Gamer Monkey » Star Wars Galaxies

Star Wars Galaxies gets Atmospheric Flight as a farewell trick

Lifebane — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:28:52 +0000

In an unexpected move, SOE released their end of the game patch on the 15th and included something quite unexpected… Atmospheric Flight! Yes, you can now hop into your favorite starship and fly around within the atmosphere, not only in space as previously allowed. It is sad to see something that players wanted for so long get pushed out right before the game gets permanently mothballed really. Nice that the players will at least get to fiddle around with this new feature for a few months before Star Wars Galaxies (“SWG”) gets the plug pulled. This end of game patch also includes the code to allow for the big end of game battles which were expected.

It will be an emotional sunset come December 15th, the end of an era for SWG fans all over. Even the most bitter Star Wars Galaxies player that became hate-filled by the NGE, CU, etc. over the years will grudgingly admit to having fond memories of this game from before the changes. This was a great game with great graphics and original game play ideas that unfortunately became worse over time and “fixes”. The full patch notes for this update can be found below:

Star Wars Galaxies: Game Update 21
On Thursday, September 15, 2011, at 4:00 a.m. PDT all U.S. and European galaxies will be brought down for an Update. The servers are estimated to be down for 4 hours. If this time frame changes, we’ll post an update on the official forums.

When the Update is complete, all galaxies will be live but unavailable while we complete final testing. All galaxies will be made available after that time.

Game Update 21: Atmospheric Flight

“There’s nothing that can compare to seeing Hjal’s expression when you tell him in person that you would like to take your ships out of your datapad on the ground and fly around in them =)” – Teesquared’s Producer Note, March 2011

Atmospheric Flight
With atmospheric flight, you will be able to travel the skies above and see the worlds of Star Wars Galaxies in a new way. To launch into atmospheric flight, or to return to the ground, you can use your ship’s icon in your datapad. Whether you are looking to host a peaceful event in your yacht with the Theed Waterfall as a backdrop or prove your piloting skills against another player over the desert of Tatooine, atmospheric flight will offer a unique way to experience Star Wars Galaxies.

The Final Battle
It’s the quiet before the storm. Special teams of elite troops from either faction have been dispatched to hunt down anyone who seeks to tip the scale in the Galactic Civil War by attacking minor installations and patrols. Anyone who accepts a factional mission risks drawing the attention of an enemy strike team.

Atmospheric Flight

Atmospheric flight is allowed on any of the original 10 ground planets (Corellia, Dantooine, Dathomir, Endor, Lok, Naboo, Rori, Talus, Tatooine, and Yavin 4).

Use the Launch Ship radial menu option from the ship control device in the datapad to launch the ship into atmospheric flight. You can also launch the ship into atmospheric flight using the toolbar.

Use the Land Ship radial menu option from the ship control device in the datapad to land/store the ship from atmospheric flight. You can also land/store the ship from atmospheric flight using the toolbar, or the newly added /landShip command.

Once in flight, use the newly added /inviteShip (or /target , followed by /inviteShip) command to invite passengers/gunners aboard the ship (either POB ship or non-POB ship with a currently unoccupied turret slot).

Passengers/gunners can leave the ship by using /escapePod or the escape hatch.

The ship owner can kick passengers/gunners off the ship using the existing /kickFromShip command.

You can launch directly into space from atmospheric flight. Once the ship is above 6000m altitude, an “ENTER SPACE” button will be displayed on the pilot’s HUD that will allow direct launch into the corresponding space zone. Clicking the button will display a popup menu to select the space zone’s hyperspace point to launch to.

If the ship hits the terrain while flying, it will sustain damage proportionate to the ship’s current mass and speed.

All forms of ship-to-ship PvP are available while in atmospheric flight – factional and privateer factional helper (/spacepvprebel, /spacepvpimperial, /spacefaction), player bounty system, guild war, guild squad PvP, duel.

Player bounty system and guild war exemption/exclusive status fall under the “space” ruleset while in atmospheric flight.

If the ship is special forces (including privateer factional helper special forces ship) while in atmospheric flight, GCW factional presence is granted to occupants with the same faction as the ship, regardless of the occupant’s special forces/combatant/on leave status. If any occupant is granted GCW factional presence, the ship is reported on the GCW Factional Presence window of the War Terminal/War Intel Pad/War Table, but NOT pinpointed on the planet map.

10 new “airspace” GCW score regions/categories have been added (like Naboo Airspace, Rori Airspace, etc). GCW score contribution made while in atmospheric flight (including factional presence) will apply to the planet’s corresponding “airspace” GCW score region/category. Each “airspace” GCW score region/category will contribute the same percentage to the planet’s and galaxy’s GCW score as a single ground GCW contested region.

While in atmospheric flight, the planet map will display in the window title the score of just the “airspace” GCW region/category for that planet.

GCW score contribution from factional ship-to-ship PvP kills in atmospheric flight will contribute to the GCW space PvP score category of the space zone corresponding to the planet. For example, factional ship-to-ship PvP kill in atmospheric flight in Tatooine airspace will contribute to the “Tatoo System Player vs Player” GCW score category. Rori airspace will contribute to the Naboo System, and Talus airspace will contribute to the Corellian System.

PLEASE NOTE: It may be necessary to remove any client mods to use atmospheric flight.

Graphics

“Disable Fog” option has been added to the Graphics tab of the Options window.

**HINT/REMINDER** Use the “Viewing Distance” slider in the Graphics tab of the Options window to set the “look ahead” level of detail that is comfortable for you (and your system).

TCG

The Deluxe Floater and Cloud City Airspeeder datapad objects should now be flagged as no trade removable.

Star Wars Galaxies shutting down 12/15/2011

Lifebane — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 17:47:17 +0000

“Sony Online Entertainment has announced that Star Wars Galaxies will be shutting down on December 15th of this year”

To quote Good Old Ben Kenobi: “I feel a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced.”

