This past weekend I went to San Francisco for a Star Wars Galaxies community summit. It was just an overnight trip, but I really had a fantastic time! I went to the summit with a few members of the dev team: AdeptStrain, Loche, Shadowbrak, and Blixtev. (We met up with DeadMeat there.)

I’ve never been to San Francisco before, so I was somewhat in awe when I saw the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz when we drove into the city. We were a little early so we couldn’t check into the hotel; we explored the Metreon area instead.

We wandered around taking pictures for a little while and then grabbed lunch with our team members from SOE and LucasArts. I finally changed after lunch and hoped that I didn’t smell like airplane anymore, and then it was time for the summit.

When registration opened I ran up to say hi to a few familiar faces when they arrived. Hopefully I didn’t scare them too much when they looked up and saw me barreling at them! I love meeting the people in front of the monitors, so to speak, so I was really excited.

I thought everyone asked the SWG team great questions and I took notes to remember everything. The most exciting part of the talk for me was our announcement that the team is working on creating the battle at Echo Base on Hoth. I’m really looking forward to seeing it take shape.

After the summit was over, we finally made it to the hotel to check in and clean up before heading out again. We wanted to check out the Fisherman’s Wharf and get some good seafood, so we grabbed a cab to Pier 39.

We made it there before sunset so we caught a glimpse of a number of large and slightly smelly seals relaxing on the docks. Alcatraz looked so close from our vantage point; it didn’t seem real!

While walking around Fisherman’s Wharf we wandered into a penny arcade museum. (It must be our natural gamer instinct that led us inside or maybe the fact that Lorin had visited the night before.) The museum had an odd assortment of games, from actual penny arcade machines to the original Star Wars arcade game. Lorin spent a quarter on a machine and we watched a tiny lumber mill come to life for just a minute. There were some really strange machines in there! Loche captured it on film for posterity.

We found a place to eat dinner — seafood of course — and relaxed for a little while before heading out.

We decided to take the trolley back to the hotel. After a long wait, we finally got on the trolley with so many people that it was standing-room only. The operator mentioned that the car was originally built in 1947. I saw Loche at the other end of the car signal to exit on the next stop, so we all got off… except Shadowbrak. The door closed on him while I said, “Nooooo” (in slow motion, of course).

It turned out that Shadowbrak stayed on the trolley because he knew that it was the wrong stop, and we didn’t! We met up with him a few streets over but we were a little lost downtown. DeadMeat and the GPS on his Blackberry finally led us back to the hotel safely.

All in all it was really a great trip, and I’m happy that I had the chance to go!

Kelly “Valara” Knox
Community Manager, Star Wars Galaxies

Across all of the SOE games, player-run events take place all the time but we don’t always hear about them. While most player-run events take the form of parties, scavenger hunts, and player versus player battles, others take their events up to the next level.

One of the most common statements we hear a lot is that players don’t have the resources to run their own events. This is completely not true. You don’t need GM commands or specialized items to run a successful event.  Most of the larger events that I have seen in EQ, EQOA, SWG, and EQII have been guild based where the guild has donated the prize from their guild bank. In other cases, people offer the reward from entry fees where the winner gets the funds collected.

So what type of events can you run? Here are some of the most common ones run:

• Party – Everyone knows what a party is! In-game parties may be include festivals, weddings, meet and greets, etc.

• Player versus Player Battles (PvP) – PvP battles are events that put players against other players. Some common examples of these types of events are the Best of the Best; Capture the Flag events or other types of tournaments.

• Performance – This type of event has always been popular for Player-Run events. This is where characters get up on a stage or elsewhere and act out a play, perform a recital (usually bards/musicians or dancers), etc. Tutorial sessions fall into this category, though they could almost have their own heading. A tutorial features experienced players teaching newer ones on various aspects of the game.

• Scavenger Hunt – These events are similar to collection events except they have may have more puzzles or obstacles to overcome. Also, scavenger hunts tend to spread across many areas.

