posted by
Tynan
on behalf of
Nuri (Comm Senator)
January 18, 2024
Welcome to the Restoration Player City Spotlight where our Community Programs Senator Nuri sits down to talk with the mayor of one of our awesome player cities giving you, our dear readers, the opportunity to learn more about one of the server's great player cities.
In this episode we shine the spotlight on Black Sands, Tatooine. Black Sands serves as a Role-Playing (RP) hub for the server and is located about 3 km northeast of Mos Eisley in the middle of a large valley surrounded by high plateaus. Today I share some hopefully interesting facts about a city near and dear to my heart.
The original Black Sands was founded on Live on the Gorath server back in early 2004. We were not quick enough on the trigger getting our city hall down in the initial rush when player cities launched, and so even though we had everything set up and functioning, we had to wait a couple of months to officially become a city. The “little city that could” managed to persevere through the changes wrought by the CU and NGE, and thanks to our great citizens, we were proud to have been the largest and oldest city on Tatooine when they shut the servers down.
Jump ahead to 2022 and after trying out numerous other emulators, we discovered Resto. It took us about three days to decide that we had finally found a server to call home and got word out to our friends and family. It was a foregone conclusion that we would rebuild Black Sands, and less than two weeks later we had the city hall down.
The Resto version of Black Sands was founded back in September of 2022 and we recently celebrated our first anniversary. Keeping with a tradition from Live going back to 2005, we threw a party, of course.
Back on Live when we were scouting locations for Black Sands, we knew it was going to be a while before we got a shuttleport (if ever). This was back with the much larger citizen requirements for each city rank, so we needed a location close enough to an NPC city that we didn't mind the drive. We knew we wanted to be on Tatooine, and so we scouted the entire planet. Even though many of the choice spots were already taken, we did find a location that fit the bill northeast of Mos Eisley. It was close enough so the drive wasn't bad, but far enough to avoid the horrible lag that Mos Eisley had back in the day. The location also had the advantage in being close to the Sennex Pirate/Beetle Cave and one of the few oases on Tatooine for fishing.
The location of Black Sands here on Resto is the same exact spot as it was on Live.
Because crafting is at the heart of our guild, Research Center was really the only choice for us. We talked about Improved Job Market, but that was a really short discussion.
We have had a number of player events in our city. I mentioned the anniversary party, previously. We are also in the regular rotation for locations for the Friday RP Night. We recently hosted the Crafters JAM-boree and were the initial location for the Floating Market monthly event. To give people an excuse to hang out, we even brought back the weekly performances by one of the most famous bands on Live: The Kreetles. Black Sands serves as an RP hub for the server, so almost any occasion can become an event at a moment’s notice.
The One-Eyed Squill Tavern: Our cantina, commonly called “The Squill”, is a mainstay in the Role-Playing community, and is one of the focal points of the city, hosting many of our events. Run by Kell Sivron and Bundelor Swoon, it provides a respite from the heat with live entertainment and ice cold refreshments. Be sure to tip our bartender Mangy well. He may be a squill, but he has expensive tastes.
Black Sands Emporium: Home to many of our town’s great merchants, the Emporium provides a wide variety of products for your shopping needs. Everything from armor to clothing to furniture to ship parts can be found under the roof of the Emporium, conveniently located right next to the shuttleport.
Black Sands Amphitheater: Our town’s theater has been home to a number of open air productions for the discerning patron of the arts. Its dressing room was even decorated by the award winning interior designer, Tabek Moke (2023 Restoration Homeshow winner).
Black Sands Medical Center: Not satisfied with the confines of the common medical centers, Rinna Avari has set up a much larger facility to meet the needs of the community as well as her own research projects. Located just off the town square, it serves as a RP venue for those in need of healing or seeking medical advice. Be sure and say “hello” to our medical droid, Junior.
The intention of Black Sands was to provide a sandbox where friends could meet, plan adventures, and hang out. It’s grown to be so much more than that, thanks to all of the great people we have met on Resto.
While some might not consider them famous, Black Sands is the home to a few former and current Senators, including some from Live. The Kreetles, one of the most famous bands in SWG is based out of Black Sands, and they routinely can be found performing in the One-Eyed Squill.
Black Sands owes everything to its awesome residents. I am so greatly honored to be the mayor, but it's the hard work of everyone in town that has allowed it to be such a fun place to live and hang out.
Technical Details:
City Name: Black Sands
Planet: Tatooine
Waypoint Info: /wp Tatooine 5820 -2660
Faction Affiliation: Neutral
Guild Affiliation: Black Sands Syndicate...err Enterprises (SYN)
Mayor: Tiktak Ankileous
Contact: Nuri
May the Force be with You
SWG Restoration Staff
