Implementation
of Star Wars Galaxies on the Emperor's Hammer
Introduction to Star Wars
Galaxies:
Star Wars Galaxies is a massive
online no genre game being created by Lucas Arts. The goal of Star
Wars Galaxies is to capture all aspects of the Star Wars universe.
Players will be able to own shops, be bounty hunters, or do what
ever they want! With Star Wars Galaxies characters will become very
unique because of the different roles, species, and the branching
skill chart used. Star Wars Galaxies supports Player Associations.
I think it would be in the best interest of the Emperor's Hammer
to create a player association when Star Wars Galaxies is released
in approximately 2002.
Standard Information on Star
Wars Galaxies:
Alien Species: A multiformity
of alien species will be introduced into Star Wars Galaxies. Certain
species will not prohibit players from playing roles. It should
be noted that Imperial officials would hold aliens in lower regard
than humans.
Planets: Star Wars Galaxies
will be using many of the more familiar planets such as Tatooine
and Hoth, but new un-discovered planets will be added. Space travel
will be allowed and transition from area to area will be seamless.
Time Setting: The time setting
for Star Wars Galaxies will be held during the Galactic Civil War.
This time frame allows for Star Wars fans to be in familiar settings
but still leaves room for expansion. Characters will not be able
to assume the role of major characters during the conflict such
as Darth Vader and Han Solo, but they will be able to see and interact
with them on occasions.
Player vs. Player: A PvP combat
system is being developed to allow characters to fight in duels
and with NPC's (Non-player Characters), however they are trying
to take steps to prevent random Player Killing.
Combat: Lucas Arts emphasizes
that combat does not have to be a large part of the game, but will
still exist. A combat system similar to Dark Jedi will be used.
When a character dies it will not be permanent.
Skills: Instead of using level
ups a skill system will be used involving branching or spheres of
skill. As of now there is not much information on what skills will
be available. Character species will affect these skills in positive
and negative ways.
Force Skills: Characters will
be able to play as Dark Jedi and construct they're own lightsabers.
The force skill system is the same as the basic skill system (See
above).
Structure of an Emperor's
Hammer Player Association:
Star Wars Galaxies is still
in very early production so not many details are available on the
actual game and how Player Associations would be integrated into
it. As of right now Star Wars Galaxies is going to be integrated
into the Fringe, the Emperor's Hammer Role Playing game sub-group.
Depending on the success and size of the game this may be the best
possible path or the worst one. Lucas Arts tries to emphasis that
Star Wars Galaxies is not meant to be a Role-playing game, but can
be played as one. Lets explore some ulterior paths. One option would
be to allow Emperor's Hammer members to add this game to their skill
profiles. If Star Wars Galaxies becomes a massive online Role-Playing
game an option would be to go as far as to create a Sub-Group the
specifically does Star Wars Galaxies. One possible drawback of creating
a Sub-Group would be that characters uniqueness would be taken away.
It would be expected that all players assume the role of an Imperial
soldier or pilot, and many characters may not want to wish to be
either of those things. If the Sub-Group was to diverse it would
be meaningless and there would be no real representation of the
Emperor's Hammer on the server that this game will be played. A
solution may be to create divisions within this Sub-Group such as
citizens, infiltrators, soldiers and pilots. Star Wars Galaxies
could also be integrated into the Emperor's Hammer on a Sub-Group
by subgroup basis. For example members of the Hammer's Fist would
play as stormtroopers, members of the Advanced Guard would play
as diplomats and members of the TIE Corps could play as pilots.
This also brings up the same issues on the uniqueness of characters.
Conclusion:
Star Wars Galaxies could be
a huge success for the Emperor's Hammer greatly increasing the amount
of members if it is properly implemented. For more information go
to: http://www.starwarsgalaxies.com.
Sources:
http://www.starwarsgalaxies.com
CMDR/MAJ Fondor/Python/Wing
XV/ISD Vanguard
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