The Vast Empire - a fan club



Founded in 1998, the Vast Empire is an unofficial, fan-based online gaming organization focused on the Galactic Empire (and its successor states) in George Lucas's Star Wars® franchise.  We are Star Wars fans with "a certain point of view:" namely, a shared appreciation of the oft-maligned, much-misunderstood Empire.

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Together, we explore the Imperial perspective by participating in an ongoing and persistent play-by-post role-playing game (The Vast Empire Literary RPG), by playing a wide range of solo and multiplayer video games, by writing fan fiction featuring Imperial characters, and by chatting with other members of the VE from around the world.

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In the VE, the rebels are the villains of the Star Wars saga: they are criminals, traitors, terrorists, and nefarious masters of propaganda.  In contrast, the noble Imperials are truly heroic, bravely fighting to preserve "order," a catch-all term for a complex idea: a society in which stability, prosperity, and justice are shared by all sentient beings in the Galaxy.



If you want to read about these unsung heroes, join us!  If you want to write the untold stories of Star Wars yourself, join us!  If you want to dominate the competition in games like The Old Republic, Empire at War, Battlefront, or even X-Wing vs. TIE fighter, join us!  If you've been looking for a dynamic, supportive community where you can explore the "dark side" of Star Wars, join us!

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We welcome writers, role-players, and gamers of all levels of ability and experience, and are a strict meritocracy: the more you put into the club, the faster you will rise through the ranks, gaining authority over other members and unlocking access to ever-more services the community provides.  But, with that said, there are no real requirements for membership, other than a pledge to abide by the Code of Conduct, which outlines certain standards of behavior to ensure a fun environment for everyone.  The Vast Empire is and always will be free.



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The Vast Empire - a literary role-playing game

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The most important, most active part of the club is our literary role-playing game. If you're unfamiliar with the term, a literary rpg is a forum-based shared storytelling environment, where participants role-play by posting short pieces of prose from the perspective of their main player-character.  By interacting with other player-characters (and with literally billions of non-player characters), players advance the plot of this shared story, and the grand saga continues.

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Members of the VE club play the VE literary rpg as stormtroopers, TIE pilots, mercenaries, high-ranking officers, and even mysterious Dark Jedi, all serving an in-Universe faction called the Vast Empire.  They do battle with the VE's enemies, they grow stronger and more capable, and sometimes they die, but through their efforts, the VE persists and prospers.  The rpg is set immediately after the Thrawn Era, and all of the member-written fiction which forms the official story arc of the game is being written about this period of Star Wars history.

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