BoShek:Welcome everyone
Q-3PO: Welcome to the Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided Developer's Chat! We have turned on Full Moderation - meaning that only the Devs can talk now.
Q-3PO: The purpose of this chat is to give you a chance to ask the Devs questions about the game. We're only going to be able to get to a fraction of the questions tonight, so please bear with us.
Q-3PO: To ask a question please /msg Marluka. We will get to as many as we can tonight. Please do not spam your questions. The chat will last 1 hour.
Q-3PO: To start we will by asking our Devs to introduce themselves.
Shug_Ninx: I'm Haden Blackman, the LucasArts Producer for Galaxies. I'm also in charge of helping to maintain the Star Wars content.
Holocron: I'm Raph Koster aka Holocron and I am the creative director for SWG. That means I'm basically in charge of the game design.
BoShek:Hi there,,,my name is Rich Vogel,...Executive Producer of SWG...
Griff: Hello, I'm John Donham, producer for SOE. I try and get everything done much faster than can actually be accomplished.
BoShek:Welcome everyone
Q-3PO: And I'm Kevin O'Hara the Community Relations Manager
Q-3PO: Here comes the questions

Marluka: *Acritus* Will characters start out with enough money to start their trade? They need to because how else is a character supposed to gain his/her first credit.
Holocron: Newbie characters will start with some money and also with basic items for their trade. You can however still earn credits even if flat broke,
Holocron: because you can always just go do a few easy delivery missions or something in order to make some basic money.

Marluka: *ArtemisPrime* how many beta tester (ballpark) have we got at this time?
Q-3PO: We've got several thousand invites out. Last I checked we have over 2000 external testers.
Q-3PO: We're adding more this week and next.

Marluka: Please /msg me with your questions
Marluka: *Catonine* Can healings (any type of healing) only be done at camps and facilities?
Holocron: You can heal certain types of injuries anywhere (such as regular damage to your health, action or mind).
Holocron: You can heal wounds only at given locations, such as campsites or cantinas.
Holocron: However, a medical droid will also let you heal wounds if you are near one you own...
Holocron: So it kinda varies.
Holocron: There's also combat medics, which can heal more in the field...

Marluka: *Xor_Li* It it a "skill" to check the quality of an item to be purchased, or is it Buyer beware?
Holocron: It's info available to everyone, actually, you can just look at the item details when you are browsing goods.

Marluka: *Rickey* what features have been the most troublesome to test so far?
Holocron: For me, it has been the interface. Everyone seems to have a different idea of what the best "defaults" should be for camera and controls.
Griff: Multiserver - it's going to be unstable at first, yet we need hundreds and hundreds of people to really test it. Makes for a frustrating conversation while we make progress.
Shug_Ninx: UI for me too - everyone has a different notion about what feels like it fits in the Star Wars universe. Ranged combat has also been difficult, just because it's such a new concept for MMOs.

Marluka: *BluScreen* Will people be able to creat their own emotes? (motions)
Holocron: There is the standard /emote or : command which lets you put in your own text emotes.
Holocron: To make your own animations, well, you'd probably need your own motion capture studio. ;) So No on that part...

Marluka: *kebernet* With the removal of Zones of Control, will there be a concrete objective between the PvP factions?
Holocron: We believe the answer is yes, but we're not talking about those objectives just yet. :) Stay tuned!

Marluka: *Durek* When an Animal Tamer logs off how will they be able to keep their pet?
Holocron: You can pack up the pet when you log off, so that it logs out with you; you can also leave it out but in the game if you're only going to be logged out for a brief while
Holocron: (like if you lose connection)
Holocron: You can also leave them inside one of your structures.
Holocron: If you abandon a pet, though, expect it to wander away and then you'll lose it.

Marluka: *ZurixRoxx* Any narrowing of release date from the Dec.-Feb. time frame?
Shug_Ninx: No. We don't have a final release date. It's not likely to be December or even January, though. We're taking the time to do the product right, which is most important to us. There's still a lot of polishing that needs to be done, balancing, etc.
Shug_Ninx: A lot really depends on how the next two phases of beta go - we're load testing right now, for example, and as stability improves, we'll feel more comfortable with announcing a release date.

