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It's been a busy time for the developers of Star Wars Galaxies recently. We spent the majority of 2006 polishing and enhancing elements of the game that our players felt needed attention.
Specifically, players wanted to feel unique, so we differentiated our classes through a Profession Expertise system that added two different skill paths from which players can choose new abilities. Not only did this offer players many opportunities to customize their characters, but it also allowed them to differentiate their characters and gave them a reason to group together.
Now, no two Jedi, commandos, smugglers, etc. are truly alike. We also put in some profession-based systems for smugglers and bounty hunters, as well as added quest content for all the players to enjoy. Also, we revitalized our combat and added faction rankings to the game that added a great many more challenges, rewards and fun. In addition, we introduced a brand-new battlefield in Restuss that offers players a PvP/PvE area.
As a result of our efforts last year, we feel the game is stronger and more polished than it has ever been and we are proud of the work we put forth. Needless to say, 2006 was a busy year, but all of our efforts have set us up nicely to do some cool things in 2007.
The recent release of Chapter 5 culminates our year-long process of implementing the Profession Expertise System, with the introduction of the systems for entertainers and traders. In addition, entertainers received some great new features in Chapter 5 that expands their role in the game and even allows them to take a more expanded role in group combat.
The new build-a-buff system gives entertainers the ability to handcraft a buff for themselves or other players, a truly unique and versatile system that has never been done before. Entertainers also received a talent that allows them to create an entire holographic band, "Holoband", which creates multiple band members in the player's image that join the player as one. Holograms, of course, are steeped in Star Wars lore as communications and memory storage systems, so it's nice to be able to tap that for the features we implement in the game.
Traders also received new features in Chapter 5, specifically a very complex, but fun reverse-engineering system. This gives traders the ability to deconstruct items in the game world and transfer their stat bonus to other objects. With this new skill, traders have become even more important to the in-game economy. Also, one of our favorite new trader abilities is that Droid Engineers can now craft Droideka droids. All the Droidekas scurrying about the world is truly a sight to see.
However, the most satisfying part of Chapter 5 has to be the feedback we received through our community playing on our Test Center, and our initial feedback post-launch. The response has been very positive and the new systems are now being actively used.
Building on all the features and systems we implemented in 2006, this year will see the addition of even more content for Star Wars Galaxies. The whole development team is really excited about all the early design work that is in progress for the Beast Master Expertise system which will be released in Chapter 6. Players will have fun crafting their pets, trading or keeping the eggs, then hatching and raising them.
As players adventure into the world they will find creatures that will give them DNA cores that they can load into their incubator and create their pet. We are giving the players the freedom to customize their pet, making them more defensive, offensive, and so on. It is going to be a very cool system for all of our players to try out. For those veteran players who are worried about the status of their older pets, we can assure you that we are working to ensure the pets will keep their look and the names that you gave them long ago.
Over the coming weeks we will be releasing lots of information regarding our full plans for 2007, starting with even more information on Chapter 6. We'll be communicating these plans through Warcry.com and through StarWarsGalaxies.com. All in all, 2007 promises to be a fun year for Star Wars Galaxies, so stay tuned. And, may the Force be with you!
Thomas Blair, Star Wars: Galaxies lead designer, Sony Online Entertainment
Jake Neri, Star Wars: Galaxies producer, LucasArts
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