As we all now know, the Galactic Civil War will end with a definitive winner. Today we want to talk a little bit more about how the final winner will be determined.
Please note that all numbers used below are simplified for explanatory purposes!
Galactic Civil War Points
The war will be decided by points earned in the planetary control system. Whoever controls the galaxy at the end will win the war.
The planetary control system works like this. Each region in the game is assigned a weight in the galaxy score relative to the region's importance. GCW points earned in that region determine how much of that region's weight in the galaxy score goes to either faction. Here's a quick example done with simplified numbers.
Let's say Region One is worth 5% of the galaxy score.
Rebel and Imperial players earn GCW points in this region over a period of time (more on this later).
Let's say the Rebels earn 60,000 points and the Imperials earn 40,000 points.
To convert to the galaxy score, we split those points into the 5% that the region is worth. Because the Rebels earned 60% of the total GCW earned in the region, they get 60% of the region's value in the galaxy score, which is 3% in a region worth 5% overall. The Imperials gain the other 2%.
This activity is repeated for all regions in the game to come up with the galaxy score. If the Rebels continued to outscore the Imperials in every region by this amount, the final score would be 60%-40% in their favor.
One thing to note is that each region will always and only earn its weighted percentage. It doesn't matter if 10 GCW points are earned in the region or 10 million. If massive battles rage in Region One, with both sides earning millions of GCW points, the region is still only worth 5%.
Meanwhile, let's say Region Two is worth 3%, and that in this same period of time three Imperials earn 50 GCW points in the region and no Rebels show up at all. Region Two would give the Imperials a full 3% in the galaxy score for next to no effort compared to Region One. All regions matter!
"But We've Already Lost!"
We have heard this a lot and, quite frankly, no you haven't. We have taken several steps to make sure that the fight matters right up until the end.
Point Decay
Points decay over time. This means that points earned today are worth more than points earned yesterday or last week or last year. Here's how that works.
As we alluded to earlier, points are accumulated over small blocks of time. Every few days, the new points are tallied and converted into percentages as described above.
All of the old points, the points earned prior to this period, are then divided in half and added to the new points. This number, the new points plus half of the old points, determines the current score for that region.
For example, let's look at Region One again.
Let's say Region One previously had Rebels dominating Imperials with a score of 4,000 to 1,000. The region is worth 5%, so Rebels gained 4% and Imperials gained 1%.
In the next few days, the war rages, and the Imperials better the Rebels, scoring 6,000 to their 4,000.
To compute the Rebel score, we divide their old score in half (4,000 / 2) to get 2,000. Then we add their new points (2,000 + 4,000) for their new score of 6,000.
To compute the Imperial score, we divide their old score in half (1,000 / 2) to get 500. Then we add their new points (500 + 6,000) for their new score of 6,500.
Now we have a total of 12,500 points earned (Rebel 6,000 + Imperial 6,500), and a split of the region's 5% weight of roughly 2.4% to 2.6%.
The massive lead the Rebels had previously is automatically cut in half after the next period, and would then be cut in half again and again and again over time until it is a very negligible advantage.
This means that the race for points, and the war for the galaxy, has only just begun. Any advantage one side has now is a slight advantage at best. It's still anybody's galaxy.
Point Gain
We are also taking steps to increase the ways you can earn GCW points and the amount of GCW points you can earn. The new factional strike teams are the first example of this. We will be adding more events as the war ramps up.
Overall this means that the point gain possible in the coming months will in many ways dwarf what was possible before, making any current lead that much easier to overcome. Not only will a lead continue to decay, but the new points coming in will steadily be worth more and more. For example, a lead of 1,000 in a region earning 5,000 total will suddenly seem small when it becomes possible to earn tens of thousands of points in that region.
"But They're Cheating!"
We recognize there are some ways to earn GCW points that seem less fair than others, even some that can be done while players are AFK. This isn't necessarily intended, but the possibility is inherent in the GCW system. We can assure you that these new events require players to be actively playing and that the GCW earned in them will far outweigh what anyone could earn passively.
"But There Are More of Them!"
Some factions outnumber others on some galaxies. We recognize the challenge, but want to remind you that it's not the number of people playing, but the effort of those playing that will determine the winner. We believe that the system is as fair as is possible leading into the final, climactic months, and that a smaller faction fighting smarter still has as much of a chance as a larger faction that assumes it will win.
Changes
Finally, speaking of fighting smarter, we will be adjusting the weight and worth of the planetary regions to make the fight as fair and exciting as possible. Regions of vital importance to the war effort will influence the total score more than rarely visited regions in the middle of galactic nowhere.
That said, all regions count, so there is a strategic opportunity in allocating your faction's resources best. Winning a vital battlefield like Restuss may be worth more to the total score than most other regions, but the war will not be won by winning Restuss alone. It would be unwise to let any regions go uncontested. To make this plotting easier, you will be able to see what each individual region is worth directly in the GCW panels in the interface.
So take heart if your faction is currently losing the war. There is still hope and time.
And if you're faction is currently winning, be warned. It's not over yet.
