Greetings Legends,
We have recently made changes to certain areas of the game that reward players with GCW (Galactic Civil War Points), and that are heavily used by AFK players to level through the ranks of the GCW system. These changes include the placement of anti-AFK zones in various locations in the galaxy.
The reason for this change is due to a few different factors, of which I’ll explain;
1. As we move towards implementing the GCW Leaderboard, we want an accurate reflection of the Galactic Civil War action which is taking place within the galaxy, not characters which sit in one location for a long periods of time AFK. We want it to be a fair and level playing field for both Imperial and Rebel factions.
2. We also believe that the Galactic Civil War is an activity-based approach to the game with PvE engagement & PvP battles against foes which will contribute towards the overall GCW score within the galaxy.
3. Some of the locations are directly related to quest lines, and we need to ensure that players who are at the keyboard and actively playing are able to complete their quests.
Much criticism has been directed at the members of the Senate for this change and the lack of consultation. It is important to understand that all game changes proposed by Senators must first pass through the Public Senate Forum with a public thread and poll before it can be brought before the Senate for a formal vote. If passed it then goes to the Project Leadership Team for final approval or rejection. None of this occurred with this particular change.
The issue of AFK GCW grinding has been on staff's radar for some time. The topic was recently brought up again by a Senator who wanted to know what we were intending to do about the issue. It was a pure staff decision to immediately proceed to implement a change to address this longstanding issue - the Senate's only involvement was to raise the issue, ask what was intended to be done and offer an opinion on it.
We do agree that we should have made an announcement as this went live, and we do apologize for this oversight.
May the force be with you,
The SWG:Legends Team.