Brekkee - Good evening and welcome to another great Stratics House of Commons chat, tonight our guests are the developers of Star Wars Galaxies! Tonight’s chat is Jump to Lightspeed so please keep your questions related to the expansion.
Brekkee - Please send your questions to [QT]Tolkin [QT]Calelena or [QT]Looker - to do so type /query NICK and type in the window that pops up. Questions sent to me or the developers will not make it into the lineup, so don't bother. Full logs of the chat will be up on http://swg.stratics.com shortly after the chat.
Brekkee - We'll start with a brief introduction from the developers, now would be a good time to send those questions.
Lord_Pall - Hi.. I'm Dan Rubenfield, Lead Systems Designer of Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed
Jfreeman - Hello! I'm Jeff Freeman, the Lead Content Designer for Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed!
TH - And I'm Kurt Stangl, Community Relations Manager. How is everyone tonight?
ronda_lucasarts - And I'm Ronda Scott, PR at LucasArts
Brekkee - *TK-231* Whats the status on the Combat Documents? Can you give us an actual view of whats happening over there?
TH - We will be talking about the Combat Upgrade very soon. I know everyone wants the details and we are working to further develop them. We will release more information soon.
Brekkee - *Taxtor* will Jump to Lightspeed be continuously patched like the ground game, adding new Space-specific content, or will the game left as-is?
Lord_Pall - Jump to Lightspeed, from our standpoint, is more than just a one off expansion. It allows us a lot more flexibility for future expansions, additional features and the like.
Lord_Pall - You, as players get a bunch of new things to play with, and we as developers get a great enhancement to the foundation..
Jfreeman - And we have much better content creation and delivery tools than we've ever had before. :)
Lord_Pall - It's a long term change, not a one shot.. Expect LOTS of new things :)
Brekkee - *Caylin* Over a year ago Smugglers were told we were more of a 'Space profession' so what can smuggler look forward to specifically at the launch of JTL? (And I don't mean 'You can fly a YT-1300 just like Han Solo!)
Jfreeman - Brandon "Green Marine" Reinhart has compiled a lot of great feedback from the fanfest and forums and he's eager to get back to it.
Jfreeman - Basically he wants to add a lot of Smuggler enhancements and features - but, unfortunately, not until after JtL.
Brekkee - *Kathaan* what would you say has been your greatest challenge in creating JTL?
Lord_Pall - It's a space game!
Lord_Pall - Integrating a brand new game dynamic, and an action game model at that, on top of an existing massively multiplayer game was probably the most difficult portion.
Brekkee - *AnX* With Jump to Lightspeed being an expansion, how is the experience going to be for players that choose not to purchase it(Its underdstood you want everyone to buy it), or cannot afford it straight away. There is a lot of new art as well as species, how will this play for the person without the expansion? Is this being tested at all in the current Beta?
Lord_Pall - Without the expansion, you'll be able to see the new species (Ithorians and Sullustans) but won't be able to play them
Jfreeman - Players without the expansion will be able to continue playing the ground game as it is now. You just won't be able to go to space, or play the new species, or own a ship.
Lord_Pall - You'll also probably see ship vendors and components all over the place.. You can even purchase them but can't use them to go into space.
Brekkee - Please remember the topic tonight is the Jump to Lightspeed expansion. Please focus your questions to the expansion
Brekkee - *Genesis* Was wondering when the Flash Speeder will go live for those of us who pre-ordered JTL from Ebgames???
TH - The Flash Speeder will go live in the game around 10/1 and we will post the details about how to get the Flashspeeder on the launchpad and the forums when we have more details.
Brekkee - *Killez-Valcyn* with jtl coming soon will everyone have the YT-1300 Cert or will only neutrals have that also will politician's ever get the chance to place crafting stations and other items in a city?
Jfreeman - YT-1300 will be for the neutral / privateer pilot professions only, but don't worry - we haven't forgotten about the rest of you.
Brekkee - *Mav3rick* Will there be bounties in space? If not what about BH's situation when they launch a droid and 99% of the time it will say "Sorry your target is in space"
Brekkee - *AJedivsBHXPlosttoomuch* Well The BH's be able to hunt "player" jedi in space and if so well they receive a ungodly xp loost too if their ship get blown up by a BH
Lord_Pall - For JTL launch, there will be no bounty hunter tracking in space.
Lord_Pall - Kills in JTL won't make you lose xp, or actually register as Bountyhunter kills.
Lord_Pall - This covers Jedi deaths as well.
Lord_Pall - Long term, we want to add additional bounty hunting and Jedi dynamics, but these will not be implemented for launch
Brekkee - *moc5* Will fraction aligned shipwrights be able to make every ship or only ships used by there fraction
Jfreeman - They can make every ship.
