Games Radar published a new retrospective article for Star Wars Galaxies.

The game’s scope could belong to an unlikely sounding Kickstarter pitch, so perhaps it’s little wonder that Sony Online Entertainment shuttered its Star Wars MMOG in December 2011. In its final form, Star Wars Galaxies was a mess of contradictory creative urges whose design and technological foundations had been stripped out from under it – but it was an ambitious mess, the type of game that players often ask for but rarely get.

Draakull posts that 12 SWG servers will close on Oct 15, 2009.

Due to the overwhelming success of the recent Free Character Transfer Service, we want to inform you that on October 15, 2009, at 5:00 PM PT, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) will close the following 12 Star Wars Galaxies servers:

 

•  
  • Corbantis
  • Europe-Infinity
  • Intrepid
  • Kauri
  • Kettemoor
  • Lowca
  • Naritus
  • Scylla
  • Tarquinas
  • Tempest
  • Valcyn
  • Wanderhome

Character creation will be disabled on the affected servers beginning September 15, 2009 at 4:00 AM PDT.

In accordance with the server closure date, the Free Character Transfer service has been extended through October 15. 2009. Between September 15, 2009 and October 15, 2009 at 4:59 PM PT all characters on the affected servers are eligible for a one way, one time Free Character Transfer* to any of the remaining thirteen (13) Star Wars Galaxies servers. After October 15, 2009 at 5:00 PM PT, any characters and their associated items and structures remaining on the identified servers being closed will no longer be accessible on your Star Wars Galaxies or Station Access account.

MMORPG went back to Star Wars Galaxies and did another review fo the game after all these years and gave it a score of 6.8.

I returned to this game to write this review after taking a year off. I have to say in that year not very much has changed. People were still mostly standing around taking smack and it was overall very boring. It took me quite a bit to get a group to take me to Hoth. While there is new stuff coming out most of it is not dynamic content and becomes yesterday's news pretty fast. The Battlegrounds have some hope of providing dynamic repeatable game play to people but it was taking to long between battlegrounds so I got frustrated and logged out.

I am also very cynical because I spent so much time playing this game during the updates that angered the players that I am no longer a glass half full kind of guy. I see the failures and bugs at every turn and the lost friends. So I tend to reflect on the past and the way things were. However after talking with some newer players I can see many who have never tried this game not only playing it but enjoying it.

Star Wars Galaxies is moving to update 10 and Massively have a dev diary by Thomas 'Hanse' Eidson, one of SWG's system designers, about PvP in that update.

After making the Massassi Isle, I used it as my central testing location for all the battlefield programming changes. All battlefields function as "reinforcements" style mini-games where teams start out with a set number of points. As players kill members of the opposite team, or accomplish battlefield objectives, they diminish the number of points the opposing team has. Whichever team is reduced to zero points first, or whoever has the least number of points when time runs out, loses.

With the core system in place, I then began to customize each battlefield to offer unique objectives to ensure each area features a unique gameplay experience with its own twist. Just tweaking these objectives has allowed us to have mini-games similar to capture the flag, king of the hill, and others.

In an interview SWG's lead producer Chris Field had with Massively he talks about the challenges of working on a six year-old game, their ongoing process of integrating fan feedback and what we can expect for SWG going forward.

Generally speaking, what are the advantages and disadvantages of working on a six year-old game?

One of the advantages is the ability to look back historically and think about what worked and what didn't. That, coupled with the fan feedback about what they'd like to see next, really defines a lot of the decisions that are made regarding where to go with the product.

As far as disadvantages go, sometimes it can take a while to adopt new tools and technologies that you'd like to take advantage of because the original game was written prior to the release of these new tools and tech. Zbrush is a good example. Our artists love using Zbrush but it took some wrangling to work it into our pipeline as it wasn't commercially available for the majority of the time Star Wars Galaxies was originally in development.

On the Star Wars Galaxies site a warning is given for those who have been inactive since july last year. If you don't re-subscribe prior to February 15th 2009, your structures are eligible for destruction.

That's one way to try and get some of those subscribers back I suppose....

Response to Bioware's announcement of SW:TOR at Massively.

We think what most Galaxies want to hear, first and foremost from SOE, what the Old Republic announcement means for them. What does the announcement of The Old Republic mean for Star Wars Galaxies players?

John Smedley: I think since there was no date announced with the game, it's safe to assume it will be released far enough in the future that is not any immediate issue for Galaxies players. We do not know when that game is going to launch, I don't believe they know when that game is going to launch. For the foreseeable future, Galaxies is quite safe. How long that is, I think has more to do with how and when that game comes along.

At some point we'll make a decision about when and if to sunset Galaxies, but as of right now we don't have any plans to do that.

Alrik writes in to point out a trading card game for SWG has been released, titled Champions of the Force.  The blurb mentions downloading the free trial but it looks like ongoing play is tied to joining SWG.

Coming with the Battle for Echo Base update.

