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On Tuesday, May 6, at 4:00 AM PDT all U.S. and European galaxies will be taken down for server maintenance and a live update.

When the update is complete, all galaxies will be live but unavailable while we complete final testing. All galaxies will be made available after that time.

4:00 AM PDT (Los Angeles) / 6:00 AM CDT (Austin) / 7:00 AM EDT (New York)
11:00 AM GMT (London) / 1:00 PM CET (Berlin) / 8:00 PM (Tokyo)
Click here for a Time Zone Calculator.

Game Update 3.1
Publish Notes, May 6, 2008

Gameplay:

• Corrected an issue with the Biological Focus Crystal that caused players to become permanently incapacitated.
• Biological Focus Crystal now grants a 250 Constitution bonus instead of flat health amount.

Jedi:

• Turning off a stance should now recalculate a Jedi's health and action.

On Tuesday, April 29, at 4:00 AM PDT all U.S. and European galaxies will be taken down for server maintenance and a live update.

When the update is complete, all galaxies will be live but unavailable while we complete final testing. All galaxies will be made available after that time.

4:00 AM PDT (Los Angeles) / 6:00 AM CDT (Austin) / 7:00 AM EDT (New York)
11:00 AM GMT (London) / 1:00 PM CET (Berlin) / 8:00 PM (Tokyo)
Click here for a Time Zone Calculator.

Game Update 3
Publish Notes, April 28, 2008

Highlights:

Bounty hunter and Jedi updates, increased group experience bonus, new options to hide the visibility of headwear and backpacks.

Gameplay:  

• The group experience bonus has been increased.
• Instant travel vehicles should now despawn correctly and not prevent the player from summoning pick-up.
• Increased vehicle storage in datapads to fifteen.
• The missing color customization for Tantel helmets has been corrected.
• Fixed a bug where Galactic Civil War PvP collection loot items were dropping too often.
• A new /locateStructure command has been added to search the galaxy for unpacked structures and installations owned by the character. This command can only be used once every 24 hours per character.
• You may no longer duel in heroic instances. 
• Weapon trails on local clients have been fixed for all classes.
• Any new Chu-Gon Dar cube loot will now stack. Previously existing Chu-Gon Dar loot can be made stackable by placing the item into the cube and then removing it.   
• Updated the highest level treasure map loot tables to include a bounty hunter, spy and Force Sensitive bracelet previously only available in lower level treasure maps. 
• Treasure Map Names updated so players will know the type of map they are purchasing via vendor. 
• Lok has been added to the War Terminal data.
• The War Terminal now has blue planets instead of green when displayed on old video cards.  
• Added Ancient Krayt Dragon Pearls back to loot tables.
• The Life Day Necklace should now show correctly on large Wookiees. 
• The FS Village Focused Crystal buff will no longer leave the player stuck at 0 health while incapacitated. A new buff called Biological Focused Crystal will buff health for 3 hours. The new Biological Focused Crystal can be traded, must be biolinked before use and will not stack with other Biological Focused Crystals. 
• Synapse Focus Crystal duration also increased to 3 hours. 
• Added Critical Hit Reduction to character sheet stats. 
• When some items have a stat added, increased, or removed they will be momentarily unequipped then re-equipped. This is to prevent loss of stats. This should only occur on login.
• Smugglers and bounty hunters can again land at Jabba's Palace.
• Players can no longer interfere in specific quest solo battles unless they are one of the participants.

Combat:

• Jewelry can no longer be equipped or unequipped (swapped out) during combat.  
• Combat specials should no longer play their client effects if the attack fails.

Player Death:  

• Delay for clone window reduced from ten seconds to the next frame. This fix allows logic for buffs/debuffs to be properly cleared, instead of getting into a bugged state when reviving a person prior to the delay finishing. 
• Fixed some issues with being permanently incapacitated when fighting across server boundaries.

