Brekkee - Good evening and welcome to another great Stratics House of Commons chat, tonight our guests are the developers of Star Wars
Galaxies!
Brekkee - The topics of discussion for tonight are the Trials of Obi-Wan expansion, upcoming squad leader changes, upcoming ranger
changes and any other recent live updates.
Brekkee - Please send your questions to [QT]Sprite OR [QT]Phineus - 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. 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.
Rogue_5 - Hi! My name is Grant McDaniel and I am the Sony Online Producer for Star Wars Galaxies.
SpaceRancor - Hiya everyone. I am Eli Holding, lead designer for the Trials of Obi-Wan expansion.
Helios - Hi everyone; I'm a systems designer on the SWG Live team - currently working on the Ranger revamp. You can look me up on the
SWG forums under Helios_SOE.
Neif - Hello everyone, my name's Tim, I'm the QA Lead here at LucasArts
Keldarin - Hey there. I'm Dave White, Systems Designer for SWG.
Peahi - Greetings everyone - I am Peahi, Community & Press Relations Manager for SWG with LucasArts
Brekkee - *Corbantis-Callale* Will premiun pearl drops be fixed with the Trials of ObiWan expansion?
TH - Premium Pearls
TH - Currently, Premium Pearls do not drop. We will bring them back into the game once we figure out a favorable implementation of
these special items; there is not specific ETA for this change and all players that have the old Premium Pearls will get to keep them
in the interim.
Brekkee - *Phaelyn* Obi Wan seems to have a few new designs that we've heard thus far - New unique MOBs for instance - Will there be
more ground breaking changes in Obi Wan that we haven't heard of yet?
SpaceRancor - Phaelyn* Yes. There will be some content additions in the Trials of Obi-Wan, the likes which Star Wars Galaxies players
have never experienced. Unforunately, we cannot go into details at this time.
Brekkee - *Phaelyn* With the changes coming to Squad Leader and Ranger, can we expect more sweeping changes to professions such as
Smuggler, to give each profession a more unique role in the SWG universe?
Neif - Phaelyn, Squad Leader and Ranger are two key professions that we're singled out as needing change to become more compelling and
useful professions. That said, we are looking at doing more profession revamps after these two. Expect some great changes to other
professions in the future.
Brekkee - *Zeranthos* Will Trials of Obi-Wan have Jedi specific content, only available to Jedi characters?
SpaceRancor - *Zeranthos* We tried to stay away from content that only a single class could take part in. With Trials of Obi-Wan we
wanted to make sure that everyone had a number of things to do.
Brekkee - *beer* question :) can you give any examples of new craftable items and resources in new expasion ?
SpaceRancor - *beer* Without going into details...because those will be coming up closer to launch...there will be new craftables and
there will be new resources.
Brekkee - *Guest80* I would like to know if the new jedi robes will be inplemented with the expansion. Also will the new robes have
slots for clothing attachments? And if so how many slots?
SpaceRancor - *Guest80* Jedi robes...you want Jedi robes? Well we just might have some new robes, with some new effects on them in
store for you all. But you will have to wait and see what those effects will be.
Brekkee - *RogueJedi86* Will the Squad Leader single-person buffs be appliable to the Squad Leader himself if he's not in a group?
Keldarin - *RogueJedi86* Currently the single target buffs are not able to be used on the Squad Leader at all. I'm looking into the
balance implications of allowing those to be used on yourself and will enable it as long as they are not unbalancing.
Brekkee - *BigGonz109* Will the rumored schematic rewards be single use items, or some form of crafter quest for items that can be sold
to everyone?
Rogue_5 - We will have both types in the new expansion.
Brekkee - *Terari* hey, i was wondering if the expansion will add any new content that is as challenging as the Death Watch Bunker.
Currently the DWB is the hardest in the game, and I'd like to see more than one of these types of dungeons.
SpaceRancor - *Terari* There will be some really amazing new challenges in store for the SWG player. We have some surprises in store
that will push the limits of what a team of players can accomplish.
Brekkee - *Twi* Is the 8-passenger vehicle the only pre-order bonus planned for the Trials of Obiwan expansion?
Rogue_5 - As part of the expansion you will get not only the new 8 player vehicle, but also early access to the expansion on Oct 25th,
one week before everyone else.
