2006 SWG FanFest

Notes from the 2006 SWG FanFest Summits

Slide Show
Here is the text from the slide show: (I actually took pictures of each slide so I could copy down the information.)--M.A.X. 20:52, 21 April 2006 (CEST)

Bullet Points

 * No expansion this year in favor of robust publishes
 * Improved communication and visibility
 * Focus on fixing the game

Communication

 * Consistent and accurate information to our players through Forums, Launchpad and Friday Features
 * Releasing publish info in advance
 * Releasing information on fixes in advance

Polish

 * Concentrate on fixing bugs
 * Fix broken systems and quests
 * Improve animations in combat

Content

 * More quality quests and dungeons for mid- and high-level players
 * New items and quests
 * Profession specific content

More Fun to Play

 * True collision, line-of-sight gameplay
 * Jumping and evading
 * Profession refinement and differentiation

Galactic Civil War Action

 * More interesting PvP
 * More incentives for engaging in the GCW
 * Ranks and rewards

29 - Spring

 * Bug fixing
 * Weapons retrofit
 * Content path levels 37-41
 * High end adventure zone
 * Non-combat targeting improvements
 * Tooltips for character statistics
 * Backend expertise system
 * 3-4 year veteran rewards
 * Three year anniversary gift

30 - Summer

 * Bug fixes
 * Jedi profession differentiation
 * Bounty Hunter differentiation
 * Jedi-specific story missions
 * Bounty Hunter-specific story missions
 * Collision system
 * GCW base improvements
 * Imperial adventure zones
 * Rebel adventure zones
 * Bounty Hunter NPC missions integrated into quest journal
 * Content quests levels 42-44

31 - summer

 * Bug fixes
 * Smuggler differentiation
 * Officer differentiation
 * Officer-specific story missions
 * Smuggler-specific story missions
 * Smuggler system
 * PvP ranks and rewards
 * PvP in-game leader boards
 * Content quests levels 45-50

32 - fall

 * Bug fixes
 * Trader differentiation
 * Trader reverse engineering
 * Trader-specific story missions
 * Animation system improvements
 * Combat system improvements
 * Nym's adventure zone enhancements
 * Content quests levels 51-55
 * New level 70-90 dungeon

33 - winter

 * Bug fixes
 * Medic differentiation
 * Commando differentiation
 * Medic-specific story missions
 * Commando-specific story missions
 * Space PvP enhancements
 * Battlegrounds - Phase 1
 * Content quests levels 56-61

34 - winter

 * Bug fixes
 * Spy differentiation
 * Entertainer differentiation
 * Spy-specific story missions
 * Entertainer-specific story missions
 * Battlegrounds - Phase 2
 * Heavy Weapons - Phase 2
 * Content quests levels 62-67

Non-Slide show information
Here are the notes compiled from the SWG Forums and from the summit that I attended. Some of these were from Q&A, and some were just announced:

All

 * Differentiation system: Starting with Publish 30, all professions will get a differentiation system. This will allow all players to customize thier character's role in thier chosen profession, rather than being a "cookie-cutter" character.
 * Profession quests: Also starting with Publish 30, there will be more quests and content that pertain to your character's profession.
 * Weapon revamp: The damage modifier for all weapons is currently being looked at. The damage modifier currently is based on the character's level that is using the weapon. The plan is to change this to being based on the weapon's level.
 * Melee professions: Currently, Jedi is the only planned melee profession.
 * Interaction: There are plans to make more interaction among the professions, so that players need to rely on each other.

Bounty Hunter

 * PvP Bounty missions: Bounty Hunters will get thier PvP bounty missions from the BH terminal, not from /bountycheck command.

Creature Handler

 * This profession will not be brought back. Although, some of the abilities of the CH may be implimented into the current professions.

Entertainer

 * Combat: Making Entertainers into a combat profession was shelved. There was too many complications and negative player feedback.

Jedi

 * Light/Dark paths: There are plans on a Light/Dark path for the Jedi profession.
 * Elder Jedi rewards:There will not be a way for post-NGE Jedi to receive the rewards that the pre-NGE Jedi got. As stated many times, these were rewards for the difficulty players had "unlocking" the Jedi profession pre-NGE.
 * Backpacks: They are currently looking into allowing Jedi to wear backpacks with their robes.

