Weekly FA Meetings

[Gambit]

I will be at next weeks meeting. Been taking care of the gf since her wisdom teeth were pulled. Hope all is well my fellow angels

[ArchNemesis]

First time notes, Pardon if i missed anything Tbone talks very quickly

-Tbone will be back in full swing on things on Wednesday

-New imperial agent progression video has been released. Emails about changing the security of the accounts are being sent out. Basically it'll be a password reset, don't be alarmed.

-Early access has been nailed down. 5 days before launch (December 15th) staggered launch until december 20th. Estimated pre-order date can be checked in this thread

-Phase 3 has started. We are ready to go since we only need 4 pre-orders to count.

-the RP-PVP server set is not being supported through phase 3. They didn't decide to have one until the system was already created. Based on the TS member base we're probably heading towards this server.

-Roleplay suggestion thread has been created, take a look at it to see what's expected of us, how we do things in terms of acting with the public / recruitment, etc.

-Also, Tbone finally typed out and organized a complete version of the lore / history of the FA within TOR. A good chunk of info thanks to Subb and Keeloth. Good read, check it out the thread for more in depth roleplay / character developement.

-Tbone is working on a new calendar system to help with event sign ups

-Final Check-in! One last activity check to make sure everyone is ready. Please do sign up and do it THROUGH THE THREAD, regardless of how active you are. This is for the sake of organization and cleanliness.

-Inactive emails have been sent out as well for those that haven't checked into an order or haven't signed up on TS.

-A new post by the guild MERC, Mos Eisley Radio Community, has left a flattering post on our forum. Their server choice as of this post is still unknown.

-People are back in beta with lots of new feedback in regards of what is changed. One more Big wave incoming (in the thousands?). Not sure if limited / open trial period. Tbone's guess is this weekend or next weekend.

-Sentinel is having higher dps output now along with lots of other new improvements incoming. Crafting has improved which is currently being tested by various members. Soon as a new patch hits, our beta folks are going to be updating the info to be as close to launch information as possible.

-Make sure to fill out your profile / roster information (preorder, crafting, advanced class, etc).

-Lots of games coming out (Skyrim, PC-Arkham City, BF3, PC-La Noire, DCUO-F2P)Indulge now and get it out of your system, because when TOR hits we're going full force!

-One last tidbit, subtract 5 days from the countdown for early access. Expect lots more information on guilds within the next few weeks and try and be active. We're getting fully prepared now to hit the ground running with TOR.

[Tbone]

Haha, you kinda forgot to mention the discussion on PvP or RP-PvP server. Oh well, details coming.

[ArchNemesis]

I actually had that written up but felt that since the decision for RP-PVP had been pretty much made that it would have just been beating a dead horse.

[Anamodiel]