As a former SWG player back in the day, reading this sentence was quite sad. So says Lifebane, formerly known as the Zabrak named Harbinger (TKM, Master Doctor). One can only hope that SOE and other MMO developers out there learned some valuable lessons from the mess that was made of an originally very popular and successful MMO.

Here is a quote from Smedley:

“The decision to shut down SWG is first and foremost a business decision mutually agreed upon between SOE and LucasArts. LucasArts has a new game coming out, and the contract would be running out in 2012 anyway, so we feel like it’s the right time for the game to end.”

In truth it is no surprise that this is happening though, I think Lucasarts was smart enough this time around to get all their fan base hopping onto one MMO based on the Star Wars universe rather than leaving the die hard SWG fans their refuge. Not to say that Star Wars” The Old republic wasn’t already an attractive alternative to SWG for those die hard players still over in the classic version of this MMO, the game looks great and promises to be a solid MMO if it continues down its current path. As a former SWG player I dare not hold the same expectations for the new Star Wars based MMO that would match those I had for the original SWG MMO, but I do hope to see it satisfy my need for a Star Wars fix. Who knows, it may be all that it is being hyped up to be. Wouldn’t that be refreshing, an enjoyable Star Wars based MMO, been awhile since we had one of those.

Here is a list of important dates for this World Ending event…

Sept. 15, 2011	SWG MMO and Trading Card Game no longer available for sale or subscription No new or reactivated accounts accepted after this date
Oct. 15, 2011	Billing turned off Free game trials begin
Dec. 15, 2011	Star Wars Galaxies service ends

Below you will find the official Dear John letter to the community from SOE:

“Dear Star Wars Galaxies™ Community Member,

We write to you today to inform you that on December 15, 2011, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) and LucasArts will end all services (MMO and Trading Card Game) for Star Wars Galaxies (SWG). The shutdown of SWG is a very difficult decision, but SOE and LucasArts have mutually agreed that the end of 2011 is the appropriate time to end the game.

We are extremely grateful to all of the SWG fans. We have had the rare opportunity to host one of the most dedicated and passionate online gaming communities and we truly appreciate the support we’ve received from each and every one of you over the course of the past eight years.

In recognition of your incredible loyalty, we are extending special Fan Appreciation offers to the current SWG community. We also plan to go out with a bang with a galaxy-ending in-game event in December and hope to see you all there. The details relating to these offers and events as well as the timeline and specifics regarding the discontinuation of the service, are provided below.

Again, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to our player community for making SWG one of the best online communities in gaming history.

Sincerely,
Sony Online Entertainment & LucasArts”

Star Wars Galaxies Producer’s Note

Lifebane — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 04:02:32 +0000

We scrounged up this Producers letter from Teesquared over at Star Wars Galaxies. More changes on the horizon for this veteran MMO. The game has been around 7 years now and one really has to hand it to them for sticking to their guns, no pun intended. Despite the drastic ups and downs that this mmo in particular has experienced due to the various overhauls that the game received which distanced many of their players, the game continues to chug along and has a fairly active player base.

How many of these loyal Star Wars players are more Star WArs fanatics just trying to get their Star Wars fix from the only themed MMO is up for debate. But if that number is as high as many suspect then one has to wonder what will happen to the game when it’s distant relative finally gets released by EA in Spring 2011 (tentatively of course). And yes, that is referring to The Old Republic. If the below producers letter is any indication though, it looks like SWG will not go down without a fight.

“Bonus EVERYTHING Weekend

Bonus everything weekend was great … well almost everything . We’re glad everyone enjoyed the event and we’re looking forward to doing it again. Did someone request a Heroic Token bonus also??? We’ll see what we can do next time.

Update 15 – Star Wars GalaxiesTM Galactic Civil War: Forces Under Siege

The team pulled a stealth move on me and snuck in some more GCW features and fixes in the GU15 hot fixes. The planetary map now displays the locations where GCW Factional Presence is occurring. We also removed GCW spawns from Dantooine Northeast, Dathomir North, East and West. Be sure and vote in our poll. We’re going to continue to look into ways to improve the GCW spawns and add more incentives to them as well.

You’ll be getting your loyalty or recapture reward soon. You can show pride in your faction with this nice painting and our loyal players can use it to show the status of the war … what a great way to demonstrate your commitment to the war effort.

Congratulations again to the Rebels for winning in the Galaxies Wide GCW score (Rebel 53% vs. Imperial 47%). Imperials are starting to get better coordinated and I’m feeling a change may be coming soon.

Update 16

GCW: What more GCW?

GCW Region Defender is coming in GU16. Be sure to hold your ground and read up on this new addition to the war in this week’s Friday Feature.

Content: Nym’s Theme Park

The team is making great progress on the revamp. Anyone looking forward to leveling up a character in the future will be happy to note that Nym’s Theme Park will be a part of the content path. We’ve added a few new faces to the theme park. For instance, Vana Sage, a Lok Revenant with a colorful history with Nym, is head of the Stronghold security. She’ll be the first NPC the player encounters. In addition to making the entire theme park quest line more challenging, we’ve added four different side quests that send the player to defeat Elite and Boss enemies as well as complete other various collections. Players excited about collections will be happy to hear there are about 25 new collections being added to this theme park. Badge collectors should also be pleased that the theme park will have a total of nine new badges!

Space:

In addition to the new token system for Destroy Duties that was mentioned in the last producers note, GU16 will also contain new commands for flagging yourself for PvP while in space, space weapons are getting a boost and we’re adding a new piece of repeatable, high end content. The content will center on a piracy system that will allow players to use a temporary interdiction device to pull well armed convoys from hyperspace and attempt to steal the goods they are carrying.

However in order to do so, players will not only need to find a way to construct the interdiction devices, but they also need to face off against the well armed convoy escorts. Of course successful pirates can expect to reap the rewards of their effort in the form of new engines, shields and more.

Top Issues:

In this update, we hit the top issues reported by senators for each profession. Here is a list of some of the fixes we have in store for GU16.

