Cloning 1 (Source)

Temporary Enemy Flags or "TEF's" exist in Star Wars Galaxies as a playstyle buffer between Player-versus-Player (PvP) and Player-versus-Environment (PvE). To deliver a stronger Star Wars feel to all players, we are completely taking the TEF system out of the game. That's right, no more TEF's.

What does that mean?
The first thing it means is that we are changing the definitions of Neutral, Covert and Overt. We are still open to naming suggestions, but here is what we are calling them so far:

# You pick a side and you are either Imperial, Rebel or Civilian.

# Neutrals become Civilians.
# Covert become PvP Disabled and will be called, "Combatants" (and can only participate in factional PvE).
# Overts become PvP Enabled and will be called, "Special Forces" (and can participate in factional PvP and PvE)

Civilians Civilians are not allowed to attack any factional enemies. They can only help other Civilians (neutrals) or those "on leave" (details below) and will not be attacked by factional NPC's.

PvP Disabled: Combatants Rebel and Imperial Soldiers who are PvP Disabled (Combatants) can only attack PVE enemies. They can help other PvP Disabled soldiers (Combatants) of the same faction and Civilians. Opposite faction NPC's will shoot on sight! Imperial NPC's will shoot Rebels on sight and Rebel NPC's will shoot Imperials on sight...this is war! Under no circumstances can PvP Disabled Combatants attack or be attacked by PvP Enabled Special Forces, and engaging in combat with factioned NPC's will not affect the ability to trade, enter buildings, etc.

PvP Enabled: Special Forces Enlisted Rebel and Imperial Soldiers who are PvP Enabled (Special Forces) are allowed to attack opposite faction PVP and PVE enemies. They can help other PvP Enabled soldiers (Special Forces) , PvP Disabled soldiers (Combatants) and Civilians. These players are at risk at all times of being attacked by opposite-faction NPC's or opposite-faction PVP enabled players.

# All of the above rules are absolute.
# All PvE interaction will be consumable by PvP Enabled soldiers and PvP Disabled soldiers.
# Players who are PvP Disabled will have a colored character tag.
# Players who are PvP Enabled will have a different colored character tag
# If you are killed while "On Leave", you will still be on leave after cloning.


Some additional details:
# Faction perks will now be available to both Combatants (PvP disabled) and Special Forces (PvP enabled) players.

* PvP Enabled can use Faction Perks
* PvP Disabled can use Faction Perks
* Faction Perks take on the Enabled/Disabled status of the PC.
* PvP Enabled Faction Perks can be attacked by PvP Enabled PCs and PvP Enabled Faction Perks
* PvP Disabled Faction Perks cannot be attacked by PvP Enabled PCs, PvP Enabled Faction Perks, PvP Disabled PCs, or PvP Disabled Faction Perks.
* PvP Enabled and Disabled Faction Perks can be attacked by NPC Faction.

# Faction Pets are flagged according to their owner's status. If the owner is PvP-enabled, then so are they. If not, then they cannot be attacked by other players.
# Squad Leaders who issue orders while they are PvP disabled will not benefit PvP Enabled players in their group. "Civilian squad leaders who issue orders will not benefit anyone but Civilians or those "on leave."
# If you are PvP Enabled and are killed in combat, you will be reset to PvP Disabled when you clone.



PvP, PvE and Helpful Actions

Buffs, Entertainment, Trading, Rezzing and Healing are considered "helpful actions". In the new system, Buffs, Entertainment and Trading will no longer have TEF restrictions. No more trade TEF's bouncing you out of a house or other inconveniences. For example, under this system, a PVP enabled special forces Imperial can trade with or buff a PVP enabled Rebel.

Buffs, Entertainment, Trading can now be performed by anyone to anyone regardless of factional (Imperial/Rebel) or PvP affiliation (PvP Enabled or Disabled).

Healing will still have to follow some rules, otherwise you get a situation where a PvP disabled player can help a PvP enabled player indefinitely without any risk or a civilian can help a PvP disabled player to defeat factioned NPC's without risk of being attacked by those NPC's and that's just not fair.

