Game developers haven't catered very well to Star Wars fans who want to live in George Lucas' world. While there's innumerable action and strategy titles based on the franchise, and the single-player RPG Knights of the Old Republic series is beloved, fans who joined Sony Online's Star Wars Galaxies hoping to roleplay together were soon disappointed. Though lead designer Raph Koster originally envisioned a complex society where players could live and work in the Star Wars milieu, Sony eventually revamped it as an action game-- provoking player mutiny. (Among the disgruntled roleplayers, by the way, was the leader of a large Galaxies players association, who left for Second Life, re-dubbed herself Suzanne Soyinka, and founded a popular mini-MMO of her own: City of Lost Angels.)
Which brings us to this tightly edited trailer by Atticus Jetaime, introducing SWRP, the latest fan-made Star Wars roleplaying community in SL (there are many groups, past and present.)
First launched on a couple rental sims (Tatooine was, of course, the original planet), "[I]t really took off fast to be honest," Amelia Luna tells me. By her estimate, it attracts several hundred players/developers spread out on at least a dozen sims built to resemble various planets in the Lucas galaxy.
"All the settings are referenced from Lucas: the timeline, the planets, our equipment, etc. However, the individual characters and story lines are created by the players." So the filmmaker's universe is more like a backdrop. "Where the stories go and what kind of characters are involved are up to all of us playing in Second Life." As the video suggests, however, it's darker and more frankly sexual, and violent. (No "Greedo shoots first" moral quandaries here.)
"It is in more depth than your average good versus evil," Ms. Luna explains. "There are a lot of twists for neutrality classes and we try to incorporate all of the classes as best as possible into each scenario. As for each specific timeline and story, it really depends on what simulator you are playing on." Combat is primarily resolved with RCS and DCS, Resident-made game engines for SL-based MMOs. "Basically with RCS it is straight combat and damage, whereas DCS has leveling up based on play time along with damage and special powers you can use on a heads-up display."
"Why do all this in Second Life?" I ask her. "There's an official Star Wars MMO, after all, along with a ton of official Star Wars multiplayer games."
Amelia Luna points to SL's customization options, especially with avatar enhancements. But the key advantage is all the realms of Second Life that aren't about Star Wars. "[T]here are so many different simulators you play in... [rather] than just a single MMO doing the same thing over and over."
The Star Wars Role Playing blog is here; the forum is here. Atticus and Amelia recommend visiting these SWRP-themed sims-- direct SLURL teleport at the link:
- Manaan.
- Imperial City.
- Korriban.
- Vjun.
- Ziost.
Several of the SWRP locations doesn't exist anymore. A complete actualized list of the SWRP locations withing SecondLife are available at the "Galactical Transport Locations" at the Forest of Dromund Kaas.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Memussi/11/52/1099/
Dark Lady Amidala Nightfire
Massassi Sith Council
Posted by: Dark Lady Amidala | Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at 06:21 AM