Bounty Hunters

* Armor Break debuff now shows the proper statistics for the stacks on a target

Entertainers

* Synchronized dancing has been added.
o To turn it on and off, use the /groupdance command.
o Group dancing requires you to be in a group, have a valid dance, and affects starting, stopping, and changing dances.
+ Keep in mind that it takes a while for the dance to distribute to all targets in a group, so it may not be exactly synchronized in some situations.

Smuggler

* Lucky Break now always hits.
* Underworld rank now properly applies a range bonus to an equipped weapon after warping.

Officers

* Paint Target 1-3 (non-expertise) may now be used by all weapons, except heavy. Previously, only pistols and melee weapons were valid for these commands.

Jedi

* A new target buff ability “Saber Intercept” has been added.
o The target must be friendly to you and a valid target you can help in PvP.
o Using this ability redirects all attacks from the target to yourself.
o Parry, Saber Block, and other modifiers will affect those attacks as if they were attacking you, instead of the target.
o This new ability makes Light Side Jedi more viable in PvE and PvP.
* Meditation is no longer interrupted by buffs, but is still interrupted by debuffs.
* Meditation no longer blocks the ability to use the /battlefield command.

Medic

* The Traumatize command line will now drain action from a target, even if that target has less action than will be drained.

Spy

* Stealth will now properly re-apply, if the target was invalid.

Combat/Commando

* “Damage Over Time” effects will now keep a player in combat with the opponent that applied the DOT, even if they are not in line of sight of each other.

Structure Trader

* Diagnostic Screen loot schematic is now learnable by structure traders, since it can be crafted by structure traders.

Munitions Trader

* Profession restrictions on most finished products for weapon draft schematics have been lifted.

Engineer Trader

* Adding only armor to a droid should now set that droid’s level properly.

Hmm those really look like publish notes …

Facebook

Lots of exciting stuff happening on our official Facebook page. Head on over there this weekend as we’re adding another way to send in questions for the dev team to answer. See the site for details. Also, we are really getting close to another Facebook reward milestone. The reward for this milestone is … a C-3PO bobblehead! Get your friends to fan our page and we’ll get there even quicker!

- Teesquared”

SWG “Forces Under Siege” free playtime in February

Lifebane — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 01:41:53 +0000

Starting today, the Star Wars Galaxies Galactic Civil War: Forces Under Siege game update is available for Rebels and Imperials alike. Sony Online Entertainment is also offering eligible former players the opportunity to come back to Star Wars Galaxies for free between February 1 and March 1. With the balance of power in the galaxy at stake, anyone who can tote a blaster or lend support is needed on the front lines!

Eligible player accounts will be automatically reactivated – players can simply log in to rejoin the action! For those who choose to re-subscribe before the free period ends, a special in-game painting will be given as a reward.

Here’s a look at what the Galactic Civil War update entails:

FEATURES:
Star Wars Galaxies Galactic Civil War: Forces Under Siege includes new, massive invasion warfare scenarios in three major cities featuring:

New Gameplay:
Cities will display Imperial or Rebel banners and faction-specific NPCs, quests, terminals and pylons depending on which faction is in control

Added support for Factional Mercenaries. Neutral players can align themselves with either faction to participate in city conflicts and earn rewards

Mayors of player cities are able to set their city’s factional alignment from the management terminal

Fight battles within newly implemented Planetary Regions to determine which faction controls a planet

New Interactive Structures:
Defend cities by manning barricades and building defensive turrets

Assault enemy cities and take out defense structures and key enemy personnel with the might of AT-AT or Hailfire missile attacks

All New Profession-Based Quests:
Contribute to the battle with profession-specific quests that let players bolster defending or invading forces

Improve and repair defensive structures, revive fallen soldiers, heal fatigue, entertain demoralized troops, slice terminals, scout and sabotage patrol points, and more

Epic New Rewards:
Battle-specific quests such as manning barricades, building turrets and treating wounded soldiers, now grant tokens that can be cashed in for new rewards, including: faction-specific clothing including capes, cloaks and battle-scarred armor; Entertainer glow sticks; bombing-run binoculars; an upgraded personal shield generator and multiple new weapons

WHEN:
The Star Wars Galaxies Galactic Civil War: Forces Under Siege game update is scheduled to release January 26, 2010.

The promotional re-entitlement period begins February 1, 2010 and ends on March 1, 2010

For more information visit: StarWarsGalaxies.com

Chronicle Master System a success!

Lifebane — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:53:00 +0000

Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) today announced its Chronicle Master system in the hit title Star Wars Galaxies has resulted in over three million user-created quests created to date. The Star Wars Galaxies Chronicle Master system allows players the ability to create stories in-game and in turn let other players follow and complete these quests for rewards. The player-driven content creation has empowered the community by allowing actual players to create their own plot lines and stories using iconic characters in the legendary setting of the Star Wars universe. User-created quests is a feature that is mostly unique to Star Wars Galaxies, and is not currently offered in its biggest competitor World of Warcraft or most of the other MMOs currently on the market. That isn’t to say that these other MMOs will not learn from this and create their own variation on this innovative concept. Expect a war of the “clones” in the near future!

According to SOE, in just over a month since launching, players have told their own stories through the Chronicle Master quest creation interface including one individual who has created well over 6,000 playable quests. Players who complete these quests are rewarded with in-game tokens that can be used to purchase unique loot items specially created for the Chronicle Master system.

Time to head back to that old familiar galaxy far far away?

Star Wars Galaxies: Hotfix 14.5

Lifebane — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:27:53 +0000

A quick SWG Patch update: Star Wars Galaxies: Hotfix 14.5

On Thursday, November 5th, at 4:00 AM PDT all U.S. and European galaxies will be taken down for server maintenance and a Hotfix.

When the Hotfix is complete, all galaxies will be live but unavailable while we complete final testing. All galaxies will be made available after that time.

Star Wars Galaxies: Hotfix 14.5

Chronicles
* Enjoy double Chronicles XP and tokens!
* Shared quests will retain the number of quest tasks from the original quest.

