Month: February 2008

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Armored Core #3

Armored Core theme by NodgeDaFunk

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This article is about the video game series. For the first game in the series, see Armored Core (video game).
Armored Core
Genre(s)Third-person shooter
Developer(s)FromSoftware
Publisher(s)
Platform(s)
First releaseArmored Core
July 10, 1997
Latest releaseArmored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
August 25, 2023

Armored Core[a] is a third-person shooter mecha video game series developed by FromSoftware. The series centers on a silent protagonist who takes on work as a mercenary pilot in the far future, operating large robot combat units known as Armored Cores at the behest of corporate and private clients. As the player completes missions for these clients, they gain credits to improve their Armored Core and unlock further opportunities to make money. Some games include an "Arena" mode in which the player fights other Armored Core pilots in head-to-head battles, which can reward the player with further income or prestige.

Several story continuities exist, spread across 13 main games, seven spin-offs, and three remastered re-releases, with different releases divided by a different set of "generations" of sequels that starts with every numbered entry. The first game in the series, Armored Core, was released in 1997, while the most recent, Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon, was released in 2023.[1][2] The series has been released on the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, mobile phones, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Premise[edit]

In the original continuity established by 1997's Armored Core through 2001's Armored Core 2: Another Age, Earth experienced a cataclysm known as the "Great Destruction" and humanity has been forced underground. Corporations begin fighting for dominance, leading to the increasing reliance on Armored Core pilots called Ravens.[3] Following the events of 1999's Armored Core: Master of Arena, humanity rebuilds and colonizes Mars. Through 2000's Armored Core 2 and its expansion, Another Age, the fledgling Earth government struggles to maintain power as opportunistic corporations exploit the power gap and rebel groups resist against the hegemony of government and business interests.[4][5]

The series was rebooted with 2002's Armored Core 3, beginning a new story arc that concluded with Armored Core: Last Raven in 2005. Following a global nuclear war, humanity has retreated underground. Following centuries of rule by an artificial intelligence called The Controller, its decay leads to the destruction of much of humanity's underground network, causing them to look toward the surface for safety.[6] By the end of 2003's Silent Line: Armored Core, humanity has fully returned to the surface of Earth.[7] The final two games of this continuity, 2004's Armored Core: Nexus and 2005's Armored Core: Last Raven involve the end of the existing power dynamic of corporations and Ravens fighting over the surface.[8][9]

2006's Armored Core 4 rebooted the series yet again. Here, corporations have seized control of Earth governments and are waging war across the surface for dominance. A war waged over the course of the game pollutes the environment, leading to the creation of floating cities in 2008's Armored Core: For Answer. Depending on the player's choices, humanity either barely survives the fallout of For Answer's conflict or is completely eradicated.[10][11]

The third continuity of the series continued with 2012's Armored Core V. A single corporation has dominance over a contaminated Earth and is being opposed by a resistance faction that seeks to overthrow them. 2013's Armored Core: Verdict Day details the outbreak of another war 100 years later following an apocalyptic event.[12][13]

Another continuity has begun with 2023's Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. For the first time in the series, it takes place far away from Earth in a human-colonized solar system on the planet Rubicon 3. Decades prior to the game's start, a powerful resource called Coral was discovered, leading to significant technological advancements, but a disaster called the Fires of Ibis scorched the entire Rubicon system and left it highly contaminated. However, the Coral, thought to have all burned, has begun to reappear, bringing multiple corporations into conflict for control of it which, in turn, has brought the attention of mercenaries. Added into the conflict are the Planetary Closure Administration, an organization tasked with quarantining Rubicon, and the Rubicon Liberation Front, a resistance group who venerate the Coral, wishing to end its exploitation and free the planet.

Gameplay[edit]

Armored Core's missions can involve multiple objectives and pit the player against computer controlled opponents.

Within the core games of the franchise, the gameplay is generally focused on the player taking the role of a mech-piloting mercenary, taking on missions for various clients and gaining currency from completing them.[14] Missions can involve multiple objectives and pit the player against computer controlled opponents, some of which pilot mechs as well.[15] Upon completion of a mission, the operating costs of the mech, such as repairs and ammunition, are deducted from the total earnings of the player, as well as compensation for destroying valuable objects within the mission area. Likewise, if the player loses a mission, those same deductions occur from the player's direct balance.[16]

The game's mechs, called Armored Cores (or ACs for short), are highly customizable with hundreds of parts and weapons that can be purchased from an in-game shop or by fulfilling certain requirements.[17] Different parts can provide gameplay advantages in certain terrains or against certain enemies, which forces the player to put thought into how to approach the construction of their mech as each sortie often has different obstacles and hazards to overcome.[14] The customization of Armored Cores is strictly limited by multiple factors such as the maximum weight load of their leg parts, or the energy output of their generators supplying power to all equipped parts of the AC. As such, an Armored Core's performance varies depending on the parts which compose it.

Many of the franchise's games feature a branching storyline where taking on certain missions can block off others, with consequences of a player's decision in mission being relayed to them at the end of a mission. Certain games require multiple playthroughs to access additional contents, such as missions inaccessible during initial playthrough, and even different endings that adds additional lore and context to the games.[18]

An Arena mode introduced in Armored Core: Project Phantasma gave players the opportunity to fight opponents outside of missions for additional rewards. Project Phantasma also introduced the import feature, allowing players to retain their progress from a previous entry when starting a new one.[19] This import feature would become a mainstay of the franchise, with "expansion" titles like Silent Line: Armored Core allowing for importing save data.[20]

Multiplayer[edit]

Since its first release, the Armored Core games have featured multiplayer options in some form. In the original PlayStation era, local split-screen multiplayer modes were the primary method, generally featuring head-to-head battles.[21] A PlayStation Link Cable feature, allowing for the connection of two PlayStation consoles, was included in all three original Armored Core titles.[22]

With the PlayStation 2, split-screen and console linking continue to be the primary source of multiplayer. 2004's Armored Core: Nexus introduced the LAN multiplayer mode, in addition to connecting through their internet service and allowed up to 4 players to fight in matches together.[23]

Online multiplayer was first introduced in the Japanese release of Armored Core 2: Another Age, but was removed in other regions due to the PlayStation Network Adapter not being ready in time.[24] No PlayStation 2-era game after this release would include online play either, with the first game to do so being Armored Core 4.[10]

Games[edit]

Release timeline
1997Armored Core
Project Phantasma
1998
1999Master of Arena
2000Armored Core 2
20012: Another Age
2002Armored Core 3
2003Silent Line
2004Nexus
Nine Breaker
Formula Front
2005Last Raven
2006Armored Core 4
2007
2008For Answer
2009–2011
2012Armored Core V
2013Verdict Day
2014–2022
2023Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon

Armored Core[edit]

Main articles: Armored Core (video game), Armored Core: Project Phantasma, and Armored Core: Master of Arena

The original trilogy of Armored Core games were developed for the original PlayStation by FromSoftware and established many of the core themes and mechanics that would be found in the rest of the series. The debut title, Armored Core, was released on July 10, 1997, in Japan.[25] Story elements like corporate-funded conflicts, post-apocalyptic settings, and silent protagonists were introduced in the first game. The game's mechanics revolve around taking on missions from various clients for pay, using earned money to customize the player's Armored Core unit.[14]

Armored Core: Project Phantasma was released as a stand-alone expansion to the original game, released on December 4, 1997.[26] Project Phantasma introduced an Arena mechanic that would be expanded on in later titles, as well as an import mechanic that would become an important feature through the franchise. Players were able to import save data from earlier Armored Core games and bring their existing Armored Core units into the expansions.[19]

A second stand-alone expansion, Armored Core: Master of Arena, was released on February 4, 1999, and was the final game released for the original PlayStation.[27] It concluded the core arc of the original Armored Core and greatly expanded on the Arena mechanic introduced in Project Phantasma.[28] Like its predecessor, Master of Arena allowed players to import save files from both the original Armored Core and Project Phantasma to continue their progress.[29]

All three games from the original PlayStation era were re-released on the PlayStation Network in 2007 for the tenth anniversary of the original title.[30][31][32] The original Armored Core was also released on the Japanese PlayStation Classic in 2018.[33]

Armored Core 2[edit]

Main articles: Armored Core 2 and Armored Core 2: Another Age

With the transition to the PlayStation 2, FromSoftware released Armored Core 2 as a launch title in Japan on August 3, 2000.[34] As a narrative sequel to the original trilogy, Armored Core 2 transitioned the series away from the post-apocalyptic setting and added more science fiction elements, such as Mars colonization. Much of the gameplay remained the same, including the mission structure, customization, and Arena modes.[35][4] The title did overhaul the visuals from the original game, taking advantage of the added power of the new console, but overall designs stayed similar.[36] Unlike Project Phantasma and Master of Arena, players could not import their saves to the new game.

Armored Core 2: Another Age was released on April 12, 2001, as a stand-alone expansion.[37] It allowed players to import their save files from Armored Core 2 and continue with their existing Armored Core units.[38] The game introduced movement controls using the DualShock analog sticks and cooperative mission mode.[39] The Japanese version of Armored Core 2 was the first title to include online broadband play, allowing players to fight each other over the internet.[24]

Armored Core 3[edit]

Main articles: Armored Core 3, Silent Line: Armored Core, Armored Core: Nexus, and Armored Core: Last Raven

Armored Core 3 was released on April 4, 2002, and served as a reboot for the franchise.[40] The story returned to a post-apocalyptic setting and retained the core concept of corporate warfare and mercenary mission structure. Very little gameplay was changed from the earlier PlayStation 2 titles, instead focusing on incremental improvements and minor features like USB mice, computer-controlled allies, and surround sound.[6][41][42] Due to its nature as a reboot, players could not import save data from Armored Core 2 or Another Age.

A stand-alone expansion, Silent Line: Armored Core, was released on January 23, 2003, and was a direct sequel to Armored Core 3.[43] Like other expansions in the franchise, players could import their progress from Armored Core 3 into Silent Line, retaining their parts and credits from the earlier game.[20] Silent Line introduced new gameplay mechanics, including computer-controlled companions and a first person mode.[44][45]

Armored Core: Nexus was released on March 18, 2004, as a direct sequel to Silent Line.[46] Unlike its predecessor, Nexus was treated as a core entry rather than an expansion and did not allow for save data import.[47] While carrying over parts from 3 and Silent Line, mechanics changed significantly compared to past expansions. The heat mechanic introduced in Armored Core 2 was made much more influential, especially with the introduction of booster heat. All part stats were also totally redistributed. The game was the first in the franchise to include support for dual analog sticks. It also introduced a new LAN multiplayer mode that allowed up to 4 players to participate in matches against each other.[23]

Armored Core: Last Raven was released on August 4, 2005, and served as the conclusion to Armored Core 3's story arc.[48] The game is structured around a 24-hour clock that moves forward as missions progress. At the end of the 24-hour period, choices made by the player can alter the outcome of the plot.[49] The game introduced a component damage system, allowing for individual parts to be broken in combat.[50]

Armored Core 4[edit]

Main articles: Armored Core 4 and Armored Core: For Answer

Armored Core 4 was released on December 21, 2006, for the PlayStation 3, serving as another reboot for the franchise. An Xbox 360 version, the first instance of a main title in the franchise being released outside of the PlayStation ecosystem, was released on March 22, 2007.[51] Gameplay in Armored Core 4 has been sped up and streamlined from its predecessors in an attempt to make the game more accessible to new players.[52] The game marks the first instance of online multiplayer outside of the Japanese release of Armored Core 2: Another Age.[53]

Armored Core: For Answer was released on March 19, 2008, as a standalone expansion to Armored Core 4.[54] It incorporates an online co-operative mode and a branching storyline.[55] The game was noted for its technical problems on the PlayStation 3 version.[56] Like Nexus, this game did not simply add content to its predecessor and changed gameplay by greatly increasing booster speeds and increasing generator performance.

Armored Core V[edit]

Main articles: Armored Core V and Armored Core: Verdict Day

Armored Core V was released on January 26, 2012, for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and acts as indirect sequel to Armored Core 4 and Armored Core: For Answer.[57] The game focuses on the online multiplayer component and includes far fewer offline story missions than its predecessors.[12] In the game's online mode, players battle for territory in teams of up to 20 players. A co-operative mode is included for players to fight NPCs alongside other players for various rewards.[58]

Armored Core: Verdict Day was released on September 24, 2013, as a standalone expansion to Armored Core V.[59] The game retains its predecessor's multiplayer focus, though it allows players to create teams of AI companions instead of requiring teams composed entirely of players.[60] A full-length story mode returns alongside a newly implemented "hardcore mode", and players can import their saved games from Armored Core V to retain their personalized mechs.[61]

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon[edit]

Main article: Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon was announced at The Game Awards 2022 on December 8. It is another reboot of the series, unrelated to any past games, set in an alternate future where humanity has developed an interstellar civilization. The player character, codenamed "C4-621" is an augmented Armored Core pilot sent to the distant planet Rubicon 3 to fight in a war between corporations, the government and the local inhabitants for the control of a highly valuable resource called "Coral" which only exists there. The game was released on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on August 25, 2023.[62][63]

Spin-offs[edit]

Main articles: Armored Core: Nine Breaker and Armored Core: Formula Front

In 2004, FromSoftware released two spin-offs from the main Armored Core series. The first, Armored Core: Nine Breaker was released on October 28, 2004, for the PlayStation 2.[64] Removing the focus from story-based missions, the game is instead built around an Arena mode where the player must compete with computer-controlled opponents to increase their rank.[65] Minigames designed as training exercises were included to allow players to practice specific skills.[66]

Armored Core: Formula Front was released on December 12, 2004, for the PlayStation Portable.[67] Like Nine Breaker, its focus was on Arena-style gameplay, though a new mechanic put a focus on building an artificial intelligence strategy for the Armored Core units to execute.[68] Formula Front was later released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan.[69]

Several mobile games were released in the Armored Core franchise from 2004 to 2008, but they were never released outside of Japan.[70] An American version of these mobile games was in development around 2005, but the title was never released.[71]

Other media[edit]

Armored Core: Tower City Blade is a manga by Fujimi Shobo based on the game. It was serialized in Dragon Age Pure between March 14 and April 14, 2007. A project called Armored Core: Fort Tower Song was to consist of a book and an anime also released in 2007. The book was completed but the anime was not.[72] From Software announced in 2011 that the anime had been canceled due to View Works shutting down.[73]

Legacy[edit]

The making of Armored Core solidified FromSoftware's development skills, and in July 1999, they released the multiplayer action game Frame Gride for the Sega Dreamcast.[74] The company's focus would shift from RPGs to mech games due in part to the success of the Armored Core series. In 2002, FromSoftware released the mech action game Murakumo: Renegade Mech Pursuit for the Xbox.[74] In 2004, they released another Xbox title, Metal Wolf Chaos. In 2005, FromSoftware would start to produce a series of licensed games based on the various anime properties under the banner Another Century's Episode.[75] Kenichiro Tsukuda, the producer of the Armored Core series produced a very similar video game called Daemon X Machina that was released for the Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows.[76]

Footnotes[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Japanese: アーマード・コア, Hepburn: Āmādo Koa

References[edit]

  1. ^ Diaz, Ana (2022-12-08). "FromSoftware reveals a reboot for Armored Core". Polygon. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  2. ^ Plunkett, Luke (2022-12-09). "Armored Core VI Announced, Which Isn't A Souls Game". Kotaku. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  3. ^ Chang, Clint (November 4, 1997). "Armored Core Review". Game Revolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  4. ^ a b
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    Smallville

    Smallville theme by ryanindy124

    Download: Smallville.p3t

    Smallville Theme
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    This article is about the TV series. For the fictional town, see Smallville (comics).