Star Wars fans will know that Echo Base was the site of the famous Battle of Hoth sequence from the start of the Empire Strikes Back film, in which the Rebels' Snowspeeders take down Imperial AT-AT walkers. The scene's been recreated in videogames many times, but it's the kind of large-scale conflict that's been largely missing from Galaxies so far.

"The team has been working feverishly, reviewing the film every step of the way, to ensure as authentic experience as we can provide," said Field. "The environment is absolutely massive. The North Field alone is huge and will provide some exciting battle moments.The base itself is labyrinth of tunnels and rooms."

More information will be revealed at SOE's Fan Faire convention in Las Vegas in a week's time. "I was going to announce vehicle combat at Fan Faire, but it seems that that secret was too good to keep under wraps," said Field, perhaps referring to his boss John Smedley's slip of the tongue when talking to Massively at E3.

Update 5 for Star War: Galaxies - An Empire Divided has been released. Below are the highlights of this update, but go to WarCry for the full release notes:

Highlights:

* Integrated voice chat, in-game web browser, beast master and munitions trader updates, Create a Painting contest winners, and the 6

0 month veteran reward.

 SWG subscribers to get exclusive TCG.

Now the Galactic Civil War continues on a whole new playing field with the introduction of the Star WarsStar Wars® trading card game is available exclusively to Star Wars Galaxies™ Trading Card Game and its first release, Champions of the Force. This first ever online Galaxies subscribers* as part of their valid subscription to the game.

Patch notes for Chapter 9 have been released at the official website. The update adds a new encounter called "Temple of Exar Kun" but it also contains several other changes. Below is an excerpt on the storyteller system:

Storyteller:

• Storyteller blueprints have been added. Blueprints allow a storyteller to lay out a scene with storyteller props, save that scene, and deploy it quickly and easily. The storyteller vendor near the NPC theaters in each city offers a blueprint for sale. Use the radial menu on the blank storyteller blueprint in your inventory and choose Save Blueprint Data to save the complete scene.
  
  You can also add a description to a blueprint that can be viewed in the Examine window.
• Ground targeting for storyteller prop placement has been added.
• Jukebox converters have been added to the storyteller vendor. A jukebox converter will make a storyteller prop that you target and that you own into a jukebox. It will then behave just like a normal jukebox storyteller prop.
• The music being played by a storyteller jukebox can now be heard whether or not you are part of that jukebox's story. The one exception is if you are participating in someone's story, then you will only hear music played by jukeboxes that are part of that story.
• NPC difficulty converter tokens have been added to the storyteller vendor. The NPC difficulty converter tokens change a storyteller combat NPC to elite difficulty or to boss difficulty. You must own the storyteller combat NPC in order to change its difficulty (or be assisting the owner).
• Storyteller invitation terminals have been added. A storyteller invitation terminal allows players to join your story without you or an assistant needing to manually invite them. Anyone who uses a storyteller invitation terminal will be added to the owner's story, unless they are already a member of a story.
• Storyteller props may now be purchased in bulk, up to 10 at a time for most props.
• Combat and Flavor NPCs may now be asked to unequip their weapons, or to re-equip them again if you wish.
• Additional storyteller props and NPCs have been added.
• Storyteller events can now be held on Dathomir, Endor, and Yavin 4.

A preview of the upcoming free add-on, Chapter 9, has been published at IGN's RPG Vault:

Chapter 9 of Star Wars Galaxies will feature a new heroic encounter, the Temple of Exar Kun. These instances are design to provide high-level challenge for our players. They are instanced, scripted encounters where a group of them faces elite tests, and they allow us to create a custom event per chapter that feels completely unique. For example, we started the heroics system with an IG-88 battle in his droid factory, moved onto a Tusken raid on Mos Entha where players battled a new Tusken King boss, and then took players out to space and into a rogue Star Destroyer. In addition to their uniqueness, these encounters allow us to place some crazy high-end loot for the players that's not available to them anywhere else.

The preview also contains three exclusive screenshots.

A minor fix to Game Update v. 2.0 has been released today by the developers. It corrects a problem with some starship weapon types:

Star Wars Galaxies: Game Update 2.1
Publish Notes, March 27, 2008

Ships:

• A previous attempt at fixing an exploit led to a small amount of starship weapons being inadvertently lumped in as exploited.  No weapon was affected by this issue that has not been reverse engineered. These weapons were converted to their average weapon fire rate in an attempt to keep them from being abused. This fix reverts those weapons to their previous fire rate or a slightly lower fire rate.
  
  If you removed a weapon from a ship that was modified by the previous fix, re-equip it to the same ship and it should revert to its previous value.
  
  If your weapon is still not fixed in this update, please submit an in-game ticket. Customer Service has detailed instructions on how to help affected players and has logs of all weapons that were affected.

A new interior design article (what is this, the 80s?) at the official Star Wars Galaxies site takes a closer look at pitch, yaw and roll as applied to home decoration.

