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SOE Launches SWG Online Trading Card Game
Posted by Mike Fahey at 10:20 AM on August 28, 2008
Today signals the launch of the first installment of Sony Online Entertainment's brand new online Star Wars trading card game, Champions of the Force. The game depicts the epic battle between the forces of good and evil using a set of over 250 virtually collectible cards. Play alone in solo-play mode or challenge your friends and enemies online in between bouts of whatever it is you SWG players actually do online.
Right now the SOE store has a deal where you can get the original game, The Rage of the Wookies and Jump to Lightspeed expansions and a starter deck for the card game for $US 14.99, with all paying subscribers receiving five free booster packs each month to help bolster their decks. Starters are available for individual purchase for $US 9.99, with boosters running $US 2.99 or $US 99.99 for a virtual box of 36 boosters. Honestly I am a bit hazy on how the whole thing works, so why not head over to the trading card game page and figure things out for yourself? May the force be with you and all that.
LUCASARTS AND SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT LAUNCH THE STAR WARS GALAXIES™ ONLINE TRADING CARD GAME
The First Release of the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game, "Champions of the Force" Now Available
AUGUST 27, SAN FRANCISCO - LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment announced today the launch of the Star Wars Galaxies™ Trading Card Game and its first release: Champions of the Force.
Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game: Champions of the Force marks the first ever Star Wars® trading card game offered exclusively online. Available to both current and former Star Wars Galaxies subscribers*, the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game provides players an entirely new gameplay experience by combining the challenge of a trading card game with the adventures and community of the massively multiplayer game. For the first time online, players can:
* Choose between the light and dark sides of the Force and build their own Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game decks to fight virtual matches for the Rebel, Imperial, Jedi or Sith;
* Enhance their digital card decks with 15-card Booster Packs;
* Find more than 20 "loot" cards in the first release, Champions of the Force, that can be redeemed for fantastic virtual items for use within the Star Wars Galaxies massively multiplayer game for players with a Star Wars Galaxies account*;
* Challenge their skills in story-based solo-play or against other Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game players in epic one-on-one matches, cooperative Heroic Encounters, and official tournaments.
In addition, all Star Wars Galaxies subscribers with current, valid, paid accounts in good standing are eligible to automatically receive five digital trading card Booster Packs each month included with their paid Star Wars Galaxies subscription at no additional cost, providing a simple way for them to quickly and easily build their decks.
More than 250 unique virtual cards are available for players to collect in the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game, all of which feature beautifully detailed original Star Wars artwork depicting scenes from the story-based solo mode. In the story mode, players will battle through ten scenarios that revolve around an ancient Jedi holocron, the Codex of Tython, which players must work to reassemble and ultimately use against their enemies.
Anyone wishing to try the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game: Champions of the Force can do so at no charge through a downloadable trial that includes limited access to a tutorial and practice games with a provided virtual Starter card deck.
The Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game: Champions of the Force may be also be accessed from inside Star Wars Galaxies, including trial participants while taking advantage of the Star Wars Galaxies 14-Day Trial. This trial, offered at no charge for up to two consecutive weeks, also includes all the content of the base game, Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided™ and its first expansion, Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed™. Available by download from www.StarWarsGalaxies.com, the 14-Day Trial gives players a chance to meet and fight with or against their favourite Star Wars characters as they explore this massive online universe filled with thousands of other Star Wars fans.
As a bonus for trying the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game: Champions of the Force, players are eligible to receive a loot card that can be redeemed in Star Wars Galaxies for the choice of either a Rebel or Imperial flight suit*. Plus, becoming an active, current, paying Star Wars Galaxies subscriber, after trying the Trading Card Game, offers additional benefits including:
* One Starter Deck of their choice: Jedi, Rebel, Imperial or Sith;
* A Cybernetic Experience Chip, which gives a 20% experience point increase that can be used up to 50 times in Star Wars Galaxies when redeemed*;
* The complete third expansion, Star Wars Galaxies: Rage of the Wookiees™.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
pylon_trooper
Posted 11:36 AM 28/8/08
I did very much enjoy the Wars CCG, which was borne from the old Starwars CCG...I dunno, the crazy art + the very cheap price of Wars was a big plus. Loved the battles.
pylon_trooper
Simple_Man
Posted 11:22 AM 28/8/08
If SWG gave me 10 billion credits, my own Death Star, and Twi'lek concubines I still wouldn't play it now that the KotOR MMO has been announced.
Simple_Man
Jypsy
Posted 10:57 AM 28/8/08
The Star Wars Galaxies TCG plays pretty near identically to Legends of norrath and the now-defunct Auto Assault TCGs. The Stargate TCG also plays similarly but has the most modified engine of the four games.
Jypsy
Channing
Posted 10:53 AM 28/8/08
@ludwigk:
I agree. A large appeal of playing TCGs and CCGs is that you can cash out eventually. I have a friend that plays MTG and he actually turns a decent profit from just buy/sell/trading.
I used to play MTG but after I got older it lost its appeal. The game became a lot less fun when it went from playing casual decks that are awful but interesting to play to the hardcore tournament meta-game decks that require you to obtain four copies of all the most expensive cards. It just wasn't fun when I'd go down to my local card game shop to play and I'd consistantly lose on turn 5 or 6.
"What do you mean 'The Cheese Stands Alone' isn't Type II?"
Not having money to throw away on those cards doesn't help either.
