Star Wars Galaxies: Weekly Beta Update!

Since the usual top question is, "Are more invites going out?" I'll address that one first. Yes. Here's the deal, the executive producer wants us to have a certain number of disks out. We've been putting out as many invites as it takes to do that. Unfortunately not everyone responds to the invites. We give them a week and then send out another bunch of emails to replace them. Remember however, our numbers are still pretty low during Beta 2 so chances are most of you won't be seeing the invite.
So the next question is, "When does Beta 3 start?". Please don't think me flip when I answer, "when Beta 2 is over". There are still some things we need to nail down before we can move to Beta 3. I will let you know that we have started to put together the art for Beta 3 CDs. Hopefully we will have all the disk assets in the next few weeks so we can start duplicating disks. While it is possible we could start it in December, a safer bet would be the beginning of January. I'll keep you updated as I learn more.

I'll guess the third question is, "What things are you still testing in Beta 2?". Well, I can't get into a detailed list but I can tell you that our top priority is multiservers. This is our solution for balancing the load on the servers that come with bigger populations of players. It is a rough, ugly test with lots of slow downs and crashes, but it is completely necessary so we can have a stable game. This week we are forgoing our regular test schedule and just opening the servers for our Beta Testers until they crash, analyzing the problem, and getting the servers back up as soon as we have a fix ready to test. Generally it has meant more playtime for the testers but more frustration as well.

Okay, I'm now going to give you an insider's look from yet another perspective. Each week we do another build of the game and have a sizable patch for the Beta testers. With that comes a patch message to tell them what has changed (the current one has over 90 items listed). This list is a small portion of the actual developers patch list. The larger list contains several times that number of fixes, but most of those will mean nothing to external testers (we fix a lot of bugs found by our internal testers before the external ones get the build). Here is a sampling from the current patch notes:

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Star Wars Galaxies Patch v16373
INTERFACE

We bolded the fonts in description boxes because it was too hard to read.
We fixed scrollbars not showing up on combo boxes.
Icons in inventory will now display a name as well.
You can now drag the radar zoom buttons into the toolbar.
We fixed some of the targeting problems that were making it hard to click on objects.
The datapad now has a capacity of 100 data objects.
Confirm boxes with cancel now actually cancel.

DEATH, CLONING, and INSURANCE

Added text to identify killer and target for player incapacitation and player death.
You now can't eat while incapacitated, dead, or frozen.
Likewise, you can't open containers when in those states.
Cloning terminals now require a payment confirmation.
Double-click on the cloning, insurance, and bank terminals will now call the default action and open the menus.

COMBAT

Re-enabled damage radii for grenades.
Fixed carriage returns on the end of stormtrooper and Tusken raider names during combat spam.

CREATURES, NPCS, and AI

You can no longer converse with dead NPCs.
We greatly reduced the flee speed of wounded creatures.
Creatures will clear their fear and anger lists towards incapacitated opponents.

HOUSING AND STRUCTURES

We now forbid lot placement if lot is under water (oops).
Fixed numerous typos in messages.
Added a mail to the owner when a building is finished with construction.

WORLD and VISUALS

Jabba's Palace now has its door working.
Visuals updates to Tatooine sand, night sky, celestial objects.
Fixed some graphics glitches on Rodians and Trandoshans.
Bothan fur color palette is no longer labeled 'skin.'
Minor graphics fixes to Bothans and Mon Calamari.

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I'll end the update with a humorous post from the Beta boards about the upcoming American holiday:

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Here are the top ten ways to tell if someone is a SWG beta tester on Thanksgiving day...
#10. SWG beta invitation first on list of things to be thankful for.

#9. Sneaking out of the room during NFL Thanksgiving day games to check whether Holocron has posted anything new to the forums.

#8. Refers to turkey stuffing as "poodoo".

#7. Complains about UPS not delivering on national holidays, but keeps staring out the window hoping the brown truck might come to deliver beta CD anyway.

#6. Lectures family members on the need to maintain continuity in family holiday traditions.

#5. Leaves the dinner table promptly at 6pm PST just to make sure there really isn't a load test this Thursday.

#4. Sites Jack Keruoac as a primary influence... ...oh, sorry. That's one of the ways to tell if someone is a beat poet, not a beta tester, someone must have transposed the "a" and the "t" in that database entry.

#3. Refuses to share Christmas list with family members for "secret Santa" gift exchange, seems to be holding out irrational hope for one particular gift that will probably not be available by Christmas.

#2. Tells cousin who refuses to say grace before dinner, "I find your lack of faith disturbing."
...and the number one way to tell if someone is a SWG beta tester on Thanksgiving day...

#1. Refuses to talk at all with family around the dinner table for fear that something he might say could violate the NDA.

Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone.

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Ditto.

-Kevin O'Hara
Community Relations Manager