Scarform’s Blog

Oct 14, 20071
Star Wars Galaxies: Candi and Motown

Today I had the pleasure of witnessing a union of two toons in the Ahazi Galaxy. One I’ve only known for a little bit and the other I don’t know at all. But what I have seen in the bride is a caring and compassionate person, easy to get along with and likable in every regard.

The reception was about an hour long, during the course of which I took photos.

To the beautiful bride and the groom as well, I hope that your days to come are as happy as the days that have already passed and to new futures breathes new hope.

Congratulations, ‘Candi’ and Motown.

Oct 14, 20070
Star Wars Galaxies: Trial Accounts

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that trial accounts on SWG are worth more than they appear. Let’s go over a few of these.

About the RE Loot

Check the prices on your server by visiting the SWG Galaxy Trade Forum for your galaxy and simply asking. Most people will not drop 100mil for a gigantic stack of junk loot. Sell it in stacks of 100 at CPU that is the going rate on your server. I got best results by selling for 5cpu less than the other guy. You could also throw it on a vendor in a bag (listing what’s in the bag) for a combine price of all items, or throw it on the bazaar. Best results will come from the Trade Forums in my experience.

Dance Macro

This is the dance macro I will be referencing a few times. Once you create it, fire it off about 10 times.

Macro name: flo

/flourish 1;
/pause 1;
/flourish 2;
/pause 1;
/flourish 3;
/pause 1;
/flourish 4;
/pause 1;
/flourish 5;
/pause 1;
/flourish 6;

Tansanari Point Station.

Since this is the first place you go, and a place you cannot return to, creating a trial account to gain access to this spot is vital as you can grab a bunch of Rever-Engineering junk loot. Best thing to do is make a Commando, grind him to the point in which you get an area attack and then just sit in the Droid Room and area blast the hell out of everything. Using an auto-loot macro, loot the corpses while deleting things like armor and paintings (or keeping the junk dealer window open and selling them as you go.) (We discussed auto-looting and the junk dealer in this post.)

Chapter Gifts

Trial accounts last for 14-days. Chapter Gifts drop in 7-10. For every trial account, that’s one extra Chapter Gift to be sold or kept.

GCW Points

Create a trial account and grind them to within 10 levels of the character you want GCW on, as well as making them the opposite faction. Easiest way to do this is by grinding Entertainer using a simple flourish macro and /changedance ‘ing to the newest dance learned when leveling. You can only get GCW 10x a day from killing the same toon, so make plenty of trial accounts. Have a medic friend rez, and after the first ten, log on the second trial account. And so on and so forth until you get your fill. You can run both your trial and main account on the same pc by creating a new file in notepad and titling it “user.cfg” and placing the following in the file:

[SwgClient]
allowMultipleInstances=true

Two sets of Items

Grind your trial account to a level 90 Combat Ent. using a dance macro, and then complete the quests that give the items you want another one of without having to pay the inflated merchant costs of whatever server you find yourself on. Make sure you are going after trade items and not no trade.

Run your own Credit Farming Business

This one is less likely to make you friends as you this is a very frowned upon practice, but if you’re doing it for yourself and not monetary gain, then it does carry less of a stigma. This one will also require the use of several computers.

The general method of choice is to have 7 trial accounts and 1 main. So that’s 8 people in the group, a possible of 2 accounts running on one very strong machine, and 1 person doing all of the work. 3 computers at best.

Grind all of the accounts to lvl 90 entertainers, make them Combat Entertainers, outfit the main toon (the one who will be doing the destruction) with good armor and a good weapon. Have a multi-person vehicle and set everyone to /follow the main toon.

Have all toons select two missions from a terminal and then proceed to all missions. Don’t worry about the mob surrounding the mission, just go for the kill and take out the lair/flag/whatever.

Repeat.

Keep in mind that each trial account can only hold 500k in credits, so once they are full, transfer credits so you don’t lose any in the Trial Account Cap.

1 mil per two toons at cap, with 7 toons will give you 3.5 mil every cap with a mission limit of 16 for the combined group. Each mission should take roughly 5 minutes to complete, and possibly travel included if you do the smart thing and get missions in the same direction, so you’re looking at roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes per 16 missions.