Lord_Pall - Shipwrights will make every ship, regardless of faction.
Lord_Pall - and fraction
Lord_Pall - :)
Brekkee - *pelti* Will the JTL hardware on servers be standalone or do the groundgame & jtl share the resources?
Lord_Pall - We're adding 10 new server boxes to each galaxy for JTL. So it's new hardware, but it's integrated into the existing clusters.
TH - JtL and the Ground game share hardware - - we spent all last week upgrading every galaxy. As a matter of fact, we're conducting stress tests
TH - tomorrow night on Bria - - the Live Events team will be running invasion events throughout the galaxy
TH - and we're inviting everyone to come
TH - we will have events for brand new players, intermediate players, and expert players.
Brekkee - *Kemstire[Flurry]* With all the players who just recently unlocked jedi, we have been given the 2nd character slot. When JTL ships, will players with this slot be able to create a character as one of the new species?
Jfreeman - Yes.
Lord_Pall - Hooray!
Brekkee - *Jope* How long will JTL be a priority in comparison to the base game being fixed?
ronda_lucasarts - While Jump to Lightspeed is extremely important to the team, the ground game is not being ignored.
ronda_lucasarts - We have people who are focused completely on the ground game right now
ronda_lucasarts - and will continue to be through the launch of JtL
ronda_lucasarts - After launch, we'll have even more folks working on the ground game
ronda_lucasarts - But it's important to note that we still have folks working away on the ground game and the combat
ronda_lucasarts - upgrade.
Brekkee - *Eisernes[O|S]* With JTL will you be removing the rediculous group TEF system or do you plan on doing that before, after, or later?
Jfreeman - In space, there are no TEF's (nor FEF's or PEF's). It's a streamlined PvP system that boils down to: If you want to PvP, then you go overt. And if you don't, then you don't.
Brekkee - *CT-Workshops* hi im planning on becoming a shipwright for JTL - i was wondering, can ships be upgraded as part of the original crafting process or can they only be upgraded once contructed?
Lord_Pall - Ships are extremely upgradeable.
Lord_Pall - The chassis is the base component for all ships. It contains engines, boosters, weapons, missiles, countermeasures, reactors, shield generators, armor, etc.
Lord_Pall - All of these components can be mix and matched..
Lord_Pall - and upgraded
Brekkee - *Xilorith* If you are a colonel in the imperial navy will you automatically be able to have the most advanced ship or will you still need to gain XP to fly the higher level ships?
TH - You will have to start with a basic ship and work your way up - - but its a lot of fun. It is all quest driven.
Brekkee - *Zachary_Greylock* Will there be a benefit for people to transport other players to locations instead of using the standard planetary transports? Will anyone even do that?
Jfreeman - Well you won't have to wait for the shuttle. :) Also, it won't cost anything, unless the other player charges you...
Lord_Pall - And you get to look out the window at the stars
Brekkee - *Leava* Will be be able to group in space and fly in various formations? :)
Jfreeman - Oh yeah :)
Brekkee - *Jenden-[Tarquinas]* We've been told that droids will be important to the operation of your ship, but will the quality and type be important or will just having a droid be good enough?
Lord_Pall - So you'll need a number of things.
Lord_Pall - You need a droid with a datapad.
Lord_Pall - You need to program your droid with ship commands (reinforce front shields, overload reactor, etcetera)
Lord_Pall - Then your droid can help out during spaceflight.
Lord_Pall - There's a lot of programmable droid commands :)
Brekkee - *Sethcran* It is rumored that we are only allowed 2 ships in our datapad... How will this work with the veteran reward?
Jfreeman - Currently it's three, but this is something we'll continue to evaluate in beta. We may relax that a bit.
Lord_Pall - The veteran reward will take up one of these slots.
Brekkee - *Ryk[Bria]* other than the obvious differenced between, say freighters and fighters, will certain ship designs have advantages and disadvantages over others, or are ship designs just for show?
Lord_Pall - Ships can hold different types of equipment and have different flight characteristics.
Lord_Pall - so there are definitely more than just cosmetic changes..
Brekkee - *Bloodfin* Will Shipwrights be able to color the spaceships?
Lord_Pall - yes!
Lord_Pall - and change the patterns on the hull
Brekkee - *retro2499* Can players without the expansion own other JTL equipment like ship parts?
Lord_Pall - Yes!
Lord_Pall - but they can't fly the ships or launch into space.
Brekkee - *Ryk[Bria]* will current droids be compatible with these new commands, or will you nned to purchase a newly crafted one?
Jfreeman - As long as it has a datapad, current droids will work.
Brekkee - *Levik* is the only way to get the flash speeder by pre ordering jtl?