Interior decorators can add even more of a personal touch with the new rotation commands in Chapter 8. New commands can be used to make moving furniture easier, and home designers can use new pitch and roll abilities when they complete two new Chapter 8 collections!

A new developer diary at SWG WarCry takes a closer look at space collections.

Pilots will be able to participate in at least one of three faction oriented space slayer kill collections. Each of the faction kill collections has 5 tiers (or levels) that can be completed in any order. With each tier the player completes, space experience and badges are rewarded. When the player completes all 5 tiers they receive their final reward.

This one's a few days late, but the official Star Wars Galaxies site has a preview of some of the new ships to be added to the game with the release of Chapter 8.

Space-faring adventurers will have new ships at their disposal in Chapter 8! These gunships, loaded with firepower for supporting the Empire, the Rebel Alliance, or those wishing to remain out of the sight of both, are sure to appeal to all pilots.

RPG Vault chats to LucasArts Producer Jake Neri and Associate Producer Tim Temmerman about the next update for Star Wars Galaxies.

Jonric: What are the main additions and improvements that Chapter 7 will bring to Star Wars Galaxies, and are they primarily aimed at certain levels or types of players?

Jake Neri: Chapter 7 introduces some cool new elements to Star Wars Galaxies, one being the Collection Journal, and another the introduction of three instanced Heroic Encounters. The former allows players of all levels to pick up collections (essentially quests) that require you to go out and find, kill or loot objects or creatures around the galaxy. Once completed, the collections appear in your journal and reward the player with badges and sometimes loot or other items. For example, we have a collection that allows the player to gather written pieces of Count Dooku's legend. Once it's completed, the reward is a decorative saber hilt to place in the character's home.

Swing by The MMO Gamer for an interview with Star Wars Galaxies producer Jake Neri, in which he discusses the future of SOE's MMO.

The MMO Gamer: What does the future hold? Where do you see things another year down the road?

Jake Neri: The future for Star Wars: Galaxies is very bright. We plan to continue to add content and features to the game through our Chapter Adventures that are part of the players’ regular subscriptions to the game. Chapter 7 is slated for release this fall and players will get to try out all the new content on our test center very soon. Chapter 7 will bring a brand-new Collection System along with several other features, Chapter 8 will bring new space adventures this winter, and 2008 has plenty of content and enhancements as well.

Head on over to the official Star Wars Galaxies site for a feature on Aurilian treasures.

When adventurers make their way back to Aurilia after defeating a powerful enemy, they proudly carry back the spoils of war. New entrepreneurs in Aurilia are looking for special tokens that the defeated creatures leave behind. Find out more about trading your tokens to Aurilia's vendors to choose the reward you've been yearning for.

SOE recently held a Star Wars Galaxies event to destroy all of the unused in-game housing. The event also helped raise funds to build new homes IRL.

AUSTIN, TX – September 5, 2007 – While in-game events are a fairly common occurrence in a MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) game it’s not often that they result in the joint effort of a major video games publisher and a leading charitable organization promoting affordable housing. But it’s exactly that kind of event that has enabled Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) LLC’s Austin, TX studio to team up with Austin Habitat for Humanity (AHFH), contributing financially as well as through volunteer efforts to help people in the Austin community find homes.

In SOE’s Star Wars Galaxies (SWG) MMO, there was a surplus of player-created houses and buildings that had been abandoned or left unoccupied by players. SOE Austin VP of Development John Blakely wanted to remove the houses, but do so in a way that is uniquely Star Wars – the buildings were marked as “condemned” by the evil Galactic Empire, and scheduled for demolition – TIE fighters would swoop in and bomb the buildings to the ground.

The SWG community was also given the chance to join in the fun of this “urban renewal;” players were provided reward points for the number of buildings they destroyed, which could be redeemed for special in-game items like droids, paintings and furniture. “When we initially conceived this idea, we didn’t know how the community was going to react,” said Blakely. “Oddly enough, it was very well received; some players that hadn’t been in the game for months came back to reclaim their property, re-activate their accounts and start playing the game again.”

SOE Austin took things one step further and offered to match the number of houses demolished with a donation to charity, considering Austin Habitat for Humanity first. “Using the money we raised blowing-up virtual houses and buildings to help build real homes was a no-brainer for us,” said Blakely. “Austin Habitat for Humanity has done incredible work in the community, helping people find good homes, and our whole studio wanted to contribute to their efforts.”

On Thursday, September 6th, Blakely will present AHFH Executive Director Michael Willard with a donation at SOE’s industry reception at the Austin Game Developers Conference.

“Teaming up with Sony Online Entertainment is a wonderful opportunity for Austin Habitat and the families we serve. The creativity and diligence that these professionals exhibit in their work are traits which translate well to our efforts to eradicate poverty housing in our community,” said Willard. “Austin needs creative solutions in our quest to create more affordable housing and diligent leadership in as we work toward those goals.”

Head on over to the official Star Wars Galaxies site for a sneak peek at Chapter 7.