There are plenty of other things that trial accounts are good for - these are but a few.

Oct 14, 20070
Star Wars Galaxies: / Commands

A full list of // commands can be found by typeing “//” and pressing enter, although a) the list cuts of at a certain point and b) not all of these commands will work for your chosen profession. And as a side note, it would appear that the // command is more for the devs than anybody else as it includes commands like /setGodmode, /renamePlayer, and other commands that a normal user would most definitely never have access to. Also keep in mind that some of the slash commands that used to work if you either typed in the target manually or had the target pre-selected, now need you to physically hover your mouse over the target. They are not all like this, but some of them have been changed within the last year with the NGE.

/bug
Typing this will open a window that will allow you to report a bug anywhere in the game. Includes several options to check off so that you can be specific with the information you are sending.

/unstick
If your toon becomes “stuck” this will attempt to put you elsewhere on the map (usually within 15m) of the spot that you became stuck in.

/t (playername) (message)
This will send a private message to a specific user.

/r (message)
When using the private message function, this will send a response to the last person to send you a private message.

/g (message)
When in a group, this will drop your message into your group-chat tab.

/rot (left/right) (1-180)
When placing items in a house, this will rotate the item to the left or right the degree amount you specify. To angle them (as in trying to place items in corners, rotating by 15 or 45 degrees works best.)

/mov (up/down) (1-???)
When placing items in a house, this move the item up or down the amount you specify. Best integers to use are 1, 5, 10, 15, 25, 50 and 200.

/target (name)
Targets the item, person, or whatever you specify. Works best when you are in a multi-level structure and are not sure of where something is. Say that you’re looking for Ackbar and have no clue where he or she or it is. Type /target Ackbar and press enter. Then, move the camera around until you see Ackbar being targeted. Works on different levels of a structure and even targets through walls.

Also remember the pressing alt and y (separately) will take you into free target mode and out of “over-the-shoulder-annoying-NGE-mode”.

/notepad
Opens a notepad like text feature that you can (you guessed it) write notes in.

/report (player name)
The player must have entered text in the chat session for this to work.

/getv
Tells you how many days you have logged.

/claim
Claims any rewards you may have earned. If none, a window will pop up stating so.

/follow
Hover your mouse over a player or npc, and type /follow and press enter. You will now follow that person or npc wherever they go.

/forage
You will search the surrounding area for random things. Will more than likely turn up enzymes, but has a possibility of turning up a treasure map (one out of every 100 is what has been reported on this one.)

Macro name: Forage

/forage;
/pause 5;
/macro forage;

Fire the macro, forage, walk forward for about a second, forage again, and then repeat from step 2.

/way (coords)
Replacing coords with the first and third set of coords (the middle is not necessary) will create a waypoint in your datapad to that specific location. Typing /way and pressing enter without entering coords will create a waypoint at your immediate and current coords.

/pvp
When Rebel or Imperial, /pvp will turn you combatant and typing it a second time and pressing enter will turn you Special Forces. You have to visit a recruiter of your faction to go on leave.

Going combatant is usually almost instantaneous, and going from combatant to SF usually takes 30 seconds. Going from SF to combatant or on leave will take 5 minutes.

/paymaint (amount)
When in a building you own, this command will pay maintenance fees of however much you place in the amount. (Increments of up to 100k). Players with a Mustafarian Bunker or Guildhall can place any amount into the structure and be able to withdraw from the treasury menu option. Regular houses do not allow for maintenance withdrawal.

/guildr
Will remove you from your current guild.

Known bugged commands
A bug with /watch is that it will give you the message “You have stopped watching…” and you actually have to radial menu the player and select “watch” from the menu.

While you can no longer /burstrun, you can still /gallop while on a mount.

Typing /unstick in front of a pvp line will not dump you on the other side as on-leave or combatant since when entering a PVP-zone your status is, in fact, LOCKED as Special Forces. If you are on-leave, it will continue to push you back, and if you are combatant, you will be locked in as Special Forces.

