Friday 4 November 2011

Prepare for Guild Deployment

BioWare has updated the Guild HQ to include an indication of whether a guild is ready for Phase 3: Deployment. This isn't phase 3 just yet (the game needs to launch for that), but it does help guilds get ready for it. Here is the official news:

Last month we expanded our Pre-Launch Guild Program with the implementation of Phase 2: Alignment, where guilds could designate other guilds as allies or adversaries. Now, as Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ moves ever-closer to launch, we are excited to announce that we have initiated the first part of Phase 3: Deployment!

Phase 3: Deployment will see any guild that meets the pre-designated criteria be transferred into the game for launch. Before we begin this process, though, we want to give all of you who are in guilds the opportunity to make sure your guild meets the following requirement for transfer:

  • Four members of the guild must have pre-ordered the game and redeemed their Pre-Order Code at the Code Redemption Center.

(NOTE: We have removed the additional requirement for the guild leader to log in to the website and verify that their guild remains active and wants to be imported.)

To help clear up any confusion as to whether or not your guild is ready for deployment, we have now given each guild page a small status indicator. This indicator will show you the number of people in your guild who have pre-ordered the game, and will inform you whether or not your guild meets the criteria for deployment into the game.

Now is the time to make sure that your guild meets the criteria to be transferred into the game so visit the Guild HQ now! Make sure to secure your copy of Star Wars: The Old Republic by visiting our Pre-Order page, and then redeem your Pre-Order Code at the Code Redemption Center to ensure that your guild is among the first to explore The Old Republic!

To learn more about guilds in The Old Republic, check out the Guilds Game System page for details and visit the Guilds FAQ for answers to commonly asked questions.

Additionally David Bass made a detailed post on the forum explaining the server types and PvP ruleset TOR will have. Read that after the break.


Normally I'd wait with forum posts until Friday (wait, it is Friday... uhm, make that "wait until the official Friday update" then). But I thought that this deserved to be lifted out separately. Particularly considering that it is relevant to the topic of the Guild Launch Program.

As noted, David Bass made a detailed post explaining the server types that The Old Republic will have and what PvP ruleset exactly it will employ. Here is his post in full:

There will be four different server types in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Here's how they work generally, and details on how we're dealing with roleplaying (RP) servers:

PvE (Player vs Environment) – Players will have to manually flag themselves if they wish to engage in PvP outside of designated Warzones and Open World PvP areas.

PvP (Player vs Player) – Players are automatically flagged for PvP outside of the designated 'safe' areas (such as Origin Worlds, Capital Worlds, and the Republic/Imperial Fleets; see below for more info).

RP-PvE – Players are encouraged to roleplay and act ‘in-character’ while playing on an RP-PvE server. Players must manually flag themselves if they wish to engage in PvP outside of designated Warzones and Open World PvP areas.

RP-PvP – Players are encouraged to roleplay and act ‘in-character’ while playing on an RP-PvP server. Players are automatically flagged for PvP outside of the designated 'safe' areas (such as Origin Worlds, Capital Worlds, and the Republic/Imperial Fleets; see below for more info).

The pre-launch Guild Headquarters currently allows you to select between three different server types for your guild: PvE, PvP, and RP, which will determine your server placement during Phase 3: Deployment. During Deployment, we will be placing all eligible guilds that select 'RP' onto RP-PvE servers by default. If a guild wishes to exist on an RP-PvP server, they will need to create their guild manually on a new server once they reach their Capital World (Dromund Kaas or Coruscant) and create their guild.

The decision to make RP-PvP servers an option for players was made recently, which is why the choice was not available in the Guild Headquarters to start with. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes, but we hope you are as excited as we are to be able to choose this option for your guild in the game at launch.

PvP server rulesets

We also wanted to expand on what the PvP server ruleset means in The Old Republic. The obvious overarching rule is that in general, if you see a player of the opposite faction, you may immediately engage them in combat.

The exception to this rule is sanctuaries, which are large areas where PvP may not take place, regardless of whether you are flagged or unflagged for PvP. Examples of this are the Origin Worlds (Tython, Ord Mantell, Hutta, and Korriban), the Capital Worlds for both sides (Dromund Kaas and Coruscant), and the Republic/Imperial Fleets.

Hopefully this post helps inform your decision as to which server type you'd like to play on at launch. If you haven’t already, create a guild on the Guild Headquarters so that you can get placed on a server before the game launches!

RP-PvE for me all the way. Besides, with PvP restricted to the opposite faction and the ability to toggle yourself on for PvP anywhere anyway I don't see what added value the RP-PvP server brings to roleplaying. I personally feel that the RP-PvP server will just end up as a server for people who enjoy roleplaying and who also, separately, happen to enjoy PvP and not as a place where the PvP becomes an integral part of roleplaying (thus leading to a server where roleplaying is restricted to the safe areas).

I do have to wonder though at the choice to just put all RP guilds on the RP-PvE servers. I guess that's the result of BioWare failing to have the foresight to let guilds choose in advance, though I wonder why they didn't update the Guild HQ to let guilds choose RP-PvV now that they know that they'll have those servers (and just change all current 'RP' guilds to 'RP-PvE' guilds until the guild leaders change that).

Either way though it's nice to have this final confirmation of the server types and what those mean, and what 'PvP' means in The Old Republic.

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