User Interface:

• You can now turn on/off the visibility of your backpack and headwear. This will not unequip your backpack/headwear but prevents them from showing up on your character. You can find these new options in the Misc tab in your Options menu, or by simply typing /showBackpack or /showHelmet in your chat prompt to toggle the options. Again, this does not remove the benefits (armor, stats, etc.), but simply "hides" your headwear/backpack. Show off those hair styles!  
• Buff icons on the status, target, secondary target, and pet status windows can now be resized in the UI options page.
• Buff and debuff durations on the player status window are represented with a whirligig overlaid on the buff icon. The whirligig opacity can be adjusted in the UI options page.
• On items with expertise modifiers, the expertise modifier will always be listed after the stat modifiers when an item is examined.  

Bounty Hunter:

• Bounty hunters receive a free respec of their expertise points upon logging in to Game Update 3.
• Sniper Shot particle effect is now only one shot instead of a volley to properly reflect the ability. 
• Added sound to Razor Net ability. 
• Added sound effect to Web Bomb ability. 
• Deadly Strikes has been changed to now grant 10% critical strike bonus and 10m range bonus while using carbines. 
• Burn and Scorch now have a flame thrower like particle effect. 
• Burn damage type changed to Elemental Damage Heat. 
• Burn (Mark 1) range changed to 30m.
• Burn (Mark 2) range changed to 35m.
• Burn damage no longer affected by weapon. Base damage has been increased to compensate.
• The action cost of Burn (Mark 1 and 2) has been reduced.
• Increased base critical hit percentage of Burn Mark 1 to 5%.
• Increased base critical hit percentage of Burn Mark 2 to 10%.
• The Relentless Onslaught ability has been changed from five minutes cooldown to two minutes. 
• The Melee Defense ability has been changed to grant 1% block per point against melee attacks when all vulnerable areas are equipped with assault armor. 
• The Ranged Defense ability has been changed to grant 1% dodge per point against ranged attacks when all vulnerable areas are equipped with assault armor. 
• The Duelist Stance ability has been changed to a 15 second reactive heal buff instead of a 30 second glancing blow and energy protection buff.
• The Duelist Stance ability cooldown has been increased to 2 minutes from 1 minute. 
• Take Cover has had its buff duration increased to 40 seconds from 15 seconds. Action cost increased to 500 from 0. It now grants invisibility to enemy radar. This skill still requires the bounty hunter to be prone. 
• Advanced Ambush now requires 2 points spent in Swift Ambush.
• If your tracking target is in a heroic encounter you will now receive the following message: "Your target is hiding somewhere, most likely under ground or in space. You will have to try again later."
• If a player bounty being tracked by a hunter is on the Nova Orion station, the bounty hunter will now receive the following message: "Your probe droid has been destroyed! Last known location in the vicinity of the Nova Orion Station, Ord Mantell System." 
• Spies that have a bounty on them can now be tracked by a bounty hunter, even if cloaked. 
• Level 90 bounty hunters can now get boss level bounty target NPC's on bounty terminals. To differentiate these missions from the others, the bounty target will have (Extremely Dangerous) at the end of their name. 
• Bounty mission target NPC's should no longer spawn in water or other terrain. 
• Bounty hunter armor draft schematics of all types (chest, boots etc.) now have an equal chance of dropping from bounty targets. Previously boots, belts and gloves were more rare.
• Bounty Check is now a level 86 skill. It can be used on any humanoid target of level 70-90. It has the chance of discovering a disguised fugitive. Terminating that fugitive will collect a big bounty.
• A collection tied to the new version of the Bounty Check skill has been added. 
• A Bounty Hunters Guild representative has been added to the Bestine cantina. He can reset a completed Bounty Check collection so that it can be repeated.

Jedi:

