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Star Wars Galaxies® Teras Kasi Artist (TKA) information.

July 2008

Free 30-day Account Reactivation

Sony Station has been sending out 30-day account reactivation emails this summer. The free period is from June 26, 2008 through July 31, 2008, but Station members have been receiving the email notices at various times, and you may try to login to your account to see if it is active now even if you haven't received the email notice.

February 2007

Masters of Teräs Käsi Collector Cards

A set of nine MTK collector cards appeared on eBay in 2006. They appeared to be a ptomotional set, but I have no information other than the scanned images of the cards. Have a look at the MTK cards here, and discuss the MTK cards in our forum.

September 2006

Teräs Käsi Forum Back Online

After MUCH pain in restoring the forum database and upgrading the forum (i botched the install), the teraskasi.net forum is back online. Some profiles may have been deleted, but I believe everyone is there, please reregister if you think your profile is gone.

Some avatars are missing. Please go into your profile and upload a new avatar if yours is missing. If you have problems uploading your avatar, email me (taigei@teraskasi.net).

~Taigei

April 2006

Raph "Holo" Koster Leaves SOE.

Raph Koster's decided to leave SOE when his contract was up in March. After six years, and best known during that time with SOE for his work as creative director for Star Wars Galaxies (SWG), Koster has simply stated that SOE's direction is not the direction he wants to go right now.

Under Koster's direction, SWG was shaping up to be the next generation MMORPG. Prolonged development prompted SOE to release SWG, according to beta testers, too early, with "broken" professions among their chief concerns.

Not long after Koster left his position as SWG creative director, due to promotion to SOE creative chief officer, SWG underwent several rounds of revamping, which many veteran players called a 'dumbing down" of the game.

Within Koster's theory of game fun is the idea that players must work for what they want: the greater the reward, the harder it must for players to attain the reward. En extreme, but clear, example is Koster's road for a character to unlock the Force and begin the path of the Jedi. So difficult was the road that none months after SWG's release, players were simply told what had to be done, and were given in-game hints as to what specific professions they had to master.

Today, the path of the Jedi in SWG is no hardly more difficult than it is for any other professions. Under Koster's direction, a player with a Jedi character was respected because the path was hard. Now, there's just not much to it.

Get Raph's book, "A Theory of Fun for Game Design".

Raph Koster Leaves SOE (personal blog entry on leaving SOE).

Vibro Knucklers Make Great Blades for Ice Skates!

Updated 4 NOV 2005

PM EST: NGE now live on TC.
Keep up to date and post test issues in the NGE Forums.

The story so far...

Teräs Käsi is being phased out of Star Wars Galaxies.

SWG will upload what the devs are calling New Game Enhancements (NGE) to Test Center on Friday November 4, 2005. NGE will include only 9 professions, a completely revamped profession advancement system, and a new aim-and-shoot combat system.

There will be melee combat, but it will be part of the profession you choose, so you may not want to hang your VKs over the mantle just yet.

Live publish is scheduled for November 15, 2005.

~Tagei

Posts and Announcements

Very good article at Gamespot article on CU2 with screenshots.

Tiggs' post (11 NOV 2005) oultining changes in the upcoming CU2.

Excellent pre-TC play test info from F13.net (/bow2 Bivity).

Official SOE/SWG Teräs Käsi Profession forum.

June 2005

Steve Perry on Teräs Käsi!

He is the Father of Teras Kasi, having first penned teräs käsi into the Star Wars lexicon in his renowned novel Shadows of the Empire. In the interview, Perry shares his views on some of the most commonly asked questions about teräs käsi, such as the relationship of the art to Jedi, how teräs käsi began and spread, and what a teräs käsi fight would look like.

About Teräs Käsi Page Update

Comments from the interview with Steve Perry added for clarifcation. MedStar I: Battle Surgeons added to publications timeline.

April 2005

Teras Kasi Skills Updated for CU

The Teräs Käsi Skills Tree page has been updated to show changes in the Combat Upgrade published this week. More testing, particularly on special attacks, is in progress to round out and verify data.

DPS, Stats and SQF:HAM Calculators Offline

Our lovely calculators have been taken down until adjusted for CU changes.

