Faction Settings

The **Galactic Civil War** is the on-going battle between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance that spans many worlds. For Star Wars Galaxies the Galactic Civil War should be the underlaying background for the players. Players can become members of either of the warring factions and engage each other in PvP combat to gain control of a planet or of the whole galaxy.

## Introduction

The purpose of entering into the war is to gain GCW points. These let a player rise up in the ranks, and allow access to purchase items from a recruiter.

### Galactic Empire

* To become an Imperial, one must visit an Imperial recruiter or other static, conversable Imperial officer. A popular location for Imperials to begin their journey is Bestine, right outside the Starport.
* Each planet has a stronghold for each faction. Imperial players will be relatively safe in a stronghold city, as it will never be taken over by Rebel NPCs. Bestine, Bela Vistal, and Dee'ja Peak are the Imperial stronghold cities.
* Higher ranks will allow access to better Imperial faction items.

### Rebel Alliance

* A Rebel too must join the faction through a Rebel recruiter or any other static, conversable Alliance officer. A popular place for Rebel starters is Anchorhead on Tatooine.
* The Rebel Alliance also has stronghold cities, that will never be taken over by Imperial NPCs. Anchorhead, Vreni Island, and Moenia are the Rebel stronghold cities.
* Higher ranks will allow access to better Rebel faction items.

## Planetary control game

*Main article: Planetary control game*
The battle on the planets is fought between players as well between NPCs and players. Players of both faction can wage war over control of a planet by influencing the regional percentages and planetary score. The faction with the higher planetary score is said to be 'in control' of that planet. This is shown on the galactic map by either a Rebel, Imperial or contested insignia. This has an effect on the NPCs in the various regions, the cost of transportation, as well as the cost of factional items on that planet.

The planetary score is affected by the regional scores. The Planetary Map shows the various regions that each planet contains (as well as an "extra" region that consists of the remainder of the planet's surface that is not specifically covered by a visible region). The scores in the region are determined by the number of GCW points that each faction has earned within that region, but there are other things to take into account such as Factional Presence and the existence of Player Bases.

There are two types of bases, Combatant bases and Special Forces bases, in four different sizes. These bases, and their vulnerability state can be seen on the Planetary Map.

Since the inclusion of Game Update 15, the three cities of Bestine, Keren and Dearic will host large scale invasions that will help to tip the regional balance.

## Service status

The terms **Special Forces**, **Combatant**, and **On Leave** apply to characters who have joined a faction. A character's service status affects how they interact with factional NPCs, other factional players, and factional recruiters.

Changing your service status to Combatant will take a second, and to change to Special Forces will take 30 seconds, during which time your character's name will blink to show that you are currently changing faction. Changing your status back to Combatant or On Leave will take five minutes. The change to Combatant or Special Forces status can be made by either speaking to a recruiter or typing */pvp*, whilst the change to On Leave status can only be made via a recruiter, or automatically upon cloning.

Faction members are able to recognize allied players as denoted by the purple dots on their radars and by the player tags showing in purple. Those who have declared for a side also show the faction symbol next to their name for everyone to see.

### Special Forces

Members of a faction's Special Forces are tagged as enemies for both PC and NPC members of the opposing faction. Special Forces is the service status where PvP is enabled. Alliance Special Forces can attack Imperial Special Forces and vice versa. Special Forces players may not attack Combatants or On Leave players at all, even when they receive a TEF. This keeps PvP and PvE completely separate. Only Special Forces players are able to enter PvP faction bases (or SF bases). Special Forces can attack any opposing faction NPCs, and will be attacked by them on sight.

### Combatant

Combatant makes a player a member of the faction they joined, with all the risks involved, except that PCs of the opposing faction cannot attck, i.e. this is a non-PvP status. Opposing faction NPCs will attack on sight, regardless of whether the player has a TEF. Combatants can be healed by Special Forces members without risk of PvP, but Combatants are not able to heal Special Forces players. Combatants cannot enter Special Forces faction bases, but the PvE faction bases are perfect for Combatants to attack and take down.

### On leave

This service status allows players to keep their faction points and faction rank, but reduce their risk in the Galactic Civil War. Opposing factional NPCs will not attack On Leave players, and On Leave players will not be able to immediately attack factional NPCs. On Leave players may heal other On Leave players (regardless of faction) and neutrals. They may be healed by Combatants and Special Forces, but cannot heal players of those service status. While On Leave, players still run risk of being attacked by factional NPCs, but only if they are scanned by a patrol of the opposing faction - or police loyal to the opposing faction - and found to be carrying illegal goods (spices or sliced equipment).

### Civilian

This is not a service status per se, but functions similarily to On Leave. Civilians never run risk of being attacked by factional NPCs, but may still be attacked by non-faction police NPCs in cities, if searched and found holding illegal goods. All factional NPCs appear as white (non-attackable) to civilians.

## Faction rank

*Main article: Faction rank*
In order to progress up the ranks, players need to accumulate GCW points. However promotions are not granted immediately upon obtaining the required points, as ranks are only updated once a week, Thursdays at 2000hrs GMT.

Officer ranks are much harder to achieve than enlisted ranks, as they decay with time. You not only need to collect GCW points to progess in these ranks but you also need to gather them to even stay at your current rank.

## External links

* GCW Points Calculator

*Main article: Planetary control game*
*Main article: Faction rank*
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