It isn't so much an issue of any one AC being under-powered (I personally just switched from heals to DPS and feel generally fine now) it's more an issue of a substantial change to the pace and focus of PvP. Pre 1.2 I found matches depended on strategy to some degree and team cohesion, though teamwork will always matter in 1.2 I definitely feel more free to just do wtfever and still win. Particularly on my Guardian/Marauder the game just feels like a button mash to victory at this point and unless I'm playing against an organized team heals/guard seem largely irrelevant. SWTOR definitely used to feel about as balanced as I've seen in an MMO (it was a selling point to me for my PvP frineds) post 1.2 it is pretty clear there are substantial problems.

Yeah nothing terribly enlightening in the article, still I thought it was interesting , particularly noting how close forum d00ds were to the math developers are apparently designing around. I definitely found the stance taken in the article that generally PvP is "working as intended" at the moment, pretty disheartening. I enjoy the game quite a bit overall but between this sort of assertion that PvP in its current state is fine and dandy and issues tied to server populations I find myself increasingly looking elsewhere. Sadly this is about how I feel. After reading the article I can't help but wonder what on earth he is playing if things are currently working as intended. I've never understood the desire for faster PvP or the assertion that short TTK = skill in MMOs. Pre 1.2 there were balance issues but of the same sort that I usually expect in games 2-3 years old, now it seems about what I'd expect nearer to release.

A new Massively article on James Ohlen's ideas on SWtOR PvP balance. I can't say I'm personally pleased with what he has to say, but it's a good read and a useful bit of information for those planning to stick around for this game's PvP future.

Helping someone with their class quests is something I seriously only do for guild-mates. These quests are all soloable (yes some are hard) and there is 0 reward for helping people with them (you don't even get socials as you can't contribute to the conversation). Someone is going out of their way to help you in these situations, yes it might be a little rude of them to demand $$ up front, but its pretty equally absurd for you to expect people to sacrifice their time for nothing. a) Get friends/a guild b) Get better at your class or better gear or a better companion c) Pay 100k, it really is a trivial amount if the mission has been that hard for you

I don't like the Star Wars setting at all, however I love the game. It is distinctly "playable" for me.

Please don't start this as the next thing to complain about.

Hmmm.... or are they? Maybe they're the best kind of tank, the sustained dps invulnerability stealth tank O.o o.O

I got stuck in one of these matches yesterday, yeah it's disgusting but its a crappy players issue not a crappy systems issue. These are the same people previously who would have quit the match as soon as the enemy first captured two points, and the same people who Ilum farmed kills. At least now people stick around to finish a warzone, more than anything else this should be expected as a result of the garbage standard gear focus in the current string of MMOs. So long as the only point of PvP or PvE in games is zomgphatlewt this sort of behavior makes sense.

The only thing wrong with SWTOR's community is the forums. In what way do you feel community is not being fostered in game that it has been in others? Lack of guild housing...?

MMOs did away with this idea years ago (unfortunately IMO) I'm honestly surprised when I even see it in a single player game these days. Theoretically it's to stop people from gimping themselves, I'm sure it was a balance issue too. "Talents" are about as customizable as I expect these days.

It's not something I feel strongly enough over to argue but I definitely don't feel that the flexibility offered by the customizable gear system even begins to compare with what has been offered in older "vanity gear" systems. Its neat that I can swap out mods to make my character look basically the same from level 10-60 but the cost of doing so and the limited outfits available really doesn't seem to contribute to appearance customization on any level. If anything it feels like the current system promotes getting your one set of optimal (ie augmented) gear and just wearing it forever.

My issue with the customization system rather than an appearance system is just the issue of flexibility. While the customization system allows you to make a character look like whatever you want, there's no ability to have different "outfits" or to change your character's appearance with any frequency without hefty cost in credits. None of this really has any impact on normal gameplay, but the RPer in me definitely doesn't appreciate having to pay hundreds of thousands of credits any time I want to switch my gear's appearance. It's trivial to make this change once (for the sake of optimization) as most folks will, but doing it more than that can become painful.

Agreed, the customizable gear system is solid, I enjoy it but it definitely does not achieve all that a normal appearance gear system does. Being able to have multiple sets of appearances regardless of your gear decisions really does a great deal (imo) for the quality of a MMO, particularly a story focused game like SWTOR. I think its cool that BW decided to come up with their own system, but the customizable gear setup just doesn't compete with appearance systems in games like LOTRO in my opinion.

