The great thing about Comic-Con is that so many different types of popular media and art are available, and I was not disappointed after a visit to the LucasArts booth, where Champions of the Force was being shown. Marco Cresenti spent about an hour going over the game with me, even playing a full game to completion with his NPC opponent.

Champions of the Force (CotF) is the Online Trading Card Game intermixed with the Sony Online Entertainment MMO Star Wars: Galaxies, similar to their EQ and EQ2 game Legends of Norrath. CotF can be played from a stand alone client or from within the SWG client, though you must be either a current or former subscriber to access the game.

Over 20 loot cards are included in the launch set of CotF, all available from booster packs, rather then starter decks, and they have some pretty neat stuff to show! From a Jawa Vendor to the exclusive images below, you can expect some good stuff for your in game fun! These items will be randomly inserted into the virtual booster packs that will be available from the online store once the game goes live. Booster packs will also be lootable in game, but only during special events. They will not be added to the loot tables for all creatures at all times in the Galaxies world.

Using over 250 cards with incredibly unique and Star Warsy (shocking) art, players will choose 50 cards to make up their playable deck. The first few cards played out of your deck will determine whether the player will receive bonuses from the light or dark side. So if you make a deck of mostly light cards but play a few dark cards first, you may end up with bonuses not being utilized as well as they could be. Your avatar, however, begins as either light or dark, and the course of the game play will not change that.

A tutorial offers an introduction to the Champions of the Force rules and play styles, ensuring that players know what they're getting into, and can compete well even if they've never touched a trading card game before. These tutorials cover all the different aspects of play, and take you through each step, before moving into the next area of instruction. In order to win players compete for quest cards played on the virtual mat, or can attack and defend their avatars against enemy troops.

Players can choose to play a storyline version, the details of which have not been much discussed, though we know a Jedi holocron is involved. Or you can challenge other players to one on one battles. The four arch types, of Rebel, Jedi, Imperial and Sith, will be pitted against each other in tournaments or will work closely in raid encounters. These storyline games will be light vs. dark. The storyline takes place after Star Wars IV: A New Hope but before Hoth, where Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back begins. Where it takes us has not yet been announced, but the team all seems very excited for the chance to tell a story through another medium.

Players win the games either by winning quest cards which are fought over by cards representing troops from both opponents, or by sending those troops to attack opposing avatars directly. Each avatar has a health bar, and when it runs out, you've lost. Accordingly, if you've survived long enough to capture the most quest cards, or have defeated the other avatar, you've won!

SWG subscribers will receive five free non-transferable booster packs a month, leaving one to wonder how long it will take to collect them all, and how many players this will actually bring back to the game. In fact, it makes one wonder how helpful it is to limit the game to current and former subscribers to SWG (and Station Access subscribers). Why limit your player base?

In game commands such as ignore and friend will not carry over to the CotF client, but the game's own client will be fully functional with chat and the commands that go along with it, we've all come to know.

Pricing of the cards has not yet been determined, and future expansion sets for the cards is not being announced either. Whether this is a watch and wait attitude to see how popular the game is, or a smart move to see how players utilize card sets and where they might want the storyline to be, or even a chance to tie an in game story to the card game storyline, remains to be seen.

Tournaments and special playing events are being planned, along with ladder rankings and leader boards. As is unfortunately common, European players are not eligible for prizes and are therefore unable to enter tournaments. While this is caused by legal issues of awarding prizes, it's still a shame, and affects many players who'd otherwise be able to take part.

SOE Fan Faire, scheduled for next week in Las Vegas, will feature loot cards for those in attendance as well as demos and hopefully we'll hear news of the beta, which is supposed to begin by the end of summer.

Becky "Tovin" Simpson
Staff Writer, ZAM Network