Last week, I dropped by the Italian forums to chat with your Italian counterparts. They had a number of good questions, so I thought I'd provide a transcript here for everyone's benefit. Don't expect any huge revelations, but there might be a tidbit or two that you didn't know about before. Q: What is your job in SWG team? A: I'm the LucasArts Producer for Star Wars Galaxies, which right now includes the core product (Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided), the live updates, and the upcoming space expansion. I'm responsible for ensuring the product schedule and quality from a LucasArts end. I'm also sort of the "Star Wars guy" for the team. Q: Did Mr. Lucas help you in the development of SWG? And if yes, how? I hope so, considering that SWG is by far the most important game about hte Star Wars universe! If he helped you, can we expect some cool event exclusive to SWG players (something like "episode VII"... ) A: This is a great question! As with all our games, we receive a ton of input from Lucasfilm Licensing, which is the division of Lucasfilm responsible for approving everything from comic books to action figures to video games. I had many long conversations with the editors at Lucasfilm Licensing to ensure that we weren't doing anything that would tread on George Lucas' plans for Episodes I-III. In a few instances, questions had to be answered by George Lucas himself. He had to approve our use of Naboo in the game, for example. Because Star Wars Galaxies is so large, we can use elements from virtually every other Star Wars source, including the new films, novels, comics, etc. As we move forward, we'll be staying as involved with the evolving Star Wars universe as possible. Whether we'll see any "exclusive" content is still unknown, but it's a great idea that we'll pursue! Q: Don't you think that [player cities] are pretty ugly? Will we ever be able to build walls, add things so as to make them more beautiful (a city chat, sort of things like those...)? A: Actually, I think that a player city with the right decorations can be quite beautiful... Right now, players can add parks, street lamps, fountains, various plants, statues, and special signs for houses, aside from all the different buildings. There aren't any plans to add walls in the near future, but it's a good idea and we'll discuss it with the team. Military-minded cities right now *can* surround their cities with minefields and turrets. Q: Will [player cities] be important for GCW? A: We would like the player cities to be important in the evolving Galactic Civil War. We're working on the design now. Q: I know it might sound strange, but this is a question that bugs me a lot. I've always been and still am very skeptical about paying a monhtly fee to play online (I play Ultima Online for free). Which are the reasons why players should be encouraged to pay a monthly fee to play Galaxies? What's the big deal in that? A: We actually hear this question a lot for all MMOs. Supporting an online game is expensive for a developer and publisher. Here are a few reasons why: *With Star Wars Galaxies, we want to keep the experience fresh and exciting for players over many months (and hopefully years). In order to do that, we need to support a live team that builds new content for players. The Live Team was responsible for adding player cities, player vehicles, player mounts, as well as all the new "Adventure Areas," like the Geonosian Biolab and the forthcoming Corellian Corvette. Of course, we have to pay all these people for their amazing work. *Because the game is played online, we have to set up a number of servers for all the content. When you play, you're actually connecting to one of the servers that we pay for. Paying for the backend hardware and the bandwidth can be expensive. *Customer Support is very important to MMOs, so we pay for that too... Basically, the subscription fee helps pay for the ongoing service - because MMOs really are a "service" - and ensure that you can play the game for many months to come. Q: Surely one of the most awaited games of the year is Blizzard's World of Warcraft. Despite the Space Expansion, how much do you fear the incoming of WoW? Are there any other MMORPGs that could cause trouble to Galaxies? A: Actually, I'm *excited* about other MMOs being released because, historically, each MMO has only grown the market. In other words, every time an MMO releases, more people are introduced to the concept of MMO gaming and that's good for everyone in the games industry. Q: Are you afraid of something [specific] about WoW? Are you planning any defensive strategies for that? A: Right now, we're very focused on the Space Expansion (more info coming in the next few weeks [note: actually, days!]). We believe the Space Expansion is going to set us apart from other MMOs currently on the market or on the horizon. Q: I'd like to ask you for some explanations and if possible, to give you some suggestions on PvP. From what I saw after playing a month, it's not possible to attack and kill another PG, unless you ask a special "permission" for doing it. You can only do it if the two characters belong to different factions (and they are overt). This is a good way to get rid of the people who think it's funny to kill all the newbies (it happened a lot in UO). Have you ever thought at removing the "permission" system and implementing something like a law enforcement to control this issue? There's one thing which I think should be considered a "limit" for the fun in the game, and that's the impossibility of gathering objects from a corpse. You can play with all your objects with you, and you'll never lose them. So the presence of a bank seems a little useless. And there's no point in killing someone if I can't get his beautiful armor. Battles between