The Underworld 'named' - Zann Consortium???
Wow. Where did they get the inspiration for 'Consortium'?

See: www.lucasfiles.com)

What does Consortium really mean? im not english you know ;)

A Consortium is a group of individuals or companies formed to undertake an enterprise or activity that would be beyond the capabilities of the individual members.

In other words Tyber Zann has organized a variety of shady groups (like Black sun) in order to achieve his goals. Probably to capture the Eclipse, at least that's what I think anyway. :)

Where does it even say the Underworld is called "Zann Consortium"? :confused:

In the latest preview (see the 'Previews thread' sticky), Petroglyph identifies the Underworld as the 'Zann Consortium.'

I like it. It implies that the Underworld is a much more loosely organized entity than the other two factions. I wonder if any infighting will materialize? :)

That would be cool. Imagine suddenly having one or more units turn on you or at least refuse to obey orders during a battle because they were unhappy with your management style. Bickering between the shareholders and so forth...

Of course, that's nothing that can't be fixed by applying some lessons from "The Darth Vader School of Motivational Thinking".

I'm quite happy with the name. Thankfully, it's not just the "Underworld", it's now an actual organization with a nice name :)
It has a nice ring to it, not flashy, it says everything in just two words.

If you read a lot of EU, the names fits in very well. I like it myself. :)

Aye i like the new name too, considering Underworld is an underwear factory in Coronation Street...

The faction is led by Tyber Zann, a criminal overlord who has managed to get on the bad side of Jabba the Hutt. In fact, his ultimate goal is to take Jabba, as well as the rest of the galaxy, down. Unlike the existing campaigns in Empire at War, the expansion's campaign will be heavily story driven to introduce the new faction and all the new characters. The campaign begins with Zann in prison (the infamous spice mines of Kessel), and the first mission involves breaking out of jail, which is a good introduction to how the Underworld differs from the other two factions.

That's from the July 12th Gamespot preview. I thought that some of the questions/comments posted above would benefit from this information. The rest of the preview article can be found here: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/starwarsempireatwarforces/news.html?sid=6153906&mode=previews)

Like in any good prison tale, Tyber learns of a major score from one of his cellmates, one that would make him rich and powerful if he has the guts and brains to pursue it. It won't be easy, however; to achieve his goal of controlling the galaxy's criminal underworld, Tyber will have to face off against such personalities as Jabba the Hutt, Prince Xizor of the Black Sun, Rebel hero Garm Bel Iblis, and Imperial mastermind Grand Admiral Thrawn.

That's from the most recent designer diary, also on gamespot. It seems that Black Sun will be an adversary of the Zann Consortium. The diary also says that the Eclipse SD will not be complete, but will still play an important part in the story. Kinda sounds like the death star 2 in episode 6.

Really happy with the name, and thank the force they did not just name them "underworld".

Hey, great finds, gswift! I hadn't seen those before, and they are really interesting reads. These guys are getting good at dribbling out just enough and just the right kind of information to get me really excited about the expansion.

I am glad that they have expanded on this game. With the limitation of only being able to play as the Empire or Rebels, I got board pretty darn fast. This will hopefully open up the game, so there could be more play throughs.

With the limitation of only being able to play as the Empire or Rebels, I got board pretty darn fast.
Limitation? This game is from the original Star Wars trilogy, man. Of course it was all about the Empire and the Rebels. What did you expect?

Interesting name, to say the least. As long as the expansion is decent, I'm happy. :)

I didn't like the name when I first heared it, but it grew on me. Mostly because of wedge2211's post.