Heroic Encounters

A heroic encounter is a high-level challenge for a group of players looking to earn a huge reward. These encounters will take place in an instanced zone where players will take on challenging foes in epic battles like no other.

During the Galaxies Gathering, the team gave panel attendees a sneak peek at Axkva Min and her protectors.

The fourth in a series of developer diaries focusing on the beast mastery system is online at the official Star Wars Galaxies site.

The hardest part of the beast system was combining it with the other systems which reside in your datapad (vehicles, familiars, droids, ships, etc). The original design was to not have beasts interact with those systems. Blixtev said the second most dreaded thing a designer can hear in the middle of a development cycle…which was that there was going to be a major design direction change. He wanted a system to control each type of datapad system individually, which would keep a player from having a droid and a beast out at the same time. (By the way, the most dreaded thing to hear is "development cancelled" of course). I had to make a new system over all the other systems. Since all those datapad systems could "call" an object into the world, I decided to name the new system the "callable" system.

This week's Friday Feature takes a closer look at armour in Star Wars Galaxies.

In general, armor absorbs damage from attacks to specific areas of your body. Some species can't wear certain armor pieces, so be aware of all restrictions before purchasing a new piece of armor. For example, Wookiees wear race-specific armor.

Star Wars Galaxies game designer Thomas Eidson discusses NPC  balance in his latest developer diary.

When approaching a systemic issue such as creature balance, you would not normally modify only one statistic. Modifying one statistic for creature balance makes your creatures bland and boring during combat. Our current game does not rely on a single statistic for combat. We use a master data table that is level based, which means the statistics rise as the level increases. 

This week's Friday Feature takes a closer look at the Beast Master Expertise systems of loyalty and happiness.

The Beast Master Expertise System is an exciting feature new to Star Wars Galaxies in Chapter 6: Masters of the Wild. These are creature-centric abilities available to all players, regardless of profession or level, through a third expertise tree.

As beasts grow and join their master in hard-fought battles, they become increasingly fond of the Beast Master. But the relationship goes both ways -- the master must keep the creature happy so it can live up to its full potential. Learn the ins and outs of beast loyalty and happiness to get the most out of your trusty companion.

Darke Counsel takes a look at the current state of Star Wars Galaxies and how it has changed since its launch.

That’s right. SWG of today is a totally different animal from when it started. For you folks who are actually new to the MMOG, SWG was once a ‘SandBox’ type game where players roamed where they will, featuring a ‘Skill Based’ system allowing great character flexibility, as well as horrible grinding gaming moments. After so many bugs, sparse content, Jedi profession complaints and probably a dwindling profit margin, the folks at SOE regrouped and totally revamped the gaming system, making it very similar to your typical MMOG’s today.

This little change, called the New Game Enhancements, spawned a firestorm among players resulting in legions of disgruntled customers crying for SOE blood and the death of SWG. Now, let me tell you what SWG07 has today.

The publish notes for Chapter 6: Masters of the Wild are available at the official Star Wars Galaxies site. Here's a sample:

New Features

Storyteller

Enhance your player-driven stories and adventures with a new series of props, effects, and attackable NPCs. You may place these objects in player cities or in the wild on non-adventure planets. You will have to invite other players to your story before they will be allowed to attack NPCs or open containers you have placed.

RPG Vault speaks with LucasArts Producer Jake Neri and Associate Producer Tim Temmerman about the impending release of Chapter 6.

Jonric: What is the main new element that Chapter 6 brings to Star Wars Galaxies, and what was the process that led you to add it?

Jake Neri and Tim Temmerman: Chapter 6: Mastering the Wild is due to go live in Star Wars Galaxies this week, and will introduce the new Beast Master system to the game. This feature gives players the ability to harvest DNA from creatures all over the galaxy, and use it to create new beasts they can then keep or trade, train, and ultimately adventure with.

Beast Master Expertise is the focus of this week's Tech Specs article at the official Star Wars Galaxies site.

Beast Master Expertise is an exciting new feature coming to Star Wars Galaxies in Chapter 6. These are new creature-centric abilities available to all players, regardless of profession or level, through a third expertise tree. 

Choosing these new expertise abilities will open up brand new game play features that include several phases of creature crafting and several mini-games. Initially, players will have to spend an expertise point on the "Incubation" skill which will give them the ability to set up an Incubator unit in their home or player structure to create creatures.

Timothy Vick, the Lead Game Master for Star Wars Galaxies, is profiled at the official site.

How long have you been working on SWG:
Since Beta 2

What profession do you like to play in SWG:
I like to play a Bounty Hunter. I enjoy the PvP aspects of the game and the challenges that a few skilled Jedi on my server give me.

A new developer diary from Game Designer Mark Halash is available at the official Star Wars Galaxies site.

