"Spooky" Showcase Winner!

 

I'm pleased to announce Solaria, Rori was one of the locations officially chosen for the Haunted Galactic Showcase.  What does that mean?  As the image above reads, we were part of the Friday Feature section for October 22, 2010.

For those of you with emo Anakin patience issues, here's all you need to see if you're here for Solaria...

Haunted Galactic Showcase

Solaria City Hall

Location: Solaria, Rori (city hall)
Nearest SP: Rebel Outpost
Server: Starsider
Proprietor: Mayor Jivaro Qel-Jairus
In Solaria, Rori I try to keep citizens and visitors interested in the city by decorating City Hall for the major holidays. Making it spooky for the Galactic Moon Festival had received a lot of positive feedback, and I hope people enjoy it this year too.

This Death Trooper armor guards the entrance to the mayor's office. Notice the rotting stomach in the background and an appropriate warning sign to ward off the squeamish.

One of the usual city hall attractions is the "city in a city" display which the fog machine is engulfing. A carved pumpkin is resting on a house in the background and a Tusken raider is sporting some biological flair.

A krayt skeleton is trying to scale the wall while skulls and carved pumpkins watch. The two outfits are costumes from a fan film I starred in called "To the Moon and Back."

Neither heroes nor villains are safe from my decorating, hence the Jan-Go-Lantern and the big brain on Mace.

This is me posing in one of the more mundane scenes; a skeleton in front of a painting of Z'ozpheratu.

I must have gotten too close to the decorations. I ended up stuck in my own web.

It seems an afflicted version of me is trying to destroy City Hall. Hopefully his dexterity had been severely hampered but... uh-oh. Little help, GMs?

It's an honor to make it so far as a city, and I hope all the citizens are as happy as I am.  I have a good time decorating each holiday and I'll have more pics to come.

For anyone wanting to read the article in its entirety, click the jump or follow this link:
http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/en/players/news_archive.vm?id=68968

New addition(s) to Solaria

This is breaking news (in fact, I am inside the SWG browser posting this).

What's new in Solaria? At least two things.

In case you didn't know, there is already a Heroics reset terminal for anyone to use inside city hall.  All you have to do is click it if you ran instances, and it will clear all instances you ran. It can be used basically once a day for any person.

The newest of the new are the anniversary terminals. Namely the bazaar and space terminals. Both are in front of the shuttleport facing south. Shuttle into Solaria, Rori and you'll be staring right at these crowding the Solaria Spotlight Citizen statue. (When will the next be awarded? Shine your light and perhaps I'll see it.)

So what can you do with these new terminals? The bazaar terminal works similar to any other in a static city. The only difference is you cannot post items to sell there. You can search all the bazaars and vendors in the galaxy and even make waypoints to the vendors, however.  The space terminal lets people examine their ships and change out parts, but they cannot launch or travel with it.

Stay tuned to find out what's to come. Hopefully there will be much to celebrate this Moon Festival holiday.

Let the Fishing Rumpus Start!

What is a positive to all the swamps of Solaria?  Well, fishing of course.  Small as the puddle may seem, most every puddle in Solaria supports fish.  Perhaps it's because they actually connect deeper below the surface and lead to the greater water body of water which borders Solaria in the south.

Why should you care?

Fishing has been revamped with leaderboards and even "elusive" fish to catch on most of the planets.  Below is the whole writeup.  Citizens and guilds can also garner credit for exemplary fishing, so take a look...

Fishing Leaderboard

The Fishing Leaderboard is a new in-game feature that keeps track of the leading individual, guild, and city anglers across each galaxy. It displays the ranks, lists the leaders' names, and the total length of the best fish caught for each leader.

• Individual Leaders: The total length of the best 10 non-collection fish caught during the period are used to determine the angler's Fishing Leaderboard score.
• Guild/City Leaders: The total length of the best 25 non-collection fish caught during the period by the members/citizens of the guild/city are used to determine the guild/city Fishing Leaderboard score.

The Fishing Leaderboard scoring period is weekly and starts/ends every Thursday at 19:00:00 GMT / 11:00:00 PST / 12:00:00 PDT (same time as the GCW rank and Leaderboard update). At the end of the period, the winners are determined and the list (along with all the scores) is reset to start a new period.