    Smallville
    Genre
    Based on
    Developed by
    Showrunners
    Starring
    Opening theme"Save Me" by Remy Zero
    Composers
    Country of originUnited States
    Original languageEnglish
    No. of seasons10
    No. of episodes217[1] (list of episodes)
    Production
    Executive producers
    Production locationsBritish Columbia, Canada
    Cinematography
    Editors
    • Ron Spang
    • Andi Armaganian
    • Neil Felder
    • David Ekstrom
    • Debby Germino
    • Vikash Patel
    • Stephen Mark
    • Peter B. Ellis
    Running time40-53 minutes
    Production companies
    Original release
    NetworkThe WB
    ReleaseOctober 16, 2001 (2001-10-16) –
    May 11, 2006 (2006-05-11)
    NetworkThe CW
    ReleaseSeptember 28, 2006 (2006-09-28) –
    May 13, 2011 (2011-05-13)

    Smallville is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar/Gough Ink, Tollin/Robbins Productions, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Television. Initially broadcast by the WB, the show premiered on October 16, 2001. After its fifth season, the WB and UPN merged to form The CW, the series' later United States broadcaster until its tenth and final season ended on May 13, 2011.

    Smallville follows the coming-of-age adventures of teenage Clark Kent (Tom Welling) in his fictional hometown of Smallville, Kansas, before he formally becomes the Man of Steel. The first four seasons focus on the high school life of Clark and his friends, his complicated romance with neighbor girl Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), and his friendship with future nemesis Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum). From season five onwards, Smallville ventures into Clark's early adult years, eventually focusing on his career alongside Lois Lane (Erica Durance) at the Daily Planet and introducing other DC comicbook superheroes and villains.

    Before the series' production, Bruce Wayne, a drama series chronicling the young protagonist's journey toward Batman, was proposed first. Although that series failed to generate interest, it inspired the idea of a Superman origin story, which later became Smallville. Series developers Gough and Millar pitched their "no tights, no flights" rule to the president of Warner Bros. Television, reducing the Man of Steel to the bare moral essentials and examining what led Clark Kent to become the iconic superhero. After seven seasons with the show, Gough and Millar departed with little explanation. Smallville was primarily filmed in and around Vancouver, British Columbia, with local businesses and buildings substituting for Smallville locations. Most of the music for the first six seasons was composed by Mark Snow, who incorporated elements of John Williams's musical score from the Superman film series. In season seven, Louis Febre (who worked with Snow from the beginning) became the series' primary composer.

    Smallville was generally positively received when it began. Former Superman star Christopher Reeve expressed approval for the series, making two guest appearances before his death. The pilot episode set a ratings record for a WB debut, with 8.4 million viewers. Over ten seasons the series averaged about 4.34 million viewers per episode, with season two the highest-rated at 6.3 million. By the end of its run, Smallville passed Stargate SG-1 as the longest-running North American science fiction series by episode count.[2] Since its first season, the series received accolades ranging from Emmys to Teen Choice Awards. Smallville spawned a series of young adult novels, a DC Comics bimonthly comic-book, soundtracks and series-related merchandise. All ten seasons are available on DVD in regions 1, 2 and 4. After the series finale in 2011, the story resumed in comic-book form, with 22 issues of Season 11 from April 2012 to November 2013.

    Series overview[edit]

    Main article: List of Smallville episodes
    SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedAverage viewership
    (in millions)
    First airedLast airedNetwork
    121October 16, 2001 (2001-10-16)May 21, 2002 (2002-05-21)The WB6.41
    223September 24, 2002 (2002-09-24)May 20, 2003 (2003-05-20)7.77
    322October 1, 2003 (2003-10-01)May 19, 2004 (2004-05-19)5.64
    422September 22, 2004 (2004-09-22)May 18, 2005 (2005-05-18)5.02
    522September 29, 2005 (2005-09-29)May 11, 2006 (2006-05-11)5.32
    622September 28, 2006 (2006-09-28)May 17, 2007 (2007-05-17)The CW4.52
    720September 27, 2007 (2007-09-27)May 15, 2008 (2008-05-15)4.15
    822September 18, 2008 (2008-09-18)May 14, 2009 (2009-05-14)3.88
    921September 25, 2009 (2009-09-25)May 14, 2010 (2010-05-14)2.38
    1022September 24, 2010 (2010-09-24)May 13, 2011 (2011-05-13)2.54

    The regular cast is introduced in season one, with storylines involving a villain deriving power from kryptonite exposure. The one-episode villains were a plot device developed by Gough and Millar.[3] Smallville's first season primarily dealt with Clark Kent's coming to terms with his alien origin and the revelation that his arrival on Earth was connected to the death of Lana Lang's parents.[4] After the first season the series had fewer villain-of-the-week episodes, focusing instead on individual-character story arcs and exploring Clark's origins.[5] Major storylines include Clark's discovery of his Kryptonian heritage and Lex Luthor's escalating conflict with his father, Lionel.[6] The disembodied voice of Clark's biological father, Jor-El, is introduced; he communicates to Clark through his spaceship, setting the stage for plots involving his role in fulfilling Clark's earthly destiny.[7] In a fourth-season arc Clark, instructed by Jor-El, searches for three Kryptonian stones which contain the knowledge of the universe and form his Fortress of Solitude.[8][9] Clark battles Brainiac in his attempts to release the Kryptonian criminal General Zod,[10] and must capture (or destroy) other escaped Phantom Zone criminals.[11] His cousin Kara arrives,[12] and Lex Luthor discovers Clark's secret.[13] The eighth season introduces Davis Bloome (Smallville's version of Doomsday), and Tess Mercer replaces the departing Lex Luthor. Justin Hartley becomes a series regular as Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) after being a recurring guest in season six.[14] In the ninth season Major Zod (Callum Blue) and other members of Zod's military group are revived (without their Kryptonian powers) by Tess Mercer,[15] and their efforts to regain their powers are the season's central conflict. The final season revolves around Clark's attempts to lose his doubts and fears and become the hero he is meant to be, while confronting his biggest challenges: the coming of Darkseid and the return of Lex Luthor.[16]

    Cast[edit]

    Main article: List of Smallville characters
    Young, casually-dressed man looking left
    Although Welling initially refused to audition for the role of Clark Kent, he changed his mind after reading the script for the pilot episode.
    • Tom Welling as Clark Kent, a young man with superhuman abilities who tries to find his place in life after discovering that he is an extraterrestrial in origin and uses his powers to help those in danger. Clark's season-one problems include his inability to share his secret and his desire for a normal life. After months of scouting, Welling was cast as Clark.[17] David Nutter had to convince Welling's manager that the role would not hurt the actor's film career in order to get Welling to read the pilot script. After reading the script, Welling agreed to audition for the role of Clark Kent.[3]
    • Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang, the girl next door. Grieving the loss of her parents, she has empathy for everyone and feels connected to Clark.[18] Kreuk was the first to be cast, after Nutter saw an audition tape the actress had sent.[3] Although she left the series after the seventh season,[19] she returned for five episodes in season eight as a special guest star.[20]
    • Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor, a billionaire's son sent to Smallville to run the local fertilizer plant. After Clark saves his life, they become fast friends.[21] As the series progresses, Lex's friendship with Clark crumbles until they consider themselves enemies. The role was difficult to cast;[4] Michael Rosenbaum auditioned twice and, feeling that he did not take his first audition seriously enough, outlined a two-and-a-half-page scene indicating where to be funny, charismatic or menacing.[22] His second audition went so well that he was hired.[4] Rosenbaum left the show after seven seasons,[19][23] reprising his role for the series finale.[24]
    • Eric Johnson as Whitney Fordman, Lana's boyfriend in season one, who becomes mean to Clark and Lana's budding friendship and bullies him.[21] He reconciles with Clark before joining the Marines and going to Afghanistan.[25] Although Whitney was written out of the show in the first-season finale, he made a special appearance in the season-two episode "Visage" (where it is disclosed that he was killed in action) and was also a guest star in the season-four episode "Façade" (during a flashback to Clark's freshman year of high school). Johnson, who auditioned for Lex and Clark before he was cast as Whitney,[26] was pleased that the writers gave his character a hero's exit.[27]
    • Sam Jones III as Pete Ross, another best friend of Clark and the first person to whom Clark voluntarily tells his secret.[28] Although he is in love with Chloe,[29] he does not admit it because of the Clark-Lana-Chloe love triangle already in place.[30] Ross was written out of the series at the end of season three, but made a guest appearance in season seven. Jones was the last of the series regulars to be cast, with Gough and Millar seeing him four days before they began filming the pilot.[30] Jones is African-American while the comics have traditionally portrayed Ross as Caucasian.[30]
    • Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan, one of Clark's best friends, who is in love with him (although her feelings are not reciprocated).[31] Editor of the school newspaper, her journalistic curiosity and desire to "expose falsehoods" and "know the truth"[32] create tension with her friends (especially when she investigates Clark's past).[33] After learning about Smallville from casting director Dee Dee Bradley, Mack considered auditioning for Lana Lang but auditioned twice for Chloe Sullivan.[32] The character was created just for the series[4] and was intended to have an "ethnic background" before Mack was hired.[32] She has since appeared in the comic book.[34]
    • Annette O'Toole as Martha Kent, Clark's adoptive mother. She and her husband, Jonathan, give Clark wise advice about coping with his increasing abilities. In season five Martha takes a state-senate seat,[35] and in season six she leaves the show.[36] Although Cynthia Ettinger was originally cast as Martha Kent, during filming everyone (including Ettinger) realized that she was not right for the part.[4] O'Toole was committed to the television series The Huntress when Ettinger filmed the original pilot. Around the time the creators wanted to recast Martha Kent, The Huntress was coincidentally canceled, allowing O'Toole to join the cast.[37] The actress had previously played Lana Lang in Superman III.[38]
    • John Schneider as Jonathan Kent, Clark's adoptive father, who goes to great lengths to protect his son's secret; according to Schneider, Jonathan is "perfectly willing to go to jail, or worse, to protect his son".[39] Schneider was written out of the show in the series' 100th episode, with Jonathan dying of a heart attack on the night of his election victory.[40] Millar and Gough wanted a recognizable face for Smallville; they were happy to cast Schneider as Jonathan because he was known as Bo Duke from The Dukes of Hazzard, which Gough saw as adding to the belief that Schneider could have grown up running a farm.[4]
    • John Glover as Lionel Luthor, Lex's father. Lionel is responsible for the Kents' adoption of Clark without legal ramifications or questions about his origins.[33] Glover tried to make Lionel seem to try to "toughen [Lex] up", and saw the character as a rich, powerful businessman who was disappointed in his son.[41] Lionel was created for Smallville to parallel the Kents and as an "experiment in extreme parenting".[4] A recurring first-season guest, Glover became a series regular from seasons two to seven until Lionel was murdered by Lex near the end of the seventh season.[42] Lionel returns in a parallel-universe version, also portrayed by Glover, during the final season as a special guest star.[43]
    • Jensen Ackles as Jason Teague, Lana's love interest, in season four. He follows Lana to Smallville from Paris, taking a job as the school's assistant football coach,[44] but is fired when their relationship comes to light. By the end of the season, it is disclosed that he was working with his mother to track the three Kryptonian stones of knowledge.[45] Before he was cast as Jason, Ackles was second in line for the role of Clark Kent.[46] Although he received top billing for season four and was contracted for season five, he was written out of the show in the season four finale because of his commitment to Supernatural.[47]
    Smiling young woman with long, light-brown hair
    Erica Durance was cast as Lois Lane days before fourth-season filming began, and her appearance was initially restricted by the film division of Warner Bros. Studios.
    • Erica Durance as Lois Lane, Chloe's cousin who comes to Smallville to investigate Chloe's supposed death[8] and stays with the Kents. Durance, a recurring guest in season four, became a series regular. The producers wanted to bring Lois Lane to the series, and Chloe's supposed death in the season-three finale provided the opportunity. Durance was cast three days before filming began; although she could initially appear in only four episodes, according to the film division of Warner Bros., after negotiations her character was cleared for more appearances.[48]
    • Aaron Ashmore as Jimmy Olsen, Chloe's photographer boyfriend who works at the Daily Planet. Ashmore, a recurring guest in season six, became a regular cast member in season seven. He called his casting a welcome surprise: "I auditioned for [the role] and I put myself on tape. I hadn't heard anything, and a couple of weeks later, all of the sudden (sic), I got the call saying, 'You're going to Vancouver to start shooting Smallville'. It's a dream come true, really".[49] After three seasons on the series (two as a regular), Ashmore's character was killed off. Although Ashmore's Jimmy Olsen was murdered, he said his character was not the "real" Jimmy Olsen, his real name revealed to be Henry James Olsen. Jimmy's younger brother, who appears briefly in the season-eight finale, is intended to be the Jimmy who works with Clark and Lois.[50] Ashmore returns as the younger Jimmy in the series finale.
    • Laura Vandervoort as Kara Zor-El, Clark's Kryptonian cousin. Sent to look after Kal-El (Clark), she was in suspended animation for eighteen years. When the dam confining Kara's ship broke in the season-six finale, "Phantom", she was set free. She has Clark's abilities, including flight.[51] At the end of the seventh season, Kara was trapped in the Phantom Zone. Although Vandervoort did not return regularly for the eighth season,[52] she returned to wrap up her storylines as a guest in season eight's "Bloodline" and as a special guest star in season ten's "Supergirl" and "Prophecy".[53]
    • Cassidy Freeman as Tess Mercer, Lex's handpicked successor as LuthorCorp CEO in season eight.[54] Her name is an homage to two Superman characters, Eve Teschmacher and Mercy Graves.[55] Freeman described her character as "fierce", "fun", and "intelligent", with finding Lex her primary season-eight goal. Tess believes that Clark will be able to help her.[56] In the season-ten episode "Abandoned", it is disclosed that her birth name is Lutessa Lena Luthor and she is Lionel's illegitimate daughter.[57]
    • Sam Witwer as Davis Bloome, a "charismatic" paramedic struggling with inner darkness,[54] Davis Bloome is Smallville's version of Doomsday (the only character to kill Superman). Davis would come to resemble his comic-book counterpart over the course of the season.[58] Brian Peterson said that with Michael Rosenbaum's departure, the new executive producers were looking for a villain "as great as Lex" and Doomsday fit the bill.[59]
    • Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen, the CEO of Queen Industries and leader of a small group of superheroes known as the Justice League. Hartley, a recurring guest in the sixth and seventh seasons, became a series regular in season eight[14] and was the producers' first choice to play Oliver Queen. He

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Star Wars #4

Star Wars theme by NodgeDaFunk

Download: StarWars_4.p3t

Star Wars Theme 4
(8 backgrounds)

This article is about the media franchise. For the film, see Star Wars (film). For other uses, see Star Wars (disambiguation).

