swgdevrthornton - Hello, my name is Reece and I'm a Senior Designer on SWG
SWG_Pex - The player event perks (PEP) are a series of tools that we hope will enable the players to more easily run their own player events. These include new decorations and a series of games such as swoop races, lotteries and scavenger hunts.
Brekkee - *Tabari* is there an intention of creating a non-factional version of capture the flag?
SWG_Pex - Right no we do not plan to have a neutral flag game system. We want to encourage the GCW. Also enabling a system based on dueling was more of a technical challeange than we wanted to tackle.
Brekkee - *neinnunb* With the recent news about Armorsmiths being able to craft faction armor, are there any plans to have Architects craft factional bases in the same manner any time in the future?
Lord_Pall - Long term we want to allow the crafters more methods to interact with the GCW, but right now this is not planned.
Brekkee - *Tobes* my question was why in this first round of Player Event tools the NPC actors we can hire, why we weren't given the options to create full dialogs for them?
SWG_Pex - We limited the NPC actors to a single line for ease of programming on our end. We wanted to go for breadth of perks over depth. It is something we would like to add in the future.
Brekkee - *Valtor* Is there a way to spawn PEP's for say a 3 day long event? or would it require multiple purchases and respwning the NPC's?
SWG_Pex - PEPs are going to be very limited in duration in order reduce the impact on the servers. To have everyone placing PEPs for multiple days will start to impact the servers.
Brekkee - *BadMisterFrosty* Hello Team, I have a question for pex, Do you have plans in the near future to add writable datadisks into the PEP system?
Tyrant - We love this idea and just haven't gotten to it yet. But it won't be for Pep, it will be for everyone.
Tyrant - And sorry, I'm not Pex. :)
Brekkee - *Smuggler_NickHeel* Tiggs recently said that the Smuggler Revamp is being worked on right now. We were told it was going to be a very open revamp process. What can you tell us, the Smugglers, about our revamp?
swgdevrthornton - We're in the early design stages of figuring out what to do for the smuggler revamp and are having design sessions where we are talking over what we want to play and discuss what the players have expressed that they want.
swgdevrthornton - At the moment we're discussing our vision and features and filling that out in preparation for discussing it with the players.
Brekkee - *lockland* Do you think SWG is headed in the right direction? (considering the upcoming GCW changes and what you know is going on in development) Everyone knows SWG got off to a very rocky start, do you think that (lets say by the end of 2005) the Game will be "what players envisioned" originally?
Tyrant - I certainly hope so! You guys all tell us when we are on the wrong track, that is for sure! I'm happy if the game is getting
Lord_Pall - It will take 5 minutes. Your name and radar icon will blink between overt/covert during the transition.
Tyrant - better each publish.
Lord_Pall - oops
Tyrant - Different players envision different SWG games of course. We hope what we bring is what you want!
Lord_Pall - Sorry for the interruption :)
Brekkee - *Process* How long will it take to go from Overt to Covert when using a Factional Recruiter?
Lord_Pall - It will take 5 minutes. Your name and radar icon will blink between overt/covert during the transition.
Lord_Pall - there we go.
Brekkee - *WesBelden* Are the current FP costs for new bases/faction caps aimed at requiring a Smuggler to purchase them, is it simply taking time to up the FP cap for a Colonel high enough to purchase the high end bases?
Lord_Pall - We are increasing the caps and will definitely investigate overall costs for individual perks.
Brekkee - *Dea* What will happend when the combat update hits with the old weapons and the old armors
Tyrant - The short answer is they will change to be within the new system. Expect us to start rolling out more info on Combat Upgrade next week.
Brekkee - *TK-231* Question:With the Galactic Civil War changes, did you also adjust patrol routes of NPC's through cities? Will the AI be adjusted so they will work more...'squadlike' instead of mindless individuals?
Tyrant - Not yet... :)
Brekkee - *Stavrose-WH* It was mentioned in the GCW revamp that there would be cantina crackdowns. What would define a "cantina patron?" Would this be only for NPC cities of for Player Cities as well? And also, does this just mean that factional troops will enter cantinas and just perform scans on everyone?
swgdevrthornton - The gcw gameplay entering test soon is just the first stage of what's sure to be an exciting and grand system. As a result, the cantina crackdowns you've mentioned aren't included in this beginning steps. :-)
Brekkee - *Caylin* GCW: With the changes to the faction purchasing cap that smugglers have taken advantage of, the process to obtain promotions has become almost completely trivial. Do the developers have any plans to alter how GCW promotions are obtained and how they can increase the value of having those ranks in the GCW?
Lord_Pall - Eventually… With every publish and change we’re examining how the experiences actually stack up. I’d love for gcw progression to be more than just credits and kills, but we unfortunately don’t have the time to change this right now.
Brekkee - *Lorgara* Certain Factional player event perks such as AT-ATs and Honor Guard are being held out of the patch for the time being as mentioned on the forums.. my question is, why?
SWG_Pex - There are two ways we could include factional NPCs as perks. Non-attackable or attackable...
SWG_Pex - Non-attackable NPCs would be counter to our GCW concepts. We want players to know that anytime the see a Stormtrooper or AT-AT and they are rebel, that they are to be feared.
