FAQ

What is Canon?

"Canon," in terms of a fictional universe, is a body of material that is considered to be "genuine" or "official", that can be directly referenced as, or as if it were, material produced by the original author or creator of a series. New works set within that universe are ostensibly constrained to be consistent with pre-existing canon. For our community, we use the above ideal as our mantra for managing this server.

On 16 March, 2000, LucasArts Entertainment announced a partnership with Verant Interactive Inc. and Sony Online Entertainment to create the first massively multiplayer Star Wars online role-playing game. The then unnamed game would be developed by Verant with online play supported by SOE. This was the same team responsible for creating and supporting the popular EverQuest multiplayer online game. LucasArts would be responsible for all distribution of the Star Wars online game. The announcement included an expected release date some time in 2001 and that the game would take place during the original trilogy era.

Here at Canon, heavy focus is being put on time line accuracy and eliminating SOE's placement of things that shouldn't have been in a "loyal" SWG. These are also things that (as far as we know) the other servers will not be removing. Canon players will VERY rarely see things like Jedi, Naboo starfighters, battledroids, and if they do it will most likely be in Watto Jr.'s junkyard (well maybe not the Jedi).

Heavy consideration will be given to the major SW Expanded Universe titles of the time period, like "Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina" and "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" to understand the dynamics of all the major galactic circles in our time period. Players will not participate directly in the events of the Expanded Universe; instead we read them to state 'what else' might have been going on at the time, which is what we want: new and canon player-driven content.

Additionally, there will be no player Jedi at all on the Canon server. Players will, however, have the chance at unlocking a second regular character slot. More information will be posted on this when available.

The original idea for SWG was not to live the iconic movie life of Star Wars, more so, it was designed to allow the player to create a character in the Star Wars Universe, pick their own path and live their dreams. From the onset, SWG was a huge success with a large fan base. SWG was not designed to be based on iconic characters. The iconic characters (Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, etc.) flowed around the players, but the players were merely citizens of the Star Wars Galactic Universe. A player could choose to join the Empire, the Rebellion, or just live a life and preferring not to become involved in the Galactic War that was raging around them. Pre-CU was a true sandbox, no linear content and no levels. Game-play was completely left up to the player and what they wanted to do.

You will first see the launch of a Canon Test Center before we get a permanent server setup. The finalized Canon server is dependent on completion of the final game by the SWG ANH developers.

EMU is a group of volunteer developers devoted to the non-profit emulation of the massively multiplayer role playing game Star Wars Galaxies (SWG) and the experience that was Pre-CU. Once the EMU team has completed the final game, that will be handed to community servers to do with what they please.

Very good question. If you want to help out with this project, refer people to the website. That is hands down the best way to contribute to Canon (if you can't donate a few bucks, of course). Additionally, you can set up Player Association information in the appropriate forums and get to know each other.

The only thing required to play on Canon is a legitimate Star Wars Galaxies 3 discs, shown below. Any version of the discs is fine, as they all contain the files and client necessary to play. Each person planning on playing on Canon needs their own client. These discs can be purchased anywhere for not very much money at all. Canon installation guide coming soon.

There is no monthly cost for playing on the Canon server or using our website and forums. We do, however, accept voluntary donations through our website.

Absolutely not. In fact, it is illegal to use the free trial client to play Canon or any other emulation server. There are legitimate ways to obtain original Star Wars Galaxies install discs. People caught using this or any other illegal client are subject to punishment and/or removal of accounts and access to the Canon network.

"Making an alpha class [Jedi] in an MMORPG is always going to be a failure. Who would NOT want to play the dominant class? [...] We want Jedi to be like canon and strong. SOE should have NEVER allowed player Jedi. To my understanding this was a HUGE internal debate before the game went live, with LucasArts weighing in to push Jedi. BIG mistake. Fact is the game had MORE paying subscribers before there were Jedi. [...] People got sick of Jedi, and sick of seeing more and more of them. Less diversity among players = less fun. [...]"

And as CobraCommander explains: "Star Wars Galaxies is a social and economic centered MMORPG. When you introduce a class such as Jedi and place requirements on to unlock the class, the social and economic aspects of the game take a backseat to "the unlock grind" destroying the unique and diverse aspects of the game. Plus it simply doesn't fit the time line within which SWG Canon operates."

This is one of the best parts about Canon. By removing Jedi as playable, as developers we are given these and other locations to do with what we please. I'm not releasing details here, but I can safely say they won't be wasted space. The same thing goes for the myriads of the unused space available on the existing planets of SWG. SOE was vastly short-sighted when they decided to develop new expansion content rather than to develop content for the massive amount of space that has been in-game since launch.

