Star Wars: Galaxies - Jedi Interview
by Moriendor - 2003-11-11

Star Wars: Galaxies is Sony Online Entertainment's (SOE) and LucasArts' massively-multiplayer online role-playing game set in the Star Wars universe. The events in the game take place between Episode IV (The Battle of Yavin - Destruction of the first Death Star) and Episode V (The Battle of Hoth - Ice planet rebel hideout).

The once prevalent Jedi are basically extinct during this timeframe. SOE and LucasArts nonetheless decided to give players a chance to play a Jedi character in their game. For continuity reasons they had to come up with a system to keep Jedi very rare. This system is built around the so called force-sensitive character slot (FSCS). Players who want to play a Jedi character first have to unlock this slot by fulfilling an unknown list of criteria with their main toon before they obtain the chance to create a new Jedi Padawan.
The system behind the FSCS can rightfully be considered as the best guarded secret in video gaming history. There has been no leaked information, no "secret" far east website(s) that posted the formula... nothing. Not a single player, not even the most hardcore ones, out of roughly 300,000 subscribers had figured it out in over four months.

People got impatient. The Jedi forum at the official site turned into a flamer's paradise recently. People accused the developers of lying and were begging for hints or at least an outright statement that the Jedi system was not in place yet. SOE/Lucas instead repeatedly stated that people were "close" and that they were expecting the first Jedi to pop up within a "month"... then "couple of weeks" ...but nothing ever happened.
It got to the point where SOE/Lucas reacted by offering players a hint. They implemented Holocrons, a rare loot drop from high level NPCs that hinted at the mastery of multiple professions as a requirement for unlocking the FSCS. Now players had the hint they were asking for and everyone knew it would only be a matter of time until the "close" people would unlock their slot.

That time has come last Friday (PST time zone). A global system message was sent out to all servers notifying people of the first Jedi character. As it turned out, there were in fact several people who had unlocked their slot at roughly the same time.
We were able to track one of the lucky ones down and are very happy and grateful that he agreed to the following interview...

MMORPGDot: Could you please introduce yourself shortly? Who are you in real life and which character did you unlock the slot with?

Thomas: My name is Thomas, I'm 34 years old and live in Aachen, Germany. The character that opened the slot was called 'Monika T'Sarn', a name I've been using in a few games before.

MMORPGDot: Tell us about your MMORPG career. Was SWG your first MMORPG?

Thomas: Heh, not my first at all, let me list:

• Genesis, a swedish LP Mud
• Ultima Online, Europa server
• Everquest, Fennin Ro
• DAoC, Midgard Merlin server and Andred PVP server
• Shadowbane, Beta and Treachery Server
• SWG, Intrepid

MMORPGDot: When you started playing SWG, was unlocking your force-sensitive character slot your prime goal from the beginning?

Thomas: Not at all. I knew it was unlikely to happen, so I just tried to have my fun without it, mostly playing PvP - and I did have fun! Once the Holocrons came, the way was clear to follow, and so I did.

MMORPGDot: OK, what was the first thing you were thinking when you unlocked the slot? Did you think of a fake message or a hoax at first? At what time did it happen exactly?

Thomas: Yeah, at first I made sure to check it's valid - but I was all alone in the wild, and there was no way it could have been fake. It was funny, I had just logged in on Saturday morning for a few hours of XP before visiting my family, was just chatting with my friend Kayyla about the announcement the FSCS had been opened by somebody. We were wondering if it was somebody on Intrepid, somebdoy we knew - next thing I know I'm in Coronet cantina by a horde of Jedi fanatics!

MMORPGDot: What was the first thing you did after you noticed that you had indeed unlocked the slot? Grab a beer? :)

Thomas: I told my friends, those that were on, then quickly created my character to prove it.

MMORPGDot: Did you have people help you unlock the slot? Are you member of a PA? If so... how much impact did the help of others have on unlocking the slot? Could you have done it solo as well?

Thomas: I had a bit of help, but not much. I'm a member of The Combine (www.the-combine.net), but most of us do not play anymore because of the bugs. I just as well could have done it solo.

MMORPGDot: The devs mentioned on several occasions in the recent past that people were close to unlocking the slot. Did you ever consider yourself as one of the close people or did the unlocking come as a total surprise?

Thomas: No, not at all, because I had not cared that much - never did all those weird quests, did not really do so many themeparks. I'm still not sure I am one of those they monitored - I did a lot of levels in newbie professions during the last week, maybe I rushed ahead.

MMORPGDot: You have been very communicative about your unlocking, showed your lightsaber to people in-game, answered tons of questions in-game and on the forums etc. - Why did you do that? Are you going to delete Akinom, your Jedi character and start over more anonymous? The life of a Jedi is supposed to be dangerous...

Thomas: I hated the misinformation on the Jedi forums, the lack of info from the devs. I feared that once somebody would open the slot, people would still not believe it, we still would not know more. So when I was the first, I wanted to share as much knowledge as I could, to prove the existence of Jedis without a doubt. I'll keep playing Akinom, I think - more fun with a bigger challenge.

MMORPGDot: How many hours did you play per day? Would you consider yourself as a hardcore gamer?

Thomas: Definitely hardcore - 4-6 hours during the week, 8-12 hours on weekends.

MMORPGDot: The Jedi slot is of immense value, both immaterial as well as material... *cough* eBay *cough*. Would or did you ever consider auctioning your FSCS account?

Thomas: No, I never sell any of my accounts. I grow too attached to my characters, could not stand somebody else using it. And besides, it's not worth THAT much - if somebody paid me enough that I did not have to go back to work tomorrow, maybe...

MMORPGDot: Generally speaking, what are you planning to do with your Jedi character? Are you going to try to take him/her to Master Jedi right away? Going to spend your life in hiding? PvP a lot? Or do you maybe even need a little break from SWG now?

Thomas: I'll level as long as my patience allows. Right now I am very curious what all the powers do that I cannot use. I certainly will be PvP'ing, once I am a bit stronger.

MMORPGDot: Are you afraid of getting frustrated regarding the permadeath of your Jedi character after three deaths or will you just start over and over and over again?

Thomas: I might quit after that - depending on how far I was.

MMORPGDot: Are you ever going to return to playing your "old" character or would you consider that boring now that you have a Jedi character?

Thomas: As long as my Jedi has to level and things to do, I probably won't go back. Maybe if I have to farm some money or items for him.

MMORPGDot: Did anyone from the SWG development team contact you ever since you unlocked the slot? Did they send you a personal congratulations message?

Thomas: Nothing at all, except the automatic email the Jedi gets. Of course it was weekend, and I am not really sure I am the first, or just the first to come out openly.

MMORPGDot: Last question. Very plain. Very simple. How did you do it? :)

Thomas: Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe it was 1000 deathblowed enemies or 10 dead AT-ST's? Maybe just the 9 right master professions. Read the Jedi forums to find out all about it, people are comparing the way of different Jedis to find similarities.

MMORPGDot: Thanks a lot for the opportunity and we wish you the best of luck in real and virtual life! May the force be with you - always! :)

Thomas: A pleasure, and I hope all your readers will be Jedis soon as well :)