Accessing the Information
To view the Fishing Leaderboard, simply trigger any fishing pole.

The Fishing Leaderboard section in the Hobbies tab of the Collections window and displays a count of how many times the angler has made the Fishing Leaderboard winners' list. It also displays how many times the angler was listed in the leaderboard as a guild member/citizen of a guild/city that made the list.
The Fishing Leaderboard section in the Badges tab of the Collections window displays badges the angler has earned from the Fishing Leaderboard. Badges are granted for winning 1st place, and for making the Fishing Leaderboard winners list one time, five times, 10 times, 15 times... etc.

Cities and Guilds
In order to contribute to the guild/city Fishing Leaderboard score, the angler must have been eligible (i.e. did not just recently join the guild/city) for the period for which the guild/city made the Fishing Leaderboard winners list. They must also have caught a non-collection fish during the period (even if that non-collection fish does not end up contributing to the guild/city winning score), in order to qualify to receive credit for being a guild member/citizen of a guild/city that made the Fishing Leaderboard winners list.

Anglers joining a guild/city in between periods will not contribute to the guild/city Fishing Leaderboard until the start of the next Fishing Leaderboard period.

The guilds and cities in the most recent winners list will be given access to one guild/city travel point. The guild/city travel point privilege is revoked if the guild/city does not make the next winners list. To reiterate, the guild/city travel point privilege is only available to the guilds and cities in the most recent winners list.

Messaging and Notices
Whenever the positions on the Fishing Leaderboard for the current period changes, a message is sent to the chat, guild chat, and/or the city chat for the angler, guild members, and/or citizens of a city to notify everyone of the change.

An in-game mail will also be sent to the winning anglers, guild leaders, and city mayors when a Fishing Leaderboard period ends, and when the winners are determined.

Fishing Record

The Fishing Record displays the type of fish caught, the planet on which it was caught, the length of the fish, the name of the angler (person who caught it), as well as the location, time and the bait used.

For each galaxy, best length fish is tracked for each of the 70 non-collection fish (7 fish types x 10 planets). The angler who catches a non-collection fish whose length is greater than or equal to the current record will become the new record holder. Personal best is also tracked for each angler for each of the 70 non-collection fish.

Use any fishing pole to view the galaxy best, the angler's personal best, and the personal best of another targeted angler.

A record fish will be renamed to designate it as a record fish, and it's examine window will contain additional record fish information that shows, the galaxy, location, and bait used. Also, the examine window displays the angler who caught the fish and the time the fish was caught.

A "Record Data" radial menu is available on any non-collection fish that will display the galaxy best and the angler's personal best information for that particular fish type.

NPC Record Holders
All 70 fishing records are currently held by various NPCs. The current record length and which NPC currently holds which record are different for each galaxy. These NPCs are actually quite avid anglers who have recently come out of the closet to reveal their ...errr...ummm... ichthyologic tendencies, so it will take some effort to best their records. The angler that becomes the new record holder will get a Comm Message from the NPC who originally held that particular record, who will have a thing or two to say to the new record holder.

There are more NPCs than fishing records, so some NPCs will not be record holders on some galaxies. So if Darth Vader is not a record holder on your galaxy, you'll just have to go fishing on a galaxy where Vader is a record holder if you want to receive message from the angling Dark Lord.

Titles, Badges, and Collections

Titles:
Titles (70 available) are granted to the current record holder. When there is a new record holder, the title will be removed from the current record holder and granted to the new record holder.

Badges:
Badges (70 available) are granted for catching a record fish. Badges are also granted for catching 1, 5, 10, 15..., 100 record fish.

The Fishing Leaderboard section in the Badges tab of the Collections window displays badges the angler has earned for being a guild member/citizen of a guild/city that made the Fishing Leaderboard winners list.

Badges are granted for being a guild member/citizen of a guild/city that won 1st place, and for being a guild member/citizen one time, five times, 10 times, 15 times... etc of a guild/city that made the Fishing Leaderboard winners list.

Collections:
A collection under the Fishing Record section in the Hobbies tab of the Collections window displays the count of record fish caught by the angler.