Star Wars
Created byGeorge Lucas
Original workStar Wars (1977)[a]
OwnerLucasfilm
Years1977; 47 years ago (1977)–present
Print publications
Book(s)List of reference books
Novel(s)List of novels
Short storiesSee list of novels
ComicsList of comics
Comic strip(s)See list of comics
Magazine(s)Star Wars Insider
(1987–present)
Films and television
Film(s)List of films
Television seriesList of television series
Television special(s)See list of television series
Television film(s)See list of films
Games
Role-playingList of RPGs
Video game(s)List of video games
Audio
Radio program(s)List of radio dramas
Original musicMusic
Miscellaneous
Toy(s)Merchandise
Theme park attraction(s)List of attractions

Star Wars is an American epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film[a] and quickly became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various films and other media, including television series, video games, novels, comic books, theme park attractions, and themed areas, comprising an all-encompassing fictional universe.[b] Star Wars is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.

The original 1977 film, retroactively subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope, was followed by the sequels Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983), forming the original Star Wars trilogy. Lucas later returned to the series to write and direct a prequel trilogy, consisting of Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). In 2012, Lucas sold his production company to Disney, relinquishing his ownership of the franchise. This led to a sequel trilogy, consisting of Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017), and Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

All nine films, collectively referred to as the "Skywalker Saga", were nominated for Academy Awards, with wins going to the first two releases. Together with the theatrical live action "anthology" films Rogue One (2016) and Solo (2018), the combined box office revenue of the films equated to over US$10 billion, making Star Wars the third-highest-grossing film franchise of all time.

Premise[edit]

The Star Wars franchise depicts the adventures of characters "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away"[2] across multiple fictional eras, in which humans and many species of aliens (often humanoid) co-exist with robots (typically referred to in the films as 'droids'), which may be programmed for personal assistance or battle.[3] Space travel between planets is common due to lightspeed hyperspace technology.[4][5][6] The planets range from wealthy, planet-wide cities to deserts scarcely populated by primitive tribes. Virtually any Earth biome, along with many fictional ones, has its counterpart as a Star Wars planet which, in most cases, teem with sentient and non-sentient alien life.[7] The franchise also makes use of other astronomical objects such as asteroid fields and nebulae.[8][9] Spacecraft range from small starfighters to large capital ships, such as the Star Destroyers, as well as space stations such as the moon-sized Death Stars.[10][11][12] Telecommunication includes two-way audio and audiovisual screens, holographic projections and hyperspace transmission.[13]

The universe of Star Wars is generally similar to the real universe but its laws of physics are less strict allowing for more imaginative stories.[14] One result of that is a mystical power known as the Force which is described in the original film as "an energy field created by all living things ... [that] binds the galaxy together".[15] The field is depicted as a kind of pantheistic god.[16] Through training and meditation, those whom "the Force is strong with" exhibit various superpowers (such as telekinesis, precognition, telepathy, and manipulation of physical energy).[17] It is believed nothing is impossible for the Force.[18] The mentioned powers are wielded by two major knightly orders at conflict with each other: the Jedi, peacekeepers of the Galactic Republic who act on the light side of the Force through non-attachment and arbitration, and the Sith, who use the dark side by manipulating fear and aggression.[19][20] While Jedi Knights can be numerous, the Dark Lords of the Sith (or 'Darths') are intended to be limited to two: a master and their apprentice.[21]

The franchise is set against a backdrop of galactic conflict involving republics and empires, such as the evil Galactic Empire.[22] The Jedi and Sith prefer the use of a weapon called the lightsaber, a blade of plasma that can cut through virtually any surface and deflect energy bolts.[23] The rest of the population, as well as renegades and soldiers, use plasma-powered blaster firearms.[24] In the outer reaches of the galaxy, crime syndicates such as the Hutt cartel are dominant.[25] Bounty hunters are often employed by both gangsters and governments, while illicit activities include smuggling and slavery.[25]

The combination of science fiction and fantasy elements makes Star Wars a very universal franchise, capable of telling stories of various genres.[26]

Films[edit]

Main article: List of Star Wars films

The Skywalker Saga[edit]

Film U.S. release date Directed by Screenplay by Story by Produced by Refs.
Original trilogy: Episodes IV–VI
Star Wars May 25, 1977 (1977-05-25) George Lucas Gary Kurtz [27][28]
The Empire Strikes Back May 21, 1980 (1980-05-21) Irvin Kershner Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan George Lucas [29][30]
Return of the Jedi May 25, 1983 (1983-05-25) Richard Marquand Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas Howard Kazanjian [31][32]
Prequel trilogy: Episodes I–III
The Phantom Menace May 19, 1999 (1999-05-19) George Lucas George Lucas George Lucas Rick McCallum [33]
Attack of the Clones May 16, 2002 (2002-05-16) George Lucas and Jonathan Hales [34][35]
Revenge of the Sith May 19, 2005 (2005-05-19) George Lucas [36][37]
Sequel trilogy: Episodes VII–IX
The Force Awakens December 18, 2015 (2015-12-18) J. J. Abrams Lawrence Kasdan, J. J. Abrams and Michael Arndt Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk [31][38]
The Last Jedi December 15, 2017 (2017-12-15) Rian Johnson Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman [39][40]
The Rise of Skywalker December 20, 2019 (2019-12-20) J. J. Abrams Chris Terrio and J. J. Abrams Derek Connolly, Colin Trevorrow, J.J. Abrams, and Chris Terrio Kathleen Kennedy, J. J. Abrams and Michelle Rejwan [41][42]
Darth Vader (left), Emperor Palpatine (center), and Luke Skywalker (right), are the characters in Star Wars

The Star Wars film series centers around three sets of trilogies, the nine films of which are collectively referred to as the "Skywalker Saga".[43] The saga was produced non-chronologically, beginning in media res with the release of the original trilogy between 1977 and 1983. This was followed by the prequel trilogy, released between 1999 and 2005, and the sequel trilogy, released between 2015 and 2019.[44]

Each trilogy focuses on a generation of the Force-sensitive Skywalker family and their struggle against the evil Sith lord Palpatine (Darth Sidious).[45] The original trilogy depicts the heroic development of Luke Skywalker as a Jedi and his fight against Palpatine's Galactic Empire alongside his sister, Leia.[46] The prequels tell the tragic backstory of their father, Anakin, who is corrupted by Palpatine and becomes Darth Vader.[47] The sequels follow the conflict between Leia's son, Ben Solo, and Luke and Leia's protegé, Rey, and their eventual alliance against Palpatine after the fall of the Empire.[48]

Original trilogy[edit]

Main article: Star Wars original trilogy
The original trilogy's main cast includes (from left to right) Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), and David Prowse (Darth Vader).

In 1971, George Lucas wanted to film an adaptation of the Flash Gordon serial, but could not obtain the rights, so he began developing his own space opera.[49][c] After directing American Graffiti (1973), he wrote a two-page synopsis, which 20th Century Fox decided to invest in.[50][51] By 1974, he had expanded the story into the first draft of a screenplay.[52] Fox expected the film would be of limited financial success, and so it was given a relatively low budget, with production being moved to Elstree Studios in England to help save on cost.[53]

Star Wars was released on May 25, 1977, and first subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope in the 1979 book The Art of Star Wars.[54] The film's success led Lucas to make it the basis of an elaborate film serial.[55] With the backstory he created for the sequel, Lucas decided that the series would be a trilogy of trilogies.[56] Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back was released on May 21, 1980, also achieving wide financial and critical success. The final film in the trilogy, Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, was released on May 25, 1983.

Prequel trilogy[edit]

Main article: Star Wars prequel trilogy
The prequel trilogy's main cast includes (from left to right) Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Natalie Portman (Padmé Amidala), Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker),[d] and Ian McDiarmid (Palpatine).

According to producer Gary Kurtz, loose plans for a prequel trilogy were developed during the outlining of the original two films.[57] In 1980, Lucas confirmed that he had the nine-film series plotted,[58] but due to the stress of producing the original trilogy, he had decided to cancel further sequels by 1981.[59] In 1983, Lucas explained that "There was never a script completed that had the entire story as it exists now ... As the stories unfolded, I would take certain ideas and save them ... I kept taking out all the good parts, and I just kept telling myself I would make other movies someday."[60]

Technical advances in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the ability to create computer-generated imagery (CGI), inspired Lucas to consider that it might be possible to revisit his saga. In 1989, Lucas stated that the prequels would be "unbelievably expensive".[61] In 1992, he acknowledged that he had plans to create the prequel trilogy.[62] A theatrical rerelease of the original trilogy in 1997 "updated" the 20-year-old films with the style of CGI envisioned for the new trilogy.[63]

Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released on May 19, 1999, Episode II: Attack of the Clones on May 16, 2002, and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith on May 19, 2005.[64] The first two films were met with mixed reviews, with the third being received somewhat more positively. Together with the original trilogy, Lucas has referred to the first six episodic films of the franchise as "the tragedy of Darth Vader".[65]

Sequel trilogy[edit]

Main article: Star Wars sequel trilogy
The sequel trilogy's main cast includes (from left to right) Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), and Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron).

Prior to releasing the original 1977 film, and made possible by its success, Lucas planned "three trilogies of nine films".[56][66] However, he announced to Time in 1978 that he planned "10 sequels".[67] He confirmed that he had outlined the prequels and sequels in 1981.[68] At various stages of development, the sequel trilogy was to focus on the rebuilding of the Republic,[69] the return of Luke as a Jedi Master (a role similar to that of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original trilogy),[66] Luke's sister (not yet determined to be Leia),[57] Han, Leia,[70] R2-D2 and C-3PO.[56][71] However, after beginning work on the prequel trilogy, Lucas insisted that Star Wars was meant to be a six-part series and that there would be no sequel trilogy.[72][73]

Lucas decided to leave the franchise in the hands of other filmmakers, announcing in January 2012 that he would make no more Star Wars films.[74] That October, the Walt Disney Company agreed to buy Lucasfilm and announced that Episode VII would be released in 2015.[75] The co-chairman of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy, became president and served as executive producer of new Star Wars feature films.[76] Lucas provided Kennedy his story treatments for the sequels during the 2012 sale,[77] but in 2015 it was revealed Lucas's sequel outline had been discarded.[78][79] The sequel trilogy also meant the end of the Star Wars Expanded Universe stories, which were discarded from canon to give "maximum creative freedom to the filmmakers and also preserve an element of surprise and discovery for the audience."[1]

Episode VII: The Force Awakens was released on December 16, 2015, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi on December 13, 2017, and Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker on December 18, 2019, in many countries.[e] The Force Awakens and T

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Denver Broncos #2

Denver Broncos theme by NodgeDaFunk

Download: DenverBroncos_2.p3t

Denver Broncos Theme 2
(3 backgrounds)

Denver Broncos
Current season
Established August 14, 1959; 64 years ago (August 14, 1959)[1][2]
First season: 1960
Play in Empower Field at Mile High
Denver, Colorado
Headquartered at Centura Health Training Center in Dove Valley, Colorado[3][4]
Denver Broncos logo
Denver Broncos logo
Denver Broncos wordmark
Denver Broncos wordmark
LogoWordmark
League/conference affiliations

American Football League (1960–1969)

  • Western Division (1960–1969)

National Football League (1970–present)

Current uniform
Team colorsSunset orange, midnight navy, summit white[5][6][7]
     
MascotThunder (live horse)
Miles (costume suit)
Websitedenverbroncos.com
Personnel
Owner(s)Rob Walton[a]
CEOGreg Penner
PresidentDamani Leech
General managerGeorge Paton
Head coachSean Payton
Team history
  • Denver Broncos (1960–present)
Team nicknames
Championships
League championships (3)
Conference championships (8)
Division championships (15)
Playoff appearances (22)
Home fields
Team owner(s)

The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquartered in Dove Valley, Colorado.

The team began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL) and joined the NFL as part of the merger in 1970. The Broncos are currently owned by the Walton-Penner group, and play their home games at Empower Field at Mile High since 2001; Denver previously played its home games at Mile High Stadium from its inception in 1960 through the 2000 season.

The Broncos were barely competitive during their 10-year run in the AFL and their first three years in the NFL. They did not have a winning season until 1973 and qualified for their first playoffs in 1977, eventually advancing to Super Bowl XII that season. Since 1975, the Broncos have become one of the NFL's most successful teams, having suffered only eleven losing seasons.[8] They have won eight AFC Championships (1977, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1997, 1998, 2013, 2015), and three Super Bowl championships (1997 (XXXII), 1998 (XXXIII), 2015 (50), and share the NFL record for most Super Bowl losses (5 – tied with the New England Patriots). The Broncos have nine primary members enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: John Elway, Floyd Little, Shannon Sharpe, Gary Zimmerman, Terrell Davis, Champ Bailey, Steve Atwater, and Randy Gradishar, along with late club owner Pat Bowlen.[9]

According to Forbes, the Broncos are valued at $4.65 billion in July 2022 making them the twelfth most-valuable team in the NFL.[10]

Franchise history[edit]

Further information: History of the Denver Broncos

Bob Howsam/Gerald Phipps era (1960–1980)[edit]

The Denver Broncos were founded on August 14, 1959, when minor league baseball owner Bob Howsam was awarded an American Football League (AFL) charter franchise.[2] The Broncos won the first-ever AFL game over the Boston Patriots 13–10, on September 9, 1960. Seven years later on August 5, 1967, they became the first-ever AFL team to defeat an NFL team, with a 13–7 win over the Detroit Lions in a preseason game.[2] However, the Broncos were not successful in the 1960s, winning more than five games only once (7–7, 1962), compiling a 39–97–4 (.293) record during the ten seasons of the AFL.[11]

Denver came close to losing its franchise in 1965, until a local ownership group took control,[12][13] and rebuilt the team.[14] The team's first superstar, "Franchise" Floyd Little, was instrumental in keeping the team in Denver, due to his signing in 1967 as well as his Pro Bowl efforts on and off the field. The Broncos were the only original AFL team that never played in the title game, as well as the only original AFL team never to have a winning season while a member of the AFL during the upstart league's 10-year history.[15]

In 1972, the Broncos hired former Stanford University coach John Ralston as their head coach. In 1973, he was the UPI's AFC Coach of the Year, after Denver achieved its first winning season at 7–5–2. In five seasons with the Broncos, Ralston guided the team to three winning seasons. Though Ralston finished the 1976 season with a 9–5 record, the team, as was the case in Ralston's previous winning seasons, still missed the playoffs. Following the season, several prominent players publicly voiced their discontent with Ralston, which soon led to his resignation.[16]

The Broncos defeated the Raiders in the 1977–78 AFC Championship Game to earn their first trip to the Super Bowl.

