(@Q-3PO) Hello, we're still getting set-up on our end. Couple more devs to round up.
(@[QT]Snake) They have to wait for the shuttle.
(@Q-3PO) LOL
(@ronda_lucasarts) *starts a song and dance while we wait for the devs
* @justG joins in the song
(@Q-3PO) Ok
(@Wolfgang) Greetings and thank you for attending tonight's StarWars Galaxies House of Commons Chat.
(@Wolfgang) Tonight's chat is focusing on "Vehicles, Jedi, and general discussion"
(@Wolfgang) I will be our moderator for this evening.
(@Wolfgang) In order to submit questions please /msg or /query [QT]Snake, [QT]OptikFusion or [QT]Abombpk. Please /msg different question-takers at different times, in order to balance the load and speed this process up. Do not msg anyone from Dev. Team or myself. These questions will be ignored.
(@Wolfgang) Remember that the Dev. Team may not have the opportunity to answer all of your questions. In addition, some questions may not be answered if the Dev Team feel that it is not appropriate or that it has been better answered through some other question.
(@Wolfgang) The log of this chat will later be posted on http://swg.stratics.com so be sure to tell your friends if they missed it.
(@Wolfgang) We'll start with a quick introduction from everyone, we'll then begin accepting questions.
(@ronda_lucasarts) Hi again thanks for coming tonight! I'm Ronda and I'm the Community Relations Chick at LucasArts.
(@Q-3PO) Hi Everyone, I'm Kevin O'Hara, I'm the Community Relations Manager and Associate Producer (working mainly with San Deigo office and Events Team). Thanks for joining us.
(@justG) Hi. This is Gary Gattis. I am Sr. Producer on SWG. I hope you are enjoying the game!
(@Runesabre) Hello! I am Kirk Black, Live Lead Designer for Star Wars Galaxies.
(@Q-3PO) Thunderheart is having some IRC issues but should be joining us soon (he's looking over Kirk's shoulder right now)
(@Q-3PO) Let's get started

(@Wolfgang) (_huntedbyallforums) THe current amount of decay, and cost of decay on vehicles is considered outragous, by all but the "uber" players, do you have any fututre plans to lower the cost?
(@Runesabre) The current vehicle decay will be closely monitored on Live. It will take some time for things to settle down and we don't want to make any decisions until we feel we clearly understand how the current decay rates are effecting the majority of players.
(@Wolfgang) Reminder: In order to submit questions please /msg or /query [QT]Snake, [QT]OptikFusion or [QT]Abombpk.
(@Wolfgang) *imperio59* Question: Are there plans to include ways for non-combattants to obtain holocrons, such as missions that give non-tradeable and non-droppable holocrons.
(@Runesabre) Yes we do have plans for allowing non-combat players to obtain a Holocron. Expect to see announcements on that coming up in the next few days.
(@Q-3PO) (I'd look at Friday Feature tomorrow. It MIGHT have something)
(@Q-3PO) (MIGHT)
(@Q-3PO) (I did say "might", right?)
(@ronda_lucasarts) Lot's of good stuff coming in tomorrow's Friday Feature
(@Wolfgang) (TKM) greetings everyone my question is will new weapons be added to all professions as part of the combat revamp?
(@justG) Yes, we will be adding new weapons in. They will trickle out over the next few months :-)
(@Wolfgang) *ebns72* What kind of vehicles are planned for the future? will there ever be combat vehicles like atsts? will we ever see pvp combat on vehicles where players ram and try to knock each others vehicles into a tree like the famous scene in rotj?
(@justG) Yes, we do want to add more vehicles in the game. Eventually players will be able to customize various features as well as add combat capabilities... eventually!
(@Q-3PO) We'll also likely add some new mount types at some point as well. Lots of requests for Bantha.
(@Wolfgang) *Ello* Reguarding Character Copy: How soon? Also what will characters be bringing with them to Test Center? Credits? Items? (I know skills are comming) =)
(@justG) We are working on the back end for Character Copy. I expect to see it in the next two months. It will be on TC first. You will transfer just your skills over, no items or cash.
(@Wolfgang) (Rudd-JediKnight) Question: IS there any chance of us Jedi getting any resists/defenses, Terrain Negotiating specifically.
(@Runesabre) The design of Jedi is to give them Force powers that replace the need for regular resists and defenses. It is the intent that Jedis rely more on the Force for their powers and defense and not the regular resists and defenses other players have access to.
(@Runesabre) We are actively working towards adding more Jedi-specific content in the upcoming months so expect to see some exciting changes there.
(@Wolfgang) *GD* Any hopes of getting badges to be retroactive for themeparks that have been completed already and professions that have been previously mastered?
(@Runesabre) We are discussing about making badges retroactive for themeparks. We will not be doing badges retroactively for professions due to technical limitations.