Seven collections (one for each fish type), with server first and a badge as reward, under the Fishing Record section in the Hobbies tab of the Collections window are available for catching a record fish of the particular type on all 10 planets.

10 collections (one for each planet), with server first and a badge as reward, under the Fishing Record section in the Hobbies tab of the Collections window are available for catching a record fish for all the seven types on the particular planet.

The ELUSIVE Fish

Tales abound of the one that always manages to get away. Are there any truths to these stories, or are they just overactive imagings after too many rounds of Valarian Brandy?
There are only 70 ELUSIVE fish (one for each of the 70 non-collection fish types) for each galaxy. The odds of successfully landing an ELUSIVE fish are much, much, much greater than that of successfully navigating an asteroid field, even if Han doesn't want to hear it.

Badges (70 available) are granted for catching an ELUSIVE fish.

To view the ELUSIVE fish list, use any fishing pole.

An ELUSIVE fish will be renamed to designate it as an ELUSIVE fish. For example, "a faa" may be changed to "the ELUSIVE Tatooine faa".

The Development Team reserves the right to revisit the "only 70 ELUSIVE fish per galaxy" rule once any galaxy has caught all its 70 ELUSIVE fish. Good luck with such a feat/challenge/accomplishment though.

Elusive Fish List
For each time that the very lucky angler appears on the ELUSIVE fish list, as long as the angler has logged in within the past 90 days, one travel point will be granted to the angler's current guild and city for each time that the angler appears on the ELUSIVE fish list. This is a permanent perk. Guild/City travel point update occurs at galaxy restart and at the end of the leaderboard period every Thursday at 19:00:00 GMT / 11:00:00 PST / 12:00:00 PDT, so the perk will not be applied immediately when the angler catches an ELUSIVE fish, but will be applied at the next guild/city travel point update. If the angler leaves/joins a guild/city, the perk will be removed/applied at the next guild/city travel point update. The perk will not transfer with the angler with CTS. The angler must get on the ELUSIVE fish list of the destination galaxy in order to receive the perk.

(click the jump to see fish tanks of galaxies)

Solaria has city waypoints!

Here is the official announcement from Game Update 17.6 (even though a tad late).

City Waypoint Registry

• The mayor can upload waypoint to the city waypoint registry from the waypoint's radial menu.
• Citizens can download waypoint from the city waypoint registry into the datapad.
• Launch the city waypoint registry window using the "City Waypoints..." button in the waypoint window, or with /cityWaypoints.
• The city waypoint registry can hold 25 waypoints. 

There are at least three current waypoints in the current city registry.   If you have vendors in your city or a public house you want to show off, contact me in game with the waypoint attached, and I'll see what I can do about adding it to the city registry.  The spots may even end up on this blog.

On that note, anyone who is interested in living in Solaria (or even parking nearby) can contact me through in-game mail to discuss possibilities.  We are also open to people wanting a city to hold an event.  Remember, the Harvest Festival is coming up soon.

City Decor - trackback story

This is a pic of some storyteller decorating done in the city.  If you'd like to try your hand at decorating Solaria, contact me here or in-game to make a request.  Your screenies can be a future post (with credit and a link).

See the original post here:
http://solariarori.blogspot.com/2010/03/solaria-decor-celesrias.html

How to improve player cities?

This came about from a post in the city/housing section

Millbarge wrote:

So - it's been a year or so since the changes to Player Cities went live...
...How are the Mayors doing?

I made a lengthy reply to incorporate my own feelings as well as the citizens who ask me about aspects of player cities and Solaria.  Please make submit your own ideas or observations in the thread. 

Feel free to comment there or here on any of my remarks.
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/posts/list.m?start=15&topic_id=1090928

Hit the jump to read my ideas/proposals

Recent City Hall pic

Here is a quick peek inside city hall - showing off some of the newest decor available for helping out Nym.  Click for a better look.

Decorations often get changed out or moved around depending on what's new in the galaxy...or events taking place.  The next scheduled holiday is Remembrance Day.

City Banners

 

Many people aren't aware (or forgot about) city banners.  They are originally obtained as a "city banner kit" veteran reward, but can be traded and sold.

