Main Character Name: Neph Hawke
Forum Handle: NepheleVG
Discord Handle: Tal#9642
Player Association: The Starfire Coalition (TSC)
Where in the RL world do you live? Seattle, Washington
How long did you play the live version of Star Wars Galaxies?
I was a beta tester beginning with Beta 1 in 2001, and I played until I think about a year after the NGE, so around 2007.
What type of work do you do?
In the real world, I’m a “Program Manager” - which is mainly a lot of communication, coordination, planning, and so on. I have spent the last 15 years working for a big technology corporation, though I’m currently looking for something new and even considering making a career change.
What does a typical Star Wars Galaxies day consist of for you?
I start most days by checking every planet in the galaxy for new resource spawns and moving harvesters around if needed. Then, I usually spend an hour or two restocking whatever sold from my vendors the day before. After that, it just depends! I might launch into space and do some asteroid mining or take on a mission or two, or maybe make something new for my store, or even switch over to my combat character and do some quests.
What was the race and profession of your very first character?
On live, my first character was named Trace Silverhawk. He was human, and a Weaponsmith by trade, back at the launch of the game.
What is the one thing you’ve always wanted to be in Star Wars Galaxies that isn’t or is no longer?
It’s really tough to say, since I was able to play it from the beginning. But I sort of regret that I never finished the quests to become a Jedi after Aurila was implemented but before the NGE. They were interesting and fun, and I just unfortunately started them too late. After the NGE, having that character become a Jedi really didn’t mean as much anymore.
What other hobbies or activities do you take part in, other than playing Star Wars Galaxies?
I co-lead a guild in Final Fantasy XIV. I also help run a community website (focused on crafting) for the upcoming MMORPG Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, which is mostly just a lot of writing, which I think I’m pretty good at, and talking to lots of really interesting people about what we all want that game to become. I’ll run a guild in that game when it launches as well, though that will probably force me to step back from FFXIV. Apart from that, I spend time with single player games, books, and shows (can’t wait for Season 4 of the Expanse!), and also try to get myself out of the house at least a few times a week, even if it’s just me dragging the dog around for a couple of miles or something. Oh, and I like to cook. I’m currently devising what I’m going to do for a pot luck thing I have been invited to in December.
What race and profession is your main character?
Neph is a Human Shipwright. I still always refer to crafters by what they make, not the silly NGE profession names.
What do you like most about the profession you have chosen for your main character?
Honestly, I love crafting and always have. My absolute favorite part of SWG is the ability to run a store, and keep my vendors stocked with cool and useful items for other players. I work really hard to try and make sure I always have good stuff available for my customers. I like shipwright specifically because it’s one of the few areas where there’s still room for each crafter to sort of put their own twist on the items they make, instead of everyone always experimenting the items the exact same way.
What faction is your main character?
Neutral! Smuggler’s Alliance in space, at least for the moment. I am not really a big PvP person, though I admit the city invasions and GCW space battles look kinda fun.
What is your favourite player owned ship?
This is a hard one, as I kind of love them all. I think my favorite ship to fly right now is still my Eta-2 Actis Interceptor. It’s not the strongest ship I’ve flown, but it’s just really fun to fly. My favorite multiplayer ship is probably still the Y-8 Mining Ship, just for the layout inside, although the other gunships and POBs are really cool as well.
What is your favourite ground vehicle?
I’m not sure I have a favorite but I’ve always been partial to the AV-21 Speeder. I was lucky enough to get one early in Live after the corvette instance was added to the game, and it just stuck with me I guess.
How did you choose your main character's name?
It wasn’t really my first choice to be honest - it’s a shortened form of my forum name and one of the names I use in other games. I arrived at it because the first four or five names that I tried (including the names of my Live characters) were already taken here on Legends.
What is your favourite planet and/or city and why?
I will always have a soft spot for Talus and the city of Nashal, because that was really where I got my start when the game launched. It’s where I made my first friends in SWG, and we went on to explore the rest of the game together. For adventuring though I love the more wilderness-type planets. Endor, Yavin, and Kashyyyk are some of my favorite planets to tromp around on.
What is your favourite NPC?
I’m not sure I have one. I spend so much time crafting that I don’t really interact with NPCs all that often. I will say that I love the dialogue with some of the pilot trainers though. At least in the Smuggler’s Alliance, I got to sass my trainer all the time, and it was fun to go through.
What are the most credits you have ever spent on purchasing a single item for one of your characters?
To use for myself, not much. Maybe like a hundred thousand for a collection item I needed. I’m stingy when it comes to spending money on myself. I’ve bought millions of credits worth of resources to use for making things for others though.
What do you like best about SWG Legends?
I really like that just about all the content from Live is available here. I’m not the biggest fan of what the NGE did to character progression, but there was a lot of really great content and gameplay in the expansions, and I’m really enjoying getting to go through some of that again - albeit slowly, since my focus tends to be on crafting and social stuff.
Describe your best experience playing Star Wars Galaxies.
When it’s just me, I absolutely love flying duty missions solo. The first few waves are easy but when it gets towards the end, where it’s seven or eight enemy fighters at a time plus probably a gunship or something… it’s hard to describe, but people who really like flying will probably understand it. It’s like time slows down, and you’re just one little ship, and there are so many things shooting at you that you’re rolling and boosting constantly - keeping yourself alive long enough to take out another one, or get the gunship’s shields down so you can take out its engine, and you’re just operating on adrenaline and instinct. I love that. It’s my favorite part of flying.
With others, I just really enjoy doing challenging things with actual groups. Back in the old days on Live, we used to get parties of 15 or 20 people and a bunch of camp kits and just go out in the wilderness hunting for krayts or pekos or whatever. We’d spend hours. Towards the end, I really enjoyed doing the harder stuff on Kashyyyk or Mustafar with friends, or even trying our hands at some of the heroic instances when they were introduced. We always managed to overcome things without becoming too serious or following whatever people though the best “formula” was. It was a lot of fun.
What is your favourite questline and/or place within Star Wars Galaxies and why?
I think for me, I really like some of the major questlines on Kashyyyk more than any others. I got to do them when the expansion came out, so before the NGE, and back when all of Kashyyyk was generally higher-level stuff (not just a few parts of it like now). I really liked that we weren’t able to use speeders or mounts for most of it - we were forced to go on foot, to slowly make our way into this dark and dangerous wilderness, and fight these terrifying creatures. It made it feel less like a game, in a way. When you made your way down to the very bottom of the Rryatt Trail for the first time, or managed to get through the Blackscale Compound with your friends, it felt like an accomplishment. Plus, they did such a good job integrating space and ground content together. I like other areas of the game as well, but I think the stuff from Rage of the Wookiees will always be my favorite.
We hope you enjoyed getting to know Neph!