factions become pointless too... A: PvP is a very tricky issue for us. On the one hand, it's exciting and fun and we think that players enjoy being Rebels or Imperials and fighting one another. On the other hand, it can be very scary for some players, especially those who are new to MMOs, and any PvP system can easily be abused. We did everything in our power to stop people from becoming "griefers" - i.e., players who only play to ruin the experience for other players (especially new players). Our current system allows players to engage in PvP willingly and with full knowledge of the risks. In the early design phases, we talked about having some sort of "law enforcement" or giving the community the tools to police itself, but this didn't work out for other games, so we avoided it. Looting corpses is also something that keeps players from engaging in PvP. Q: As of today PvP works only if you're buffed. if you die, buff disappears and so long, PvP! Will this situation change? A: Our goal with PvP is to include some interdependency between players, so we like the fact that players use buffs when entering PvP. We have discussed whether the buffs should remain active even after death, but no final decision has been made yet. Q: When will the battlefields be open again? A: We're not sure. After seeing how battlefields functioned on Live, we weren't happy with them. We're looking at ways to revise battlefields to make them more fun and more important to players. Q: What about a free trial client? I think this is a big problem for a lot of potential players. I did not buy Galaxies because I'm afraid I'm not gonna like the game. I'd prefer to try it for free for a couple of weeks and then decide whether to buy it or uninstall it... A: This is something that we're discussing, but there are many logistics involved, so no ETA on when we can pull this off. I understand the desire, though, and we agree that it's a good idea. Q: SMUGGLING: I think that the role of the smugglers would need a clearer definition! We can't smuggle anything now! A lot of players are suggesting to introduce a SMUGGLER MISSION TERMINAL so that also smugglers can XP and smuggle illegal objects from one planet to another. What do you think about that? A: Smuggler is one of the professions at the top of our list for revision/expansion. We're looking at ways to make the smugglers feel like they're, well, smuggling stuff. We did add some cool features as part of the Imperial Crackdown - smugglers reduce the chance that a group will get scanned or harassed by Imperials, for example. Q: Are you planning developments and new features for the bounty hunter? A: Bounty hunter is a very popular profession, so we'll always be considering ways to enhance it. Right now, we're working on a new "Adventure Area" that will provide bounty hunters with some great loot and other rewards. Q: Will we ever see [player bounties] other than Jedis? A: We'd like to do this - it was part of our original design - but we haven't found a design that isn't open to all kinds of exploits and griefing... We would really like to tie it to mission failure somehow and we continue to discuss it. Eventually, it's likely that the addition of non-Jedi player bounty hunter targets will be introduced alongside some sort of player-generated mission system. Q: In these days the Jedi job is killing the game... not because there are too many of them, but because of *how" you become a jedi. To become a jedi you have to be master in 5 random jobs, and as a direct result lot of people begin to master all the jobs, and this system kills the guilds, so you have people XPing all day long, abandoning every concept behind a RPG game, neglecting your guild... Eventually, the game would have been more interesting *without* the ability to become a jedi... please, give new rules to the universe because this system is killing SWG... A: We agree that the Jedi-qualification system needs a revamp. An unforeseen side effect of our current Jedi Holocron system is "Holocron grinding" during which players do whatever they can to gain XP in professions, including using Macros and being AFK. We don't like the fact that, when you enter a cantina, some of the entertainers might be AFK for long stretches. We're actively redesigning both the Jedi progression (i.e., how you advance as a Jedi, what you gain, etc.) and the Jedi qualification system (i.e., how you become Force Sensitive). The new system will hopefully resolve most of these issues. Q: As of today droid are not so used in fightings because they are not so powerful and have little carisma. When will be possible to use droidekas? When will be possible to use Episode I's droids? Which limits will the droids have? A: We actually had a *huge* debate about this internally. The fear is that handing out droidekas to all players will make players over-powered (and, in many cases, players are over-powered right now). We don't want players being able to easily beat all the content in the game - there needs to be some challenges, things to work towards defeating, and enemies that can only be defeated by a group or several groups. From a continuity standpoint, droids like battle droids and droidekas have been outlawed by the Empire, so again, we didn't want everyone to have one of these droids. One proposed solution was the creation of some sort of new profession, like creature handler, for controlling high-end combat droids. But our focus right now is in enhancing existing professions rather than adding new professions, so we put that on the backburner. Eventually, we'd like players to have access to droidekas and other combat droids, but we need a sane plan for this and we just don't have one yet. You can see these droids in-game as enemies, though. Q: Are you planning to introduce new playable races in