Star Wars Combine

Star Wars Combine is a fourteen year old RPG/Simulator built and maintained by fans. I've just gotten started in it as a Muun now working for the Republic Medical faction.

All factions are created and run by players, and have various purposes from running countries to fighting wars, or even the production and sale of things like medical equipment (What I'm going to be doing) and even medical services.

Anyone else involved with this game?

If you are, why not share what you do and some stories of your experiences?

...Why have I not heard of this before. It sounds amazing.

They don't really advertise it. I only ran into the game at all because they're linked up with Second Life and have an area there as well.

Muuns are pretty rare. In a game that has over 3,000 players (It's that small right now) there are only 12 of us. We start off with level 3 trade bonus and level 2 management bonus so if you're looking to be a kick ass businessman, you'd do very well to bulk up our race's numbers.

As I said, I'm getting into the medical side of things, but I've already been contacted by a religious faction attempting to recruit me as well. So it seems I've got a pretty good build going for this game.

—scratches head— Do you run the company?

I just started playing and Rep Med has been around in one form or another since the very start of this fourteen year old game. So no, for now I don't run a company. I'm currently waiting to be accepted in the outside forum site for Rep Med so I can start being useful.

I learned about this game like ten years ago when I was just starting on the internet.

It's still going strong? Hmm.

Yup. At least 3,000 people strong. That's plenty for a F 2 P game.

Alright, I made a dude. He's a Thyferran (human, but different) medic.

What faction should I join?

If he's a medic, look into the Medical factions. I'm working for Republic Medical. Be warned on Rep Med, they take a few days to fully vet and accept your character. They actually have a full website with an academy and exams and everything, and when you've applied, their admins make an account for you.

The whole thing is very businesslike.

If you haven't picked a starting location yet, hold off on doing so. Pick a faction first, so you get access to their headquarters as a starting point. Otherwise you're stuck on your homeworld. The homeworlds have more to do for a beginner, but they could be weeks away from the headquarters of your chosen faction. It's better to accept the few lost days of wandering around and getting free walking experience, rather than risking several weeks stranded at home while your faction sends a ship for you.

Once the faction accepts you, they'll give you a monthly salary and hook you up with the resources to excel at whatever it is you do for them.

Oh, wow.

...Maybe I'll join one of the smaller groups, instead.

Or, I could apply for a mercenary group. They'd probably need medics, too.

They probably do, but you're better off looking at those factions and seeing if they have ties to other factions. Each faction has one area of expertise, which forces them to work with other factions to cover their weaknesses. Republic Medical is Exactly What It Says on the Tin. It's the Medical arm of the New Republic. But it's its own faction working autonomously within the Republic's borders.

If they'll reply to you, look into the Lumierre Apothecary. They're a wandering medic group that might operate within the borders of many nations.

I know the Ashla Covenant is looking to start up a medical faction. They're a religious group. You might talk to them and learn about the game from them so you can get in on the ground floor and lead that Medical crew.

edited 17th Jul '13 3:13:58 PM by Journeyman

Nice, I already got four messages from different groups.

Aurora Technologies, Galactic Stock Exchange, Falleen Federation, and the Knights of the Old Republic.

...Hm. Not sure what some of these guys would need with a medic. I'll hold off on choosing for now.

Everyone needs a medic. Even the Stock Exchange probably fields private armies that need patched up. Or recovery teams if the Republic lands a blow on them.

Another thing to watch out for, death in this game is permanent. Your character dies, it ain't coming back. You wait out the recovery time, then you build a new character.

So medics are the life blood of the game.

edited 17th Jul '13 4:05:33 PM by Journeyman

Hmm... yeah, probably.

Ooh, crap, permadeath? Alright, good thing I picked a medic, then.

The Stock Exchange is offering a starting wage of 1 million credits a month and a starting ship.

I'm kind of thinking that sounds too good to be true.

edited 17th Jul '13 4:06:17 PM by thespacephantom

It isn't. I started the game with 65,000 credits.

It's not that it's too good to be true, it's that 1,000,000 isn't all that much really. The best ships, which you buy with Combine Points you earn through voting on other sites, and taking offers from Real Life vendors, cost 300,000 CP. 1 CP is worth 5 Credits.

1,000,000 ain't enough to buy those ships. In a game where everything major is done by the players, a single ship is nothing. A fleet is nothing. Plus you have to worry about the upkeep on those ships, too. And the soldiers' wages. And everything else.

Man. Alright, so...

...Hm. I'll see if I get any offers to join before I decide on a faction.

Good luck and let us know how it goes. I'm going to be doing a running commentary on my time in the game, redacting any classified info I might run across, in order to give everyone a good view of how the game goes.

Right now I'm cooling my heels during that 3 day investigation period. By walking around and gathering Combine Points and XP. You literally get small amounts of XP just from walking in this game. It's funny.

Alright, that'll probably be helpful to read, thanks. I might do something similar myself, in fact.

There's even a News service in the game, and you can earn CP by contributing stories.

That's the Galactic News Service thing, right? Nice, I'll have to look in to that.

Consider everything in this game to be serious. And it shall be glorious.

Got a message from the Ashla Covenant. They're outlining their benefits and such the best, so I'm gonna join them.

So is there a link to this? I didn't see one in the article, but I may have missed it.

Yeah, here.