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Final SWG producer's letter thanks community
Community was one of many things that set Star Wars: Galaxies apart from your average MMO, and Sony Online Entertainment's Tony "Teesquared" Tyson took a moment to thank the game's faithful in what serves as the final producer's letter for the shuttered sandbox title. Tyson touches on several highlights including housing, crafting, entertaining, and space-sim mechanics that were unique to SWG, and he ultimately concludes that the game "was, and will always be, a meaningful and memorable part of my life, an experience I'll treasure and share with anyone who wants to hear a good story." SOE launched SWG on June 26, 2003 and powered down the servers one final time early this morning.
Newest producer's letter released for Star Wars Galaxies
Despite the layoffs and restructuring that has recently hit Sony Online Entertainment, Star Wars Galaxies is still going strong and improving. Producer Teesquared has chimed in for this month's producer's letter, outlining some of the planned additions to the game over the course of the next year. And what will that entail? Outlined in the letter are updates to the ongoing Galactic Civil War. Players can look forward to Galactic Civil War 2 being split into three updates to allow for faster release, with part one adding more objectives in space and three new fighter ships to help achieve those objectives. Part two will bring the war more directly to player-run cities and guilds, while part three will be a general balancing pass aimed at improving the game all around. While Teesquared spends a great deal of time looking back at the past year and outlining the changes that have been made to the game, it looks like Star Wars Galaxies players can look forward to a mix of system tweaks, PvP improvements, and content additions. Fans should take a look at the full letter for more details.
Star Wars Galaxies producer's letter talks space bounties, new player ships
Star Wars Galaxies just launched its 19.12 Entertainer update, but that doesn't mean the dev team at Sony Online Entertainment is taking it easy. Tony "Teesquared" Tyson has posted a new producer's letter to the official SWG forums that offers a hint of what's to come over the next few patches. The main thrust is the ongoing development of Galactic Civil War 2, and Tyson says the update will be released in three parts. Part one will focus on the space game, part two will involve player cities, and part three will be "a balance pass on the different GCW systems including planetary control." The space update looks to be particularly juicy, with a new player ship and space-based bounty hunting on the way. The new hardware is a Scurrg H-6 prototype bomber, an example of which is the heavily modified Havoc flown by the Feeorin pirate Nym in Star Wars lore. The Scurrg will be available to freelance pilots, and Tyson says the team is also planning to add new craft for Imperial and Rebel pilots in a future patch.
Star Wars Galaxies producer's letter talks galactic civil war, Officer updates
Despite the old "make love not war" saying, Star Wars Galaxies' January producer's letter is making both, and it's also crammed full of update news for a galaxy far, far away. Tony "Teesquared" Tyson talks about various high-level design concepts currently in the works for SWG's galactic civil war system, including player city invasions, space-based scenarios, and balance issues. There's also a sizable update for the Officer profession in the works, including a new melee special ability, increased viability for carbine users, increased troop strength, and the oft-requested ability to equip Mandalorian armor. Teesquared also mentions upcoming Galactic Senate nominations, tweaks to the game's bazaar, and the Ewok Festival of Love which kicks off on February 10th and runs for a month. This year's festival features new storyteller props, a new badge, and new rewards to tickle your fancy. Last but not least, new veteran rewards are on the way, the Tyson says they favor function over form this time around. "One will have something to do with profession respecs and the other will be resource related. And they will be tradable in case none of those ideas interests you," he writes.
Star Wars Galaxies looks to the latest update and beyond
The most recent update to Star Wars Galaxies was a big one all around, adding in the Wookiee Life Day event for the holiday and new content for the Witches of Dathomir. So it's no surprise that the newest producer's letter from Teesquared focuses on several sides of the multifaceted update -- but it doesn't stop there. The letter also addresses some of what players can expect to kick off the next year, as well as notes that the Rebels have regained control of the ongoing Galactic Civil War. For starters, players can expect the long-awaited update to Officers and the Galactic Civil War 2 update, with the latter bringing space and player cities into the ongoing struggle for the galaxy. Players can also look forward to some new old structures becoming available -- according to the letter, the models have existed in the game files but haven't ever been quite finished and implemented before now. And the update promises to give characters more ways to access Rare Loot System chests that don't rely upon the more frequent method of combat. Star Wars Galaxies players should take a look at the full letter and start getting excited about the new year -- it's not so far away.
