Fans of both Star Wars Galaxies and the trading card game have new content to enjoy this week. Game Update 11 is now live on all galaxies in the MMO, and the Agents of Deception TCG expansion is now available.

Game Update 11: Empire Day, as the title suggests, brings Empire Day back from last year with enhancements. Darth Vader will be handing out badges to three Imperial players every 15 minutes in Theed, while Princess Leia will do the same for loyal Alliance players in Coronet. Both ceremonies have been improved with more troops, naval flybys and fireworks. You can read the full patch notes, which include other miscellaneous updates, after the jump.

As for the fourth TCG expansion, Agents of Deception focuses on the seamy underworld of smugglers and spies with more than 180 new playable cards and over 20 new loot cards. It introduce the Smuggle keyword to the game and adds the new player avatars of Mon Calamari and Bothan to the mix. It also "features an all-new 10-scenario smuggler and spy story arc." More information can be found on the official site's Agents of Deception page.

Are you loyal to the Emperor? Well, you can get some loot in the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game if you decide to play through the Empire Day Scenario, which kicks off today and runs through July 15.

The first time you win, you'll get a Breakdance promo card and an Emperor Palpatine Statuette loot card. The meter-high statue can be placed in your in-game house, while the Breakdance card is an ability that allows all players to draw two cards. You can actually win up to 4 Breakdance cards on your account by defeating the scenario with different avatars.

Reporters tend to get a little scatter-brained by the end of E3. In an effort to relieve some of that stress, ZAM's Andrew Beegle spent the last day at the expo performing his own time-honored tradition of courting the local talent. (Otherwise known as "Booth-Babe Stalking" to anyone who's not Andrew.) It's one of his most favored pastimes; whether he's honing his "direct-eye-contact" skills or bragging about his Greatsword of Girthful Terror with a "professional" WoW gamer, it's the glimmering light at the end of any dark expo tunnel.

As per usual, Andrew wouldn't dream of breaking tradition, as you can see in the following video from ZAM's E3 2009 coverage. Our Editor-in-Chief decides to up the ante this year and jump in the pool head-first, abandoning the usual toe-dipping. Things actually look a bit optimistic at first, when a gorgeous young booth babe asks Andy just exactly where he'd take her out, if she let him. Rather than spoiling his brilliant reply, you can pretty much sum it up with this: /facepalm.

Luckily for Andrew (and our squirming viewers), he decides to hit up Casey from the MMO Report for a little sage advice. It turns out Andrew's talent spec and primary skills were way off-base for this type of encounter; no wonder he was wiping so much! After a quick respec and some heavily-stacked Charisma points, he repairs, suits up and goes back out for one last try. Check it out after the jump!

All U.S. and European galaxies will be taken down at 4 a.m. PDT Thursday morning for server maintenance and to implement Hotfix 10.2. According to the announcement on the official Star Wars Galaxies Web site, you should "expect extended down time due to additional maintenance."

The update focuses mainly on battlefield issues, such as fixing a bug where group leaders were not correctly de-queueing their groups. You can read the patch notes for Hotfix 10.2 here or after the jump.

SOE has some middle of the night downtime planned.  According to a post on the Station.com forums:

From 4:00 AM PDT until 6:00 AM PDT on Thursday, June 11, 2009, we will be conducting back-end maintenance that will affect the in-game chat and mail systems for SWG, EQ2, and possibly EQ.  SWG and MXO worlds will be offline entirely for the 2-hour duration.

 

We apologize for this interruption and will resume all affected services as soon as the maintenance is completed.

Here's a handy time converter to help you plan!

Chris "Dotanuki" Field has written a new producer's note discussing the changes we can expect to see when Empire Day returns in Update 11. The ceremonies will be held in the same locations as last year, but have been "flushed out with more troops and enhancement" and will be held every 15 minutes. Also, three players will be called out of the crowd at each ceremony instead of just one.

Entertainers and Crafters will have their own specific missions to enjoy, and everyone will be able to put up or tear down propaganda posters, as well as obtain the eight-passenger Tantive IV speeder via Empire Day tokens.

As for Update 12, Field said Engineering Traders will be the primary focus and will receive new droids to craft. You can read his full letter after the jump.

Today marks the launch of Game Update 10, and it includes some major updates to the game. For PvP fans, four new battlefields have been added, each with its own objectives that must be completed to obtain victory. You can now rename any character that is at least 90 days old, but be careful because you must wait 90 days before you can change the character's name again. Also, no-trade items can now be shared with characters on the same account.

These are just the highlights of the update. The full patch notes can be found below, and they include details on the four battlefields and their objectives.

Agents of Deception, the upcoming fourth expansion for the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game, will include more than 20 new loot cards that give players in-game items. The SWG team has provided fans with a preview of some of the loot cards in an article on the game's official Web site.

For those of you who like mounts, the Toxic Peko-Peko Mount is a "nightmarish creature was raised and mutated by the notorious Dr. Evazan." If swimming and entertainment are more up your alley, keep an eye out for the Muunilinst Relaxation Pool or M'a Jong's Galactic Tiles Arcade Cabinet, a matching game. Lastly, the Corellian G9 Rigger Freighter ITV and the Geonosian Solar Sailer ITV are vehicles that provide instant transport to various destinations.

While we're on the topic of the TCG, the Pooja Naberrie Tournament Pack is available for $10 in the Station Store until Friday, June 5. It includes a Pooja Naberrie promo card, a House Sign loot card and three Galactic Hunters booster packs.

Sony Online Entertainment has released details on Agents of Deception, the fourth expansion for the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game, which will be released in June. The set will focus on the seamy underworld of smugglers and spies with more than 180 new playable cards and over 20 new loot cards.

Lando Calrissian, Mara Jade and Bib Fortuna will all make appearances in the expansion, which will introduce the Smuggle keyword to the game. Agents of Deception also "features an all-new 10-scenario smuggler and spy story arc," as well as adds the new player avatars of Mon Calamari and Bothan to the mix.

More information about the expansion can be found on the Agents of Deception Web site or below.

The May Loot Tournament for the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game just started this morning, but you have the entire weekend to participate! Sony Online Entertainment will be closed on Monday to observe Memorial Day, but the tournament will keep going throughout the holiday and end at 9 p.m. PT on Monday.

For 10 event passes, you'll get three Galactic Hunters booster packs, a Pooja Naberrie promo card and a House Sign loot card, which gives you an in-game illuminated sign that will help your building stand out.

If you crave more TCG action, the Mad Zoo scenario is currently under way and will run through 2 p.m. PT on June 15. Defeat the scenario to win a Womp Rat promo card and a Hoth Travel Advertisement loot card, which gives you a painting to put in your house.