Death Troopers
* NPCs Escorted from one camp to the next will no longer use ranged weapons.
* NPCs Escorted from one camp to the next will no longer use AOE attacks.
* Blackwing canisters should no longer sink under the ground.

Vendor/Bazaar
* Bazaar Added to Quarantine Zone, Dathomir

Misc
* Dathomir comlink collectable moved so that players can collect the object.

SWG Death Troopers

Lifebane — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:33:02 +0000

Star Wars Galaxies: The Death Troopers have arrived in a galaxy near you!

The new content for Star Wars Galaxies is now live! If you never thought it would happen, well my friend it has… undead in Star Wars! While the initial thought of mixing that into this Genre is a bit nauseating, give it a moment and understand that this is not something which Brother Bundah Voodoo threw together with his black magics.

This is more along the lines of Resident Evil, so if you can try for a moment to take the image of Han Solo holding a crucifix to ward off the undead minions out of your head and instead picture Milla Jovovich wearing a hospital gown putting the beat down on some reanimated bad guys then you are more mentally prepared for this next and dare I add weird chapter in the Star Wars saga. Below are the full patch notes to prep you for what lies ahead. Good luck and may the Force be With You.. if you can convince Alice (Milla’s character in Resident Evil) to come along that wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

Edit: I went ahead and added in the two patch notes for the hot fixes that were introduced after this publish was released. You can find those additional items at the bottom of this initial Chapter 14 publish messages.

“Publish Notes, October 12th, 2009

Death Troopers
After a mysterious turn of events the Empire has mustered an enormous military presence in a remote location on Dathomir. Imperial High Command has issued a travel warning to notify citizens to avoid travel to the planet if possible. Citizens that cannot avoid travel to Dathomir should be aware that certain locations are now considered restricted areas. Unauthorized travel by citizenry to these restricted areas may result in fines, arrest or both. While rumors have circulated that restricted areas are being used to contain a biological threat, no official report has been confirmed or denied by High Command.

Players that have already completed the Update 13 “Something is Obviously Wrong” quests will be contacted and given a quest upon login.
Players that have not already completed the Update 13 “Something is Obviously Wrong” quests will need to finish up to have access to the Death Troopers quest line.
Players that have not started the “Something is Obviously Wrong” quests can kick off the content by using the publish gift named “Jabba’s Comlink.”
To participate in the Death Troopers content, players will first need to complete the “Something is Obviously Wrong” quest line.
Added Chronicles relics specific to the Death Troopers content

Death Troopers - Known Issue

After further experimentation with the Blackwing virus, we discovered that the Sullustan race was particularly susceptible to the infection. Sullustan’s who have been infected will exhibit symptoms including mood swings, cold sweats, and white eyes. Rest assured we have an inoculation ready and it will be administered in the next update.

Vendor/Bazaar

Search By Attribute: You can now search by attribute factory crates by the attributes of the item contained inside the crate. If the Misc->Factory Crate node is selected, you must first specify the Type search attribute to indicate the type of item you are looking for, and based on the specified item type, additional search attributes for that item type will be added to the attribute list. If an item type node under the Misc->Factory Crate node is selected, the attribute list will be automatically populated with the search attributes for the selected item type.
Fix issue where the Offers and Stockroom tab return all items regardless of what is selected in the Object Type Filter tree.

Chronicles

If your Chronicles Reserve has something in it, you will see a reminder message when you log in.
Reward items inside of a Chronicles Holocron will no longer appear in a junk dealer’s list.
You will now be able to move objects inside of a Chronicles Tent up or down.
Generic Location tasks in a Holocron built directly from a draft will point to the correct location.
If you are claiming more than 500 tokens from your Chronicles Reserve, you will now get the correct amount.
Chronicle relics are no longer of any interest to junk dealers.

Game Update 14 Gift

Undead Rancor Statuette

TCG

FG 8T8-Twin Block2 Special Podracer: Driver uses the correct riding position.
The AT-AT Head ITV will now cancel sending you to a location if you choose “Cancel” in the confirmation window.

User Interface

Chronicle rating now shows the rating to the tenths place, this provides a bit more accuracy.

Misc

Navari Trik (Painting Distribution Specialist) is back in Mos Eisley with some new paintings for you.”

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Star Wars Galaxies: Hotfix 14.3

Death Troopers

Fixed issues with canisters sometimes not working
Prison outfit fixed

Misc

Players will now be completely oriented with a vehicle while riding it. Previously only the bottom half of the player would orient with the vehicle, which led to some odd contortions when on sloping terrain.

Star Wars Galaxies: Hotfix 14.2

Galactic Moon Festival

The Galactic Moon Festival has started
Moon Festival Ithorian and Wookiee Jacket appearances added.

Death Troopers

Fixed the Massassi carbine, Death Trooper rifle & Westar pistol so that they fire correctly.
Fixed female wookiee GMF jacket.
Players can now receive the camp defense collection.
Adjusted a spawner so it wouldn’t spawn undead in log.
Fixed bug with deathtrooper gloves & cybernetics.
2009 Galactic Moon Festival Badge and Title added.
Corrected conversation for Quarantine Zone NPC Oona Wran. Players should no longer be stuck if they have 2 or more Blackwing Canister Demo quests completed at the same time.
Possible fix for Deathtrooper prisoner jumpsuit (humanoid).
Reviving a player in the quarantine zone should not allow the player to call a vehicle.
Camp Epsilon shuttle no longer transports players that have completed the main quest line.

Graphics

Shadows in very dense fog are no longer visible.
Stray vertices on volumetric shadow geometry has been fixed (This would be visible as lines jetting out from a shadow). Some items may need to be altered on a case-by-case basis by the art team. If you see this still happening with certain creatures, please let us know.