Red Miller, a long-time assistant coach, was hired and along with the Orange Crush Defense (a nickname originated in 1977, also the brand of the popular orange-flavored soft drink) and aging quarterback Craig Morton, took the Broncos to what was then a record-setting 12–2 regular-season record and their first playoff appearance in 1977, and ultimately made their first Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XII, in which they were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys (Morton's former team), 27–10.[17]

Edgar Kaiser/Pat Bowlen era (1981–2018)[edit]

In 1981, Broncos' owner Gerald Phipps, who had purchased the team in May 1961 from the original owner Bob Howsam, sold the team to Canadian financier Edgar Kaiser Jr., grandson of shipbuilding industrialist Henry J. Kaiser.[18] In 1984, the team was purchased by another Canadian, Pat Bowlen, who placed team ownership into a family trust sometime before 2004 and remained in day-to-day control until his battle with Alzheimer's disease forced him to cede the team to Joe Ellis in 2014.[19][20][21]

Dan Reeves years (1981–1992)[edit]

Dan Reeves became the youngest head coach (37) in the NFL when he joined the Broncos in 1981 as vice president and head coach. Quarterback John Elway, who played college football at Stanford, arrived in 1983 via a trade. Originally drafted by the Baltimore Colts as the first pick of the draft, Elway proclaimed that he would shun football in favor of baseball (he was drafted by the New York Yankees to play center field and was also a pitching prospect), unless he was traded to a selected list of other teams, which included the Broncos.[22] Prior to Elway, the Broncos had over 24 different starting quarterbacks in its 23 seasons to that point.[23]

A ticket for the 1987–88 AFC Championship Game between the Browns and the Broncos.
John Elway (right) hands the ball for a rushing play against the Packers in 1984.

Reeves and Elway guided the Broncos to six post-season appearances, five AFC West divisional titles, three AFC championships and three Super Bowl appearances (Super Bowl XXI, XXII and XXIV) during their 12-year span together. The Broncos lost Super Bowl XXI to the New York Giants, 39–20; Super Bowl XXII to the Washington Redskins, 42–10; and Super Bowl XXIV to the San Francisco 49ers, 55–10; the latter score remains the most lopsided scoring differential in Super Bowl history. The last year of the Reeves-Elway era were marked by feuding, due to Reeves taking on play-calling duties after ousting Elway's favorite offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan after the 1991 season, as well as Reeves drafting quarterback Tommy Maddox out of UCLA instead of going with a wide receiver to help Elway. Reeves was fired after the 1992 season and replaced by his protégé and friend Wade Phillips, who had been serving as the Broncos' defensive coordinator.[24][25][26] Phillips was fired after a mediocre 1994 season, in which management felt he lost control of the team.

Mike Shanahan years (1995–2008)[edit]

In 1995, Mike Shanahan, who had formerly served under Reeves as the Broncos' offensive coordinator, returned as head coach. Shanahan drafted rookie running back Terrell Davis. In 1996, the Broncos were the top seed in the AFC with a 13–3 record, dominating most of the teams that year. The fifth-seeded Jacksonville Jaguars, however, upset the Broncos 30–27 in the divisional round of the playoffs, ending the Broncos' 1996 run.[16]

Super Bowl XXXII champions (1997)[edit]

During the 1997 season, Elway and Davis helped guide the Broncos to their first Super Bowl victory, a 31–24 win over the defending champion Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII. Though Elway completed only 13 of 22 passes, throwing one interception and no touchdowns (he did, however, have a rushing touchdown), Davis rushed for 157 yards and a Super Bowl-record three touchdowns to earn the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award—this while overcoming a severe migraine headache that caused him blurred vision.[27]

Super Bowl XXXIII champions (1998)[edit]

The Broncos repeated as Super Bowl champions the following season, defeating the Atlanta Falcons (led by Elway's longtime head coach Dan Reeves) in Super Bowl XXXIII, 34–19. Elway was named Super Bowl MVP, completing 18 of 29 passes for 336 yards, with an 80-yard touchdown to wide receiver Rod Smith and one interception.[26]

Broncos' quarterback Jay Cutler in 2007.

John Elway retired following the 1998 season, and Brian Griese started at quarterback for the next four seasons. After a 6–10 record in 1999, mostly due to a season-ending injury to Terrell Davis, the Broncos recovered in 2000, earning a Wild Card playoff berth, but losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens. After missing the playoffs the following two seasons, former Arizona Cardinals' quarterback Jake Plummer replaced Griese in 2003, and led the Broncos to two straight 10–6 seasons, earning Wild Card playoff berths both years. However, the Broncos went on the road to face the Indianapolis Colts in back-to-back seasons and were blown out by more than 20 points in each game, allowing a combined 90 points.[16]

In the years following the back-to-back championships, a league investigation revealed that the team had cheated the salary cap in both seasons and the 1996 season by deferring additional money to Elway and Davis outside of the salary cap. In addition, they purposefully avoided waiving certain players before a certain date. Denver claimed the moves did not give them additional competitive advantage. Between two separate punishments, they were stripped of their third-round picks in both the 2002 and 2005 drafts and fined nearly $2 million combined.[28][29]

Plummer led the Broncos to a 13–3 record in 2005 and their first AFC West division title since 1998. After a first-round bye, the Broncos defeated the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, 27–13, denying New England from becoming the first NFL team ever to win three consecutive Super Bowl championships. They were the first team to beat the Patriots in the playoffs during the Tom Brady era. The Broncos' playoff run came to an end the next week, after losing at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship game, 34–17. The Steelers went on to win Super Bowl XL.

The Broncos' defense began the first five games of the 2006 season allowing only one touchdown — an NFL record that still stands. ESPN commentator and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Theismann gave the 2006 defense the name "Bad Blue" on Monday Night Football as they played the Ravens. However, the team struggled down the season stretch. Plummer led the team to a 7–2 record, but struggled individually with inconsistent performance and more interceptions than touchdown passes. As a result, he would be replaced by rookie quarterback Jay Cutler. Cutler went 2–3 as a starter, and the Broncos finished with a 9–7 record, losing the tiebreaker to the Kansas City Chiefs for the final playoff spot. Cutler's first full season as a starter in 2007 became the Broncos' first losing season since 1999, with a 7–9 record.

The 2008 season ended in a 52–21 loss at the San Diego Chargers, giving the Broncos an 8–8 record and their third straight season out of the playoffs. Mike Shanahan, the longest-tenured and most successful head coach in Broncos' franchise history, was fired after 14 seasons.[30]

Josh McDaniels years (2009–2010)[edit]

On January 11, 2009, two weeks after Shanahan was fired, the Broncos hired former New England Patriots' offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as the team's new head coach.[31] Three months later, the team acquired quarterback Kyle Orton as part of a trade that sent Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears.

Under McDaniels and Orton, the Broncos jumped out to a surprising 6–0 start in 2009. However, the team lost eight of their next ten games, finishing 8–8 for a second consecutive season and missing the playoffs. The next season (2010), the Broncos set a new franchise record for losses in a single season, with a 4–12 record.[32] McDaniels was fired before the end of the 2010 season following a combination of the team's poor record and the fallout from a highly publicized videotaping scandal. Running backs coach Eric Studesville was named interim coach for the final four games of the 2010 season.[33] He chose to start rookie first-round draft choice Tim Tebow at quarterback for the final three games.

John Fox years (2011–2014)[edit]

Following the 2010 season, Joe Ellis was promoted from chief operating officer to team president, while John Elway returned to the organization as the team's executive vice president of football operations.[34] In addition, the Broncos hired John Fox as the team's 14th head coach. Fox previously served as the Carolina Panthers' head coach from 2002 to 2010.[35]

Following a 1–4 start to the 2011 season, Tim Tebow replaced Kyle Orton as the Broncos' starting quarterback, and "Tebow Time" was born. Tebow led the Broncos with toughness, determination and miraculous come-from-behind victories which gave the Broncos hope and were the catalyst for better things to come. Tebow led the Broncos to an 8–8 record and garnered the team's first playoff berth and division title since 2005. The Broncos defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round on a memorable 80-yard touchdown pass from Tebow to wide receiver Demaryius Thomas on the first play of overtime, setting a record for the fastest overtime in

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LMZF Clan

LMZF Clan theme by GhostViperGTX + danf_42

Download: LMZFClan.p3t

LMZF Clan Theme
(6 backgrounds)

P3T Unpacker v0.12
Copyright (c) 2007. Anoop Menon

This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!

Download for Windows: p3textractor.zip

Instructions:

Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.

The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.

The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].

For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following:
p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.

Posted on

CRYSTEL

CRYSTEL theme by Christopher Lord

Download: CRYSTEL.p3t

CRYSTEL Theme
(3 backgrounds)

P3T Unpacker v0.12
Copyright (c) 2007. Anoop Menon

This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!

Download for Windows: p3textractor.zip

Instructions:

Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.

The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.

The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].

For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following:
p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.

Posted on

Tailzo v0.8

Tailzo version 0.8 theme by Lars Aleksander Haugen

Download: Tailzo_v0.8.p3t

Tailzo v0.8 Theme
(1 background)

P3T Unpacker v0.12
Copyright (c) 2007. Anoop Menon

This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!

Download for Windows: p3textractor.zip

Instructions:

Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.

The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.

The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].

For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following:
p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.

Posted on

Guild Wars

Guild Wars theme by Mark “wisH” Ho

Download: GuildWars.p3t

Guild Wars Theme
(5 backgrounds)

For the first game in the series, see Guild Wars (video game).
Guild Wars
Original Guild Wars logo
Genre(s)ORPG, MMORPG
Developer(s)ArenaNet
Publisher(s)
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
First releaseGuild Wars Prophecies
April 28, 2005
Latest releaseGuild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure
August 22, 2023

Guild Wars is an online role-playing game franchise developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSoft. The games were critically well received[1][2][3][4] and won many editor's choice awards, as well as awards such as "Massively Multiplayer/Persistent World Game of the Year" by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences,[5] as well as Best Value, Best Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), and Best Game.[6] Guild Wars was noted for being the "first major MMO to adopt a business model not based on monthly subscription fees",[7] its instanced approach to gameplay,[8] and the quality of the graphics and play for computers with low specifications.[9] In April 2009, NCSoft announced that 6 million units of games in the Guild Wars series had been sold.[10] The sequel and fourth major entry into the series, Guild Wars 2, was announced in March 2007 and released on August 28, 2012. It features updated graphics and gameplay mechanics, and continues the original Guild Wars tradition of no subscription fees.[11] The Guild Wars series had sold 11.5 million copies by August 2015 [12][13]

Publications[edit]

Year Title Note
2005 Guild Wars Prophecies Standalone game
2006 Guild Wars Factions Standalone game
2006 Guild Wars Nightfall Standalone game
2007 Guild Wars: Eye of the North Expansion pack
2009 Guild Wars: Ghosts of Ascalon Novel by Matt Forbeck and Jeff Grubb, cover art by Richard Anderson
2010 Guild Wars: Edge of Destiny Novel by J. Robert King
2012 Guild Wars 2 Standalone game
2013 Rytlock's Critter Rampage Free browser game
2013 Guild Wars: Sea of Sorrows Novel by Ree Soesbee
2015 Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns Expansion pack
2017 Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire Expansion pack
2022 Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons Expansion pack
2023 Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure Expansion pack
2024 Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds Expansion pack

Related works[edit]

The NCSoft crossover game Master X Master featured Rytlock from Guild Wars 2 as a playable character.

Guild Wars subseries (2005-2007)[edit]

The original subseries consisting of the Guild Wars Prophecies, Guild Wars Factions, Guild Wars Nightfall, and Guild Wars: Eye of the North games coexist within a unified game world. The games provide two main modes of gameplay—a cooperative role-playing component that is specific to each campaign, and a competitive PvP component that is shared across all campaigns. Three stand-alone campaigns, one major expansion pack, and several "mini"-expansions were released in the series from April 2005 to April 2013. The games depict the fictional fantasy world of Tyria; each campaign focuses on events in disjointed sections of the world at roughly the same time. A player creates an avatar to play through the cooperative storyline of a campaign, taking on the role of a hero who must save Tyria from its antagonists. Players can group with other players and non-player characters, known as henchmen and heroes, to perform missions and quests found throughout the game-world. PvP combat is consensual, team based, and limited to areas designed for such combat. Players are allowed to create characters at maximum level and with the best equipment specifically for PvP play, which is unusual for MMORPGs.[14] Historically, ArenaNet hosted official Guild Wars tournaments where the most successful players and guilds competed for the chance to play live at gaming conventions and win prizes up to US$100,000.[15][16]

Gameplay[edit]

Players use a 3D avatar to interact with the world around them. The game predominantly features a third-person perspective but also has the option of first-person. These characters are able to walk/run and interact with other characters through chat. They can also perform actions such as fighting and picking up objects, as well as interacting with special objects.

Character creation[edit]

Players can choose from a range of up to ten different professions. When creating a character, players can select their hair style, face, skin tone, height and avatar name—the selection depending upon that profession chosen. As the player progresses through the game, they can unlock different armor and weapons to alter the visual appearance of that avatar. They can also decide whether they want their avatar to start in a Player vs. Environment world (the RPG aspect of the game), or get right into the competitive Player vs. Player and fight live against other players in the game.

The maximum level for character development is capped at 20—by this point, the character will also have reached 170 attribute points. Players may also choose to do certain quests to gain another 30 attribute points, making the maximum points available 200. Experience can still be gained and is used to learn more skills or buy consumable items throughout the game.