• Jedi receive a free respec of their expertise points upon logging in to Game Update 3.
• Jedi should seek out Matarmeno Krahnn to learn about the ways of the Force.
• Updated the stats on all legacy Jedi cloaks and robes.
• Improved Force Choke now reduces target's damage by 5% and 10%; changed from adds a chance to root the target by 5% and 10%.
• Increased base damage on Force Choke and added an energy DoT component.
• Reduced the chance for Force Choke to be blocked or dodged.
• Removed snare component from Force Choke. 
• Improved Force Choke now improves the DoT component of Force Choke by 10% per point; changed from improves duration of the snare component by 4 seconds per point.
• Base duration of Force Choke increased to 12 seconds from 6.
• Cooldown of Force Choke increased to 12 seconds from 6.
• The Phase 4 Master Skill box in the profession wheel is now named Jedi Knight.
• Force Maelstrom's particle effect has been changed to an arcing effect.  Shockwave and Maelstrom now do electrical elemental damage, changed from weapon type.
• Choke now does kinetic damage, changed from weapon type.  
• Removed Practiced Fluidity Expertise.
• Added Saber Shackle allows a chance to snare and root the target, when throwing a saber with Force Throw.
• Removed Crippling Accuracy from the General tree.   
• Stance and Focus buffs are now infinite in time instead of 50 minutes.
• Added warning text if you attempt to use an ability with no Stance or Focus active. 
• Focus buff icon uses the Remorseless Nature expertise icon, and Cautious Nature expertise icon now uses the stance buff icon. This is so that it is clear that those expertise affect those buffs.
• Jedi will enter either stance or focus on login.
• Converted Jedi stance and focus from buff icons to skill mods activated when you are in the stance or focus. You will need to replace the stance/focus abilities on your toolbar.
• All Focus cooldowns are now 10 seconds.
• Force Drain now requires a focus.
• Force Drain attacks can no longer be parried. 
• Reduced the chance for Force Drain to be blocked or dodged.
• Force Lightning, Force Choke, and Maelstrom cannot be used if the Jedi is not using a focus.
• Force Lightning and Force Maelstrom no longer share a cooldown timer.
• Added the Ruthless Precision expertise. It is 4 points with a 2% bonus to all damage per point spent up to a maximum of 8%.
• Perceptive Sentinel is a critical hit defense bonus for PvE (4% maximum) and PvP (8% maximum).
• Added the ability Saber Reflect to the Paths tree, which allows a percentage of damage to be returned on an attacker based on the saber's maximum damage (not the attack damage).
• Added the expertise Improved Saber Reflect, which increases the percentage of damage returned by Saber Reflect. Improved Saber Reflect additionally grants a chance to proc Force Alacrity on a successful reflection based on points spent in the Improved Saber Reflect expertise. Force Alacrity will attempt to Saber Flurry your target up to three times on your next Strike attack; to qualify you must make a Strike attack before the duration of Force Alacrity expires. Force Alacrity appears in the buff list when active.
• Tempt Hatred has had its chance to fire removed. Instead, it always fires and increases action on a Jedi based on the amount of damage that Jedi deals (opposite of Practiced Fluidity, which gains for damage received). Tempt Hatred requires a Jedi to be in a Focus for it to activate.
• Saber Throw cooldown reduced to fix an issue with global cooldowns.
• The four piece Dark Fury jewelry set has had 10% Fury added to it that was missing.
• A typo for the taunt command in the Guardian Jewelry has been fixed.
• Reactive Response will now regenerate action on a successful parry.
• Lightsaber trails will now properly appear on the local client.
• Animations for Saber Block, Saber Throw, and Force Lightning tweaked with speed and time to use.
• Lightsabers will now play their appropriate swing sound effects.
• Changing your saber crystal from a lava crystal to any other color crystal will now show the correct color.
• Sweep 6: Cho mak Jung Ma is now correctly granted at level 70.
• Strike 5: Mou kei is now correctly granted at level 66.
• Increased inventory size of the Belt of Master Bodo Baas to 65.

Smuggler:

• Precise Bead has been changed to a 2 point expertise. Each point increases critical bonus by 5% and range bonus by 5m while using pistols.
• Head Crack has been changed to a 2 point expertise. Each point increases melee stun chance by 6%.
• Feeling Lucky now correctly reduces the target's chance to dodge, block or parry; changed from reduces the smuggler's chance to dodge, block or parry.
• The following smuggler skills have had their melee animations changed: Precision Strike, Dizzy, Brawler Swipe, Bad Odds, Pin Down, and Crush.

Medic:

• Stasis Field has been changed to an immunity effect. Targets under an immunity effect will not be able to deal or receive damage via normal sources. Changed from "Increases Glancing Blow vulnerability by 100%, increases Dodge by 1000%, increases evasion chance by 100% and increases evasion value by absolute."
• Kinetic and energy armor expertise descriptions for the skill updated.
• Rheumatic Calamity expertise description shortened so it can fit in the expertise window.