Here is a simple diagram that shows the interaction of how the "healing" actions will work across PvP enabled and disabled players:

----------------> Healing Actions -----------------> <------------ Healing Actions <----------------
Imperial Rebel
[PvP Enabled] [PvP Disabled] [Civilian] [PvP Disabled] [PvP Enabled]
| |
|_________________________________ Attack ___________________________|


Imperial Special Forces can heal Imperial Special Forces, Imperial Combatants and Civilians.
Imperial Special Forces can NOT heal Rebel Combatants or Rebel Special Forces
Imperial Combatants can heal Imperial Combatants and Civilians.
Imperial combatants can NOT heal Imperial Special Forces, Rebel Combatants, or Rebel Special Forces

Civilians can heal other Civilians.
Civilians can NOT heal Rebel Special forces, Rebel Combatants, Imperial Special Forces, or Imperial Combatants.

Rebel combatants can heal Rebel Combatants and Civilians
Rebel combatants can NOT heal Rebel Special Forces, Imperial Combatants, or Imperial Special Forces
Rebel Special Forces can heal Rebel Special Forces, Rebel Combatants and civilians.
Rebel Special Forces can NOT heal Imperial Combatants or Imperial Special Forces


Healing Friends and the "On Leave" status

The challenge to overcome in this situation is to keep the game fun for players who are friends, but who might prefer to be in different factions and different play style states (PvP enabled or disabled). To accommodate fun game play for friends, we have added an "On Leave" status that players can get from Faction recruiters.

What the "On Leave" status does is create a way for friends to play together by temporarily leaving "active duty" and making "on leave" players effectively the same as civilians temporarily. All this means is that you visit a faction recruiter, request to go "On Leave". Being on leave will temporarily remove you from the faction but maintain your faction points and rank standing. You won't gain or lose any faction or rank while you are on leave, but you are all clear to go out with your friends and guild mates from other factions (who should also be on leave) for an afternoon of hunting. When you are "on leave" the healing rules work as if you were a civilian - you may be healed by anyone, and you may only heal other civilians (or others who are "on leave"). When "on leave" you also will not be shot on sight by enemy NPC's of the opposing faction.

There will be a 5 minute delay timer from the time you request leave until the time leave is granted (making you a temporary citizen with no faction affiliation). Players who are on leave can go back to full faction status simply by attempting to attack a factional target. This will pop up a dialog window that will change their status. There will be a 5 minute delay timer on the action of returning to duty.

There will be a 5 minute delay timer from the time you request leave until the time leave is granted. Players who are on leave can go back to faction enlisted status simply by attempting to attack a factional target. If you attempt to attack an NPC factional target, you will trigger a change to PVP disabled. If you attempt to attack a PVP enabled player, you will trigger a change to PVP enabled status. Either of these actions will pop up a dialog window that will as you, "are you sure?" and change their status accordingly. There will be a 5 minute delay timer on the action of returning to PvP disabled status, and a 15 minute delay timer on the action of going to PvP enabled status. Players wishing to return to being a Combatant or a Special Forces can do so at a faction recruiter. There will be a 5 minute delay if you wish to return to Combatant status, and a 15 minute delay if you wish to return to Special Forces status.

Players who are PvP Disabled, whether they are "on leave" or not, and wish to become Special Forces (PvP Enabled) in the field may do so in the field by using the appropriate menu option on an enemy player (who is PvP Enabled). This action will have a 15 minute delay timer on it. You can also change status at a factional recruiter.

While a player is "On Leave", they will show up on Radar as light purple if they are friendly and light orange if they are enemies.


Special Cases for Jedi and Bounty Hunters

The removal of TEF's will affect Jedi and Bounty hunters. Once a Bounty Hunter attacks a Jedi who he has a mission against, both the Bounty Hunter and the Jedi are forbidden from receiving a helpful action from any player. The Jedi and the Bounty Hunter can not be helped by anyone for the period of time after the attack begins.


Always in motion the future is...

We know that these are big changes for SWG players. We look forward to your feedback both before and after these changes take place. These TEF changes are intended to be part of a big, single publish change to the game that makes the whole experience different and more exciting. The first thing it allows us to do, is create more Imperial/Rebel action in game and the first step into making that change will be the new GCW Bases and Planetary Control meta Game.

Message Edited by Thunde