Hi everyone, I'm Mark Halash (SWG-Tunso on the boards) and I am a game designer on Star Wars Galaxies.  Over the last year I've been primarily working on the expertise system and I'm also responsible for designing the bounty hunter, officer and medic expertise trees.  For Chapter 5, I added the Build-a-Buff system for entertainers and the Reverse Engineering system for traders.

I'm sure you've heard that our next chapter is introducing beast mastery and for that I am working on the beast mastery expertise tree. What follows is my dev diary that will give you a look behind the scenes at what I've been designing.

Last week's Friday Feature at the SWG site was coverage of the pistols in the game:

Pistols are the fastest ranged weapons in Star Wars Galaxies. Designed for interpersonal combat and excellent in close quarters, these are handy weapons to have. These small, short-ranged weapons are often the weapon of choice for officers and smugglers.

To help you find just the right weapon for your character, you can use these technical specifications to better understand the different types of pistols at your disposal.

A State of the Game Journal is available at WarCry with SWG lead designer Thomas Blair and LucasArts' producer Jake Neri providing insight:

It’s been a busy time for the developers of Star Wars Galaxies recently. We spent the majority of 2006 polishing and enhancing elements of the game that our players felt needed attention.

Specifically, players wanted to feel unique, so we differentiated our classes through a Profession Expertise system that added two different skill paths from which players can choose new abilities. Not only did this offer players many opportunities to customize their characters, but it also allowed them to differentiate their characters and gave them a reason to group together.

The SWG site has the notes for Chapter 5: An Entertaining Enterprise, which offers a truckload of changes, additions and tweaks.  It's too long to quote entirely but here's the opening few items:

Profession Expertise System Rollout Complete: The final two iconic professions, traders and entertainers, are the beneficiaries of all new skills and abilities in Chapter 5, allowing them to fully customize their characters and carve out their own place in the galaxy. Players will be able to earn up to 45 expertise points as their characters progress to level 90, which they can spend as they please on new abilities and modifications to existing abilities.

•  The Trader Expertise System: New trader talents and abilities have been divided into two trees. The Production tree allows players to choose skills such as "Advanced Production Technology" and "Deconstruction Techniques" that will allow them to not only increase the size of their storage capacities, but also decrease the costs and the amount of resources needed to produce items. The Specialization Tree offers abilities like "Artisan's Dexterity" and "Advanced Resource Refinement" that will give the player specific bonuses to their chosen profession.

A list of all the new trader skills and abilities can be found here: SWG Comlink: Trader Expertise

•  The Entertainer Expertise System: Entertainers can now assign expertise points within two trees. The Artiste tree includes new skills such as "Holographic Mastery" and "Lasting Impression," which increase the stats and duration of specific bonuses and buffs that Entertainers can place on other players. The Drama tree offers abilities such as "Rising Spirit," "Controlled Spin" and "Allure," which increases their effectiveness in group combat.

New Reverse Engineering System for Traders : This new system provides traders with a greater level of involvement in the Star Wars Galaxies economy, along with making them a more valuable member of any party or guild. Through this system, traders will now be able to reverse engineer items in-game to create new item upgrades for use by themselves or other players.

Through a new reverse engineering tool, traders will be able to deconstruct items, weaponry, armor or clothing in-game and extract "Power Bits" and "Modifier Bits" that can be combined to create item upgrades that can be applied to existing weapons, clothing or armor. Traders will be able to craft both permanent item upgrades (Skill Enhancing Attachments) along with temporary item upgrades (Power-Ups) to expand their business and make them even more sought-after in the galaxy.

More information on the Reverse Engineering System, including detailed information on constructing item upgrades, can be found in this article: The Nuts and Bolts of Reverse Engineering.

Time to Go Camping : The galaxy is a big place, and sometimes it's necessary to undertake days-long expeditions. Fortunately, traders receive another new skill in Chapter 5 that will allow them to assist with players' ventures far from home.

Traders will now be able to craft and sell campsites. By loading the campsites with different modules during the crafting process, traders can customize the functionality of the camp to the order of the customer. Such things as a Shuttle Beacon, Cloning Center, Junk Dealer and Entertainment Area can be built into the campsite, making them a player's home away from home.

You can see screenshots of the new player camps here in this feature, "Gone Camping!"

Build-a-Buff: Traders aren't the only recipients of new features in Chapter 5. Entertainers will new be able to craft custom bonuses to sell or give to other players. These "Build-a-Buff" bonus packs will include a series of trade offs (positive buffs that can be strengthened by choosing additional de-buffs), to offer players a nearly exhaustive group of new buffs.

To learn more on how to build a specific buff package, including screenshots of the new user interface for the system, can be found here in, "Build-a-Buff."

Chapter 5 Gift: When players log in to download "Chapter 5: An Entertaining Enterprise," they will automatically receive a custom one-use campsite kit that they can take on their galactic adventures. In addition, they will receive a limited-edition collectable painting entitled "Camp Life" that they can place in their home or other player structure. You can see the chapter 5 gifts here.