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Star Wars Galaxies: Hotfix 14.1

Death Troopers

Increased blackwing canister spawns at all camps Alpha – Delta
Death Trooper Virus should not be applied in the Quarantine Zone when the player logs in if the player already has the antivirus.
Removed 2 handed melee weapons from undead.
If at any point the player deletes a quest in their Death Trooper main quest line, returning to the last NPC or device where the quest was received, should allow that player to receive the quest again.
Fixed issue where players would get stuck at the first dungeon console if they deleted the quest and had the quest reissued from the Inquisitor.
Fixed issue where players would get stuck if they deleted their active quest because Dr. Jin disappeared. Players can now go to the command console on that level to reissue the quest.
Elites Level 5 – 50 no longer Death Blow the player.
Normal’s Level 5 – 80 no longer Death Blow the player.
Dynamically spawned undead still Death Blow the player (enemies spawned for camp defense, shuttle parts, vents, escort, etc.).
All Sullustan’s have been inoculated. Their eyes should no longer be white and they should be in a better mood.
Virus Inoculation now lasts 60 minutes instead of 30 minutes.
Added research facility collection objects.
Trig should no longer gate players from redoing the main quest line because they have completed the radio delivery content.
All factions will now clone at the cloning facility near the Starport.
Dr. Griffax Jin now respawns within 2 minutes.
If players break off combat with Dr. Jin (by running away or using smoke bomb for instance), they will receive a system message that indicates he will be back soon.
Cornburr is now a boss.
Reduced Respawn Timers on much of the quarantine zone.
The music track for defeating the Undead Rancor will only play once.

Misc

Structure admin can now move, rotate, and save decoration/restore decoration no trade items.
Flare S Sitting Position Fixed.

The Galactic Moon festival returns to SWG

Lifebane — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:04:05 +0000

It’s that Halloween time of year and dressing up and threatening to trick complete strangers if they refuse to give you some treats is upon us once again. SOE’s Star Wars Galaxies, never one to skip out on the holiday festivities has brought back the Galactic Moon Festival. This is Jabba the Hutt’s version of a good old time and it definitely is a break from the ho-hum norm that is every day life in that Galaxy far far away. The timing this year though with the whole Death Trooper hysteria might make the event more fun than previously. Read below for SOE’s announcement and guide which was originally posted here.

“The Return of the Galactic Moon Festival – 10/08/2009

When the crypt goes creak and the tombstones outside the cantina quake, you’ll know it’s time for the Galactic Moon Festival! Beginning October 20th, residents of Star Wars Galaxies can take a shuttle to Moenia and Mos Eisley and celebrate the Galactic Moon Festival in style…if you dare! That’s right, fright fans! The Festival has returned. Here’s an overview from last year’s fun, along with other information to help you enjoy the festivities.

Galactic Moon Festival

In an effort to gain more support from the planets Naboo and Tatooine, Jabba the Hutt has decided to throw the annual Galactic Moon Festival once more so everyone can celebrate the horrifyingly awesome haunts of the season.

Jabba has grown tired of all the love festivals, celebrations of life, and other saccharine events. Thus, it is my duty to report to you that he has taken it upon himself to throw the scariest festival of the year! Jabba has sent me, Aponte, to give you a quick preview of some of the great things he has planned for the big celebration.

In order to participate in what is sure to be the ghoulest happening this year, all that citizens have to do is visit the Galactic Moon Festival Organizers who can be found outside of the Moenia and Mos Eisley Starport (waypoints 4790 -4777 and 3523 -4806 respectively).

Here, citizens can obtain a costume to use for trick or treating, purchase special Galactic Moon Festival items, and find out more about the festival.

Costumes

All costumes have a thirty-minute timer, which will give you plenty of time to wander around and take in all of the frightening sights and sounds the Galactic Moon Festival has to offer. Costumes can be worn outside the city but will be removed upon combat. Jabba doesn’t want anyone mucking up his property! We have added several new costumes this year including the Gamorrean Guard, Kowakian Monkey-lizard, and the Burning Ewok costume.

The costumes that are available have been specially chosen by Jabba himself for this great galactic fright fest. If you don’t like the costume the organizer has given you, right click the icon to cancel it (similar to canceling a buff), wait a few minutes and try again! Just don’t tell Jabba you didn’t like your costume; a festival is no time to be eaten by a rancor.

If you’re in a trick or treating mood, be sure to approach any poor unfortunate souls hanging around and say, “Trick or Treat!” If your greeting isn’t frightful enough, you may want to try using a Trick or Treat device. The person on the receiving end of your trick will be sorry they didn’t like your costume, that’s for sure!

Galactic Moon Festival Organizer

If your costume is fearful enough, citizens will have Galactic Moon Festival coins to give you which can be used to purchase special holiday items that the organizer has to offer.

Just like last year our organizer, Z’ozpheratu, has plenty of unique items on offer. You’d better get to trick or treating, though, because some items are much more expensive than others. Samples of items on offer by the organizer include house decorations, bat pheromones, Sith O’ Lanterns, and a brand new sign for you to hang outside of your house.

To change the sign on your house to the new Crescent Moon House Sign, radial your new sign and select the change sign option. If you want your old sign back, use the terminal inside your building to replace it. When you use/consume it the first time, it is destroyed and added to your character as a skill modifier, and is an available option when you go to manage signs. Players will be able to see their available sign count on their character sheet.

Max Rebo’s Collected Classics: Dirge

Jabba has graciously made the last of Max Rebo’s songs available for purchase from the organizer.

Sold exclusively to Entertainers, this song is sure to be a hit at parties and ghoulish gatherings year round!

Other Tricks and Treats

There are plenty of other tricks, treats, sights, and sounds to be had during the Galactic Moon Festival but Jabba would literally kill me if I were to spoil them all for you. As you explore Moenia and Mos Eisley, be sure to watch out for any grim grinning ghosts that might materialize before your eyes.

Who knows what terror awaits you around the next corner but I will share just a few more treats with you now:

Rotta the Huttlet backpack (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Rotta)

Rotta, nicknamed “Pedunkee Mufkin” (Punky Muffin) by his father and “Stinky” by Ahsoka Tano and Anakin Skywalker, was a Huttlet around the time of the Clone Wars and the offspring of Jabba Desilijic Tiure, grandson of Zorba Desilijic Tiure, and grand-nephew of Ziro, Jiliac, and Pazda.