-Lots of stuff tonight!!
-Update on account security on swtor.com. You have to update your password; it's not a phising email!
-Open Beta weekend is starting at an undetermined date. That means everyone should have received an email and everyone should be playing in the Beta, assuming you registered to play in the Beta. We assume its a weekend test that everyone will most likely participate in at the same time as a major stress test.
-The ongoing guess is Thanksgiving or the weekend before release. Clear those schedules!!
-FA News! The biggest thing is the guides we have. Yes, we do have guides. There were many issues with people not reading the guides we have on the forums. These are created so you don't go in blind to the game so that you don't have to ask a million questions when you're in game.
-READ THROUGH THE GUIDES BECAUSE YOU WILL BE PLAYING SOON. Figure out crafting, figure out leveling, figure out the UI, and watch some videos. Many questions asked this weekend could have been answered by just checking the forums.
-Obviously, questions are still fine, but try to be as prepared as possible. It gets annoying getting asked the same questions 2309470234 times.
-People who have permanent access to Beta have been able to do whatever they want with it. You guys haven't contributed very much knowledge to the guild.
-One great example is the Hammer Flashpoint.
-A couple of our members are very well versed in the game and have many great strategies for how to do different things. However, a large portion of our guild doesn't know very much about the specifics of the game. We need these sort of resources to get past any stumbling blocks.
-WE NEED TO VERIFY COORDINATES OF DATACRONS AND MATRIX SHARDS. GET SPECIFICS AND MAKE SURE COORDINATES ARE UP TO DATE.
-FLASH POINT BOSSES SHOULD BE A PRIORITY. Those running on Empire now need to go Republic and figure out all the different Flashpoints. Do all the Flashpoints, starting at the one that Tbone left off at. Do it in the same format. It takes about 30 seconds to do after completeing each boss.
-If you have the time, Datacrons are important, too.
-If you guys are starting with high level characters, you guys can roll through that stuff. It's not really asking too much, because you won't even get aggro'd by most of the stuff.
-Need start cords / brief description of where start / what to do to get to them / end cords of where data cron is / what it gives
-We need more class guides. We only have the Sentinel, Gunslinger, and Guardian guides. If you have spent any time playing the Beta, start one with the information you can find. There's a website with the talent trees already on them. Start theory-crafting! Some of the classes don't have any guides started for them, and we need that before Launch.
-The classes do change, but the basics of it are the same. It helps someone choose which class they want to use, and it helps people know which abilities are the main abilities that they'll be used.
-We need to better utilize our knowledge of the game and get this information out there. Just don't post any information that can be traced back to you (IE images with your name on them)
-We're not trying to compete with the information data sites. We're really trying to create guides that are specific to the guild. Everyone is going to have their different strategies on those different sites. We just want one thing that is manageable for everyone to find.
-It's incredibly useful to have a compliation of all of these sites, too, on your posts.
-The plan for the next weekend beta testing is to group the experienced players with the inexperienced players for the Big Beta Weekend.
-FA COINS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE!!! There are two versions, one for veterans and one for people who are with us at Launch.
-Check your name on the list and pay Tbone. We have a limited supply and we're going to sell them until we run out. However, many people are ordering more than 1, so be sure to get yours s00o0o0o0n. Make sure your payments match up. Tbone's working with a lot of people, so some things get lost in translation.
-Hopefully by this time next week we will have a new calendar system in place to sign up for different events (Raids, PVP nights, Questing groups, etc.). It's a more efficient way of organizing things, and will hopefully get implemented soon!
-CHECK IN THREAD!!!!! A FEW OF YOU HAVE NOT CHECKED IN YET. CHECK IN!! CHECK IN!! They will be put in the inactive group, will receive an email, and you'll be deleted. Even if you're around all the time, you MUST CHECK IN. It takes 5 seconds. Do it.
-Testing went well last week, and we asked for people's responses. Everyone in Teamspeak seemed to be having a lot of fun when playing, and no one had many complaints.
-Crafting in game has gotten a lot better. There are many more mod-slots now attached to different gears, and you can actually remove the mod-slots from that piece of armour and add it to a different piece.
-Plan for Open Beta: Tbone and some of the other people have done content 1-25 many different times, and we literally can't do it again until release.
-Many of the veterans will take the time to help you through the game and roll with many different groups to help spread knowledge as much as possible
-There's a bit of a learning curve with the UI and the map and questing lines, and anyone who's Beta tested can really help out. It's basically a mentor program, because we want to hit the ground running at release. We want everyone to have an intermediate understanding of the game.
-Our intent isn't to get everyone powerleveled up. We just want everyone to get used to the game, and we want everyone to be able to be on Coruscant so we can all PVP together.
-There's maps on the PVP warzones, and some basic strategies. We'll refine these as we go on.
-After Coruscant, there's no sense in going to the other planets and grinding because it's all going to get wiped. We want everyone to have a basic understanding of PVP, and maybe we can take out a world boss. Of course, you can power level further if you want, but it might be more beneficial to leave that for release.