SWG_Pex - If we make them attackable then they become a tactical issue and faction perk. On the flip side griefers could then attack them and ruin someone's event...
SWG_Pex - Either way we felt it best to hold back, even though it isn't as cool.
Brekkee - *Corben* Question: Could you please elaborate on the role of Neutral factions in the GCW?
Lord_Pall - Neutrals are just that, civilians. They aren’t part of the gcw conflict, but they have to face the consequences. With the actual gcw changes we’re making it relatively easy to join a faction without a huge amount of risk. We want to encourage you to pick a side.
Lord_Pall - And honestly, if you pick a side because you’re hassled by a rebel trooper, or you witness a smuggler cut down by stormtroopers and you want to stop that activities, then the gcw system has succeeded.
Lord_Pall - If we can make the gcw system important enough to players that they feel obligated to choose a side to change the world around them, then we’re successful.
Lord_Pall - So in the end, if we do our job right, nobody will be neutral ?
Lord_Pall - :)
Brekkee - *Big-Rug* How does the Development Team think the new GCW changes will effect guilds/cities that accept multi-factioned members?
Lord_Pall - Once again.. We're trying to make the gcw more important.
Lord_Pall - With this change, the world around you, relationships that you've formed will potentially change.
Lord_Pall - Sure you can go on-leave to go adventuring, but at the end of the day you're involved in a war
Lord_Pall - You can have a multi factional guild and player city, but you need to understand that the dynamics of your relationships have changed.
Tyrant - Time to recruit them to your side is my advice. Make them see the error of their Rebel (or Imperial) ways!
Lord_Pall - brother against brother if you can't. :)
Tyrant - It is a war people! The worst kind of war, a civil war.
Tyrant - But "on leave" was made to allow for this possibility.
Brekkee - *Atan* Are there tools in development to allow players to publish their events in-game?
SWG_Pex - If you mean a way to advertise your events? Hopefully. There are a number of ideas we got from players on the forums that we would like to see, but nothing we can promise at this time...
SWG_Pex - We have concepts in mind for using the CTRL-V map to allow players to find your event. We also would like to consider in-game terminals, but there is no current schedule for them.
Brekkee - *AlphaMale* With this new Armor for the GCW, How is it going to play into the balancing of professions? Will some professions be limited as far as the new Armor in the GCW ?
Tyrant - The new factional armor is part of the Combat Upgrade. It's not really about professions.
Brekkee - *AlphaMale* How soon will CURB information be released to the entire gaming Community. I've heard many mixed responses, and 'when we're ready to' isn't cutting it for alot of members.
Tyrant - We are putting together more information on the Combat Upgrade for release next week.
Tyrant - So stay tuned!
Brekkee - *[sunrunner]XS3* What restrictions (location wise) will be placed on PEPs? I.E. Can I put a 'capture the flag' flag at the bottom of the detainment center on Talus?
SWG_Pex - PEPs will be able to be placed anywhere you can place a scout camp or in a city if you have admin rights. Otherwise we would see everything placed in front of starports.
Brekkee - *Rypht* With the GCW changes, will the imperial non-human racial faction perk cost penalties be dropped, reworked to lessen as a player goes up in rank or at the very least lessened? Its an outdated system that doesn't really needs to be changed or just done away with.
Lord_Pall - We are examining these for the up and coming gcw publish. In some cases they might be overly harsh, but we are definitely looking closely at them
Brekkee - *RogueSlayer* I have not seen mention of Neutral (civillian) armor for the CURB. Is that going to be the armor that is in game now or are there also new desighns for that as well?
Tyrant - All the non-factional armors we have can be used by Civilians. New designs are not really planned at this point.
Lord_Pall - Pick a side!
Tyrant - Now Now...
Lord_Pall - :)
Tyrant - Not everyone needs to be in the GCW
Tyrant - Though we think it is more fun
Brekkee - *Smuggler_LaughingWolf* Will we also see a raise in FP rank costs?
Lord_Pall - Right now, no. As mentioned above I'd like to examine how you actually gain rank, but raising the actual costs won't make it any more fun, just require more reptition to get the point cap you need.
Brekkee - *RK-31* With the sudden addition of Event tools on TC, and the following announcement of yanking the faction parts of those, because they were unattackable. What will make it so you can add these tools in the GCW upgrade and avoid having events using them disrupted by non RP'ers?
SWG_Pex - We'll have to see. Our plan is to include those things in a way that ties directly into the GCW...
SWG_Pex - You can always have non PVP-enabled players don the armor and be an honor guard. The removal of NPCs doesn't preclude RP events, it just requires more participation.
SWG_Pex - By having non PVP enabled RPers at an event, factional players can't ruin the event by attacking your honor guard.
Brekkee - *AlphaMale* Will there be more GCW Related quests such as the Project Dead-Eye series ?
Tyrant - Our content team is working on adding more quests every publish and I'm expecting us to evolve into more mini-storylines as part of this effort.
Brekkee - *TK-231* Question: Will we ever get to see Lord Tyrants rocketlauncher?