Z’ozpheratu’s jacket as a player wearable (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Z%27ozpheratu)

Z’ozpheratu was a male Twi’lek. He helped organize the Galactic Moon Festival in Mos Eisley and Moenia. Some of his most recognizable features were his glowing yellow eyes.

Be sure you don’t miss out on anything during this phantasmic festival! Season’s screamings everyone!

The spooks and fright aren’t just in-game this year — bring the Galactic Moon Festival to your desktop with this wallpaper! Z’ozpheratu is keeping a careful eye on you at home, at work, and at play on this one-of-a-kind desktop decoration. Beware!

Click here to download the Galactic Moon Festival Wallpaper. May the Fright be with you!

You can check out these great guides: Galactic Moon Festival Guide; Galactic Moon Festival Tips, Tricks, and Treats for more information on the festival!

FAQ’s on the Galactic Moon Festival:

What costumes are there?

Hutt – big fat slow slug, aside from looking cool and talking out of his butt I personally suggest dumping this costume if you get it, it’s half the speed of any other costumes.
Jawa – the coolest of the cool, this costume rules (except he has a tiny snare to account for his short legs)
Salacious Crumb – tiny little blighter, has a slight speed boost over a player normal speed
Toydarion (Watto) – flying costume, has a bigger speed boost over a player normal speed
Droideka – second only to the Jawa for coolness, same speed boost as Watto.

How long do costumes last?

30 minutes, unless you enter space (including traveling using a starship) or enter combat, in which case you will lose the costume. You can also cancel a costume by talking to Zoz for a new one or right clicking the buff icon.

How long before I can get a replacement costume?

Five minutes. The count starts when you get the costume, so if you get one, use it for 10 minutes, then you can get a replacement straight away.

What happened to my gun?

All weapons (and instruments) are unequipped when a costume is put on. You will have to manually re-equip the weapon if you get into combat.

I saw a really cool Jawa running around Theed. How’d that happen?

You can travel while in a costume if you use a ticket and shuttle, not a starship, so you can reach anywhere in the galaxy.

Who can I scare?

Most NPC’s in Mos Eisley or Moenia can be scared. Droids, I’m afraid, had their humor chips removed by order of the emperor (the lesser known order 67 implemented after C-3PO tried to tell Anakin a joke) and a few famous folk aren’t happy with Jabba so aren’t taking part. Note: you can scare NPC’s who are white on radar, yellow on radar (i.e. cops) AND red on radar (i.e. swoop gangs on the outskirts of Eisley) as well as the factional troops walking or guarding the two cities.

Why is this NPC not being scared, system message says he is ashamed?

There are three groups not taking part in the festival, droids and celebrities noted above but also a few very old NPC’s (for example the two chiss arguing with the stormtroopers for five years in the Eisley cantina). There were technical issues getting them to function with the system so they have been excluded and should be ashamed of themselves (as well as those two clearly needing anger management classes.) These NPC’s are mostly in small groups of two or three NPC’s which appear to be in conversation with each other using telepathy.

Why did he attack me after I scared him?

‘Cause you got too close. The NPC’s follow the normal rules on agro, so if you have too low a faction rating or they are red on radar and you get too close they will attack you, scared or not!

How can I scare more efficiently?

Get a better projector. The Mk2 is available for 200 coins from Zoz, and he can upgrade the Mk2 to the Mk3 projector for 700 more coins. (Note: this is a conversation option, not in his list of sale items.) You can also macro part of the process. The macro I used is as follows:

/say trick or treat;/pause 0.5;/ui action toolbarSlot00

Put the projector in the first slot of the toolbar and the above will fire the projector, pick the trick and click ok to scare them. Note the /say is important or you end up spamming guildchat or whatever chat tab you are on.

Why can’t I scare this NPC? He says he has just seen me.

Each NPC has a timer of 4 minutes, once you scare him or her you need to give them a break (they have short memories). Note: someone else can come along and scare him; you’ll still have to wait as they remember you for the 4 minutes.

It’s too busy in Eisley. I went to Bestine but no one is responding to my cool Jawa costume! Why not?

Unfortunately Jabba’s only distributed coins in Moenia and Eisley; no other citizens can be scared.

I can’t tell who I scared in the last 4 minutes. Who should I scare next?

Try to stay methodical and move around in a planned way, stay on course and you can get around Eisley in around 15-20 minutes and will be around 5-600 coins on one run around. My route in Eisley starts from the Starport, heads past the profession counselor to the crowd in front of the guild hall, from there back past the Shuttleport and through past the cantina (can go in for a few extra NPC’s), head out of the city and scare the swoop gang (not recommended for low level toons) and come back into the city past the collector NPC, head out and hit the other swoop gang and then back into the city for the cloning centre, bank and smaller cantina (note most NPC’s inside can’t be scared, but the crowd outside can) and then back to Starport where I normally cap out.

My projector only says it is going to last 20 days. Will it disappear?

Yes. The Mk1 and Mk2 projectors are temporary, after the end of the event they will vanish. The Mk3 projector is permanent and can be placed in a house as decoration. It will project fog around a room and when a player enters will fire a random trick at them.

What tricks are there?

Spiders
Skulls
Ghosts
Fire (don’t try this at home! only available on Mk2 or Mk3 projector)
Wormhole (only available on Mk3 projector)

Why should I get a better projector?

Better chance to scare/terrify and the Mk3 one is permanent.

What else can I buy?

Prices in GMF coins (NT indicates item is no trade, U indicates it is unique):

Badge/Title (NT obviously)- 900
House/shop sign (NT) - 900
Painting (NT) - 900
Song (NT) - 900
Mk2 projector (NT,U) - 200 (Mk3 (NT) upgrade 700)
Storyteller tokens – 400 (Token is permanent but has max 2 uses per day)
Krayt mini skeleton – 400
Webs – 200
Lanterns – 200
Candles – 200

Pheromones (NT) are 5,000 credits. Pics of some items from Shad-O in Galactic Moon Festival Goodies

How can I use a pheromone?