 

 The kit converts into a banner which can be of a faction or one of MANY planets.  The banner can be changed as often as wanted, so buying one banner from someone doesn't mean you have to keep it that way -  so long as a "city banner" variety.

City banners can be placed inside one's own structure or inside a city...as the name states.

If any citizens have a banner they would like placed in front of their house or a particular structure, I will be happy to do my best to make it happen.  There are already a variety of rebel banners in Solaria, so I will let you display any planetary banner flag in the city.  All you have to do is mail me or send a message.

Full explanation of city banners:
http://swg.wikia.com/wiki/City_Banner_Kit

Expanding the community

The recently-ended polls have taught me a couple things.  Citizens want more activities (roleplay/events).  They also want city meetings.

Citizen opinion:
1.)  85%  want Solaria to actively encourage roleplaying.
2.)  84%  want options for a city meeting.
3.)  Most citizens don't want imperial sister cities.

 Here is my proposal (feedback encouraged):

Combining the first two, I'm planning for a day (still thinking Mondays) each week to hold a city gathering.  It can be for citizens AND 'outlanders' to get together and have fun; and doubling as a city meeting via the channel for citizens only.

In addition, I can advertise it in the city message as well as spread the word to other mayors also.  This can also open the opportunity for a different host each gathering and keep up the atmosphere.

Solaria also has an opportunity to carve in a niche all its own.  So many want to roleplay or learn the art, but are shy or afraid to try.  It's what gave me the revelation to make Solaria a 'helper rp' city.  What would that mean?  People can test their rp chops, get constructive advice on styles (even bios), or roleplay without ridicule...which brings me to another item I want to bring up...



Solaria, Rori should be a 'clean' rp city.
I don't know if this has been brought up anywhere, but every roleplay city I have seen pop up has been based in something secretive, illegal, imperial, or illicit.  Ever since Eisley's "scum and villainy" diatribe, I have seen overbearing policing or smuggling/slaving dens.  If you want something more stepped up; smuggly; sithy; slavie... my advice is to travel to the city of Darkside Realms, Rori.

Why am I bringing this city up?  Because not only is it just southwest of Solaria, it's also a great city doing it right in the 'dark' way.  If it's imperial or illegal, you can find it in Darkside Realm.  It was formerly Dying Slowly (a take on an iconic SW city) which has been a more prominent haven since former militia member Zeranna has become its current mayor.

In fact, I have been working with Zeranna to make Solaria's citizens welcome in their metropolis despite their imperial flagging.  Since I want people to 'keep it clean' in Solaria, Darkside Realm is the place to soil up those hands.  Just don't cause any trouble there since their security is some of the toughest out there.

This doesn't mean I decided on it being an official sister city, but it is a definite affiliation so long as Zeranna deems Solaria as being in worthy status.  None of this is in stone yet, so all input will be taken into consideration.  There is always an angle I haven't thought of, so this is why I turn to the community for input.

Running segments returning soon

The subject should be rather explanatory.  It's basically a reminder I haven't abandoned what was established. 

Solaria's holonet community {this blog I mean} was a long-aspired way to have interaction with citizens and cities across this galaxy and others.  It was also meant to encourage participation and overtly show my efforts in Solaria and how I do it for the active citizens rather than myself.  If I wasn't making an effort, I doubt I would have remained in office.

I hope to return to weekly segment (or at least bi-monthly); all depending on my feedback and what demand I have.  I will also be opening my scope to include other cities and galaxies to profile [though I still want to be as Starsider-centric as I can].

Citizen of the month will move to a month with a month-long 'cooldown' so to speak: just as there's a morotorum before the next Bestine Election.  That reminds me: I need to post what's new for housing/decorating soon, thanks to the latest update and bug squash.

Use the comment section to provide feedback; good or bad.  I do my best to stay as inclusive as permitted.

Back in orbit...

 

That's right: Solaria's blog is back and hopefully to be more inclusive.

With more tools at my disposal, hopefully Solaria can take another step towards being the galactic community I strive for.

Lately I have been in more social circles than before.  With all the pulling together I had been doing, some changes in communication helped me get closer to other cities on Rori as well as other planets in the galaxy.