Feb 2005

New Weapons Announced Including "Blaster Fist" Knucklers

New weapons to be included with the Combat Upgrade have been announced. Amoung them a Blaster Fist (one of two new knuckler graphics found in Publish 10) which delivers a short range blast. It is presumed the Blaster Fist produces energy damage, but it is not known at this time whether they do any more or less damage than a Vibro Knuckler, or if they are affected by power-ups.

Nov 2004

Warcry - Novice Brawler

Warcry has reverted back to delaying a single opponent's attacks for 10 seconds.

Oct 2004

TKA Correspondent Ryutek Reports

26 OCT 2004 - "Unarmed Damage Attachments do not work. The Issue is known to the Developers, and will be corrected with the Combat Upgrade (per the Developers themselves).

Hard Caps are on Dodge, Block, Counterattack, Melee Defense, and Ranged Defense of +125, which can be reached through a combination of skills and tapes/attachments. The only things that will help beyond the +125 cap are Chef Foods and Squad Leader Bonuses."

Ryutek further reports that Unarmed damage is not capped.

July 2004

Teras Kasi Guild on Chimaera-European

Krayt Dragon School has established a subdomain with teraskasi.net, is highly focussed on training body and spirit, and sponsors an elimination-based Teräs Käsi Tournament near Mos Eisley. Gaining rank, and the right to train others, within the guild requires fulfillment of missions. Wing Chun is guild master, and Toshiro is the guild's first officer.

Teräs Käsi Order Established on Vaclyn and Tarquinas

Two TKO Galactic Units have been established within days of each other. TKO-Vaclyn is run by guild master Jalen Mareele, and the guild's first officer, Ardan Maeloran. TKO-Tarquinas is led by Maaris Xulian (Maaris has not named a first officer at the time of this writing).

June 2004

French-speaking Teras Kasi Guild on Kauri

Teras Kasi Monastery is the first guild to take up teraskasi.net's offer to establish their guild web site as a subdomain of teraskasi.net (http://tkmonastery.teraskasi.net). The guild's forums, in French, are up. Plans for website development are underway, according to Shin-Wun who headed the guild's effort to establish a web presence and forum.

The Teras Kasi Monastery guild is on the Kauri galaxy server, which is the chosen home of many French-speaking Star Wars Galaxies players.

Teraskasi.net currently offers free subdomain webspace, POP email and forums with full FTP access for Teras Kasi-centric guilds.

German-speaking Teras Kasi Guild on Gorath

Teras Kasi Orden is a German-speaking Teras Kasi guild on the Gorath galaxy server, the unofficial home of German Star Wars Galaxies players. Teras Kasi Orden was established in the summer of 2003 independently from the Teras Kasi Order, and are, essentially, sister guilds. Teras Kasi Orden maintains a separate website and forum, in German, at http://www.tk-order.de.vu. Azodiak is the guild's leader.

April 2004

Human Species Stat Range Increases

Indirectly related to TK, Human characters can now migrate any stat between 400-1100. Migration points to distribute between stats remain at 1800.

Updates to VK Damage, Combo1, Berserk and Warcry

Major changes to vibro knuckler damage computations. Revamp of Warcry and a tweaks to Combo1 and Berserk. See TK Skills Changes.

Mad DPS Calculator Added

By Lucas this is the best DPS calculator ever! View speed and damage with or without your VKs based on your skill rank. See target pool damage vs. overall damage. Know exactly when to drop your speed tweaked VKs for low HAM, high damage VKs, and see why VKs are back in the game for high level TKs.

March 2004

History of Teräs Käsi Updates

The About Teras Kasi section has been broadened to include discussion on how, when and where Teras Kasi appears outside of SWG. Teras Kasi Citings is a new section which documents verbatim quotes about Teras Kasi which have appeared in print or other credible media. Add your own citings and comments on the Add a Citing page.

Contact Us Form Mail Added

Somebody should have thought of this sooner!

January 2004

Rebel Guide to Cries of Alderaan Act 3

The final act of Cries of Alderaan is the best by far. Challenging and more refined in story, you play the roles of undercover Rebel operative, strike team and perimeter defense over a series of missions on advanced planets. TKO's Rebel Guide to Cries of Alderaan Act 3 focuses on tactical and practical considerations, clarifying what every Rebel should know about the missions, without spoiling the whole story.

November 2003

Updates to CoB, Berserk : : shhh it's a stealth nerf : : and Power Boost

Some minor tweaks and a stealth nerf to /berserk1. See TK Skills Changes.

