Do you have questions about Chapter 11: The Battle of Echo Base? If so, you can join the House of Commons Dev Chat on Dec. 4 at 4 p.m. PST to possibly get some answers.

You can join the chat through your favorite IRC client or by using Stratics' Java client, which can be found here. Make sure you have your questions ready before the event starts so you can submit them to the moderators.

All the information regarding the chat can be found here or below.

LucasArts and SOE announced today that Squadrons Over Corellia, the first expansion for the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game, is coming out this year. Considering we're almost through with November, it should be released soon.

Squadrons Over Corellia expands on the first release Champions of the Force, released last August, by adding a new game mechanic to the online trading card game with the addition of all-new strategy-altering starship cards for players to dominate their opponents from space.

The expansion will add more than 250 new playable cards and 22 new loot cards. Wookiees and Rodians are being added to the game, as are Emperor Palpatine, Han Solo, Wedge Antilles and Jabba the Hutt.

The full press release regarding the announcement is below, or you can visit the TCG Web site for more information.

Being a used car salesman in the Star Wars universe must be an entertaining job due to the vast amount of vehicles available. I guess the closest thing to that profession are the scavenging Jawas when they try to pawn off their merchandise. Come to think of it, Jawas really are the heroes of Episode IV. They delivered R2-D2 and C-3PO right to Luke's doorstep.

Anyway, you don't need to listen to used car salesmen, Jawas or anyone else to find out about the newest vehicles in Star Wars Galaxies. The Friday Feature contains a Corellia Times Consumer Report outlining all you need to know about AT-RTs, speeders, pod racers, hover chairs and other modes of transportation. It even compares their attributes in a handy chart. Check it out for all your shopping needs.

New Quests: Panoramic Vistas: Tatooine

Updated Quests: Collection Quest Series

New Mobs: a cold weather Rebel trooper ;  an Imperial Snowtrooper

Chapter 11: The Battle of Echo Base goes live today! Players will finally get the chance to experience Hoth in the form of a heroic encounter in Star Wars Galaxies.

Holo-beasts, minor profession changes, and improvements to the Character Transfer Service are just some of the other updates involved in this patch.

The full update notes can be found here or below.

Since it's my post, I'll tell you why I play, and then you can join in after!

I started out in Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs), back when AOL was the only internet I knew.  Don't snicker!  Internet connection costs of $484 a month were enough to make my parents ground me for weeks.  But then came Ultima Online (UO).

I once played on the Sonoma server of UO, back when it first launched. For a while I played Tovin, an anti-pk. Then Tovin became a role playing tailor. She mostly stayed in town and, one day, was scammed. I was outraged and reported the scam via in game reporting and a Counselor appeared. Dressed in a pretty blue robe he explained to me that though I had technically gotten the short end of the stick, the guy had used no real bug or exploit, but had just been smarter than I had been. I decided then and there that I loved that blue robe. So I went out to find counselors.

In their weekly Friday Feature, the Star Wars Galaxies team has provided us with various statistics on characters across all realms to give us a feeling for what's currently popular in the game.

According to the statistics, the professions are generally male-dominated except for Entertainer, which is 70% female, and Trader - Domestics, which is 45% female. Tatooine is the most popular planet, followed by Naboo and Rori.

All data was collected Nov. 3. You can see it all here.

Chris "Dotanuki" Field, SOE producer for Star Wars Galaxies, has posted a producer's note where he shares the release of Chapter 11: The Battle of Echo Base "shouldn't be too far off" and confirms there are no current plans to shut down SWG in response to the LucasArts and BioWare announcement of Star Wars: The Old Republic.

I wanted to take this opportunity to reiterate what has already been said by SOE and LucasArts; there are no current plans to shut down Star Wars Galaxies. In fact, SOE has never shut down an MMO. The SWG team remains committed to delivering you high quality updates well into the foreseeable future. We already have rough ideas for what our content will be throughout 2009.

Keep reading below for the full letter, or check it out here.

There's all sorts of fun events planned in the Star Wars Galaxies universe this weekend.

This months's Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game Promo Weekend will begin at 2 p.m. PST on Friday and go until 10 a.m. PST on Monday, Nov. 10. The Death Star Hologram will be a loot drop in the MMO. More information on the event can be found here.

Also, the Galactic Moon Festival has been extended until Nov. 11! You can continue to enjoy the event while you search for the Death Star Hologram.

Free character transfers will be available in Star Wars Galaxies early next year, and a long list of frequently asked questions have already been answered regarding the service.

The goal of this upcoming promotion is to address players' concerns about server populations with the most player-friendly option possible – by putting the power in the players' hands. This promotion gives players the opportunity to make their own choice by taking advantage of one server transfer per character at no charge.

According to the FAQ, there are no plans to close any servers at this time. Only characters moving from a Free Character Transfer galaxy to a target galaxy can move for free. Standard fees will still apply in any other type of move. Also, characters can only move for free once.

For the full FAQ, including a list of items that will and won't transfer, check here or keep reading below.