Empire In Flames: GCW Patch, Part 2 – 9/30/2018

General

  • The Galactic Civil War invasions are live starting today. Senators and Councillors will begin voting on their first targets. The New Republic will stage the first attack.
  • After successful tests of the Invasion system, the behind the scenes pieces are in place to make this all work. So begins the open conflict between the Empire and the New Republic.
  • In case you missed the Invasion Tests, here’s what you need to know:
  • The Empire or the New Republic will invade a planet controlled by the opposition faction, and must flip control of each starport on the planet, via the same mechanism as a base bust – by performing terminal based mini-games for Commando, Smuggler, Bounty Hunter, Doctor, and Squad Leader. Defenders have statically placed turrets and the Attackers have player-controlled Combat Walkers.
  • Planetary control will impart the controlling faction with galactic bonuses, ranging from crafting bonuses to combat bonuses – details are in the GCW section below.
  • Planetary alignment has been reset to the default starting positions.

 

Items

  • Recolor has been disabled on Ubese Gloves and Bracers, Bounty Hunter Gloves, and RIS Gloves, as well as New Republic Marine Bracers and Gloves, as there are issues with the textures that prevent them from being recolored at this time. This is a planned future fix.
  • Recolor has been added to all the ‘battle damaged’ War Fame GCW armors – Stormtrooper, Scout Trooper, Assault Trooper, New Republic Marine, New Republic Battle, and New Republic Assault.
  • War Fame vendors have been added to Kuat and Mon Calamari – they only accept ‘War Fame’ which is earned through participation in Invasions. Check the vendors to see what items they contain!
  • Appearances have been fixed for a number of armors. New Republic armors will no longer have the Human Male appearance on females and other races.
  • Factional Armors have been enabled for Wookiees and Ithorians – Wookiees will equip Factional armors as invisible, while Ithorians will have a special armor appearance that will not be hooked up elsewhere. This also includes the Camo Factional armors that are yet to come.
  • Recolor has been fixed on all Mandalorian armor pieces.
  • The ‘Plain’ Furniture items have been added as a crafting option to the ‘Cheap’ Furniture items. See your local Architect to get a set.
  • Ithorians who have taken their quarterly PPG training will now be able to equip PSGs.

 

Combat:

  • A merge from SWGEmu had accidentally boosted player damage output by 50% – this has been reverted.
  • Droid healing modules have updated to allow Stim As through Stim Es to be equipped. This was previously restricted to Stim As only. Please note that your droid does not share your skill mods and will heal at the base value of the equipped stim.
  • Note: a change to implement a 15-second delay on calling any pet after combat has been discussed in Discord. This change is still planned but did not make this patch.

 

Travel

  • You can now purchase nonstop tickets to any planet. Nonstop tickets are calculated at premium prices.

 

GCW

  • Senate/Council elections have been slowed from a 6 day cycle to the planned 28 day cycle. Congratulations to our first New Republic Senators and Imperial Councilors!
  • Quartermasters with war fame rewards can be found in the Kuat and Mon Calamari starports.
  • The Imperial Council’s voting terminal has been added to the Star Destroyer on Kuat.
  • The Republic Senate’s voting terminal has been added to the underwater military HQ on Mon Calamari. Senators will need to speak with a New Republic pilot in the Mon Cal City starport to visit. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed.
  • Planetary bonuses have been implemented. Bonuses are scaled according to player rank and vary depending on planet. These bonuses affect multiple skills, including outdoors, combat, and crafting. Further bonuses will be implemented as new worlds are added.

 

PM HOTFIX

Customization

  • Resolved an issue where Zeltron females lost their recolor options.
  • Resolved an issue where Devaronian females lost their recolor options.
  • Resolved an issue where the ‘Figrin Dan’ jacket had lost its recolor options.

 

Items

  • Resolved an issue where a GCW War Fame sword schematic was not properly applying stats on final assembly.
  • Resolved an issue where all GCW War Fame rifle schematics were not properly applying stats on final assembly.
  • Fixed schematic name for the War Fame one-handed sword.