You're Going to Love this! SQF:HAM Cost Comparison Calculator

Enter two sets of SQF values and make a side-by-side comparison of HAM costs for Teras Kasi, Novice Brawler and Unarmed Specialist skills! Now you'll know exactly how much to adjust your SQF to drop HAM costs for specials with the SQF:HAM Cost Comparison Calculator.

Improved Teras Kasi Stats Calculator, Teras Kasi Skills Tree Update and Float Number Color Calculator

Prior to this update, the TK Stats Calculator (now renamed the Teras Kasi Character Builder) showed Teras Kasi Skills HAM costs with about 95% accuracy. The formula used now is much tighter and seems to produce a 98-99% accuracy in reporting HAM costs for Teras Kasi Skills based on your SQF. The Teras Kasi Skills Tree has been updated to reflect the mid-November patch changes. It's probably the most useless SWG tool ever created: The Float Number Color Calculator shows you the color of in-game float damage numbers based on damage distribution between HAM pools. Skill Changes has also been updated with Force of Will and Center of Being notes.

Official Teras Kasi Order Group Tactics Manual

Our tactics manual reveals why TKO members are known and respected for their excellence in group combat and conduct. The manual is presented in two sections including Introduction, suitable for those relatively new to grouping or wishing to know TKO group standards, and Group Methods and Tactics, which includes the hallmark knowledge and strategies of TKO. The manual is written to be inclusive of all combat types.

October 2003

HAM Cost and Stat Calculators Added

Two new pages added which allow you to see the effects of SQF values on special attack HAM costs. The Stats Calculator is a race-based stats migration page which allows you to adjust all stats and see the results on special attack HAM costs, stat regeneration, and survey and entertainer actions. The HAM Cost Calculator compares HAM costs for Teras Kasi special attacks based on your current HAM costs and SQF values against a target SQF.

Changes to Teras Kasi HAM Costs and Damage

The Teras Kasi nerf bat gets put away and TKA gets a big ol' hug and quite a few kisses for the first time since Beta 3. Check the Teras Kasi Skills Changes page for the latest.

Beta Days

End of Beta Party at the Moraj Memorial

All of the 24th and while the server was up on the 25th, there was a Moraj Memorial party near Bestine, Tatooine. Moraj was a Beta1 tester who was very helpful and fun, but died in a car accident earlier this year. The dev's placed a memorial dedicated to him from the original founders of Bestine Township, where the first Betas landed. May his spirit of good will and fun live on powerfully in SWG.

This Site is a Public Service

Everyone is welcome to post in the public forums and make use of the chat system.

Screens Section Added

Submit screens to taigei@teraskasi.net. Open to public, please include captions and whatever name you want posted with the pics. I'll add gallery pages as needed, preferably under submitter's name, but some sections may be created to illustrate specific things like planetary flora and fauna.

The NDA is Lifted...

We are building content and public accessibility frequently.

Future Home for Your Dojo

For those of you who would like to start your own TK Dojo in SWG, instead of joining TKO, you will have the opportunity to be hosted here with a subdomain name such as yourtkdojo.teraskasi.net. Your dojo can have email and message boards here as well. For more information contact taigei@teraskasi.net.

TKO Membership

New members must be approved by at least two current members, which means you will go and play with TKO members. It's just play. Our membership checks are in place to avoid, as much as possible, accepting people who won't have fun in TKO. TKO need a membership with a great variety of skills, and Teräs Käsi mastery is not as critical as recruiting enjoying players. Beta Testers please post in the forums expressing your interest. By the time SWG is released we will have a public application process.

Home Server

The core leadership and members are currently on Bria. Unless you are interested and dedicated enough to form a TKO unit on another Galaxy, play on Bria.

A Long Time Ago, on a Galaxy Server in the Midwest...

TKO began in Beta3 as Noh dojo, which is the first Teräs Käsi dojo, and was formed by Eirie Noh (Taigei) beginning on the planet of Naboo. The dojo was started in order for people to pool resources for training, and to beta test TKAs.

Influence

Members of the dojo have made significant contributions to the development and balancing of TKA in PvE and PvP combat. Dojo members were the first Teräs Käsi masters bringing the attention of the SWG devs to our posts and critical examinations of TKA and unarmed combat.

Beta

During Beta our mission includes continuing the tradition of excellence in testing TKA, and to test and report SWG guild functions.