By Danile Sperelli
Force Lore! Your weekly extension into the stories that are behind people, places, and events within the Star Wars: The Old Republic game. Each Wednesday, we take a look at some of the lore that makes up the Star Wars universe and how it effects you, the player, in your travels within the game.
This week, I’m hopping away (no pun intended with the whole Easter thing) from planets and settings. Instead, I’m going to take you on a brief trek through something I think would be a welcomed addition and a much needed feature to SWTOR, In-Game events. Switch all power to your front deflectors and follow me in as we make the jump.
I was all set to start delving into some of the characters of the Old Republic storylines within the game when I took a break to check on one of my old favorite sites which follows another game… Yes, I’m going to say it: World of Warcraft. While I’m not playing WoW at this time, I still follow it, primarily to keep up on it’s side of the MMO industry news. Don’t get me wrong, here. WoW is a great game with a lot of backstory and a great universe to explore. But to compare it to Star Wars? Star Wars has a lot of years on Warcraft and a much larger backstory from numerous sources. To compare the two as being the same just isn’t possible. The settings and genre for either Star Wars or Warcraft are two distinctly different subjects. Both games and universes are great in their own way, holding two distinctly different spotlights.
If I wanted to argue and go into fanboy rage, I’d say that Warcraft stole some lore elements from Star Wars. But on the flip side, Star Wars stole some lore elements from other genres too. I love both, though, so I’m not going to rant about which is better. Let’s get focused and back on track.
One thing that this visit to the other site did do was remind me that SWTOR is still a young game. And as such, there are things that my old MMO love has that TOR doesn’t yet. One of those being In-Game Events. So, if the guys at BioWare are listening, hear me. Please hear this plea from a fan. WE WANT IN-GAME EVENTS! I want Christmas presents! I want beer goggles that let me see mythical creatures! I want… Well, I want it all!
The gorilla company of Activision/Blizzard struck gold by adding elements to the game that were based on annually occurring holidays that corresponded with real-life holidays. We had Easter/Noble Garden, Christmas/Winter Feast, and numerous others. Can BioWare duplicate this? No, not without ripping off a style that is already established. But they can bring in similar elements that have the Star Wars canon and feel on-board that will fill the void. EA Games/BioWare has a golden ticket just waiting to be cashed in.
In the Star Wars Universe, the calendar runs a bit different than ours. This is of course, depending on which timeline/canon you wish to follow. Instead of twelve months, we have ten. Over the course of these 10 months which are broken down into 368 days, there are a total of 6 holiday events that are galaxy spanning. Of those 6, 3 are week long celebrations that are full of good tidings and cheer.
The first is the week long celebration of New Year’s Fete Week. This Fete week falls right smack-dab at the beginning of a New Year, prior to the start of the first month. During this time, celebrations occur across the galaxy to ring in the new year and a closing to the previous year. I’m sure, as it is with our own Earth culture, that there is drinking a plenty and a general sense of party, party, party. This could also be a time for costumes, much like Mardi Gras and/or Halloween. A quick question though: What do the aliens of Star Wars dress up as? Humans?
Next on the calendar is the holiday of Tapani Day. Most sources say that this holiday is mostly celebrated in the Tapani Sector, with the Star Wars Golden Timeline listing it as a galactic holiday. This day falls in-between Month 2 and Month 3. There’s not much information on what this holiday entails, so it may be similar to a Memorial Day or Labor Day. Please note that there are a LOT of conflicting sources out there, both in print and on the web. I do try to piece as much together as possible to hopefully inspire BioWare while I also inform you, the readers.
Next up, we have Productivity Day, which I assume is much like our Labor Day, here in the U.S.A. Falling in-between Month 5 and Month 6, I’m sure this is a time for vacationing, cook-outs, and friends.
In the middle of Month 6 and Month 7, we have the Festival of Life, a celebration for life and living across the galaxy. I imagine this to be very similar to Thanksgiving and Christmas, all rolled into a week long festivities. This would be a perfect time to dish out some presents from Ole’ Darth Malgus or have some visits from the stuffy, uppity Jedi Masters residing on the Jedi Council. This could be the perfect time for Huttball to have it’s championship games held: The Slime Bowl.
Next we have Harvest Day. Falling in-between Month 8 and Month 9, this is probably the perfect setup for a Halloween-like holiday for Star Wars. This event is listed as primarily being observed on Tatooine and Tapani. I see a lot of Jawa costumes for the kids and a lot of candy being handed out. By the way, the candy would be a perfect opportunity to throw us some fun buffs and stuff in the game.
Lastly, we have the week long Festival of Stars. This is the holiday week for getting away and visiting the vast ocean of stars within the galaxy. I say fireworks galore too! And you can’t have fireworks without more “liquid cheer” and more cookouts! A week long “4th of July, if you will.
Do we want a total immersion into a realm of fantasy and fiction? Do we want a tailored calendar set up in the game that we can schedule events and see what in-game holidays are coming up? Of course, the holiday events would have to be stretched out in the game to accommodate players and what-not. We couldn’t have them correspond with real-time, especially when the element of time is somewhat suspended in the game anyway. But I do believe that in-game, holiday events would be a “hook”, if you will, for players to stick around a bit more.
Next week, I’ll try to be on a more serious note with a look at one of the more “major” movers and shakers within the Star Wars: The Old Republic storyline. That may be hard with the release of Legacy 1.2 coming before next Wednesday. Let’s wait and see… Who knows where things might end up.
Be sure to check us out on Twitter @CorellianRun or myself @crazydanny1. You can also follow us on Facebook through our site’s profile page or join our CRR group on Facebook. You can always e-mail us at corellianrun@gmail.com also. Be sure to sign up for our awesome contest of give-away’s this month. And as always, “May the Force be with you!”
Star Wars™ is a trademark of George Lucas and Lucasfilms/LucasArts. Star Wars: The Old Republic™ is a trademark of BioWare/EA Games. All content referenced in this article (Characters, locations, story, etc.) are property of abovementioned parties. All rights reserved.