This^ Or you can just buy mods/armoring from crafters. This option does not exist (at all) for PvP, move along.

I've little to say about your numbers in general but thought I'd comment on the RP server bit. In games that I've played since WoW I've found RP servers generally to be a pretty solid place community-wise with a typically steady and solid population. To broadly and crudely generalize, RPers tend to focus on very different things than the rest of the MMO crowd and appear significantly less fickle when it comes to game/server hopping. Regarding the numbers, my server's not on that list but I never have any problems finding PvE or PvP activities.

I actually hate Star Wars as a setting, always have, but I enjoy the game quite a bit. So that's a yes I guess.

I've got a force class (Guardian) I've got a non-force class (Commando). I enjoy PvPing with both of these characters, but the concept of either class being equally valuable from one WZ to the next is laughable. On my Commando I don't quit Huttball matches, I play my "role" healing and dealing damage. My Guardian however does not suddenly lose his ability to tank and do damage, he just has an added functionality offered by the design of this Warzone and the importance of mobility to the actual goal of scoring points (not notably doing damage or healing). If Commando/Mercenary has any "unique" role in huttball it is through the timely use of knockbacks and (maybe) stealth detection, that's about it. In huttball a team's composition and strategy matter much more than they do in the other Warzones, this is a good thing but it doesn't make the WZ equally enjoyable for all classes. With my Guardian Huttball is a blast, with my Commando much less so. Of course we could instead just argue that it's a L2P issue... like any issue in an MMO that doesn't effect someone's preferred class.

The weeklys definitely seem like something of a placeholder at the moment... hopefully some actual reward is put there later (or they can just remove them, atm they're a joke).

I look forward to the day when people who think like the OP stop PvPing in games. The change to the PvP dailies hurts no one except drama queens who want to pitch fits over 99 WZ and Rated commendations. These commendations aren't going to break anything in the game and there is absolutely nothing wrong with people who stick around through a match getting 50% the progress of those who win.

I'll definitely go on board on this note. SWTOR's patch notes have been consistently and embarrassingly underwhelming, it'd be really great if we could get actual lists of what's been changed in general from one patch to another.

I prefer Voidstar to huttball solely based on my main current character's class. Huttball may be the most clever of SWTOR's PvP warzones but class balance in it is terrible.

It's a daily that rewards points only valuable for earning gear. Allowing people who lose to earn the same rewards in 2x the time isn't a problem. Ideally SWTOR PvP wouldn't be gear/grind based anyway.

Overreaction on the forums is much more respected than reading comprehension though.

Any time someone prepares to complain about the guy with one light saber, the guy x2 the light sabers wtfpwns them worse.

To each his own I suppose, essentially I don't imagine that any amount of SWTOR forum discussion is going to motivate the developers to make this game something new and revolutionary in PvP. I certainly wouldn't expect anything mind-blowing outside of an expansion and what I currently see in the game is a system of PvP which supports nothing but gear-grinding. This was the problem with Ilum and kill trading, no one was kill trading because they thought it was "fun" (at least I have a very hard time believing so) they did it because they viewed gear as the point of PvP and kill-trading to be the most efficient means to gear up. We ended up with our current (WZ only) approach to PvP directly as a result of all the game's rewards now coming from WZs, ie the same reason people did Ilum before. Without making all gear equal/meaningless/trivial (which would doubtless make PvP less popular among some though arguably more fun) I am not sure that the developers can somehow change this behavior, but maybe I'm just being negative. All of that being said, what I am talking about is an issue of systems. As someone on an RP server I am sure you understand that ultimately lots of the most valuable PvP comes from the player base, and that even with garbage systems of support players can and often will come up with ways to have fun (I had tons of fun PvPing in LotRO of all games, due to a great community on my server). I think that when people look back on their PvP glory days often they forget that reality and assume that its the system alone that's the problem. Sure some system issues contribute to crappy PvP (RvR design and lack of consequences are two examples for me) but I suspect that a not-so-great player base could make even the most well designed system (Let alone something like Ilum, well intentioned but bad) into a hot mess.