Professions[edit]

A profession is a type of class commonly found in most RPGs and is central to the gameplay in Guild Wars. Each profession has an array of attributes and skills that help narrow a class's proficiency in order to perform a customized role that is determined by the player. The Warrior profession, for example, has access to the primary Strength attribute that increases their armor penetration with martial weapons, and is able to wear heavy armor providing the highest protection against physical damage of all professions. Elementalists, on the other hand, wear less protective armor, but can use their primary Energy Storage attribute to give them a much greater pool of energy than other professions.

Guild Wars also introduces the ability to choose a secondary profession, expanding the selection of attributes and skills. A character does not, however, have access to the primary attribute of its secondary profession. Many, but not all, skills become more powerful with more points in a class's primary attribute. A Warrior/Elementalist, therefore, is a warrior who may use spells in combat, although the Elementalist spells used will generally not have as much power as those of a primary Elementalist. This is increased by the fact that runes, which among other things increase attribute levels, can only increase the attribute levels associated with a player's primary profession.

There are over a thousand skills in the game that can be acquired by the character over time, but players may only use and equip up to 8 of them at any one time. This introduces levels of strategy, in which one must have a careful selection of skills that work well with one another and with teammates in order to survive.

The core professions are Warrior, Monk, Elementalist, Ranger, Necromancer and Mesmer. The Assassin and Ritualist professions are exclusive to Guild Wars: Factions, which can be played along with the aforementioned core professions. The Paragon and Dervish professions are exclusive to Guild Wars: Nightfall, and can also be played with the core professions. Unlike the campaigns, Guild Wars: Eye of the North (the only expansion pack of the Guild Wars franchise) does not offer any new playable professions.

Environment[edit]

The Guild Wars universe consists of persistent staging zones known as towns and outposts. These areas normally contain non-player characters that provide services such as merchandising or storage. Other NPC's provide quests and present rewards to adventurers. These areas are also used when forming groups of people to go out into the world and play cooperatively. Players that venture out from the staging area and into an instanced explorable area are then able to use their weapons and skills to defeat monsters and interact with other objects in the game. As players progress through the game, they gain access to additional staging zones. Players can then transport their characters instantly from one staging area to another using a process commonly referred to as 'map traveling'.

Combat[edit]

Apart from fighting with weapons, skills make up the majority of combat interaction. Each skill has a different effect when used, and fall under many different categories. They can range from offensive skills such as setting foes on fire and defensive skills which include resurrection and healing allies. Enchantments that include giving players extra health points or Hexes that drain the enemy's life and add it to your own make up part of the skill selection in Guild Wars. Attack skills are used in conjunction with weapons to augment the damage that they can deal and cause different side effects (such as knocking people to the ground with a hammer, causing bleeding wounds that deal additional damage over time with a sword, or striking multiple foes with an axe).

Most skills have a governing attribute that determines its power and effect. These attributes are assigned using a number of attribute points similar to the point buy ability score generation system in Dungeons & Dragons.

Guild Wars skill system is often compared to collectible card games such as Magic: The Gathering because of the way the different skills interact.[17] While in a town or staging area, a character's skill and attribute selection can be freely modified to construct a "build". Once in a combat zone (such as an explorable area or a PvP arena), the build becomes immutable until the character exits the combat zone and returns to a staging area. Players generally either choose a specific build for a given area or role, or use builds that synergize with the builds of other characters in the party.

A player's ability to help the party is based on the way a player's "build" works. If the skills combine well, such as a hex spell that makes an enemy attack faster and then another one that makes him miss 75% of the time and take damage for each miss, then the build will work effectively.

In PvE, monsters that are slain will generate gold and loot which can be traded or sold to players or NPCs. Unique or rare weapon designs are often found from defeating powerful monsters, or by opening treasure chests.

In PvP, reputation in the form of "faction" is gained based on how well a player performs. "Balthazar faction" is gained by the number of wins that you and your team achieve, and for each unique kill. Most PvP in Guild Wars is fast-paced, while the transition period between games may take longer.

Co-operative gameplay[edit]

Player versus Environment (PvE) missions of Guild Wars use several standard tropes of the MMORPG genre. Players explore the game-world, kill monsters, perform quests and complete missions to earn rewards and advance the story. Rewards include experience points, skill points, skills, gold, faction, reputation and items for the player character. Some of these rewards not only advance the particular character being played at the time, but also unlock features of the game account-wide.

In each campaign the player is involved in a linear story with which they interact by performing a series of primary quests and replayable missions. Quests are given to a player by NPCs via text dialog. As quests and missions are completed, new areas, new quests, and new missions are unlocked for the player's character to access. Missions allow the player character to participate in the major events of the storyline, such as significant battles against the main antagonist. Both quests and missions can feature in-game cut scenes which advance the story and provide context to the actions which follow. Cut scenes are in the third-person, often featuring the party leader's character and revealing elements of the game that the character would not normally be aware of, such as the actions of an antagonist. Players are given the option of skipping the cut scenes if all party members agree upon it.

There are different types of PvE in Guild Wars, and it is advisable to prepare a build to meet the challenges of each type:

Cooperative Mission
Missions that move the game story. These form the backbone of the storyline in each campaign. Each requires a party of 4–8 players (and sometimes NPCs) to complete certain objectives. The party fails the mission if every member dies.
Explorable Area
Unlike cooperative missions, your party can die in explorable areas without grave consequences, and you will be respawned at a "resurrection shrine", but there are exceptions. Explorable areas are where quests are accepted and played out. Unlike a cooperative mission, players can work on several quests at the same time.
Elite Mission
Especially difficult missions, with an 8–12 player party size, that require a high amount of preparation, skill, knowledge and time commitment. Having the correct team build is a must, and players must coordinate with other team members more than normal.
Dungeon
Subterranean explorable areas in the Eye of the North expansion. A quest is given to guide the party through the dungeon, culminating in a boss fight, after which rewards are distributed.
Minigame
Minigames are either competitive or cooperative "mini missions" or battles that have no bearing on the plot of the Guild Wars campaigns. Some are present in the game only during special events, such as the Dragon Arena for the Canthan New Year and Dragon Festival. Rewards offered for competing in these games include tokens which can be traded for prizes
Challenge Mission
A special form of mission that is not part of the main story, in which parties aim to reach a high score. Unlike other forms of PvE play, Challenge Missions can theoretically go on forever, with the difficulty increasing the longer the player or party manages to stay alive.

Competitive gameplay[edit]

Player versus Player (PvP) combat in Guild Wars is consensual and team-based. Such combat is restricted to special PvP areas, the majority of which are located on the core area known as The Battle Isles. Individual campaigns also have certain campaign-specific PvP arenas. Players may participate in PvP combat with either their role-playing characters or with characters created specifically for PvP. Characters are rewarded with experience points for victories in competitive battle and the player account also acquires faction points redeemable for in-game rewards.[18] In addition to this victory may also award points which contribute towards completion of character or account based titles.

The following are the competitive modes in Guild Wars:

Random Arena
Four-on-four matches with teams randomly composed from those waiting to enter combat. There are many different arenas with different victory conditions: deathmatch and kill-count.
Team Arena
The Team Arenas were PvP arenas where two groups of four organized players battle each other. Groups were formed in the eponymous outpost and Random Arenas teams with 10 consecutive wins automatically enter the Team Arenas. Both Balthazar faction and Gladiator points could be obtained from Team Arenas. Team Arenas was replaced with Codex Arena in 2009.
Codex Arena
Four-on-four matches with player-managed teams. These matches are played in the same areas as the Random Arena with a few exceptions. Each class has a pool of limited amounts of skills to choose from and this pool changes every 6 hours.
Heroes' Ascent
A continuous tournament where players form teams of eight to battle in a sequence of arenas, culminating in the Hall of Heroes whose results are broadcast to all online players in addition to rewarding the victors with high-end loot. Arenas in the Heroes' Ascent tournament include deathmatch, altar-control, and capture-the-relic victory conditions. Victories in the Heroes' Ascent award players with fame points that can be used to determine the rank of the player.
Guild Battles
Two guilds meet in guild halls and stage a tactical battle with the aim of killing the opposing Guild Lord, a well-protected NPC. Victory in guild battles affects the rank of the guild in the global Guild versus Guild (GvG) ladder. GvG is considered the most supported of competitive formats in Guild Wars. In 2005, ArenaNet hosted a Guild Wars World Championship, and in 2006, the Guild Wars Factions Championship was hosted as well. Since then, the Automated Tournament system has become the norm, but smaller 3rd-party tournaments have been hosted, including the Rawr Cup and the Guild Wars Guru cup. The GWWC, GWFC, RawrCup, and GWG Tournament all had real life prizes; the former tournaments had cash prizes, the RawrCup and Guru Tournament had laptops and MP3 players to give away.
Alliance Battles
Guild Wars Factions introduced an arena where twelve players aligned with one of the opposing Kurzick and Luxon factions team up to fight an opposing team to gain new territory for their faction. The twelve player team is composed of three teams with four human players each. The three teams are selected randomly from the teams waiting on each side when the match begins. Alliance Battles grant alliance faction and affect the border between the two factions in the Factions-specific continent of Cantha. The location of the border affects the map in which the battles take place by adding a bias to favor the faction losing the war. Additionally, alliance faction can be contributed to a player's guild (if it is allied with the respective faction), allowing that guild to "control" a town in their faction's territory.
Competitive Missions
Factions also introduced a pair of competitive arenas, named Fort Aspenwood and The Jade Quarry, where randomly assembled teams of 8 players from the opposing factions enact particular events in the Kurzick/Luxon war. Victories in these missions have no global effect, but do grant the players with alliance faction.
Minigame
Minigames are either competitive or cooperative "mini missions" or battles that have no bearing on the plot and do not advance the story line of the Guild Wars campaigns. Most are added to the game during festivals and events.
Hero Battles
Hero Battles was the name given to the mode of PvP known as Hero versus Hero (HvH). In this contest, players would enter the battle with 3 heroes (fully customizable NPC allies), and fight another player and his/her team of 3 heroes. A player must have had a named account to participate in Hero Battles. This type of PvP was removed in the October 22nd, 2009 update.

Guild Wars has a continuously running automated tournament system.[19] Players or guilds elect to participate in the tournament by buying in-game tokens using their PvP faction points. The participants are divided randomly into groups of 32 that participate daily in up to six Swiss rounds held on a fixed schedule, and the top eight guilds continue on to a single-elimination tournament. Participants who are unable to field a full team automatically forfeit their round. Success in daily automated tournaments qualifies that particular guild for play in the monthly automated tournament, and the final victors of this tournament earn a number of real and in-game rewards. Players who do not participate in the automated tournament were allowed to place bets on the results of these tournaments for a number of in-game rewards prior to February 2010.

Many competitive matches may be observed by players by means of an observer mode.[18] Important PvP matches such as matches in the Hall of Heroes or between highly rated guilds may be observed (after a delay of fifteen minutes) by others in order to see the tactics used by successful teams and attempt to learn or counter them. Guilds may additionally observe their own Guild Battles for a fixed period of time.[20]

Guilds[edit]

As the name suggests, guilds are a core element of Guild Wars, manifesting not only as social units but also being closely linked with the game mechanics. Although a player is not required to join a guild, it adds value to the gaming time and increases camaraderie. Often, joining a guild is a good way to get help from more experienced players as the in-game guild interface allows communication between guild members.

A guild leader creates the guild by registering a guild name and a tag (between two and four characters long) with a Guild Registrar, found in some major towns. The guild tag is displayed in brackets after the names of guild members. The leader also designs the guild's cape (from a large palette of shapes, patterns and emblems), and purchases a guild hall that serves as the guild headquarters and may be furnished with merchants, traders, and storage NPCs. Each guild hall is an individual instanced outpost located at the same spot on the Battle Isles, but they are not physically accessible to non-allied members as the only way to enter a guild hall is by "map travel". The guild leader recruits new players to the guild and can promote a number of them to guild officers, who can then help with the recruitment and further promotion of officers. All player characters on the same Guild Wars account belong to the same guild. Players may leave their guild whenever they please, but only the leader and officers can dismiss non-officer players from the guild; the leader has the additional power to dismiss officers and disband the guild. Guilds have a membership limit of 100 members; player communities with more than that many members generally create allied sister guilds, often named similarly and using the same tag and cape.

Up to ten individual guilds may ally together to form an alliance. Members of an alliance may communicate over a shared chat channel, and visit the guild halls of the other guilds of the alliance.[21] Each alliance has a leader guild that initiates the alliance, the leader of which is also the alliance leader, who may admit or dismiss guilds from the alliance. Each alliance must be devoted to either the Kurzicks or the Luxons, the two Canthan factions (from Guild Wars Factions) locked in perpetual conflict. Players can accumulate faction (reputation) with either the Kurzicks or the Luxons, which can either be "donated" to the alliance or redeemed for certain in-game rewards. The alliances with the highest total amount of donated faction are given control of certain in-game outposts on the Canthan continent; controlling an outpost gives the alliance members access to restricted areas of the outposts, containing, among other things, merchants who sell at a discount.

In addition to membership in guilds, a player may be a guest of any number of other guilds. Guest privileges are limited to visiting the guild hall and participating in guild or alliance battles. An accepted invitation expires after 24 hours.[22]

Campaigns[edit]

Full games in the original Guild Wars sequence were released in episodes known as campaigns. Players must purchase an individual campaign in order to access the game elements specific to that campaign; however, all campaigns are linked in one game world. Each campaign is independent of the others, with its own co-operative storyline, campaign-specific skills, and competitive arenas. Players owning different campaigns may still interact in shared areas, including trading for items specific to the campaigns they have not purchased. Players who own two or more campaigns may transport their characters freely from one campaign to the other, integrating into the storyline as a foreign hero.

The first campaign, Guild Wars Prophecies (originally named Guild Wars), was released on April 28, 2005. The Prophecies storyline is situated on the continent of Tyria and revolves around the Flameseeker Prophecy, a prophecy made by an ancient dragon named Glint.