[Anamodiel]

-Second to last meeting before Launch! AHHHHH!!! The last meeting will be on Wednesday immediately before Launch.
-We're going to go over a bunch of stuff for Launch. It's a CRAZY TIME! AHH! So, so excited. Tbone is "terrified" because there's so much going on. We're ready to get over this hump.
-It's a big transition going from talking about the game to playing a bit to playing full time where nothing is theoretical. We're trying to make sure all of the bases are covered and the transition is smooth.
-We cannot add anyone else to the guild list right now because we're so close to launch. We will be manually choosing a server (RP-PVP), so you'll get an email with a server name.
-WE WILL NOT BE GOING TO THIS SERVER, AS ITS A PVP ONLY SERVER. That server is a fall-back plan. We won't know what server we'll be playing until Launch, unless they give us the server name before hand. You will be informed of this as soon as we are made aware of what server we're going to choose.
-Early access information is incoming. Early access is 5 days before and is staggered, but this email will tell you what day you're getting in and any information regarding the Early Access. Look for it, as it should answer a lot of your questions.
-Beta is over for everyone!! Ended with a /dance party. They're preparing everything for Launch now.
-Tbone created a thread on how to prepare your current game files for Launch. Be sure to check this out! If you played the Beta before November 25th, you need to uninstall and reinstall. If you played during the Thanksgiving Open Beta, you won't have to uninstall. Check to see what files you need to delete. Check that thread out!!
-Tbone has put up the new Raid Calendar. We're signed up for a GuildPortal free site, and it has some features specific to SWTOR with planets and the like already premade. We've hacked it onto our site. We know its not the cleanest, but its the most efficient. We've taken care of any of the problems, and you can do everything from our site.
-Please create an account on the GuildPortal. Go to the Raid Calendar option, and then register. "Apply to this Guild", create an account, submit, and Tbone just has to approve it. You can create and join events. For now this is what we'll be using for the forseeable future.
-We're working on our own calendar that will have a majority of the same things, but its still being worked on. But, if you get a chance, familiarize yourself with the calendar now before Launch.
-In order to group up, this will be a great tool to find someone to group with in the guild for questing. You can choose planet and how long you're going to play and whether you're going to be watching all of the quest cinematics.
-Questing Group: "Spacebar". The creator of the event approves you joining the individual event.
-If you haven't watched the Tutorial video, look at it so you can get at least a little familiar with part of the UI.
-Faction goals are something we need to start talking about. The first big goal we should have is taking down the Raid Boss on Coruscant. He's only level 16, and it'd be great to be the first guild to take him down!
-Broin started a thread about this, so feel free to contribute any ideas. PVP is going to be a big thing.
-It might be a good idea to do a mix of PVP and Questing. Do 3 PVP Warzone's per level and you will keep your valor Rank up. You'll be playing a lot of catch up if you wait until 50.
-Making the FA uniform is going to be a big challenge, but we're very interested in doing it. Anything that shines white is a candidate. Save your white gear, and keep it in your cargo bay, even if its the wrong stats or the wrong level. Even if its just a social uniform, it'd be sick to have a white uniform for everyone in the faction.
-Another goal might be to come out with a Machinima video. It's definitely going to be a challenge!
-If there are any goals you think we should accomplish, please partake!