Channing
ludwigk
Posted 10:45 AM 28/8/08
Is this an entirely online card game with no physical component whatsoever? I've played a lot of CCGs, both online and offline, and the physicality of the game play (much like people who like books talk about fondling pages and whatnot) is a significant portion of the appeal for me.
Playing online is undeniably convenient, but it exists as an analog to the physical version, as opposed to the whole game itself. I wasn't going to play this game anyways, but if there's no physical 'cash out' mechanism at all, then double count me out.
Interestingly, this "Trading Card Game" contains "Non-Tradable" booster packs (the contents cannot be trade), if you have "loot" card packs. Great.
ludwigk
Candlejack
Posted 10:30 AM 28/8/08
@Covert_Knight: Yea...I hear the most fun you have in this game is to be a merchant. And have a store where players can buy items or whatever. As long as you don't get robbed by a group of 30 Skywalker clones I guess.
I think it went down the shitter when they allowed anyone to be Jedi. I never played it myself but my friends did and I used to talk to them everyday. At the time it was something special to even see a Jedi in the game. Let alone become one. Nobody really minded being a regular dork for the first, um, year or whatever.
Candlejack
Covert_Knight
Posted 10:25 AM 28/8/08
Sad part is this is probably more well thought out and made than the real game.
Covert_Knight
ketenol
Posted 12:06 PM 28/8/08
@Simple_Man:
>KotOR MMO
I, I , you, I,yo- what.
ketenol
Jypsy
Posted 12:05 PM 28/8/08
@pylon_trooper: Wars TCG was cheap since it only got one expansion before decipher all but folded.
The game was a lot of fun, but finding players these days is a royal pain.
I wonder if there is a community that plays online. Funny, I never thought to look.
One thing, in case anyone is wondering, this game is absolutely nothing like the Decipher Star Wars TCG, the Wizards Star Wars CCG, or any other previously made star wars card game. (yes that includes young jedi, jedi knight, and Star Wars UNO)
Jypsy
Chef
Posted 12:25 PM 28/8/08
@Tyber_Zann: ...and your trash loses.
Chef
Tyber_Zann
Posted 12:20 PM 28/8/08
*Buys cards*
*Throws cards in trash*
Hey look, I win!
Tyber_Zann
Meohfumado
Posted 12:15 PM 28/8/08
They are still pushing galaxies?
How do you spell desperate?
S-O-E!
Meohfumado
Majpain007
Posted 12:13 PM 28/8/08
@ketenol: Ya man the best Star Wars game is being made into a shitty MMO :(
Majpain007
Patient
Posted 1:13 PM 28/8/08
Isn't this the thing that they said was the HUGE announcement at the SOE Fan fair last year? When everyone thought there would be an announcement of a new Galaxies game then.. they were told about this?
Patient
tabion20
Posted 12:59 PM 28/8/08
Over 250 cards? WOW!!!
...
Seriously, considering that they can just blatantly rip off MTG and Yu Gi Oh, there's no excuse for a TCG not to have over a thousand cards right from the get go.
tabion20
Laughtrey
Posted 1:27 PM 28/8/08
[www.swgemu.com]
The only hope for Star Wars Galaxies being good again.
Well, actually, if their stuff goes as planned they will have vehicle combat before WoW. Definitely a first for them.
Laughtrey
valoisian
Posted 1:25 PM 28/8/08
I liked this game better when it was Auto Assault. The jockeying for highest speed was pretty cool. Still, I like the engine regardless and will give this some play.
valoisian
Mohican
Posted 1:23 PM 28/8/08
I want Triumph the Insult Dog to hear about this...
Mohican
Xenigma
Posted 2:00 PM 28/8/08
I played SWG close to release, and it was a pretty cool game. Far from perfect, but if you weren't looking for the ultimate Star Wars experience you could have quite a bit of fun. Then the cities became surrounded by cities of empty player houses, and then they changed the game engine (twice!), and now they've released a card game to try to hide the fact that they made a fairly average game just plain bad.
My thoughts on the matter? If the card game is actually any good, print it on paper, not online. In any case, I'm waiting patiently for the KotOR MMO to be released (or at least betaed), or perhaps for the original SWG emulation to finally be finished. That could be pretty fun.
Xenigma
valoisian
Posted 2:32 PM 28/8/08
@Xenigma: The game is good, but you'd have to try it to see that it wouldn't work on cardboard. Too much stuff to keep track of, but it also makes it fun due to its fast pace.
valoisian
FishyJoe
Posted 2:18 PM 28/8/08
After how they screwed over the SWG community, SOE couldn't pay me to play it.
FishyJoe
demonknightinuyasha
Posted 5:18 PM 28/8/08
Im kinda pissed that i have to pay 15 bucks to gain the right to buy virtual cards. That's total bullshit.
I dont mind the non tradeable aspect of it, as long as things like tournament prizes aren't non tradeable packs.
the game plays exactly like legends of norrath as far as basic game mechanics, though it felt different, it was interesting.
i also like the fact that at least one of the guys on the design team used to work on the decipher star wars ccg, which continues to have been my favorite ccg of all time so yeah that's exciting.
i also like that you can play senario games for promo cards like in LoN.
i would never play SWG again though, especially with warhammer out in a few weeks hehe
demonknightinuyasha
Arleas
Posted 9:20 PM 28/8/08
I think I can hear a dead horse being flogged...
Arleas