City and Mayor chat channels are two of the greatest things out there.  Some of you know I had been working on my own mayor channel, but it's much better with the new channel for mayors only.  This will bring together participatory people and their citizens to make events more fun and encourage more community throughout the galaxy.

Many of the cities I have been in contact with are imperial, but all are welcome to Solaria so long as they aren't looking for trouble.  I did flag our city rebel but abstained declaring a GCW region due to our more harmonious nature.

Stay tuned:

Solaria Update(s)

 

It's been a long while, but Solaria was doing a lot of reorganization.  Speaking with fellow mayors and setting some things into play.  The swampy waters may look still, but a current flows (and a lot of decent fishing in those puddles too).

The blog is here for the citizens to come together in a proactive way and have an actual community, just as a guild would.  Solaria is more than one guild, and some have no guild at all.  This is the place to propose ideas or give direct feedback...as why the posts have a comment section.

Next step is what Solaria should do to keep things moving forward.  A forerunner is to have a designated night for all sorts of gathering, as my earlier post.  Since so many cities have 'nefarious' types of rp fare.  Think of it as a teaching city kind of setup, where people can play out stories and have fun but nobody disparaging one another for their styles.  Most every rp city or community assumes you already have your style down...and many forget there's a learning curve in being someone of unique stature. 

Sound off with your feelings, and interest level.

Town Hall Meetings? (concept)

( UPDATE: I will be available in Solaria from 8pm-midnight EST in Dracino's cantina- unless needed elsewhere in the city, and via /city chat. It is a good time to reacquaint yourself with the mayor as well as voice suggestions/complaints regarding Solaria.  Citizens and guests are welcome all the same.  Participation points may be accrued, and at least one never-proposed idea will make light from the mayor. )

With the inclusion of city chat, I wanted to make sure it was being used to its best capacity. This is the first time aside from city mail where citizens can network and be in better communication with one another.

It made me wonder what could be done to include this in the setup of Solaria itself. So I was thinking about city hall types of meetings. Not so much with formality but more like having a beverage and discussing various topics.

A hot cup of caf? 

Or Java with Jivaro?

 Blue Milk with the mayor?

Enough of that silliniess...but you get the idea.  I have a poll asking how often you might like this concept.  The best part is it can be done through city chat so you can listen in without making the journey to the city.

Feedback appreciated, so give your thoughts.

This week's winner... (2010.03.28)

This week's lucky citizen is...

Uarac Anon

You have a week to claim your prize: but with the holidays, I can offer a slight bit of grace.

Tune in next week to see another name chosen.

This week's winner... (2010.03.21)

The /choice proved itself not to be stepped in too much favoritisim.

This week's winner...

Scrappie

Comment to this post to receive your prize. Since I was delayed by a day, only fair to tack on an extra twenty-four hours.

This week's winner (not claimed)

Not only is it Pi Day, but time for a new winner selected by /random.

This week's winner...

Tsosro

You have until Sunday to comment and claim your reward.

Event Badge Opportunity

Have you wanted to plan a community event?  Do you love earning badges?  You can do BOTH with this new (but limited time) opportunity.

All you have to do is host an event and have it submitted for the galactic events calendar (all of the info will be below, and link to official post).

Let me know if you want the event to take place in Solaria, since I can offer support and permissions for most any kind of event.  Maybe even a couple tricks up my sleeve others haven't thought about.

Click the "more" to reveal the full post about earning an event badge. Just remember: it's only for hosting an even in April...meaning time is ticking down.

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/posts/list.m?topic_id=1059840
(original link)

New TGC Housing

Three new structures which raise two questions:  "How to get them?" and "Can they be placed in Solaria?"
These are obtained from TCG (SWG: The Card Game).  It's free and people with Star Wars Galaxies accounts can get free packs monthly.  If you DON'T think you have an activated TCG account yet, try one of these two methods:

1)  Inside of the SWG game, use the command /tcg
2)  From the SOE launcher: select the Games menu heading and from the drop-down list select Star Wars Galaxies TCG.  Or in the Games window, click the Strategy tab then select Star Wars Galaxies TCG.

The card game ties in for each account.  So if you have multiple accounts, you can have multiple card game accounts as well.