Brekkee - *lokey* if the flash speeder is destroyed is it lost forever? or will there be a way to get another one?
TH - Yes - - the pre-order is the only way to get the Flash speeder
TH - It will work like the special edition goggles. It wont be lost forever.
TH - :)
Brekkee - *Skywraith* How will faction rank and faction points be utilized in JTL? Does rank or faction points or both decide what upgrades and/or ships you have access to?
Jfreeman - There are restrictions preventing Imperials from becoming Rebel Pilots, and vice versa
Jfreeman - Which ships you can fly and so on depends on how advanced a pilot you are, rather than how many
Jfreeman - faction points you have.
Brekkee - *Zachary_Greylock* will ships only be able to land at spaceports, or can you land anywhere, like in the tat desert?
Lord_Pall - Just spaceports..
Lord_Pall - :(
Brekkee - *Airin_Chilastra* are the paintjobs permanent or do they have a set amount of uses before fading
Lord_Pall - The paintjobs are permanent.
Jfreeman - Until you re-paint.
Lord_Pall - and then thats permanent
Brekkee - *S0meD00d* Will there be any difference in the chasis or a Z95 can equip the same components as a X-wing?
Jfreeman - As long as it fits within the mass and energy requirements of the chassis you can put anything you want in it.
Lord_Pall - and you'll need the certifications for the equipment.
Brekkee - *moc5* What will happen if someone is grouped with a player who doesn't have jtl and the group goes into space?
Lord_Pall - They get left behind on the ground.
Jfreeman - Awww :(
Brekkee - *Zeth101* will imperial/rebel players be able to become the priviteer professions or is it neautral only
Jfreeman - They will be able to become any of the Privateer professions.
Jfreeman - Just not a Rebel Alliance Pilot if they are Imperial, or vice versa.
Brekkee - *Sethcran* What kind of weapons and player caps can we find on multi-person ships?
Lord_Pall - The ships with interiors have turrets, a pilot seat and an operations station.
Lord_Pall - They typically have 2 turrets.
Lord_Pall - The current cap for a ship is 20 players, but that might change as testing progresses.
Brekkee - *Xzibit* What will happen when a Jedi dies in space?
Lord_Pall - Their ship explodes just like everyone else. They don't lose xp.
Jfreeman - ...as of.... now.
Brekkee - *LoremasterJ* In JTL will hyperspace open a loading screen or will it be a real time trasition between both places?
Jfreeman - There's a hyperspace effect you can see, then a loading screen as you transition to the next zone or planet.
Brekkee - *Afgar* What kind of PvP is Jump to Lightspeed going to bring to the overly friendly Starwars Universe?
Lord_Pall - We're adding a variety of consenual pvp options as well as 2 full pvp zones where individual space factions can duke it out.
Brekkee - *Xixor3000* Will there be any free for al PVE areas in JTL for those of us who want to level in a less restrickted manor of doing the quest driven missions to gain a skill box?
Jfreeman - The profession progression isn't *entirely* quest-driven. At different points in the profession
Jfreeman - you may just be out for XP and loot, whereas at other times you're just trying to overcome
Jfreeman - a specific challenge, and don't need the XP at all.
Brekkee - *fighto* hi will the rebel ships be stronger than there imp counterparts like in the films or what the story in relation to shields and that
TH - No. The things that make ships stronger are...
TH - pilot skill
TH - what level of ship you have earned
TH - and how much effort you put into customizeing your ship
TH - (when I say Pilot Skill, I mean the pilotting skill tree)
Lord_Pall - Actually
ronda_lucasarts - No, that's not what he meant.
Lord_Pall - he means your ability as a pilot
Jfreeman - Player skill :)
Lord_Pall - You have to fly and fight using your ship
Lord_Pall - You might have a great ship, but if you can't fly (like the imperials in the films), you're toast.
Brekkee - *Elm* When a ship is vaped, is it lost for good, or will it be salvagable/repairable?
Lord_Pall - It's repairable.
Lord_Pall - Every component and chassis is fixable
Lord_Pall - Every time you repair them, they decay a little.
Brekkee - *ddragos* Will the monthly fee for JTL be greater then for SWG?
ronda_lucasarts - The monthly fee remains the same!
ronda_lucasarts - And we'll be publishing content continually for both the ground game and space.
Brekkee - That will wrap it up for tonight. Thanks for coming! You can join #starwars to chat more about the game.
Brekkee - The log for tonight’s chat will be up shortly on http://swg.stratics.com
ronda_lucasarts - Post-launch, that is.
ronda_lucasarts - Thanks everyone for coming tonight!
Jfreeman - Goodbye!
ronda_lucasarts - See you next chat! :-)
Lord_Pall - Goodbye everyone!