Marluka: *Ravazkahn* Has their been a limit set to the number of skills you can master?
Holocron: Yes, there is such a limit. It's actually a bit hard to explain because it's a cap on the number of skill points.
Holocron: You get 200 skill points. That's enough fully master around 3 full professions, plus a smattering of other skills (like maybe a half dozen more).
Holocron: But you can choose to spend those points in different ways--you could master the bottom half of every single newbie profession for example, and that would also burn your points

Marluka: *TheDross* Will there be a certain limit on how many stories the houses can be?
Holocron: Yes, there is a limit on how many floors they are, the houses are prefabricated and the biggets player structures are 3 floors
Shug_Ninx: Some have basements... :)

Marluka: *Sando_Mar* Will we be able to paint armor?
Griff: When you craft armor, depending on your skill, you are able choose a hue for it - the more skill you have, the more colors you can choose from.

Marluka: *Sansin* Creature Handler Question: can you give some examples of the "voice commands" that we might expect for trained pets. Examples perhaps of low level and advanced?
Holocron: You can actually train your pet to accept any word for a given command, so you can make a pet use "chomp!" as the "kill" command.
Holocron: Some of the commands available are tricks, kill, follow, formations for follow, guard, patrol (and setting and clearing of waypoints...)

Marluka: *Felinius* can we get an answer to the recent firestorm over pets. is death permanent or temporary? any penalties if temporary?
Holocron: Pet death is permanent. However, pets go incapacitated, just like players do, so death isn't as frequent as it is in other games, we hope.

Marluka: *Jasconius* Will there be actual player atrributes like strentch and intelligence, and if so will you be able to modify these points after character creation?
Holocron: Yes, and the attributes are strength, constitution, focus, willpower, stamina, and quickness.
Holocron: And yes, you can modify them after creation. You open your character sheet, set a target for what you want them to be, and they migrate there over time.

Marluka: *Chich327* What is the ultima purpose of the community? What happens to this community after the game is released?
Q-3PO: Community is vital to the long term success of these types of games.
Q-3PO: We're going to continue to build the community on our site and in the game.
Q-3PO: In fact, I just had some meetings today about our Live site

Marluka: *FSTTHRAWN* Are we going to be given more information about the specifics of the game as it gets closer to release? Like as in for the crafting skills, what will be needed to make a certain item and about the skill levels?
Holocron: Probably not. We want to save SOME thing for you to discover when you actually play. :)

Marluka: *GrandCzar* has the design process stoped completly at this point?
BoShek:No, that is why we have beta ;-)
Holocron: The bulk of it has, but that's what beta is for--to make you re-evaluate the design and adjust it based on the feedback.

Marluka: *Sevur* WIll there be very powerful mobs that will need to have aggro concentrated on one "main tank", will numerous healers such as in EverQuest?
Holocron: There will be very powerful opponents. I wouldn't really try to take on an AT-ST with "one tank" though.

Marluka: *Chich327* How much of the staff is going to stay after release? We all know that the talented staff will want to move onto newer projects? For example, Holo, Q, Shug do you plan on staying after release? How long?
Holocron: Newer projects? I was thinking the Bahamas...
BoShek:We are planning to do the space expansion and continue to add content in the game. We will still be here after launch
Holocron: Can I do the space expansion from the Bahamas?
Q-3PO: I'll be here at least through Space, probably longer. It's a good project. Plus new things scare me ;)
Holocron: Please?
BoShek:And yes this is Boshek not some Droid..;-)
Shug_Ninx: I plan to stick with the project at least through the space expansion. I really want to see how everything evolves and how the community changes as we expand.
Griff: Everyone will be working here until their task lists are done.
Griff: And I'm sure I can make a long task list.

Marluka: *Toolarka* What are the mechanics of a death blow? What role does it have now that out casting is out?
Holocron: Actually, it still plays a pretty significant role in large scale battles... you currently have to get fairly close to do a death blow, so in big firefights it creates a role for medics who revive fallen comrades.

