SWG Tales

Lets face it, the cities are noticeably empty and people we once knew dearly have left in droves. I counted 15 dots on my radar the other night when I was standing in Coronet. To me it doesn't matter, I honestly have a renewed excitement in the game as some of my best roleplaying scenes have gone down in the last 48 hours.

It is unavoidable to recognize the emptiness in the game, especially when playing in character. I have decided for myself that I am going to recognize the population changes in character.

I propose the absence of people represents a fundamental shift in the galactic civil war. Neutrals and Rebels are dying left and right and are fleeing the outer rim as the Empire tightens its grip. Battle hardened Imperials who have already seen the worst, are being pulled in to protect the core worlds as Rebel inurgency threatens Coruscant. Hence, a dramatic population drop.

I realize some people, in there absence, don't necessarily want to be slotted in to being someone who would flee or otherwise. Should they return, they can explain their absence differently - this is just a generalization.

The idea of a holocaust of unknown extent and fleeing refugees from the outer rim completely converts the emptiness to an immersive experience to me. I realize I actually don't mind the emptiness of the bigger cities and the fact that so many are gone. It leaves the few of us left to have a much more intimate roleplaying time than before.

I am going to roll with this. I don't want people who have left the game to feel snubbed by this or get mad by saying "my character would never leave!". I am really sorry, those of us still playing in character can't ignore this. Its time to stop worrying anout how much our friends list has shrunk and move on.

To the days ahead, may they be littered with the finest moments in RP yet. Cheers.

Jabe

I just credit the lack of people to a strange new disease created by Wookiee and Sullustan scientists bent on destroying the oppressive empire. It mostly affects humans and zabraks (as i feel they are the most grossly over represented species in game. But sullustans and wookiees are immune to it.

Go wooks.

Trade restrictions enforced by the Empire could be part of the cause. Businesses fail and people move back to the core worlds to try to pick up the peices of their lives.

Open battles in the streets could also just make people reluctant to come out of their homes.

Nice call, Jabe. If I still played, I think that I'd follow suit. To me it was always cool to RP things like this. From someone's house/structure poofing to broader issues like the WoW Exodus.

Server crash = "solar flare." *shrug*

Historical precedence is on your side as well. Tyrants tighten their grip, people end up disappearing to camps, self-exile, death.

The Death Star did just get destroyed. There should be some feeling of an Imperial Crackdown, such as it is, from somewhere.

I've spoke with some of you privately about my thoughts on the state of the game. Perhaps it is a good idea to share them with the group.

I think many people are going through a process right now where they are evaluating their committment to SWG. I am encouraged by the fact that most are realizing that we have something special here and are choosing to stay.

I am hearing a lot about players who are thinking about getting into RP. We can help them, and in turn they will help us by giving us more people to interact with.

So, if I were to summarize me reasons to be positive about SWG:
- Many RP'ers are choosing to stay
- The overall player base may be becomeing more RP friendly
- We are learning and getting better at what we do
- Over time, our friendships grow stonger and we grow closer
- The community can survive the departure of some members (temporary or permanent)
- The magic. We have too many great people here.

Sorry.. my previous post was off topic..


I would think some citizens may flee the heavily populated planets to the outer-rim.. where Imperial control is not so tight.

This would also feed into out Mos Eisley as a focal point for RP efforts.

I think that this works for an IC reason. I totally support making IC reasons for OOC happenings. I also agree with Ekade on seeing a more RP-friendly and RP-interested player base.

While Seret, Zannon, Mess'tar and I were RPing in Noct (Ruby's), some random guy in composite wandered in and watched us. We approached him, asked him if we could help him, he said no...we went on our way. But he listened to us make our IC plans of attack for a Hutt base to find a missing person.

As we left Ruby's, he said one thing, "Wow..."

And he followed us to the cantina proper, where we were meeting up with E-bo and Iago to buff and such. He left us then to do his own thing (which is good since there were some MT issues in spatial that were decidedly NOT IC, hehe).

In Coronet I met a new RPer who had it marked in his bio, I asked him for a scene, he was great! He said it was only his second time, too. I'd encourage people to add RPers, new or old, that they find in the game to the Spontaneous RP list in this forum...and make use of that list.

Make connections with people you don't know. People complain about people never being on...well, make your list longer. Make new connections, find other RPers. That's the point of the SRP list.

I firmly believe that the majority of the role players on Gorath are still disconnected from each other, despite communities like this. Its pretty cool if you think about it.

Jabe