(@Wolfgang) *krazydude* Will there be a way for Bounty hunters to track jedi using droids in the near future, or is that not a possibility at all?
* @Q-3PO Thunderheart is still working on getting in. Wish him luck.
(@Q-3PO) There are a lot of good questions coming in, sorry for the delay.
(@Runesabre) There were some technical difficulties we encountered in trying to get droid tracking to work in a previous publish. We still intend to allow droid tracking for Bounty Hunters when we resolve the technical issues.
(@Wolfgang) *Guildenstern* "Are you considering revamping Scout so that the profession stays useful and if so how?"
(@justG) I play a scout and think it is useful. We do have som revisions in the future but I can;t be specific about it now :-(
(@Q-3PO) Thunderheart is doing posts for all of the professions over the next couple days which address the top 5 issues of the community.
(@Q-3PO) Check out the SWG Forums for lots more info on the professions soon
(@Wolfgang) *CaloNord* Many players feel that player bounties would add immersion to the game and help create that "Star Wars feel". Are player bounties going to be added to Star Wars Galaxies?
(@Runesabre) We have a new system we are designing internally that will support bounties being placed on players. It might not necessarily be players placing bounties on other players but it will still cause players to get bounties (perhaps from failing a quest for Jabba) that will allow player bounty hunters to have targets to hunt down.
(@Q-3PO) We do have Player Bounties for Jedi currently, but we know players want more.
(@Wolfgang) *Prescient* When will Player City Garages be in and what Profession will the building placer have to be?
(@justG) Player City Garages will be going in within the next two months. Mayors can place them.
(@Wolfgang) *Banthabutcher* When can we expect to hear more news on the Space Expansion and all those flying vehicles we've grown to love? Any plans on a Beta yet?
(@justG) We are already underway with our Space development. I flew an A-wing today :-) No word on a beta date but we will let you know as the schedule solidifies.

(@Wolfgang) *thockler* Force power regeneration does not increase with increased levels in Force Power right now, in effect gating any jedi initiates who cannot afford to level by using krayt pearl lightsabers because they cannot use force powers at a sustainable rate. Will the force regen rate be hotfixed?
(@justG) We have received a ton of feedback from the first crop of Jedi. We are actively looking at making the system much more excting and enjoyable. We are going to devote substantial development time to this in the upcoming months.
(@Wolfgang) *Prescient* Could you think about letting us redeed vehicles just at Garages? Having to destroy them to switch vehicles is really a waste. They would need to be fully repaired to do so, of course, and this would prevent people from having more than one vehicle readily available to them all the time like you were worried about.
(@Runesabre) We purposely restrictive in our release of vehicles, hence the 1 vehicle per player limit. In the near future we intend to allow each player to have one type of each vehicle in their datapad.
(@Q-3PO) We're about halfway through. Keep those questions coming.
* @[QT]Snake pants and huffs
(@Wolfgang) *SirVivor007* Recently mitigation went in for all ranged/melee classes but Jedi seemed to have been overlooked. Now Jedi do less damage and take more damage as a result. Was this intended?
(@Runesabre) There were some unintended changes to Jedi damage and defense in the last publish that we are looking into resolving. If anyone has specific details they would like to send us please feel free to post on the Test Center forum thread for Thunderheart's attention.
(@Wolfgang) *Djibutyyl* Are holocrons always going to be in the game, or were they just intended to jumpstart Jedi numbers?
(@justG) Holocrons will aways be in the game as a source of mysterious information... some Jedi related... some not...
(@Wolfgang) *Zilous* With the installation of vehicles, when can we expect to see a profession focusing on the more advanced ideas for vehicles. Will it merge with Droid Engineer into a "Mechanics Engineer," be a new Elite Profession, or perhaps an Elite Elite of Droid Engineer?