• Invasion – Someplace gets invaded by NPCs or an actor character recruits adventurers to invade somewhere. Adventurers defeating the invaders are asked to protect people or places. This type is generally not done for Player-Run events except on the PvP server.

Player-run events can be done for any game genre. For example, in PlanetSide, I’ve attended events that were a mixture between invasion, roleplaying, and PvP battle of course! The reward being victory over the other empires!

So… this year I’m putting this challenge out to the SOE community.  Run more player-run events and we’ll come up with new ways of supporting them!

If you want us to help promote your event, give us the news and we’ll share it with others.  If you want us to attend them, let us know and we’ll try our best. Even if we aren’t able attend, we can still help spread the news.  And finally, one of the most important steps you can take is to document the event via screen shots, video, written reports, or a mix of them all! We love seeing how well an event went!

If you need help planning and running your event, read my detailed Tips on Player-Run Events. Most of the information in this guide applies to all games. If you need answers to specific answers, feel free to let the Community Relations team for your game know and we’ll help out with what we can!

I look forward to hearing about your events!

Remember, I’ll be watching!

Lydia Pope
Zatozia the Torturess
Community Relations Manager, EverQuest

Hi there! Kelly “Valara” Knox here, Community Manager for Star Wars Galaxies. Brenlo asked me to invade his blog, so here I am!

When I posted Friday Feature on storyteller blueprints, someone asked me, ‘who puts those features together’? That would be me - with a LOT of help from the development team! If you’re curious about how a feature is put together, please read on. (If you’re not curious, go read about storyteller blueprints instead! They’re cool!)

Friday Features are posted on the SWG web site regularly to highlight a part of the game that’s either in the game already or an upcoming addition. Almost everyone prefers to see a hint of what the future holds, so most features focus on upcoming game systems and features. First, I try to pick a system that is close to completion internally. If it’s not done yet, it might change completely before the feature is published and the feature would be inaccurate. Next, I walk over to a developer’s office, smile as sweetly as I can, and ask for 120 hours of their time to talk to me about the new system.After they kick me out of their office, I usually schedule time to sit down with them as they explain what they’re working on. Sometimes it takes me a little while to catch on; Jesse “Loche” Benjamin had to explain the beast master expertise to me a few times! I take notes and then head back to my desk to write. Often I’ll log into the internal test server to check out the new stuff myself and take some screenshots.

I have my doubts that this makes for an interesting blog post, but I hope you liked reading it – and that you enjoy the future Friday Features on the SWG web site!

As many of you have noticed, I am not a disciplined blogger. I have been rather haphazard in my updates to put it mildly. So, I will be adding a few more folks to update this blog from the community team here at SOE. Expect posts, hopefully more frequently, from a variety of the characters in Community Relations. Perhaps even some guest community members on occasion.

In the meantime, please accept this pittance as a blog post and do not flog me for its simplicity.

Thanks and happy blogging.

Well I am back from the Bay Area and another week at GDC.  I am not sure how I feel about GDC as I have yet to really enjoy the conference portion.  I was along to join our HR team in the SOE recruiting booth to look for potential new employees.  I know it sounds like a less than joyous reason to attend a Gaming Conference, however our HR team is filled with fun folks and we made a good time of it.  The highlight was a rocket war with Disney Internet Group, unfortunately this did result in a few civilian casualties and if you were struck by the flying Nerflike missiles, I apologize.

The nights were filled with drinking and debauchery.  No really.  Okay you caught me.  Most nights I was in my room by 10.  Gosh I am old.  I did stay out late Tuesday night attending the G.I.R.L.event, which was yet another example of the excellence of the SOE events team.  My only complaint, I didn’t get any of the meat on a stick and before you dismiss this comment as general whining, the meat stick was needed as I was indulging in Vodka tonics on an empty stomach.  Bah.