Prophecies was followed by Guild Wars Factions on April 28, 2006, released exactly a year after Prophecies. Factions is situated on the small southern continent of Cantha that is separated from Tyria by a vast ocean. The events of the Factions campaign concern the return from death of a corrupted bodyguard named Shiro Tagachi. Factions features a global persistent war between the rival vassal nations of Cantha; the Luxons and the Kurzicks, and the notion of guild alliances (see guilds above). The continent of Cantha is heavily based upon and influenced by eastern Asia.[23]

The third campaign, Guild Wars Nightfall, was released on October 27, 2006. Nightfall features the arid continent of Elona, joined to southern Tyria across a vast desert. Nightfall introduced heroes, advanced computer-controlled units that can be micro-managed by players, including the ability to customize their skill layout and equipment. The continent of Elona is heavily based on and influenced by North Africa.[24]

Expansions[edit]

Scrapping their initial plans for a fourth campaign, ArenaNet has released an expansion pack, Guild Wars: Eye of the North, to the previous three campaigns on August 31, 2007.[25][26] Not being a full campaign, this expansion requires one of the other released campaigns, and is only accessible by player characters at level 10 and above. Eye of the North therefore does not feature new professions, but contains new content for existing characters: dungeons, a number of new skills, armor, and heroes. Eye of the North is set in previously inaccessible territory from the first Guild Wars campaign, Prophecies. It is intended to be a bridge to the sequel to the Guild Wars series, Guild Wars 2. As a promotion for their online store and Eye of the North, ArenaNet released a Bonus Mission Pack[27] for purchase online. It contains playable recreations of four incidents in the history of Tyria, Cantha, and Elona, and each mission expands the backstory for one of four major NPCs.[citation needed]

In an effort to resolve plot threads, ArenaNet has released a series of "mini-expansion" updates, collectively known as Guild Wars Beyond. This series of storylines and events in Guild Wars helps set the stage for Guild Wars 2, which takes place 250 years in the future. Guild Wars Beyond begins with War in Kryta, then Hearts of the North, and continues with Winds of Change.[citation needed] After the Guild Wars 2 release, ArenaNet formally announced that they "will no longer release any new content, but will continue to update the game. We would like to thank all Guild Wars players who participated in our active poll, choosing what rewards you would like to see when linking your Guild Wars accounts".[28] Some of these scrapped Beyond-updates included: the Ebon Vanguards' withdrawal and establishment of Ebonhawke; the Lunatic Court and their attempts to free Mad King Thorn; expanding on the story of Palawa Joko and continuing that plot thread, which was left dangling in Nightfall; and the disappearance of Evennia, last seen in Old Ascalon during the Krytan civil war.[29][30][31][32][33]

Guild Wars 2 (2012)[edit]

Main article: Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2 is the sequel to the original Guild Wars. It was released on August 28, 2012. The game's campaign centers on the awakening of the Elder Dragon Zhaitan and the cataclysm that this brings to Tyria. This threat unites the game's major factions to form a Pact. From 2012 to 2014 the game was actively updated with temporary content releases that came to be known as Living World Season 1. From 2014 to 2015 updates were shifted to a permanent content model that integrated with the characters' story progression. These updates, comprising Living World Season 2, featured a plot to awaken Mordremoth, leading to the game's first expansion pack.

Heart of Thorns (2015)[edit]

Main article: Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns

Heart of Thorns is the first expansion pack for GW2 and was released on October 23, 2015. The campaign follows the struggle of the Pact forces against the Elder Dragon Mordremoth. Major new features were introduced, including a new Revenant profession, elite specializations for existing professions, gliding, and guild halls. This was followed by two years of content updates, encompassing Living World Season 3. This season dealt with the aftermath of battling Mordremoth and initial forays against the remaining dragons, as well as the return of the god Balthazar, who seeks to kill the Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik at any cost. It also introduced raid content, a feature that was promised in the marketing of HoT.

Path of Fire (2017)[edit]

Main article: Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire

Path of Fire is the second expansion pack for GW2 and was released on September 22, 2017. In this campaign, the Pact heroes pursue Balthazar and the Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik to Elona, the continent originally featured in Nightfall. This expansion introduced mounts to the game. Content updates will be divided into both Season 4, which deals primarily with fighting Palawa Joko, and Season 5 of the Living World.

End of Dragons (2022)[edit]

Main article: Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons

End of Dragons is the third expansion pack for GW2 and was released on February 28, 2022. This campaign follows the Pact Heroes into the land of Cantha as they finish pursuing the remainder of the Elder Dragons.[34][35]

Secrets of the Obscure (2023)[edit]

Secrets of the Obscure is the fourth expansion pack for GW2 and was released on August 22, 2023.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Guild Wars (pc: 2005): Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2010-04-05. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
  2. ^ "Guild Wars Factions (pc: 2006): Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2010-05-04. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
  3. ^ "Guild Wars Nightfall (pc: 2006): Reviews".
    For the first game in the series, see Guild Wars (video game).
    Guild Wars
    Original Guild Wars logo
    Genre(s)ORPG, MMORPG
    Developer(s)ArenaNet
    Publisher(s)
    Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
    First releaseGuild Wars Prophecies
    April 28, 2005
    Latest releaseGuild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure
    August 22, 2023

    Guild Wars is an online role-playing game franchise developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSoft. The games were critically well received[1][2][3][4] and won many editor's choice awards, as well as awards such as "Massively Multiplayer/Persistent World Game of the Year" by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences,[5] as well as Best Value, Best Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), and Best Game.[6] Guild Wars was noted for being the "first major MMO to adopt a business model not based on monthly subscription fees",[7] its instanced approach to gameplay,[8] and the quality of the graphics and play for computers with low specifications.[9] In April 2009, NCSoft announced that 6 million units of games in the Guild Wars series had been sold.[10] The sequel and fourth major entry into the series, Guild Wars 2, was announced in March 2007 and released on August 28, 2012. It features updated graphics and gameplay mechanics, and continues the original Guild Wars tradition of no subscription fees.[11] The Guild Wars series had sold 11.5 million copies by August 2015 [12][13]

    Publications[edit]

    Year Title Note
    2005 Guild Wars Prophecies Standalone game
    2006 Guild Wars Factions Standalone game
    2006 Guild Wars Nightfall Standalone game
    2007 Guild Wars: Eye of the North Expansion pack
    2009 Guild Wars: Ghosts of Ascalon Novel by Matt Forbeck and Jeff Grubb, cover art by Richard Anderson
    2010 Guild Wars: Edge of Destiny Novel by J. Robert King
    2012 Guild Wars 2 Standalone game
    2013 Rytlock's Critter Rampage Free browser game
    2013 Guild Wars: Sea of Sorrows Novel by Ree Soesbee
    2015 Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns Expansion pack
    2017 Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire Expansion pack
    2022 Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons Expansion pack
    2023 Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure Expansion pack
    2024 Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds Expansion pack

    Related works[edit]

    The NCSoft crossover game Master X Master featured Rytlock from Guild Wars 2 as a playable character.

    Guild Wars subseries (2005-2007)[edit]

    The original subseries consisting of the Guild Wars Prophecies, Guild Wars Factions, Guild Wars Nightfall, and Guild Wars: Eye of the North games coexist within a unified game world. The games provide two main modes of gameplay—a cooperative role-playing component that is specific to each campaign, and a competitive PvP component that is shared across all campaigns. Three stand-alone campaigns, one major expansion pack, and several "mini"-expansions were released in the series from April 2005 to April 2013. The games depict the fictional fantasy world of Tyria; each campaign focuses on events in disjointed sections of the world at roughly the same time. A player creates an avatar to play through the cooperative storyline of a campaign, taking on the role of a hero who must save Tyria from its antagonists. Players can group with other players and non-player characters, known as henchmen and heroes, to perform missions and quests found throughout the game-world. PvP combat is consensual, team based, and limited to areas designed for such combat. Players are allowed to create characters at maximum level and with the best equipment specifically for PvP play, which is unusual for MMORPGs.[14] Historically, ArenaNet hosted official Guild Wars tournaments where the most successful players and guilds competed for the chance to play live at gaming conventions and win prizes up to US$100,000.[15][16]

    Gameplay[edit]

    Players use a 3D avatar to interact with the world around them. The game predominantly features a third-person perspective but also has the option of first-person. These characters are able to walk/run and interact with other characters through chat. They can also perform actions such as fighting and picking up objects, as well as interacting with special objects.

    Character creation[edit]

    Players can choose from a range of up to ten different professions. When creating a character, players can select their hair style, face, skin tone, height and avatar name—the selection depending upon that profession chosen. As the player progresses through the game, they can unlock different armor and weapons to alter the visual appearance of that avatar. They can also decide whether they want their avatar to start in a Player vs. Environment world (the RPG aspect of the game), or get right into the competitive Player vs. Player and fight live against other players in the game.

    The maximum level for character development is capped at 20—by this point, the character will also have reached 170 attribute points. Players may also choose to do certain quests to gain another 30 attribute points, making the maximum points available 200. Experience can still be gained and is used to learn more skills or buy consumable items throughout the game.

    Professions[edit]

    A profession is a type of class commonly found in most RPGs and is central to the gameplay in Guild Wars. Each profession has an array of attributes and skills that help narrow a class's proficiency in order to perform a customized role that is determined by the player. The Warrior profession, for example, has access to the primary Strength attribute that increases their armor penetration with martial weapons, and is able to wear heavy armor providing the highest protection against physical damage of all professions. Elementalists, on the other hand, wear less protective armor, but can use their primary Energy Storage attribute to give them a much greater pool of energy than other professions.

    Guild Wars also introduces the ability to choose a secondary profession, expanding the selection of attributes and skills. A character does not, however, have access to the primary attribute of its secondary profession. Many, but not all, skills become more powerful with more points in a class's primary attribute. A Warrior/Elementalist, therefore, is a warrior who may use spells in combat, although the Elementalist spells used will generally not have as much power as those of a primary Elementalist. This is increased by the fact that runes, which among other things increase attribute levels, can only increase the attribute levels associated with a player's primary profession.

    There are over a thousand skills in the game that can be acquired by the character over time, but players may only use and equip up to 8 of them at any one time. This introduces levels of strategy, in which one must have a careful selection of skills that work well with one another and with teammates in order to survive.

    The core professions are Warrior, Monk, Elementalist, Ranger, Necromancer and Mesmer. The Assassin and Ritualist professions are exclusive to Guild Wars: Factions, which can be played along with the aforementioned core professions. The Paragon and Dervish professions are exclusive to Guild Wars: Nightfall, and can also be played with the core professions. Unlike the campaigns, Guild Wars: Eye of the North (the only expansion pack of the Guild Wars franchise) does not offer any new playable professions.

    Environment[edit]

    The Guild Wars universe consists of persistent staging zones known as towns and outposts. These areas normally contain non-player characters that provide services such as merchandising or storage. Other NPC's provide quests and present rewards to adventurers. These areas are also used when forming groups of people to go out into the world and play cooperatively. Players that venture out from the staging area and into an instanced explorable area are then able to use their weapons and skills to defeat monsters and interact with other objects in the game. As players progress through the game, they gain access to additional staging zones. Players can then transport their characters instantly from one staging area to another using a process commonly referred to as 'map traveling'.

    Combat[edit]

    Apart from fighting with weapons, skills make up the majority of combat interaction. Each skill has a different effect when used, and fall under many different categories. They can range from offensive skills such as setting foes on fire and defensive skills which include resurrection and healing allies. Enchantments that include giving players extra health points or Hexes that drain the enemy's life and add it to your own make up part of the skill selection in Guild Wars. Attack skills are used in conjunction with weapons to augment the damage that they can deal and cause different side effects (such as knocking people to the ground with a hammer, causing bleeding wounds that deal additional damage over time with a sword, or striking multiple foes with an axe).

    Most skills have a governing attribute that determines its power and effect. These attributes are assigned using a number of attribute points similar to the point buy ability score generation system in Dungeons & Dragons.

    Guild Wars skill system is often compared to collectible card games such as Magic: The Gathering because of the way the different skills interact.[17] While in a town or staging area, a character's skill and attribute selection can be freely modified to construct a "build". Once in a combat zone (such as an explorable area or a PvP arena), the build becomes immutable until the character exits the combat zone and returns to a staging area. Players generally either choose a specific build for a given area or role, or use builds that synergize with the builds of other characters in the party.

    A player's ability to help the party is based on the way a player's "build" works. If the skills combine well, such as a hex spell that makes an enemy attack faster and then another one that makes him miss 75% of the time and take damage for each miss, then the build will work effectively.

    In PvE, monsters that are slain will generate gold and loot which can be traded or sold to players or NPCs. Unique or rare weapon designs are often found from defeating powerful monsters, or by opening treasure chests.

    In PvP, reputation in the form of "faction" is gained based on how well a player performs. "Balthazar faction" is gained by the number of wins that you and your team achieve, and for each unique kill. Most PvP in Guild Wars is fast-paced, while the transition period between games may take longer.

    Co-operative gameplay[edit]

    Player versus Environment (PvE) missions of Guild Wars use several standard tropes of the MMORPG genre. Players explore the game-world, kill monsters, perform quests and complete missions to earn rewards and advance the story. Rewards include experience points, skill points, skills, gold, faction, reputation and items for the player character. Some of these rewards not only advance the particular character being played at the time, but also unlock features of the game account-wide.

    In each campaign the player is involved in a linear story with which they interact by performing a series of primary quests and replayable missions. Quests are given to a player by NPCs via text dialog. As quests and missions are completed, new areas, new quests, and new missions are unlocked for the player's character to access. Missions allow the player character to participate in the major events of the storyline, such as significant battles against the main antagonist. Both quests and missions can feature in-game cut scenes which advance the story and provide context to the actions which follow. Cut scenes are in the third-person, often featuring the party leader's character and revealing elements of the game that the character would not normally be aware of, such as the actions of an antagonist. Players are given the option of skipping the cut scenes if all party members agree upon it.

    There are different types of PvE in Guild Wars, and it is advisable to prepare a build to meet the challenges of each type:

    Cooperative Mission
    Missions that move the game story. These form the backbone of the storyline in each campaign. Each requires a party of 4–8 players (and sometimes NPCs) to complete certain objectives. The party fails the mission if every member dies.
    Explorable Area
    Unlike cooperative missions, your party can die in explorable areas without grave consequences, and you will be respawned at a "resurrection shrine", but there are exceptions. Explorable areas are where quests are accepted and played out. Unlike a cooperative mission, players can work on several quests at the same time.
    Elite Mission
    Especially difficult missions, with an 8–12 player party size, that require a high amount of preparation, skill, knowledge and time commitment. Having the correct team build is a must, and players must coordinate with other team members more than normal.
    Dungeon
    Subterranean explorable areas in the Eye of the North expansion. A quest is given to guide the party through the dungeon, culminating in a boss fight, after which rewards are distributed.
    Minigame
    Minigames are either competitive or cooperative "mini missions" or battles that have no bearing on the plot of the Guild Wars campaigns. Some are present in the game only during special events, such as the Dragon Arena for the Canthan New Year and Dragon Festival. Rewards offered for competing in these games include tokens which can be traded for prizes
    Challenge Mission
    A special form of mission that is not part of the main story, in which parties aim to reach a high score. Unlike other forms of PvE play, Challenge Missions can theoretically go on forever, with the difficulty increasing the longer the player or party manages to stay alive.