Trader

 * Looted items: Traders will be able to "reverse engineer" looted items and add the stats to other items.
 * SEA's and AA's: It is planned to add back the ability to use SEA's and AA's for the Trader.

Combat

 * Collision system: There is a collision system planned that will allow characters to hide behind structures, jump, evade, and have line-of-sight attacks. In addition, when Julio Torres was asked at the Seattle summit if hiding behind structures currently was an exploit, he replied, "no".
 * PvP: There is plans to make PvP more interesting and rewarding. This includes PvP ranks, rewards, and an in-game leader board.
 * Duel-weilding weapons: While there is nothing currently in the works for this, due to the amount of players asking, it is being "looked at".
 * Combat log: They are looking into bringing back the pre-NGE combat log.

Quests

 * Imperial, Nym's, & Rebel Themepark upgrade: Just like Jabba's Themepark was upgraded with the NGE, these other 3 Themeparks are slated to be upgraded.
 * Level 37-67 Quests: There is slated to add some quests for levels 37-67 over the year. I am guessing that these will be added to the already Legacy quest.
 * High End Adventure Zone: What exactly this entails is a mystery, but at the Seattle Summit, it was hinted that it would involve the planet Rori (or was that something else?). It was hinted that this will change the SWG world as we know it, and will be mentioned at this year's E3.
 * Level 70-90 Dungeon: Like the title says, there will be a new dungeon with content for characters that are levels 70+.
 * Grinding: SWG is leaning more to gaining XP via quests than grinding and will continue this trend.
 * Vatakryl Quest: Lowering the required level of this quest is being looked at. It is currently level 65.

Space

 * Gunboats: Players will be able to use Imperial, Rebel, or Neutral gunboats in space. These gunboats will fit 6 characters and will be craftable.
 * Space PvP Enhancements: I don't exactly what this all entails, but I remember something mentioned about the Imperial and Rebel stations being looked at.
 * Star Destroyer: There may be plans to make a Star Destroyer quest similar to the Corellian Corvette quest after Publish 29.
 * Tier 5 Quests: There is no Tier 5 quests planned at this time.

Droids & Pets

 * Useless droids: There are plans to make droids more of a part of SWG, like they are in the movies and EU.
 * Can't call pre-NGE pets: It is currently in the works to allow players to call thier pets that did not convert properly with the NGE.

GCW

 * Bases: Bases (both space and ground) will be improved.
 * Rank: Rank will start to matter again.
 * Troops?: Faction pets to make a comeback in a way.
 * Battlegrounds: Battlegrounds are making a comeback, and may also include roles for non-combat professions.

World

 * Abandoned structures: They are still looking at options of how to get rid of abandoned structures. The biggest issue is not knowing exactly which structures are abandoned or not.
 * Mustafar guild halls: Mustafar bunkers will continue to double as guild halls.
 * Missing loot: They are taking a hard look at the loot tables right now so they can get loot, like that required for some of the looted schematics, back in the game.
 * DWB Instance: To help reduce "camping", making some areas such as the DWB into instances is being discussed.
 * World makeover: There are plans to go over all the non-expansion planets and "upgrade" the terrain to match that of such worlds as Kashyyyk and Mustafar.

User interface

 * Non-combat targeting: Non-combat targeting will be introduced, making it easier to decorate or place items. Combat targeting was discussed, but nothing concrete came of the discussion.
 * What does it mean?: There are plans to explain exactly what everything means and does on character sheets.
 * Pre-NGE UI?: They are looking into making some of the UI resizable and changeable like it was pre-NGE. One thing that has been coming up a lot is adding a second line to the toolbar, so they are examining it.

Rumors

 * Pre-NGE or Pre-CU servers: There will not be any pre-NGE or pre-CU servers, nor will there be any "roll-back" of the current servers.
 * Expansions: As stated in the Bullet Points, there will be no expansions this year. The Devs want to dedicate all their resources to improving the current game.
 * SWG Console version: There are no plans for SWG to go to the console. It is a solely a PC game.
 * Harvester/Factories: There is no plan to remove Harvesters/Factories from the game.
 * Resources removed?: Resources are not being removed from the game.