Star Wars Galaxies begins the Witch trials
The Force witches have ruled Dathomir for over 600 years, and SOE has decided to place renewed focus on these unique characters in Star Wars Galaxies with its new update simply titled The Witches of Dathomir. Limited information has been given regarding what this update entails, but we were given hints in our email interview with producer Tony Tyson. This weekend, the prologue to the update was placed on SWG's test server. Further clues to what this feature holds were given to us in forum posts by developers. The quest starts when you visit Warlord Omogg, who is looking to hire people willing to explore the wilds of Dathomir. The prologue allows the player to align either with the Nightsisters or the Singing Mountain Clan, two major opposing factions of witches. Although the rest of the story has yet to be revealed, Mikkel "Hjal" Jensen, Lead Designer for SWG, assures us in a couple of forum posts, "You'll be able to switch sides so you'll be able to do both sides of the themepark," and "both the prologue and the theme park are going to have some rewards unique to each side [faction] and some rewards that are the same for both sides [factions]." Be sure to sign up for the SWG Test Center in your Station Launcher to get a sneak peek at this highly anticipated update.
Squaring off with SWG's producer, Teesquared
The fans of Star Wars Galaxies are stalwart. Despite all the trouble the game has gone through, it features one of the most active communities in the Sony Online Entertainment library of MMOs. The developers have noticed this and have continued to work diligently on new content for the loyal players. Recently, we took the opportunity to ask SWG's current Producer Tony "Teesquared" Tyson some questions about the present and future of the title. He answered all our inquiries about holiday events, future updates, the Galactic Civil War, and the Trading Card Game. Some exciting things are coming! Follow us after the break to find out what future holds in a galaxy far, far away...
Star Wars Galaxies puts up producer's notes from Fan Faire
The big showstoppers at Sony Online Entertainment's Fan Faire this year were the presentations on the EverQuest franchise and DC Universe Online, without a doubt. But to neglect Star Wars Galaxies is unfair to the game's long history, as well as to the fact that the game had quite a presentation at the celebrated event. In a recent producer's note, Teesquared shared several photos from the event as well as the notes from the Galactic Gathering panel, outlining everything planned for the game in the not-too-distant future. While the photos are nice for fans who missed it, the notes are the meaty part of the announcement, discussing everything from the next major content update to future event plans. The Witches of Dathomir is the next planned major content push, with repeatable content and a number of new clothing options for players. Big plans are also on the horizon for the Galactic Civil War, including invasions in space with capital ships and integration for player-created cities. It looks to be an interesting ride for the future of Star Wars Galaxies, so players are advised to take a look at the full notes for a hint of what's coming.
SWG producer's note talks rare loot, GCW changes
Tony "Teesquared" Tyson, producer on Sony Online Entertainment's Star Wars Galaxies, has posted a producer's letter on the official SWG website that mentions a few noteworthy additions in store for the long-running sandbox title. He also takes a brief moment to tease some new content in the works, hinted at in the screenshot above. The letter talks about everything from Galactic Civil War and profession tweaks, to no-trade removal, to a new rare loot system. "The Rare Loot System will allow us to add some really cool loot to the game that players will have a chance to loot off of any mob they encounter. There are restrictions however. The restrictions are in place so that farming mobs or generally killing trash mobs (AOE FTW) won't give you a chance to get this new loot. You have to play the game and fight challenging mobs to earn a chance to find this loot," Tyson says. Visit the official website for all the details.
Star Wars Galaxies strikes back, 30 years later
If someone walked up to you on the street and told you that, this month, The Empire Strikes Back is 30 years old, how would you respond? Weeping at the ravages of time? A proud salute to one of the pinnacles of scifi cinema? A quick step away from a stranger who is now looking at you with shifty eyes? For the crew over at Star Wars Galaxies, the response to Empire's anniversary is to lavish players with gifts and goodies. In a recent Producer Note, dev Teesquared was pleased to announce that the entire month of May would be devoted to celebrating this milestone. Each week, all characters over 10 days old will be the recipient of a collection item and an in-game gift -- get all four gifts, and a fifth gift will be tossed in absolutely free! (Wait, is this starting to feel like an infomercial?) You'll also want to swing over to Hoth, obviously, and check out a few special loot drops, including a mystical snow globe that contains the spirit of the Wampa. Other highlights of this article include plans to tune up the Jedi and Beast Master professions, a switch of many no-trade items to make them tradable, and future events such as SWG's 7th Anniversary and the return of Empire Day. Head on over to the Star Wars Galaxies forum for the full broadcast!