Commando:

• A typo in the description of 4 and 5 piece comando Grenadier Jewelry set bonus has been corrected.
• Fixed an issue with Burst Fire not correctly firing an additional attack.

Bounty Hunter/Spy/Commando:

• Conceal Device has been changed to a 30 second buff with a three minute cooldown. Traps dropped while this buff is active will be concealed from other players.

Entertainer:

• Flanged Jessoon will now correctly sound like a Slitherhorn when playing the starwars1 song.

Munitions Trader:

• Added a new schematic, the Master Crafted Bowcaster. This high level rifle is can only be equipped by a Wookiee and is Bio-Linked.
• Beast Dietary Supplement Mark II has been added to the schematic list.

Domestics Trader:

• New Advanced Chemical Reactive Unit schematic added (for use in crafting Beast Dietary Supplements Mark II).

Engineering Trader:

• Fixed an issue with engineering traders being short one vendor.

Beast Master:

• If your beast reaches level 75 and you still have a dietary supplement buff, it will be removed as your beast is now too high a level for this to take effect. You can, however, give them a Mark II after removal.
• Munitions traders can now craft Beast Dietary Supplement Mark II. These are used to boost your beasts experience gain from levels 75 through 90.

Storyteller:

• Storyteller invitation terminals will no longer fail to invite someone to the story if the storyteller is offline.
• Adding a description to a blueprint is now checked against the profanity filter.
• The relative position of blueprint objects is now based off of the player's location rather than a calculated center point. This allows for more predictable deployment. Previously saved blueprints will remain unchanged unless resaved. This does not change the design saved onto a blueprint, but rather tightens the manner in which a blueprint design is recreated relative to the location at which you clicked.

Collections:

• Various fixes for the Durni Picture Collection have been made.  

Star Destroyer Heroic Encounter:

• Krix Swiftshadow on the Blackguard will now properly reset when there are no remaining valid targets in his room.

Miscellaneous:

• A Painting, Painting of Blumbush, and Grunda Painting have been re-sized to their original size.
• Added backs to a number of paintings; the painting's original size and orientation should be maintained.
• Galactic Civil War PvP collection loot items (ranks and logos) now stack automatically.

Fan Faire Returns to the Las Vegas Hilton, August 14 - 17, 2008!

If you've never been to an SOE Fan Faire before, you've been missing out! Fan Faire is a great place for SOE gamers to mix and mingle with each other and meet some of the faces behind their favorite SOE games. Here's just a taste of some of the great stuff we're planning:

• In-game tournaments
• Live, game-themed tournaments and quests
• A costume contest
• Lots of social activities, including a Kickoff Reception, a Grand Banquet and a VIP Party with live entertainment
• Sneak peeks at SOE titles currently in development
• The 2nd Annual Community Address from SOE President John Smedley
• Developer forums and roundtables

And that's just the beginning! No matter which SOE game you like to play, Fan Faire will be a blast! Even if you're not an SOE gamer, we encourage you to join us and bring your friends!

Passes will go on sale later this spring, but you can book your hotel stay now! The Las Vegas Hilton is currently accepting reservations at the discounted Fan Faire rate of just $139 per night. Just call (800) 635-7711 and tell them you're with Sony Online Entertainment, booking code SSOE8 or click here to make online reservations. Space is limited - so get your room soon, in case they sell out!

Hope to see you in Las Vegas!

Watch for passes to go on sale and other Fan Faire announcements on the Fan Faire site.

• Ahazi
• Corbantis
• Eclipse
• Flurry
• Gorath
• Intrepid
• Kauri
• Lowca
• Scylla
• Starsider
• Sunrunner
• Tarquinas
• Tempest
• Valcyn

The Complete Online Adventures premium digital download can now be purchased in the Station Store! This game package includes all expansions, as well as the Royal Naboo instant travel vehicle, which gets you where you need to go in style.

Go to Station.com and click "Store" at the top of the page to purchase and download the Complete Online Adventures now.

On Thursday, April 3, at 4:00 AM PDT all U.S. and European galaxies will be taken down for server maintenance and a live update.

When the update is complete, all galaxies will be live but unavailable while we complete final testing. All galaxies will be made available after that time.