    Competitive gameplay[edit]

    Player versus Player (PvP) combat in Guild Wars is consensual and team-based. Such combat is restricted to special PvP areas, the majority of which are located on the core area known as The Battle Isles. Individual campaigns also have certain campaign-specific PvP arenas. Players may participate in PvP combat with either their role-playing characters or with characters created specifically for PvP. Characters are rewarded with experience points for victories in competitive battle and the player account also acquires faction points redeemable for in-game rewards.[18] In addition to this victory may also award points which contribute towards completion of character or account based titles.

    The following are the competitive modes in Guild Wars:

    Random Arena
    Four-on-four matches with teams randomly composed from those waiting to enter combat. There are many different arenas with different victory conditions: deathmatch and kill-count.
    Team Arena
    The Team Arenas were PvP arenas where two groups of four organized players battle each other. Groups were formed in the eponymous outpost and Random Arenas teams with 10 consecutive wins automatically enter the Team Arenas. Both Balthazar faction and Gladiator points could be obtained from Team Arenas. Team Arenas was replaced with Codex Arena in 2009.
    Codex Arena
    Four-on-four matches with player-managed teams. These matches are played in the same areas as the Random Arena with a few exceptions. Each class has a pool of limited amounts of skills to choose from and this pool changes every 6 hours.
    Heroes' Ascent
    A continuous tournament where players form teams of eight to battle in a sequence of arenas, culminating in the Hall of Heroes whose results are broadcast to all online players in addition to rewarding the victors with high-end loot. Arenas in the Heroes' Ascent tournament include deathmatch, altar-control, and capture-the-relic victory conditions. Victories in the Heroes' Ascent award players with fame points that can be used to determine the rank of the player.
    Guild Battles
    Two guilds meet in guild halls and stage a tactical battle with the aim of killing the opposing Guild Lord, a well-protected NPC. Victory in guild battles affects the rank of the guild in the global Guild versus Guild (GvG) ladder. GvG is considered the most supported of competitive formats in Guild Wars. In 2005, ArenaNet hosted a Guild Wars World Championship, and in 2006, the Guild Wars Factions Championship was hosted as well. Since then, the Automated Tournament system has become the norm, but smaller 3rd-party tournaments have been hosted, including the Rawr Cup and the Guild Wars Guru cup. The GWWC, GWFC, RawrCup, and GWG Tournament all had real life prizes; the former tournaments had cash prizes, the RawrCup and Guru Tournament had laptops and MP3 players to give away.
    Alliance Battles
    Guild Wars Factions introduced an arena where twelve players aligned with one of the opposing Kurzick and Luxon factions team up to fight an opposing team to gain new territory for their faction. The twelve player team is composed of three teams with four human players each. The three teams are selected randomly from the teams waiting on each side when the match begins. Alliance Battles grant alliance faction and affect the border between the two factions in the Factions-specific continent of Cantha. The location of the border affects the map in which the battles take place by adding a bias to favor the faction losing the war. Additionally, alliance faction can be contributed to a player's guild (if it is allied with the respective faction), allowing that guild to "control" a town in their faction's territory.
    Competitive Missions
    Factions also introduced a pair of competitive arenas, named Fort Aspenwood and The Jade Quarry, where randomly assembled teams of 8 players from the opposing factions enact particular events in the Kurzick/Luxon war. Victories in these missions have no global effect, but do grant the players with alliance faction.
    Minigame
    Minigames are either competitive or cooperative "mini missions" or battles that have no bearing on the plot and do not advance the story line of the Guild Wars campaigns. Most are added to the game during festivals and events.
    Hero Battles
    Hero Battles was the name given to the mode of PvP known as Hero versus Hero (HvH). In this contest, players would enter the battle with 3 heroes (fully customizable NPC allies), and fight another player and his/her team of 3 heroes. A player must have had a named account to participate in Hero Battles. This type of PvP was removed in the October 22nd, 2009 update.

    Guild Wars has a continuously running automated tournament system.[19] Players or guilds elect to participate in the tournament by buying in-game tokens using their PvP faction points. The participants are divided randomly into groups of 32 that participate daily in up to six Swiss rounds held on a fixed schedule, and the top eight guilds continue on to a single-elimination tournament. Participants who are unable to field a full team automatically forfeit their round. Success in daily automated tournaments qualifies that particular guild for play in the monthly automated tournament, and the final victors of this tournament earn a number of real and in-game rewards. Players who do not participate in the automated tournament were allowed to place bets on the results of these tournaments for a number of in-game rewards prior to February 2010.

    Many competitive matches may be observed by players by means of an observer mode.[18] Important PvP matches such as matches in the Hall of Heroes or between highly rated guilds may be observed (after a delay of fifteen minutes) by others in order to see the tactics used by successful teams and attempt to learn or counter them. Guilds may additionally observe their own Guild Battles for a fixed period of time.[20]

    Guilds[edit]

    As the name suggests, guilds are a core element of Guild Wars, manifesting not only as social units but also being closely linked with the game mechanics. Although a player is not required to join a guild, it adds value to the gaming time and increases camaraderie. Often, joining a guild is a good way to get help from more experienced players as the in-game guild interface allows communication between guild members.

    A guild leader creates the guild by registering a guild name and a tag (between two and four characters long) with a Guild Registrar, found in some major towns. The guild tag is displayed in brackets after the names of guild members. The leader also designs the guild's cape (from a large palette of shapes, patterns and emblems), and purchases a guild hall that serves as the guild headquarters and may be furnished with merchants, traders, and storage NPCs. Each guild hall is an individual instanced outpost located at the same spot on the Battle Isles, but they are not physically accessible to non-allied members as the only way to enter a guild hall is by "map travel". The guild leader recruits new players to the guild and can promote a number of them to guild officers, who can then help with the recruitment and further promotion of officers. All player characters on the same Guild Wars account belong to the same guild. Players may leave their guild whenever they please, but only the leader and officers can dismiss non-officer players from the guild; the leader has the additional power to dismiss officers and disband the guild. Guilds have a membership limit of 100 members; player communities with more than that many members generally create allied sister guilds, often named similarly and using the same tag and cape.

    Up to ten individual guilds may ally together to form an alliance. Members of an alliance may communicate over a shared chat channel, and visit the guild halls of the other guilds of the alliance.[21] Each alliance has a leader guild that initiates the alliance, the leader of which is also the alliance leader, who may admit or dismiss guilds from the alliance. Each alliance must be devoted to either the Kurzicks or the Luxons, the two Canthan factions (from Guild Wars Factions) locked in perpetual conflict. Players can accumulate faction (reputation) with either the Kurzicks or the Luxons, which can either be "donated" to the alliance or redeemed for certain in-game rewards. The alliances with the highest total amount of donated faction are given control of certain in-game outposts on the Canthan continent; controlling an outpost gives the alliance members access to restricted areas of the outposts, containing, among other things, merchants who sell at a discount.

    In addition to membership in guilds, a player may be a guest of any number of other guilds. Guest privileges are limited to visiting the guild hall and participating in guild or alliance battles. An accepted invitation expires after 24 hours.[22]

    Campaigns[edit]

    Full games in the original Guild Wars sequence were released in episodes known as campaigns. Players must purchase an individual campaign in order to access the game elements specific to that campaign; however, all campaigns are linked in one game world. Each campaign is independent of the others, with its own co-operative storyline, campaign-specific skills, and competitive arenas. Players owning different campaigns may still interact in shared areas, including trading for items specific to the campaigns they have not purchased. Players who own two or more campaigns may transport their characters freely from one campaign to the other, integrating into the storyline as a foreign hero.

    The first campaign, Guild Wars Prophecies (originally named Guild Wars), was released on April 28, 2005. The Prophecies storyline is situated on the continent of Tyria and revolves around the Flameseeker Prophecy, a prophecy made by an ancient dragon named Glint.

    Prophecies was followed by Guild Wars Factions on April 28, 2006, released exactly a year after Prophecies. Factions is situated on the small southern continent of Cantha that is separated from Tyria by a vast ocean. The events of the Factions campaign concern the return from death of a corrupted bodyguard named Shiro Tagachi. Factions features a global persistent war between the rival vassal nations of Cantha; the Luxons and the Kurzicks, and the notion of guild alliances (see guilds above). The continent of Cantha is heavily based upon and influenced by eastern Asia.[23]

    The third campaign, Guild Wars Nightfall, was released on October 27, 2006. Nightfall features the arid continent of Elona, joined to southern Tyria across a vast desert. Nightfall introduced heroes, advanced computer-controlled units that can be micro-managed by players, including the ability to customize their skill layout and equipment. The continent of Elona is heavily based on and influenced by North Africa.[24]

    Expansions[edit]

    Scrapping their initial plans for a fourth campaign, ArenaNet has released an expansion pack, Guild Wars: Eye of the North, to the previous three campaigns on August 31, 2007.[25][26] Not being a full campaign, this expansion requires one of the other released campaigns, and is only accessible by player characters at level 10 and above. Eye of the North therefore does not feature new professions, but contains new content for existing characters: dungeons, a number of new skills, armor, and heroes. Eye of the North is set in previously inaccessible territory from the first Guild Wars campaign, Prophecies. It is intended to be a bridge to the sequel to the Guild Wars series, Guild Wars 2. As a promotion for their online store and Eye of the North, ArenaNet released a Bonus Mission Pack[27] for purchase online. It contains playable recreations of four incidents in the history of Tyria, Cantha, and Elona, and each mission expands the backstory for one of four major NPCs.[citation needed]

    In an effort to resolve plot threads, ArenaNet has released a series of "mini-expansion" updates, collectively known as Guild Wars Beyond. This series of storylines and events in Guild Wars helps set the stage for Guild Wars 2, which takes place 250 years in the future. Guild Wars Beyond begins with War in Kryta, then Hearts of the North, and continues with Winds of Change.[citation needed] After the Guild Wars 2 release, ArenaNet formally announced that they "will no longer release any new content, but will continue to update the game. We would like to thank all Guild Wars players who participated in our active poll, choosing what rewards you would like to see when linking your Guild Wars accounts".[28] Some of these scrapped Beyond-updates included: the Ebon Vanguards' withdrawal and establishment of Ebonhawke; the Lunatic Court and their attempts to free Mad King Thorn; expanding on the story of Palawa Joko and continuing that plot thread, which was left dangling in Nightfall; and the disappearance of Evennia, last seen in Old Ascalon during the Krytan civil war.[29][30][31][32][33]

    Guild Wars 2 (2012)[edit]

    Main article: Guild Wars 2

    Guild Wars 2 is the sequel to the original Guild Wars. It was released on August 28, 2012. The game's campaign centers on the awakening of the Elder Dragon Zhaitan and the cataclysm that this brings to Tyria. This threat unites the game's major factions to form a Pact. From 2012 to 2014 the game was actively updated with temporary content releases that came to be known as Living World Season 1. From 2014 to 2015 updates were shifted to a permanent content model that integrated with the characters' story progression. These updates, comprising Living World Season 2, featured a plot to awaken Mordremoth, leading to the game's first expansion pack.

    Heart of Thorns (2015)[edit]

    Main article: Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns

    Heart of Thorns is the first expansion pack for GW2 and was released on October 23, 2015. The campaign follows the struggle of the Pact forces against the Elder Dragon Mordremoth. Major new features were introduced, including a new Revenant profession, elite specializations for existing professions, gliding, and guild halls. This was followed by two years of content updates, encompassing Living World Season 3. This season dealt with the aftermath of battling Mordremoth and initial forays against the remaining dragons, as well as the return of the god Balthazar, who seeks to kill the Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik at any cost. It also introduced raid content, a feature that was promised in the marketing of HoT.

    Path of Fire (2017)[edit]

    Main article: Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire

    Path of Fire is the second expansion pack for GW2 and was released on September 22, 2017. In this campaign, the Pact heroes pursue Balthazar and the Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik to Elona, the continent originally featured in Nightfall. This expansion introduced mounts to the game. Content updates will be divided into both Season 4, which deals primarily with fighting Palawa Joko, and Season 5 of the Living World.

    End of Dragons (2022)[edit]

    Main article: Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons

    End of Dragons is the third expansion pack for GW2 and was released on February 28, 2022. This campaign follows the Pact Heroes into the land of Cantha as they finish pursuing the remainder of the Elder Dragons.[34][35]

    Secrets of the Obscure (2023)[edit]

    Secrets of the Obscure is the fourth expansion pack for GW2 and was released on August 22, 2023.

    References[edit]

    1. ^ "Guild Wars (pc: 2005): Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2010-04-05. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
    2. ^ "Guild Wars Factions (pc: 2006): Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2010-05-04. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
    3. ^ "Guild Wars Nightfall (pc: 2006): Reviews".
      Posted on

      Alien-Insomnia

      Alien-Insomnia theme by Dallas

      Download: Alien-Insomnia.p3t

      Alien-Insomnia Theme
      (3 backgrounds)

      P3T Unpacker v0.12
      Copyright (c) 2007. Anoop Menon

      This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!

      Download for Windows: p3textractor.zip

      Instructions:

      Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.

      The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.

      The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].

      For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following:
      p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.

Posted on

Galaxy

Galaxy theme by Igotamic

Download: Galaxy.p3t

Galaxy Theme
(1 background, wallpaper HD only)

This article is about the astronomical structure. For Earth's galaxy, see Milky Way. For other uses, see Galaxy (disambiguation).

NGC 4414, a typical spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices, is about 55,000 light-years in diameter and approximately 60 million light-years from Earth.

A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity.[1][2] The word is derived from the Greek galaxias (γαλαξίας), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. Galaxies, averaging an estimated 100 million stars,[3] range in size from dwarfs with less than a thousand stars,[4] to the largest galaxies known – supergiants with one hundred trillion stars, each orbiting its galaxy's center of mass. Most of the mass in a typical galaxy is in the form of dark matter, with only a few percent of that mass visible in the form of stars and nebulae. Supermassive black holes are a common feature at the centres of galaxies.