Marluka: *BataiBatoo* Will a player’s map show an indicator to indicate the location of that player’s lost corpse?
Holocron: Yes.
Holocron: You get a waypoint to it...

Marluka: *IceMaster1* Can you give us your current guess at the population cap per cluster?
BoShek:We are waiting for Beta 3 to determine the amount of people in a cluster.
BoShek:It will depend on how the servers take the load and how much lag will be present during gameplay Shug_Ninx: Some of it will also depend on how it feels - if the servers feel too crowded or too empty, we'll try to make adjustments.

Marluka: Tux[Lurking]* is it random becoming a beta tester or is it selected?
Q-3PO: Most of our tester at this point are random (with some filters), but we also hand pick some each week. We are also to the point of adding specific others, like some hardware partners.
Q-3PO: Don't send use bribes though. :)

Marluka: *Quetzimo* How much variation are there going to be for missions? Environmental, type of missions (Assasination, delivery, crafting)? Many people are afraid that missions will be like AOs for instance, deja vu through all missions you make.
Holocron: We have a bunch of mission types--delivery, escort, recon, destroy, bounty and assassination...
Holocron: A big difference from other games is that all mission take place in the game world, not in private areas

Marluka: *VampyHoshi* Will all SWG emotes be listed in-game or in the manual, or will some be considered easter-eggs and have to be discouvered?
Shug_Ninx: They'll all likely be listed both in-game and in the manual. You can even drag an icon attached to any emote into your toolbar to allow you to use it with just a hotkey.
Q-3PO: We're about half way done now and there are A TON of questions to sort through. :)

Marluka: *Midgethand* Can you heal all types of dammage on the battle field?
Holocron: No, some types of damage need to be healed at a campsite, hospital, or cantina.

Marluka: *BataiBatoo* Will houses and other player owned structures eventually disappear with disuse? If they do disappear, will the player still own the land?
Holocron: Yes, structures will go away if the maintenance fees are not paid.
Holocron: The ownership of the land is tied to the sturcture so it will go away if you do not have the structure. Someone else can take over the space in that case.

Marluka: *JewaHan* What are the chances of us getting a character creation prog before launch?
Griff: I'll be the bearer of bad news. Unfortunately not. We'd like to, we think it'd be cool, but at the end of the day, it's more important to get in all the game features and polish we can.

Marluka: *Terriaksis* Since their is item decay, when an item decays all the way, will be become unusuable or does it become destroyed and dissappear from your invantory?
Holocron: Items will decay all the way, you have the chance to repair them, but if you don't, they will go away all the way.

Marluka: *Sando_Mar* If you own a house, can you deconstruct it, move it somewhere else, and then reconstruct it there?
Holocron: Yes.
BoShek:yes, you can
Holocron: You do need to have the maintenance fees paid off before you can move it though.

Marluka: *Ichnisanchi* Am I going to be able to own my personal droid, that follows me wherever I go, and serves sort of like a personnal assistant? (extra inventory room, repair armor/weapons, light up dark places, etc.)
Holocron: Yes, you can own a droid, it acts as a pet. And different droids do serve different purposes, including several of the ones you cited.

Marluka: Please /msg Marluka with your questions.
Marluka: *Shifty3000* How many characters can I make per registered account? Thanks.

Holocron: We don't have the "light up dark places" thing, but we do have extra inv, crafting station, medic, power droid, etc.
Shug_Ninx: Look for the answer to that in an upcoming issue of PC Gamer... :)

Marluka: *JoserJedi* will we be able to use 56k modems
Griff: Ues.
Shug_Ninx: I beta test on one right now at home...
Griff: Err, Yes.

Marluka: *Logiii* What kind of music instruments will be implemented? what various styles are there
Shug_Ninx: We pulled a bunch of instruments from the continuity - the kloo horn, Max Rebo's organ, etc. We're trying to make sure that we cover all types of instruments, though.
Shug_Ninx: We'll have stringed instruments, horns, percussion, etc.