(@justG) We are thinking about adding a Vehicle Engineer profession into the game. It depends on how integral they become to gameplay. If we do not, we will have one profession gain the ability to modify various aspect of their vehicles.
* @justG tries to drag Thunderheart into IRC. The Dark Side does not want him here...
(@Wolfgang) *Zilous* With a possible vehicle profession in the works, can we expect multi-seated vehicles to appear in the future? Such as transporting a squad of factional members into a Battlefield for some action. If so, will this introduce a possible "offensive" vehicle(s) with weapons mounted on them either automated or player operated?
(@TH) test
* @Q-3PO cheers
(@ronda_lucasarts) Hey there Thunderheart
(@TH) w00t
(@justG) There are alot of technical hurdles involved in having multiple people in a vehicle. We want to do it, it depends on how well it works out. As far as weapons on vehicles go, this falls into the Vehicle Engineer category.
(@Q-3PO) Introduce yourself TH, please
(@justG) As well as the game balance aspects. Vehicles that could fire would be VERY powerful indeed.
(@justG) So yes, we want to do it, but we are going to have to look at the technical and balance aspects before implementation.
* @justG thinks the force is strong in Thunderheat to get through the IRC barrier
(@Wolfgang) (Sekk) The decay rate on sabers seems to be excessive. Critical Fails on a 5th Gen Saber can cost up to 2 million credits. Saber cost is a huge burden for many Jedi. Will there be any plans to reduce saber decay or give an Architect type fix to Critical Fails to offset this cost?
(@Runesabre) We have no plans of changing the decay rate or critical failures for high level sabers. Having a high level saber is not intended to be an easy task nor something easy to maintain even when accomplished.
(@Wolfgang) *JodasKast* Is the current rate of Jedi progressing to a point you feel "uncomfortable" with, or are you considering adjusting the FSCS requirements since there are already several JEDI on each server?
(@justG) We are happy with the current rate of Jedi progression.
(@justG) We want them to be fun, so we are planning on adding alot more content in the future...
(@justG) now that we have feedback from our first round of jedi.
(@TH) Greeting. Before this finishes I need to introduce myself
(@justG) Hi TH!!!
(@TH) Kurt Stangl, Thunderheart, Assistant Community Manager - - I have answers
(@justG) Thought you were gonna miss the fun

(@Wolfgang) *Guildenstern* Will we be able to customize our paint jobs on vehicles, add decals ('flames')?
(@TH) Yes to colors - - working on technical challenges for decals
(@Q-3PO) I'll have the waypoints for the Mos Espa Ciruit up on the website tomorrow, by the way.
(@justG) awesome
(@Q-3PO) Aartan Ridge PA did a great first pass at them.
(@justG) I have run that race several times
(@Wolfgang) *Mattt|afk* You said you are planning to upgrade battlefields now that vehicles are in - does this mean you will have much larger battlefields? Perhaps, in the future, battleplanets?
* @justG waits for Runesaber...
* @Q-3PO corrects justG on the spelling of Sabre
(@Runesabre) We do have plans of revamping Battlefields in the future. I don't have specific details as to what that will be at this moment.
* @justG never was very good in English class
(@Q-3PO) When we re-enable the battlefields they will have gone through a revamp
(@Wolfgang) *MrJaffo* now that vehicles are in and allmost working :0 Is there any info you can say about 'the DE plan' other then we are working on it.. time frame or combat droid types maybe?
(@justG) We are going to add weapon capabilities for existing droids, as well as some new combat droids, in the first quarter of next year. We are going to be devoting ALOT of energy to Droids.
(@justG) :-)
* @justG loves Droids
(@Wolfgang) *JodasKast* A current concern with many on my server is the LOOT rates for high end mobs just aren't that good. Do you have plans to increase loot drops, and add additional power ups and such?
(@Runesabre) We are doing a major re-evaluation of all loot and rewards in the game. Expect to see major revamps of quests, themeparks and loot drops in the upcoming publishes.