Yes! Our development team is sifting through the entire game to address every single issue you could imagine...then probably some more. Everything is getting more thought devoted to it. Stay tuned to the Community News and Announcements for updates.

Many of the details of this are not being released. I will simply say that what we have planned will be dynamic and entertaining. We will revisit the old issues with player bases and more to nail down a solid system. Stay tuned to the website for updates.

100% of our community's donations go back into the project. The money is used to help cover the costs of running a server like Canon (server bandwidth, website, & domains). Our administrative team pays money out of their pocket to get this going, so community donations are very much appreciated.

This is a slippery slope, as we are a donations-based community. We are not permitted to charge for any particular service we provide due to copyright laws. Canon is steadfast in not violating those laws. However, there will be most likely forum titles/banners that recognize people as donors. In-game rewards are not yet decided on, though most likely we will implement some type of rewards system for avid donors.

Yes, you can absolutely have multiple accounts in one household. The only stipulation is the accounts need to be registered with SWGEmu and Canon websites with different emails and verification that they are actually two (or more) different people. We will have a system in place to filter out people looking to abuse this privilege to have multiple characters.

Canon players will begin their life on our server with 1 character only. Depending on how they handle their game play, a 2nd character slot is unlockable.

The future looks good, though we are waiting on some tools to be developed in order to import new models into the game. As far as themes and specifics on the items, expect to see us use everything possible in game that is considered accurate/canon.

We are researching the ability to find a more balanced system for weapons and armor than SOE had in pre-CU. If it is possible to do so without breaking major game mechanics, you will see Canon find a way that naturally lends itself to a SWG with more player variety in armor and weapons.

Most likely not. Our development time is better-spent working on other things. We plan on having a long-lasting community, so you never know what the future may hold.

Until recently we have maintained a core team of 3 people on the Canon staff. As of just a few days ago, we officially posted the first open Canon staff position. We are looking at bringing on our first 2 forum moderators for now. Expanding the Canon staff will be a slow but sure process, so keep your eyes open for announcements to be made.

Quite obviously, this little gadget tracks how many people have been brought to our site by you. Remember to have people search your username when registering or else you may not be credited for the referral. Website referrals are our most powerful form of marketing for Canon, and indeed the key to our success. Referrals are also currently the fastest way to earn Canon Credits [See next question.]

Canon Credits are this server's internal game currency/money system. When someone refers a friend to Canon, for example, we believe there should be some type of reward for that. The same goes for winners of game and contest, as well as community members who complete in-game tasks posted in the forums (more to come on this). This currency can be used to buy in-game assets like decorations for player houses, NPC support troops, live event vouchers, and more from the Canon Credits Catalog (coming soon). IMPORTANT: Canon Credits are not the same as the in-game "credits"/money.

Absolutely! We are putting together a slightly more conservative list of veteran rewards now that will be announced soon. Stay tuned for more!

100% DirectX 9.0 compatible computer

Windows 98 SE, Millennium, 2000, and XP (runs on Windows 7)

Required: Intel PIII 933 MHz or AMD Athlon 900 MHz

Recommended: Intel P4 1.5 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500+

Required: 256 MB RAM

Recommended by SOE: 512 MB RAM

Recommended by Canon: 1 GB RAM

Required: 32 MB 3D Graphics card with Hardware Transform and Lighting (T&L) Capability

Recommended: 64 MB 3D Graphics card with Vertex Shader and Pixel Shader (VS/PS) Capability

1024x768 capable monitor required

Required: PCI, USB or Onboard Audio Device

Required: Quad Speed CD-ROM drive

Required: Keyboard and mouse

Required: 56K modem or faster Internet connection

Microsoft DirectX 9.0 is included on this CD. NOTE: DirectX may require the "latest" updates for your operating system. This may also include the latest drivers for your particular motherboard, sound and video hardware.

Installation requires 2.0 GB of free hard drive space. It is recommended that you have at least an additional 500 MB of free space available after installing the game for the Windows swap/page file and additional patch downloads.

ATI Radeon 7200/7500

ATI Radeon 8500/9000

ATI Radeon 9500/9700

Matrox Parhelia

NVIDIA GeForce 256

NVIDIA GeForce 2 family

NVIDIA GeForce 3 family

NVIDIA GeForce 4 family

NVIDIA GeForceFX family

Additional Chipsets supported.