4:00 AM PDT (Los Angeles) / 6:00 AM CDT (Austin) / 7:00 AM EDT (New York)
11:00 AM GMT (London) / 1:00 PM CET (Berlin) / 8:00 PM (Tokyo)
Click here for a Time Zone Calculator.

Chapter 9: The Fury of Exar Kun
Publish Notes, April 3, 2008

Temple of Exar Kun Heroic Encounter:

• A team of archaeologists has been searching the remaining temples on Yavin 4 to find lost Sith artifacts. While exploring the area around the Temple of Exar Kun , the team stumbled upon undiscovered catacombs hidden deep underground. What will they discover in the depths of the temple? Find out in this new heroic encounter!
  
  Your journey to uncover the mysteries of the Temple of Exar Kun begins in the Aurilia Adventurer's guildhall.

Storyteller:

• Storyteller blueprints have been added. Blueprints allow a storyteller to lay out a scene with storyteller props, save that scene, and deploy it quickly and easily. The storyteller vendor near the NPC theaters in each city offers a blueprint for sale. Use the radial menu on the blank storyteller blueprint in your inventory and choose Save Blueprint Data to save the complete scene.
  
  You can also add a description to a blueprint that can be viewed in the Examine window.
• Ground targeting for storyteller prop placement has been added.
• Jukebox converters have been added to the storyteller vendor. A jukebox converter will make a storyteller prop that you target and that you own into a jukebox. It will then behave just like a normal jukebox storyteller prop.
• The music being played by a storyteller jukebox can now be heard whether or not you are part of that jukebox's story. The one exception is if you are participating in someone's story, then you will only hear music played by jukeboxes that are part of that story.
• NPC difficulty converter tokens have been added to the storyteller vendor. The NPC difficulty converter tokens change a storyteller combat NPC to elite difficulty or to boss difficulty. You must own the storyteller combat NPC in order to change its difficulty (or be assisting the owner).
• Storyteller invitation terminals have been added. A storyteller invitation terminal allows players to join your story without you or an assistant needing to manually invite them. Anyone who uses a storyteller invitation terminal will be added to the owner's story, unless they are already a member of a story.
• Storyteller props may now be purchased in bulk, up to 10 at a time for most props.
• Combat and Flavor NPCs may now be asked to unequip their weapons, or to re-equip them again if you wish.
• Additional storyteller props and NPCs have been added.
• Storyteller events can now be held on Dathomir, Endor, and Yavin 4.

Collections:

• Repeatable Galactic Civil War PvP collections have been added.
• A collection with an Instant Travel Vehicle reward has been added.
• A number of new ground collections have been added.

Combat:

• Added recourse effects to dire root and dire snare. Once you have been affected by dire snare or dire root, you are immune to the effects for 25 or 18 seconds respectively.
• Increased base duration of dire root; the total duration remains 9 seconds.
• NPCs immune to taunt effects are now also immune to Provoke.
• Resistance to root and snare effects are now a rating rather than binary.  
• Added the ability for select creatures to be resistant or immune to Mind Trick.

Power Ups:

• Buff icons for active power ups have been added. These icons indicate the remaining duration of the power up.
• You can now overwrite an existing power up with a new power up.
• Fixed an issue with power ups cancelling their effects upon cloning.  

Foraging:

• All foraged food components now stack. 
• If a cloaked player encounters a thief or worm while foraging, the cloaking will be removed.
• Players must leave city limits to forage.

Commando:

• Plasma grenade particle effect changed to not be so obnoxious.  

Entertainer:

• Fixed duplicate yellow sparkler types; there is now a red one instead.
• Added color names to the end of all classic props (sparklers, ribbons, etc.).
• Changed ribbons for mystical and sparklers to really be yellow on the ones specified as yellow.

Spy:

• Successful Blaster Burst and Razor Slash attacks apply a debuff that increases further damage by Blaster Burst and Razor Slash by 10%. This effect will stack up to 10 times.

Heroic Encounters:

• Changed legacy Axkva Min badge to state it was awarded for legacy content in the Nightsister Stronghold and not for the Axkva Min heroic encounter.
• Fixed an issue in the Tusken Army heroic encounter that prevented players from advancing to phase 3 of the encounter.  