Oct 12, 20070
Star Wars Galaxies: Quests Forgotten Part 2

In Quests Forgotten: Part 1, we talked about getting the Fibertech Steel Plating, Protecto-Net Shield, Quantum Ion Drive, and Corellian Beamrail Gauss Cannon by doing Nym’s Starmap. Now we’re covering getting 2 sets of Clone Wars Paintings, getting the complete set of Katarn Armor (you will need 10 slots free in your inventory or you won’t get it all), getting the RIS Armor Schematic (Master Armosmith), the 2 Warren Badges (Compassion, Imperial Hero), and one quest you should avoid because it does absolutely nothing.

I would also like to point out that Swg.allakhazam.com is probably the best resource on the internet that is free and openly available to anyone who finds themselves stuck on a quest in the Star Wars Galaxies.

I would also like to point out that of course we did not write the guides we are linking to - merely pointing to them as a quick reference for those who either didn’t do them, forgot about them, or never knew about them.

Two Sets of Clone Wars Paintings
The Clone Relics: The Hunter Quests on Tatooine for both paintings.
Collecting Survey Data on Kashyyk for the Clone Trooper painting.
The Big Cover-up on Kashyyk (quest line gives General Greivous painting on Second part.)

Katarn Armor
Neutral (no faction)
Imperial
Rebel

RIS Armor Schematic (Master Armosmith)
Save you some reading:

I just went to see Mol today for my first time, and this is what he has to say…if your a Master Armorsmith.

Mol-”You believe you have learned all there is to know about being an armorsmith? You haven’t! I know far more than you ever will, but still there are a few lessons I could teach you. Learning these things will not be easy for someone such as you. It will be expensive in both time and in credits. Furthermore, I have no patience for insolent students. You do as I say and don’t bother me with stupid questions! Give me 50,000 credits and we’ll get started. Be quick about it! I’m very busy.”

You-”I am ready to begin. Here are the credits.”

Mol-”I suspected you would agree to my terms. Let’s get started. I’m going to teach you how to construct my masterpiece invention: R.I.S. armor. This armor has no equal in battle. Everything else is junk compared to this! Of course, it is exceedingly difficult to create, especially for a fledgling armorsmith such as you. But, no matter. We’ll take it slow so you can comprehend. Are you with me so far?”

You-”Yes”

Mol-”As you know, creating armor starts with the armor segment. That is where we shall start as well. Like all armor segments, R.I.S. segment require resources which I’m sure you already know how to acquire. They also, however, require some special components. For strength, they require bone fragments from a Woolamander Harrower. For flexibility, they require the hide of a Recluse Gurk King. Use this schematic to create the armor segment and bring it back to me. I don’t care how you get the materials, but you must construct the segment yourself. You can only learn by doing it yourself! Now go busy yourself with making the armor segment and come back to me when you are done.”

Now you have the draft schematic for the R.I.S. segment. Required resources follow:
-160 units of Titanium Aluminum
-160 units of Chanlon Intrusive Ore
-75 units of Rori Fiberplast
-1 Woolamander Harrower Bone Fragment
-1 Gurk King Hide
-2 layers and 1 segment enhancement are optional

The Warren Badges
(as of October 12th, 2007 the Warren has been infested with ALOT of high level high agro creatures. You have been warned.)
Getting into the Warren
Compassion
Imperial Hero

A quest to avoid
(no experience, no faction, no items. Does nothing.)
Battle of the Witches

Oct 11, 20071
Star Wars Galaxies: Quests Forgotten, Part 1

So in the spirit of having nothing to do (or maybe needing a couple of quests to get your levels up) let’s take a look at the quests that you may have forgotten about (or didn’t know existed).

First up: Nym’s Starmap

Part I
Starting Location: Narmle, Rori @ coords -5725 -2492
The starter map is on a timer - if it’s not there, wait 30 minutes.
Once it is in your inventory, use it. This will start a quest.
Go to -5306, -2317 and talk to Nym.
He’ll send you to Fort Tusken on Tatooine.
Go to Fort Tusken, go to the very bottom of the inside of Fort Tusken.
Click on “Ornate Box”. Return to Nym.