LucasArts Producer for SWG Jake Neri has been interviewed at RPG Vault about the upcoming Chapter 5 improvements:

Jonric: To get us going, what would you like to tell our readers about Chapter 5, its significant features and what it will bring to the game as a whole?

Jake Neri: For those who don't know, we have been enhancing the various professions in Star Wars Galaxies with new abilities and skills throughout 2006 and into 2007. Chapter 5: An Entertaining Enterprise is all about the trader and entertainer professions. They are the last two to have the expertise system implemented, and will have tons of new skills and abilities to try out once the Chapter goes live.

Even if the player isn't a trader or entertainer, they'll still be able to benefit from these new abilities, as all the professions are interdependent. Entertainers will now have a bunch of new buffs they can bestow on other players, and traders will now be able to craft consumable items that enhance armor and weapons. Chapter 5 will make traders and entertainers far more viable in both combat and the game's economy.

WarCry talks with Thomas Blair about the addition of holo-bands to Star Wars Galaxies.

WarCry: Why did the development team believe it was a good idea to add holographic band-mates and what do they add to the game from a more practical point of view?

Thomas Blair: “We’re putting the band back together.” This famous line underlies many people’s assumptions of what a group of entertainers would be doing. The band or dance troupe enables multiple players to perform special flourishes (these are the more exotic or unique moves and musical notes) for any performance. This feature gives a single player a way to perform with a band and experience the fun of singing or dancing with a set of backup singers or dancers playing with them. As to the practicality, it is one more way to give the entertainers another opportunity to do what they do best, entertain! 

The Friday feature at the SWG site looks at Player Camps in the upcoming Chapter 5 and offers a bunch of screens on the subject.

A preview of Chapter 5 featuring information on Holo-bands is available at the official Star Wars Galaxies site.

We have another sneak preview of some of the great things coming your way in Chapter 5: Holo-bands!

Holo-bands give entertainers a new way to have fun in the game by spawning their own band members. With this entertainer expertise ability, dancers can choreograph new dance routines using their holographic dance group and musicians can create a well rounded band comprised of a variety of different instruments allowing for a more robust sound – but all under one player's control.

Bottom line: Spontaneous fun that allows Entertainer's to do what they love most – entertain others in-game!

Star Wars Galaxies' Technical Director Tony Tyson is the focus of this week's developer-player profile.

What profession do you like to play in SWG?
I like playing a Bounty Hunter on Test Center. My character's name is Teesquared which is also my forum handle. If you see me on Test Center, say hello and tell me what you think about SWG.

Stratics will be holding another House of Commons with the Star Wars Galaxies developers on Wednesday, 31 January 2006.

Please join us on Wednesday, January 31st, for a House of Commons chat with the developers of Star Wars Galaxies. The chat will be held at 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern in the #StraticsHoC channel on Stratics IRC.

The focus for this chat will be Chapter 5.

You can connect to one of our IRC servers through the use of your favorite IRC client, such as mIRC, ircle and xchat. Connect to irc.stratics.com port 6668 or choose a server listed below that is closest to you:

stratics.frws.com port 6668, USA - Colorado
irc.glowfish.de port 6668, EU - Germany
stratics.afraidyet.net 6668, USA - Atlanta


You may also connect through our handy Java link which may be found right here. You must have Java installed to use this which can be downloaded from the Java homepage.

General chat relating to SWG will take place before, during, and after the chat in room #starwars. We hope to see you there!

Head GM Sharon Morris steps into the spotlight at the official Star Wars Galaxies site.

What is your real name? Sharon Morris (Head GM Moonlite)

What is your official title/position? Customer Service Manager

How long have you been working on Star Wars Galaxies?
I’ve been working on SWG for about 6 months. Prior to that I was the Customer Service Manager for FFXI for 3 years, and before that I was a Lead GM for EverQuest.

A new player profile is online at the official Star Wars Galaxies site. 

Where in the real life world do you live? The great plains of North Dakota

How long have you played Star Wars Galaxies? I have played since September of 2003. I took one summer off when I was working for the State Park, but other than that I have always kept an open, active account.

What other MMOs have you played? I have been involved in a couple of gaming organizations on the Internet, but no MMOs other than SWG.

A new developer player profile is online at the official Star Wars Galaxies site.

What is your Real Name?
Thomas Blair

What is your official title/position?
Assistant Lead Designer - Star Wars Galaxies

How long have you been working on SWG?
I’m approaching 3 years now. I joined the team right before Publish 8 (Droids) went live.

RPG Vault has an interview with LucasArts producer Jake Neri on the upcoming Chapter 5 update to SWG:

 Jonric: What are the most significant elements in Star Wars Galaxies: Chapter 4, how did you select them and how do they fit the overall direction in which the game is evolving?

Jake Neri: The last few Chapters have been focused on implementing our new expertise system for each profession. Chapter 2 was Jedi and Bounty Hunter, Chapter 3 was Smuggler and Officer, and now we are at Chapter 4... Commando, Spy and Medic. We made the decision to release them in this order because it coincides with the popularity of the professions in the game. In addition, we wanted to implement the system for all the combat professions first, so that players would have a fair, balanced combat experience in the game.