Miscellaneous:

• Area spawns around Tatooine should be the appropriate levels now.
• Adolescent Krayt Dragons no longer spawn in terrain.
• Vehement durni warriors now spawn in the wild.
• Updated Bink Video library to version 1.9c.
• Miles Sound System has been updated to version 7.2a.
• The text for claiming the 57 month veteran rewards has been updated.
• Corrected an issue with the scout trooper belt appearing camouflage instead of white.

Chapter 9 Gift: War Terminal

• When you log into Chapter 9, you will receive the War Terminal publish gift. This terminal, when placed in a structure you own, displays readout data about the Galactic Civil War across the planets in your galaxy.

Account theft isn't isolated only to those who choose to trade or share their Station accounts (which is ignoring the EULA!). As the Internet and online gaming population grows, so does the cesspool of scammers. There are a variety of ways in which people will attempt to gain access to your account, and the list grows everyday. Fear not, there are simple tips to ensure that your account is protected. Keep in mind these worn-out (but useful!) words of wisdom:

Gamers have heard the advice before, yet a lot of people still opt to share their account information with close friends. Having a guildmate complete a quest for you while you're sleeping may seem mostly harmless, but bad things can happen. While it doesn't always end in catastrophe, you could log back in with a new last name like "Lovetrollslongtime" or something slightly worse which might result in a banning. It's not always obvious, malicious attacks that cause good accounts to go bad!

I'm sure we've all heard the fateful stories of guildbanks emptied and outfit members booted. Sadly, this is often a direct result of sharing account information. Not only do you run the risk of virtual strangers reeking havoc on all you've worked hard for, but you make it difficult for SOE's customer service staff to investigate and resolve issues.

What is a phishing site? Simply, it's usually a website created to mimic a well-known or frequently used site in an attempt to fraudulently gain sensitive account information. Gaming communities have been targeted in the past via email, spamming a link that takes the reader to a site that, upon first glance, appears to be legit. The imposter site may offer in-game items for completing surveys, or pose as a game representative, warning that your account is in limbo.

Here at SOE we do not offer enticing ways to earn in-game money through email. We prefer the old fashioned way of logging in, killing mobs, completing quests, etc. Be extremely cautious when exposed to external sites through email, claiming to be affiliated with Sony Online. You will only be prompted to enter your password when logging into an SOE game, or when visiting an official Station site.

Not in email. Not in-game. Not on the phone. Never! We have ample ways to access your account; the only thing we require from you is patience and a Station name. If you suspect that someone is impersonating a CSR in-game, use the /report feature and again, do not divulge your account password.

Account security is the responsibility of the account owner. This includes password protection, running virus checks, disabling file sharing, or any other means of checking that the owner's account has not been stolen or compromised.

If you find yourself a victim, not all is lost! CSR's may be able to offer a one-time only "character restoration." But first you must recover your account (details on doing this can be found here.) SOE strives to maintain an exciting and safe gaming environment. To make things more enjoyable for everyone, we offer basic advice on how to keep your account secure.

• Use a unique Station name.
• Use an alpha-numeric password consisting of at least 8 characters; a mix of letters, numbers and special characters is best. Never write down your password!
• Never use the same word for your Station name and password; change it periodically.
• Never trust a troll in a dress.
• Always create a secret question when prompted (this allows for quicker password recovery and confirmation when needed.)
• Keep your registration information, including current email address, up to date in so that we can contact you regarding your account and for retrieving lost passwords. (SOE will not use your email for marketing purposes, unless you specifically opt in for newsletters and announcements.)

Keep your credit card information safe too. Here is a handy place to get some good tips.

As announced in a press release today, effective April 1, 2008 Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) will report to Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI). The new structure is designed to mutually benefit both companies by further accelerating the PlayStation business through SOE's strong online gaming expertise.

SOE is currently part of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Under the new structure, SOE will continue to develop its games for the PC and the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3®) computer entertainment system.

The day to day workings of SOE will not change and no employees will be let go. We are thrilled and excited by this change in structure! As Smed was quoted in the press release, "This move is going to broaden our capabilities and expand the development of our products into new and exciting directions."

Star Wars Galaxies is a registered trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd. and Sony Online Entertainment All rights are reserved.