Part II
This time, he’ll send you to Kashyyk. Go to the Trandoshan Slaver’s Camp. (It’s a POI.)
Kill Trandoshan slavers until you get a mission update.
Continue killing until you get all 7 pieces.
Return to Nym.

Part III
This time, he’ll send you to Dathomir. Shuttle into the Trade Outpost.
Go to the Nightspider Cult Cave (it’s a POI).
Goto coords -1086 6128.
Open skeleton. Grab contents. Return to Nym.

Part IV
This time you’ll be going back and forth between Nym and Han Solo in the Lucky Despot in Mos Eisley, Tatooine. Coords 3406, -4579.
Pay him for the map.
Return to Nym.
Done.

Rewards:
Quest XP
148,805

Items
Fibertech Steel Plating
Protecto-Net Shield
Quantum Ion Drive
Corellian Beamrail Gauss Cannon

Oct 10, 20070
Star Wars Galaxies: Rant #1

“Base Busts aren’t ruining the game - you are”
[follow this thread]

[] The Good
I got challenged to a duel by a random combat Entertainer credit grinder. (You know the score - big group of randomly generated names following one guy, run to flag of spawned MOB, destroy flag, run to next, all follow.) First I drew agro, and then watched him get incap, then I watched him destroy the flag and he walked over, challenged me, and died.

I walked over to the guys that were in the skiff and asked them if I could help them as they were just sitting there. A few seconds later, they drove back in the direction of Theed.

[] The Confusing
I don’t do a lot of pvp. This last week has seen a big change in that as I finally went to Restuss just to see what all the fuss was about. I’ve gone on my combat ent -Kidd- and then I made an appearance on the Jedi that I am leveling.

As I was running into the center of the city, or ruins, or whatever they are, an SF rebel jedi began running to the center. As I began attacking him, he began running. So I ran after and continued to attack him. I didn’t really think anything of this as this was standard for most of the Jedi I’ve seen in pvp. Attack, see lots of people, and then run. After killing him, the few imps standing around began laying into me about he had said to “Please stop” and that he was a returning player and whatnot.

I was pretty confused as I had just gotten finished with dealing with a cloaked spy who was doing nothing but cloak+venomous ploy and other sneak attacks. So I spoke my mind and began to leave. The same Jedi started to make a run back and I stopped, said “I’m sorry - if you were saying stop, I didn’t see it. Go ahead and get your kill.”

One of the SAME people who was getting upset with me for killing him began fighting him! I was confused.

What the hell is up with this? Everytime I go to Restuss, the only thing I see is people inside the PVP zone and then the opposite faction standing outside of the PVP zone. Every time.

I also remember that a long time ago, when a member of the same faction was attacking an NPC of the same faction, they’d jump right in and enjoy the killing. Now, people just stand around and either laugh at you when you are incapped or laugh when you die.

Am I the only person helping out when I see somebody attacking the opposite faction? I’ve jumped to SF to help people out, and I’ve jumped combatant to help out (even if I knew I was going to die or actually did die). I didn’t get mad - I just enjoyed the gameplay.

Some people have noticed the sig on my ent toon which is “This is just a game, and I play it.” That’s pretty much my motto when I play. However, it seems like more and more people are just “going through the motions” or just doing certain things to be asses.

Gone is the commradery (no, I can’t spell. I just woke up.) and the factional brotherhood.

I attended a bb the other day (not naming names, not saying what toon, not saying where.) I didn’t stay to see the bases go up in flames, but I did stay long enough to see the biggest gathering of toons on Ahazi that I’ve seen in months. Hell, since I’ve seen since the NGE hit. There were people standing around and watching entertainers, running in and out of the bases, talking amongst themselves and having a GOOD time.

Imagine that - a good time can still be had on a game (that I’ve talked to various Vets who still log on) that is only being logged on to because “they’re waiting for their account to expire”.