(@Wolfgang) *Dyn_User7911783* Will carbines be fixed in the upcoming monthly patch? The HAM costs are very bad and I, personally, end up getting beatened because I have low HAM after I use my specials. Carbineers have been waiting or quit a while on the fixes. Is there any luck in the future?
(@Runesabre) I have recently created a combat balance strike team internally which is a team of designers that will be doing a thorough balancing of all combat related items including HAM costs, weapons and special abilities.
(@Wolfgang) *FightingHellFish* Is there going to be beefed up Imperial presence in the near future in the form of more NPC StormTroopers etc?
(@justG) We are going to see ALOT more of the Empire in the very near future. Look to the skies...
(@Wolfgang) *jooj* What are you guys cooking up for the Chefs?
(@TH) We're cooking up a full course meal
(@TH) Our goal is January and you should be really pleased
(@Q-3PO) GreenMarine is working on Chefs, he's been looking closely at the Chef Profession forum
(@Q-3PO) I want to see our correspondent SirVimes happy.
(@Wolfgang) *WillyBeamen45676* Any specifics on the future of /citywarn would be greatly appreciated
(@justG) We pulled Citywarn because it was being used to majorly grief players. We still believe in the idea, and are going to reconsider how to put it back in in some fashion. I appologize for how abruptly it was pulled, and we are going to look to the community on ways to implement it in the future...
(@justG) ... we like it, we want it, and we are going to need your help in figuring it out.
(@Wolfgang) *SCRaPS* What concepts are you considering to enhance the GCW, other than balancing the faction perks?
(@Runesabre) We are considering more ways to have the GCW impact players of all playerstyles, even if they are not Imperial or Rebel aligned. It is our goal to make fighting on one side or the other of the GCW have a tangible impact and importance to all players and not just those involved in the actual fighting.
(@Wolfgang) *Katerie`Shadowfire* Is there going to be additional content for us non-jedi folks who have mastered the professions we like, have no plans on changing and have run out of things to do?
(@Q-3PO) We've decided to go a little long on our time since there are so many good questions coming in
(@justG) We are definately working on TONS of new content now that Mounts, Player Cities, and Vehicles are out the door.
(@TH) I love pizza
* @Q-3PO smacks TH
(@Wolfgang) *MasterBountyHunter-EDGEY* With new FSCS's opening up regularly, is there anything in -game to keep the Jedi population to fit with the continuity of the current time-line? With the only PC-bounty options available to Bounty Hunter concerning Jedi, in order to keep the Jedi population down, will there missions work properly? Currently, droids do now work. Is this intended? Jedi names no longer appear on the terminal. Is this intended
(@justG) Yes we are going to get the bounty boards fixed, as well as the droids. The dynamic between Jedi and BH's is crucial to the game, and we want to promote it as much as possible.
* @justG likes pizza too :-)
(@TH) th th th thats all folks...

(@Wolfgang) This concludes tonights Star Wars Galaxies House of Commons Chat. I'd liek to thank everyoen for attending teh chat! The logs of this chat will be posted later tonight over at http://swg.stratics.com
(@Q-3PO) Thanks for coming everyone. We'll work with Stratics on doing another one of these in the future. Be sure to check out the forums for more info.
(@ronda_lucasarts) Thanks so much for coming everyone!
(@ronda_lucasarts) We'll be back in January with another chat.
* @Q-3PO wonders if he should invite TH next time...
(@ronda_lucasarts) Happy Holidays!
(@Q-3PO)
(@justG) Thanks so much everyone for everything!
(@Runesabre) It was a pleasure to be here, everyone. Have a good night and may the Force be with you always.
* @justG likes him, but he is a little disjointed
(@Q-3PO) Have a happy and safe holiday season everyone and Happy Lifeday (more on that tomorrow)