the game? A: Yes, but I can't reveal anything about which ones (or how many, or when...) yet. Stay tuned... Q: I think that these two vehicles [speeder bike and swoop] get older a bit too quickly! And the repair costs are far too expensive!!! The painting tool has a too limited duration and a high cost: 3000 credits (average price on Chimaera) for less than a week use! A consequence of this is that people get tired and end up using the same old - and boring - color! A: Thanks for the feedback on the vehicles. We did add them knowing that they'd be somewhat costly to maintain over the long term because, quite frankly, many players in our game have a lot of credits! The economy in SWG is booming! We are evaluating the cost, though, and are continually monitoring the state of the economy. Q: In my opinion this is one of the weakest points of the game. A lot of players complain about the fact that SWG is a great game but it lacks of objectives. I mean, there are objectives in the game, of course, but there is no *real* point to join the "Galactic Civil War" (that should be the core of the SW universe). Considering the structure of the game, it's no use attacking opposite faction, except for personal pleasure and fun.. no bonuses, no XPs for players. \ guilds which would make worthwhile to lead \ take part in a faction war... a war just leads to problems and disadvantages... from a utilitarian point of view there's no point in attacking enemies... it's just a waste of time... Are you planning to fix this problem? A: I think we all agree that the Galactic Civil War doesn't feel fully-realized. We have two areas of focus in the coming months: revamping the Jedi system and expanding the Galactic Civil War. For the latter, the ultimate goal is to allow players to impact the game world in more significant ways, perhaps through territory control. Beyond that, we definitely want players from all professions/playstyles to be able to serve some role in the Galactic Civil War. We really feel that the Galactic Civil War is the "elder game" - one of the reaons players will keep playing after they've maxxed out on skills. Q: From what I saw it will be possible to have access on a spaceship orbiting around Corellia. For how long? It's just a one-way ticket? A: The Corellian Corvette just went Live! You can now find it in-game! We actually have several versions of the Corvette, which can be accessed by different factions from different planets. You will need to complete other quests before being allowed to visit the Corvette, and the mission does have a time limit. Q: To get the ticket you'll have to solve some quests. If the quest is accomplished by a group, how many tickets do we get? A: I believe that only one person in the group needs the "ticket" that allows travel to the Corvette. The entire group can help that player complete the quests that result in gaining the ticket, but technically anyone grouped with a player who has completed the quests will be transported to the Corvette. Q: Will be necessary to have a Commando or a couple of Fencers and Pikeman will be enough? A: The Corvette is intended to be high-end content. It's very, very difficult... Groups should be large, powerful, and loaded with combat specialists. Q: This Corellian Corvette will give badge & money or just badge? A: You will get credits and a badge. You'll also get some really good loot along the way, but I don't want to spoil any of that... Q: Campers: like all the other MMORPGs, in SWG people camper in rooms where there is a more frequent respawn, or the most powerful monster. With the Corellian this problem has been fixed (good work!); I'd just want to know if it will be possible to have multiple instance even in dungeons like Warren and Geonosias. A: The Corvette is "instanced" so your group is up there alone - you won't have to worry about other groups camping. In addition, all of the missions to the Corvette involve a time limit. Q: What are you planning to introduce more balancing among the different jobs in combat? If yes, can you tell us which kind of balancing? A: Combat balance is a major area of focus for us, but it breaks down into several components: *The buff system - we need to constantly evaluate the effectiveness of the various buffs, when those buffs are available to players, how long they last, how easy they are to create, etc. *Armor - we look at armor's strength. *Weapons - how much damage, cost for special moves, etc. *Special Moves - when they are acquired, their HAM costs, any special effects they do, etc. *Combat professions - when new abilities/special moves are gained, when new weapon certs are gained, starting attributes, etc. So, our "combat balance" is actually an attempt to balance each of the systems above, and make sure they are all working well in concert with one another. As the game changes and we introduce new armor, weapons, and enemies, we need to go back and rebalance. This is an ongoing process. And, we have to do it twice: once for PvE (players vs. environment/NPCs) and once for PvP. In terms of the different "roles" in combat, this is something we've been tracking since Launch and will continue to track. Ideally, a successful combat group would consists of a few melee combatants, players with ranged skills from each of the three tracks (pistol, carbine, rifle), medics, and combat medics. Q: I think it would be more realistic if Storm Troopers and Rebel Troopers could have a light armor with the same protection of the armor you can buy with the faction points. In addition to the random drops (locked containers, rebel/imperial plans etc.), It would be nice also to have drops related to the faction, i.e. if you kill a Storm Trooper you have a (minimal) chance to get a piece of Storm Trooper armor. And also: is it possible for the rebels to