Brekkee - *Anon5869* Should we expect rewards similar to those in the RotW expansion or will they be geared to a higher range of
players?
SpaceRancor - *Anon5869* The pre-order rewards for the Trials of Obi-Wan will be highly desirable for all of our players...believe
me...I want them =D.
Brekkee - *Corbantis-Callale* While the new ranger revamp looks really exciting as a profession, will it be given combat abilities? I
didnt see that mentioned
Helios - *Corbantis-Callale*, Ranger will have some combat skill mods and the traps skill tree will provide additional offensive
capabilitites. We don't, however, currently have any weapon specials planned for the profession
Brekkee - *LgEnder* Is the upcoming Extended Maintenance Cycle on Thursday September 22nd to make the changes that have recently been
made to TC to all servers? If so what performnce increases does it entail?
TH - The extended maintenance cycle is where our platform team does database maintenance and unix file maintenance.
TH - Part of that is a big database back up ;)
Brekkee - *Ridden* Will new cybernetics be implented with ToOW?
SpaceRancor - *Ridden* I am afraid that no new cybernetics will be added with Trials of Obi-Wan.
Brekkee - *Bossou* Will the new planet be instanced?
SpaceRancor - *Bossou* The planet will not be instanced like we did with Kashyyyk. Mustafar will be a far more open world, more like
the original planets then the instanced and zoned areas of Mustafar. That being said there will be instanced portions when the
content requires focus on the player and their group.
Brekkee - *HadoVebeap* Hi Swg Dev's, are there any news if you will add something worth to be hunted? Atm only Bh mark drop highend
stuff, this is pretty unfair for everyother prof. Are there any plan if NS or other high end mobs will finaly drop something usefull
again?
Neif - We've definitely got high-end loot planned for ToW, and for a variety of professions :) In addition to combat loot, expect to
see some collectable, unique loot.
Brekkee - *Anon4881* At this years Fan Fest, a video was shown that strongly hinted at Player Capital Ships. When will more information
on these ships be released?
Rogue_5 - The video was a technology test straight from a developer's desk that we decided to share with the Fan Fest attendees. It
does not necessarily represent anything we are currently doing with the game.
Brekkee - *Twi* Rogue_5 answered that the new vehicle and early access are the pre-order rewards. But then SpaceRancor tells another
player that the pre-order rewards are highly desirable, giving the idea there's /more/ on the way. Which is it?
SpaceRancor - *Twi* We are both correct. Vehicle, early access, and more... Information on the more will be upcoming sometime in the
future.
Brekkee - *Nerfed_Jedi* Will cloaked jedi be untargettable, un-followable, totally unattackable(including AOE)?
Helios - We're working on fixing all issues that would allow hidden people to be detected/targeted outside of the intended game
mechanics. Currently, AOE attacks will affect all players in the area, as a weapon has no concept of what is visible and what is not.
Brekkee - *Nerfed_Jedi* Since ROTW contained so much Ep3 content/loot, will we be expecting loot and items from Ep3 in this one also?
For example, can I expect to find Anakin's legs and arm near the lava pool? Thanks!
SpaceRancor - *Nerfed_jedi* There will be lot of different types of loot to be found on Mustafar. Everything from Relics of the Old
Republic to items dating from the Clone Wars. But no limbs...
Brekkee - *Red-Dwarf* Is the early access to ToOW for pre-orders access to beta or access to the content on live servers?
Rogue_5 - The early access is for the Trials of Obi-Wan once it hits the live servers. Anyone who buys it will be able to access the
content on November 1st. Anyone who pre-orders it will get access one week earlier, on October 25th.
Brekkee - *Twi* Can we expect any Free content to be added to the game after the expansion and certain profession revamps are finished?
TH - We will continue to keep publishing new stuff with each new publish :)
Brekkee - *Ekklo* Will we be able to use the new Ranger traps against creatures?
Helios - Currently, all ranger skills/items only take humanoids as targets, while Scout traps/skills are more creature-centric. We'll
continue to evaluate this mechanic during playtesting and keep you posted on any developments.
Brekkee - *Anon4881* Many Bounty Hunters expressed concern with Revenge of the Wookiees, as Jedi targets could not be tracked via
conventional means whilst on Kashyyk. Will Bounty Hunters be able to track Jedi marks on Mustafar using their seeker droids?