Playing with the mechanics of the game is not ruining the game itself. The many bitchers, moaners, gankers, and other *ers are ruining this game. Your bitter, angry, infantile and sometimes questionable ways of playing this game are ruining this game.

I’ve stood by and watched. And watched. And watched. I’ve talked to many people who enjoy this game and play it fairly, honorably, and well. And I’ve seen people who play this game like it’s some new game for the SNES that they’d just rather pop in the Gamegenie and cheat their way to victory.

Nobody is going to stop you from continuing to do that. But with the amount of people I haven’t seen logged into Ahazi, you’d think the more friends you can get on your side, the better it will be. Because I bet I can name at least 5 guilds with 100+ members and only 5 of them are active.

I bet I can fly to any city on any planet and 5 out of 7 of those cities will be filled with houses that are owned by toons that no longer play, or are ghost towns thanks to the Demolition Program.

There are a lot of great things coming to SWG - no, the CU or pre-NGE is not coming back and we should focus on what’s ahead, not behind.

I know not a lot of people are actually going to read this, and will probably comment with something like “First” or “/flame” or “Shut up whiner, bla bla bla.” Which is half of what I expect from this server.

And that right there is the sad part.

I speak my mind on many issues that affect us all (or at least the ones who are still trying to enjoy this game) and for what its worth, I’ll probably get flamed back to the stone age.

Flame away, mother fuckers, flame away. I don’t give a shit.

Oct 2, 20070
Star Wars Galaxies: The Painting

The Painting

“So in the interest of keeping the peace, and to ensure that the community’s focus is on the coolness of the purge event and the upcoming release of Chapter 6, we have decided to go ahead and grant all players the “Redemption” painting. Rest assured that our primary goal was and is to get as many people to play Star Wars Galaxies as possible and we feel that this event is a great step in that direction by appealing to those folks that have already made a large investment in the game in the past. We will continue to look for ways to appeal to former players to come back and rediscover the game with all of the cool new features we have added over the last year, but we certainly have no desire to alienate any of the current users that have been so loyal to the game.”

I was digging through the announcements on the forums and came across this thread. What I find most interesting is that instead of improving on game-play, instead of improving on professions, instead of improving period, they felt that offering players a piece of house decor would pacify them. Especially the vets.

Is there something totally fucked with this logic or is it just me?

Sep 29, 20070
Star Wars Galaxies: Ahazi

The following is but a small sample of threads started here in the Ahazi section that are completely and accurately 100% SWG related. 

So who thinks the Phillies can do it?
Halo 3
Just Curious… Military Vets, take a look!
Did you know? Stupid State Laws
iPhone Blended
Blendtec vs CHUCK NORRIS!! Will Chuck Blend?

That is just a few of the 100% SWG related posts you will find in this forum.  But wait, there's more!

DE TROOF ABOUT iPHONES! (among others) are also prime examples of very informative yet articulate pieces are they relate to the Galaxies.  Note their carefully chosen composition of titles, and spaces per word. 

Amazing!

How are these (and other) topics so carefully crafted for your SWG consumption? 

Here's my hypothesis:

A crack team of specialists sits around a giant picture of the known universe (the Star Wars universe!) and carefully molds threads (that's forum topics for the rest of us!) out of meticulously chosen buzzwords (again, that's hot topics for the rest of us) and then carefully and yet ingeniously write well written and formulated articles on the chosen topic (Star Wars Galaxies) until finally posting this content to the forums for all to see.

The next step in the procedure is to then have all of you comment on these articles, thus furthering the spreading of information about SWG to the entire forum population. 

Neat!

But wait, there's even more! 

Certain topics that are un-related to SWG or spark an actual conversation may become lost in the fold or deleted entirely.  This is due to the fact that *edited* and the mass production of *edited* in relation to *edit* *edited* in the known universe.

OMFG!

Furthermore, *edited* and *edited* in the *edited* for your pleasure to *edited*.

And there you have it!  A complete run-down of how topics relating to SWG are formed and created and posted right here on the Ahazi forums for all to see!

I hope that we've all learned something, and that tomorrow will be brighter for you than today was.

Goodnight and good-luck!

Ahazi