Marluka: *Quoth* Are the skyboxes finished yet? and will there be sandstorms on Tatooine, how will they be handled?
BoShek:The skyboxes are not finished yet..we are still polishing them and yes, we have sandstorms on Tatooine. They really awesome!
Holocron: Weather does not cause damage to players. That's a thing to know...

Marluka: *Guise* this has probably been asked 578 times already but what is the guesstimation for beta 3 start?
Griff: We hope before Christmas - we're trying as hard as we can. But no promises - my whip is pretty bloody already.
Holocron: Actually, it's only been asked 522 times. Well, 523 now.

Marluka: *Naa_OkthSwenta* does "You can always give up a skill in order to apply those points towards something that you find more interesting and useful." mean you can do this at any time ? i mean if you need heal so you put your XP in heal skill, and if 5 minutes later you need fight skill then you move your XP to fight skill as you want ??
Holocron: Yes, you can do it at any time. But just to be clear, giving up a skill gives you SKILL POINTS back. It does NOT give you the relevant XP.

Marluka: Please /msg Marluka with your questions. Don't message the devs directly.
Holocron: Skill points cap the number of skills you can get, but you still need to acquire the XP in order to get a skill, and go to the trainer to obtain it, etc.

Marluka: *Barsook* Following up on Incapasitation. Will the incapasitated player be able to 'suicide' if they find they're being camped and re-incapacitated evry time they 'come to'?
Holocron: We're finding a need for that ability as the beta test proceeds. We actually had a bantha camping someone's corpse two weeks ago...

Marluka: *Swaggsus* Will we recieve some kind of hint as to what attributes suit each profession best? or is that something we will need to use our personal discresion for?
Holocron: Actually, when you choose a starting profession, we set up attributes that we think suit the profession.
Holocron: I imagine that players will find we were stupid about it and will find much better optimum starting values though. :)

Marluka: *Warfarin* Will there be bonues available only to Imperials that will make them more desirable than the rebels (and thus, limit the unlikely continuity-straining rebel-heavy polls)?
Shug_Ninx: Yes, but we're not giving out any further details right now.

Marluka: *Dekar8686* Will Bounty Hunters have any kind of skill that keeps them from showing up as an enemy on their target's radar, or just not showing up on the radar at all?
Griff: No - bounty hunters will show up on the radar just like everyone else. However, they won't show up any differently than anyone else either - if you're walking in a city with 200 other players, you'll be hardpressed to know which of those blips on your radar is a potential bounty hunter.
Q-3PO: There are about 15 minutes left in the chat.

Marluka: *Schwartzbewithyou* Speaking of corpse runs, is there the equivalent to the EQ "/corpse" command?
Holocron: Yes.
Shug_Ninx: But you don't need to do it if you'd rather pay insurance on your items.

Marluka: *DelTorak* If you need to be near someone to perform a deathblow, how will ranged fighters be able to kill their opponents without medics running in all of the time?
Holocron: That's part of the point; the best large combat groups will have a range of roles in them. Snipers, medics, commandos charging the lines, etc.

Marluka: *ashatumar* How long can we expect to wait before the first player made structure is up? How significant an accomplishment is it?
Griff: You should see the first player-made structures almost right away. However, there are some larger player structures that are a much more significant accomplishment.

Marluka: *Psychodude17* whats happens if a person's corpse is in the heart of enemy teritory.....
Holocron: They can insure their gear before venturing into enemy territory... but if they die out there with uninsured gear, well, they've got a tough road ahead of them. :)

Marluka: *Faleran* Is there going to be monsters that you can solo as any character? Like there was supposed to be in EverQuest?
Griff: Everyone can solo against (and die to) a Krayt Dragon. No restrictions.
Holocron: Yes, there's lots of creatures that you can solo right now in fact. There are also targets that you probably cannot solo ever.

Marluka: *YouDieByMyHand* Will you generate most of the conlict and challenges for players, or will you let players do it themselves?
Holocron: We hope to do both as much as possible. We want to have a solid roster of content in the game, but we also want to encourage players to generate conflict and challenges for each other as much as possible.