-Crafting! We talked about this before the meeting, and we came to the realization that in game there's no way for guilds to check their crafter's recipe's lists (like an internal trade network). There's no way to send a request to a specific person because you can't see what anyone can craft.
-We're hopeful there will be something better in the future, but right now we're creating threads for dedicated crafters to post in and all the recipes that they have. You'll post in there and update your post overtime. You can easily link to the TORhead Database, so you don't have to type out all the stats and components. You can link directly to it, and when you hover over it, all the stuff will appear!
-Currently the TOR database doesn't have the prototype/artifact versions (IE Blue/Purple) in their database. Look at Tbone's example for what you should put if you have the advanced version. We should have enough dedicated crafters who will take the time to update their lists.
-If we just did a request thread, no one specifically is held accountable. It takes much longer to get with someone and the post may just get lost in the forums.
-We don't want to clutter the crafter thread with requests because we want it to just be a database. Tbone is going to think of the best way to request something.
-Tbone was very busy working this weekend. Tbone got the payments for the coins, and he's going to try to send all of them out if he has enough orders.
-Datacron guide was updated half way through Balmoraa. This should help us get that edge early on, as you won't have to spend 2 hours looking for Datacrons. Once you get to Balmoraa, we'll figure things out for you guys.
-In regards to Flashpoints, we'll do our best. We weren't able to get everything done, but we'll be there to help you guys out as much as possible.
-For server choice, for the RP-PVP server, we're going East Coast, Last letter of the Alphabet. Once that server is identified, we'll send out an email, text blast, and we'll post it on the forums. 99% sure it won't be the server Bioware emails us.
-RP stuff, if you haven't read the history of the Furious Angels thread, Keeloth is still working on the complete detailed version. However, all you need to read is the synopsis. I would recommend reading it just to get the vibe.
-Be sure to check out the RP guidelines stuff. We might do some impromptu stuff while in a group as simple as telling someone to follow the signal and then all quick traveling at the same time. This isn't as effective or cool if one or two of you are yammering away and not paying attention to direction.
-It should be stated again that we do NOT trash talk or grief. If someone's guilded up, its Red=Dead. There will be no hooey with neutral Sith guilds. If someone is guilded up, its red=dead. We don't grief just to grief, however.
-If you run into an Imperial guy in the Republic area, he's probably there to grief other people. However, if you're in the Imperial territory, you're in a group of 4, and you come across a single guy who's unguilded, it's not OK to attack him first. If he's not looking for trouble, don't bother him.
-We don't spawn kill people over and over. Treat the enemy with dignity. If you have any questions, ask an Officer. We're also not going to ruin an RP event of a Sith guild.
-Quick website discussion: Staff was talking about the idea of moving to a different content management system, especially with the recent Guild Raid Calendar stuff. PostNuke is very out of date and not supported. There are many valid reasons why we could switch over. We're toying around with it.
-If anyone has any expertise with it, even if its just solutions for our site. Lithium is our web guy. We've looked at Droopal and the like, and if you have any advice, let us know!
-These systems are as good as the people that use them. These systems won't be very effective if no one uses them (guild raid calendar, mainly). USE THEM!