Use it like a projector. Place it on the toolbar and “fire” it at another player (or target yourself). The effect lasts five minutes and will use on cube. The cubes can also be used as decoration.

How long will the event last?

The stuff in Eisley and Moenia will last for several weeks

Am I collecting something? I keep hearing “Utinni.”

No, you are wearing the cool costume and when you scare someone without the projector, your costume has a built in sound effect. Other costume use other sounds (for example, the infamous Hutt laugh.)

How many coins do I need?

How long is a piece of string? It depends what you want to fit out your character or house. See prices above for what you can get.

If you have any more questions, ask away. I’m now at work but will check back at lunch. Added in poppit’s Q on the old NPC’s.

Click here to join the discussion

Thanks to Red-Dwarf for his compilations that helped in making this article.”

Star Wars Galaxies unveils the Chronicle Master System

Lifebane — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:24:35 +0000

Sony Online Entertainment (“SOE”) has recently unveiled and patched in an interesting new system in their sinking MMO Star Wars Galaxies, yes they are still around, This system, called the Chronicle Master System, allows players to create dynamic quests that they can in turn accomplish themselves or give them to others to perform. You must first collect certain items that allow you to create the quests of course, Grind seems to be part of every “new” mmo tactic so that should be expected really. Anyway, once you have said quest creation items you can then select who the quest is linked to, write the quest text, name the quest, etc. Read below for their intro to this new system:

“Star Wars Chronicles

It’s time to open your imagination and start creating stories to share with your friends. With the Star Wars Chronicle Master System, you now have the ability to create stories from relics you will discover throughout the galaxy. Use the Quest Builder to write your story with the relics you have discovered. Hit “Create Quest” to consume the relics and create a holocron in your inventory. This holocron can be traded to others or activated to begin the adventure. Completing holocrons will reward you with profession experience and tokens. Tokens can be used at the Chronicles reward vendor, S7-U44 Vending Droid, in both Theed and Coronet. The vendors are in the tent behind C-3PO. You can purchase relic booster packs from them. Many more exciting rewards will be available including a Sandcrawler house, hangar lite, a podracer, and much more.”

This is really thinking outside the box and I commend SOE on coming up with this system. It will appeal to many players on many levels really. Now with the Old republic, Bioware’s answer to the Star Wars based MMO, on the horizon I can understand why SOE would be pushing out the content and features but in all honesty this ship is too far under to be saved with something even this creative. Perhaps they can port this over to their other MMO titles and get a bit more traction from it. I am sure that players of Everquest or Everquest II would love this. Even Vanguard, also still around, would welcome this type of quest creation process.

Great Idea SOE, a bit late though. Woudl ahev been an awsome thing to haev way back in SWG’s early life where the “sandbox to play in” mentality was predominant amongs the developers and producers. So I say to SOE, congratulations on a great innovative idea while at the same time giving my condolences on the upcoming death of their MMO.

Star Wars Galaxies: Game Update 13 Chronicle Master System

Lifebane — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:10:03 +0000

Publish Notes, September 30th, 2009

Chapter Gift

* Jabba’s Comlink (Quest Object)

Highlights

Star Wars Chronicles Master System
It’s time to open your imagination and start creating stories to share with your friends. With the Star Wars Chronicles system, you now have the ability to create stories from relics you will discover throughout the galaxy. Use the Quest Builder to write your story with the relics you have discovered. Hit “Create Quest” to consume the relics and create a holocron in your inventory. This holocron can be traded to others or activated to begin the adventure. Completing holocrons will reward you with profession experience and tokens. Tokens can be used at the Chronicles reward vendor, S7-U44 Vending Droid, in both Theed and Coronet. The vendors are in the tent behind C-3PO. You can purchase relic booster packs from them as well as other exciting rewards.

For some friendly assistance, speak with C-3PO and he will explain more about Chronicles.

* Chronicle Master – all players can advance in the chronicle profession. Open your profession wheel and take a look at what awaits as you advance as a chronicler.
* Quest Builder – the tool used to create holocrons or drafts.
* Draft – a saved version of your quest. Creating drafts does not consume relics. You can edit drafts freely. They can be used to create holocrons.
* Relics – objects that represent memory, experiences, visions. You will discover relics as you play the game.
* Holocrons – by pressing “create quest” in the Quest Builder, you will consume the relics for your quest and produce a holocron in your inventory. This can be traded or sold on the Bazaar. Players can active them to participate in your quest.
* Sharing – as you progress in the Chronicle profession, you will gain the ability to allow your Chronicle holocrons to be shared. Sharing will allow multiple players to enjoy your quest from a single holocron.
* Fragments – relic fragments. They are acquired through loot, as a byproduct of creating a holocron, and by deconstructing relics. Fragments can be combined to create a relic.
* Tokens – earned for completing other people’s quests. When people complete your quests, some tokens will be held in your Chronicles Reserve for you to claim. Use /chroniclerGetReserve to claim your reserve of tokens and Chronicles XP.
* Relic booster packs – purchased from the Chronicles reward vendors by using tokens, they provide random relics.

Vendor/Bazaar:

* Search By Attribute: Selected object types can now be searched by selected attributes in the vendor/bazaar window. If the selected object in the Object Type Filter tree of the vendor/bazaar window supports search by attribute, the “Enable Item Attribute Filter” checkbox will be displayed at the bottom of the window where you can perform search by attribute.
* The price limit on the bazaar has been increased to 10,000,000 credits.
* Vendor price limit has been increased to 833,333,333 credits.
* A /locateVendor command has been added to find all your initialized vendors and report their status. The command has a 15 minute cooldown.
* Resource containers on vendor/bazaar that are instant sale now contain the “Credits Per Unit” attribute. This attribute is also searchable through item attribute search.
* You can now create waypoint to vendor for items in the Available Items tab. These waypoints will not contain the item price in the waypoint name.
* Fixed issue where some items of type Armor Component or type Container are not listed when the Component->Armor Component or the Misc->Container node is clicked in the bazaar/vendor window Object Type Filter tree.
* In the vendor/bazaar window Object Type Filter tree, items immediately under the Component node have been moved to the new Component->Component node. The new Component->Component node supports Search By Attribute.
* In the vendor/bazaar window Object Type Filter tree, items immediately under the Deed node have been moved to the new Deed->Deed node. The new Deed->Deed node supports Search By Attribute.
* In the vendor/bazaar window Object Type Filter tree, items immediately under the Misc node have been moved to the new Misc->Misc node. The new Misc->Misc node supports Search By Attribute.
* In the vendor/bazaar window Object Type Filter tree, items immediately under the Tool node have been moved to the new Tool->Tool node. The new Tool->Tool node supports Search By Attribute.
* You can now specify more characters on the item name filter entry field.

