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Draft of Star Sonata

Star Sonata (capitalized SS) is a player-driven persistant-world massively multiplayer online game set in a science fiction space setting. Players pilot customizable ships through a universe comprising over “#” galaxies. All galaxies are connected to one another by at least one warp gate. The star systems can contain several entities including but not limited to: moons, planets, stations, asteroid belts, and stars.

Players of Star Sonata are able to participate in any number of in-game professions and activities, including mining, manufacturing, trade and combat (both player versus environment and player versus player).

Star Sonata is developed and maintained by the American company Landauer Games.

Background

Pax is latin for peace, and the race lives up to the name. The Paxians are a star-faring fleet of traders and ambassadors, content on their desires of inter-racial prosperity and knowledge. The Paxian fleet relies on others to scout the universe and obtain information on its variety of exotic locations and organisms, while providing a wide array of rewards useful for a space captain of any stature: from weapons, to shields, to scanners, to even the skill of Warp Navigation. While the Paxians are not from the known universe, they do have established outposts in their constructed sectors of Paxius, a relatively safe haven from hostile fighters, and Paximinus, a military and administrative base to defend the Nexus area from becoming overrun by a weaker sector of the hostile Ur'quan race. The fleet of Pax ships all consists of a similar black boomerang shape with glowing partitions; size of the ship and color of the glow represent different functionalities and class among the Paxian Armada.

Paxians vs UrQa

The Beginning

The Paxians were born and grew in another universe, and they quickly flourished driven by their desire to find their creator. Once they had explored their entire world, they focuses their exploration outwards. Starting with their solar system, it was not long before they had advanced their technologies enough to explore their galaxy and even their entire universe. As time passed with still no sign of the creator, the idea that there was one slowly faded from the minds of the Paxians, and instead they sought contact with other civilizations to end their loneliness. One such race was the UrQa. The UrQa were nothing more than a group of warring tribes that had yet to breach the limits of their solar system, and upon first contact, the Paxians took pity upon them. They became the benefactors of the UrQa, uniting their tribes and slowly nurturing them, hoping they could embrace the desire to seek the unknown. Hoping they would be driven to search the stars with them. Little did they know what folly this was. The UrQa, hostile and malevolent by nature, took advantage of the Paxians benevolence and using the technologies shared with them, staged an assault on the Paxian homeworld. The war was devastating. What few Paxians survived used their newest technologies and left their home universe behind, vowing never to interfere with the affairs of another alien race again.

Paxian-UrQa Wars

It was only a matter of time before the UrQa had dominated and colonized the universe of their conception. With their superior Paxian technology, most of the other races had little chance of defense or escape and quickly succumbed to the wave of destruction that swept through every solar system. With such vast resources, the UrQa could finally focus on their primary goal, completing the utter annihilation of the Paxian race. Committing all their resources to adapting and upgrading the Paxian and finally learning the secrets of extra-universal travel, they, much like the Paxians before them, set out to explore the entire multiverse. They did not leave their universe behind with hopes of furthering their knowledge or peaceful relations with other races, but with dreams of conquest and xenocide.

The Paxians jumped from universe to universe, dimension to dimension, always staying one step ahead of the UrQa but unaware of the destruction the UrQa left in their wake. Finally, after returning to a universe they had once visited and finding it completely under UrQa dominion, they realized if they did not soon take action, there would no longer be anywhere left to run to. Finding a universe without unblemished by the taint of UrQa, they colonized systems and began the creation of a fleet that would finally end the plague they had unleashed. After years of careful preparation, the Paxians called out across multiverse, luring the UrQa into their trap. Now aware of their quarry, the UrQa committed an entire invasion fleet. Battles raged across this universe and after decades of war, the Paxians stood victorious. Not stopping to revel in their triumph, the Paxians sent out fleet after fleet to end the UrQa domination of other universes.

Stalemate

Despite countless victories, and having driven the UrQa from many universes, the Paxians were growing thin in numbers and weary of war. Unable to make a decisive victory to end the UrQa once and for all, they realized they could not finish this alone. Breaking their vow not to interfere with alien races, they set forth once again to warn every race of the danger posed to them by the UrQa. They left detachments behind to monitor each universe they visited, and established contact with all who were ready and willing to listen. Ever vigilant, the Paxians attempt to guard what is left of the multiverse from further UrQa invasion.

Gameplay

Players start the game by either selecting a previously-created character or by creating a new one. Each Star Sonata account allows for up to five characters to be made. When players create a new character they instantly start in the first galaxy of the game. An in game tutorial tells the new player how to move around and do basic things within the game, such at docking, warping, introduction to missions, and other stuff.

A player first starts out without skills in anything and must work their way up. Some skills are obtained at the average AI station, but the higher level skills and the more exotic skills are obtained the specific missions or by trading a commodity found in game at an unusual place for the skill.

A player must level up to gain skill points. Each level requires 1000 experience points. Kill an AI, or NPC, which is equal or lower level than you, gains one 200 or less, to a minimum of zero experience points per kill. Killing an AI that is higher level than you gain you 201 to a maximum of 510 experience points.

Players pilot their ship by means of the WAD controls. Star Sonata does not feature a “brake” but one can always turn around and thrust in the opposite direction to slow and eventually stop you from moving.

Economy

In Star Sonata, the players run the economy. AI still moves basic commodities around to make their own profits, but it’s all up to the players for the rest of the economy.

Ships

The ships in Star Sonata are organized into four main hull classes, them being Light Fighter, Heavy Fighter, Freighter and Capital Ship. The firepower, and role of the ship depends on the player’s class skills and gear onboard.

Teams

The player organization’s name in Star Sonata is called a Team. Teams are run by their Directors. Up to two Councilors are the second in charge. Officers are the mid rank positions. Operators are just slightly lower rank than Officer. Soldiers are the standard grunt and peon, is the lowest rank of a Team.

Teams can own for themselves their very own galaxies. These galaxies can be the source of a Team’s great wealth in game.

If a Team has a problem with another Team, they can declare war on that Team. Even though one can attack any one in their Combat Level Range, by declaring war, a team can open the CLR further and bring more players to bear against another Team.

Star Sonata has over one thousand active pay-2-play accounts and over two thousand active free-2-play accounts.