Also making the shipping news (pun probably intended) today is The Complete Online Adventures edition of Star Wars Galaxies.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment today announced that Star Wars Galaxies: The Complete Online Adventures, the most comprehensive Star Wars Galaxies experience ever released, has shipped to stores in North America and is available for a suggested retail price of $29.99.

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Stratics has an exclusive on Holo-Pets, and new feature to be added to Star Wars Galaxies with the release of Chapter 4.

Many players interested in Commando Expertise, Spy Expertise and Medic Expertise are eagerly awaiting Chapter 4. This exclusive will bring you something else that will be introduced with the new chapter.

Keep in mind this doesn't have anything to do with what the future could include in regard to the 'In Concept' discussions. If what Helios has posted comes to light, it will not interfere with this matter.

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GameInformer has news of a new SWG 14-day Trial offer with a bonus for those that convert to full accounts:

“We’re so pleased to be able to open up the full versions of Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided and Jump to Lightspeed for a full two weeks,” said Jason Willig, senior director online for LucasArts. “Star Wars Galaxies is the only place where players can experience their personal Star Wars adventures twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and downloading our newly-enhanced 14-day trial of the game is the perfect way to jump right in and start playing.”

Please join us on Wednesday, October 4th, for a House of Commons chat with the developers of Star Wars Galaxies. The chat will begin at 5pm PDT /7:00pm CST /8:00pm EDT / Midnight UTC/GMT in the #StraticsHoC channel on Stratics IRC.

The focus for this chat will be the features in Chapter 3 .

You can connect to one of our IRC servers through the use of your favorite IRC client, such as mIRC, ircle, xchat, or whichever you prefer. Connect to irc.stratics.com port 6668 or the server closest to you:

* stratics.frws.com port 6668, USA - Colorado
* irc.glowfish.de port 6668, EU - Germany
* stratics.afraidyet.net 6668, USA - Atlanta
* irc.epaxsys.net port 6668, USA - Colorado

You may also connect through our handy Java link which may be found right here. You must have Java installed to use this which can be downloaded from the Java homepage.

How to ask questions at the chat: Type /msg [QT]NICKNAME and your question. Please send questions only to the QT's (moderators) because questions sent to anyone other than the QT's will not make it into the lineup.

General chat relating to SWG will take place before, during, and after the chat in room #starwars.

We hope to see you there!

Jonric: In overview, how would you describe Chapter 3: Smugglers and Scoundrels, and how did you decide on this particular theme or direction?

Jake Neri: Chapter 3: Smugglers and Scoundrels delivers another round of the player expertise system, and we are focused on our Smugglers and Officers this tie. We are currently enhancing all nine of our professions to provide them with cool new abilities with which they can take their characters to new levels.

We have a rabid smuggler player base that has been asking for this type of content for some time, and so it was easy to theme the chapter "Smugglers and Scoundrels" as it serves just that, the smugglers and scoundrels in our community. No offense to officers who see some really great new content as well, but it wouldn't sound right if it wasn't all about our smugglers.

Chapter 2 represented a very exciting time for Star Wars Galaxies as it was the beginning of the rollout of our Profession Expertise system. Over the next few Chapters, we will be implementing this system, which will allow our players the ability to customize their characters in ways never before possible. Chapter 2 brought us Jedi and Bounty Hunter expertise, and we'll roll out a few professions in each subsequent Chapter.

As far as new content goes, The Talus Incident itself is a new quest series building off of Chapter 1's The Corellian Captives series, and continues to advance the Galactic Civil War, particularly in the city of Restuss. The same characters will continue to request the players' help throughout these series, adding to the sense of an overall story in the game.

Could you use a Lucky Break?
Well, if you're like our adventurer you sure could. Check out this week's feature explaining the benefits of the luck attribute. Who knows, after reading it, today could be your lucky day!

Do you have what it takes to be a master short film maker?

Well, it's time to put your talents to the test! Introducing the Star Wars GalaxiesA Online Adventures Short Film Contest, where you'll be able to submit a short film in one of five categories.

Not only can you win great prizes, but you could also get the chance to have your film immortalized forever as part of the bonus content accompanying the upcoming Star Wars Galaxies The Complete Online Adventures retail product. You definitely don't want to miss out on this opportunity!

Following the battle in Restuss, both Imperial and Rebel forces have intensified their efforts to oppose one another. During this, both sides have identified what they believe are strategic locations that are important to their operations. Across the Galactic Empire, familiar places like Talus, Naboo and Corellia are now the spot of heated conflict as both sides attempt to control them. They will need reinforcements to maintain their advantage, and are counting on you to join the battle!

This week Kud-Mar sends us his Corvette class starship, the Craccholio IV. As you can see it was too large for just one picture so I had to include two! As always when people send me things like this (and the ISD, At-At), I am truly amazed by what people can create out of random objects ingame.

