafar.
Dr. Sanchez howled with pleasure. "Yes! Yes! This is just what I needed!" Instantly he ran over to a small dish, and began measuring out chemicals.
"Soon...soon the world will see what I have created!"
"Um...Are you cloning her?" Trinis looked doubtful. While clones were often created when a body was destroyed, it was rare to have two such replicas around at the same tiem. Well at least since the clone wars in any case.
"Yes...but this one...will belong to the Emperor!"
Trinis knew Dr. Sanchez was insane. It would take years to create a good clone, and most likely wouldn't be anything like the "real" Tiveria...
Also...what would happen if they met? Trinis wasn't a scientist, but knew...that this experiment would be very dangerous indeed.
"Ahhh yes...my sweet" Dr. Sanchez was talking to a small dish "You will be known as TivII CloneI. The second version of Tiveria, but the first real clone of her." He again cackled with glee.
"What have I done?" Trinis wondered quietly....only time would tell. |
|
| |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