 

GCW

  • Set GCW Senate election times to 24 days as there is a limitation in Core3 that prevents times longer than this properly storing.

Empire In Flames: GCW Patch, Part 1 – 9/23/2018

General:

The Galactic Civil War launches today. After successful tests of the Invasion system, the behind the scenes pieces are in place to make this all work. So begins the open conflict between the Empire and the New Republic.

In case you missed the Invasion Tests, here’s what you need to know:

The Empire or the New Republic will invade a planet controlled by the opposition faction, and must flip control of each starport on the planet, via the same mechanism as a base bust – by performing terminal based mini-games for Commando, Smuggler, Bounty Hunter, Doctor, and Squad Leader. Defenders have statically placed turrets and the Attackers have player-controlled Combat Walkers.

Planetary control will impart the controlling faction with galactic bonuses, ranging from crafting bonuses to combat bonuses – details to be included in the next set of patch notes when the control bonuses are enabled.

Planetary alignment has been reset to the default starting positions.

Items:

Free recolor has been turned on for all armors.

Color palettes have been updated for all armors – please be aware this may change the existing color to something less desirable.

New Republic Assault, New Republic Battle, New Republic Marine, Imperial Stormtrooper, Imperial Scout Trooper, and Imperial Shock Trooper armor schematics have all been added to their respective Faction Recruiters.

The iconic Rebel weapon – the A280 is now available in a pistol, carbine, and rifle flavor from Faction Recruiters.

New Republic and Imperial themed City Halls are now available from Faction Recruiters.

Combat:

Unarmed Damage reworked to only apply the full bonus to unarmed (no weapons) – acts like other Melee Damage skill mods otherwise.

Melee Damage SEAs have been rendered useful – +25 will grant about a 5% increase in damage.

Heavy Weapon specials have been rebalanced to be faster and more accurate.

Starting weapon specials have been rebalanced to be more useful starting out, and less useful as you level and cap your weapon speed.

Politician:

Galactic Elections have been enabled – Imperial Politicians with Martial Policy IV and New Republic Politicians with Civic Policy IV can run for Senator or Councilor and shape the direction of the upcoming Galactic Civil War. The first election cycle will be accelerated to a seven day cycle to allow Senators/Councilors to be in place before the next patch when Invasions will be enabled. After the next patch it will go to a twenty-eight day cycle.

A new civic structure, the Voting Center, is now available. Cities of Rank 2 or higher can place it to allow voting in Senate/Council elections. The Voting Center can be crafted by architects.

 

Planets:

The planets of Chandrila, Coruscant, Kuat, and Mon Calamari have been added.

Chandrila and Kuat have a full set of new creatures, some of which are creature handler tamable.

Chandrila and Kuat have a full set of new resources.

Coruscant and Mon Calamari are visitable locations but do not have creatures or resources available. Mon Calamari in particular is very much a work in progress and will have substantial updates in an upcoming patch.

The travel map has been updated. The new map includes planets that are not currently available on the live server. Travel routes currently bypass inactive planets.

SWGEmu:

The Empire in Flames codebase has been updated with the latest SWGEmu code. Check SWGEmu’s patches for the last three months to check for functionality changes/bug fixes.

GCW: Q & A with the Devs!

Question: What was the inspiration for the GCW? Why did you decide to take this massive undertaking of making a completely new system? (I love it btw )
Dev Answer: Empire in Flames is built as “the SWG we want to play” – and a critical element of that is an active Galactic Civil War. From well before we launched, we knew we wanted a GCW system that encouraged all players to participate rather than just the hardcore PvPers.


Senate

Question: How often will the elections for senator/traitor be? And will there be a limit to terms?
Dev Answer: Elections will happen on a 28-day cycle. There are no term limits. If you want to buy a Senator or Councilor, you’d better start stockpiling credits.