The general consensus among gamers is that Star Wars Galaxies is on deathwatch, and despite the NGE, the expansion packs, and Sony and LucasArts' obvious dedication to the title, it's hard to disagree. Looking at the game objectively, all the hard work that the dev team has done has definitely paid dividends. Rage of the Wookiees, Jump to Lightspeed, and The Trials of Obi-Wan have all added interesting and enjoyable content to the game, and the NGE and the upcoming Galactic Civil War revamp, for all their problems, at least make Galaxies something that today's World of Warcraft-trained MMO gamer might feel comfortable with.

The problem is that this probably isn't enough to cut it in the face of a stiff MMO market. Galaxies continues to labor under certain bizarre and cumbersome legacy gameplay systems, the game often feels fragmented, the interface is clunky and confusing, and even after the NGE, there are still plenty of issues with the ground game that need to be addressed. More importantly, we have to wonder if there's anything SOE can do to overcome the player perception that Galaxies is a coded-up nightmare. After three years, it may be time to consider that the Force was never really with Star Wars Galaxies to begin with.

Greetings!

Join us once again for our monthly Star Wars Galaxies House of Commons Chat!

Jabba's put a price on your head so large that every bounty hunter in the galaxy will be looking for you. I'm lucky I found you first.


Here's how to get involved!

What we'll be discussing:

Our main topics for this Dev Chat will be:

* Chapter 2 Features
* Jedi and Bounty Hunter Expertise

Gamers who have been waiting for a sign to jump into Star Wars' persistent online RPG may have finally received their kick in the pants. LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment today announced Star Wars Galaxies: The Complete Online Adventures, a collection of all the Galaxies material released thus far. The package will include the base game, Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, along with all three of the game's expansions: Jump to Lightspeed, Rage of the Wookiees, and Trials of Obi-Wan.

LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment Unveil Star Wars Galaxies(R): The Complete Online Adventures

Thursday July 20, 9:01 am ET

Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided(R), All of the Game's Expansion Packs, and a Special DVD of Bonus Features Combine for the Most Inclusive Star Wars Galaxies Experience Ever Released

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 20, 2006--LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment today announced Star Wars Galaxies: The Complete Online Adventures, the most inclusive Star Wars Galaxies experience ever released. The Complete Online Adventures is scheduled to be available at retail stores nationwide November 2006 for a suggested retail price of $29.99.

The Complete Online Adventures features the base game, Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, along with all three of the game's expansions: Jump to LightspeedA, Rage of the Wookiees(TM), and Trials of Obi-Wan(TM). In addition, Star Wars Galaxies subscribers will automatically receive a series of game updates that are scheduled to be released by LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment throughout 2006, filled with new content, features and gameplay enhancements.

Brannoc *MrD* Question on the new Player Character Appearance Improvements, Is the plan to add the missing races in Chapter 3? and will this allow for or include the ability for more customization in the future. E.G. Braid's/Dreadlock's for Wookiee's.

temujin The Humans, Zabraks, and Twileks with chapter 2, beyond that we are still working on which race will go out with which chapter. The changes will not hamper any further customization, however none is currently planned.

Brannoc *GeneralH* With publish 29 all bogus titles currently in game that people were using were removed. I am fine with this fix however those Jedi who unlocked pre-9 lost their titles as well. Many of us spent months to unlock and even longer to finish our Jedi only to have our titles we worked for taken from us. Is there any fix coming to restore the pre-9 titles to those Jedi and ONLY those Jedi who were pre publish 9 and earned

Helios_SOE Unfortunately the data that would be required to restore those titles properly is lost and we will never be able to do that. :-/ We will continue to add new titles for future achievements, however.

Chapter Gift: Our automatic gift to you for logging in to download "Chapter 1: The Corellian Captives," will be a beautiful new painting to decorate your in-game home or building.

The painting you receive will be one of a series of three that is randomly chosen; each one a humorous depiction of a popular Star Wars Galaxies creature.

Four all-new quest series will be introduced to Star Wars Galaxies in Chapter 1 that will have you working closely with the Corellian Security Force to help get to the bottom of a string of unusual criminal activities.

Players level 37 to 40 will start out by investigating a simple missing person assignment that will plunge them into a dark underworld!

CorSec needs your help!

Get in on all the action! There are over 65 player events happening on 20 galaxies in June!

Whether you're into PvP, role-playing, space combat or parties, your fellow players have it covered. All you have to do to get involved is check the events calendar and show up!

On Wednesday, May 31st, Stratics hosted a developer chat with the Star Wars Galaxies development team. Community members asked questions about the upcoming in-game event revolving around the city of Restuss and the Galactic Civil War!

If you missed the chat, you can read the transcript by clicking this link.

You can view the exclusive movie revealed at the chat by clicking this link.

You can also find more information about the Restuss event in this featured preview.