Tyrant - Which end?
Tyrant - Do you want to see?
Brekkee - *Michaell* Pex said that they are removing the player event attackable people. Are they going to be put back in at a later date?
SWG_Pex - There have never been attackable NPCs. They will become attackable with the GCW, and that's the issue...
SWG_Pex - My previous answer: Non-attackable NPCs would be counter to our GCW concepts. We want players to know that anytime the see a Stormtrooper or AT-AT and they are rebel, that they are to be feared.
SWG_Pex - Therefore, if we add them back, it will have to be in some form of faction perk.
SWG_Pex - We are examining the issue.
Brekkee - *Stolen_Diagram* Will we ever see famous star wars characters taking a more active role in the GCW as originally hoped?
SWG_Pex - Yes.
SWG_Pex - You should start to see named characters come out of their lairs.
SWG_Pex - This does not necessarily mean you'll get to fight Vader, but he will have more of an impact than he does now.
Brekkee - *Smuggler_Ment* Is there any hope for us smugs getting a mask faction skill to allow the pvp enabled get through cities controlled by opposite factions, without having to go on leave?
Lord_Pall - If you are pvp enabled, you are pvp enabled. Period. If you wish to be "safer", you have to go on leave. Smugglers will have an advantage when being on leave, but when flagged as special forces they will be exposed to the same risk as everyone else.
Brekkee - *AlphaMale* With the Player Event Perks, has there been any discussion on the lag issues? Every time there is a large player event planned. Most do not want to show up due to the severe server side lag... Is there anything being planned on making it more stable for larger audiences?
Tyrant - We are improving the client framerate with every publish. Bandwidth and sometimes server framerate issues will still exist in very crowded areas. We continue to work on optimizing for larger scale experiences.
Brekkee - *WesBelden* If your goal is to see near enough everyone factionally aligned in the GCW war, what then is your view on Underworld factions? While I realise this is something destined for a publish a long time from now, far far away, it would be interesting to know if you expect people to be neutral in order to be part of the underworld, or would rather them be involved in both the GCW and the underworld equally.
swgdevrthornton - We were just discussing underworld Factions today, in fact. We desire very strongly to see them in the gang as most people want to see what a crime syndicate such as Jabba's is like from the *inside*. However, we'll need to get the GCW basics in first...
swgdevrthornton - So, we look to the future for underworld factions. The sooner the better, as far as we're concerned.
Brekkee - *Hegnauer* What is going to be done about the amount of non-humanoid species in-game with ranks like Colonel and Major? It's well known that the Empire used alien species as a means to an end, and never allowed to attain that kind of rank, let alone have an ATST
Lord_Pall - You will fit in well in the new galactic order. heh
SWG_Pex - In the Star Wars universe you could advance in the Empire if you excelled. See Grand Admiral Thrawn.
SWG_Pex - In a MMORPG all of the player characters are meant ot be the "exceptional". It is the NPCs who are "normal".
Brekkee - *AskinForIt* I really like the planetary Occupation System. However, don't you think it defeats the purpose to not be able to change the standin in Bestine, Anchorhead and so on?What is the reasoning behind this?
Lord_Pall - It's so that players still have a safe haven to respawn at.
Lord_Pall - If you're imperial or rebel you'll have some place to respawn without getting gacked.
Brekkee - *Avsman* With the New Changes to the GCW and with this first Phase will we see some BIG NAMES taking part in the GCW with us? Example Vader and his 501st Stormtroopers In Bestine?
SWG_Pex - First off, I like that the 501st has become a part of the Star Wars universe.
SWG_Pex - A testament to their dedication to the Empire.
SWG_Pex - To answer the question, yes.
SWG_Pex - We should see more named characters out of their homes.
Brekkee - *Llara_Eclipse* will PEP's use up lot spaces?
SWG_Pex - Another "maybe". It depends on which, if any, perks we shift over to being permanent.
SWG_Pex - There is talk about about making some decorations available to crafters and then being able to place them in their towns as city decorations...
SWG_Pex - If that happens, then they will add to a city cost. Right now this is not on the schedule but is something I'd like to see int eh future.
Brekkee - *[Bloodfin]Aristaki* Since you are promoting the picking of a side (Imp or Reb). Are there any plans to create new ways for crafters to gain faction? The current system only awards faction for combat. If you have no combat skills there aren't many ways to currently get involved...
Tyrant - Crafters will be part of the GCW and faction system if they choose to be. We want everyone to have the chance to do their part! It won't happen right away is all.
Brekkee - That will wrap it up for tonight. I’d like to thank the folks from Star Wars Galaxies for coming! The log for tonight’s chat will be up shortly on http://swg.stratics.com
Brekkee - Thank you all for joining us! You can join #StarWars to chat more about the game.
Tiggs - Thanks everyone!
LEC-Ronda - Thanks and see you next month at the next chat!!!
Calandryll_SOE - Thanks everyone!!
SWG_Pex - Thanks all! Enjoy the perks. Do fun stuff with them!
swgdevrthornton - Thank you!
Lord_Pall - Bye everyone!
Tyrant - Bye folks! Off to #starwars