have something like a AT-ST? Where I play, faction PvP is almost dead because of that. Someone says that a good answer to this question would be the ion cannon... A: I'll look into the armor that the NPCs have vs. the armor that players have. We did (and continue to) discuss the Rebels' equivalent to the AT-ST. The ion cannon is a good idea and we'll investigate how hard that would be implement. Q: I'd like more armors in the game, not only five. Same for the weapons: there are five kinds of rifle, but the same 3D model. A: We agree and will be adding more armor and weapons (as well as other items) over time. In fact, we've just released our first set of Wookiee armor into the game, and a second set is being built right now. We also added a new weapon as part of the Geonosian BioLab. And, in the near future, we'll be releasing a new "Adventure Area" called the Death Watch Hideout, where players will be able to get another new set of very cool (and very Star Wars) armor. Q: I'd like to see many more land vehicles, that could be upgraded A: This is on our "To Do" list as well, but we haven't decided when or how additional vehicles will be introduced. Q: Are you planning to put new vehicles that can carry more than one person? i.e., something to carry your pets... A: Same as above for multi-passenger vehicles. This is actually a very difficult technical issue that we need to resolve (updating the location of the driver, the vehicle, and the passenger all at the same time as they rip over terrain is challenging). Q: Are you planning to revamp the armor system? A: We are looking very closely at armor right now, but I don't have any concrete details on the changes (mostly because we haven't made any final decisions yet). This is part of our ongoing combat balance work. Q: I and many other crafters would like harvesters to do what factories already do: if they stop working (either they run out of power/money or the resource moves) they send you a mail informing you of it. As a doctor and combat medic I have around 8 harvesters on at least 6 different planets and I am spending a significant (at least 30%) portion of my gaming time just by flying dailiy to each other to see if the resource they mine has changed. A: We'll reopen the discussion about e-mailing players when a harvester's status changes. I can't promise that we'll e-mail when the resource changes, though; part of the original design was to make hunting for the right resources a game in and of itself. But, I do think we want to re-evaluate whether or not you receive notice when the harvester stops working for whatever reason. Q: We know what are you speaking about [in reference to previous post about the Death Watch hideout armor] many players asks if this new armor will be equippable from every players or only by Bounty Hunters. Can you reveal something about it? A: Let me try to be vague... Anytime we're dealing with anything that is tied to a specific character in the continuity, we try to be sensitive to that... If, for example, there happened to be a helmet that somebody like Boba Fett wore in the films and we introduced it into the game, we'd probably limit who could use that helmet in-game to players who were aspiring to be like Boba Fett. We might expand it a bit to some other roles that seem similar so that more players can enjoy our hard work. (Right now, the final list of who will be able to use the loot from the Death Watch Lair hasn't been finalized, but we're sensitive to the issue). Q: I consider very interesting and useful your continuous support with the release of new patches. I'd like to know if you're planning to focus more on bugfix and combat class re-balancing or more on new features... A: We're going to continue to do all three (adding new features and combat balancing and bug-fixing). Every week, we put together a list of the top issues from our Customer Service department, our internal testers, our Profession correspondents, and our development team and try to tackle those - they include new features, bug fixes, and additional combat balance changes. Q: will you modify skill points system? A: At this point we don't have any concrete plans to modify the skill point system, although we've discussed some possible changes for the far future. Q: are you planning to introduce new classes before the expansion (as you did for politician)? A: Probably not. Right now, we're focused on enhancing the existing professions. Any new professions are likely to be added as part of expansions. Q: Are you planning to introduce more locations (especially planets) either as patches or separate expantions? Just to make an example I (and many of my friends) would love to be able to vist Hoth or space locations like stations and Star Destroyers. A: We're already introducing new "space-based" locations, such as the Corellian Corvette. We do plan to add new planets in the future, probably through expansions. However, at the moment, our focus is on filling out the current planets with new Adventure Areas and other content. Q: Also are you planning to keep the setting of the game at this specific moment of the galactic civil war or are you going to gradually evolve the situation? For example are Dodonna and Luke forever going to oversee the evacuation of the rebel base of yavin or maybe in the future this will be completed and they might transfer to another place like a command ship (and later establish the new base on Hoth?) this could also open up the possibility for many storyline quests... A: Eventually, we'd like to move the timeline forward, but we don't want to adhere to a strict calendar. We want to move forward using key events (like the Battle of Hoth) at a pace that's comfortable for the community and the game. Haden Blackman LucasArts Producer Original post can be found here.