[NoCry]

thanks for the notes ana.

[Anamodiel]

-For those of you living under a rock, pre-release has been pushed up to Tuesday morning for those lucky enough to get in, 6am FA time.
-Big groups should be there at release regardless of the changes in time. If you think that you pre-ordered early enough and have that time available, join us!
-COME INTO TEAMSPEAK!!! I promise, we're fun.
-SWTOR forums are down right now - they're getting their launch site ready, so there'll be a lot of shiny new things to look at there. New forums, too, with new posts.
-Tbone is hoping that maybe there'll be some functionality similar to the Armory like they have for WoW. Pipedreams, obviously, but still fun to think about.
-Big thing: There's no grace period. You can get in for early access, but they're taking the server down on the 19th at 10pm, and the server will be brought up the next morning. You will not be able to access the game once the server comes back up unless you put in your order code.
-Obviously, this is a big problem for a lot of people because a lot of people ordered off of Amazon. Amazon is having a complete "clusterfuck"; some people have release date delivery and some don't.
-Tbone and Broin have been talking with Amazon trying to get different information, and there has been a lot of talk. There's nothing concrete, yet, and both Bioware and Amazon are aware of the issue.
-It's weird because some of the first people to pre-order were not given the option for Release Date Delivery.
-Broin's been told that even though it doesn't say release date delivery, it's expected to go out and be delivered by the 20th.
-Tbone's been told that once they get additional inventory in, they'll move people up to release date delivery. Tbone's been checking up with them daily, and he's shelling out extra money just to get it ASAP.
-We'll keep you updated in every way that we can. Hopefully Bioware will decide to allow a grace period. We'll see...
-Couple last minute things to prepare for Launch.
-Make sure you're patched and have the Launcher downloaded now, that way you're not trying to download a large patch or dealing with slow download speeds.
-We're looking for new leadership. There's a big thread on it, you can't miss it in the Recent Announcements. We'll need 1, possibly 2.
-Adad won't be able to join us for Launch. He was Master of Aequitas. All hands on deck for Launch! We're looking for new leaders. We posted what we're looking for.
-It will be a Staff decision this time around. We've done it like that before, and it's worked out well.
-We have a lot of strong personalities and a lot of people who have done this so far, so the Staff and Tbone are excited.
-It's not a position of grandeur. Anamodiel doesn't get to boss anyone around or any fun stuff like that. He does all the grunt work with emails and Broin interviews everyone.
-Hopefully everyone's watched the video tutorials, and Broin has posted several videos with several features of the game. It's just random little tid bits about the game that even people who have played in the Beta might not know about.
-It's good stuff to know going in; Tbone even learned new stuff!
-We're starting to put into motion the idea of a Hardcore group or a Competitive Group of FA members.
-We have a lot of different members with a lot of different playstyles, but we've always been very competitive, especially in PVP.
-Who is interested in being a part of that Hardcore group for Raiding/Powerleveling/PVP/World Firsts/etc.
-Tbone started the thread, trying to get an idea of who is interested.
-The idea is NOT to exclude people, but it's to have a core base who we can depend on to know that this set of people will be able to be there 95% of the time.
-Most users ever online on the website for tonights meeting! We broke the record. It's 29 now!
-Through inside sources who have inside sources, the first day of early access, there will only be ONE PVP-RP server. Jung Ma. It's not verified 100%, but the source is reliable enough and they had no reason to not provide it.
-We're not going to post that officially if they switch up the names last minute. Double check to make sure it's the RP-PVP server.
-Remember, we are not going to the server we're pre-loaded.
-DO NOT POST THE NAME OF THE RP-PVP SERVER. BROIN WILL HUNT YOU DOWN.
-The crafting threads Tbone made, someone had an idea to post only the rare recipes you get, rather than all. It'll be simpler.
-Tbone finished the Datacron guide, supposedly. There might be some details that are wonky, but there are some videos, so we should be good to go.
-If you're playing on Tuesday, show up about 30 minutes early. The last thing you want to do is get there 5 minutes before and realize you have a 20 minute download on your hands.
-You can log in without getting your email. No one knows for certain whether you're getting in. If you pre-ordered on the first day, you'll LIKELY get in, but it's not 100%. Once 6am FA time hits, try to log in and see if you get that play button. That's what we're doing.
-So, don't worry about refreshing your email.
-Sign up on our Raid Calendar!! This will be used for general events and initial launch grouping so you can group up right away. THERE ARE NO EXCUSES FOR LEVELING UP ON YOUR OWN. SERIOUSLY. If there's not a group, make a group.
-The calendar is not a Bible by any means, but it's a helpful organizational tool.
-It is a pet peeve of Tbone and Anamodiel if you are in-game and not in Teamspeak. GET IN TEAMSPEAK. TEAMSPEAK TEAMSPEAK TEAMSPEAK!!
-THE POINT OF JOINING US WAS TO GAME WITH US. Join us in Teamspeak, even just so people know you're in-game. If you have sounds going on around you or you need to be quiet, there are buttons to mute your headphones and microphone.
-We've got a ton of interviews of people rushing right before Launch. We're trying to get in as many interviews as we can.
-This will likely be our last meeting for a while. Staff needs to think of a good post-Launch strategy. Monday nights might turn into a PVP or Raid night. We'll be doing more gaming and less talking.
-We might change it to a monthly meeting, as we'll be gaming with each other all the time. It might just be scheduled around interviews.
-Tbone and Anamodiel don't want to have to take the time to have a meeting during the initial Launch rush. I'm sure you feel the same.

