In honor of the sixth anniversary of Star Wars Galaxies, the team behind the trading card game is hosting a photo contest through July 27. Three winners will have their photos turned into cards for TCG's sixth set, as well transformed into in-game house paintings and a printed poster for your wall.

The team is looking for one Rebel-themed, one Imperial-themed and one neutral-themed photo. You can submit an unaltered photo of yourself dressed as a Star Wars Galaxies character, or you can send in a screenshot from the game. Your image must be based in the Star Wars Galaxies universe, so don't take a photo of yourself dressed as Luke Skywalker or any other character from the films.

You must be at least 18 years old and have an active SWG account to enter the contest. The judges are looking for creativity, so keep that in mind. More information can be found below.

Continuing with the Star Wars Galaxies™ 6-Year Anniversary celebrations, the Star Wars Galaxies™ Trading Card Game team is hosting the Galactic Civil War Photo Contest!

In the midst of the Galactic Civil War, we’re looking for one Rebel-themed, one Imperial-themed and one neutral-themed photo to transform into cards for set six of the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game which comes out later in the year.

Create an unenhanced or unaltered digital picture of yourself dressed up as your favorite Star Wars Galaxies character or submit a screenshot of your Star Wars Galaxies Rebel, Imperial or neutrally aligned character and send it to us!

The submission period begins on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 8:00 P.M. (PDT) and concludes on Monday, July 27, 2009 at 10:00 A.M. (PDT). Winners will be announced on or around August 10, 2009.

Prizes:  (up to 3 winners)

• One Rebel-themed winner, one Imperial-themed winner and one neutral-themed winner will have their photos transformed into cards for set six of the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game, which comes out later in the year.
• The winners will also have their transformed images turned into an in-game house painting that will be available to all Star Wars Galaxies MMO subscribers in-game.
• The winner will receive a printed poster (approximately 17 x 17) version of the transformed image.

Submission Guidelines:

• The image must be an un-enhanced or unaltered digital picture of you dressed up as one of your favorite Star Wars Galaxies characters or submit a screenshot of your Star Wars Galaxies Rebel, Imperial or neutrally aligned character. Do not use a flash lighting when taking your photo. Use actual lighting. Do not include any text in the image.

• The image must be based on the Star Wars Galaxies universe. Submissions depicting movie posters, likenesses of actors or key Star Wars figures, or imagery depicting scenes from the Star Wars™ films will not be considered. The Submission may not be offensive or otherwise unsuitable for use, as determined in Sponsor's sole discretion.

• Submitted images must be an original creation, except for elements from the Star Wars Galaxies game used in compliance with the Station Terms of Use, the End User License Agreement and other rules and regulations of the Star Wars Galaxiesweb site. You may NOT use any materials that you do not own the rights to for the purposes of this contest. Likewise, taking an image from something that you do not own and altering it slightly then presenting it as your own work is strictly prohibited.

• Images must be suitable for trading card and for an in-game painting. Do not add a frame or border around the image. Do not include any text in the image. If you are capturing and submitting a screenshot, press CTRL+ALT+H to hide the interface. Submissions with a visible interface will not be considered.

• The image size must be approximately 800 x 600 pixels, in JPEG format and the file size should be 250KB or less.

• Submissions will be judged on originality, creativity, visual portrayal of the thematic content and overall presentation by a panel of judges, consisting of members of the Star Wars Galaxies Development, Community Relations, Marketing and Public Relations Teams.

• Be Creative: The judges will be looking for creative photos. Does your photo show imagination? Passion? Does your photo portray a great story? Does your photo display a creative use of props, lighting or background? The more you give the artist to work with, the more interesting your image is and the better chance you have to win!

• Below are some examples of how the photos will be transformed into card art.

Eligibility:

• You must be eighteen (18) years of age or older and a legal resident of the 50 United States (including District of Columbia) to participate.
• Only one (1) entry per natural person and Star Wars Galaxies account will be accepted.
• The contestant must have an active Star Wars Galaxies account in good standing.
• By entering this contest, you agree to all of the terms and conditions in the Official Contest Rules, so please make sure you read them carefully!

How to Enter:
Please view the Official Contest Rules, to before submitting an entry to this contest. Also, please remember to stay within Terms of Service Agreement when participating in this contest.

Submissions should be sent in an e-mail to SOEContests@soe.sony.com. Be sure to include all of the following information with your submission:

• Subject of E-mail:  “Galactic Civil War Photo” Contest
• Submission Category:  Rebel, Imperial or Neutral
• Title:  Give your picture a title!
• Link: Publicly accessible link to your digital photo. This could be your MySpace page, Facebook, Blogger, Photobucket, Flickr, etc.
• Full Real Name:
• Character Name:
• Server Name:
• Station Name: (Username – Do not include passwords.)
• Mailing Address: (Street Address, Apt. #, City, Zip Code – Do not use P.O. Box.)
• Forum Community Handle: (If applicable)
• E-mail Address:
  • Submission Text:
  • Length: 300 words or less.
  • The written entry can be placed directly in the body of the e-mail.
  • Written entries should be in plain text (.txt), a Word document (.doc), or rich text (.rtf).
  • All entries should be in Times New Roman text format, font size 12, single spaced.
  • Please do not use indents, emoticons, or all caps, and avoid slang terms unless it fits within the theme of your entry.
  • Spell out server names, city names, and other terminology as much as possible.
  • Please use spell check before submitting the entry. Entries will be reviewed for typos, but those that require too much editing may be disqualified.