SpaceRancor - *Anon4881* Bounty Hunters will be able to track their targets to Mustafar.
Brekkee - *Animosity* Will rangers replace BE in the base takedowns?
Keldarin - There are currently no plans to change GCW base shut down procedure.
Brekkee - *Corbantis-Callale* Regarding the new ranger revamp, it was mentioned that a "steal" ability would be given to the rangers.
Could you elaborate on how this will be implemented in the game? By itself, it doesnt sound very desireable.
Helios - Stealing, at release, will be a PvE mechanic to allow you some extra interaction with humanoid NPCs that you could normally
attack. Instead of attacking them straight out, you can try to sneak up on them to relieve them of some extra treasures. Stealing
from NPCs will not affect the loot they drop when they are killed. Stealing won't net you anything fabulous all the time, but over
time it can provide some extra income.
Helios - You can hop on the SWG forums to get more details on the stealing skill.
Brekkee - *WesBelden* A developer recently stated while working on Squad Leader that they wanted to ensure the profession’s abilities
stacked in a group as well as damage and healing does (i.e., 8 damage dealers = one damage dealer x8 effectiveness); are there any
plans to ensure that Crowd Control/mezzing is just as effective when stacked so that the professions whose role it is to be a CC
specialist are made just as viable
Keldarin - Balancing the Crowd-Control professions so they stack in a meaningful and useful way is defintely a goal. That said, the
design of Crowd-Control does not immediately lend itself to easy stacking solutions. There are not any changes currently planned to
address usefullness of multiple crowd-control player but we will be constantly analysing and adjusting as we can.
Brekkee - *jexicredent* On Star Wars Official site there is a screenshot the appears to be players wearing some kind of equipment that
goes over the eye. If this is nit cybernetics what is it and does it do anything?
Neif - That eye equipment you see in the screenshot is actually the special edition goggles given to Japanese players. Unfortunately
owning the Japanese collector's edition would be the only way to obtain the goggles ;)
Brekkee - *Corbantis-Callale* Oh, another ranger question... can you tell us what the prereq's for ranger will be?
Helios - We're going with Carbines IV & Exploration IV for now.
Brekkee - *Nerfed_Jedi* Concerning the squad leader changes. Will bounty hunters be able to gain bonuses from a grouped SL while on a
jedi mission? If so, can they group with 7 squad leaders and stack things up?
Keldarin - Squad Leader group buffs follow the standard PvP rules for buffing. This means that new buffs cannot be applied to a Jedi
or BH that are already engaged in combat, existing buffs however will remain. As always we will be watching closely the balance
implications of this and adjust if needed.
Brekkee - *JohnnyFive* How is Tiggs doing right now? I heard she was sick... is she alright?
TH - Tiggs is ok - - thanks for asking. She should be back soon. I'll make sure to pass along your well wishes :)
Brekkee - That will wrap up the chat for tonight. I’d like to thank the folks from Star Wars Galaxies for coming! But don’t go anywhere
yet! We have two SWG Grab Bags to give away. The Grab bags could contain Figurines or Patches!
Helios - Have fun everyone. :)
Neif - Thanks for coming everyone
SpaceRancor - Later everyone. Thanks for coming .
Peahi - Thank you everyone for coming and we look forward to seeing you next time!
Keldarin - Thanks everyone, have a good night and good luck on the trivia.
Rogue_5 - Thanks for coming tonight! Talk to you all again soon.
Brekkee - I will be asking one trivia question the first two people to send me the correct answer will win
Brekkee - Answers should be sent to me via private message and Only me. To send the answers to me you will type /msg Brekkee My answer
here.
Brekkee - This contest is only open to users with a US mailing address. We apologize to our non-US users but we are only able to ship
the grab bags within the United States
Brekkee - Now to get on with the Trivia! Get your messages ready!
Brekkee - Q: What is the name of Chewbacca's wife?
Brekkee - and we have our two winners
Brekkee - Congratulations RogueJedi86 and Jenden for getting the correct answer of Mallatobuck
Brekkee - Please don't go anywhere I will contact you both shortly
Brekkee - That will do it for tonight! The log for tonight’s chat will be up shortly on http://swg.stratics.com. Thank you all for
joining us! You can join #StarWars to chat more about the game.