Marluka: *Rudo9* will most the combat in the game be with range weapons? Also how well will ranged combat work with lag?
Holocron: Most will be with ranged weapons. We do use an RPG system for it, so it's relatively resistant to lag. We are not an FPS.

Marluka: *Falorf* Is it possible for other players to stumble onto your mission target before you get there?
Griff: Probably not - though we pick the location of your mission target when you accept your mission, we do not MAKE the mission objective until you get close to it. It's still possible for someone else to steal it if they are there at the same time you are, but it's much less likely because it doesn't exist until you get there.

Marluka: *Swaggsus* when campsites are set up how long do they last? are they one time use or do they stick around for a bit?
Holocron: Campsites stick around as long as the camp owner is there, plus alittle while as an abandoned camp. If left abandoned, they go away. But if someone comes across an abandoned campsite, they can take ownership of it

Marluka: *FSTTHRAWN* What will determine the maintenance fees for a structure?
Holocron: Mostly size of the structure, but there's also a skill factor (level of industrialist skill).

Marluka: *psbryan* where do we purchase lots from?
Holocron: You don't purchase lots. You purchase a deed to a structure (which is crafted by an architect). It takes up lots when placed.

Marluka: *Yojimbo3* Is there a "casting time" on combat medics healing while in battle?
Holocron: Well, it's not a spell, so it's not casting time, but your stimpack does have a recharge time. :)

Marluka: *Nagalore* What happens to a players shops and structures if someone would cancel their subscription?
Holocron: The shops and structures will stick around for a while, and then as the maintenance costs accure, the shops and structures will go away.

Marluka: *KrimisSuuArk* can you master two elite proffesions at once?
Holocron: Depends on the profession. If it's a specialist profession, like say, pistol specialist and rifle specialist, you do have enough skil points to do that.
Holocron: If it is a profession that requires two whole professions as prerequisites, you're not going to have enough skill points left over to master a fourth.

Marluka: *Aayla_Secura* How are the planets besides Tatooine, coming along? Do you plan on Beta testing any of them? If so which ones?
Q-3PO: Five more minutes.
Griff: Yep, we're going to test a few more planets, in addition to the travel system. We're testing travel on the Q/A server now, so hopefully within a couple of weeks we have it out on the Beta server. Let me put my typical disclaimer here - if we run into any problems it might take a little longer.
Shug_Ninx: Dathomir looks incredible, but you might need to wait until we launch to see it... It's easily one of the creepiest planets we have.

Marluka: *theLegendiryoku* how many players can there be in one group?
Holocron: Currently, we're testing in beta with 8, but I think that number is probably going to be higher. We have many pieces of content (like say, an Imperial outpost) which would call for a much larger group to tackle.

Marluka: *TembreFell* If someone were to steal your mission target (if it's a pickup) will they get a bounty?
Holocron: They can't actually steal your mission pickup. The NPC will not give it to them, and if the NPC is killed, the item will not be there for them to get.

Marluka: *wookiehelper* can you just throw stff on the floors of your house
Griff: Yep - it has to be YOUR house, but as long as it is, you can make as much of a mess of your house as you want.
Holocron: Up to the limit of stuf you're allowed to have.

Marluka: *vilagefool* would maintenance fees go to the architect or an NPC?
Holocron: They go to the game so that we can take the money out of the game to keep the economy moving.

Marluka: *Odyssius* So does the architect or the player choose the location. And does this mean that Architects are going to be estate agents as well
Holocron: The player chooses the location, the architect is more of a crafter who makes the deed objects.

Marluka: *Vrhead* can you sell your shop to some one else
Holocron: Youc an transfer ownserhip of a building, but it has to be empty first.

Q-3PO: Okay, that's it for tonight's chat
BoShek:Thanks for coming. I hope you got some good stuff tonight to chew on.
Q-3PO: We had a ton of great questions.
Shug_Ninx: Thanks for stopping by. See you on the forums!