Question: Are there any benefits other than voting for being on the senate or Council?Dev Answer: Senators and Councilors get a unique title and access to their faction’s war room, where voting takes place.

Question: Will there be any plans to expand the system later on?
Dev Answer: We’ve already planned an expansion for the GCW revolving around “planetary loyalty”, which is separate from factional control. A planet could be occupied by the New Republic but loyal to the Empire, for example. Loyalty levels open up different missions and quests for players to swing a planet’s population in their favor, which in turn affects the difficulty of invasions.

Question: Does senator require a specific faction rank?
Dev Answer: No. It does require certain skill boxes in politician, however – New Republic Senators must be Statesmen, while Imperial Councilors must be Warmasters.

Question: Will Senators and Council get a special title or badge?
Dev Answer:  Titles will be Senator for NR and Councilor for Imperials

Question: Can there be more than just picking the target planet to invade, like picking a target planet to defend?
Dev Answer: Defensive positioning will also be a role for Senate /Council when we have JTL.

Question: What is required to become a Senator?
Dev Answer: 1.)Be a citizen in a city of the planet you wish to run on. 2.) Be NR faction 3.) have Politician xx4x 4.) register to run for Senator and win the most votes for Senator on the planet you registered.

Question: What is required to become a Councilor?
Dev Answer: 1.)Be a citizen in a city of the planet you wish to run on. 2.) Be Imperial faction 3.) have Politician x4xx 4.) register to run for Councilor and win the most votes for Councilor on the planet you registered.

Question: What is the term for Senator or Councilor?
Dev Answer: 28 days

Question: Can you have more than one Senator or Councilor per account?
Dev Answer: Yes , as long as you qualify and are voted in legally. In the event of suspicious activity, elections can be audited as all information is logged.

Question: How do I get politician skill?
Dev Answer: Train novice politician. Run for mayor of an existing player city , or create your own. For each vote you have you get 300xp at election (awarded when mayor is elected 3 week cycles).
Each week as Mayor when city maintenance is due, and when/if you win election you will received an extra/automatic 750xp. Even if you do not win the mayor election , you still will get xp for each vote you received.


Question: What will decide which planet to invade?
Dev Answer: Senators and Councilors will have independent votes. The planet that has the most votes for each group will be the planet to be invaded in the upcoming GCW for that faction. Access to the planet is determined by hyperlanes, so planets can only be attacked if a connecting planet is also controlled.

Question: How many Councilors and Senators will there be?
Dev Answer: There will be 1 Councilor and 1 Senator per inhabited planet.

Question: What if no one lives on x Planet?
Dev Answer: If no one runs, the seat will remain vacant for that planet.

Question: Do you have to be mayor of a player city to run for Senator or Councilor?
Dev Answer: No

Question: How / where will I register to run for Senator or Councilor?
Dev Answer: A voting center will be placed by a city’s mayor – the city must be at least rank 2. In the city you are a citizen of you can register to run if you meet perquisites at these tests.
(details to be clarified)


Invasions

Question:  How are GCW battles different than traditional PVP?
Dev Answer: GCW battles are designed with tangible goals, strict timelines, and PvP rewards – it’s designed to be a focused, fast-paced experience that rewards planning and teamwork. Oh, and combat walkers that players pilot into battle! Walkers allow those who normally don’t enjoy PvP to get involved.  Use /takeCommand and /fireCanons to use a walker.

Question: Can we practice piloting the big AT-AT walkers? Please?
Dev Answer: This has been a common request, actually – piloting the various combat walkers, from the New Republic’s little AT-PT to the Empire’s overpowering AT-AT is ridiculously fun. We’re looking at an event our storytellers can kick off to allow players some walker vs walker combat for live events. It’s not ready yet, but it’s been tinkered with and will become available sometime soon.

Question: Will my gear decay from all the extra fighting?
Dev Answer: Use decay still happens – so as you take and do damage, your armor and weapons will decay. However, you won’t suffer decay for death and cloning.