[Broin]

I do not hunt... Hunting would imply the possibility of failure.

[Manic Velocity]

I do not hunt... Hunting would imply the possibility of failure.

This man is terrifying.

[Erathaol]

I do not hunt... Hunting would imply the possibility of failure.

This man is terrifying.

I don't know... personally, I find it comforting.

[Arawn]

I do not hunt... Hunting would imply the possibility of failure.

This man is terrifying.

I don't know... personally, I find it comforting.

Knowing hes on our side, yes.

[Anamodiel]

Resurrecting this... can't believe I haven't posted notes for so long. o.0

-Good news from Tbone: he has wayyy too much free time, so he'll be here and on top of things.
-There's a lot going on! 1.3 dropped, there's a lot of new updates with that, including Legacy stuff and RATED WARZONES!
-Sign ups for RWZ's - we have 7 right now set up coming full time, and then a good number of alternates. We'd like to have 8 people who are well geared and can come to the time slot all the time.
-Requirements are in the thread - Tbone would like for the main team to have a good bit of gear. If you're looking to join in rated content and be considered more for that, PVP MORE!!
-Everyone is always PVPing - hop in and get your gear. We'll do sign ups and you'll have priority if you continue to come. It'll be similar to how we sign up for raids.
-We have had 8 people wanting to pvp and we have loaded up RWZ's. This means that if you can find 8 people on at the same time that want to PVP, go for it.
-That team may not potentially be as solid as the main 8-man, but you can still feel free to go for it. There's no restrictions on that sort of stuff.
-You can also PUG into other RWZ's if you feel like.
-Raid/PVE is at a pretty good spot, so we've cut down on the Raid time to allow for an equal amount of PVP time. We'll do that for a while until raid content presents something new, which shouldn't be for a while.
-Monday, Thursday, and Sunday are the PVP nights. They're all late night right now, and we'd like to find a time to do it early in the evening and on the weekend.
-The times that are picked right now are picked because that's the times that we know people can make it. If you're interested in playing earlier in the night, feel free to start to try to start up another team.
-The nice thing about PVP is that there are no lock-outs, so a person on Team Libertas can also PVP in that secondary team.
-Legacy stuff came out as well, and there's a lot of stuff in there!
-Crafting has changed a bit, including augmenting gear is more stable now. If you don't have augmented gear, you are gimping yourself.
-We have the resources to help you out, so feel free to sign up on the forums in those specific threads.
-Tbone also wants to take a moment to talk about negativity.
-He's getting sick of it. We've had this problem since the game launched, and we've had people unhappy with the game and how its progressed.
-Part of it comes from the growing pains of a new game. Negativity isn't going to be responded to well. We can't have negativity, especially in these RWZ's. Once that starts seeping in, the whole team falls apart.
-Obviously we're going to win and we're going to lose, we're going to hit brick walls and we're going to plow through stuff.
-Main point is is that this game is meant to be fun - if you're not having fun, then you need to take a look at yourself and reprioritize some things.
-If you still have issues with things, send a PM to Tbone or bring something up with him privately in Teamspeak.
-And, don't forget, blame Anamodiel.
-Secret World: we have a small group of people playing that right now. Tbone managed to snag a Lifetime account, and we were chosen to be a Founding Cabal (1 of 50 only!)
-The people who are playing that, have fun! We are not fully embracing it or creating more forums for it or really do a lot with the game. However, we'd like to keep people around and keep the community going strong.
-We realize that SWTOR isn't for everyone, so Manic will be running the day to day operations of it. Our forums have the details of the server we're on, etc. It might be a good seconday game for some people.
-We'll do our best to support the game and try to find a good balance, but SWTOR is still our primary game.