I also got to catch up with a lot of old friends and acquaintances.  I spent time with folks from the Virgin Worlds collective, Brent, Brendan, Troy and Darren, who are always a great group to spend time with.  Thank you for dinner guys!  I also inadvertently blew Brent off.  As any of you who know me can attest, I am a bit forgetful at times and I left early Friday forgetting I had arranged to chat with Brent, so I owe you one my friend. 

I also was fortunate enough to spend a little more time with Michael “Zonk” Zenke, I had met him a few times previous and had read his work for years, but it was very nice to get to sit down and have a shouted conversation from down the table in a crowded Italian restaurant.  He is a smart guy, if occasionally volatile, so I plan to try and not give him reason to write about me in anything other than a pleasant tone.  =)

Also in attendance was Wilhelm AKA the Ancient Gaming Noob.  Who is a passionate writer for MMO’s and another of the crowd that I try to read when I remember.  I hope he attends Fan Faire as I envision Zonk, Brent and his crew, Wilhelm and I chatting away to the early hours of the morning in some lobby bar.  Good folks indeed.

It is always a good time when you are able to share your passion, MMO’s, with knowledgable and equally passionate folks, and this was no exception. 

 Most heard comments from SOE players on the show floor;

When are you going to do something with Vanguard?  My response: We have, go back and try it.

Is SWG really shutting down this month?  My response: No SWG is just fine.

When are you going to update your blog? My response: SOON tm.

So I am home again, after delayed flights both ways mind you, lost luggage, a little too much alcohol and a lot of fun.  I will spare you all of the details.  =)

Next up, our Influencers Summit.  At least I am in the office for a WHOLE week prior!  Woo Hoo!  The employee harassing begins!

On deck this week;

Finishing our Agency Community Doc which is already late.

Finalizing the Summit

Recording the podcast

Early planning for the next summit

Trying to shrink Grimwells inflated head (seriously the thing is huge)

Remembering to update this blog

Inquisitor!

If you are interested, and who wouldn’t be, you can check out the details at Massively or at the Official Site.

Today the International House of Pancakes is giving free pancakes to anyone who makes a donation to thier local children’s hospital.   I encourage you to take part if you can.  For more details, hit the link.  Yummy Pancakes!

Last week was hotel tour week for Fan Faire.  Aimee, Jen, Lauren and I headed off for a whirlwind tour of Orlando and Washington D.C. to investigate potential Fan Faire venues.  It was a great trip and we saw some really fun locations.  Either city would be a winner for an east coast Fan Faire. 

Orlando has all of those great amusement parks, including that one with the famous mouse.  I am a big fan of his work.  DC has all of that history stuff.  Of which I am also fond.  A tough call to make.  If it is in Orlando, I would probably bring the junior and misses Brenlos and have a vacation.  If it is in DC, the teen Brenlos would be all a twitter but there would be nothing for Mini-Me.  Both have plenty to offer for Fan Faire attendees.  I am really torn and ultimately have to reflect Grimwell’s sentiment, I want it where the most players will attend. 

In the, Wow you are a dork Brenlo, category, I spent Saturday sight seeing with Aimee.  No, that’s not the dorky part.  I decided in the afternoon I would work on my French accent.  So I spent about 2 hours talking with a French accent.  I got some strange looks on the Metro in DC when I said, ” How do you say. . .  Hippopotamuse”  Yeah, I am really that odd. 

Some shots from my camera phone below. 

This question was posed to the SOE team, based on a discussion topic on Gizmodo, Can a Lightsaber Cut Through Superman. 

The following are some of the email excerpts.  Names have been removed to prevent the truly geeky.

“No, he is the “man of steel” and he can simply melt the saber with his xray vision!  Superman trumps Jedi!!!”

“So certain are you?”

“A lightsaber can cut through anything not protected by a force field (I believe this was stated by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original book when he is training Luke). Superman, since his reboot by DC comics back in the 80’s, is protected by an extremely short ranged biological force field. This is part of the reason he wears a skintight costume. Looser clothing would extend outside the force field and would be subjected to the full destructive force of the things that he survives.”