Banking:

* Galactic Reserve
o You can store up to 3 billion credits per character in “long term, for a rainy day” storage in the Galactic Reserve. There is no interest paid on credits kept in the Galactic Reserve.
o From any banking terminal in any of the Galactic Reserve 3 branch cities (Mos Eisley, Theed, and Coronet), through the bank terminal’s radial menu, you can deposit/withdraw 1 billion credits at a time to/from the Galactic Reserve.
o If you have a deposit with the Galactic Reserve, the balance will be displayed after the Bank balance.
o There is a 15 minutes wait before you can perform another transaction with the Galactic Reserve.
* If receiving new credits into the cash (or bank) balance would cause the cash (or bank) balance limit to be exceeded, existing cash (or bank) credits will be automatically transferred to any available bank (or cash) balance or any available galactic reserve balance to make room for the incoming credits.

User Interface

* Holding delete/backspace/arrow keys/home/end now works properly in text fields.

Combat

* A pass was made on many melee weapon sounds.
o This means many of the melee weapons will now be using custom sounds rather than the default swing.

Misc

* Yavin IV Whisper Bird lair names should no longer show as code string.
* The pirate trap abilities can no longer be used on asteroids
* The Sorosuub Ion Mesh Projection shield should now get valid values when looted
* Added new counter badges for players that have accumulated more than 300 badges.

Star Wars Galaxies Galactic Buddy Initiative

Lifebane — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:00:22 +0000

Star Wars Galaxies Galactic Buddy Initiative

The 2009 Galactic Buddy Initiative Offer and Rewards are only available by using the Buddy Trial Installer EXE file linked above in the gold shield with “Download Now” or at this URL: http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/buddy/SWG_122.exe

Convert to a paid account - instructions

Installing the new Station Launcher – instructions

Terms and Conditions

The 14-day trial offer with the buddy rewards at http://tryswg.com and http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/buddy/galactic.vm begins at 12:01 AM PT on September 17, 2009 and expires at 11:59 PM PT October 15, 2009.

To convert your trial account to an active, paid, entitled subscription, simply launch and log in to the game and click on the “Join Now” button. Then log in to your Station account (if you do not see the ”Join Now” button upon launching the game you can log in to your Station account at www.station.sony.com). Select the “Subscribe Now” button and enter a method of payment. Then choose your subscription service package and enter your billing information.

Upon conversion of the account to an active entitled subscription a player is eligible to receive one Holocron of Knowledge (one per account, non-tradeable) and one buddy token (one per account, tradeable). The buddy token can be given to the Star Wars Galaxies player who referred you to Star Wars Galaxies and can be redeemed in-game (each token can only be used once and only once per account).

Taking advantage of the 14-day free play offer will not result in your account being considered an “active” subscription account so that if you do not activate your Star Wars Galaxies subscription by providing SOE with valid billing information on or before October 15, 2009 at 11:59 PM PT you will not be eligible to claim the Holocron of Knowledge or the buddy token.

If you subscribe to Star Wars Galaxies, you will not be entitled to any game time that may be included with the purchase of certain versions of, or other offers related to, Star Wars Galaxies. Sony Online Entertainment and LucasArts do not ensure continuous or error-free access, use or availability of any game content, feature, game-play or server and may change, modify, disable, suspend or remove any such content, feature, game-play or server at their sole discretion.

The free game-play period is not available for active Star Wars Galaxies accounts or Station Access accounts or for accounts that were banned or were not in good standing when its Star Wars Galaxies or Station Access subscription previously expired or was terminated.

Remember, when your 14-day free game-play period ends, your account will not become active without you entering payment information to activate billing.

The Holocron of Knowledge and buddy token are only available to qualified subscribers who activate their subscription service account on or before October 15, 2009 at 11:59PM PDT. The items will be offered through an in-game dialogue box that pops-up upon log-in to the account or with the /claim command following activation of account billing.

Star Wars Galaxies shrinking by 12 servers

Lifebane — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:48:57 +0000

Bad times for Star Wars Galaxies. Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) has announced that 12 of the game’s current servers will be shutdown on October 15th, 2009, at 5PM PDT. That’s pretty much half the servers on the receiving end of that Gamorean Vibro axe there, which will leave only 13 still standing.

As should be expected, Character creation on the hit listed servers is disabled to further discourage players from going there obviously. Those existing players, few though they may be, will have a choice of which server to move to but move they will. The transfers are free-of-charge until the 15th so grab the move while it’s cheap

The servers that are going to get blasted by the death star are:

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

The official SOE explanation for the server-closure is one of the most blatant spin jobs I’ve ever seen in marketing and I work in it!:

“The Free Character Transfer Service launched earlier this year with the intention of allowing players to transfer to servers with more active communities, creating a more vibrant and memorable Star Wars Galaxies gaming experience. The Free Character Transfer Service was a phenomenal success, leaving the less active servers in an undesirable position. In order to help streamline the current and new user experience, we have made the decision to close the less active servers and focus on the thriving Star Wars Galaxies servers.”

Now I’d like to say to my old friend Daxsayien wherever he may be, I told you this was coming the minute they announced free transfers. I’m glad that we moved even though I haven’t played in ages ~~ Harbinger