Why activate a card game?  If you like unique items to decorate your house with, that is the best example.  Some cards are "loot cars" which mean when claimed they can be used inside SWG as decor: but some have a bonus if consumed.  Vehicles and housing are other examples of things.  Each moth there is a special campaign mission in the card game where winning it earns a loot card.  So in theory, every month people can earn at least one rare item for SWG.  And if you need a hand learning the game, just let me know.

Here are the structures which will be available in the next card game expansion called Threat of the Conqueror.

Commando Bunker

• Base Maintenance: 26 cr/hr
• Base Storage Capacity:  250 items
• Footprint Size: 8x7
• Lots Required: 2

Vehicle Garage

• Base Maintenance: 26 cr/hr
• Base Storage Capacity:  350 items
• Footprint Size: 8x7
• Lots Required:  3

V.I.P. Bunker

• Base Maintenance:  26 cr/hr
• Base Storage Capacity:  250 items
• Footprint Size: 8x8
• Lots Required:  2

Doing research, the largest footprint to be built in Solaria under ordinary circumstances is 5x5.  If one of you end up with one of these as loot, I'll help you best I can with placing it as close to the border as possible to help the city look bigger (and make the distance from the shuttle shorter).

To the Moon and Back

Time for another "Star Wars Saturday" as I had been calling it to myself.

This week is another fanfilm from Star Wars Galaxy. It comes from a good friend by the name of Teryn; but was shot by his toon Selendus. Actually it's a music video tribute for the song "To the Moon & Back" from Savage Garden rather than a straight fanfilm.

Not only do I think it's a great departure from the usual fighting videos, but it was recolored and has a little tale of love, loss, and the Empire (though not exactly in that order). He can be contacted in-game as either Teryn or Selendus.

Another tidbit... I was one of the actors in this video: not only playing one of the people, but also using my SoroSuub (named Tour of Beauty) which I even got to fly for a shot or two.



The Icostumes I wore are now inside Solaria's city hall, so take a look at them when in the neighborhood to see them up-close.

Please visit the profile for Selendus to rate the video or subscribe to his channel.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Selendus

Solaria Statistics: Full Rundown (4 of 4)

First it was basic stats, then the maintenance breakdown, and progressed to taxes in general. This segment shifts focus back to our city.

This metropolis has no taxes and the bare minimum of one fee. How does it sustain itself?

Solaria relies on the generosity of its citizens to stay fully functional. When things started getting tough for cities, I made a conscious decision to ease the burden for citizens...rescinding any additional taxes or fees. So long as there are funds in the treasury, I see no need to take credits from anyone involuntarily.

When a donation is made, the mayor is alerted who contributed and how much. It would be very nice to have that same message go out to citizens (or even a choice to be anonymous or not). Maybe I smell a future suggestion even.

After I made my decision, I did a one-time mail to encourage everyone to think about contributing at least once to the treasury since I had done away with all taxes. It went better than I expected; solidifying the notion I had made the right gamble.

Whenever someone moves into Solaria, I send a customized mail explaining the donation system rather than taxation. To date, I never had to make a push for funding. My thanks for all who have shouldered the burden in the fiduciary realm. I even pay a fixed amount into the treasury each time I win an election: showing just another reason how your vote for me solidifies Solaria's success.

One of the great things about having an old incumbent/elder mayor who cares about the city is the aspect of record keeping. Ever since city mechanics notified the mayor of treasury deposits, I have been keeping track of the generosity for no specific reason than just one of the random set of records I hold onto.

For privacy sake, I won't disclose the actual generosity, but I'll close this out with the top ten total contributors in the realm of sheer credits. Please bear in mind, money is no match for loyalty; and I am not loyal to money. This is just a fun little list.

[If you aren't a citizen but want to donate, just get in contact with me. I'm not soliciting donations at all, but doesn't hurt to put the thought out there.]

If you want your name removed from this list, just let me know.
My thanks to all the readers and citizens!

1. Gaedel Threefootseven XXXXXXXX
2. Ywomi XXXXXXXX
3. Edgecrusher XXXXXXX
4. Jivaro Qel-Jairus XXXXXXX
5. Dracino XXXXXXX
6. Zoulose XXXXXX
7. Klouds XXXXXX
8. Arayette XXXXXX