Galaxies are categorised according to their visual morphology as elliptical,[5] spiral, or irregular.[6] The Milky Way is an example of a spiral galaxy. It is estimated that there are between 200 billion[7] (2×1011) to 2 trillion[8] galaxies in the observable universe. Most galaxies are 1,000 to 100,000 parsecs in diameter (approximately 3,000 to 300,000 light years) and are separated by distances in the order of millions of parsecs (or megaparsecs). For comparison, the Milky Way has a diameter of at least 26,800 parsecs (87,400 ly)[9][a] and is separated from the Andromeda Galaxy, its nearest large neighbour, by just over 750,000 parsecs (2.5 million ly.)[12]

The space between galaxies is filled with a tenuous gas (the intergalactic medium) with an average density of less than one atom per cubic metre. Most galaxies are gravitationally organised into groups, clusters and superclusters. The Milky Way is part of the Local Group, which it dominates along with the Andromeda Galaxy. The group is part of the Virgo Supercluster. At the largest scale, these associations are generally arranged into sheets and filaments surrounded by immense voids.[13] Both the Local Group and the Virgo Supercluster are contained in a much larger cosmic structure named Laniakea.[14]

Etymology[edit]

The word galaxy was borrowed via French and Medieval Latin from the Greek term for the Milky Way, galaxías (kúklos) γαλαξίας (κύκλος)[15][16] 'milky (circle)', named after its appearance as a milky band of light in the sky. In Greek mythology, Zeus places his son, born by a mortal woman, the infant Heracles, on Hera's breast while she is asleep so the baby will drink her divine milk and thus become immortal. Hera wakes up while breastfeeding and then realises she is nursing an unknown baby: she pushes the baby away, some of her milk spills, and it produces the band of light known as the Milky Way.[17][18]

In the astronomical literature, the capitalised word "Galaxy" is often used to refer to the Milky Way galaxy, to distinguish it from the other galaxies in the observable universe. The English term Milky Way can be traced back to a story by Geoffrey Chaucer c. 1380:

See yonder, lo, the Galaxyë
 Which men clepeth the Milky Wey,
 For hit is whyt.

— Geoffrey Chaucer, The House of Fame[16]

Galaxies were initially discovered telescopically and were known as spiral nebulae. Most 18th- to 19th-century astronomers considered them as either unresolved star clusters or anagalactic nebulae, and were just thought of as a part of the Milky Way, but their true composition and natures remained a mystery. Observations using larger telescopes of a few nearby bright galaxies, like the Andromeda Galaxy, began resolving them into huge conglomerations of stars, but based simply on the apparent faintness and sheer population of stars, the true distances of these objects placed them well beyond the Milky Way. For this reason they were popularly called island universes, but this term quickly fell into disuse, as the word universe implied the entirety of existence. Instead, they became known simply as galaxies.[19]

Nomenclature[edit]

Galaxy cluster SDSS J1152+3313. SDSS stands for Sloan Digital Sky Survey, J for Julian epoch, and 1152+3313 for right ascension and declination respectively.

Millions of galaxies have been catalogued, but only a few have well-established names, such as the Andromeda Galaxy, the Magellanic Clouds, the Whirlpool Galaxy, and the Sombrero Galaxy. Astronomers work with numbers from certain catalogues, such as the Messier catalogue, the NGC (New General Catalogue), the IC (Index Catalogue), the CGCG (Catalogue of Galaxies and of Clusters of Galaxies), the MCG (Morphological Catalogue of Galaxies), the UGC (Uppsala General Catalogue of Galaxies), and the PGC (Catalogue of Principal Galaxies, also known as LEDA). All the well-known galaxies appear in one or more of these catalogues but each time under a different number. For example, Messier 109 (or "M109") is a spiral galaxy having the number 109 in the catalogue of Messier. It also has the designations NGC 3992, UGC 6937, CGCG 269–023, MCG +09-20-044, and PGC 37617 (or LEDA 37617), among others.[20] Millions of fainter galaxies are known by their identifiers in sky surveys such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.[21]

Observation history[edit]

Milky Way[edit]

Main article: Milky Way

Greek philosopher Democritus (450–370 BCE) proposed that the bright band on the night sky known as the Milky Way might consist of distant stars.[22] Aristotle (384–322 BCE), however, believed the Milky Way was caused by "the ignition of the fiery exhalation of some stars that were large, numerous and close together" and that the "ignition takes place in the upper part of the atmosphere, in the region of the World that is continuous with the heavenly motions."[23] Neoplatonist philosopher Olympiodorus the Younger (c. 495–570 CE) was critical of this view, arguing that if the Milky Way was sublunary (situated between Earth and the Moon) it should appear different at different times and places on Earth, and that it should have parallax, which it did not. In his view, the Milky Way was celestial.[24]

According to Mohani Mohamed, Arabian astronomer Ibn al-Haytham (965–1037) made the first attempt at observing and measuring the Milky Way's parallax,[25] and he thus "determined that because the Milky Way had no parallax, it must be remote from the Earth, not belonging to the atmosphere."[26] Persian astronomer al-Biruni (973–1048) proposed the Milky Way galaxy was "a collection of countless fragments of the nature of nebulous stars."[27] Andalusian astronomer Avempace (d. 1138) proposed that it was composed of many stars that almost touched one another, and appeared to be a continuous image due to the effect of refraction from sublunary material,[23][28] citing his observation of the conjunction of Jupiter and Mars as evidence of this occurring when two objects were near.[23] In the 14th century, Syrian-born Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya proposed the Milky Way galaxy was "a myriad of tiny stars packed together in the sphere of the fixed stars."[29]

Actual proof of the Milky Way consisting of many stars came in 1610 when the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei used a telescope to study it and discovered it was composed of a huge number of faint stars.[30][31] In 1750, English astronomer Thomas Wright, in his An Original Theory or New Hypothesis of the Universe, correctly speculated that it might be a rotating body of a huge number of stars held together by gravitational forces, akin to the Solar System but on a much larger scale, and that the resulting disk of stars could be seen as a band on the sky from a perspective inside it.[b][33][34] In his 1755 treatise, Immanuel Kant elaborated on Wright's idea about the Milky Way's structure.[35]

The shape of the Milky Way as estimated from star counts by William Herschel in 1785; the Solar System was assumed to be near the center.

The first project to describe the shape of the Milky Way and the position of the Sun was undertaken by William Herschel in 1785 by counting the number of stars in different regions of the sky. He produced a diagram of the shape of the galaxy with the Solar System close to the center.[36][37] Using a refined approach, Kapteyn in 1920 arrived at the picture of a small (diameter about 15 kiloparsecs) ellipsoid galaxy with the Sun close to the center. A different method by Harlow Shapley based on the cataloguing of globular clusters led to a radically different picture: a flat disk with diameter approximately 70 kiloparsecs and the Sun far from the centre.[34] Both analyses failed to take into account the absorption of light by interstellar dust present in the galactic plane; but after Robert Julius Trumpler quantified this effect in 1930 by studying open clusters, the present picture of the Milky Way galaxy emerged.[38]

Distinction from other nebulae[edit]

A few galaxies outside the Milky Way are visible on a dark night to the unaided eye, including the Andromeda Galaxy, Large Magellanic Cloud, Small Magellanic Cloud, and the Triangulum Galaxy. In the 10th century, Persian astronomer Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi made the earliest recorded identification of the Andromeda Galaxy, describing it as a "small cloud".[39] In 964, he probably mentioned the Large Magellanic Cloud in his Book of Fixed Stars, referring to "Al Bakr of the southern Arabs",[40] since at a declination of about 70° south it was not visible where he lived. It was not well known to Europeans until Magellan's voyage in the 16th century.[41][40] The Andromeda Galaxy was later independently noted by Simon Marius in 1612.[39]

In 1734, philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg in his Principia speculated that there might be other galaxies outside that were formed into galactic clusters that were minuscule parts of the universe that extended far beyond what could be seen. These views "are remarkably close to the present-day views of the cosmos."[42] In 1745, Pierre Louis Maupertuis conjectured that some nebula-like objects were collections of stars with unique properties, including a glow exceeding the light its stars produced on their own, and repeated Johannes Hevelius's view that the bright spots were massive and flattened due to their rotation.[35] In 1750, Thomas Wright correctly speculated that the Milky Way was a flattened disk of stars, and that some of the nebulae visible in the night sky might be separate Milky Ways.[34][43]

Photograph of the "Great Andromeda Nebula" by Isaac Roberts, 1899, later identified as the Andromeda Galaxy

Toward the end of the 18th century, Charles Messier compiled a catalog containing the 109 brightest celestial objects having nebulous appearance. Subsequently, William Herschel assembled a catalog of 5,000 nebulae.[34] In 1845, Lord Rosse examined the nebulae catalogued by Herschel and observed the spiral structure of Messier object M51, now known as the Whirlpool Galaxy.[44][45]

In 1912, Vesto M. Slipher made spectrographic studies of the brightest spiral nebulae to determine their composition. Slipher discovered that the spiral nebulae have high Doppler shifts, indicating that they are moving at a rate exceeding the velocity of the stars he had measured. He found that the majority of these nebulae are moving away from us.[46][47]

In 1917, Heber Doust Curtis observed nova S Andromedae within the "Great Andromeda Nebula", as the Andromeda Galaxy, Messier object M31, was then known. Searching the photographic record, he found 11 more novae. Curtis noticed that these novae were, on average, 10 magnitudes fainter than those that occurred within this galaxy. As a result, he was able to come up with a distance estimate of 150,000 parsecs. He became a proponent of the so-called "island universes" hypothesis, which holds that spiral nebulae are actually independent galaxies.[48]

In 1920 a debate took place between Harlow Shapley and Heber Curtis, the Great Debate, concerning the nature of the Milky Way, spiral nebulae, and the dimensions of the universe. To support his claim that the Great Andromeda Nebula is an external galaxy, Curtis noted the appearance of dark lanes resembling the dust clouds in the Milky Way, as well as the significant Doppler shift.[49]

In 1922, the Estonian astronomer Ernst Öpik gave a distance determination that supported the theory that the Andromeda Nebula is indeed a distant extra-galactic object.[50] Using the new 100-inch Mt. Wilson telescope, Edwin Hubble was able to resolve the outer parts of some spiral nebulae as collections of individual stars and identified some Cepheid variables, thus allowing him to estimate the distance to the nebulae: they were far too distant to be part of the Milky Way.[51] In 1926 Hubble produced a classification of galactic morphology that is used to this day.[52][53]

Multi-wavelength observation[edit]

See also: Observational astronomy
This ultraviolet image of Andromeda shows blue regions containing young, massive stars.

Advances in astronomy have always been driven by technology. After centuries of success in optical astronomy, recent decades have seen major progress in other regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.[54]

The dust present in the interstellar medium is opaque to visual light. It is more transparent to far-infrared, which can be used to observe the interior regions of giant molecular clouds and galactic cores in great detail.[55] Infrared is also used to observe distant, red-shifted galaxies that were formed much earlier. Water vapor and carbon dioxide absorb a number of useful portions of the infrared spectrum, so high-altitude or space-based telescopes are used for infrared astronomy.[56]

The first non-visual study of galaxies, particularly active galaxies, was made using radio frequencies. The Earth's atmosphere is nearly transparent to radio between 5 MHz and 30 GHz. The ionosphere blocks signals below this range.[57] Large radio interferometers have been used to map the active jets emitted from active nuclei. Radio telescopes can also be used to observe neutral hydrogen (via 21 cm radiation), including, potentially, the non-ionized matter in the early universe that later collapsed to form galaxies.[58]

Ultraviolet and X-ray telescopes can observe highly energetic galactic phenomena. Ultraviolet flares are sometimes observed when a star in a distant galaxy is torn apart from the tidal forces of a nearby black hole.[59] The distribution of hot gas in galactic clusters can be mapped by X-rays. The existence of supermassive black holes at the cores of galaxies was confirmed through X-ray astronomy.[60]

Modern research[edit]

Rotation curve of spiral galaxy Messier 33 (yellow and blue points with error bars), and a predicted one from distribution of the visible matter (gray line). The discrepancy between the two curves can be accounted for by adding a dark matter halo surrounding the galaxy.[61]

In 1944, Hendrik van de Hulst predicted that microwave radiation with wavelength of 21 cm would be detectable from interstellar atomic hydrogen gas;[62] and in 1951 it was observed. This radiation is not affected by dust absorption, and so its Doppler shift can be used to map the motion of the gas in this galaxy. These observations led to the hypothesis of a rotating bar structure in the center of this galaxy.[63] With improved radio telescopes, hydrogen gas could also be traced in other galaxies. In the 1970s, Vera Rubin uncovered a discrepancy between observed galactic rotation speed and that predicted by the visible mass of stars and gas. Today, the galaxy rotation problem is thought to be explained by the presence of large quantities of unseen dark matter.[64][65]

Beginning in the 1990s, the Hubble Space Telescope yielded improved observations. Among other things, its data helped establish that the missing dark matter in this galaxy could not consist solely of inherently faint and small stars.[66] The Hubble Deep Field, an extremely long exposure of a relatively empty part of the sky, provided evidence that there are about 125 billion (1.25×1011) galaxies in the observable universe.[67] Improved technology in detecting the spectra invisible to humans (radio telescopes, infrared cameras, and x-ray telescopes) allows detection of other galaxies that are not detected by Hubble. Particularly, surveys in the Zone of Avoidance (the region of sky blocked at visible-light wavelengths by the Milky Way) have revealed a number of new galaxies.[68]

A 2016 study published in The Astrophysical Journal, led by Christopher Conselice of the University of Nottingham, used 20 years of Hubble images to estimate that the observable universe contained at least two trillion (2×1012) galaxies.[69][70] However, later observations with the New Horizons space probe from outside the zodiacal light reduced this to roughly 200 billion (2×1011).[71][72]

Types and morphology[edit]

See also: Galactic bulge, Central massive object, Active galactic nucleus, and Galaxy morphological classification
Types of galaxies according to the Hubble classification scheme : an E indicates a type of elliptical galaxy; an S is a spiral; and SB is a barred spiral galaxy

Galaxies come in three main types: ellipticals, spirals, and irregulars. A slightly more extensive description of galaxy types based on their appearance is given by the Hubble sequence. Since the Hubble sequence is entirely based upon visual morphological type (shape), it may miss certain important characteristics of galaxies such as star formation rate in starburst galaxies and activity in the cores of active galaxies.[6]

Many galaxies are thought to contain a supermassive black hole at their center. This includes the Milky Way, whose core region is called the Galactic Center.[73]

Ellipticals[edit]

Main article: Elliptical galaxy

The Hubble classification system rates elliptical galaxies on the basis of their ellipticity, ranging from E0, being nearly spherical, up to E7, which is highly elongated. These galaxies have an ellipsoidal profile, giving them an elliptical appearance regardless of the viewing angle. Their appearance shows little structure and they typically have relatively little interstellar matter. Consequently, these galaxies also have a low portion of open clusters and a reduced rate of new star formation. Instead, they are dominated by generally older, more evolved stars that are orbiting the common center of gravity in random directions. The stars contain low abundances of heavy elements because star formation ceases after the initial burst. In this sense they have some similarity to the much smaller globular clusters.[74]

Type-cD galaxies[edit]

The galaxy cluster Abell 1413 is dominated by this cD elliptical galaxy designated Abell 1413 BCG. It has an isophotal diameter of over 800,000 light-years across. Note the gravitational lensing.

The

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