“I think we also need to take into consideration the location of said encounter. If Superman’s powers are driven by our sun does that go for any star? Or is this just a yellow light phenomena? If so they he could be screwed in a galaxy far, far away.”

“It is the yellow vs. red sun that gives or takes away Superman’s power.  So I wonder what would happen if the fight were to take place on Tatooine, which has one of each…”

“He would be reduced to… Faster than most people, and able to leap some pretty big things.”

“Sorry, but since the reboot in the 80’s the red sun hasn’t actually striped Superman of his powers. Instead what a red sun does is fails to provide enough energy for his powers. He still retains his powers under a red sun until he has exhausted to reserves stored in his body and in a binary system with one yellow and one red sun he would have no difficulty since the yellow sun would provide the energy he needs.”

“Tatooine’s suns are both yellow IIRC.”

“Ergo, on Tatooine Superman is twice as powerful as on Earth.  Jedi beware.”

“If you examine the power input from Earth’s yellow sun, versus Superman’s power output, it’s clear that the surface area of his skin cannot capture enough sunlight to account for everything we see him do. Therefore, a heretofore undocumented process must be occurring within his body, and when the Sierra Club figures that out, he’s gonna have to move to Moscow”

“Well, he could be getting the additional energy direct from the sun through Dirac induction or some form of transmission akin to electron-tunneling”

“Assuming that his available power is dependent on the light falling on his body, elementary calculations clearly indicate a massive discrepancy regardless of the transmutation mechanism. A man’s skin surface area is approximately 2 m^2. That’s a bit generous, as is the assumption that all of it is equally available for energy collection. A bright summer day yields about 164 W/m^2 of energy. 8 hours of such light would be about 4.8 kilowatt-hours. To put it another way, Superman can collect at most in a day as much energy as there is in a quarter gallon of gas. (let’s hear it for the Interwebs!)  Something doesn’t add up. Energy is being produced by some other means.”

Man I love working here.

For the record, I love pie.  Pie is infinitely greater than cake.  I could go all Forrest Gumpy on you and list all of the various pies I enjoy, but as I know you are all avid Pie aficionados, I will spare you. 

With the ROK expansion to EQII, which is freaking amazing by the way, ( and no Smed did not pay me to say that, I think my level 75 Troubadour is a testament to my continuing <3 for EQII) they added new racial abilities for all races.  Sarnak get a cool combat speed boost.  High Elves, Fae and Arisai get feather fall.  Gnomes get a super sexy clockwork illusion.  All kinds of sweet racial goodness.  Pretty cool stuff. 

However what did the most noble and AWESOMEST race in all of EQII get?  What delight of infinite joy was showered upon the Halflings?  Could we now summon a royal feast complete with stat buffs making every raid we attended an instant success?  Did we now have a trusty pony mount with 25, 100% weight reduction slots to carry our personal items?  Could we perhaps open a door way in the space time continuum to provide an instantaneous place of warmth and comfort to our group mates?  No. . .

We summon Pie.

Yes you heard me right, we summon a freaking pie.  Not a super pie, not multiple pies, not even a throwing pie.  A single solitary Baubleberry pie.   While other races are falling from great heights as light as a feather, all we can do is add to our girth.  While other races flit about in the image of a Clockwork, we can host a rather small and unimpressive picnic.

Now it is a tasty pie.  And truthfully, it is racially relevant and I do not want anyone to think that it in any way takes away from the fun of this expansion, it does not.   It does make sense in the grand scheme of things and were I a better roleplayer, I would delight in my magical baking abilities.  Perhaps I can find a good use for my pie.  Like tossing it at the other members of the Community Team at SOE as they tease me with their feather falling.  Where’s Coyote with a snowball when you need him. . .

Thanks for the great Expansion EQII devs. I am loving the heck out of it.