Question: What is War Fame, how do we get it and what will it be used for?
Dev Answer: War fame is the “currency” you acquire while you participate in invasions. All players participating get a “tick” regularly while they’re in the invasion zone; accomplishing objectives will give you much larger windfalls. Successful defense of a planet will give the defenders a giant bonus, too.

Question: What will war fame be used for?
Dev Answer: War Fame will be used to purchase GCW specific rewards, like the battle damaged versions of armor and more.

Question: Is there a listing of costs?
Dev Answer: Yep. Not anywhere you can find it though.*nod* (Yet.)

Question: How is war fame earned?
Dev Answer: For now, War Fame is earned through active participation in Invasions, but once the Planetary Loyalty missions are rolled out, players will be able to earn War Fame that way as well, but with a much smaller return than actually fighting in the war.

Question: Will war fame remain or get lost if you change factions?
Dev Answer: If you choose to defect, your war fame will follow you.

Question: What can you tell us about the new armor and weapons?
Dev Answer: We’re using GCW to bring in armor and weapons that have been requested practically since we launched the server. The big obvious star is the New Republic’s A280 – the iconic BlasTech blaster is going to be available for Riflemen, Carbineers, and Pistoleers! But we’re adding more than just the A280.

We’re also bringing in the war-scuffed versions of the six factional armors at minimum…and a few surprises.

Question: Can all of the new items be traded?
Dev Answer: All of the Factional items and War Fame rewards will be crafting schematics, so you will *need* to trade them to your friendly local crafter.

Question: Are there any restrictions to equipping some of the new weapons or armor?Dev Answer: The armor will generally be factionally-restricted for now – a character must be Imperial to wear stormtrooper armor, for example.

Question: Can non-combat characters help their faction?
Dev Answer: At launch, non-combat characters are useful both in providing equipment – rocket launchers, for example, are critical – and healing during invasions as combat and death begins to accumulate wounds and battle fatigue.

We have further plans to allow non-combat characters (and characters who can’t participate in invasions directly) to both help their faction and acquire war fame, but that system isn’t ready at GCW launch.

Non-Combat can also contribute with the walkers as explained above.

Question: Will non-PvPers be able to contribute in any way?
Dev Answer: At launch, only indirectly. The planetary loyalty expansion will change that – we’re ensuring that even crafters and entertainers can participate.

Question: when will the invasions happen?
Dev Answer: The current system schedules battles for 9:30 PM EST. This can be adjusted as necessary, depending on attendance and other variables. Because the system runs on a 6-day schedule, the day-of-week always changes.

Question: are there going to be any EU-friendly battles, or are there plans to include some if the European population grows large enough?
Dev Answer: If the European population on EiF grows to the point where EU-friendly invasions are more plausible, the system is flexible enough for us to schedule them.

Question: Will there be ranks higher than Colonel added?
Dev Answer: Yes, but high ranks also come with drawbacks like being permanently Special Forces


Planets

Question: Which planets will be involved?
Dev Answer: Most of the planets currently on the server will be used. More than half of our planned additions will also be part of the GCW when they’re ready.

Question: Which will not, and why?
Dev Answer: The “no” planets currently on the server are Tatooine and Lok. Both have very much an underworld/edge of the galaxy vibe, and in time of open war they don’t provide much to either the New Republic or the Empire.

Hoth will also be left out, for two reasons. From a technical perspective, Echo Base doesn’t work very well on pre-CU and has issues that Takhomasak has not been able to solve in spite of over a year of work. Story-wise, Hoth is of no further interest to the GCW warring factions after the Rebel Alliance evacuated.

Question: Will there be new planets added in the future that will be included?
Dev Answer: Absolutely

Question: What are some of the incentives for controlling a planet?
Dev Answer: That’s the trick, isn’t it?

For launch, we’ve designed a series of skill bonuses that apply to all members of the controlling factions. These launch bonuses include things like weapon accuracy and crafting assembly bonuses. Those bonuses also scale based on a character’s rank in the faction.

Question: What are some of the penalties for losing a planet?
Dev Answer: Losing bonuses! We opted not to directly penalize players losing a planet – hurt pride is generally reason enough for players to come out again. Not gaining the control bonus is penalty enough


Neutral Players

Question: What are some reasons that neutral players may want to participate?
Dev Answer: Neutral players miss out on the rewards that participants receive. The rewards range from armor, weapons, decorations, and vehicles, to skill bonuses for factional characters.

Question: Can neutral characters participate?
Dev Answer: Not directly.

Question: If not, can you temporarily join a faction and then go back to being neutral later?
Dev Answer: Only through standard game mechanics – e.g. having enough faction points to reach 200, and sign up with a faction via a recruiter. At this time, we’re not looking at adding mercenary functionality.

Question: Will a neutral character be aware that a planet is under factional control? Dev Answer: Planet control determines a number of troop spawns on a planet, most noticeably in starports but around cities as well. If a player is paying attention, they’ll definitely notice.

Question: I mean will there be effects of planetary control which apply to non-aligned chars? (I would like to see some. even if they are detrimental).
Dev Answer: Neutral characters suffer from having neither bonuses nor drawbacks.


EIF Community!

Question: What is the EIF pvp community like?
Dev Answer: Surprisingly chill. While there are always some emotions that run high, during the Week of War testing phase players on the losing side generally came away both with some satisfaction for having fun and with determination to win the next battle.

Question: Is there lots of trash talk and spitting on corpses?
Dev Answer: I’ve seen a little, and I don’t think it’s possible to get completely away from it. On the other hand, it’s a fraction of the toxicity you’ll find on servers with a self-proclaimed PvP focus.

Question: Will a novice feel intimidated or unwelcome?
Dev Answer: I don’t think it’s possible to not be intimidated. On the other hand, both factions’ leadership tends to really take new players in under their wings to equip and train them to get ready to fight.

Question: I’ve heard there is lots of RP on that server, how does that affect GCW battles?
Dev Answer: Oddly, it leads to better turnout. It’s a trend the EiF staff has noted going back to the live Starsider server, when the largest turnout for space PvP events consisted of RPers who were interested in advancing the story and fighting for their faction. If PvP isn’t constant – and with EiF’s system, we’re on a six-day cycle – RPers tend to come out and enjoy it.


General

Question: Are there any plans for when Jump to Lightspeed goes live?
Dev Answer: Very much so. And yes, we will be integrating JtL into our GCW system. Planetary blockades, anyone?

Question: Will Boris and Natasha ever catch that pesky moose and squirrel?
Dev Answer: “Military intelligence. That phrase mean anything to you?”  “It sounds like a contradiction of terms.”

Question: What will the impact of Jedi be on the GCW and vice versa?
Dev Answer: Indirect. When Jedi goes live, they will be able to participate in the GCW, but they will not have a special role per se. However, the Jedi system relies on a substantial part of the code we’ve written for GCW. Jedi development in earnest will be starting not long after the GCW launch.

Question: An important aspect of factional conflict, especially in Star Wars, is looking the role.  What steps are being taken to make sure that from the lowliest grunt in the Imperial Army, to a sergeant in the Stormtrooper Corps, to a Grand Admiral in the Imperial Navy, have access to appropriate gear?
Dev Answer: A large part of this is simply the combat and crafting redesign Empire in Flames underwent before launching. The distance between “top tier” and “entry level” isn’t nearly as large as it is on, say, Basilisk.

Question: “Is @Sandi the best CM?”

Dev Answer

  • Of course. Without her, Empire in Flames wouldn’t be the awesome place it is!
  • What kind of stupid question is that? Sandi is awesome!
  • Sandi’s leagues better than people paid to do the job
  • Without Sandi, you’d be stuck with Abi as CM. Daily floggings to keep morale high.  The beatings will continue until morale improves
  • *Threatens to rip some arms off for anyone that thinks otherwise*

(Sandi rolls her eyes and hugs the devs)